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A spring biased hinge for refrigerator doors and the like includes a stationary mounting bracket, a bent-wire spring mounted between the door and bracket, and a pivot pin for pivotally mounting the door to the mounting bracket. The mounting bracket is reversible so that it can be used on either side

A spring biased hinge for refrigerator doors and the like includes a stationary mounting bracket, a bent-wire spring mounted between the door and bracket, and a pivot pin for pivotally mounting the door to the mounting bracket. The mounting bracket is reversible so that it can be used on either side of the door, and includes a slot for receiving an end of the spring, the slot and spring being located so that as the door is opened, the door travels through a first arcuate segment where the spring is compressed and oriented to bias the door closed, through a second arcuate segment where the spring is compressed and oriented to bias the door open, and a third arcuate segment where the spring is not compressed but rather slides in the slot allowing the door to swing freely open until an end of the slot is engaged to limit the maximum door open movement. The hinge is characterized by its low profile and low number of parts.

대표청구항 ▼

A spring biased door hinge arrangement for refrigerators, comprising: a refrigerator door; a stationary mounting bracket adapted to mount to a refrigerator cabinet, one of the refrigerator door and the bracket including a slot and the other including an aperture; means for pivotally mounting the ref

A spring biased door hinge arrangement for refrigerators, comprising: a refrigerator door; a stationary mounting bracket adapted to mount to a refrigerator cabinet, one of the refrigerator door and the bracket including a slot and the other including an aperture; means for pivotally mounting the refrigerator door to the bracket, said means defining an axis of rotation for the door, the slot and the aperture being spaced from the axis of rotation; a single spring having one end operably mounted in the aperture and another end operably slideably mounted in the slot to affect movement of the door; and the slot, the aperture and the single spring being located so that the spring is mounted in an over-center relationship to the axis of rotation so that as the door is opened the door travels through a first arcuate segment whereby the spring biases the door toward a closed position, so that as the door is further opened the door travels through a second arcuate segment where the spring biases the door toward an open position to swing the door to said open position, and so that as the door is finally still further opened the door travels through a third arcuate segment where the spring slides in the slot with no biasing affect on the door so that the door swings freely in an unbiased condition.