Description A HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCE

[0001] This invention relates to a household appliance comprising a handle which can easily be produced and mounted.

[0002] The household appliances such as refrigerators, diswashers and owens comprise a handle for opening and closing their doors. The door of the household appliance is opened by holding the doorhandle and then the operations such as controlling the cooking level of the food in the owen, taking goods from the refrigerator etc. are performed by accesing inside of the appliance. The handles may be comprised of more than one pieces with regard to the production limitations and the aesthetic concerns. Particularly the handles made out of metallic materials should be produced by using multiple parts in accordance with the design arising from the aesthetic concerns. It's needed to decrease the number of the parts in the handles produced in this way and to mount the parts to each other with a practical and unproblematic method.

[0003] In state-of-the-art German Patent No. DE10303734, while a handle is being constituted by using a pipe, the plugs mounted into the recesss on each two ends of the pipe also maintain the handle to be attached to the body.

[0004] The object of the present invention is the realization of a household appliance comprising a handle with an aesthetic appearance which can be easily mounted.

[0005] The household appliance realized in order to fulfill the objectives of this invention, defined in the first claim and the dependent claims thereof, comprises a handle having a gripping portion and plugs to be placed into the recesss at the end of the gripping portion.

[0006] The plug and the recess have matching protrusions and indentations that maintain the removal of the plug when desired and prevent the plug from sliding into the gripping portion when the plug is placed into the recess.

[0007] When the plug is placed in the recess, a flat surface is obtained at the tip of the gripping portion. When the household appliance is viewed from its front, joints can not be seen and the handle seems to be single piece.

[0008] The household appliance realized in order to fulfill the objectives of this invention is illustrated in the attached figures, where:

[0009] Figure 1 - The perspective view of a household appliance.

[0010] Figure 2 - The detail view of a handle with a plug mounted.

[0011] Figure 3 - The exploded view of a handle.

[0012] The elements shown in figures are numbered as follows :

1. Household appliance

2. Body

3. Cover

4. Handle

5. Gripping portion

6. Connecting element

7. Recess

8. Plug

9. Head

10. Centering channel

11. Extension

12. locking arm

13. locking pin

14. Centering protrusion

15. Extension recess

16. locking recess

17. Groove

[0013] The household appliance (1) of the present invention comprises a body (2), a cover (3) which enables access inside of the body (2), and a handle (4) which is used in opening and closing the cover (3).

[0014] The handle (4) comprises a gripping portion (5), one or more connecting elements (6) providing the attachment of the gripping portion (5) to the household appliance (1), a recess (7) at the end of the handle (5), and a plug mounted in the recess (7). The recess (7) is in form of a cavity towards the inside of the gripping portion (5).

[0015] The gripping portion (7) is preferably produced from a metallic material and has a pipe form.

[0016] The plug (8) comprises a head (9) which provides obtaining a flat surface at the end of the gripping portion (5) when placed in the recess (7), and an extension (11) extending into the gripping portion (5) from the head (9). The recess (7) comprises an extension recess (15) on its wall into which the extension (11) fits and leans to its base, preventing the plug (8) from sliding into the gripping portion (5). The depth of the extension recess (15) and the length of the extension (11) are in sizes so as to maintain a flat surface with the head (9) and the end of the gripping portion (5) when the extension (11) has leaned to the base of the extension recess (15).

[0017] The extension recess (15) is in a slot formed at the end of the gripping portion (5).

[0018] The plug (8) also comprises a locking arm (12) extending from the head (9) towards the inside of the gripping portion (5) when placed in the recess (7) and a locking pin (13) located at the end of the locking arm (12). The recess (7) comprises a locking recess (16) into which the locking pirn (13) is inserted. The position of the locking recess (16) and the length of the locking arm (12) are choosen so as to provide the locking pin (13) to fit into the locking recess (16) when the extension (11) has leaned to the base of the extension recess (15). The locking pin (13) fitted into the locking recess (16) prevents the plug (8) from getting out of the recess (7).

[0019] The locking arm (12) has an elastic stricture which can flex when the locking pin (13) is being inserted into and removed from the locking recess (16).

[0020] The plug (8) comprises more than one grooves (17) formed on the head (9) so as to be positioned on both sides of the locking arm (12) at the intersection point of the locking arm (12) and the head (9). The locking arm (12) is provided to flex more by means of the grooves (17).

[0021] The locking recess (16) and the extension recess (15) open to each other so as to provide ease of production.

[0022] During the mounting of the handle (4) to the household appliance (1), the plug (8) is placed on the gripping portion (5) and then the gripping portion (5) is fixed to the body (2) by means of the connecting element (6). The extension (11) and the locking arm (12) enter into the recess (7) while the plug (8) is being placed in the recess (7). While the plug (8) is being pushed into the recess (7), the locking arm (12) flexes and enters into the recess (7) as a result of the leaning of the locking pin (13) to the wall of the recess (7). While the plug (8) moves forward inside the recess (7), the extension (11) leans to the base of the extension recess (15), the locking pin (13) fits into the locking recess (16). Here, the extension recess (15) prevents the plug (8) from sliding into the recess (7) as well as the locking pin (13) prevents it from getting out of the recess (7). When the plug (8) is desired to be removed out of the recess (7), the locking arm (12) is flexed by pressing on the locking pin (13) and the locking pin (13) is freed from the locking recess (16). The plug (8) can be taken out of the recess (7) by being pushed from the extension (11) by the help of the slot- like form of the extension recess (15).

[0023] In another embodiment of the present invention, the recess (7) comprises a centering extension (14). The plug (8) comprises a centring channel (10) into which the centering extension (14) is located, providing the attachment of the plug (8) to the

recess (7) correctly. The plug (8) is prevented from moving inside the recess (7) into which it is placed by means of the centering extension (14) and the centering channel (10). In the household appliance of the present invention, by means of the extension (11), the locking arm (12) and the the locking pin (13) on the plug (8), and, the locking recess (16) and extension recess (15) inside the recess (7), a flat surface is achieved at the end of the gripping portion (5), and sliding of the plug (8) into the gripping portion (5) and unintentional removal of the plug (8) from the recess (7) are prevented. Thus, a household appliance (1) comprising an easily mounted aesthetic handle (4) composed of a few number of parts is achieved.