US3003495A - Hinge construction - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 10, 1961 Filed July 31, 1959 FIG.

R. L. COULTRIP 3,003,495

HINGE CONSTRUCTION 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. Raymond L. Caulrrip Oct. 10, 1961 R. COULTRIP 3,003,495

HINGE CQNSTRUCTION Filed July 31, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 4

INVENTOR. Raymond L. Coulrrflo BYW /W Affy.

Oct. 10, 1961 R. COULTRlP 3,003,495

HINGE CONSTRUCTION Filed July 51, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG. /2

45% J L INVENTOR.

Raymond L Caulk/p BY 3,003,495 HINGE CONSTRUCTION Raymond L. Coultrip, Oak Park, ill, assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Filed July 31, 1959, Ser. No. 830,861 Claims. (Cl. 126-194) This invention relates to door structures and more particularly to hinge mechanisms for the same.

While not limited thereto, this invention is particularly applicable to oven doors. In the main, oven doors are each hinged to swing about a horizontal axis to a fully open position in which the door extends horizontally outward from the oven. Cleaning the interior of an oven while its door projects horizontally in this open position is difficult. Stretching across the projecting door requires a reach longer than that of the average housewife and consequently the further recesses of the oven may be omitted entirely or reached only by extreme effort. Further, the projecting edges of the door can inflict painful bruises on the body of the person attempting the cleaning.

To alleviate these difficulties, various arrangements have been proposed for the complete removal of the door. Prior art arrangements have required the insertion of stops against moving parts, removal of pins and other steps preparatory to the actual removal. Only then could the door be removed and cleaning take place. When the door was to be replaced, it had to be aligned properly on the hinges, replaced and locked on the hinges. In many of these mechanisms, enameled parts of the door were subjected to undue stress and strain causing chipping of enameled surfaces. Further, the fingers of the person handling the door were exposed to snap locks and other hazards.

It is felt that an ideal solution to the problem comprises a door hinging arrangement in which the door is firmly locked to the hinge mechanism for normal usage, but wherein removal of the door may be accomplished in a single step comprising the simple withdrawal of the door from the hinge. The hinge mechanism after removal should remain in a position for accepting the return of the door thereto, so that no realignment of any consequence is necessary for the repositioning of the door. Further, the hinge mechanism should present a minimum hazard for the fingers and body of the person handling and cleaning. It is felt that the present invention meets these criteria.

It is, therefore, the primary object of the invention to provide in a door pivotable about a horizontal axis,- an

improved hinge mechanism which allows the door to be readily removed in a single step operation.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a pivotable door which is locked to its hinge mechanism in all open positions past a slightly ajar position.

A further object of the invention is the provision of an automatic lock mechanism for restraining the hinges against accidental movement in a closing direction during the period in which the door is removed from the hinge mechanism, whereby the possibility of damaging the porcelain-enamelled surfaces of the oven frame structure is minimized.

Another object of the invention is the provision of means which when the door has been removed, maintains the hinges in a position in which the door may be returned thereto by a simple manual effort not requiring the use of tools or special devices of any kind.

The invention both as to its organization and principle of operation together with further objects and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following specification taken in connection with the accompartying drawings in which:

Patented Oct. 10, 1961 FIGURE 1 is a side view of a typical range utilizing the invention.

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the hinge mechanism and an internal perspective View of the door slide ways.

FIGURES 36 are partial side sectional views of a door and oven to show the mechanism clearly. FIG- URE 3 shows the door in the closed position. FIG- URE 4 shows the door and hinge in the ajar position permitting removal of the door. FIGURE 5 shows again the ajar position with the door partially removed. FIGURE 6 shows the door in the full open position.

FIGURES 7-11 show a second embodiment of the invention with FIGURE 7 showing the hinge mechanism in the ajar position. FIGURE 8 shows a top view of the hinge mechanism of the second embodiment. FIG- URE 9 shows a top view and'FIGURE 10 a side view of the slide ways of the alternate'embodiment. FIG- URE 11 shows the combined position and lock detent used in this embodiment.

FIGURE 12 is a partial side view of the roller bracket of FIGURES 3, 4 and 5.

In FIGURE 1 is shown a typical range 10 having an oven cavity 11 with a rectangular front opening defined by the frame structure 12. In the conventional range such as that shown, all external surfaces are porcelainized to protect against rust and corrosion.

The oven door 20 is preferably, although not necessarily, a door of the swing-down type which is Pivotable about its lower axis. The door 20 comprises an inner panel 21 and an outer panel 22 secured together as shown in FIGURE 3. The inner panel has an emboss 23 disposed above and in alignment with an elongated slot 24. Said slot is in communication with an opening 25 in the bottom of the door. Any suitable handle 26 is provided to facilitate operation of the door between its vertical closed position and a horizontal open position in which the inner panel of the door constitutes a continuation of the lower wall of the oven cavity. In its open position, the door thus constitutes a convenient shelf or landing space on which the housewife may set foodstuffs prior to or following the cooking operation.

As previously noted, the door is arranged to be removed from its hinges under certain conditions. In furtherance of this objective, within the door structure at its respective lower corners there is aflixed a slide way 27 (best shown in FIGURE 2), comprising an open-faced rectangular body or channel of steel or other rigid structural material. Each slideway is permanently aflixed by riveting, welding, or by any other appropriate manner which will secure the slideway against movement relative to the door. A side wall 28 of the slideway is adjacent to the inner panel 21 of the door. A slot 2S in the side wall is similar in length and width to the slot 24 inthe inner door panel, and is in exact alignment therewith. Similarly, the open bottom of the slideway is equal in dimensions to the opening 25 in the bottom of the door and is in alignment therewith. The wall 28 is formed with a cut-out 30 disposed adjacent to emboss 23 of the door liner. The effective length of the slideway is established by the flange 31 extending into the open channel section as clearly appears.

The door hinge mechanism includes a support member 32 fixed to the oven frame structure 12 at each of the lower corners thereof and projecting through appropriate openings therein, and a hinge bracket assembly 33 pivotally attached to each support member 32 as by the hinge pin 34. Each bracket 33 is formed of two similar but oppositely disposed rail members 35 and 36 welded together at their upper end, as viewed in FIGURE 2, and having a shape which gives to the hinge bracket 8. width and depth in which each bracket will be in smoothly fitting, slidable relationship within its associated slideway 27. It will be understood that the opening 25 in the bottom of the oven door is adequate to receive the hinge bracket without conflict and Without the necessity on the part of the user to align the door openings with the bracket accurately during the replacement operation. It will be evident from FIGURE 2 that the sloping shoulders of the bracket immediately below its upper extremity facilitate the guiding of the respective door slideways into slidable contact with the external walls of the hinge brackets when the door is being replaced thereon.

Intermediate the ends of the hinge bracket but preferably relatively close to the upper end thereof, the bracket rails are constricted inwardly to receive between them the door counterbalance arm 37 and the lever arms which respectively comprise a door lock detent 38 and a hinge position detent 39. The counterbalance arm and the respective detents are pivotally secured to the bracket as by the pivot roller or pin 40. As is well known in the art, the counterbalance arm 37 is associated with a spring 41 anchored at a suitable location within the range body. The counterbalance arm 37 is arranged to ride upon a detent roller 42 which may conveniently be mounted within the range body by means of a suitable U-shaped bracket 43 comprising an element of the frame structure 12. The counterbalance arm extends through a suitable elongated slot 12a in the frame 12. The arm is formed with a nose 44 which affords a demarcation between a sloping face 45 which, as shown in FIGURE 3, engages with the roller 42 to establish the door in its closed position, and a detent portion 46 which, as shown in FIGURE 4, establishes the door in a partially open position. It will be understood that the nose 44 of the counterbalance arm does not impose any great restrainst against the operation of the door to its full opening position, as indicated in FIGURE 6. The detent portion 46 is so related to the weight distribution of the door when in the ajar position and the line of effort of the spring 41 as to maintain the door in an ajar position. In an electric range, broiling operations are carried out with the door in this ajar position. In gas ranges, however, it is not necessary to maintain the door ajar while broiling. Therefore, as respects the present invention, which is applicable to both gas and electric ranges, the position of the detent portion 46 is such that the door is in an angular position rendering it convenient to be handled when the door is to be removed from or replaced on the hinge brackets.

The door lock detent 38 and the hinge position detent 39 are maintained in articulated relation by means of a coil spring 47. Said spring is continuously under tension, tending to rotate the respective detents scissors-fashion about the pivot pin 40. Relative movement of the respective detents, however, is interrupted by the engagement of an ear 48 of detent 38 against a shoulder 49 on counterbalance arm 37, as best appears in FIGURE 3. The hinge position detent 39 is provided with angular extension 50 which under certain conditions of operation will engage with a bottom edge of counterbalance arm 37, as appears in FIGURE 5. Finally, the door lock detent 38 is formed with an angularly projecting finger 51 which under certain conditions of operation of the hinge bracket will enter the cutout 30 in the slideway wall 28. The hinge position detent 39 has an extending finger 52 Which under certain conditions of operation is disposed in front of or in engagement with the wall portion 43.1 of the'roller bracket '43.

When the oven door is in any position in which it is fully seated on the hinge brackets 33, the transverse wall 53 engages the upper surface of the hinge position detent 39 and maintains it in the position best seen in FIGURE 3. Wall 53 may define the end of door slot 24 or the guideway slot 29, and, in fact, may be common to both. The end of the hinge position detent 39, and particularly the finger 52 thereof, cannot engage any portion of the bracket 43 so as to interfere with the normal swinging movement of the door. At any door position from closed to just beyond the ajar position, the engagement of the door lock detent 38 with the shoulder 49 of the counterbalance arm renders the spring ineffective to draw the detent into a position in which the finger 51 thereof will enter the aperture 30 of the slideway. There is then no restraint against the removal of the door from the hinge brackets. However, when the door 20 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction, beyond the ajar position of FIGURE 4, the angle between the counterbalance arm 37 and the long axis of the hinge bracket and slideway becomes more and more acute. In effect, this may be considered to be a rotation of the counterbalance arm clockwise about the pivot pin 34, and said rotation thereupon becomes effective to introduce the finger 51 of the door lock detent into the aperture 30 of the door slideway. This makes it impossible for the door to be moved longitudinally of the slideway, for the bottom wall of the aperture immediately engages the finger 51. In the extreme open position shown in FIGURE 6, the angular extension 50 of the hinge position detent has engaged the underside of the counterbalance arm, and the spring 41 is under maximum tension, firmly maintaining the finger 51 within the aperture 30. As stated above, however, the penetration of the finger 51 into the aperture takes place within a few degrees of clockwise rotation of the door from its FIGURE 4 position. At any position of the door between its closed and ajar positionsbut as a practical matter, when the door is in its aforesaid ajar positionthe door may be removed from the hinge bracket by simply drawing it upwardly. FIGURE 5 shows the door in partially removed condition. As previously noted, the shoulder 49 on counterbalance arm 37 holds the door lock detent 38 inefiective to restrain the door against sliding movement on the hinge bracket. The rotation of the door has moved the hinge position detent outwardly of bracket 43. As the door is lifted relative to the hinge bracket, the upper end 53 of the slot 29 of the slideway wall disengages from the hinge position detent 39, whereupon the spring 41 rotates the detent counterclockwise as viewed in FIGURE 5. The engagement of the extension 50 of the detent 39 with the bottom edge of counterbalance arm 37 positions the extension 52 immediately in front of the wall 43.1 of the roller bracket. Upon the removal of the door from the hinge bracket, the reaction of the counterbalance spring 41 draws the hinge bracket clockwise of FIGURE 5 until said member 52 engages the bracket wall 43.1, and the counterbalance spring maintains this relationship so as to establish the hinge bracket in a position best suited to receive the return of the door thereto.

It will be observed from FIGURE 5 that, in the position attained by the hinge elements upon removal of the door, the upper edge of the hinge position detent 39 is substantially in line with the upper edge of the counterbalance arm 37. As a practical matter, therefore, the hinge position detent can be manually rotated in a clockwise direction only by effort exerted against the upper edge of said detent along the portion thereof which spans the cutout portion 54 of the counterbalance arm. This cutout portion is narrow, for it needs to be only of sufiicient width to comfortably accommodate the inner liner of the door and the wall 28 of the slideway 27 when the door moves to its home position, as shown in FIGURE 4. The cutout portion is thus much too narrow to accommodate a finger or the edge of the hand, and it is almost literally impossible for the housewife accidentally to release the detent 39 to permit the counterbalance spring 41 to slam the hinge bracket against the oven frame 12. Other structural elements which of themselves preclude such an accidental release are the substantial tension of spring 47 and the short lever arm established by the distance between the cutout portion of the counterbalance arm 37 and the pivot pin 40. Ob-

sheaths viously, rotation of the hinge position detent 39 can be accomplished only at the expense of increasing the tension on the spring 47, for the door lock detent 38 is held against rotation by the shoulder 49 of the counterbalance arm. The short lever arm makes it necessary to use substantial force to rotate the detent 39 in a disengaging direction. It is completely unlikely, therefore, that the housewife could effect the accidental rotation of the hinge position detent, and the danger of having ones hand crushed between the hinge bracket and the oven frame is effectively removed. Of lesser importance, but also a desirable attribute of this hinge release arrangement, is the protection of the porcelain enamel surface of the oven door liner and the oven frame against damage.

It will be understood that the weight of the door 20 and the downward pressure exerted by it as it is restored to the hinge brackets through the medium of the respective end walls 53 of the slideways as they engage the hinge position detents 39 are fully effective to return the hinge position detents to the disengaged position of FIGURE 4. However, in this circumstance the housewife has the hinge mechanism under complete control for the weight of the door itself counteracts the effort of the detent spring 41, and the slamming of the door against the oven frame construction is prevented.

The embodiment of FIGURES 7 through 11 utilizes a unitary device in lieu of the individual door lock detent and hinge position detent previously described, and employs the door counterbalance arm as the principal means of effecting the operating positions of said device. Although this arrangement requires modification of the hinge bracket and slideway elements as previously described, the oven door itself, including the arrangement of the slot 24 and the bottom opening 25, may be exactly as previously described. Similarly, the range may have the identical structural arrangement as respects its oven framework 12 and the counterbalance arm roller mounting means.

The hinge bracket 60, FIGURE 7, comprises a simple channel structure openly facing the door inner panel 21, and comprehending the slot 24 therein. As indicated, the lower part of the channel is devoid of a transverse web, and in this area the channel side plates 61 and 62 are brought inwardly to provide for a snug pivotal connection with the hinge support arm 32. As previously, a simple hinge pin 34 sufiices. At the upper end of the bracket the web is deflected inwardly to provide a V- shaped guide 63.

The door locking and hinge positioning device 64, FIGURE 11, is essentially a bell crank having two operating arms, of which arm 65 is formed 'with an angularly extending foot 66 which comprises an element of the door locking means, and arm 67 has an arcuate edge 68 providing the hinge bracket positioning detent. Said edge 68 is concentric with the pivot opening 7 0, at which point the bell crank 64 is pivotally secured within the hinge bracket 60 by means of the hinge pin 71. The bell crank 64 has another pivot opening 72, to which is pivotally attached the outer end of counterbalance arm 73. It will be understood that the counterbalance arm is guided by the roller 40, which, as before, cooperates with the projection 69 on the counterbalance arm to establish an ajar position of the door. There is a counterbalance spring (not shown) similar to that described with respect to the previous embodiment. It will be obvious that rotation of the bell crank 64 about its pivot point 70 effects a rotation of the counterbalance arm 73 about the mounting roller 40. This movement is of course subject to the restraint exerted by the counterbalance spring.

As previously, the door is fitted with slideways to engage certain external walls of the hinge brackets. As shown in FIGURE 9, each slideway 74 comprises a channel member in which the wall 75 is welded to the inner door panel 21. As indicated in FIGURE 9, wall 75 does not encroach upon the slot 24 in said door panel. The width of the opposite wall '76 and the dimension of the web 77 are such that with the respective slideways secured within each side portion of the door, the wall 76 and the web 77 are in external sliding relation to the web and a side wall of the hinge bracket. A tongue 78 bent inwardly from the top of the web 77 provides a stop which engages with the top edges of the hinge bracket to establish the home position of the door slideways, with respect to their associated hinge brackets. The wall 76 of each of the slideways is formed with a V- shaped portion 80, the bottom surface 81 of which slopes downwardly and inwardly, as best appears in FIGURE 10. When the slideways are in their home position relative to their hinge brackets, the V-shaped portion 80 is within the V-shaped guide 63 of the hinge bracket, and the sloping surface 81 is below said guide 63. The slideways are provided with an inwardly directed locking member 82, the effective surface 83 of which is about midway of the sloping wall 81.

FIGURE 7 shows the hinge bracket in the door removal position. In that position the pivotal connection between the counterbalance arm and the bell crank has rotated the bell crank about its pivot point 70 so that the arcuate edge 68 of the bell crank arm 67 has been projected partially out of the oven structure 12, and it is engaging the lower edge of the slot 12a in the oven frame structure. The counterbalance spring is tending to draw the hinge bracket into clockwise rotation, as viewed in FIGURE 7, whereupen the engagement of the edge 68 with the oven frame structure establishes the ajar position of the hinge bracket, for with the oven door removed, the counterbalance arm detent projection 69 could not resist the pull of the counterbalance spring (not shown). In this position of the bell crank 64, the foot portion 66 of the bell crank is below the V-shaped guide 63, and an angular projection 84 at the base of the bell crank is in engagement with the bottom edge of the counterbalance arm 73.

When the door is replaced on the hinge brackets, the slideways 74 telescope over the respective brackets, as previously stated, and as the door approaches its home position the sloping wall 81 engages the foot portion 66 of the bell crank and cams it into clockwise rotation of the bell crank about its pivot point 70. This, of course, causes the arm 67 to rotate out of engagement with the oven frame. When the slideways reach their home position, representative of the door in its fully restored position, the arm 67 of the bell crank can no longer impede the closing of the door. Obviously, so long as the door is in its home position the bell crank is maintained in a position ineffective to interfere with the movement of the door between its closed and full open positions.

As in the previous embodiment, the door is locked against removal from the hinge brackets as it is opened a few degrees beyond the FIGURE 7 position. The rotation of the door countcr-clockwise of FIGURE 7 has the effect of changing the angular relationship between the hinge bracket and the associated counterbalance arm, and produces a clockwise rotation of the bell crank 64. This rotation brings the portion 66 of the bell crank immediately above the edge 83 of the slideway locking member. Any movement of the door along the hinge brackets will immediately bring the locking member against the element 66, which, therefore, provides a positive stop or lock against removal of the door.

In describing both embodiments, it has been assumed that two hinge mechanisms of the type described are used for each door, one at each of the lower corners. While the use of two of these mechanisms provides the most efficient door operation, it is conceivable that if but one counterbalance arm is provided, then only one hinge mechanism providing the locking and positioning function is necessary. Where but one of the present type of hinge mechanism is used, the other end' of the door could be hinged using a simple hinge support from which the door could be slidably removed. Any one of a number of generally known types of simple removable hinges could thus be used on the one corner to supplement the action of the hinge mechanism of the present invention on the other corner.

While there has been described what is at present considered to be the preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be understood that various modifications may be made therein, and it is intended to cover in the appended claims all such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination with a frame structure defining an opening, a hinge bracket pivotally mounted on said structure, a door for closing said opening, slideway structure on said door for slidable telescopic relation with said hinge bracket for removably mounting said door thereon, means providing first and second arms pivotally mounted on said bracket, said first arm being rotatable to an operative position engaging with said frame structure to maintain said bracket in an angular relation to said frame structure typical of an ajar position of said door, wall means on said door slideway structure engageable with said arm-providing means to move said first arm to an inoperative position relative to said frame structure upon piacement of said door in a home position on said bracket, means effective upon withdrawal of said door from said hinge bracket subsequent to positioning said door in said typical ajar position to rotate said first arm to its said operative position whereby to maintain said bracket in a position receptive to the return of the door thereto, latch means on said slideway structure, and means responsive to movement of said door and hinge bracket from the ajar position toward a full open position to dispose said second arm and said latch means in cooperating relationship to secure the door against withdrawal from said hinge bracket.

2. In combination with a frame structure defining an opening, a hinge bracket pivotally mounted on said structure, a door for closing said opening, slideway structure on said door for slidable engagement with said hinge bracket for removably mounting said door thereon whereby said door and said hinge bracket may be commonly moved between positions representing closed and full open positions of said door, means providing first and second arms pivotally mounted on said bracket, said first arm being rotatable to an operative position engaging with said frame structure to maintain said bracket in an angular relation to said frame structure typical of an ajar position of said door, wall means on said door slideway structure effecting movement of said first arm to an inoperative position relative to said frame structure upon placement of said door in a home position on said bracket, means effective upon removal of said door from said hinge bracket subsequent to positioning said door in said typical ajar position to rotate said first arm to its said operative position whereby to maintain said bracket in a position receptive to the return of the door thereto, latch means on said slideway structure, and means responsive to movement of said door and hinge bracket from the ajar position toward a full open position to engage said second arm and said latch means to secure the door against withdrawal from said hinge bracket.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein there are means effective upon movement of said door from its ajar pc sition toward its full open position to rotate said second arm into locking relationship with said latching means.

4. In combination with a frame structure defining an opening, a hinge bracket pivotally mounted on said structure, a door for closing said opening, slideway structure on said door for slidable engagement with said hinge bracket for removably mounting said door thereon, means providing first and second arms independently pivotally mounted on said bracket by means of a common pivot,-

said first arm being rotatable to an operative position engaging with said frame structure to maintain said bracket in an angular relation to said frame structure typical of an ajar position of said door, means on said door slideway structure engageable with said first arm to establish the same in an inoperative position relative to said frame upon placement of said door in a home position on said bracket, means effective upon slidable displacement of said door along said hinge bracket subsequent to positioning said door in said angular relationship to rotate said first arm to its said operative position whereby to maintain said bracket in a position receptive to the return of the door thereto, latch means on said slideway structure, and means responsive to movement of said door and hinge bracket from the ajar position toward a full open position to dispose said second arm and said latch means in cooperating relationship to secure the door against withdrawal from said hinge bracket.

5. The combination of claim 4 wherein the means for rotating said first am into operative position comprises spring means coupled to said first arm, and said means for disposing said second arm and said latch means in cooperative relationship also comprises said aforementioned spring means.

6. The combination of claim 5 wherein said spring means extends between said arms to maintain said arms in articulated relationship, said spring means being effective to rotate said first arm to operative relationship with said frame and said spring means further effective to effect the latching engagement.

7. In combination with a frame structure defining an opening, a hinge bracket pivotally mounted on said structure, a door for closing said opening, slideway structure on said door for slidable engagement with said hinge bracket for removably mounting said door thereon, means providing first and second arms pivotally mounted on said bracket by means of a common pivot, said first arm being rotatable to an operative position engaging with said frame structure to maintain said bracket in an angular relation to said frame structure typical of an ajar position of said door, means on said door slideway structure engageable with said first arm to establish the same in an inoperative position relative to said frame structure upon placement of said door in a home position on said bracket, means efiiective upon slidable displacement of said door along said hinge bracket subsequent to positioning said door in said angular relationship to rotate said first arm to its said operative position whereby to maintain said bracket in a position receptive to the return of the door thereto, an angular extension on said second arm at the free end thereof, latch means on said slideway structure, and means responsive. to movement of said door and hinge bracket from the ajar position toward a full open position to dispose Said angular extension and said latch means in cooperating relationship to secure the door against Withdrawal from said hinge bracket.

8. In combination with a frame structure defining an opening, a hinge bracket pivotally mounted on said structure, a door for closing said opening, slideway structure on said door for slidable engagement with said hinge bracket for removably mounting said door thereon whereby said door and said hinge bracket may be commonly moved between positions representing closed and full open positions of said door, bell crank means providing first and second arms pivotally mounted on said bracket, said first arm being rotatable to an operative position engaging with said frame structure to maintain said bracket in an angular relation to said frame structure typical of an ajar position of said door, wall means on said door slideway structure effecting movement of said first arm to an inoperative position relative to said frame structure upon placement of said door in a home position on said bracket, means effective upon removal of said door from said hinge bracket subsequent to positioning said door in said typical ajar position to rotate said first arm to its said operative position whereby to maintain said bracket in a position receptive to the return of the door thereto, latch means on said slide way structure, and means responsive to movement of said door and binge bracket from the ajar position toward a full open position to engage said second arm and said latch means to secure the door against withdrawal from said hinge bracket, said door slideway structure wall means engaging said second arm to move the first arm to its inoperative position upon return of the door to its home position on the bracket.

9. A mechanism for hinging a door removably to a frame structure where said structure forms an opening to be covered by said door, said mechanism comprising a hinge bracket pivotally secured to said frame structure, a channel frame secured within said door adapted to telescope about said bracket for rendering said door pivotally co-operative with said hinge bracket between a closed position covering said opening and a fully open position of said door, a first arm pivotally secured to said bracket, said arm being pivotal in a first direction with said door open beyond a pre-determined partially open position, means in said channel frame for co-acting with said arm to latch said bracket to said channel to thereby lock said door to the hinging mechanism when said door is open beyond said partially open position, means for causing said arm to pivot in a direction opposite said first direction when said door is open to any position up to said pre-determined position to release said channel and arm co-action, a second arm having connection to said first arm, means for causing said secchannel frame from about said bracket, and means for holding said second arm pivoted in said first direction to 0nd arm to pivot in a first direction on removal of said hold said bracket in said pre-determined partially open position with said door removed from said bracket.

10. A mechanism for hinging a door removably to a frame structure where said structure surrounds an opening to be covered by said door, said mechanism comprising a hinge bracket pivotally secured to said frame structure, a channel frame secured within said door for removable telescoping relationship with said bracket for rendering said door pivotally coy-operative with said hinge bracket between a closed position covering said opening and a fully open position of said door, a first arm secured to said bracket, means coupled to said first arm for causing said arm to pivot in a first direction with said door open beyond a pre-deterrnined partially open position, means in said channel frame for mechanically engaging with said arm to prevent movement of said door from said hinge bracket with said door open beyond said partially open position, said arm being pivotal in a direction opposite said first direction when said door is open to said pre-determined position, or open less, to cause the release of said channel from said arm, a second arm pivotally coupled to said bracket, means for causing said second arm to pivot in a first direction on removal of said channel frame from about said bracket, and means for holding said second arm pivoted in said first direction to hold said bracket in said pre-determined partially open position with said door removed from said bracket.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Great Britain Feb. 4, 1959

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