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(11) | EP 0 176 223 A2 |
| (12) | EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION |
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| (54) | Cooling means for electric cookers |
| (57) 57 A floor standing electric cooker is provided comprising a casing (21,29), a hob
(10), an upper oven (12) and a lower fan oven (14) housed in an oven space of the
casing above a plinth (16). Convective cooling air (27) enters the plinth (16) and
a first part flows through openings (25) in floor (24) through the oven space, discharging
through hob opening (33). A second part (30) flows from the rear of the plinth (16)
up wall (29). When the lower oven (14) is in use cooling fan (37) coaxial with oven
fan (36) provides a forced flow of cool outside air into the oven space. Air is ducted
by cover (41) past terminals (40) to fan inlet (38) whereby the terminals (40) are
kept cool when the lower oven (14) is on. Despite the compactness of the cooker, the
cooling of sidewalls (21) is sufficiently effective for them to butt against kitchen
units without an air gap. |
IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO COOKERS
[0002] In conventional twin oven floor-standing cookers, it has been necessary to leave a space between the sides of the cooker and adjoining kitchen units, otherwise unacceptably high temperatures can result. The Belling Format Cook Centre overcomes this problem on a 600 mm by 600 mm plan by providing a cooling fan within the casing adjacent the hob, and it is an object of the invention to provide a simpler way of cooling a cooker casing that is effective even in a cooker built on a 500 mm by 500 mm plan but still allows the sidewalls to butt against kitchen units without an air gap.
[0003] The invention provides a floor-standing electric cooker comprising a casing, a hob, an upper oven and a lower oven housed in an oven space of said casing beneath said hob, means defining a convective path for cooling air from beneath the oven space around the ovens and via a space between the upper oven and the hob to an air outlet in the hob and cooling fan means operative with the lower oven to feed cool outside air into the oven space.
[0004] The invention further provides a floor-standing electric cooker comprising a hob, a control panel at the front of the cooker immediately below the hob, at least one fan oven and at least one grill (which may be in the fan oven or in a conventional grill-oven or grill compartment above the fan oven) in an oven space of the casing defined between the hob and a raised floor separating the oven space from a plinth forming part of the casing, said casing having side walls and a rear wall set forward from the rear edges of the side walls to define an air space with a wall against which the cooker is stood, means at the front of the casing defining a path for convective air into the plinth means at the rear of the casing defining a path for convective air from the plinth to the air space, means defining a path for convective air from the plinth through the floor to circulate about the or each oven and under the hob to discharge through vent means at the rear of the hob so that excessive temperatures adjacent the controls are avoided during operation of the grill, and cooling fan means operative with the fan oven to feed cool air from outside through the oven cavity to avoid excessive temperatures at the sidewalls when they abut kitchen units.
[0005] The invention yet further provides a floor standing cooker comprising a casing supporting a hob and an oven in a space beneath the hob, wherein means defines a path for convective cooling air through the space to an outlet in the hob, and fan means operative when the oven is on supplements the convective cooling air by a forced flow of cool air into the space from outside the casing.
[0006] The use of a circulating fan for a fan oven provided with a coaxial cooling air circulating fan is known from Patent Specification No. GB-A-1327666 in the context of self-cleaning ovens. But the use of a cooling air circulating fan as aforesaid has not been described in the context of a cooker having an in-built hob or in the context of combined convective and forced cooling air path discharging through the hob.
[0007] An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a rear perspective view of a cooker according to the invention; and
Figure 2 is a rear perspective view of the cooker during assembly showing how the ovens are fixed in place.
[0008] In Figure 1, a cooker that is of width and breadth 500 mm and of overall height 850 mm or 900 mm comprises a casing in which are fitted a hob unit 10, an upper grill oven 12 of smaller size and a lower fan oven 14 of larger size. The casing of the cooker defines a plinth 16 formed by lower front and rear panels 18, 19, removable lower side panels 20 and the lower parts of side panels 21. The lower front and rear panels are formed with limbs 22, 23 of dissimilar length, either of which is attachable in the upright position. For the 900 mm overall casing height the panels 18, 19 are fitted with their longer limbs vertical and with the lower side panels 20 in place. For the 850 mm overall casing height the panels 18, 19 are fitted with their shorter sides vertical and with the lower side panels 20 removed. Thereby two possible working heights for the hob unit 10 are provided which can be changed over when the cooker is fitted in the home using only simple tools.
[0009] Above the plinth is a floor plate 24 formed with side cut-outs 25 defining air inlets. The floor plate 24 defines the lower extremity of an oven space of the casing whose upper extremity' is defined by the hob 10. The front panel 19 defines with the plate 24 an opening defining a front air inlet 26 to the space beneath the floor plate 24 as indicated by arrows 27 and the rear plinth panel 18 defines with the plate 24 an opening 28 through which the predominant air flow is an upward current over back panel 29 as indicated by arrow 30.
[0010] The ovens 12, 14 are surrounded by insulation generally indicated by the reference 31, but the insulation does not touch side panels 21 or the underside of the hob unit 10 so that there is a free space within the casing for air circulation. When the top oven 12 is in use there is a convective air flow into the oven-space through the cut-outs 25 of floor 24, up the sides of the cooker as indicated by the arrows 32, into a region between hob 10 and top oven 12 and out through a rear vent or chimney 33 as indicated by arrows 34. There is also a convective flow between the panel 29 and the insulation 31 that discharges through top rear vents 34' in the panel 29. But when the lower oven 14 is in use a forced air flow is required if the external surfaces and controls are to be maintained at sufficiently low working temperatures and in particular if the working temperatures of the walls 21 are to be low enough that the oven can butt against ordinary kitchen units. The oven 14 has an air circulation fan 36 driven by a motor 35, and the shaft that carries the fan 36 also carries a second fan 37 in the free space. The fan 37 acts as a heat sink for the motor shaft and also acts as a centrifugal impeller with an air inlet defined by aperture 38 in panel 29 through which cool outside air is drawn into the oven space. A cover plate 42 fits on the panel 29 over the motor 35 and slot 38 and also extends downwards to cover terminals 40 for attachment of a power supply cable with its open lower end 42 beneath the opening 28. By this means the terminals 40 are in a cool air stream whenever the oven 14 is operating, the air for the fan 39 enters partly direct through the slot between lower end 41 and lower rear panel 18 as indicated by arrow 43 and partly the plinth through opening 28 as indicated by arrow 44.
[0011] Between the hob 10 and the top oven 12 at the front of the cooker there is fitted a control chamber 45 defined by wall 46 which closes off the front of the cooker. Controls 47 on a control panel 48 are provided in the chamber 45, the panel 48 being rearwardly inclined to improve control visibility. As will be noted the grill oven 12 has a roof that slopes rearwardly and upwardly to an exhaust duct or chimney 49 which opens to the rear of the cooker above the hob 10 and is located just behind the chimney 33 with which it shares a common mouth. Thus when a grill heating element in the oven 12 is on there is a flow of hot air towards the rear of the oven 12 and up the chimney 49 as described in our copending U.K. Patent application No. 8319572. For further cooling of the control chamber 45 chimneys 50 at the sides of the cooker adjacent the front frame thereof feed air from adjacent the plinth into the chamber 45, the air being discharged through a slot between the upper part of wall 46 and the hob 10.
[0012] Figure 2 shows the way in which the ovens 12, 14 are mounted. Tne front of the cooker is formed with a frame 60 formed with inwardly flanged apertures for the upper and lower ovens. Each oven is flanged at its front to locate behind the flanged apertures in the frame 60, a silicone rubber gasket (not shown) being provided between the oven flange and the front frame. To either side each oven is provided with welded-on brackets formed with projecting tags 62 that engage slots in straps 63 of shallow channel section that are attached to the front frame 60 to hold the ovens in place. The rear ends 64 of the straps are attached to back panel 29. This arrangement has the advantages that:
(a) the cooker has an easily assembled but rigid frame structure;
(b) the insulation 31 is held in place behind the straps 63 which assist in maintaining the free space for air circulation; and
(c) the straps 63 can be used to anchor door mechanisms and in particular springs for a bottom-hinged door to the top oven 12.
[0013] Various modifications may be made to the embodiment described above without departing from the invention, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims. For example, the ovens 12, 14 can be replaced by a single fan oven with in-built grill, in which case the flow of air is convective when the hob 10 is in use or when grilling but is supplemented by a forced flow of cool outside air when the fan oven is in use.
1. A floor-standing electric cooker comprising a casing (21, 29), a hob (10), an upper
oven (12) and a lower oven (14) housed in an oven space of said casing beneath said
hob (10), means (25, 26) defining a convective path for cooling air from beneath the
oven space around the ovens (12, 14) and via a space between the upper oven (12) and
the hob (10) to an air outlet (33) in the hob (10) and cooling fan means (37) operative
with the lower oven (14) to feed cool outside air into the oven space.
2. A cooker according to Claim 1, wherein the lower oven (14) is a fan oven and a
common motor (35) and drive shaft drive a cooling fan (37) and an oven fan (36) so
that when the lower oven is in operation the cooling fan (37) both acts as a heat
sink for the drive shaft and brings about a flow of cooling air through the oven space.
3. A cooker according to Claim 2, wherein the casing includes a back panel (29) formed
with an aperture (38) leading the cool outside air from outside the cooker to the
fan (37).
4. A cooker according to Claim 3, wherein terminals (40) for a power supply cable
are located on the back panel (29) behind the lower oven (14) and a cover (42) on
the back panel (29) fits over the aperture (38) and over the terminals (40) to admit
air past terminals (40) to the aperture (38) whereby the terminals (40) are in a stream
of cool air entering the casing (21, 29) when the lower oven (12) is in operation.
5. A cooker according to any preceding claim, wherein the upper and the lower oven
(12, 14) are mounted to a front frame (60) by brackets (61) that engage straps (63)
fastened to the front frame (60), oven insulation locating behind the straps (63)
clear of side panels (21) of the casing to define free space at the sides of the cooker.
6. A cooker according to any preceding claim, provided with an air inlet (26) in the
front of the casing adjacent a plinth (16) of said casing defined beneath the oven
space y a floor (24), an aperture (28) between the plinth (16) and rear wall (29)
set forward from side walls (21) of the casing defining a path for convective air
to a space behind the rear wall (29) and apertures (25) in the floor (24) leading
convective air through the plinth (16) into the oven space.
7. A cooker according to any preceding claim, wherein the upper oven (12) is provided
with a grill element, a control panel (48) is located between the hob (10) and the
upper oven (12), and the roof of the upper oven (12) that overlies the grill element
leads rearwardly and upwardly to an exhaust duct (49) at the back of the upper oven
(12) that discharges through the top of the casing with air outlet (33) at the back
of the hob (10).
8. A cooker according to claim 7, wherein the rear edge of the hob (10) is formed
with a recess defining with the back panel (29) a slot through which air outlet (33)
and the exhaust duct (49) both discharge.
9. A cooker according to Claim 7 or 8, wherein a wall (46) between the hob (10) and
the upper oven (12) isolates a space (45) for the control panel (48) and chimneys
(50) to either side of the casing at the front thereof feed cooling air into the control
panel space (45) from outside the casing adjacent the plinth (16).
10. A floor-standing electric cooker comprising a hob (10), a control panel (48) at
the front of the cooker immediately below the hob (10), at least one fan oven (14)
and at least one grill (which may be in the fan oven (14) or in a conventional grill-oven
or grill compartment (12) above the fan oven) in an oven space of the casing defined
between the hob (10) and a raised floor (24) separating the oven space from a plinth
(16) forming part of the casing, said casing having side walls (21) and a rear wall
(29) set forward from the rear edges of the side walls (21) to define an air space
with a wall against which the cooker is stood, means (26) at the front of the casing
defining a path for convective air into the plinth (16), means (28) at the rear of
the casing defining a path (30) for convective air from the plinth (16) to the air
space, means (25) defining a path for convective air (32) from the plinth (16) through
the floor (24) to circulate about the or each oven (12, 14) and under the hob (10)
to discharge through vent means (32) at the rear of the hob (10) so that excessive
temperatures adjacent the controls (47) are avoided during operation of the grill,
and cooling fan means (37) operative with the fan oven (14) to feed cool air (43)
from outside through the oven cavity to avoid excessive temperatures at the sidewalls
(21) when they abut kitchen units.
11. A floor-standing cooker comprising a casing (21, 29) supporting a hob (10) and
an oven (14) in a space beneath the hob (10), wherein means (25, 26) defines a path
for convective cooling air through the space to an outlet (34) in the hob, and fan
means (37) operative when the oven (14) is on supplements the convective cooling air
(32, 34) by a forced flow of cool air into the space from outside the casing (21,
29).