US3364621A

US3364621A - Pedal-type door opener

Info

Publication number: US3364621A
Application number: US534147A
Authority: US
Inventors: Clifford E Erickson
Original assignee: General Electric Co
Current assignee: General Electric Co
Priority date: 1966-03-14
Filing date: 1966-03-14
Publication date: 1968-01-23
Anticipated expiration: 1985-01-23

Description

Jan. 23, 1968 c. E. ERICKSON 3,364,621

PEDAL-TYPE DOOR OPENER Filed March 14, 1966 FIG. 1 fl Cliff rd E. Erickson Attorney United States Fatent Gfiice 3,354,621 Fates-tied Jan. 23, 1968 3,364,621 PEDAL-TYPE DOQR GPENER d E, Erickson, Chicago, 113., assignor to General ectric Company, a corporation of New York Filed Mar. 14, 1966, Ser. No. 534,147 4 Claims. (El. 4s 2ss This invention relates to door openers, and more particularly to the type of door opener wherein a pedal is depressed in order to unlatch the door of a cabinet or the like.

There are many instances where it is more convenient for a pedal to be operated than for a door to be pulled open or for a handle to be manipulated. This occurs fre quently in the case of domestic appliances such as, for instance, clothes dryers wherein a front opening door is provided: both the position of the door, and the fact that the operator may have both hands occupied, means that a pedal for opening the door represents substantial added convenience.

As opposed to an ordinary handle on the door, a pedal represents, of course, additional cost since necessarily the connection to the pedal must be made, and the pedal must be properly mounted to the cabinet. Accordingly, it is important to minimize as much as possible the added expense represented by a pedal-operated door without, however, affecting either the quality or operativeness of the product, or the solid feeling which an operator likes to have when using such a product.

It is, therefore, an object of my invention to provide an improved pedal-operated door opening system wherein the operation is identical to that provided by previous systerns but wherein the components may be provided substantially more economically.

A further, more specific, object of my invention is to achieve such economies by utilizing the spring means which biases the door unlatcbing means to provide the added function of biasing the pedal to an upward position, and by utilizing the relationship of the pedal to the base of the cabinet to achieve all the desired functions without extra components.

In one aspect thereof, my invention is for use in a cabinet of the type which has a base and a front wall with an opening therein, with a door being releasably latched so as to close the opening. In order to unlatch the door, there is a pedal positioned beneath the base so that its front portion extends forwardly of the front Wall and may thus readily be depressed by the foot of an operator. This pedal is secured to the underside of the base by a clip which, extending up through an opening in the base, secures the back end of the pedal to the base. Preferably, the clip is S-shaped, with the lower part of the S securing the back end of the pedal and being open toward the front of the cabinet, the upper part of the S being secured about the base and being closed toward the front of the cabinet, and the center part of the S extending between the pedal and the base. A door-releasing mechanism positioned adjacent the door is movable between operative and inoperative positions by a link which extends up through an opening in the base, being connected at its bottom to the pedal intermediate the ends thereof and at its top to the doorreleasing mechanism. The mechanism is biased by suitable spring means to its inoperative position, and the spring means also biases the link upwardly so as to cause the pedal to be held against the underside of the base; as a result the pedal is held against the underside of the base by the cooperation of the clip and the spring means. \Vhen the front part of the pedal is depressed, the spring will yield so that the pedal can pivot downwardly about its rear edge, moving the link down and thus causing the door-releasin mechanism to assume its operative position.

The features of my invention which are believed to be novel are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. My invention itself, however, both as to organization and as to method of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a view in perspective of a cabinet in which the improved pedal-type door opening mechanism of my invention is incorporated.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational view in cross-section of the portion of the cabinet of FIG- URE 1 incorporating the pedal portion of my invention;

FIGURE 3 is a view along line 33 in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a view along line 4-4 in FEGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is a view along line 55 in FIGURE 3; and

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged fragmentary view in perspective of the door-opening mechanism shown in FIGURE 1.

Referring now to FIGURE 1 of the drawing, there is shown a cabinet, generally indicated by the numeral 1, of the type in which my invention may advantageously be incorporated. The cabinet shown is representative of a conventional cabinet for tumbler-type clothes dryers of the domestic type, but it is to be understood that this is merely representative of one advantageous type of use for my invention and is not intended to be restrictive.

Cabinet 1 is formed by suitable walls including particularly a front wall 2 in which an opening 3 is provided for access to the interior of the cabinet. Opening 3 may be closed by a suitable door 4 having conventional hinges 5, and which may be latched as shown in FIGURE 6 in any suitable manner; for instance, there may be a projecting latch portion 5 which is frictionally engaged between two spring-loaded rollers when the door is in closed position.

The door may be opened by pivoting motion of a door opening member 8 from the position shown in FIGURE 6 in a clockwise direction (as viewed in the fig re) about its pivot pin 9. Pin 9 is secured to extend from a suppor structure It? mounted on the cabinet by any suitable means such as, for instance, by screws (not shown). Member 8 is biased to the position shown by a spring 11 which has its lower end 12 hooked to the member 8 and its upper end 13 secured in the support structure it A slot 14 is provided in member 8 and the upper end 15 of a link member 16which may be formed of heavy, rigid wireis secured to extend through slot 14. It can readily be seen that when link 16 is moved down it causes clockwise pivoting of a member 8 about pin 9. As a result of this pivoting, portion 17 of member 8 moves forwardly and pushes door 4 outwardly so that latch projection 6 is released from the position shown and moves out be tween rollers 7 to a position where the door is freely open, as shown in FIGURE 1.

It can thus be seen that a relatively conventional dooropening structure is provided wherein an inoperative position is provided by the biasing action of spring 11 and wherein this biasing action may be overcome by downward movement of link 16 to close and open the door by disengagement of latch portion 6 from spring portions 7.

Referring now to FIGURES 2, 3 4- and 5 in conjunction with FIGURE 1, a pedal member 17 has a front portion 18 extending forwardly of the lower .part 3.9 of front wall 2 so that an operator may depress it with her foot, thereby to cause opening of door 4. Cabinet 1 has a base 20. Conventionally, the base is secured to the front, back, and sides of the cabinet. An opening 21 is provided adjacent the front of the base 20 where it joins front wall 2 to allow for passage of the lower portion 22 of link 16. The bottom of the link is formed into a horizontal loop 23, as best shown in FIGURE 3, and is welded to a small flat plate 24 which fits beneath pedal 17 against the lower surface of the pedal. In this connection it will be understood that any substantial motion of plate 24, other than vertically, is restricted by the side flange 25 provided at each side of the pedal, and by a downwardly extending tang 26 (FIGURE 2) stamped out of the pedal at a position to the rear of wall 2 so that it cannot be observed by the operator. With the loop 23 secured to plate 24, and thus abutting the underside of pedal 17, the structure is held in that relationship as a result of the upward pull exerted by spring 11 on the link 1&3.

Somewhat farther back from the front wall 2, a pair of side-by-side openings 27 are provided in base Ztl. In conjunction with each opening 27 a generally S-shaped spring clip member 28 is provided so that the upper loop 29 thereof extends through opening 27, with the upper part 3%) extending along the top surface of base 120 and with the open part of the loop facing toward the rear of the cabinet. In a similar manner, the lower loop 31 of the S- shaped clip extends about the rear edge 32 of pedal 17, with the open part of the loop facing toward the front of the cabinet. Preferably the lower loop 31 is formed so as to provide some free space, such as shown at 33, between part of the loop and the pedal, with the contact being made between the pedal and the lower part of the loop at 34. This provides additional resiliency in the lower part of the loop for a purpose which will appear herebelow. Preferably, both the top loop and the bottom loop of the S-shaped clip may respectively be provided with sharp tangs 35 and 36 (FIGURE which bite into the material of the base 26 and of pedal 17 so that the securement of the spring clip to the base and the pedal is a strong one.

it will readily be seen at this time that, when pressure is applied downwardly on the front 18 of pedal 17, the pedal will pivot downwardly about its back edge because clip 28 is holding the pedal to the underside of base 2. As it does so, it carries with it link 16, and as previously explained this causes opening of the door. The shape of lower loop 31 readily permits the movement of the pedal without excessive deformation of the clip 28.

The downward movement of the pedal, with the construction described, is readily limited simply by providing a laterally extending portion, in the form of a bend 37, in link 16 just above the lower portion 22 thereof, so that when the pedal has moved down the desired distance bend 37 contacts the top surface of base 2%. Thus, the link itself acts as a stop in conjunction with the base of the cabinet.

It will readily be seen that the desired pivotal securement of the pedal is effected simply by the very inexpensive clip structure shown. In this connection it will, of course, be understood that while two separate clips are shown, since they provide somewhat greater stability of the structure, a single clip will also perform the desired function. It will further be observed that use is made of the relationship of the pedal to the base of the cabinet, and to the door opening mechanism itself, in order to achieve the various desired functions.

While in accordance with the patent statutes 1 have described what at present is considered to be the preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be obvious to those 4 skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the invention, and it is therefore aimed in the appended claims to cover all such equivalent variations as fall within the true spirit and scope of my invention.

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

1. For use with a cabinet having a base and a front wall with an opening therein, wherein a door is releasably latched in a position to close said opening; means to unlatch the door comprising:

(a) a pedal positioned beneath said base and having a front portion extending forwardly of said front wall;

(b) a clip, extending through an opening in said base, securing the back end of said pedal to the underside of said base;

(c) a door-releasing mechanism positioned adjacent said door and having operative and inoperative positions;

(d) a link, extending up through an opening in said base, connected at its bottom to said pedal intermedi ate the ends thereof and at its top to said mechanism;

(6) spring means biasing said mechanism to its inoperative position and biasing said link upwardly to cause said pedal to be held against the underside of said base;

(f) said pedal pivoting downwardly about its rear edge in response to pressure on the front end thereof, said downward movement of said pedal causing said link to move down against the bias of said spring means, said downward movement of said link providing said operative position of said door-releasing mechanism.

2. The structure defined in claim 1 wherein said clip is substantially S-shaped, the bottom loop of said clip being secured about the back edge of said pedal and being open toward the front of said cabinet, the top part of said clip being secured about said base and being open toward the back of said cabinet, the center part of said clip being positioned between said base and said pedal.

3. The structure defined in claim 1 wherein said link has a laterally extending portion normally positioned slightly above said base, said laterally projecting portion acting as a stop and engaging the upper surface of said base after a predetermined amount of downward movement of said link when said pedal pivots downwardly.

4. The structure defined in claim 3 wherein said link is formed of a relatively thick piece of wire having a bend formed therein for said laterally projecting portion, the lower end of said link being formed into a substantially horizontal loop beneath said pedal and being biased up against the pedal by said spring means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 10/1917 Smith 49272 7/1938 Herbster 49-263

Claims

1. FOR USE WITH A CABINET HAVING A BASE AND A FRONT WALL WITH AN OPENING THEREIN, WHEREIN A DOOR IS RELEASABLY LATCHED IN A POSITION TO CLOSE SAID OPENING; MEANS TO UNLATCH THE DOOR COMPRISING: (A) A PEDAL POSITIONED BENEATH SAID BASE AND HAVING A FRONT PORTION EXTENDING FORWARDLY OF SAID FRONT WALL; (B) A CLIP, EXTENDING THROUGH AN OPENING IN SAID BASE, SECURING THE BACK END OF SAID PEDAL TO THE UNDERSIDE OF SAID BASE; (C) A DOOR-RELEASING MECHANISM POSITIONED ADJACENT SAID DOOR AND HAVING OPERATIVE AND INOPERATIVE POSITIONS; (D) A LINK, EXTENDING UP THROUGH AN OPENING IN SAID BASE, CONNECTED AT ITS BOTTOM TO SAID PEDAL INTERMEDIATE THE ENDS THEREOF AND AT ITS TOP TO SAID MECHANISM; (E) SPRING MEANS BIASING SAID MECHANISM TO ITS INOPERATIVE POSITION AND BIASING SAID LINK UPWARDLY TO CAUSE SAID PEDAL TO BE HELD AGAINST THE UNDERSIDE OF SAID BASE; (F) SAID PEDAL PIVOTING DOWNWARDLY ABOUT ITS REAR EDGE IN RESPONSE TO PRESSURE ON TH FRONT END THEREOF, SAID DOWNWARD MOVEMENT OF SAID PEDAL CAUSING SAID INK TO MOVE DOWN AGAINST THE BIAS OF SAID SPRING MEANS, SAID DOWNWARD MOVEMENT OF SAID LINK PROVIDING SAID OPERATIVE POSITION OF SAID DOOR-RELEASING MECHANISM.