A device for slidably-partingly mounting a lining panel on the door of an embedded household appliance

Abstract: A mounting device for a normally solid wood panel adapted to cover the front door of an embedded household appliance, in particular a dishwashing machine, when opening said bottom edge pivoted door, causes a sliding and simultaneous parting motion of said panel relative to the door. This is obtained through known rolling supports or sliding guides, in the upper portion of the panel where it contacts the door, and through an engagement between stationary hooks and lever or link members in the lower portion thereof, adapted to make said panel to part from said door, due to gravity, when opening said door.

Description: This invention concerns a device for slidably-partingly mounting the lining panel on the door of an embedded household appliance, in particular a dish-washer machine. As it is known, the present general trend, complying in particular with the furniture-maker requirements, is to have built-in household appliances which are as much as possible integrated with the surrounding furniture, so that not even the front control panel is visible from the outside, nor any other detail which may be suggesting the nature thereof, or which may not match perfectly with the other pieces of furniture and household appliances in the kitchen environment. It is already known to use lining panels for the bottom-edge pivoted dish-washer front loading doors, which panels are mounted in different ways on said doors, and in particular, according to the most recent approach, by providing a sliding motion of said panel relative to the appliance door. The purpose of this is to avoid an exaggerated backwards tilting motion of the lower end of the panel, which cannot be contained within the special recess provided underneath the door, particularly in those cases where the height of said panel had to be modified in order to make the panel still completely integrated when the machine is installed with the support feet raised at their maximum height for alignment at a higher level, while the base board has remained the standard size. This is obtained by hooking the panel to the door in fixed points at the bottom side and by providing sliding guides in the top region. Both EP-A-0 162 028 and FR-A-2 457 097 disclose devices for mounting a lining panel to the door of a household appliance, with the lining panel being pivotally supported in points situated below the support of the door requiring control means such as springs (EP-A-0 162 028) or a spiral shaped guide (FR-A-2 457 097) to obtain the required movement. Mainly for safety reasons it would be preferable to divide the motion of the panel relative to the appliance door in an angular motion for parting from said door in addition to a simple sliding motion. Safety problems are faced by EP-A-0 162 028 only by using spring means. It is an object of the present invention to provide a built-in household appliance door lining panel mounting device, in particular for a dishwashing machine, which enables a combined sliding-parting motion to take place, when opening said door, which is obtained through the features recited in claim 1, in particular by providing a pivoting means formed as an end of a small fork-shaped link or lever mounted on the panel and having the opposite end freely engageable by a hook correspondingly fastened on the appliance door. Due to the weight of the panel, the opening of the door through a downward tilting around the bottom hinges causes the panel to part from said door while the lever turns and comes to a position perpendicular to the confronting surfaces of the panel and door, with a simultaneous forward sliding motion of said panel, permitted by the known type upper guides. The latter are provided with a stop or limit means which naturally prevents an exaggerated sliding motion and unhooking of the mounting lever. The above and other objects, advantages and features of the device according to this invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, reported herein for exemplary and non limiting purposes, reference being made to the attached drawings wherein: Figure 1 shows a device according to this invention, during assembly; Figure 2 shows the same device in the closed door, vertical position; and Figure 3 shows still the same device in an open door, substantially horizontal position. Referring now to the drawings, there is partially and schematically shown at A an embedded household appliance door, which is pivoted at the bottom edge thereof in a known way by means of hinges (not shown), typically although not necessarily a dish-washer door. At B there is shown a panel, preferably solid wood, provided for completely lining and covering door A. According to the present invention, at the top of door A there is provided a device, schematically shown at 4 as a sliding-rolling support, comprising for instance a guide means within which a pin 4a may slide and rotate only in the sliding plane, being fastened to the top portion of panel B. Then, the engagement 4-4a provides two degrees of freedom only in the plane of the drawing. According to this invention, on the lower side of panel B there is fastened at least a single support 3 in the form of a pair of metal plates, each of which carries pivoted thereon an end 2a of a lever or small link 2 whose body is provided with a through opening, not shown in the drawings, located between said end 2a and the opposite free end 2b, and having preferably a cylindrical shape whose centerline runs transverse to the longer dimension of said lever, and parallel to the pivoting axis of the end 2a. For each member 2, door A carries correspondingly fastened thereon, a hook 1 provided with an upwards facing hooking member. Referring now in particular to Figure 1, panel B is assembled on door A by first subjecting said panel to a traversing motion, shown schematically by arrow β, in order to insert hook 1 through lever 2 whereby free end 2b of the latter may be freely received within the U-shaped seat provided by said hook. Panel B is then made to perform a pivoting motion shown schematically by arrow α to hook it at the upper portion thereof by means of pin 4a within guide means 4, or rolling-sliding support 4. Therefore, when the door is closed, the situation is like the one shown in Figure 2, wherein lever or link 2 is substantially parallel to hook 1, with the end 2a underneath the latter, then parallel also to the confronting surfaces of door A and panel B. The room taken in the transverse direction is substantially only the one corresponding to hook 1. When opening the door, due to the force of gravity, panel B parts from the door under the effect of its own weight while the link goes through a motion shown at γ, coming to a position perpendicular to the confronting surfaces and transverse to hook 1. Meanwhile the panel rotates through an angle Ω and simultaneously it moves forward by Y. It should be noted that, although link 2 is not strictly confined by hook 1, which makes a necessary condition for fast assembly and disassembly operations, accidental unhooking of panel B due to link 2 sliding along hook 1 is prevented, since rolling-sliding support 4 has a well-defined stroke which, as it is shown schematically in Figure 3, comes to an end when rolling support 4 comes into engagement with an abutment 5 provided on said door A, when the latter is in an open position, whereby any further movement of panel B along the Y-direction is prevented. It should further be noted that the substantially free mounting arrangement of panel B on door A, i.e. free from springs or any other means inducing a compression force between the two members, provides the inventive device with a safety feature, in that the user is protected from the risk of having his/her fingers pinched if left inadvertently between the door and the panel, or between the latter and a stationary member of the machine, while the sliding motion along direction Y is taking place. In both cases the distancing motion promptly takes place, being supported by the force of gravity, and it causes the panel to move apart from the dish-washer door, thereby preventing possible accidents as mentioned above.

Claims: A device for mounting a lining panel (B) on a door (A) of a built-in household appliance, said panel (B) comprising a support plate (3) in its lower region and said door (A) being hinged at its lower edge to said household appliance, whereby when said door (A) is opened by being moved from a vertical to a horizontal position said panel (B) is caused to distance therefrom due to gravity, the device including pivoting means (2, 2a) mounted on said support plate (3) and rolling-sliding support means (4, 4a) for mutual hooking and sliding, the latter being located at the top portion of the door-panel assembly, wherein said pivoting means is formed as an end (2a) of at least one fork-shaped link or lever (2) whose opposite end (2b) is freely engageable by a respective hook (1) correspondingly fastened on said door (A), and said rolling-sliding support means comprises a guide pin (4a) on the panel (B) and an associated component (4) capable of rolling on said door (A), thus providing a simultaneous rotation of said lever or link (2) accompanied by a panel sliding motion (Y) in the direction permitted by said rolling-sliding support means (4, 4a) upon opening movement of the door (A), which has a stop abutment (5) to limit said sliding motion (Y) in the direction permitted by the free engagement of said link or lever (2) in said hook (1). The device of claim 1, characterized in that it includes a pair of said links or levers (2) symmetrically arranged on the surface of panel (B) facing door (A), in a symmetrical position relative to a vertical center line of said panel (B), wherein each of said levers (2) has a cylindrical through opening between said pivoted end (2a) and free end (2b), while on the surface of door (A) facing panel (B) there is correspondingly fastened a pair of said hooks (1), whose free end, directed towards the rolling-sliding support means (4, 4a), can be received in said through opening of the lever (2), whereby the free end (2b) of the latter may in turn be freely received in a U-shaped seat provided by said hook (1). The device of claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the stroke of said rolling component (4) of the rolling-sliding support means (4, 4a) is limited by said stop abutment (5) so that the sliding motion (Y) is limited to said rotation of the lever or link (2) thus preventing the free end (2b) of the latter from sliding along said hook (1).

Inventors: BERTAZZONI ROBERTO, BERTAZZONI, ROBERTO
Applicants: SMEG SPA, SMEG S.P.A.
Application year: 1992
Main classification: A47L15
IPC codes: F24C15, A47L15