(19)
(11) EP 1 344 982 B1

(12) EUROPEAN PATENT SPECIFICATION

(45) Mention of the grant of the patent:
26.07.2006 Bulletin 2006/30

(21) Application number: 02079982.1

(22) Date of filing: 28.11.2002
(51) International Patent Classification (IPC): 
F24C 15/10(2006.01)

(54)

Cooking plate

Kochmulde

Plaque de cuisson


(84) Designated Contracting States:
FR IT

(30) Priority: 26.02.2002 IT MI20020094 U

(43) Date of publication of application:
17.09.2003 Bulletin 2003/38

(73) Proprietor: CANDY S.p.A.
I-20052 Monza (Milano) (IT)

(72) Inventor:
  • Fumagalli, Silvano
    20052 Monza (MI) (IT)

(74) Representative: Mittler, Enrico et al
Mittler & C. s.r.l., Viale Lombardia, 20
20131 Milano
20131 Milano (IT)


(56) References cited: : 
US-A- 1 568 188
US-A- 3 252 407
US-A- 3 222 115
   
       
    Note: Within nine months from the publication of the mention of the grant of the European patent, any person may give notice to the European Patent Office of opposition to the European patent granted. Notice of opposition shall be filed in a written reasoned statement. It shall not be deemed to have been filed until the opposition fee has been paid. (Art. 99(1) European Patent Convention).


    Description


    [0001] The present invention concerns a cooking plate. Cooking plates currently existing generally have a rectangular shape and they usually comprise three, four or five burners.

    [0002] The burners generally have a standard arrangement and, in the case of cooking plates with four burners, they are located at the four corners of the quadrilateral that delimits the cooking plate. In the case of cooking plate with five burners, the fifth burner is generally located at the centre, whereas in the case of cooking plate with three burners, the three burners are arranged as a triangle with the base facing the back side of the cooking plate.

    [0003] With such an arrangement of the burners cooking plates do not have any surfaces free and devoted to laying cooking utensils or other and, in modern kitchens of small houses, this requires to provide additional lateral working surfaces, for instance belonging to pieces of furniture that are located laterally to the one in which the cooking plate is located.

    [0004] This arrangement has another inconvenience that is the difficult accessibility of the back burners in the case the cooking utensils are already positioned on the front ones. That could cause burns or scalds to the user due to the accidental spilling of the cooking utensils on the front burners when one wants to light a back burner.

    [0005] US-A-1 568 188 discloses a cooking plate according to the preamble of claim 1.

    [0006] In view of the state of the art described, scope of the present invention is to present a cooking plate with an easy use.

    [0007] According to the present invention, such scope is attained by means of a cooking plate as defined in claim 1.

    [0008] Owing to the present invention it is possible to provide a cooking plate that allows to approach all the burners of the plate in a simple and easy way.

    [0009] The characteristics and the advantages of the present invention will become evident from the detailed description of an embodiment thereof, that is illustrated as a non-limiting example in the enclosed drawing of Figure 1 that is a top view of a cooking plate according to the invention.

    [0010] With reference to Figure 1 a cooking plate 1 according to the invention that has a four burners 2-5 arranged according to the vertexes of a trapeze, preferably an isosceles trapeze 100 is shown. In particular in said isosceles trapeze 100 the angles A comprised between the greater base 101 and the respective sides 102, 103 are both comprised between 75° and 77°. The burners 2-5 generally have different sizes, also meant as power, so as to adapt to the various sizes of the utensil that is positioned on them.

    [0011] The smaller burners 2 and 3 are arranged along the base 101 of the trapeze, in proximity of the front side 7 of the cooking plate 1, that is the side that in the arrangement of the cooking plate 1 on a cabinet is nearest the user during the normal operations of cooking of foods. The burners 2 and 3 are also arranged in a way adjacent to the sides 6 and 60 of the cooking plate 1.

    [0012] The larger burners 4 and 5 are arranged in proximity of the back side 8 of the cooking plate 1, opposite to the front side 7.

    [0013] All the burners 2-5 are provided with grids 10 with different sizes for the arrangement of the utensils on the burners.

    [0014] The arrangement of the burners 2-5 allows an ergonomic and safe use of the utensils without any diametrical superimposition of the same.

    [0015] The aforesaid trapeze geometry of the burners 2-5 allows to obtain a zone 20 between the two small burners 2 and 3 that can be used in various ways as for instance a working surface for utensils such as cutlery, etc. As an alternative in the zone 20 an electric plate 21 can be inserted, as shown in Figure 1, to be used especially for slow cooking of food or in order to keep warm foods that have already been cooked.

    [0016] The cooking plate 1 comprises the control devices 22 of the burners arranged between the base 101 of the trapeze 100 and the front side 7 of the cooking plate 1, as shown in Figure 1. This front arrangement of the controls 22 allows an easy use on behalf of the user as compared with cooking plates in which the controls are located laterally to the burners. In addition the arrangement of the controls 22 distant from the heat sources prevents their overheating.

    [0017] In order to allow to position the burners 2 and 3 as far as possible from the controls and to gain the space D' for the electric plate 21 it is necessary that the distance C' between the centre of the burners 2 and 3 and the fore ends of the relative grid is greater than the distance B' between the same centre and the back end of the grid. The same is true for the distances C and B.


    Claims

    1. Cooking plate provided with at least four burners (2-5), said at least four burners (2-5) being arranged according to the veitexes of a trapeze (100) whose greater base (201) is in turn located in proximity of the front side (7) of the cooking plate (1), said four burners (2-5) having different sizes and the two smaller burners (2, 3) lay on said greater base (101) of the trapeze (100), characterized by comprising control devices (22) of the burners arranged between the greater base (101) of the trapeze (100) and the front side (7) of' the cooking plate
     
    2. Cooking plate according to claim 1, characterised in that said trapeze (100) is an isosceles trapeze.
     
    3. Cooking plate according to claim 2, characterised in that the angles (A) formed by the greater base (101) and the sides (102, 103) of the isosceles trapeze (100) are comprised between 75° and 77°.
     
    4. Cooking plate according to claim 1, characterised in that it comprises an electric plate (21) arranged between said two smaller burners (21, 3).
     
    5. Cooking plate according to claim 1, characterised in that it comprises a zone (20) suitable to the support of utensils and arranged between said two smaller burners (2, 3)
     
    6. Cooking plate according to claim 4, characterised in that the smaller burners comprise a relative grid and in that the distance (C') between the said centre of the smaller burners (2, the 3) and the fore ends of the relative grid (10) is greater than the distance (B ') between the same centre and the back end of the grid.
     
    7. Cooking plate according to claim 4, characterised in that the smaller burners comprise a relative grid and in that the distance (c) between the said centre of the smaller burners (2,3) and the side of the relative grid (10) that is closer to said electric plate (21) is greater than the distance (b) between the same centre and the opposite side of the grid
     


    Ansprüche

    1. Kochmulde mit mindestens vier Brennern (2 - 5), wobei die mindestens vier Brenner (2 - 5) gemäß den Scheiteln eines Trapezes (100) angeordnet sind, dessen größere Basis (101) wiederum in der Nähe der Vorderseite (7) der Kochmulde (1) angeordnet ist, wobei die vier Brenner (2 - 5) unterschiedlich groß sind und die zwei kleineren Brenner (2, 3) an der größeren Basis (101) des Trapezes (100) liegen, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass die Kochmulde Steuervorrichtungen (22) der Brenner aufweist, die zwischen der größeren Basis (101) des Trapezes (100) und der Vorderseite (7) der Kochmulde angeordnet sind.
     
    2. Kochmulde nach Anspruch 1, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass das Trapez (100) ein gleichschenkliges Trapez ist.
     
    3. Kochmulde nach Anspruch 2, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass die von der größeren Basis (101) und den Seiten (102, 103) des gleichschenkligen Trapezes (100) gebildeten Winkel (A) zwischen 75° und 77° liegen.
     
    4. Kochmulde nach Anspruch 1, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass sie eine zwischen den beiden kleineren Brennern (21, 3) angeordnete Elektroplatte (21) aufweist.
     
    5. Kochmulde nach Anspruch 1, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass sie eine Zone (20) aufweist, auf der Utensilien abgelegt werden können und die zwischen den beiden kleineren Brennern (2, 3) angeordnet ist.
     
    6. Kochmulde nach Anspruch 4, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass die kleineren Brenner einen Topfträger aufweisen und dass der Abstand (C') zwischen der Mitte der kleineren Brenner (2, 3) und den vorderen Enden des Topfträgers (10) größer als der Abstand (B') zwischen dieser Mitte und dem hinteren Ende des Topfträgers ist.
     
    7. Kochmulde nach Anspruch 4, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass die kleineren Brenner einen Topfträger aufweisen und dass der Abstand (c) zwischen der Mitte der kleineren Brenner (2, 3) und der Seite des Topfträgers (10), die näher an der Elektroplatte (21) liegt, größer als der Abstand (b) zwischen dieser Mitte und der gegenüberliegenden Seite des Topfträgers ist.
     


    Revendications

    1. Plaque de cuisson munie d'au moins quatre brûleurs (2-5), lesdits au moins quatre brûleurs (2-5) étant disposés aux sommets d'un trapèze (100) dont la grande base (101) se trouve à proximité de la face avant (7) de la plaque de cuisson (1), lesdits quatre brûleurs (2-5) ayant des tailles différentes et les deux plus petits brûleurs (2, 3) se trouvant sur ladite grande base (101) du trapèze (100), caractérisée en ce qu'elle comprend des dispositifs de commande (22) des brûleurs placés entre la grande base (101) du trapèze (100) et la face avant (7) de la plaque de cuisson
     
    2. Plaque de cuisson selon la revendication 1, caractérisée en ce que ledit trapèze (100) est un trapèze isocèle.
     
    3. Plaque de cuisson selon la revendication 2, caractérisée en ce que les angles (A) formés par la grande base (101) et les côtés (102, 103) du trapèze isocèle (100) sont compris entre 75° et 77°
     
    4. Plaque de cuisson selon la revendication 1, caractérisée en ce qu'elle comprend une plaque électrique (21) placée entre lesdits deux plus petits brûleurs (2, 3)
     
    5. Plaque de cuisson selon la revendication 1, caractérisée en ce qu'elle comprend une zone (20) prévue pour supporter des ustensiles et placée entre lesdits deux plus petits brûleurs (2, 3):
     
    6. Plaque de cuisson selon la revendication 4, caractérisée en ce que les plus petits brûleurs comprennent une grille relative et en ce que la distance (C') entre ledit centre des petits brûleurs (2, 3) et les extrémités avant de la grille relative (10) est supérieure à la distance (B') qui sépare le même centre de l'extrémité arrière de la grille
     
    7. Plaque de cuisson selon la revendication 4, caractérisée en ce que les plus petits brûleurs comprennent une grille relative et en ce que la distance (c) entre ledit centre des petits brûleurs (2, 3) et le côté de la grille relative (10) qui est plus pioche de ladite plaque électrique (21) est supérieure à la distance (b) qui sépare le même centre du côté opposé de la grille.
     




    Drawing