Soaker Basket for a Dishwasher's Silverware Basket

Abstract

Dirty eating utensils and other forms of silverware are placed into a dishwasher basket that is at least partially submerged in water that is kept in a soaker basket. The soaker basket is characterized by a water holder portion and a hanger portion such that the hanger portion positions and supports the water holder portion inside a sink basin. Preferably, the hanger portion hangs over a sink divider of a double sink such that it is easy to fill the soaker basket with water from a sink's faucet.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]Dishwashers have become a common household appliance, and numerous improvements to the design of silverware baskets for holding silverware (flatware) and other utensils have been developed over the years. A common problem with silverware, particularly forks, is that dried-in food does not adequately hydrate and soften during dishwasher cycles. Food that is not removed during the wash and rinse cycles of a dishwasher becomes baked onto the eating utensils during the drying cycle and must then be soaked, and sometimes even scrubbed, to remove food particles.[0002]Silverware basket designs have changed over the years to improve water flow to utensils and to improve separation of utensils during operation of a dishwasher, but the problem that has not been addressed is that people place dirty utensils into a silverware basket hours, sometimes days, before running a load. Because dirty utensils placed in a silverware basket sit in a relatively dry environm...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0003]The present invention is a soaker basket that is preferably mounted to the center divider of a double kitchen sink. The soaker basket is filled with water, and a silverware basket is inserted into the soaker basket so a user can drop dirty utensils into the silverware basket. The utensils should be inserted dirty side down, obviously, such that food particles are submerged in the water held by the s...

Problems solved by technology

A common problem with silverware, particularly forks, is that dried-in food does not adequately hydrate and soften during dishwasher cycles.

Silverware basket designs have changed over the years to improve water flow to utensils and to improve separation of utensils during operation of a dishwasher, but the p...

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