Patent ID: 7255101

Claim:
An apparatus, comprising: a housing defining a useful space and a stowage space, the housing having a front region and a rear region and the useful space being accessible via an opening in the front region of the housing; a pivotable door for closing off said useful space when said door is in a closed position and disposed at least partly in said stowage space when said door is in an at least partly opened position; and a guide system for guiding said door in a pivoting motion between said closed position and said open position, said guide system having: a pivot axis being defined at a fixed position in said housing for pivoting movement of said door thereabout; at least one first guide track attached to said door; at least one first guide element attached to said housing to define said pivot axis and disposed within said at least one first guide track, said guide system guiding said door and said at least one first guide track along said at least one first guide element during a pivoting movement of said door about said pivot axis and said at least one first guide element; at least one second guide track fixed to said housing within said stowage space and extending vertically obliquely upwardly from one end thereof toward an opposite end thereof in a direction from the front region of the housing toward the rear region of the housing; at least one second guide element fixed to said door and guided for movement along said at least one second guide track, said at least one second guide element being spatially separated from said pivot axis and movable relative to said pivot axis; and whereby said guide system guides said at least one second guide element along said at least one second guide track during said pivoting movement of said door thereby moving said door into said stowage space, said second guide element being located toward the one end of said at least one second guide track when the door is in its closed position and said guide system guiding said second guide element along said at least one second guide track from the one end of said at least one second guide track toward its opposite end during movement of the door between its closed position and its at least partly opened position, whereby said second guide element moves vertically obliquely upwardly along said at least one second guide track against the force of gravity.