Door-locking device for locking the door of household appliance

[0001] The present invention relates to a door locking device for locking the doors of household appliances, in particular a washing machine.

[0002] More specifically, the invention relates to a door locking device enabling compensation for any play caused by seal wear and / or stress caused by household appliances.

[0003] As is well known, there is a need to have a door locking device for a washing machine that allows the washing machine door to be closed by compensating for closing gaps caused, for example, by damage to the closing gasket due to aging.

[0004] In addition, there is a need to be able to compensate for any looseness of the door closure during washing machine operation, especially under full load conditions, said slack causing problems because the gasket stresses on the inner surface of the door can cause water leakage through the gasket, and more in general, deterioration of the closure itself.

[0005] Various solutions have been proposed in recent years, all of which have been aimed at solving this type of problem.

[0006] Nevertheless, although they can compensate for the above looseness, none of the known solutions can provide a fully satisfactory solution meeting the above-mentioned needs.

[0007] With the above in mind, the Applicant has made and prepared a new door locking device intended for the washing machine door, which can meet all the above described requirements, allowing full compensation of any slack or caused by aging of the seal, or stress caused by the washing machine under full load. .

[0008] Document EP 1304436 A2 describes a door locking device according to the preamble of claim 1 of the present application.

[0009] Therefore, a particular object of the present invention is a door locking device for locking the door of a household appliance, in which said door has a closing hook, and at least a seal mounted on said door and / or in said household appliance, which device that it has a locking hook engaging with said closing hook of household appliances, a slider that can move along a direction substantially parallel to the wall of the household appliance, on which the door is located, a lever compensating the clearance of said sealing closure in the form of a seal, and kinematic means coupling the said locking latch and said compensating lever, wherein said locking latch is pivotally coupled to said kinematic means and is movable in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction of movement of said slider, and furthermore has elastic means to keep said kinematic means in the closed position of the door, and means of interaction between said slider and said kinematic means for locking the mutual position in the closed position of the door, said locking latch being slidably connected to the slider and being able to move in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction of movement of the slider.

Preferably, according to the invention, said device is equipped with means for locking it in the closed position, said locking means being switched off only after the household equipment has been turned off.

In particular, according to the invention, said locking means consist of a locking pin acting on said slide.

[0012] Preferably, said kinematic connection between the lever latch is realized by a shaped element having in the front part a socket for rotatable coupling of the latch and centrally a sliding socket for said slide. In particular, said means of interaction between said slider and said kinematic means for interlocking the position in the closed position of the door consists of two projections located on said slider and on said shaped element, cooperating at various stages of the operation of the device.

[0014] Always according to the invention, said elastic means consist of a spring.

Still according to the invention, said locking latch rotates around a pin located on said kinematic means, and has a movable projection at the top in a slit made in said slide, and at the bottom a slot for engaging with the door closing latch.

[0016] Preferably, said gap made in said slide is longer than said tongue so as to allow compensation of the clearance.

In a preferred embodiment of the device according to the invention, mechanical means are used to reduce the angular pitch of the kinematic means when said locking means are active.

Preferably, according to the invention, said mechanical means consist of protrusions on said slider to reduce the pitch of said mechanical means when said locking means remain active, thereby reducing the maximum stroke of the door movement, in a part of the operation of household appliances, with which said protuberance reduces the angle of kinematic means that will be active only when when said locking means are in the operating position.

In particular, said protuberance has a triangular shape and is made on said slider, being an integral part thereof due to the elastic arm, enabling movement backwards, said angular shaped socket having internal surface on said kinematic means. that can interact with the angled surface of the triangular protuberance when the said slide is in the front position (door closed), or consists of any other element having the same function.

[0020] In a preferred embodiment of the device according to the invention, the device has a catch, a slider, a lever compensating the slack, a spring and a locking pin, cooperating with the corresponding socket made under the slider, said lever being rotatably mounted on the pin located on said base element and the kinematic connection between the catch and the lever is realized by a shaped element, providing in the front part a coupling socket for a pivot pin, and a centrally sliding slider socket, the slider and the shaped element having two projections, cooperating during various stages of the device operation.

[0021] Instead of the above protuberance, any type of mechanism can be used to reduce the angular pitch of the shaped element (lever arm) when the locking pin is active.

[0022] The present invention will now be described, for illustrative but not limiting purposes, according to a preferred embodiment, with particular reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1a and Fig. 1b show a general diagram of the door locking device according to the invention with the door closed and compensation for more or less play, respectively;

Fig. 2a and Fig. 2b show the diagram of Fig. 1, respectively, in the opening and opening test condition, with the locking pin activated;

Fig. 3 is a general perspective view of the device according to the invention;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the vertical device of Fig. 3 with the various components indicated;

Fig. 5a - Fig. 5c show the device according to the invention with the door open, respectively, in perspective view, in side view and in section; Figures 6a - Fig. 6c show the device according to the invention with the door locked, respectively, in perspective view, in side view and in section;

Fig. 7a - Fig. 7c show the device according to the invention when trying to open the door while the washing machine is operating in perspective view, side view and cross section, respectively; and

Fig. 8 shows a particular view of a preferred embodiment of the invention. [0023] Referring first to Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, the general principle of the door locking device according to the invention is presented.

[0024] The individual figures of the drawing generally show the latch 1, the slide 2, the buckling spring 4, the lever 5 compensating play and the mechanical coupling 4 between the latch 1 and the lever 5. The latch 1 can move in the direction of arrow A when closing and opening door (not shown), and according to arrow B to compensate for slack.

[0025] For example, Fig. 1a and Fig. 1b show the door locking device in a closed configuration in two positions. The above proves that the door locking device can close (compensate) at different heights.

[0026] The slider 2 can instead move according to arrow C.

[0027] The spring 3 will be compressed when the door is open, and stretched when the door is closed. (The spring in each position acts to keep the compensation lever open, said spring may be a torsion spring or a traction spring).

[0028] The operation of the device according to the invention is shown in Fig. 2a and Fig. 2b in the open and closed positions, respectively. The locking pin 6 is shown in Fig. 2b, preventing the door from being opened during the operation of home appliances.

[0029] Considering now the remaining figures of the attached drawings, and first of all Figs. 3 and 4, an embodiment of the door locking device according to the invention is shown, having a catch 1, a slide 2, a lever compensating play, a spring 4 and a locking pin 6 cooperating with the corresponding socket 14 made under the slider 2.

[0030] Said lever 3 rotates on a pin 7 supported by the base element 8.

[0031] The kinematic coupling 5 between the latch 1 and the lever 3 is realized by means of a shaped element (generally designated by reference numeral 5) having a front seat 10 for coupling the rotatable latch pin 1 and the middle sliding seat 11 for the slide 2.

[0032] Reference number 9 indicates a washing machine door latch (not shown).

[0033] The slide 2 and the element 5 are provided with two projections, designated by reference numerals 12 and 13, respectively, which cooperate during various stages of operation, which will be clear in the light of the description below.

[0034] The catch 1 rotates around the pin 10 on the element 5 and has a projection 15 at the top, sliding in the slit 16 made in the slider, and at the bottom is provided with a latch 9 engaging with the slot 17.

[0035] The projection 15 may move in the gap 16 to allow it to be compensated.

[0036] The operation of the door locking device according to the invention will be described below.

[0037] Observing Fig. 5 first, the device according to the invention is shown with the door open. The catch 1 is free from engagement with the door catch 9 (not shown in the figure). Two performances 12 and 13 are located one above the other. The spring 4 is compressed. The locking pin 6 does not mate with the seat 14, and the tab 15 of the latch 1 is essentially at one end of the slot 16 of the slider 2.

[0038] When the door is closed (see especially Fig. 6), the door latch 9 (not shown in this figure) engages with the slot 17 of the latch 1, causing it to rotate around the pin 10. The projection 15 slides in the slot 16 of the slider 2 by lifting and forcing slider 2 to move left in this figure relative to element 5.

[0039] During the movement of the slider 2, the projection 12 slides along the projection 13 until it comes free from it. At present, the spring 4 pushes the element 5 upwards, forcing the position of the catch 1 relative to the slide 2.

[0040] During movement, the slider 2 brings the seat 14 to a position corresponding to the locking pin 6 engaging with this seat 14.

[0041] The kinematic system consisting of the latch 1, the slider 2, the element 5, the lever 3 and the spring 4 is such as to enable the door to close hermetically, to compensate for the play caused by the seal due to stress caused by exploitation. [0042] If you try to open the door while the washing machine is operating (see Fig. 7), the coupling between the locking pin 6 and the seat 14 is such as to allow only a partial movement of the catch 1, namely the tongue 15, not allowing complete release. [0043] The locking pin 6 is only released at the end of the washing cycle when the door can be opened.

[0044] Opening the door is very easy. Acting on the door causes the latch 1 to move down, determining the sliding of the slider to the right in the drawing, which in turn causes the element 5 to lower and the interaction between the two projections 12 and 13, resulting in compression of the spring 4.

[0045] Considering now the embodiment of Fig. 8, the slider 2 has a protuberance to reduce the pitch of the shaped element of the kinematic system when the locking pin 1 is in the active (raised) position to reduce the maximum stroke of the door in washing machine operation time, thus limiting the compensatory stroke.

[0046] Said protuberance 18 reduces the angle between the shaped element 5 (which can be indicated as lever arm 3), which will only be active when the locking pin 1 is in the operating position.

[0047] In the embodiment shown in Fig. 8, the protrusion 18 has a triangular shape and is part of the slider 2, being an integral part thereof due to the elastic arm 19 allowing rearward movement. The shaped element 5 has an angled shaped seat 20 having an inner surface that can cooperate with the angled surface of the triangular protuberance when the slide 2 is in the extended position (door closed). In this state, the movement of the triangular protuberance 18 is such that it overlaps the locking pin 6 at least partially when it is in the rest position.

[0048] When the door catch 9 is engaged with the locking catch 1, the slide 2 is moved to the left on the drawing sheet and the pin 6 is in the rest position. In the event that the shaped element 5 (lever arm 3) is tensioned (pulled by the door, door opening), the angled socket 14 cooperates with the triangular protrusion 18, pushing it backwards (the connecting arm 19 is a spring element), housing it inside of you.

[0049] Thus, the lever arm may even assume an angle of 0 ° to the frame (or more generally, it can perform a full stroke).

[0050] Under operating conditions, the door latch 9 is coupled to the locking latch 1, the slide 2 is in the position set above and the pin 6 is in the operating position (out). In the event that the shaped element 5 (lever arm 3) is subjected to stresses (always in traction mode, open test), the shaped seat 20 cooperates with the triangular protrusion 18 trying to push it backwards, but the pin 6 prevents its movement, so the triangular protrusion 18 mediates (acting as thickness) between the lever arm 3 and the base element 8, thereby reducing the range of angular movement (greater than 0 °).

[0051] Instead of the above protuberance, any other mechanism can be used to reduce the angular pitch of the shaped element 5 (lever arm 3) when the locking pin 1 is active.

[0052] The present invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments for illustrative and not limiting purposes, it should be understood, however, that those skilled in the art may introduce modifications and / or changes without departing from the relevant scope of protection as defined in the appended claims.