EP2759631A1

EP2759631A1 - Porthole for electrical household appliances

Info

Publication number: EP2759631A1
Application number: EP14152536.0A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Alberto Maria Foresti
Original assignee: Vetrerie Riunite SpA
Current assignee: Vetrerie Riunite SpA
Priority date: 2013-01-25
Filing date: 2014-01-24
Publication date: 2014-07-30
Also published as: ITVR20130020A1

Abstract

Porthole (10; 30; 50) for electrical household appliances, having an inner surface facing the interior of the appliance when the porthole is mounted, and an outer surface. Protrusions and/or recesses (12; 32; 42) are obtained on at least one portion of the outer surface and/or on at least one portion of the inner surface, said protrusions and/or recesses being arranged according to a texture.

Description

The present invention refers, in general, to a porthole. More particularly, the present invention refers to a porthole for electrical household appliances such as washing machines, drying machines or the like.
The portholes for electrical household appliances such as washing machine and drying machines, produced according to prior art, are usually made of a transparent material such as glass or plastic so as to make it possible to see inside the appliance in order to verify the operation.
For instance, in case of a washing machine, the porthole is useful to ascertain the rotation of the drum, the presence or the absence of water in the drum according to the washing phase and the state of the garments in the washing machine.
Besides, the portholes according to prior art consist essentially of a recess shaped like a truncated cone in which the edge of the greater base is joined to the door of the appliance while the smaller base is arranged in the inside of the appliance.
In some cases, the smaller base may be partially or entirely inclined in respect to the axis of the truncated cone in order to form water vortices in the inside of the drum to help the washing of clothes.
Although the portholes were always improved, the present portholes known in their several forms and types still have some problems.
First of all, the possibility of seeing the inside of the household appliance involves also the possibility of seeing the dirt and filaments released from the clothes. These residues usually accumulate in the lower part of the porthole, in adjacency to the connecting gasket between porthole and door. Also the gasket itself may thus be seen dirty and damaged over time.
This aspect is unpleasant to the producers of household appliances since the consumer can take a negative view of the article.
In order to hide these areas, silk-screen printed decorations are applied in the most suitable positions to hide said areas but the silk-screen printing has a short duration.
In addition, the portholes of the prior art do not allow a clear vision of the inside of the appliance, especially in the central area of the porthole through which the user would like to see in the best way possible the state of the garments being washed.
Besides, the glass portholes may be subject to accidental bumps which could provoke the breakage of the glass portholes; although these accidents are not very frequent, they could occur not only in the phase of utilization of the appliance, but even more in the assembly of the porthole on the appliance and in the phases of transport and storage of the porthole still to be mounted and of the entire appliance.
In order to limit these problems it is necessary to produce glass portholes having a rather consistent thickness but this implies an increase in the weight of the appliance.
Another problem of the glass portholes according to the prior art is their limited thermal insulation; in fact, in case of washings at high temperatures, the porthole becomes rather hot, even in its outermost surface, and could potentially scald the hand of the user.
Such undesirable eventuality is avoided now by putting a glass disc or a plastic disc at the greater base of the porthole but this involves an increase in the cost of the product and a greater complexity of assembly.
An aim of the invention is to remove the aforesaid disadvantages and other ones through a porthole that allows to perfectly see the inside of the appliance, and in particular to see only the zones of interest, the other internal zones where dirt and filaments of the garments could store up being hidden. Another aim of the invention is to realize a glass porthole that is more resistant to bumps in comparison with the glass portholes of the prior art, without the necessity of increasing the thickness.
Another aim of the invention is to carry out a glass porthole that insulates more the inside from the outside of the appliance.
The above aims and other ones are all achieved according to the invention by a porthole for electrical household appliances, having an inner surface facing the interior of the appliance when the porthole is mounted, and an outer surface, characterized by the fact that protrusions and/or recesses are obtained on at least one portion of the outer surface and/or on at least one portion of the inner surface, said protrusions and/or recesses being arranged according to a texture.
Through the presence of protrusions and/or recesses forming a texture on at least one portion of the outer surface and/or on at least one portion of the inner surface, the porthole according to the invention has a portion that prevents an optimal viewing in the inside of the appliance, at the zone interested by the texture.
Thus, it is possible to keep determined sectors hidden to prevent the user from seeing the dirt or the filaments that detach from the garments during the washing phase, or seeing internal parts of the appliance such as a seal that could deteriorate over time.
Besides, the protrusions and/or the recesses enlarge the extent of the surface of the porthole and improve the distribution of heat when the porthole comes in contact with water at high temperatures.
The porthole according to the invention is also more resistant as a result of the variable thickness of the surface; in fact, the ribs formed by the protrusions and/or recesses strengthen the surface that is exposed to accidental knocks. Advantageously, the porthole according to the invention may provide that the protrusions and/or the recesses are obtained only on the outer surface or only on the inner surface of the porthole so as to simplify the realization of the porthole.
In addition, in case the porthole has a side portion and an upper portion, the side portion having an inner side surface and an outer side surface, the upper portion having an inner upper surface and an outer upper surface, the protrusions and/or the recesses may be obtained on the inner side surface and/or on the outer side surface and/or on the inner upper surface and/or on the outer upper surface.
In this way, it is possible to produce portholes in which the so-obtained texture with the protrusions and/or reliefs occupies only a portion of the surface of the porthole, for instance in the sectors that are not to be viewed from the outside of the appliance.
Advantageously, the protrusions and/or recesses may have a recurring geometrical shape so as to form a regular texture, easily recognizable.
For instance, the protrusions and/or the recesses may have a replicated hexagonal geometric shape.
The porthole according to the invention is made of glass, and in particular the protrusions and/or the recesses are made by means of a mold during the molding of the porthole.
Further features and details of the invention may be better understood from the following description which is supplied as a non-restricting example, as well as from the accompanying drawings wherein:

fig. 1 is a sectional side view of a porthole for electrical household appliances, carried out according to the invention;
fig. 2 is an axonometric top view of the porthole in figure 1;
fig. 3 is a sectional side view of a porthole for electrical household appliances, carried out according to a variant of the invention;
fig. 4 is an axonometric top view of the porthole in figure 3;
fig 5 is a sectional side view of a porthole for electric household appliances, carried out according to another variant of the invention;
fig. 6 is an axonometric top view of the porthole in figure 5.

With reference to figures 1 and 2, reference number 10 denotes, on the whole, a porthole for electrical household appliances, made of glass and having the shape of a truncated cone.
According to figure 1, the porthole 10 is hollow in the lower part and comprises a lower open base 14 which is defined by a peripheral edge 16 through which the porthole may be fixed to the door of an electrical household appliance.
A side portion 18 of the porthole 10 develops form the peripheral edge 16 and ends in the upper part with an upper portion 20 that is connected conveniently to the side portion 18.
The porthole 10 has an outer surface and an inner surface. Once the porthole 10 has been mounted on the relative door of the electric household appliance, the outer surface is considered the surface facing the outside of the appliance while the inner surface is considered the surface facing the inside of the appliance, namely, the drum of the washing machine.
More particularly, the side portion 18 has an inner side surface 22 and an outer side surface 24 while the upper potion 20 has an inner upper surface 26 and an outer upper surface 28.
The inner side surface 22 and the inner upper surface 26 are continuous with each other and form the inner surface of the porthole 10. Likewise, the outer side surface 24 and the outer upper surface 28 are continuous with each other and form the outer surface of the porthole 10.
As illustrated in figure 1, the outer side surface 24 is provided with a texture of hexagonal figures. One of these figures is indicated by the reference number 12.
The hexagonal figures 12 are made directly in the molding step of the porthole 10 and make the outer side surface 24 faceted.
Accordingly, the side portion 18 shows a textured outer surface 24 that while maintaining a certain visibility from the outside to the inside, prevents an accurate view of what is placed beyond said side portion.
Thus, the so-shaped side portion 18 prevents to recognize the dirt and/or the filaments that are deposited around the porthole, preferably in adjacency to the connecting seal between door and porthole.
On the contrary, both the inner surface 26 and the outer surface 28 of the upper portion 20 are not interested by any texture so that the upper portion 20 ensures an optimal view in the inside of the appliance.
The outer side surface 24 of the side portion 18 of the porthole 10 has a greater extent than a normal surface in which the texture 12 is not present and consequently, the heat coming from the inside of the appliance finds a greater surface for the heat exchange; in this way, it is possible to reduce the temperature of the porthole 10 when the appliance works at high temperatures.
Not least, the texture 12 on the outer side surface 24 gives the porthole 10 a more pleasant appearance.
In this connection, the presence of the texture 12 ensures a certain distinction of the porthole 10 from the other portholes on the market. Besides, the shape of the figures forming the texture may allow to distinguish the porthole 10 from the other portholes showing a different texture but, in any case, falling under the same scope of protection of the invention.
According to a variant of embodiment of the porthole to be produced by utilizing the process and apparatus according to the invention, which variant is illustrated in the figures 3, 4, a porthole 30 is hollow in the lower part and comprises a lower open base 34 which is defined by a peripheral edge 36 through which the porthole may be fixed to the door of an electrical household appliance.
A side portion 38 of the porthole 30 develops form the peripheral edge 36 and ends in the upper part with an upper portion 40 that is connected conveniently to the side portion 38.
The upper portion 40 has a sloping part 41 that slopes down towards a part of the side portion 38 which, therefore, has a variable height.
Like the previously described porthole 10, the porthole 30 has an outer surface and an inner surface. Once the porthole 30 has been mounted on the relative door of the electric household appliance, the outer surface is considered the surface facing the outside of the appliance while the inner surface is considered the surface facing the inside of the appliance.
More particularly, the side portion 38 has an inner side surface 42 and an outer side surface 44 while the upper portion 40 has an inner upper surface 46 and an outer upper surface 48.
The inner side surface 42 and the inner upper surface 46 are continuous with each other and form the inner surface of the porthole 30. Likewise, the outer side surface 44 and the outer upper surface 48 are continuous with each other and form the outer surface of the porthole 30.
As illustrated in figure 3, the outer side surface 44 is provided with a texture of hexagonal figures. One of these figures is indicated by the reference number 32.
The hexagonal figures 32 are made directly in the molding step of the porthole 30 and make the outer side surface 44 faceted.
Also the porthole 30, through the texture defined by the hexagonal figures 32, has the same advantages as described previously in connection with the porthole 10.
According to another variant of embodiment of the porthole to be produced by utilizing the process and apparatus according to the invention, which variant is illustrated in the figures 5, 6, a porthole 50 is hollow in the lower part and comprises a lower open base 54 which is defined by a peripheral edge 56 through which the porthole may be fixed to the door of an electrical household appliance.
A side portion 58 of the porthole 50 develops form the peripheral edge 56 and ends in the upper part with an upper portion 60 that is connected conveniently to the side portion 58.
Unlike the previously described porthole 10, the upper portion 60 is completely inclined in respect to the circle defined by the peripheral edge 56 and slopes down towards a part of the side portion 58 which, therefore, has a variable height.
Like the previously described porthole 10 and the porthole 30, also the porthole 50 has an outer surface and an inner surface. Once the porthole 50 has been mounted on the relative door of the electric household appliance, the outer surface is considered the surface facing the outside of the appliance while the inner surface is considered the surface facing the inside of the appliance.
More particularly, the side portion 58 has an inner side surface 62 and an outer side surface 64 while the upper potion 60 has an inner upper surface 66 and an outer upper surface 68.
The inner side surface 62 and the inner upper surface 66 are continuous with each other and form the inner surface of the porthole 50. Likewise, the outer side surface 64 and the outer upper surface 68 are continuous with each other and form the outer surface of the porthole 50.
As illustrated in figure 5, the outer side surface 64 is provided with a texture of hexagonal figures. One of these figures is indicated by the reference number 52. The hexagonal figures 52 are made directly in the molding step of the porthole 50 and make the outer side surface 64 faceted.
Also the porthole 50, through the texture defined by the hexagonal figures 52, has the same advantages as described previously in connection with the porthole 10 and the porthole 30.
The portholes 10, 30, 50 in the three embodiments described above have a texture 12 showing hexagonal figures but it is to be intended that the shape of said figures may be different, for instance the shape may be square, circular, polygonal, irregular or regular, while remaining in the scope of protection of the invention.
In addition, the texture may be carried out with figures different from each other, the features and advantages of the invention being unchanged.
According to other embodiments of the porthole, the textured surface may be made on the entire outer surface of the porthole or only on the outer upper surface, instead of the outer side surface. Besides, also the inner surface may be interested by a texture of figures; also in this case, only the inner upper surface or the inner side surface as well as the entire inner surface may be interested.
In addition, also the figures obtained on the surface of the porthole may have a concave or convex development so as to enlarge or reduce the image of what is under the porthole portion interested by the texture of figures, the view of the image being enlarged. In this case, the figures allow to have a better view of what is contained in the appliance.
It is to be intended that the scope of protection of the invention comprises possible variants of the porthole according to the invention. For instance, the shape of the porthole may be different from the shape of the portholes 10, 30, 50, described above, having one or more surfaces interested by a texture of figures.

Claims

Porthole (10; 30; 50) for electrical household appliances, having an inner surface facing the interior of the appliance when the porthole is mounted, and an outer surface, characterized by the fact that protrusions and/or recesses (12; 32; 42) are obtained on at least one portion of the outer surface and/or on at least one portion of the inner surface, said protrusions and/or recesses being arranged according to a texture.
Porthole (10; 30; 50) according to claim 1, wherein the protrusions and/or the recesses (12; 32; 42) are obtained on the outer surface of the porthole (10; 30; 50).
Porthole (10; 30; 50) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the protrusions and/or the recesses (12; 32; 42) are obtained on the inner surface of the porthole (10; 30; 50).
Porthole (10; 30; 50 according to one of the preceding claims, wherein a side portion (18; 38; 58) and an upper portion (20; 40; 60) are comprised, the side portion (18; 38; 58) having an inner side surface (22; 42; 62) and an outer side surface (24; 44; 64), the upper portion (20; 40; 60) having an inner upper surface (26; 46; 66) and an outer upper surface (28; 48; 68); wherein the protrusions and/or the recesses (12; 32; 42) are obtained on the inner side surface (22; 42; 62) and/or on the outer side surface (24; 44; 64) and/or on the inner upper surface (26; 46; 66) and/or on the outer upper surface (28; 48; 68).
Porthole (10; 30; 50) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the protrusions and/or the recesses (12; 32; 42) have a recurring geometric shape so as to form a regular texture.
Porthole (10; 30; 50) according to the preceding claim, wherein the protrusions and/or the recesses (12; 32; 42) have a recurring hexagonal geometric shape.
Porthole (10; 30; 50) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by the fact that it is made of glass.
Porthole (10; 30; 50) according to the preceding claim, wherein the protrusions and/or the recesses (12; 32; 42) are obtained by means of a mold during the molding of the porthole.