EP1529482B1

EP1529482B1 - Built-in domestic appliance with decorative panel applied to the door

Info

Publication number: EP1529482B1
Application number: EP03425723A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Andrea Ambrosi
Original assignee: Bonferraro SpA
Current assignee: Bonferraro SpA
Priority date: 2003-11-07
Filing date: 2003-11-07
Publication date: 2006-12-27
Anticipated expiration: 2023-11-07
Also published as: DE60310726T2; ES2278137T3; DE60310726D1; ATE349179T1; EP1529482A1

Abstract

In a built-in domestic appliance with a door hinged along its bottom side and provided with a front decorative panel applied to the appliance through a mounting system including a sliding coupling (1,2,3,4,5) between the panel and the door with sliding direction orthogonal to the rotation axis of the door, the panel has such a height that its bottom end comes into contact with the appliance base in the final phase of the door opening, and the sliding coupling includes a spring (8) suitable to push the panel toward the rotation axis. In this way it is possible to mount panels of greater height on the same machines manufactured for the application of standard panels, without requiring any modification of the machine base, since the opening and closing movement of the door also causes the automatic movement of the panel with respect to the door. <IMAGE>

Description

The present invention relates to built-in domestic appliances having the door lined with a decorative panel, and in particular to domestic appliances in which the panel slides with respect to the door. Reference will be made hereafter to a dishwasher while it is clear that what is said applies to any other domestic appliance having a similar door hinged along its bottom side, e.g. a washing machine.
This type of decorative panel is known to be used to camouflage a built-in appliance so that it blends with the kitchen furniture. This is achieved by applying to the door of said appliance, by various means, a panel having the same appearance of the other doors. In this way there is no visible element allowing to distinguish the appliance from the other members which make up the kitchen, its controls being accessible only when the door is open. Examples of panel mounting systems including a sliding coupling between the panel and the door are disclosed, for example, in EP-A-744152, EP-A-1364609, and FR-A-2464692.
However, the presence of this panel poses a particular problem when it has a height greater than the standard height of 720 mm, since this would result in the interference of the panel with the dishwasher base at the end of the door opening, otherwise the door could not open completely to 90°.
To overcome this problem there are presently dishwashers specifically manufactured with more room in the lower portion in order to be able to receive higher panels. However this solution has the double drawback of reducing the room available inside the machine to house the members arranged in the lower portion of the dishwasher, as well as the need to manufacture a specific version only for those few markets (e.g. Switzerland) where higher panels are used.
Therefore the object of the present invention is to provide a domestic appliance provided with a mounting system for the decorative panel that overcomes the aforementioned drawbacks.
This object is achieved by means of a domestic appliance in which the panel is mounted through a sliding coupling between the panel and the door with sliding direction orthogonal to the rotation axis of the door, said coupling including an elastic member suitable to push the panel toward the rotation axis so as to achieve an automatic movement of the panel.
The main advantage of the domestic appliance with the panel mounting system according to the present invention is the possibility of being able to mount also higher panels on the same machines manufactured for the application of standard panels, without requiring any modification of the machine base.
Still another advantage of the present system stems from its extreme structural simplicity which makes it cheap and reliable.
These and other advantages and features of the domestic appliance according to the present invention will be evident to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of an embodiment thereof, with reference to the attached drawings, wherein:

Fig.1 is a diagrammatic view showing the rear side of the panel of a dishwasher according to the invention;
Fig.2 is a diagrammatic front view of the dishwasher on which there is applied the panel of fig.1;
Fig.3 is a diagrammatic side view of the above-mentioned dishwasher with the panel applied thereon, with the door in the closed position;
Fig.4 is a view similar to the preceding one with the door in the phase where the interference with the dishwasher base begins; and
Fig.5 is a view similar to the preceding one with the door fully open.

With reference to Figures 1 to 3, there is seen that a dishwasher according to the present invention includes a decorative panel applied to the door through hooks 1 (four in the illustrated example) engaging corresponding slots 2, formed in the machine, within which the sliding can take place. On the panel there is also secured a bracket 4 carrying a pin 3, almost centrally, suitable to engage a corresponding sliding insert 5 arranged in the upper front part 6 of the machine.
The sliding insert 5 is mobile in the vertical direction, guided by its seat 7, and is pushed downward by a spring 8. In the lower portion of the panel there are also preferably provided plastic protections 9, extending to the bottom face, to favour the grazing of the panel on the machine base.
The simple and effective operation of the present mounting system for the panel is readily understood from the description above with the help of figures 4 and 5.
In the initial phase the door opening is not different from that of conventional dishwashers, but when the final phase of the opening is reached (fig.4) the panel, at the protections 9, comes into contact with the machine base. At this moment, due to the push received from the base, the panel starts to slide upward with respect to the door compressing spring 8, through pin 3 engaged in insert 5, and thus allowing to reach the complete opening (fig.5).
Obviously when the door is closed the push of spring 8 takes the panel back to the rest position as soon as the interference zone is cleared.
It is clear that the above-described and illustrated embodiment of the domestic appliance according to the invention is just an example susceptible of various modifications. In particular, the sliding coupling may be made in other ways and/or in other positions and the same applies to the elastic return member, as long as there is retained the automatic movement during the opening and closing movement due to the interference between the bottom end of the panel and the machine base.

Claims

A built-in domestic appliance with a door hinged along its bottom side and provided with a front decorative panel applied to the appliance through a mounting system including a sliding coupling between the panel and the door with sliding direction orthogonal to the rotation axis of the door, characterized in that the front decorative panel has such a height that its bottom end comes into contact with the appliance base in the final phase of the door opening and due to the push received from said appliance base the front decorative panel leaves its rest position and starts to slide upward with respect to the door, said sliding coupling including an elastic member (8) suitable to push the panel toward said rotation axis so that in the initial phase of the door closing said elastic member takes the panel back to its rest position.
A built-in domestic appliance according to claim 1, characterized in that the sliding coupling is achieved through a plurality of hooks (1) arranged on the rear of the panel and engaged in corresponding slots (2), formed in the appliance, within which the sliding can take place.
A built-in domestic appliance according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the interaction between the elastic member and the door takes place through a pin (3), arranged on the rear of the panel, engaging a corresponding insert (5) vertically slidable in a seat (7) formed in the appliance, the elastic member also being housed in said seat (7).
A built-in domestic appliance according to claim 3, characterized in that the elastic member consists of a spring (8) arranged in the seat (7) above the sliding insert (5).
A built-in domestic appliance according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the seat (7) is formed in a substantially central position in the upper portion of the door.
A built-in domestic appliance according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the panel is provided at its bottom end with one or more plastic protections (9) extending to the bottom face.