FR2826853A3 - Dishwasher basket for plates includes inwardly projecting loops on walls, leaving base area of basket clear - Google Patents

Abstract

The dishwasher basket comprises metal wire walls (A, B, C) and a horizontal base (E). On one or two of the vertical walls there is a series of inwardly projecting loops (3a,b; 4a,b). These serve as guides for stacking plates inside the basket. The basket for a dishwasher comprises a body made from metal wire defining four vertical walls (A, B, C) and a horizontal base (E). On one or two of the vertical walls there is a series of inwardly projecting loops (3a,b; 4a,b). These are formed from rounded section of wire, bent in towards the inside of the basket, serving as guide slots to retain plates in position when stacked in the basket. The projecting loops are basically triangular in shape, with a rounded head. At the rear of the basket there may be a removable shelf, also made of an open wire structure, for supporting cups.

Description

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 The present invention relates to a basket for a dishwasher. Dishwashers currently produced generally have two baskets to hold the dishes which must be subjected to the washing cycle.

According to the prior art, the baskets for dishwashers are made of steel wire coated with a plastic which prevents corrosion and have a shape similar to a drawer.

These baskets are in fact arranged inside the tank of the dishwasher on guides provided for this purpose in order to be able to slide towards the outside of the dishwasher to allow loading and unloading of the dishes.

Traditionally, in dishwashers of the household type, but not only, the two baskets are different in order to allow throughout the interior of the machine to contain a large number of dishes of different shapes and sizes.

More specifically, in traditional machines, there is an upper basket with tighter mesh to hold cups, glasses and other small items, and a lower basket with larger mesh for containing pots and pans. other larger tableware.

The two baskets are also generally provided with real metal spikes made from the same wire as the basket and they also coated against corrosion, having the object of keeping the plates in a substantially vertical position.

According to the structural philosophy described, which plans to differentiate the two baskets, upper and lower, said spikes are also made in

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 different dimensions and are placed at different distances depending on whether it is the upper or lower basket, in order to contain, respectively, small plates above and larger plates below.

The presence of spikes in the baskets of dishwashers has however appeared over time as a drawback, this mainly for three types of reasons.

The first drawback stems from the fact that said spikes constitute a space inside the basket, which prevents using the plane of the basket to contain large objects.

The second drawback stems from the fact that said spikes can cause slight abrasions on the hands of the user if he touches them during the loading and unloading operations of the basket.

The third drawback, however, is due to the fact that said spikes are particularly prone to strike the dishes contained in the basket and are therefore exposed to scratches and abrasions of the protective coating against corrosion. Consequently, the spikes generally represent the area in which corrosion of the basket most often begins.

With the basket according to the present invention, it is proposed to solve the aforementioned drawbacks.

This and other objects of the invention are achieved with the dishwasher basket, as claimed in the appended claims.

Advantageously, the basket according to the invention is devoid of pointed projections and has a completely usable surface of the bottom plane, the development in height of the projections provided here being contained therein.

Although the basket according to the invention has been specially designed to be used as a lower basket in a washing machine

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 traditional dishes, the basket can however be advantageously also used in the high position.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings relating to a preferred but nonlimiting embodiment in which: FIG. 1 is a side view in section of the basket; Figure 2 is a plan view of the basket; Figure 3 is a partial perspective view of the basket.

With reference to the appended figures, the basket according to the invention comprises a body 1 made of steel wire adequately coated against corrosion and folded to define four vertical walls A, B, C, D and a bottom E.

Wall A and wall C respectively constitute the front and rear wall of the basket, while walls B and D constitute the side walls or sides of the basket.

According to the invention, the wall A and the wall C are provided with rounded projections 3a, 3b and 4a, 4b turned substantially at 900 relative to the plane of the walls A and B towards the interior of the basket and produced by bending the metal wire which defines said walls A and B.

Even the bottom E is provided with two series 5a, 5b and 6a, 6b of these rounded projections, arranged perpendicularly to the plane of the bottom E and produced by bending the metal wire which defines said bottom E.

It should be noted that the projections 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b and 6a, 6b have a triangle shape whose apex is rounded and do not have a sharp angle.

As best seen in FIG. 1, the front wall A comprises a vertical upper segment A1 on which the projections 3a, 3b are defined and a vertical lower segment A2 to which the metal wires which define the side walls B, D of the body 1.

Similarly, the rear wall C comprises a vertical upper segment C1 on which the projections are defined.

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 4a, 4b and a lower vertical segment C2 to which are connected the wires which define the side walls B, D of the body 1.

It should be noted that the vertical development of the rear wall C is greater than that of the front wall A. In this way, the front wall A does not constitute an obstacle during the loading and unloading of the dishes, while the rear part C also effectively retains the dishes particularly developed in height.

The bottom profile E comprises, from wall A to wall C, a first substantially horizontal segment El, followed by a segment E2 lowered and inclined towards the center.

Then we find a first series of rounded projections 5a, 5b and a second series of these projections 6a, 6b, separated by an inclined segment E3, followed by a segment E4, raised and inclined towards the center, and by a segment E5 substantially horizontal.

It should be noted how the succession described makes it possible to retain the plates, whether these plates are flat or hollow depending on the distance between the projections, even containing the development in height of the projections provided on the bottom E, which do not exceed the edge of the side walls B, D.

Advantageously, the projections 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b are arranged spaced apart by a different interval to allow soup or soup plates to be contained, as well as flat plates.

As best shown in Figure 2, the projections 3a, 4a, 5a, 6a are placed at a distance of about 19 mm and the projections 3a, 4a, 5b, 6b are placed at a distance of about 26.5 mm for allow to contain, respectively, flat plates and deep plates.

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Still according to the invention, moreover, thanks to the provision of the projections 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b on the walls A, B, it was possible to contain the development in height of the projections 5a, 5b and 6a, 6b provided on the bottom E of the basket, leaving the surface of the bottom E substantially free of obstacles to obtain large objects.

The basket according to the invention will advantageously be of the universal type insofar as the distance between the wires of the body 1 is sufficient to retain objects even of small dimensions.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, the presence of the projections 4a, 4b on the rear wall C and the higher development in height of the vertical segment Cl makes it possible to provide a pair of removable folding supports 7a, 7b for supporting the cups. It should be noted that these supports are typically provided only in the upper basket of traditional dishwashers.

To return again to the attached figures, it will be noted how the projections 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b and 6a, 6b provided in the body 1 of the basket are produced by folding the same network of wires which defines the body 1, without subsequent material carry-over.

Although the invention has been illustrated with reference to a currently preferred construction, it is generally capable of being used for other applications and of undergoing other modifications which will be included in the protective framework, as will appear in the skilled person.

Claims (7)

 CLAIMS 1. Basket for dishwasher comprising a metal wire body (1) in which four vertical walls (A, B, C, D) and a horizontal bottom (E) are defined, characterized in that, on at least one of said vertical walls, is defined a first plurality of projections (3a, 3b, 4a, 4b) rounded facing the inside of the basket, having the object of retaining the plates. 2. Basket according to claim 1, characterized in that said bottom has a second plurality of rounded vertical projections (5a, 5b, 6a, 6b) which cooperate with the projections (3a, 3b, 4a, 4b) of said first plurality of projections provided on said at least one wall. 3. Basket according to claim 2, characterized in that said first and second projections are obtained by bending the metal wire which constitutes the body (1) of the basket, and have a substantially triangular shape with rounded tops, said first projections being turned to 90 relative to the plane of the corresponding wall from which they originate, and said second projections being substantially perpendicular to said bottom (E). 4. Basket according to claim 3, comprising a first series of projections on the front wall, a second series of projections on the rear wall and two series of projections on the bottom, the latter each cooperating with a corresponding projection of a series of projections provided on said walls. 5. Basket according to claim 4, characterized in that said series of projections are spaced for one half to contain flat plates and for a second half to contain soup or soup plates. <Desc / Clms Page number 7>  6. Basket according to claim 5, characterized in that said rear wall (C) further comprises a pair of removable folding supports (7a, 7b) for the cups. 7. Dishwasher, characterized in that it comprises at least one basket according to any one of claims 1 to 6.