Dishwashers are used in many single-family and multi-family residential applications to clean dishes, silverware, cutlery, cups, glasses, pots, pans, etc. (collectively referred to herein as “utensils”). Due to the wide variety of items that may need to be cleaned by a dishwasher, many dishwashers provide various containers and/or specialized sprayers to address different washing needs. Many dishwashers, for example, include multiple sliding racks including arrangements of tines that can be used to separate and orient dishes, bowls, glasses, etc. to receive directed sprays of fluid from one or more rotating wash arms. In addition, many dishwashers include removable silverware baskets that may be positioned in dedicated locations on racks, and in some dishwashers, directed sprays are provided to provide deeper cleaning. Other dishwashers include dedicated high pressure spray zones to direct additional spraying power at particularly soiled items. Despite these various dedicated washing features, however, conventional dishwashers still lack flexibility in terms of addressing different consumer washing needs.
The herein-described embodiments address these and other problems associated with the art by providing a dishwasher that utilizes multiple rack-mounted corner sprayers disposed in corners defined between a side wall and front and rear walls of a dishwasher rack to direct fluid inwardly from the corners to wash utensils supported by the rack. The corner sprayers are in fluid communication with one another by a fluid channel that extends along the side wall of the rack, and an inlet port coupled to the first corner sprayer conveys fluid to each of the corner sprayers.
Therefore, consistent with one aspect of the invention, a dishwasher may include a wash tub, a rack disposed in the wash tub and configured to support a plurality of utensils to be washed, the rack including a bottom, a rear wall, a front wall, a first side wall and a second side wall, a pump configured to recirculate fluid within the wash tub, a first corner sprayer disposed in a first corner of the rack defined by the rear wall and the first side wall, the first corner sprayer including at least one nozzle configured to direct a spray of fluid inwardly from each of the rear wall and the first side wall, a second corner sprayer disposed in a second corner of the rack defined by the front wall and the first side wall, the second corner sprayer including at least one nozzle configured to direct a spray of fluid inwardly from each of the front wall and the first side wall, a fluid channel extending along the first side wall of the rack and in fluid communication with each of the first and second corner sprayers, and an inlet port coupled to the first corner sprayer and in fluid communication with the fluid channel and the at least one nozzle of the first corner sprayer.
In some embodiments, the fluid channel is positioned to extend along a top of the first side wall of the rack, and the first and second corner sprayers are positioned to extend downwardly from the fluid channel towards the bottom of the rack. Also, in some embodiments, the inlet port is disposed proximate a bottom of the first corner sprayer. Further, in some embodiments, the first corner sprayer includes a generally vertical conduit extending between the inlet port and the fluid channel. In some embodiments, the first corner sprayer further includes a divider through which the generally vertical conduit projects. In addition, in some embodiments, the first and second corner sprayers, the fluid channel and the inlet port are formed of a unitary plastic body.
Some embodiments may also include a supply conduit having an outlet port coupled to the inlet port and having a major longitudinal axis extending generally transverse to the first side wall. n some embodiments, the supply conduit further includes an inlet port extending generally transverse to the major longitudinal axis of the supply conduit and configured to dock with a docking port disposed on a rear wall of the wash tub. In addition, in some embodiments, the supply conduit includes at least one tab configured to secure the supply conduit to the rack.
Moreover, in some embodiments, the rack includes a plurality of coated wires, each of the first and second corner sprayers includes at least one tab configured to engage a coated wire of the rack, and the first and second corner sprayers are removable from the rack. In some embodiments, the fluid channel includes a downwardly-facing lip disposed on an outer edge thereof to support the fluid channel on a top coated wire of the first side wall.
Moreover, in some embodiments, each of the first and second corner sprayers includes a face that extends about 45 degrees from the first side wall, and the at least one nozzle of each of the first and second corner sprayers is disposed on the face of the respective first or second corner sprayer. In some embodiments, the nozzle of at least one of the first and second corner sprayers is repositionable to control a direction of the spray of fluid.
In addition, in some embodiments, the first side wall is a left wall of the rack. Some embodiments may also include a cover extending along a top side of the fluid channel. Moreover, in some embodiments, the fluid channel is formed of plastic and the cover is formed of metal.
In addition, some embodiments may further include a spray arm disposed below the rack and configured to direct fluid upwardly into the rack, and a diverter in fluid communication between a fluid supply, the spray arm and the inlet port. In some embodiments, the diverter is configured to convey fluid concurrently from the fluid supply to the spray arm and the inlet port. In addition, in some embodiments, the diverter is configured to convey fluid separately from the fluid supply to the spray arm and the inlet port.
Consistent with another aspect of the invention, a dishwasher rack may include a bottom, a rear wall, a front wall, a first side wall and a second side wall, and a corner spray assembly including a unitary body defining a first corner sprayer, a second corner sprayer, a fluid channel and an inlet port. The first corner sprayer is disposed in a first corner of the rack defined by the rear wall and the first side wall and includes at least one nozzle configured to direct a spray of fluid inwardly from each of the rear wall and the first side wall, the second corner sprayer is disposed in a second corner of the rack defined by the front wall and the first side wall and includes at least one nozzle configured to direct a spray of fluid inwardly from each of the front wall and the first side wall, the fluid channel extends along a top of the first side wall of the rack and is in fluid communication with each of the first and second corner sprayers, the first and second corner sprayers extend downwardly from the fluid channel towards the bottom of the dishwasher rack, and the inlet port is coupled to the first corner sprayer and is in fluid communication with the fluid channel and the at least one nozzle of the first corner sprayer.
These and other advantages and features, which characterize the invention, are set forth in the claims annexed hereto and forming a further part hereof. However, for a better understanding of the invention, and of the advantages and objectives attained through its use, reference should be made to the Drawings, and to the accompanying descriptive matter, in which there is described example embodiments of the invention. This summary is merely provided to introduce a selection of concepts that are further described below in the detailed description, and is not intended to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in limiting the scope of the claimed subject matter.
Turning now to the drawings, wherein like numbers denote like parts throughout the several views,
Control over dishwasher 10 by a user is generally managed through a control panel (not shown in
The embodiments discussed hereinafter will focus on the implementation of the hereinafter-described techniques within a hinged-door dishwasher. However, it will be appreciated that the herein-described techniques may also be used in connection with other types of dishwashers in some embodiments. For example, the herein-described techniques may be used in commercial applications in some embodiments. Moreover, at least some of the herein-described techniques may be used in connection with other dishwasher configurations, including dishwashers utilizing sliding drawers.
Now turning to
As shown in
Controller 30 may also be coupled to a dispenser 46 to trigger the dispensing of detergent and/or rinse agent into the wash tube at appropriate points during a wash cycle. Additional sensors and actuators may also be used in some embodiments, including a temperature sensor 48 to determine a fluid temperature, a door switch 50 to determine when door 12 is latched, and a door lock 52 to prevent the door from being opened during a wash cycle. Moreover, controller 30 may be coupled to a user interface 54 including various input/output devices such as knobs, dials, sliders, switches, buttons, lights, textual and/or graphics displays, touch screen displays, speakers, image capture devices, microphones, etc. for receiving input from and communicating with a user. In some embodiments, controller 30 may also be coupled to one or more network interfaces 56, e.g., for interfacing with external devices via wired and/or wireless networks such as Ethernet, Bluetooth, NFC, cellular and other suitable networks. Additional components may also be interfaced with controller 30, as will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill having the benefit of the instant disclosure.
Moreover, in some embodiments, at least a portion of controller 30 may be implemented externally from a dishwasher, e.g., within a mobile device, a cloud computing environment, etc., such that at least a portion of the functionality described herein is implemented within the portion of the controller that is externally implemented. In some embodiments, controller 30 may operate under the control of an operating system and may execute or otherwise rely upon various computer software applications, components, programs, objects, modules, data structures, etc. In addition, controller 30 may also incorporate hardware logic to implement some or all of the functionality disclosed herein. Further, in some embodiments, the sequences of operations performed by controller 30 to implement the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented using program code including one or more instructions that are resident at various times in various memory and storage devices, and that, when read and executed by one or more hardware-based processors, perform the operations embodying desired functionality. Moreover, in some embodiments, such program code may be distributed as a program product in a variety of forms, and that the invention applies equally regardless of the particular type of computer readable media used to actually carry out the distribution, including, for example, non-transitory computer readable storage media. In addition, it will be appreciated that the various operations described herein may be combined, split, reordered, reversed, varied, omitted, parallelized and/or supplemented with other techniques known in the art, and therefore, the invention is not limited to the particular sequences of operations described herein.
Numerous variations and modifications to the dishwasher illustrated in
Now turning to
It will be appreciated that other rack designs may be used in other embodiments. For example, rack corner sprayers may be used in upper or middle racks, and as such, other supporting structures may be used in other embodiments. Further, racks may be formed of other materials, e.g., plastic, and may have various configurations of movable and/or fixed tines. Racks may also include other sprayers, as well as one or more containers such as a silverware basket. Therefore, the invention is not limited to the particular rack configuration illustrated in
In embodiments consistent with the invention, a pair of corner sprayers 100, 102 are disposed in corners of a rack 50, and each includes a face 104 including one or more apertures or nozzles 106 disposed thereon that are configured to direct a spray of wash fluid inwardly from each of the walls defining the corner within which corner sprayer is disposed. Face 104 in the illustrated embodiment is generally oriented about 45 degrees relative to each of the walls defining the respective corner for the corner sprayer (e.g., rear wall 58 and left wall 60 for corner sprayer 100 and front wall 56 and left wall 60 for corner sprayer 102). It will be appreciated, however, that face 104 may be oriented in multiple directions in other embodiments, while in other embodiments, a face may include multiple orientations or portions, and may include various combinations of planar or curved surfaces. Nozzles 106 may be fixed in some embodiments, and in some embodiments, at least a portion of the nozzles 106 may be fluidic nozzles. Still other embodiments may include one or more rotating or oscillating nozzles supported by a corner sprayer. Moreover, in some embodiments one or more nozzles may be repositionable to control a direction of the spray of fluid, e.g., to enable a user to manually manipulate the nozzle to direct the spray of fluid towards a particular piece of dishware placed in the rack proximate a corner sprayer.
Returning to
With specific reference to
In addition, to supply wash fluid to corner sprayers 100, 102, an inlet port 114 is molded with corner sprayer 100, and with specific reference to
Returning to
To supply fluid to inlet port 114, a supply conduit 130 is attached to inlet port 114, e.g., using an outlet port 132 that is sized and configured to be press fit over inlet port 114, and an inlet port 134 disposed at the opposite end of supply conduit 130 is configured to dock with a corresponding docking port (e.g., docking port 29 of supply channel 28 illustrated in
Inlet port 134 is generally positioned proximate a lateral midline of rack 50 and extends generally transverse to the major longitudinal axis of supply conduit 130, as well as generally in parallel with the direction of movement of rack 50 between loading and washing positions, such that when rack 50 is moved from the loading position to the washing position, inlet port 134 may engage a docking port on the wall of the dishwasher. Other docking configurations may be used in other embodiments, as will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill having the benefit of the instant disclosure.
Corner sprayers 100, 102 may be supplied with fluid either concurrently with one or more other sprayers in a dishwasher, e.g., one or both of spray arms 22, 24 of
Corner sprayers 100, 102 may also be used at all times during a wash cycle in some embodiments, while in other embodiments, corner sprayers 100, 102 may only be active during certain portions of a wash cycle and/or only active during certain wash cycles or based upon certain wash settings. Further, it may be desirable in some embodiments to include one or more manually-actuatable valves on a corner sprayer 100, 102, e.g., to vary the flow rate output by one or more of corner sprayers 100, 102, or to selectively disable one or more of corner sprayers 100, 102. In one example embodiment, a manually-actuated diverter valve may be disposed on one of corner sprayers 100, 102 to select between three modes: corner sprayer 100 only, corner sprayer 102 only, and both of corner sprayers 100, 102 together.
In operation, corner sprayers 100, 102 may be used in some embodiments to spray wash fluid generally in a horizontal direction, which may be well suited for washing utensils such as plates, bowls, trays, pots, pans, etc. having larger surface areas that are oriented generally vertically when placed into rack 50. Corner sprayers 100, 102, being disposed in the corners of a rack and directed inwardly from the corners, may also be used to direct fluid against utensils with a reduced likelihood of directing fluid against a wall of a wash tub, which could otherwise generate noise during a wash cycle.
It will also be appreciated that while two corner sprayers 100, 102 are illustrated as being disposed within the left rear and left front corners of rack 50, the invention is not so limited. Corner sprayers 100, 102 could alternatively be disposed in right rear and right front corners in other embodiments. Moreover, while fluid channel 108 is illustrated as extending along a top of left wall 60, in other embodiments fluid channel 108 may run along an inner and/or outer face of a rack wall and/or along the bottom of the rack, so the invention is not limited to a top-extending fluid channel.
Various additional modifications may be made to the illustrated embodiments consistent with the invention. Therefore, the invention lies in the claims hereinafter appended.