The present invention relates to a method for assembling a front panel for a domestic appliance. Further, the present invention relates to a corresponding front panel for a domestic appliance, wherein said front panel comprises a decorative cover made of one or more at least partially transparent materials, a support plate with at least one cutout corresponding with said decorative cover and at least one holding device.
The front panel for a domestic appliance includes several components. A decorative cover made of glass or another transparent material forms the foremost part of the front panel. A support plate made of a metal sheet of plastics form the central part of the front panel. One or more holding devices are provided for receiving control elements and/or display devices. The holding devices form the rear and/or inner parts of the front panel.
The assembling of the components for the front panel requires several steps. A number of fasteners are necessary for connecting the components of the front panel. Usually, the neighbouring components of the front panel are connected by fasteners. The connection to the next components is made by further fasteners.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for assembling a front panel for a domestic appliance and a corresponding front panel, wherein the number of assembling steps is reduced.
The object of the present invention is achieved by the method according to claim 1.
The present invention relates to a method for assembling a front panel for a domestic appliance, wherein said method comprises the following steps:
The main idea of the present invention is that one glue bead allows the connection between three substantial components of the front panel. The glue bead is applied onto the rear side of the decorative cover. The support plate and one or more holding devices are directly fixed on the decorative cover by said glue bead. If only the holding device is fixed on the decorative cover by said glue bead, then the support plate may be clamped between the decorative cover and the holding device, so that the support plate is indirectly fixed on the decorative cover by said glue bead.
In particular, the provided support plate comprises an embossing enclosing at least partially the cutout of said support plate or an embossing is prepared along the circumference of the cutout of the support plate, wherein the embossing is displaced rearwards.
Further, the volume of the glue bead is defined by the embossing. Tolerances of the embossing and/or the support plate can be compensated by a variable thickness of the glue bead. Also distorted support plates, which cannot be used for a conventional assembling method, are suitable for the inventive assembling method.
Preferably, the embossing includes a plurality of holes or a plurality of holes is prepared in the embossing, so that a part of the glue bead swells through said holes during attaching the support plate onto the rear side of the decorative cover. The holes allow that the glue bead is divided into two glue beads on the opposite sides of the embossing. One application of the glue bead results in two glue beads by the holes.
According to a further embodiment of the present invention the glue bead is prepared with a number of contractions in order to obtain a number of places for glue dots, and the holding device is prefixed onto the rear side of the support plate by said glue dots.
With the contractions the holding device may be attached onto the rear side of the support plate by glue dots, wherein said glue dots are joined behind the positions of the contractions. In this case the holding device may comprise corresponding holes.
According to another embodiment of the present invention the support plate is fixed by gluing the holding device onto the decorative cover.
Further, the support plate and/or the holding device are centred and/or aligned during attaching the support plate and/or the holding device, respectively. The attaching and centring of the support plate and/or holding device may be performed within one step in each case.
The object of the present invention is further achieved by the front panel according to claim 8.
The present invention relates to a front panel for a domestic appliance, wherein:
The inventive front panel requires one glue bead for the connection between at least three substantial components of the front panel. The glue bead is applied onto the rear side of the decorative cover. The support plate and one or more holding devices are directly fixed on the decorative cover by said glue bead. If only the holding device is fixed on the decorative cover by said glue bead, then the support plate is clamped between the decorative cover and the holding device, so that the support plate is indirectly fixed on the decorative cover by said glue bead.
In particular, the support plate comprises an embossing enclosing at least partially the cutout of said support plate, wherein the embossing is displaced rearwards.
Further, the volume of the glue bead is defined by the embossing. Tolerances of the embossing and/or the support plate are compensated by a variable thickness of the glue bead. The front panel may be made of a distorted support plate, which cannot be used for a conventional assembling method.
The embossing may include a plurality of holes, so that a part of the glue bead penetrates through said holes. The holes divide the original glue bead into two glue beads on the opposite sides of the embossing.
The glue bead may comprise a number of contractions, so that a number of places for glue dots is obtained, and the holding device may be prefixed on the rear side of the support plate by said glue dots.
Preferably, the decorative cover is the foremost component of the front panel. In this case, the side walls of the decorative cover may be illuminated or illuminable for display and/or design purposes.
Novel and inventive features of the present invention are set forth in the appended claims.
The present invention will be described in further detail with reference to the drawings, in which
The decorative cover 10 is formed as a rectangular sheet and comprises four round holes 24. The round holes 24 are provided for receiving knobs or shafts of said knobs. In this example, the decorative cover 10 is made of glass. Alternatively, the decorative cover 10 may be made of plastics.
A glue bead 18 is applied at an outer portion of the rear side of the decorative cover 10. The glue bead 18 has the form of a rectangular frame. An adhesive tape or a pierced adhesive foil may be used instead of said glue bead 18.
The application of the glue bead 18 onto the decorative cover 10 is the first step of assembling the front panel of the first embodiment.
The support plate 12 is substantially formed as a rectangular sheet. A rectangular cutout is arranged in the central portion of the support plate 12. Said rectangular cutout is marginally smaller than the decorative cover 10 attached at the front side of the support plate 12. The rectangular cutout is enclosed by an embossing 22. The embossing 22 is provided for receiving the glue bead 18 of the decorative cover 10. The deepness of the embossing 22 defines the thickness of the glue bead 18 between the rear side of the decorative cover 10 and the front side of the support plate 12.
The assembly of the support plate 12 and the decorative cover 10 is the second step of assembling the front panel of the first embodiment.
Additionally, a further glue bead 20 is arranged on the rear side of the support plate 12. The glue bead 20 has the form of a rectangular frame and two transverse joints 26. The rectangular frame of the glue bead 20 has substantially the same size as the rectangular frame of the glue bead 18. Also in this case, an adhesive tape or a pierced adhesive foil may be used instead of the glue bead 20.
The applying of the glue bead 20 onto the support plate 12 is the third step of assembling the front panel of the first embodiment.
The holding frame 16 is attached in a central portion of the rear side of the support plate 12. The holding frame 16 is fixed by the glue bead 20. Four knob housings 14 are also attached at the rear side of the support plate 12. Two knob housings 14 are arranged side-by-side on the left and right sides of the holding frame 16 in each case. Each knob housing 14 corresponds with one of the round holes 24 of the decorative cover 10. The knob housings 14 are also fixed by the glue bead 20.
The fixing of the holding frame 16 and the knob housings 14 at the support plate 12 is the fourth step of assembling the front panel of the first embodiment.
The decorative cover 10 is the foremost component of the front panel. The glue bead 18 between the decorative cover 10 and the support plate 12 is arranged in a space provided by the embossing 22. Thus, the decorative cover 10 lies directly against the support plate 12. The glue bead 20 between the support plate 12 and the holding frame 16 is arranged at rear side of the embossing 22 and opposite to the glue bead 18.
The decorative cover 10 is formed as a rectangular sheet and comprises the four round holes 24. The round holes 24 are provided for receiving the knobs or the shafts of said knobs.
The glue bead 18 is applied at an outer portion of the rear side of the decorative cover 10. The glue bead 18 has the form of a rectangular frame. Additionally, the glue bead 18 comprises six transverse joints 26, so that the round holes 24 are enclosed by the glue bead 18. Alternatively, an adhesive tape or a pierced adhesive foil may be used instead of said glue bead 18.
The application of the glue bead 18 onto the decorative cover 10 is the first step of assembling the front panel of the second embodiment.
The support plate 12 of the second embodiment is similarly formed as the support plate 12 of the first embodiment. Additionally, the embossing 22 comprises a plurality of holes 28. A part of the glue bead 18 expands through said holes 28, when the support plate 12 is put onto the decorative cover 10. The deepness of the embossing 22 defines the thickness of the glue bead 18 between the rear side of the decorative cover 10 and the front side of the support plate 12. That part of the glue bead 18 expanded through the holes 28 forms the glue bead 20 on the rear side of the support plate 12.
The assembly of the support plate 12 and the decorative cover 10 is the second step of assembling the front panel of the second embodiment.
The holding frame 16 and the four knob housings 14 are attached at the rear side of the support plate 12 in a similar way as in the first embodiment. However, the glue bead 20 between the support plate 12 on the one hand and the holding frame 16 and four knob housings 14 on the other hand is formed by the expansion of the glue bead 18 through the holes 28.
The fixing of the holding frame 16 and the knob housings 14 at the support plate 12 is the third step of assembling the front panel of the second embodiment.
The glue bead 18 is applied at an outer portion of the rear side of the decorative cover 10 and has the form of a rectangular frame. Further, the glue bead 18 comprises the six transverse joints 26, so that the round holes 24 are enclosed by the glue bead 18 as in the second embodiment. Additionally, the glue bead 18 comprises a number of contractions 30 in its upper and lower parts. Said contractions 30 are provided in order to obtain places for glue dots.
The application of the glue bead 18 onto the decorative cover 10 is the first step of assembling the front panel of the third embodiment.
The support plate 12 of the third embodiment has the same form as the support plate 12 of the second embodiment. When the support plate 12 is put onto the decorative cover 10, then a part of the glue bead 18 expands through the holes 28 in the embossing 22, except at the positions of the contractions 30 of the glue bead 18. The deepness of the embossing 22 defines the thickness of the glue bead 18 between the rear side of the decorative cover 10 and the front side of the support plate 12. The positions of the contractions 30 are provided for gluing dots of hot glue or UV glue.
The assembly of the support plate 12 and the decorative cover 10 is the second step of assembling the front panel of the third embodiment.
The holding frame 16 and the four knob housings 14 are attached at the rear side of the support plate 12 in a similar way as in the second embodiment. Now the glue dots of hot glue or UV glue are set at the positions of the contractions 30. The holding frame 16 and the knob housings 14 are hold for a few seconds up to the glue of the gluing dots is hardened. In this way, a bending of the parts can be compensated. Thus, the assembly can be handled directly after the gluing process, since the holding frame 16 and the knob housings 14 are prefixed.
The fixing of the holding frame 16 and the knob housings 14 at the support plate 12 is the third step of assembling the front panel of the third embodiment.
In this embodiment the support plate 12 is put onto the decorative cover 10. This is the first step of assembling the front panel of the fourth embodiment.
In a second step of the fourth embodiment the glue bead 32 is applied onto the decorative cover 10. The glue bead 32 has the form of a rectangular frame. The glue bead 32 is inside the rectangular cutout of the support plate 12. Instead of the glue bead 32, an adhesive tape or a pierced adhesive foil may be used.
Contact surfaces 34 and distance elements 36 are arranged at the front side of the knob housing 14. The contact surfaces 34 are arranged in lines at the upper and lower end portions of the front side, respectively. The distance elements 36 are arranged between the upper and lower lines of the contact surfaces 34. The contact surfaces 34 are provided to lie against the rear side of the support plate 12. The distance elements 36 are provided to lie against the rear side of the decorative cover 10.
Contact surfaces 38 and distance elements 40 are arranged also at the front side of the holding frame 16. The longitudinal contact surfaces 38 form the upper and lower end portions of the front side, respectively. The distance elements 40 are arranged between the upper and lower contact surfaces 38. The contact surfaces 38 are provided to lie against the rear side of the support plate 12. The distance elements 40 are provided to lie against the rear side of the decorative cover 10.
The holding frame 16 is attached in a central portion of the rear side of the support plate 12. The holding frame 16 is fixed at the decorative cover 10 by the glue bead 32. Thus, the support plate 12 is clamped between the decorative cover 10 and the holding frame 16.
The four knob housings 14 are also attached at the rear side of the support plate 12. The knob housings 14 are also fixed at the decorative cover 10 by the glue bead 32. Thus, the support plate 12 is clamped between the decorative cover 10 on the one hand and four knob housings 14 on the other hand.
The fixing of the holding frame 16 and the knob housings 14 at the support plate 12 is the third step of assembling the front panel of the fourth embodiment.
The decorative cover 10 is the foremost component of the front panel. The glue bead 32 between the decorative cover 10 and the knob housing 14 is arranged in a space provided by the distance elements 36. The support plate 12 is clamped between the decorative cover 10 on the one hand and four knob housings 14 on the other hand.
The decorative cover 10 is the foremost component of the front panel. The glue bead 32 between the decorative cover 10 and the holding frame 16 is arranged in a space provided by the distance elements 40. The support plate 12 is clamped between the decorative cover 10 and the holding frame 16.
The support plate 12 includes a first embossing 42 at the upper and lower side of the cutout. The first embossing 42 is provided for receiving the holding frame 16 and the knob housings 14. The first embossing 42 comprises a number of centring elements 46. Further, the support plate 12 includes a second embossing 44 enclosing the cutout. The second embossing 44 is provided for receiving the glue bead 18.
The holding frame 16 and the knob housings 14 are inserted into the support plat 12, so that the contact surfaces 34 and 38 of the holding frame 16 and knob housings 14, respectively, contact the first embossing 42. The hooks 48 are provided for a pre-fixing the holding frame 16 and the knob housings 14. The glue bead 18 is applied onto the decorative cover 10. The support plate 12 with the holding frame 16 and the knob housings 14 is set downwards. The hooks 48 prevent that the holding frame 16 and the knob housings 14 get out of the support plate 12.
Alternatively, the decorative cover 10 with the glue bead 18 can be set downwards onto the support plate 12 with the holding frame 16 and the knob housings 14, or the glue bead 18 is applied onto the support plate 12 with the holding frame 16 and the knob housings 14 and then the decorative cover 10 is set up. In this case, the hooks 48 are not necessary.
The glue bead 18 is applied at the outer portion of the rear side of the decorative cover 10. The glue bead 18 has the form of a rectangular frame. Additionally, the glue bead 18 comprises six transverse joints 26, so that the round holes 24 are enclosed by the glue bead 18. Alternatively, an adhesive tape or a pierced adhesive foil may be used instead of said glue bead 18.
The method of the present invention reduces the number of steps for said method. Each embodiment of the inventive method can be performed manually or by a robot.
Since the decorative cover 10 is smaller than the support plate 12, the side walls of the decorative cover 10 can be illuminated for display and/or design purposes. A microsection at the side walls of the decorative cover 10 may be provided for coupling out of light. The possible structures of the microsections allow different effects. The coupling of light into the decorative cover 10 may be performed via holes for the knobs and/or keys or via additional holes. The decorative cover 10 may at least partially have a concave or convex structure in order to obtain the effects of lenses.
This list of references cited by the applicant is for the reader's convenience only. It does not form part of the European patent document. Even though great care has been taken in compiling the references, errors or omissions cannot be excluded and the EPO disclaims all liability in this regard.