EP0456105B1 - Washing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

A rinsing machine is proposed, which serves for cleaning upright articles such as trays or the like. In order to achieve a great opening height of the access opening (3) to the rinsing chamber (2), a lower flap door (4) as well as an upper sliding door (5) is provided, the synchronous movements of which are controlled via a cable pull (11) with deflection rollers (12, 13). In this connection, the upper sliding door is drawn upwards vertically to a great extent. <IMAGE>

Description

The invention relates to a dishwasher for cleaning upright objects, such as trays or the like, according to the preamble of claim 1.

State of the art:

A dishwasher of the generic type has become known from DE 26 51 616 C2. This document describes a dishwasher with the features of the preamble of claim 1. Such dishwashers are used in particular for washing large rectangular trays or similar objects, as are used, for example, in bakeries, pastry shops or for displaying goods in supermarkets, delicatessens, etc. These trays cannot be cleaned in normal automatic dishwashers due to their size. To keep the floor plan requirement for the dishwasher as small as possible hold, the rectangular trays are placed side by side in an upright position with the longer side upwards, which can be pulled out of the dishwasher onto the door that can be folded out towards the front. The depth of the interior of the dishwasher then corresponds approximately to the width of the trays. Because of the greater height than the width of the trays, a single front folding door of the dishwasher would have to be made so large that it corresponds approximately to the height of the individual tray in its upright position in the dishwasher. However, this would lead to a very wide projecting front folding door that would protrude very far into the room when open. According to the prior art, the folding door is therefore designed as a lower folding door with a depth that projects into the room and corresponds approximately to the width of the trays or the side length of the square basic cross section of the dishwasher. However, such a door cannot cover the entire height of the front access opening to the washing chamber. Rather, another upper vertically displaceable sliding door is used for this purpose, which is guided in vertical guide rails. In the prior art mentioned at the outset, the lower folding door and the upper sliding door are moved synchronously with one another, ie when the lower folding door is opened, the upper sliding door moves upwards. This is achieved by a lever system in which a lever arm projecting into the interior of the dishwasher is arranged in the region of the horizontal axis of rotation of the lower folding door, the end of which describes a circular path when the lower folding door is opened and closed. At the end of this lever arm is connected a diagonally upward rigid push rod, at the end of which the upper sliding door is articulated. When the pivoting movement of the lower sliding door is carried out, the end of the lever arm moves upwards directed circular arc, the movement of which is transmitted to the upper sliding door via the rigid push rod or connecting rod. As a result, a synchronous movement is achieved.

The direction of force of the push bar is at an angle to the direction of movement of the sliding door. Pressure is exerted against the guide rails due to the oblique engagement position of the push rod, which leads to a certain tilting of the upper sliding door. Due to the lever path to be carried out of the lower point of application of the push rod between the lower folding door and the upper sliding door, the push rod can only be set at an angle of greater than 10 ° to the vertical during the movement process. This results in a horizontal pressure component in the upper bearing, which leads to tilting, or at least to a stiff movement of the upper sliding door in the vertically running guide rails. This applies in particular to the opening movement of the front door of the dishwasher, in which the folding door folds forward and the lever pushes the upper sliding door upwards at an angle via the push rod.

Advantages of the invention:

The dishwasher according to the invention with the characterizing features of the main claim has the advantage that tilting of the upper sliding door is almost impossible. In particular, the vertically running guide rails can also be manufactured with greater play, since the most precise guidance as in the state of the Technology is not necessary. The invention is based on the knowledge that a vertical pulling of the upper sliding door is much more effective than pushing the sliding door up at an angle, since a horizontal force component on the guide rail is eliminated.

In order to achieve a vertical pulling up of the upper sliding door, a cable is provided, the end of which is fastened in the lower area of the sliding door and which is guided over an upper deflection roller. The pull rope acting on the upper sliding door should be guided as vertically as possible. The cable runs from the upper pulley to another lower pulley and from there to the end of a swivel lever attached to the lower folding door. The arc of the end of the lever corresponds to the path that the sliding door has to travel.

Due to the pulling movement carried out on the upper sliding door in a direction parallel to the vertically running guide rails and due to the deflection of the cable pull via two deflecting rollers, a considerable reduction in force is achieved during the movement process. In particular, the lower folding door can be opened very easily and pulls the upper sliding door upwards via the cable and the two deflection rollers.

Further advantageous refinements and developments are specified in the subclaims. The arrangement of the upper deflecting roller and the lower deflecting roller is such that the least possible effort is required during the opening process and during the closing process. The closing process takes place either by the weight of the upper door or by an additional cable between the end of the Swivel lever and the sliding door in a direct way. In this case, the cable pull forms a traction cable running over two rollers, to which the upper sliding door and the end of the pivoting lever of the lower folding door are fastened.

Fig. 1

einen Längsschnitt durch den vorderen Türbereich einer Spülmaschine mit geöffneter unterer Klapptür und nach oben geschobener oberer Schiebetür,

Fig. 2

die Anordnung nach Fig. 1 mit geschlossener unterer Klapptür und nach unten gelassener oberer Schiebetür und

Fig. 3

verschiedene Darstellungen von geeigneten Antriebsmitteln.

Further details and advantages of the invention are shown in the drawing and explained in more detail in the following description. Show it

Fig. 1

a longitudinal section through the front door area of a dishwasher with the lower hinged door open and the upper sliding door pushed upwards,

Fig. 2

the arrangement of FIG. 1 with the lower bottom door closed and the upper sliding door left down and

Fig. 3

different representations of suitable drive means.

The dishwasher according to the invention is basically constructed like a machine of DE 26 51 616 C2, i. H. with a rinsing chamber, as shown in Figures 1 and 2 of this patent. Reference is hereby expressly made to the associated general description of this patent specification.

The dishwasher 1 according to the invention for cleaning upright objects, such as trays or the like, not shown in detail, has an inner washing chamber 2, the front access opening 3 of which can be closed by a lower folding door 4 and an upper sliding door 5. With reference number 6 is a dash-dotted tray in Fig. 1 indicated. The depth protruding into the room t 1 of the folded down door 4 'corresponds approximately to the width b 1 of the tray 6. The lower edge 7 of the upper open sliding door 5 is slightly above the upper edge 8 of the tray 6 with a height h 1. The folding door 4 shown in FIG. 1 describes the movement from the lower position 4 ′ to the upper position 4 ″ on the rotary arch 9, as shown in FIG. 2. Likewise, the upper sliding door 5 moves from the open position 5 'in FIG. 1 to the closed position 5''in FIG. 2. The lower edge 7 of the sliding door 5' in FIG. 1 shifts downward by the height h 2, until it reaches position 7 '' in Fig. 2. The vertically running guide rails 10 for the sliding door 5 are indicated in Fig. 1.

The sequence of movements between the lower folding door and the upper sliding door 5 is done by means of a cable 11 via an upper deflecting roller 12 and a lower deflecting roller 13. In addition, the folding door 4 has a pivoting lever 14 with an effective lever length l 1, which is arranged perpendicular to the folding door 4. During the upward and downward pivoting movement of the folding door 4, the pivoting lever 14 likewise executes a corresponding pivoting movement about the pivot point 15. The horizontal axis of rotation of the folding door 4 runs through the pivot point 15. The pivoting movement of the pivot lever 14 runs along the circular arc 16, the upper end point 17 of the pivot lever 14 pivoting from the position in FIG. 1 into the lower position 17 'in FIG. 2. At this upper end point 17 of the pivot lever 14, one end 18 of the cable 11 is attached. It leads from there via the lower guide roller 13 to the upper guide roller 12 and from there to the other end 19 of the cable 11. This other end point 19 is fastened in the lower region 20 of the sliding door 5.

The opening process can be described on the basis of FIG. 2 as follows. In Fig. 2 the lower folding door 4 '' is in the closed vertical position. Likewise, the upper sliding door is in its lower position, so that the access opening 3 of the washing chamber 2 is closed. In this position, the pivot lever 14 is in a horizontal lower position, the end of the pull rope 18 engaging at point 17 '. If you now open the hinged door 4 ″ in the direction of force 21, the hinged door rotates outward about the pivot point 15 in the direction of the arc 9 ′, as a result of which the lever 14 and in particular its outer end point 17 ′ migrates upward along the circular arc 16.

The traction cable is guided over the lower deflection roller 13, the deflection roller being located at a distance h 3 below and at a distance b 3 next to the lower articulation point 17 'of the pull cable on the pivot lever 14. If the pivot lever 14 now performs an upward circular movement along the circular arc 16, the end point 17 also moves upward, as a result of which the pulling rope is pulled over the lower deflection roller 13. The movement of the pull rope is indicated by the arrows 22. From the lower pulley 13, the traction cable leads to the upper pulley 12 and from there perpendicular to the other end point 19 of the cable 11. The vertical guidance of the traction cable 11 'from the upper pulley 12 to the end point 19 means that the force on the upper sliding door 5 only acts in their direction of movement.

An intermediate position of the folding door in an oblique arrangement is shown in Fig. 1 with 4 '' 'and corresponding pivot lever 14'.

The upper guide roller 12 is located at a height h₄ above the lower edge 7 of the sliding door 5 'in the upper Position, the distance to the center of the pulley is measured. The deflection roller 12 is arranged in such a way that the traction cable running over the end point 19 of the cable pull always leads vertically upwards. In this way, cross influences or canting on the sliding door 5 are avoided. Basically, the sliding door 5 is pulled upward by the cable as it moves upward. It is held in its position by the tensioned cable pull over the deflection rollers 12, 13.

The closing process takes place from the position according to Fig. 1, d. H. the horizontally located folding door 4 'is moved upwards along the circular arc 9' ', as a result of which the pivoting lever 14 moves counterclockwise. As a result, the rope end 18 is guided down into position 17 '. By relieving the rope, the cable can be guided upwards again via the deflection rollers (arrow 22 '), which leads to a downward movement of the sliding door 5 due to its own weight. In order to ensure a downward movement of the upper sliding door in any case, an additional pulling rope 23 can be provided between the outer articulation point 17 on the pivot lever 14 and the lower end region 20 on the sliding door 5. By means of this additional pull rope, the sliding door 5 is also pulled down by the pivot lever 14 when it moves downward.

The circular arc 16 has an effective arc length, which corresponds to the height adjustment h₂ of the sliding door 5.

In Fig. 3 different types of cables are shown, 3a being a stainless steel wire rope, 3b a roller chain, 3c a toothed belt, 3d a V-belt and 3e a round belt. Each of these cables can be used with a corresponding design of the deflection rollers 12, 13.

The arrangement of the lower deflection roller 13 can also be arranged at another location in the interior of the washing chamber. The decisive factor is the implementation of the movement carried out by the lever arm 14 during the folding movement of the lower folding door 4 to the sliding movement of the upper sliding door 5. The washing chamber can have the cable pull system shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 with two upper and two lower deflection rollers 12, 13 on each side .

Claims (5)

1. Washing machine for cleaning upright objects such as trays (6) or similar, which have a larger height h₁ than width b₁, with a washing chamber (2) which may be closed by means of a lower folding door (4) and an upper sliding door (5) mounted in vertically extending guide rails (10) by synchronous movement of the two doors, wherein the folding door (4) has a height or a depth t₁ of projection into the area corresponding approximately to the insertion depth of a removable loading basket for the objects (6) or to its width b₁, and the vertically movable upper sliding door (5) has a movable height h₂ corresponding approximately to the difference between the height h₁ of the objects (6) and the height t₁ of the lower folding door (4), and wherein also in the vicinity of the point of rotation (15) with the horizontal axis of rotation of the folding door (4), a swivel arm (14) rigidly connected to the folding door is provided, the swivel movement of which causes the sliding door (5) to make a lifting movement when the folding door is operated, characterised in that above the lower edge (7) of the upper sliding door (5) when opened, a first return roller (12) is arranged for a cable line (11), that one end (19) of the cable line (11) is connected to the sliding door (5) and the cable line (11) is guided over the first return roller (12) located above it to a second return roller (13) located below it and from there to the outer end (17) of the swivel lever (14), and the end (17) of the swivel lever (14) thereby describes a circular arc (16) on movement of the folding door (4), the arc length corresponding in magnitude to the height h₂ of opening of the upper sliding door (5).
2. Washing machine according to Claim 1, characterised in that the cable line (11') fastened on the lower edge (20) of the upper sliding door (5) is guided vertically to the upper first return roller (12).
3. Washing machine according to Claim 1 or 2, characterised in that when the lower folding door (4'') is closed, the second return roller (13) is arranged laterally underneath the end (17') of the horizontally disposed swivel lever (14).
4. Washing machine according to one or several of the preceding claims, characterised in that the upper sliding door (5) is directly connected to the end of the swivel lever (14) of the lower door (4) via a cable line (23).
5. Washing machine according to one or several of the preceding claims, characterised in that the cable line (11) comprises a high-grade steel wire cable (Figure 3a), a roller chain (Figure 3b), a toothed belt (Figure 3c), a V-belt (Figure 3d), or a round belt (Figure 3e).

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