The present invention relates to ovens and particularly relates to an oven comprising a flange with a front opening which forms the front wall of a body where the foodstuff to be cooked are placed and which front opening provides access into the body. A front panel is placed onto the front wall.

In oven body production, a front panel is assembled onto a flange which encircles the periphery of a cavity where the items to be cooked are to be placed. The front panel has a plurality of valve openings which provide a connection between control buttons and a shaft. The flange forms the front surface of the body and at the same time, the flange connects to the lateral panels and thereby the flange keeps the body together.

In order to connect the front panel to the flange, a bracket can be welded to the front panel. On the flange, there is a space where the front panel is to be assembled. The front panel is placed to the space. Thus, the bracket is seated to the arms of the flange, and the bracket is fixed to the flange by means of the connection members. The process of welding the bracket to the front panel leads to time loss in body production and said process increases the production costs.

In the prior art, pluralities of solutions are disclosed which provide a coupling without welding. For instance, in patent application KR20090063391, an assembly method of an oven case and of a control panel is disclosed. In KR20090063391, an integrated flange is provided, and a bracket can be dismantled in a separate manner. In more detail, there is a front panel forming a housing, an upper panel which is placed on the top of the front panel, a lower panel which is placed on the bottom of the front panel, and a flange which is at a lateral side of the front panel. The flange is curve-cut rearward and curve-cut inward again in relation to the front panel and the flange has a connection part.

DE 10 2009 000650 A1 discloses an oven with a front part including an appliance door. The appliance door and the front part are detachably and separately fastened at the appliance housing. A locking element is arranged between the front part and the housing, and an engaging element is locked in the locking element and arranged for adjusting the front part opposite to a front surface.

EP 2 141 416 A2 discloses a transparent panel element arranged on a supporting unit and forming a front surface. Another transparent panel element forms another front surface and is attached to a lower edge area of the panel element. The panel elements are directly coupled with one another in a force-fit manner. An adhesive film connects the supporting unit and the panel element.

It is an object of the present invention to facilitate front panel assembly to the oven body.

Another object of the present invention is to decrease the production costs of oven body.

Another object of the present invention is to provide the front panel to be assembled to the oven body in a substantially stabile manner and without the need for welding.

Hence, this disclosure relates to an oven comprising a flange with a front opening which forms the front wall of a body wherein the foodstuff to be cooked are placed and which provides access into the body; a front panel which is fixed by being rested to the flange from a rear surface thereof; and at least one first flap which is formed by bending the front panel inwards the body so as to form a bracket. Said oven is further comprises a connection piece which is used for fixing the front panel to the flange and which has an upper channel where said first flap is accommodated; and which has a lower channel where at least one wall of said flange is accommodated. The upper channel of the connecting piece is adapted to restrict a movement of the first flap away from the flange.

In a preferred embodiment, said upper channel extends towards the ground so as to be in the same direction with the first flap and said upper channel has a width so as to accommodate the first flap with substantial tightness.

In another preferred embodiment, said lower channel extends towards the ground so as to be in the same direction with at least one wall and said lower channel has a width so as to accommodate the wall with substantial tightness.

In another preferred embodiment, the longitudinal extension directions of the lower and the upper channel are essentially parallel to each other and the transverse extension directions of said channels are essentially orthogonal to each other.

In another preferred embodiment, said at least one wall is a front wall of an arm which is provided on the flange and which extends orthogonally so as to correspond to at least one vertical edge of the front panel.

In another preferred embodiment, said connection piece further comprises at least one seating surface which is provided so as to extend essentially parallel to the ground at the end of the upper channel and so as to face the upper wing.

In another preferred embodiment, said connection piece further comprises at least one support part which extends between the lower part of the upper channel and the body of the connection piece.

In another preferred embodiment, said connection piece further comprises a handling part which is provided so as to extend from the body towards the front panel.

In another preferred embodiment, said connection piece is made of plastic.

The additional characteristics and advantages of the subject matter invention will be obtained from the exemplary embodiments with reference to the enclosed figures.

• In Figure 1, a front view of the front panel and the body of an oven embodiment is given.
• In Figure 2a, a rear exploded view of the front panel of the embodiment as illustrated in Figure 1 is given.
• In Figure 2b, a detailed view of Figure 2a is given.
• In Figure 3a, an assembled view of the embodiment illustrated in Figure 2a is given.
• In Figure 3b, a detailed view of Figure 3a is given.
• In Figure 4a, a front view of the embodiment is given.
• In Figure 4b, a B-B cross section of Figure 4a is given.

In Figure 1, the frontal view of an oven body 10 as a representative embodiment of the subject matter front panel 20 is used is given. The body 10 has a flange 30 which encircles and supports a cavity (not illustrated in the figure) so as to form the front face of the body; and a front panel 20 which is fixed at the flange 30. On the front surface 24 of the front panel 20 which is in sheet plate form, valve openings 22 are arranged which are in hole-form and which provide a connection to a tap shaft (not illustrated in the figure). Under the front panel 20, there is a front opening 36 which is surrounded by the flange 30 and through which items to be cooked will be passed. On both sides of the flange 30, the lateral panels 40 of the body 10 can be seen.

With reference to Figure 2a and 2b, wings are formed comprising a lower wing 26 and an upper wing 25 which are formed by bending a rectangular flat plate of the front panel 20 vertically about the horizontal axis B1 so as to leave a margin from the upper part and from the lower part along the mutual parallel long edges of the rectangular flat plate. The first flap 27 is formed at the upper wing 25 and the second flap 28 is formed at the lower wing 26 by bending two opposite ends of the upper and the lower wings 25, 26 vertically about the vertical axis B2 at a margin from the short edge thereof. The upper and the lower wings 25, 26 and the front panel 20 have the form of a U-cross section. As a result of the bending of the wings 25, 26, the upper and the lower wings 25, 26 obtain a U-like form. The first wings 27 are at two opposite ends of the upper wing 25 and they extend parallel to the lateral edge of the front panel 20. The second flaps 28 are at two opposite ends of the lower flap 26, and in the same manner, the second flaps 28 extend parallel to the lateral edge of the front panel 20. The first and the second flaps 27, 28 are adjacent to a rear surface 23 of the front panel 20. The first and the second flaps 27, 28 are aligned with respect to the lateral edge of the front panel 20 as inwardly as their lengths. The horizontal bending axis B1 corresponds to the long upper and lower edge of the front panel 20. The vertical bending axis B2 extends towards the body 10 so as to be normal to the horizontal bending axis B1 and to the lateral edge of the front panel 20.

On the other hand, the first and the second flaps 27, 28 have a square-like or a rectangular form. There is a circular hole 29 in the middle part of the second flap 28. A connection member (not illustrated in the figure) can reach a lateral wall 32 through the hole 29. The lateral wall 32 can be a part of the arm 34 or it can be another extension of the body 10.

The subject matter front panel 20 is made of a rectangular sheet plate. The front panel 20 is first cut inwardly from a corner section of its short edge which is as wide as the width of the flap 27, 28. Afterwards, the parts cut in order to form the flaps 27, 28 are bent about the vertical bending axis B2. After this process, said parts are bent about the horizontal bending axis B1 so that there is a margin from the upper and lower long edges of the front panel 20. Prior to bending, by cutting the related parts of the front panel 20, the valve openings 22 and the hole 29 form existing in the front panel 20 are provided.

With reference to Figure 2b, the vertically extending arm 34 with respect to the flange 30 has a front wall 345 and two lateral walls 341, 342 provided so as to define a rectangular cross section whose one long edge is open. The end part of the front wall 345 realizes a slight recess inwardly, and on this part, a groove 343 is provided which extends partially towards the ground. In the embodiment, two arms 34, which correspond mutually to the vertical edges of the front panel 20, extend in the vertical direction upwardly from two ends of the flange 30. In Figure 2b, there is an embodiment of a connection piece 50 which is used for fixing of the front panel 20 to the flange 30 and which preferably comprises a plastic body 51. Accordingly, said connection piece 50 comprises an upper channel 53 which extends towards the ground in the same direction of the first flap 27 and which has a width so as to accommodate the first flap 27 with the desired tightness; and a lower channel 52 which extends towards the ground in the same direction as the front wall 345 and which has a width so as to accommodate the front wall 345 with the desired tightness. Accordingly, depending on the positions of the first flap 27 and of the front wall 345, the longitudinal extension directions of the lower and upper channel 52, 53 are essentially parallel to each other and the transversal extension directions thereof are essentially vertical to each other.

At the end of the upper channel 53, a couple of seating surfaces 55 are provided which are perpendicular to the extension direction of the channel 53 and in other words, which extend mutually and essentially parallel with respect to the ground. A support part 54, which is designed in order to provide resistance, extends between the body 51 and the lower part of the channel 53. Said support part 54 is preferably in the form of a bar. In a preferred embodiment, the support part 54, the seating surfaces 55 and the channel walls 531 defining the upper channel 53 define a Y-like form where the end part of the arms 34 is bent, when viewed frontally. The front part of the body 51 defines a handling part 511 which is provided so as to extend in a substantially flat manner towards the front panel 20. The body 51 also has a tail part 512 which extends towards the ground at the continuation of the handling part 511. With reference to Figure 4a, the tail part 512 has a form similar to an elongated isosceles trapezoid form and accordingly, the tail part 512 extends so as to widen downwardly and so as to approach the lateral walls 342 of the arm 34. This provides a more stabile connection. As can be seen from Figure 4b, the connection piece 50 has a lateral cross section similar to an inverse "d".

In this preferred embodiment of the subject matter invention, the connection piece 50 is made of plastic or it can be made of another flexible material or metal like rubber, silica.

Under the light of the structural details given above, the usage and the operation of the subject matter invention is as follows under the light of Figure 3a and 3b. The connection piece 50 is preferably held from the handling part 511; and afterwards, the connection piece 50 is set onto the flange 30 so that the lower channel thereof 52 will clasp around the front wall 345 of the arm 3 with respect to the flange 30. Thus, a forward and backward displacement of the front panel 20 with respect to the flange 30 is prevented. Afterwards, the front panel 20 is connected to the flange 30 so that the first flap 27 enters into the upper channel 53; and thus a vertical right and left movement of the front panel 20 with respect to the flange 30 is prevented. During assembly, the upper wing's lower surface contacts from above with the connection piece's 50 seating surface 55 facing the inside of the oven. On the other hand, the inclined surface 344, which is provided at the upper end of the arm's 34 lateral wall 342 facing outwardly, is aligned with the seating surface 55 on the other side. 10 Body 344 Inclined surface 20 Front panel 345 Front wall 22 Valve opening 36 Front opening 23 Rear surface 40 Lateral panel 24 Front surface 50 Connection piece 25 Upper wing 51 Body 26 Lower wing 511 Handling part 27 First flap 512 Tail part 28 Second flap 52 Lower channel 29 Hole 53 Upper channel 30 Flange 531 Channel wall 32 Lateral wall 54 Support part 34 Arm 55 Seating surface 341 Lateral wall B1 Lateral bending axis 342 Lateral wall B2 Vertical bending axis 343 Groove