US3146045A

US3146045A - Front opening dishwasher with improved rack arrangement

Info

Publication number: US3146045A
Application number: US237185A
Authority: US
Inventors: Melvin R Kauffman
Original assignee: General Electric Co
Current assignee: General Electric Co
Priority date: 1962-11-13
Filing date: 1962-11-13
Publication date: 1964-08-25
Anticipated expiration: 1981-08-25
Also published as: GB1041880A; CH407439A; NL300096A; DE1237744B

Description

M. R. KAUFFMAN FRONT OPENING DISHWASHER WITH IMPROVED RACK ARRANGEMENT 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 H \S ATTORNEY Aug. 25, 1964 Filed Nov. 13, 1962 Aug. 25, 1964 M. R. KAUFFMAN 3,146,045

FRONT OPENING DISHWASHER WITH IMPROVED RACK ARRANGEMENT Filed Nov 15, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG.Z

s3 25 \Y as i r 33 f r 1 n :f n I 0-1 H .1 I n H I k I 52 4;

INVENTOR. M R. KAUFFMAN BY M H \S ATTORNEY Aug. 25, 1964 M. R- KAUFFMAN FRONT OPENING DISHWASHER WITH IMPROVED RACK ARRANGEMENT 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Nov. 13, 1962 N RA w WW u N R 1K W W R.

m w m E M United States Patent 3,146,045 FRONT OPENING DISHWASHER WITH IMPROVED RACK i: NGEMENT Melvin R. Kautfrnan, Louisville, Ky., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Filed Nov. 13, 1962, Ser. No. 237,185 7 Claims. (Cl. 312229) The present invention relates to dishwashing machines of the type having a front opening with racks which move out horizontally through that opening, and more particularly to a rack formation which provides optimum effectiveness for such machines.

Dishwashing machines often have a washing enclosure with its access opening at the front thereof; such machines are provided with a door, hinged at the bottom, pivotable from a vertical to a horizontal position for access to the interior of the machine. In such machines, there are generally two vertically spaced racks for receiving the articles to be washed, each of these racks being movable horizontally out of the access opening over the open door. It is conventional to form the bottom rack to receive larger dishes and the top rack to receive smaller dishes and glasses. While this approach has substantial advantages, it also has the disadvantage that, when a mixed load of dishes is to be inserted in the dishwasher, the operator will have to move the top rack in and out continuously. This results from the fact that each time a large dish is to be inserted into the lower rack, the upper rack must be moved back to gain access to the lower rack, while each time a glass or a small dish is to be positioned for washing the upper rack must then be pulled back out again.

It is therefore an object of my invention to provide a washing machine of the type having a front access opening in which a rack assembly includes two normally superimposed racks which are movable to a second relationship wherein the bottom rack is readily accessible.

More specifically, it is an object of my invention to achieve this goal by causing the top rack to be provided in two separable parts, at least one of which is mounted by links on the bottom rack, so that it may be moved to a position where it does not interfere with loading and unloading of articles onto the bottom rack.

In one aspect of my invention I provide a dishwasher which includes a washing enclosure having an access opening formed at the front thereof. The opening may be closed by a closure member piVOtable about its lower edge. When the closure member is in a substantially vertical position, it seals the access opening; when it is in a substantially horizontal position, it provides ready access through the opening to the interior of the washing enclosure.

In the enclosure there is positioned a rack assembly for supporting articles to be washed. This assembly may be moved substantially horizontally out through the access opening. It includes a lower rack having two sides, a front, and a back which form together a substantially horizontal rectangle. Over the lower rack a pair of upper rack sections are positioned adjacent each other so as to form essentially one complete upper rack. At least one of the upper rack sections is secured to the lower rack by linkage means which pivotally secures it in one of two positions. In one of the positions, the upper rack sections are positioned directly over the lower rack and adjacent each other, as mentioned above. This position is suitable for use of the rack assembly within the en closure. In the other of the positions, the upper rack sections have their near sides remote from each other so that they are spaced apart over the lower rack. This makes the lower rack accessible between the two upper rack sections so that it may be readily be loaded and un- 3,146,045 Patented Aug. 25, 1964 loaded at the same time that the upper rack sections are also accessible for such loading and unloading.

The subject matter which I regard as my invention is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of this specification. The invention, however, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings, FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view, partly broken away and partly in cross section, of a dishwashing machine incorporating my invention;

FIGURE 2 is a front elevational view of the machine of FIGURE 1 with its door open;

FIGURE 3 is a second front elevational view of the machine showing the rack assembly thereof in loading position; and

FIGURE 4 is a side elevational view, partly broken away and partly in cross section, of a dishwasher incorporating a second embodiment of my invention.

Referring now to FIGURE 1 of the drawings, there is shown a dishwasher, generally indicated by the numeral 1, of the type wherein a cabinet 2 is provided, the cabinet including a stationary back 3,

side walls

4 and 5, and a top portion 6. The back, top, and side walls, together with a front door section 7, form a generally rectangular enclosure or tub 8 within which is positioned a rack assembly 9 to be further hereinafter described, and which is used for the purpose of receiving and holding various dishes to be washed.

In order to gain access to the enclosure, the door section 7 is grasped by an upper handle portion 10 and pivoted downwardly about pivot members, such as that shown at 10a, until it lies substantially horizontally as shown in dotted outline. Rack assembly 9 is provided with rollers 11 at the bottom thereof and at each side so that the assembly 9 is movable horizontally out through the opening 12 (normally closed by door 7) by movement of rollers 11 along tracks 13. When the door is open in its horizontal position it forms a guide, so that when the rack assembly is rolled out it will roll forward on the door which thus constitutes an extension of track 13. In this manner, rack assembly 9 may be moved horizontally out through opening 12 until the entire assembly is out of the tub 8.

The dishwasher will normally include suitable washing means; these are shown in the form of a rotatable water ejecting member 14, positioned within tub 2 beneath rack assembly 9 and having a number of outlets such as those shown at 15 so as to eject upwardly streams of liquid during operation of the dishwasher. It has been found that, for best results, member 14 may further be provided with an upwardly extending portion 16 located substantially centrally of tub 8 and of washing member 14, and extending upwardly a substantial distance from the member 14. Member 16 ejects water into the upper part of tub 8 by virtue of its telescoping portion 17 which moves up to an operative position when under the influence of water pressure, and also provides sprays of water so as to aid the washing eifect provided by the lower rotatable member 14. Both for member 14 and for member 16 the intent is that water be ejected from them against the dishes and other utensils in the rack assembly with considerable force so as to eifect cleansing of the articles. With respect to member 16 with telesscoping portion 17, a suitable structure therefor is shown and described in cgpending application, Serial No. 107,987, filed on May 5, 1961, by Lauren W. Guth, now US. Patent 3,077,200, and assigned to General Electric Company, assignee of the present invention.

In addition to the members described thus far, the washing means may further include an upper rotatable water ejecting member 18. All three of the members may be fed from a pumping assembly, generally indicated by numeral 19, positioned at the very bottom 20 of tub 8 in a sump formed therein. Assembly 19 receives its water through appropriate inlet means 21 positioned in the sump 20, and is normally driven by a motor 22 in the conventional manner. For instance, motor 22 may, when rotated in one direction, cause the pumping assembly 19 to force liquid up through

members

14, 16 and 13 for dish washing purposes and, when reversed, may cause the pumping assembly to pass liquid out through a drain (not shown).

It will be understood that with such a structure a dishwashing operation may readily be provided by means of a conventional sequence control assembly (not shown) which controls in suitable sequence the entry of water and washing materials, the spraying of the dishes and other utensils to be washed, and removal of the water. In addition, for drying the dishes and other utensils after they have been cleansed, a suitable electric heating element 23 may be provided in the conventional manner, with the intent being that element 23 also be under the control of the sequence control assembly so as to be energized at the end of the washing operation and during the washing operation if so desired to assist in heating water.

The rack assembly 9 includes, as can be seen in FIG- URE 2, a lower rack 24 and a pair of

upper rack sections

25 and 26,

rack sections

25 and 26 being substantially similar to each other in the embodiment shown. Rack 24 may be formed with appropriate fingers, such as those shown at 27, formed so as to receive dishes and retain them for a washing operation. The means included in the rack for retaining dishes may take any of various forms. For instance, the structure shown is one appropriate form and is fully described and illustrated in application Serial No. 173,228, filed on February 14, 1962, by Mitchell Nasser, now US. Patent 3,084,702, and assigned to General Electric Company, assignee of the present invention.

Each of the upper rack sections may also be formed with appropriate fingers, such as those shown at 28, also for the purpose of retaining dishes. Conventionally, there is more space between the lower rack and the bottom of the upper rack, as formed by

sections

25 and 26, than between the upper rack and the top surface 6 of enclosure 8. Because of this, larger dishes customarily are inserted in the lower rack, with smaller dishes and glassware being included in the upper rack.

Experience has shown that, more often than not, the person loading the machine will be taking dishes off the table one place setting at a time. As a result, there will be the need to load one or two large dishes, one or two small dishes, and glassware for each place setting. This means that some dishes from each place setting should be put into the lower rack for best loading, and some of the dishes should be put into the upper rack. For this reason, it is highly desirable that, to facilitate the loading operation, the upper and lower racks be accessible at the same time. However, with the racks in their operative position within the enclosure 8, as shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, the upper rack prevents ready access to the lower rack. It is to eliminate this difliculty that the structure now to be described is provided.

The lower rack is substantially rectangular, having a front 29, sides 30 and 31 and a back 32. Each of the upper rack sections is also rectangular; for instance, rack section 25 has a front 33, an inner side 34, and outer side 35, and a back 36. Similarly, the rack section 26 has a front 37, an inner side 38, an outer side 39, and a back (not shown) similarly arranged to the back 36 of rack section 25. As shown, the racks are preferably formed so as to utilize the full width of the enclosure 8 extending fully from side to side thereof. This means that when the two

upper rack sections

25 and 26 are poistioned with their

near sides

34 and 38 adjacent each other, the additive 4 length of their

fronts

33 and 37 is substantially equal to the length of the front 29 of lower rack 24. In addition, where, as preferred, the enclosure 8 is substantially rectangular in shape, the

upper rack sections

25 and 26 will each preferably form a rectangle which is one-half the size of the rectangle formed by lower rack 24. Thus, together with the two upper rack sections, when they are adjacent each other in the position of FIGURE 2, form a rectangle of substantially the same size as the lower rack.

Each upper rack section is supported on the lower rack by means of suitably pivotable link members. Thus, with respect to rack section 25, there is an inner link member 40 which is pivoted at 41 to the lower rack and at 42 to the upper rack. Similarly, a longer link 43 joins the outer side 35 of rack section 25 to the outer side 30 of rack 24. Link 43 is pivotally connected to rack 24 at 44 and is pivotally connected to rack section 25 at 45. The outer edge 46 of front 29 serves as a stop for link 43. This insures that the

links

40 and 43, as they cause rack section 25 to move to the left as viewed in FIGURE 2, will stop at the correct position so that rack section 25 will be substantially horizontal and with its side 34 substantially at the mid point of the width of the dishwasher enclosure. It will further be observed that while the member 43 is almost vertical in FIGURE 2, link 40 is pivoted to the left from its vertical position so that the rack section is stable in that position and will not, when the assembly is rolled out onto the door 7, have a tendency to move to the position shown in FIGURE 3 except under the influence of an external force.

The same parts and the same relationship are provided for rack section 26. The inner link 47 is pivotally connected to rack 24 at 48 and to rack section 26 at 49. The outer link 56 is connected at its bottom 51 to rack 24 and at its top 52 to rack section 26. The operation of

links

47 and 50 is exactly the same as the operation of

links

43 and 40 except that the rack section is moved to the right, as viewed in FIGURE 2, to be in the operating position suitable for within enclosure 8. It will be seen that the

rack sections

25 and 26 are stopped with their

near sides

34 and 38 adjacent each other and that, in that position, their

fronts

33 and 37 additively provide a length substantially equal to front 29 of rack 24.

When the dishwasher is to be loaded, assembly 9 is rolled out onto door 7 so as to be entirely outside enclosure 8, as previously described. Each of the

rack sections

25 and 26 is then moved to the position shown in FIGURE 3. This may readily be achieved, for example, in the case of rack section 25, by grasping it by handle portion 53 and pulling to the right. The rack section will move upward slightly as the

links

43 and 40 move to vertical positions and then will move back down to a horizontal position again, as shown, with the proper stopping place being achieved by any suitable means, such as, for instance, a stop member 54 secured on rack section 25. Again, a stable position is achieved because the supporting

links

43 and 40 are substantially removed from the vertical. The same effect may be achieved as to rack section 26 by use of handle portion 55, with the rack section being pulled to the left until the inner link 47 strikes stop member 56.

It can be seen that with

rack sections

25 and 26 in this position the

inner sides

34 and 38 of the two rack sections are substantially spaced from each other. This leaves an entirely adequate amount of room to provide easy access to all parts of the lower rack 24. With the racks in this position then, dishes may be loaded into both the lower rack and the upper rack at the same time, with the two upper rack sections being properly supported and in a stable position.

A further highly desirable feature provided by my invention is the provision of

outer links

43 and 50 as solid sheet-like members. This is shown in FIGURE 1, wherein the solid nature of the members can be seen, together with the fact that preferably a plurality of linkage points are provided (

points

45 and 44 for link member 43, for instance). This structure for the outer links is helpful because, when dirty dishes are loaded into the upper rack sections when they are in the position of FIGURE 3, it is important that waste food and liquid should not be spilled onto the floor. The

solid members

43 and 50 act as guides to insure that all food and liquid dropping from dishes placed in

rack sections

25 and 26 will either stick to the

link members

43 and 50 until it is washed away during a washing operation, or will drip down onto the inner surface of the door 7; this, of course, forms one wall of the enclosure during washing operations and is cleaned during such operations. In this manner the members which permit the movement of the upper rack sections so as to let both upper and lower racks be loaded at once also insure that there will be no dripping of food from the upper rack onto the floor.

It will, of course, be clear that, while the embodiment of FIGURES 1, 2 and 3, in which both upper rack sections are movable between two positions and in which they are movable sideways relative to the front of the machine, has been shown, other forms of my invention are possible, and a second embodiment is shown in FIG- URE 4, in which the same numerals are used as before where the parts are the same.

In FIGURE 4, there are two

upper rack sections

60 and 61 provided, with section 61 being in front of section 60 as the assembly 9 is rolled out onto the door 7 of the dishwasher. Section 60 is rigidly mounted on

supports

62 and 63 extending upwardly from the lower rack 24. Front section 61 is, however, supported by

linkage members

64 and 65. Member 64 extends upwardly from pivotal engagement at 66 with rack 24 to pivotal engagement at 67 with rack section 61. In the same fashion, link 65 is pivotally joined at 68 to rack 24 and at 69 to rack section 61. In the position shown in broken lines, the two

rack sections

60 and 61 are adjacent each other so as to be directly superposed over the lower rack 24, forming in effect a single upper rack as before.

When access to the lower rack is desired at the same time as access to the upper rack sections, the forward rack section 61 is pivoted outwardly until it reaches the position shown in solid outline. In this position, it can be seen that there is ready access between the two

upper rack sections

60 and 61 to the lower rack 24, at the same time that both upper rack sections are accessible also.

It can also be seen that link member 65, which is similarly formed to link members 43 and 59 in that it is an imperforate sheet extending entirely along the front of rack section 61, serves as before as a means of preventing dripping of foodstuffs onto the fioor, and for guiding such foodstuffs onto the door 7. Also, as before, suitable stop means may be provided for causing the rack section 61 to stop in the positions desired, and the links may be arranged so that at least one is in an overcenter position in each position of the rack section.

While I have shown and described particular embodiments of my invention, I do not desire my invention to be limited to the precise constructions disclosed, and I therefore intend by the appended claims to cover all modifications which fall within the true spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A washing machine comprising:

(a) a washing enclosure having an access opening formed at the front thereof;

(b) a closure member for said access opening pivotable about its lower edge between a substantially vertical closing position and a substantially horizontal open position; and

(c) a rack assembly for supporting articles to be washed positioned in said enclosure and mounted on guide means for substantially horizontal movement completely out through said access opening, said rack assembly including: a lower rack having two sides, a front, and a back forming a substantially horizontal rectangle; a pair of upper rack sections positioned side by side, each said upper rack section having sides, a front and a back forming substantially horizontal rectangles, the fronts of said upper rack sections being additively substantially equal in length to the front of said lower rack when said upper rack sections are positioned with their near sides adjacent each other; and linkage means pivotally securing each of said upper rack sections to said lower rack in one of two positions, said upper rack sec: tions being positioned directly over and spaced from said lower rack with their near sides adjacent and with their fronts forming a line substantially vertically above the front of said lower rack in one of said positions, said upper rack sections having their near sides remote from each other so that they are spaced apart and spaced from said lower rack in the other of said positions thereby to make said lower rack accessible.

2. The washing machine defined in claim 1 wherein said upper rack sections together form a rectangle equal in size to the rectangle of said lower rack.

3. The washing machine defined in claim 2 wherein said upper rack sections are equal to each other in size.

4. A washing machine comprising:

(a) a washing enclosure having an access opening formed at the front thereof;

(c) a rack assembly for supporting articles to be washed positioned in said enclosure and mounted on guide means for substantially horizontal movement completely out through said access opening, said rack assembly including: a lower rack having two sides, a front, and a back forming a substantially horizontal rectangle; a pair of upper rack sections positioned side by side, each said upper rack section having sides, a front and a back forming substantially horizontal rectangles, the fronts of said upper rack sections being additively substantially equal in length to the front of said lower rack when said upper rack sections are positioned with their near sides adjacent each other; and linkage means pivotally securing each of said upper rack sections to said lower rack in one of two positions, said linkage means for each said upper rack section including an inner link and an outer link, at least one of said links being substantially over-center in a first direction in one of said two positions, at least one of said links being substantially over-center in the other direction in the other of said two positions thereby to insure that said upper rack section is stably positioned in each of said positions, said upper rack sections being positioned directly over and spaced from said lower rack with their near sides adjacent and with their fronts forming a line substantially vertically above the front of said lower rack in one of said positions, said upper rack sections having their near sides remote from each other so that they are spaced apart and spaced from said lower rack in the other of said positions thereby to make said lower rack accessible.

5. A washing machine comprising:

(a) a washing enclosure having an access opening formed at the front thereof;

(c) a rack assembly for supporting articles to be washed having a first position in said enclosure and mounted for substantially horizontal movement out through said access opening to a second position over said closure member in its open position, said rack assembly including: a lower rack; a pair of upper rack sections forming one complete upper rack when said upper rack sections are positioned adjacent each other; and linkage means pivotally securing at least one of said upper rack sections to said lower rack in one of two positions, said upper rack sections being positioned directly over said lower rack and adjacent each other so as to form essentially one complete upper rack in one of said positions of said one rack section, said upper rack sections being remote from each other so that they are spaced apart over said lower rack in the other of said positions of said one rack section thereby to make said lower rack accessible, said linkage means for said one upper rack section including an inner link relatively close to said other rack section and an outer link remote from said other rack section, at least one of said links being substantially over center in a first direction in one of said two positions of said one rack section, at least one of said links being substantially over center in the other direction in the other of said two positions of said one rack section thereby to insure that said one rack section is stably positioned in each of said positions, said outer link being formed as a substantially imperforate plate member extending entirely along the side of said one rack section remote from said other rack section thereby to form a guide from said one upper rack section down to said closure member for drippings from said one upper rack section when said one upper rack section is in its said other position.

6. The washing machine defined in claim 5 wherein said upper rack sections are positioned one in front of the other, and said one pivotally secured rack section is in front of the other of said rack sections, said one rack section being pivotally movable forward to its said other position.

7. A washing machine comprising:

(a) a washing enclosure having an access opening formed at the front thereof;

(c) a rack assembly for supporting articles to be washed positioned in said enclosure and mounted for substantially horizontal movement out through said access opening, said rack assembly including: a lower rack having two sides, a front, and a back forming a substantially horizontal rectangle; a pair of upper rack sections positioned side-by-side, each said upper rack section having sides, a front and a back forming substantially horizontal rectangles, the fronts of said upper rack sections being additively substantially equal in length to the front of said lower rack when said upper rack sections are positioned with their near sides adjacent each other; and linkage means pivotally securing each of said upper rack sections to said lower rack in one of two positions, said linkage means for each said upper rack section including an inner link and an outer link, at least one of said links being substantially overcenter in a first direction in one of said two positions, at least one of said links being substantially overcenter in the other direction in the other of said two positions thereby to insure that said upper rack section is stably positioned in each of said positions, said upper rack sections being positioned directly over said lower rack with their near sides adjacent and with their fronts forming a line substantially vertically above the front of said lower rack in one of said positions, said upper rack sections having their near sides remote from each other so that they are spaced apart over said lower rack in the other of said positions thereby to make said lower rack accessible, each said outer link connecting said lower rack to the outer side of each said upper rack section, each of said outer links being formed as a substantially imperforate plate member extending from the front to the back of said upper rack sections thereby to form a guide from said upper rack sections down to said closure member for drippings from said upper rack sections when said upper rack sections are in said other of said positions.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,302,602 Cooper Nov. 17, 1942 2,598,976 Cox June 3, 1952 2,681,843 Walker June 22, 1954 2,745,707 Sebens May 15, 1956 3,098,685 Stiner July 23, 1963

Claims

1. A WASHING MACHINE COMPRISING: (A) A WASHING ENCLOSURE HAVING AN ACCESS OPENING FORMED AT THE FRONT THEREOF; (B) A CLOSURE MEMBER FOR SAID ACCESS OPENING PIVOTABLE ABOUT ITS LOWER EDGE BETWEEN A SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICAL CLOSING POSITION AND A SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL OPEN POSITION; AND