The invention is directed to an enclosure panel having a ventilation section for a domestic home appliance.
An example of an application for the invention is cooling air intake panel for a domestic kitchen cooking range.
Some modern domestic kitchens include an appliance, such as a cooking range, that has an internal heat source or other feature that requires ventilation. Often this ventilation is achieved through openings in a rear panel of the appliance that supplies air to a cooling fan.
Some appliances have a mesh screen that is attached over an opening in a panel of the appliance in order to allow air to enter the appliance. These mesh screens can be attached to the panel by, for example, welding or threaded fasteners. These mesh screens can be of a woven construction that results in rows and columns of aligned square openings.
A standard Underwriters Laboratory test exists for testing the penetrability of openings in particular domestic home appliances. Parts of UL 858 require that particular openings in particular domestic home appliances must resist a defined articulated finger-shaped probe such that the probe cannot penetrate the opening. The above-described mesh screens often do not sufficiently resist penetration by the UL required probe and/or require a large amount of material to provide sufficient resistance to penetration. This large amount of material can add expense to the appliance and can also result in a smaller than ideal open-to-blocked ratio of the ventilation opening. The UL standard and the associated test is designed to simulate a user's finger entering the appliance housing by way of the ventilation opening.
Applicants recognized these problems and developed a solution as described herein.
The invention achieves the benefit of a low cost ventilation panel that passes the above-described UL penetration test by providing a particular panel design for a domestic home appliance. The particular panel design resists penetration by the UL required probe under the conditions prescribed in the UL testing procedure.
The invention achieves this benefit by providing a ventilation panel that has integrally formed ventilation holes that are bounded by panel material of a particular layout.
By aligning, for example, horizontal elements (or “horizontal legs”) of the panel structure such that ends of the horizontal legs intersect vertical legs at a point other than the ends of the vertical legs, a stronger opening (formed by the legs) results. In contrast to a woven mesh screen, the inventive structure provides support for the legs in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the legs.
Particular embodiments of the invention are directed to a domestic home appliance, having a housing; an enclosure panel attached to the housing, the enclosure panel having a main body; an operating section that performs an appliance operation of the domestic home appliance that is usable by a user of the domestic home appliance; and a heat source located inside the housing. The enclosure panel has a ventilation section positioned within the main body, the ventilation section has solid portions and open portions, and provides ventilation to the heat source, the solid portions comprise a plurality of first legs extending a first length in a first direction, and a plurality of second legs extending a second length in a second direction, the second direction is perpendicular to the first direction, each of the first legs has a first end and a second end, the second end being opposite the first end along the first direction, each of the second legs has a first end and a second end, the second end being opposite the first end along the second direction, a first one and a second one of the first legs and a first one and a second one of the second legs completely bound one of the open portions, a third one of the second legs intersects the first one of the first legs at a first intersecting location, the first intersecting location being a location other than the first end of the first one of the first legs, and the first intersecting location being a location other than the second end of the first one of the first legs, and a fourth one of the second legs intersects the second one of the first legs at a second intersecting location, the second intersecting location being a location other than the first end of the second one of the first legs, and the second intersecting location being a location other than the second end of the second one of the first legs.
Other embodiments of the invention are directed to an enclosure panel for a domestic home appliance having a housing, an operating section that performs an appliance operation of the domestic home appliance that is usable by a user of the domestic home appliance, and a heat source located inside the housing. The enclosure panel has a main body; and a ventilation section positioned within the main body, the ventilation section having solid portions and open portions and being configured to provide ventilation to the heat source. The enclosure panel is configured to attach to the housing of the domestic home appliance, the solid portions comprise a plurality of first legs extending a first length in a first direction, and a plurality of second legs extending a second length in a second direction, the second direction is perpendicular to the first direction, each of the first legs has a first end and a second end, the second end being opposite the first end along the first direction, each of the second legs has a first end and a second end, the second end being opposite the first end along the second direction, a first one and a second one of the first legs and a first one and a second one of the second legs completely bound one of the open portions, a third one of the second legs intersects the first one of the first legs at a first intersecting location, the first intersecting location being a location other than the first end of the first one of the first legs, and the first intersecting location being a location other than the second end of the first one of the first legs, and a fourth one of the second legs intersects the second one of the first legs at a second intersecting location, the second intersecting location being a location other than the first end of the second one of the first legs, and the second intersecting location being a location other than the second end of the second one of the first legs.
Particular embodiments of the invention include the feature of the first intersecting location being equidistant from the first end of the first leg and the second end of the first leg.
Particular embodiments of the invention include the feature of the first intersecting location being opposite the second intersecting location in the second direction.
Particular embodiments of the invention include the feature of the first legs and the second legs being integrally formed with the main body of the enclosure panel.
Particular embodiments of the invention include the feature of the enclosure panel having a plurality of the ventilation section.
Particular embodiments of the invention include the feature of the first length being equal to the second length.
Particular embodiments of the invention include the feature of the first length being less than 0.10 inch.
The following figures form part of the present specification and are included to further demonstrate certain aspects of the disclosed features and functions, and should not be used to limit or define the disclosed features and functions. Consequently, a more complete understanding of the exemplary embodiments and further features and advantages thereof may be acquired by referring to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
The invention is described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings in which exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown. The invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein.
In the description of embodiments disclosed herein, any reference to direction or orientation is merely intended for convenience of description and is not intended in any way to limit the scope of the present invention. Relative terms such as “lower,” “upper,” “horizontal,” “vertical,”, “above,” “below,” “up,” “down,” “top” and “bottom” as well as derivative thereof (e.g., “horizontally,” “downwardly,” “upwardly,” etc.) should be construed to refer to the orientation as then described or as shown in the drawing under discussion. These relative terms are for convenience of description only and do not require that the apparatus be constructed or operated in a particular orientation. Terms such as “attached,” “connected,” “coupled,” “interconnected,” and similar refer to a relationship wherein structures are secured or attached to one another either directly or indirectly through intervening structures, as well as both movable or rigid attachments or relationships, unless expressly described otherwise.
As explained above, embodiments of the invention provide a solution to the problems associated with a mesh type cooling grille on a domestic home appliance.
Ventilation openings 380 can be cut out of a piece of sheet material from which ventilation panel 370 is made. Non-exclusive examples of devices for cutting ventilation openings 380 are laser cutters, plasma cutters, and water jets.
The above described structure provide protection against penetration by probe 600 while simultaneously providing a maximum open-to-blocked ratio for ventilation opening 380 for a given ventilation panel thickness. Embodiments of the invention provide a significant improvement over a louvered opening in that the invention provides 180 degrees of open air access to the ventilation opening, whereas a louver provides about 90 degrees of open air access.
It will be appreciated that variants of the above-disclosed and other features and functions, or alternatives thereof, may be combined into many other different systems or applications. Various presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations or improvements therein may be subsequently made by those skilled in the art which are also intended to be encompassed by the invention. In addition, all combinations of any and all of the features described in the disclosure, in any combination, are part of the invention.