EP0551234B1 - Appliance, such as an electrical domestic appliance, fitted with a door with horizontal swinging axle and a device counterbalancing the door weight intended for being fitted with a trimpanel - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an appliance, household appliance or not, equipped with an access door inside the appliance, the hinge or pivot hinge of which is horizontal, that is to say of which the opening / closing direction is from top to bottom or, more rarely, from bottom to top.

Hereinafter, more particular reference is made to household appliances, which lend themselves better to understanding the technical problem which is the basis of the present invention, as well as the corresponding solution.

• 1) pose libre standard, par emplacement isolé ou par simple juxtaposition à d'autres appareils ménagers ou meubles ;
• 2) pose encastrable, lorsqu'un logement (ou une niche) est prévu(e) pour de tels appareils dans un mur ou entre deux meubles, sans toutefois aucune exigence d'intégration esthétique dans un ensemble unitaire ;
• 3) pose intégrable, lorsque justement des exigences esthétiques existent en termes d'intégration de l'appareil avec un autre ou plusieurs autres appareils ou meubles, notamment pour réaliser des ensembles pour cuisines.

For this kind of device, it is normally necessary to plan, according to the needs of the customers, three different types of installation, that is to say:

• 1) standard free installation, by isolated location or by simple juxtaposition to other household appliances or furniture;
• 2) built-in installation, when a housing (or a niche) is provided for such devices in a wall or between two pieces of furniture, without however any requirement for aesthetic integration in a unitary assembly;
• 3) integrated installation, when precisely aesthetic requirements exist in terms of integration of the appliance with another or several other appliances or furniture, in particular for producing sets for kitchens.

However, in case 3), the door of the device to be integrated is necessarily coated with a covering panel, which is made of wood, solid or not, or of another material, and the weight of which varies according to the nature of the material adopted for the covering as well as its thickness, for given overall dimensions; whereas in cases 1) and 2), there is no requirement to dress the door.

Anyway, in each case, it is necessary to balance the weight of the pivoting door, in the sense that it is necessary to ensure, -in addition to the two conventional stable positions of a door, that is- i.e. open and closed positions (the maintenance in these two positions is ensured by a stop, on which the door is supported substantially horizontally and, respectively, by friction in the fitting frame of the door, where the latter occupies a substantially vertical position) -, also a third stable position, which is very close to the closed position, but slightly away from the vertical position, to prevent it from falling under the action of the moment, due to its own weight, relative to the horizontal pivot axis (in particular when the door has not closed properly or during inspection operations which do not require it to be fully opened), and therefore to eliminate any risk of damage to the door itself and / or to persons.

The solution adopted by the technicians in the field for balancing the weight of the door of type 1) or 2) devices, that is to say free standing or built-in, is relatively simple, because the weight of the door is determined once and for all, due to the absence of dressing: in this case, a simple spring creating a return torque, relative to the pivot axis is sufficient, this spring being incorporated in the thickness of the door, which is in the form of a hollow panel, often metallic, and arranged at the two lateral ends of the door.

As regards the balancing of the weight of the door equipped with a covering panel, this is carried out in the prior art using two other auxiliary return springs which, unlike the two springs main mentioned above, include a device for adjusting their tension to take into account the variable nature of the covering panel depending in particular on the nature of the material used for the panel and its thickness, with equal overall dimensions. This adjustment device normally includes, at one of its ends, a screw (or threaded rod), which is accessible from the outside and whose degree of penetration in a nut is adjustable, precisely by screwing, so as to vary the degree of tension of the corresponding auxiliary return spring, as a function of the effective weight of the dressed door.

This adjusting screw and the corresponding nut are arranged on the front face or on the top of the device and are covered by an appropriate cover making it possible to satisfy the aesthetic requirements.

As for the location of the two auxiliary return springs, used in the prior art to obtain the integrable character of a given device, as defined above, it should be noted that these springs are arranged, each , in one of the two sides of the box of the device, that is to say in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the door in the closed position, that is to say perpendicular to its axis of rotation (cf. the two solutions known to the Applicant, as illustrated diagrammatically in FIGS. 1 and 2 appended to this description, which differ essentially from one another by the location of the adjustment device - respectively on the front face or on the top of the device - the auxiliary return spring, which is arranged in the plane of the drawing, precisely perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the door, at an angle or at 90 ° relative to this axis).

• 1) la nécessité de démonter le caisson d'un appareil prévu, au début, pour une pose libre ou encastrée, de manière à permettre l'incorporation, dans chacun de ses côtés, d'un ressort de rappel auxiliaire, lorsqu'il y a lieu d'adopter a posteriori, pour le même appareil, une pose de type intégrable, ce qui entraîne une perte de temps considérable et des coûts d'intervention de personnel spécialisé qui sont relativement élevés ;
• 2) voire l'impossibilité d'adopter, en pratique, cet agencement dans le cas d'appareils dont les côtés abritent des organes nécessaires à leur fonctionnement, tels que des organes hydrauliques connus des techniciens en la matière et destinés notamment au réglage du volume de l'eau de lavage dans des lave-vaisselle, ce qui requiert de remplacer l'appareil existant par un appareil intégrable, sans possibilité de récupération du premier appareil, étant donné que la transformation n'est pas possible dans ce cas.

However, the adoption of an arrangement of auxiliary return springs in the sides of the casing of a device of the aforementioned type has drawbacks, in particular as regards:

• 1) the need to dismantle the casing of a device intended, at the start, for free or recessed installation, so as to allow the incorporation, in each of its sides, of an auxiliary return spring, when there takes place a posteriori, for the same device, an installation of an integrable type, which involves a considerable loss of time and intervention costs of specialized personnel which are relatively high;
• 2) or even the impossibility of adopting, in practice, this arrangement in the case of devices whose sides house organs necessary for their operation, such as hydraulic organs known to technicians in the field and intended in particular for adjusting the volume washing water in dishwashers, which requires replacing the existing device with an integrable device, without the possibility of recovering the first device, since the transformation is not possible in this case.

Document US-A-2 979 052 discloses an adjustable balancing device for the weight of an oven door, but this device does not keep the door in the ajar position.

The object of the present invention is therefore to provide an apparatus equipped with a door with a horizontal pivot axis and with a device for balancing the weight of the door in a half-open position, in particular corresponding to a primer for opening the door, which meets the needs of the practice better than devices of the same type, and aiming at the same goal, previously known, in particular in that it makes it possible to modify an initially free or built-in pose in an integrated installation, or vice versa, either during the manufacturing or at the time of installation or at a later time of change of destination of the installation of the device, while allowing adaptation to the case of devices whose sides are normally occupied by members necessary for the operation of these devices.

• en face avant, une porte d'accès à l'intérieur de l'appareil, articulée autour d'un axe horizontal et ayant un caisson délimité verticalement par une face avant et deux faces latérales ;
• un dispositif d'équilibrage du poids de la porte comprenant:
  • * au moins un ressort, dont une première extrémité est fixée à la porte, et dont la deuxième extrémité est fixée à un axe différent de l'axe de rotation de la porte,
  • * au moins un moyen de réglage de la tension du ressort de rappel et d'équilibrage de la porte,

ledit ressort de rappel et d'équilibrage étant agencé dans l'appareil en face avant, caractérisé en ce que ladite première extrémité du ressort est fixée à la porte par l'intermédiaire d'un feuillard, le point de fixation sur la porte étant réalisé sur la face de la porte opposée à celle devant laquelle se trouve le ressort, le feuillard passant sur l'arête de la porte opposée à celle près de laquelle passe son axe de pivotement, le ressort étant disposé de manière telle qu'une droite reliant la première et la deuxième extrémités du ressort soit décalée par rapport à l'axe de rotation de la porte, et ce d'une distance suffisante pour permettre la création, par le ressort, lors de l'amorce d'ouverture de la porte, d'un moment de rappel faisant équilibre au moment, de sens inverse, du poids de la porte par rapport à son axe de rotation, en sorte que la porte reste en équilibre dans une position entrouverte correspondant à l'amorce d'ouverture de cette porte.The subject of the present invention is an apparatus such as a household appliance, comprising:

• on the front face, an access door inside the device, articulated around a horizontal axis and having a box delimited vertically by a front face and two lateral faces;
• a door weight balancing device comprising:
  • * at least one spring, one end of which is fixed to the door, and the second end of which is fixed to an axis different from the axis of rotation of the door,
  • * at least one means for adjusting the tension of the return spring and balancing the door,

said return and balancing spring being arranged in the device on the front face, characterized in that said first end of the spring is fixed to the door by means of a strip, the point of fixing on the door being made on the face of the door opposite to that in front of which the spring is located, the strip passing over the edge of the door opposite to that near which passes its pivot axis, the spring being arranged such that a straight line connecting the first and second ends of the spring are offset with respect to the axis of rotation of the door, and this by a sufficient distance to allow the creation, by the spring, when opening the door, a moment of return balancing at the moment, in the opposite direction, the weight of the door relative to its axis of rotation, so that the door remains in equilibrium in a half-open position corresponding to the opening initiation of this p toe.

According to a preferred embodiment of the device according to the invention, the door is produced in the form of a hollow panel equipped with a removable access plate inside this panel, and the return spring and balancing the door is arranged in the thickness of the hollow panel forming the aforementioned door.

According to a preferred arrangement of this embodiment, the device for balancing the weight of the door comprises two return and balancing springs arranged in the thickness of the hollow door panel, each at a lateral end thereof, so as to avoid the twisting of the door which would result from an asymmetrical location of the balancing device with respect to a vertical plane of symmetry of the door.

According to a second preferred arrangement according to the invention, the means for fixing the second end of the spring (s) consists of a bar, which is arranged, -as this (s) spring (s) -, in the thickness of the hollow panel forming the aforementioned door, parallel to this panel, and which is mounted, by its ends, in the lateral faces of the casing of the device.

According to a preferred embodiment of this second arrangement, the fixing bar is mounted in the lateral faces of the box free to rotate under the action of the pivoting of the door around its axis, that is to say of the energizing of the return and balancing spring (s) to avoid any risk of the spring (s) coming loose and, above all, generating an annoying noise during the door opening / closing.

• soit d'habiller le panneau creux faisant porte précité au moment de la fabrication de l'appareil ou à un moment ultérieur, notamment lors de la transformation de l'appareil, -préalablement posé librement ou de manière encastrée-, en un appareil à pose intégrée,
• soit d'effectuer la transformation inverse de la transformation susdite, c'est-à-dire de la pose intégrée à une pose libre ou encastrée.

According to the invention, a solid panel - in particular made of wood, solid or not, or of another material - and detachable fixing means for this solid panel allow:

• either to cover the hollow panel forming the aforementioned door at the time of the manufacture of the apparatus or at a later time, in particular during the transformation of the apparatus, - previously laid freely or in a recessed manner, into a laying apparatus integrated,
• or to perform the reverse transformation of the aforementioned transformation, that is to say of the installation integrated into a free or recessed installation.

According to an advantageous variant, not shown, of the preferred embodiment of the aforementioned invention, the return and balancing spring of the door cooperates with at least one second spring, a first end of which is fixed to the hollow panel forming the aforementioned door, whereas a second end is also fixed to the fixing bar of the second end of the first spring, the second spring being intended for balancing the weight of the hollow panel forming the aforementioned door, devoid of the panel full of cladding, while the first spring equipped with tension adjustment means is intended for balancing the additional weight of the trim panel.

According to a preferred arrangement of this variant, the second spring and / or the first return and balancing spring are / is removable.

According to yet another preferred arrangement in accordance with the invention, the means for adjusting the tension of the return spring (s) and adjustable balancing (s) comprises a threaded rod, a first end of this rod being fixed to a second end of this adjustable spring by means of a strap, while a second end of this threaded rod is intended to receive a nut for adjusting the tension of this (or these) adjustable spring (s) (s), after passing through a stop of this nut secured to the door.

According to an advantageous modality of this latter arrangement, the second end of the threaded rod and the nut for adjusting the tension of the adjustable return or balancing spring (s) are accessible. outside on the front of the device, where they are covered by a cover.

• la figure 1, qui est une vue latérale schématique d'une porte de lave-vaisselle destinée à être revêtue d'un panneau d'habillage et équipée d'un dispositif connu d'équilibrage du poids de la porte (habillée ou à habiller), dont uniquement un ressort de rappel auxiliaire est représenté, c'est-à-dire que le deuxième ressort auxiliaire et les deux ressorts principaux n'ont pas été illustrés pour des raisons de simplification des dessins, le moyen de réglage de la tension de chaque ressort auxiliaire étant accessible en face avant ; et
• la figure 2, qui correspond à une autre solution connue (illustrée suivant le même critère de simplification adopté pour la figure 1), dans laquelle le moyen de réglage de la tension du ressort auxiliaire est accessible sur le dessus de l'appareil, cette figure ayant déjà fait l'objet d'une description conjointement avec la figure 1 ;
• les figures 3a et 3b, qui illustrent schématiquement, en perspective, la solution adoptée dans le cadre de la présente invention pour l'agencement du dispositif d'équilibrage de la porte, dont uniquement des portions sont représentées et qui est illustrée en position de fermeture (verticale)et en position d'ouverture horizontale), respectivement.

The present invention will be better understood with the aid of the additional description relating to the accompanying drawings, which are given only by way of nonlimiting examples and in which the same reference numerals designate the same elements or elements of the same type, c that is to say having the same functions, these drawings comprising:

• Figure 1, which is a schematic side view of a dishwasher door intended to be coated with a trim panel and equipped with a device known balancing weight of the door (dressed or dressed), of which only an auxiliary return spring is shown, that is to say that the second auxiliary spring and the two main springs have not been illustrated for for reasons of simplification of the drawings, the means for adjusting the tension of each auxiliary spring being accessible on the front face; and
• Figure 2, which corresponds to another known solution (illustrated according to the same simplification criterion adopted for Figure 1), in which the means for adjusting the tension of the auxiliary spring is accessible on the top of the device, this figure having already been the subject of a description in conjunction with FIG. 1;
• Figures 3a and 3b, which schematically illustrate, in perspective, the solution adopted in the context of the present invention for the arrangement of the door balancing device, of which only portions are shown and which is illustrated in the closed position (vertical) and in horizontal open position), respectively.

The following describes, first of all, the variant of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the description and understanding of which will be facilitated, because this variant, - unlike the aforementioned preferred embodiment - is based on the solution of the prior art which uses two springs (called main springs) for balancing the weight of the door without covering panel and two adjustable springs, called auxiliary springs, which are intended to balance the additional weight of the covering panel of the door and which are arranged in the device for the integrated type arrangement of the latter.

As regards the device 10 of the aforementioned variant for balancing the weight of the door 20 of an (electro) household appliance 100, such as an oven, a dishwasher or the like (of which only the portions useful for understanding of the present invention are shown), it comprises first and second main springs (not shown) intended to create, in a manner known to technicians in the field, a return torque for door 20, relative to its axis of horizontal pivoting 21, when the door is ajar: in this case, each main spring (the ends of which are fixed to the axis of rotation and to the door) is dimensioned so as to balance the torque - in the opposite direction - than the weight of the door 20 without covering exerts around the axis 21 and which would tend to make this door fall heavily downwards, under the action of its own weight, with the risk of damage to it, if the main return springs were absent. The half-open position of a door pivoting about a horizontal axis corresponds, normally, to an incomplete inadvertent closing or to an opening initiation aimed at inspecting objects inside the appliance, without opening it completely, however, it is quite obvious that, under such circumstances, it is absolutely necessary to avoid the door being damaged and the appliance unusable, this problem being solved by the two main springs mentioned above.

However, when the door 20 is intended to be equipped with a covering panel (not shown), to carry out the so-called integrable installation of the corresponding apparatus 100 (the integratable nature of the installation can also be desired outside the manufacturing, that is to say at a later time, by converting a previously free or recessed pose into an integrable pose), the balancing of the additional weight corresponding to the covering panel is ensured by the two auxiliary return springs 30, one end 31 of which is fixed to an axis 22 different from the axis 21 of rotation of the door, while the other end 32 is connected, for each of them, to a device 50 for adjusting the degree of tension of the spring corresponding auxiliary reminder 30.

This device 50 comprises a threaded rod 52, one end 54 of which is fixed (by means of a part which will be described below) to the end 32 of the auxiliary spring 30, while the other end 56 of this rod 52 (accessible from outside the device 100, on the front face) is screwed into a nut 55, after having passed through a stop 53 of this nut 55, which stop is integral with the door 20: the metering or adjustment of the screwing stroke of the rod 52 inside this nut 55 also makes it possible to balance the weight of the covering panel, which varies according to the nature of the material used for its manufacture, as well as the thickness adopted for the panel, for given dimensions of overall dimensions of the latter.

However, in accordance with the invention, each auxiliary return spring 30 is arranged, at each lateral end of the door 20, so as to be contained in a plane parallel to the plane of the door. In practice, this is achieved by providing each auxiliary return spring 30 in the thickness of the hollow door panel (normally metallic: this door panel is of course, different from the trim panel itself) defining the actual door of the device.

This arrangement has the advantage of allowing the transformation, at any time, of a device previously placed freely or in a built-in manner into a device for installation which can be integrated by application to the door panel of a covering panel chosen according to the decor adopted for other integrable appliances and furniture, without having to dismantle the whole box (not shown), as it was necessary to do in the prior art, when the auxiliary return springs were arranged in a parallel plane ( see Figures 1 and 2) to the side panels 41 and 42 of the box.

In addition, the arrangement in accordance with the present invention has the additional advantage of being able to be applied to devices, such as dishwashers, the sides of which are necessarily occupied by hydraulics (not shown) for adjusting the volume of dishwashing water.

The tension adjustment of each of the two auxiliary return springs 30 is facilitated by connecting the end 54 of the threaded rod 52, of the corresponding adjustment device 50, to the end 31 of the spring by means of a strap. 51 which is well suited to incorporating the device 50 into the door panel to be dressed.

As regards the preferred embodiment mentioned above, this can also be read in FIGS. 3a and 3b, provided that the balancing device 10 is considered to have only two adjustable springs 30 (in principle, only one spring is sufficient, but reasons of actuation symmetry lead to adopt two to avoid, in particular the twisting thereof under the action of a single spring arranged asymmetrically with respect to a vertical plane of symmetry of the door), that is to say, provided that the adjustable springs 30 illustrated in FIGS. 3a and 3b are not considered as being intended only to balance the weight of the trim panel, (as the adjustable springs 30 would do, in the context of the aforementioned variant embodiment, in which the balancing of the door without covering is done using two other said springs main springs, which have not been shown precisely to allow the double reading of FIGS. 3a and 3b in relation to the aforementioned preferred embodiment and its variant or the springs 30a and 30b of the solutions of the prior art illustrated in the figures 1 and 2, respectively-), but also the weight of the door itself without covering panel.

Of course, to allow the location of the two adjustable springs in the thickness of the door, the latter is advantageously produced in the form of a hollow panel (not shown) equipped with a removable plate, in particular on the front face.

Incidentally, to allow - in accordance with the aim of the invention - to carry out at any time and in any direction the transformation of the pose of the apparatus, that is to say by passing from the free pose or recessed in the integrated installation, or vice versa, it is advantageous to provide the removable nature of the assembly also for the adjustable springs (as well as non-adjustable springs, where these exist).

Claims (10)

1. Appliance (100) such as a domestic electrical appliance, including:

   - on the front face, a door (20) for accessing the inside of the appliance (100), the door being articulated about a horizontal pin (21) and having a box structure delimited vertically by a front face and two side faces;

   - a device (10) for counterbalancing the weight of the door (20) comprising:

   * at least one spring (30), of which a first end (32) is fixed to the door (20), and of which the second end (31) is fixed to a pin other than the pin about which the door rotates,

   * at least one means (50) for adjusting the tension in the spring (30) for returning and counterbalancing the door (20),

      the said return and counterbalancing spring (30) being arranged in the appliance (100) at the front face, characterized in that the said first end (32) of the spring is fixed to the door (20) by means of a thin strip (51), the point of attachment (52) to the door being produced on the opposite face of the door to the one facing which the spring is to be found, the thin strip passing over the opposite edge of the door to the one close to which its pivot pin passes, the spring being arranged in such a way that a straight line connecting the first and second ends (31, 32) of the spring (30) as offset with respect to the pin (21) about which the door (20) rotates, and is so by sufficient distance to allow the spring (30), as the door (20) first starts to open, to create a return moment counterbalancing the moment, of opposite sense, of the weight of the door (20) with respect to the pin (21) about which it rotates, so that the door (20) remains counterbalanced in a slightly ajar position corresponding to this door (20) first starting to open.
2. Appliance according to Claim 1, characterized in that the door (20) is produced in the form of a hollow panel equipped with a removable plate for access to the inside of this panel, and in that the spring (30) for returning and counterbalancing the door (20) is arranged in the thickness of the aforementioned door-forming hollow panel.
3. Appliance according to Claim 2, characterized in that the device (10) for counterbalancing the weight of the door (20) includes two-return and counterbalancing springs (30) which are arranged in the thickness of the hollow door panel, each at one lateral end thereof, so as to avoid twisting the door (20).
4. Appliance according to either of Claims 2 and 3, characterized in that the means of attaching the second end of the spring(s) (30) consists of a bar (22) which is arranged, like this(these) spring(s) (30), in the thickness of the aforementioned door-forming hollow panel parallel to this panel and which is mounted, via its ends, in the side faces of the box structure of the appliance (100).
5. Appliance according to Claim 4, characterized in that the attachment bar (22) is mounted in the side faces of the box structure free to rotate under the action of the pivoting of the door (20) about its pin (21), that is to say under the action of the tensioning of the return and counterbalancing spring(s) (30).
6. Appliance according to Claim 5, characterized in that it includes a solid panel - especially one made of wood, solid or otherwise, or made of some other substance - and means for detachably attaching this solid panel allowing:

   - either a trim panel to be applied to the aforementioned door-forming hollow panel at the time of manufacture of the appliance (100) or subsequently, especially when converting the appliance (100), previously installed as free-standing or as a slot-in appliance into a build-in appliance,

   - or the reverse conversion to the aforementioned conversion, that is to say from built-in to free-standing or slot-in installation.
7. Appliance according to Claim 5, characterized in that the spring (30) for returning and counterbalancing the door (20) interacts with at least one second spring of which a first end is attached to the aforementioned door-forming hollow panel while a second end is also attached to the attachment bar (22) for the second end of the first spring (30), the second spring being intended to counterbalance the weight of the aforementioned door-forming hollow panel when there is no solid trim panel fitted, while the first spring (30) equipped with the means (50) for adjusting the tension is intended to counterbalance the additional weight of the trim panel.
8. Appliance according to Claim 7, characterized in that the second spring and/or the first spring (30) for return and counterbalancing are/is removable.
9. Appliance according to any one of Claims 1 to 6 or 7 to 8, characterized in that the means (50) for adjusting the tension of the adjustable return and counterbalancing spring(s) (30) includes a threaded shank (52), a first end (54) of this shank (52) being attached to a second end of this adjustable spring via a thin strip (51), while a second end (56) of this threaded shank (52) is intended to take a nut (55) for adjusting the tension of this (or these) adjustable spring(s) (30), after having passed through a stop (53) for this nut (55) integral with the door (20).
10. Appliance according to Claim 9, characterized in that the second end (56) of the threaded shank (52) and the nut (55) for adjusting the tension of the corresponding adjustable return and counterbalancing spring(s) (30) are accessible from the outside on the front face of the appliance (100) where they are covered by a cover plate.

Images