Patent Application
20090230631
Present invention is related to sealing gaskets in accordance with the first part of claim 1, located in between the buttons and tray of counter-top furnaces.
In mounting the buttons that control various parameters in furnaces and similar house appliances onto the devices, there remains a gap between device body and button. This gap basically ensures that the button is rotated freely without any friction. However, this gap may also cause permeation of various liquids into the body through button gap as a result of cleaning operations on device or similar causes.
In order to overcome this shortfall, under-button gaskets were developed. The said applications were disclosed by a patent document no. EP 0 797 052. Although the applications described in the patent above basically prevent permeation of water through the said gaps, they pose a serious problem in terms of assembly and disassembly on furnace tray due to their constructions. Because they lack a part that is introduced into furnace body, or they have such parts that incorporate a section out of body, which is both short and in equal distance. During assembly of furnace, it is quite problematic to mount such constructions to button opening from outside of furnace tray.
However currently available sealing gaskets lose their sealing effect when they deform in time due to their flexible materials. In this case it is either impossible or quite difficult to remove and then replace them. Moreover in current applications, the gaskets limit press-rotation of buttons.
In addition to foregoing, one of the important problems is that there are no measures to prevent any foreign substances that advance toward furnace button during cleaning or in case when a meal overflows, from going through the button itself although gasket ensures a sealing with outer body.
Based on the current state of art, the purpose of this invention is to overcome the disadvantages of current state of art through a novel under-button gasket.
Another purpose of this invention is to provide an under-button gasket construction that can not be removed after assembly thereof, but is able to function even if it comes out of the opening for any reason or the gasket is deformed due to the nature of its material.
Yet another purpose of this invention is to make harder for the gap between furnace and button to contact with a foreign substance thanks to a under-button gasket form having an inclined, water-repellant surface.
In order to achieve these goals, a novel sealing gasket construction was developed, for providing sealing in a button mounting gap on a furnace body where rotating control members are positioned, said sealing gasket being located in mounting gap via two contacting surfaces thereof, one facing to the button and other one facing to the furnace body.
In a preferred embodiment of this invention, the said gasket is characterized by at least one sealing wing, surface thereof facing to the control member is in contact with the wall of the body at the sealing gasket's tip facing to the furnace body for improving sealing and enabling a mounting from the inside of the body, at least one retaining member, surface thereof facing to said sealing wing is in contact with the outer surface of the furnace body, and at least one bump form extending towards the control member at the continuity of said retaining member and in the direction of the gasket extension for preventing water from reaching to the control member and furnace body.
In a preferred embodiment of this invention, the said bump shaped gasket extension is an elastic buffer member. Thereby it is possible for gasket to damp any forces from outside.
In a preferred embodiment of this invention, the said bump shaped gasket extension is essentially a quadric to ease bending and elevate toward the edges.
In a preferred arrangement of this invention, the said bump form is one-piece hyperboloid preventing liquid leakage to tips thereof by forming an elevation towards both the furnace body and control member.
In a preferred embodiment of this invention, the sealing gasket comprises at least one inclined surface formed at the tip portion of the retaining member so that wide diameter of the retaining member is passed through the gap with ease when the retaining member is pushed towards the mounting opening from the inner side to the outer side of the furnace body.
In a preferred embodiment of this invention, the sealing gasket is characterized in that the said retaining member essentially comprises silicon. Thereby a suspension activity against foreign impacts increases and manufacturing processes get easier.
In a preferred embodiment of this invention, the section of said hyperboloid surface at the side of furnace body forms the retaining wing.
In a preferred embodiment of this invention, the sealing gasket is characterized by plurality of feeders embodied on the hyperboloid surface for facilitating the production of the said retaining wing by injection molding.
In a preferred embodiment of this invention, the proportion of the width of the said retaining wing to the width of the mounting opening is essentially 1.2 for mounting the said retaining wing to furnace body with ease. Thereby mounting takes place easily and gasket is prevented from getting out of its seat.
a is a front view of a representative embodiment of this invention.
b is a top view of the embodiment shown is
c is a left-hand view of the embodiment shown is
d is a perspective view of the embodiment shown is
In the embodiment of this invention as shown in figures, gasket (1,2,3,4) is manufactured in single piece from silicon rubber material via injection. An annular valve passage opening (4) is formed longitudinally at the center of cylindrical gasket for a valve (not shown in figures) from furnace body (5) to pass through.
Gasket comprises respectively a sealing wing (1) substantially in the form of a large annular plate, a seat (1.1) which is a cylindrical extension extending perpendicularly to the wing (1), as followed by a buffer extension (2) in the form of a hyperboloid, and a button contact surface (3) formed by the said buffer extension (2).
Buffer extension (2) is formed by combining a body inclined surface (2.3) with an angle of 37.5 degree relative to an axis A and extending beyond the retaining member (2.1) and a button inclined surface (2.4) with an angle of 37.5 degree relative to axis A opposite to the body inclined surface, with a radius given thereto. Free tip of button inclined surface (2.4) forms the button contact surface (3).
There is an inclination at the tip of retaining member (2.1) in the direction of extension of the sealing wing (1) in order to facilitate the passage through mounting gap (5.1) of furnace body (5). In addition to this, there is a member passage inclination (2.2) at the tip of member (2.1) in such a way to narrow the cross-section. The most extreme end of member (2.1) has a small radius.
There are six feeders in the form of a fine projection that extend along the inclination in order to increase the strength of buffer extension (2) both during production and against outer impacts. The construction described above allows that the gasket is advanced to furnace mounting gap (5.1) from within the furnace (5) and thereby a large sealing channel (1) contacts with the furnace wall (5). During mounting, the retaining member (2.1) which is wider than the channel thanks to the member passage inclination (2.2), bends easily and this ensures that the furnace wall (5) fits well into the seat (1.1).
Also the pressure exerted on the tip of body inclined surface (2.3) by squeezing the buffer extension (2) from button contact surface (3) with the sealing wing (1), rotates the flexible material in opposite direction, then the retaining wing (2.1) opens the seat (1.1) toward the mounting gap and this leads to an easier assembly.
With the current construction, the hyperboloid form of buffer extension (2) with two passage inclinations (2.2, 2.3) in a way to form a bump, ensures that any foreign substances that may appear on the buffer extension (3) after mounting of gasket due to factors such as cleaning, would advance in the direction of a curve (2.6) and be held away from the inside of button or furnace button mounting gap (5.1).
This invention is not limited to the illustrative embodiments described herein. Any alternative constructions that may be performed by the persons skilled in the art based on the basic principles of this invention as given in the scope of claims, shall mean an infringement to the invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005-02100 | Jun 2005 | TR | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP2006/062319 | 5/15/2006 | WO | 00 | 11/21/2007 |
