EP0697492B1 - Household appliance, especially dishwasher or oven, with a door pivotably mounted to the appliance frame - Google Patents

Abstract

A dishwasher or a cooker has a door (2) which is attached to the appliance by hinges and in such a way it tilts round a horizontal axis. The door (2) is equipped with a mechanical system, e.g. a door spring or a rod system, for weight equalising in the manual opening and or closing of the door (2). The invention features a door closing device (16), which is connected with the door (2) or engages separately in the mechanical system and is operated by hand or by foot.

Description

The object of the invention relates to a household appliance, in particular a dishwasher or stove according to the preamble of Claim 1. Such a household appliance is known from document US-A-2 124 349.

For dishwashers or stoves that are built-in or free-standing units in kitchen base cabinet rows or the like are installed, it is particularly suitable for the physically disabled People, but also difficult and troublesome for many older people who opened and held in the open position by the door mechanism or the door weight Appliance door after loading the crockery baskets or food carriers from the to pivot the lower position upwards into the closed position, as you can do this have to bend down very deep. In order to remedy this, US Pat. No. 2,124,349 a door closing device for a stove is known, in which two in the base area Foot pedals via pull linkage connected to the appliance door on the appliance housing are provided. One pedal is used for opening and the other pedal to close the stove door. The two foot pedals are thus operatively connected with each other that a pedal is always raised and the appliance door when depressed spring-operated opens or closes. In the known state of the art it is as disadvantageous to consider that the front-side actuating device (Pedals) protrudes far beyond the door front. In addition to the visually distracting Interrupting the front of the housing is also a considerable risk of injury for the device operator in the foot area of the household appliance by the protruding Given pedal. There is also the disadvantage that the exposed door control can be operated without difficulty by small children, one being thereby undesirably opening the appliance door when the baking chamber is still warm to a considerable extent Could be dangerous. In addition, a pedal-controlled door closing can a balance problem, especially for the elderly or disabled represent. The known pedal arrangement is also only outside of the door swivel area on the side of the device housing, because otherwise the pedals to be operated are blocked when the door is open would. Also due to the partially exposed pull linkage of the separate door locking device there is a considerable risk of injury to the operator.

The invention thus faces the problem of being simple and easy to use as well as creating secure door locking devices, which are also on the front of the device does not appear disruptive.

Starting from a household appliance of the type mentioned above, the above Problem solved by the features of claim 1. Advantageous configurations the invention can be found in the subclaims.

Through the operative connection with the appliance door or its door mechanism separate hand-operated door locking device, the triggering control element installed in the upper door area at hand or handle height of the device operator is, an open appliance door can be easily and conveniently put in without effort their upper position or door closing position are automatically raised. Hereby the ease of use of the household appliance is significantly increased. The door closing by means of the protected and safe behind a housing wall of the device lying locking device can be conveniently from the front of the device upright posture is initiated and executed. It can also are sufficient if a fully open appliance door only automatically closes up to a door open position, which is approximately in Hand height of the device operator is. From this position, the door can then Also in an upright posture, continue manually without the help of the separate Closing mechanism will be closed permanently. With the appliance door closed concealed arrangement of the actuating element of the door closing device, which are therefore only accessible when the appliance door is open, are switched off Avoid protruding controls on the front of the household appliance, whereby there are no disturbing interruptions in the front of the housing. Also there is the hidden one Arrangement of the actuating element of the door closing device an additional Protection for small children. The formation of the door locking device as a rope or rod-shaped tension element, which is simple on the door cable or the like can be latched in, enables an inexpensive and reliable door locking mechanism, which can also be retrofitted in series devices or as a separate one Device accessories can be offered.

Figur 1

eine Geschirrspülmaschine in der Seitenansicht mit einer Türschließvorrichtung in schematischer Darstellung, bei geschlossener Gerätetür,

Figur 2

die Geschirrspülmaschine mit vollständig geöffneter Gerätetür,

Figur 3

die Geschirrspülmaschine mit teilgeöffneter Gerätetür.

The following description serves to explain the subject matter according to the invention, of which exemplary embodiments are shown in the drawings. Show it:

Figure 1

a side view of a dishwasher with a door closing device in a schematic representation, with the appliance door closed,

Figure 2

the dishwasher with the appliance door fully open,

Figure 3

the dishwasher with the appliance door partially open.

The household appliance chosen to explain the invention is shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 a dishwasher (1) with a lockable by an appliance door (2) Washroom (3), in which two crockery baskets (4, 5) and a cutlery basket (6) in several Floors from the wash cabinet (3) are housed, see. Fig. 2. The Dishwasher (1), the appliance door (2) for loading and unloading the Baskets (4, 5, 6) on a horizontal bearing axis (7) can be swung open and closed on the device housing (8) is hinged, can be placed in a row of kitchen cabinets Fitted kitchen to be integrated.

The device door (2) hinged to the device housing (8) indicates in is known a door spring (9), door cable (10) and / or door linkage Existing door mechanism for door weight compensation (door brake) in manual Open and / or close the door. The door spring (9) can be done in stages through selectable attachment points (11) on the device frame (12) or as known can be continuously preloaded according to the door weight to be controlled. The Door spring (9) has its greatest pretension when the appliance door (2) (Fig. 2) is open. The door cable (10) is - as is generally the case with front-loaded household appliances - Starting from its connection point (13) on the door spring (9) still one Rope pulley (14) guided and hung on the door hinge (15). With a balanced one When the appliance door (2) is released, the unlocked door falls onto the upper edge of the door with light manual pressure automatically and gently from the upper closed position (Fig. 1) to its lowest Location (Fig. 2). Manually guiding the appliance door (2) to the lower end position is usually not necessary. The door mechanics do this. The crockery baskets (4, 5) can be pulled out of the wash cabinet (3) for loading or unloading.

The household appliance to be integrated could also be a stove with a through Appliance door lockable baking space, the appliance door also by one horizontal bearing axis (7) can be folded from the front.

If items to be washed are to be placed in the lower crockery basket (4) for washing, then open the appliance door (2) completely before pulling out the basket, see p. Fig. 2. This is also the case when washed dishes or the like. The basket later should be removed again. For loading the baskets (5, 6) into the upper ones Floors can U. a corresponding partial opening of the appliance door (2) according to FIG. 3 are enough to put the cups, plates or cutlery in the upper baskets. However, here too the appliance door (2) is usually swung open fully. The respective closing of the appliance door (2) from the lower door position (Fig. 2) is for many older people and especially for physically disabled people According to the invention facilitated in that the dishwasher (1) with a manually operated door locking device (16) is equipped.

The door locking device (16) according to the invention is with the appliance door (2) z. B. on the door hinge (15) or with its door mechanism (door spring, door cable and / or Door linkage) operatively connected and moves the opened appliance door when actuated (2) at least up to an upper door position (Fig. 3), which is at hand height (H) in the operator is standing upright in front of the device. This door closing height (H) is also for the arrangement of an actuating element (17) on Device housing (8) useful and advantageous, which the locking device by Manual control starts. In any case, the triggering actuator (17) for manual operation not installed much lower than the door center on the device be.

A door spring (9) in the door cable (10) serves as the door closing device (16). or a separate latched directly on the door hinge (15) or the appliance door (2) Traction rope (19), the free rope end (20) with the aforementioned actuator (17) is combined. The manually operated actuator (17) is as a swiveling out of the device housing (8) and between the adjacent Device side wall (21) and the flushing tank (3) lever mounted with an extended handle section (25) that can be folded down parallel to the front of the device (25) (Fig. 1) is formed. This is an extension of the effective lever arm achievable in the sense of a strengthening with manual door closing. According to the selected embodiment (Fig. 1) is the pull cable (19) in the door cable (10) detachably latched and the free rope end (20) is between the Handle part (25) and the frame-fixed lever bearing of the actuating element (17) attached to the operating lever. Instead of the pull rope (19) can also accordingly in the door mechanism or on the appliance door (2) Drawbars are used.

In its simplest form, the door closing device (16) can be used as a pull rope (19) be designed in the manner of a Bowden cable, the side of the household appliance behind the side wall (21) of the outer housing is arranged concealed. The actuator (17), however, is led out of the front of the device housing (8). This is advantageously provided at hand height (H) of the device operator Actuating element (17) can also be located on the side next to or above the appliance door (2) Be arranged above or in the control panel (22) on the device housing (8).

Fig. 2 shows an optimal and structurally very simple variant, according to which the actuating element (17) of the door closing device (16) behind the appliance door (2) in the housing end wall covered by the edge (23) of the closed door 24) is arranged operable. It is u. U. advantageous, the movement of the Pull rope (19), which can also be a pull linkage, to the one to be closed Support the appliance door (2) with a "transmission gear" because of this an appliance door (2) clad with a heavy front panel also runs smoothly and can easily be brought into the closed position (Fig. 1). For translation the pulling movement of the door locking device (16) when the lever solution shown not satisfied, an additional roller gear interposed or only one is provided. That coming from the door mechanics The pull rope (19) is then first passed over a small diameter roller and then wound on a reel with a larger spool core before using it the actuator is connected. That in the appliance door (2) or in the Door mechanism latched pull rope (19) or pull linkage can instead of the end Lever can also be provided with a handle eyelet. The latter are variants not shown in the drawings, since this training for the skilled person are clearly described.

The operation of the door locking device (16) according to the invention is as follows explained in more detail:

When the appliance door (2) is fully open, the actuating element (17) is behind the appliance door (2) always available. This is done from the lower door position (Fig. 2) Closing the appliance door (2) by the device (16) up to preferably one Door position that is at the height (H) of the hand of the device operator.

If the appliance door (2) is open, the door spring (9) is maximally tensioned, Fig. 2, with longer travel. That in front of the door spring (9) on the door cable (10) sliding rope (19) of the door closing device (16) is also tensioned. If the actuating element (17) with the handle part folded out (25) pivoted upwards, pulls the pull cable (19) on the door cable pull (10) and shortens the door spring. This takes the appliance door (2) with you. The actuator (17) can run against a stop, not shown, which limits the leverage upwards, so that ultimately the appliance door (2) is only swiveled automatically up to the height (H). This also avoids the danger a hand injury when operating the door locking device (16). The door follows the movement of the pull cable (19) or the actuating element (17) up to Partially closed position of the door as shown in FIG. 3. From this door position the appliance door (2) can then be swiveled in manually and pressed into the lock will.

In addition, the closing movement of the controlled appliance door (2) in the door end position also be slowed down. This is by a corresponding default the device's own door spring (9) or by using an additional one Spring brake or the like. Realized. With (28) in Fig. 3 is such a door damper called, in the door swivel path, here in the swivel path of the door hinge (15) is arranged.

Claims (13)

1. Domestic appliance, more especially a dishwasher or oven, having an appliance door (2), which is hinge-connected to the appliance housing (8) so as to be pivotable about a horizontal mounting axis, and which is provided with a door mechanism (9, 10), which comprises door spring, door cable line and/or door linkage assembly, for balancing the weight during the manual opening and/or closing of the door, and wherein a door closing means (16) is provided with an actuating member, said door closing means being separately actuatable by the appliance user, being connected to the appliance door (2), or respectively engaging in the door mechanism thereof, and wherein the door closing means (16) has an additional tension cable (19) or tension rod, which is connected to the door mechanism or the appliance door (2), and which is covered outwardly by a housing wall (21) of the appliance, characterised in that the actuating member (17) of the door closing means (16) at the front of the appliance housing (8) is operably disposed in a lateral or upper end wall (24) of the appliance housing (8) for manual actuation once the appliance door (2) has been opened, said end wall being covered by the edge (23) of the closed appliance door (2).
2. Domestic appliance according to claim 1, characterised in that the actuating member (17) in the upper region of the appliance door (2) is preferably provided on the appliance housing (8) on a level (H) with the hand of the appliance user, and in that the door closing means (16) is connected to a transmission gear.
3. Domestic appliance according to claims 1 and 2, characterised in that the actuating member (17) is a lever which can be pivoted out from the appliance housing (8) and is preferably mounted between a lateral housing wall (21) and the rinsing vessel (3).
4. Domestic appliance according to claim 3, characterised in that the lever of the actuating member (17) is provided with an elongated handle member (25), which is hingeable in parallel manner towards the front of the appliance.
5. Domestic appliance according to claims 1 and 2, characterised in that the additional tension cable (19) or tension rod, which is connected to the appliance door (2) or the door mechanism, is terminally provided with a gripping eyelet serving as the actuating member (17).
6. Domestic appliance according to at least one of claims 1 to 5, characterised in that the movement of the additional tension cable (19) or tension rod towards the appliance door (2) to be closed is assisted by the transmission gear.
7. Domestic appliance according to claim 6, characterised in that a lever-type or roller-type gear is provided for the transmission of the tensile movement of the door closing means (16).
8. Domestic appliance according to at least one of claims 1 to 7, characterised in that the actuating member (17) itself is configured as a means for transmitting power.
9. Domestic appliance according to at least one of claims 1 to 8, characterised in that the door closing means (16) raises the opened appliance door (2) at least to the level (H) of the hand of the appliance user.
10. Domestic appliance according to at least one of claims 1 to 9, characterised in that the closing movement of the controlled appliance door (2) is retarded in the end position of the door.
11. Domestic appliance according to at least one of claims 1 to 10, characterised in that a door damper (28) or a separate door retarder is disposed in the pivotal path of the door, preferably in the pivotal path of the door hinge (15).
12. Domestic appliance according to at least one of claims 1 to 11, characterised in that the door closing means (16) is detachably connected to, preferably engaged with, the door mechanism or the appliance door (2).
13. Domestic appliance according to at least one of claims 1 to 12, characterised in that the actuating member (17) for the additional tension cable (19) is disposed on the appliance housing (8) behind the control panel (22) of the appliance door (2).

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