EP2096980B1

EP2096980B1 - A cutlery basket

Info

Publication number: EP2096980B1
Application number: EP07848045A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Cem Bastuji; Guvenc Numanoglu; Ayla Kuran
Original assignee: Arcelik AS
Current assignee: Arcelik AS
Priority date: 2006-12-25
Filing date: 2007-12-11
Publication date: 2010-03-31
Anticipated expiration: 2027-12-11
Also published as: PL2096980T3; ES2342504T3; WO2008077761A1; ATE462348T1; EP2096980A1; DE602007005692D1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a cutlery basket (1) used for placing items (E) such as forks, spoons etc. in the dishwasher in an effective washing position that comprises a body (2) wherein silverware are placed, a handle (3) used for carrying the body (2) and a lid (4) disposed on the body (2) that serves to keep the items (E) placed into the body (2) to stand in a virtually upright position by inserting through the perforations thereon and wherein the items (E) in the body (2) are unloaded by pushing upwards after washing.

Description

The present invention relates to a cutlery basket used in dishwashers.
In dishwashers, cutlery baskets are used for washing the small sized items. When the forks, spoons and knives placed in the cutlery baskets are taken out after washing, they are usually held by their ends that contact with the food and this creates hygienic problems. Moreover, injuries may result when, for example, knives are held form their pointed ends for unloading.
In the state of the art International Patent Application No WO 2006/015933 , a separate loading device is described that is used in dishwashers that simplifies the loading or unloading of crockery or cutlery from the cutlery basket, enabling the separate loading device to be pulled out of the washing container of the dishwasher, which can be displaced between an inserted position and a loading position, as a result of the displaceable positioning.
In the state of the art International Patent Application No WO 2006/010711 , a pivoting stacking device disposed on the outer side of washing-up basket used in dishwashers is defined that can be rotated around a horizontal axis, whereby the loading and unloading of the cutlery basket with cutlery pieces is possible.
In the state of the art International Patent Application No US2004/0020875 , an insert used in dishwashers is described, configured of various compartments of different heights wherein various sizes of silverware are placed.
Documents US 2006/0237053 , upon which the preamble of claim 1 is based, and US 4456022 also disclose cutlery baskets for use in dishwashers.
The aim of the present invention is the realization of a cutlery basket used for placing cutlery items in the dishwasher and which provides hygienic us age conditions for the user.
The cutlery basket realized in order to attain the aim of the present invention is explicated in the claims.
In the cutlery basket of the present invention, a body is provided wherein small sized items such as forks, spoons etc. are placed, a handle for carrying the body and a grid-shaped or perforated lid placed on the body that serves for placing the items put into the body to stand in a virtually upright position by inserting through the perforations thereon and a base that can be moved upwards and downwards inside the body and when moved upwards in the body pushes upwards the items thereon such that the ends of the items project outwards from the lid.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the base is fixed to the handle and when the user moves the handle, the base connected to the handle can be moved inside the body.
In another embodiment of the present invention, separators fixed to the base are placed on the movable base and the base moves inside the body keeping its horizontal position by means of the guides inside which the edges of the separators move.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the cutlery basket comprises a locking mechanism that provides to lock the movable base at the desired height.
The locking mechanism is arranged on the handle and is constituted of a lug that enables to change position as active or passive by turning to the right or left, a shaft is adjacent to the side of the handle that extends from upwards to downwards and transmits the movement of the lug and a locking recess situated on the shaft which is turned to compress the lid when desired to change the position as active.
The cutlery basket realized in order to attain the aim of the present invention is illustrated in the attached figures, where:
Figure 1 - is the perspective view of a cutlery basket of which the handle is in the downward position.
Figure 2 - is the perspective view of a cutlery basket of which the handle is in the upward position.
Figure 3 - is the perspective view of a locking mechanism.
Figure 4 - is the perspective view of a cutlery basket and the separators and guides disposed in the body thereof.
The elements illustrated in the figures are numbered as follows:

1. Cutlery basket
2. Body
3. Handle
4. Lid
5. Base
6. Separator
7. Guide
8. Locking mechanism
9. Lug
10. Shaft
11. Locking recess

In dishwashers, a cutlery basket (1) is used for placing the small sized items (E) such as forks, spoons etc. in an effective washing position.
The cutlery basket (1) comprises a body (2) wherein the items (E) are placed, a handle (3) used for carrying the body (2) and a grid-shaped or perforated lid (4) disposed on the body (2) that provides to keep the items (E) emplaced into the body (2) to stand in a virtually upright position, for example, by inserting the handgrips through the perforations.
The handgrips of the items (E) are placed into the body (2) by inserting through the perforations on the lid (4) and the end portions of the items (E) for example such as forks and spoons being wider than the handgrips stay outside the lid (4).
The cutlery basket (1) of the present invention comprises a base (5):

that holds the items (E) placed into the body (2)
that can be moved upwards and downwards inside the body (2) and
when moved upwards in the body (2) pushes the items (E) thereon and enabling the ends of the items (E) to project outwards from the lid (4).

After the washing process, the base (5) is moved upwards, moving the items (E) thereon upwards together with the base (5) and thus the end portions of the items (E) that are above the lid (4) project outwards from the lid (4). Consequently, the user can unload the items (E) from the cutlery basket (1) without holding from the portions of the items (E) used (that contact with the food), for example the pointed and sharp ends of items (E) such as knives, but from their handgrips under the end portion projecting from the lid (4).
In an embodiment of the present invention, the movable base (5) is fixed to the handle (3) and is moved upwards or downwards by means of the handle (3). When the user wants to unload the items (E) from the cutlery basket (1) after the washing process, lifts the handle (3) upwards, also moves the base (5) upwards that is fixed to the handle (3).
In another embodiment of the present invention, the cutlery basket (1) comprises one or more separators (6) situated on the base (5), that divide the body (2) thereof into compartments, and that moves upwards or downwards together with the base (5). In this embodiment, the cutlery basket (1) furthermore comprises one or more guides (7) disposed on the inner walls of the body (2) that extend from upwards to downwards in the direction that the separators (6) contact the inner walls of the body (2) inside which the separators (6) slidingly move.
The separators (6) in addition to the function of dividing the body (2) into compartments, move upwards and downwards in the guides (7) together with the base (5), enabling to keep the horizontal position of the base (5) in the body (2) and to move thereof upwards and downwards between the side walls of the body (2) without being stuck.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the cutlery basket (1) comprises a locking mechanism (8) that enables to fix the base (5) at the desired height. In this embodiment, when the user wants to unload the items (E) from the cutlery basket (1), fixes the base (5) at the desired height by bringing the locking mechanism (8) to the active position after moving the base (5) to a certain height and can easily unload the items (E) the ends of which project out from the lid (4).
In an embodiment of the present invention, the locking mechanism (8) is disposed on the handle (3). The user, after lifting up the handle (3) can easily access the locking mechanism (8) changing position as active or passive for fixing or releasing the base (5).
In this embodiment, the locking mechanism (8) comprises a lug (9) whereby the user turns to the right or left to change thereof to the active or passive position, a shaft (10) that is adjacent to the side of the handle (3) extending from upwards to downwards and transmitting the movement of the lug (9) and a locking recess (11) situated on the shaft (10) which turns together with the shaft (10) when the lug (9) is rotated for compressing the lid (4) while changing position of the locking mechanism (8) as active.
When the base (5) is pulled up by lifting the handle (3) upwards, the body (2) and the lid (4) remain stationary but the base (5), the separators (6) and the locking mechanism (8) on the handle (3) move upwards. When the base (5) is brought to a certain height, the locking recess (11) situated on the shaft (10) is aligned with the lid (4) and at this point the lug (9) thus the shaft (10) is turned and, the locking recess (11) on the shaft (10) compresses the lid (4). Thus the handle (3) that is moved upwards and the base (5) connected to the handle (3) are fixed at a certain height by bringing the locking mechanism (8) to the active position. When the locking mechanism (8) is desired to be changed to the passive position, the lug (9) is turned in the opposite direction, the locking recess (11) is released free of the lid (4) and the handle (3) with the base (5) can move freely downwards in the body (2).
By forming more than one locking recess (11) on the shaft (10), the base (5) can be fixed at the heights preferred by the user between the uppermost and lowermost positions.
In the cutlery basket (1) of the present invention, the fork, spoon and knives (E) can be unloaded after the washing process without holding from their end portions that contact with food and hygienic usage conditions are maintained.

Claims

A cutlery basket (1) comprising a body (2) wherein the small sized items (E) such as forks, spoons etc. are placed, a handle (3) used for carrying the body (2) and a grid-shaped or perforated lid (4) disposed on the body (2) that enables to keep the items (E) emplaced into the body (2) to stand in a virtually upright position by inserting through the perforations and characterized by a base(5) - that holds the items (E) placed into the body (2) - that can be moved upwards and downwards inside the body (2) and - when moved upwards in the body (2) pushes the items (E) thereon and enables to project the ends of the items (E) outwards from the lid (4).
A cutlery basket (1) as in Claim 1, characterized by the base (5) fixed to the handle (3) and that is moved in the upwards and downwards directions by means of the handle (3).
A cutlery basket (1) as in Claim 1 or 2, characterized by one or more separators (6) that divide the body (2) thereof into compartments, situated on the base (5) and that moves upwards or downwards together with the base (5) and one or more guides (7) disposed on the inner walls of the body (2) that extend from upwards to downwards in the direction that the separators (6) contact the inner walls of the body (2) inside which the separators (6) slidingly move.
A cutlery basket (1) as in Claim 1 or 2, characterized by a locking mechanism (8) that fixes the base (5) at the desired height.
A cutlery basket (1) as in Claim 4, characterized by the locking mechanism (8) that is disposed on the handle (3).
A cutlery basket (1) as in Claim 5, characterized by the locking mechanism (8) comprising a lug (9) whereby the user turns to the right or left to change thereof to the active or passive position, a shaft (10) that is adjacent to the side of the handle (3) that extends from upwards to downwards, transmitting the movement of the lug (9) and one or more locking recess (11) situated on the shaft (10) which is rotated for compressing the lid (4) when desired to change to the active position.
A dishwasher, characterized by the cutlery basket (1) as in any one of the above claims.