DE69715364T2 - Pull-out crockery basket for a dishwasher - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a pull-out dish basket intended for use in a household dishwasher.

Dish baskets used in domestic dishwashers generally consist of a frame made of ferrous metal wire coated with plastic. They are also mounted in the dishwasher tub of the machine via sliding guides which allow them to be pulled out in a horizontal direction for convenient loading and unloading of dishes. An example of such a pull-out basket is described in GB-A-2 282 319.

In order to further facilitate the horizontal displacement of the basket, a method is known in the art in which this basket is provided with a front handle device, which generally forms a unit with the basket structure and can be easily grasped by the user, as shown for example in the Italian utility model application No. PN95 O 000006.

Preferably, the handle is ergonomically shaped, either by applying a special coating of molded rubber or the like or by using appropriately shaped plastic parts that are snapped together or screwed together and then connected to the frame of the basket. Such a solution is shown, for example, in the Italian utility model application PN95 O 000016.

GB-A-2 250 912 discloses a pull-out dish rack for a dishwasher, the rack having a front wall with an upstanding portion which serves as a handle means.

However, it would be desirable and is the main object of the present invention to provide a pull-out basket for domestic dishwashers provided with a comfortable handle that can be installed quickly and very easily, without requiring any special processing, machining and/or assembly phase.

Furthermore, it is known that two conflicting requirements arise in dishwashing baskets intended to be used in modern dishwashers of the type mentioned. On the one hand, the general structure of the basket must have a construction that is as standardised as possible in order to limit the costs of manufacturing it in industrial mass production. On the other hand, however, the above-mentioned handle must have a different shape and/or colour according to the different dishwasher models produced, in order to meet the corresponding different finishes and aesthetic requirements.

Therefore, a further purpose of the invention is to provide a pull-out basket for domestic dishwashers of the above-mentioned type, in which a standard base frame can easily be selectively connected to different and equivalent handles.

According to the present invention, these objects are achieved with a pull-out basket for a dishwasher as defined in the independent claim. Preferred embodiments are presented in the dependent claims.

The characteristics and advantages of the invention will be better understood from the following description given by way of non-limiting example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a partial front view of the front wall of the basket according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a view of the front portion of the basket along the section line II-II in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a partial plan view of a front end of the front portion of the basket shown in Fig. 1.

With reference to the figures above, it can be seen that the extractable basket for a dishwasher mainly comprises a frame 4, made for example of plastic-coated metal wire, and having a substantially conventional general structure known per se. That is, it can be seen that the frame has a front wall 5 provided with a handle 6 ergonomically shaped to allow comfortable gripping to enable the user to slide the basket on the guide means (not shown for simplicity) associated with the washing tub of a dishwasher.

The handle 6 has an elastic structure made of a suitable plastic material and has a substantially inverted U shape with two opposing arms 10 provided with corresponding horizontal holes 11 at a certain distance from the free end thereof. Preferably, the arms 10 are reinforced at the holes 11 by means of corresponding enlargements 12.

The front wall of the basket is substantially rectangular and preferably comprises a central cross-member 7 with two opposite free ends 8 which can be fitted freely into the holes 11 of the handle, for which they therefore form corresponding pivot points.

The pivot points 8 are substantially parallel to the front side 5 of the frame and are arranged in at least one recess 9 (two of these recesses are shown in the figures) which extends from the upper end across the front side. The front wall 5 further comprises a first and a second abutment device, which can be formed, for example, by corresponding cross struts 13, 14, which are arranged above and below the pivot points 8, respectively, wherein they are preferably offset in a longitudinal direction relative to them.

The handle 6 can be easily and quickly attached to the basket by elastically stretching the arms 10 and fitting them from above into the recess 9 in order to to align the holes 11 with the pivot points 8. When the arms 10 are released, the handle 6 then elastically returns to its normal position, the pivot points 8 being fitted into the holes 11 of the handle. Furthermore, at least one of the arms 10 is designed to abut against the abutment means 13 so that the handle is normally locked in a position in which it forms an integral unit with the basket, ie is made of one piece with it. The abutment means 13 are designed to prevent the handle from rotating about its pivot points 8 while the handle lies substantially flush with the front face 5 of the basket.

By a simple operation in reverse order, the handle 6 can be elastically deformed so as to release it from the pivot points 8 and thus remove it in a direction parallel to the imaginary plane passing through the abutments 13, 14 in order to possibly replace it.

Advantageously, therefore, the frame 4 can be designed to comprise a simple standard structure which can be easily completed in the manner described above by the addition of a handle 6 which can be manufactured separately in different and equivalent shapes and/or colours matching the respectively manufactured dishwasher models.

It is obvious that the pull-out dishwasher basket described above can be subjected to a number of modifications without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims (4)

1. Extractable dish rack for a dishwasher, comprising a support frame (4) comprising a front wall (5) provided with a shaped handle, characterized in that the handle (6) has the shape of an inverted U, each of the arms (10) thereof being hinged at a certain distance from its free end and removably attached by elastic deformation of the handle (6) to a corresponding pivot point (8) substantially parallel to the front wall (5), the latter comprising first and second abutment means (13, 14) arranged respectively above and below the pivot points (8), at least one of the arms (10) of the handle (6) being able to abut against the abutment means (13, 14) so that the handle (6) can be normally locked in one position and thus form an integral part of the rack. 2. Pull-out basket according to claim 1, characterized in that the at least one arm (10) of the handle (6) abuts the first and second abutment devices (13, 14) on the same side. 3. Extractable basket according to claim 2, characterized in that the arms (10) of the handle are arranged on at least one recess (9) of the front wall (5) so that the handle (6) can lie substantially flush with the front wall (5) and, by being released from the pivot points (8) by elastic deformation, can be removed in a direction parallel to the imaginary plane passing over the abutment means (13, 14). 4. A pull-out basket according to claim 2, characterized in that the supporting means (13, 14) are offset in a longitudinal direction with respect to the pivot points (8).