EP3135179A1 - Appareil ménager comportant un joint d'étanchéité - Google Patents

Appareil ménager comportant un joint d'étanchéité Download PDF

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Publication number
EP3135179A1
EP3135179A1 EP15425065.8A EP15425065A EP3135179A1 EP 3135179 A1 EP3135179 A1 EP 3135179A1 EP 15425065 A EP15425065 A EP 15425065A EP 3135179 A1 EP3135179 A1 EP 3135179A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
gasket
seat
household appliance
door
gaskets
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP15425065.8A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Inventor
Maurizio Zangrandi
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Whirlpool EMEA SpA
Original Assignee
Indesit Co SpA
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Indesit Co SpA filed Critical Indesit Co SpA
Priority to EP15425065.8A priority Critical patent/EP3135179A1/fr
Publication of EP3135179A1 publication Critical patent/EP3135179A1/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47L—DOMESTIC WASHING OR CLEANING; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47L15/00—Washing or rinsing machines for crockery or tableware
    • A47L15/42—Details
    • A47L15/4251—Details of the casing
    • A47L15/4257—Details of the loading door
    • A47L15/4263—Door sealing arrangements
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47L—DOMESTIC WASHING OR CLEANING; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47L15/00—Washing or rinsing machines for crockery or tableware
    • A47L15/42—Details
    • A47L15/4251—Details of the casing
    • A47L15/4274—Arrangement of electrical components, e.g. control units or cables
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47L—DOMESTIC WASHING OR CLEANING; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47L15/00—Washing or rinsing machines for crockery or tableware
    • A47L15/42—Details
    • A47L15/4293—Arrangements for programme selection, e.g. control panels; Indication of the selected programme, programme progress or other parameters of the programme, e.g. by using display panels
    • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
    • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • D06F—LAUNDERING, DRYING, IRONING, PRESSING OR FOLDING TEXTILE ARTICLES
    • D06F39/00—Details of washing machines not specific to a single type of machines covered by groups D06F9/00 - D06F27/00 
    • D06F39/12—Casings; Tubs
    • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
    • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • D06F—LAUNDERING, DRYING, IRONING, PRESSING OR FOLDING TEXTILE ARTICLES
    • D06F37/00—Details specific to washing machines covered by groups D06F21/00 - D06F25/00
    • D06F37/26—Casings; Tubs
    • D06F37/266—Gaskets mounted between tub and casing around the loading opening
    • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
    • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • D06F—LAUNDERING, DRYING, IRONING, PRESSING OR FOLDING TEXTILE ARTICLES
    • D06F39/00—Details of washing machines not specific to a single type of machines covered by groups D06F9/00 - D06F27/00 
    • D06F39/12—Casings; Tubs
    • D06F39/14—Doors or covers; Securing means therefor

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a household appliance, in particular a household appliance wherein at least one first portion of an inner space thereof needs to be kept separate from a second portion of said space and/or from an outside environment, so as to prevent water, moisture or dirt from getting into the first portion from the second portion and/or from the outside environment.
  • gaskets for isolating particular portions of their inner volume (e.g. portions that house electronic components or the like) from other portions of the household appliance and/or from the outside environment.
  • Such gaskets are normally specific for a particular model or series of household appliances, e.g. specific for a particular series of refrigerators or dishwashers having one or more doors of the same size.
  • the life of said gaskets is typically shorter than that of a household appliance, so that they need to be replaced at least once in the course of the working life of said household appliance because, due to the cleaning operations necessary for ensuring a satisfactory hygiene level, gaskets tend to wear and/or the adhesive that keeps them attached to the household appliance tends to loose its efficacy. It is in fact well known that mildews tend to develop on gaskets, which can produce spores that, if inhaled, may cause respiratory problems to people and/or animals.
  • gaskets are very often designed together with the household appliance, by taking into account the tolerances of the household appliance production process, so that said gaskets will always be capable of providing satisfactory sealing performance within the tolerance ranges that the production process can assure. This makes it necessary to carry out several iterations during the appliance design process, so as to be certain that the gasket will ensure satisfactory sealing performance without adversely affecting the normal operation of the household appliance (e.g. without making a door difficult to close and/or without the gasket tending the wear faster than expected because of excessive pressure on it). To this end, designers often need to design undercuts and/or suitable seats for the gaskets, which often make the process of moulding the various parts making up the household appliance (tub, outer walls, control panel, etc.) more complex.
  • the present invention aims at solving these and others problems by providing a household appliance as set forth in the appended claim 1.
  • the basic idea of the present invention is to provide a household appliance which comprises a seat and a gasket that can be positioned into said seat, wherein said gasket is so configured that, when said gasket is positioned into said seat, it will deform elastically, thus generating a force that will keep it firmly coupled to said seat.
  • gaskets can be removed and reinstalled in a simpler manner compared to prior-art gaskets, so that any installation, periodic service (e.g. gasket cleaning) and replacement operations can be carried out more easily while preserving the structural integrity of the gasket.
  • any reference to “an embodiment” will indicate that a particular configuration, structure or feature is comprised in at least one embodiment of the invention. Therefore, the phrase “in an embodiment” and other similar phrases, which may be present in different parts of this description, will not necessarily be all related to the same embodiment. Furthermore, any particular configuration, structure or feature may be combined in one or more embodiments in any way deemed appropriate. The references below are therefore used only for simplicity's sake, and do not limit the protection scope or extension of the various embodiments.
  • a household appliance 1 is preferably an electronic dishwasher comprising control electronics that needs to be kept separate from the outside environment and from the other inner spaces of said dishwasher 1 in operation.
  • the household appliance 1 comprises a container (equipped with an aperture) for housing electronic components, which comprises the following parts:
  • the external panel 2 comprises a front seat 21, into which an elongated gasket 5 can be positioned. More in detail, the gasket 5 is so configured that, when it is inserted into said seat 21, it will deform and generate a force that will keep it firmly coupled to said seat.
  • any adhesive or glue for holding the gasket 5 in its working position, thereby facilitating the installation and/or cleaning/service and/or replacement thereof; in fact, said gasket 5 can be installed by simply inserting it into the seat 21, preferably by hand or by using a blunt tool, and can be removed by simply extracting it without paying particular attention because, due to the total absence of any adhesive/glue, no strain will be generated within the gasket, which might tear it or anyway damage it.
  • the dishwasher 1 comprises a door 7, preferably made of AISI 304 stainless steel, which provides access to the wash tub.
  • the inner portion of said door 7 comprises an edge 71 adapted to ensure a good seal between the outside environment and the inner space of said dishwasher 1, in particular to isolate the compartment 4 from the outside environment.
  • the seat 21 is so arranged that, when the gasket 5 is in said seat and the door 7 is closed, the edge 71 of the door 7 will abut against the gasket 5, concentrating much surface unit force against said gasket 5, thus exerting such a pressure on the gasket 5 as to ensure a high degree of sealing, while however requiring just a relatively weak closing force.
  • the gaskets 5 are fixed without glue, and this makes it particularly easy to replace the gasket 5 with an identical or similar one once said gasket has worn out and/or become deformed due to the high pressure to which it has been subjected when closed.
  • the gasket 5 has an elongated shape, preferably cylindrical, more preferably with an outside diameter of approx. 2.7 mm. This shape allows the gasket 5 to be inserted into and removed from the seat 21 with ease, because the cylindrical shape does not require that the gasket 5 be correctly oriented prior to being inserted, and makes it virtually impossible that said gasket 5 might get stuck into the seat 21 while being removed from said seat 21.
  • the gasket is made of a material having a high level of elasticity, preferably rubber. More in detail, the material used in the preferred embodiment of the gasket 5 is thermoplastic rubber of the EPDM+PP type (also known under the commercial name SantopreneTM), which has a hardness of 65 when measured in accordance with the Shore A scale, and which is well suited for hot extrusion, thus allowing easy production of gaskets of different length by simply cutting the extruded product. Furthermore, the gasket 5 is preferably internally hollow, thus having a tube-like shape. This makes it more flexible, so that it can be inserted into and extracted from the seat 21 more easily, and can be more easily compressed by the edge 71.
  • the material used in the preferred embodiment of the gasket 5 is thermoplastic rubber of the EPDM+PP type (also known under the commercial name SantopreneTM), which has a hardness of 65 when measured in accordance with the Shore A scale, and which is well suited for hot extrusion, thus allowing easy production of gaskets of different length by simply
  • the seat 21 of the outer panel 2 comprises a plurality of fins 22 that allow the gasket 5 to be constrained to the seat 21 at a plurality of distinct points. This facilitates the installation and removal of said gasket from said seats, since the operator or the machine that have to carry out such tasks can insert the fingers or a tool between said fins 22 and easily exert the required force directly on the gasket 5 in the proper direction to engage or disengage said gasket 5 into/from the seat 21.
  • the presence of the fins 22 makes it possible to visually check that the gasket 5 has been correctly positioned in the seat 21, so as to be sure that the gasket 5 will not be subjected to excessive strain due to improper installation and/or that said gasket will not be torn/damaged.
  • the external panel 2 is preferably made of plastic material, e.g. acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS).
  • ABS acrylonitrile butadiene styrene
  • the fins 22 can thus be made by moulding, thereby advantageously simplifying the production process for the seats 21, since the control panel 1 can be manufactured by using just a single mould only once (i.e. without having to open and close the mould a number times in order to complete the process in multiple runs) and without requiring any subsequent finishing steps.
  • the external panel 2 also comprises a female connector 23 that puts the electronics positioned in the compartment 4 in signal communication with a user interface (not shown in the annexed drawings), which is preferably located on the outer side of the door 7, and through which the user of the dishwasher 1 can select the desired wash programs to be executed by said dishwasher 1.
  • the connector 23 mates with another connector of the male type (not shown in the drawings) comprised in the door 7 when the latter is closed.
  • the gasket 5 abuts against the bent edge 71 of the door 7 and against at least two parts of the external panel 2 (i.e. against the seat 21), thus advantageously generating a double seal by using, however, only one gasket instead of two.
  • a double-seal gasket which can be easily removed in one step for maintenance and/or replacement purposes without needing any special tool, without the risk of damaging said gasket and without leaving any adhesive residues in the seat 21 that might jeopardize the positioning of a new gasket, and hence the overall sealing performance of said new gasket.
  • the preferred embodiment of the dishwasher 1 comprises also a second gasket 6 having similar physical characteristics as the above-described gasket 5, which ensures a proper seal between the external panel 2 and the internal one 3, so that no water can seep into the dishwasher 1 should any water be spilled over the top part of said dishwasher 1; said gasket is positioned into a second seat 24, which is so shaped that the gasket 6, when it is inserted into said seat 24, will deform and generate a force that will keep it firmly coupled to said seat.
  • the seat 24 has a shape which is compatible with that of the gasket 6 and, preferably, an angular extension that embraces more than half the outer surface of said gasket 6, so that, while installing and/or servicing the dishwasher 1, the gasket 6 will remain firm in the seat 24 even when the internal panel 3 has not yet been coupled to the external panel 2, i.e. when it is not yet in abutment with the gasket 6.
  • a first variant envisages the use of at least one gasket, which is similar to the gaskets 5,6 of the above-described main embodiment, in a washing machine (not shown in the annexed drawings). More in detail, the washing machine comprises at least the following parts:
  • the seat has a length development that follows the shape of the door, i.e. it is preferably circular, and dimensions that cause the gasket, when it is positioned (curved) within the seat, will abut against a portion of the door (e.g. the edge thereof) when the latter is closed, thereby exerting a sealing action and preventing the water contained in the tub from leaking out through the edges of said door.
  • the seat is so configured that the gasket(s), when positioned within said seat, will abut against a portion of the door when the latter is in the closed position.
  • the same above-described principle is applied to a top-loading washing machine, wherein the glass door is replaced with a loading hatch and the bent gasket is replaced with four linear segments of a gasket which is similar to the gaskets 5,6 of the main embodiment.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Textile Engineering (AREA)
  • Gasket Seals (AREA)
EP15425065.8A 2015-08-31 2015-08-31 Appareil ménager comportant un joint d'étanchéité Withdrawn EP3135179A1 (fr)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP15425065.8A EP3135179A1 (fr) 2015-08-31 2015-08-31 Appareil ménager comportant un joint d'étanchéité

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP15425065.8A EP3135179A1 (fr) 2015-08-31 2015-08-31 Appareil ménager comportant un joint d'étanchéité

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP3135179A1 true EP3135179A1 (fr) 2017-03-01

Family

ID=54365180

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP15425065.8A Withdrawn EP3135179A1 (fr) 2015-08-31 2015-08-31 Appareil ménager comportant un joint d'étanchéité

Country Status (1)

Country Link
EP (1) EP3135179A1 (fr)

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN108968872A (zh) * 2018-08-31 2018-12-11 杭州川月科技有限公司 一种结构简单的洗碗机用呼吸器及洗碗机

Citations (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE29509093U1 (de) * 1995-06-01 1995-08-17 Bosch-Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH, 81669 München Stirnseitig beschickbare Haushalt-Geschirrspülmaschine mit einer Türdichtung zwischen Spülbehälter und Tür
WO2009083398A1 (fr) * 2007-12-31 2009-07-09 Arcelik Anonim Sirketi Appareil de lavage
US20090288690A1 (en) * 2008-05-20 2009-11-26 Electrolux Home Products, Inc. Sealing device for a dishwasher, and associated apparatus and method
DE202010010004U1 (de) * 2010-07-08 2010-10-14 BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH Geschirrspülmaschine mit zumindest einer aus mehreren Baueinheiten aufgebauten Tür
DE102011003821A1 (de) * 2011-02-08 2012-08-09 BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH Geschirrspülmaschine, insbesondere Haushaltsgechirrspülmaschine
EP2486842A2 (fr) * 2011-02-14 2012-08-15 BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH Lave-vaisselle doté d'une porte mobile et d'au moins un joint de porte

Patent Citations (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE29509093U1 (de) * 1995-06-01 1995-08-17 Bosch-Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH, 81669 München Stirnseitig beschickbare Haushalt-Geschirrspülmaschine mit einer Türdichtung zwischen Spülbehälter und Tür
WO2009083398A1 (fr) * 2007-12-31 2009-07-09 Arcelik Anonim Sirketi Appareil de lavage
US20090288690A1 (en) * 2008-05-20 2009-11-26 Electrolux Home Products, Inc. Sealing device for a dishwasher, and associated apparatus and method
DE202010010004U1 (de) * 2010-07-08 2010-10-14 BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH Geschirrspülmaschine mit zumindest einer aus mehreren Baueinheiten aufgebauten Tür
DE102011003821A1 (de) * 2011-02-08 2012-08-09 BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH Geschirrspülmaschine, insbesondere Haushaltsgechirrspülmaschine
EP2486842A2 (fr) * 2011-02-14 2012-08-15 BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH Lave-vaisselle doté d'une porte mobile et d'au moins un joint de porte

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN108968872A (zh) * 2018-08-31 2018-12-11 杭州川月科技有限公司 一种结构简单的洗碗机用呼吸器及洗碗机
CN108968872B (zh) * 2018-08-31 2020-10-27 杭州小月亮科技有限公司 一种结构简单的洗碗机用呼吸器及洗碗机

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