Patent Application
20120291825
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the art of dishwashers and, more particularly, to a vertically adjustable dishwasher dish rack arrangement.
2. Description of the Related Art
A front loading dishwasher typically includes a tub having an open front. The tub defines a washing chamber into which items, such as kitchenware, glassware and the like, are placed to undergo a washing operation. The dishwasher is generally provided with a door, pivotally mounted to the tub, that closes the open front, and upper and lower extensible dish racks for supporting items during the washing operation. Typically, the upper and lower dish racks are separated by a defined vertical spacing that limits the overall size of items that can be placed in the dishwasher.
In order to provide more flexibility to consumers, manufacturers have developed adjustment mechanisms that enable at least one dish rack to be vertically adjustable. Most commonly, the upper dish rack can be vertically shifted to increase the defined vertical spacing between the upper and lower dish racks. Typically, the adjustment mechanisms are mounted on opposing sides of the dish rack and connect to extensible support rails that permit the dish rack to move in and out of the washing chamber. In most cases, the adjustment mechanisms have complicated structure. In addition, the latching mechanisms used by prior art adjustment mechanisms can be difficult to operate. Hidden buttons, sticky latches, and the like can make it difficult to transition from one height position to another. In some cases, the adjustment mechanisms are unstable.
Based on the above, there still exists a need in the art for a vertical height adjustment mechanism for a dishwasher dish rack. More specifically, there exists a need for a vertical height adjustment mechanism that is cost effective to manufacture and easy to use.
The present invention is generally directed to a dishwasher including a tub that defines a washing chamber and a dish rack for supporting items to be washed in the washing chamber. In accordance with the invention, the dish rack is provided with an adjustment mechanism that enables the dish rack to be vertically shifted between raised and lowered positions.
Overall, the dishwasher can take various forms, including a drawer dishwasher or a dishwasher including a door pivotally mounted relative to the tub for closing the washing chamber and the dish rack is mounted to horizontally extensible support members that permit the dish rack to be shifted in and out of the washing chamber. In either case, the adjustment mechanism includes a separate base member and a shiftable support body for sides of the dish rack. Each base member includes a lower body portion and an upright body portion, with each shiftable support body being fixed for concurrent movement to the rack and slidably receiving the upright body portion of a respective base member. In addition, the adjustment mechanism also includes a latching mechanism acting between the base member and the shiftable support body to selectively maintain the rack in a desired vertical position.
In accordance with the present invention, the latching mechanism employs a cam and spring-biased follower arrangement. In operation, a user can adjust the height of the rack by directly, manually grasping sides of the rack with his/her hands. When the rack is initially lifted, each spring-biased follower tracks the profile of a first camming surface provided along a first tier of a camming unit. At the point that the rack reaches a desired, upper raised position, the follower is automatically shifted by the force of the spring so as to extend over a ledge or plateau portion of the camming unit. Upon slightly lowering the rack, the follower rests on the ledge to support the rack in the raised position. To lower the rack, the user further lifts on the rack, allowing the follower to unseat from the ledge and engage a second camming surface provided on a second tier of the camming unit through the biasing of the spring and the presence of a ramp. From this position, the follower is guided from the second tier back against the camming surface of the first tier to assume the lowered position.
With this arrangement, a dish rack can be readily repositioned between at least upper and lower positions in an effective and reliable manner. Additional objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments when taken in conjunction with the drawings wherein like reference numerals refer to corresponding parts in the several views.
With initial reference to
In a manner known in the art, upper dish rack 16 is horizontally shiftable between a first position wherein upper dish rack 16 is entirely within the confines of washing chamber 14 and a second position, wherein upper dish rack 16 extends, at least partially outward, from washing chamber 14. Toward that end, dishwasher 2 is provided with extensible support members, one of which is indicated generally at 26. In a similar manner, lower dish rack 15 is selectively, horizontally shiftable between first and second positions. However, when in the second position, lower dish rack 15 rests upon an open door 21 on guide elements (not separately labeled) formed on interior panel 23.
Disposed within tub 5 and, more specifically, mounted within a central opening formed in bottom wall 8 of tub 5, is a pump and filter assembly 30. Extending about a substantial portion of pump and filter assembly 30, at a position raised above bottom wall 8, is a heating element 44. In a manner known in the art, heating element 44 preferably takes the form of a sheathed, electric resistance-type heating element. In general, pump and filter assembly 30 is adapted to direct washing fluid to a lower wash arm 47 and an upper wash arm (not shown). Dishwasher 2 has associated therewith a drain hose 85 including at least one corrugated or otherwise curved portion 89 that extends about an arcuate hanger 92 provided on an outside surface of side wall 10. Drain hose 85 is also preferably secured to tub 5 through various clips, such as that indicated at 94. In any event, in this manner, an upper loop is maintained in drain hose 85 to assure proper drainage in a manner known in the art. As the exact structure and operation of pump and filter assembly 30 of dishwasher 2 is not part of the present invention, it will not be discussed further herein. Instead, the present invention is directed to particulars of height adjustment mechanism 17. However, at this point it should be noted that the invention can be employed in connection with adjusting the height of dish racks in various types of dishwashers, including the more conventional type shown in
Reference will now be made to
Height adjusting mechanism 17 of the invention is shown to include a base member 119 having a lower body portion 120. In connection with the embodiment shown wherein rack 16 is also mounted for sliding movement relative to tub 5, lower body portion 120 includes mounts 122 and 123 for rotatably supporting a pair of fore-aft-spaced wheels (not shown) which interact with support members 26 carried by tub 5 in order to enable rack 16 to be shifted into and out of washing chamber 14 in a manner widely known in the art. Base member 119 also includes an upright or upper body portion 128 which is received within a shiftable support body 133. More specifically, shiftable support body 133 includes an outer body 135 and an inner body member 136 which combine to clamp upon a respective set of side rails 106, 107 and which are secured together by screws indicated at 140. At this point, it should be recognized that a separate base member 119 and shiftable support body 133 are provided on each of side rails 106, 107 such that the overall height adjustment mechanism 117 can be readily understood from considering the structure and function of one side.
With this arrangement, it should be realized that the interengagement between each base member 119 with a respective support member 26 prevents base member 119 from shifting vertically relative to tub 5, while still enabling each base member 119 to move into and out of washing chamber 14. In addition, each pivot support bracket 143 is fixed to base member 119 and therefore also does not shift vertically. In the case of a drawer dishwasher, base member 119 would simply be fixed, with upright body portion 128 projecting upwardly inside the tub. In any case, the clamping or sandwiching of side rails 106, 107 by the shiftable support bodies 133 enables rack 16 and the shiftable support bodies 133 to move vertically relative to base members 119. Since the upright body portion 128 of each base member 119 extends within a respective shiftable support body 133, each support body 133 is guided for vertical movement relative to its base member 119.
In accordance with the present invention, the particular number of vertical positions which can be established by rack 16 can vary greatly. In its simplest form, the invention contemplates just upper and lower positions, with the lower position being represented in
With initial reference to
At this point, it should be recognized that shiftable support body 133 in accordance with this embodiment is generally constructed identical to that described above, with the inclusion of various ribs 180-186 and screw posts 189 and 190, and is mounted about upright body portion 128 for relative vertical sliding movement. With the perspective view of
Either attached to or formed as part of upright body portion 128 is a camming unit 451. Like upright body portion 128, camming unit 451 is vertically fixed such that it does not move vertically with upper dish rack 16 and support body 133, but can still shift into and out of washing chamber 14 with upper dish rack 16. As perhaps best shown in
From the position shown in
Although described with respect to preferred embodiments of the invention, it should be readily understood that various changes and/or modifications can be made to the invention without departing from the spirit thereof. For instance, it would be possible to reverse the retainer element and the camming unit such that the camming unit moves vertically with the rack and the retainer element is pivotally attached to the upright body portion by basically inverting the overall mechanism while still enabling the latching operation to be performed. In addition, although the spring biasing the retainer element operates as a compression spring, it is certainly possible to employ other biasing arrangements, such as utilizing a tension spring provided on an opposing side of the retainer element. Furthermore, other pivoting configurations for the retainer element and cam configurations for the camming unit could be employed. In general, the invention is only intended to be limited by the scope of the following claims.
