EP2172144B1 - Crockery basket - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a crockery basket according to the preamble of patent claim 1.

In the prior art, crockery baskets are used on the one hand for storing crockery, but on the other hand also for washing crockery in dishwashers specially designed for gastronomy. The crockery baskets usually have a basket base provided with a passage opening, so that moisture still present on the crockery can leave the basket. As a rule, the crockery baskets known from the prior art can be stacked. There are various inserts to hold different types of dishes securely in place in the dish rack. Crockery baskets for plates are designed so that the plates are leaned on supports while standing on their plate rims, in order to ensure optimal accessibility to all surfaces of the plates during the washing process. In the prior art, there are crockery baskets in which the supports are in the form of, for example, wire-like inserts. In the case of generic crockery baskets of the type mentioned above, however, the supports are formed onto the bottom of the basket. Generic crockery baskets are in the GB 1 101 494 shown.

Especially in gastronomy, the trend towards using particularly large plates has become increasingly popular in recent years. This poses the problem for gastronomy that a wide variety of plates of various sizes now have to be stored and washed. Now it is conceivable to provide a separate, specially adapted crockery basket for each plate size. However, this is uneconomical and also impractical in daily operation.

The object of the invention is therefore to improve generic crockery baskets in such a way that as many plates of different sizes as possible can be stored safely standing on their plate rims in the crockery basket without the risk of these plates hitting one another.

According to the invention, this is achieved with a crockery basket according to patent claim 1 .

Due to the support edges of the supports forming a pair of supports, which are beveled in the direction towards one another, it is possible to support plates of very different sizes standing on their plate rim. The slanted support edges ensure that the very large as well as the very small plates stand as upright as possible, which is good for washing the plates on the one hand and a relatively dense packing of the plates in the dish rack and thus a high level of storage on the other number of plates per dish rack.

The supporting edges do not necessarily have to be designed in the form of acute-angled edges in the mathematical sense. Rather, they can also be rounded and/or flat in the form of support surfaces. They generally designate the area or section of the surface of the respective support that is intended for the underside of the plate to lean on the plate standing on the edge of the plate. The term "oblique" or "beveled" generally stands for arrangements that are neither parallel nor orthogonal. These terms therefore include all those angles that deviate from 0° and 90° and the integer multiples of 90°. Standing storage of the plates in the crockery basket is understood to mean that the plates stand on their edge in the crockery basket or on the bottom of the crockery basket. However, the plates are not strictly orthogonal, but are supported more or less at an angle to the vertical with the underside of the plates on the supports. The underside of the plate is understood to be the outer surface of the plate that faces the base on which the plate is placed during normal eating from the plate. The food is on the opposite side of the plate. The rim of the plate is the edge or rim of the plate that separates the bottom and top of the plate from each other. The term “operating position of the crockery basket” used below means that position in which the crockery basket stands with its basket base on a generally horizontal surface. In this position, it can be loaded with plates or trays from above. For the sake of completeness, it is pointed out that the top of the plates can of course also be leaned against the supports or their supporting edges. An optimal use of space of the crockery baskets according to the invention results, however, when the plates are leaned against the supports with their plate underside or the area of the plate rim facing the plate underside. A pair of supports consisting of at least two supports is always provided for leaning a plate. As a rule, there are exactly two supports per pair of supports. However, additional supports for a plate can also be provided if this makes sense in a specific embodiment appears. The crockery basket usually has a large number of pairs of supports. The term “molded on” means a one-piece attachment or connection.

• Fig. 1 eine perspektivische Ansicht auf das erfindungsgemäße Ausführungsbeispiel eines Geschirrkorbes, wobei verschieden große Teller und ein Tablett im Geschirrkorb stehend gelagert sind;
• Fig. 2 eine perspektivische Ansicht auf diesen Geschirrkorb, ohne Teller und ohne Tablett;
• Fig. 3 eine Draufsicht auf den Geschirrkorb, bzw. dessen Korbboden;
• Fig. 4 eine weitere perspektivische Ansicht des Geschirrkorbes;
• Fig. 5 eine perspektivische Ansicht auf die Unterseite des Geschirrkorbes;
• Fig. 6 eine Detaildarstellung als Schnitt entlang der gemeinsamen Ebene der beiden Stützen eines Stützenpaares.

Further details and features of a preferred exemplary embodiment of the invention are explained using the following description of the figures. show:

• 1 a perspective view of the inventive embodiment of a crockery basket, with different sized plates and a tray are stored standing in the crockery basket;
• 2 a perspective view of this crockery basket, without plates and without a tray;
• 3 a top view of the crockery basket or its basket bottom;
• 4 another perspective view of the crockery basket;
• figure 5 a perspective view of the underside of the crockery basket;
• 6 a detailed view as a section along the common plane of the two supports of a pair of supports.

In 1 can be seen as an example of how different sized plates 6 are stored in the crockery basket 1 standing on their rim 5. In order to keep them in this position, each plate 6 is assigned a space inside the crockery basket 1 . This parking space is defined on the one hand by two supports 3 forming a pair of supports and the additional supports 14 assigned to this pair of supports. The plates 6 are supported on their plate undersides 4 by the beveled support edges 7 of the supports 3 . In this sense, the underside 4 of the plate is also to be attributed to the area of the rim 5 of the plate facing the underside 4 of the plate, with which, as with the small plate in Fig.1 to see, especially small plates on the support edges 7 lean. The additional support edges 15 of the additional supports 14 prevent the plates from slipping out of their standing positions, in that the edge of the plate 5 bears against the additional support edges 15 in some areas. The additional supporting edges 15 also do not necessarily have to be in the form of acute-angled edges in the mathematical sense. They too can be rounded and/or flat in the form of additional support surfaces. They generally designate the area or the point of the surface of the respective additional support 14 which (which) is provided for supporting the plate rim 5 of the plate 6 .

The embodiment shown of a crockery basket 1 according to the invention has two rows 17 and 17' of pairs of supports. The pairs of supports are arranged one behind the other within the respective row 17, 17', so that a total of two rows of plates can be arranged in the crockery basket 1, adjacent to one another. The special arrangement of the two rows 17 and 17' relative to one another, which is explained in detail further below, makes it possible for larger trays 24, which extend over both rows, to be arranged in the crockery basket 1 in a standing position. As below based on 3 explained in detail, are the supports of a pair of supports in the embodiment shown arranged slightly obliquely relative to the side walls 12 of the crockery basket 1. In addition, the two rows 17 and 17' have an offset 18 which allows, as in 1 shown, to place two particularly large plates 6 adjacent to one another in one of the rows 17 and 17', without the plates hitting one another. This is made possible in particular by the offset 18 of the two rows 17 and 17' relative to one another.

The supports 3 and, in the exemplary embodiment shown, also the additional supports 14 are formed onto the basket base 2 or are connected to it in one piece. They are like free-standing piles or posts or uprights from the basket floor 2.

The crockery basket 1 of the exemplary embodiment shown here is essentially square in its basic shape. This is a basic form that is common in the prior art. You can of course deviate from it. The outer edge length of the crockery basket 1 is about 60 cm in the embodiment shown.

In the exemplary embodiment shown, the two supports 3 of a respective pair of supports are each at least partially, here completely, plate-shaped. The beveled support edges 7 each form the delimitation of these plate-shaped areas pointing away from the basket bottom 2 . The slanted support edges 7 fall towards one another in the respective direction 8 and towards the basket bottom 2 in the direction 9 . Ribs 11 can be arranged on the supports 3 to reinforce or to support the supports 3 on the basket bottom 2 . These are preferably formed in one piece on the respective support 3 and/or the basket base 2 . The surfaces of the plate-shaped areas of the two supports 3 of a pair of supports advantageously lie in a common plane. In order to be able to perform their reinforcing and/or supporting function, the ribs 11 are advantageously arranged obliquely or orthogonally to this common plane. The common plane is shown below using 3 explained in more detail.

In the exemplary embodiment shown, two additional supports 14 are assigned to a pair of supports 3 , on whose additional support edges 15 the area of the plate rim 5 facing the basket bottom 2 can be supported. This does not necessarily have to be the case. Deviating from this, it can also be provided that only one or more than two additional supports 14 are assigned to the respective pair of supports. If there are two or more additional supports 14 per parking space or pair of supports, the additional supports 14 are advantageously spaced apart from one another. In the basket bottom 2 , between the two additional supports 14 each associated with a pair of supports, recesses for receiving the plate rim 5 of each plate 6 are advantageously provided. In the exemplary embodiment shown, this is realized in that the basket base 2 is itself already in the form of a lattice and the lattice bars provide a corresponding free space for the depression. As explained at the outset, configurations of the basket bottom 2 and side walls 12 of the crockery basket 1 that are in the form of a lattice or provided with openings are favorable in order to to ensure that the dishes dry quickly and that no residual moisture remains in the basket. In addition, of course, weight is also saved by the recess or the lattice-like design.

2 shows once again a perspective representation in the form of a view obliquely from above onto the crockery basket 1, in which no plates 6 or trays 24 are present in the crockery basket 1. It can also be seen here that the upper edges of the side walls 12, which are adjacent to the respective outer supports 3, are slightly lowered so that the plate edges 5 of large plates 6 can still protrude over them.

3 1 now shows a plan view of the basket base 2. It is a view along a vertical line from top to bottom of the dish rack 1 standing on a horizontal surface. In this view, some particularly preferred design features of a dish rack 1 according to the invention can be seen particularly well.

The invention provides that the beveled support edges 7 of the two supports 3 of a pair of supports lie on a common straight line 10 in the top view shown of the basket base 2 . In the exemplary embodiment shown, a vertical plane runs through this straight line 10, which forms a common plane in which the support edges 7 of the two supports 3 of the pair of supports lie. One surface of each of the plate-shaped areas of the two supports 3 of this pair of supports also lies in this common plane. The opposite surfaces of the plate-shaped areas of the two supports 3 of the pair of supports lie in a common plane parallel thereto. Also clearly visible in this representation is according to 3 In order to accommodate plates 6 that are as large as possible in the crockery basket 1, it is provided that the common straight line 10 of the supporting edges 7 does not meet the adjacent side wall 12 exactly orthogonally. Rather, an oblique angle 13 is provided, which is preferably in the angular range of 70° to 89°. In the exemplary embodiment shown, the angle 13 is between 86° and 87°.

in the in 3 shown plan view of the basket base 2 are also the additional support edges 15 of the support pair associated additional supports 14 on a common straight line. This is referred to here as the second common straight line 16 . It runs parallel to the common straight line 10 of the support edges 7 of the associated pair of supports.

In the exemplary embodiment shown, both the common straight lines 10 of the respective pairs of supports within the rows 17 and 17' run parallel to one another, and the common straight lines 10 of row 17 run parallel to the corresponding common straight lines 10' of the support edges 7 of the support pairs in the second row 17'. To the non-contact, in 1 To enable the overlapping of large plates 6 shown, however, an offset 18 between the common straight lines 10 one row 17 and the common straight line 10' of the adjacent other row 17'. The offset 18 is in each case the smallest distance between the respectively adjacent common straight lines 10 and 10', as is shown in 3 is also marked. In order to enable plates 6 to be packed as densely as possible on the one hand and larger trays 24 to be inserted on the other, as in 1 shown, in both rows 17 and 17 'allow, is advantageously provided that the offset 18 between the common straight line 10 of a row 17 and the common straight line 10' of the adjacent row 17 'is less than half of the distance 19 between the common straight line 10 of two pairs of supports arranged directly one behind the other within a row 17 or 17'. The distance 19 between two common straight lines 10 of pairs of supports arranged one behind the other in a row 17 is advantageously from 30 mm to 80 mm.

In the exemplary embodiment shown, both the angle 13 of the common straight lines 10 and 10′, which deviates from the orthogonal, and their offset 18 relative to one another are provided. This does not necessarily have to be the case.

In 3 the distances 20 and 21 between the supports 3 of a pair of supports are also shown. The distance 20 between the ends of the beveled support edges 7 facing the basket floor 2 is advantageously between 10 cm and 16 cm. The distance 21 between the ends of the beveled support edges 7 of the supports 3 of the respective pair of supports facing away from the basket bottom is advantageously between 16 cm and 26 cm.

4 shows another side view obliquely from above of the crockery basket 1. Here the distances 22 and 23 of the beveled support edges 7 from the basket bottom 2 are located. The distance 23 between the end of the beveled support edge 7 facing the basket floor 2 and the basket floor is advantageously from 0 cm to 8 cm. The distance 22 between the end of the beveled support edge 7 facing away from the basket floor 2 and the basket floor 2 is advantageously from 5 cm to 10 cm. As can also be seen in this figure, the additional supports 14 are advantageously designed to be significantly shorter than the supports 3. They protrude beyond the basket floor 2 in a direction normal to the basket floor 2, advantageously between 1 cm and 6 cm.

figure 5 shows a view from below of the basket bottom 2 of the crockery basket 1.

6 1 shows another vertical section along a common plane or one of the common straight lines 10 or 10′ through the supports 3 of a pair of supports. The different distances 20, 21, 22 and 23 are drawn in again for the sake of illustration, as are the directions 8 and 9. This illustration can be seen particularly well However, when the crockery basket 1 is in the operating position on a horizontal surface, the beveled support edges 7 form an angle 26 with a horizontal plane 25 in an angular range of 20° to 70°, preferably between 40° and 60°, here 50°. The support edges 7 can run linearly, as shown here. However, other, for example curved, courses of the support edges 7 are also conceivable.

Preferred embodiments of crockery baskets 1 according to the invention provide that the supports 3 and/or the basket base 2 and/or the additional supports 14 and particularly preferably the entire crockery basket 1 are made of plastic, preferably in one piece. It can be used for the crockery baskets 1 known in the prior art, such as polyethylene, polypropylene, etc., can also be used for crockery baskets 1 according to the invention. The exemplary embodiment of a crockery basket 1 shown can be used for plates with a diameter of 8 cm up to plates with a diameter of 34 cm.

Legend for the reference numbers:

1

dish rack

2

basket bottom

3

Support

4

underside of plate

5

box edge

6

Plate

7

support edge

8th

direction

9

direction

10, 10'

common straight

11

ribs

12

Side wall

13

angle

14

additional supports

15

additional support edge

16

second common straight line

17, 17'

line

18

offset

19

distance

20

distance

21

distance

22

distance

23

distance

24

tray

25

horizontal plane

26

angle

Claims (14)

1. A crockery basket (1) with at least one basket base (2) and with supports (3) formed on the basket base (2) for a plate underside (4) of a plate (6) stored upright on a plate edge (5) in the crockery basket (1) to lean against the supports (3), wherein at least two supports (3) arranged spaced apart from each other in the crockery basket (1) form a pair of supports for the plate underside (4) to lean against, and the supports (3) of the pair of supports on their side facing away from the basket base (2) have in each case a slanted supporting edge (7) for the plate underside (4) to lean against, wherein the slanted supporting edges (7) of these two supports (3) are slanted downwards in each case in the direction (8) towards each other, in the direction (9) towards the basket base (2), wherein the crockery basket (1) is delimited by at least one side wall (12) and, viewed in a top view of the basket base (2), the supporting edges (7) of the two supports (3) of the pair of supports lie on a common straight line (10, 10') which is arranged obliquely to the side wall (12), characterised in that at least one additional support (14), preferably formed on the basket base (2), is associated with the supports (3) of the pair of supports, the plate (6) which leans against the supports (3) with the plate underside (4) being able to be supported, with its region of the plate edge (5) facing the basket base (2), on an additional supporting edge (15) of the additional support (14).
2. A crockery basket (1) according to claim 1, characterised in that the slanted supporting edges (7) of the two supports (3) of the pair of supports lie in a common plane.
3. A crockery basket (1) according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the two supports (3) of the pair of supports in each case at least in regions, preferably completely, are formed in a plate shape and the slanted supporting edges (7) form the delimitation of these plate-shaped regions which points away from the basket base (2) in each case.
4. A crockery basket (1) according to claim 3, characterised in that surfaces of the plate-shaped regions of the two supports (3) lie in a common plane.
5. A crockery basket (1) according to claim 3 or 4, characterised in that ribs (11) are arranged, preferably formed-on, on the supports (3) for supporting and/or reinforcing the supports (3).
6. A crockery basket (1) according to claim 4 and 5, characterised in that the ribs (11) are arranged obliquely or orthogonally to the common plane.
7. A crockery basket (1) according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterised in that the common straight line (10, 10') is arranged obliquely to the side wall at an angle (13) of between 70° and 89°.
8. A crockery basket (1) according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterised in that at least two additional supports (14) spaced apart from each other, preferably formed on the basket base (2), are associated with the supports (3) of a pair of supports, the additional supporting edges (15) of which additional supports, in a top view of the basket base (2), lie on a second common straight line (16), with the common straight line (10, 10') of the supporting edges (7) and the second common straight line (16) of the additional supporting edges (15) running parallel to each other.
9. A crockery basket (1) according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterised in that a plurality of pairs of supports are arranged in the crockery basket (1) in at least two rows (17, 17') adjacent to each other, wherein the supporting edges (7) of the two supports (3) of a respective pair of supports in each case in a top view of the basket base (2) lie on a common straight line (10, 10') and the common straight lines (10, 10') of the supporting edges (7) of the pairs of supports at least within one row (17, 17'), preferably all rows (17, 17'), run parallel to each other and preferably the common straight lines (10, 10') of the rows (17, 17') which are adjacent to each other are offset relative to each other in each case.
10. A crockery basket (1) according to claim 9, characterised in that an offset (18) between the common straight lines (10) of the one row (17) and the common straight lines (10') of the row (17') adjacent thereto is less than half the distance (19) between the common straight lines (10, 10') of two pairs of supports arranged within one row (17, 17').
11. A crockery basket (1) according to one of claims 1 to 10, characterised in that when the crockery basket (1) in the operating position is placed on a horizontal surface the slanted supporting edges (7) enclose an angle (26) of between 20° and 70°, preferably between 40° and 60°, with a horizontal plane (25).
12. A crockery basket (1) according to one of claims 1 to 11, characterised in that the supporting edges (7) run linearly in each case.
13. A crockery basket (1) according to one of claims 1 to 12, characterised in that the basket base (2), preferably between two additional supports (14) associated with a pair of supports, has indentations for receiving the plate edge (5) of one of the plates (6) and/or is configured in a lattice-like manner.
14. A crockery basket (1) according to one of claims 1 to 13, characterised in that the supports (3) and/or the basket base (2) and/or the additional supports (14) or the entire crockery basket (1), preferably in one piece, consist(s) of plastics material.

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