Claims
- 1. In a cooking appliance including an oven cavity adapted to be used in convection cooking of food products, a heating system comprising:
an air channel assembly extending about at least a portion of and being in fluid communication with the oven cavity; a blower element for developing a flow of air within the air channel assembly for delivery to the oven cavity; a heating unit positioned in the air channel assembly for heating the flow of air prior to entry into the oven cavity; and a pressure sensor positioned in the air channel assembly, wherein operation of the heating unit is controlled based on a pressure sensed by the pressure sensor.
- 2. The heating system according to claim 1, wherein the pressure sensor is located downstream of the blower element.
- 3. The heating system according to claim 2, wherein pressure sensor is located directly adjacent the heating unit in the air channel assembly.
- 4. The heating system according to claim 1, wherein the pressure sensor includes a tube projecting into the air channel assembly.
- 5. The heating system according to claim 1, further comprising: a controller for regulating the operation of the heating unit, said pressure sensor being linked to the controller for signaling the pressure to the controller.
- 6. The heating system according to claim 5, wherein the controller interrupts power to the heating unit when the pressure, as sensed by the pressure sensor, is below a threshold value.
- 7. The heating system according to claim 6, further comprising: a temperature sensor for sensing an operating temperature of the cooking appliance, wherein the temperature sensor is arranged in the air channel assembly and linked to the controller.
- 8. The heating system according to claim 5, wherein the heating unit comprises a bank of heating coils.
- 9. The heating system according to claim 8, wherein the bank of heating coils comprises a plurality of electrically interconnected rows, sequentially arranged between the blower element and the oven cavity, with each of the plurality of rows extends transversely across the air channel assembly so as to be substantially perpendicular to a direction of travel of the flow of air.
- 10. The heating system according to claim 1, further comprising: a microwave generator for selectively generating a flow of microwaves into the oven cavity.
- 11. In a cooking appliance including an oven cavity adapted to be used in convection cooking of food products, a method of controlling the heating of the oven cavity comprising:
directing a flow of air within an air channel assembly extending about at least a portion of and being in fluid communication with the oven cavity; activating a heating unit positioned in the air channel assembly for heating the flow of air prior to entry into the oven cavity; sensing an air pressure in the air channel assembly; and controlling the heating unit based on the sensed air pressure.
- 12. The method of claim 11, further comprising: sensing the pressure in the air channel assembly directly adjacent the heating unit.
- 13. The method of claim 11, further comprising: de-activating the heating unit when the sensed pressure is below a threshold value.
- 14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:
signaling the sensed pressure to a controller of the cooking appliance; and de-activating the heating unit through the controller.
- 15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:
sensing a temperature in the air channel assembly; signaling the sensed temperature to the controller; and regulating the heating unit, through the controller, based on the sensed temperature.
- 16. The method of claim 11, further comprising: generating a flow of microwaves into the oven cavity.
- 17. The method of claim 11, further comprising: converting the air flow within the air channel assembly from a turbulent flow to a laminar flow prior to the oven cavity.
Parent Case Info
[0001] The present application constitutes a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/902,655 filed Jul. 12, 2001, pending, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/650,417 filed Aug. 29, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,291,808, which claimed the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/153,224 filed Sep. 13, 1999.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60153224 |
Sep 1999 |
US |
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09650417 |
Aug 2000 |
US |
Child |
09902655 |
Jul 2001 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09902655 |
Jul 2001 |
US |
Child |
10005841 |
Dec 2001 |
US |