U.S. patent application number 11/563762 was filed with the patent office on 2007-05-31 for device for holding cutlery.
This patent application is currently assigned to MIELE & CIE. KG. Invention is credited to Markus Miele, Dirk Wegener.
Application Number | 20070119801 11/563762 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 37697571 |
Filed Date | 2007-05-31 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070119801 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Miele; Markus ; et
al. |
May 31, 2007 |
DEVICE FOR HOLDING CUTLERY
Abstract
A device for supporting cutlery includes at least one movable
part for supporting the cutlery. The at least one movable part is
designed to lift the cutlery from a rest position by an acting on
the at least one movable part.
Inventors: |
Miele; Markus; (Guetersloh,
DE) ; Wegener; Dirk; (Bielefeld, DE) |
Correspondence
Address: |
DARBY & DARBY P.C.
P. O. BOX 5257
NEW YORK
NY
10150-5257
US
|
Assignee: |
MIELE & CIE. KG
Carl-Miele-Strasse 29
Guetersloh
DE
33332
|
Family ID: |
37697571 |
Appl. No.: |
11/563762 |
Filed: |
November 28, 2006 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
211/70.7 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47L 15/503 20130101;
A47L 15/502 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
211/070.7 |
International
Class: |
A47F 7/00 20060101
A47F007/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Nov 28, 2005 |
DE |
10 2005 056 886.6 |
Claims
1. A device for supporting cutlery, the device comprising at least
one movable part configured to support the cutlery, the at least
one movable part being configured to lift the cutlery from a rest
position by an acting on the at least one movable part.
2. The device as recited in claim 1 wherein the at least one
movable part is disposed in a dishwasher.
3. The device as recited in claim 1 wherein the at least one
movable part is lockable in at least one lowered position and at
least one raised position.
4. The device as recited in claim 1 wherein the at least one
movable part includes a rocker pivotally supported about an axis of
rotation.
5. The device as recited in claim 3 wherein the at least one
movable part includes a rocker pivotally supported about an axis of
rotation.
6. The device as recited in claim 4 wherein the rocker includes an
upwardly projecting dividing pin and an actuating pin configured to
actuate the rocker, the actuating pin projecting upwardly beyond
the cutlery.
7. The device as recited in claim 5 wherein the rocker includes an
upwardly projecting dividing pin and an actuating pin configured to
actuate the rocker, the actuating pin projecting upwardly beyond
the cutlery.
8. The device as recited in claim 4 wherein the rocker has a length
shorter than a length of the cutlery so that at least a portion of
a handle portion of the cutlery projects beyond the rocker in a
lifted position of the device.
9. The device as recited in claim 5 wherein the rocker has a length
shorter than a length of the cutlery so that at least a portion of
a handle portion of the cutlery projects beyond the rocker in a
lifted position of the device.
10. The device as recited in claim 6 wherein the rocker has a
length shorter than a length of the cutlery so that at least a
portion of a handle portion of the cutlery projects beyond the
rocker in a lifted position of the device.
11. The device as recited in claim 7 wherein the rocker has a
length shorter than a length of the cutlery so that at least a
portion of a handle portion of the cutlery projects beyond the
rocker in a lifted position of the device.
12. The device as recited in claim 1 wherein the at least one
movable part includes a wire bar pivotally supported about an
axis.
13. The device as recited in claim 1 wherein the wire bar is
configured to be retrofitted as an accessory on a cutlery tray
using a fastening apparatus.
14. The device as recited in claim 12 wherein the cutlery includes
a plurality of cutlery items disposable together on the wire
bar.
15. The device as recited in claim 13 wherein the cutlery includes
a plurality of cutlery items disposable together on the wire
bar.
16. A cutlery tray for a dishwasher, the cutlery tray comprising a
device for supporting cutlery, the device comprising at least one
movable part configured to support the cutlery, the at least one
movable part being configured to lift the cutlery from a rest
position by an acting on the at least one movable part.
17. The device as recited in claim 16 wherein the at least one
movable part is lockable in at least one lowered position and at
least one raised position.
18. The device as recited in claim 16 wherein the at least one
movable part includes a rocker pivotally supported about an axis of
rotation.
19. The device as recited in claim 18 wherein the at least one
movable part includes a rocker pivotally supported about an axis of
rotation.
20. The device as recited in claim 19 wherein the rocker includes
an upwardly projecting dividing pin and an actuating pin configured
to actuate the rocker, the actuating pin projecting upwardly beyond
the cutlery.
Description
[0001] Priority is claimed to German patent application DE 10 2005
056 886.6, filed Nov. 28, 2005, which is hereby incorporated by
reference herein.
[0002] The present invention relates to a device for supporting
cutlery, especially for dishwashers.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Devices for supporting cutlery, in particular, cutlery
baskets or cutlery trays (both terms will be used synonymously
hereinafter) for dishwashers have been known for quite some
time.
[0004] European Patent EP 0 186 157 B1 of the Applicant discloses a
household dishwasher having a cutlery basket which provides cutlery
receptacles in the form of cutlery holders and cutlery rests for
individual items of cutlery placed separately on their side
edges.
[0005] European Patent EP 0 323 496 B1 of the Applicant describes a
cutlery basket for a dishwasher. The support surfaces of the
disclosed cutlery basket are profiled differently and/or have
different support heights, allowing the cutlery items to be placed
spaced apart from each other to obtain a good cleaning result.
[0006] It is difficult to remove cutlery from a dishwasher or, to
be more precise, from a cutlery tray according to the prior art.
When removing the cutlery from the cutlery tray, the orderly
arranged and cleaned cutlery items are difficult to grasp and
remove with one movement of the hand. Moreover, unpleasant
abrasions on the back of the hand and on the fingers may occur
during removal due to sharp-edged portions of the cutlery
receptacles.
[0007] A quiver-shaped cutlery receptacle which is pivotally
mounted to the upper rack of a dishwasher is described in DE 10
2004 035 727 A1. Document DE 20 2004 005 059 U1 describes a cutlery
insert for a drawer. Said cutlery insert can be pivoted out of the
drawer and then be removed therefrom. Both prior art devices do
indeed provide a cutlery support which, because it is pivotable,
overall provides increased ease of access, but there are still
individual or a plurality of cutlery items that are difficult to
remove.
SUMMARY
[0008] It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to
provide a device for supporting cutlery that avoids the
above-mentioned disadvantages in cutlery trays and/or that
simplifies the removal of cutlery from cutlery trays.
[0009] In an embodiment, the present invention provides a device
for supporting cutlery. The device includes at least one movable
part configured to support the cutlery, the at least one movable
part being configured to lift the cutlery from a rest position by
an acting on the at least one movable part.
[0010] Since the device of the present invention is designed to
include at least one movable and liftable part, the removal of
cutlery is simplified. The support surface of the movable part can
be lifted from its rest position by acting on the movable part. In
this manner, handle portions of the supported cutlery are lifted,
so that a plurality of cutlery items can be grasped as a bundle
with one movement of the hand and returned to the kitchen
drawer.
[0011] To further increase the ease of use, the at least one
movable part of the device according to the present invention can
be locked in at least two positions, for example, in a first
position, hereinafter referred to as "horizontal cleaning
position", and a second position, hereinafter referred to as
"tilted removal position". This eliminates the need to hold the at
least one movable part in the removal position with one hand while
the other hand grips around the bundle of cutlery items and removes
it. Advantageously, the movable part is moved to the removal
position with one hand and remains in this position because of the
lockability in position. Then, the same hand can grip around the
bundle of cutlery and remove it.
[0012] In an embodiment of the device of the present invention, the
movable part is in the form of a rocker which is pivotally
supported in a cutlery tray in such a manner that it can pivot
about an axis of rotation. A cutlery tray may have several such
rockers. In this specific embodiment, the rocker is an integral
part of the cutlery tray and can be mounted already during the
manufacture of the cutlery tray. Preferably, the rocker has
upwardly projecting dividing pins, at least one pin for actuating
the rocker projecting upwardly beyond supported cutlery. In order
to allow for easy grasping of the supported cutlery items, the
rocker is shorter in length than the cutlery supported therein, and
least a portion of a handle portion of the cutlery projects beyond
the rocker after the device has been tilted, so that these handle
cantilevering handle portions can be easily grasped.
[0013] In another embodiment of the device according to the present
invention, the at least one movable part takes the form of a wire
bar which provides a support surface for one or more cutlery items
and has a loop-shaped handle portion. This embodiment makes it
possible to retrofit a cutlery tray with the device of the present
invention. To this end, the wire bar is attached to the cutlery
tray using fastening means such as, for example, plastic clips.
Thus, the device of the present invention can be offered as a
retrofit part for dishwashers.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014] Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are
schematically illustrated in the drawings and will be described in
more detail below. In the drawings,
[0015] FIG. 1 shows a portion of a cutlery tray with a rocker in
the cleaning position and with cutlery placed therein;
[0016] FIG. 2 shows a portion of the cutlery tray depicted in FIG.
1 with a rocker in the removal position and with cutlery placed
therein;
[0017] FIG. 3 depicts a portion of the cutlery tray shown in FIG.
1, with a rocker in the removal position and without any cutlery
placed therein;
[0018] FIG. 4 shows a portion of a cutlery tray with a wire bar in
the cleaning position and without any cutlery placed therein;
[0019] FIG. 5 depicts a portion of a cutlery tray with a wire bar
in the removal position and without any cutlery placed therein;
[0020] FIG. 6 illustrates a portion of a cutlery tray with a wire
bar in the cleaning position and with cutlery placed therein;
[0021] FIG. 7 shows a portion of a cutlery tray with a wire bar in
the removal position and with cutlery placed therein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0022] FIG. 1 shows a portion of a cutlery tray 1 for a dishwasher.
A rocker 2 is in a horizontal cleaning position, in which rocker 2
is located in the same plane as a grid of cutlery tray 1, i.e., in
a position where the cutlery is placed in cutlery tray 1 for
subsequent cleaning. Further details will be described further
below with reference to the following Figures.
[0023] FIG. 2 shows an enlarged portion of cutlery tray 1. Here,
rocker 2 is in the tilted removal position; i.e., in the position
in which handle portions 3 of the cutlery are lifted by rocker
2.
[0024] FIG. 3 shows a rocker 2 in an enlarged view. Rocker 2 is
supported in the cutlery tray in such a manner that it can pivot
about an axis of rotation 5. Rocker 2 has an actuating pin 6 and
pins 7 for holding individual cutlery items. Rocker 2 can be tilted
from the cleaning position to the removal position by a slight tilt
impulse on the actuating pin 6 upwardly projecting beyond the
cutlery, which impulse may be imparted, for example, by a finger
and is in a direction transverse to axis of rotation 5. In this
manner, the handle portions of the cutlery are lifted and can then
be removed more easily since rocker 2 is shorter in length than the
cutlery and, therefore, handle portions 3 project beyond rocker 2,
at least partially.
[0025] FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate a portion of cutlery tray 1 which
is equipped with another cutlery lifting device, a wire bar 9,
according to the present invention. In FIG. 4, wire bar 9 is in a
horizontal cleaning position, while in FIG. 5, it is in a tilted
removal position.
[0026] Wire bar 9 has a loop-shaped actuating member 10 which is
connected to a first longitudinal part 12 via a first angled part
11. First longitudinal part 12 is connected to a second angled part
13, to which in turn is connected a second longitudinal part 14.
Longitudinal part 14 at the same time serves as an axis of rotation
15 and is attached to the cutlery tray by spaced apart plastic
clips 16. By actuating the loop-shaped actuating member 10, wire
bar 9 can be moved from the cleaning position (shown in FIG. 4) to
the removal position (shown in FIG. 5), where it can be locked in
position. In the process, longitudinal part 12, which serves as a
support surface, performs an upward movement. In this manner, the
handle portions of the cutlery (not shown) are lifted and can then
be removed more easily.
[0027] FIG. 6 shows a knife 17 placed in a cutlery tray which is
provided with cutlery receptacles 18 in the form of dividing pins
18 which laterally support knife 17, the lower handle portion of
knife 17 resting on longitudinal parts 12 and 14 of wire bar 9.
When loop-shaped actuating member 10 of wire bar 9 is now actuated,
then longitudinal part 12 performs an upward movement.
[0028] As shown in FIG. 7, the handle portion of knife 17 is lifted
in the process, and projects upwardly beyond pins 18 of the cutlery
tray. Since the knife continues to be supported by cutlery
receptacles 18, it remains in the lateral position and can now be
removed more easily from the cutlery tray.
[0029] The present invention is not limited to the embodiments
described herein; reference should be had to the appended
claims.
* * * * *