Patent Abstract:
A clothes dryer door assembly with a viewing window is adapted to be reversibly mounted to a clothes dryer cabinet and has an inner door assembly supporting an inner window and an outer door assembly supporting an outer window. The inner door assembly removably carries a hinge and the outer door assembly is removably secured with the inner door assembly. In order to reverse the door, the outer door assembly is removed from the inner door assembly and rotated 180 degrees. The hinge is removed from the inner door assembly and re-positioned 180 degrees on the inner door assembly. The outer door assembly is then reattached to the inner door assembly. This reversing of the door assembly of the present invention does not require complete disassembly of either of the inner or outer door assemblies.

Full Description:
RELATED APPLICATION 
   The present application is related to Applicants commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/430,934 filed concurrently herewith and entitled Clothes Dryer Door Assembly. 
   FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention relates to clothes dryers, and more particularly relates to a clothes dryer door assembly with a viewing window that is adapted to be reversibly mounted to a clothes dryer cabinet. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   A domestic clothes dryer typically has a cabinet including a front panel with an access opening through which clothes are loaded and unloaded into a rotating drum. The door is mounted through one or more hinges to the cabinet front panel on one side of the access opening. 
   Typically, these doors are manufactured to open by pivoting out to the right or the left. While it is possible to order the door to pivot out in the direction required for the user, should the need arise by the user changing living space or laundry space in the home, it may be necessary to reverse the door and change the side to which the door pivots open. For example, the location of the washing machine relative to the dryer is fixed by pre-existing plumbing and/or dryer vent holes and this may require changing the pivot direction the door opens to facilitate transfer of clothing from the washing machine to the clothes dryer. Thus, it would be desirable to have a window dryer door that could be reversed so that it could readily be hung or mounted from either side of the access opening depending on the requirements of the particular installation. Further, it may be desirable for a manufacturer to be able to easily reverse the mounting side of the door. 
   For a door having a viewing window, many of these doors are port hole type doors and the clothes dryer typically has a front panel with a circular opening and a circular door jam. The dryer drum bulkhead is mounted in the dryer adjacent the panel and has a circular opening that is cropped horizontally along the bottom of the opening permitting the dryer bulkhead to provide a trap duct for receiving a filter through which air exits the dryer drum. This type of dryer construction results in the window door typically comprising an outer circular window of plastic and an inner glass window that is non-circular and is cropped to conform to the opening in the bulkhead of the dryer. Reversing the hinge for this type of dryer door involves the disassembly of the door, reversing of the hinge and then re-assembly of the complete door. 
   Clearly, there is a need for an improved window type dryer door that may be converted to open from an opposite side of the dryer that does not involve the complete disassembly of the door. 
   BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention relates to a clothes dryer door assembly with a viewing window that is adapted to be reversibly mounted to a clothes dryer cabinet. The door assembly comprises an inner door assembly supporting an inner window and an outer door assembly supporting an outer window. The inner door assembly removably carries a hinge and the outer door assembly is removably secured with the inner door assembly. In order to reverse the door, the outer door assembly is removed from the inner door assembly. The hinge is removed from the inner door assembly and re-positioned 180 degrees on the inner door assembly. The outer door assembly is then rotated 180 degrees and reattached to the inner door assembly. The reversing of the inner door assembly relative to the outer door assembly of the present invention does not require disassembly of either the inner and outer door assemblies. 
   In accordance with a method of the present invention, the door assembly may be reversibly mounted to a clothes dryer cabinet by the steps of: 
   removing the door assembly at the hinge from the clothes dryer cabinet, 
   removing the outer door assembly from the inner door assembly, 
   removing the hinge from the inner door assembly and re-securing the hinge on the inner door assembly rotated 180 degrees from an initial position, 
   re-attaching the outer door assembly to the inner door assembly; and, 
   re-attaching the door assembly at the hinge to the clothes dryer cabinet. 
   In an embodiment of the door assembly where the outer door assembly comprises a handle mounted to one side of the door, the method of the invention further comprises, prior to the step of re-attaching the outer door assembly, the step of rotating the outer door assembly relative to the inner door assembly to rotate the handle to another side of the door. The rotation of the outer door assembly to the inner door assembly may be a 180 degrees rotation. 
   In an embodiment of the door assembly where the inner door assembly further removably carries a retainer disposed 180 degrees from the hinge, the method further comprises, prior to re-attaching the outer door assembly to the inner door assembly, the step of removing the retainer from the inner door assembly and re-securing the retainer on the inner door assembly rotated 180 degrees from an initial position. 
   In one embodiment of the invention there is provided a door assembly adapted to be mounted in alternate positions on the front panel of a clothes dryer cabinet so that the door assembly can be configured to be opened from either left or right side. The door assembly comprises an inner door assembly. The Inner door assembly comprises an inner door frame support for supporting an inner window, a mask frame secured to the inner door support frame for masking the inner door frame, and a hinge structure removably secured in one of two first positions to the inner door frame support. The door assembly comprises an outer door assembly removably secured in one of two second positions to the inner door assembly. The outer door assembly comprises an outer window secured to an outer peripheral cover. The cover covers the hinge structure, the mask frame and the inner door frame support when the outer door assembly is secured to the inner door assembly. 
   In one embodiment of the invention there is provided a door assembly adapted to be mounted in alternate positions on the front panel of a clothes dryer cabinet so that the door assembly can be configured to be opened from either left or right side. The door assembly comprises an inner door assembly and an outer door assembly removably secured in one of alternate positions to the inner door assembly. The inner door assembly comprises an inner door frame support having a first peripheral flange having two horizontally disposed hinge seat portions. The inner door frame support has a recessed window seat portion surrounding a first central opening defined by the inner door frame support. The inner door assembly comprises an inner window seated in the window seat portion across the first central opening, a mask frame secured to the inner door frame support for masking the inner door support and for securing the inner window in the recessed window seat portion. A hinge structure is removably secured in one of the horizontally disposed hinge seat portions and comprises a hinge element extending from the inner door assembly. The outer door assembly comprises an outer window attached to an outer cover. The cover comprises a second central opening and a second peripheral flange adapted to cover the hinge structure, the mask frame and the first peripheral flange of the inner door frame support. The second window extends across the second central opening of the cover. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     For a better understanding of the nature and objects of the present invention reference may be had by way of example to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings. 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an exemplary clothes dryer that may benefit from the present invention; 
       FIG. 2  is a side sectional view of an exemplary clothes dryer that may benefit from the present invention; 
       FIG. 3  is an exploded view of the clothes dryer door assembly of the present invention; 
       FIG. 4  is a front view of the door assembly of  FIG. 3 ; 
       FIG. 5  is a sectional view of the door assembly taken through lines V-V of  FIG. 4 ; 
       FIG. 6  is a sectional view of the door assembly taken through lines VI-VI of  FIG. 4 ; 
       FIG. 7  is a rear perspective view of the mask frame of the door assembly; 
       FIG. 8  is an enlarged view showing the connection made by the barb-like connectors of the present invention; and, 
       FIG. 9  is an inside perspective view of the inner door frame support, inner window, the hinge and retainer. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     FIGS. 1 and 2  show perspective and side sectional views of an exemplary clothes dryer  10  that may benefit from the present invention. The clothes dryer includes a cabinet or a main housing  12  having a front panel  14 , a rear panel  16 , a pair of side panels  18  and  20  spaced apart from each other by the front and rear panels, and a top cover  24 . Within the housing  12  is a drum or container  26  mounted for rotation around a substantially horizontal axis. A motor  44  rotates the drum  26  about the horizontal axis through, for example, a pulley  40  and a belt  42 . The drum  26  is generally cylindrical in shape, has an imperforate outer cylindrical wall  28 , and is closed at its front by a bulkhead wall or bearing  30  defining an opening  32  into the drum  26 . Clothing articles and other fabrics are loaded into the drum  26  through the opening  32 . A plurality of tumbling ribs (not shown) are provided within the drum  26  to lift the articles and then allow them to tumble back to the bottom of the drum as the drum rotates. The drum  26  includes a rear wall  34  rotatably supported within the main housing  12  by a suitable fixed bearing  35 . The rear wall  34  includes a plurality of holes (not shown) that receive hot air that has been heated by a heater such as electrical heating elements  38  in the heater housing  22 . The housing  22  receives ambient air via an inlet  36 . Although the exemplary clothes dryer  10  shown in  FIG. 1  is an electric dryer, it could just as well be a gas dryer having a gas burner. The heated air is drawn from the drum  26  by a blower fan  48  which is also driven by the motor  44 . The air passes through a screen filter  46  which traps any lint particles. As the air passes through the screen filter  46 , it enters a trap duct  50  and is passed out of the clothes dryer through an exhaust duct  52 . After the clothing articles have been dried, they are removed from the drum  26  via the opening  32 . The dryer has a control panel  54  with touch and or dial controls  56  whereby a user can control the operation of the dryer. 
   Clothes are inserted into, and removed from, the drum  26  through opening  32 . Opening  32  is shown closed by a window or port-hole like door  60 . Door  60  has a handle  62  for pivotally opening the door about hinge  64 . 
   In accordance with the present invention, the assembly of the door  60  is now described with respect to  FIGS. 3 through 9 . The door assembly  60  includes four peripheral flanges  74 ,  142 ,  134  and  93 . The first peripheral flange is peripheral flange  74 . The second peripheral flange is peripheral flange  142 . The third peripheral flange is peripheral ring-like flange  134 . The fourth peripheral flange includes two arcuate peripheral flanges  93 . In  FIG. 3 , the door assembly  60  is shown to comprise an inner door assembly  66  and an outer door assembly  68 . The inner door assembly  66  comprises an inner door frame support  70 . The inner door frame support is made from a steel or stainless steel material. The inner door frame support  70  is shown in perspective view in  FIG. 9  with the inner window  82 . Backed onto the inner door frame support  70  is a gasket  72  which forms a seal with a clothes dryer cabinet  12  when the door  60  is closed. The inner door frame support  70  comprises first peripheral flange  74  that has two horizontally disposed or alternate hinge seat portions  76 . The peripheral flange  74  comprises a circular flange that has a first collar  78  depending rearwardly therefrom. The collar  78  defines a recessed window seat portion  80  in the form of a lip portion. The recessed seat portion  80  surrounds a first central opening  81  in the inner door frame support  70 . 
   The inner door assembly  66  further comprises an inner window  82 . The inner window  82  comprises a flat glass piece which is circular in shape and has a truncated or cropped lower edge portion  86 . In alternative embodiments, the glass may be a molded glass. The peripheral edge of the glass is surrounded by a gasket  88 . The window  82  is adapted to be seated within the recessed seat portion  80  of the inner door frame support  70  so as to extend across the first central opening  81 . 
   The inner door assembly  66  further comprises a mask frame  90  that is secured with the inner door frame support  70  to secure the window  82  in place in the window seat portion  80 . The mask frame  90  is illustrated as a separate part in  FIG. 7  and has a collar  92  that depends rearwardly from the two arcuate peripheral flanges  93 . The arcuate flanges  93  are adapted to overlay the peripheral flange  74  of the inner door frame support  70  and the mask collar  92  is adapted to overlay the collar  78  of the inner door frame support  70 . The purpose of the mask frame  90  is two fold. Its first purpose is to mask from view the structure of the inner door frame support  70 . The mask frame  90  has a lower portion  94  that also masks from view the lower portion  96  of the inner door frame support  70 . It should be understood that the lower portion  94  of the inner door support frame  70  below collar  78  overlays the lint filter trap  50  between the front panel  14  and the bulk head wall  30  of the dryer when door  60  is closed (see  FIG. 2 ). The second purpose of the mask frame  90  is to hold the window  62  in place in the recessed seat portion  80 . 
   The mask frame  90  defines a second central opening  98 . The mask frame  90  has two cut out slots  100  between the flanges  93 . These cut out slots  100  are positioned adjacent to the horizontally disposed hinged seat portions  76  when the inner door assembly  66  is assembled. From  FIG. 7 , it can be seen that the collar  92  of mask frame  90  extends rearwardly from the peripheral flanges  93 . The collar  92  comprises an inner surface  106  and an outer surface  108 . The outer surface  108  is positioned to face towards the first collar  78  of the inner door frame support  70 . The mask frame  90  further comprises rearwardly extending rib spacers  104  that are attached to the outer surface  108  of the collar  92 . These spacers  104  have a tip  110  with a cut out section  102 . The tip  110  together with the cut out section  102  of the ribs  104  act to secure the inner window  82  within the recessed seat portion  80  of the inner door frame support  70  when the mask frame  90  is secured to the inner door frame support  70 . In  FIG. 6 , it can also be seen that the spacer or ribs  104  have a tip portion  110  with its cut out slot  102  that surrounds and engages the gasket  88  of the inner window  82 . 
   Referring to  FIG. 7 , the peripheral flanges  93  of the mask frame  90  each comprise a plurality of barb like connectors  112 . As better seen in  FIG. 8 , the barb like connector  112  has a hook portion  114  that passes through an opening  117  in the first peripheral flange  74  of the inner door frame support  70 . As the barb connector  112  passes through opening  117 , the hook portion  114  is compressed and then springs open to lock the peripheral flanges  93  relative to the peripheral flange  74 . In this way the barb connectors  112  in co-operation with the openings  117  act to assemble the mask frame  90  relative to the inner door frame support  70  with the window  82  sandwiched between the mask frame  90  and the inner door support frame  70 . As shown in  FIG. 7 , the rear face of the flanges  93  have spacers  255  with pass through apertures  250 . Spacers  255  together with barb connectors  112  maintain the relative positioning of the mask frame  90  and the inner door frame support  70 . Hence the connectors  112  and the openings  117  co-operate to assemble the inner door assembly  66  without the use of any fasteners. 
   Referring to  FIG. 6  the distance the recesses of the collars  78  and  92  rearwardly extend is greater at the lower portion  202  of the door than at the upper portion  200  of the door. This results in the recessed window seat portion  80  sloping downwardly and rearwardly to present a lower seat portion  206  thereof that is more recessed than the upper seat portion  208 . As a result the inner window  82  seated in the recessed seat portion  80  slopes downwardly and rearwardly towards the interior of the dryer cabinet. The lower seat portion  80  extends over the lint trap  46  (as best seen in  FIG. 2 ). This results in a door effectively covering the opening for the filter  46  in the trap duct  50  while at the same time optimizing volume within the dryer drum. 
   Referring to  FIGS. 3 ,  5 , and  9 , the inner door assembly  66  further comprises hinge  64  and retainer  116 . The hinge structure  64  is secured to the inner door frame support  70  by fasteners  218  that pass through openings in the hinge structure  64  and into corresponding openings in the seat portions  76  of the inner door support frame  70 . The hinge structure  64  is secured in one of the horizontally disposed hinged seat portions  76  of the inner door frame support  70 . The hinge structure  64  has a first hinge element  118  ( FIG. 3 ) that extends from the inner door assembly  66  for securement with the front panel  14  and/or bulk head  30  of the dryer adjacent the opening  32 . As shown in  FIGS. 5 and 9 , the hinge structure  64  has a second hinge element  120  that is adapted to engage the inner window  82  at the gasket  88  to secure the window  82  in the recessed seat portion  80 . The hinge element  120  of the hinge structure  64  extends rearwardly between the collar  78  of the inner door frame support  70  and collar  92  of the mask frame  90 . 
   In a similar manner the retainer  116  is removably mounted by fasteners  122  in the other one of the horizontally disposed hinged seat portions  76  of the inner door support frame. The retainer  116  comprises a cover  124  and a retainer portion  126 . The retainer portion  126  is adapted to engage the gasket  88  of the inner window  82  to positively hold the window  82  in the recessed seat portion  80 . In the detailed description the hinge  64 , retainer  116  and mask frame  90  act to hold the window  82  in place on the inner door frame support  70 . It should be understood that either the mask frame  90  or the hinge  64  and retainer  116  may be used mutually exclusive of each other to secure the window  82  in place on the inner door frame. 
   Referring to  FIG. 3 , the door assembly  60  further includes an outer door assembly  68 . The outer door assembly  68  comprises an outer window  130 . The outer window  130  comprises a concave circular shaped central portion surrounded by peripheral ring like flange  134 . The flange  134  extends substantially around the circular concave center portion except for the cut out section  136 . Cut out section  136  is located adjacent the hinge element structure  64 . The outer window  130  comprises a plastic and preferably comprises a transparent polycarbonate material. The outer door assembly  68  further comprises a cover  140  that has peripheral flange  142  comprising a ring flange with a central opening  144 . The cover  140  has a depending rim  146  that depends from its peripheral flange  142 . The peripheral flange  142  is further provided with an outer handle portion shown as  62 . The outer door assembly  68  further comprises a structural handle portion  148  that is mounted by two fasteners  156  passing through apertures  150  in the outer window  130 , apertures  152  in the handle portion  148  and into receiving studs (not shown) in the reverse face of the outer handle portion  62 . The fasteners  156  effectively secure the outer window  130  to the cover  140  and thereby complete the assembly of the outer door assembly  68 . The outer window  130  provides further structural support for the door assembly  60 . 
   The peripheral ring like flange  134  of the outer window  130  is nested in the ring like peripheral flange  142  and the rim  146  of the cover  140 . The flange  134  is substantially coextensive with the peripheral flange  142  of the cover  140  except for the cut out portion  136  that is provided to allow the cover flange  142  to overlay the hinge structure  64 . 
   To complete the assembly of the door  60  the inner door  66  is secured to the outer door  68  by a plurality of fasteners  160  that pass through aligned apertures  250  in the peripheral flange  74  of the inner door frame support  70 , the peripheral flanges  93  of the mask frame  90 , the peripheral flange  134  of the outer window  130  and into receiving studs (not shown) found on the rear surface of the peripheral flange  142  of the cover member  140 . 
   Additionally latches or spacers  170  (see  FIGS. 3 and 5 ) are provided to mount and orientate the hinge element  164  and the retainer portion  126  and cover  124  in the respective horizontally disposed seat portion  76 . 
   Referring to  FIG. 4 , the front cover  140  covers the appearance of the door such that the central opening  144  of the front cover and the central opening  98  of the mask frame  90  are covered by the concave shaped circular central portion of the outer window  130 . Disposed horizontally opposite to the handle  62  on the rim  146  of the cover  140  are two slotted openings  162 . Openings  162  permit for the first hinge element  118  to extend from the door assembly  60  for connection with the clothes dryer cabinet. 
   The construction of the clothes dryer door assembly  60  allows for a the mask frame  90  to be secured to the inner door frame support  70  so as to hold the inner window  82  in place without having to utilize additional fasteners other than the hinge  64  and the retainer  126  to hold the window  82  in place. Further, the door structure of the present invention is adapted for reversibility or for rotation of the outer door assembly  68  relative to the inner door assembly  66 . 
   The door assembly  60  is adapted to be mounted in alternate positions on the front panel  14  of the clothes dryer cabinet  12  so that the door assembly  60  can be configured to open either from the left or ride side. As shown in  FIG. 1  the door assembly  60  opens from the left side of the dryer  10 . If one were to reverse the opening of the door this can be done by removing the door assembly  60  at the hinge structure  64  from the clothes dryer cabinet  12 . Next, the fasteners  160  are removed so that the outer door assembly  68  is removed from the inner door assembly  66 . Thereafter the hinge structure  66  and the retainer  116  are removed by removing fasteners  218  and  122 . The hinge  64  and the retainer  116  are then rotated 180 degrees from their initial position into the other or alternate horizontally disposed seat portion  76 . Then the hinge structure  64  and the spacer  126  are reattached by fasteners  218  and  122 . The outer door assembly  68  is then rotated 180 degrees relative to the inner door assembly  66 . The fasteners  160  are reinserted to secure the outer door assembly  68  to the inner door assembly  66 . This is facilitated by the apertures  250 , through which the fasteners  160  pass, being aligned symmetrical to each other about the horizontal axis extending through the door assembly  60 . This symmetrical or mirroring arrangement facilitates placement of the outer door assembly  68  relative to the inner door assembly  66  at 180 degrees disposed from its previous position. The hinge structure  64  is then reattached to the dryer housing  12  to complete the reversing of the door relative to the dryer  10 . Rotation of the outer door assembly  68  relative to the inner door assembly  66  permits for the dryer to be changed between left and right opening doors without completely disassembling each of the inner door assembly  66  and the outer door assembly  68  while at the same time maintaining the lower portions  94  and  96  of the inner drum support  70  and the mask frame  90  in the same orientation adjacent the lint trap duct  50 . 
   While the invention has been described in terms of various specific embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention can be practiced with modifications within the spirit and scope of the present invention disclosed herein.

Technology Classification (CPC): 3