HOUSEHOLD DISHWASHER HAVING AT LEAST ONE AIR OUTLET
20230301485 · 2023-09-28
Inventors
Cpc classification
A47L15/488
HUMAN NECESSITIES
International classification
Abstract
A household dishwasher includes a dishwasher cavity for processing items to be washed, a front panel attached to a front side of the household dishwasher, and an air discharge unit arranged in a lower quarter of a height of the household dishwasher and including an air outlet designed to discharge air from the dishwasher cavity and arranged in the lower quarter of the height of the household dishwasher. The air outlet extends as a slotted outlet over at least two thirds of a width of the household dishwasher. The air discharge unit is designed to be held indirectly or directly on the front panel via a retaining connection in such a way that the air discharge unit is detachable from the front panel when the front panel is dismantled.
Claims
1-21. (canceled)
22. A household dishwasher, comprising: a dishwasher cavity for processing items to be washed; a front panel attached to a front side of the household dishwasher; and an air discharge unit arranged in a lower quarter of a height of the household dishwasher and comprising an air outlet designed to discharge air from the dishwasher cavity and arranged in the lower quarter of the height of the household dishwasher, said air outlet extending as a slotted outlet over at least two thirds of a width of the household dishwasher, said air discharge unit designed to be held indirectly or directly on the front panel via a retaining connection such that the air discharge unit is detachable from the front panel when the front panel is dismantled.
23. The household dishwasher of claim 22, wherein the retaining connection between the air discharge unit and the front panel is detachable without using a tool when the front panel is dismantled.
24. The household dishwasher of claim 22, wherein the retaining connection between the air discharge unit and the front panel is releasable by dismantling the front panel.
25. The household dishwasher of claim 22, wherein the retaining connection between the air discharge unit and the front panel assumes an engagement position without using a tool by assembling the front panel.
26. The household dishwasher of claim 22, wherein the air outlet of the air discharge unit includes, in a final assembly position of the air discharge unit, an air discharge duct that extends toward the front side.
27. The household dishwasher of claim 26, further comprising a plinth which is closed off by the front panel at the front, wherein in the final assembly position of the air discharge unit, the air discharge duct is designed such as to engage over the front panel.
28. The household dishwasher of claim 27, wherein the air discharge duct projects at least to a same extent toward the front side with respect to the front panel.
29. The household dishwasher of claim 26, wherein the air discharge unit comprises an air pre-distributor which, in its final assembly position, projects upward and extends in a width direction, said air-pre-distributor having an upper end which is adjoined by the air discharge duct of the air outlet, and further comprising an air supply line for attachment to a connection of the air discharge unit.
30. The household dishwasher of claim 29, wherein the connection of the air discharge unit is located at a rear side of the air discharge unit.
31. The household dishwasher of claim 29, wherein the air pre-distributor of the air discharge unit is arranged in the final assembly position thereof behind the front panel.
32. The household dishwasher of claim 29, wherein the air pre-distributor supplies air to the air outlet, said air outlet remaining together with the air pre-distributor and the connection to commonly form the air discharge unit, when the front panel is dismantled, with the air supply line designed in particular with excess length and mountable on the air discharge unit.
33. The household dishwasher of claim 29, wherein the air supply line is a flexible connection hose or a corrugated tube.
34. The household dishwasher of claim 22, further comprising a front protective frame connected to the front panel and connectable to the air discharge unit, in particular to the air outlet.
35. The household dishwasher of claim 34, wherein the protective frame is detachably connected to the air discharge unit by bracing.
36. The household dishwasher of claim 22, wherein the retaining connection between the air discharge unit and the front panel comprises a clip connection.
37. The household dishwasher of claim 36, wherein the clip connection comprises a retaining cone having spreading wings that are distributed over a circumference of the retaining cone on a rear side of the front panel, which rear side faces away from the front side, said spreading wings connectable to the air discharge unit, in particular to a protruding air pre-distributor of the air discharge unit.
38. The household dishwasher of claim 34, further comprising a retaining tab for connection to the air discharge unit on a rear side of the protective frame, which rear side faces away from the front side.
39. The household dishwasher of claim 38, wherein the retaining tab is disengageable from the air discharge unit by engaging a tool from the front side.
40. The household dishwasher of claim 22, wherein the retaining connection between the air discharge unit and the front panel comprises a magnetic connection.
41. The household dishwasher of claim 22, wherein the retaining connection between the air discharge unit and the front panel comprises a Velcro connection.
42. The household dishwasher of claim 22, wherein the air outlet forms, in a direction toward the front, an air discharge duct having a length of several centimeters and defining a discharge direction which is inclined downward by several degrees relative to a floor.
43. The household dishwasher of claim 42, wherein that the air discharge duct is inclined between 2° and 10°, in particular between 4° and 6°, toward the floor.
44. The household dishwasher of claim 22, wherein the air outlet is at least 40 centimeters wide overall when the household dishwasher has a width of 60 cm.
45. The household dishwasher of claim 22, wherein the air outlet is designed as a flat slotted outlet with a height-to-width ratio of between 1:20 and 1:200, in particular of about 1:100.
Description
[0032] Further advantages and features result from exemplary embodiments of the subject matter of the invention shown in the drawing and described below.
[0033] In the drawing:
[0034]
[0035]
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[0039]
[0040]
[0041]
[0042] The household appliance shown schematically in
[0043] The household dishwasher 1 that is described below according to
[0044] The dishwasher cavity 2 can be closed, in particular at this front side V, by a front door or flap 3. This front door 3 is shown in
[0045] On the outer and front side V of the household dishwasher 1, which is vertical in the closed position and faces the user, the front door 3 can be provided with a decorative panel 6 to provide a visual and/or tactile enhancement and/or to match surrounding kitchen furniture.
[0046] The household dishwasher is designed here as a stand-alone or as a so-called partially integrated or also as a fully integrated appliance. In the latter case, the appliance body 5 can also be essentially flush with the outer walls of the dishwasher cavity 2. It is then possible to forego a housing that surrounds this on the outside. In the lower region of the household dishwasher, there is a plinth 12 on which the dishwasher cavity 2 is mounted and which serves in particular to receive functional elements of the household dishwasher, such as, for example, a pump for circulating the washing liquor, an emptying pump, a pump sump, a control unit, etc. In this plinth 12 itself or, as here in the exemplary embodiment, in its front setback space, an air outlet 14 is provided, which is described further below and which partially engages over a front panel 15, which visually closes off the plinth or the plinth setback region to the front, toward the front side V.
[0047] In the exemplary embodiment according to the drawing, the movable front door 3 is allocated in its upper region a front control panel 8 which extends in the transverse direction Q of the household dishwasher and which can comprise an engagement opening 7 that is accessible from the front side V so as to facilitate the manual opening and/or closing of the door 3. In the transverse direction Q, the household dishwasher often has an extent of 45, 50 or 60 centimeters. In the depth direction T from the front side V to the rear, the extent is also frequently about 60 centimeters. The values are not mandatory. Also, the household dishwasher 1 does not have to stand directly on a floor B such as, for example, of a kitchen room, but can also be installed approximately at eye level within a piece of kitchen furniture, so that the problem of drafts through an air outlet 14 mentioned at the beginning must then be given special attention. In a fully integrable household dishwasher, the front control panel 8 in the upper region of the front door is omitted and replaced by a control panel in the upper edge of the front door. Other arrangements of the control panel on and/or in the front door are also possible. If necessary, the control panel can be omitted altogether, for example if the operation of the household dishwasher can be controlled and/or monitored using a mobile communication device such as, for example, a smartphone.
[0048] When the door or flap 3 is in the closed position, the dishwasher cavity 2 is defined circumferentially by a total of three fixed vertical walls 13 and two horizontal walls 13, one of which forms a top (top) and another a bottom (bottom) of the dishwasher cavity 2. A left upright side wall 13 and a right upright side wall 13 adjoin the front side V, which faces the user, in the transverse direction Q toward the left and toward the right, respectively.
[0049] The wall that forms the bottom of the dishwasher cavity 2 and delimits it substantially downward lies approximately horizontally above the plinth 12, in other words parallel to an external floor B, in particular of a kitchen room, on which the household dishwasher 1 can stand. A higher installation, for example approximately at the height of a worktop, is also possible as mentioned, in particular within a cabinet unit. The lower edge of the household dishwasher 1 is then approximately 70 to 110 centimeters above the floor B in the installation position.
[0050] The household dishwasher 1 is provided with at least one air outlet 14 so as to discharge, in particular, moist air from the dishwasher interior of the dishwasher cavity 2. This air outlet 14 can discharge air, in particular moist air, from the dishwasher interior of the dishwasher cavity into the free air space on the front side V of the household dishwasher 1, said front side facing a user, so that the moist air is not carried inside a kitchen unit and could not cause damage there due to moisture. The, in particular, moist dishwasher interior air is discharged by means of the air outlet 14 preferably during the program-ending drying phase of a dishwashing program that is to be executed and/or during at least one additional drying phase of a subsequent “storage function phase”. In any case, the front door 3 remains closed.
[0051] The air outlet 14 is part of an air discharge unit 16, which is shown by way of example in
[0052] The air discharge unit 16 can be made entirely of plastic. Furthermore, the air outlet 14 can be divided into multiple mutually aligned sub-slots. These do not all have to be of the same length. It is important that a broadly extended air outlet 14 is created overall, which allows a high air throughput in order thus to also achieve a broad distribution of the moisture that is contained in the air.
[0053] The air outlet 14 is arranged here in the lower quarter of the appliance height and extends—as described—as a single-part or multi-part slotted outlet over at least two thirds of the width Q of the household dishwasher 1. In particular, the air outlet 14 is at least 40 centimeters wide (in particular in the case of a household dishwasher with an appliance width of 60 cm). It can also extend over almost the entire width Q of the household dishwasher 1.
[0054] As can be seen in
[0055] The air discharge unit 16 that comprises the air outlet 14 is held overall indirectly or directly on the front panel 15, which is attached to the front side V and visually closes off the front plinth setback region of the household dishwasher to the front. In the exemplary embodiment of
[0056] In this exemplary embodiment, the air discharge unit 16 preferably has an air pre-distributor 29 which, in its final assembly position, projects upward and extends in the width direction Q and the air discharge duct 18 of the, in particular slot-shaped, air outlet 14 that projects toward the front side is connected at the upper end of said air pre-distributor, and which has a connection 19, in particular at the rear (see
[0057] In particular, the air discharge unit 16, which comprises the air discharge duct 18, the air pre-distributor 29 and the connection 19 for the air supply line 20, is designed as one part or one piece, i.e. it forms a single component. This greatly simplifies its assembling/dismantling. Preferably, it is made of plastic, in particular by plastic injection molding.
[0058] The retaining connection between the air discharge unit 16, which comprises the air outlet 14, and the front panel 15 can be released when the front panel 15 is removed. Thus, even when the front panel 15 is opened, for example for maintenance purposes, for which the front panel 15 in particular is tilted forward and pulled out of the plinth setback space to the front, the air discharge unit 16 as a whole can be held together and does not have to be disassembled. This greatly facilitates handling when access to the plinth 12 is required and eliminates the possibility of errors, such as, for example, as a result of incorrect re-mounting.
[0059] For special simplification, the retaining connection between the air discharge unit 16, which comprises the air outlet 14, and the front panel 15 can be detached without the use of tools when the front panel 15 is dismantled, which makes the work particularly easy for the respective installer.
[0060] In the simplest case, which will be discussed in more detail below, the retaining connection between the air discharge unit 16, which comprises the air outlet 14, and the front panel 15 can be released simply by dismantling the front panel 15. It is then sufficient to pull away and/or rotate away the front panel 15 with a component toward the front side V, then the retaining connection to the air discharge unit 16 is also automatically released without a further work step.
[0061] Depending on the design, it is also possible to bring the retaining connection between the air discharge unit 16, which comprises the air outlet 14, and the front panel 15 into an engaged position by assembling the front panel 15 without the use of tools. Then it is sufficient for the connection to the air discharge unit 16 if the front panel is pushed or rotated back into its initial position on the appliance body. This is, of course, the simplest solution for an installer.
[0062] When the front panel 15 is dismantled—for example, for repair or maintenance purposes—the air outlet 14 having the air distribution 29 that supplies it and a rear connection 19 remain together as a common air discharge unit 16, regardless of the type of releasable retaining connection, and also a line (air supply line) 20 that supplies air and issues into the connection 19 and is designed in particular with excess length—in this exemplary embodiment (see
[0063] As can be seen, for example, in
[0064] The latching elements 23 can easily engage positively in corresponding undercuts on the air pre-distributor 29 and/or the air discharge duct 18 or act on the air discharge unit 16 only by frictional engagement. In the case of positive engagement, a clip connection which automatically engages as the front panel 15 is pushed on is created as a retaining connection between the air discharge unit 16 and the front panel 15. In order to release the latching elements 23 from the undercuts on the air pre-distributor 29 and/or air discharge duct 18, it is possible in particular to insert a tool 25 from the front of the protective frame 21, as shown in the rightmost partial figure of
[0065] A clip connection between the air discharge unit 16, which comprises the air outlet 14, and the front panel 15 is also shown in
[0066] In addition or alternatively, the retaining connection between the air discharge unit 16, which comprises the air outlet 14, and the front panel 15 can also comprise a magnetic connection and/or a Velcro connection—not illustrated here in each case.
[0067] As already mentioned above, the air outlet 14 having its air discharge duct 18 which extends broadly in the transverse direction Q but conducts the air in the direction of the front side V can engage over the front panel 15 that closes off the plinth 12 at the front and project at least the same distance toward the front side V with respect thereto. The plinth 12 can be set back by a few centimeters with its front-side facing front panel 15 relative to the door 3, nevertheless, wetting of the lower edge of the door 3 can be avoided by the forward facing component of the air discharging velocity. In addition, according to an advantageous further development, an upper guide, for example an upper wall, of the air outlet 14 at its air discharge duct 18 can be arranged in particular at a slight angle such that the air flowing out is discharged a few degrees downward into the room. Thus, the air does not flow out in a completely horizontal manner, but can be conveyed through the downward component under the door 3 without causing moisture damage there. The wide extent of the air outlet 14 prevents an annoying draft. With the downward component, the discharged air is carried a few centimeters in front of the appliance 1, and in particular by a direct path, i.e. unimpeded or without deflections, before an upward component becomes effective due to the fact that the discharged air is generally warmer than the surrounding room air. The downward component is between 2° and 10°, and a discharge angle of between 4° and 6° relative to the horizontal is particularly favorable in order to protect the door from moistening and at the same time to also prevent moisture from reaching the external floor B, such as, for example, a kitchen floor.
[0068] For this purpose, in particular, the air outlet 14 having its air discharge duct 18 is designed as a flat slotted outlet whose height-to-width ratio can preferably be between 1:20 and 1:200, preferably approximately equal to 1:100 (in particular in relation to a household dishwasher with a 60 cm appliance width). Then, in the case of a 40-centimeter-wide air outlet 14 (in particular in relation to a household dishwasher with a 60-cm appliance width), its height in the height direction H is in particular less than about 8 mm, preferably about equal to 4 mm. This ensures that on the one hand the air outlet 14 takes up little installation space in the height direction H, and on the other hand the total extent of the air outlet 14 is large enough to discharge a high volume and thus keep drafts very low.
[0069] It is possible so as to supply air to allocate at least one conveying element in or upstream of the connection to the air outlet 14 of the line 20 and said conveying element can also be activated in cycles, even over a period of several days.
[0070] Such a household dishwasher 1 can also easily be provided with a so-called “storage function”, which allows the items to be washed to remain in the dishwasher cavity 2 after processing without becoming damp again. Such processed items to be washed can remain in said household dishwasher for several days without the dryness of said items deteriorating. The household dishwasher 1 then also serves as a storage and drying cabinet from which the items to be washed can be removed fresh and dry.
[0071] For this purpose, the conveying element in particular can be activated in cycles. Alternatively, and particularly effectively, the conveying element is controlled in a closed-loop manner by a moisture sensor system that provides a measure of the current moisture of the items to be washed that are located in the dishwasher cavity.
[0072] In both cases, the conveying element is preferably switched on only now and then in order to repeatedly convey moist air out of the dishwasher cavity 2 and thus maintain the quality of the cleaning of the items to be washed over a longer period of time. Due to the only short effective running times, the energy requirement is low—as is the noise pollution caused by the at least one fan wheel or similar conveying element.
[0073] If necessary, however, it can also be advantageous if the conveying element is operated continuously with air that is to be discharged, in particular dishwasher interior air, during the drying phase of the respective dishwashing program and/or during the total duration of any subsequent “storage function phase” and/or any other operating phase of the household dishwasher.
LIST OF REFERENCE CHARACTERS
[0074] 1 Household appliance, [0075] 2 Dishwasher cavity, [0076] 3 Front door, [0077] 4 Pivot direction, [0078] 5 Appliance body, [0079] 6 Decorative plate, [0080] 7 Engagement opening, [0081] 8 Control panel, [0082] 10 Cutlery drawer, [0083] 11 Dishware basket, [0084] 12 Plinth, [0085] 13 Walls of the dishwasher cavity, [0086] 14 Air outlet, [0087] 15 Front panel, [0088] 16 Air discharge unit, [0089] 17 Cutout, [0090] 18 Air discharge duct, [0091] 19 Connection, [0092] 20 Air supply line, [0093] 21 Protective frame, [0094] 22 Retaining tab, [0095] 23 Latching elements, [0096] 24 Retaining lines, [0097] 25 Tool, [0098] 26 Retaining cone, [0099] 27 Spreading wings, [0100] 28 Conveying element, [0101] 29 Air pre-distributor of the air discharge unit [0102] V Front side, [0103] Q Transverse direction, [0104] B Floor such as, for example, kitchen floor. [0105] H Vertical height, [0106] T Depth direction