The present invention relates to a door-locking device, in particular for a household appliance.

More specifically the invention relates to a door-locking device of the type comprising: an essentially rigid body having a protruding structure in which there is provided an opening intended to receive a hook member connected to the door; the body having two seats provided on opposite sides of said protruding structure and intended to engage, with play, with corresponding opposite edges of an opening provided in a support panel of the household appliance; resilient means being provided, for allowing said play to be offset, at least in a direction essentially parallel to the support panel and perpendicular to said edges of the panel opening.

One object of the present invention is to provide a door-locking device of this type, which has a simplified structure.

A further object is to provide such a door-locking device in which it is possible to offset easily the play between the body of the device and the support panel of the household appliance, also in a direction perpendicular to the panel.

This object, together with others, is achieved according to the invention with a door- locking device of the type indicated above, characterized in that the aforementioned resilient means comprise a member made of resilient material and provided in a first seat of said seats, which member, owing to the engagement with the corresponding side of the opening of the panel, is capable of being resiliently deformed by means of compression to a degree such as to allow subsequent engagement of the other seat with the corresponding other edge of said panel opening.

Conveniently, said resilient-material member is made of an elastomer material, in particular EPDM, for example by means of ovemioulding. Further characteristic features and advantages of the invention will become clear from the following detailed description provided purely by way of a non-limiting example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a front view of a door-locking device according to the invention;

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view along the line II-II of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a partial cross-sectional view along the line III-III of Figure 1;

Figures 4A and 4B are two views of the door-locking device, essentially cross- sectioned in accordance with Figures II-II and III-III, showing the arrangement of the door- locking device during a first stage of its assembly inside an opening of the support panel of a household appliance;

Figures 5A and 5B are views similar to those shown in Figures 4A and 4B and show the door-locking device during a subsequent stage of assembly inside the opening of the panel of the household appliance; and

Figures 6A and 6B show the door-locking device in the condition mounted on the support panel of the household appliance.

In the drawings 1 denotes overall a door-locking device according to the present invention for a household appliance, in particular for locking in the closed position the loading hatch of a laundry- washing machine, for example of the front-loading type.

The door-locking device 1 comprises a body 2 which is essentially rigid and is made for example of moulded plastic.

The body 2 is intended to be mounted and fixed, without using screws or the like, on a support panel P (Figures 4A to 6B).

As can be seen in Figures 4A, 5A and 6A, a main opening O, which is essentially rectangular shaped, is provided in this panel.

On a main side thereof intended to be directed towards the inner surface of the panel P, the body 2 has a protruding structure 3 which, in the embodiment shown, is essentially in the form of a rectangular frame. This structure or frame 3 is provided with an opening 4 intended to receive a hook member H (Figure 6A) connected in a manner known per se to the door (not shown).

With reference for example to Figure 2, on opposite sides of the protruding structure 3, the body 2 has seats, denoted by 3a and 3b, for example in the form of grooves, intended to engage, with play, with corresponding opposite edges Ol and 02 of the opening O in the panel P.

A member 5 made of resilient material, for example elastomer material, such as EPDM, is provided in the seat 3 a.

The resilient member or insert 5 is for example overmoulded in the seat 3 a.

The sequence of the stages for assembly of a door-locking device 1 according to the invention inside the opening O of the panel P is shown in Figures 4A to 6 A.

During a first stage, shown in Figure 4A, the door-locking device 1 is moved towards the panel P, and the resilient insert 5 provided in the seat 3 a is positioned so as to engage with the edge Ol of the opening O of said panel.

As shown in Figure 5A, the body 2 of the door-locking device is then further pushed against the edge Ol of the opening O of the panel P, as indicated by the arrow Fl, and at the same time is rotated towards the panel P, as indicated by the arrow F2.

The engagement of the insert 5 with the edge Ol of the opening O of the panel P is such that the insert is resiliently compressed following the partial penetration of the edge Ol inside the seat 3 a.

The degree of resilient compression of the insert 5 is such as to allow the side of the protruding frame 3, opposite to that on which the insert 5 is provided, to pass through also the opening O of the panel, passing beyond the edge indicated by 02. Once this condition has been achieved, as shown in Figure 6A, the body 2 of the door- locking device is displaced slightly, in a direction essentially parallel to the panel P, as indicated by the arrow F3 in this figure: owing to the return movement (re-expansion) of the insert 5, the play present between the bottom of the seat 3b and the edge O2 of the opening O of the panel is virtually eliminated.

In this condition, the edge Ol of the opening O is still partly in a condition where it is engaged so as to compress the resilient insert 5, conveniently engaging with a middle portion thereof. The engagement between the edge Ol of the opening O and the insert 5 is therefore such as to compensate not only for the play between the body 2 and the opposite edges Ol , O2 of the panel opening, but also allows compensation - at least partially - of the play in a direction essentially perpendicular to the plane of the panel P.

With reference to Figures 1 and 3, the body 2 of the door-locking device on the side operationally directed towards the panel P has a pair of rigid projections 6. These projections are intended to engage, during assembly, inside corresponding through-holes 7 (Figures 4B-6B) of the panel P, in particular when the seats 3a, 3b of the protruding structure or frame 3 assume the arrangement where they are engaged with the corresponding edges 01, 02 of the opening O of said panel, as shown in particular in Figure 6B.

Following engagement of the projections 6 inside the openings 7 of the panel, the engagement between the door-locking device and this panel is definitively stabilized.

Conveniently, the projections 6 are rigidly fixed to the body 2 of the door-locking device and can be tightly engaged inside the corresponding through-holes 7 of this panel owing to a certain capacity of the latter for resilient deformation.

Obviously, without affecting the principle of the invention, the embodiments and the constructional details may be significantly modified with respect to that described and illustrated purely by way of a non-limiting example, without thereby departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the accompanying claims.