The present invention relates to tines for the rack of dishwasher appliance that can provide a spray for cleaning dishes, particularly the interior of containers such as glasses, cups, bowls, and others.
Modern dishwashers typically include a wash chamber where e.g., detergent, water, and heat can be applied to clean food or other materials from dishes and other articles being washed. Often an upper rack assembly is disposed close to the top of the washing chamber and is used to hold glasses, cups, and other small items. Typically, a lower rack assembly is positioned near the bottom of the chamber and a considerable distance below the upper rack. This provides vertical clearance to place dishes and platters on edge (i.e. a vertical orientation) and to place food preparation bowls and pots up-side-down on the lower rack for washing.
Each rack normally is supplied with an array of spaced apart, generally vertical tines or members, which support and separate the individual items. Preferably, these vertical members support and fix the position of various articles during the washing process. More specifically, it is desirable to position an article, such as a dish, so that water and detergent can access all surfaces during cleaning while also preventing movement of the dish that could lead to breaking, chipping, or other damage.
Conventionally, water containing detergent, rinse water, and/or other fluids are sprayed onto the dishes by rotating spray arms positioned proximate to the racks. Water is fed to the spray arms from the rear of the dishwasher and the flow of water exiting the arms also provides for the rotation of the arms. As such, the spray arms do not necessarily apply a continuous spray at any one location in the rack and, instead, provide an intermittent spray at a given location as the spray arm rotates proximate to the rack.
For items having an interior cavity such as tall glasses or other containers, challenges are encountered in effectively cleaning the interior surfaces of the cavity and particularly the bottom of the cavity. Glass and other containers are typically placed upside down on the tines of the rack. As such, fluids are typically only sprayed directly into the interior as a spray arm passes. Depending upon the level of soiling on the interior of the container, such intermittent spraying may not consistently clean all of the interior surfaces. Increasing the wash cycle time may provide improved performance but at additional costs in operating the appliance.
Accordingly, an apparatus that can provide improved cleaning capability for a dishwasher would be useful. More particularly, a dishwasher having one or more features that can provide a spray, including a continuous spray, into the interior of various containers would be beneficial. The ability to provide options for an omni-directional or focused spray from such features would also be very useful.
Aspects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the following description, or may be obvious from the description, or may be learned through practice of the invention.
In one exemplary embodiment, the present invention provides a dishwasher rack assembly that includes a plurality of elongated members defining a front wall, a back wall, a pair of opposing side walls, and a bottom wall. A plurality of spray tines is provided. Each tine includes a fluid channel extending between a lower end of the tine and an upper end of the tine. The fluid channel is configured for delivering a fluid to the upper end of the tine so as to provide for a spray of the fluid from the tine.
In another exemplary embodiment, the present invention provides a dishwasher having a wash chamber for the receipt of dishes. The dishwasher defines vertical and horizontal directions. The dishwasher includes a dishwasher rack assembly movably received into the wash chamber. The dishwasher rack includes a plurality of hollow tines extending upwardly from the rack assembly, each hollow tine defining an interior channel and having a lower end and an upper end. At least one orifice is positioned along the upper end of each of the hollow tines. Each orifice is in fluid communication with the channel of a respective hollow tine.
These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following description and appended claims. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
A full and enabling disclosure of the present invention, including the best mode thereof, directed to one of ordinary skill in the art, is set forth in the specification, which makes reference to the appended figures, in which:
The present invention provides tines that can provide a spray into the interior of containers placed onto a rack of a dishwasher. More particularly, the present invention provides hollow tines or tines having an internal fluid path for feeding washing fluid to an opening at or near an upper end of the tine. As the fluid is sprayed or ejected from the opening, it provides for cleaning the interior of glasses, containers, and other dishes placed over the tines. Reference now will be made in detail to embodiments of the invention, one or more examples of which are illustrated in the drawings. Each example is provided by way of explanation of the invention, not limitation of the invention. In fact, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. For instance, features illustrated or described as part of one embodiment can be used with another embodiment to yield a still further embodiment. Thus, it is intended that the present invention covers such modifications and variations as come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.
Upper and lower guide rails 124, 126 are mounted on tub side walls 128 and accommodate roller-equipped rack assemblies 130 and 132. Each of the rack assemblies 130, 132 is fabricated into lattice structures including a plurality of elongated members 134 (for clarity of illustration, not all elongated members making up assemblies 130 and 132 are shown in
The dishwasher 100 further includes a lower spray-arm assembly 144 that is rotatably mounted within a lower region 146 of the wash chamber 106 and above a tub sump portion 142 so as to rotate in relatively close proximity to rack assembly 132. A mid-level spray-arm assembly 148 is located in an upper region of the wash chamber 106 and may be located in close proximity to upper rack 130. Additionally, an upper spray assembly 150 may be located above the upper rack 130.
The lower and mid-level spray-arm assemblies 144, 148 and the upper spray assembly 150 are fed by a fluid circulation assembly 152 for circulating water and dishwasher fluid in the tub 104. The fluid circulation assembly 152 may include a pump 154 located in a machinery compartment 140 located below the bottom sump portion 142 of the tub 104, as generally recognized in the art. Each spray-arm assembly 144, 148 includes an arrangement of discharge ports or orifices for directing washing liquid onto dishes or other articles located in rack assemblies 130 and 132. The arrangement of the discharge ports in spray-arm assemblies 144, 148 provides a rotational force by virtue of washing fluid flowing through the discharge ports. The resultant rotation of the lower spray-arm assembly 144 provides coverage of dishes and other dishwasher contents with a washing spray.
The dishwasher 100 is further equipped with a controller 137 to regulate operation of the dishwasher 100. The controller may include a memory and microprocessor, such as a general or special purpose microprocessor operable to execute programming instructions or micro-control code associated with a cleaning cycle. The memory may represent random access memory such as DRAM, or read only memory such as ROM or FLASH. In one embodiment, the processor executes programming instructions stored in memory. The memory may be a separate component from the processor or may be included onboard within the processor.
The controller 137 may be positioned in a variety of locations throughout dishwasher 100. In the illustrated embodiment, the controller 137 may be located within a control panel area 121 of door 120 as shown. In such an embodiment, input/output (“I/O”) signals may be routed between the control system and various operational components of dishwasher 100 along wiring harnesses that may be routed through the bottom 122 of door 120. Typically, the controller 137 includes a user interface panel 136 through which a user may select various operational features and modes and monitor progress of the dishwasher 100. In one embodiment, the user interface 136 may represent a general purpose I/O (“GPIO”) device or functional block. In one embodiment, the user interface 136 may include input components, such as one or more of a variety of electrical, mechanical or electro-mechanical input devices including rotary dials, push buttons, and touch pads. The user interface 136 may include a display component, such as a digital or analog display device designed to provide operational feedback to a user. The user interface 136 may be in communication with the controller 137 via one or more signal lines or shared communication busses.
It should be appreciated that the invention is not limited to any particular style, model, or other configuration of dishwasher, and that the embodiment depicted in
Rack assembly 132 includes a plurality of tines 156, each equipped with a spray tip 158. As shown in
Supply conduit 162 includes a connecting end 166 configured for mating connection with a docking port 168 (
Supply conduit 162 can be provided as a separate element that is positioned near the bottom wall 119 of rack assembly 132 as shown in
Continuing with
As shown in
As described above, fluid supply conduit 162 is provided with fluid by direction connection to fluid circulation assembly 152. In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, fluid supply conduit 162 may connected to e.g., a manifold 112 supplying fluid to spray arm assembly 148. As such, the connecting end of supply conduit 166 and port 168 would be eliminated and a tube or other conduit would be used to connect with manifold 112 with is in turn connected to fluid circulation assembly 152.
Fluid circulation assembly 152 is used to recirculate wash or rinse fluids through dishwasher 100 for a predetermined period of time in order to effectively wash or rinse the dishes. Tines 156 provide for the placement of a spray of such fluid into the interior of containers that have been placed onto rack assembly 132 in order to provide more effective cleaning and rinsing than may occur through use of spray arm 148 alone. In still another embodiment of the invention, fluid supply conduit 162 can be supplied with a source of fresh water rather than with fluids recirculated through assembly 152. For example, a valve (not shown) can be used to control the flow of fresh water or other non-recirculated fluid into fluid supply conduit 162. Such an option might be desirable during the initial filling of chamber 106 in preparation for washing—thereby simultaneously serving to help clean the interior of various containers and other dishes. Alternatively, it may be desirable to introduce fresh water in such fashion during part of a rinse cycle. Other variations may be used as well.
This written description uses examples to disclose the invention, including the best mode, and also to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the invention, including making and using any devices or systems and performing any incorporated methods. The patentable scope of the invention is defined by the claims, and may include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they include structural elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or if they include equivalent structural elements with insubstantial differences from the literal languages of the claims.