Cooking appliance

Abstract

A cooking appliance includes a component box having side walls and a resting flange extending from a top of the side walls and resting on the supporting surface in an installed state of the cooking appliance in the opening. A top plate has a top plate perimeter covering the resting flange. A magnetic connecting element arranged between the resting flange and the top plate perimeter connects the top plate perimeter to the resting flange over at least part of an appliance perimeter. At least one of the resting flange and the top plate perimeter is made of ferromagnetic material, so that the connecting element is connected to a top face of the resting flange and/or to a bottom face of the top plate perimeter by a magnetic force and the top plate is separable from the component box when the cooking appliance is in a mounted state in the opening.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the priority of European Patent Application, Serial No. 2338331.8, filed Dec. 20, 2023, pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety as if fully set forth herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to the field of cooking appliances installable in an opening of a supporting surface, in particular of a kitchen worktop surface.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It would be desirable and advantageous to provide an improved cooking appliance to obviate prior art shortcomings and to enable a cooking appliance to be mounted in an opening of a kitchen worktop, which can be repaired more easily.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a cooking appliance installable in an opening of a supporting surface, in particular of a kitchen worktop surface, includes a component box designed to house functional components of the cooking appliance, said component box including a base, side walls and a resting flange which extends in an outer direction of the component box from a top of the side walls and resting on the supporting surface in an installed state of the cooking appliance in the opening, a top plate arranged on the component box and having fixed thereon at least one cooking hob, said top plate having a top plate perimeter covering the resting flange of the component box, and a magnetic connecting element arranged between the resting flange and the top plate perimeter to connect the top plate perimeter to the resting flange over at least a part of an appliance perimeter of the cooking appliance, wherein at least one of the resting flange and the top plate perimeter is made of a ferromagnetic material, so that the connecting element is connected to a top face of the resting flange and/or to a bottom face of the top plate perimeter by a magnetic force and separation of the top plate from the component box is enabled when the cooking appliance is in a mounted state in the opening.

A supporting surface is understood to be the horizontal surface into which the cooking appliance can be inserted in a dedicated opening, normally in a kitchen. The supporting surface is usually a sheet with a thickness wide enough to support the weight of the elements arrangeable on the same, generally wider than 2 cm and smaller than 10 cm, and it can be made of wood, stone, particle board, synthetic materials or any other material utilised to that end into which a cut has been made to open the opening for the installation of the cooking appliance.

A component box is understood to be the volume containing the functional components of the appliance such as gas injectors, gas taps, gas collecting pipes and an igniter in a gas cooking plate, or the electrical wirings and earth resistances in an electric cooking plate. The box can be made of a metal sheet and/or plastic made in one or several pieces and comprises a base and side walls extending upwards in a substantially perpendicular manner to the base. The resting flange is connected to a side wall and, advantageously, a part of the resting flange extends from each side wall. Advantageously, the resting flange can be formed in one piece with the side wall or can be fixed to the same and extend from the top perimeter of the side wall in parallel to the supporting surface. The resting flange can rest on this surface when the cooking appliance is in the mounting position in the opening. The resting flanges may advantageously be present at every side wall to rest on the supporting surface of the kitchen worktop and distribute in this manner the weight of the component box, or at least the flanges may be present at two of the opposite side walls.

The cooking appliance is complete and closed when the top plate of the appliance in which at least one cooking hob is arranged is mounted and fixed on the component box. The top plate is the external surface accessible to the user on which cooking vessels can be arranged on the cooking hobs or on the remaining area of the top plate at any time and especially when cooking. The top plate can be fixed to the component box directly or through other internal elements arranged inside the component box. In a plan view of the cooking appliance, it can be seen that the top plate perimeter covers the resting flange entirely and they extend in parallel to each other in contact or spaced apart from each other by a reduced distance smaller than 3 mm. The top plate perimeter and the resting flange are connected to each other at least partially by the connecting element.

The mounting position of the cooking appliance is a position in which the cooking appliance is inserted in the opening and fixed to the edge of the same, ready to be operated, connectable to the corresponding energy source, either electrical and/or fuel gas. It is a position in which the top plate perimeter of the top plate is arranged on the edge of the supporting surface of the kitchen worktop. In the mounting position, the cooking appliance cannot be separated from the supporting surface and removed from the opening without using tools by accessing from the bottom of the cooking appliance and from below the supporting surface. In the mounting position, the top plate cannot be separated from the component box without any tools. The top plate is fixed to the component box by means of connections removable through the cooking hob.

The top plate perimeter of the top plate can be made of a metal sheet with a thickness smaller than 2 mm. Such a thickness is very thin and it might occur that, if hot vessels are arranged on a part of the top plate perimeter, stresses may arise due to the temperature differences and cause deformations over the top plate perimeter due to dilatations focused on the hottest areas. To reinforce the top plate perimeter and avoid these deformations, connecting elements made of a magnetic material can be arranged between the top plate perimeter and the resting flange. When a repair is required, the technical service operator can access the interior of the cooking appliance by separating the top plate from the component box since the connecting elements are magnetic and it is not required to access them from the bottom of the cooking appliance.

The magnetic connecting elements can be arranged between the bottom face of the top plate perimeter and the top face of the resting flange. When the top plate perimeter and the resting flange are made of a ferromagnetic material, the fixing element is connected magnetically to both of them. When the resting flange or the top plate perimeter is not ferromagnetic, the connecting element is connected to the non-ferromagnetic component by means of an additional fixing means such as clipping, screwing or the like and by a magnetic force to the other component. This fixing means could be an adhesive too but it is less desirable due to its lower recyclability compared to its alternatives.

According to another advantageous feature of the invention, the connecting element can be substantially flat with a thickness smaller than 3 millimetres, advantageously smaller than 2 millimetres, more advantageously smaller than 1 millimetre. It is desirable that said thickness has a similar dimension to the space between the bottom face of the top plate perimeter and the top face of the resting flange.

In a more usual cooking appliance, the ground plan of the top plate has a polygonal, normally quadrangular and, more usually, rectangular outer perimeter. Therefore, the connecting element can be arranged at at least one the vertices of the polygon. In a cooking process, when a hot vessel is arranged close to the top plate perimeter, dilatations occur that may deform the vertices of the top plate perimeter. Therefore, the arrangement of the fixing elements avoids said deformations.

The opening in the supporting surface is usually rectangular like usually the base of the component box and necessarily with a bigger opening section than the biggest ground plan section of the component box to allow this to be inserted into the opening. In this manner, the cooking appliance can be installed in an opening existing in the supporting surface of the kitchen worktop bigger than the component box and provided that at least two resting flanges rest on the top surface of the kitchen worktop, advantageously two opposite resting flanges. In any case, the resting flanges are hidden by the top plate to the user's view in the mounting position.

According to another advantageous feature of the invention, the material of the component box and of the resting flange can be made of a sheet and these are made in one piece together with the side walls. They are made by sheet folding or stamping and advantageously of a ferromagnetic sheet. The same applies to the top plate and the top plate perimeter, which are made of a sheet and in one piece. They are also advantageously made of a ferromagnetic material, so that the magnetic connecting elements adhere strongly.

For a more flexible configuration, provision may be made for the connecting element to be composed of a plurality of magnets that can be arranged on the locations considered to be the most necessary and in such a manner that, according to the distance among them, the connecting force between the top plate perimeter and the resting flange increases or diminishes.

The connecting force between the top plate perimeter and the resting flange is given by the number of magnets and the distance among them as well as the material of the connecting element, which can comprise neodymium, samarium, alnico, ferrite or any other similar magnetic material.

This invention is very convenient in cooking appliances such as gas cooking plates or electrical earth plates in which the top plate is generally made of a metal sheet.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is described subsequently taking the following figures as a reference:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective top view of the cooking appliance in a pre-installed position above the opening of the supporting surface of the kitchen worktop,

FIG. 2 a detail of a vertex of the cooking appliance in a pre-installed position in the opening of the supporting surface,

FIG. 3 a plan view of the bottom face of the top plate of the cooking appliance with the connecting element,

FIG. 4 a detail of a vertex of the interior of the top plate with the connecting element, and

FIG. 5 a bottom view of a vertex of the cooking appliance.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows a cooking appliance of the invention, generally designated by reference numeral 10 and depicted in a pre-mounted position above an opening 21 of a supporting surface 20 of a worktop. The cooking appliance 10 has a component box, generally designed by reference numeral 11 and including a base 12 and side walls 13. Resting flanges 14 (not seen in FIG. 1) are provided to rest on the edge of the supporting surface 20 of the worktop and extend from a top perimeter of the side walls 13. In this case, a resting flange 14 that can rest on the supporting surface 20 of the worktop in its mounting position in the opening 21 projects from each side wall 13. A top plate 17 is mounted on the component box 11 and includes four cooking hobs 15 schematically shown with crosses on the top surface of the top plate 17. The top plate has a perimeter 18 which covers and hides the view of the resting flange 14. The cooking appliance 10 is provided to be installed in the opening 21 and has an appliance perimeter 19 seen in a rectangular plan view.

FIG. 2 shows a part of the cooking appliance 10 from FIG. 1 in a pre-mounted position with a side of its appliance perimeter 19 resting on an edge of the opening 21 of the supporting surface 20, the bottom of the cooking appliance 10 being thereby exposed. The external part of the component box 11 having a base 12 and side walls 13 is shown, from which the resting flange 14 extends in an outer direction. The resting flange 14 rests on the edge of the opening 21 in the mounting position. The weight of the component box 11 and the components that may be contained by the same is supported by the resting flange 14 in this manner. The top plate 17, whose top plate perimeter 18 can be seen, is arranged on the resting flange 14 and coplanarly to this. Magnetic fixing element 16 are arranged between the bottom face of the top plate perimeter 18 of the top plate 17 and the top face of the resting flange 14 and can be seen on the top vertex of the cooking appliance 10 as seen in FIG. 2.

FIG. 3 shows the bottom face of the top plate 17, inside of which there are four orifices for the installation of the four cooking hobs 15. The top plate 17 is made of a ferromagnetic metal and has a top plate perimeter 18. The magnetic connecting element 16 is arranged on its two bottom vertices. In this case, the connecting element 16 is made as a plurality of square magnets magnetically fixed at a short distance among them and covering the corner of each vertex of the top plate 17. FIG. 4 shows one of those vertices on which the connecting element 16 from FIG. 3 is arranged.

FIG. 5 shows the same vertex but of the cooking appliance 10 from a bottom view perspective. The same vertex of the top plate 17 from FIG. 4 with the connecting element 16 adhered to the top plate perimeter 18 can be seen here. The connecting element 16 is made as a plurality of flat magnets of a reduced thickness, which remain between the bottom face of the top plate perimeter 18 and the top face of the resting flange 14. In FIG. 5, the resting flange 14 does not cover the entire connecting element 16 to make them more visible but, advantageously, they remain covered entirely between the top plate perimeter 18 and the resting flange 14, while the highest possible magnetic attraction force is exercised between both pieces. In this case, the component box 11 is made of a ferromagnetic metal sheet as well and in one stamped piece with its base 12 and side walls 13 from which the resting flange 14 extends. If the component box 11 was not ferromagnetic, the connecting element 16 would be fixed to the same by another additional fixing means such as screwing, clipping or the like.

While the invention has been illustrated and described in connection with currently preferred embodiments shown and described in detail, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit and scope of the present invention. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to explain the principles of the invention and practical application to thereby enable a person skilled in the art to best utilize the invention and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.

What is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent is set forth in the appended claims and includes equivalents of the elements recited therein:

Claims

1. A cooking appliance installable in an opening of a supporting surface, in particular of a kitchen worktop surface, the cooking appliance comprising: a component box designed to house functional components of the cooking appliance, said component box including a base, side walls and a resting flange which extends in an outer direction of the component box from a top of the side walls and resting on the supporting surface in an installed state of the cooking appliance in the opening;a top plate arranged on the component box and having fixed thereon at least one cooking hob, said top plate having a top plate perimeter covering the resting flange of the component box; anda magnetic connecting element arranged between the resting flange and the top plate perimeter to connect the top plate perimeter to the resting flange over at least a part of an appliance perimeter of the cooking appliance,wherein at least one of the resting flange and the top plate perimeter is made of a ferromagnetic material, so that the connecting element is connected to a top face of the resting flange and/or to a bottom face of the top plate perimeter by a magnetic force and separation of the top plate from the component box is enabled when the cooking appliance is in a mounted state in the opening.

2. The cooking appliance of claim 1, further comprising a fastener designed to connect the connecting element when one of the resting flange and the top plate is not made of ferromagnetic material.

3. The cooking appliance of claim 2, wherein the fastener is a clip or a screw.

4. The cooking appliance of claim 1, wherein the connecting element is substantially flat with a thickness smaller than 3 millimetres.

5. The cooking appliance of claim 1, wherein the connecting element is substantially flat with a thickness smaller than 2 millimetres.

6. The cooking appliance of claim 1, wherein the connecting element is substantially flat with a thickness smaller than 1 millimetre.

7. The cooking appliance of claim 1, wherein the top plate has a polygonal outer perimeter and the connecting element is arranged at at least one vertex of the polygon.

8. The cooking appliance of claim 1, wherein the top plate has an outer perimeter substantially in a form of a rectangle, said connecting element being arranged at at least one vertex of the rectangle.

9. The cooking appliance of claim 1, wherein the component box and the resting flange are each made of a sheet and formed together in one piece with the side walls.

10. The cooking appliance of claim 1, wherein at least the top plate and the top plate perimeter are made of a sheet and in one piece with the side walls.

11. The cooking appliance of claim 1, wherein the connecting element is composed of a plurality of magnets.

12. The cooking appliance of claim 1, wherein the connecting element is made of a material which comprises neodymium, samarium, alnico, ferrite or any other similar magnetic material.

13. The cooking appliance of claim 1, embodied as a gas cooking appliance.