Household appliance with adjustable pedestal

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9664219-B2
Application number	US-201113820340-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 28, 2011
Priority date	Sep 3, 2010
Publication date	May 30, 2017
Grant date	May 30, 2017

Abstract

Provided herein is a household appliance with at least one pedestal comprising a threaded rod which can be screwed into a corresponding threaded hole in a base of the household appliance in a longitudinal direction in order to reach a desired effective height of the pedestal. A snap nut made of a resilient material is provided having a threaded bore with a diameter and a thread fitting to the threaded rod so that the snap nut can be screwed along the longitudinal extension of the threaded rod, the snap nut further comprising a slot having a width that is less than the diameter of the bore and which defines a lateral opening of the bore wherein the width of the slot and the resiliency of the material allows the snap nut to be snapped from the side onto the threaded rod.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A household appliance with at least one pedestal comprising a threaded rod comprising a foot plate for at least partially supporting the household appliance, wherein the threaded rod is configured to be screwed into a corresponding threaded hole in a base of the household appliance in a longitudinal direction (A) in order to reach an effective height of the pedestal, characterized in that a snap nut made of a resilient material is provided having a threaded bore with a diameter and a thread fitting to the threaded rod to enable the snap nut to be screwed along a longitudinal extension of the threaded rod,
the snap nut further comprising a slot having a width (B) that is less than the diameter of the bore and which defines a lateral opening of the bore wherein the width of the slot and the resiliency of the material allows the snap nut to be snapped from the side onto the threaded rod, and
wherein an extension is provided which is configured to removably attach to the foot plate of the pedestal so as to elongate the effective height of the pedestal,
wherein the extension defines a void and an opening connected to the void,
wherein at least a portion of the foot plate is configured to be disposed in the void, and
wherein at least one of the threaded rod or a second portion of the foot plate is configured to extend through the opening.

2. The household appliance according to claim 1 , wherein the snap nut is configured to be snapped from the side onto the threaded rod in a direction (C) being substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the rod.

3. The household appliance according to claim 1 , wherein the snap nut is configured to be snapped onto the threaded rod at any position along the longitudinal direction (A) of the rod.

4. The household appliance according to claim 1 , wherein the foot plate mounted onto the end of the threaded rod is opposed to the base of the household appliance.

5. The household appliance according to claim 1 , wherein the snap nut is configured to be screwed along the threaded rod until it engages the base of the household appliance such that the threaded rod is locked against a stop face of the base of the household appliance for avoiding a swivelling (D) of the pedestal with respect to the base.

6. The household appliance according to claim 5 , wherein the snap nut comprises a cylindrical section comprising a section of the slot and being coaxial with the bore and designed to engage with the base of the household appliance and which has a tapered end which is designed to at least partially enter an entrance of the threaded hole in the base.

7. The household appliance according to claim 6 , wherein the entrance is designed for receiving the tapered end of the snap nut and for engaging with the tapered end, wherein the entrance is surrounded by a groove.

8. The household appliance according to claim 6 , wherein the entrance is designed for receiving the tapered end of the snap nut and for engaging with the tapered end, wherein the entrance is defined by a bore or sleeve provided in front of the threaded hole.

9. The household appliance according to claim 6 , wherein the snap nut comprises an end being opposed to the cylindrical section and facing away from the base of the household appliance, the end comprising at least one manual operation facility, wherein the end is a slotted butterfly nut section with two radial extensions.

10. The household appliance according to claim 9 , wherein the bore and the slot extend through the cylindrical section and the manual operation facility.

11. The household appliance according to claim 1 , wherein the snap nut is made of plastic, wherein the plastic comprises polyoximethylene.

12. The household appliance according to claim 1 , wherein the household appliance is selected from the group consisting of a dishwasher, a washing machine, a household oven, a refrigerator or tumble dryer.

13. The household appliance according to claim 1 , wherein the extension is configured to removably attach to the foot plate by at least partially surrounding the foot plate.

14. The household appliance according to claim 1 , wherein the foot plate comprises an first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface, and wherein the extension is configured to removably attach to the foot plate at least partially adjacent to both the first surface and the second surface.

15. The household appliance according to claim 1 , wherein the extension comprises a first half and a second half, and wherein extension is configured to removably attach to the foot plate of the pedestal by closing the first half and the second half at least partially around the foot plate.

16. The household appliance according to claim 15 , wherein in use the first surface of the foot plate is configured to face the household appliance.

17. The household appliance according to claim 15 , wherein the first half comprises at least one tab configured to engage a corresponding receiving slot in the second half.

18. The household appliance according to claim 1 , wherein the foot plate comprises an first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface, and wherein the extension is configured to removably attach to the foot plate at least partially adjacent to both the first surface and the second surface.

19. A household appliance with at least one pedestal comprising a threaded rod configured to be screwed into a corresponding threaded hole in a base of the household appliance in a longitudinal direction (A) in order to reach a desired effective height of the pedestal, characterized in that a snap nut made of a resilient material is provided having a threaded bore with a diameter and a thread fitting to the threaded rod to enable the snap nut to be screwed along a longitudinal extension of the threaded rod,
the snap nut further comprising a slot having a width (B) that is less than the diameter of the bore and which defines a lateral opening of the bore wherein the width of the slot and the resiliency of the material allows the snap nut to be snapped from the side onto the threaded rod,
wherein the snap nut is configured to be screwed along the threaded rod until it engages the base of the household appliance such that the threaded rod is locked against a stop face of the base of the household appliance for avoiding a swivelling (D) of the pedestal with respect to the base,
wherein the snap nut comprises a cylindrical section comprising a section of the slot and being coaxial with the bore and designed to engage with the base of the household appliance and which has a tapered end which is designed to at least partially enter an entrance of the threaded hole in the base, and
wherein a diameter of the cylindrical section is greater than a diameter of the entrance of the threaded hole in the base, such that the tapered end is configured to engage the entrance of the threaded hole in the base.

20. The household appliance according to claim 19 , wherein the entrance is configured to receive the tapered end of the snap nut and for engaging with the tapered end, wherein the entrance is surrounded by a groove.

21. The household appliance according to claim 19 , wherein the entrance is configured to receive the tapered end of the snap nut and for engaging with the tapered end, wherein the entrance is defined by a bore or sleeve provided in front of the threaded hole.

22. The household appliance according to claim 19 , wherein the

Assignees

• Haider Gerhard
• Parmeggiani Alessandro
• Electrolux Home Products Corp Nv

Inventors

• Haider Gerhard
• Parmeggiani Alessandro

Classifications

• D06F39/125 Primary

  Supporting arrangements for the casing, e.g. rollers or legs · CPC title

• F16B37/0878

  in one piece, e.g. C-shaped nuts · CPC title

• A47B91/022

  using screw means · CPC title

• Y10T403/68

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• Y10T403/4694

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic