US3155443A

US3155443A - Reversible door cabinet

Info

Publication number: US3155443A
Application number: US43634A
Authority: US
Inventors: Meilinger Raymond
Original assignee: MEILINGER FIXTURES CO Inc
Current assignee: MEILINGER FIXTURES CO Inc
Priority date: 1960-07-18
Filing date: 1960-07-18
Publication date: 1964-11-03
Anticipated expiration: 1981-11-03

Description

Nov'. 3, 1964 r R. MEILINGER 3,155,443

' REVERSIBLE DOOR CABINET Filed July 18. 1960 INVENTOR. Raymond Mei/Inger ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,155,443 REVERSTBLE EQLUR CABINET Raymond Meilinger, Denver, field, assignor to Meiiinger Fixtures Company, lino, iltenver, Colo a corporation of Colorado Filed arriy 1%, i960, Ser. No. 43,634 4 Claims. (53?. 312-329) This invention is directed to reversible-door cabinets, and more particularly to cabinets, the doors of which may be rapidly and easily secured to, or removed from and reversed in, a cabinet Without the aid of special tools and the like.

This invention is directed to improvements in the reversible door cabinets disclosed in co-pending application Cabinet Hinge, Serial No. 731,442, filed April 28, 1958 now Patent No. 2,999,269 granted September 12, 1961. The hinge described in said application is made essentially in two major assemblies, one of which includes the hinge pivot or pintle and is arranged to be attached to a cabinet, the other of which is arranged to be mounted on the door and it includes releasable means for securing the door to the cabinet. After mounting each of the assemblies, the door may be readily positioned on the hinges ready for operation. The hinge is semi-hidden in that the major portion of it is hidden when the door is closed. The hinge is preferably for flush door cabinets hiding all but the pivot part of the hinge. The hinge is, furthermore, so arranged that the door of the cabinet may be reversed, i.e., the inside surface becomes the outside. This reversal feature is easily and simply accomplished by removing the door, turning it over so that the former inside is on the outside. The door is then easily replaced on the hinges.

The arrangement is highly beneficial for preformed, knocked-down cabinet assemblies, easily assembled and installed by semi-skilled labor. However, when positioning the cabinet portion of the assembly onto the wall of the structure on which it is mounted, difiiculty is frequently encountered in properly aligning the door due to uneven walls and twisting of the cabinet to conform thereto. This is particularly true in wooden cabinets or the equivalent. The door for such misaligned cabinets generally cannot be properly aligned since the hinges are preplaced and the door will not square with the cabinet opening. Since hinges are secured to wooden members by wood screws, substantially no play is obtained in such hinges once attached, and a prehung door only fits distorted cabinets by chance. Also, particularly in the case of wood, drying and/or moisture may cause warping.

The reversible door cabinet and cabinet hinge of the invention provide simple means for aligning the doors with out-of-true cabinets; and the door of which is inclusive of attractive and utilitarian means for holding the door closed in either of its reversed positions and providing a door pull.

Briefly, the reversible door cabinets of this invention include an insert, preferably metal, on each side of the door positioned to be registered with latching means included in the cabinet frame, when a given door side is facing inward. Both inserts are adapted to receive and maintain a knob and/ or a latching device complementary to that in the cabinet. The hinge of the cabinet is provided with a novel attaching plate providing fast and easy adjustment. The particular attachment in either face is determined by the position of the door.

Therefore, it is among the objects and advantages of my invention to provide simple and inexpensive means for rapidly aligning cabinet doors with out-of-true cabinets; and cabinet doors which include means for maintaining the door in a closed position regardless of door positioning. The hinge of the invention provides door aligning means when the wall upon which the cabinet is mounted causes distortion of the cabinet; and which parts are simply and easily installed without the use of special tools. Furthermore, it is an additional object and advantage of my invention to provide means by which the door is maintained closed or handles provided for opening by simple and effective devices readily installed by unskilled persons and are easily operated and used by such persons.

Other objects and advantages will become readily apparent from the description set forth hereafter with reference to the appended exemplary drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a cabinet door showing interchangeable means for maintaining a cabinet door closed and a door pull according to my invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of a cabinet with its door in its open position inclusive of my novel attaching plate;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged detail in partial section of the reversible hinge and attaching means according to the invention;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged detailed section through 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged plan detail of the latching plate of FIGS. 2, 3 and 4; and

FIG. 6 is a modified arrangement using a conventional spring retained cabinet latch.

Before describing the drawings in detail, I wish it understood that they are merely indicative of one manner of practicing my invention and I do not desire to be limited thereby, but rather by the scope of the hereafter appended claims.

In FIG. 1 a cabinet frame portion 10 and an adjacent door portion 11 are shown in a closed configuration, the door seating generally against the frame. The cabinet portion 10 includes magnetic means 12, which is shown in dashed lines, inserted in the frame and positioned essentially flush with the frame. The door 11 includes two similar threaded metal inserts 13, one on each side or face of the door. When the door is closed, as shown in FIG. 1, one of the metal inserts 13 (that on the inner door side) is registered with and under the holding influence of the magnetic field of element 12 of the cabinet. The outer metallic insert 13 is shown as internally threaded and adapted to receive the externally threaded stern portion of a door pull 14. The drawings show' the inserts as being internally threaded which is one preferred embodiment. However, other attachment means may be used within my inventive concept.

That is, although the drawings have shown internally threaded metal recesses for cooperation with a magnet mounted in the cabinet frame, other means are considered within my inventive concept. Such other means may be any form of cabinet latching device, one portion of which may be mounted in the cabinet and the other portion of which is adapted to be releasably mounted in the door inserts. Thus, a single knob or pull means and a single portion of a latching device are both adapted to be releasably mounted in the inserts, and one to be reversed when the cabinet door is reversed and accomplish the desired function accomplished by the magnet and metallic inserts. A conventional latch means for the reversible door is shown in FIG. 6, where a spring retainer 31 is attached to the cabinet frame it), and a headed latch member 30 is threadedly engaged by the insert 13 mounted on the inside door face. The door pull 14 is threaded into the other insert 13 on the outside door face. On reversing the door, the positions of the headed latch member and door pull are switched so that the latch means is on the inside face and the door pull is on the outside face.

FIG. 2 shows a reversible door cabinet according to my invention, which is inclusive of a novel latching or enemas hinge supporting plate which is shown in more detail in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5. Essentially, the reversible door cabinet consists of a cabinet frame and a door 11 shown in open position. The latching plate assembly is generally indicated in dashed lines by reference character and as being mounted by suitable means such as screws 26 into the cabinet frame below the extension portion 4a of the hinge 21.

FIGS. 3 to 5 show the hinge and mounting arrangement in detail. A hinge plate 4 having an extension 411 is mounted on a main attaching plate 25. The main attaching plate is held on the frame portion 10a of the cabinet 10' by such as wood screws 26 with enlarged openings 27 over a recess 29 in the cabinet frame. Beneath the attaching plate in the recess 29 is a locking plate 28. The openings 27 in plate 25 are enlarged in relation to hinge attaching screws 22, the purpose of which will become apparent hereafter. Hinge attaching screws 22 pass through the enlarged openings of the attaching plate into engagement with plate 28. The recess 29 is of a size sufiicient for reception of the locking plate and the ends of screws 22.

In operation, after the cabinet has been mounted on the wall and the door hung thereon by hinges 21, the inserts 13 must be brought into register with the magnet (or other latching means) 12 in the cabinet portion. To assure that the door insert 13 is in register with the magnet 12, as well as to assure proper alignment of the door with the cabinet 10', the screws 22 are loosened in the locking plate 27 loosening the hinge extension 4a. The door is then manually adjusted until it squares with the cabinet opening in proper aligned position. The enlarged holes 27 allow limited movement of the door relative to the cabinet in a plane parallel to the front of the cabinet, but suflicient to allow the desired alignment. After the proper alignment is achieved, the screws 22 are threaded into the locking plate 27 thereby firmly securing the hinge extension 4a and the door 11' to the cabinet. The openings 27 need not be extremely large since a rather small movement at the hinge results in a large angular displacement of the outer edge of the door.

Having thus described the manner of practicing my invention, what I desire to be protected by Letters Patent is set forth in the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a reversible door cabinet including a cabinet portion and a door portion adapted for reversible placement over the open side of the cabinet portion, the improvement comprising a first latching means recessed in said cabinet portion, a pair of identical insert portions each recessed in opposite sides of said door adapted to receive and releasably engage a door pull When on the outside face of the door and provide second latching means complementary to said first latching means when on the inside face of the door, each insert arranged for registering relation with said first latching means recessed in the cabi- 4. net portion when the respective sides of the door face the cabinet.

2. In a reversible door cabinet including a cabinet portion and a door portion adapted for reversible face placement over the open side of the cabinet portion, the improvement comprising a pair of magnetizable metallic insert portions each recessed in opposite sides of said door, each said insert internally threaded and adapted to receive an externally threaded stem portion of knob means, a magnet recessed in said cabinet adjacent the open side thereof; each insert being positioned on its respective side for registering relation with said magnet recessed in the cabinet portion when the respective sides of the door face the cabinet and said other insert portion positioned as a door pull with said knob means.

3. The combination with a cabinet having an opening of a door arranged for reversible face placement in covering relation to said opening, said door being hingedly suspended for pivotal movement adjacent an edge, a member fixedly mounted in the frame of said cabinet adjacent said opening and in position to substantially contact said door when covering said opening, an insert on each side of said door and each positioned to register with said member in said frame when either side of the door faces the cabinet opening with said other insert positioned as door pull means, latch means and door pull means selectively mountable in said door inserts for providing said reversible door with a latch for coacting with said member in said frame and a pull with either side of said door facing the cabinet.

4. The combination with a cabinet having an opening of a door arranged for reversible face placement in covering relation to said opening, said door being hingedly suspended for pivotal movement adjacent an edge, a magnet fixedly mounted in a lower portion of the frame of said cabinet adjacent said opening and in position to contact said door when covering said opening, a metal insert on each side of said door each positioned to register with the magnet in said frame when either side of the door faces the cabinet opening, door pull means selec tively mountable in said door inserts for providing said reversible door with a magnetic latch on one side of the door and a pull on the other side when either side of said door faces the cabinet.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,087,001 Johnson July 13, 1937 2,521,885 Vasquez Sept. 12, 1950 2,545,378 Peck Mar. 13, 1951 2,620,508 Goulooze Dec. 9, 1952 2,840,408 Scott et al June 24, 1958 2,950,140 Stone Aug. 23, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 183,670 Austria Nov. 10, 1955

Claims

1. IN A REVERSIBLE DOOR CABINET INCLUDING A CABINET PORTION AND A DOOR PORTION ADAPTED FOR REVERSIBLE PLACEMENT OVER THE OPEN SIDE OF THE CABINET PORTION, THE IMPROVEMENT COMPRISING A FIRST LATCHING MEANS RECESSED IN SAID CABINET PORTION, A PAIR OF IDENTICAL INSERT PORTIONS EACH RECESSED IN OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID DOOR ADAPTED TO RECEIVE AND RELEASABLY ENGAGED A DOOR PULL WHEN ON THE OUTSIDE FACE OF THE DOOR AND PROVIDE SECOND LATCHING MEANS COMPLEMENTARY TO SAID FIRST LATCHING MEANS WHEN ON THE INSIDE FACE OF THE DOOR, EACH INSERT ARRANGED FOR REGISTERING RELATION WITH SAID FIRST LATCHING MEANS RECESSED IN THE CABINET PORTION WHEN THE RESPECTIVE SIDES OF THE DOOR FACE THE CABINET.