GB2212523A

GB2212523A - Mounting of an access panel in a household appliance

Info

Publication number: GB2212523A
Application number: GB8824017A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Wolfgang Proppe; Peter Setecki
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1987-11-17
Filing date: 1988-10-13
Publication date: 1989-07-26
Anticipated expiration: 2008-10-13
Also published as: FR2623217B3; IT8822636A0; GB2212523B; IT1229958B; HK92595A; DE8718029U1; GB8824017D0; ES2010841A6; FR2623217A1; DE3739033A1

Description

2212523 C 1 MOUNTING OF AN ACCESS-PANEL IN A HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCE The

present invention relates to a household appliance, especially an electrical appliance, and has particular reference to the mounting of an access panel in the appliance.

Hitherto access panels of household appliances, for example maintenance flaps, were made of sheet metal which was enamelled in the desired colour. This required expensive manufacturing steps.

Flaps of that kind were, for the avoidance of expensive hinges with pin or bolt axles, provided with hinges which could be lifted out and which consisted of, for example, lobes arranged on the flap and engageable in slots in a metal front wall plate of the housing. Flaps equipped in such a manner are, however, difficult to manipulate during fitting of the lobes into the slots and tend to rattle. This is disturbing, in particular, in the case of household appliances which are equipped with oscillating systems, for example in centrifuging washing machine.s.

There is therefore a need for a household appliance housing with an access panel that may be easier to manipulate by the operating person and has a reduced tendency to rattle. Such a panel should preferably also be economic to manufacture and fit.

According to the present invention there is provided a household appliance comprising a housing and an access panel of thermoplastic plastics material which is disposed at a front side of the housing and which has a width equal to at least a substantial part of the width of the front side, the panel being integrally connected by a film hinge with a fastening strip which is fastened to a front wall element of the housing by means of detent elements removably engaged in openings in the wall element.

In a preferred embodiment the panel is a thermoplastic plastics material flap integrally connected by way of the film hinge with the fastening strip, which is fastened by means of detent elements detentingly engaging in passages in a metal front wall plate of the housing.

A flap of a thermoplastic plastics material can more readily adapt to the tolerance range in fastening components than in the case of a flap of sheet metal. It therefore has a reduced tendency to rattle and, insofar as rattling may occur, the frequency of the noise produced by such rattling may be more tolerable in view of the lighter, noisedamping material of the flap. The flap may be able to be manipulated more easily by the operator because the flap remains fastened to the front wall plate when opened and merely needs to be tilted away after undoing of the detent elements. Due to the plastics material construct- ion, it may be able to be manufactured in a desired colour by means of a simple injection-moulding process and can, by virtue of the incorporated detent elements, be connected with appropriately prepunched passages in front wall plate simply by placing the fastening strip against the plate and moving the strip in a detent direction.

Manufacture and fitting of such a flap therefore require less effort.

Preferably, the detent elements comprise at least two detent hooks, which are open towards one side of the housing and can be inserted into passages of complementary shape. For preference, the hooks are provided at free end portions thereof with detent lugs which detent into recesses adjacent the passages, whereby the fastening strip can be held in simple manner in the position of use of the flap.

In another embodiment, the detent elements comprise not only detent X 1 hooks but also at least one locking stud which is arranged between two such detent hooks and at the side of the fastening strip facing the front wall plate and which in the position of use engages into an associated hole in the front wall plate. In that case, the flap is more easily detachable from the front wall plate when it must be exchanged, for example to permit repair.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be more particularly described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a washing machine embodying the invention; Fig. 2 is a front elevation of an access flap of the washing machine; Fig. 3 is a plan view of the flap; Fig. 4 is a rear elevation of the flap; Fig. 5 is a cross-section of the flap along the line V-V in Fig. 2; Fig. 6 is the detail VI of Fig. 5; and Fig. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of a detent hook, in the direction of arrow A of Fig. 6, of a modified flap.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown in Fig. 1 a washing machine with a maintenance flap 1 disposed in the lower region of the front wall of a cupboard-shaped housing of themachine. The flap, which is at least as nearly as wide as the housing and is made of thermo- plastic synthetic material, is held in the upright position by means of locking devices 2. One embodiment of the flao is shown in more detail in Figs. 2 to 6. The flap has a handle strip 3 at its upper - 4 edge and a fastening strip 4 at its lower edge. The fastening strip is integrally connected by way of a film hinge (described further below) to the flap 1 and carries five thrust detent hooks 5. A locking stud 6 is also arranged on the strip, between the middle hook and the adjacent hook on the right. A metal front wall plate, which is structured in accordan. ce with the chain-dotted illustration in Fig. 4 and against which the fastening strip 4 of the flap can be placed and detented firmly, has rectangular recesses for the detent hooks 5 and a hole for the locking stud 6. The chain-dotted illustration in Fig. 4 indicates the setting of the fastening strip 4 in the position of use. In addition, passages and recesses 7 for the Vocking devices 2 indicated in Fig. 1 are present in the flap 1.

The detail VI, encircled in Fig. 5, is shown to an enlarged scale in Fig. 6. Each detent hook 5 of the strip 4 penetrates a passage 8 in the front wall plate 9, which can be, for example, a sheet metal strip bent out of the metal bottom plate of the machine housing and into the plane of the front wall of the housing. A film hinge 10, by which the flap 1 is pivotably connected with the strip 4, is moulded onto the lower edge of the strip 4. The flap 1 is s hown in Fig. 5 in its tilted open position. The dashed illustration (Fig. 6) shows its closed position, when the flap extends parallel to the strip 4.

The strip 4 is held at the plate 9 by the detent hooks 5. In the embodiment of Fig. 7, the hooks 5 are inserted through the associated passage 8 and then the strip 4 is moved laterally to the right until detent lugs 11 at the free end portions of the hooks 5 drop into recesses 12 adjacent to the respective passages 8. This manner of fastening departs from that applying to the strip 4 illustrated in 1 i c Figs. 2 to 4. In the embodiment of Figs. 2 to 4 the hooks 5 are, for fitting of the strip 4, pushed to the right until the locking stud 6 of the strip drops into an associated hole in the plate 9. Considered from the aspect of strength, both forms of fastening are equally suitable. If possible replacement of the flap must be taken into adount, fastening by means of the stud 6 may be advantageous, because the stud can be lifted out of its inserted position in the hole by simple manipulation, for example by turning of a screwdriver blade.

111

Claims

1. A household appliance comprising a housing and an access panel of thermoplastic plastics material which is disposed at a front side of the housing and which has a width equal to at least a substantial part of the width of the front side, the panel being integrally connected by a film hinge with a fastening strip which is fastened to a front wall element of the housing by means of detent elements removably engaged in openings in the wall element.

2. An appliance as claimed in claim 1, wherein the detent elements comprise at least two detent hooks which are open in direction towards a lateral wall of the housing.

3. An appliance as claimed in claim 2, wherein each of the detent hooks is provided at its free end portion with a lug removably engaged in a recess adjacent to an associated one of the openings.

4. An appliance as claimed in claim 2, wherein the detent elements further comprise a locking stud which is arranged between said at least two detent hooks and at the side of the strip facing the wall element and which is removably engaged in a respective opening in the wall el ement.

5. An appliance substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figs. 1 to

6 of the accompanying drawings.

r 6. An appliance as claimed in claim 5 and modified substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Fig. 7 of the accompanying drawings.

7. -An appliance as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, the 5 appliance being an electrical appliance.

8. An appliance as claimed in claim 7, the appliance being a washing machine.

Published 1989 at The Patent Office, State House, 66171 High Holbom. London WCIR 4TP. Further copies maybe obtained trom The Patent Office. Sales Branch, St Mary Cray, Orpington, Kent BR5 3RD. Printed by Multiplex tacbMiqueS ltd, St Mary Cray, Kent, Con. 1/87