Door hinge assembly

摘要

A mullion mounted door hinge assembly for pivotally guiding upper and lower doors of a refrigerator. The hinge assembly includes a bracket which slidably accepts a generally cylindrical hinge pin. The hinge pin has a larger diameter center section and a pair of relatively smaller diameter end sections. Each of the end sections of the hinge pin extend into an accommodating opening in the upper or lower doors. The upper door is supported on an upwardly directed surface of the center section. A downwardly directed surface of the center section is supported by the lower door. A substantial portion of the weight of the upper door is transferred to the lower door and supported by the lower hinge means. A second preferred embodiment provides a stop means which engages a stop surface at a desired angular opening of the upper door of a refrigerator. The stop means includes a resilient terminal portion which deforms when the force thereon exceeds a predetermined threshold level to allow the upper door to open beyond the desired angular opening. The predetermined threshold level is determined by the amount of force which the hinge can sustain.