Oven with Automatic Racks and Door

Abstract

An oven with automatic racks and door. The oven includes a housing including a base, sidewalls, a rear wall, a top wall, an open front wall, an interior volume, a door providing access to the interior volume, and one or more automated racks disposed in the interior volume. The racks are slidably disposed within a track disposed on each of the sidewalls. The racks are coupled to a rack actuator configured to extend and retract the racks. The door is coupled to a door motor and slidably disposed within a door slot disposed beneath a lower surface of the interior volume. A door actuator is configured to move the door between a closed position and an open position in which the door is rotated downward to a horizontal orientation and retracted into the door slot. A control facilitates activation of the rack actuator, the door motor, and the door actuator.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to ovens. More specifically, the present invention provides an oven that includes racks that are automatically extendable and retractable, as well as an automatically opening and closing door.

Many individuals utilize an oven and stovetop device in order to cook and prepare food. Most ovens include interior racks for supporting food thereon and a downward hinging door that provides access to the interior of the oven. The oven door is heavy and difficult to maneuver for individuals with limited mobility. It can also be difficult to reach into the oven to place food on or remove food from the oven racks. The oven racks can be slid forward for easier access, but this requires the use of a hand that could otherwise support the food. Further, when the oven is on, the racks become very hot and may burn an individual attempting to remove them from the oven interior. In order to address these concerns, it is desirable to provide an oven that includes an automatically opening and closing door, as well as automatically extendable and retractable oven racks, so that users to do not need to manually operate the door or racks of the oven.

In light of the devices disclosed in the known art, it is submitted that the present invention substantially diverges in design elements from the known art and consequently it is clear that there is a need in the art for an improvement to existing oven devices. In this regard the present invention substantially fulfills these needs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of ovens now present in the known art, the present invention provides an oven with automated racks and door wherein the same can be utilized for providing convenience for the user when preparing food using the oven. In one example of the present invention, the oven with automatic racks and door includes a housing including a base, a pair of sidewalls, a rear wall, a top wall, an open front wall, an interior volume, a door providing access to the interior volume, and one or more automated racks disposed in the interior volume. The one or more racks are slidably disposed within a track disposed on each of the pair of sidewalls. Each of the one or more racks are coupled to a rack actuator configured to extend and retract the one or more racks along their respective track. The door is coupled to a door motor and slidably disposed within a door slot disposed beneath a lower surface of the interior volume. A door actuator is configured to move the door between a closed position in which the door is vertically oriented over the open front wall and an open position in which the door is rotated downward to a horizontal orientation and retracted into the door slot. A control facilitates activation of the rack actuator, the door motor, and the door actuator.

One object of the present invention is to provide an oven with automatic racks and door that includes an audible alarm that indicates when the door is opening or closing for assisting blind individuals.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an oven with automatic racks and door that includes a visual indicator when the door is opening or closing for assisting deaf individuals.

Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Although the characteristic features of this invention will be particularly pointed out in the claims, the invention itself and manner in which it may be made and used may be better understood after a review of the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein like numeral annotations are provided throughout.

FIG. 1A shows a perspective view of the oven with automated racks and door with the door in a closed position.

FIG. 1B shows a perspective view of the oven with automated racks and door with the door in an open position.

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the oven with automated racks and door with the racks in an extended position and the door in an open position.

FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional side view of the oven with automated racks with the racks in an extended position taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1B.

FIG. 4 shows a diagram of the components of the oven with automated racks and door.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference is made herein to the attached drawings. Like reference numerals are used throughout the drawings to depict like or similar elements of the oven with automated racks and door. For the purposes of presenting a brief and clear description of the present invention, the preferred embodiment will be discussed as used for preparing food with an oven that includes automatically extendable and retractable racks, as well as an automatically opening and closing door. The figures are intended for representative purposes only and should not be considered to be limiting in any respect.

Referring now to FIGS. 1A and 1B, there is shown a perspective view of the oven with automated racks and door with the door in a closed position and a perspective view of the oven with automated racks and door with the door in an open position, respectively. The oven 10 includes a base 11, a pair of opposing sidewalls 12, a rear wall 13, and a front wall 39 that includes a door 18 for providing access to an interior volume 24 of the oven 10. While the door 18 is configured to move automatically, a handle 21 is disposed on an upper edge of the door 18 for facilitating manual opening and closing of the door 18 if desired. In the shown embodiment, the handle 21 comprises an arcuate shape and extends across the door 18. The door 18 may further include a window 19 for observing the interior volume 24 when the door 18 is in a closed position. In the shown embodiment, the oven 10 is shown as a residential oven that includes a top surface 14 having burners thereon. The shown oven 10 further includes a lower compartment 20 disposed beneath the door 18. However, the present invention can be embodied in commercial ovens as well, which may or may not include the top surface 14 or the lower compartment 20.

In the shown embodiment, the oven 10 includes a rear extension 15 that extends upwardly from the rear wall 13 and perpendicular relative to the top surface 14. The rear extension 15 includes a first display 16 configured to display operations and statuses of the oven 10, such as the current temperature, cooking time, or other information. The rear extension 15 may further include controls 23 thereon for controlling the oven 10. In one embodiment, the controls 23 are buttons. In alternate embodiments, the controls 23 are enabled by a touch sensitive screen integral to the display 16. The oven 10 may further include a second display 17 disposed on the front wall 39. The second display 17 may also include controls 22 thereon configured to control various functions of the oven 10, such as temperature, cooking time, and the like. The oven 10 also includes a display panel including a door indicator 38 that is configured to illuminate when the oven door 18 is opening or closing, and a rack indicator 39 that is configured to illuminate when the oven racks are extending or retracting. The indicators 38, 39 assist deaf or otherwise hearing impaired individuals with safely operating the oven 10.

The interior volume 24 of the oven 10 includes tracks 25 disposed on the sidewalls 12 that are configured to receive support racks and trays for supporting food within the oven 10. The oven 10 further includes a lower surface 26 disposed within the interior volume 24. A door slot 30 is disposed beneath the lower surface 26. The door 18 is configured to move between a closed position and an open position via the first or second controls 23, 22. In order to achieve this, the door 18 is rotatably connected to a motor 32 at a lower end 28 of the door 18. The door 18 and motor 32 are slidably disposed within the door slot 30. An actuator 27 is secured to a rear wall 31 of the door slot 30. The door 18 is operably connected to a push rod 29 which extends from the actuator 27. The actuator 27 is configured to move the push rod 29 in a linear motion in order to extend the door 18 from the compartment 30 or to retract the door 18 into the door slot 30. When moving from the closed position to the open position, the door 18 rotates downward via the motor 32 and is retracted into the door slot 30. When moving from the open position to the closed position, the door 18 is pushed out of the door slot 30 via the actuator 37 and then rotated upward via the motor 32 until it is parallel with the front wall 39.

Referring now to FIG. 2, there is shown a perspective view of the oven with automated racks and door with the racks in an extended position and the door in an open position. The oven 10 further includes support racks for supporting food within the interior volume 24 of the oven 10. In the shown embodiment, the support racks include a grate 33 having a plurality of openings and a tray 34 having a solid base 36. The grate 33 and the tray 34 are slidably disposed within the interior volume 24 via sliding engagement with the tracks 25. The grate 33 and the tray 34 are easily accessible when the door 18 is in an open position and retracted into the door slot. Additionally, the grate 33 is disposed above the tray 34 so that food particles that fall through the grate openings do not contact the lower surface of the interior volume 24. In the shown embodiment, the tray 34 further includes a lip 35 disposed about the perimeter thereof and extending upwardly and perpendicularly from the base 36. The lip 35 prevents food particles from sliding off the edge of the tray 34.

Referring now to FIG. 3, there is shown a cross-sectional side view of the oven with automated racks and door taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1B. The interior volume 24 of the oven 10 further includes additional actuators 27 secured to the rear wall 13 that are configured to move the grate 33 and the tray 34 between an extended position, as shown by the position of the grate 33, and a retracted position, as shown by the tray 34. Each of the actuators 27 includes a push rod 29 that is configured to move the grate 33 or tray 34 linearly into or out of the interior volume 24 of the oven 10. The grate 33 and tray 34 each slidably engage a track 25 within the interior volume 24. In an alternate embodiment, the track 25 includes one or more freely rotatable wheels 45 that contact the grate 33 and tray 34 in order to facilitate movement thereof.

In an example operation, a user may open the door 18, which rotates between a closed position in which the door is vertically oriented and covers an opening 40 on the front wall 39 of the oven 10 and an open position in which the door 18 is rotated downward to a horizontal orientation via the door motor 32 and retracted into the door slot 30 via the actuator 27. When the door 18 is in the open position, a user may extend the grate 33 or tray 34 and place food thereon, and then retract the grate 33 or tray 34 back into the interior volume 24 for cooking. When cooking is complete, the user may then extend the grate 33 or tray 34 to easily retrieve the food from the oven 10.

In the shown embodiment, the oven 10 does not include the lower compartment. In this embodiment, the door slot 30 is defined by the lower surface 26 of the interior volume 24 and the base 11 of the oven 10. In embodiments of the oven 10 where the door 18 includes the handle 21, the door slot 30 is large enough to receive the door 18 and the handle 21 extending outwardly therefrom. When the door 18 is in the closed position and retracted into the slot 30, the upper end 37 of the door 18 does not extend past the front wall 39 of the oven 10, ensuring that the door 18 is not a tripping hazard when in the open position.

Referring now to FIG. 4, there is shown a diagram of the components of the oven with automated racks and door. The oven 10 includes a power source 51, such as a connection to a wall outlet, for powering the various components. A temperature control 52 is in operable communication with a heating mechanism 53. The heating mechanism 53 is configured to heat the interior volume of the oven 10 during cooking and can be a gas heating mechanism, an electric heating mechanism, or any other known type of heating mechanism used with ovens 10. A rack control 59 is in operable communication with the rack actuators 56, and a door control 60 is in operable communication with the door actuator 57 and the door motor 54.

The door actuator 57 and door motor 54 are further in operable communication with an alarm speaker 58. The alarm speaker 58 is configured to emit an audible alert when the door actuator 57 and door motor 54 are either opening or closing the oven door. Further, the door motor 54 and door actuator 57 are in operable communication with the display panel 55. The display panel 55 may include the door and rack indicators that illuminate when the door is opening or closing and the rack is extending or retracting. In alternate embodiments, the display panel 55 can also be in operable communication with the rack actuator 56, such that a rack indicator of the display panel 55 illuminates when the rack actuator 56 extend or retracts one of the racks. In this way, individuals who are hard of hearing will be notified when the doors or racks are moving.

It is therefore submitted that the instant invention has been shown and described in what is considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments. It is recognized, however, that departures may be made within the scope of the invention and that obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art. With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the present invention.

Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.

Claims

1) An oven, comprising: a housing comprising a base, a pair of sidewalls, a rear wall, a top wall, an open front wall, and an interior volume;one or more racks disposed within the interior volume, each of the one or more racks in sliding engagement with a track disposed on each of the pair of sidewalls, each of the one or more racks in operable communication with a rack actuator;a door slot disposed beneath a lower surface of the interior volume;a door rotatably coupled to a door motor, the door and the door motor slidably disposed within the door slot, the door operably connected to a door actuator, the door configured to move between a closed position wherein the door is vertically oriented and covers an opening on the open front wall of the housing and an open position wherein the door is rotated downward to a horizontal orientation and retracted into the door slot;a control configured to actuate the rack actuator to extend or retract the one or more racks, and further configured to operate the door motor and actuate the door actuator to move the door between the closed position and the open position.

2) The oven of claim 1, wherein the one or more racks comprise an upper rack and a lower rack.

3) The oven of claim 2, wherein the upper rack comprises a grate having a plurality of openings thereon, and wherein the lower rack comprises a tray having a solid base.

4) The oven of claim 1, further comprising a display panel configured to display a current operation of the oven.

5) The oven of claim 1, further comprising a first indicator light, wherein the first indicator light is configured to illuminate during opening or closing of the door.

6) The oven of claim 5, further comprising a second indicator light, wherein the second indicator light is configured to illuminate during extension or retraction of the one or more racks.

7) The oven of claim 1, further comprising a gas heating mechanism within the interior volume.

8) The oven of claim 1, further comprising an electric heating mechanism disposed within the interior volume.

9) The oven of claim 1, further comprising a speaker disposed on the housing.

10) The oven of claim 9, wherein the speaker is configured to emit an audible alarm when the door is opening or closing.

11) The oven of claim 1, wherein each rack actuator includes a linearly translatable push rod affixed to an end of one of the one or more racks, wherein each push rod is configured to extend or retract its respective rack.