Two direction magnetically latching solenoid for appliance door lock
AssigneeIllinois Tool Works Inc.
InventorsJeffrey John Krieger, Randy S. McDonald, Erik Olson, Joel Charles Bragg
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An appliance latch for latching an appliance door to an appliance cabinet that includes a housing and a lock bolt positioned to move linearly within the housing between a locked state and an unlocked state. A solenoid is positioned within the housing and includes an integrated magnetic lock, distinct from the lock bolt, to prevent undesired movement from the locked state to the unlocked state and movement from the unlocked state to the locked state.
Claims13
An appliance latch for latching an appliance door to an appliance cabinet, the appliance latch comprising:
- a housing;
- a lock bolt positioned to move within the housing between a locked state and an unlocked state;
- a solenoid positioned within the housing, the solenoid having an integrated magnetic lock comprising a wire form, separate from and operable with the lock bolt, to prevent undesired movement from the locked state to the unlocked state and movement from the unlocked state to the locked state, wherein the wire form is engageable with a pair of step features formed within the housing, wherein the wire form is engageable with a first step feature to prevent undesired movement from the unlocked state to the locked state and a second step feature to prevent undesired movement from the locked state to the unlocked state.
An appliance latch for latching an appliance door to an appliance cabinet, the appliance latch comprising:
- a housing;
- a lock bolt positioned to move within the housing between a locked state and an unlocked state;
- a solenoid positioned within the housing, the solenoid having an integrated magnetic lock including a wire form engageable with a pair of step features formed within the housing, a first step feature configured to obstruct the wire form in the unlocked state and the second step feature configured to obstruct the wire form in the locked state;
- wherein the integrated magnetic lock is configured to prevent undesired movement from the locked state to the unlocked state and movement from the unlocked state to the locked state and wherein the integrated magnetic lock comprises a component with a smaller mass than the plunger so energizing the solenoid moves the integrated magnetic lock before the plunger.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.