Patent ID: 8231738

Claim:
A dishwasher, comprising: a tub comprising a molded plastic structure having a bottom wall joined to a plurality of vertical walls, and a top wall joined to upper ends of the vertical walls, so as to define a wash chamber, a front side of the tub defining an opening for access to the wash chamber, the bottom wall having a front edge; a door for closing the opening in the front side of the tub, the door having a lower edge, two opposite side edges, and an upper edge; a hinge support member integrally molded with the tub and located proximate the front edge of the bottom wall of the tub; a pair of hinge plates respectively secured to the opposite side edges of the door and pivotally engaged with the hinge support member on the tub to enable the door to pivot relative to the tub about a horizontal pivot axis defined by the hinge support member; and a pair of leg members respectively secured to opposite side walls of the tub and extending downwardly from the tub for supporting the dishwasher on a support surface with the bottom wall of the tub spaced above the support surface; wherein the hinge support member comprises a pair of bosses integrally molded with the tub and respectively located proximate opposite ends of the front edge of the bottom wall, a bore extending through a laterally outer side face of each boss, the bores establishing the horizontal pivot axis for the door, an elongate member for one of the hinge plates being inserted into the bore in one of the bosses, and an elongate member for the other hinge plate being inserted into the bore in the other boss, the leg members respectively abutting the laterally outer side faces of the bosses such that the side faces provide lateral support to the leg members; and wherein each of the bosses has a tubular portion that defines the bore and a plurality of spaced-apart webs connected between the tubular portion and the tub, and wherein the laterally outer side face of each boss is defined collectively by an end face of the tubular portion and end faces of the webs.