Patent ID: 8152001

Claim:
A one-piece elastic retainer device for retaining articles of varying sizes and shapes to be washed in a dishwasher rack, the rack having a frame formed of horizontal and upright support members for supporting the articles in the rack, the retainer device comprising: a generally rectangular flexible elastic retainer device having laterally opposed longitudinal side portions with opposed ends, said longitudinal side portions having a first thickness; an integrally formed central portion having a plurality of elongate openings extending transversely between said opposed longitudinal side portions in closely spaced apart parallel relation defining a plurality of separate elongate narrow elastic bands extending transversely between said longitudinal side portions in parallel spaced apart relation between said opposed ends, said elastic bands having a second thickness less than said first thickness of said longitudinal side portions; and a plurality of holes in each of said longitudinal side portions disposed in longitudinally spaced apart relation along said longitudinal side portions for receiving and engaging selected upright or horizontal support members of the dishwasher rack frame; wherein selected said holes of a first one of said longitudinal side portions are adapted to receive and engage at least two horizontal or upright support members of the rack frame, selected said holes of the second one of said longitudinal side portions are adapted to receive and engage at least two horizontal or upright support members of the rack frame spaced a distance from said first one of said longitudinal side portions, and said elastic bands are adapted to be stretched across articles in the dishwasher rack frame to prevent substantial vertical movement and overturning thereof.