Diverter for a dishwasher and dishwasher comprising such diverter

Abstract

The present invention relates to a diverter for a dishwasher comprising a tub, at least one rack placeable in the tub and aimed to accommodate dishes and kitchenware to be cleaned, and at least one rotating spray arm associated to the at least one rack for spraying a plurality of washing/rinsing liquid jets towards the rack. The diverter comprises a deflecting body having a deflecting surface designed to deviate a liquid jet that impinges on it, thus changing its path. The present invention also relates to a dishwasher comprising one or more diverters as above specified.

1 . A diverter for a dishwasher comprising a tub, at least one rack placeable in the tub and aimed to accommodate dishes and kitchenware to be cleaned, and at least one rotating spray arm associated to the at least one rack for spraying a plurality of washing/rinsing liquid jets towards the rack, the diverter comprising a deflecting body having a deflecting surface designed to deviate a liquid jet that impinges on it, thus changing its path,
 characterized in that the diverter further comprises a connection leg having a first end connected to the deflecting body and a second end aimed to be connected to a rack of the dishwasher;   the diverter being suitable to be connected to a rack of the dishwasher in order to be hit by a washing/rinsing liquid jet emitted by the spray arm of the dishwasher and to deflect such jet toward a selected zone of the tub.   
     
     
         2 . The diverter according to  claim 1 , characterized in that the deflecting body has an oblong shape, extending substantially parallel to an axis X, with a cross section having at least a curved side defining the deflecting surface along the whole extension of the deflecting body. 
     
     
         3 . The diverter according to  claim 2 , characterized in that the deflecting body is curved along the axis X. 
     
     
         4 . The diverter according to  claim 1 , characterized in that the deflecting surface is concave. 
     
     
         5 . The diverter according to  claim 1 , characterized in that the deflecting surface is convex. 
     
     
         6 . A dishwasher comprising a tub, at least one rack placeable in the tub, having a base and walls extending substantially perpendicular from the base, and aimed to accommodate dishes and kitchenware to be cleaned, and at least one rotating spray arm associated to the at least one rack for spraying a washing/rinsing liquid towards the rack, characterized in that it further comprises at least one diverter according to  claim 1 . 
     
     
         7 . The dishwasher according to  claim 6 , characterized in that the base and/or at least one of the walls of the rack comprises at least a wire element and the at least one diverter is connected to the at least a wire element. 
     
     
         8 . The dishwasher according to  claim 6 , characterized in that the at least one diverter is connected to the base of the rack. 
     
     
         9 . The dishwasher according to  claim 6 , characterized in that the at least one rack has a quadrangular base and the dishwasher comprises at least four diverters connected to the rack so that the deflecting surface of each of them is hittable by a liquid jet emitted by the spray arm for deviating it toward one of the four corner zones of the rack. 
     
     
         10 . The dishwasher according to  claim 8 , characterized in that each of the diverters is connected to the base of the rack and arranged so that its deflecting surface is hittable by a liquid jet emitted by the spray arm substantially perpendicular to the base of the rack in order to deviate such liquid jet of an angle α comprised between 100° and 150°. 
     
     
         11 . The dishwasher according to  claim 6 , characterized in that the at least one diverter is fixed to the rack. 
     
     
         12 . The dishwasher according to  claim 6 , characterized in that the at least one diverter is removably connectable to the rack. 
     
     
         13 . The diverter according to  claim 7 , characterized in that the second end of the connection leg of the diverter comprises attaching means for removably connecting the diverter to the wire element of the rack and the wire element and the attaching means are provided with anti-rotation elements aimed to cooperate in order to prevent the rotation of the diverter with respect to the wire element. 
     
     
         14 . The dishwasher according to  claim 12 , characterized in that the rack comprises marking means for indicating the position on the rack where the at least one diverter has to be attached to the rack. 
     
     
         15 . The dishwasher according to  claim 6 , characterized in that it comprises a detergent box arranged in the tub and at least one diverter connected to the rack so that its deflecting surface is hittable by a liquid jet emitted by the spray arm for deviating it toward the detergent box.