Flexible rubber retaining net for light-weight items
A flexible, rubber-like restraining net (6) comprised of a plurality of communicating cords (8) spaced to form a plurality of apertures (10) to allow the passage of water or gas. Said cords (8) drape over and contact items (14, 16, 18) within a rack (12) so as to prevent dislocation during the application of force. In addition, said cords (8) may contain textures (20, 22, 24, 26) that increase friction with said restrained items (14, 16, 18).
Not Applicable
FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCHNot Applicable
SEQUENCE LISTING OR PROGRAMNot Applicable
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION—FIELD OF INVENTIONThis invention relates to retaining devices, specifically to devices that are used to prevent items in a dishwasher from inverting or relocating during the wash cycle.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONLight-weight plastic food containers and dishes are commonplace in today's kitchens. One significant drawback to routinely using such light-weight items is the tendency of the items to invert from the jets of water while being cleaned in automated dishwashers. Because the inversions usually cause the items to fill with dirty water, the items have to be rewashed with no guarantee that they will not invert again. Also, light-weight lids and accessories for food containers frequently become dislodged and relocate within the washer, sometimes resting on the heating element in the washer thus becoming permanently damaged.
Several inventions have been previously disclosed that describe devices intended to restrain loose and light-weight items during automated dishwashing. Several of the previously-described inventions describe cages or rigid restraining devices intended to contain small items such as silverware, baby bottle nipples, or containers of fixed dimensions (U.S. Pat. No. 3,752,322 to Fiocca, U.S. Pat. No. 4,339,051 to Crawford, U.S. Pat. No. 4,748,993 to Llewellyn, U.S. Pat. No. 4,834,125 to Insalaco, U.S. Pat. No. 3,935,958 to Frangos, U.S. Pat. No. 6,325,220 to Malmstrom). Whereas these devices constrain small items or items with specific dimensions, they are not intended to prevent the inversion of the myriad of larger light container and lid designs common in most kitchens and are not of general practical usefulness.
Another general class of dishwasher restraining devices involves the use of a net drawn over the items in the washing rack. U.S. Pat. No. 3,982,799 to Murray and U.S. Pat. No. 5,518,126 to Davis describe complicated devices that allow the mechanical application and retraction of a net over the items in the racks of a dishwasher. These multi-component inventions require the installation and maintenance of rollers or pulley systems into the dishwasher. In addition to being convoluted, these inventions apply the net across the top of the dishwasher rack. As will be discussed further below, a tight net drawn across the top of the items will not prevent the inversion of items too short to contact the net.
A common design element of other simpler net-like restraining devices for dishwashers is the attachment of the net in some physical manner to the edges of the dishwasher rack. U.S. Pat. No. 4,832,206 to Cunningham, U.S. Pat. No. 4,974,806 to Matern, U.S. Pat. No. 5,114,019 to Sandbank, U.S. Pat. No. 5,121,843 to Elder, U.S. Pat. No. 5,201,826 to Zimmermann, D338,750 to Chandler, U.S. Pat. No. 5,294,008 to Dunaway, D368,340 to Mussmacher, D398,091 to Badgett, U.S. Pat. No. 5,988,406 to Leipziger, and D471,679 to Henzey all describe restraining nets that attach to the dish rack. In each case, attaching the net to the rack causes the net to become tightly drawn over the highest items in the rack. This feature limits the usefulness of the restraining devices to items as tall as or taller than the dish rack. In addition, if a tall item is placed under the net, it lifts the restraining net up and way from any other smaller items in the rack defeating the purpose. Many of these “tight-net” designs also require custom fasteners or design elements which may not be suitable for broad use in the wide variety of dishwasher racks currently in use.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,497,890 issued to Clark describes a device that uses a plurality of hinged plastic panels to restrain items in the dish rack. Whereas this design overcomes the limitations of the “tight-net” designs described above in that it can conform to the landscape of the items, it is only able to do so in one of the two dimensions of the rack. Additionally, this design makes use of rigid plastic panels that do not grip the items in the rack so it is possible for smaller items to flip when sufficient force is imparted from the jets of water.
U.S. patent D398,090 issued to Busby describes the ornamental design of a dishwasher net. Whereas this patent illustrates a dishwasher net of similar overall appearance to the presented invention described below, it is unclear how the Busby design is intended to be implemented: what material it is to be made of, whether or not it is to be attached to the rack, how flexible it would be, etc. Also, the flat nature of the ribs of the design presented by Busby would impede proper water circulation against the surfaces of the restrained items.
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION—OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGESThe objects and advantages of my submitted invention are as follows:
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- (1) to provide a restraining net that uses no fasteners;
- (2) to provide a restraining net comprised of a single, molded piece;
- (3) to provide a restraining net made of very flexible material (preferably silicone) that loosely drapes over items of different heights in the dishwasher rack;
- (4) to provide a restraining net made of a soft rubber material (preferably silicone) that grips the items in the dishwasher;
- (5) to provide a restraining net with cylindrical webbing to permit access of water against the restrained surfaces;
- (6) to provide a restraining net with openings small enough to restrain a wide variety of items, yet large enough to permit efficient passage of water; and,
- (7) to provide a restraining net that will work in a wide variety of dishwasher designs.
The presented invention comprises a one-piece silicone restraining net with cylindrical webbing that loosely drapes over the items in a dishwasher rack.
DRAWING—FIGURESIn the drawings, closely related figures have the same number but different alphabetic suffixes.
A preferred embodiment of the restraining net of the presented invention is schematically depicted in
In the preferred embodiment of the restraining net, the thickness of the cords 8 should be sufficient to provide strength against breakage, yet thin enough to allow maximum flexibility (typically 0.4 to 0.8 cm for silicone rubbers). In FIGS. 1 to 3, the cords 8 of the net presented as having uniform thickness throughout the net 6; however, there can be any combination of thicknesses or materials throughout the webbing of the net 6 to allow for optimized restraining and strength performance.
The apertures 10 formed by the cords 8 should be small enough to prevent the passage of commonly-washed items, yet large enough to allow ample water passage during washing, typically 4 to 7 cm. The number of cords 8 in the net should be sufficient to provide contact with several of the vertical pins of the dishwasher rack 12 when the net 6 is moved laterally by a small distance (approximately 1 to 3 cm). This embodiment allows for greater retention performance because the vertical forces applied by the dishwasher are generally only applied to small regions of the rack 12 at any given time. If a region of items in the rack 12 is not sufficiently weighted or restrained to prevent motion, the items and the covering net 6 move vertically. The vertical motion translates to a lateral displacement of the surrounding net 6. As the surrounding net 6 moves toward the point of vertical displacement, the cords 8 come into contact with the vertical pins of the dishwasher rack and prevent further lateral movement, which, in turn, prevents the items from rising sufficiently so as to become dislodged.
Although the net 6 is presented in FIGS. 1 to 3 as a uniform, square grid (for ease of illustration), the grid design can be any pattern or combination of patterns that enhance function. For example, one section of the net can contain a finer mesh of adjacent rhomboid shapes for very small items or a courser mesh of concentric circles for very large items. Additionally, some dishwashers require a larger opening in the center of one or both of the racks to function properly; therefore, the restraining net 6 may also contain design alterations to accommodate such features.
In the preferred embodiment, the overall dimensions of the restraining net 6 roughly match the dimensions of a typical household dishwasher rack (45 to 55 cm). This size allows for complete coverage of the items within the rack and was sufficient to prevent items from inverting during testing of prototypes. However, the dimensions of the net 6 may also be substantially smaller or larger than the rack. A larger design would allow the user to roll the excess to one side during routine use, or fold the excess back over the rack for multiple layering and increased retention.
FIGS. 4A-4D—Alternate Embodiments Several design alterations may improve the performance of the retaining net 6. In
In
The simple operation of the present invention is what sets it apart from other restraining devices. The restraining net 6 is simply extended laterally over the items in a rack as in
Between uses the restraining net 6 can be stored by hanging, rolled and placed in into a drawer, or laid flat on a counter. In using prototypes, it was discovered that the rubbery gripping nature of the net makes an excellent friction surface between cutting boards and counter tops and that feature made the storage of the device on the counter beneficial between uses.
AdvantagesAs mentioned above, the simple construction and use of the restraining net make the presented design and implementation unique:
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- (a) Unlike several previous inventions designed to restrain items, the current invention is composed of a single, molded net that greatly simplifies manufacture, eliminates cavities for debris to settle, and eliminates independent moving parts.
- (b) The highly flexible, rubber-like material allows for the net to settle along more surface area of the restrained items and also allows items of differing heights to be restrained simultaneously without the net “tenting” over the highest items in the rack.
- (c) The use of a material that is impervious to the harsh environments within a washing machine provides an advantage over several inventions that use metals, fabrics, or plastics that can corrode or weaken over time.
- (d) The flexible nature of the netting combined with the lack of physical connectors allows a single design pattern and size to be used to restrain items in many different rack designs. This “universal” applicability greatly expands the utility of the presented restraining net and allows a manufacturer to market a single design. It also permits use of the same restraining net if the user wishes to restrain items in several different racks.
- (e) To function properly, the restraining net requires no modification of the equipment in which it is to be used.
The above descriptions of the present invention are not intended to limit the utility and scope of the invention, but rather to provide the reader with examples of the current preferred embodiment. For example, the device may incorporate design changes to the composition material, the surface topology, the netting pattern, or size for a particular implementation.
Therefore, the appended claims (not the examples presented above) should be used in defining the scope of the invention.
Claims
1. A device for restraining items within a dishwasher comprising a net of material having a plurality of communicating cords, the improvement wherein said net requires no attachment to said dishwasher.
2. The net of claim 1 wherein the apertures formed by said cords allows the passage of water and gas.
3. The net of claim 1 wherein the apertures formed by said cords permits the passage of components of said dishwasher.
4. The net of claim 1 wherein said cords are flexible.
5. The net of claim 1 wherein the said cords are composed of silicone.
6. The net of claim 1 wherein the said cords are composed of a plurality of materials.
7. The net of claim 1 wherein said cords have surface features that enhance friction.
8. The net of claim 1 wherein said cords have surface features that enhance water drainage.
9. A method of restraining items, comprising:
- (a) providing a net of communicating cords comprised of a flexible material, having said cords spaced to allow the passage of water and gas,
- (b) placing said items into a rack,
- (c) placing said net onto said items so that it drapes over and contacts said items,
- whereby said net restrains the vertical displacement of said items upon exposure to forces imparted from liquid and/or gas.
10. The method of claim 9 wherein said cords are composed of silicone.
11. The method of claim 9 wherein the surface of said cords is textured to enhance friction.
Type: Application
Filed: Sep 15, 2005
Publication Date: Mar 15, 2007
Inventor: Sean Moore (Somerville, MA)
Application Number: 11/226,596
International Classification: A47G 19/08 (20060101);