Patent Description:
Dishwashers are kitchen appliances for automatically cleaning tableware with ever-growing need for more and more ordinary families. Generally, a door body and a tub of a dishwasher are sealed and engaged by a sealing structure. For a traditional dishwasher, the sealing structure around an opening of the tub is formed by bending an edge of the opening of the tub, which complicates the tub in shape, results in high processing difficulty, and lowers production efficiency. <CIT> relates generally to a dishwasher, in which the gap and the corrosion in a door seal are prevented.

The main object of the present invention is to provide a dishwasher, which aims to solve a technical problem on how to simplify a tub structure.

In the following, each of the described methods, apparatuses, embodiments, examples, and aspects, which do not fully correspond to the invention as defined in the claims is thus not according to the invention and is, as well as the whole following description, present for illustration purposes only or to highlight specific aspects or features of the claims. Embodiments not falling under the scope of the claims should be interpreted as examples useful for understanding the invention. In order to realize the above purpose, the dishwasher according to the present disclosure includes: a tub, a frame, and a door body. The tub has an accommodation cavity, and the accommodation cavity has an opening facing forward. The frame is connected to an outer surface of the tub and arranged along an edge of the opening of the accommodation cavity. A sealing groove is defined in the frame, or the sealing groove is enclosed by the frame and the edge of the opening of the tub. A sealing strip is disposed in the sealing groove. A door body is configured to expose or expose the opening of the accommodation cavity. The door body abuts against the sealing strip in response to the opening of the accommodation cavity being covered by the door body.

In one embodiment, the frame includes: a supporting frame strip abutting against the outer surface of the tub; and a fitting frame strip connected to a front side wall of the supporting frame strip and spaced apart from the outer surface of the tub. The edge of the opening of the tub protrudes from the front side wall of the supporting frame strip. The sealing groove is located between the fitting frame strip and the edge of the opening of the tub.

In one embodiment, the door body includes an outer door, and an inner door facing towards an inner surface of the outer door. The inner door abuts against the sealing strip in response to the opening of the accommodation cavity being covered by the door body.

In one embodiment, a periphery of the inner door abuts against the sealing strip. A front side wall of the fitting frame strip protrudes from the edge of the opening of the tub.

In one embodiment, an abutting rib is disposed on and protrudes from an end, facing away from the sealing groove, of a front side wall of the fitting frame strip, a front end of the abutting rib being bent outwards to form a locating edge. The dishwasher further includes a casing with an opening facing forward. The tub is arranged in the casing. An edge of the opening of the casing abuts against the locating edge.

In one embodiment, the frame is detachably connected to the tub.

In one embodiment, a side wall of the tub has a through hole. The supporting frame strip has a fixing hole corresponding to the through hole. The through hole and the fixing hole are connected to each other by a fastener.

In one embodiment, the edge of the opening of the tub is bent backwards to form a reinforcement flange.

In one embodiment, the frame has a lock configured to lock or unlock the door body.

In one embodiment, the frame is configured as a plastic frame.

According to the dishwasher of the present disclosure, the frame is arranged at the edge of the opening of the tub to form the sealing groove by the frame or form the sealing groove by enclosing the frame and the side walls of the tub. Further, the sealing strip is disposed in the sealing groove. Therefore, in response to the opening of the accommodation cavity being covered by the door body, the door body can abut against the sealing strip to realize the sealing fitting between the door body and the tub. The sealing groove is formed by the frame or is formed by enclosing the frame and the tub. Therefore, the structure of the tub can be effectively simplified to reduce production difficulty and improve processing efficiency.

In order to clearly explain technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure or in the related art, accompanying drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the related art are briefly described below. The accompanying drawings as described below are merely some embodiments of the present disclosure. Based on structures illustrated in these drawings, other accompanying drawings may be obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative effort.

The implementation, functional characteristics, and advantages of the present disclosure will be further described with reference to the drawings.

Reference will be made clearly and completely technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure with accompanying drawings. The embodiments described here are only part, rather than all, of the embodiments of the present disclosure. Based on the embodiments of the present disclosure, other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative labor are within the scope of the present disclosure.

It should be noted that the technical solutions between the various embodiments may be combined with each other, but must be based on those of ordinary skill in the art being capable of realizing it. When the combination of the technical solutions is contradictory or cannot be implemented, it should be considered that the combination of the technical solutions does not exist, nor is within the scope of the present disclosure.

The present disclosure provides a dishwasher.

According to the embodiments of the present disclosure, as illustrated in <FIG>, the dishwasher includes: a tub <NUM>, a frame <NUM>, and a door body <NUM>. The tub <NUM> has an accommodation cavity, and the accommodation cavity has an opening facing forward. The frame <NUM> is connected to an outer surface of the tub <NUM>, and arranged along an edge of the opening of the accommodation cavity. In addition, a sealing groove <NUM> is defined in the frame <NUM>, or the sealing groove <NUM> is enclosed by the frame <NUM> and the edge of the opening of the tub <NUM>. A sealing strip is disposed in the sealing groove <NUM>. The door body <NUM> is configured to expose or cover the opening of the accommodation cavity. The door body <NUM> abuts against the sealing strip in response to the opening of the accommodation cavity being covered by the door body <NUM>.

In the embodiment, a bowl basket may be disposed in the accommodation cavity, and is configured to carry tableware. In addition, a spray arm may also be disposed in the accommodation cavity to spray a fluid towards the bowl basket for cleaning the tableware. The spray arm may be disposed at both an upper part and a lower part of the bowl basket to spray the fluid in several directions. The opening of the accommodation cavity faces forward. The door body <NUM> is disposed on a front side of the tub <NUM>. It should be noted that the terms "front" and "rear" refers to a relative direction, and a side where the opening of the tub <NUM> is located is defined as the front side. The door body <NUM> and the tub <NUM> may be rotatably connected to each other. For example, a bottom of the door body <NUM> is rotatably connected to the tub <NUM>. In addition, in other embodiments, other connection manners may also be adopted between the door body <NUM> and the tub <NUM>, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

The frame <NUM> may be connected to an inner surface or the outer surface of the tub <NUM>, which is not limited herein. The frame <NUM> is located adjacent to the edge of the opening and extends in a length direction adjacent to the edge of the opening. For example, the opening is enclosed by three side walls. The door body <NUM> is rotatably connected to an edge of a bottom side wall. The frame <NUM> extends along edges of the three side walls. A specific structure of the frame <NUM> is not limited herein, as long as the sealing groove <NUM> can be defined in the frame <NUM>. The sealing groove <NUM> may be formed by the frame <NUM> itself, or may be enclosed by the frame <NUM> and side walls of the tub <NUM>, which is not limited herein, as long as the sealing groove <NUM> is opened forwards. For example, the sealing groove <NUM> is directly defined in the frame <NUM> and extends in a length direction of the frame <NUM>.

The sealing strip is embedded in the sealing groove <NUM>. The sealing strip may be made of a foaming material to improve sealing performance when fitting with the sealing groove <NUM> and sealing performance when abutting against the door body <NUM>. A front end of the sealing strip may protrude from the opening of the sealing groove <NUM> to ensure that the door body <NUM> is in effective contact with the sealing strip. After the door body <NUM> abuts against the sealing strip, a sealing fitting between the door body <NUM> and the tub <NUM> may be achieved to avoid fluid or air leakage during an operation of the dishwasher. The frame <NUM> may be configured as a plastic frame, which may be formed by injection molding. In this way, it is possible to improve production efficiency and reduce production costs. Compared with directly bending the edge of the opening of the tub to form the groove structure, production and processing of the frame <NUM> is simpler and more convenient. Thus, a structure of the tub <NUM> can be simplified through forming the sealing groove <NUM> by the frame <NUM> to improve production and processing efficiency of the dishwasher.

According to the dishwasher of the present disclosure, the frame <NUM> is arranged at the edge of the opening of the tub <NUM> to form the sealing groove <NUM> by the frame <NUM> or form the sealing groove <NUM> by enclosing the frame <NUM> and the side walls of the tub <NUM>. Further, the sealing strip is disposed in the sealing groove <NUM>. Therefore, in response to the opening of the accommodation cavity being covered by the door body <NUM>, the door body <NUM> can abut against the sealing strip to realize the sealing fitting between the door body <NUM> and the tub <NUM>. The sealing groove <NUM> is formed by the frame <NUM> or is formed by enclosing the frame <NUM> and the tub <NUM>. Therefore, the structure of the tub <NUM> can be effectively simplified to reduce production difficulty and improve processing efficiency.

It should be noted that, directional indication (such as upper, lower, left, right, front, and back,. ) related to the embodiments of the present disclosure is only intended to interpret a relative positional relationship and a motion situation between each component in a certain specific attitude (as illustrated in <FIG>). When the specific attitude changes, the directional indication also changes accordingly.

In some embodiments, as illustrated in <FIG> and <FIG>, the frame <NUM> includes a supporting frame strip <NUM> abutting against the outer surface of the tub <NUM>, and a fitting frame strip <NUM> connected to a front side wall of the supporting frame strip <NUM>. The fitting frame strip <NUM> is spaced apart from the outer surface of the tub <NUM>. The edge of the opening of the tub <NUM> protrudes from the front side wall of the supporting frame strip <NUM>. The sealing groove <NUM> is located between the fitting frame strip <NUM> and the edge of the opening of the tub <NUM>. In the embodiment, the frame <NUM> is connected to the outer surface of the tub <NUM>, which can reduce occupation of a space of the accommodation cavity. When a frame strip is located on a top wall of the tub <NUM>, a bottom wall of the supporting frame strip <NUM> protrudes from a bottom wall of the fitting frame strip <NUM>, and abuts against the tub <NUM>. The edge of the opening protrudes forwardly from the front side wall of the supporting frame strip <NUM> to enclose together with the bottom wall of the fitting frame strip <NUM> to form the sealing groove <NUM>. The sealing groove <NUM> is configured to be formed by enclosing the frame <NUM> and the outer surface of the tub <NUM>, which enables a sealing portion to be closer to the tub <NUM> after the sealing strip is disposed within the sealing groove <NUM>. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the fluid sprayed to the door body <NUM> from flowing to the frame <NUM> to further improve the sealing performance.

In practical application, as illustrated in <FIG>, <FIG> and <FIG>, the door body <NUM> includes an outer door <NUM>, and an inner door <NUM> facing towards an inner surface of the outer door <NUM>. The inner door <NUM> abuts against the sealing strip in response to the opening of the accommodation cavity is covered by the door body <NUM>. In the embodiment, the inner door <NUM> may have a frame shape. Three sides of the frame of the inner door <NUM> are adjacent to a top side and two vertical side of the outer door <NUM>, respectively. That is, the inner door <NUM> protrudes from a middle part of the door body <NUM>. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the door body <NUM> from being normally closed when too much tableware protrudes out of the opening of the accommodation cavity. Meanwhile, it is also ensured that the inner door <NUM> can effectively abut against the sealing strip to increase sealing stability.

In addition, as illustrated in <FIG> and <FIG>, a periphery of the inner door <NUM> abuts against the sealing strip. A front side wall of the fitting frame strip <NUM> protrudes from the edge of the opening of the tub <NUM>. In the embodiment, when the inner door <NUM> abuts against the sealing strip, a part of the fitting frame strip <NUM> protruding from the opening of the tub <NUM> is arranged around a peripheral side of the inner door <NUM>. Thus, it is possible to provide a hidden and protection for an abutting position between the inner door <NUM> and the sealing strip, and thus the sealing stability is improved.

In one embodiment, as illustrated in <FIG>, an abutting rib <NUM> is disposed on, and protrudes from an end, facing away from the sealing groove <NUM>, of a front side wall of the fitting frame strip <NUM>. A front end of the abutting rib <NUM> is bent outwards to form a locating edge <NUM>. The dishwasher further includes a casing <NUM>. The casing <NUM> has an opening facing forward. The tub <NUM> is arranged in the casing <NUM>. An edge of the opening of the casing <NUM> abuts against the locating edge <NUM>. In the embodiment, the supporting frame strip <NUM> and the fitting frame strip <NUM> are located between the tub <NUM> and the casing <NUM>, which can provide supporting for the casing <NUM>, and maintain stable shapes of the openings of the casing <NUM> and the tub <NUM> to prevent collapse occurred at the openings. The abutting rib <NUM> and the locating edge <NUM> both extend in a length direction of the fitting frame strip <NUM>. An inner surface of the casing <NUM> abuts against an outer surface of the abutting rib <NUM>, and a front end of the opening of the casing <NUM> abuts against a rear surface of the locating edge <NUM>. In addition, an outer edge of the locating edge <NUM> may be flush with an outer surface of the casing <NUM>. Therefore, it is possible to enhance the fitting strength of the casing <NUM> and the frame <NUM>, and improve integrity of the dishwasher.

In one embodiment, the frame <NUM> is detachably connected to the tub <NUM>. In the embodiment, the frame <NUM> is connected to the tub <NUM> by the supporting frame strip <NUM>, and the specific connection manner is not limited herein, as long as the frame <NUM> can be detachably connected to the tub <NUM>. For example, the frame <NUM> may be snapped to the tub <NUM>. By detachably connecting the frame <NUM> to the tub <NUM>, detachment and replacement of the frame <NUM> are facilitated. In some embodiments, as illustrated in <FIG>, a through hole <NUM> is defined on a side wall of the tub <NUM>. The supporting frame strip <NUM> has a fixing hole <NUM> corresponding to the through hole <NUM>. The through hole <NUM> and the fixing hole <NUM> are connected to each other by a fastener. In the embodiment, the tub <NUM> and the frame <NUM> may be locked by a screw to realize the detachable connection. When detaching or mounting the frame <NUM>, the fastener may be detached from or mounted to the accommodation cavity of the tub <NUM>. Therefore, the frame <NUM> and the tub <NUM> may be detached or mounted more simply and conveniently.

In the practical application, as illustrated in <FIG>, the edge of the opening of the tub <NUM> is bent backwards to form a reinforcement flange <NUM>. In the embodiment, by the reinforcement flange <NUM>, it is possible to improve the structural strength of the opening of the tub <NUM>, and maintain the stable shape of the opening to avoid collapse. Further, it is also possible to prevent use's hand from being scrapped to improve user experience.

Claim 1:
A dishwasher, comprising:
a tub (<NUM>) having an accommodation cavity, the accommodation cavity having an opening facing forward;
a frame (<NUM>) connected to an outer surface of the tub (<NUM>) and arranged along an edge of the opening of the accommodation cavity, wherein a sealing groove (<NUM>) is defined in the frame (<NUM>), or the sealing groove (<NUM>) is enclosed by the frame (<NUM>) and the edge of the opening of the tub (<NUM>), and wherein a sealing strip is disposed in the sealing groove (<NUM>); and
a door body (<NUM>) configured to expose or cover the opening of the accommodation cavity, wherein the door body (<NUM>) abuts against the sealing strip in response to the opening of the accommodation cavity being covered by the door body (<NUM>);
characterised in that the frame (<NUM>) comprises:
a supporting frame strip (<NUM>) abutting against the outer surface of the tub (<NUM>); and
a fitting frame strip (<NUM>) connected to a front side wall of the supporting frame strip (<NUM>) and spaced apart from the outer surface of the tub (<NUM>), wherein:
the sealing groove (<NUM>) is located between the fitting frame strip (<NUM>) and the edge of the opening of the tub (<NUM>).