Hinge assembly for a refrigerator door
United States Patent Rashid et al.  
 [ Apr. 29, 1975 HINGE ASSEMBLY FOR A REFRIGERATOR DOOR Inventors: Amir A. Rashid; Gerald F. Dodge.  
 lll, both of Louisville, Ky.  
 Assignee: General Electric Company,  
 Louisville, Ky.  
 Filed: Apr. 4, 1974 Appl. No.1 457,705  
 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS l0/l87l St. John 16/137 1,392.04) 9/l92l Dicken l6/l30 2.078,8l5 4/1937 Scgar v v H l6/l68 X 270L384 2/l955 Barroero v r. 16/168 X $015,126 [H962 Ahlgren r A A l6/l68 3 ()65 498 ll/l962 Johnson r o 4 v. l6/l66 3,592,257 7/l97l Matyas r r. l6/l30 X 3.662.493 5/l972 Foltz l6/l34 X Primary E.\&#39;aminerGeorge H. Krizmanich [57] ABSTRACT 5 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures HINGE ASSEMBLY FOR A REFRIGERATOR DOOR BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Household refrigerators are often constructed with a separate freezer door that is accessibleby opening the main freezer door as, for example, the door shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,988,4l4-Crowe, et al. It has been found that forces are placed on the freezer door through the hinge connection in response to encountered temperature variations, thereby causing the freezer door to become misaligned with the access opening and the associated latching mechanism during the operation of the refrigerator.  
  It is therefore desirable to provide a hinge connection for the freezer door which will reduce the forces transmitted from the refrigerator liner through the associated hinge connection to the freezer door in response to temperature variations within the refrigerator during the operation thereof.  
 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the invention, a hinge assembly of a refrigerator door has a hinged edge and an opposed edge. A bracket has a pivot post and is attachable to a wall of the refrigerator. The pivot post is spaced inwardly of the refrigerator wall and extends generally vertically in the installed position. A bushing has a slot for receiving the pivot post. The bushing is of an elastomerie material. The slot has opposed slot ends, a length greater than the diameter of the pivot post, and other dimensions sufficient for forcibly slidably engaging the pivot post on opposed sides of the post. Holding means is provided for maintaining the bushing with the refrigerator door and the bushing slot aligned with its opposed slot ends directed toward respective hinged and opposed door edges.  
 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective, partially sectioned view of a portion of a refrigerator having the apparatus of this invention; and  
  FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the apparatus of the hinge assembly of this invention.  
 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In the embodiment of FIG. 1, a refrigerator 10, such as a household refrigerator, has walls 12 and a door 14 having a hinged edge I6 and an opposed edge 18, and being hinged adjacent the hinged edge I6 with the hinge assembly 20 of this invention. It should be understood that the hinge assembly 20 of this invention can be utilized for either outer doors or inner doors of the refrigerator.  
  In the embodiment of FIG. 2, the hinge assembly 20 has a bracket 22 that is attachable to the wall 12 of the refrigerator by suitable fastening means, such as screws 24. The bracket 22 is of L&#34; configuration and has a pivot post 26 extending from the bracket 22. In the installed position of the bracket 22, the pivot post 26 is spaced inwardly of said refrigerator wall 12 and extends generally vertically from the bracket 22.  
  The pivot post 26 comprises a protrusion 28 of the bracket 22 over which is extended a sleeve 30 which is of columnar construction. Said pivot post 26 can be the protrusion 28 without the sleeve 30.  
  A bushing 32 has a slot 34 extending therethrough for receiving the pivot post 26 in the installed position.  
 The bushing 32 is formed of elastomeric material such as, for example, rubber, vinyl or foamed, organic plastic material.  
  The bushing slot 34 has opposed slot ends 36, 38 and a slot length L, as measured between said slot ends 36, 38, that is greater than the diameter of the pivot post 26 for permitting slidable movement of the pivot post 26 through the slot between said slot ends 36, 38.  
  Other dimensions of the bushing 32 are sized relative to the bushing holding element 40 and/or the dimensions of the pivot post 26 for forcibly engaging the pivot post 26 on opposed sides thereof to provide restraining and/or frictional contact for opposing slidable movement of the pivot post 26 within the slot 34. Sufficient contact and controlled restraint of slidable movement is obtained by constructing the bushing 32 with the slot width W less than the diameter of the pivot post 26 and/or the width X of the bushing being greater than the inside width Y of the bushing holding element 40.  
  In either construction, or combination thereof, the bushing 32 is forcibly engaging the pivot post 26 owing to the relative sizes of the associated elements and the deflection of the elastomeric material from which the bushing 32 is constructed. After the material of the bushing 32 and the sizes of the pivot post 26 and the holding element 40 have been selected, the desired dimensions of the bushing 32 and slot 34 to provide the desired restraint against slidable movement can be easily determined by one skilled in the art.  
  The bushing holding element 40 is a channel of U configuration or can be of other configuration for maintaining the bushing 32 with the refrigerator door 14 and the bushing slot 34 aligned with its opposed slot ends 36, 38 directed toward respective hinged and opposed door edges I6, 18 (see FIG. 1).  
  In order to provide an assembly that is of particularly smooth operation while preventing excessive wear of the bushing 32 by the pivot post 26, the pivot post 26 comprises a sleeve 30 which has first and second end portions 42, 44. The first end portion 42 can be closed or open and the second end portion 44 can be of columnar configuration or have an outwardly extending flange 46.  
  An example hinge assembly 20 of this invention that has been found to be particularly useful is as follows:  
 Wall l2 material Connection of bracket 22 to wall 12 Connection of holding element to door 14 Organic Plastic Screws Inserted in a cavity within the -Continued door and secured by glueing on the door back,  
  By so constructing the hinge assembly of this invention, stress forces caused by buckling and deformations of the wall 12 are relieved by slidable movement of the pivot post 26 within the slot 34 and are substantially not transmitted through the hinge assembly 20 to the door 14.  
  Other modifications and alterations of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoing discussion and accompanying drawings, and it should be understood that this invention is not to be unduly limited thereto.  
 What is claimed is:  
  l. A hinge assembly of a refrigerator door having a hinged edge and an opposed edge, comprising:  
 a bracket having a pivot post and being attached to a wall of the refrigerator, said pivot post being spaced inwardly of said refrigerator wall and extending generally vertically in the installed position thereof;  
 a bushing having a slot receiving the pivot post, said bushing being of an elastomeric material and said slot having oppposed slot ends, a length greater than the diameter of the pivot post, and dimensions sufficient for forcibly, slidably engaging said pivot post on opposed sides of said post; and  
 holding means for maintaining the bushing with the refrigerator door and the bushing slot aligned with its opposed slot ends directed toward respective hinged and opposed door edges.  
  2. An apparatus, as set forth in claim 1, wherein the pivot post is of a columnar configuration.  
  3. An apparatus, as set forth in claim 1, wherein the pivot post comprises a sleeve of columnar configuration extending over said pivot post of the bracket.  
  4. An apparatus, as set forth in claim 3, wherein the sleeve has first and second end portions, said first end portion being of a blunted configuration and said second end portion having an outwardly extending flange.  
  5. An apparatus, as set forth in claim 1, wherein the holding means is a channel having an inside width less than the width of the bushing for compressing the bushing and urging the bushing against opposed sides of the pivot post in the installed position of the assembly.