EP3151715B1

EP3151715B1 - A dishwasher comprising an elevating means

Info

Publication number: EP3151715B1
Application number: EP15710503.2A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Ahmet Alptekin; Samet AKAN; Osman Cengiz; Mehmet MUTLUDOGAN; Ersin Donmez
Original assignee: Arcelik AS
Current assignee: Arcelik AS
Priority date: 2014-06-05
Filing date: 2015-03-18
Publication date: 2019-06-12
Anticipated expiration: 2035-03-18
Also published as: EP3151715A1; WO2015185230A1; EP3151715B8

Description

The present invention relates to a dishwasher comprising an elevating means.
In dishwashers, racks are used wherein the items to be washed are placed. The user can perform the loading/unloading operation by pulling the rack forwards. In dishwashers comprising more than one rack, the lower rack, when changed to the loading/unloading position, is balanced on the door that opens forward by rotating around a horizontal axis. The user has to bend in order to perform the loading and/or unloading operation to the lower rack that is relatively at the lower position. This situation causes the users to be strained and to have backaches. In order to solve this problem, the state of the art elevating means are used. The elevating means are embodiments like switch mechanisms wherein the rack is lifted from below, suspension mechanisms wherein the rack is lifted by arms inside the body, and rail mechanisms wherein the rack is lifted from the rear side by the rails disposed on the side walls. In lifting arm mechanisms, the rack has to be attached to the lifting arm. The rack attached to the lifting arm snap-fittingly, can be dislodged from the lifting arm and fall to the ground when lifted by the elevating means.
In the state of the art European Patent Application No. EP1744656 , a dishwasher is disclosed wherein the retaining supports that support the basket are opened and closed by being actuated with a lifting means.
In the state of the art United States Patent Application No. US2007035220 , a dishwasher is disclosed comprising a basket that is lifted by the arms engaged with the side walls by making a swinging motion.
In the state of the art United States Patent Application No. US2003042825 , a dishwasher is disclosed wherein the height adjustment of the rack is made by moving upwards - downwards the telescopic rail housings whereon the rack is mounted.
In the state of the art German Utility Model No. DE9105618 , a dishwasher is disclosed having a height-adjustable upper basket which can be pulled out of the rinsing container with the aid of a roller-mounted carriage.
In the state of the art United States Patent Application No. US6247771 , a dishwasher is disclosed having a lower rack lifting device which includes a scissors-like lifting assembly for lifting the lower rack upwardly upon the lower rack being moved out from the dishwasher.
The aim of the present invention is the realization of a dishwasher wherein the rack is prevented from dislodging from the elevating means while being carried by the elevating means.
The dishwasher realized in order to attain the aim of the present invention, explicated in the first claim and the respective claims thereof, comprises an elevating means that has lifting arms disposed on the side walls enabling the rack to be moved upwards/downwards and a locking means that enables the rack to be locked to the elevating means when the rack is pulled forwards. When pulled forwards, the rack is locked to the elevating means by means of the locking means and thus the rack is not dislodged from the elevating means while moving and the rack is prevented from falling.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the locking means is disposed at the side of the rack rear wall. With this embodiment, the rack is enabled to be lifted from the rear side, thereby allowing the user to easily reach the entirety of the rack.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the locking means has a locking hub that has a channel wherein the lifting arm is seated and that provides locking by rotating around itself. When borne against the channel, the lifting arm actuates the rotation of the locking hub. The rack is enabled to be locked to the elevating means as the locking hub rotates.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the dishwasher comprises an eccentric that is disposed on the locking hub and connected to the rotational axis of the locking hub and a spring, one end of which is connected to the eccentric, the other end to the rack and which provides the rotation of the locking hub. While the rack is changed to the loading/unloading position, the locking hub rotates by means of the spring as the lifting arm moving inside the channel contacts the base of the channel and the lifting arm is locked inside the locking hub. By means of the locking provided in this embodiment, the movement of the rack in downwards, upwards, forwards, backwards directions is not prevented while the elevating means moves the rack and the rack is prevented from being dislodged in any way.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the channel is L-shaped. By means of the L-shaped channel, the user is enabled to exert a lesser amount of force for rotating the locking hub.
In an embodiment of the present invention, two locking means are provided, having two locking hubs placed one over the other on each of the rack rear corners and two lifting arms are disposed one over the other on each of the side walls. With this embodiment, the rack is supported firmly and is strengthened against bending forward while being carried by the elevating means.
In the dishwasher of the present invention, by means of the rack locked to the elevating means by means of the locking means, the rack is prevented from falling by dislodging from the elevating means due to causes like shaking occurring while the elevating means is used and external factors like the user accidentally impacting the rack. When the rack is pulled forwards, the lifting arms enter into the channels by themselves and locking is provided by the locking hub that can rotate around itself.
The model embodiments relating to the dishwasher realized in order to attain the aim of the present invention are illustrated in the attached figures, where:

Figure 1 - is the front view of a dishwasher comprising an elevating means.
Figure 2 - is the partial perspective view of a locking mechanism included in the dishwasher rack.
Figure 3a - is the perspective view of a dishwasher rack locking means when in the free position.
Figure 3b - is the perspective view of a dishwasher rack locking means when in the locking position.
Figure 4 a - is another perspective view of a locking means in the free position in an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 4b - is another perspective view of a locking means in the locking position in an embodiment of the present invention.

The elements illustrated in the figures are numbered as follows:

1. Dishwasher
2. Body
3. Side wall
4. Door
5. Rack
6. Elevating means
7. Lifting arm
8. Locking means
9. Locking hub
10. Channel
11. Eccentric
12. Spring

The dishwasher (1) comprises a body (2) having two side walls (3); a door (4) providing access into the body (2); at least one rack (5) whereon the items to be washed are placed, having a washing position wherein the rack (5) is entirely inside the body (2) and a loading/unloading position wherein the rack (5) is partially taken outside the body (2) by pulling forwards, an elevating means (6) that enables the rack (5) to move in the vertical direction in the loading/unloading position and that has at least two lifting arms (7) each extending in the horizontal direction from one of the side walls (3), enabling the rack (5) to be supported, and a locking means (8) that is disposed on the rack (5) and that enables the rack (5) to be locked to the elevating means (6).
In the dishwasher (1), the lifting arms (7) are locked to the rack (5) with the locking means (8) and support the rack (5) from the sides and the elevating means (6) enables the rack (5) to be carried by moving the lifting arms (7) along the side wall (3) in the vertical direction. Thus, the user is enabled to access the rack (5) that is lifted up without bending down.
In the dishwasher (1) of the present invention, the locking means (8) is provided, locking to the lifting arms (7) and enabling the rack (5) to be engaged with the elevating means (6) when the rack (5) is changed from the washing position to the loading/unloading position by pulling out from inside the body (2).
In the dishwasher (1) of the present invention, the locking means (8) is locked to the lifting arms (7) and engaged with the elevating means (6) when the rack (5) changes from the washing position to the loading/unloading position. By means of locking, the rack (5) is not dislodged from the elevating means (6) when lifted by the elevating means (6) and for example when the user accidentally impacts the rack (5); the rack (5) is prevented from dislodging and falling. The rack (5) that is locked to the elevating means (6) becomes free by the locking means (8) dislodging from the lifting arms (7) when the rack (5) is pushed to the washing position from the loading/unloading position.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the locking means (8) is disposed at the side of the rack (5) rear wall. In this embodiment, the user is enabled to use the rack (5) by almost entirely taking the rack (5) out of the body (2). At the same time, the rack (5) is enabled to be carried by the elevating means (6) in a balanced manner.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the locking means (8) comprises at least one locking hub (9) that has a channel (10) wherein the lifting arm (7) is seated and that provides locking by rotating around itself. When the rack (5) is changed to the loading/unloading position, the lifting arm (7) enters into the channel (10). The lifting arm (7) exerts pressure on the walls of the channel (10) with the movement of the rack (5) and the locking hub (9), actuated by the pressure, rotates and performs locking. Thus, the rack (5) is carried without dislodging from the elevating means (6).
In an embodiment of the present invention, the locking means (8) comprises an eccentric (11) disposed on the locking hub (9), one end rotatably secured on the locking hub (9) and a spring (12) with one end connected to the rack (5), the other end connected to the free end of the eccentric (11), thus enabling the locking hub (9) to be fixed in the free and the locking positions. The spring (12) is connected to the eccentric (11) such that there is an unstable point having maximum stress between the two stable points having minimum stress. The first balance position of the spring (12) is the position wherein the lifting arm (7) moves freely inside the locking hub (9). The second balance position is the position wherein the locking hub (9) rotates 90 degrees and the lifting arm (7) is locked inside the locking hub (9). In the position the locking hub (9) rotates 45 degrees in the specified rotation direction, the spring (9) has maximum stress and this position is the unstable point. While the rack (5) is changed from the washing position to the loading/unloading position, the lifting arm (7) enters into the channel (10) and the locking hub (9) starts rotating by the effect of the force as the lifting arm (7) touches the base of the channel (10) and the spring (12) loses its balance position and moves towards the unstable point. While the spring (12) is at the unstable point, the rotational inertia of the locking hub (9) forces the spring (12) to go to the other balance point. Thus, the lifting arm (7) is locked into the locking hub (9) and the rack (5) is not affected by the shakings caused by the movement while being moved by the elevating means (6) and is not dislodged from the elevating means (6). When the rack (5) is lowered to the loading/unloading position, the locking hub (9) starts rotating by the effect of the force as the rack (5) is pushed to the washing position and the spring (12) resumes the first balance point with the rotational inertia and brings the locking hub (9) to the initial/free position and enables the lifting arm (7) to be released from the channel (10).
In an embodiment of the present invention, the channel (10) is L-shaped, extending from the side of the locking hub (10) towards the center portion. The L-shaped channel (10) enables the locking hub (9) to rotate by exerting a lesser amount of force and the user is enabled to push the rack (5) to the washing position and easily dislodge the rack (5) from the elevating means (6).
In an embodiment of the present invention, the dishwasher (1) comprises two locking means (8) having two locking hubs (9) placed one over the other on the rear corners of the rack (5) and two lifting arms (7) disposed one over the other on the side walls (3). The rack (5) is supported from two support points and the momentum exerted by the weight of the rack (5) on the lifting arm (7) is decreased. In this embodiment, while there are heavy objects, for example steel pots etc. on the rack (5); the rack (5) is prevented from bending forwards by the effect of weight when the rack (5) is carried by the elevating means (6).
In the dishwasher (1) of the present invention, the rack (5) is locked to the elevating means (6) by being changed to the loading/unloading position and the rack (5) is prevented from falling or overturning while using the elevating means (6). The locking means (8) enabling the rack (5) to be engaged with the elevating means (6) becomes active when the user pulls the rack (5) out of the body (2) and engages the rack (5) with the elevating means (6) and when the user pushes the rack (5) into the body (2) the locking means (8) becomes passive thereby enabling the rack (5) to be easily dislodged from the elevating means. An additional manual or automatic mechanism is not required in order to change the locking means (8) to the active or passive position, the number of parts decrease thereby providing ease of utilization and cost advantage.

Claims

A dishwasher (1) comprising a body (2) having two side walls (3); a door (4) providing access into the body (2); at least one rack (5) whereon the items to be washed are placed, having a washing position wherein the rack (5) is entirely inside the body (2) and a loading/unloading position wherein the rack (5) is partially taken outside the body (2) by pulling forwards, an elevating means (6) that enables the rack (5) to move in the vertical direction in the loading/unloading position and that has at least two lifting arms (7) each extending in the horizontal direction from one of the side walls (3), enabling the rack (5) to be supported, and a locking means (8) that is disposed on the rack (5) and that enables the rack (5) to be locked to the elevating means (6), characterized by the locking means (8) that is locked to the lifting arms (7) and that is designed to enable the rack (5) to be engaged with the elevating means (6) when the rack (5) is changed from the washing position to the loading/unloading position by pulling out from inside the body (2) and the locking means (8) further comprising at least one locking hub (9) that has a channel (10) wherein the lifting arm (7) is placed and exerts pressure onwhich with the movement of the rack (5) and the locking hub (9) provides locking by rotating around itself actuated by the said pressure.
A dishwasher (1) as in Claim 1, characterized by an eccentric (11) disposed on the locking hub (9), one end rotatably secured on the locking hub (9) and by the locking hub (9) having a free position that the lifting arm (7) able to dislodge through the channel (10) when the rack (5) is pulled and a locking position that the lifting arm (7) is locked inside the locking hub (9) and by a spring (12) with one end connected to the rack (5), the other end connected to the free end of the eccentric (11), thus enabling the locking hub (9) to be fixed in the free and the locking positions.
A dishwasher (1) as in any one of the Claims 1 or 2, characterized by the L-shaped channel (10) that extends from the side of the locking hub (9) towards the center portion.
A dishwasher (1) as in any one of the Claims 1 to 3, characterized by two locking means (8) comprising two locking hubs (9) placed one over the other on each of the rear corners of the rack (5) and two lifting arms (7) disposed one over the other on each of the side walls (3).