GB2236333A - Arrangement for fixing electrical domestic appliances in a superposed position - Google Patents

Abstract

An arrangement for fixing domestic appliances in a superposed position, in particular a laundry drying machine upon a laundry washing machine, comprising a frame 6 which is fitted along the front and side edges of the bottom wail of the upper appliance and provided with respective outward 14 and inward 13 perimetral edges forming containment and support surfaces for the worktop of the subjacent appliance said frame further being provided with adjustable clamping means 25, 26, 27 for adaptation to the rearward edge of the worktop of the subjacent appliance, characterised in that said frame substantially comprises a front side 7, at the edges of which are pivotally mounted two side arms 10, 11 using a connection similar to that used for the side pieces of a pair of spectacles, and it is further provided with pegs (17, Fig 4) for rapid fixing thereof to the bottom of the upper appliance and removable screening means 34, Fig 3 extending between the rear ends of the two side arms of the frame. <IMAGE>

Description

ARRANGEMENT FOR FIXING ELECTRICAL DOMESTIC APPLIANCES IN A SUPERPOSED POSITION The invention relates to an arrangement for fixing electrical domestic appliances in a superposed position, in particular an arrangement for mounting a laundry drying machine on top of a laundry washing machine, which is designed in such a way as to rationalise for the manufacturer the storage and transportation operations involved as well as simplifying from the point of view of the user the operations involved in fitting the electrical domestic appliances in the required superposed position.

Arrangements for mounting electrical domestic appliances in a superposed position are known, to permit the space available to the user to be put to more rational use.

Such arrangements may be of the type formed by a quadrilateral plate as described for example in British patent number 817788 or German patent number 1907416, which is bolted in position between the two appliances to be disposed one above the other. That type of arrangement suffers from the disadvantages of being bulky and inconvenient from the point of view of storage, transportation and for the operations involved in fitting the domestic electrical appliances in position.

Alternatively there are arrangements which are produced by means of rail-like connecting elements as described for example in German utility models numbers 6941411 and 7236870, which are fixed to the two machines to permit sliding movement of the upper machine relative to the lower machine, when carrying out maintenance operations.

That type of arrangement suffers from the disadvantage of being formed by numerous components which must be assembled to each other and successively secured to the appliances to be disposed one on top of the other.

In addition all the described arrangements require mounting operations which must be carried out by specialist personnel and using specific forms of equipment.

In order partially to remedy those disadvantages, German utility model number 8307300 filed in the name of the present applicants described an arrangement for fixing domestic appliances in a superposed position comprising a perimetral shaped member which, in addition to being easily connectable to the two appliances, is provided with an adjustable side to permit the positioning of a laundry drying machine on a laundry washing machine, which are of different depths.

Also known are frame structures of quadrilateral shape which can be fixed between the appliances to be disposed in superposed relationship by means of bi-adhesive fixing systems.

However, that construction suffers from the disadvantages of impeding the operations involved in maintenance of the machine to which it is fixed and losing its adhesion characteristics as a result of repeated dismantling and reassembly caused by the periodic maintenance operations to which those appliances are subjected.

For the specific reasons the main aim of the invention is that of providing a mounting arrangement of the type described which is of reduced size in order to rationalise storage operations and to facilitate all transportation phases.

Another aim of the invention is that of providing a mounting arrangement which can be easily installed even by users who do not have specific equipment.

According to the present invention, there is provided an arrangement for fixing domestic appliances in a superposed position, comprising a linear frame adapted to be fitted along front and side edges of the bottom wall of the upper appliance and provided with respective outward and inward perimetral edges forming containment and support surfaces for the worktop of the subjacent appliance, said frame further being provided with adjustable means for adaptation to the rearward edge of the worktop of the subjacent appliance, the frame substantially comprising a front side, at the edges of which are pivotally mounted two side arms by means of a hinged connection and means for rapid fixing thereof to the bottom of the upper appliance and removable screening means extending between the rear ends of the two side arms of the frame.

The invention will be further described by way of non-limitative example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a view from below of an embodiment of the invention in a closed position for the storage and transportation phases, Figure 2 is a view from below of the arrangement in a phase in preparation for fixing thereof, Figure 3 is a plan view of the arrangement in the fixing position, Figure 4 is a view in longitudinal section of the arrangement in the fixing position between two superposed appliances, and Figure 5 is a view in longitudinal section of a detail from figure 4 on an enlarged scale.

The fixing arrangement according to the invention substantially comprises a frame 6 made of plastics material (for example polypropylene).

The frame 6 comprises a front side 7, at the ends of which two lateral arms 10 and 11 are pivotally connected at 9 using a connection similar to that of the side pieces of a pair of spectacles (figures 1, 2 and 3).

Over its entire length the body of the frame 6 is shaped with a cross section of C-shaped configuration which is open downwardly and provided with transverse stiffening baffles or ribs 12 extending between the inward and outward edges 13 and 14 respectively.

Figure 4 shows the connectioof a laundry dryer 15 in superposed relationship with a laundry washing machine 16 which is greater in depth than the laundry dryer 15.

The connection of the frame 6 to the bottom of the laundry dryer 15 is made by pegs 17 (figure 4) being press fitted through corresponding expansion plugs 18 provided in one piece in the frame 6 and previously inserted into drilled holes 19 previously provided in the bottom of the laundry dryer 15.

The inward edge 13 of the frame 6 is of the same height as the transverse stiffening ribs or baffles 12 and together therewith forms the support base for the frame 6 to bear on the worktop 21 of the lower appliance 15 (see figure 4).

The outward edge 14 of the frame 6 on the other hand is extended downwardly in such a way as to form containing surfaces, being a front surface 21 and side surfaces 22 and 23 respectively (see figure 3), for containing the worktop 21 of the lower appliance 15 (figures 3 and 4).

An elongate screw 24 provided with a slotted head 25 projecting outwardly (see figure 4) is introduced in a longitudinal direction at positions corresponding to the free ends of the side arms 10 and 11 of the frame 6.

As described in above mentioned German utility model number 8307300 filed in the name of the present applicants, the screw 24 is screwed into a corresponding female screwthread 26 (see figure 4) which extends through a shaped strip 27. The latter is introduced slidably into both the side arms 10 and 11 of the frame 6 and is extended downwardly to constitute a rear containment projection for co-operating with the worktop 20 of the lower appliance 15.

In that way actuation of the screw 24 in one direction of rotation or the other, which is effected for example by using a coin, produces displacement of the strip 27 in one longitudinal direction or the other between the two limit positions shown in broken lines in figure 4.

Thus the strips 27 behave as rear containment surfaces which can be adapted to different dimensions in respect of depth of the subjacent appliance 15.

The rearward ends of the hinged arms 10 and 11 of the frame 6 are each provided with an opening 28 (see figures 3 and 5) provided in their upper wall at a position corresponding to the edge of a depression 29 (see figures 1 and 2) and a stop tooth 30 (see figure 5) which projects from their rear wall 31.

The openings 28 and the depressions 29 are respectively capable of accommodating the tongue portions 32 (see figures 3 and 5) and the horizontal sides 33 (see figure 3) of a screening trim base member 34 (see figures 4 and 5) of L-shaped cross-section.

The stop teeth 30 on the other hand are capable of coming into snap engagement with corresponding apertures 35 provided on the vertical side portion of the screening trim base member 34 (see figure 5).

With the rear screening trim base member 34 being fitted into position, the frame 6 assumes the configuration diagrammatically shown in figure 3. The foregoing structure attains the aims of the invention of providing a fixed arrangement which can be conveniently stored and transported in the closed position or which is of minimum size, as shown in figure 1.

In addition the arrangement according to the invention can be easily fitted and removed even by nonspecialist personnel who do not even have minimal mechanical equipment.

In actual fact after the pivoted arms 10 and 11 have been opened (see figure 2), the frame 6 can be easily fixed to the bottom of the subjacent appliance 16 by means of press fitting of the pegs 17 into position and subsequently adapted to the worktop 20 of the subjacent appliance 15 by means of actuation of the screws 25 and the associated rear containment strip 27 (see figure 4). To effect removal of the frame 6, it is only necessary to release the strips 27, separate the upper appliance from the lower appliance and finally disengage the fixing pegs 17 from the respective expansion plugs 18.

Claims (5)

1. An arrangement for fixing domestic appliances in a superposed position, comprising a linear frame adapted to be fitted along front and side edges of the bottom wall of the upper appliance and provided with respective outward and inward perimetral edges forming containment and support surfaces for the worktop of the subjacent appliance, said frame further being provided with adjustable means for adaptation to the rearward edge of the worktop of the subjacent appliance, the frame substantially comprising a front side, at the edges of which are pivotally mounted two side arms by means of a hinged connection and means for rapid fixing thereof to the bottom of the upper appliance and removable screening means extending between the rear ends of the two side arms of the frame.

2. An arrangement according to claim 1 wherein said means for rapid fixing to the bottom of the upper appliance are formed by a plurality of expansion plugs provided in one piece with the frame and capable of being fixed by means of the introduction of suitable pegs into corresponding openings in the bottom of the upper appliance.

3. An arrangement according to claim 1 or 2 wherein the removable screening means comprise a base member of Lshaped cross-section and provided with projections and recesses respectively capable of engaging corresponding recesses and projections provided at the rearward ends of the pivoted arms.

4. An arrangement according to claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein said frame is shaped over its entire length with a downwardly open C-shaped cross-section and comprises a plurality of transverse stiffening baffles extending between the inward and outward edges of the frame.

5. A frame for fixing domestic appliances in a superposed position, the frame being constructed and arranged to operate substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.