ROTATING RACK ASSEMBLY

Abstract

A dishwasher rack is able to rotate with respect to the dishwasher to permit access to all areas of the dishwasher rack from one side of the dishwasher. A skid plate is positioned between the dishwasher rack and a mounting frame to prevent the tines of the dishwasher rack from contacting the tines of the mounting frame. A rotatable member can be used between the dishwasher rack and the mounting frame. The rotatable member has an inner race, an outer race, and a ball bearing assembly positioned between the races. A handle can be coupled to the dishwasher rack.

Claims

1. A rotatable dishwasher rack, comprising: a dishwasher rack having a housing with a plurality of openings; a mounting member with a skid plate; and a rotatable member positioned between said dishwasher rack and said mounting member to permit rotation of said dishwasher rack.

2. The rotatable dishwasher rack of claim 1, wherein said skid plate is integrally formed on said mounting member.

3. The rotatable dishwasher rack of claim 1, wherein said skid plate is a plurality of brackets coupled to said mounting member.

4. The rotatable dishwasher rack of claim 1, including a handle coupled to said housing.

5. The rotatable dishwasher rack of claim 4, wherein said handle is retractable.

6. The rotatable dishwasher rack of claim 1, wherein said rotatable member comprises an inner race, an outer race, and a ball bearing assembly positioned therebetween.

7. A rotatable dishwasher rack, comprising: a dishwasher rack having a housing with a plurality of openings; a mounting member; a rotatable member positioned between said dishwasher rack and said mounting member to permit rotation of said dishwasher rack; and wherein said rotatable member comprises an inner race, an outer race, and a ball bearing assembly positioned therebetween.

8. The rotatable dishwasher rack of claim 7, wherein said inner race is coupled to said mounting member.

9. The rotatable dishwasher rack of claim 7, wherein said outer race is coupled to said dishwasher rack.

10. The rotatable dishwasher rack of claim 7, wherein said inner race has a ball bearing groove.

11. The rotatable dishwasher rack of claim 9, wherein said outer race has a coupling member that couples said outer race to said dishwasher rack.

12. The rotatable dishwasher rack of claim 7, including a skid plate positioned between said mounting member and said dishwasher rack.

13. The rotatable dishwasher rack of claim 12, wherein said skid plate is integrally formed on the mounting member.

14. The rotatable dishwasher rack of claim 13, wherein said skid plate is a plurality of brackets coupled to said mounting member.

15. A dishwasher, comprising: a dishwasher having a dishwasher housing having an interior cavity and at least one set of parallel wheel tracks; a dishwasher rack; a mounting frame with a front edge, a rear edge, and side edges; a rotatable member positioned between said dishwasher rack and said mounting frame; a plurality of handles coupled to said dishwasher rack; and a plurality of wheels coupled to said mounting frame, said plurality of wheels engaging said parallel wheel tracks when said dishwasher rack is removed from said interior cavity.

16. The dishwasher of claim 15, wherein said set of parallel wheel tracks is on an inside surface of a door that is coupled to said dishwasher housing.

17. The dishwasher of claim 15, including a skid plate surface between said dishwasher rack and said mounting frame.

18. The dishwasher of claim 17, wherein said skid plate surface is integrally formed on the mounting frame.

19. The dishwasher of claim 17, wherein said skid plate surface is a plurality of brackets.

20. The dishwasher rack of claim 15, wherein said rotatable member includes an inner race, an outer race, and a ball bearing assembly positioned therebetween.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008] In the drawings:

[0009] FIG. 1 includes a perspective view of a person unloading a rotatable dishwasher rack;

[0010] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a rotatable dishwasher rack assembly using a ball bearing assembly between an inner race and an outer race;

[0011] FIG. 3 is a top perspective view of a skid plate assembly for a rotatable dishwasher rack with four brackets;

[0012] FIG. 4 is a front perspective assembly drawing for the ball bearing assembly shown in FIG. 2;

[0013] FIG. 5 is a top perspective view of a rotatable dishwasher rack having integrally formed skid plates;

[0014] FIG. 6 is a top perspective view of the integrally formed skid plates shown in FIG. 5;

[0015] FIG. 7 is a top perspective view of the skid plate assembly using brackets as shown in FIG. 3;

[0016] FIG. 8 is a top perspective view of the ball bearing assembly shown in FIGS. 2 and 4;

[0017] FIG. 9 is a top perspective view of the inner race shown in FIG. 4;

[0018] FIG. 10 is a top perspective view of the ball bearing assembly on the inner race as shown in FIG. 4;

[0019] FIG. 11 is a front perspective view of rotatable dishwasher rack with handles before it is inserted into the dishwasher;

[0020] FIG. 12 is a side perspective view of a handle of the rotatable dishwasher rack shown in FIG. 11;

[0021] FIG. 13 is a front perspective view of another embodiment of a handle with the handle in between a closed position and an open position; and

[0022] FIG. 14 is a front perspective view of the handle shown in FIG. 13 in the open position.

[0023] The components in the figures are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] The present illustrated embodiments reside primarily in combinations of method steps and apparatus components related to a rotatable dishwasher rack. Accordingly, the apparatus components and method steps have been represented, where appropriate, by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present disclosure so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein. Further, like numerals in the description and drawings represent like elements.

[0025] For purposes of description herein, the terms upper, lower, right, left, rear, front, vertical, horizontal, and derivatives thereof shall relate to the disclosure as oriented in FIG. 1. Unless stated otherwise, the term front shall refer to the surface of the element closer to an intended viewer, and the term rear shall refer to the surface of the element further from the intended viewer. However, it is to be understood that the disclosure may assume various alternative orientations, except where expressly specified to the contrary. It is also to be understood that the specific devices and processes illustrated in the attached drawings, and described in the following specification are simply exemplary embodiments of the inventive concepts defined in the appended claims. Hence, specific dimensions and other physical characteristics relating to the embodiments disclosed herein are not to be considered as limiting, unless the claims expressly state otherwise.

[0026] The terms including, comprises, comprising, or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. An element preceded by comprises a . . . does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises the element.

[0027] Referring to FIGS. 1-2 and 4, reference numeral 4 generally designates a rotatable dishwasher rack that is used in a dishwasher 2. The dishwasher rack 4 can rotate on a rotatable member 30. Rotatable member 30 can be a turntable, lazy Susan, or other rotatable element. In the illustrated embodiments, the dishwasher rack 4 is rotatable with respect to a mounting frame 12. The mounting frame 12 has wheels 20 to permit the mounting frame 12 to travel along the wheel track of the dishwasher 2. In the illustrated embodiments, the wheel track is on the bottom of the dishwasher and on the dishwasher door such that the mounting frame 12 supports the lower dishwasher rack 4. However, the wheel track could be in extendable tracks that are used for an upper dishwasher rack 4. In the illustrated embodiment, the dishwasher rack 4 is a wire frame rack with tines/rails 11. In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 1, a silverware basket 10 is positioned in the dishwasher rack 4.

[0028] A skid plate surface can be used to provide a surface for rotation to prevent the tines or rails 11 of the dishwasher rack 4 from bumping into the tines or rails 11 on the mounting frame 12. The skid plate can be a series of brackets 202 as shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and 7. While four L-shaped brackets 202 are shown, any number and/or shape of brackets 202 may be used. In the illustrated embodiments, the brackets 202 include openings, tabs, slots, or other mechanical structure to couple to the mounting frame 12. However, the brackets 202 could be coupled to the dishwasher rack 4 or to both the dishwasher rack 4 and the mounting frame 12. Moreover, while the illustrated embodiments show the brackets 202 near the sides of the mounting frame 12, one or more brackets could be spaced away from the sides of the mounting frame 12.

[0029] The skid plate can also be integrally formed in mounting frame 12. As illustrated in FIGS. 5, 6, and 8, the skid plate can be raised sections 220 on the mounting frame 12. The skid plate could also include integrally formed sections on the dishwasher rack 4 and/or brackets coupled to the dishwasher rack 4.

[0030] The rotatable member 30 can be an inner race 300, an outer race 302, and a ball bearing assembly 304 as illustrated in FIGS. 2, 4, and 8-10. The inner race 300 couples to the mounting frame 12. The inner race 300 has coupling members 308 which can surround and/or contact tines 400 on the mounting frame 12. The inner race 300 has a bearing groove 306 which receives the ball bearing assembly 304. The outer race 302 is received over the ball bearing assembly 304. The outer race 302 has coupling member 310 which couples the outer race 302 to the dishwasher rack 4. The ball bearing assembly 304 permits rotation of the outer race 302 with respect to the inner race 300 thus rotating the dishwasher rack 4 with respect to the mounting frame 12.

[0031] In the illustrated embodiment, the dishwasher rack 4 is generally rectangular and has a bottom and four walls. Other shapes of a dishwasher rack 4 may be used. In addition, while the illustrated dishwasher rack 4 is a wire rack, other types of racks can be used. For example, the dishwasher rack 4 could be made of a polymeric material that has spaced apart openings.

[0032] The illustrated components may be made of any suitable material for handling the heat and water of the dishwasher 2. For example, the inner race 300 and the outer race 302 could be made of heat-resistant nylon material, while the ball bearing assembly 304 can be made from a heat-resistant polypropylene material. The brackets 202 may also be made of a heat-resistant plastic material. The material may permit the components to be lighter. For example, the inner race 300 could weigh 46 grams, the outer race 52 grams, and the ball bearing assembly 11 grams. The four brackets 202 could weigh approximately 92 grams. In addition, the components may come installed in a dishwasher rack 4 or may be part of a retrofit kit for existing dishwasher racks.

[0033] Referring to FIGS. 11-14, one or more handles 6 can be coupled to the dishwasher rack 4. In the embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 11 and 12, the handle 6 has a single elongated opening 8. A lower side of the handle 6 is coupled to one or more rails 11 of the dishwasher rack 4. In the illustrated embodiment, four handles 6 are located at or adjacent to each corner of the dishwasher rack 4. The handles 6 could be located at other positions on the dishwasher rack 4, provided that they permit a person to grab the handle to help pull the dishwasher rack 4 out of the dishwasher 2 and to rotate the dishwasher rack 4. For example, two or more handles 6 could be used to rotate the dishwasher rack 4. The handles 6 extend above the dishwasher rack 4 in the illustrated embodiment to allow access to the handles 6 without having to reach all the way down or across the dishwasher 2.

[0034] While the handles 6 show an elongated opening 8, the shape, size, and number of openings 8 can be modified. In addition, the handles 6 do not have to be identical. The handles 6 can be extruded, textured, or coated to include a gripping region.

[0035] The handle 6 can be coupled to the dishwasher rack 4 by any coupling mechanism, including snap features. The handle 6 could also include grooves, openings, or slots for receiving a portion of one or more of the rails 11.

[0036] The handle 6 could also be retractable, extendable, or rotatable from a closed to an open position, as illustrated in FIGS. 13 and 14.

[0037] In addition, locks could be used to help lock the dishwasher rack 4 in certain positions. These locks could be locks with retractable members that engage or are received between sections of the mounting frame 12 and dishwasher rack 4 to lock them in a certain alignment with respect to each other.

[0038] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, is a rotatable dishwasher rack. The rotatable dishwasher rack having a skid plate on the mounting member.

[0039] According to yet another aspect of the invention, is a skid plate integrally formed on the mounting member.

[0040] According to yet another aspect of the invention, wherein a skid plate is a plurality of brackets coupled to said mounting member.

[0041] According to yet another aspect of the invention, a handle is coupled to said housing.

[0042] According to yet another aspect of the invention, wherein the handle is retractable.

[0043] According to yet another aspect of the invention, is a rotatable member comprising an inner race, an outer race, and a ball bearing assembly positioned therebetween.

[0044] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, is a dishwasher rack having a housing with a plurality of openings and a mounting member. A rotatable member is positioned between the dishwasher rack and the mounting member to permit rotation of the dishwasher rack. The rotatable member comprises an inner race, an outer race, and a ball bearing assembly positioned therebetween.

[0045] According to yet another aspect of the invention, an inner race is coupled to the mounting member.

[0046] According to yet another aspect of the invention, wherein the outer race is coupled to said dishwasher rack.

[0047] According to yet another aspect of the invention, wherein the inner race has a ball bearing groove.

[0048] According to yet another aspect of the invention, wherein the outer race has a coupling member that couples the outer race to the dishwasher rack.

[0049] According to yet another aspect of the invention, wherein a skid plate positioned between the mounting member and the dishwasher rack.

[0050] According to yet another aspect of the invention, wherein the skid plate is integrally formed on the mounting member.

[0051] According to yet another aspect of the invention, wherein the skid plate is a plurality of brackets coupled to the mounting member.

[0052] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, is a dishwasher having a dishwasher housing having an interior cavity and at least one set of parallel wheel tracks. The dishwasher has a dishwasher rack, a mounting frame with a front edge, a rear edge, and side edges. A rotatable member is positioned between the dishwasher rack and the mounting frame. A plurality of handles is coupled to the dishwasher rack. A plurality of wheels is coupled to the mounting frame. The plurality of wheels engages the parallel wheel tracks when the dishwasher rack is removed from the interior cavity.

[0053] According to yet another aspect of the invention, wherein the set of parallel wheel tracks is on an inside surface of a door that is coupled to the dishwasher housing.

[0054] According to yet another aspect of the invention, having a skid plate surface between the dishwasher rack and the mounting frame.

[0055] According to yet another aspect of the invention, wherein the skid plate surface is integrally formed on the mounting frame.

[0056] According to yet another aspect of the invention, wherein the skid plate surface is a plurality of brackets.

[0057] According to yet another aspect of the invention, wherein the rotatable member includes an inner race, an outer race, and a ball bearing assembly positioned therebetween.

[0058] It will be understood by one having ordinary skill in the art that construction of the described disclosure and other components is not limited to any specific material. Other exemplary embodiments of the disclosure disclosed herein may be formed from a wide variety of materials, unless described otherwise herein.

[0059] For purposes of this disclosure, the term coupled (in all of its forms, couple, coupling, coupled, etc.) generally means the joining of two components (electrical or mechanical) directly or indirectly to one another. Such joining may be stationary in nature or movable in nature. Such joining may be achieved with the two components (electrical or mechanical) and any additional intermediate members being integrally formed as a single unitary body with one another or with the two components. Such joining may be permanent in nature or may be removable or releasable in nature unless otherwise stated.

[0060] It is also important to note that the construction and arrangement of the elements of the disclosure as shown in the exemplary embodiments is illustrative only. Although only a few embodiments of the present innovations have been described in detail in this disclosure, those skilled in the art who review this disclosure will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible (e.g., variations in sizes, dimensions, structures, shapes and proportions of the various elements, values of parameters, mounting arrangements, use of materials, colors, orientations, etc.) without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of the subject matter recited. For example, elements shown as integrally formed may be constructed of multiple parts or elements shown as multiple parts may be integrally formed, the operation of the interfaces may be reversed or otherwise varied, the length or width of the structures and/or members or connector or other elements of the system may be varied, the nature or number of adjustment positions provided between the elements may be varied. It should be noted that the elements and/or assemblies of the system may be constructed from any of a wide variety of materials that provide sufficient strength or durability, in any of a wide variety of colors, textures, and combinations. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present innovations. Other substitutions, modifications, changes, and omissions may be made in the design, operating conditions, and arrangement of the desired and other exemplary embodiments without departing from the spirit of the present innovations.

[0061] It will be understood that any described processes or steps within described processes may be combined with other disclosed processes or steps to form structures within the scope of the present disclosure. The exemplary structures and processes disclosed herein are for illustrative purposes and are not to be construed as limiting.