Patent ID: 8292381
Filing Date: 2012-10-23
Classification: A47L,E05F,E05Y,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A consumer appliance with a soft open door mechanism comprising: a cabinet having a top and a bottom and defining an opening along a front side; a door having a top and a bottom and attached by a hinge to the front side of the cabinet, the hinge at a bottom of the door so that the door is movable between an upright position closing the opening and a substantially horizontal position opening the opening; a line having a first end connected to the cabinet at a connection point spaced toward the top of the cabinet from the hinge and having a second end attached to a door arm extending from the door adjacent the hinge, the line including a tension spring that is stretched in tension during opening of the door; a roller attached to the cabinet spaced inwardly from the door, a central portion of the line passing through the roller; and a damping device mounted within the cabinet activatable by an opening movement of the door toward the horizontal position to slow the door motion, the damping device including a piston movable within a hydraulic chamber filled with gas and a hydraulic fluid, the chamber holding a substantially higher amount of gas than hydraulic fluid for providing a damping force only near the end of travel of the piston as the door nears the horizontal position, the ratio of gas to hydraulic fluid being approximately 9:1 so that damping activation occurs only after the piston has moved approximately 90% of its travel within the hydraulic chamber and the door has moved approximately 90% of its travel from the upright position to the substantially horizontal position.