Front facade structure for a front door of a dishwasher
Patent Information
- Application Number
- EP2023742285
- Authority / Receiving Office
- EP · EP
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Priority Date
- 2022-07-13
- Filing Date
- 2023-07-13
- Publication Date
- 2025-05-21
AI Technical Summary
Current dishwashers, whether self-contained or integrated, face challenges in exterior design variability, increased costs due to manufacturer-specific door fronts and control panels, and complex repair processes where electronic controls are embedded within the door, requiring full disassembly and lacking standardized solutions for both types.
A front facade structure for the dishwasher door featuring a watertight closing wall with a removable facing panel that houses electronic control and management components in a separate, easily accessible box, connected via conductors and secured with screws hidden by a decorative cover, allowing for adaptable and modular design.
Facilitates easier installation, maintenance, and adaptation to kitchen aesthetics, reduces manufacturing complexity and costs, and enables standardized components for both freestanding and built-in models, enhancing user convenience and reducing obsolescence.
Smart Images
Figure 1.1
Abstract
Description
[0001] Front panel structure for dishwasher front door
[0002] BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] There are two types of dishwashers on the market today: freestanding ones and those known as integrated or built-in ones, which are housed in a dedicated space provided in a set of furniture elements constituting the homogeneous equipment of a kitchen.
[0004] Although the functional structure of these two types of device is similar, their external structure differs significantly depending on the manufacturer, particularly with regard to the door front and the arrangement of the control panel.
[0005] It is therefore necessary to offer the user two types of devices, which is not without impact on the cost price and therefore the market price of these devices.
[0006] Furthermore, in each type of appliance, the electronic control means are, most of the time, housed in the thickness of the door, so that in the event of a breakdown, the door must be completely dismantled to access these means for repair or replacement. Furthermore, it is generally not possible to provide standardized equipment suitable for both a free-standing dishwasher and a built-in dishwasher. Indeed, the external facade of a built-in dishwasher is covered with a facing panel, in harmony with the other elements of the kitchen furniture, leaving no possibility of easily arranging, on the facade, the various control, selection and display elements of the electronic means for managing the operation of the dishwasher. An example of a dishwasher door structure, illustrating certain means that allow this adaptation, is described in document FR 2.465.460.On reading it, we understand the complexity of this structure. OBJECT OF THE INVENTION.
[0007] In order to facilitate the task of the installer of a fitted kitchen and to rationalize the manufacture of dishwashers intended for both uses, the invention relates to a front facade structure for the front door of a dishwasher comprising a wall for sealing the washing tank and a facing panel. The facing panel is mounted on the outer face of the aforementioned wall, at a distance from the latter so that the space which separates them can receive at least one housing containing the electronic means for commanding, monitoring and managing the operation of the appliance. The housing is fixed to the facing panel by fixing means accessible and removable from the front face of the latter.
[0008] Preferably, the electronic means contained in the housing are connected to a sheet of conductors arriving at and coming from the electronic means through a wall of the housing, the sheet of conductors being housed in said space.
[0009] Advantageously, the fixing means consist of screws which pass through an external peripheral edge of the box, adapted to the material of the facing panel.
[0010] Preferably, the facade structure of the invention comprises a decorative cover fitting said peripheral edge to hide the fixing screws. This cover comprises magnetic pins located opposite the aforementioned screw heads.
[0011] The invention also relates to a dishwasher appliance comprising a front door and electronic means for controlling, monitoring and managing the operation of the appliance which are housed in a front door facade structure having all or part of the above characteristics.
[0012] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0013] The invention will be better understood in relation to the description and drawings given below. Reference will be made to the figures in which:
[0014] [Figure 1] illustrates by an exploded front perspective view a door structure of a dishwasher intended to be an element of integrated kitchen furniture,
[0015] [Figure 2] illustrates in an exploded rear perspective view the door structure of Figure 1,
[0016] [Figure 3] illustrates by an exploded front perspective view a door structure of a dishwasher intended to be free-standing,
[0017] [Figure 4] illustrates by an exploded front perspective view the door structure of Figure 3.
[0018] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0019] Figures 1 and 2 show a wall 1 made of plastic material which forms the internal wall of the door of a dishwasher. This wall 1 constitutes the support for a facing panel 2 whose external face is in harmony with all the furniture elements into which the dishwasher is to be integrated. The connection between this facing 2 and the wall 1 is ensured by spacers 3, two lateral and one horizontal upper one which are preferably also made of plastic material. Before being fixed on the external face of the wall
[0020] 1, these spacers are attached to the rear face of the facing panel 2 by means of screws represented by the lines 5. Thus, the screws do not appear on the visible face of the panel
[0021] 2. The fixing of the facing equipped with spacers to the wall 1 is ensured by screws 4.
[0022] The panel 2 is provided with an opening 2a which can be made at the installation site by the installer. This opening 2a can then receive a housing 6, preferably made of plastic, containing all the electronic elements for command, control and management of the appliance, in particular the printed circuit board and the various indicator lights attached to the operation of the dishwasher. This housing can be easily opened to access these various components, once extracted from the opening 2a.
[0023] The housing 6 is provided with a peripheral collar 7 which serves to fix it to the facing panel 2 by means of screws 8 passing through it, adapted, like the others, to the nature of the facing material. The main part of the housing is thus housed in the space which exists, thanks to the spacers, between the wall 1 and the panel 2, a space in which is also housed a sheet (or bundle) of conductors arriving at and coming from the electronic components located in the housing through its side wall. As most of the breakdowns or operating incidents of a household appliance of this type come from the electronic components, it is easy to dismantle the housing 6 to extract it from the opening 2a, to open it and to test the operation of the electronics it contains.It may be provided that the conductor sheet has a length in excess of that just necessary to connect the electronic components of the housing 6 when the housing 6 is in position, this excess length facilitating the extraction of the housing 6. The conductor sheet may terminate in a connector arranged to connect to a connector which passes through the wall of the housing 6 and which is connected to the electronic components contained in the housing 6.
[0024] The means of the invention finally comprise a decorative cover 9 which covers the housing 6 and its collar 7 while being held by magnetic studs 10 which, for example, are inserted into the material of the cover and cooperate with corresponding ferromagnetic studs in the collar and in particular on the heads of the screws 8.
[0025] Figures 3 and 4 illustrate an alternative embodiment of a dishwasher door structure according to the invention. Some of the elements already described in the preceding figures bear the same references. The facing panel 11 is here constituted by a sheet folded into an open box with rear edges 11a allowing it to be screwed onto the door wall 1. It is then no longer necessary to put spacers in place between these two elements for the passage, for example, of the conductor sheet between the housing and the various functional members of the dishwasher.
[0026] This panel 11 is provided with an opening 11b to accommodate the housing 7. The latter is also screwed onto the panel 11 by means of suitable screws (sheet metal screws) and covered with the decorative cover 9 with holding magnets.
[0027] It is understood from the above description that the structure according to the invention allows a rationalized manufacture of one or other of the types of dishwashers demanded by the market. In addition, for the user (or the kitchen installer), it is easy to adapt the facing to the other elements of the kitchen, to modify it over time without having to change the entire appliance and to intervene at the level of the control electronics in the event of breakdowns or malfunctions. The structure according to the invention is part of a more constrained economy where the obsolescence of consumer products tends to be combated.
Claims
CLAIMS 1. Front facade structure of the front door of a dishwasher appliance comprising a wall (1) for sealing the washing tank and a facing panel (2, 11), characterized in that the aforementioned facing panel is mounted on the external face of the aforementioned wall (1), at a distance from the latter so that the space which separates them can receive at least one housing (6) containing electronic means for commanding, monitoring and managing the operation of the appliance, and in that the housing (6) is fixed to the facing panel (2, 11) by fixing means (8) accessible and removable from the front face of the latter (2).
2. Structure according to claim 1, in which the electronic means are connected to a sheet of conductors arriving at and coming from the electronic means located in the housing through a wall of the housing, the sheet of conductors being housed in said space.
3. Structure according to claim 1 or 2, in which said fixing means are constituted by screws (8) which pass through an external peripheral edge (7) of the housing, adapted to the material of the facing panel (2).
4. Structure according to claim 3, comprising a decorative cover (9) fitting said peripheral edge (7) to hide the fixing screws.
5. Structure according to claim 4, characterized in that said cover (9) comprises magnetized pins (10) located opposite the heads of the aforementioned screws (8).
6. Dishwasher comprising a front door and electronic means for controlling, monitoring and managing the operation of the appliance which are housed in a front door front structure in accordance with any one of the preceding claims.