ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 6 -- United States Patent no. 12,281,797, issued on April 22, was assigned to WHIRLPOOL Corp. (Benton Harbor, Mich.).
"Hinge assembly for an appliance door" was invented by Randall Vernen Crawford (St. Joseph, Mich.), Kevin Dolezan (Stevensville, Mich.) and Joseph E. Rendzikowski (St. Joseph, Mich.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A hinge assembly includes a first hinge element having a hinge pin with upper and lower portions and an engagement portion outwardly extending from the hinge pin. The engagement portion of the first hinge element includes a lower surface having an upwardly angled portion and an abutment surface. A second hinge element includes a body portion surr...