Noise-suppressing dishwasher

Abstract

Disclosed is a dishwasher that excludes operating noise transferred forwardly through a gap between a lower end of a main body and a mounting surface, thus minimizing noise perceived by a user. The dishwasher includes a main body provided with a washing chamber; and a front panel installed at a lower part of a front surface of the main body, and provided with a lower part covering a gap between the lower end of the main body and a mounting surface. The front panel includes a closure made of a flexible material connected to the lower part of the front panel.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2007-0029462, filed Mar. 26, 2007, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a dishwasher, and more particularly, to a dishwasher that excludes operating noise transferred through a gap between a lower end of a main body and a mounting surface.

2. Description of the Related Art

Korean Patent Laid-open Publication No. 10-2006-0124263 discloses a dishwasher, which sprays washing water of a high pressure to dishes accommodated in a washing chamber to wash the dishes.

In such a dishwasher, dish baskets are respectively installed in upper and lower portions of a washing chamber, and upper, middle, and lower nozzles to spray washing water to dishes received in the dish baskets are provided. Further, a washing pump to supply the washing water to the respective nozzles, a drain pump to drain the washing water, and valves to open and close water supply channels are installed in the lower portion of the washing chamber.

The lower end of a main body of the dishwasher is separated from a mounting surface at a designated interval by a plurality of supporting legs.

During a process of operating the above dishwasher, an operating noise of the washing pump or the drain pump is transferred forwardly through a gap between the lower end of the main body and a mounting surface. Thus, noise perceived by a user is high. Particularly, in the case that a height of the supporting legs is increased to expand the gap between the lower end of the main body and the mounting surface, the noise may be more highly increased.

SUMMARY

Therefore, one aspect of the embodiment is to provide a dishwasher that excludes operating noise transferred through a gap between the lower end of a main body and a mounting surface, thus minimizing noise perceived by a user.

Additional aspects and/or advantages will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

The foregoing and/or other aspects are achieved by providing a dishwasher including a main body provided with a washing chamber; and a front panel installed at a lower part of a front surface of the main body, and provided with a lower part covering a gap between a lower end of the main body and a mounting surface.

The front panel may include a closure made of a flexible material connected to the lower part of the front panel.

The front panel may be installed on the front surface of the main body such that a height of the front panel is adjustable with respect to the main body.

The front panel may be installed on the front surface of the main body using fixing screws and screw holes, the screw holes extending in a vertical direction on the front panel and being formed through regions of the front panel to which the fixing screws are connected.

The dishwasher may further include a door installed on the front surface of the main body to open and close the washing chamber, and the front panel may be disposed at a rear of a lower end of the door such that a height of an upper end of the front panel is higher than that of the lower end of the door.

The closure may be bent from the lower part of the front panel in a forward direction with respect to the front panel.

The main body may include a horizontal frame, and the front panel may include a screw hole to receive screws, the lower end of the door being higher than a length of the screw hole so that the lower end of the door is maintained above the horizontal frame of the main body.

The foregoing and/or other aspects are achieved by providing a dishwasher, including: a main body provided with a washing chamber; and a front panel installed at a lower part of a front surface of the main body, the front panel being adjustable in a vertical direction with respect to the main body.

The front panel may have a screw hole to receive screws, the lower end of the door being higher than a length of the screw hole so that the lower end of the door is maintained above the horizontal frame of the main body during adjustment.

The main body includes a lower end, and the front panel may have a lower part covering a gap between the lower end of the main body and a mounting surface of the dishwasher.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects and advantages will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiment, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a dishwasher in accordance with a present embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a detailed view of the portion “A” of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is another detailed view of the portion “A” of FIG. 1, illustrating a state in which the height of a front panel is adjusted; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the front panel of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiment, an example of which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. The embodiment is described below to explain the present invention by referring to the annexed drawings.

A dishwasher, as shown in FIG. 1, includes a main body 10 provided with a washing chamber 11 provided therein, and a door 12 installed on the front surface of the main body 10 to open and close the washing chamber 11.

An upper dish basket 13 and a lower dish basket 14 are respectively installed in upper and lower portions of the washing chamber 11. The dish baskets 13 and 14 are supported by rails 15 installed on a surface of a wall of the washing chamber 11 such that they can be slid forwardly along the rails 15. Accordingly, in order to put dishes into the dishwasher, the door 12 is opened, and the dish baskets 13 and 14 are slid forward.

An upper nozzle 17, a middle nozzle 18, and a lower nozzle 19 to spray washing water to the upper and lower dish baskets 13 and 14 are installed in the washing chamber 11. The upper nozzle 17, which is located above the upper dish basket 13, sprays washing water downwardly to the upper dish basket 13, and the middle nozzle 18, which is located between the upper and lower dish baskets 13 and 14, sprays washing water upwardly to the upper dish basket 13 and downwardly to the lower dish basket 14. Further, the lower nozzle 19, which is located below the lower dish basket 14, sprays washing water upwardly to the lower dish basket 14. The nozzles 17, 18, and 19 are rotated, thus being capable of spraying the washing water uniformly to the dishes in the upper and lower dish baskets 13 and 14.

A water collector 20 to collect the washing water is provided under the washing chamber 11. The water collector 20 includes an impeller 21 to supply the collected washing water to the respective nozzles 17, 18, and 19, and a driving motor 22 installed at a lower portion of the water collector 20 to rotate the impeller 21. A drain pump 23 to drain the collected washing water is installed at a side of the water collector 20.

The washing water, which is pumped by an operation of the impeller 21, is guided to the lower nozzle 19 by a first washing water guiding pipe 24 extended upwardly from the water collector 20, and is guided to the upper nozzle 17 and the middle nozzle 18 by a second washing water guiding pipe 25 extended from the water collector 20 toward a rear part and an upper part of the washing chamber 11. The water, which is pumped by the drain pump 23, is discharged to the outside through a drain pipe 26. A drain valve 27, which opens the drain pipe 26 when the drain pump 23 is operated, and closes the drain pipe 26 when the drain pump 23 is not operated, is installed in the drain pipe 26.

The main body 10 is provided with a lower frame 30, which stably supports a bottom plate 28 of the washing chamber 11 and reinforces a rigidity of a lower part of the main body 10. The lower frame 30 includes a plurality of vertical frames 31 respectively installed at front and rear regions of the lower part of the main body 10, a plurality of base frames 32 horizontally installed at the lower part of the main body 10 to connect the vertical frames 31, and a panel-type front frame 33 installed at a front region of the lower part of the main body 10. The frames 31, 32, and 33 are connected by welding or using fixing screws, for example, thus forming a stable structure of the lower frame 30. Although FIG. 1 illustrates the frames 31 and 32 having a rod shape, the frames 31 and 32 are not limited thereto. That is, the frames 31 and 32 may have a panel shape with rigidity, or a channel shape obtained by bending a board, for example. The lower frame 20 may have any structure which can stably support the lower part of the main body 10, regardless of shape.

A plurality of supporting legs 40 to separate the lower part of the main body 10 from a mounting surface 100 is installed under the plurality of the vertical frames 31. The supporting legs 40 are connected to the lower parts of the vertical frames 31 using screws, for example. Thus, the height or horizontality of the main body 10 is adjusted by tightening or loosening the supporting legs 40.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, a front panel 50 to cover the front region of the lower part of the main body 10 and a gap between the lower end of the main body 10 and the mounting surface 100 is installed at the lower part of the main body 10. The front panel 50 covers the front region of the lower part of the main body 10 to provide a neat external appearance of the dishwasher, and covers the gap between the lower end of the main body 10 and the mounting surface 100 to exclude operating noise transferred forwardly through the gap between the lower end of the main body 10 and the mounting surface 100.

The front panel 50 is fixed to the front end of the lower frame 30 using a plurality of fixing screws 52, for example. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, long screw holes 53, which are extended in a vertical direction, are formed through regions of the front panel 50, to which the fixing screws 52 are connected. As shown in FIG. 3, the screw holes 53 allow a height of the front panel 50 to be controlled by adjusting the height of the supporting legs 40 even when the gap between the lower end of the main body 10 and the mounting surface 100 is enlarged, thus causing the front panel 50 to cover the gap between the lower end of the main body 10 and the mounting surface 100. In order to control the height of the front panel 50, the front panel 50 moves in the vertical direction under the condition that the fixing screws 52 are loosened slightly, and then when the front panel 50 reaches a desired height, the fixing screws 52 are tightened again. While screws are shown and discussed, any fixing device may be used to fix the front panel 50 to the lower frame 30.

The front panel 50 includes a closure 51, made of a flexible material, connected to a lower portion thereof. The closure 51 having a designated elasticity is closely adhered to the mounting surface 100, thus completely closing the gap between the lower end of the main body 10 and the mounting surface 100. The closure 51 may be made of rubber, silicon, or flexible resin, for example, or any other type of flexible material.

The closure 51 may have a slightly bent state and thus may be closely adhered to the mounting surface 100, as shown in FIG. 2. Thereby, the closure 51 can completely close the gap between the lower end of the main body 10 and the mounting surface 100. When the gap between the lower end of the main body 10 and the mounting surface 100 is completely closed, as described above, it is possible to prevent the operating noise of the driving motor 22 or the drain pump 23 or the flow noise of the washing water from being transferred forwardly through the gap between the lower end of the main body 10 and the mounting surface 100. Accordingly, the dishwasher of the present embodiment remarkably reduces noise perceived by a user, compared to conventional dishwashers.

The front panel 50, as shown in FIG. 2, is located at a rear of a lower end 12a of the door 12 such that a height of an upper end 50a of the front panel 50 is higher than that of the lower end 12a of the door 12 after the mounting of the dishwasher is completed. Preferably, even when the height of the main body 10 is increased by adjusting the height of the supporting legs 40 and the front panel 50 moves downwardly, the upper end 50a of the front panel 50a is located at a height higher than the height of the lower end 12a of the door 12. Thereby, the front part of the main body 10 is completely covered with the door 12 and the front panel 50, thus providing the neat external appearance of the dishwasher.

As apparent from the above description, the present embodiment provides a dishwasher, in which a front panel covers a gap between the lower end of a main body and a mounting surface, thus excluding operating noise transferred forwardly through the gap between the lower end of the main body and the mounting surface. Thus, it is possible to minimize noise perceived by a user.

Although an embodiment has been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in this embodiment without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A dishwasher, comprising:

a main body provided with a washing chamber; and

a front panel installed at a lower part of a front surface of the main body, and provided with a lower part covering a gap between a lower end of the main body and a mounting surface.

2. The dishwasher according to claim 1, wherein the front panel includes a closure made of a flexible material connected to the lower part of the front panel.

3. The dishwasher according to claim 1, wherein the front panel is installed on the front surface of the main body such that a height of the front panel is adjustable with respect to the main body.

4. The dishwasher according to claim 3, wherein the front panel is installed on the front surface of the main body using fixing screws and screw holes, the screw holes extending in a vertical direction on the front panel and being formed through regions of the front panel to which the fixing screws are connected.

5. The dishwasher according to claim 1, further comprising:

a door installed on the front surface of the main body to open and close the washing chamber,

wherein the front panel is disposed at a rear of a lower end of the door such that a height of an upper end of the front panel is higher than that of the lower end of the door.