Door hinge for a household appliance

摘要

A door hinge for a household appliance, the household appliance including a body and a door, the door being movable about a horizontal axis between a substantially vertical closed position and a substantially horizontal opened position. The door hinge includes a housing couplable to the body, a door lever pivotably mountable on the door for movement about a main shaft, a weight compensating spring and a closing spring. The weight compensating spring holds the door substantially in a position of equilibrium when the door is opened and the closing spring applies a self-closing force shortly before the door reaches the closed position and applies a closure maintaining force when the door reaches the closed position. Further included is a dampening device that counteracts one or both of a closing force and an opening force.

主权项

1. A door hinge for a household appliance, the door hinge comprising:
a housing mountable to a body of the appliance; a door lever connected to the housing by a main shaft, the door lever pivotable with respect to the housing about the main shaft; the door lever fastenable to a door of the household appliance, which door is configured to be movable about the main shaft with respect to the body of the household appliance between a substantially vertical closed position and a substantially horizontal opened position; a weight compensating spring connected to the housing and the door lever, the weight compensating spring configured to maintain the door substantially in a position of equilibrium between the closed position and the opened position during an opening of the door; a closing spring mounted between said housing and said door lever and configured to provide a self-closing action to close the door without the effect of external forces and to provide a holding-closed force to the door against the body of the household appliance; and a dampening device connected to the housing and the weight compensating spring, the dampening device including at least one damping cylinder retained within the housing by contour lugs that are bent over inwards on the housing, the dampening device configured to counteract a closing force at a time immediately prior to the door reaching the closed position and to counteract an opening force at a time immediately prior to the door reaching the opened position.