The present technology relates to attaching a handle to a home appliance. More particularly, the present technology relates an enhancement that makes attaching a handle to a home appliance easier.
In the modern kitchen, one common appliance is the dishwasher, or in more specific terms, the automatic dishwasher. Most automatic dishwashers share certain basic components. There is a compartment in which the dishes or crockery are placed and enclosed for treatment or washing. Commonly, there is at least one rack to hold the items to be cleaned. A hinged door or sliding drawer is commonly used to enclose the compartment and its contents, and the door or drawer frequently includes a handle. There are commonly a number of nozzles for spraying water to facilitate the cleaning within the compartment and a basin that collects water sprayed from the nozzles. A drain is incorporated into the basin and the drain is connected to a hose to allow water to be removed from the dishwasher. Lastly, there is a dispenser for detergent to release detergent into the compartment during the treatment process and the detergent dispenser will have a cover to hold the detergent therein. Of course, it is to be understood that these components are common and basic, and that individual appliances will differ in the make-up of their components.
The handle may include a handle bar disposed between two end caps. The end caps may attach the handle bar to an outer surface of the dishwasher. To facilitate assembly in such a configuration, there may be multiple pins between the handle bar and the end caps to facilitate alignment.
A need has developed to address one or more shortcomings of the prior art.
Where there are two or more pins for alignment at an interface between an end cap and a handle bar (there are typically two such interfaces when the handle bar is attached at two ends by way of two end caps), the Applicants discovered that one or more of the pins can become damaged when the handle bar is securely fastened to the end cap by way of a fastener, for example, a screw. When the fastener draws the handle securely to the end cap, one or more pins may be damaged due to misalignment, which can be due to manufacturing tolerances, between the pins and holes for the pins and the material when the holes are locating being harder than the material of the pins.
However, with a single pin, such damage can be reduced or eliminated. Also, by providing a structure (such as a crush rib) that preferentially receives damage due to such misalignment, the damage can occur in a controlled, acceptable manner.
One aspect of the present technology is to provide a handle and end cap that overcome one or more shortcomings of the prior art.
Another aspect of the present technology is directed to a home appliance, comprising a handle, an end cap attaching the handle to the home appliance, and a crush rib disposed between the handle and the end cap.
In examples, (a) the home appliance is a dishwasher, (b) the home appliance further comprises a locating feature, wherein the crush rib is disposed on the locating feature, (c) wherein the locating feature is a pin, (d) the pin is conical or frustoconical, (e) there is no more than one pin per end of the handle, (f) the locating feature is disposed on a surface of the end cap, and offset from a centerline of the surface, the centerline being along a direction of a length of the handle, (g) the locating feature is part of the end cap, (h) the handle comprises two ends and the end cap and the handle are each adapted such that the end cap fits on both ends of the handle to secure the handle to the home appliance, (i) the home appliance further comprises a plurality of crush ribs, (j) the plurality of crush ribs is arrayed around a locating pin, (k) external surfaces of the plurality of crush ribs together define a generally conical shape or generally frustoconical shape, the plurality of crush ribs form a pin-like structure, (1) the handle comprises a hole and the crush rib is disposed within the hole, (m) the handle is fastened to the end cap by way of a mechanical fastener, (n) the home appliance further comprises a second end cap attaching the handle to the home appliance, wherein the end cap and the second end cap are substantially identical, (o) the crush rib is integrally formed on the end cap, (p) the end cap comprises a cradle region that conforms to and cradles a surface of the handle, a cover region that covers an end of the handle, and a locating feature disposed on the cradle region, wherein the crush rib is integrally formed on the locating feature and the cover region is substantially perpendicular to the cradle region, (q) the crush rib is adapted to preferentially deform before any other portions of the handle or the end cap when the handle is fastened to the end cap, (r) the crush rib preferentially deforms due to misalignment between a hole in the handle that is adapted to receive the crush rib and a location of the crush rib, (s) the home appliance further comprises a mechanical fastener that fastens the handle to the end cap, wherein the handle comprises: a first hole, and a second hole, and wherein the crush rib is disposed in the first hole and the mechanical fastener is disposed in the second hole, (t) the handle is made from a harder material than the crush rib, and/or (u) the home appliance further comprises a front face, wherein the end cap is attached to the front face.
An aspect of the present technology is directed to a method of assembling a home appliance, comprising: inserting a crush rib that is on an end cap into a handle, fastening the handle to the end cap, and fastening the end cap to the home appliance.
In examples, (a) the method further comprises deforming the crush rib, (b) the fastening the handle forces alignment between the handle and the end cap and deforms the crush rib, (c) tightening a fastener fastens the handle to the end cap, (d) the method further comprises inserting a second crush rib on a second end cap into the handle, fastening the handle to the second end cap, and fastening the handle to the home appliance, and/or (e) the method further comprises inserting a plurality of crush ribs on the end cap into the handle, and deforming at least one crush rib while fastening the handle to the end cap.
Other aspects, features, and advantages of this technology will become apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which are a part of this disclosure and which illustrate, by way of example, principles of this technology.
a and 6b are sectional views taken along 6-6 of
The following description is provided in relation to several examples which may share common characteristics and features. It is to be understood that one or more features of any one example may be combinable with one or more features of the other examples. In addition, any single feature or combination of features in any of the examples may constitute additional examples.
However, due to variability during manufacturing, when the fastener 150 is tightened, one or both of the conical pins 902, 904 pins can be damaged or even destroyed.
Although the pin 302 and crush ribs 304 are discussed and illustrated throughout as being located on the end cap 300, one or both of the pin 302 and the crush ribs 304 could be located on the handle 200. For example, the combination of pin 302 and crush ribs 304 could be located on the handle 200 with a corresponding hole 206 located on the end cap 300. Alternatively, the pin 302 could remain on the end cap 300 while the crush ribs 304 are disposed within the hole 206. Similarly, a hole 206 with internal crush ribs 304 could be located on the end cap 300 with a pin 302 located on the handle.
The covering portion 306 serves at least two purposes. First, the covering portion 306 covers the end 202 of the handle 200, providing improved cosmetic appearance. Also, the covering portion 306 serves to locate the handle 200 within the end cap 300 by abutting the end 202. Although the covering portion 306 is illustrated as completely covering the end 202 of the handle 200, the covering portion 200 could cover only a portion of the end 202.
A configuration with four crush ribs 304 on the pin 302 is illustrated in
The pin 302 may be cylindrical, conical, frustoconical, or any other suitable shape. Each of the crush ribs 304 includes an outer-most or external surface 304a. The surface 304a may engage an inner surface of a hole with which the surface 304a engages (see
In
In an example, the pin 302 may be omitted (or a diameter of the pin approaches zero) with crush ribs 304 lengthened to accommodate for the omitted pin 302 so that the crush ribs 304 meet at approximately the center of the omitted pin 302. By omitting the pin 302, the resultant shape of the crush ribs 304 would be cross-shaped or “+” shaped with four crush ribs 304 being included, although other shapes would occur with different numbers of crush ribs 304. In this example, the crush ribs 304 together form a pin-like structure.
The crush ribs 304 may be integrally formed with the structure on which the crush ribs 304 are located. For example, the crush ribs 304 may be integrally formed as part of the pin 302 and/or the end cap 300. Alternatively, the crush ribs 304 may be formed separately and fastened, if appropriate, to the structure on which the crush ribs 304 are located.
While the present technology has been described in connection with what are presently considered to be the most practical and preferred examples, it is to be understood that the technology is not to be limited to the disclosed examples, but on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the technology.