BSH Home Applications issued US patent for dishwasher accessory

Nevin Barich

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia , November 21, 2013 (Journal of Technology) – BSH Home Applications Corporation (Irvine, CA) has been issued patent number 8579121, according to news reporting originating out of Alexandria, Virginia, by VerticalNews editors.

The patent's inventors are Eng, Lindsay (Long Beach, CA); Pipkin, Charlie (New Bern, NC).

This patent was filed on December 21, 2011 and was published online on November 12, 2013.

From the background information supplied by the inventors, news correspondents obtained the following quote: "A dishwasher removes unwanted foreign substances from reusable crockery and utensils using washing liquid injected through an injection nozzle. The nozzle may be located in various locations inside the dishwasher, e.g., typically directly beneath the dishes, or, in the case of U.S. Pat. No. 3,167,183, may be located beside the dishes. The removed substances then drop to the bottom of a tub beneath the dishes.

"Typically, a dishwasher contains at least one crockery basket or rack, usually two, each with a number of upstanding tines to hold the crockery in an upright position to allow for maximum cleaning. Occasionally, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,793,790 B2, dishwashers will contain a bottle rack for separately placing dishware products having a hollow shape, such as milk bottles and feeding bottles, in a vertical position to maximize cleaning. As shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,927,033, an article holder for the dish rack of a dishwasher is provided for securely holding cup shaped articles in an upright position on the sides of the basket. In U.S. Pat. No. 2,655,267 a detachable device to prevent damage to glasses and cups from heavier metal instruments by more forcefully supporting the objects is disclosed. U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,822 discloses an arrangement to prevent damage to dishware due to the deterioration of coatings of a wire rack due to continued exposure to high levels of heat by introducing a removable and replaceable sleeve. As shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,841,288, plates are occasionally held in place by tilted racks on both sides and with raised lower supports extending from one tilted rack to the other, and also holding the dish. In addition to dishes, specific types of reusable bags can also be washed in dishwashers, using the special dishwasher attachment shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,405,018. Also known is an accessory which may be clamped in an upright manner to an existing basket, to hold a baby bottle.

"A need has developed to address one or more shortcomings of the prior art."

Supplementing the background information on this patent, VerticalNews reporters also obtained the inventors' summary information for this patent: "One aspect of the present technology is directed to a dishwasher accessory to hold or help hold in place various items of crockery to maximize the support given to these items to help prevent them from falling over and/or being cleaned improperly.

"In one example, a dishwasher accessory may be removably secured to a rack of the dishwasher in such a way as to blend with the existing structure of the rack, in a space conserving manner. For example, the dishwasher accessory may have a main body with a distal end that is aligned with the tines, but extends to a height that is greater than the height of the tine.

"In one example, a dishwasher accessory is attachable to one or more existing tines of a dishwasher, e.g., by providing the accessory with hollow ends than can be slid over the existing tines.

"The accessory may have a predefined shape, or it may be deformable, e.g., in one of three ways: elastically, plastically or in a plurality of predetermined positions, similar to how a drinking straw with corrugations is adjustable.

"In another example of the present technology, there is provided an accessory for supporting crockery in a dishwasher, the accessory comprising a generally U-shaped main body having a pair of legs and a connecting portion that connects the pair of legs, at least one of the legs having a free end that is adapted to be releasably attached to a crockery basket in the dishwasher when in an installation position, and a smoothly or gently radiused portion connecting each leg to the connecting portion, wherein the legs are spaced apart in the installation position a sufficient distance to promote stability of the crockery. The sufficient distance maybe about 4-15 cm, or about 8-12 or about 5-8 cm, or at least 4 cm.

"In another example of the present technology, there is provided an accessory for a dishwasher having at least one crockery basket with a base and upstanding tines extending at an angle relative to the base, said accessory comprising a main body having a proximal end for connection to the crockery basket, and a distal end extending away from the proximal end, e.g., in cantilever fashion, wherein the distal end is angled to match the angle at which the upstanding tines of the crockery basket are oriented and dimensioned to extend a height that is greater than the height of the tines.

"In another example of the present technology, there is provided an accessory for a dishwasher for washing crockery, the dishwasher having at least one crockery basket, said accessory comprising a main body having a proximal end for connection to the crockery basket, and a distal end extending away from the proximal end in cantilever fashion, wherein the main body, e.g., distal end, is adjustable in dependence on shape and/or size of the crockery.

"These and other aspects of the present technology will be described in or apparent from the following detailed description."

For the URL and additional information on this patent, see: Eng, Lindsay; Pipkin, Charlie. Accessory for Dishwasher. U.S. Patent Number 8579121, filed December 21, 2011, and published online on November 12, 2013. Patent URL: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=112&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=5583&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=20131112.PD.&OS=ISD/20131112&RS=ISD/20131112

Keywords for this news article include: Technology, BSH Home Applications Corporation.

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