Patent Application
20090199838
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gas oven technology, and more particularly to a stove and a cover fixing apparatus of an infrared oven.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a gas oven, particularly an oven with an infrared stove, a heat-resisting and highly conductive cover is installed on top of the infrared stove to protect the stove, prevent foreign substances from clogging flame holes of the infrared stove, and assure a good grilling and baking effect. Since food debrises and sauces may drop and drip on the cover during the baking process, it is necessary to remove and clean the cover after cooking to prepare for next use. Therefore, a special design for conveniently installing/removing the cover to/from the stove is needed.
Among various different shapes of covers, arc covers give the best grilling and baking effect, but the installation and removal of an arc cover is very troublesome. If the installation distance is inappropriate (either too far or too near), then the burning effect will become poor and waste energy. If the installation method is improper, the cover may be broken by users easily during the installation and removal process, and thus not only incurring a loss economically, but also causing accidents and injuries. Obviously, drawbacks of this sort bring tremendous troubles to gas oven manufacturers, sellers and users.
Therefore, it is a primary objective of the present invention to overcome the foregoing shortcomings of the prior art by providing an oven cover fixing apparatus that provides a good burning effect of the oven and a convenient installation/removal of the cover.
To achieve the foregoing objective, the present invention fixes a cover onto a stove though a fixing rack, wherein the bottom of the fixing rack is fixed on the stove, and the top of the fixing rack has a stop portion for carrying and limiting the position of the cover, and the cover is pressed against the stop portion to fix the stove. If it is necessary to install the cover to the top of the stove, users just need to press the cover against the stop portion of the fixing rack. To remove the cover, users simply take the cover away from the stop portion, and the aforementioned operation is very convenient.
To prevent the cover from sliding down from the fixing rack while the oven is in use, designers can design a side flange on the external lateral side of the fixing rack to prevent the cover from sliding out.
In addition, the longitudinal section of the fixing rack is preferably in an inverted L-shape with a bent edge at an upper portion having a shape corresponding to the portion of connecting the cover, and the stop portion is fixed to the corner of the L-shaped fixing rack. Therefore, the cover can be fixed securely, and the cover can be installed and removed conveniently, and the height of the bottom of the fixing rack stop portion can be set according to the required installation height of the cover.
To facilitate the installation without making substantial changes to the existing structure of the stove, the fixing rack can be fixed onto the stove by a pressure plate with a right-angled section, and the horizontal plane of the pressure plate is fixed onto the stove, and the fixing rack is fixed onto the vertical plane of the pressure plate, and the structure gives a convenient way of installing each component without substantially changing the structure of the stove. With the method of fixing the cover to the stove by a pressure plate, the stove needs no change at all.
Four fixing racks can be installed and fixed onto the stove and at positions corresponding to four corners of the cover. During use, three of the four fixing racks are fixed directly onto the stove, and the remaining fixing rack is movably coupled to the stove by a screw module, and thus the installation and removal procedure of the cover can be simplified, and users simply operate one of the fixing racks for the installation and removal.
The screw module includes a stud, a washer installed on an internal side of the vertical plane of a pressure plate, and a screw hole disposed on a fixing rack and having a diameter slightly greater than a screw thread of a stud. The stud sequentially passes through the screw hole and the vertical plane of the pressure plate, and the washer fixes the fixing rack onto the pressure plate. The diameter of the screw hole is greater than the external diameter of the stud, so that when the stud is loosened, the fixing rack can be shifted horizontally sideway to an appropriate position as needed and secured with the stud. Such arrangement makes the fixation, installation and removal of the cover much easier and more convenient.
The screw module can be in the form of a stud, a washer installed on an internal side of a vertical plane of a pressure plate, and a stop washer installed between a stud and an stove plate winged flange, and the fixing rack has a screw hole with a diameter slightly greater than the external diameter of the screw thread of the stud, and the stud is substantially in a ladder shape with two thin heads and a thick middle, and its front end has a screw threat and the stud is passed sequentially through the screw hole, the vertical plane of the pressure plate and the washer to fix the fixing rack onto the pressure plate, wherein the middle has serrations. The middle of the stop washer has a block protruded from the surface of the stop washer for preventing the stud from being rotated in a reverse direction, and such method gives a more convenient operation to the stud.
The stud passes through the screw hole and the vertical plane of the pressure plate, and the front corner portion of the washer has a protrusion for preventing the stud from being separated from the fixing rack, such that the stud is maintained in the fixing rack to prevent the stud from being separated from the fixing rack or missing by accident.
The rear portion of the stud includes a penetrating hole, and the handle is passed through the penetrating hole, and an upper end portion and a lower end portion of the handle have a stop handle for separating the stop portion of the penetrating hole, and thus it is not necessary to use any tool to adjust the stud.
To prevent the rotation of the stud caused by wrong operations, a positioning hole is designed on the handle and at a position corresponding to the stove plate winged flange of the stove for positioning and passing the handle. After the stud is adjusted, the weight of the handle and the action of the stop portion at the top of the handle will drop the handle to the positioning hole, so as to provide a further protection measure for fixing the stud.
Compared with the prior art, the invention fixes the cover onto the stove by the fixing rack, and the fixing rack has a stop portion for fixing and removing the cover easily and conveniently and preventing damages to the cover due to insecure installations or improper removals of the cover. With the design of the screw module, adjustments can be made without requiring any tool, and the positioning hole disposed on a stove plate winged flange of the stove can prevent the stud from being loosened by wrong operations.
The objective, technical measures and performance of the present invention will become apparent in the detailed description of the preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings as follows:
Referring to
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After burning is completed, it is necessary to remove the cover 10 for washing. Users simply loosen the stud 41 and move the fourth fixing rack 30 slightly from the corner of the cover 10 to take the cover 10 away from the fixing rack 30 easily for washing. In the aforementioned operating process, the installation and removal of the cover 10 is very easy and convenient.
Referring to
While the invention has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention set forth in the claims.
