Abstract
A dish rack (1) for dishwashers (2), the dish rack (1) having a grid-shaped rack base (4), which is formed from base webs (3), and side walls (5), the side walls (5) together with the rack base (4) surrounding a rack interior space (6) of the dish rack (1), and the rack base (4) and/or the side walls (5) having standing surfaces (8) on an underside (7) of the dish rack (1). These standing surfaces end in a standing plane (9) of the dish rack (1), and the base webs (3) have angled web regions (10) which, as seen in a sectional plane (11) orthogonal to the standing plane (9), are arranged at least in regions at an acute angle (12) to the standing plane (9).
Claims
1. A dish rack for dishwashers, the dish rack comprising: a grid-shaped rack base formed from base webs; side walls connected to the rack base, the side walls together with the rack base surrounding a rack interior space of the dish rack; at least one of the rack base or the side walls having standing surfaces on an underside of the dish rack, said standing surfaces ending in a standing plane of the dish rack; and the base webs have angled web regions which, as seen in a sectional plane orthogonal to the standing plane, are arranged at least in regions at an acute angle to the standing plane.
2. The dish rack as claimed in claim 1, wherein the base webs, as seen in the sectional plane orthogonal to the standing plane, are angled at least in regions.
3. The dish rack as claimed in claim 1, wherein the base webs, as seen in the sectional plane orthogonal to the standing plane, further include orthogonal web regions above or below the angled web regions, and the orthogonal web regions, as seen in the sectional plane orthogonal to the standing plane, are arranged orthogonally to the standing plane.
4. The dish rack as claimed in claim 3, wherein, as seen in the sectional plane orthogonal to the standing plane, one of the orthogonal web regions, merges directly into one of the angled web regions.
5. The dish rack as claimed in claim 4, wherein, as seen in the sectional plane orthogonal to the standing plane, one of the orthogonal web regions encloses an obtuse angle with one of the angled web regions.
6. The dish rack as claimed in claim 1, wherein the angled web regions are arranged below the rack interior space.
7. The dish rack as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one of the base webs (3) has a sequence of angled web regions along a longitudinal extent thereof.
8. The dish rack as claimed in claim 7, wherein the angled web regions which in each case follow one another in the sequence are arranged spaced apart from one another in a direction of the longitudinal extent of the base web.
9. The dish rack as claimed in claim 7, wherein the angled web regions of the respective base web are angled in directions differing from one another.
10. An arrangement comprising a dishwasher and the dish rack as claimed in claim 1, wherein the dish rack is arranged in the dishwasher and washing liquid nozzles of the dishwasher are arranged underneath the rack base, and a respective washing liquid dispensing direction of the respective washing liquid nozzle is directed toward the rack base.
11. The arrangement of claim 10, wherein the washing liquid nozzles are arranged in a rotatably mounted washing arm of the dishwasher.
12. A method for washing objects in a dishwasher, the method comprising: arranging said objects to be washed in the rack interior space of the dish rack as claimed in claim 1; washing the objects in the dishwasher with the dish rack arranged above washing liquid nozzles of the dishwasher; spraying washing liquid out of the washing liquid nozzles through the rack base into the rack interior space, wherein some of the washing liquid is deflected by the angled web regions of the base webs into the rack interior space.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein the washing liquid nozzles are arranged in a rotatably mounted washing arm of the dishwasher.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0028] Further features and details of preferred embodiments of the invention will be explained in the following description of the figures, in which:
[0029] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a dish rack according to the invention;
[0030] FIG. 2 shows a view of the upper side of said rack;
[0031] FIG. 3 shows the section along the orthogonal sectional plane A-A from FIG. 2;
[0032] FIG. 4 shows the section along the orthogonal sectional plane B-B from FIG. 2;
[0033] FIG. 5 shows the section along the orthogonal sectional plane C-C from FIG. 2;
[0034] FIG. 6 shows a schematic illustration of the arrangement of a dish rack according to the invention in a dishwasher in a diagonal section, and
[0035] FIG. 7 shows a detailed view of a partial region of the upper side of the dish rack shown here.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0036] FIG. 1, in a perspective view obliquely from above, shows a dish rack 1 in which the base webs 3 have web regions 10 angled according to the invention, although the latter cannot be seen in this way in FIG. 1. As known per se, the dish rack 1 has a grid-shaped rack base 4 formed from base webs 3, and side walls 5. The side walls 5 and the rack base 4 together surround the rack interior space 6 of the dish rack 1. As shown in this exemplary embodiment, the side walls 5 can be perforated in regions with openings. In this exemplary embodiment, the rack interior space 6 is open upward. Standing surfaces 8 which end in a standing plane 9 of the dish rack 1 are located on the underside 7 of the side walls 5 and/or of the rack base 4. In the normal operating position of the dish rack 1 that is illustrated, for example, in FIG. 6, the standing plane 9 is generally a horizontal plane. It can also be said that the standing surfaces 8 together span or define the standing plane 9.
[0037] The dish rack 1 shown in FIG. 1 is a dish rack 1 designed especially for washing plates in dishwashers 2. In this exemplary embodiment of said dish rack, plate supports 21 are formed in a manner known per se on the base webs 3, against which plate supports the plates can be leant in a manner known per se in order thereby to be able to be arranged standing on their edge for the washing operation in the dish rack 1. Said plate supports 21 are of course optional and may also be omitted, in particular if objects 19 other than, for example, glasses or cutlery are intended to be washed.
[0038] The dish rack 1 shown here has a square basic shape with rounded corners. As already explained at the beginning, dish racks 1 according to the invention may however of course also be formed with rectangular basic shapes or other basic shapes, optionally with rounded or else non-rounded corners. Dish racks 1 according to the invention are advantageously manufactured from plastic. It can be provided here that all of the components of the dish rack are connected integrally to one another. Dish racks 1 according to the invention can be produced, for example, by injection molding.
[0039] FIG. 2 shows a view from above of the upper side 7 of the dish rack 1 from FIG. 1. In FIG. 2, the standing plane 9 lies in the plane of the sheet. The rack interior space 6 is delimited downward by the rack base 4 which consists of a multiplicity of base webs 3 with clearances or passage openings remaining free in between. The base webs 3 can be formed running in different ways. In the exemplary embodiment shown here, there are base webs 3 which, in their longitudinal extent 15, run parallel to one of the side walls 5. Such base webs running in parallel form the cross-shaped structure which has already been mentioned at the beginning and which can serve to transport the dish rack 1 through a dishwasher 2. In the exemplary embodiment shown here, some of the base webs 3, however, also form a diamond-shaped structure. In this exemplary embodiment, the plate supports 21 are also formed at the intersecting points of said diamond-shaped structure. All of said base webs 3 can have angled web regions 10 according to the invention. Said web regions, as already stated at the beginning, can be arranged spaced apart from one another in the direction of the longitudinal extent 15 of the respective base web 3. The angled web regions 10 are advantageously arranged under the rack interior space 6 and not under the side walls 5. In the exemplary embodiment shown, the base webs 3 running in a diamond-shaped manner with respect to one another and the base webs 3 running parallel to the side walls 5 each have angled web regions 10. Furthermore, in all four corner regions of the rack base 4 along the respective diagonal in relation to the respective rounded corners of the side walls 5, base webs 3 which are offset inward and have respectively angled web regions 10 are provided, as indicated at the bottom on the left in particular in FIG. 2. As seen in the top view of the underside 7 of the dish rack 1, said base webs 3 arranged in the corner regions enclose an orthogonal angle with one another.
[0040] FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 now show by way of example, as seen in each case in sectional planes 11 orthogonal to the standing plane 9, sections through base webs 3 with angled web regions 10. The sectional planes 11 incorporated in FIG. 2 are orthogonal to the plane of the sheet of FIG. 2, which also forms the standing plane 9. FIG. 3 shows the corresponding orthogonal sectional plane 11 along the sectional line A-A from FIG. 2, FIG. 4 along the sectional line B-B and FIG. 5 in a sectional line C-C from FIG. 2. The standing plane 9 and the respective orthogonal sectional planes 11 are in each case illustrated in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5. In FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, the orthogonal sectional planes 11 each lie in the plane of the sheet. The standing planes 9 are orthogonal, i.e. at right angles, to the plane of the sheet. It can readily be seen in all three figures, FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, that the base webs 3 in each case have angled web regions 10 which, as seen in the respective sectional plane 11 orthogonal to the standing plane 9, are arranged at least in regions at an acute angle 12 to the standing plane 9. It can also be seen in all three figures that said base webs 3 with the angled web regions 10, as seen in the respective orthogonal sectional plane 11, are themselves angled at least in regions, i.e. have two regions which are arranged at an angle to each other. In the exemplary embodiments shown here, said regions are in each case the angled web regions 10 and the orthogonal web regions 13. As seen in the respective orthogonal sectional planes 11, the angled web regions 10 are in each case arranged at an acute angle 12 to the standing plane 9, wherein different angled web regions 10 can also be arranged at differently acute angles 12 to the standing plane 9. As seen in the respective orthogonal sectional plane 11, the orthogonal web regions 13 run orthogonally to the standing plane 9. This can also be readily seen in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5. In all three figures, it is also the case that, as seen in the respective orthogonal sectional plane 11, the respective orthogonal web region 13 encloses an obtuse angle 14 with the respective angled web region 10. Generally speaking, the wall thicknesses of the base webs can be, for example, within the range of 1 mm to 10 mm, preferably of 2.5 mm to 4 mm. The length extent 24 of the angled region 10 can be in a ratio of 10:1 to 1:10, preferably 3:1 to 1:3, to the length extent 25 of the orthogonal web region 13, wherein the length extents 24, 25 are always measured in a direction running normally, i.e. orthogonally in all directions, to the standing plane 9. In said orthogonal sectional planes 11, the angles 12 between the angled web regions 10 and the standing plane 9 are advantageously within a range of between 30 and 85, particularly preferably within a range of between 60 and 80. The length of an angled web region 10, as seen in the respective direction of the longitudinal extent 15 of the respective base web 3, is advantageously at least 5 mm. All of the preferred value ranges mentioned can be used in very different embodiments of the invention.
[0041] FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 also show by way of example rays which depict washing liquid 20 deflected at the base webs 3 and in particular at the angled web regions 10.
[0042] FIG. 6 shows by way of example an arrangement comprising a dishwasher 2 and a dish rack 1 according to the invention that is arranged therein, wherein the dishwasher 2 is illustrated only in highly simplified form. The dishwasher 2 can be designed as known per se in the prior art. FIG. 6 shows a vertical section through this arrangement along a diagonal through the dish rack 1 that is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 and is mounted with its standing surfaces 8 on corresponding rails 22 of the dishwasher 2. The operating position of the dish rack 1, in which the washing operation is generally carried out in the dishwasher 2, is therefore shown. In said operating position, the standing plane 9 of the dish rack 1 that is predetermined by the standing surfaces 8 runs in a horizontal plane. Plates which are illustrated in highly schematized form in section in FIG. 6 are depicted in the rack interior space 6 as objects 19 to be washed. The plate supports 21 which are visible in FIG. 1 and on which said plates or objects 19 are supported cannot be seen in FIG. 6. The washing liquid nozzles 16 which, in the exemplary embodiment shown here, are formed in a rotatably mounted washing arm 17 of the dishwasher 2 are located below the rack base 4. The washing liquid dispensing directions 18 of the respective washing liquid nozzle 16 are directed toward the rack base such that the washing liquid 20 passes during the washing operation from below through the grid-shaped rack base 4 into the rack interior space 6 in order there to wash the objects 19 to be washed. A method according to the invention for washing objects 19 in the dishwasher 2, said objects being arranged in the rack interior space 6 of a dish rack 1 according to the invention, is therefore shown, wherein, in order to wash the objects 19 in the dishwasher 2, the dish rack 1 is arranged above washing liquid nozzles 16 of the dishwasher 2, and the washing liquid 20 is sprayed from the washing liquid nozzles 16 through the rack base 4 into the rack interior space 6, wherein some of the washing liquid 20 is deflected by the angled web regions 10 of the base webs 3 into the rack interior space 6. Other portions of the washing liquid 20 that do not strike against base webs 3 on penetrating the rack base 4 pass undeflected into the rack base interior space 6. The overall effect which is thereby achieved is that the objects 19 which are to be washed and which are arranged in the rack interior space 6 are struck by washing liquid 20 from different directions, which leads overall to a very good washing result.
[0043] FIG. 7 once again shows a view from above of the dish rack 1 of FIGS. 1 and 2, with only a partial region being illustrated in enlarged form. The direction arrows 23 indicate the directions in which the angled web regions 10 which are in each case formed in this region of the base web 3 are angled. This shows firstly that, in preferred embodiments like the embodiment shown here, the angled web regions 10 in each case following one another in sequence are arranged spaced apart from one another in the direction of the longitudinal extent 15 of the base web 3. Furthermore, it can be gathered from the illustration in FIG. 7 by way of example that the angled web regions 10 of the respective base web can be angled in directions differing from one another. In the exemplary embodiment shown here, the web regions 10 following one another of the base webs 3 running parallel to the side walls 5 are always inclined or angled in an alternating manner in mutually opposite directions 23. In this exemplary embodiment, with the base webs 3 arranged in a diamond-shaped manner, it is provided that in each case two mutually adjacent angled web regions 10 are angled in the same direction 23 and the angled web regions 10 then following said web regions in the direction of the longitudinal extent 15 of the respective base web 3 are in each case inclined in the other direction, as can likewise be seen by way of the direction arrows 23.
KEY TO THE REFERENCE NUMBERS
[0044] 1 Dish rack [0045] 2 Dishwasher [0046] 3 Base web [0047] 4 Rack base [0048] 5 Side wall [0049] 6 Rack interior space [0050] 7 Underside [0051] 8 Standing surface [0052] 9 Standing plane [0053] 10 Angled web region [0054] 11 Orthogonal sectional plane [0055] 12 Acute angle [0056] 13 Orthogonal web region [0057] 14 Obtuse angle [0058] 15 Longitudinal extent [0059] 16 Washing liquid nozzle [0060] 17 Washing arm [0061] 18 Washing liquid dispensing direction [0062] 19 Object [0063] 20 Washing liquid [0064] 21 Plate support [0065] 22 Rail [0066] 23 Direction arrow [0067] 24 Length extent [0068] 25 Length extent
