GB2317002A

GB2317002A - Laundry drying machine with safety door lock

Info

Publication number: GB2317002A
Application number: GB9718806A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Antonio Filoso
Original assignee: Electrolux Zanussi Elettrodomestici SpA
Current assignee: Electrolux Zanussi Elettrodomestici SpA
Priority date: 1996-09-05
Filing date: 1997-09-04
Publication date: 1998-03-11
Anticipated expiration: 2017-09-04
Also published as: ITPN960034U1; ITPN960034V0; FR2752852A1; ES1038183Y; IT241565Y1; FR2752852B3; GB2317002B; ES1038183U; DE29715815U1; GB9718806D0

Abstract

A laundry drying machine comprises a drum, a front opening for access to the drum and an associated closure door, and a door lock device which comprises a locking element 1 mounted on the machine and an engagement element 2 mounted on the door, said locking element being provided with a housing 4 capable of receiving a catch 11 which can pass out of and go back into the housing and a controlled slider 3 capable of selectively locking the catch 11 in the housing, said engagement element 2 being formed by the catch 11 in a suitable position on an edge of the door, in which there are disposed disengagement and separation means 14 capable of automatically releasing the catch from the slider when the locking element and the engagement element are separated with a predetermined minimum force. Advantages: The construction makes it possible to open the door with a slight force from the interior of the drum when the door is accidentally closed with a little child within the drum.

Description

LAUNDRY DRYING MACHINE WITH SAFETY DOOR LOCK The invention generally concerns machines for drying laundry, in particular of front loading type, which are provided with a particular safety door lock of improved type.

Domestic laundry drying machines are known, which are provided with door lock devices of different types and characteristics, but which involve the common feature that safety is interpreted as meaning that they are designed to forestall and prevent the door being able to come open while the machine is operating, giving rise to potentially hazardous or dangerous conditions such as flooding, burns due to contact with very hot liquid issuing from the tub, and potential injuries due to the possibility of introducing a hand into the drum while it is rotating at a speed which is still very high.

In substance accidental opening of the door is prevented on the basis of the generalised conviction that the machine is much less dangerous while the door is closed.

That conviction is one that is generally shared but there is a situation in which the safety aspect of the machine also depends on the possibility of opening the door by a simple pressure from the interior: that situation refers to the case or the possibility that, when the machine is stopped and empty and with the porthole door open, a little child can climb in who can remain shut up in the drum, or in the tub if the machine is designed only for drying, as a consequence of accidental closure of the porthole door, as also in fun when for example there are other children who in that way consider it fun to shut a friend of theirs in the machine.

That is a particular possibility when the machine is a laundry drier since it is provided with a tub that is much more spacious than the drum of a laundry washing machine and the access opening is likewise much larger, thus making it easier for a child to climb into the machine. In that situation conditions of danger are created, which are so apparent that for the sake of brevity the reader will be spared them.

When a small child is shut up within one of such machines, the first safety factor is to enable him to open the porthole door on his own, something which he will try to do instinctively, but if it is automatically locked upon being closed, as normally happens, there will not be any possibility of opening the door from the interior.

It would thus be desirable, and this is the aim of the present invention, to provide a laundry drying machine provided with a door lock device and associated means which, when the machine is not operating and with the porthole door closed, are such as to permit the door to be opened from the interior by applying just a pressure from the interior of the door.

That door lock device is also to be of a simple and economical construction, reliable in operation, and is to use technologies in normal use.

According to the present invention there is provided laundry drying machine comprising a drum, a front opening for access to the drum and a door for closing the opening, and a door lock device which comprises a locking element mounted on the machine and a respective engagement element mounted on the door, said locking element being provided with a housing capable of accommodating a catch which can pass out of and go back into said housing and a controlled slider capable of selectively locking said catch within said housing; and said engagement element being formed by a carrier which supports said catch, disposed in a suitable position on an edge of said door, wherein: there are provided disengagement and separation means capable of automatically releasing said catch from said slider when said locking element and said engagement element are subjected to mutual pulling with a predetermined minimum force.

The invention will be better appreciated from the following description given solely by way of non-limiting example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows a first component of a door lock for a machine according to the invention, in a first operating condition; Figure 2 shows the same component of Figure 1 in a second operating condition; Figures 3 and 4 are views in cross-section of a second component of the door lock, respectively with the porthole door closed and with the porthole door in an initial phase of opening; and Figures 5 and 6 are views in longitudinal section of the same component as that shown in Figures 3 and 4 in the corresponding phases of porthole door closed and initial position of opening.

The construction envisaged basically involves defining and using in a co-ordinated manner the two components which normally constitute a door lock, that is to say a locking element mounted on the machine and a corresponding engagement element 2 mounted on the door for closing the porthole; it will be appreciated that the positions of those components can be reversed, but just for the purposes of describing an example of the invention the configuration referred to above will be assumed to apply.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2 which show the locking element 1 in two operating conditions, it will be observed that it is provided with a slider 3, the end 3a of which can be selectively inserted transversely into a housing 4 in accordance with the pulling action of the control cable 5 of Bowden type which acts on a lever which, pivoted on the pin 7, can transmit the pulling effect of the cable 5 to the application element 8 which is fixed with respect to the slider 3 to which the force will thus be transmitted and will accordingly define the position thereof.

The slider 3 is also subjected to the action of a resilient element 9, such as for example a coil spring which is capable of being extended in the rest condition, that is to say in the absence of any action on the Bowden cable, thus determining insertion of the end portion 3a into the housing 4, as shown in Figure 1.

Referring to Figures 3 and 4 it will be seen that they show the same locking element 1 in section on a-a in Figures 1, 2 and also show the corresponding section of the engagement element 2 which is in turn provided with a fixed catch 10 capable of being inserted into the housing 4 in the engagement element.

The catch 10 is substantially hollow in the interior and the perimeter thereof in the external portion 11 has on the respective internal face a substantially flat surface 12; in addition it is not rigidly connected to the engagement element 2 but is connected thereto by means of a resilient element 17 illustrated by way of example in the drawings in the form of a coil spring which in the rest condition tends to hold the catch in the rest condition in a position 'internal' to the engagement element 2, as shown in Figures 3 and 5.

It will be noted also that the end 3a of the slider 3 terminates in an acute corner of which one side 13 is disposed in opposite relationship to the flat surface 12 and is substantially parallel to same, so that when the door is closed, that is to say with the door lock as shown in Figure 3, the flat surface 12 of the catch and the side 13 of the end of the slider, by interfering with each other, do not permit disengagement of the respective assemblies and thus opening of the door.

The engagement element 2 is also provided with a fixed tongue portion 14 which extends substantially within the hollow space described within the catch; the tongue portion terminates with a protuberance 15 which progressively opens out towards its end contained in the catch which in the rest condition, with the door closed, touches the outside edge of the slider 3a, in particular the edge 13 thereof, as shown in Figure 3.

In operation, when a pressure is applied from the interior of the door, a force is exerted on the locking element 1 in the direction indicated by the arrow A, which tends to move said locking element away from the engagement element 2 which is assumed to be fixed to the door.

Due to the effect of that movement the catch 10 would tend to be disengaged from the associated housing 4 but it would be prevented from that by the interference between the side 13 of the slider 3a and the flat surface 12 of the internal part of the external portion of the catch and thus the door would not open.

However the presence and the action of the tongue portion 14 and in particular the enlarging protuberance 15 which is fixed to the engagement element 2 acts against the end 3a of the slider 3 and, since the corners in question are acute-angled, the slider 3 is displaced backwards until its edge 13 can no longer be engaged with the flat surface 12 of the catch, thus freeing the catch and permitting withdrawal thereof.

Figures 5 and 6 show the engagement element 2 in section b-b in Figures 3 and 4, and make it possible completely to see the functional details of the engagement element 2, in particular the shape of the catch 10, the external portion 11 thereof, the flat surface 12 of its internal face, the tongue portion 14 and the respective end protuberance 15.

In particular it will be seen from Figure 6 that the beginning of the movement of the two elements 1 and 2 away from each other and in particular the resulting withdrawal of the catch 10 by virtue of a short travel movement of the respective engagement element 2 against the force of the spring 17 causes displacement by a certain distance 'x' of the catch of the tongue portion which is 'moved downwardly' with reference also in Figure 4, acting on the end 3a of the slider 3, as described hereinbefore.

Since it will be necessary that the door can be opened only by applying a pressure of a well-defined value, since otherwise the door could also open just under the pressure of the laundry contained in the machine, it is essential that the resilient elements 9 and 17 are suitably calibrated and co-ordinated with the geometry of the other components involved; in addition the geometry and the various mutual dimensions of the components involved must be such as to permit the above-described mode of operation, but such provisions are fully within the capability of any man skilled in the art.

Finally to permit normal opening under the control of the door lock it will be sufficient to release the slider from the catch, something which can be easily achieved by coupling the withdrawal movement of the slider to a control which can be actuated from the exterior, which can be easily achieved with a pulling effect by the control cable 5 of Bowden type which acts on a lever which, pivoted on the pin 7, can transmit the pulling force of the cable 5 to the application element 8 which is fixed with respect to the slider 3 to which the force is thus transmitted, so determining the position thereof.

It will be appreciated that any laundry drying machine can be provided with a door lock device and the associated control devices which are also designed with technical constructions different from that shown, without thereby departing form the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A laundry drying machine comprising a drum, a front opening for access to the drum and a door for closing the opening, and a door lock device which comprises a locking element mounted on the machine and a respective engagement element mounted on the door, said locking element being provided with a housing capable of accommodating a catch which can pass out of and go back into said housing and a controlled slider capable of selectively locking said catch within said housing; and said engagement element being formed by a carrier which supports said catch, disposed in a suitable position on an edge of said door, wherein: there are provided disengagement and separation means capable of automatically releasing said catch from said slider when said locking element and said engagement element are subjected to mutual pulling with a predetermined minimum force.
2. A machine according to claim 1 wherein said catch is substantially hollow in its interior, it can be partially and resiliently withdrawn from the carrier thereof, and it is provided with a tongue element fixed with one of its ends to the carrier of said engagement element, the external portion of said catch has towards the interior a substantially flat surface, said tongue element is contained in the plane of said catch and the other end of said tongue element is free and terminates with a side or protuberance which progressively spreads out towards said end, and the end of the slider of said locking element is resiliently controlled to assume a position of engagement with said substantially flat surface which is directed towards the interior of the external portion of said catch when same is completely inserted into said housing.
3. A machine according to claim 2 wherein during separation by virtue of a pulling effect between said locking element and said engagement element said tongue is capable of withdrawing said slider from its resiliently defined rest position corresponding to the position of engagement with said catch under the action of pressure contact of said progressively spreading side of said free end of said tongue against the end of said slider.
4. A machine according to claim 2 or claim 3 wherein the reverse movement up to a predetermined value of said slider is capable of releasing the respective end from engagement with said substantially flat surface which is directed towards the interior of the external portion of said catch, with the result of completely disengaging the catch from the slider and thus said locking element from said engagement element.
5. A machine constructed and arranged to operate substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings

5. A machine according to claim 4 wherein the control for backward movement of said slider can be actuated independently from the exterior even with the door completely closed.

6. A machine constructed and arranged to operate substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings Amendments to the claims have been filed as follows 1. A laundry drying machine comprising a drum, a front opening for access to the drum and a door for closing the opening, and a door lock device which comprises a locking element mounted on the machine and a respective engagement element mounted on the door, said locking element being provided with a housing capable of accommodating a catch which can pass out of and go back into said housing and a controlled slider capable of selectively locking said catch within said housing; and said engagement element being formed by a carrier which supports said catch, disposed in a suitable position on an edge of said door, wherein: there are provided disengagement and separation means capable of automatically releasing said catch from said slider when said locking element and said engagement element are subjected to mutual pulling with a predetermined minimum force; and said catch is substantially hollow in its interior, it can be partially and resiliently withdrawn from the carrier thereof, and it is provided with a tongue element fixed with one of its ends to the carrier of said engagement element, the external portion of said catch has towards the interior a substantially flat surface, said tongue element is contained in the plane of said catch and the other end of said tongue element is free and terminates with a side or protuberance which progressively spreads out towards said end, and the end of the slider of said locking element is resiliently controlled to assume a position of engagement with said substantially flat surface which is directed towards the interior of the external portion of said catch when same is completely inserted into said housing.

2. A machine according to claim 1 wherein during separation by virtue of a pulling effect between said locking element and said engagement element said tongue is capable of withdrawing said slider from its resiliently defined rest position corresponding to the position of engagement with said catch under the action of pressure contact of said progressively spreading side of said free end of said tongue against the end of said slider.

3. A machine according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the reverse movement up to a predetermined value of said slider is capable of releasing the respective end from engagement with said substantially flat surface which is directed towards the interior of the external portion of said catch, with the result of completely disengaging the catch from the slider and thus said locking element from said engagement element.

4. A machine according to claim 3 wherein the control for backward movement of said slider can be actuated independently from the exterior even with the door completely closed.