EP2300655B1

EP2300655B1 - An electrical household appliance for washing and/or drying textile articles

Info

Publication number: EP2300655B1
Application number: EP09766183.9A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Fabio Marenco; Vezio Cicconcelli; Luca Sorana
Original assignee: Indesit Co SpA
Current assignee: Whirlpool EMEA SpA
Priority date: 2008-06-18
Filing date: 2009-06-12
Publication date: 2013-04-10
Anticipated expiration: 2029-06-12
Also published as: EP2300655A1; ITRN20080032A1; WO2009153641A1

Description

Technical Field

This invention relates to an electrical household appliance for washing and/or drying textile articles as described in the preamble to claim 1.

Prior Art

In the prior art, some washing machines comprise a built-in base with a drawer used to contain items connected with the use of the washing machine, such as, for example, detergents, a basket for the dirty washing, and so on. The drawer can be used to conveniently store objects hidden from view inside the casing of the washing machine itself. The drawer is located under a window giving access to a washing tank forming part of the appliance and housing a spin basket. In a front-loaded washing machine, the window is located at the front of the appliance and the presence of the drawer means that the window must be placed higher up than in washing machines that don't have a drawer of this kind.
In some situations, this may constitute a drawback. Indeed, loading the items of dirty washing from a basin on the floor or removing the washed items and placing them in the basin may, be rather awkward, requiring the user to bend down and straighten up repeatedly to make up for the large difference in height between the window of the washing machine and the basin on the floor. This may be extremely strenuous, especially for elderly people.
Document EP1911871A2 discloses a laundry basket built in the frame of a washing machine. The laundry basket may be pulled out in a direction orthogonal to the plane of a glass door and stores washing emptied from the washing machine to be carried to a drying room. The laundry basket comprises a single structure or several parts that are joined together. Document US2005/0178165A1 discloses an appliance having a cabinet enclosing a laundry treating mechanism and including a door in a vertical front face. A shelf is recessed in the cabinet and is extendable to a horizontal position at a predetermined distance below the door. The shelf allows a laundry basket to be placed on the shelf when extended and the door to be opened and closed with the basket on expended shelf.

Disclosure of the Invention

This invention therefore has for an aim to provide an electrical household appliance for washing and/or drying textile articles that has added features designed to improve its convenience of use.
These aims and others, which are more apparent in the description which follows, are achieved, in accordance with this invention, by an electrical household appliance for washing and/or drying textile articles having the structural and functional characteristics described in the independent claims herein. Alternative embodiments of the appliance are described in the dependent claims.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The invention is described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred, non-limiting embodiment of it.
Figures 1 to 4 are schematic perspective views of an electrical household appliance for washing and/or drying according to the invention, the appliance being illustrated in different working configurations.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments of the

Invention

With reference to the accompanying drawings, the numeral 1 denotes an electrical household appliance for washing and/or drying textile articles. Preferably, the electrical household appliance 1 is a washing machine, a dryer or a washer - drier. The electrical household appliance 1 comprises:

a first compartment 32 for washing and/or drying, designed to accommodate the textile articles during the washing and/or drying treatment;
an enclosure 2 at least partly delimiting a second compartment 3 having an opening 31 for containing objects;
a panel 4 giving access to the second compartment 3, the panel 4 being movable relative to the enclosure 2, the panel 4, at least in a first position, at least partly occluding the opening 31; advantageously, in the first position, the panel 4 completely occludes the opening 31;
supporting means 5 for supporting an object such as a basin for holding the textile articles.

Preferably, the supporting means 5 can be used to rest a basin containing the textile articles.
The supporting means 5 comprise at least one support 50 for supporting a basin. At least in one particular configuration of the electrical household appliance 1, the support 50 extends at least partly between the panel 4 and a first portion 10 of the electrical household appliance 1 (see Figure 2, for example). The first portion 10 of the electrical household appliance 1 is the part of the electrical household appliance 1 that faces the panel 4 at least when the latter is in the first position.
At least in one particular configuration of the electrical household appliance 1, the support 50 may extend at least partly between the panel 4 and the part of the first portion 10 of the electrical household appliance 1 outside the second compartment 3 (see Figure 2, for example). At least in one particular configuration of the electrical household appliance 1, the support 50 may extend at least partly between the panel 4 and the part of the first portion 10 of the electrical household appliance 1 that is integral with the enclosure 2 during use (see Figure 2, for example). At least in one particular configuration of the electrical household appliance 1, the support 50 may connect the panel 4 and the part of the first portion 10 of the electrical household appliance 1 that is integral with the enclosure 2 (see Figure 2, for example).
The support 50, in combination with an upper edge 40 of the panel 4, may define an imaginary supporting surface for a basin, said imaginary supporting surface being substantially horizontal. In particular, this is the case when the panel 4 is away from the first position and the support 50 is attached to the panel 4 (see Figure 2).
In particular, the support 50 can be pulled out of the first portion 10 of the electrical household appliance 1. Advantageously, the support 50 can be pulled out horizontally. The fact that the support 50 lies in a horizontal position when it is outside the first portion 10 of the electrical household appliance 1 improves the stability of the basin placed on it when necessary.
Advantageously, the support 50 can be pulled out from a housing 30 outside the second compartment 3. Advantageously, the housing 30 is formed in a part 20 of the first portion 10 of the electrical household appliance 1 that surrounds the second compartment 3. Advantageously, the housing 30 is formed in a part 21 of the first portion 10 of the electrical household appliance 1 located above the second compartment 3. In an embodiment not illustrated of the support 50 which can be pulled out from the enclosure 2, the support 50 can be pulled out from the second compartment 3 delimited by the enclosure 2.
The housing 30 may constitute a guide for the support 50. Preferably, the housing 30 is integral with the enclosure 2.
As illustrated by way of an example in the accompanying drawings, the relative position of the support 50 and the panel 4 may be different.
As shown for example in Figure 2, the support 50 can be engaged with the panel 4. Figures 3 and 4 show the support 50 disengaged from the panel 4.
In particular, the electrical household appliance 1 comprises means 51 for releasably connecting the support 50 to the panel 4. The support 50 can be connected to and disconnected from the panel 4.
The releasable connection means 51 comprise magnetic means 52.
The support 50 is made preferably of a metal material and the magnetic means 52 are integral with the panel 4. The drawers for containing objects fitted on electrical household appliances for washing and drying textile articles are normally made of plastic and it is therefore advantageous that the support 50 is made of metal. That means the panel 4 can be made of plastic. The magnetic means 52 preferably comprise a magnet. In an alternative embodiment, the magnetic means 52 may be positioned at an end of the support 50 that is designed to come into contact with the panel 4, while the panel 4 comprises a metal portion for coming into contact with magnetic means 52 made on the support 50. In yet another embodiment, the magnetic means 52 may be made on both the support 50 and on the panel 4. In that case, obviously, the polarity of the magnetic means 52 on the support 50 is the opposite of the polarity of the magnetic means 52 on the panel 4.
The panel 4 is movable along a predetermined path between a first position (see Figure 1) and a second position (see Figure 4) where it is at the end of its stroke, away from the opening 31 of the second compartment 3; the releasable connection means 51 connect the support 50 to the panel 4 for at least a first part of the predetermined path of the panel 4 from the first position to the second. This makes the support 50 integral with the panel 4 and enables the support 50 to be moved as one with the panel 4 as the latter is moved away from the opening 31. In this way, the support 50 extends outside the first portion 10 of the electrical household appliance 1 connecting the panel 4 and the enclosure 2 (see Figure 2).
The releasable connection means 51 disengage the support 50 from the panel 4 when the latter is located at a predetermined position along its path, said predetermined position being intermediate between the first position and the second (the predetermined position may thus be intermediate between the positions shown in Figures 2 and 3).
The support 50 is movable between a start-of-stroke configuration adopted when the panel 4 is in the first position and an end-of-stroke configuration adopted just before the panel 4 reaches the predetermined position along its path.
The electrical household appliance comprises stopping means 6 which, when the support 50 reaches the end of its stroke, stop the support 50 from being pulled out of the first portion 10 of the electrical household appliance 1. At that point, a further movement of the panel 4 along its path from the first position to the second releases the connection between the panel 4 and the support 50. The above mentioned releasable connection is determined by the releasable connection means 51.
To pass from the start-of-stroke configuration to the an end-of-stroke configuration, the support 50 is pulled by the panel 4.
As mentioned above, once the support 50 has reached the end of its stroke, a further movement, however small, of the panel 4 away from the opening 31 causes the support 50 to be separated from the panel 4 (since the support 50 can no longer be pulled by the panel 4).
The electrical household appliance 1 comprises means 7 for retracting the support 50. After the support 50 has been disengaged from the panel 4, the retracting means 7 move it back to a configuration where it occupies less space outside the first portion 10 of the electrical household appliance 1. Advantageously, the configuration where the support 50 occupies less space outside the first portion 10 of the electrical household appliance 1 coincides with the configuration adopted by the support 50 when the panel 4 is in the first position. Advantageously, when the support 50 adopts the configuration where it occupies less space outside the first portion 10, it protrudes slightly with respect to the first portion 10 to enable the support 50 itself to come into contact with the panel 4 when the latter is in the first position. Thus, the magnetic means 52 of the releasable connection means 51 can connect the support 50 to the panel 4 when the panel 4 is moved back to the first position. This is very convenient because it means the user need not perform any further operations to connect the support 50 to the panel 4.
When the panel 4 is moved out of the first position and away from the enclosure 2, the retraction means 7 apply a force that opposes the pulling action exerted on the support 50 by the releasable connection means 51.
The retraction means 7 comprise elastic retraction means such as a spring, for example. The spring might be a torsion spring (for example, a customary cylindrical helical torsion spring) or a bending spring (for example, a flat spiral bending spring). In the case of a cylindrical helical torsion spring, the spring might be made to operate by pulling or by compression. If made to operate by pulling, for example, a first end of the spring is attached to a portion integral with the enclosure 2 and a second end of the spring is attached to the support 50 at a point between the first end of the spring and the panel 4. If made to operate by compression, on the other hand, a first end of the spring is attached to the support 50, while a second end of the spring is attached to a portion integral with the enclosure 2 at a point between the first end of the spring and the panel 4. Advantageously, the support 50 comprises telescopic elements. When the panel 4 moves from the first position to the second, the telescopic means of the support 50 are extended.
When the support 50 is attached to the panel 4, one end of it is inside a cavity 41 in the panel 4. Advantageously, the magnetic means 52 are made inside the cavity 41 in the panel 4.
The electrical household appliance 1 comprises a drawer 8 that can be pulled out of and pushed into the second compartment 3. The drawer 8 in turn comprises a base 80 for supporting the objects contained. In this case, the panel 4 can be considered as a side containment wall 81 of the drawer 8. In particular, the panel 4 is the side containment wall 81 of the drawer 8 that can be accessed directly by the user and that extends transversally of the line along which the drawer 8 moves. Preferably, the panel 4 extends at right angles to the line along which the drawer 8 moves. Advantageously, the drawer 8 comprises several side containment walls 81 extending perimetrically round the supporting base 80. Typically, the supporting base 80 is quadrilateral and thus the drawer 8 comprises four side containment walls 81. Each side wall 81 may have an uninterrupted surface or it may have other forms of containment means such as, for example, a plurality of longitudinal elements lined up in a vertical plane and spaced from each other.
The support 50 is designed to surmount the supporting base 80. More specifically, the support 50 surmounts the supporting base 80 at least when the releasable connection means 51 connect the support 50 to the panel 4 and when the panel 4 is away from the first position (where it occludes the opening 31). Conveniently, the support 50 surmounts the supporting base 80 while remaining at a predetermined distance from the supporting base 80. As a result, the supporting base 80 may have a plurality of objects on it at all times. In one particular embodiment, the support 50 comprises a flap 85 attachable/attached to the drawer 8 (by way of a non-limiting example, see Figure 4). The flap 85 may surmount the supporting base 80. It may be attached to the panel 4 or to other side walls 81. Advantageously, the flap 85 may be moved from a rest position (shown by the dashed lines in Figure 4, in the vertical position) to a working position (shown by the dashed lines in Figure 4, in the horizontal position) where it can support objects. Relative to the supporting base 80, the flap 85 in the rest position is inclined at an angle different from the angle the flap 85 is inclined at when in the working position. To pass from the working position to the rest position, the flap 85 is turned about a horizontal axis of rotation. Advantageously, when the flap 85 is in the rest position, it lies parallel to the supporting base 80 (which is normally in the horizontal position).
In one embodiment, the electrical household appliance 1 comprises horizontal guides along which the drawer 8 can run to enable it to be pulled out of and pushed into the second compartment 3. Advantageously, the guides are located laterally of the drawer 8 and connect the drawer 8 to the enclosure 2. In an alternative embodiment, the drawer 8 is equipped with wheels at the bottom of it and is free to run on the floor under it. In this case, the drawer 8 is a carriage.
In an embodiment not illustrated, the panel 4 comprises a door that rotates about an axis located near a lateral edge of the door itself. Preferably the door rotates about a substantially vertical axis of rotation. This door occludes the opening of the second compartment 3. If necessary, the second compartment 3 may house a drawer 8 that can be pulled out after opening the door. The electrical household appliance 1 comprises means 100 for opening/closing the panel 4 that can be operated by a foot to enable the user to move the panel 4 obstructing access to the second compartment 3. In particular, the panel 4 comprises a recess 82 inside the panel 4, said recess 82 being accessible from the outside of the electrical household appliance 1 and being designed to allow a person to apply a force with his/her foot on the panel 4 sufficient to move the panel 4 away from the opening 31. Without bending and using only his/her foot, the user can thus move the panel 4 towards himself/herself away from the opening of the second compartment 3. This further improves the convenience of use, since the user can open the panel 4 even when holding something in both hands. The recess 82 thus forms part of the foot-operated means 100 for opening/closing the panel 4.
The support 50 may be shaped like an element extending principally along the line of movement of the panel 4. Alternatively, the support 50 might have the shape of a tray. The supporting means 5 may comprise a plurality of supports 50 placed side by side which, at least in one particular configuration (see Figure 2 for example) extend at least partly between the first portion 10 of the electrical household appliance 1 and the panel 4. Advantageously, the supports 50 are distributed along the enclosure 2 portion 21 above the second compartment 3. Advantageously, each of these supports 50 may have one or more of the technical characteristics described above in connection with a generic support 50. Advantageously, each of the supports 50 may interact with the panel 4 and/or with the enclosure 2 as described above.
The electrical household appliance 1 may comprise attachment means 9 which, when the panel 4 is in the first position, connect the panel 4 to the first portion 10 of the electrical household appliance 1. The attachment means 9 can be activated at least when the panel 4 is close to the first position. When the panel 4 is close to the first position they can be activated by exerting pressure on the panel 4 to push it towards the second compartment 3. When the panel 4 is in the first position, the attachment means 9 can be disengaged by exerting pressure on the panel 4 to push it towards the second compartment 3. Advantageously, the attachment means 9 form part of the foot-operated means for opening the panel 4.
Advantageously, the enclosure 2 is positioned at the bottom portion 11 of the electrical household appliance 1.
The electrical household appliance 1 comprises an outer covering 100 that surrounds both the first washing compartment 32 and functional means for washing and/or drying (for example, means for circulating an operating fluid).
The enclosure 1 may be irremovably built into the covering 100 or it may be removably attached to it (for example by threaded fastening means). In another embodiment, the outer covering 100, with all of its contents, is located above the enclosure 2. The weight of the outer covering 100 and its contents allow its stable positioning.
When the panel 4 is in the first position, the panel 4 and the surface 102 of the outer covering 100 surmounting it are substantially co-planar.
The electrical household appliance 1 comprises a window 101 that can be turned to give access to the first compartment 32 for washing and/or drying the textile articles. Inside the first compartment 32 there is a rotary basket for moving the textile articles during the washing and/or drying treatment. The window 101 usually turns on a hinge about a vertical axis of rotation. The supporting means 5 can be used to rest a basin at a certain level above the floor. Thus, to transfer the textile articles from the first washing and/or drying compartment 32 to the basin, the user does not have to bend down as much as when the basin is rested on the floor. This increases the convenience of use especially for elderly people, for very tall people and for those who suffer from frequent backaches. In the preferred embodiment, the distance between a bottom edge of the window 101 and the upper edge 40 of the panel 4 is greater than 20 centimetres. That means the window 101 can be turned open even when there is a basin on the supporting means 5 without the basin interfering with the path of the window 101 as it opens. The use of the supporting means 5 of the electrical household appliance 1 is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Figure 1 illustrates an electrical household appliance 1 where the panel 4 is in the first position in such a way as to occlude the opening 31 of the enclosure 2. By operating on the panel 4 the user can access the second compartment 3 to by moving the panel 4 away from the opening 31 of the enclosure 2. The panel 4 can be moved from the first position (see Figure 1) to the second, end-of-stroke position (see Figure 4). During a first part of the movement from the first position to the second, the panel 4 pulls the support 50 along with it. As illustrated by way of an example in the accompanying drawings, the panel 4 is the front of the drawer 8. The support 50, when it is outside the enclosure 2, surmounts the drawer 8. The support 50 is then pulled out of the first portion 10 of the electrical household appliance 1 until it reaches the end of its stroke, this situation occurring when the panel 4 is located at an intermediate position between the first position and the second. Before the support 50 reaches the end of its stroke, the supporting means 5, acting if necessary in conjunction with the upper edge 40 of the panel 4, form a surface for supporting an external object such as, for example, a basin for containing the textile articles. In this way, loading the textile articles and removing them from the washing and/or drying compartment 32 of the electrical household appliance 1 is very easy (the basin can be placed above floor level so that the user need not bend down to reach the articles it contains). In this configuration, however, the support 50 could make it difficult for the user to place something in or remove it from the drawer 8. Thus, once the support 50 reaches the end of its stroke, pulling the drawer 8 out of the second compartment 3 a little more causes the releasable connection means 51 (which have up to now connected the support 50 to the panel 4) to disengage the support 50 and the panel 4 from each other. Advantageously, the end of the stroke of the support 50 is reached when the drawer 8 is pulled out of the second compartment 3 by a predetermined distance of between 15 and 50 centimetres, preferably when the drawer 8 is pulled out of the second compartment 3 by a predetermined distance of between 20 and 40 centimetres. In a preferred embodiment, the end of the stroke of the support 50 is reached when the drawer 8 is pulled out of the second compartment 3 by a predetermined distance of 30 centimetres. The support 50 can be used to rest basins or other objects up to twice as large in diameter as this predetermined distance. After the panel 4 has been disengaged from the support 50, the retraction means 7 move the support 50 back to the configuration where it occupies less space as when the panel 4 was in the first position. The user can, instead, conveniently access the inside of the drawer 8 without the support 50 constituting any obstacle or obstruction. As appears from the foregoing, if the user wants to gain unobstructed access to the contents of the drawer 8, he/she must simply pull the drawer 8 out a little more compared to the situation in which the support 50 is used to support a basin.
The invention achieves important advantages in terms of convenience of use.
It shall be understood that the invention described may be modified and adapted in several ways without departing from the scope of the inventive concept.
Moreover, all the details of the invention may be substituted by other technically equivalent elements.
In practice, all the materials used, as well as the dimensions, may be changed to meet specific needs.

Claims

An electrical household appliance for washing and/or drying textile articles comprising:
- a first compartment (32) for washing and/or drying, designed to accommodate the textile articles during the washing and/or drying treatment;

- an enclosure (2) at least partly delimiting a second compartment (3) having an opening (31) for containing objects;

- a panel (4) giving access to the second compartment (3), the panel (4) being movable relative to the enclosure (2) and, at least in a first position, at least partly occluding the opening (31);

- a first portion (10), said first portion (10) being the part of the electrical household appliance (1) that faces the panel (4) at least when the latter is in the first position;

- supporting means (5) used to rest a basin containing the textile articles, comprising at least one support (50), said support (50), at least in one particular configuration of the electrical household appliance (1), extending at least partly between the panel (4) and said first portion (10);
characterised in that the electrical household appliance comprises means (7) for retracting the support (50) and in that, after the support (50) has been disengaged from the panel (4), said means (7) for retracting the support (50) are able to move it (50) back to a configuration where it (50) occupies less space outside the first portion (10) of the electrical household appliance (1).
The electrical household appliance according to claim 1, characterized in that the support (50), in combination with an upper edge (40) of the panel (4), may define an imaginary supporting surface for a basin, said imaginary supporting surface being substantially horizontal.
The electrical household appliance according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the support (50) can be pulled out of the first portion (10) of the electrical household appliance (1).
The electrical household appliance according to any of the foregoing claims from 1 to 3, characterized in that the support (50) can be pulled out of a housing (30) outside the second compartment (3).
The electrical household appliance according to any of the foregoing claims, characterized in that the support (50) can be attached to the panel (4).
The electrical household appliance according to any of the foregoing claims, characterized in that it comprises means (51) for releasably connecting the support (50) to the panel (4) and in that the releasable connection means (51) comprise magnetic means (52), the support (50) being in particular made of metal and the magnetic means (52) being in particular integral with the panel (4).
The electrical household appliance according to claim 6, characterized in that:
- the panel (4) is movable along a predetermined path between a first position and a second position where it is at the end of its stroke, away from the opening (31) of the second compartment (3);

- the releasable connection means (51) connecting the support (50) to the panel (4) for at least a first part of the predetermined path of the panel (4) from the first position to the second, so that the movement of the panel (4) can cause a movement of the support (50);

- the releasable connection means (51) disengage the support (50) from the panel (4) when the latter is located at a predetermined position along its path, said predetermined position being intermediate between the first position and the second;

- the support (50) is movable between a start-of-stroke configuration adopted when the panel (4) is in the first position and an end-of-stroke configuration adopted just before the panel (4) reaches the predetermined position along its path;

- the electrical household appliance comprises stopping means (6) which, when the support (50) reaches the end of its stroke, stop the support (50) from being pulled out of the first portion (10) of the electrical household appliance (1), a further movement of the panel (4) along its path from the first position to the second causing the connection between the panel (4) and the support (50) to be released, said connection being determined by the releasable connection means (51).
The electrical household appliance according to claim 1, characterized in that the configuration where the support (50) occupies less space outside the first portion (10) of the electrical household appliance (1) coincides with the configuration adopted by the support (50) when the panel (4) is in the first position.
The electrical household appliance according to any of the foregoing claims, characterized in that the support (50) comprises telescopic elements.
The electrical household appliance according to any of the foregoing claims, characterized in that one end of the support (50), when the latter is attached to the panel (4), is inside a cavity (41) in the panel (4).
The electrical household appliance according to any of the foregoing claims, characterized in that it comprises a drawer (8) in turn comprising a base (80) for supporting the objects contained, it being possible for the drawer (8) to be pulled out of and pushed into the second compartment (3), the panel (4) being a side containment wall of the drawer (8), the support (50) being in particular designed to surmount the supporting base (80).
The electrical household appliance according to any of the foregoing claims, characterized in that it comprises means (100) for opening/closing the panel (4) that can be operated by a user's foot to enable the user to move the panel (4) obstructing access to the second compartment (3).
The electrical household appliance according to any of the foregoing claims, characterized in that the panel (4) comprises a recess (82) inside the panel (4), said recess (82) being accessible from the outside of the electrical household appliance (1) and being designed to allow a person to apply a force with his/her foot on the panel (4) sufficient to move the panel (4) away from the opening (31).
The electrical household appliance according to any of the foregoing claims, characterized in that it comprises attachment means (9) for connecting the panel (4) to the first portion (10) of the electrical household appliance (1) when the panel (4) is in the first position, said attachment means (9) being disengageable by exerting pressure on the panel (4) to push it towards the second compartment (3).
The electrical household appliance according to any of the foregoing claims, characterized in that the supporting means (5) comprise a plurality of supports (50) placed side by side which, at least in one particular configuration extend at least partly between the first portion (10) of the electrical household appliance (1) and the panel (4).