GB2294698A

GB2294698A - Clothes washing machine with improved door

Info

Publication number: GB2294698A
Application number: GB9522157A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Giuseppe Cargnel; Roberto Pezzetta
Original assignee: Electrolux Zanussi Elettrodomestici SpA
Current assignee: Electrolux Zanussi Elettrodomestici SpA
Priority date: 1994-11-03
Filing date: 1995-10-30
Publication date: 1996-05-08
Anticipated expiration: 2015-10-30
Also published as: GB9522157D0; ES1032372Y; GB2294698B; IT235039Y1; ES1032372U; ITPN940037V0; ITPN940037U1; DE29516715U1

Abstract

A clothes washing machine has a washing tub, a drum which is rotatable within said washing tub and which is capable of containing the articles to be washed, an external casing (1) Fig. 2 in which there is provided an opening (2) for loading the-articles to be washed into said drum, and a door which is hinged on an edge of said opening and which is capable of sealing closing it. The door is composed exclusively of a closure wall member (5), a first element (6) constituting one of two portions of a hinge and a second element (4) constituting the catch for the door disposed on the casing. At least one of said first and second elements are permanently fixed to the closure wall member by means of adhesive 7 interposed between the elements and the wall member. It is desirable that the surface portions which carry the adhesive are treated with an opaque coating layer, preferably enamel. <IMAGE>

Description

CLOTHES WASHING MACHINE WITH IMPROVED DOOR The invention relates to a washing machine, particularly, but not exclusively of the front-loading type and which is provided with an improved type of door for closing the washing tub.

Although in the following the present invention is described with reference to its application to a frontloading clothes washing machine provided with a door disposed vertically at the front of the machine, the invention may advantageously also be applied to other types of clothes washing machines, of top-loading type or with the opening of the tub disposed in other positions on the machine.

Front-loading clothes washing machines provided with a front opening for access to the interior of the drum for containing the articles to be washed are, of course, known; that opening is normally closed while the machine is operating by a door that is usually circular, of glass and hinged on a hinge which permits the door to be closed against the opening by means of rotary movement of the two parts of the hinge of which one part is connected to the edge of the opening and the other part is connected at a corresponding position to the door.

However, as is well known, the hinge portion which is connected to the door is not directly fitted thereto since interposed are two rings which are fitted to the door, an internal ring and an external ring; thus, both the hinge portion and the latch element for closing the door are normally fitted to the internal ring, the latch element generally being disposed in opposite relationship to the hinge.

All that is well known, in the state of the art and is therefore not further discussed herein.

That technology is substantially sound and does not suffer from serious disadvantages; however the fact that the hinge is carried on a plastics support such as the internal ring makes that assembly sensitive to wear, having regard to the systematic loadings on the plastics material and the natural deterioration thereof due to ageing.

In addition the presence of the two rings during construction of the door involves an additional cost both in respect of material and work, and lends itself poorly to automatic construction.

It would thus be desirable, and this is the aim of the present invention, to provide a clothes washing machine having a door which is capable of avoiding the abovementioned disadvantages and which can be produced with easily repairable and workable materials and with the use of current technologies.

According to the present invention, there is provided a clothes washing machine, provided with a washing tub, a drum which is rotatable within said washing tub and capable of containing the articles to be washed, an external casing in which there is provided an opening for introducing the articles to be washed, and a door assembly for closing said opening and comprising: a hinge of which one arm is fitted to an edge of said opening; and a catch capable of engaging with a lock disposed on the edge of said opening and capable of locking said door in a position of closing said opening, wherein said door is composed substantially exclusively of a closure wall member for closing said opening, a first element constituting one of the two portions of said hinge and said catch for latching the door to the lock.

The invention will be better appreciated from the following description given solely by way of non-limiting example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a view in cross-section of a door according to the invention; and Figure 2 shows the manner of fitting a door according to the invention of the machine.

Referring to the Figures which show a preferred embodiment, shown therein is a solution according to the invention and the operating principle thereof.

The clothes washing machine described has a washing tub, a drum which rotates within the washing tub and which is capable of containing the articles to be washed, and external casing 1 in which there is provided an opening 2 for introducing the articles to be washed, and a door assembly for closing the opening, the door comprising a domed central wall member 5 of glass and of mainly circular shape.

According to the invention the two plastics rings which, in the prior art, extend around the edge of the central wall member 5 are completely absent and the hinge portion 6, by means of which the door closes the opening 2, and the catch 4 are fitted directly to suitably disposed surface portions of the wall member 5.

Numerous fixing procedures as between components are known, in particular if the components involved are thermoplastics and of similar nature, which can be used for locking the wall member 5 to the catch 4 and/or said hinge portion 6.

Preferably however, also because of the different natures of the components which are commonly of metal and glass, it is preferable for those elements and the wall member to be secured together by interposing a layer of adhesive 7. The nature of the adhesive and the methods of applying same are part of the knowledge of the man skilled in the art and are therefore not further referred to herein, and also on account of the multiplicity of possible appropriate solutions.

Figure 2 affords a further aid in understanding the invention; in fact, besides the components already described and shown in Figure 1, Figure 2 also shows the lock 11 for locking the catch 4, the opening 2 provided on one side of the casing of the machine and the mounting points 13 for the hinge which is fitted to a point at the edge 14 of the opening 2 of the casing.

However the presence of the layer of adhesive which is applied to the part of the wall member which is set back produces an aesthetic effect which is not very pleasant since the transparency and irregularity of the covering of the layer of adhesive can allow the above-mentioned catch and hinge portion 6 to be glimpsed from the exterior because of the transparency of the wall member 5.

To avoid that disadvantage it is advantageous previously to apply an opaque coating 8 of regular shape to the zones of the rear surface of the wall member 5 which is intended to receive the layer of adhesive 7 and preferably to the corresponding annular zone, as shown in Figure 2.

It is apparent that the man skilled in the art can identify other technical solutions; therefore although the invention has been described using generally known technology, it is not deemed to be limited by the examples set forth since the man skilled in the art may make numerous variations and modifications therein.

Claims

1. A clothes washing machine, provided with a washing tub, a drum which is rotatable within said washing tub and capable of containing the articles to be washed, an external casing in which there is provided an opening for introducing the articles to be washed, and a door assembly for closing said opening and comprising: a hinge of which one arm is fitted to an edge of said opening; and a catch capable of engaging with a lock disposed on the edge of said opening and capable of locking said door in a position of closing said opening, wherein said door is composed substantially exclusively of a closure wall member for closing said opening, a first element constituting one of the two portions of said hinge and said catch for latching the door to the lock.

2. A clothes washing machine according to claim 1 wherein at least one of said first elements of said hinge and said catch is firmly fitted to said closure wall member by means of a layer of adhesive interposed between said element and said wall member.

3. A clothes washing machine according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said closure wall member is composed totally of transparent glass.

4. A clothes washing machine according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the surface portions of said wall member, to which said hinge element or said catch are fitted, are covered with an opaque layer before the application of said layer of adhesive.

5. A clothes washing machine according to claim 4, wherein said opaque coating is formed by enamel.

6. A clothes washing machine according to claim 4 or claim 5, wherein said opaque layer is of a substantially annular shape and is disposed on the zones of the rear surface of the wall member which are affected by the layer of adhesive.

7. A clothes washing machine, provided with a washing tub, a drum which is rotatable within said washing tub and capable of containing the articles to be washed, an external casing in which there is provided an opening for introducing the articles to be washed, and a door assembly for closing said opening and comprising: a hinge of which one arm is fitted to an edge of said opening; and a catch capable of engaging with a lock disposed on the edge of said opening and capable of locking said door in a position of closing said opening, wherein said door substantially consists of a closure wall member for closing said opening, a first element constituting one of the two portions of said hinge and said catch for latching the door to the lock, and said first element and said catch are fitted to the closure wall member directly and without the intermediary of rings interposed between the first element and catch on the one hand and said closure wall member on the other.

8. A clothes washing machine constructed and arranged to operate substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

9. A clothes washing machine according to any one of the preceding claims which is of the front-loading type.