Domestic electrical appliance, in particular a dishwashing machine

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10827904-B2
Application number	US-201715631042-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 23, 2017
Priority date	Jul 1, 2016
Publication date	Nov 10, 2020
Grant date	Nov 10, 2020

Abstract

A domestic electrical appliance, in particular a dishwashing machine, includes a main appliance body having a product treatment chamber, a door mounted on the main appliance body so as to be pivotable about a horizontal pivot axis close to the floor for closing an access opening to the product treatment chamber and a locking device having a locking assembly arranged on the main appliance body and a closing pin arranged on the door. The locking assembly has a latch movable between a release position and a latching position where the latch engages behind the closing pin to hold the door closed and releases the closing pin to open the door. The latch performs a rotational movement along a horizontal plane as it moves between the release position and the latching position, the closing pin being oriented vertically when the door is closed.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A domestic electrical appliance comprising:
a main appliance body having a product treatment chamber;
a door mounted on the main appliance body so as to be pivotable about a horizontal pivot axis that is close to a floor of the main appliance body, for closing an access opening to the product treatment chamber; and
a locking device having a locking assembly arranged on the main appliance body and a closing pin arranged on the door, wherein the locking assembly comprises a latch which is arranged to be movable between a release position and a latching position, which latch, in the latching position, engages behind the closing pin in order to hold the door closed and, in the release position, releases the closing pin to open the door, wherein the latch performs a rotational movement along a horizontal plane as it moves between the release position and the latching position, and the closing pin is oriented vertically when the door is closed,
wherein there is formed on the locking assembly an aligning system for the mutual horizontal-lateral alignment of the closing pin and the latch, which aligning system cooperates with the closing pin as the door closes,
wherein the latch and the aligning system are arranged for joint movement with a lock module, and
wherein the latch and the aligning system are combined in the lock module which is mounted in a lock housing of the locking assembly with play movability along a horizontal plane.

2. The domestic appliance according to claim 1 , wherein the latch has a latch mouth delimited by two jaws, wherein the closing pin comes into contact with a first of the jaws as the door closes and thereby initiates a movement of the latch from the release position into the latching position, and wherein, in the course of that movement of the latch, a second of the jaws of the latch moves behind the closing pin.

3. The domestic appliance according to claim 1 wherein the aligning system comprises a guide slot which the closing pin enters as the door closes.

4. The domestic appliance according to claim 3 , wherein the closing pin is substantially free of horizontal-lateral movement play in the guide slot.

5. The domestic appliance according to claim 3 , wherein an entry funnel is arranged in front of the guide slot in the region of one of its slot ends closer to the closing pin.

6. The domestic appliance according to claim 1 , wherein the play movability of the lock module includes rotational movability about an axis of rotation that is fixed relative to the lock housing, or linear movability relative to the lock housing.

7. The domestic appliance according to claim 1 , wherein the play movability of the lock module is intended to compensate for horizontal-lateral position tolerances of the closing pin selected from the group consisting of at least 1.5 mm, at least 2 mm, at least 2.5 mm, and at least 3 mm.

8. The domestic appliance according to claim 1 , wherein the lock module further comprises one of a spring arrangement for spring-biasing the latch, an electric switch that responds to the closing and opening of the door, or both.

9. A domestic electrical appliance comprising:
a main appliance body having a product treatment chamber;
a door for closing an access opening to the product treatment chamber; and
a locking device having a locking assembly arranged on one of two appliance components, the appliance components being the main appliance body and the door, and having a closing body arranged on the other of the two appliance components, wherein the locking assembly comprises a latch which is arranged to be movable between a release position and a latching position, which latch, in the latching position, engages behind the closing body in order to hold the door closed and, in the release position, releases the closing body to open the door,
wherein there is formed on the locking assembly an aligning system for the mutual alignment of the closing body and the latch, which aligning system cooperates with the closing body as the door closes,
wherein the latch and the aligning system are combined in a lock module which is mounted with play movability relative to a lock housing of the locking assembly.

Assignees

• Emz Hanauer Gmbh & Co Kgaa

Inventors

• Dirnberger Albert
• Bauer Matthias

Classifications

• E05C19/024 Primary

  with a bifurcated latch · CPC title

• Y10T292/1043

  Swinging · CPC title

• Y10S292/69

  Washing machine or stove closure latch · CPC title

• Y10T292/1082

  Motor · CPC title

• Y10T292/1047

  Closure · CPC title