EP1475030B1

EP1475030B1 - Dish-holder support for dishwasher rack

Info

Publication number: EP1475030B1
Application number: EP20040101928
Authority: EP
Inventors: Silvano Fumagalli
Original assignee: Candy SpA
Current assignee: Candy SpA
Priority date: 2003-05-09
Filing date: 2004-05-05
Publication date: 2008-09-10
Anticipated expiration: 2024-05-05
Also published as: EP1475030A2; DE602004016411D1; ITMI20030220U1; ES2312925T3; EP1475030A3

Description

The present invention refers to a dish holder support and a rack of dishwasher machine. Said support is particularly suitable to hold cutlery or cups or both.
Racks of dishwasher machines are made up of rigid structures made of steel rods welded to each other in interlacement and subsequently plasticised. The dishes are inserted in the proper spaces created by the interlacement of the rods, so that they maintain, during the washing, a correct position with an inclination of the surfaces, as regards the washing spray coming from the sprinklers, such as not to create difficultly reachable zones, directly or by deviation of the same spray.
Dishwasher machines racks are built in such a way as to rationalise the arrangement of the load of dishes inside the racks, since the surface useful for the load has limited dimensions. In addition a very important prerogative consists in the safety of the load to be washed even when the weight of the latter is considerable.
Currently dishwasher machines racks comprise small plastic containers for the cutlery which are arranged in separate position as regards the rack for the containment of the dishes. In such a way the washing efficiency and eventual drying of the cutlery is subordinate to the search and definition of the optimal position of the dishes. Therefore both the operation of washing as the one of drying of the cutlery is penalised. In addition the capacity of current cutlery containers of is unavoidably quite reduced.
A rack for household dishwasher machine comprising a cutlery holder support suitable to solve the aforementioned problems is described in the patent application EP 1099404 . The rack has a plastic cup holder shelf connected with a side wall of the same in order to form, in operating conditions, with the bottom plane of the rack a angle smaller than a right angle. The cup holder shelf is integral with one or two cutlery holder supports; each cutlery holder support comprises holes for the housing of cutlery and wide areas for the passage of the washing water and/or the flow of drying air.
DE 29505325 U discloses at least one comb-like divider (5) that is movable between an erect position and a lowered position and that is pivotably mounted on the basket. A pivot member (6) of the divider is pivoted in an elongate hole of at least one support member (8) which is fixed to the basket. At least one shaped projection (10) of the pivot member (6) is capable of slidably co-operating with a cam profile (14) of the member (8). The cam profile terminates upwardly with a recess (15) that is aligned with the elongate hole (9) and receives the shaped projection (10) when the movable divider (5) is in the erect position. The shaped projection (10) is disengageable from the recess (15) with a lifting movement of the pivot member (6) along the elongate hole (9) in such a way as to permit the movable divider (5) to rotate towards the lowered position.
DE 20104929 U discloses a combination comprising a dish holder support and a rack of a dishwasher machine according to the preamble of claim 1.
In view of the state of the art herein described, object of the present invention is to provide a dish holder support for dishwasher rack which has an easy location in the dish holder rack.
According to the present invention, such object is attained by means of a combination comprising a removable a dish holder support and a rack of a dishwasher machine as defined in claim 1.
The cavity has a bottom end and a top end and said shelf has a first end provided with said pin and a second free end opposite to the first end. In the position of rest of the shelf the pin is arranged in a way adjacent to said bottom end of the cavity, the shelf is arranged in a way parallel to the wall of the rack of said dishwasher machine and its second free end is adjacent to the top end of the cavity.
Owing to the present invention it is possible to provide a dish holder support for dishwasher rack that when in rest position does not hinder the arrangement of the dishes in the rack on behalf of the user.
The shelf is extracted with vertical movement; the working position can be assumed by the shelf even with the load of dishes prearranged in the rack.
The characteristics and the advantages of the present invention will become evident from the following detailed description of an embodiment thereof, that is illustrated as a non-limiting example in the enclosed drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic front view of the dish holder support for dishwasher rack in rest position according to an embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 2 is a schematic side view of the support in Figure 1 coupled to a wall of a dishwasher rack and in position of rest;
Figure 3 is a schematic side view of the support in Figure 1 coupled to a wall of a dishwasher rack and in working position;
Figures 4 and 5 are schematic front views of a support according to variations of the embodiment of the present invention in rest position.

In Figure 1 a dish holder support 100 for dishwasher rack is shown which is provided with a shelf 1 suitable to support cutlery, cups and the like according to an embodiment of the present invention. The shelf 1, preferably of plastic, has a rectangular shape and it comprises a cutlery holder support 2 and a cup holder support 3. The cutlery holder support is provided with a plurality of holes 4 inside of it for the arrangement of various cutlery and with wide areas 5 for the passage of the washing water and/or the flow of drying air. The cup holder support 3 is provided with teeth 6 making up a top rack 7.
The rack 31 is made by means of steel rods welded in interlacement and plasticised in such a way so as to define a bottom plane 40 and at least one pair of side walls 30 (of which only one is shown in Figures 2 and 3).
The support 100 is provided with devices 10 in order to connect the shelf 1 with the wall 30 of the rack 31.
Each device 10 comprises two pieces 20 each one arranged vertically in the rack 31 in adjacent way to the side wall 30 by means of a hook 21 of the piece 20 that is resting on a horizontal rod 22 of the wall 30; in this way the support 100 is easily removable from the rack 31. Each piece 20 comprises a vertical cavity elongated as a slot 23 in which a pin 24 integral with the shelf 1 is engaged. The pin 24 can slide vertically from a bottom end 25 to a top end 26 of said cavity 23.
The device 10 is capable to put the shelf 1 in working position B (Figure 3), that is in a position suitable to hold cups and cutlery, and in rest position A (Figure 2), that is a position in which the shelf 1 cannot hold cutlery or cups.
In the rest position A of Figure 2 the pin 24 is arranged in proximity of the bottom end 25 of the cavity 23; in such case the shelf 1 is substantially arranged in way parallel to the side wall 30 of the rack 31 and inside the same. More precisely the surface 60 of the shelf 1 suitable to hold dishes is substantially parallel to the wall 30; a lock 27 allows to maintain the rest position A of the shelf 1 fixed. In said position the top end 11 of the shelf 1 has a height lower than the one of the top end of the wall 30 of the rack 31 as compared with the bottom plane 40 of the same in such a way so as not to project out of it; said end 11 is adjacent to the top end 26 of the cavity 23. In addition the end 12 of the shelf 1 that is opposite to the part 11 and is integral with the pin 24 in engagement with the cavity 22, is facing toward the bottom plane 40 of the rack 31.
By means of lifting of the shelf 1 and its rotation clockwise as compared with the pin 24, the same shelf 1 gets arranged in the working position B in which a lock 28 integral with the shelf 1 engages with the piece 20. The working position B is defined by the inclination of the shelf 1 as regards an axis P parallel to the bottom of the rack in such a way so as to form an angle Q smaller than a right angle (Figure 3).
According to variations of the embodiment of the present invention, the support 100 can have a shelf 1 made up of the single cutlery holder 2 or of the single cup holder 3, as visible in Figures 4 and 5; in such case two or more supports 100 can be provided for a side wall 30 of the rack 31. In such case the cutlery holder support 2 is preferably arranged in a comer made up of a front or back wall with one of the side walls 30 of the rack 31. Each support made up of the single cutlery holder 2 or of the single cup holder 3 comprises at least one piece 20 and at least one pin 24 integral with the shelf 1.
As an alternative the support 100 can be connected with a front or back vertical wall of the rack 31.
The arrangement of the cutlery inside the dishwasher machine allows a more accurate washing of the same by limiting the contact zone of the tools and by favouring a greater flow of the washing water. In fact the geometry of the shelf 1 has solids and voids in order to limit at most the points of contact between tools and to favour the drainage of the water.
The structure can be entirely all cutlery or all cups.
In addition such arrangement of the cutlery allows to utilise wide areas for the passage of a constant thermal flow for a more homogenous drying of the same cutlery.
The position of the shelves 1 allows to relieve the rack 31 from the load of cutlery and it eliminates the angles negative to the inflow of the washing water, thus allowing a total result of efficiency in washing and drying higher than the standards.
The dish holder rack 31 can be the bottom or top rack of a dishwasher machine.

Claims

Combination comprising a removable dish holder support (100), and a rack (31) of a dishwasher machine, said rack comprising at least one vertical wall (30) and a bottom plane (40), said support comprising a dish holder shelf (1) and connection means (10) for the connection of the shelf (1) with said wall (30), said connection means (10) being suitable to determine a rest position (A) of said shelf (1) in which the shelf (1) is adjacent to said wall (30) of the rack (31) and a working position (B) of said shelf (1) in which the shelf (1) is arranged in such a way as to form an angle (Q) smaller than a right angle with said bottom plane (40), said connection means (10) comprising at least one first means (20) coupled to the vertical wall (30) and being provided with a vertical cavity elongated as a slot (23), a pin (24) integral with the shelf (1) and in sliding engagement with said slot shaped cavity (23), a first lock (28) integral with said shelf (1) and suitable to engage with said first means (20) so as to determine said working position (B), wherein
said cavity (23) has a bottom end (25) and a top end (26) and said shelf (1) has a first end (12) provided with said pin (24) and a free second end (11) opposite to said first end (12), said pin (24) being arranged adjacent to said bottom end (25) of the cavity (23) in said rest position (A) of the shelf (1), said shelf (1) being arranged in a way parallel to the wall (30) of the rack (31) of said dishwasher machine and its second free end (11) being adjacent to said top end (26) of the cavity (23),
characterised in that in said rest position (A) said second end of the shelf (1) has a height lower than the vertical wall (30) of the rack (31) as compared with the bottom plane (40) of the same and said shelf (1) is arranged inside the rack (31), wherein
said second end of the shelf (1) is provided with a second lock (27) for the connection with said first means (20) in said rest position.
Combination according to claim 1, characterised in that said shelf (1) is suitable to support cutlery and cups.
Combination according to claim 1 characterised in that said shelf (1) is suitable to support cutlery.
Combination according to claim 1, characterised in that said shelf (1) is suitable to support cups.
Combination according to claim 1 characterised in that it comprises a first (2) and a second (3) shelf suitable to support respective cutlery and cups.
Combination according to claim 1, characterised in that said first piece (20) of the connection means (10) comprises a hook (21) suitable to engage in removable way with a horizontal rod (22) of said vertical wall (30).
Combination according to claim 1, characterised in that said cavity (23) is parallel to said vertical wall (30) of the rack (31).