ELECTRIC HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCE DOOR LOCKING DEVICE

摘要

An electric household appliance having a casing (2); a compartment (3) housed inside the casing (2) and facing an opening (4); a door (5) fitted to the casing (2) and movable between an open position and a closed position; and a locking device (6); the locking device (6) having a box body (7) fixed to the casing (2), alongside the door (5); latch means (8, 13) fitted to the box body (7) to move between a lock position locking the door (5), and a release position releasing the door (5); and an actuating device (11) for selectively moving the latch means (8, 13) between the lock position and the release position, and which has at least an electrically conducting resistance wire (16) made of a shape-memory alloy and designed to vary in length alongside a variation in temperature, and electric power devices (18) for powering the resistance wire (16) and producing a controlled Joule-effect variation in temperature.