Household gas cooking appliance

Abstract

A household gas cooking appliance comprising a control panel with an external surface, at least a gas valve with a valve rod extending through the control panel through a rod opening and an operating element to operate the valve rod it has, a grabbing body to be grabbed by a user and a coupling body, which can be detachably coupled to the valve rod, wherein the coupling body has in a plastic piece an engaging part adapted to engage with the valve rod and a latching part fixedly connectable with the grabbing body. In order to prevent the operating element of the gas valve from protruding from the control panel to a great extent, it is provided that the grabbing body has a cylindrical shape with a top disc and with a skirt extending around the engaging part towards the control panel and having a height smaller than three fifths of the disc radius, preferably smaller than half the disc radius.

Description

The invention relates to a household gas cooking appliance comprising a control panel with an external surface, at least a gas valve with a valve rod extending through the control panel and an operating element to operate the valve rod it has, a grabbing body to be grabbed by a user and a coupling body, which can be detachably coupled to the valve rod, wherein the coupling body has in a plastic piece an engaging part adapted to engage with the valve rod and a latching part fixedly connectable with the grabbing body.

The operating elements for valves of household appliances work, as an example, to connect/disconnect the household appliance, or to select determined programmes of the household appliance. Therefore, the operating elements are installed at the household appliance in such a manner that a user can operate them manually.

A conventional operating element for a valve is detachably fixed to a valve rod like in document US2018356100A1. An operating element in a household cooking appliance like those from the state of the art can hamper the operation by the user of the cooking appliance when its operating elements are placed on its front or top if they are too voluminous, which is usual when they also need to be resistant to a continuous use by pressure and rotation.

The object of the invention consists in providing a gas cooking appliance in which the operating element of the gas valve has improved dimensions and robustness.

This object is solved by means of a household gas cooking appliance comprising a control panel with the features of claim 1. The household gas cooking appliance of the invention comprises a control panel with an external surface, at least a gas valve with a valve rod extending through the control panel and an operating element to operate the valve rod it has, a grabbing body to be grabbed by a user and a coupling body, which can be detachably coupled to the valve rod, wherein the coupling body has in a plastic piece an engaging part adapted to engage with the valve rod and a latching part fixedly connectable with the grabbing body, wherein the grabbing body has a cylindrical shape with a top disc and with a skirt extending around the engaging part towards the control panel and having a height smaller than three fifths of the disc radius, preferably a height smaller than half the disc radius.

The household gas cooking appliance has a horizontal cooking surface with at least a gas burner and having a control panel that can be arranged on a horizontal, inclined or vertical plane. At least an operating element is arranged on the control panel to operate the gas valve controlling the flow of gas fuel to the burner. The operating element is detachably connected to a valve rod of the gas valve extending through the control panel through a rod opening and protrudes outwards beyond the external surface of the control panel. In every operating mode of the cooking appliance, the operating element is arranged above the external surface of the control panel in such a manner that, when the operating element is pressed in the direction of the valve rod, the operating element does not contact the external surface of the control panel. The rod opening of the control panel can be bigger than the biggest ground section of the operating element, but is preferably smaller so that the opening remains hidden by the operating element. The external surface of the control panel can have symbols with information on different operating positions of the gas cooking appliance.

The operating element is made in at least two pieces connectable to each other and which can be separable. One piece is a grabbing body, which is the outermost part of the operating element relative to the exterior of the appliance and allows its operation by the user. The grabbing body can be made of any material conventional in operating elements such as of plastic, metal-coated plastic, metal or any combination thereof. If it is metallic, it can be shaped or machined aluminium or of zamak. The other piece is a coupling body, which can be detachably connected to the valve rod. The coupling body is made of plastic and in a piece composed of two parts, an engaging part, adapted to connect the coupling body to the valve rod, and a latching part adapted to connect the coupling body to the grabbing body. The grabbing body has, at least in part, a substantially cylindrical shape with a top disc and a skirt around the top disc as a side wall of the cylinder surrounding the engaging part at least when the grabbing body and the coupling body are assembled together and extends towards the control panel when it is mounted in the valve rod. To prevent the operating element from excessively protruding and hindering the user while cooking, the height of the skirt is smaller than three fifths of the outside radius of the top disc, preferably a height smaller than half the disc radius. In this manner, it is avoided that the user can hit the operating element while using the cooking appliance.

It is also provided that, in a resting position of the cooking appliance in which the operating element is not actuated and the valve rod of the gas valve is not actuated either, the distance between the skirt and the external surface of the control panel is bigger than a longitudinal actuation stroke of the valve rod. For a functioning being correct and according to the rules, the gas valve requires a first actuating step by longitudinal pressure of the valve rod on a longitudinal stroke towards the gas valve before the second rotation step of the valve rod about its axis. This is carried out by the user when pressing the operating element in the direction defined by the valve rod along an actuation stroke pre-established by the valve. To prevent the operating element from striking against the external surface of the control panel when being actuated, in resting position of the operating element, the distance from the skirt to the external surface of the control panel needs to be bigger than the actuation stroke.

For the sake of a reliable connection of both pieces of the operating element and with no relative movement between them during the operation by the user, it is provided that there are a longitudinal blocking device and a rotational blocking device between the grabbing body and the latching part.

A quite robust configuration of the longitudinal blocking device is achieved in such a manner that at the perimeter of the latching part there are at least two flexible lugs locking in a relief of the skirt's inner surface of the grabbing body. The lugs are elastic enough so as to be able to bend during the engagement of the coupling body inside the grabbing body and lock in when the relief present on the inner face of the skirt of the grabbing body is reached. Two lugs might be sufficient but, for a more robust locking, they are provided to be at least three. The relief can be made as a continuous machining or corresponding to each of the lugs and can be made as a step into the operating element or a slot towards outside the operating element. Actually, this longitudinal blocking device can be sufficient to avoid every relative movement between the grabbing body and the coupling body when the lugs and the relief, where they engage with each other, not only block the longitudinal movement but also the rotational relative movement between the pieces. This is possible if each lug and relief is arranged on different planes. In this manner, the longitudinal blocking device can limit every relative movement between the grabbing body and the coupling body.

A configuration of the rotational blocking device not allowing rotational relative movement between the grabbing body and the coupling body provides that at least a protrusion locking in the latching part of the coupling body is present at the inner face of the top disc of the grabbing body. The at least one protrusion can be arranged at the perimeter of the inner face of the top disc and is locked in the perimeter of the top face of the latching part or arranged at the inner face of the top disc and is locked in an orifice of the latching part further to the centre of the top disc. Furthermore, in another configuration of the rotational blocking device, this can act as a longitudinal blockage when at the end of the protrusion there is an elastic clip-like flange hooking onto the edge of a through-orifice of the latching part. In this way, the rotational blocking device can limit every relative movement between the grabbing body and the coupling body.

With a longitudinal blocking device and/or the rotational blocking device like the one described, pre-defined mounting positions between the grabbing body and the coupling body can be secured, which is commonly known as a poka-yoke mounting system. In this manner, it is guaranteed that, when mounting the operating element on the valve rod in the electrical household appliance, it stays in the desired position without needing any further adjustment between the grabbing body and the coupling body or between the operating element and the valve rod.

The invention is explained below more in detail as an exemplary implementation, making reference to the attached drawing and by means of a particular embodiment. It is shown in:

FIG. 1 a ground view of a household gas cooking appliance with four operating elements and burners;

FIG. 2 a schematic view of a lateral section of the operating element, control panel and gas valve where the operating element is not actuated; and

FIG. 3 a schematic view of the lateral section from FIG. 2 with the operating element being actuated.

FIG. 1 shows a ground view of the gas cooking appliance 1 having a cooking zone 6 with four gas burners 7 that can be controlled with their respective operating elements 10 when these are actuated by the user with the grabbing body 11. The operating elements 10 of the type of gas cooking appliances of the invention are operated by pressure in the direction of the valve rod 31 of the gas valve 3 (visible in FIGS. 2 and 3) and rotation about the axis of the valve rod 31.

FIG. 2 shows a detailed section of the control panel 20 of the cooking appliance at the height of the operating element 10 and the gas valve 3. In this figure, the operating element 10 is in resting position, where there is no operation of the gas valve 3 and the distance d1 between the operating element 10 and the external surface 21 of the control panel 20 is maximum.

The gas valve 3 has a valve rod 31 extending through the control panel 20 through a rod opening 22 and the operating element 10 is connected to the valve rod 31. The rod opening 22 is significantly smaller than the biggest section of the operating element 10, so it remains hidden by the operating element 10 when this is properly mounted in the appliance.

The operating element 10 is made in two pieces, a grabbing body 11 and a coupling body 12 connected to each other with a detachable connection. The grabbing body 11 is made of shaped and polished aluminium in its outside and is composed of a top disc 15 and a skirt 16. The height H of the skirt 16 is smaller than half the radius R of the top disc 15. The coupling body 12 is made of plastic and has an engaging part 14 detachably engaged with the valve rod 31 and a latching part 13 for the connection between the grabbing body 11 and the coupling body 12. There can be an elastic element (not shown) in the connection between the engaging part 14 and the valve rod 31 to favour the connection between both of them. This elastic element can be a bent metal film of spring steel keeping pressure between the engaging part and the valve rod during the lifetime of the appliance to absorb any tolerances between them. To ensure a proper montage of the operating element 10 onto the valve rod 31, it is provided that the section of the valve rod 31 is not circular but has some chamfer (not shown) avoiding free rotation of the engaging part 14 around the axis of the valve rod 31.

The removable connection between the grabbing body 11 and the coupling body 12 is established between the latching part 13 and the inside of the grabbing body 11 and has a longitudinal blocking element 4 and a rotational blocking element 5. The longitudinal blocking element 4 is composed of more than three lugs 41 locked in a slot-shaped relief 42 made in the inside of the skirt 16. The slot 42 is a ring-shaped relief carved into the inner wall of the skirt 16. The rotational blocking element 5 is composed of a protrusion 51 made as a protuberance on the inner face of the top disc 15 of the grabbing body 11 locking in a through-orifice 52 made in the latching part 13 of the coupling body 12 limiting the rotational relative movement between the grabbing body 11 and the coupling body 12. In this embodiment shown in the figures, the longitudinal blocking device 4 and the rotational blocking device 5 only limit one relative movement but they could have been combined as previously described for one or both of them providing a limitation of longitudinal and rotational movement at the same time.

The type of mounting provided is effected by means of pressure when the latching part 13 of the coupling body 12 is inserted into the space defined by the grabbing body 11 and softly rotated until the protrusion(s) 51 of the top disc 15 are inserted into the orifices 52 of the latching part 13. At this point, the lugs 41 of the longitudinal blocking device 4 open to fit into the relief 42 of the skirt 16, thereby ensuring a correct relative position between the grabbing body 11 and the coupling body 12. If you want to disassemble the set for any reason such as for an aesthetical change of the operating element 10, or the coupling of the engaging part 14 to the valve rod 31 has been damaged, you only need to press at least one lug 41 into the operating element 10 to release it from the relief 42.

FIG. 3 shows the same section from FIG. 2 in which the operating element 10 is in the position of maximum pressure towards the control panel 20 and the rod stroke d2 is the maximum one allowed by the valve required to be able to rotate the valve rod 31 and select the cooking power desired by the user and is smaller than the biggest distance d1 between the skirt 16 and the external surface 21. It can be observed in this figure that the distance d1 between the skirt 16 and the external surface 21 of the control panel 20 is minimum.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

• • 1 household gas cooking appliance
  • 20 control panel
  • 21 external surface
  • 22 rod opening
  • 3 gas valve
  • 31 valve rod
  • 10 operating element
  • 11 grabbing body
  • 12 coupling body
  • 14 engaging part
  • 13 latching part
  • 15 top disc
  • 16 skirt
  • H height
  • R radius
  • d1 distance from the skirt
  • d2 stroke
  • 4 longitudinal blocking device
  • 5 rotational blocking device
  • 41 flexible lugs
  • 42 relief
  • 51 protrusion
  • 52 orifice
  • 6 cooking surface
  • 7 burner

Claims

1-10. (canceled)

11. A household gas cooking appliance, comprising: a control panel having an external surface;a gas valve including a valve rod extending through the control panel through a rod opening; andan operating element designed to operate the valve rod of the gas valve, said operating element comprising a grabbing body designed to be grabbed by a user and a coupling body designed for detachable coupling to the valve rod and including a plastic piece, an engaging part received in the plastic part and adapted to engage with the valve rod, and a latching part fixedly connectable with the grabbing body, said grabbing body having a cylindrical shape with a top disc and with a skirt extending around the engaging part towards the control panel and having a height smaller than three fifths of a disc radius.

12. The household gas cooking appliance of claim 11, wherein the height of the skirt is smaller than half the disc radius.

13. The household gas cooking appliance of claim 11, wherein, in a resting position of the valve rod of the gas valve, a distance from the skirt to the external surface of the control panel is bigger than a longitudinal actuation stroke of the valve rod.

14. The household gas cooking appliance of claim 11, further comprising a longitudinal blocking device and/or a rotational blocking device between the grabbing body and the latching part of the coupling body.

15. The household gas cooking appliance of claim 14, wherein the longitudinal blocking device comprises at least two flexible lugs arranged at a perimeter of the latching part, said at least two flexible lugs being locked in a relief of an inner surface of the skirt of the grabbing body.

16. The household gas cooking appliance of claim 14, wherein the rotational blocking device comprises a protrusion at an inner face of the top disc of the grabbing body for locking in the latching part of the coupling body.

17. The household gas cooking appliance of claim 16, wherein the protrusion is arranged at a perimeter of the inner face of the top disc and is locked in the perimeter of a top face of the latching part.

18. The household gas cooking appliance of claim 16, wherein the protrusion is arranged towards an interior of the inner face of the top disc and locked in an orifice of the latching part.

19. The household gas cooking appliance of claim 14, wherein the longitudinal blocking device and/or the rotational blocking device secure a sole mounting position of the grabbing body with the coupling body.

20. The household gas cooking appliance of claim 11, wherein the valve rod of the gas valve is designed for displacement perpendicular to the control panel along a stroke smaller than a biggest distance from the skirt to the external surface of the control panel.

21. The household gas cooking appliance of claim 11, wherein the grabbing body is made of metal.