Household appliance having a pocket handle and associated display

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10036181-B2
Application number	US-201615350616-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 14, 2016
Priority date	Nov 14, 2016
Publication date	Jul 31, 2018
Grant date	Jul 31, 2018

Abstract

A household appliance including a cabinet defining a chamber with an access opening, a door movably mounted to the cabinet to selectively open and close the access opening and having a face, and a pocket handle having a recess provided in the door with an ingress opening to define a pocket, and a display provided with the door and overlying a portion of the pocket to define a handle pull, wherein a user can insert their fingers into the pocket through the ingress opening and pull against the handle pull to move the door to open the access opening.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A household appliance comprising:
a cabinet defining a chamber with an access opening;
a door movably mounted to the cabinet to selectively open and close the access opening, the door having a face;
a pocket handle having a recess having a first length provided in the door with an ingress opening to define a pocket; and
a display provided with the door and having a second length that is longer than the first length, the display comprising a dead front display configured to display information to a user, the display overlying a portion of the pocket to define a non-rotatable handle pull for the pocket and wherein when the dead front display is in an inactive condition no information or lighting is shown on the dead front display and the dead front display is visually indistinguishable from a remainder of the non-rotatable handle pull;
wherein a user can insert their fingers into the pocket through the ingress opening and pull against a rear surface of the non-rotatable handle pull to move the door to open the access opening.

2. The household appliance of claim 1 wherein the pocket, ingress opening, and dead front display are located interiorly of the door.

3. The household appliance of claim 2 wherein the face comprises a face opening aligned with the ingress opening.

4. The household appliance of claim 3 further comprising a trim bezel extending between the face opening and the ingress opening.

5. The household appliance of claim 4 wherein the dead front display overlies more than half of the ingress opening.

6. The household appliance of claim 5 wherein both the dead front display and the pocket are black in color.

7. The household appliance of claim 6 further comprising a user interface having at least one input located on a portion of the door other than the face.

8. The household appliance of claim 7 wherein the door further comprises a side edge and the user interface is located on the side edge.

9. The household appliance of claim 8 wherein the chamber is a treating chamber that receives an article for treatment according to a cycle of operation for the household appliance.

10. The household appliance of claim 9 wherein the household appliance is one of a dishwasher, clothes washer, clothes dryer, refrigerator, stove, oven, or microwave.

11. The household appliance of claim 1 wherein the dead front display overlies more than half of the ingress opening.

12. The household appliance of claim 1 wherein both the dead front display and the pocket are black in color.

13. The household appliance of claim 1 further comprising a user interface having at least one input located on a portion of the door other than the face.

14. The household appliance of claim 13 wherein the door further comprises a side edge and the user interface is located on the side edge.

15. The household appliance of claim 1 wherein the household appliance is one of a dishwasher, clothes washer, clothes dryer, refrigerator, stove, oven, or microwave.

16. A door assembly comprising:
a door having a face; and
a pocket defining a recess in the door, the pocket having an ingress opening; and
a display comprising a dead front display configured to display information to a user, the display overlying a portion of the pocket to define a non-rotatable handle pull having a rear face; and
a user interface having at least one input located on a portion of the door other than the face;
wherein a user can insert their fingers into the pocket through the ingress opening and pull against the rear face of the non-rotatable handle pull to move the door to open an access opening and wherein there is no visible demarcation of boundaries of the dead front display and wherein when the dead front display is in an inactive condition no information or lightning is shown on the dead front display.

17. The door assembly of claim 16 wherein the dead front display overlies more than half of the ingress opening.

18. The door assembly of claim 16 wherein both the dead front display and the pocket are black in color.

19. The door assembly of claim 16 wherein the door further comprises a side edge and the user interface is located on the side edge.

Assignees

• Whirlpool Co

Inventors

• Viswanathan Ameresh

Classifications

• H05B6/6414

  Aspects relating to the door of the microwave heating apparatus · CPC title

• F25D29/005

  Mounting of control devices · CPC title

• F25D23/02

  Doors; Covers (F25D23/08 takes precedence {locks or fastenings E05B65/0042}) · CPC title

• E06B5/00

  Doors, windows, or like closures for special purposes {(insulated compound frames specially adapted for sliding doors or windows E06B3/26347)}; Border constructions therefor · CPC title

• A47L15/4293

  Arrangements for programme selection, e.g. control panels; Indication of the selected programme, programme progress or other parameters of the programme, e.g. by using display panels · CPC title