DE9312545U1 - Dishwasher with a washing compartment and a device door that can be pivoted about a horizontal bearing axis - Google Patents

Description

Description

Dishwasher with a washing container and an appliance door that can be pivoted around a horizontal bearing axis

The subject of the innovation concerns a dishwasher with a washing container and an appliance door that can be pivoted about a horizontal bearing axis, which has a hinge bearing plate on each of its two narrow sides, to which a door spring attached to the appliance body engages, whereby the spring tension of the door springs can be adjusted to compensate for the weight of the appliance door.

Such a household appliance is known from DE-GM 87 09 496.

The well-known dishwasher that can be integrated into kitchen cabinets has a multi-part appliance door, the outer panel of which can be covered with a replaceable decorative panel or front panel. The front panel is adapted in shape and color to the doors of neighboring cabinets and can therefore be of different thicknesses and weights. The appliance door can be swung open about a horizontal bearing axis and has a hinge bearing plate on each of its narrow sides, which is connected to a door spring that is suspended in a spring holder on the appliance. To balance the weight of the covered appliance door or to achieve different spring preloads, the door springs are assigned selectable suspension points in the spring holders, with the spring holders themselves being designed as longitudinally movable, continuously adjustable slides that can be accessed from the outside from the base recess of the appliance.

With the current state of technology, it is considered disadvantageous that both door springs have to be adjusted separately to compensate for the weight of the door, and the adjustment work has to be carried out in a very awkward crouched position. The arrangement of two separate adjustment devices increases the assembly and adjustment effort on the one hand and the expenditure on construction parts on the other. These problems are to be solved by the innovation.

Starting from a household appliance, in particular a dishwasher of the type mentioned above with a device for balancing the weight of an appliance door for the washing container that can be pivoted about a horizontal bearing axis, the above problems are solved according to the innovation by the features of claim 1,

Advantageous further training can be found in the subclaims.

The advantages achieved by the innovation are particularly evident in the fact that the door weight can be adjusted easily and comfortably in an upright position that is convenient for operation. If necessary, subsequent readjustment can also be carried out by the device operator himself. The design of only one adjustment device increases the serviceability of the device and brings advantages in terms of reducing assembly time, material and costs. Any door weight can be compensated safely and easily by simply fine-tuning the spring preload.

The following description serves to explain the subject matter according to the innovation, an embodiment of which is shown in the drawing.

The household appliance shown in the illustration is a dishwasher (1) which can preferably be integrated into kitchen cupboards and which has an appliance door (3) which can be pivoted about a horizontal bearing axis (2) and which closes off the interior of the washing container (4) (not shown in detail). The appliance door (3) is, as is known, made up of several parts, with its outer door panel being covered with a replaceable decorative panel or front panel (3'). The front panel (3 ¹ ) is adapted in shape and color to the doors of neighboring cupboards and can therefore be of different thicknesses and weights.

The appliance door (3) has a hinge bearing plate (5) on each of its two narrow sides (3a), to which a door spring (6) attached to the appliance engages, whereby the spring tension of just one door spring (6) can be continuously adjusted for finely balanced weight of the appliance door (3). Door weight compensation is always necessary when different weight front panels (3') are used for the appliance door panel. Without compensation through spring compensation, an appliance door (3) that is too heavy would slide downwards without braking when opened.

fall. The door hinges would not be able to withstand such a load in the long term. A front panel (3*) that is too light, on the other hand, would automatically fall from its open position back into the closed position without spring compensation, which could result in dishes breaking if the door hits a loaded dish basket that has been pulled out. It is also possible that fingers could be crushed if the appliance door (3) slams shut.

In the example shown here, the spring tension of the left door spring (6) is infinitely adjustable from the loading side of the household appliance. For this purpose, the door spring (6) is arranged in the cable path between two pull cables (8, 9) that run parallel to the unclad side wall (7) of the washing container, with one end of the pull cable (8) being connected to the associated hinge bearing plate (5) and from here being hooked into the door spring (6) with the other end of the cable via a deflection, e.g. a deflection roller (10) or a sliding guide. The second pull cable (9) is attached to the still free end of the door spring (6) and leads to a positionally fixed turnbuckle (11) on the top of the washing container (12). The top of the washing container (12) is later covered in a conventional manner with a separate lid or the kitchen worktop. The turnbuckle (11) is located on the top of the rinsing tank (12) and can be operated from the front of the device.

The tension lock (11) serving as a stepless spring adjustment device has a tension plate (15) which is moved via a threaded tension bolt (13) and is guided longitudinally in a lock housing (14) and to which the second pull cable (9) is attached. The threaded tension bolt (13) for the second pull cable (9) is provided in the area of the upper edge of the appliance door (3b) of the dishwasher (1), preferably between the upper edge of the door and the appliance housing cover already mentioned, in the lock housing (14) of the tension lock (11), so that the spring preload can also be adjusted when the appliance door (3) is closed. The pull cables (8, 9) running along the side of the washing container (4) are assigned additional cable guides (16) on the appliance body (17).

In order to keep the pull rope paths as small as possible, the turnbuckle (11) is conveniently mounted on the uncovered top of the appliance housing, i.e. under the appliance cover (not shown here) or the kitchen worktop close to a side wall of the washing container (7). The installation is preferably carried out using a

A locking connection is implemented so that the turnbuckle (11) or its functional parts can be easily replaced in the event of repairs. The turnbuckle (11) or its threaded clamping bolt (13) can be reached via a hole (18) in the device housing in the area of the upper edge of the device door (3b). The spring preload can be adjusted by turning the threaded clamping bolt (13) using a screwdriver or similar inserted into the hole (18). Depending on the rotational movement, the clamping plate (15) is pulled into or moved back into the longitudinal guide (19) of the lock housing (14). The door spring (6) is tensioned or released via the second pull cable (9).

The suspension of the non-continuously adjustable door spring (6) on the right-hand side of the appliance could also be achieved using pull ropes (8, 9) that run on the side of the washing container (4) or parallel to the appliance housing wall and run over pulleys (10) or sliding guides, although the second pull rope (9) can also be omitted if the door spring is hooked directly onto the appliance frame. In the other case, the second pull rope (9) must be hooked onto the appliance frame. To achieve a predetermined spring preload, selectable spring hooking points (20) on the side of the appliance frame could be assigned to the door spring. The non-continuously adjustable door spring (6) is set at the factory to a preload that keeps an appliance door (3) that is not covered with a heavy front panel (3') almost in balance. This corresponds to a certain rough adjustment of the door, which can be changed if necessary by selecting a different spring hooking point (20). The turnbuckle (11) is usually used for fine adjustment or final readjustment of the covered appliance door (3).

The door spring adjustment device according to the invention can also be used for the appliance doors of stoves, washing machines or dryers, especially if these doors are also to be covered with decorative or facing panels and this results in door weight problems.

Claims (7)

Protection claims 1. Dishwasher with a washing container and an appliance door which can be pivoted about a horizontal bearing axis and which has a hinge bearing plate on each of its two narrow sides (3a), to which a door spring suspended from the appliance engages, wherein the spring tension of the door springs is adjustable to compensate for the weight of the appliance door, characterized, that the spring tension of only one of the two door springs (6) is designed to be infinitely adjustable, and that the infinitely adjustable door spring (6) is arranged in the cable path between traction cables (8, 9) guided on the side of the washing container (4), whereby one traction cable (8) is hooked via a deflection roller (10) or the like to the associated hinge bearing plate (5) and the second traction cable (9) is hooked into a fixed tension lock (11) arranged on the top of the washing container (12) and operable from the front of the device. 2. Dishwasher according to claim 1,
characterized, that the turnbuckle (11) is designed to be infinitely adjustable and has a clamping plate (15) which is moved via a threaded clamping bolt (13) and is guided longitudinally in a lock housing (14) and to which the second traction cable (9) is attached. 3. Dishwasher according to claim 1 and 2, characterized in that the threaded tension bolt (13) for the second pull cable (9) is provided in the area of the upper edge of the appliance door (3b) on the appliance, preferably between the upper edge of the door and an upper appliance housing cover, so that it can be operated in the lock housing (14) of the tension lock (11). 4. Dishwasher according to claims 1 to 3, characterized in that that the two traction cables (8, 9) are assigned cable guides (10, 16) on the device body (17). 5. Dishwasher according to one or more of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that that the turnbuckle (11) is mounted on the uncovered top side (12) of the washing container adjacent to a washing container side wall (7) in a replaceable manner, preferably via a snap-in connection. 6. Dishwasher according to one or more of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that that the non-continuously adjustable door spring (6) is also assigned a pull rope (8) which runs parallel to the rinsing container side wall (7) and runs via a deflection roller or similar rope guides (10, 16) and is connected to the associated hinge bearing plate (5), and that the other spring end of the door spring (6) is suspended directly or also via a further pull rope (9) on the device frame. 7. Dishwasher according to one or more of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that that the non-continuously adjustable door spring (6) is assigned selectable spring suspension points (20) on the side of the device frame for rough adjustment.