Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47L—DOMESTIC WASHING OR CLEANING; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47L15/00—Washing or rinsing machines for crockery or tableware
  • A47L15/42—Details
  • A47L15/4251—Details of the casing
  • A47L15/4257—Details of the loading door
  • A47L15/4259—Arrangements of locking or security/safety devices for doors, e.g. door latches, switch to stop operation when door is open

Definitions

• the present invention refers to a locking arrangement for the door of a household appliance, such as for example, but not exclusively, a dishwashing machine.
• Certain household appliances are commonly known to have to operate with their loading door firmly locked in its shut position in view of preventing situations from arising that can be really worrisome, if not even dangerous for the safety of both persons and things such as, in the case of a dishwashing machine, water and/or steam pouring out accidentaly into the surrounding environment.
• These appliances must of course allow also for the greatest possible convenience in their use, so that their door must be easy to open so as to be able to gain access to their interior, for instance to the purpose of loading the items to be washed thereinto or unloading said items therefrom.
• appliances of such kind are generally provided with a door locking arrangement that substantially consists of an articulated mechanhism, usually housed in the definitely reduced thickness of the door, and an anchor that is usually fixed to the stationary portion of the appliance.
• the articulated mechanism, generally indicated at 100, of a locking arrangement according to the present invention for the door of a dishwashing machine can be noticed to essentially comprise following component parts:
• the safety or interlock micro-switch (not shown) is inserted in the appropriate cavity 7 provided in the support member 1, in such a manner that its power-connection terminals are facing downwards.
• both the pawl 30 and the actuating lever 20 become hinged on to the support member 1 in such a manner that the axes A and B of the respective pins are stationary and spaced along the vertical of the afore mentioned height ⁇ .
• the spiral-like spring 10 is then placed between the arms 21 of the lever 20 and is hooked on thereto in correspondence of a first end portion 11 thereof by means of the peg 40 which is forced through the aligned holes 25, and in correspondence of a second end portion 12 thereof by means of the peg 50 that is forced through the aligned holes 34 of the pawl 30.
• This means that the spiral-like spring 10 connects the actuating lever 20 with the pawl 30 in such a manner that they are even able to rotate with respect to each other.
• the above described parts are arranged and sized in such a manner that, when the assembly of the articulated mechanism 100 is completed, the spring 10 is in tension, ie. in its stretched state.
• the distance between the axes of the attachment pegs 40 and 50 of said spring 10 is greater than the natural length (before assembly) of the spring along the axis X thereof, regardless of the position of the actuating lever 20 and the pawl 30.
• a locking arrangement for the door of a dishwashing machine comprises also anchoring means 90 further to the above described articulated mechanism 100.
• the door 80 can be noticed to essentially comprise an inner metal panel or door liner 81 having a bent upper edge 82, a control panel 83 which may for instance be made of plastics and, behind this panel, a handle 85.
• This handle rotating on a pin 84, has a handgrip 86 that is accessible to the hands of the user through an aperture 87 in the control panel 83 and has, on its intrados 89, a protruding portion 88 the function of which will be explained in greater detail further on.
• Such door assembly 80 also includes an outer metal panel (not shown for reasons of greater simplicity) which is arranged underneath said control panel 83 and, in built-in dishwasher models, is generally covered by a wooden door that is conformed to the remaining cabinets of the kitchen furniture, has such a height as to extend to cover also the control panel 83 and is provided with its own handle.
• the articulated mechanism 100 is mounted in the thickness of the door assembly 80, behind the control panel 83, above the handle 85, and is attached to the bent upper edge 82 of the door liner 81 by means of a pair of screws (not shown) that go into the holes 3 in the plate 2 of the support member 1.
• the anchoring means 90 which are firmly fixed in a horizontal position to the stationary portion 91 of the dishwashing machine, above the loading aperture thereof, are a per sè largely known part, such as for instance a formed sheet-metal C-shape. It therefore does not require being illustrated any closer in this description and is in fact only shown in a much simplified manner in the accompanying Figures.
• Figure 2 refers to a door 80 in its opened position, in which the whole handle 85 remains spaced from the articulated mechanism 100.
• the axis X of the spiral-like spring 10 is in a higher position than both the hinging axes A and B of the pawl 30 and the actuating lever 20, respectively. It therefore ensues that the return force of the spiral-like spring 10 gives rise to an anti-clockwise torque on the pins 31 of the pawl 30.
• the user In order to open a closed door, the user shall go through a sequence that is exactly the opposite of the one described above, ie. the user shall seize the handgrip 86 of the handle 85 so as to disengage it from the actuating lever 20 (or the handle of the wodden door arranged over there, in the case of a built-in dishwasher model), while pulling in a direction which is the opposite of the one shown by the arrow C.
• this operation is much easier for the user to perform than this is generally the case with prior-art machines, thanks to the fact that the spiral-like spring 10 is held constantly in a tension state.
• the present invention has following advantages:

Landscapes

• Washing And Drying Of Tableware (AREA)
• Lock And Its Accessories (AREA)
• Cookers (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (2)

Family

ID=11395288

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

Families Citing this family (10)

Family Cites Families (3)

• 1997
  • 1997-11-03 IT ITPN970044 patent/IT243440Y1/it active
• 1998
  • 1998-09-19 DE DE1998611040 patent/DE69811040T2/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1998-09-19 EP EP19980117804 patent/EP0917853B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events