Device for closing the door of a household appliance, in particular for a washing machine, such as a dishwasher

Device (10;

• 110) for closing the door (D) of a household appliance, in particular for a washing machine, such as a dishwasher (W);
• said door (D) being adapted to close an inner chamber (WT), which is obtained in a casing (C) of said household appliance (W) and communicates with the outside through an access opening (O);
• said device (10) comprising an engagement element (11;
• 111), adapted to be fitted on either said casing (C) and said door (D) and adapted to be held in a releasable manner by a retaining element (16), adapted to be fitted on the other one between said door (D) and said casing (C), so as to constrain said door (D) to said casing (C), when using said household appliance (W);
• the device being characterized in that said engagement element (11;
• 111) comprises:
• a support body (12), adapted to be fitted on one between said casing (C) and said door (D);
• a striker (14), adapted to be coupled in a releasable manner to said restraining element (16), and is mounted so as to move, with respect to said support body (12), between a retracted position and an extracted position, in which, when said striker (14) is coupled to said retaining element (16), said door (D) is in a complete closing condition, thus closing said access opening (O) in a fluid-tight manner, and, respectively, said door (D) is in a pre-opening condition, thus being arranged at a distance from said access opening (O), so as to establish a fluid communication between said inner chamber (WT) and the outside of said casing (C);
• a stop mechanism (18), which cooperates with that striker (14) and is prone to pass from a release condition, in which it (18) is adapted to set said striker free (14), thus allowing it to move from the retracted position to the extracted position, to a locking position, in which it (18) is adapted to hold said striker (14) in said retracted position;
• and
• electrically-operated actuator means (20), adapted to control the passage of said stop mechanism (18) from said locking position to said release position.