Chapter 17 How to improve dishwashers.
“I expect to see a lot of household appliances on the Net by 2010, as well as autos and other mobile devices.” Vinton Cerf
It’s past 2010 and my dishwasher is still not on the Net, although most new cars are on the Net. And I hear from a number of people how they have to struggle with loading up the dishwasher on the lower rack. It places a fair amount of stress on the back, if you are unfortunate enough to have back problems. Or if you are getting really old and it is a stretch to bend down quite a bit.
For some time I had back problems after my accident hiking, so I can really sympathize with the people that have these types of problems. I think there is an opportunity here to improve the life of these people.
My idea for improving the dishwasher loading process is straightforward and does not require much waste of energy or fancy technology. The first step is to have a hinge on the counter above the dishwasher section. This hinge should be opened when the dishwasher needs loading.
The second step is to have lifts for the racks. Since the racks are not too heavy, this should not require too much energy. With the top of the counter lifted off, the racks elevate themselves to counter level and then move horizontally onto the counters. This would of course require enough counter space to accommodate two racks on the counter. I don’t think that’s a challenge in most modern homes.
Depending on the geometry of the counters, the top and bottom racks could then be moved onto the counter to the right of the dishwasher. Alternatively, you may have to move one to the right and one to the left. Or both to the left. It all depends on what portion of the counter your dishwasher is stacked in. For my kitchen, for example, the right configuration would be to move the top rack to the right and the bottom rack to the left. That’s because our dishwasher is located centrally in the counter space next to the sink.
Once the racks are on top, it’s much easier to load them with no stress on your back. Once the job is complete, you roll the racks back onto the lifting mechanism, which now works in reverse and gently lowers the bottom rack to the bottom of the dishwasher. The top rack is lowered down to the top rack of the dishwasher.
This type of technology is trivial to implement and would require very few modifications to the modern kitchen. I think many people with back difficulties would appreciate this effort.
Discuss and enjoy!