Patent Application
20220219823
The present disclosure relates to an appliance filter system, and more particularly to an aircraft appliance having a single-piece fixated front panel.
Today's commercial aircraft employ a wide variety of appliances. These appliances range from ovens for cooking and warming food to chillers to cooling down drinks and water. The appliances typically have a front access door and a control panel placed above the access door. Typically, appliances have employed removable control panels which allowed access to appliance insides including filter compartments allowing a user to easily access and service the filters. However, some modern appliances employ a control interface that may not be removable, and can take up the entire width of the appliances leaving a user no way to easily access and service the filters. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an appliance having improved filter access and improved ease of service. There also remains a need in the art for such a system and components that are economically viable. The present disclosure may provide a solution for at least one of these remaining challenges.
An appliance is disclosed including a door configured to enclose a cooking or chilling space, a filter slot positioned above the door configured to accept a filter for filtering particles, and a control panel for controlling the appliance positioned above the door. The filter slot can be directed along a diagonal axis with respect to a vertical position defined by a vertical axis of the appliance. The control panel can include, user interface integrated into the front panel, which can also include a touch screen. The control panel can include a width equal to or greater than a majority of an appliance width. An air inlet can be adjacent to the user interface.
The filter slot can be positioned below the control panel, wherein the filter is inserted at an upward angle. The filter slot can define a straight line from an opening slot to an inner terminus. The filter slot can include a guide rail configured to support the filter. The filter slot can define a curve along a path from the opening slot to an inner terminus. The opening slot can extend along a vertical axis along an edge of the front panel. The filter slot can include a latch configured to lock a filter in place.
A filter cartridge can be included in order to retain a filter. The cartridge can be configured to rotate and discharge a filter section into the filter slot. As the filter is used up or discharged, the excess or expended filter material can be disposed. It is also considered that a dual cartridge system can be used, where one roll unwinds the new filter material and another roll collects the expended filter material.
The appliance can be an oven or a refrigerator. A standalone filter assembly for use with the oven or refrigerators also disclosed. The filter can include a first cover, a filter insert placed on top of the first cover, and a second cover configured to lockably couple to the first cover and lock the filter inset with between the first cover and the second cover. The filter insert can includes a cloth material. The filter can include a filter cassette coupled to at least one of the covers in order to o retain multiple filter inserts detachably coupled to each other.
These and other features of the systems and methods of the subject disclosure will become more readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments taken in conjunction with the drawings.
So that those skilled in the art to which the subject invention appertains will readily understand how to make and use the devices and methods of the subject invention without undue experimentation, preferred embodiments thereof will be described in detail herein below with reference to certain figures, wherein:
Reference will now be made to the drawings wherein like reference numerals identify similar structural features or aspects of the subject invention. For purposes of explanation and illustration, and not limitation, a partial view of an exemplary embodiment of a filter system in accordance with the invention is shown in
The methods and systems of the present disclosure, as described above and shown in the drawings, provide for an aircraft appliance filter system with superior properties including increased reliability and stability, and reduced size, weight, complexity, and/or cost. While the apparatus and methods of the subject disclosure have been showing and described with reference to embodiments, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that changes and/or modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and score of the subject disclosure.
