The present invention relates to a transparent cooker enabling visibility of the food products during cooking.
The ovens cooking food products by transferring the heat generated in a separate section in the oven to the cooking section by means of a fan are referred to as convectional ovens. In convectional ovens, elements such as tray level, preheating temperature, and the temperature of the product to be cooked (the product being freshly prepared or taken from a refrigerator) are important for ideal cooking.
However, a limited window area is left in convectional ovens to see the cooking compartment. It is a major problem to view all sides of particularly the larger food products from this window area. The capability to view the cooking food products consists a significant criterion in buying decisions of customers. However, the producers intend to keep this area limited due to technical limitations.
Since a major portion of an oven is enclosed, illumination is required in its interior. Problems arise in examining the properties of cooking food products such as its roasting state, as this illumination cannot be performed homogeneously on all sides. In the present invention, a cooker is designed which is transparent on all sides.
Another problem in ovens is having delimited heater orientations. In static cooking, cooking is performed from the upper and the lower surfaces, and a heater causing roasting marks on food products due to radiance, is experienced quite often. Therefore, Turbo and Surf cooking methods are developed. These methods have high sound power levels due to the utilized fans and their air flow speeds.
State of the art Chinese utility model no.
None of the state of the art documents include a solution such as the one in the present invention.
The aim of the present invention is to provide a cooker design visible from all directions.
Another aim of the present invention is to enable obtaining homogeneous cooking results by applying equal heating from all surfaces.
A further aim of the present invention is to coat an easily cleanable coating on inner and outer glasses.
Another aim of the present invention is to resolve the problem of non-visibility of an oven's interior due to illumination.
Yet another aim of the present invention is to provide a cooker design having a low sound power level thanks to having no movable parts.
In its most basic form, the transparent cooker of the invention enabling visibility of the food products during cooking is defined by claim 1.
The transparent cooker of the invention comprises outer glasses positioned in the frame so as to face the exterior, for enclosing the main body of the cooker formed by the frames. Also provided are inner glasses positioned also in the frame, parallel to the outer glasses so as to have the empty space in between. The inner glasses and the outer glasses are fixed into the frame by means of the fastening piece provided in the empty space. Fixing is enabled by placing the inner glasses and the outer glasses into preferably two fitting slots formed by means of the protrusion disposed on the fastening piece. In this arrangement, the outer glasses and the inner glasses rest parallel to each other.
The outer glasses are coated with ITO (Indium tin oxide) material. ITO is an electrically conductive and optically permeable fine film coating used as heat barriers. Heating in the transparent cooker of the invention is performed by ITO coating. This coating enables heating the outer glass, transmitting the heat to the inner glass and to the interior of the cooker therefrom, and thereby cooking the food product. In addition, it is also possible to design the outer glass and the inner glass as heaters in a desired power level while maintaining their transparency. ITO coating can be applied in different preferred thicknesses to obtain distinct power levels in order to provide discrete cooking characteristics.
Each surface of said cooker consists of an outer glass and an inner glass positioned parallel to each other with an empty space in between. The inner glass is coated with easily cleanable ETC coating on the surface facing the internal volume of the cooker, and with ITO having heating properties on the surface facing the empty space.
A cable channel is provided in the frame, in which the cables are disposed enabling electric transmission. At least one door capable of opening and closing is provided on at least one preferred surface of the cooker. The user may open and close the door when he/she wishes to place food products in the cooking volume, or when he/she wishes to remove the food products from within the cooker. The door structure is formed by parallel positioning of the ITO coated outer glass and the inner glass, and by their placement into the fitting slots in the frame. The frame forms a solid structure by surrounding the inner glass and the outer glass from their edges. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the surface preferred as the door is connected to the other surfaces by a hinged mechanism.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the outer glass and the inner glass placed in the frame, are separated from each other and are fixed by means of teflon pieces used as the fastening piece. The teflon pieces provide electrical insulation as well as form the fitting slots to fit the outer glasses and the inner glasses.
Copper plates are provided as busbars all along the preferred edges of each outer glass of the transparent cooker. These copper plates may be mechanically compressed between the conductive fastening piece and the outer glasses, or being fixed by a clamp-like structure. By means of the cable channel, the electric cables connected to said busbars, are collected on a single corner and are extended to the exterior of the cooker.
Since all of the outer glasses can be operated simultaneously or in varying sequences, the cooker is configured to enable varying cooking applications or cooking in separate sections within the same cooking compartment.
According to the invention, the external appearance of the cooker is enabled to be dimmed by means of electrochromic coating of the outer glass.
In another preferred embodiment of the invention, the empty space between the outer glass and the inner glass is vacuumed to provide thermal insulation.
In another embodiment of the invention, the frame is made of metal material.
In the design of the invention, food products are cooked equally on all sides because of performing a heating distributed equally on all surfaces. In addition, noise and motion based problems are not encountered as movable parts are not present.
This list of references cited by the applicant is for the reader's convenience only. It does not form part of the European patent document. Even though great care has been taken in compiling the references, errors or omissions cannot be excluded and the EPO disclaims all liability in this regard.