CUTLERY HOLDING BASKET FOR A DISHWASHING MACHINE

PANIER A COUVERTS POUR LAVE-VAISSELLE

English Abstract

The cutlery basket for dishwashers has
perforated and inclined side walls (4, 5) to permit
better penetration of the bottom jets of washing water
(11) into its interior.

French Abstract

Cette invention concerne un panier à couverts de lave-vaisselle dont les parois perforées sont inclinées (4, 5) pour favoriser une meilleure pénétration des jets d'eau ascendants (11).

Claims

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
1. A cutlery basket having a perforated
bottom (3), from which side surfaces (4, 5) rise that
include several apertures, the basket being suitable to
be sprinkled by jets of washing water (11), directed from
the bottom toward the top in the tub of a dishwasher,
characterized by the fact that, corresponding to said
side surfaces (4, 5), the basket is tapered toward the
bottom in such a way that said apertures constitute
corresponding windows for the passage of water jets (11).
2. A cutlery basket according to claim 1, in
which said apertures are defined by several columns (8)
and several crosspieces (9) having an extended shape
according to a transverse axis, characterized by the fact
that said elongated crosspieces (9) are arranged with
their transverse axes substantially vertical.

Description

2 ? 76544
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2 BACRGROUND OF THE l~ ... lON
3 The present invention refers to a cutlery
4 basket suitable for insertion into a dishwasher above a
rotating sprinkler, or something similar.
6 As described, for example, in IT-A-1,078,236,
7 cutlery baskets for dishwashers are preferably made of
8 plastic and normally have the shape of a parallelepiped
9 with an open top, perforated side walls and bottom, as
well as possible internal separators. In particular, the
11 side walls of the basket are substantially vertical, in
12 order to limit the space occupied by the basket itself.
13 Effectively, however, the jets of washing water deriving
14 from the sprinklers below penetrate the basket only
through its bottom. This limits undesirably the
16 effectiveness of washing of cutlery, especially when they
17 are crossed or have particular types of dirt.
18 The goal of the present invention is to provide
19 a cutlery basket for dishwashers, which, though having a
simple and essentially compact structure, permits
21 improved washing of the cutlery.
22 According to the invention, this goal is
23 achieved with a cutlery basket for dishwashers that
24 incorporates the characteristics of the attached claims.
8UMMARY OF THE l~.v~ lON
26 The characteristics and advantages of the

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1 invention will be clarified by means of the following
2 description, given only by way of a non-limiting example,
- 3 with reference to the attached diagrams, in which:
4 FIG. 1 shows a cutlery basket according to the
invention schematically in a perspective view; and
6 FIG. 2 shows in cross-section an enlargement
7 of a detail of the basket of FIG. 1, according to a
8 preferred embodiment of the invention.
g DET~TT.~n DESCRIPTION OF THE lNv~.. ION
With reference to the diagrams, the cutlery
11 basket is preferably made of plastic and has a perforated
12 structure formed with a bottom (3), from which side walls
13 rise toward the top. Preferably, the bottom is
14 essentially rectangular, and the side walls consist of
two small walls (4) and two large side walls (5). The
16 basket also includes a handle (10) (shown only partially
17 in the diagrams) and interior dividers (6, 7) that,
18 together with the rest of the structure
19 (3, 4, 5), define in a known way various spaces suitable
for placement of cutlery of different sizes in vertical
21 position.
22 In a known way, the cutlery basket is suitable
23 to be positioned within the tub of a dishwasher, for
24 example by resting on a dish basket, in such a manner as
to be sprinkled by jets of washing water directed from
26 the bottom toward the top. Such water jets are
27 represented schematically by the arrows (11) in FIG. 2

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1 and are produced by spraying means below, for example by
2 a rotating sprinkler (not shown, for simplicity).
3 The side walls (4, 5) of the cutlery basket are
4 provided with several openings, preferably defined by
several columns (8) and several crosspieces (9).
6 According to one aspect of the invention,
7 corresponding to its side surfaces, the cutlery basket is
8 tapered toward the bottom in such a way that, in contrast
9 to known solutions, said apertures constitute
10 corresponding windows for the passage of jets of washing
11 water (11). Preferably, the basket is tapered in the
12 manner described, corresponding to all the side walls (4,
13 5)
14 When the basket is made of plastic, for reasons
15 of strength, the crosspieces (9) of the side walls (4, 5)
16 preferably have a form that is extended.along a
17 transverse axis in a known manner. According to another
18 aspect of the invention, in order to increase the size of
19 the above-mentioned passage windows without substantially
20 increasing the size of the space occupied by the basket,
21 the extended crosspieces (9) are recessed, with their
22 transverse axes substantially vertical, as shown in FIG.
23 2. This permits the side walls (4, 5) to be made with a
24 slight inclination, as shown in the diagram, permitting
25 at the same time the jets of washing water to penetrate
26 not only through the bottom (3), but also through the
27 side walls (4, 5). Consequently, the cutlery placed
28 inside the basket is washed advantageously in an improved

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1 manner, as has also been verified experimentally.
2 Obviously, the cutlery basket described can
3 undergo numerous modifications while remaining within the
4 scope of the invention.
For example, the basket can have a
6 substantially shortened curvilinear shape, with the
7 characteristics of the attached claims retained.

Representative Drawing