WO2012032460A1

WO2012032460A1 - Multipurpose household appliance

Info

Publication number: WO2012032460A1
Application number: PCT/IB2011/053881
Authority: WO
Inventors: Stefano Palmeto; Renato Aiello; Paolo Faraldi
Original assignee: Indesit Company S.P.A.
Priority date: 2010-09-10
Filing date: 2011-09-05
Publication date: 2012-03-15
Also published as: EP2614310A1; ITTO20100744A1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a multipurpose household appliance (1) comprising at least two operating units (7, 11, 12, 21, 23, 24, 32, 42, 51) and at least one cabinet (2) housing said operating units (7, 11, 12, 21, 23, 24, 32, 42, 51). The invention is characterized in that the operating units (7, 11, 12, 21, 23, 24, 32, 42, 51) share functional volumes within the cabinet (2). The present invention further relates to a vehicle comprising a habitable and/or treadable space, said space including said household appliance (1).

Description

"MULTIPURPOSE HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCE"

DESCRIPTION

The present invention relates to a multipurpose household appliance, preferably of the type that can be installed in different types of vehicles (such as trucks, caravans, boats, and the like) or in tight household environments. As is known, in any one of the above-mentioned vehicles or in a tight household environment the little space available makes it necessary to reduce the number of installed household appliances, resulting in a limitation of the functionalities thereof.

Alternatively, if one wants to install many household appliances in a tight environment, these can be made smaller at the expense of reduced operating capabilities (e.g. their maximum capacity), thus requiring more operating cycles to be carried out.

Therefore, reducing the household appliances' dimensions leads to less efficiency in terms of consumptions and/or time necessary for performing a given operation.

The present invention aims at solving these and others problems by providing a multipurpose household appliance as set forth in the appended claim 1.

The present invention is based on the idea of sharing among the different operating units at least a part of the functional volumes thereof within a single housing cabinet.

In this description and in the appended claims, the term "operating unit" will refer to a household appliance capable of performing, for example, the following tasks: cooking, dishwashing, air suction, food preservation, food preparation, washing by hand, and the like. In this description and in the appended claims, the "functional volume" of a certain operating unit will refer to the volume required by said operating unit in order to be able to properly perform its task.

Typically the operating volumes are those used for housing motors, exchangers, pumps, tanks or other parts necessary for the operation of the appliance.

The advantages provided by sharing functional volumes among different operating units according to the solution proposed in the present invention can be summarized as less room required for providing the same operating capabilities, and the possibility of reducing the power consumption by transferring (thermal and/or electric) energy from one operating unit to another, as will described hereafter.

Further advantageous features of the present invention will be set out in the appended claims.

These features as well as further advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of an embodiment thereof as shown in the annexed drawings, which are supplied by way of non-limiting example, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the household appliance according to the present invention in the configuration taking least room;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the household appliance of Fig. 1 with the cover lifted and the hood in the operating position;

Fig. 3 is a sectional side view of a portion of the household appliance of Fig. 1 fitted with a suction hood;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the household appliance of Fig. 1 in a different operating condition;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the household appliance of Fig. 1 with the refrigerated compartment open;

Fig. 6 shows a detail of Fig. 5, where an extractable refrigerated container is visible;

Fig. 7 shows an alternative embodiment of the hood of Fig. 2;

Fig. 8 is a sectional side view of a portion of the household appliance of Fig. 1 fitted with heating elements and a refrigerating system;

Fig. 9 shows an embodiment which is alternative to that of Fig. 8;

Figs. 10 to 13 show a sequence of steps for opening a tap of the appliance of Fig. 1;

Figs. 14 to 18 show a sequence of steps for opening a refrigerator area of the appliance of Fig. 1.

The subject of the present invention is a multipurpose household appliance 1 according to the present invention.

The household appliance example described below comprises different operating units housed in a common cabinet, i.e.: a cooking top, a refrigerator, a sink with a tap, a dishwasher, and a worktop.

More in detail, the annexed drawings show: a cabinet 2, an upper cover 3, a worktop 21 located at the same level as a foldable tap 23, and a cooking top 7.

Underneath the worktop 21 and the cooking top 7 there are a sink 24 and a dishwasher 11, respectively; underneath these items there is a refrigerated compartment 42 fitted with an extractable refrigerated container 29, which will be described in detail later on.

With reference to Fig. 1, the household appliance 1 will now be described in its main embodiment.

In Fig. 1 the household appliance 1 is in the configuration that takes least room and highlights its extreme compactness, which allows for many installation options in environments where space is especially important, such as truck cabins, boats, airplanes, campers, caravans and the like, or in very tight household environments (such as one-room apartments, small kitchens or the like).

The household appliance 1 comprises a cabinet 2, at the top of which there is a horizontally- pivoted cover 3 coated with a fireproof/thermoinsulating material, which can be rotated by using the recess 4 as a handle.

The use of fireproof/thermoinsulating material makes it possible to install the household appliance 1 in tight environments and/or near other non-fireproof objects without increasing the risk of a fire.

In this regard, in fact, the cover 3 can be closed immediately after cooking is over, when the cooking top 7 is still hot, without risking that the nearness between the cover 3 and the cooking top 7 might cause any damage.

It should be pointed out that a cooking top design that includes an insulating cover is per se an invention. Such an insulating cover, in fact, can also be applied, in addition to the household appliance 1 described herein, to household appliances and cooking tops of any type as a replacement for the current horizontally-pivoted cooking top covers only having an aesthetic function.

The insulating cover comprises at least one layer of support material, having the function of giving the cover structural strength and stability, and at least one layer of thermally insulating material, allowing the cover to be closed even when the heating elements are still hot. The layer of thermally insulating material is interposed between the layer of support material and the heating elements of the cooking top with which the cover is associated. The upper surface of the layer of support material can be used as a work surface when the cover is closed, and the layer of insulating material allows keeping said work surface at a temperature equal to or only slightly higher than the ambient temperature, even should the cover be closed immediately after a food cooking operation. Some examples of insulating materials which may be used for the thermally insulating layer are fibrous panels (glass or rock wool), cellular materials (polyurethane or glassy foams), refractory porous materials, vacuum panels, or emerging materials such as, for example, the so-called "aerogels" (in particular, the material available from Aspen Aerogel under the commercial name PYROGEL). The support material used for the support layer may be steel or glass.

The cover for cooking tops and cooking appliances according to the present invention achieves the important result of being available for use in the closed position as a worktop or a support surface when the underlying heating elements are not needed, since it is not necessary to wait for the heating elements to cool down before closing the cover.

One example of a typical installation of the household appliance 1 is the cabin of a truck, where, in order to avoid limiting the use of the other cabin elements, it may be placed under a murphy bed; in one version it is also used as a bed base inside a truck cabin.

To this end, the presence of the fireproof and/or thermo insulating material allows using the cover as a base for laying a mattress, a pillow or the like, while preventing them from getting damaged by the heat of the underlying cooking top.

In this example, the horizontally-pivoted cover 3 rotates about a horizontal axis by means of six hinges (not shown in the drawings, being of a per se known type), but it may be hinged otherwise as well.

In the lower front portion of the cabinet 1 it is possible to see the movable front wall 5 of the refrigerated compartment, which will be discussed later on.

When the cover 3 is raised, as shown in Figs. 2, 3, 4 and 7, a cooking top 7 is accessible which comprises one or more heating elements 8.

Advantageously, the cooking top 7 comprises one pair of cooking points featuring a different maximum power output and capable of operating simultaneously.

These heating elements 8 are of the combustion type (GPL, methane, butane, etc.), or they are preferably electric ones (thermal and/or magnetic induction type).

The power lines of the heating elements 8, whether they are electric or gas ones, are not shown in the drawings because they are per se known in the art.

When the invention is implemented in a terrestrial vehicle, if the engine of the terrestrial vehicle runs on gas it is possible to share the gas supply between the vehicle's engine and the gas heating elements, i.e. both can be supplied with the same fuel gas, e.g. by means of suitable ducts afferent to the same tank.

Advantageously, the cooking top 7 is pivoted on a horizontal axis; this capability is ensured by hinges 9 as shown in Fig. 4 and Fig. 7.

The cooking top 7 can thus be brought into the raised position, as shown in Fig. 4, by using the handle 10, which in this example is located on the front side of the cooking top.

In the raised position, the cooking top 7 allows access to the tub 50 of the dishwasher 1 1 arranged underneath the cooking top 7; hence the cooking top 7 is advantageously the cover of the tub 50 of the dishwasher 11, resulting in a further room advantage.

The household appliance 1 also comprises a suction hood 12, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, which in turn comprises two parts, a lower one 13 and an upper one 14.

The two parts 13 and 14 are constrained to each other by means of a rotation joint 15, which allows the upper hood part 14 to move about a horizontal axis parallel to that of the cooking top 7, thus ensuring a correct alignment of said parts when they are extracted from or inserted into the housing 18, which is straight.

The rotation joint 15 is so shaped as to allow the upper hood part 14 to rotate forwards, preferably by gravity.

Advantageously, this solution offers a further advantage in terms of occupied space because, when not in use, the hood can be inserted into its housing 18 behind the cooking top 7 and the tub 50 of the dishwasher 11, thus taking up no room and allowing the cover 3 to be closed.

When the suction hood 12 is extracted, its upper part 14, fitted with a lamp 16, preferably a LED one, can be turned down towards the front in order to better illuminate the cooking top 7.

This is very useful to make the household appliance 1 usable even when there is little or no environmental lighting.

In the example shown, the lower part 13 of the hood 12 has an aperture 17 on its front side, i.e. towards the cooking top 7.

The purpose of said aperture 17 is to allow aspirating the air near the cooking top 7.

The aperture 17 is afferent to the inside of the body of the lower part 13 of the hood 12, where a fan 20 is fitted (of a per se known type). The lower part 13 is in fluidic communication with the inner volume of the housing 18 (into which the hood 12 is inserted); in turn, the latter is in fluidic communication with an exhaust duct 19 that evacuates the fumes outside the appliance. In the exhaust duct 19, preferably downstream of the fan 20, a filter 235 may be installed to filter the fumes before they are expelled outside.

In this way, a portion of the hood body and the housing seat thereof define together at least a portion of an evacuation channel for cooking fumes.

It is apparent therefore that said hood 12 is a suction-type one, and that said housing seat 18 forms at least a portion of an exhaust duct 19 for the aspirated air.

When the fan 20 is operating, and the hood 12 is in the operating position, a draught is generated which causes the fumes to be sucked through the aperture 17 and conveyed into the exhaust duct 19.

This advantageously increases the strength of the household appliance 1, since it has no parts which might be subjected to fatigue phenomena (such as hoses and the like) as the hood 12 is being extracted from or inserted into the housing 18.

The household appliance 1, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4, is equipped with a worktop 21 at the same level as the cooking top 7, which worktop is also pivoted on a horizontal axis; said axis is parallel to the pivoting axis of the cooking top 7.

It must be pointed out right away that the worktop 21 is optional, meaning that it may even be absent, or be obtained as one piece with the cooking top and moving integrally therewith. The worktop 21 may take several positions: fully lowered (as shown in Fig. 2), fully raised (as shown in Fig. 4), or in an intermediate position, typically a transitory one, between said two positions.

Of course, the man skilled in the art may choose an alternative system for raising the worktop 21 , which could best meet specific design requirements.

In the example shown herein, the worktop 21 is asymmetrical with respect to the cooking top

7; it may however be symmetric, should a wider appliance 1 allow said worktop 21 to have the same plan dimensions as the cooking top 7.

Within itself, the worktop 21 may house functional items, e.g. a scale.

As shown in Fig. 4, the household appliance 1 is preferably fitted with a sink 24 comprising a plastic or metal tub with a drain hole at the bottom connected to a drain mains or a drain tank as necessary.

It is of course possible, for a man skilled in the art, to choose alternative materials other than those mentioned above, in accordance with specific design or installation requirements. When the worktop 21 is in the raised position, one has access to the sink 24 arranged under the worktop 21 , which is at least a portion of the cover of the sink 24.

In order to ensure the necessary tightness, sealing gaskets are appropriately used at the interface between the two components 21 and 24.

The household appliance 1, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4, is fitted with a tap 23 arranged beside the worktop 21 and/or adjacent to the tub of the sink 24.

Of course, the man skilled in the art may choose a different position for the tap 23 to comply with specific design requirements.

The tap 23 can take different configurations: it may be folded flush with the worktop 21 (as shown in Figs. 2 and 10), or it may be extracted to the working position (as shown in Figs. 4 and 12, 13).

When folded flush with the worktop, the tap 23 allows to save space and to use its upper surface as an extension of the worktop 21; to this end, in this configuration the upper face of the tap 23 is coplanar with the worktop 21, as shown in Fig. 10.

The tap 23 may be provided with a rotation joint 231 to allow the user to better direct the water jet inside the sink 24 and to direct it into the tub 50 as well, e.g. in order to pre-wash the crockery contained therein, as shown in Fig. 13.

In the example shown, the joint 230 allows the whole tap to rotate about an horizontal axis, so that it can advantageously be raised from the sink 24, while the joint 231, arranged on the body of the tap itself, allows it to rotate about two axes, so that it can advantageously be oriented at different angles and used in a flexible manner.

The valve and/or mixer of the tap 23 are not shown in some drawings because they are of a per se known type.

The activation of the tap 23 may advantageously occur by means of a presence sensor, such as a photocell operationally connected to an actuator, e.g. a solenoid valve or the like.

It is of course possible, for the man skilled in the art, to choose the material and the type of folding mechanism, as well as to decide whether the tap 23 should rotate about one or more axes of rotation, in accordance with the design requirements. As aforementioned and shown in Fig. 4, the tub 50 of the dishwasher 11 is sealed by the cooking top 7, which for this purpose can be fitted with gaskets all along the perimetric edge of the interface between the two components.

The dishwasher 11 comprises a tub 50 having sufficient volume to contain the crockery of one or more covers, preferably two covers. At its bottom, the tub 50 has one or more drain holes connected to a hydraulic drain and/or recirculation circuit, and possibly also a dish rake and a flatware basket.

In this example, the dishwasher 11 employs an ultrasonic washing system operating in accordance with the principles described in patent US 5,218,980 to Evans and in patent application US 2007/131250 by BSH.

The ultrasonic washing system also allows to save detergent, since in this case the higher water consumption is limited, being the tub 50 quite small.

On the rear surface of the cover of the dishwasher 11 (i.e. the rear surface of the cooking top 7), a washing agent dispenser device may optionally be arranged.

In this embodiment, the smaller dimensions and the reduced number of moving parts allow for a better optimization of the available space and a considerable increase in the strength of the system as a whole.

In the embodiment currently being referred to, the dishwasher 11 is arranged under the cooking top 7 and above the refrigerated compartment 42. This arrangement is useful for reducing the power consumption required for heating the wash water.

In this manner, in fact, it is possible to place a wash liquid container in a condition of thermal exchange with a heat exchanger 40 included in the refrigerating circuit that cools the refrigerated compartment 42.

In particular, the exchanger 40 is the condenser of the refrigerating circuit.

With this arrangement, as shown in Fig. 8, it is possible to recover a part of the heat generated over the heating elements 8 and by the heat exchanger 40 of the refrigerating circuit of the refrigerated compartment 42.

By appropriately shaping the exhaust duct, it is also possible to recover a part of the heat of the air flow sucked by the hood 12; this can be achieved by providing thermal exchange surfaces between said exhaust duct and the tub 50 of the dishwasher 11, or between said exhaust duct and a water accumulation tank which may be used by the dishwasher 11. Referring back to the refrigerated compartment 42, it is accessible through the drawer 5, which can be slideably opened by using the recess 6 as a handle, and is preferably separated from the dishwasher 11 by a wall made of insulating material.

Inside the refrigerated compartment, one or more solid or liquid containers (e.g. bottles) can be arranged by means of the compartment 28 (preferably equipped with a LED lighting system) and an extractable and removable refrigerated container 29.

Access to the compartment 28 is made easier by the side wall 26 being lower than the opposite side wall 27.

This facilitates the user when the household appliance 1 is not within the user's visual field; for example, when the household appliance 1 is behind a user who cannot turn his/her eyes from what he/she is doing, as is the case when a user is driving a truck or another vehicle where the household appliance 1 has been installed.

In a truck, the wall 26 is the one facing the driver seat or the passenger seat. General purpose containers may also be applied to the wall 26, which can thus be easily reached by the driver or the passenger. Finally, the wall 26 may also be used as a writing surface, when coated with a suitable material (e.g. the same material used for the range of Indesit refrigerators marketed under the commercial name "Graffiti"), or as an affixing surface for posters, maps or photographs.

The refrigerated container 29 has a cover 30 which can be lifted through the handle 31. The cover 30 may be pivoted on a horizontal axis and/or be totally removable.

The refrigerated container 29 is connected to the refrigerated compartment 42 by means of a connector like the one described in European patent application EP 08154612.9 by the present Applicant because, the refrigerating system being of the so-called "no frost" type, the modular household appliance 1 uses a refrigerated-air circulation system for cooling foodstuffs.

The refrigerated container 29 may advantageously be made in accordance with the teachings of European application EP 06795485.9 by the present Applicant.

Through this type of connection, the refrigerated container 29 is supplied with light (via optical fibre) and cold air (coming from the refrigerating circuit of the refrigerated compartment 42). Thus the contents of the extractable refrigerated container 29 are cooled more effectively than in any extractable container not fitted with a refrigerating system, while also ensuring great flexibility of use.

When the household appliance 1 is installed inside a vehicle, the "no frost" refrigerating system that supplies refrigerating power to the refrigerated compartment 42 may comprise the conditioning system of said vehicle. In such a case, therefore, when the household appliance 1 is installed in a truck's cabin or in a caravan's room, the refrigerated air for the household appliance 1 can be generated by the very same air conditioner used for conditioning said cabin or said room.

As shown in Figs. 14 to 18, the refrigerated container 29 preferably consists of a drawer movable within the refrigerated compartment, which can be moved to a position where it is accessible to a user while still remaining inside the refrigerated compartment (as in Fig. 17) or which can be totally extracted and removed from the refrigerated compartment (as in Fig. 18).

The main advantage brought about by the refrigerated container 29 is, in fact, the possibility of consuming foodstuffs away from the refrigerated compartment 42 without having to continually open its access door 5. This has beneficial effects in terms of energy consumption by the refrigerating circuit of the refrigerated compartment 42.

The sequence of Figs. 14 to 18 shows one possible mode of interaction between the user of the household appliance 1 and the refrigerated container 29, which is first brought into an extracted condition (Fig. 16) and can then be used in that position by opening its cover 30 (Fig. 17) or can be removed in order to use it in a remote position (Fig. 18). The extraction of the refrigerated container 29 is made possible by a system of telescopic guides (preferably two guide pairs arranged on the sides of the refrigerated container 29, each pair comprising one element integral with the household appliance 1 and one element integral with the refrigerated container 29, both elements being able to slide relative to each other in the opening direction of the drawer 5, e.g. by running on small wheels). In order to extract the refrigerated container 29, the user grasps a suitable grip element obtained in the front part of the refrigerated container 29 or actuates a push-push mechanism; the refrigerated container 29 can then be removed by disengaging it from the telescopic guides.

In one possible embodiment (which is alternative to the one shown in the drawings), the refrigerated container 29 is constrained to the drawer 5 in a manner such that it is automatically extracted when the drawer 5 is opened. The systems for collecting and possibly treating the liquids coming from the sink 24, the dishwasher 11 and the refrigerating system of the refrigerated compartment 42 are not shown in the drawings, since they are of a type known in the art.

Likewise, the ducts for the hot and cold sanitary water that supply the tap 23, the dishwasher 11 and possibly also the refrigerating circuit and/or an ice machine in the refrigerated compartment 42 are not shown as well because they are per se known.

Of course, the household appliance 1 described so far by way of example may be subject to many variations.

A first variant comprises a different type of hood, which may be of the filtering type as opposed to the suction type.

With reference to Fig. 7, the hood 32 is of the filtering type; compared to the main embodiment 12 shown in Fig. 3, the filtering hood 32 allows the household appliance 1 to be used also in environments lacking the exhaust duct 19.

The filtering hood 32, in fact, does not use the housing seat 18 as a duct for fluidic communication with the exhaust duct 19.

Instead, it has a lower portion 33 with an exhaust aperture 34 on the side opposite to the suction aperture 36. Between said two apertures (34 and 36), i.e. inside the part 33, an aspirator is installed which includes a filtering stage (e.g. an activated-carbon one) and an air-moving fan capable of generating a draught between said apertures; in the annexed drawings, the fan is schematically shown as being immediately close to the exhaust aperture, but it may alternatively be installed in the part 33 or near the exhaust.

Whether or not in combination with this hood variant, Fig. 9 shows a non-ultrasonic dishwasher variant 51 equipped with conventional washing devices.

The dishwasher 51 comprises a tub 50, a crockery rack 52, a sprayer 53 with wash nozzles, a pump 54, a tank 55 in thermal exchange with the heat exchanger 40 of the refrigerating circuit of the refrigerated compartment 42, and a duct 56 in fluidic communication with the tank 55.

A water collection and accumulation tank 55 may advantageously be provided for use as a container for clean and pre-heated water, which tank beneficially reduces the dishwasher's power consumption during the wash cycle because a part of the heat generated by the refrigerating circuit of the refrigerated compartment 42 is recovered and used for heating the water stored in the tank 55.

The tank 55 is advantageously kept at a constant level prior to a wash cycle by means of the duct 56, so that it can gain as much heat as possible when operating as described above. As to the interfaces for user interaction, they may be distributed, meaning that there may be one interface for each apparatus or module (e.g. a succession of user interfaces progressively opening as the user gains access to the various operating units), or there may be just a single user interface shared among all operating units, said shared interface being advantageously arranged on the panel 210 shown in Fig. 1 in the upper portion of the household appliance 1, on a surface extending longitudinally and adjacent to one side of the cover 3.

Lighting devices, e.g. LED-type devices or the like, may also be arranged above the sink 24 and/or the tub 50 of the dishwasher 11 to improve visibility of both.

This feature proves particularly advantageous when the household appliance 1 is located in a narrow and dark environment.

Preferably, the lighting devices for the sink 24 and the tub 50 are applied, respectively, onto the back surface of the cover of the sink 24 (i.e. the back surface of the worktop 21) and onto the back surface of the cover of the dishwasher 1 1 (i.e. the back surface of the cooking top 7). Such lighting devices may advantageously be turned on in accordance with the method described in patent application WO 2006/095217 by WRAP S.p.A..

The household appliance 1 may also be supplied with direct current: this feature proves extremely advantageous when the household appliance 1 is arranged inside a vehicle, since the accumulators of the vehicle, possibly connected to power generation or recovery systems, can then be used for supplying power to the household appliance.

Further variants may also be conceived in addition to those described so far, all of which will still fall within the scope of the present invention.

The present invention also relates to a vehicle (whether a terrestrial vehicle or a boat or an airplane), which includes a habitable and/or treadable space, in turn including the household appliance 1 as described and illustrated herein.

According to a particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention, the vehicle is a truck and the habitable and/or treadable space is the cabin of said truck,

* * * * * * * * *

Claims

1. A multipurpose household appliance (1) comprising:

at least two operating units (7, 11, 12, 21, 23, 24, 32, 42, 51), and

at least one cabinet (2) housing said operating units (7, 11, 12, 21, 23, 24, 32, 42, 51), characterized in that said operating units (7, 1 1, 12, 21, 23, 24, 32, 42, 51) share functional volumes within said cabinet (2).

2. A multipurpose household appliance (1) according to claim 1 , wherein at least a first one of said operating units comprises a cooking top (7) fitted with at least one heating element (8), and wherein at least a second one of said operating units comprises a dishwasher (11, 51) fitted with at least one tub (50), said cooking top (7) being at least a portion of a cover of said tub (50).

3. A multipurpose household appliance (1) according to claim 2, wherein at least a third one of said operating units comprises a hood (12, 32), and wherein the household appliance (1) comprises a housing seat (18) located at least behind said tub (50) of the dishwasher (11, 51), and wherein said hood (12, 32) can be inserted into and extracted from the housing seat (18), preferably by sliding vertically.

4. A multipurpose household appliance (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising a fourth operating unit which comprises a worktop (21), and wherein said household appliance (1) further comprises a fifth operating unit comprising a sink (24), said worktop (21) being at least a portion of a cover of said sink (24).

5. A multipurpose household appliance (1) according to one or more of claims 2 to 4, further comprising a refrigerated compartment (42) arranged underneath said tub (50) of said dishwasher (11, 51).

6. A multipurpose household appliance (1) according to one or more of claims 4 and 5, wherein an additional operating unit comprises a tap (23), located beside the worktop (21) and movable into at least one condition of coplanarity with said worktop (21).

7. A multipurpose household appliance (1) according to one or more of claims 2 to 6, wherein said cooking top (7) sealingly closes said tub (50) of said dishwasher (11, 51).

8. A multipurpose household appliance (1) according to one or more of claims 5 to 7, wherein said refrigerated compartment (42) is cooled by a refrigerating circuit comprising a heat exchanger (40), said wash liquid container (50, 55) being in a condition of thermal exchange with said heat exchanger (40) and said heat exchanger (40) being in particular the condenser of said refrigerating circuit.

9. A multipurpose household appliance (1) according to the preceding claim, wherein said dishwasher (11) uses an ultrasonic washing system, and wherein said liquid container (50) comprises said tub (50) of said dishwasher (11).

10. A multipurpose household appliance (1) according to any one of claims 5 to 9, wherein the walls of said wash liquid container (50, 55) are in a condition of thermal exchange with the walls of a duct that carries air sucked by said hood (12, 32).

11. A multipurpose household appliance (1) according to one or more of claims 3 to 9, wherein said hood (12) is of the suction type, and said housing seat (18) is at least a portion of an exhaust duct (19) for the aspirated air.

12. A multipurpose household appliance (1) according to one or more of the preceding claims, comprising a user interface shared among all operating units, said user interface being in particular arranged on a plate (201) arranged in an upper portion of said household appliance (1).

13. A multipurpose household appliance (1) according to one or more of the preceding claims, comprising one or more lighting sources for each operating unit, in particular for said sink (24) and for said tub (50) of said dishwasher (11), which are applied to the rear surfaces of covers for said sink (24) and for said dishwasher (11).

14. A multipurpose household appliance (1) according to claim 2, wherein a horizontally- pivoted cover (3) is associated with said cooking top (7) and comprises at least one layer of thermally insulating material, which allows said cover (3) to be closed even when said at least one heating element (8) is hot.

15. A multipurpose household appliance (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, said housing cabinet (2) comprising a wall (26) which can be arranged facing an opposite seat, wherein:

i) general purpose containers can be applied to said wall (26), and/or

ii) said wall (26) can be used as a writing surface, and/or

iii) said wall (26) can be used as an affixing surface.

16. A multipurpose household appliance (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it can be supplied with direct current.

17. A vehicle comprising a habitable and/or treadable space, characterized in that said space includes a household appliance 1 according to any one of the preceding claims.

18. A vehicle according to claim 17, said vehicle being a truck, wherein said space is the cabin of said truck.