Basket door construction for washer

Abstract

 The invention relates to a basket door construction for a washer, the door construction comprising an upper door (4) with an opening (9) and a lower door (5) with a hook means (13) so that the doors can be alternatively positioned in a locking position or an open position. In order to prevent the doors (4, 5) from accidentally moving into a false locking position, in which they might open during washer operation with disastrous consequences, the lower door (5) comprises a supporting guide means (16) comprising a tip portion (19) having a tip (23) which can be brought into contact with the free edge (8) of the upper door (4) when the doors (4, 5) are in the position in which they open under the urgings of the door springs (17, 18), whereby the supporting guide means comprises a lower surface (20) which, when the free edge of the upper door has been positioned immediately below the tip of the tip portion against said lower surface, is arranged to support and guide the free edge of the upper door such that the hook means (13) is guided through the opening (9) and the doors move into the locking position under the urgings of the springs (17, 18).

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a basket door construction for a washer. More specifically, the invention relates to a basket door construction for a washer, the door construction comprising an upper door and a lower door which can be alternatively positioned in a locking position or an open position in relation to one another, whereby the upper door comprises a first end having a hinge for hingedly attaching it to the washer basket and an opposite free end comprising a free edge and having an opening, and the lower door comprises a first end comprising a hinge for hingedly attaching it to the washer basket and an opposite free end comprising a free edge and having a hook means, whereby the free ends of the doors overlap one another and the hook means has been passed through the opening when the doors are in the locking position and springs are attached to the doors to keep the doors in the locking position.

[0002] This kind of door construction is well known in top-loaded washers. Normally, the door construction functions flawlessly, but it has been discovered that in some cases the doors have opened during washer operation. If the doors open during washer operation, the washer is easily broken and humans may also be exposed to danger. If the doors open during centrifugation, particularly great damage result. Fairly strong centrifugal forces act on the doors during washing and it is therefore important that the locking construction of the doors is strong. In addition, the locking construction should be such that it cannot open in any situation that may occur in practice. In the cases mentioned, the doors opened during washer operation, because the free tip of the hook on the lower door moved into a position in which it spring-loaded was abutting against the edge of the opening in the upper door. The locking construction was thus not in the correct locking position but in a "false locking position". A person using a washer does not always notice that he has placed the doors carelessly in a false locking position, since the position of the doors in the false locking position is very close to the position of the doors in the locking position.

[0003] Attempts have been made to solve this problem with the door locking construction disclosed in the German patent 3432498. This known locking construction is based on the concept of attaining a point load between the hook on the lower door and the opening in the upper door, as a result of which the hook cannot "catch" at the wrong place of the edge of the opening as easily as in the case of a linear load. It is stated in the patent that the aim of the solution is to prevent false locking or to at least make it very unlikely. Consequently, this known solution does not eliminate the problem referred to with absolute certainty either.

[0004] The aim of the present invention is to entirely eliminate the danger of false locking. In order to accomplish this, the door construction according to the invention is characterized in that the lower door comprises a supporting guide means comprising a tip portion with a tip which can be brought into contact with the free edge of the upper door when the doors are in the position in which they open under the urgings of the springs, whereby the supporting guide means comprises a lower surface which, when the free edge of the upper door has been positioned immediately below the tip of the tip portion against said lower surface, is arranged to support and guide the free edge of the upper door such that the hook means is guided through the opening and the doors move into the locking position under the urgings of the springs.

[0005] Preferably, the tip portion, when the free edge of the upper door has been guided below the tip portion of the supporting guide means into contact with the lower surface thereof, has been arranged to hold the tip of the hook means continuously at a distance from the edge that is located closer to the free edge of the opening in the upper door when the doors move into the locking position under the urgings of the springs. With this kind of solution, there is no chance whatever that the doors could move into the false locking position. The tip of the tip portion is then preferably arranged to touch the free edge of the upper door when the lower and the upper door are turned, in relation to one another, in a specific position in which the hook means is located below the opening, whereby the tip of the tip portion is at a greater distance from the tip of the hook means than said edge of the opening in the upper door from the free edge of the upper door. The solution thus configured is extremely simple in its aim to prevent the tip of the hook means from touching the edge of the opening - and false locking.

[0006] The door construction according to the invention is based on the concept of obtaining a supporting guide means which prevents the tip of the hook means from touching the edge of the opening in the opposite door such that false locking could occur; for this purpose, the supporting guide means has been arranged to preferably touch the free edge of the opposite door with its tip when the doors are in that position in relation to one another in which they open fully due to the spring force: if said free edge is guided into contact below the supporting guide means, the supporting guide means guides the hook means into the opening and the doors into the locking position, when the doors are pushed with a force that is smaller than the force of the door springs.

[0007] Recommendable embodiments of the door construction according to the invention have been disclosed in the enclosed claims 2 to 6.

[0008] The greatest advantages of the door construction according to the invention are that it prevents the doors from coming into the false locking position, and thus damage to the washer and possible injuries to people, and at the same time, it is structurally very simple and can be realized at a low cost.

[0009] The invention will be explained in more detail in the following with reference to the enclosed drawing in which

Figure 1 shows a washer basket and its doors,

Figure 2 shows the doors of a washer viewed along the sectional lines II-II in Figure 1,

Figure 3 is an enlarged view of Figure 2,

Figure 4 shows the doors of a washer basket in two different positions,

Figure 5 is a side view of the basket of Figure 1,

Figures 6 illustrates the movement paths of the doors of the washer basket,

Figure 7 illustrates the different positions of the doors of the washer basket,

Figure 8 illustrates another embodiment of the invention.

[0010] In Figure 1, there is illustrated a top-loaded washer basket 1 including its door construction. The laundry is loaded into the basket 1 and unloaded from the basket through the doors 4, 5 at the periphery of the basket. In Figure 1, the doors 4, 5 are closed, i.e. in the locking position.

[0011] In Figure 2, the doors 2, 3 of the basket 1 are shown from the side.

[0012] In Figures 1 and 2, it can be seen that one of the doors of the door construction is an upper door 4 and the other is a lower door 5. The upper doors 4 comprises a hinge 6 by which it is at one end 2 hingedly attached to the basket 1. The free end 7 of the upper door 4 comprises a free edge 8. There is an opening 9 at the end 7. Correspondingly, the lower door 5 comprises a hinge 10 for hingedly attaching it at one end 3 to the basket 1. The free end 1 1 of the lower door 5 comprises a free edge 12. A hook means 13 is provided at the end 11.

[0013] At the hinges 6 and 10, there are springs 17, 18, the spring force of which urges the doors 4, 5 upwardly, i.e. outwardly from the periphery defined by the basket 1. When the doors 4, 5 are not in the locking position, the springs 17, 18 raise the free ends 7, 11 of the doors either in the locking position, locking the doors, or, alternatively, in the open position above the periphery of the basket 1. When the doors 4, 5 are in the open position, the basket can be loaded with laundry.

[0014] In the locking position, the free end 11 of the lower door is located below the free end 7 of the upper door and the hook means 13 including its tip 15 has been passed through the opening 9. The cooperation of the hook means 13 and the edge 14 of the opening prevents the doors 4, 5 in the locking position from rising from the locking position illustrated in Figure 2 into the open position.

[0015] In order that the operation of the door construction should be safe and no false locking, in which the tip 15 of the hook means 13 would abut on the edge 14 of the opening 9, should occur, the lower door 5 comprises a supporting guide means 16 which comprises a tip portion 19 which has a tip 23 and which is directed obliquely upwards from the basket 1 and the surface of the door 5. The operation of the supporting guide means 16 is described in the following with reference to Figures 3, 4 and 7.

[0016] In Figure 3, the doors 4, 5 are in the locking position. If the doors 4, 5 are to be opened, they are pushed downwards in the direction indicated by the arrows A such that they first move into the upper operating position shown in Figure 4, in which the free edge 8 approaches the tip portion 19 of the supporting guide means. After this, the doors 4, 5 are pushed further down such that they come in the lower operating position shown in Figure 4, in which the free edge 8 points at the edge of the supporting guide means, i.e. towards the tip 23 of the tip portion. In this position, the tip 15 of the hook means 13 is located below the opening 9 and it cannot catch at the edge of the opening 9. If the doors 4, 5 are now released, they bounce up due to the springs 17, 18 and the doors are open.

[0017] In order to bring the doors 4, 5 back into the locking position shown in Figure 3, the free edges of the doors 4, 5 are pushed downwards towards one another until the free edge 8 is in the area between the tip 23 of the tip portion of the supporting guide means and the tip 15 of the hook means, and below the tip 23, i.e. into the upper operating position shown in Figure 4, after which the doors 4, 5 are allowed to rise urged by the spring force. When the doors 4, 5 rise, the tip 8 abuts on the lower surface 20 of the tip portion 19 near the tip 23 and the supporting guide means ensures, by guiding the mutual movement of the doors, that the tip 15 of the hook continuously remains at a distance from the edge 14 of the opening 9. For said guidance, distance of the tip 23 from the edge 15 is - depending on the geometry of the door - somewhat greater than or approximately as great as the distance of the free edge 8 from the edge 14, whereby the edge 15 of the hook means is guided past the edge 14 of the opening such that the tip always passes through the opening 9. Consequently, the danger that the tip 15 would catch at the edge 14, causing a false locking, does not exist.

[0018] Figures 6 and 7 show different operating positions of the doors 4, 5. If the doors 4, 5 are allowed to freely rise from the two lowest operating positions shown in Figure 7, they open fully; and if the doors are allowed to rise freely from the operating position shown third from below in Figure 7, the doors are guided into the uppermost locking position shown in Figure 7 via the other operating positions illustrated in between.

[0019] Figure 5 illustrates the arrangement of the doors on the periphery of the basket 1.

[0020] In the embodiment shown in Figures 1 - 7, the supporting guide means 16 is formed by a plate-like member, that edge of the member which is at the same side as the hook means 3 has been deflected obliquely upwards to form a tip portion 19. The supporting guide means 16 is secured by rivets 21, 22 to the lower door 5. Such a plate is easy to accomplish and it is conceivable that it can even be mounted afterwards on the finished basket 1 without any actual constructional changes.

[0021] Alternatively, the supporting guide means 16' can be formed integrally with the hook means 13' in accordance with Figure 8, whereby the hook means comprises a tip portion 19' which is directed obliquely upwards. The distance of the tip 23' of the tip portion 19' from the tip 15' of the hook is - depending on the geometry of the door - somewhat greater than or approximately as great as the distance of the free edge 8 from the edge 14 of the opening 9, cf. Figure 4.

[0022] The invention has only been described by means of examples above and it is therefore pointed out that the invention can as regards its details be realized in many ways within the scope of the inventive concept and the enclosed claims.

[0023] Consequently, the supporting guide means with its tip portion does not have to be integral with the door on which it has been mounted. It is thus conceivable that the supporting guide means can be moved on the door so that the tip portion is placed on the free edge of the opposite door. An integral supporting guide means is, however, as regards its construction considerably simpler than a movable supporting guide means that possibly requires springs; in addition, an integral supporting guide means is simple from the point of view of the user of the washer.

Claims

1. Basket door construction for a washer, the door construction comprising an upper door (4) and a lower door (5) which can be alternatively positioned in a locking position or an open position in relation to one another, whereby the upper door comprises a first end (2) having a hinge (6) for hingedly attaching it to the washer basket (1) and an opposite free end (7) comprising a free edge (8) and having an opening (9), and the lower door comprises a first end (3) comprising a hinge (10) for hingedly attaching it to the washer basket and an opposite free end (11) comprising a free edge (12) and having a hook means (13, 13'), whereby the free ends (7 and 11) of the doors overlap one another and the hook means (13, 13') has been passed through the opening (9) when the doors are in the locking position and springs (17, 18) are attached to the doors to keep the doors in the locking position, characterized in that the lower door (5) comprises a supporting guide means (16, 16') comprising a tip portion (19, 19') having a tip (23, 23') which can be brought into contact with the free edge (8) of the upper door (4) when the doors (4, 5) are in the position in which they open under the urgings of the springs (17, 18), whereby the supporting guide means comprises a lower surface (20, 20') which, when the free edge (8) of the upper door has been positioned immediately below the tip (23, 23') of the tip portion against said lower surface (20, 20'), is arranged to support and guide the free edge of the upper door such that the hook means (13, 13') is guided through the opening (9) and the doors move into the locking position under the urgings of the springs (17, 18).

2. Door construction according to claim 1, characterized in that the tip portion (19, 19'), when the free edge (8) of the upper door (4) has been guided below the tip portion (19, 19') into contact with the lower surface (20, 20') thereof, has been arranged to hold the tip (15, 15') of the hook means continuously at a distance from the edge (14) that is located closer to the free edge (8) of the opening (9) in the upper door when the doors move into the locking position under the urgings of the springs (17, 18).

3. Door construction according to claim 2, characterized in that the tip (23, 23') of the tip portion (19, 19') is preferably arranged to touch the free edge (8) of the upper door (4) when the lower and the upper door are turned, in relation to one another, in a specific position in which the hook means (13, 13') is located below the opening (9), whereby the tip (23, 23') of the tip portion is at a greater distance from the tip (15, 15') of the hook means than said edge (14) of the opening (9) in the upper door from the free edge (8) of the upper door.

4. Door construction according to claim 3, characterized in that the supporting guide means comprises a plate-like member (16) one edge of which has been deflected obliquely upwards from the surface of the lower door (5) to form the tip (23) of the tip portion.

5. Door construction according to claim 4, characterized in that the plate-like member (16) is secured by rivets (21, 22) to the lower door (5) in the area between the hook means (13) and the hinge (10) of the lower door.

6. Door construction according to claim 3, characterized in that the supporting guide means (16') has been formed as one piece with the hook means (13'), whereby the hook means comprises a tip portion (19') directed obliquely upwards from the surface of the lower door.

Drawing