Cam for vertical adjustment of appliance doors
OwnerJeffrey L. Prunty, James M. Grace +1inventors
InventorsJeffrey L. Prunty, James M. Grace, Ronald E. Haltmeyer
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A cam adjustment apparatus facilitates vertical adjustment of an appliance door. The apparatus includes a support bracket which is arranged to support the appliance door on an appliance, and a cam which abuts the support bracket so that, as the cam is moved, the vertical position of the appliance door is adjusted. The support bracket has a pair of holes for receiving a corresponding pair of fasteners in order to fasten the support bracket to the appliance. The holes are elongated to accommodate movement of the support bracket as the cam is moved.
Claims21
An apparatus comprising:
- a support, wherein the support is arranged to support an appliance door, wherein the support has a hole and wherein the hole is arranged to receive a mounting fastener that fastens the support to a base;
- and,
- a cam abutting the support, wherein the cam has a variable cam profile and is arranged to adjust a vertical position of the support, wherein the cam comprises a cam surface, a shoulder, and an adjustment head, wherein the shoulder is arranged to retain the cam on the base, wherein the cam surface abuts the support, wherein the cam surface may be moved by the adjustment head, and wherein the hole of the support is elongated so as to permit the cam to move the support with respect to the base.
An appliance having an appliance door which may be vertically adjusted with respect to an appliance cabinet comprising:
- an appliance cabinet;
- an appliance door having a vertical position with respect to the appliance cabinet;
- supporting means for supporting the appliance door on the appliance cabinet;
- a cam abutting the supporting means, wherein the cam has a variable cam profile, wherein the cam is arranged to adjust the vertical position of the appliance door with respect to the appliance cabinet, wherein the cam has a plurality of cam facets, wherein each cam facet corresponds to a different vertical position of the appliance door, and wherein the cam facets are arranged so that they provide stability to each different vertical position of the appliance door.
An apparatus for facilitating adjustment of an appliance door with respect to an appliance cabinet comprising:
- a support bracket, wherein the support bracket is arranged to support an appliance door;
- a cam abutting the support bracket, wherein the cam has a cam profile, wherein the cam is arranged to adjust the support bracket as the cam is moved so that a position of an appliance door is adjusted, wherein the cam has a plurality of cam facets, wherein each cam facet corresponds to a different position of an appliance door, and wherein the cam facets are arranged so that they provide stability to each different position of the appliance door;
- and,
- an attachment mechanism, wherein the attachment mechanism is arranged to attach the cam to an appliance cabinet so as to permit the cam to move and so as to permit the cam to adjust an appliance door with respect to its appliance cabinet.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.