WO2008104478A1 - Set comprising a household appliance and at least one device for protection during transport - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a set comprising a household appliance (1) provided with a housing (2) with a wall (3), a vibrating system (4) suspended in the housing (2), and at least one device (5, 7) for protection during transport, said device comprising a spacer sleeve (5) that can be arranged between the wall (3) and the vibrating system (4), and a bolt (7) comprising a head (8) and a cylindrical screw part (9) carrying an outer thread (10). Said screw part (9) can be screwed, through a first recess (12) in the wall (3) and a first borehole (6) in the spacer sleeve (5), into an inner thread (16) of a second borehole (15) in the vibrating system (4). The spacer sleeve (5) can be introduced into the housing (2) through a second recess (13) and can be moved between the wall (3) and the vibrating system (4) such that the first recess (12) and the first borehole (6) are aligned. The bolt (7) comprises, between the head (8) and the screw part (9), a cylindrical adaptive part (11) which is wider than the screw part (9) and can be fitted into the first recess (12) in a positively locking manner. Furthermore, the first recess (12) and the second recess (13) are interconnected through a slit (14) in the wall (3) in which the screw part (9), but not the adaptive part (11), can be moved.

Description

 Set comprising a household appliance and at least one

transport safety

The invention relates to a kit comprising a domestic appliance with a housing, which has a wall, and a swinging system suspended in the housing, and at least one transport securing device comprising a spacer sleeve which can be placed between the wall and the oscillating system and a bolt with a head and a cylindrical an externally threaded screw member, which screw member is threadable through a first recess in the wall and a first bore in the spacer sleeve into an internal thread of a second bore in the oscillating system, the spacer sleeve being insertable through a second recess in the housing and between the wall and the oscillating system is displaceable, so that the first recess and the first bore are aligned.

Such a sentence is apparent from WO 2006/1 17253 A1.

The state of the art is further referred to EP 0 829 567 B1, EP 1 498 537 A1 and EP1 491 675 A2. From each of these further documents, one set comprising a household appliance and at least one transport safety device emerge.

There are domestic appliances in which, during normal operation, in each case a larger mass moves, in particular has to be rotated. In a device for the care of laundry, especially in a washing machine, this is a to be maintained and usually wet with wash or water wetted laundry drum, which is usually installed in a liquid-tight tub for receiving the wash liquor or water and with a connected to the tub attached to the motor. Other components, in particular a pump and / or a sensor arrangement are usually also connected to the tub. The tub with all the above components is suspended with springs and dampers in a housing of the household appliance and thus forms a "vibrating system", ie a system which to some extent on forces and moments emanating from the rotating drum, with movements, and though Vibrations, can react. The mechanical energy of these vibrations is dissipated in the dampers and converted into heat, so that only small forces and moments from the oscillating system act on the housing. Therefore, the housing remains at each conceivable in the context of its intended operation load due to vibrations stable at the place where it was set up.

When such a domestic appliance is to be transported, for example, from a manufacturing facility to a warehouse, from a warehouse to a retailer, or from a retailer to a user, the domestic appliance must be secured against vibrations that may act on it during transport. For this purpose, it is common and is described in detail in the cited documents of the prior art, the housing and the oscillating system of such a domestic appliance by means of a special transport lock (or a plurality of such transport locks) largely immovably against each other to fix. In this regard, the disclosure of the cited prior art documents is fully attributable to this disclosure.

When designing a transport lock for a household appliance, a variety of aspects must be considered. It is not only a reliable fixation between housing and oscillating system to achieve; In addition, the transport lock must be easy to install and without undue effort in a routine manufacturing process. This may possibly also take place only after complete assembly of the domestic appliance, so that a routine functional test may still be possible before the fixation between the housing and the oscillating system. Finally, the transport safety device must also be able to be solved by a person who may not be competent without major difficulties, since a user does not always want to consult a trained specialist for putting the household appliance into operation.

It is desirable to hold the bolt in the spacer sleeve, so that the spacer sleeve with the bolt can be formed as a preassembled and permanent unit and the bolt can be removed only with considerable effort from the spacer sleeve. This facilitates the handling of the transport lock, as the bolt is not without more can be lost from the sleeve. In the transport lock according to WO 2006/117253 A1 described above, this desirable combination of the bolt and the spacer sleeve is not possible. To install the transport lock the spacer sleeve is first inserted without the bolt in the housing and moved so that its bore is aligned with a corresponding bore of the oscillating system. The hole in the spacer sleeve is also aligned with a round recess in the housing next to the insertion, so that then the bolt can be pushed through the hole in the housing and the hole in the spacer sleeve for drilling in the oscillating system and screwed there. In this configuration, the bolt is immovably supported by the bore in the housing, and thus avoids the just described impairment of the transport lock.

The invention to be described below, inter alia, is based on the object of specifying a set comprising a domestic appliance and a transport lock of the type defined above, in which a preassemblable unit of spacer sleeve and bolts are handled and a permanent mounting of the bolt in the spacer sleeve is possible in which, however, an impairment of the effect of the transport lock by a force acting after fixing the housing against the oscillating system force is still excluded.

This object is achieved by a set comprising a domestic appliance and at least one transport lock, as defined in claim 1. Preferred and advantageous embodiments of this sentence will become apparent from the dependent claims.

Accordingly, according to the invention a set comprising a domestic appliance with a housing, which has a wall, and a suspended in the housing oscillating system, and at least one transport lock comprising a platzble between the wall and the oscillating system spacer sleeve and a bolt with a head and a cylindrical, an external thread bearing screw, which screw is screwed through a first recess in the wall and a first bore in the spacer sleeve in an internal thread of a second bore in the oscillating system, wherein the spacer sleeve inserted through a second recess in the housing and between the Wall and the oscillating system is displaceable, so that the first recess and the first bore are aligned with each other, according to the invention, the bolt between the head and the screw has a cylindrical and opposite the screw extended fitting part, which is positively fit into the first recess, and that the first recess and the second recess through a slot in the wall in which the screw, but not the fitting part, is displaceable, are interconnected.

According to the invention, it is possible to meet two requirements which seem to be incompatible with each other at the same time by, on the one hand, making possible the securing of the transport comprising the union of the spacer sleeve and the bolt spaced from the fixing position in which it must be located the housing and the oscillating system are to be fixed against each other, insert into the housing and then move to the fixing position, wherein the bolt is moved through a slot in the housing by the recess through which it was introduced with the spacer sleeve, and during the installation of the transport lock but to achieve a substantially effective over the range of full angle support of the bolt on the housing. For this purpose, the bolt between the head and the screw part is extended with respect to the screw extended, from the head of the bolt but clearly surmounted fitting part. Between the first recess, which penetrates the bolt when fixing the transport lock, and the second recess through which it is inserted, a slot is provided in the housing, through which the screw of the bolt, but not the fitting part, when moving laterally the transport lock can move. After fixation of the transport lock, the bolt is not supported by material of the wall where the fitting portion passes into the slot, but receives the necessary support in the direction of the slot through the edges of the wall at the transition between the first recess and the slot , Accordingly, the bolt is fully supported after its fixation, and accordingly, even when a high force occurs during transport of the domestic appliance with the transport lock protection against unwanted displacement of the transport lock is given.

The spacer sleeve of the set is preferably approximately cylindrical, particularly preferably approximately circular cylindrical. It is also preferred that the spacer sleeve has a clamping device for clamping the bolt. In this way, the spacer sleeve and the bolt can be permanently combined with each other and stored in particular for storage without loosening their connection.

It is particularly preferred that the spacer sleeve is connected via a feasible through the second region bridge with a clampable between the head and the wall support plate, which support plate has a coaxial with the first bore third bore. When installing the transport lock this support plate remains outside of the housing; it indicates the position of the spacer sleeve and can also serve to contact and move the spacer sleeve, which is located inside the housing and therefore not visible to the user of the transport lock. A further preferred embodiment is that on the support plate an arcuate support is formed. Such a holder can be used with advantage in the handling of the transport lock; it can also serve to temporarily or permanently fix a hose for fresh or waste water, a cable or the like in a domestic appliance of the water-bearing type, in particular in a washing machine, a washer-dryer or a dishwasher.

Also preferred is a set in which the spacer sleeve is a truss-like construction. Such a truss-like construction is lighter and thus more cost-effective than an embodiment made of solid material, with no compromise in terms of strength properties. As a material for the spacer initially comes any material that is customary for use for a fastening purpose in a domestic appliance. Particularly preferred in this sense is a talc-filled polypropylene; Instead of the polypropylene, polyamide, polystyrene and ABS are also conceivable. Of interest is also hard rubber, due to the particularly pronounced rubber elasticity of the material.

Further preferred is a set in which the bolt has a circular washer formed between the head and the fitting; such a bolt is simple, safe and easy to handle, and eliminates the need for a separate washer. The molded washer preferably has a Diameter, which is about three times a diameter of the screw.

A preferred dimension of the fitting part provides that this has a diameter which corresponds approximately to twice a diameter of the screw. In this way, a suitable holding effect is achieved in the first recess.

A preferred dimension of the screw provides that this has a diameter between 4 mm and 10 mm, in particular about 6 mm. It is further preferred that the fitting part has a diameter which is at least 2 mm larger than the diameter of the screw. Thus, in a favorable geometry of the bolt and the recesses in the wall a sufficient in particular on a domestic appliance in the form of a washing machine or a washer dryer effectiveness of the transport lock is achieved.

In order to further improve the effectiveness of the transport lock, it is preferred that the wall has a reinforcement surrounding the first recess, in particular in the form of a reinforcement sheet applied by clinching or spot welding.

In this connection, it should be noted that the invention does not necessarily require that the wall be an integral part of the housing. In principle, the wall can also belong to a cross member, which is placed on the housing for the purpose of attaching the transport lock. Preferably, however, the attachment of the transport lock is directly on a wall, which is an integral part of the housing.

When the transport lock of the set is in effect, the spacer sleeve between the wall and the oscillating system is inserted, wherein the fitting part of the first recess and the screw member penetrates the first bore and is screwed into the second bore, wherein the bolt, the housing and the oscillating system braced against each other via the spacer sleeve. Also preferred is a set in which one housing is assigned a plurality of transport securing devices, particularly preferably a plurality of four transport securing devices.

Most preferably, the domestic appliance in the set is in a washing machine, and the oscillating system is a tub (with all associated components) of the washing machine.

Preferred embodiments of the invention are explained below with reference to the figures of the drawing. In detail show:

Fig. 1 shows a set comprising a (only partially shown) domestic appliance and a

Transport safety;

2 shows a spacer sleeve of a transport lock; 3 shows a bolt of a transport lock; 4 is a view of a wall with recesses.

Figure 5 is a view of a wall with plugged in bolt.

6 shows a spacer sleeve of a transport safety device; and

Fig. 7 is a view of a household appliance with multiple transport locks.

In the drawing, functionally identical or otherwise corresponding parts each bear the same reference numerals; and to that extent the following description also applies to all corresponding figures.

FIG. 1 shows a set comprising a domestic appliance 1 with a housing 2, which has a wall 3. In the housing 2 suspended by means not shown is a vibrating system 4. The domestic appliance 1 is a washing machine 1, and the oscillating system 4 is a tub 4. The housing 2 and the oscillating system 4 are braced against each other and so secured for transport. For this purpose there is between them a circular cylindrical spacer sleeve 5, which has a central first bore 6, through which a bolt 7 inserted and in a second bore 15, which is provided with a corresponding internal thread 16, is bolted to the oscillating system 4. The bolt 7, which is shown individually in Figure 3, has a head 8, which according to common practice as a hexagon and the Manipulation with a conventional tool, in particular a jaw or ring spanner, dimensioned according to a common standard. In addition, the bolt 7 has a cylindrical screw part 9 with an external thread 10. Furthermore, the bolt 7 has a likewise cylindrical fitting part 11, which is fitted in a wall 1 in a first recess 12 (see FIG.

Figure 2 shows a longitudinal section through the spacer sleeve 5. It has a clamping device 17, with which the bolt 7 can be clamped such that it can not fall out of the first hole 6 with appropriate handling of the transport lock 5, 7. Also, the spacer sleeve 5 has a support plate 19 connected thereto via a bridge 18 with a third bore 20 coaxial with the first bore 6 for insertion of the bolt 7.

In Figure 3 can be seen on the bolt 7 next to the head, the fitting part 1 1 and the screw 9 in addition to external thread 10 integrally formed between the head 8 and the fitting part 1 washer 21. This gives the head 8 a defined support on the wall 3 and of the support plate 19, as can be seen in particular in FIG.

FIG. 4 shows the wall 3 which is set up for the application of the transport lock 5, 7. One recognizes a first recess 12, which is substantially circular and in which the fitting part 1 1 of the bolt 7 (see Figures 1 and 3) must be fitted. In addition to the first recess 12 and slightly distanced from this is a slightly larger second recess 13, through which the spacer sleeve 5 can be inserted into the housing 2. The first recess 12 and the second recess 13 are connected by a slot 14 which is just so wide that the screw member 9 of the bolt 7, but not the fitting part 1 1, can be pushed through. After insertion, the spacer sleeve 5 is moved so far laterally under the guidance of the screw member 9 through the slot 14, that its fitting part 11 is aligned with the first recess 12; then the bolt 7 is aligned with the second bore 15 in the oscillating system 4 (see Figure 1), and the bolt 7 can be screwed.

The arrangement of the bolt 7 relative to the wall 3 is also apparent from Figure 5. There is shown how the fitting part 1 1 is fitted into the first recess 12. It is also it can be seen how edges of the wall 3 or of the reinforcing plate 23 still applied to it at the transitions between the first recess 12 and the slot 14 secure the bolt 7 against displacement along the slot 14 and towards the second recess 13. For this purpose, it is sufficient if about 1 mm of material of the wall 3 and the reinforcement 23 are available at each of these edges. Preferred dimensions for the bolt are listed above.

Figure 6 shows a preferred embodiment of the spacer sleeve 5. This is not made of solid material, but from a framework, while maintaining the preferred, basically circular-cylindrical outer shape .. It can be made in particular as a plastic injection molded part; preferred materials are listed above.

FIG. 7 shows a view of a rear side of a domestic appliance 1, namely a washing machine 1. This has a substantially prismatic housing 2, in which a vibrating system 4 is suspended, namely a tub 4, which can be seen through a rear opening in the housing 2 , With four transport securing devices 5, which are not recognizable in detail in FIG. 7 and correspond to one of the embodiments described here, the tub 4 is braced against the housing 2 and secured extensively for transport.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

1 domestic appliance, washing machine

2 housings

3 wall 4 oscillating system, tub

5 spacer sleeve

6 First drilling

7 bolts

8 bolt head 9 screw part

10 external threads

1 1 fitting part

12 First recess in the wall

13 second recess in the wall 14 slot in the wall

15 Second hole

16 internal thread

17 Clamping device

18 bridge 19 support plate

20 Third hole

21 Washer

22 bracket

23 reinforcement

Claims

A set comprising a domestic appliance (1) with a housing (2), which has a wall (3), and a swinging system (4) suspended in the housing (2), and at least one transport safety device (5, 7) comprising one spacer sleeve (5) which can be placed between the wall (3) and the oscillating system (4) and a bolt (7) with a head (8) and a cylindrical screw part (9) carrying an external thread (10), which screw part (9) by a first recess (12) in the wall (3) and a first bore (6) in the spacer sleeve (5) in an internal thread (16) of a second bore (15) in the oscillating system (4) is screwed, wherein the spacer sleeve (5) through a second recess (13) in the housing (2) insertable and between the wall ( 3) and the oscillating system (4) is displaceable, so that the first recess (12) and the first bore (6) are aligned, characterized in that the bolt (7) between the head (8) and the screw (9 ) has a cylindrical and with respect to the screw (9) extended fitting part (1 1), which in the first recess (12) is positively fit, and in that the first recess (12) and the second recess (13) through a slot (14 ) in the wall (3), in which the screw member (9), but not the fitting part (1 1), is displaceable, are interconnected. 2. Set according to claim 1, wherein the spacer sleeve (5) is approximately cylindrical, preferably approximately circular cylindrical. 3. Set according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the spacer sleeve (5) has a clamping device (17) for clamping the bolt (7). 4. Set according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the spacer sleeve (5) via a through the slot (14) feasible bridge (18) with a between the head (8) and the wall (3) clamped support plate (19) is connected in that the support plate (19) has a third bore (20) coaxial with the first bore (6). 5. Set according to claim 4, wherein on the support plate (19) an arcuate support (22) is integrally formed. 6. Set according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the spacer sleeve (5) is a framework (5). 7. sentence according to one of the preceding claims; in which the bolt (7) has a circular washer (21) formed between the head (8) and the fitting part (11). 8. A kit according to claim 7, wherein the washer (22) has a diameter which is about three times a diameter of the screw member (9). 9. sentence according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the fitting part (1 1) a Diameter which corresponds approximately to twice a diameter of the screw (9). 10. Set according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the screw member (9) has a diameter between 4 mm and 10 mm, in particular about 6 mm. 11. Set according to claim 10, wherein the fitting part (1 1) has a diameter which is at least 2 mm larger than a diameter of the screw member (9). A kit according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the wall (3) is one of the first Recess (12) has surrounding reinforcement (23). 13. Set according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the spacer sleeve (5) between the wall (3) and the oscillating system (4) is inserted, wherein the fitting part (1 1) the first recess (12) and the screw member (9 ) penetrates the first bore and is screwed in the second bore (15), wherein the bolt (7) the housing (2) and the oscillating system (4) via the spacer sleeve (5) braced against each other. 14. Set according to one of the preceding claims, comprising a housing (2) and a plurality of transport locks (5, 7), preferably a plurality of four transport locks (5, 7). 15. Set according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the domestic appliance (1) a Washing machine (1) and the oscillating system (4) is a tub (4).