[0001] This invention concerns an oven and hob assembly for a built-in construction in a
modern, modular type kitchen.
[0002] As it is known, in the so-called "modular" type kitchens care is presently being
taken to recess the household appliances so that the overall outer appearance of the
assembly shows the highest smoothness and uniformity as possible, with profiles and
surfaces aligned with the walls of kitchen portions having the sole purpose of containing
objects, such as hinged door cabinets, chests of drawers, and so on. However, the
outer detail features of the household appliances often make it difficult to recess
them completely within the furniture, and involve certain difficulties for the manufacturer
who will provide the workmanship.
[0003] In particular, an oven and hob assembly shows certain difficulties in fitting the
same to the other household appliances and to the surrounding furniture, in particular
when said assembly is embodied as a so-called "self-contained cooker", the latter
having a well defined independently usable appliance configuration which renders it
less suitable to a built-in construction.
[0004] In this latter case the problem resides mainly in the so-called "front panel" where
all the controls are located, both for the cooker top or hob as well as for the oven.
In fact said controls project from the front outwards compared to the other surfaces,
and in any case they have to be accessible to the user, whereby the hiding door possibly
provided for the oven should necessarily be limited in height, and it should end below
said "front panel", thus giving rise to a line of discontinuity compared to the adjacent
doors. On the other hand it is of advantage, not only for appearance reasons, but
for safety reasons as well, that the oven be recessed so that during operation, such
a hot surface as the oven door itself is prevented from coming into occasional contact
with people, particularly children, who happen to be running around.
[0005] Therefore, the object of this invention is to provide an oven and hob assembly forming
a single block adapted to be recessed from above in a hollow piece of furniture provided
at least with a front door, said block having all the control knobs, the possible
monitoring lamps, a timer and/or program setting device mounted on the cooker top
or hob, on the side of the grate, in order not to hinder the recessing operations
from above.
[0006] Therefore, the assembly according to this invention differs from a conventional floor
supported self-contained cooker assembly not only because all the controls thereof
are provided on its top, but also because of the lack of the full height supporting
side walls, with associated savings in metal materials. Moreover, since the oven is
designed to be hidden by doors, it will not be required to be built in different colours
to be adapted to the remaining kitchen furniture, and this means a further cost advantage.
The furniture maker will have an even further important cost advantage in that he
will be in a position to manufacture all the kitchen doors equal to each other without
having to interrupt the furniture line uniformity, for example to take into account
the height difference fnormally found between the dishwasher control panel and that
of a conventional electric or gas cooker with oven.
[0007] Besides said appearance and cost advantages, the oven and hob assembly according
to this invention has also an important safety feature as well, since it can operate
with closed doors, whereby the surrounding people, including children in particular,
are prevented from a free occasional contact with such a hot surface as the oven door,
which during operation can reach a 100-120° temperature.
[0008] These features and advantages of the assembly according to this invention will become
apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof,
shown in the attached drawings, in which:
FIGURE 1 is a front view of cooker top or hob and oven assembly for a built-in construction,
according to this invention;
FIGURE 2 shows the same assembly recessed in a piece of kitchen furniture, with an
open door;
FIGURE 3 shows a top plan view of the same assembly of Figure 2; and
FIGURE 4 shows the same view of Figure 2, with doors closed..
[0009] Referring now to the drawings, assembly 1 according to this invention comprises a
metal case including oven 2, provided with its own door 4, and upper cooker plane
or hob 3 provided with burners 5 and grate 6. The hob 3 is shown here as a gas cooker,
provided with four burners, but it is understood that it could as well comprise any
combination of gas burners and electric plates, or even four electric plates only.
As it will be also appreciated, the grate 6 could be of any general pattern, and in
particular the hob could be of the completely built-in type, such as with the burners
and the supporting grate reaching at the most the level of the furniture top plane
edge 7, as it is shown and claimed in the applicant's Italian Patent Application No.21794
A/84, whereby the cover (which is not shown here) comes to rest, when closed, at a
position flush with said edge 7.
[0010] According to this invention, on the hob 3 and on the side of grate 6 there are mounted
the controls 10, including gas-taps and electric knobs both for the hob and for the
oven, as well as possible monotor- ing lamps, the oven timer and/or programming device.
The oven can be of a conventional type, or a ventilation type or a multiple programmable
function oven and the door 4 thereof can be of the downwards opening or side opening
type, from left to right, or viceversa.
[0011] It is understood that inside the case 1 the necessary gas ducts are provided, and/or
the electrical connections between controls 10 and burners or hot plates of the hob,
or with the burners (not shown) of oven 2. Means can further be provided to exhaust
at the outside the vapours generated within the oven, by cutting suitable openings
on the hob 3, whereby said vapours are then evacuated through the suction hood.
[0012] Referring now to Figures 2 to 4, an example is shown of how assembly 1 of Figure
1 can be embedded in a modular piece of furniture including two side modules or "base
pieces" 20, 20', spaced apart of a length at least equal to the width of assembly
1, and joined at the top thereof by a top plane 21 which is a continuation of the
upper flat surface of the piece of furniture, and at the bottom by means of a base-board
22 of the same height of the adjacent base-boards. Through the top surface 21 an opening
is provided of a size sufficient to allow entering of assembly 1 from above, i.e.
equal to the overall size of oven 2, but smaller than the size of hob 3 whose edge
7 will come to rest all around on the top surface 21 while keeping assembly 1 into
position. As it is understood, said top plane will be strong enough to be able to
bear the total weight of the oven-hob assembly as well as of the- cooking ware laying
thereupon and/or introduced inside the oven. If that were not so, supports can be
provided underneath the oven, which could even completely rest on a underlying shelf
under which there remains still some room 23, usable for example for a sliding drawer.
[0013] The enclosure taken by the oven is hidden by means of a door 24, which is shown in
Figures 2 and 3 in the open position, while being shown in the closed position in
Figure 4, said door being supported on inner hinges hidden to the sight. In the closed
position, the door remains flush with the adjacent pieces of furniture 20, 20' without
any discontinuity in the assembly whose appearance is perfectly linear, both in the
height direction and along the front plane thereof. It will be understood that instead
of a single door 24 two doors can be provided, each of half width, but this feature,
like many other arrangements relating only to the appearance can be freely chosen
by the furniture maker, without any constraint due to the presence of household appliances.
[0014] Possible additions and/or modifications can be implemented by those skilled in the
art with reference to the embodiment of the assembly according to this invention as
described and illustrated, without exceeding the scope of the invention. In particular,
the assembly can comprise hob and oven separate from each other, which can be assembled
as shown above, provided all the controls, including the oven controls, are always
located on the hob or cooker top. In this case the connections will have to be made
during assembly operation, since they cannot be provided previously. While the hob
will be embedded as mentioned above, the oven will have to be introduced from the
front part, while a bearing means.has to be provided thereunder.
1. Oven and hob assembly for a built-in construction in a modular kitchen piece of
furniture, to be embedded therein by lowering the assembly from above through an opening
provided in a top plane (21) of said piece of furniture, characterized by having an
edge (7) projecting outwardly at the upper part thereof, all around the hob (3) for
resting on said top plane, the control knob and all other monitoring, control and
alarm devices (10) relating to the oven (2) and to the hob (3) being located on said
hob (3), the overall- height of said assembly being smaller than the difference in
level between said top plane (21) and the floor supporting said piece of furniture.
2. Assembly according to claim 1, characterized by said knobs and additional control
devices (10) being located within the perimeter of the hob (3).
3. Assembly according to claim 2, characterized by being adapted to be introduced
from above through said opening in the top surface (21), having a smaller size than
the overall size of said hob upper edge (7).
4. Assembly according to claims 1 and 2, characterized by having the oven (2) separated
from the hob (3) and adapted to be embedded through the front part of said piece of
furniture, means being further provided for making the connections between the oven
(2) and said control knobs (10) located on the hob (3).