GB2241382A

GB2241382A - Control button for domestic appliances such as washing machines

Info

Publication number: GB2241382A
Application number: GB9101288A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Remo Cassan
Original assignee: Industrie Zanussi SpA
Current assignee: Industrie Zanussi SpA
Priority date: 1990-02-22
Filing date: 1991-01-21
Publication date: 1991-08-28
Anticipated expiration: 2011-01-21
Also published as: IT9034013V0; ES1016268U; FR2658657A1; DE9102111U1; IT223508Z2; GB9101288D0; FR2658657B3; ES1016268Y; GB2241382B; IT9034013U1

Abstract

A control button associated with an electrical switch (34) for switching on and off of a domestic appliance, such as a clothes washing machine, comprises a box-like housing provided with an internal cavity, and a shaped slider (9) which is slidable within the cavity. and a closure casing which can be applied to the front of the box-like housing after insertion of the slider (9). The box-like housing is provided with means (13, 18) for removable fixing thereof to the appliance and for permitting actuation of the switch (34) by displacement of the button (6), which means are co-operable with the slider (9) in one operative position of the slider (9) to prevent displacement of the button (6) and thereby actuation of the switch (34). The slider (9) is provided with means for arresting the slider when it is moved into its operative position. <IMAGE>

Description

CONTROL BUTTON FOR DOMESTIC APPLIANCES SUCH AS WASHING MACHINES WHICH IS PROVIDED WITH A SAFETY DEVICE TO PREVENT UNDESIRED ACTUATION THEREOF The invention relates to a control button for domestic appliances, such washing machines, in particular clothes washing machines, which is provided with a safety device of simple and practical type suitable for preventing undesired and accidental actuation of the button such as to cause the appliance to be switched on.

To prevent undesired actuation, in particular by children, of the switch for switching on washing machines and in particular clothes washing machines, and thereby to avoid the risk of water being discharged from the tub and the danger of possible injury to the user caused by the rotation of the drum, international standards lay down that the switch is associated with suitable safety devices which are adapted to and interact with the switch in such a way as to permit actuation thereof only after previous displacement of the safety devices from a position which is accessible to the user and without employing any kind of tool.

Safety devices are known, which are associated with a button for controlling the switch for switching clothes washing machines on and off, such devices being disposed together with the button in the control panel of the machines and generally comprising mechanical members which are moveable into two different positions in such a way as to permit or impede actuation of the switch by way of the button.

The aim of the present invention is to provide a button for the actuation of such a switch, which is provided with a safety device of simple, practical and operationally reliable type for performing the functions of the present safety devices.

According to the present invention, there is provided a control button for use in association with an electrical switch which controls switching on and off of a domestic appliance, the button comprising a box-like housing provided with an internal cavity, and a shaped slider which can be fitted into and is slidable within said cavity, and a closure casing which can be applied in frontal relationship to said box-like housing after insertion of said slider, said box-like housing being provided with means for removable fixing thereof to the appliance and for actuation of said switch by acting on said button, which are cooperable with said slider and which are capable of permitting or preventing actuation of said switch in dependence on the displacement of the slider into respective ones of its first and second operative positions, wherein said slider is provided with blocking means for arresting the slider when it is moved into its second operative position to prevent undesired and accidental actuation of said switch by means of said button.

Other, optional features of the invention are defined in the sub-claims.

The invention will be further described by way of non-limitative example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figures 1, 2 and 3 are respectively a front view, a side view and a sectional plan view of one embodiment of control button according to the present invention.

Figure 4 is a sectional side view of the button shown in figures 1 to 3 mounted in the control panel of a washing machine and displaced into a first operative position.

Figure 5 is a sectional side view of the button of figure 4 when displaced into a second operative position.

Figure 6 is a sectional side view of the present control button when displaced into a third operative position.

Referring to figures 1, 2 and 3 which show the present control button 6 incorporating the safety device 7 which will be described hereinafter, which button is associated with a conventional switch (not shown) for switching on and off a washing machine, in particular a clothes washing machine, it will be noted that the button substantially comprises three separate component parts which can be assembled and disassembled with each other, that is to say a box-like housing 8, a shaped slider 9 and a closure casing 10, which are made of plastics material.

The box-like housing 8 in particular is provided with an internal cavity 11 in which the shaped slider 9 can be fitted in the manner described hereinafter, the cavity 11 communicating with a through opening 12 which is formed through the lower wall of the housing 8, and is provided with a protuberance 13 disposed below the lower wall and projecting beyond the rear wall of the housing 8, through which a straight through-hole 14 extends in a direction perpendicular to said rear wall, terminating at a position corresponding to the through opening 12.The box-like housing 8 is further provided in the proximity of its front wall with a series of projecting teeth 15 which are engageable and disengageable with respect to corresponding recesses 16 provided in the closure casing 10 to permit rapid connection or disconnection thereof and is also provided rearwardly with two resilient projecting walls 17 which can permit removable insertion of a suitable pushbutton control component 30 (see figures 4 and 5) for supporting the electrical switch for switching the machine on and off as well as the various electrical wiring harness components for supplying the operative component parts of the machine (none of those component parts is shown).

Finally, the box-like housing 8 is also designed in one piece with an elongate cylindrical bush 18 which can be fitted into the straight through-hole 14 and which is provided with a head 19 of an enlarged configuration in the opposite direction, the head being connected by way of a thin limb 20 to the upper wall of the box-like housing 8.

The purpose of the bush 18 is to fix the control button 6 in position in its assembled condition, against suitable seats (not shown) provided rearwardly of the control panel of the machine, in such a way that the bush 18 is successively introduced through the corresponding straight through-hole 14 and is engaged with its head 19 within said seats, thus permitting alternating displacement of the button 6 on the bush 18 in the longitudinal direction.

In that condition, when the button 6 is moved into the position in which it is urged inwardly of the control panel of the machine, the projecting resilient walls 17 thereof come into contact with the switch (not shown) of the machine, the switch being supported by the component 30, thus causing the switch to be actuated into the closure condition and thus causing the machine to be switched on.

In turn, the shaped slider 9 is provided with a bent portion 21 which can be fitted into the internal cavity 11 of the box-like housing 8 and which is slidable therein, the bent portion 21 being provided with a vertical appendix portion 22 which may or may not be inserted through the through opening 12 of the box-like housing 8 and connected by means of a horizontal leg 23 to a flat front plate 24, capable of bearing against the front wall of the housing and being slidable longitudinally with respect thereto, in such a way as to move the vertical appendix portion 22 from an engagement position to a disengagement position thereof with respect to the through opening 12. The flat front plate 24 is also provided with a circular projection 25 which has a rectilinear depression 26 therein, and two resilient lateral tongue portions 27 each provided with a respective projecting tooth 28, and intended for the purposes described hereinafter.

In its turn the closure casing 10 is provided in its front wall 29 with a slot (not shown) in which the circular projection 25 of the slider 9 can be slidably fitted while in its side walls 31 it has the recesses 16 for engagement of the corresponding teeth 15 of the box-like housing 8, as described hereinbefore. In addition, the front wall 29 is provided in its rear surface against which the flat front plate 24 of the slider 9 comes to bear when the slider 9 is fitted in the box-like housing 8 and the closure casing 10 is fitted to the box-like housing 8, with a series of recesses 32 which are spaced apart in a vertical direction in order to permit or prevent engagement therein of the resilient tongue portions 27 of the front plate 24 of the slider 9, in dependence on the position in which the slider is disposed.In particular when the slider is moved into its first operative position, as shown in figure 4 in which the present control button 6 can be seen, mounted in the control panel 33 of the machine, the vertical appendix portion 22 of the slider 9 is disengaged from the through opening 12 and does not interfere with the path of sliding movement of the through-hole 14 of the protuberance 13 of the button 6 on the bush 18, whereby the button 6 can slide freely and without impediment on the bush 18 and can thus be actuated in order respectively to provide for closing or opening of the electrical switch 34 which is supported by the component 30 and thus can provide for switching the machine on or off. In that position moreover the resilient tongue portions 27 are disengaged from the corresponding recesses 32 of the closure casing 10.In figure 4 in particular the button 6 is in its rest position in which its resilient projecting walls 17 are moved away from the switch 34, whereby the switch is held in its open condition.

Conversely when the slider 9 is moved into its second operative position as shown in figure 5 in which its vertical appendix portion 22 is inserted through the through opening 12, thus extending into the path of movement of the button 6 on the bush 18, in which condition the resilient tongue portions 27 are engaged into the corresponding recesses 32 in the closure casing 10, the appendix portion prevents any longitudinal sliding movement of the button 6 on the bush 10 and thus, by holding the button in a blocked switch 34, it prevents the button from actuating the switch 34, with the consequence that the machine is maintained in an off condition.In that situation the slider 9 cannot be displaced manually into its other operative position by virtue of engagement of the resilient tongue portions into the corresponding recesses 32 which constitute a safety device to prevent undesired and accidental actuation of the control button 6, such as to cause closure of the electrical switch 34 and thus switching-on of the machine. The button 6 can be freshly displaced to provide for actuation of the switch into its closure position, thus causing the washing machine to be switched on, only after previous disengagement of the resilient tongue portions 27 from the recesses 32, which is achieved by using a coin or any other tool which is inserted into the recess 26 in the circular projection 25 of the slider 9 and slightly forcing the slider 9 until such disengagement occurs and it moves into the other of its operative positions. Finally, figure 6 shows the control button 6 in the position of being urged inwardly of the control panel 33 in which the resilient projecting walls 17 thereof act against the switch 34, causing it to close and thus switching on the washing machine.

The above described control button is thus of a construction which is simple, practical and convenient to use, making it possible to control the machine in a reliable fashion and preventing any undesired movements of the button from its above mentioned blocking position.

Claims

1. A control button for use in association with an electrical switch which controls switching on and off of a domestic appliance, the button comprising a box-like housing provided with an internal cavity, and a shaped slider which can be fitted into and is slidable within said cavity, and a closure casing which can be applied in frontal relationship to said box-like housing after insertion of said slider, said box-like housing being provided with means for removable fixing thereof to the appliance and for actuation of said switch by acting on said button, which are cooperable with said slider and which are capable of permitting or preventing actuation of said switch in dependence on the displacement of the slider into respective ones of its first and second operative positions, wherein said slider is provided with blocking means for arresting the slider when it is moved into its second operative position to prevent undesired and accidental actuation of said switch by means of said button.

2. A control button according to claim 1 wherein said fixing and actuating means comprise a protuberance and an elongate bush which are provided by said box-like housing, said protuberance being provided with a straight throughhole which can be slidably fitted over said bush after fixing to the machine of said box-like housing, and they further comprise resilient projecting walls acting against said switch, said bush being provided with an enlarged head which can be fixed within corresponding seals of the control panel of the machine.

3. A control button according to claim 2 wherein said slider is provided with a vertical appendix portion adapted selectively to interfere with the path of sliding movement of the button on said bush, said appendix portion being connected in orthogonal relationship to a flat front plate which can be fitted slidably on said internal cavity and which is provided with a circular projection in which there is provided a rectilinear recess.

4. A control button according to claim 3 wherein said blocking means comprise at least one resilient tongue portion provided laterally on said flat plate and provided with a projecting tooth which is engageable and disengageable with respect to corresponding recesses in said closure casing in the position of mounting of the latter against said box-like housing.

5. A control button constructed and arranged to operate substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

6. A domestic appliance having an ON/OFF electrical switch whose operation is controlled by a control button according to any one of the preceding claims.