Laundry treatment household appliance having housing

Abstract

The present application relates to a laundry treatment household appliance, such as a washing machine or dryer, having a housing comprising side walls (2, 3), a rear wall (4), a front two-part wall (5) with an opening (6) in a bottom part for loading and unloading of the household appliance and with a control panel (31), and a top panel (7), the side walls are connected to the upper front part by a crossbar (8), the crossbar (8) comprising: a main portion (9) configured as a substantially hollow profile having a rectangular cross-section and removed from the bottom side, the profile having a reinforcing rib (12) arranged therein, the reinforcing rib (12) extending into the interior of the main portion (9), and an end portion configured as a substantially hollow profile having a rectangular cross-section, the reinforcing rib (12) extending into the interior of the main portion (9). The main part (9) has end portions (16, 18, 17, 19) which are molded in a bonded manner at respective ends of the main part (9) and are substantially configured as an L-shaped profile with long legs (16, 18) and short legs (17, 19).

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The subject of this invention is a household appliance for handling clothes, such as a washing machine or dryer, having a housing including side walls, a rear wall, a front wall with an opening, and a top panel through which the appliance is loaded and unloaded and closed by a door. Background Technology

[0002] A laundry handling appliance (such as a washing machine or dryer) has a housing that includes side walls, a rear wall, a front wall with an opening, and a top panel through which the appliance is loaded and unloaded and closed by a door. The housing houses the laundry handling chamber.

[0003] The front wall, connecting the two side walls, is essentially formed in two parts. The bottom part of the front wall includes an opening for loading and unloading household appliances, while the upper part is the control panel through which the user operates the appliances. The side walls are connected to each other in the upper part by a crossbar, allowing the attachment of the control panel and top panel. The crossbar is typically made of sheet metal through flexing and bending, which contributes to its rigidity to some extent. However, the crossbar can deform due to vibrations generated during appliance operation and other external forces, potentially leading to damage, especially to the control panel, and consequently, appliance malfunction. Simultaneously, the crossbar helps increase the rigidity of the appliance housing, which is typically made of sheet metal and therefore subject to bending and deformation due to external forces and vibrations generated during appliance operation.

[0004] The crossbar is secured to the side wall by multiple screw fasteners. Therefore, the crossbar has multiple drilled holes. The crossbar also has multiple additional drilled holes for attaching the top panel, control panel (located above the loading opening on the front wall of the appliance), and several other components necessary for the normal operation of the appliance and which can be attached to the crossbar. These components are attached using various fasteners. This attachment requires multiple parts, making automation difficult, time-consuming, and requiring precise work to avoid damage to the corresponding parts.

[0005] Technical issues

[0006] The technical problem is to construct such a laundry handling appliance, such as a washing machine or dryer, with a housing that includes fewer parts, particularly those for mounting the control panel and top panel, resulting in simpler, faster, and more economical assembly of the appliance, while not compromising its rigidity. Another object of the invention is to construct a laundry handling appliance whose construction (particularly the crossbar as part of the housing) prevents fluid from entering the interior of the control panel and the components arranged on it. Summary of the Invention

[0007] When a household appliance is in its functional state, the relative expressions in this article (such as front, back, up, down, etc.) are determined from the perspective of the household appliance user.

[0008] This technical problem is solved by a household appliance for garment processing, the main features of which are defined in the first independent claim.

[0009] A household appliance for handling clothes, such as a washing machine or dryer, has a housing including side walls, a rear wall, a two-part front wall, and a top panel. The two-part front wall has openings in a bottom part for loading and unloading the appliance and a control panel. The side walls are connected to the upper front part by a crossbar. The crossbar includes: a main part constructed as a basic hollow profile with a rectangular cross-section, wherein the bottom side is removed, the profile having reinforcing ribs arranged therein, the reinforcing ribs extending into the interior of the main part; and end portions integrally molded at corresponding ends of the main part in a material-bonded manner, the end portions being basically constructed as L-shaped profiles with long legs and short legs. The reinforcing ribs extend vertically into the interior of the main part, extending parallel to and perpendicular to the longitudinal length L of the main part, such that the grid of rectangular ribs is formed with multiple contact points, which imparts the required stiffness to the crossbar. This prevents deformation of the crossbar that may be caused by machine vibration. At the same time, the crossbar is significantly lighter than a solid crossbar, which helps reduce weight and material consumption of the appliance. This improves economic efficiency.

[0010] The corresponding long leg of the end portion includes a locking bolt with a through hole, which is bonded to the end portion material. The locking bolt is constructed as a two-stage element: the diameter of the bottom portion of the locking bolt is smaller than the diameter of the upper portion of the shank. At least one short leg of the end portion may include a hole to receive screws and / or bolts for engagement with a sidewall. The locking bolt with the through hole can be used to additionally attach a crossbar to the sidewall when needed, and the element is also used for mounting and attaching a top panel of a household appliance.

[0011] The main part of the crossbar has at least one material-bonded fastening element for attaching the control panel and at least one support and / or fastening element for positioning electrical components on its upper side.

[0012] The main part of the crossbar has an upper side, which is longitudinally constructed into two parts such that the corresponding parts of the upper side are inclined relative to each other longitudinally to form a drainage section. The drainage section is closed at one end, and its bottom is longitudinally inclined toward its open end. The drainage section extends substantially parallel to the longitudinal length of the main part along its entire length. The drainage section can also be constructed as a groove-shaped recess, the bottom of which is inclined toward the open end of the drainage section.

[0013] The crossbar is made of plastic materials, such as glass fiber reinforced polypropylene (PP). Attached Figure Description

[0014] The household garment processing appliance of the present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to embodiments and accompanying drawings, in which:

[0015] Figure 1 Household appliances are represented by simplified exploded diagrams;

[0016] Figure 2 This shows a top view of the crossbar;

[0017] Figure 3 This shows a bottom view of the crossbar. Detailed Implementation

[0018] A laundry handling appliance 100 (e.g., a washing machine or dryer) has a housing 1, which includes side walls 2 and 3, a rear wall 4, a two-part front wall 5, and a top panel 7. The housing houses a laundry handling chamber. The bottom part of the front wall 5 includes an opening 6 for loading and unloading the appliance 100, and the upper part is a control panel 31 used by the user to control the appliance 100. The side walls 2 and 3 are connected to the upper front part by a crossbar 8. The crossbar 8 is made of a plastic material, such as glass fiber reinforced polypropylene (PP), to provide the required strength and rigidity. The crossbar 8 has a longitudinal length L substantially the same as the width of the appliance housing 1 and a width S significantly smaller than the longitudinal length L. The crossbar 8 includes: a main portion 9 constructed as a basic hollow profile with a rectangular cross-section, with the bottom side removed; and a left end portion 10 and a right end portion 11, which are molded in a material-bonded manner at their respective ends of the main portion 9. The crossbar 8 uses its left end portion 10 and right end portion 11 to abut against the front portion of the corresponding sidewalls 2 and 3 and is fixed to the front portion.

[0019] In the main section 9 of the crossbar, which is constructed as a hollow profile, there are reinforcing ribs 12 extending vertically into the interior of the main section 9. The reinforcing ribs 12 extend parallel to and perpendicular to the longitudinal length L of the main section, such that a grid 14 of rectangular ribs is formed with multiple contact points 15. This grid 14 of ribs imparts the required strength and stiffness to the crossbar 8. The high stiffness of the crossbar 8 prevents it from deforming due to external forces and / or vibrations generated during the operation of the household appliance. The grid 14 of ribs, which only partially fills the interior of the main section 9, imparts the required stiffness with relatively low weight. The weight of the crossbar 8 is further reduced due to the use of a material with low specific gravity, such as glass fiber reinforced polypropylene. This low weight contributes to a reduction in the overall weight of the household appliance.

[0020] The left end portion 10 and right end portion 11, molded at their respective ends of the main portion 9, are basically constructed as L-shaped profiles with long legs 16, 18 and short legs 17, 19. For attaching the crossbar 8 to the sidewalls 2, 3, at least one short leg 17, 19 (in this embodiment, the short leg 17 of the left end portion) includes a hole 20 to receive a screw for attaching the crossbar 8 to the sidewalls 2, 3, while at least one short leg 17, 19 (in this embodiment, the short leg 19 of the right end portion 10) includes a bolt 21, which engages with a complementary component in the sidewall 3 during installation. At the respective long legs 16, 18 of the end portions, locking bolt-shaped members 22, 24 having through holes 23, 25 are arranged and connected to the end portions 10, 11 and the crossbar 8 in a material-bonded manner. The locking bolt-shaped members 22, 24 are constructed in two stages. The diameters of the bottom portions 26 and 28 near the long legs 16 and 18 are smaller than the diameters of the upper portions 27 and 29 away from the long legs 16 and 18. When the top panel 7 is positioned on the housing 1, complementary bolts arranged on the bottom front side of the top panel 7 engage and secure the bottom 26 and 28 of the locking bolt-shaped members. The crossbar 8 can also be secured to the respective sidewalls 2 and 3 by screw connections between screws and through holes 23 and 25 of the locking bolt-shaped members.

[0021] The main portion 9 of the crossbar has at least one (preferably more than one) fastening element 30 on its upper side 13, which is constructed in a material-bonded manner for attaching a control panel 31. This allows the control panel 31 to be secured to the crossbar 8 by screws and / or locking elements arranged inside the control panel 31. In addition to the fastening elements 30 configured to secure the control panel 31, the main portion 9 may have other material-bonded support and / or fastening elements 33 configured to position and attach various electrical components required for the function of the household appliance. These support and / or fastening elements are constructed relative to the type of household appliance.

[0022] The upper side 13 of the main part of the crossbar is longitudinally constructed into two parts such that the corresponding upper parts 34, 35 are longitudinally inclined relative to each other, thereby forming a drain section 32, which extends substantially parallel to the longitudinal length L over the entire length of the main part 9. The drain section 32 is closed at one end, while the bottom is longitudinally inclined toward its open end. The drain section 32 collects liquid that will flow below the top panel 7 during a sealing test or in the event of a large amount of liquid spilling onto the household appliance; this prevents the liquid from contacting and damaging the electrical components. Because the upper side 13 is concave, the liquid is collected in the drain section 32, and because the drain section has an inclined bottom, the liquid flows toward the open end of the drain section and further along a dedicated pipe or tube toward the bottom portion of the housing, and flows out of the housing 1 through an opening in the bottom.

Claims

1. A household appliance for handling clothes, such as a washing machine or dryer, the appliance having a housing including side walls (2, 3), a rear wall (4), a two-part front wall (5), and a top panel (7), the two-part front wall (5) having a control panel (31) and an opening (6) in a bottom part for loading and unloading the appliance, the side walls (2, 3) being connected to the upper front part by a crossbar (8). characterized in that The crossbar (8) includes: The main part (9) is constructed as a generally hollow profile with a rectangular cross-section, removed from the bottom side, the generally hollow profile having reinforcing ribs (12) disposed therein and extending into the interior of the main part (9), and End portions (10, 11) are molded at the corresponding ends of the main portion (9) in a material bonding manner and are generally constructed as L-shaped profiles with long legs (16, 18) and short legs (17, 19).

2. The laundry treating household appliance according to claim 1, characterized in that: The reinforcing ribs (12) extend vertically into the interior of the main part (9), extending parallel to and perpendicular to the longitudinal length (L) of the main part, such that the grid (14) of the rectangular ribs is formed with a plurality of contact points (15).

3. The laundry treatment household appliance according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that: The corresponding long legs (16, 18) of the end portion include locking bolt-shaped members (22, 24) with through holes (23, 25), which are connected to the end portion (10, 11) by means of material bonding.

4. The laundry treating household appliance according to claim 3, characterized in that: The locking bolt-shaped member (22, 24) arranged at the end portion (10, 11) is constructed as a two-stage element, with the diameter of the bottom portion (26, 28) of the locking bolt-shaped member being smaller than the diameter of the upper portion (27, 29) of the rod of the locking bolt-shaped member.

5. The laundry treatment household appliance according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that: At least one short leg (17, 19) of the end portion includes a hole (20) for receiving a screw.

6. The laundry treatment household appliance according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that: At least one short leg (17, 19) at the end portion includes a bolt (21) for engaging with the sidewall (3).

7. The laundry treatment household appliance according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that: The main part (9) of the crossbar has at least one fastening element (30), which is constructed in a material-bonded manner on the upper side (13) of the crossbar for attaching a control panel (31).

8. The laundry treatment household appliance according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that: The main part (9) of the crossbar has at least one support and / or fastening element (33), which is constructed in a material bonding manner for positioning electrical components.

9. The laundry treatment household appliance according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that: The upper side (13) is constructed as two parts along the longitudinal direction, such that the corresponding parts (34, 35) on the upper side are inclined relative to each other along the longitudinal direction, thereby forming a drainage section (32).

10. The laundry treatment household appliance according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that: The drainage section (32) extends approximately parallel to the longitudinal direction (L) along the entire length of the main section (9).

11. The household appliance for garment processing according to claim 10, characterized in that: The drain section (32) is closed at one end, and the bottom (36) of the drain section is longitudinally inclined toward the opening end of the drain section.

12. The household appliance for garment processing according to claim 11, characterized in that: The drainage section (32) is constructed as a groove-shaped recess, the bottom (36) of which is inclined toward the opening end of the drainage section.

13. The household appliance for garment processing according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that: The crossbar (8) is made of plastic material, such as glass fiber reinforced polypropylene (PP).

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