A CONNECTING DEVICE

Abstract: To make it possible to move the upper rack in a dish-washing machine between different levels a special spraying system is required. A connecting device for this purpose shall according to the invention comprise a feed tube (10) along the rear wall of the washing cabinet having a connecting surface (19), a system of bellows (22, 23) which, as well as the upper spraying arm (12), is mounted on the upper dish rack (14). When the rack is pushed into the cabinet one of the couple of bellows encircles a port (20) in the connecting surface and the other couple of bellows abuts the surface tightly. When the fluid is brought to circulate in the system the outer ends of the bellows are pressed against the connection surface simultaneously as the upper rack is kept in an inner position in the cabinet by the door (16).

Description: A connecting device The present invention relates to a connecting device for a dish-washin machine with at least one movable rack in the washing cabinet and a sprayin system adapted to the rack. In the applicable art there are already presented solutions to the problem o providing a bearing of a spraying arm directly on the dish rack and a tube for th fluid to this arm. By such a solution the need for a central, vertical pressure tub in the washing cabinet to conduct the fluid to a spraying arm at the top end of th tube is eliminated. However, with a great variation of the size of the dish goods demand to move the level of the rack arises so that an optimal use of the cabine is obtained. It is thus required that the spraying arm is moved with the rack an that its connection to the spraying system is adjustable for the selected level o the rack. In the Swedish patent publication No. 8001883-1 a device for fulfillin such a demand is described. The present invention presents a solution to the problem of connecting spraying arm to a pressure tube with such an individual adjustment of the level o the arm that the washing cabinet is properly used in the case of different sizes o the dish goods. The adjustment range of the spraying arm in the vertical directio is determined in steps by a connecting device on a pressure tube on a wall of the cabinet. The connecting device has a releasable joint between the pressure tube and a conduit to the spraying arm and keeps the joint tight when the spraying arm is in a working position at someone of the levels in the cabinet. These improved properties of a spraying device are obtained by manufacturing the connecting device as outlined in the characteristics of Claim 1. An embodiment of a device according to the invention will be described by way of example in the following with reference to the accompanying drawings which show in Fig. 1 a dish-washing machine cabinet in a vertical cross section and Fig. 2 the same cabinet having a rack in another position. In the dish-washing machine according to Fig. 1 there is a circulation circuit for a fluid which is pumped in a feed tube 10 which is branched into two spraying arms 11, 12 located in a washing cabinet 13 having an upper and a lower dish rack 14, 15 which can be pulled out through an opening in the front side of the machine provided with a door 16. The underside of the upper rack 14 is provided with a bearing 17 of the spraying arm 11 which bearing has a passage for a _ OMP conduit 18 extended backwards along the underside of the rack. The conduit thus communicates with the spraying arm through the bearing so that the arm can rotate freely while the conduit stands still. The feed tube has a connecting surface 19 turned to the centre of the cabinet in which surface there is a port 20 through which the fluid can pass. The rear end of the conduit 18 forms a connecting house 21 extended in the vertical direction and terminated backwards by a couple of bellows 22, 23 which communicate with the conduit by holes 24, 25 in the wall. When the upper rack is pushed against the rear wall of the cabinet one of the bellows (in Fig. 1 the bellows 22) encircles the port 20 and tightens against the connecting surface 19. The other bellows 23 abut the surface at the side of the port. When the fluid is caused to circulate in the machine a pressure arises which presses the outer ends of the bellows 22 harder to the connecting surface and the upper rack in direction to the door 16. The pressure of the fluid will then by itself provide a good tightening between the bellows 22 and the connecting surface 19. One or the other of the bellows 22, 23 can be used to establish the connection, in Fig. 2 the bellows 23 are used, and the rack 14 is then in an upper working position in the washing cabinet. In use of the upper bellows (Fig. 1) the rack is in a lower working position. These positions are selectable and the selection is made with regard to the size of the dish goods. At each side of the rack there are guides 26, 27 in the wall, a lower one and an upper one. When the rack is pushed in on one of these pairs of guides, the corresponding bellows meet the port 20 so that connection to the feed tube is established. During the washing procedure fluid passes through the feed tube 10 and the conduit 18 to the spraying arm 11. The bellows connected to the port are safely kept in position by a force directed to the feed tube and created by the closing of the door 16 by means of a shoulder 28 on the outer end of the rack, which shoulder is pushed by the door in the direction of the rack which transfers the force to the conduit 18 and the bellows. When the door is opened and the rack pulled out the feed tube and the bellow are disconnected. The advantages of a connecting device of this kind are principally its insensibility to deviations in the measures of the cabinet, the door, the racks, the feed tube etc. The flexible bellows (which also can be in the form of a sleeve, a collar or the like) will themselves adjust their outer tightening end to the connecting surface and thereby eliminate the risk of leakage.

Claims: Claims 1. A connecting device for a spraying system in a dish-washing machi provided with a feed tube and a conduit to a spraying arm connected by means a bearing to a dish rack in the machine, characterized in that the fe tube (10) is provided with a connecting surface (19) turned against said condu and provided with a port (20), and that at least one couple of bellows (22), a elastic sleeve, collar or the like, is positioned at the end of the conduit in th longitudinal direction thereof, and that the open, outer end of said bellow sleeve, or collar, by pushing the conduit against the tube encircles said port. 2. A connecting device according to Claim 1, characterized in that connecting house (21) is disposed at the end of the conduit which is turned to th feed tube, several bellows or the like being positioned in the wall of said hous and extended against said connecting surface. 3. A connecting device according to Claim 1, characterized in that tightening force on the bellows or the like is exerted by a locking device in th door of the machine which device on closing of the door by means of the rack an the conduit pushes the bellows or the like against the connecting surface. 4. A connecting device according to Claim 2, characterized in tha one couple of bellows respectively the other couple, communicates with the por when the dish rack is positioned on a first level and a second level, respectively in the machine.

Inventors: BERGLUND BO-ANDERS RAGNAR, BERGLUND, BO-ANDERS, RAGNAR
Applicants: ELECTROLUX AB, AKTIEBOLAGET ELECTROLUX
Application year: 1982
Main classification: A47L15
IPC codes: A47L15