EP1829071B1

EP1829071B1 - A household appliance

Info

Publication number: EP1829071B1
Application number: EP05826529A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Ugur Camli; Cemalettin Kalayci
Original assignee: Arcelik AS
Current assignee: Arcelik AS
Priority date: 2004-12-24
Filing date: 2005-12-23
Publication date: 2011-02-09
Anticipated expiration: 2025-12-23
Also published as: ATE498189T1; WO2006067764A1; ES2358209T3; EP1829071A1; DE602005026319D1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a household appliance (1) comprising a knob (4) which can be attached to the panel (2) and the control unit (2) conjointly, allowing the user to actuate the shaft (8) onto which it is situated, without damaging the panel (2) and the control unit (2) to which it is attached.

Description

The present invention relates to a household appliance which comprises a knob assembled on the panel.
In the state of the art, the household appliances, for example cooking devices, washing machines etc. comprise a panel, a control unit and knobs for monitoring and controlling their functions. The knobs are attached to the shafts of the components they control behind the panel with the help of the sockets on the panel, for example the shafts connected to the switches on the electronic control card or the gas flow control shafts, directly or with the help of spring like components by snap-fitting or with the help of rings or clamps. As the knobs are actuated, the shafts connected to the knobs also move and the desired functions may be chosen. But as the users actuate the knobs, the weak components fixed to the shafts may be damaged and this may cause the switching handle and thus the household appliance not to function.
In the United States of America Patent no. US4920823 , a description is given of a rotary knob wherein the rotary knob is secured to the panel using an inner member, and the users are enabled to select the functions using an outer member fixed to the inner member.
In the German Patent document no. DE3721955 , a description of a control knob is given wherein the control knob is fixed and housed on the switch panel with an additional fixing element, the user is enabled to make selections by the knob handle and an end portion is provided for transmitting the user selections to a selector switch to which it is attached and actuated by it. Document GB-A-2040396 discloses a household appliance according to the preamble of claim 1.
The aim of the present invention is to design a household appliance which comprises a knob which is actuated by the user without damaging the components to which it is attached, which may easily be mounted and fixed to the panel and if required which may easily be dismounted.
The household appliance designed to fulfill the objective of the present invention is according to claim 1 and is shown in the attached figures where:
Figure 1 - is the perspective view of a household appliance.
Figure 2 - is the exploded perspective view of a panel and a control unit.
Figure 3 - is the perspective view of a knob.
Figure 4 - is the schematic view of a knob fixed to a panel.
Figure 5 - is the perspective view of an alternative knob.
Figure 6 - is the AA sectional view of an alternative knob fixed to a panel.
Elements shown in the drawings are numbered as follows:

1. Household appliance
2. Panel
3. Control unit
4. Knob
5. Latch
6. Groove
7. Flexion socket
8. Shaft
9. Shaft housing
10. Knob socket
11. Switching handle
12. Base
13. Retainer socket
14. Retainer

The household appliance (1), for example a cooking apparatus, washing machine etc. comprises one or more panels (2) rendering an esthetic appearance, one or more control units (3) situated behind the panel (2), allowing for monitoring or controlling the functions, one or more shafts (8) providing transmitting the user selections to the control unit (3) and the components on it, one or more knobs (4) fixed to the panel (2) so that the shaft (8) is centrally fixed on it, by which the user can actuate the shaft (8) without damaging the panel (2) and/or the control unit (3) to which it is fixed, and a knob socket (10) situated on the panel (2) into which the knob (4) is attached.
The knob (4) comprises a switching handle (11) by which the user can hold to actuate it, a base (12) under the switching handle (11) which encompasses the shaft (8), a shaft housing (9) inside the base (12) and/or the switching handle (11), inside which the shaft (8) is situated, the closed end dimensioned and formed, for example with a half-circle section, so that the end of the shaft (8) can fit in a loose fitted way, allowing it to move together with itself, a latch (5) which by connecting to the panel (2) makes it hard for the knob socket (10) to be disengaged, one or more grooves (6) on the side surfaces of the base (12) which partially separates the base (12) side surfaces to flex towards each other due to the flexible structure of the base (12) providing the latch (5) to skip the panel (2) while it is being mounted or dismounted in the knob socket (10), and a flexion socket (7) inside the shaft housing (9), formed between the shaft (8) and the shaft housing (9), which allows the base (12) side surfaces to approach each other so that the latch (5) skips the panel (2) while it is assembled in the knob socket (10).
In another embodiment of the present invention, the panel (2) comprises a retainer (14) which prevents the knob (4) to disengage from the knob socket (10). In this embodiment, the knob (4) comprises a retainer socket (13), on the exterior surface of the base (12), into which the retainer (14) is situated.
The control unit (3) is fixed to the panel (2) so that the shaft (8) can be inserted into the knob socket (10) during assembly. The knob (4) is pushed towards the control unit (3) so that the shaft (8) enters into the shaft housing (9) and the base (12) enters into the knob socket (10). When the latch (5) leans on the retainer (14) as the knob (4) is pushed by its switching handle (11), the side surfaces of the base (12) start to be pressed towards the grooves (6) and start to reduce the base (12) dimensions until it skips the retainer (14). After the latch (5) skips the retainer (14), the retainer (14) is fixed in the retainer socket (13) and provides the knob (4) to be fixed to the panel (2). Simultaneously the shaft (8) fits in the shaft housing (9) so that the flexion socket (7) lies in between. When the user turns the knob (4), the shaft (8) moves together with the base (12), allowing the function of the control unit (3) selected by the user to be executed.
If the knob (4) is desired to be disengaged from the knob socket (10), the base (12) side surfaces are pulled away from the panel (2) by the switching handle (11), approaching each other with the help of the grooves (6) until the latch (5) skips the retainer (14). After the latch (5) skips the retainer, the base (12) is pulled away from the knob socket (10) out of the panel (2). At the same time the shaft (8) will be disengaged from the shaft housing (9) where it is fitted in a loose fitting manner without being strained.
With the embodiment of the present invention, when the user wants to turn the knob (4), the shaft (8) which moves together with the knob (4) is influenced by a force or moment only in the direction of the turning movement since the knob (4) is fixed on the panel (2), a force or moment does not affect the control unit (3) on which the shaft (8) is situated. Thus the service life of the shaft (8) and the control unit (3) is extended and the defect rates are reduced.
Furthermore, the knob (4) of the present invention can easily be attached to or detached from the panel (2) without the use of an additional component.

Claims

A household appliance (1) comprising a panel (2), one or more control units (3) situated behind the panel (2) which allow for monitoring or controlling of functions, one or more shafts (8) which provide transmitting a user selections to the control unit (3) and to the components on it, one or more knobs (4) rotatably supported by the panel (2) so that said one or more shaft (8) are centrally fixed to said one or more knobs (4), and knob sockets (10) into which said one or more knobs (4) are positioned, wherein by said knobs (4) the user can actuate the shaft (8) without damaging the panel (2) and the control unit (3) to which it is fixed, said knob (4) having a base (12) which encompasses the shaft (8), a shaft housing (9) inside the base (12) in which the shaft (8) is situated, the closed end of the shaft housing (9) being dimensioned and formed so that the end of the shaft (8) can fit in a loose fitting way such that the shaft (8) moves together with said knob, a latch (5) which by connecting to the panel (2) makes it hard for the knob to be disengaged from the knob socket, characterised by two or more grooves (6) on the side surfaces of the base (12), partially separating the base (12) side surfaces to flex towards each other due to the flexible structure of the base (12) allowing the latch (5) to skip the panel (2) while it is mounted or dismounted in the knob socket (10), and a flexion socket (7) inside the shaft housing (9), formed between the shaft (8) and the shaft housing (9) when the shaft is fitted in the shaft housing, which allows the base (12) side surfaces to approach each other so that the latch (5) skips the panel (2) while it is assembled into the knob socket (10).
A household appliance (1) as in Claim 1, characterized by a panel (2) having a retainer (14) preventing the knob (4) to be disengaged from the knob socket (10).
A household appliance (1) as in Claim 2, characterized by a retainer socket (13) situated on the exterior surface of the base (12) into which the retainer (14) is positioned.
A household appliance (1) as in Claim 1, characterized by the flexion socket (7) which has the length is at least equal or longer than the length of the grooves (6).