Dishwasher with integrated utensil rinsing device

Abstract

A dishwasher incorporates an integrated utensil rinsing device capable of being used when an external door of the dishwasher is in an opened position, and in some instances, when the dishwasher is otherwise off and/or not currently running a wash cycle. In some instances, for example, a utensil rinsing device may be supported on an interior side of an external door and may include a platform configured to rinse beverage containers by actuating a rinse valve when a rim of a beverage container is pressed against the platform.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A dishwasher, comprising:
 an interior cavity defined by a wash tub and an external door, the external door movable between opened and closed positions and configured to provide external access to the interior cavity when in the opened position;   one or more racks supported in the interior cavity to support a plurality of utensils during a wash cycle;   at least one spray device supported in the interior cavity and configured to direct wash fluid onto the plurality of utensils during the wash cycle; and   a beverage container rinsing device supported in the interior cavity on an interior side of the external door and accessible by a user when the external door is substantially in the opened position, the beverage container rinsing device configured to rinse a beverage container while the external door is substantially in the opened position and prior to washing the beverage container during the wash cycle, and the beverage container rinsing device including:
 a rinse sprayer; 
 a mechanically-actuated rinse valve that couples the rinse sprayer to a rinse fluid supply; and 
 a platform disposed proximate the rinse sprayer and extending substantially perpendicular to an actuation axis and configured to selectively actuate the mechanically-actuated rinse valve in response to movement of the platform along the actuation axis, wherein the platform is movable between off and on positions along the actuation axis and is biased to the off position, the platform is configured to actuate the rinse valve when in the on position, and the platform is configured to move towards the on position in response to pressing a lip of the beverage container against the platform to actuate the rinse sprayer to spray rinse fluid into an interior of the beverage container. 
   
     
     
         2 . A dishwasher, comprising:
 an interior cavity defined by a wash tub and an external door, the external door movable between opened and closed positions and configured to provide external access to the interior cavity when in the opened position;   one or more racks supported in the interior cavity to support a plurality of utensils during a wash cycle;   at least one spray device supported in the interior cavity and configured to direct wash fluid onto the plurality of utensils during the wash cycle; and   a utensil rinsing device supported on one of the wash tub and the external door and accessible by a user when the external door is substantially in the opened position, the utensil rinsing device configured to rinse a utensil while the external door is substantially in the opened position.   
     
     
         3 . The dishwasher of  claim 2 , wherein the utensil rinsing device is configured to rinse the utensil prior to the wash cycle during which the utensil is washed. 
     
     
         4 . The dishwasher of  claim 2 , wherein the utensil rinsing device is configured to selectively spray rinse fluid onto the utensil in response to user input. 
     
     
         5 . The dishwasher of  claim 4 , wherein the utensil rinsing device includes a rinse sprayer and a rinse valve that couples the rinse sprayer to a rinse fluid supply, and the utensil rinsing device is configured to selectively actuate the rinse valve in response to the user input to direct rinse fluid from the rinse fluid supply to the rinse sprayer. 
     
     
         6 . The dishwasher of  claim 5 , wherein the rinse valve is a mechanically-actuated valve, and the user input includes mechanically actuating the mechanically-actuated valve. 
     
     
         7 . The dishwasher of  claim 5 , wherein the utensil rinsing device further includes a utensil-actuated actuator configured to be actuated in response to pressing the utensil against the utensil-actuated actuator. 
     
     
         8 . The dishwasher of  claim 7 , wherein the utensil-actuated actuator comprises a platform disposed proximate the rinse sprayer and extending substantially perpendicular to an actuation axis and configured to selectively actuate the rinse valve in response to movement of the platform along the actuation axis. 
     
     
         9 . The dishwasher of  claim 8 , wherein the platform is movable between off and on positions along the actuation axis and is biased to the off position, the platform is configured to actuate the rinse valve when in the on position, the utensil is a beverage container, and the platform is configured to move towards the on position in response to pressing a lip of the beverage container against the platform to actuate the rinse sprayer to spray rinse fluid into an interior of the beverage container. 
     
     
         10 . The dishwasher of  claim 5 , wherein the rinse valve is an electronically-actuated valve and the utensil rinsing device includes a switch configured to actuate the electronically-actuated valve. 
     
     
         11 . The dishwasher of  claim 5 , further comprising a user interface configured to initiate the wash cycle, wherein the rinse valve is an electronically-actuated valve and the user interface includes a user control configured to actuate the electronically-actuated valve. 
     
     
         12 . The dishwasher of  claim 5 , further comprising:
 an inlet valve configured to supply wash fluid to the wash tub;   a pump configured to pump wash fluid collected in a sump of the wash tub to the at least one spray device; and   a controller configured to control the inlet valve and the pump during the wash cycle;   wherein the utensil rinsing device is positioned such that rinse fluid sprayed on the utensil is captured in the dishwasher when the external door is substantially in the opened position; and   wherein the controller is configured to initiate the wash cycle by combining the rinse fluid captured in the dishwasher with fresh water by actuating the inlet valve while the rinse fluid is retained in the sump such that an initial fill performed during the wash cycle includes the rinse fluid.   
     
     
         13 . The dishwasher of  claim 12 , wherein the utensil rinsing device is positioned such that rinse fluid sprayed on the utensil is captured in the sump of the dishwasher. 
     
     
         14 . The dishwasher of  claim 12 , wherein the rinse fluid supply supplies rinse fluid from an external water line to the rinse valve independent of the inlet valve. 
     
     
         15 . The dishwasher of  claim 12 , wherein the utensil rinsing device is further configured to rinse a utensil while the controller is in an off state during which no wash cycle is being performed. 
     
     
         16 . The dishwasher of  claim 2 , wherein the utensil rinsing device is supported on an interior side of the external door. 
     
     
         17 . The dishwasher of  claim 16 , wherein the utensil rinsing device is configured to articulate relative to an interior side of the external door. 
     
     
         18 . The dishwasher of  claim 17 , wherein the utensil rinsing device is configured to automatically articulate relative to the interior side of the external door as the external door is moved from the closed position towards the opened position. 
     
     
         19 . The dishwasher of  claim 2 , wherein the utensil rinsing device is supported on one of a top wall of the wash tub, a side wall of the wash tub, a rear wall of the wash tub, a rack of the one or more racks, or a spray arm assembly. 
     
     
         20 . The dishwasher of  claim 19 , wherein the utensil rinsing device is movable between a storage position and an operating position via linear and/or rotary motion.