Patent Application
20160010874
1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to cooking appliances, and, more particularly, to an oven door having an anti-spill vent.
2. Description of Related Art
Ovens, such as a wall oven or freestanding range, have a hinged oven door that provides access to the oven or cooking cavity. The inner surface of the oven door can have vents, and the vents can allow airflow through the oven door to cool the outer surface of the door when the oven is operating. The vents in the oven door may align with vents on the oven housing when the oven door is closed. Such a configuration can allow air to be drawn into the oven door through additional vents along a lower edge of the door. Air drawn into the door can flow between panes of window glass in the oven door to cool the glass. The air drawn into the oven door flows through the vents in the inner surface of the oven door and through the aligned vents on the oven housing. The air can then flow through channels within the oven housing and be discharged from the oven housing.
A problem associated with vents in the inner surface of an oven door is that solid food or liquids can enter the interior of the oven door through the vents. For example, liquids can be accidentally spilled into the vents when the door is open. Such liquids may stain the window glass of the oven door and/or cause unpleasant odors during cooking. It can be difficult to clean such liquids from the interior of the oven door, which may require disassembling the door. Thus, it would be desirable close the vents on the inner surface of the oven door when the door is open.
The following summary presents a simplified summary in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the devices discussed herein. This summary is not an extensive overview of the devices discussed herein. It is not intended to identify critical elements or to delineate the scope of such devices. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.
In accordance with one aspect, provided is a cooking apparatus that includes a housing forming an oven cavity within the housing. A door is attached to the housing for selectively opening and closing the oven cavity. The door includes an outer surface and an inner surface. The inner surface includes a vent in fluid communication with an air channel within the door. A movable blocking element selectively opens and closes the vent. The movable blocking element is biased against the vent when the door is open, thereby closing the vent when the door is open. The movable blocking element is configured to translate linearly within the door, toward the vent and away from the outer surface of the door to close the vent, and toward the outer surface of the door and away from the vent to open the vent.
In accordance with another aspect, provided is a cooking apparatus that includes a housing forming an oven cavity within the housing. A door is attached to the housing for selectively opening and closing the oven cavity. The door includes an outer surface and an inner surface. The inner surface includes a vent in fluid communication with an air channel within the door. A movable blocking element selectively opens and closes the vent. The movable blocking element is biased against the vent when the door is open, thereby closing the vent when the door is open. A bearing surface is located within the door and extends toward the outer surface of the door and toward the inner surface of the door. The movable blocking element is configured to translate within the door on the bearing surface.
In accordance with another aspect, provided is a cooking apparatus that includes a housing forming an oven cavity within the housing. A door is attached to the housing for selectively opening and closing the oven cavity. The door comprises an outer surface and an inner surface. The inner surface includes a vent in fluid communication with an air channel within the door. A movable blocking element selectively opens and closes the vent. The movable blocking element is biased against the vent when the door is open, thereby closing the vent when the door is open. A blocking element bracket is located within the door and comprises an upper bearing surface and a lower bearing surface. A bias spring biases the movable blocking element. The movable blocking element is attached to the blocking element bracket through the bias spring. A movable pin extends from the movable blocking element and through the inner surface of the door. The movable pin and the bias spring are coaxially aligned. The movable blocking element is configured to translate linearly within the door, toward the vent and away from the outer surface of the door to close the vent, and toward the outer surface of the door and away from the vent to open the vent. The movable blocking element comprises an upper support arm that slides along the upper bearing surface, and a lower support arm that slides along the lower bearing surface, as the movable blocking element translates linearly within the door. The movable blocking element further comprises a first alignment arm extending from the movable blocking element past the lower bearing surface, and a second alignment arm extending from the movable blocking element past the upper bearing surface. The first and second alignment arms limit movement of the moveable blocking element in a side-to-side direction within the door, the side-to-side direction being substantially perpendicular to a linear translation direction of the movable blocking element toward the vent and away from the outer surface of the door. The movable pin contacts the housing of the oven when the door is in a closed position and the movable pin drives the movable blocking element away from the vent when the door is in the closed position.
Examples will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings in which example embodiments are shown. Whenever possible, the same reference numerals are used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts. However, aspects may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein.
The door 12 can include a window 18 for allowing the oven cavity 16 to be viewed when the door 12 is in the closed position. The window can have an outer pane 20, an inner pane 22, and additional panes if desired.
The door 12 has an outer surface 24 that faces forward when the door is in the closed position (and faces generally downward when the door is fully open). The door 12 further has an inner surface 26 that closes the oven cavity 16 when the door is in the closed position. The inner surface 26 faces generally upward when the door 12 is fully open.
The inner surface 26 of the door 12 can have one or more vents 28. It can be seen in
A schematic example of an airflow path through the door 12 and oven housing 14 is shown in
As discussed above, one problem associated with the vents 28 in the inner surface of the door 12 is that food or liquids can enter the interior of the oven door through the vents, due to an accidental spill for example. Such food or liquids may stain the panes of the oven door 12 and/or cause unpleasant odors during cooking, and it can be difficult to clean food or liquid from the interior of the oven door 12.
Turning to
It can be seen in
With reference to
The blocking element brackets 48, 50 can have an “L” or “C” shape, with a first leg 52 of the bracket attached to the door and a second leg 54 of the bracket having an opening or slot 56 for receiving one end of the movable blocking element 42. In an embodiment, the first leg 52 and the second leg 54 of the bracket are substantially perpendicular to each other.
The movable blocking element 42 can translate linearly within the door 12 and within the slot 56 in blocking element brackets 48, 50. The movable blocking element moves toward the vents 28 and away from the outer surface 24 of the door to close the vents, and toward the outer surface of the door and away from the vents to open the vents. The movable blocking element's direction of motion is shown by arrow 58 in the figures. The movable blocking element's direction of motion can be considered to be generally perpendicular to parallel planes corresponding to the inner and outer surfaces of the door 12. The movable blocking element 42 can include embossed or stamped projections that are aligned with the vents 28 and plug the vents when the door 12 is open.
The movable blocking element 42 is attached to the blocking element brackets 48, 50 through respective bias springs 60. The bias springs 60 push or bias the movable blocking element 42 toward the vents 28. The movable blocking element 42 can move within the slot 56 in the brackets 48, 50, and the bias springs 60 resist such movement, pushing the movable blocking element toward the vents 28. When the door 12 is open, the movable blocking element 42 is biased against the vents 28 to thereby close the vents. However, when the door 12 is closed, the bias springs 60 are compressed and the movable blocking element 42 is driven away from the vents 28 to open the vents 28.
To compress the bias springs 60 and push the movable blocking element 42 away from the vents, movable pins 64, 66 are provided that move with the movable blocking element. The movable pins 64, 66 can be attached to the movable blocking element 42 through an interference fit or through appropriate mounting hardware, or the movable pins 64, 66 can be integrally formed with the movable blocking element. The movable pins 64, 66 can extend from the movable blocking element 42 through the inner surface 26 of the door 12, so as to extend from the inner surface of the door. Thus, the movable pins 64, 66 will project outward from the inner surface 26 of the door 12 when the door is open.
To automatically open the vents 28 when the door 12 is closed, the movable pins 64, 66 are configured to contact the housing 14 of the oven and compress the bias springs 60 driving the movable blocking element 42 away from the vents 28. The compression of the bias spring 60 and the movement of the movable blocking element 42 within the slot 56 in the blocking element bracket 48 can be seen in
In certain embodiments, the bias spring 60 and the movable pin 64 can be coaxially aligned. This can allow the movable pin 64 to compress the bias spring 60 while applying a minimum amount of torque to the movable blocking element 42.
Projecting inward toward the interior of each blocking element bracket 48, 50 are a lower bearing tab 68 and an upper bearing tab 70. The movable blocking element 42 includes a lower support arm 72 that sits on the lower bearing tab 68, and an upper support arm 74 that engages the upper bearing tab. The lower and upper support arms 72, 74 extend away from the movable blocking element 42 in the direction of movement of the movable blocking element. The weight of the movable blocking element 42 is supported by the blocking element brackets 48, 50 by the lower bearing tabs 68. As the movable blocking element 42 moves within the slot 56, the support arms 72, 74 of the movable blocking element slide along respective lower and upper bearing surfaces on the bearing tabs 68, 70. That is, the lower support arm 72 slides along the upwardly-facing lower bearing surface on the lower bearing tab 68, and the upper support arm 74 slides along the downwardly-facing upper bearing surface on the upper bearing tab 70. It can be seen that the bearing surfaces of the bearing tabs 68, 70 extend in the direction of movement of the movable blocking element 42, i.e., in the direction shown by arrow 58, toward the inner 26 and outer 24 surfaces of the door 12.
To limit the side-to-side movement of the moveable blocking element 42 in a direction generally perpendicular to the direction shown by arrow 58 (e.g., in a direction from the first lateral side 44 of the door 12 toward the second lateral side 46 of the door), the movable blocking element 42 includes a lower alignment arm 76 and an upper alignment arm 78. The lower alignment arm 76 projects downward from the movable blocking element 42 past the lower bearing surface of the lower bearing tab 68. The upper alignment arm 78 projects upward from the movable blocking element 42 past the upper bearing surface of the upper bearing tab 70. The lower and upper alignment arms 76, 78 are provided at both lateral ends of the movable blocking element 42. Thus, side-to-side movement of the movable blocking element 42 will be blocked by the lower and upper alignment arms 76, 78 respectively contacting the lower and upper bearing tabs 68, 70. The lower and upper bearing tabs 68, 70 of each blocking element bracket 48, 50 will limit the motion of the movable blocking element 42 in a direction perpendicular to the primary linear translation direction of the movable blocking element within the door 12, which is toward the vents 28 and away from the outer surface 24 of the door 12 and vice versa.
It should be evident that this disclosure is by way of example and that various changes may be made by adding, modifying or eliminating details without departing from the fair scope of the teaching contained in this disclosure. The invention is therefore not limited to particular details of this disclosure except to the extent that the following claims are necessarily so limited.
