Embodiments of the present invention relate to a cooking device with a burner grate having grate fingers extended over a flue path of an oven provided in the vicinity of a cooktop.
A domestic cooking appliance, such as a free-standing gas range, has a cooktop and an oven cavity beneath the cooktop. The range can have a flue path that discharges a flue gas from the oven cavity near the cooktop. For example, the range can have a backsplash located at the rear of the cooktop with a vent located in the backsplash for discharging the flue gas.
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 of the present disclosure, provided is a cooking device having a cooktop, an oven provided under the cooktop, a burner grate on a top surface of the cooktop, and a flue path connecting an oven cavity of the oven and a discharge opening that is located adjacent the cooktop. The burner grate comprises at least one grate finger extending over the discharge opening of the flue path. The grate finger comprises a drip edge that is located above the discharge opening of the flue path, and the drip edge is configured to allow a condensed flue gas to drip from the drip edge into the flue path through the discharge opening.
In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, provided is a cooktop burner grate comprising, a grate frame and at least one grate finger extending from the grate frame. A part of the grate finger comprises a substantially convergent shape extending downward from a top surface of the grate finger.
In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, provided is a cooktop burner grate comprising a grate frame and at least one grate finger extending outside of the grate frame. The grate finger comprises a drip edge extending downward from the top surface of the grate finger. A cross-section of the grate finger, taken in a plane perpendicular to a planar expanse of the grate frame and perpendicular to the direction in which the grate finger extends from the grate frame, comprises convergent sides defining at least a portion of a substantially inverted isosceles triangular cross-sectional shape.
Embodiments of the present invention relate to a cooking device, such as a gas oven, an electric oven, etc. with a cooktop provided above the oven. Water vapor in a flue gas can condense on a cooktop, or burner grates on the cooktop, and drip onto the cooktop. Such condensation can be messy and cause staining on the cooktop. The problem becomes even worse during the self-cleaning process of the oven. Therefore, it would be desirable to reduce or substantially eliminate the collection of water vapor from oven flue exhaust onto the cooktop.
The present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elements throughout. It is to be appreciated that the various drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale from one figure to another nor inside a given figure, and in particular that the size of the components are arbitrarily drawn for facilitating the understanding of the drawings. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It may be evident, however, that the present invention can be practiced without these specific details. Additionally, other embodiments of the invention are possible and the invention is capable of being practiced and carried out in ways other than as described. The terminology and phraseology used in describing the invention is employed for the purpose of promoting an understanding of the invention and should not be taken as limiting.
The cooking device 100 further includes a flue path 200 (
In an exemplary embodiment, the burner grate 110 is separated into three portions including a left portion 110a, a center portion 110b, and a right portion 110c. In another exemplary embodiment, the cooktop 102 includes a plurality of gas fueled burners 112 (e.g., four, five etc.), which can be positioned adjacent each side of the cooktop 102 and/or in the center of the cooktop. Each burner 112 is provided with a recessed area 114 surrounding the burner 112 to catch spills from cooking utensils while being used. It is appreciated that any suitable number of separated burner grates 110 (e.g., greater or fewer than three separated portions of burner grate 110) and/or any suitable number of burners (e.g., greater or fewer than four burners 112) could be employed in alternative embodiments of the present application.
The drip edge 400 has the drip point 402 at a lowest point of the drip edge 400. When the burner grate 110 is provided on the cooktop 102, the drip edge 400 has the drip point 402 at a point that is closest to the discharge opening 108 of the flue path 200. As shown in
In one embodiment of the present application, at least a part of each of the grate fingers 306 has a substantially convergent shape e.g., a substantially multi-sided pyramid shape and that is preferably inverted so that angled surfaces are oriented generally downward, toward the discharge opening 108 of the flue path 200. The convergent shape of the downwardly-extended portion of grate fingers can have various shapes, so long as it effectively forms a drip edge and drip point located above the discharge opening of the flue. Example convergent shapes include so-called regular and irregular pyramids, right pyramids, oblique pyramids, and the like.
In certain embodiments, an entire shape of a lower portion of each of the grate fingers 306 (beneath the grate finger top surface) is a substantially convergent shape, e.g., a substantially inverted three-sided pyramid shape or a substantially inverted four-sided pyramid shape. The convergent shape extends downward from the top surface 308. One side of the substantially convergent shape is in parallel to the upper surface 308. One vertex (e.g., a lowest vertex) of the convergent shape is the drip point 402. One edge of the convergent shape extending downward from the top surface 308 of the grate fingers 306 is the drip edge 400. A width of the extended portion 404 becomes narrower in the downward direction, toward the flue discharge opening. It can be seen in
In an embodiment of the present application, a cross-section of the grate finger 306 taken in a plane perpendicular to a planar expanse of the grate frame, or for example perpendicular to a top surface 308 of the grate finger 306, and passing through the drip point 402 includes a substantially triangular shape, e.g., a substantially inverted triangular shape. The drip point 402 is a vertex of the triangular shape. When the plane is in parallel to a direction in which the grate finger 306 extends from the grate frame 300 rearward toward the discharge opening, the cross-section of the grate finger 306 is the substantially triangular shape in which a portion of one vertex of the substantially triangular shape is removed by the grate frame 300. For example, as shown in
When the plane is perpendicular to the direction in which the grate finger 306 extends from the grate frame 300, the cross-section of the grate finger 306 includes a substantially triangular shape (e.g., a substantially inverted triangular shape) or a substantially isosceles triangular shape (e.g., a substantially inverted isosceles triangular shape). One vertex of the triangular shape can be the drip point 402. For example, as shown in
As shown in
The drip edge 400 and the drip point 402 face the discharge opening 108. As shown in
In conventional ovens, water vapor in the flue gas can condense on the burner grates and/or cooktop. If the water vapor condenses on the burner grates, it tends to drip onto the cooktop. Such condensation can be messy as it tends to mix with food particles collected on the cooktop and can leave stains even on a clean cooktop. The problem of staining can be worse during self-cleaning due to the amount of smoke present in the flue gas. The grate fingers 306 discussed here are designed to allow moisture in the flue gas 204 to condense onto the grate fingers 306 and drip into the flue path 200, rather than onto the cooktop 102. To achieve this, the grate fingers 306 include downwardly sloping surfaces terminating at one or more drip edges 400 that are angled toward a local low point (i.e., the drip point 402). The drip point 402 and at least some portions of the drip edges 400 are located vertically above the discharge opening 108, so that liquid condensed on the grate fingers 306 will drip into the flue path 200.
In embodiments, edges and/or vertices in the substantially convergent shape, the substantially multi-sided pyramid shape, the substantially triangular shape, and the substantially isosceles triangular shape as herein described can be angular. In other embodiments, those vertices and/or edges can be rounded so long as they are effective to facilitate collecting condensation from the flue gas 204 with the drip edge 400 and falling the condensation from the drip point 402.
In one embodiment, the discharge opening 108 is angled to the cooktop 102. In another embodiment, the discharge opening 108 is flush with the surface of the cooktop 102. In one embodiment, the angle of the discharge opening 108 to the cooktop 102 is an obtuse angle between 90° and 200°, e.g., between 110° and 195°, between 130° and 190, or between 150° and 180°, so that the drip edge 400 and the drip point 402 can be positioned above or within the discharge opening 108.
In one embodiment, the grate fingers 306 are integral to the grate frame 300 and/or the support grate bars 302. The grate fingers 306, the grate frame 300, and the support grate bars 302 can be made of the same material. A material that effectively cools the flue gas 204 coming from the oven cavity 202 is preferably selected. Example materials of the burner grate 110 include cast iron, brass, steel, stainless steel, or ceramic. In one embodiment, the grate fingers 306, the support grate bars 302, and the grate frames 300 are unitedly cast in one mold. This helps to reduce manufacturing cost without in need of creating and/or assembling separate pieces of grate fingers 306 and the grate frame 300.
As illustrated in
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.