Cutlery tray for a dishwasher

A cutlery tray for a dishwasher includes a frame extendably disposed in a washing tub and a plurality of inserts movably disposed on the frame and adapted to hold dishware. The plurality or inserts include a first horizontally displaceable insert and at least one vertically displaceable insert.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Priority is claimed to German Patent Application No DE 10 2008 062 761.5-15, filed Dec. 18, 2008.

FIELD

The present invention relates to a cutlery tray for a dishwasher, including a frame extendably supported within a washing tub.

BACKGROUND

DE 3721689 A1 describes a cutlery tray that is formed by a flat basket-like framework having the base dimensions of a dish rack and is extendably supported within the washing tub of the dishwasher.

Such a cutlery tray may limit the space available for the placement of dishware in the dish rack located immediately therebelow. Due to the lack of vertical space, it may not be possible to place, for example, larger glasses in this rack.

Prior attempts to solve this problem have included providing cutlery trays that are formed by several sections removably disposed within a frame. However, this approach has the disadvantage that the space available for cutlery to be washed is reduced when individual sections are removed. This also reduces the ease-of-use, and sections that have been removed may be lost.

Documents DE 43 09 915 A1, DE 199 35 312 A1 and US 2005/0241682 A1 describe cutlery trays including inserts which are displaceable in the direction of withdrawal.

SUMMARY

An aspect of the present invention is to provide a cutlery tray that will allow larger dishware to be placed in the dish rack located immediately below the cutlery tray without reducing the space available for cutlery or reducing the ease-of-use.

In an embodiment, the present invention provides a cutlery tray for a dishwasher including a frame extendably disposed in a washing tub and a plurality of inserts movably disposed on the frame and adapted to hold dishware. The plurality of inserts include a first horizontally displaceable insert and at least one vertically displaceable insert.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In an embodiment the present invention is related to a cutlery tray including a frame extendably supported within a washing tub and a plurality of inserts which are movably mounted on said frame and on which may be placed dishware items to be washed, especially cutlery, at least one of the inserts being mounted on the frame in such a way that it is horizontally displaceable.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the cutlery tray includes a frame extendably supported within the washing tub of the dishwasher and a plurality of inserts which are movably mounted on said frame and on which may be placed dishware items to be washed, especially cutlery, at least one of the inserts being mounted on the frame in such a way that it is horizontally displaceable, and at least one of the inserts being mounted on the frame in such a way that it is vertically displaceable. Displacement of an insert in a horizontal direction provides additional height fir the dish rack located therebelow so as to allow, for example, larger glasses to be placed in this dish rack. The displaceable insert remains in the dishwasher and, in addition, may be loaded so that the amount of space available for cutlery or small dishware, such as cups, egg cups, etc. is the same as when the insert is in the undisplaced position. Thanks to the vertically displaceable insert, is also possible to make room for large dishware items in the center of the dish rack located therebelow.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the horizontally displaceable insert is mounted on the frame in such a way that it is displaceable in a direction perpendicular to the direction of withdrawal of the cutlery tray. In this manner, room is made for a cup rack provided in the dish rack located therebelow. It is also convenient if two inserts are horizontally displaceably mounted on the frame. In order to enable the inserts to be displaced to a sufficient extent, the width of a horizontally displaceable insert may be between 30 percent and 45 percent, preferably 40 percent of the frame width. Thus, once the horizontally displaceable insert is displaced, even larger dishware items, such as plates, high pots, or the like, may be placed in the dish rack below the cutlery tray.

In particular, when a vertically displaceable insert is mounted between two horizontally displaceable inserts the space is divided, optimally, allowing for numerous variations. Such a combination allows the space within the washing tub of the dishwasher to be advantageously utilized.

To provide a simple means of displacing the inserts, the inserts are held at a from side and a rear side opposite the front side, respectively, by at least one hanger on a frame member extending perpendicularly to direction of withdrawal (X). In addition, the frame may have at least one support for supporting at least one of the inserts.

To provide a simple means of vertically displacing the corresponding insert, the hangers of the vertically displaceable insert have a hook-shaped portion for hooking on the frame members that extend perpendicularly to the direction of withdrawal of the cutlery tray, said hangers further having a guide portion including at least one guide pin which is insertable in corresponding guide grooves in a front plate and a rear plate of the vertically displaceable insert. For increased ease-of-use, the guide grooves are configured such that horizontal displacement of the hangers of the vertically displaceable insert will cause the insert to be raised or lowered in a vertical direction. To this end, the guide grooves may conveniently have an inclined, elongated central portion and two short, angled end portions.

In another embodiment, the hangers of the vertically displaceable insert can be displaced independently of each other on the frame members that extend perpendicularly to the direction of withdrawal of the cutlery tray. This allows the support plane of this insert to be adjusted to an inclined position, thereby providing an optimal space, for example, for gravy ladles or other cutlery items having a slender handle and a large-volume head portion.

FIGS. 1 through 3show the washing tub1of a dishwasher for washing, rinsing and drying dishes and cutlery. The washing tub is equipped with two extendable dish racks2and3and an also extendable cutlery tray4. Racks2and3, as well as cutlery tray4, are associated in a known manner with spray devices in washing tub1. Cutlery tray4is mounted within washing tub1above the upper dish rack3, which is also referred to as upper rack. As shown inFIGS. 1 through 3, cutlery tray4has about the same dimensions in terms of its areal extent as dish racks2and3located therebelow, but is flatter than said racks.

The design of cutlery tray4is illustrated inFIGS. 4 through 10. It has a frame5(seeFIG. 5) which is made of plastic-coated metal wire and whose base dimensions are equal to those of a dish rack2or3located therebelow. Frame5is composed of two transverse braces51and52and two longitudinal, lattice-framework-like braces53and54. Longitudinal braces53and54serve for attachment of rollers by which cutlery tray4is extendably supported on lateral pull-out guides within washing tub1. The direction of withdrawal is indicated inFIG. 4by the double arrow denoted X.

Two flat lateral inserts10and20(seeFIGS. 6 and 7) are provided within frame5to receive cutlery. The lateral inserts are designed as plastic mesh inserts having wires40embedded therein by injection molding and are provided with holding bars11to allow separate placement of individual items of cutlery. At their outward ends, said inserts10and20are hung by two hooks12on the front and rear transverse braces51and52of the frame. The inward ends of inserts and10and20each rest on a front loop55and a rear loop56of frame5. Loops55and56are attached to transverse braces51and52. Due to the above-described mounting arrangement using hooks12and support loops55and56, the two lateral inserts10and20are mounted on frame5in such a way that they are horizontally displaceable. This will be further discussed hereinbelow with reference toFIGS. 1 through 3 and 11 through 13.

A central insert30(seeFIG. 8) is mounted between the two lateral inserts10and20. The central insert, just as lateral inserts10and20, is designed as a plastic mesh insert having wires40embedded therein by injection molding, but has a trapezoidal indentation31allowing larger cutlery items (serving ladles, etc.) to be received therein. Central insert30is attached to frame5by two hangers57and58, which are slidably hung on transverse braces51and52between the ends of support loops56(seeFIG. 9). Hangers57and58are each provided with two outwardly directed guide pins59which, in turn, are engaged in guide grooves34on a front plate32and a rear plate33of central insert30(seeFIG. 10). As can be seen inFIG. 10, guide grooves34have an inclined, elongated central portion341and two short, nearly horizontal end portions342and343. To ensure that guide pins59may remain in the respective end portions, lower end portions342are slightly inclined upwardly and upper end portions343have depressions344. As a result of the above-described configuration of guide grooves34and their cooperation with guide pins59, horizontal displacement of hangers57and/or58will cause central insert30to be raised or lowered (i.e., displaced) in a vertical direction. When displacing a hanger57and/or58to the left (FIG. 4), guide pins59move into lower end portions342; i.e., the respective plate33and/or34of central insert30is raised. When displacing a hanger57and/or58to the right (FIG. 11), guide pins59move into upper end portions343, lowering central insert30. It is also possible for central insert30to be vertically displaced only in the front or rear portion thereof. This makes it possible to bring the central insert30into an inclined position in the direction of withdrawal of cutlery tray4, thereby providing suitable space to accommodate, for example, a serving ladle or the like.

InFIGS. 1 through 3andFIGS. 11 through 13, inserts10,20and30are shown in different positions.FIGS. 1 and 11show a cutlery tray4whose central insert30is lowered vertically. The space so provided is also suitable to allow small dishware, such as cups or egg cups, to be placed therein. InFIG. 2, central insert30is in a raised position. This allows large dishware items, such as the illustrated dish100, to be placed in upper rack3.FIGS. 3 and 12show a variant where left lateral insert20has been moved toward the center over central insert30. In this position, the two lateral inserts10and20are adjacent and in direct contact with one another. In this manner, more space is created in the left portion of upper rack3for placement of items therein, which allows washing of tall champagne or wine glasses, for example. InFIG. 13, right lateral insert10has been moved over central insert30.

To provide sufficient space in upper rack3, the space made available by the displacement must be about 20 percent of the total loading area of upper rack3. This is achieved by selecting the width of each of the horizontally displaceable inserts to be about 40 percent of frame width b (seeFIG. 5).

To eliminate the need to remove central insert30to allow displacement of lateral inserts10and20, the two lateral edges35and36of the central insert are located below support loops55and56even in the raised position (FIGS. 1 and 4).