A hinge assembly for rotatably mounting an appliance door to a cabinet of an appliance includes a lower cam member coupled to a hinge support bracket and an upper cam member coupled to the appliance door. A pin assembly passes through the upper and lower cam members and is coupled to the hinge suppo
A hinge assembly for rotatably mounting an appliance door to a cabinet of an appliance includes a lower cam member coupled to a hinge support bracket and an upper cam member coupled to the appliance door. A pin assembly passes through the upper and lower cam members and is coupled to the hinge support bracket such that it defines an axis of rotation. The upper and lower cam members are configured to engage each other to urge the appliance door toward the closed position. The engagement may be a result of the weight of the door and the hinge assembly may further include a vertically oriented spring for assisting in the downward force of upper cam member.
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1. A hinge assembly rotatably mounting an appliance door to a cabinet of an appliance, the hinge assembly comprising: a pin assembly defining an axis of rotation, the pin assembly comprising a pin base defining a threaded boss and a hinge pin having a flange supported by the pin base, the hinge pin
1. A hinge assembly rotatably mounting an appliance door to a cabinet of an appliance, the hinge assembly comprising: a pin assembly defining an axis of rotation, the pin assembly comprising a pin base defining a threaded boss and a hinge pin having a flange supported by the pin base, the hinge pin extending from the pin base;a hinge support bracket attached to the cabinet, the hinge support bracket defining a hinge aperture, the hinge aperture defining a threaded surface configured for receiving and engaging the threaded boss of the pin base such that rotating the pin base in one direction moves the pin assembly along the axis of rotation;a lower cam member defining a lower cam aperture through which the pin assembly is received, the lower cam member defining a lower cam surface; andan upper cam member operably coupled to the appliance door, the upper cam member defining an upper cam aperture through which the pin assembly is rotatably received and an upper cam surface, the upper cam surface being configured to engage the lower cam surface to urge the appliance door toward a closed position. 2. The hinge assembly of claim 1, wherein the upper cam member defines a door locating arm and the appliance door defines a recess configured for receiving the upper cam member and the door locating arm to fix the appliance door relative to the upper cam member. 3. The hinge assembly of claim 1, further comprising a spring, wherein the upper cam member defines a channel configured for receiving the spring for urging the upper cam member down onto the lower cam member. 4. The hinge assembly of claim 3, wherein the channel and the spring are oriented along the axis of rotation. 5. The hinge assembly of claim 3, wherein the pin assembly defines a circumferential groove, the hinge assembly further comprising a spring retainer clip snapped into the groove to secure the spring within the channel of the upper cam member. 6. The hinge assembly of claim 1, wherein the upper cam surface and the lower cam surface both have a parabolic profile such that a rotational closing force generated by the interaction between the upper cam surface and the lower cam surface increases as the appliance door approaches the closed position. 7. The hinge assembly of claim 1, wherein the upper cam surface and the lower cam surface are still engaged when the appliance door is in the closed position, such that the upper cam surface and the lower cam surface are still applying a rotational closing force to the appliance door when the appliance door is in the closed position. 8. The hinge assembly of claim 1, wherein the lower cam member defines an axially extending lip and the hinge support bracket defines a recess, the recess being configured to receive the axially extending lip to prevent rotation of the lower cam member. 9. The hinge assembly of claim 1, wherein the axis of rotation defined by the pin assembly is substantially parallel to a vertical direction defined by the appliance. 10. The hinge assembly of claim 1, wherein the appliance is a refrigerator appliance and the appliance door is a refrigerator door. 11. The hinge assembly of claim 1, wherein the pin base defines an internal channel with an inner threaded surface, the hinge assembly further comprising: a set screw positioned within the internal channel and engaging the inner threaded surface such that rotating the set screw in one direction within the internal channel causes the set screw to separate the pin base and the hinge pin relative to each other. 12. A refrigerator appliance defining a vertical direction, a lateral direction, and a transverse direction, the refrigerator appliance comprising: a cabinet defining a chilled chamber;a door being rotatably mounted to the cabinet to provide selective access to the chill chamber; anda hinge assembly rotatably mounting the door to the cabinet, the hinge assembly comprising: a hinge support bracket attached to the cabinet;a lower cam member operably coupled to the hinge support bracket and defining a lower cam surface;an upper cam member operably coupled to the door and defining an upper cam surface; anda pin assembly defining an axis of rotation, the pin assembly comprising a pin base defining a threaded boss and a hinge pin having a flange supported by the pin base, the pin assembly rotatably coupling the lower cam member and the upper cam member such that the upper cam surface is configured to engage the lower cam surface to urge the door toward a closed position. 13. The refrigerator appliance of claim 12, wherein the upper cam member defines a door locating arm and the door defines a recess configured for receiving the upper cam member and the door locating arm to fix the door relative to the upper cam member. 14. The refrigerator appliance of claim 12, wherein the upper cam member defines a channel configured for receiving a spring for urging the upper cam member down onto the lower cam member, wherein the channel and the spring are oriented along the axis of rotation. 15. The refrigerator appliance of claim 14, wherein the pin assembly defines a circumferential groove, the hinge assembly further comprising a spring retainer clip snapped into the groove to secure the spring within the channel of the upper cam member. 16. The refrigerator appliance of claim 12, wherein the upper cam surface and the lower cam surface are still engaged when the door is in the closed position, such that the upper cam surface and the lower cam surface are still applying a rotational closing force to the door when the door is in the closed position. 17. The refrigerator appliance of claim 12, wherein the lower cam member defines an axially extending lip and the hinge support bracket defines a recess, the recess being configured to receive the axially extending lip to prevent rotation of the lower cam member. 18. The refrigerator appliance of claim 12, wherein the axis of rotation defined by the pin assembly is substantially parallel to the vertical direction. 19. The refrigerator appliance of claim 12, wherein the pin base defines an internal channel with an inner threaded surface, the hinge assembly further comprising: a set screw positioned within the internal channel and engaging the inner threaded surface such that rotating the set screw in one direction within the internal channel causes the set screw to separate the pin base and the hinge pin relative to each other.
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이 특허에 인용된 특허 (7)
Lee,Chang Lim, Door hinge apparatus of refrigerator.
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