US3131981A

US3131981A - Door mechanism for convertible oven

Info

Publication number: US3131981A
Application number: US226597A
Authority: US
Inventors: George A Scott; Jr Milton S Williams
Original assignee: General Electric Co
Current assignee: General Electric Co
Priority date: 1962-09-27
Filing date: 1962-09-27
Publication date: 1964-05-05
Anticipated expiration: 1981-05-05

Description

M y 1964 G. A. scor'r ETAL DOOR MECHANISM FOR CONVERTIBLE OVEN 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 27, 1962 FIG. I

F- 7 INVENTORS GEORGE A. SCOTT BY QMILTON S. W\LLIAMS 3R.

A- OK m THEIR ATTORNEY May 5, 1964 G. A. SCOTT ETAL DOOR MECHANISM FOR CONVERTIBLE OVEN Filed Sept. 27, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 60 S ill INVENTORS GEORGE A. sco'r'r BYEMILT'ON s. WILLIAMS J'R.

THEIR ATTORNEY e. A. SCOTT ETAL 3,131,981 DOOR MECHANISM FOR CONVERTIBLE OVEN Filed Sept. 2'7, 1962 May 5, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR5 F. G. 6 GEORGE A. SCOTT r BY&MILTON s. WILLIAMS J'R.

1 THEIR ATTORNEY y 5, 1964 G. A. SCOTT ETAL 3,131,981

DOOR MECHANISM FOR CONVERTIBLE OVEN Filed Sept. 27, 1962 FIG.4

4 Sheets-Sheet 4 J INVENTORS l I I W GEORGE. A. SCOTT mas BY Wzm.

THEIR ATTORNEY 3 131931 DOOR MECHANISM FUR CDNVER'HBLE OVEN George A. Scott, .letiersontown, and Milton S. Williarns, in, Middletown, Ky, assignors to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Filed Sept. 27, N62, Ser. No. 226,597 9 Claims. (Cl. 312-222) The present invention relates to a door mechanism for a domestic oven and particularly to a convertible drawer type oven where the drawer may be moved in and out of its supporting cabinet.

Extensive consumer surveys have been made to determine the use made of an oven by the average housewife and they indicate that an oven is rarely used to capacity.

By thi'sis meant that the oven sizes are usually much larger than are necessary for accommodating the average sizes of foods that are cooked in thExOVCIl. However, there are many cooking operations which require more than one oven for maximum flexibility of meal planning. Typical examples of use where more than one oven will be needed are the following: simultaneously baking and broiling, Warming and baking, or baking two items that require diiierent oven temperatures.

This application is related to another of one of the present applicants, George A. Scott, Serial No. 226,595, entitled Convertible Drawer Oven, which is being filed concurrently herewith and is assigned to the General Electric Company, assignee of the present invention. In this co-pending application there is taught a convertible drawer oven having one or more pull-out drawers mounted in a cabinet structure. The front wall of each drawer is represented by a hinged door. Moreover, the two drawers are stacked one above the other within the cabinet,

and the top drawer is capable of being withdrawn from the cabinet and inverted and returned to the cabinet to form with the lower drawer a single large oven.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a convertible drawer oven with a cooperating linkage mechanism between the drawer and its hinged door so that neither the door nor the drawer may be moved unless the other member is locked in place.

-A further object of the present invention is to provide a convertible oven with at least two drawers having door linkage mechanisms where the meachanisms are operated independently when the two drawers are arranged in their upright positions, but where the mechanisms operate in unison when the upper drawer is inverted to form with the lower drawer a single large oven. 7

A further object of the present invention is to provide a double drawer oven with a link-age mechanism which permits the door of each drawer to open only when the drawer islocked in a closed position, and to permit the drawer to be pulled open only when the doors are first locked in the closed posit-ion.

The present invention, in accordance with one form thereof, relates to a drawer. locking mechanism and door linkage mechanism for a convertible drawer oven where there is at least one drawer mounted in a cabinet structure to form asmall oven compartment. The front wall of the drawer is formed by a hinged door. The drawer has a locking mechanism for holding the drawer in a closed position within .the cabinet. Moreover, the door and latching mechanism operate independently when the two drawers are mounted upright within the cabinet structure. By removing the upper drawer and inventing it and returning it to the cabinet the independent mechanisms are automatically combined into a single system whereby both doors operate in unison, but only after the drawers are locked within the cabinet.

Thisinvention is also related to another copending application of one of the present applicants; namely, George A. Scott, Serial No. 226,596, entitled Temperature Control Means for Convertible Drawer Oven, which is being filed concurrently herewith and is likewise assigned to the General Electric Company, assignee of the present invention. 'This copending application covers the temperature control means for the convertible drawer oven mentioned previously.

Our invention will be better understood from the following desoription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and its scope will be pointed out in the appended claims.

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a convertible drawer oven embodying the drawer locking and door linkage mechanisms of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a transverse cross-sectional elevational view looking toward the back wall of the oven cabinet and showing the top drawer in an inverted position to form a single large oven;

FIGURE 3 is a right side cross-sectional elevational view taken on the line 4-4 of FIGURE 2 and showing the drawer locking mechanism and the door linkage mechanism in the position for the simultaneous movement of both doors upon the movement of but one of the doors;

FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectional elevational view similar to that of FIGURE 3 but firom the reverse direction and has alinkage mechanism cooperating with the drawer locking mechanism so that the door may be moved only when the drawer is locked and vice versa. In its broadest sense, this drawer locking mechanism and door linkage mechanism could be used in a single oven compartment,

taken on the lined-4 of FIGURE 2 where both drawers have been removed from the cabinet to facilitate the understanding of the various mechanisms;

FIGURE 5 is an upper fragmentary view similar to that of FIGURE 4 with the upper drawer assembled in its inverted position into the cabinet for showing the co operation between the door linkage mechanism and a drawer locking mechanism;

FIGURES 6 and 7 are diagrammatic showings of the various mechanisms of a single drawer-in order to facilitate the understanding of the invention being claimed herein; a 7

FIGURE 6 shows a single drawer being held in its closed position by the drawerllocking member which in turn frees the door latch member so that the front door drawer oven comprising a cabinet structure it] and a pm upper drawer 11, and a selector switch 16 and thermostat 17 for the lower drawer 12. Each switch and thermostat includes an inner dial 13 located behind the control panel 13 and the dial cooperates with an indicator window 19 in the panel for obtaining the proper setting of the device. The lower controls 16 land 17 are also the ones that are used for controlling the single large oven once the upper drawer 11 is inverted and returned to the cabinet. Moreover, there is a clock-timer 20 for cooperation with the thermostat 17 of the lower drawer, and this timer is furnished with a pair of adjusting knobs 21 and 22 for controlling the oven starting time and oven. stopping time as will be well understood by those skilled in this art.

As can best be seen in the cross-sectional view of FIG- URE 2, the cabinet structure is of thin walled sheet metal construction that is substantially uninsulated except for the top wall 25 of the cabinet which has an insulating panel 26 for separating the top wall from an underlying plate heater 27. This heater 27 form a broiler unit for the upper drawer 11 when the upper drawer is supported within the cabinet in its upright position of FIGURE 1. Some means must be provided for retaining the heat in each drawer since very little heat retention is provided by the uninsulated cabinet 10, as explained above. Each drawer l1 and 12 is of double sheet metal construction having an inner oven liner wall 23 and an outer wall 29 spaced therefrom, with semi-rigid blocks of insulation 30 sandwiched therebetween.

The standard type of heat insulating material used in present day ovens is fiberglass that is furnished in blanket or batt form, but it must be supported by some external means, therefore, it contributes nothing to the structural strength of the oven. Since it is the avowed purpose of the present convertible oven to be able to remove the upper drawer 11 and install it back in the cabinet in an inverted position, the weight of the drawer is a critical limiting factor. It is felt that this weight should not exceed about fifteen pounds which is believed to be the maximum weight that the average housewife could be expected to handle for this size drawer. Moreover, a light weight drawer would be more conducive to the beneath the top wall 25 of the cabinet 10 is also a platetype heater having multi-layers of film of noble metals.

Since there is a co-pending application, Serial No. 226,596, as mentioned previously, which covers the circuitry for energizing these various heating elements and for controlling the energization in various cooking operations, the circuit diagram of this oven and the various .electrical connections and components will not be discussed here so as to concentrate more fully on the particular invention that is being claimed herein.

Experience has taught that about 42% of the heat loss in a standard oven is due to heat conduction through various parts in metal-to-metal contact. Accordingly, it is expedient to reduce this amount of heat loss due to conduction by restricting the metal-to-metal contact between each drawer 11 and 12 and the supporting cabinet 10. Each drawer is shown as being substantially identical in form but this is not an absolute necessity. It is merely an expedient to cut down on the tooling cost by using the same tools for making both drawers. It is recognized however that the two drawers are different in function and therefore could be different in design without causing any difficulty. However, each drawer will be described in detail as it is shown in the drawings. The side and back walls of each drawer 11 and 12 are provided with upper and lower horizontal flanges 55, 56 and cleaning of the oven at the kitchen sink by carrying each drawer to the sink where water is available for washing and rinsing the oven liner walls 28. Accordingly, in order to restrict the amount of weight of the drawer it is deemed expedient to substitute semi-rigid blocks of insulating material 30 for the fiberglass so as to utilize the structural strength of the insulation and make it possible to use thinner

gauge metal sheets

28 and 29 in the drawer construction. Moreover, by using thin metal sheets for the drawer, the heat lost by conduction through the metal is further reduced. One type of satisfactory insulation is sold under the trade name Thermobestos board by the Johns-Manville Company. Another material would be potassium titanate sold by the Du Pont Company or calcium silicate which is available from many sources.

Each drawer 11 and 12 has an insulated bottom wall 31 and 32 respectively that is supplied with a plate-

type film heater

33 and 34 respectively. Such fllm heaters are of the general type that is disclosed and claimed in the co-pending application of Bohdan Hurko, now Patent No. 3,067,315, using multiple layers of platinum and gold, which was filed on February 8, 1960, and is assigned to the General Electric Company, assignee of the present invention. It will be recognized by those skilled in this art that there are other types of film heater-s such as tin oxide heaters which might be substituted to obtain comparable results. The film heater illustrated in FIGURE 2 comprises a dielectric base plate 35 in plate form of nearly pure silicon oxide that is sold under the trade name of Vycor by theCorning Glass Company. To the underside of this base plate is fused a multi-layer of metallic film 36 of noble metals such as platinum and gold in a particular relationship so as to prevent the crystallization of the conductive layers at high temperatures. Preferably, this multi-layer film is applied as a narrow strip in a suitable serpentine pattern so as to give nearly uniform temperature gradients throughout the expanse of the plate. The boilunit 27 mentioned previously as being positioned 57, 58 respectively. These flanges are support flanges that cooperate with flanged rollers or slide means that are located in groups at the upper and lower edges of the side walls of the cabinet as is best seen in FIGURE 2. In other words, the top group is identified as elements 60, while the bottom group is identified as elements 61. Each group of rollers is pivotally supported on an adjustable bar 62 that is fastened to the side wall of the cabinet. This adjustment is deemed necessary in order to attain proper alignment of the drawers within the cabinet so that the air gapbetween the two drawers can be held to a minimum for restricting heat loss therethrough.

The lower drawer 12 is always supported in an upright position on the lower rollers 61 by its lower flanges 58, while the upper-drawer 11 may be suspended from its upper flanges 55 on the upper rollers 69 in the upright oven position of FIGURE ,1. Alternatively, the upper drawer 11 may be suspended from its lower flanges 56 on the upper rollers 60 when the drawer 11 is inverted as is clearly illustrated in FIGURE 2. One reason for locating the roller assemblies 60 and 61 adjacent the top and bottom edges of the side walls of the cabinet is to provide space at the mid-height of the cabinet for a resilient metal gasket 64 that seals the opening between the drawers. As best seen in FIGURE 2 the gasket is of generally C-shape in cross-section and it is adapted to extend around the three vertical walls of the cabinet; namely, the two'opposite side walls and across the back wall of the cabinet so as to engage only the flanges 55 and 57 in the single large oven combination of FIGURE 2, and the flanges 56 and 57 in the double small oven combination.

Turning back to a consideration of the assembly view of FIGURE 1, it should be appreciated that the front wall of each drawer 11 and 12 is formed by a hinged

door

66 and 67 respectively which is hinged along the front edge of the bottom wall of each drawer. Each door is provided with a pair of hinged straps 68 which help to support the door in a horizontal fully open position. Each hinge strap is pivotally mounted to the door at one end and slidably mounted to the drawer at the other end as will be fully explained hereinafter. Each door consists of double panes of tempered glass 69 which are supported in a narrow metal frame 70 so that the door is mostly transparent for ease of viewing within the oven. A handle 71 isfastened on each door frame adjacent the swinging edge of the door for grasping the door and swinging it between open and closed positions, as well as for pulling the drawer out of the cabinet and returning the drawer to the cabinet.

The description which has been given above is mainly background information which is needed to understand the nature of the invention to be claimed in this application; namely, of a drawer locking mechanism and a door linkage mechanism and the relation between the two mechanisms. Before discussing the detailed view of FIG- URES 3, 4 and 5 mention will be made of the diagrammatic views of FIGURES 6 and 7 in order to convey'a better understanding of the simplicity ofthis mechanism a and of its operation. For example, in FIGURE 6 there is shown the lower drawer 12. with its front opening drop door 67, and a hinge strap 68 pivotally connected at one end at 73 to the door and pivotally connected at its other end 74 to a door latch member 75. Attached to each side of the drawer is a door latch guide member 76 which is a channel member, where the base of the channel is fastened to the side wall to present an upper flange 77 and a lower flange 78. The hinge strap 63 is positioned outside the door latch guide member 76 so as to' be free thereof, and it is only the door latch member 75 which is closely guided for reciprocating motion within the guide 76. The outermost end 79 of the guide is provided with a stop member 79 which the door latch 75 strikes when the door 67 reaches its horizontal fully open position shown in FIGURE 3. It is this stop member 79 which supports the weight. of the door when the door is in its open position and prevents the door from pivoting beyond its horizontal position. Some means must be provided for locking the drawers within the cabinet so that they cannot move within the cabinet during the normal cooking operations. For this purpose, an oven locking member 81 is provided in the form of a bar that is pivoted at its back end 82 within the cabinet and has a hook 83 at its free end for making engagement with a slot 84 formed in the lower flange 78 of the door latch guide member 76. A tension spring 85 acts upon the oven lock member 81 to normally bias the member upwardly so that when the drawer is pushed into the cabinet the hook end 83 of the oven lock member will be deflected down by the end of the door latch guide member 76 until the hook portion 83 is free to move into the slot 84 and thereby lock the drawer automatically in place.

There is a cooperation between the door latch member 75 and the oven lock member 81 so that only one of them is in locking engagement with the door latch guide member 76 at any one time. The innermost .end 87 of the door latch member 75 is of hook shape downwardly so that it will normally engage over the innermost end'of the door latch guide member 76 as is best seen in FIGURE 7. However, this locking action is prevented in FIG- URE 6 by the presence of the hooked end 83 of the oven lock member 81 which supports the door latch member 75 in a slightly raised position. Hence, when an opening force is applied to the door 67 the door latch member 75 will slide freely within the door latch guide member 76, while the drawer 12 is locked in place by the oven lock member 81 engaged in the slot 84. 7

Each drawer 11 and 12 is provided with a manual release '

member

88 and 89 respectively which extends out the front of the cabinet for easy manipulation, and its purpose is to apply a downward force against the oven lock member 81 so as to disengage the lock memberfrom the guide member 76 and simultaneously engage the door latch member 75 with the guide member 76. Aftersuch an event it will be possible to pull on the handle 71 of the drawer to remove the drawer 12 from the cabinet since the door 67 would remain closed with respect to its drawer. The mechanism which has been described above can be recognized easily in FIGURE 3 for the lower drawer 12. Inthe cross-sectional views of FIGURES 3, 4 and 5 several diiferent mechanisms appear to blend together so that the mechanisms appear more complicated than they are. Both the drawer locking mechanism and the door linkage mechanism are duplicated on both sides of each drawer so that it is necessary for each manual release means 88 and 89 to act against an oven locking member 81 on both sides of the cabinet. This double action is provided by

tie rods

91 and 92 which are best shown in FIGURES 2 and 4 as extending across the back wall of the cabinet. Each tie rod is formed as an integral part of the oven locking member for each drawer such as lock member 81 for the lower drawer 12.

The drawer locking mechanism and the door linkage mechanism for the upper drawer 11 are the same in principle as those of the lower drawer 12 except that they are modified so that the upper drawer 11 can be inverted and returned to the cabinet and still retain the drawer locking feature and the cooperation between the drawer and the door. order to connect the two door locking mechanisms together so that the movement of one door will cause a like movement in the other door as will be best understood hereinafter.

Attention is first directed to FIGURE 3 of the drawing and particularly to the upper portion thereof. The upper drawerll is in its inverted position with its front door I A hinge strap 68 connects between the door 66 and a door latch member 94 which is in turn supported on the drawer 11 by being confined within a door latch guide member 95 that is similar to the door latch guide member 76 for the lower drawer 12. There is an oven locking member 96 for the upper drawer, but it is different from the oven lock member 81 of the lower drawer 12 in that it has a pair of

fingers

98 and 99 with upwardly directed hook ends. The purpose of the lower hooked finger 99 is to engage in a slot 10%? in the lower flange of the channelshaped door latch guide member 95 for locking the inverted drawer in place. i The upper hooked finger 98 is usable when the upper drawer 11 is in its upright posi- 1 tion (not shown) for cooperation in the slot 101 of the upper flange of the door latch guide member 95. In other door latch guide member will engage one hooked finger 98 of the oven lock 96, and in the other position of the drawer will engage the other hooked finger 99. This oven locking member 96 for the upper drawer is likewise spring biased in an upward direction by spring means 163 for automatic locking engagement with the door latch guide member when the drawer is pushed completely into the cabinet. t

Next to be discussed is the mechanism for connecting the two

doors

66 and 67 together when the upper drawer is inverted as shown in FIGURE 3. The door linkage mechanisms of both drawers 11 and 12 are connected to gether at each side of the cabinet by a vertically arranged trolley 1155 which is supplied with an upper and a lower beam having double flange rollers 106 and 107respectively. These rollers are adapted to ride between a pair of vertically spaced rails; namely, an upper rail 168 and a lower rail 109. These rails 108 and 169 form part of a metal frame member having connecting side posts 1119 and 111. These posts 110 and 111 serve as stop means to limit the extent of the rolling movement of the trolley within the cabinet. The shape of the trolley is that of the letter H which is placed over on its side, and it is the corners of the trolley which are provided with the double flanged rollers 166 and 107. V

i A releasable connection must be made between each trolley 165 and the two

door latching members

75 and 94.

Moreover, the mechanisms have been changed in which shows the upper portion of the oven with the top drawer 11 in its inverted position. This trolley link 113 is pivotally connected as at 115 to the inside of the trolley adjacent the top of the vertical center post 116 of the trolley. The free end of the pivoted link 113 has an inwardly turned ledge 117 which rides up onto the top edge of the lower hooked finger 99 of the oven lock member 96 when the drawer 11 is in the fully closed position. This ledge member 117 cooperates with a slot 118 that is formed in the innermost end of the door latch member 94, and it should be understood that this slot 118 is located inwardly of the slot 119 that cooperates with the hooked finger 99 of the oven lock member 96 for locking the drawer in place and preventing the door from being locked closed when the drawer 11 is locked within the cabinet.

To explain further, a trolley 195 is located on each side of the cabinet and it is adapted to engage with the

door latch members

94 and 75 so that whenever one

door

66 or 67 is opened the door latch member will slide toward the front of the cabinet. Such a movement willalso move the trolley 105 toward the front and the trolley in turn will force the door latch member of the other drawer to move simultaneously, thereby effecting unified movement of the two doors. The inwardly turned ledge 117 of the trolley link 113 overlies the lower hooked finger 99 so that when the manual release lever 88 is depressed against the natural upward force provided by the spring member 121, the manual release lever will bear down against the ledge 117. This causes the ledge to depress the lower hooked finger 99 thereby disengaging the locking member 96 from the door latch guide member 95 and at the same time causes the door latch 94 to be in looking engagement with the door latch guide member 95 so that the door 66 is locked closed while the drawer 11 is free to move outwardly of the cabinet. The same operation is effected when the manual release member 89 for the lower drawer 12 is depressed.

Modifications of this invention will occur to those skilled in this art, and, therefore, it is to be understood, that this invention is not limited to the particular embodiments disclosed but that is is intended to cover all modiinvention as claimed.

What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A domestic oven comprising a cabinet structure with a drawer oven supported in the cabinet, drawer guiding means on which the drawer is supported so that the drawer may be withdrawn from the cabinet, a hinged door forming the front wall of the drawer, the door having at least one hinge strap connected at one end to the door, for supporting the door in an open position, the opposite end of the hinge strap being attached to a door latch member, a door latch guide means fixed to an outer wall of the drawer for supporting the door latch member therein, and a drawer locking member supported within the cabinet, the drawer locking member being engageable with the door latch guide means for locking the drawer within the cabinet but allowing the door to move freely between open and closed positions, and a drawer release means cooperating with the drawer locking member so that when the release means disconnects the locking member from the drawer the door latch will automatically engage the door latch guide means thereby holding the door in a closed position so that the drawer may be withdrawn from the cabinet by pulling on the door.

2. A domestic oven comprising a cabinet structure with a drawer oven supported therein, and drawer guiding means on which the drawer is removably supported within the cabinet, and a drop-down hinged door forming the front wall of the drawer, the door having at least one hinge strap connected at one end of the door for supportdoor latch-guide means fixed to a side wall of a drawer for supporting the door latch member therein, and a drawer locking member supported within the cabinet and being engageable with the door latch guide means for locking the drawer within the cabinet, the drawer locking member in this position serving to hold the door latch out of locking engagement with the door latch guide means so that the door may move freely between open and closed positions, and a drawer release means cooperating with the drawer locking member, the release means serving to disconnect the drawer locking member from the drawer so that the door latch will automatically engage the door latch guide means for holding the door in a closed position so that the drawer may be withdrawn from the cabinet by pulling on the door.

3. A convertible drawer oven comprising an outer cabinet having at least two drawer ovens supported therein, and drawer guide means within the cabinet for supporting each drawer so that it may be withdrawn from the cabinet, and a hinged door forming the front wall of each drawer, each door having at least one hinge strap connected at one end to the door for supporting the door in an open position, and a door latch member connected to the opposite end of each hinge strap, a door latch guide means fixed to the side wall of each drawer for supporting the door latch member therein, and a drawer locking member for each drawer supported within the cabinet, each drawer locking member being engageable with a corresponding door latch guide means for locking the drawer within the cabinet while holding the door latch out of engagement with the door latch guide means so that each door is capable of movingfreely and independently between open and closed positions, and a draw er release means for each drawer cooperating with the drawer locking member, the release means being operable to disconnect the locking member from each drawer so that the door latch will automatically engage the door latch guide means for locking the door closed so that each drawer may be withdrawn from the cabinet by pulling on its door, the top drawer being reversible so that it forms with the bottom drawer a single large oven, and connecting means between both door latch members in the single large oven position so that both doors swing simultaneously between open and closed positions.

4. A convertible drawer oven comprising an outer cabinet having two drawer ovens supported therein, and drawer guide means within the cabinet for supporting each drawer so that it may be withdrawn from the cabinet, and a hinged door forming the front wall of each drawer, each door having at least one hinge strap connected at one end to the door for supporting the door in an open position, and separate means for locking each drawer within the cabinet, an automatic means for locking the door in the closed position when the drawer is unlocked from the cabinet so that each drawer may bewithdrawn from the cabinet by pulling on its door, the top drawer being reversible so it forms with the bottom drawer a single large oven, and connecting means between the hinge strap members of each door so that both doors swing simultaneously between open and closed position.

5. A convertible drawer oven comprising an outer cabinet having at least two drawer ovens supported therein,

and drawer guide means within the cabinet for supporting each drawer so that it may be withdrawn from the cabinet, and a hinged door forming the front wall of each drawer, each drawer having at least one hinge strap connected at one end to the door for supporting the door in an open position, and a door latch member connected to the opposite end of each hinge strap, a door latch guide means fixed to the side wall of each door for supporting the door latch member therein, and a drawer locking member for each drawer supported within the cabinet, each drawer locking member being engageable with a corresponding latch guide means for locking the drawer within 9 V the cabinet while holding the door latch out of engagement with the drawer latch guide means so that each door is capable of moving freely and independently between open and closed positions, and a drawer release means cooperating with the drawer locking member for each drawer, the release means being operable to disconnect the locking member from each drawer so that the door latch will automatically engage the door latch guide means for locking the door closed whereby each drawer may be withdrawn from the cabinet by pulling on the door, the top drawer being reversible so it forms with the bottom drawer a single large oven, said door locking member for the upper drawer being of double form so that one form engages the door latch guide means in the upright position of the upper drawer and the other form engages the door latch guide means in the inverted position of the upper drawer, and connecting means betweenboth door latch members when the upper drawer is inverted so that both doors swing simultaneously between open and closed positions, said connecting means comprising at least one trolley having a releasable link member for each drawer for engaging the door latch member thereof so that the trolley will travel back and forth within the cabinet as the doors are moved between open and closed positions, said trolley link membersbeing automatically released from the door latch members when the oven locking members are disengaged from the door latch guide means so that again the doors would be locked in a closed position and the drawers would be capable of moving outwardly of the cabinet.

6. A domestic oven having a cabinet structure defining an oven cavity with an open front wall that is adapted to be closed by a pair of hinged doors which are connected to the cabinet on opposite Walls of the cabinet, each hinged door having at least one hinge strap connected at one end to the door for supporting the door in an open position, and a separate door latch member connected to the 0pposite end of each hinge strap, a door latch guide means fixed within each cabinet forsupporting the door latch member therein, so that each door is capable of moving freely between open and closed positions, and connecting means between the door latch members of the two doors so that both doors may be moved simultaneously between open and closed positions, said connecting means comprising an independent trolley member having a releasable link member for connection and disconnection with each door latch member, and a manual release means extending outwardly of the cabinet and capable of disengaging at least one of the releasable link members of the trolley from the related door latch member so that the doors may be independently operated.

, 7. A domestic oven as recited in claim 6 wherein each hinged door is supported from a pull-out drawer oven, where the top drawer is in an inverted position to define with the lower upright drawer a single large oven, and a drawer locking member for each drawer supported within the cabinet, each drawer locking member being engageable with a corresponding door latch guide means for locking the drawer within the cabinet while holding the door latch out of engagement with the door latch guide means so that each door is capable of moving freely between open and closed positions, wherein the manual release means cooperates with the drawer locking member for each drawer, so that each release means is operable to disconnect the locking member from each drawer so that the releasable link member of the trolley will automatically disengage itself from the door latch and in turn the door latch will automatically engage the door latch guide means for locking the door closed so that each drawer may be Withdrawn from the cabinet by pulling on its door.

8. A cabinet structure with a drawer supported therein, drawer guiding means on which the drawer is supported so that the drawer may be withdrawn from the cabinet, and a hinged door forming the front wall of the drawer, the door having at least one hinge strap connected at one end to the door for supporting the door in an open position, the opposite end of the hinge strap being attached to a door latch member, a door latch guide means fixed to an outer wall of the drawer for supporting the door latch member therein, and a drawer locking 4 member supported within the cabinet, the drawer locking member being engageable with the door latch guide means for locking the drawer within the cabinet but allowing the door to move freely between open and closed positions, and a drawer release means cooperating with the drawer locking member so that when the release means disconnects the locking member from the drawer the door latch will automatically engage the door latch guide means thereby holding the door in a closed position so that the drawer may be withdrawn from the cabinet by pulling on the door.

9. A domestic oven comprising a cabinet structure with a removable oven liner supported therein, an oven liner guide means on which the liner is removably supported within the cabinet, and a drop-down hinged door forming a front wall of the liner, the liner having at least one hinge strap connected at one end to the door for supporting the door in a horizontal open position, and a .door latch member attached .to the opposite end of the hinge strap, a door latch guide means fixed to a side wall of the liner for supporting the door latch member therein, and a liner locking member supported within the cabinet and being engageable with the door latch guide means for locking the liner within the cabinet, the liner locking member in this position serving to hold the door latch out of locking engagement with the door latch guide means so that the door may move freely between open and closed positions, and a liner release means cooperating with the liner locking member, the release means serving to disconnect the liner locking member from the liner so that the door latch will automatically engage the door latch guide means for holding the door in a closed position so that the liner may be withdrawn from the cabinet by pulling on the door.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 410,257 Smith Sept. 3, 1889 2,029,718 Hobson Feb. 4, 1936 2,238,033 Carlson Apr. 15, 1941 2,510,807 Fosberg June 6, 1950 2,997,041 Wolske Aug. 22, 1961 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE I CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent N00 3, 131,981 May 5 1964 George A, Scott et al.

v It is hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered patentrequiring-correction and that the said Letters Patent shouldfread as corrected below.

Column 7, line 73, for "of" read to column 9, line 37, strike out "separate" and insert the same after "a" in line 58; same column 9, line 39, for "each cabinet for supporting the" read the cabinet for supporting each Q Signed and sealed this 8th day of September 1964.

(SE-AL) Attest:

ERNEST w. SWIDE-R EDWARD J. BRENNER Ait'est ing Officer Commissioner of Patents

Claims

6. A DOMESTIC OVEN HAVING A CABINET STRUCTURE DEFINING AN OVEN CAVITY WITH AN OPEN FRONT WALL THAT IS ADAPTED TO BE CLOSED BY A PAIR OF HINGED DOORS WHICH ARE CONNECTED TO THE CABINET ON OPPOSITE WALLS OF THE CABINET, EACH HINGED DOOR HAVING AT LEAST ONE HINGE STRAP CONNECTED AT ONE END TO THE DOOR FOR SUPPORTING THE DOOR IN AN OPEN POSITION, AND A SEPARATE DOOR LATCH MEMBER CONNECTED TO THE OPPOSITE END OF EACH HINGE STRAP, A DOOR LATCH GUIDE MEANS FIXED WITHIN EACH CABINET FOR SUPPORTING THE DOOR LATCH MEMBER THEREIN, SO THAT EACH DOOR IS CAPABLE OF MOVING FREELY BETWEEN OPEN AND CLOSED POSITIONS, AND CONNECTING