Patent ID: 8327756

Claim:
An oven for heating food products under pressure, the oven comprising: a housing having side walls, a rear wall and a front wall, the walls defining an enclosure with a cavity inside in which the food products are placed for heating, the front wall of the housing including an opening which permits access to the cavity; a door hingedly mounted to the housing through a hinge assembly and including a latch for closing off the opening in the oven, the door having a first hinge component, and a first door latch component; a locking assembly attached to the housing and configured to engage with and lock the door to the housing, the locking assembly including: a first lock subassembly located adjacent to one of the side walls, the first lock subassembly including a first actuator plate slideably disposed adjacent to the side wall and connected so as to transition laterally along the sidewall in a sealing direction substantially perpendicular to the front wall, the first actuator plate having a second door latch component mounted on the actuator plate and adapted to engage with the first door latch component on the door for latching the door to the first actuator plate when the door is closed against the front wall of the oven, a locking device mounted to the housing and engaged with the first actuator plate, the locking device adapted to transition the first actuator plate in the sealing direction from an unsealed position to a sealed position, the first actuator plate being further from the front wall of the housing in the sealed position than in the unsealed position, the first actuator plate when transitioned by the locking device between the unsealed position and the sealed position is adapted to transition the first and second door latch components in the sealing direction when they are engaged, wherein the transition of the first and second door latch components in the sealing direction functions to pull the door into the front wall of the oven; a second lock subassembly located adjacent to another side wall, the second lock subassembly including a second actuator plate slideably disposed adjacent to the side wall and connected so as to transition laterally along the side wall in the sealing direction, a connector assembly attached to the second actuator plate and the first actuator plate such that transition of the first actuator plate in the sealing direction causes the second actuator plate to transition laterally along the side wall in the sealing direction, a second hinge component mounted on the second actuator plate and engaged with the first hinge component for hingedly attaching the door to the second actuator plate, the second actuator plate adapted to transition the first and second hinge components in the sealing direction when the first actuator plate transitions the first and second door latch components in the sealing direction, the transition in the sealing direction of the first and second hinge components functioning to pull the hinged door into the front wall of the oven.