U.S. patent application number 16/459874 was filed with the patent office on 2021-01-07 for heating assembly for an oven appliance.
The applicant listed for this patent is Haier US Appliance Solutions, Inc.. Invention is credited to Stephen Bernard Froelicher.
Application Number | 20210003288 16/459874 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | |
Filed Date | 2021-01-07 |
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United States Patent
Application |
20210003288 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Froelicher; Stephen
Bernard |
January 7, 2021 |
HEATING ASSEMBLY FOR AN OVEN APPLIANCE
Abstract
An oven appliance includes a cooking chamber positioned within a
cabinet and being defined at least in part by a chamber wall. A
heating assembly is positioned outside the cooking chamber for
heating the cooking chamber. The heating assembly includes a first
plate and a second plate joined together to define a heater cavity
containing a heating element. The first plate is spaced apart from
the chamber wall to define an airgap therebetween.
Inventors: |
Froelicher; Stephen Bernard;
(Shepherdsville, KY) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Haier US Appliance Solutions, Inc. |
Wilmington |
DE |
US |
|
|
Appl. No.: |
16/459874 |
Filed: |
July 2, 2019 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
International
Class: |
F24C 7/06 20060101
F24C007/06 |
Claims
1. An oven appliance defining a vertical, a lateral, and a
transverse direction, the oven appliance comprising: a cabinet
extending between a top and a bottom along the vertical direction;
a cooking chamber positioned within the cabinet and being defined
at least in part by a chamber wall; and a heating assembly
positioned outside the cooking chamber for heating the cooking
chamber, the heating assembly comprising: a first plate spaced
apart from the chamber wall to define an airgap therebetween; and a
heating element positioned adjacent the first plate opposite from
the airgap.
2. The oven appliance of claim 1, wherein the heating assembly
comprises: standoff features defined on the first plate for seating
against the chamber wall and defining the airgap.
3. The oven appliance of claim 1, wherein the airgap defines a gap
size that is substantially constant along the entire chamber
wall.
4. The oven appliance of claim 1, wherein the airgap extends in the
transverse direction between a rear wall and a front opening of the
cooking chamber, and in the lateral direction between a first side
wall and a second side wall of the cooking chamber.
5. The oven appliance of claim 1, wherein the heating assembly
further comprises: a second plate coupled to the first plate to
define a heater cavity, the heating element being positioned within
the heater cavity.
6. The oven appliance of claim 5, wherein the heating assembly
further comprises: a service heater positioned within the heater
cavity adjacent the heating element.
7. The oven appliance of claim 5, wherein the first plate and the
second plate are joined by one or more fastening joints.
8. The oven appliance of claim 1, wherein the first plate is
constructed from aluminized steel and the chamber wall is
constructed from enameled steel.
9. The oven appliance of claim 1, wherein the first plate comprises
a coating that minimizes transfer of heat through thermal infrared
radiation.
10. The oven appliance of claim 9, wherein the coating is an
aluminum ceramic paint or other low infrared emitting coating or
plating.
11. The oven appliance of claim 1, wherein the chamber wall is a
bottom wall of the cooking chamber.
12. The oven appliance of claim 1, wherein the cooking chamber is a
lower cooking chamber and the heating assembly is a lower heating
assembly, the oven appliance further comprising: an upper cooking
chamber positioned within the cabinet above the lower cooking
chamber and being defined in part by an upper chamber wall; and an
upper heating assembly positioned outside the upper cooking chamber
for heating the upper cooking chamber, the upper heating assembly
comprising: a third plate spaced apart from the upper chamber wall
to define an airgap therebetween; an upper heating element
positioned adjacent the third plate opposite from the airgap; and a
fourth plate coupled to the third plate to define a second heater
cavity, the upper heating element being positioned within the
second heater cavity.
13. The oven appliance of claim 1, wherein the heating element is a
calrod heater.
14. The oven appliance of claim 1, wherein the heating element is a
low profile heating element.
15. A heating assembly for heating a cooking chamber defined at
least in part by a chamber wall, the heating assembly comprising: a
first plate spaced apart from the chamber wall to define an airgap
therebetween; and a heating element positioned adjacent the first
plate opposite from the airgap.
16. The heating assembly of claim 15, further comprising: standoff
features defined on the first plate for seating against the chamber
wall and defining the airgap.
17. The heating assembly of claim 15, further comprising: a second
plate coupled to the first plate to define a heater cavity, the
heating element being positioned within the heater cavity.
18. The heating assembly of claim 17, wherein the first plate and
the second plate are joined by one or more fastening joints.
19. The heating assembly of claim 15, wherein the first plate is
constructed from aluminized steel and the chamber wall is
constructed from enameled steel.
20. The heating assembly of claim 15, wherein the chamber wall is a
bottom wall of the cooking chamber.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present subject matter relates generally to oven
appliances, and more particularly, to heating assemblies of an oven
appliance.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Conventional residential and commercial oven appliances
generally include a cabinet that includes a cooking chamber for
receipt of food items for cooking. Multiple gas or electric heating
elements are positioned within the cabinet for heating the cooking
chamber to cook food items located therein. The heating elements
can include, for example, a bake heating assembly positioned at a
bottom of the cooking chamber and/or a separate broiler heating
assembly positioned at a top of the cooking chamber.
[0003] Conventional heating elements may be positioned just outside
of the cooking chamber within a heater cavity, e.g., to provide a
larger cooking chamber and to facilitate easier cleaning of the
oven. For example, a typical bake heating element is positioned
underneath a bottom wall of the cooking chamber. However,
positioning such heating elements immediately adjacent the bottom
chamber wall may result in hot spots near the heating elements.
Because the chamber walls must typically be maintained below a
threshold temperature, the ability to heat the cooking chamber is
limited by these hot spots, even though other portions of the
chamber wall are much cooler. Thus, as a result of the direct
exposure of the bottom chamber wall to the heating element, lower
preheat power levels are necessitated, resulting in longer preheat
times and customer dissatisfaction.
[0004] Accordingly, an oven appliance and heating assemblies that
may improve preheat times are desirable. More particularly, a
heating assembly that can provide higher watt density of thermal
energy to the cooking chamber over the entire chamber wall for
reduced preheat times would be particularly beneficial.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0005] Aspects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in
part in the following description, or may be apparent from the
description, or may be learned through practice of the
invention.
[0006] In a first example embodiment, an oven appliance is provided
defining a vertical, a lateral, and a transverse direction. The
oven appliance includes a cabinet extending between a top and a
bottom along the vertical direction, a cooking chamber positioned
within the cabinet and being defined at least in part by a chamber
wall, and a heating assembly positioned outside the cooking chamber
for heating the cooking chamber. The heating assembly includes a
first plate spaced apart from the chamber wall to define an airgap
therebetween and a heating element positioned adjacent the first
plate opposite from the airgap.
[0007] In a second example embodiment, a heating assembly for
heating a cooking chamber defined at least in part by a chamber
wall is provided. The heating assembly includes a first plate
spaced apart from the chamber wall to define an airgap therebetween
and a heating element positioned adjacent the first plate opposite
from the airgap.
[0008] These and other features, aspects and advantages of the
present invention will become better understood with reference to
the following description and appended claims. The accompanying
drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this
specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and,
together with the description, serve to explain the principles of
the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] A full and enabling disclosure of the present invention,
including the best mode thereof, directed to one of ordinary skill
in the art, is set forth in the specification, which makes
reference to the appended figures.
[0010] FIG. 1 is a front, perspective view of an oven appliance
according to an exemplary embodiment of the present subject
matter.
[0011] FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of the exemplary oven
appliance of FIG. 1, taken along Line 2-2 in FIG. 1.
[0012] FIG. 3 is a top view of a bottom wall of a cooking chamber
of the exemplary oven appliance of FIG. 1.
[0013] FIG. 4 is a side cross sectional view of a heating assembly
that may be used with the exemplary oven appliance of FIG. 1
according to an exemplary embodiment of the present subject
matter.
[0014] FIG. 5 is a close up cross sectional view of the exemplary
heating assembly of FIG. 4.
[0015] Repeat use of reference characters in the present
specification and drawings is intended to represent the same or
analogous features or elements of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0016] Reference now will be made in detail to embodiments of the
invention, one or more examples of which are illustrated in the
drawings. Each example is provided by way of explanation of the
invention, not limitation of the invention. In fact, it will be
apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and
variations can be made in the present invention without departing
from the scope or spirit of the invention. For instance, features
illustrated or described as part of one embodiment can be used with
another embodiment to yield a still further embodiment. Thus, it is
intended that the present invention covers such modifications and
variations as come within the scope of the appended claims and
their equivalents.
[0017] As used herein, the terms "first," "second," and "third" may
be used interchangeably to distinguish one component from another
and are not intended to signify location or importance of the
individual components. The terms "includes" and "including" are
intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term
"comprising." Similarly, the term "or" is generally intended to be
inclusive (i.e., "A or B" is intended to mean "A or B or both"). In
addition, it should be appreciated that as used herein, terms of
approximation, such as "approximately," "substantially," or
"about," refer to being within a ten percent margin of error.
[0018] FIG. 1 provides a front, perspective view of an oven
appliance 100 as may be employed with the present subject matter.
Oven appliance 100 generally defines a vertical direction V, a
lateral direction L, and a transverse direction T, each of which is
mutually perpendicular, such that an orthogonal coordinate system
is generally defined. As illustrated, oven appliance 100 includes
an insulated cabinet 102. Cabinet 102 of oven appliance 100 extends
between a top 104 and a bottom 106 along the vertical direction V,
between a first side 108 (left side when viewed from front) and a
second side 110 (right side when viewed from front) along the
lateral direction L, and between a front 112 and a rear 114 along
the transverse direction T.
[0019] Within cabinet 102 is an upper cooking chamber 120 and a
lower cooking chamber 122 configured for the receipt of one or more
food items to be cooked. Thus, oven appliance 100 is generally
referred to as a double oven range appliance. However, as will be
understood by those skilled in the art, oven appliance 100 is
provided by way of example only, and the present subject matter may
be used in any suitable cooking appliance. Thus, the present
subject matter may be used with other oven appliances such as wall
ovens, electric ovens, gas ovens, microwave ovens, etc. In
addition, the example embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is not intended to
limit the present subject matter to any particular cooking chamber
configuration or arrangement.
[0020] Oven appliance 100 includes an upper door 124 and a lower
door 126 rotatably attached to cabinet 102 in order to permit
selective access to upper cooking chamber 120 and lower cooking
chamber 122, respectively. Handles 128 are mounted to upper and
lower doors 124 and 126 to assist a user with opening and closing
doors 124 and 126 in order to access cooking chambers 120 and 122.
As an example, a user can pull on handle 128 mounted to upper door
124 to open or close upper door 124 and access upper cooking
chamber 120. Doors 124, 126 may include windows 130, constructed
for example from multiple parallel glass panes to provide for
viewing the contents of and insulating the insulated cooking
chambers 120, 122.
[0021] As illustrated, each of insulated cooking chambers 120, 122
are defined by a plurality of chamber walls, identified generally
herein by reference numeral 132. For example, insulated cooking
chambers 120, 122 each include a top wall 134 and a bottom wall 136
which are spaced apart along the vertical direction V. A left
sidewall and a right sidewall extend between the top wall 134 and
bottom wall 136, and are spaced apart along the lateral direction
L. A rear wall 138 may additionally extend between the top wall 134
and the bottom wall 136 as well as between the left sidewall and
the right sidewall, and is spaced apart from doors 124, 126 along
the transverse direction T. In this manner, when doors 124, 126 are
in the closed position, cooking cavities are defined, and a front
opening 140 is defined for each cooking chamber 120, 122, e.g.,
proximate front 112 of oven appliance 100.
[0022] Referring to FIG. 1, oven appliance 100 also includes a
cooktop 142. Cooktop 142 is positioned at or adjacent top 104 of
cabinet 102. Thus, cooktop 142 is positioned above upper cooking
chamber 120 and includes a top panel 144 positioned proximate top
104 of cabinet 102. By way of example, top panel 144 may be
constructed of glass, ceramics, enameled steel, and combinations
thereof. One or more grates 146 are supported on a top surface of
top panel 144 for supporting cooking utensils, such as pots or
pans, during a cooking process. As shown in FIG. 1, oven appliance
100 may include a plurality of burners assemblies 148 mounted
within or on top of top panel 144 underneath grates 146, and such
burner assemblies 148 can be configured in various sizes so as to
provide e.g., for the receipt of cooking utensils (i.e., pots,
pans, etc.) of various sizes and configurations and to provide
different heat inputs for such cooking utensils.
[0023] Referring now specifically to FIG. 2, oven appliance 100 may
include various heating elements 150, such as electric resistance
heating elements, gas burners, microwave heating elements, halogen
heating elements, electric tubular heaters (e.g., such as
Calrod.RTM. heaters), or suitable combinations thereof. Heating
elements 150 are positioned in thermal communication with upper
cooking chamber 120 and lower cooking chamber 122 for heating upper
cooking chamber 120 and lower cooking chamber 122.
[0024] Specifically, an upper heating element 152 (also referred to
as a broil heating element, electric burner, or gas burner) may be
positioned in cabinet 102, e.g., at a top portion of cooking
chambers 120, 122, and a lower heating element 154 (also referred
to as a bake heating element, electric burner, or gas burner) may
be positioned proximate a bottom portion of cooking chambers 120,
122. Upper heating element 152 and lower heating element 154 may be
used independently or simultaneously to heat cooking chambers 120,
122, perform a baking or broil operation, perform a cleaning cycle,
etc. The size and heat output of heating elements 152, 154 can be
selected based on, e.g., the size of oven appliance 100 or the
desired heat output. Oven appliance 100 may include any other
suitable number, type, and configuration of heating elements 150
within cabinet 102 and/or on cooktop 142. For example, oven
appliance 100 may further include electric heating elements,
induction heating elements, or any other suitable heat generating
device.
[0025] One or more baking racks (not shown) may be positioned in
insulated cooking chambers 120, 122 for the receipt of food items
or utensils containing food items. The baking racks may be slidably
received onto embossed ribs or sliding rails such that the baking
racks may be conveniently moved into and out of insulated cooking
chamber 120, 122 when doors 124, 126 are open.
[0026] A user interface panel 160 is located within convenient
reach of a user of the oven appliance 100. For this example
embodiment, user interface panel 160 includes knobs 162 that are
each associated with one of heating elements 150. In this manner,
knobs 162 allow the user to activate each heating element 150 and
determine the amount of heat input provided by each heating element
150 to a cooking food items within cooking chamber 120 or on
cooktop 142. Although shown with knobs 162, it should be understood
that knobs 162 and the configuration of oven appliance 100 shown in
FIG. 1 is provided by way of example only. More specifically, user
interface panel 160 may include various input components, such as
one or more of a variety of touch-type controls, electrical,
mechanical or electro-mechanical input devices including rotary
dials, push buttons, and touch pads. User interface panel 160 may
also be provided with one or more graphical display devices or
display components 164, such as a digital or analog display device
designed to provide operational feedback or other information to
the user such as e.g., whether a particular heating element 150 is
activated and/or the rate at which the heating element 150 is
set.
[0027] Generally, oven appliance 100 may include a controller 166
in operative communication with user interface panel 160. User
interface panel 160 of oven appliance 100 may be in communication
with controller 166 via, for example, one or more signal lines or
shared communication busses, and signals generated in controller
166 operate oven appliance 100 in response to user input via user
input devices 162. Input/Output ("I/O") signals may be routed
between controller 166 and various operational components of oven
appliance 100 such that operation of oven appliance 100 can be
regulated by controller 166. In addition, controller 166 may also
be communication with one or more sensors, such as temperature
sensor 168 (FIG. 2), which may be used to measure temperature
inside cooking chamber 120 and provide such measurements to the
controller 166. Although temperature sensor 168 is illustrated at a
top and rear of cooking chamber 120, it should be appreciated that
other sensor types, positions, and configurations may be used
according to alternative embodiments.
[0028] Controller 166 is a "processing device" or "controller" and
may be embodied as described herein. Controller 166 may include a
memory and one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers,
application-specific integrated circuits (ASICS), CPUs or the like,
such as general or special purpose microprocessors operable to
execute programming instructions or micro-control code associated
with operation of oven appliance 100, and controller 166 is not
restricted necessarily to a single element. The memory may
represent random access memory such as DRAM, or read only memory
such as ROM, electrically erasable, programmable read only memory
(EEPROM), or FLASH. In one embodiment, the processor executes
programming instructions stored in memory. The memory may be a
separate component from the processor or may be included onboard
within the processor. Alternatively, controller 166 may be
constructed without using a microprocessor, e.g., using a
combination of discrete analog and/or digital logic circuitry (such
as switches, amplifiers, integrators, comparators, flip-flops, AND
gates, and the like) to perform control functionality instead of
relying upon software.
[0029] Although aspects of the present subject matter are described
herein in the context of a double oven appliance including a
cooktop, it should be appreciated that oven appliance 100 is
provided by way of example only. In this regard, the present
subject matter is not limited to any particular style, model, or
configuration of oven appliance 100. For example, other oven or
range appliances having different configurations, different
appearances, and/or different features may also be utilized with
the present subject matter as well, e.g., single ovens, electric
cooktop ovens, gas cooktops ovens, etc. Moreover, aspects of the
present subject matter may be used in any other consumer or
commercial appliance where it is desirable to efficiently heat a
cooking chamber.
[0030] Referring now generally to FIGS. 2 through 5, a heating
assembly 200 which may be used to heat cooking chambers 120, 122 of
oven appliance 100 will be described according to an exemplary
embodiment of the present subject matter. Specifically, according
to the illustrated embodiment, oven appliance 100 may include two
heating assemblies 200, each being placed in thermal communication
with one of upper cooking chamber 120 and lower cooking chamber
122. In general, heating assemblies 200 are illustrated as
low-profile bake assemblies (replacing lower heating elements 154),
but could alternatively replace upper heating elements 152 or may
be configured in any other suitable manner within other appliance
100. The exemplary embodiment described herein is not intended to
limit the scope of the present subject matter in any manner.
[0031] Referring for example to heating assembly 200 positioned
below lower cooking chamber 122, e.g., outside lower cooking
chamber 122 beneath bottom wall 136 along the vertical direction V.
Heating assembly 200 generally includes an upper plate or a first
plate 202 which is spaced apart from chamber wall 204 (e.g., bottom
wall 136) to define an airgap 206 therebetween. In addition,
heating assembly 200 includes a heating element 210 (e.g., such as
lower heating element 154) which is positioned adjacent to first
plate 202 opposite from airgap 206. In other words, first plate 202
and airgap 206 are positioned between chamber wall 204 and heating
element 210. As explained in more detail below, airgap 206 serves
to distribute heat generated by a heating element 210.
[0032] As used herein, the term "airgap" is intended to refer to an
open space defined between chamber wall 204 and first plate 202.
Airgap 206 generally contains no appliance components or features,
leaving a substantially open space through which air may circulate
to distribute heat generated by heating elements 210. However, it
should be appreciated that airgap 206 may include various features
for directing air or spreading the flow of heat within airgap 206,
such as baffles, flow guiding features, or other components. In
addition, although airgap 206 is illustrated as a passive thermal
distribution system, active air flow features may be used according
to alternative embodiments. In this regard, for example, one or
more fans may be used to circulate air within airgap 206.
[0033] As shown, heating assembly 200 may further include a lower
plate or a second plate 212 that is coupled to first plate 202 to
define a heater cavity 214. As illustrated, heating element 210 is
positioned with in heater cavity 214. In addition to heating
element 210, heating assembly 200 may further include a service
heater 220 that is also positioned within heater cavity 214.
Service heater 220 may be identical to heating element 210 (e.g.,
may be a heating element 150) but is not hooked up, powered, or
otherwise energized for producing heat unless and until heating
element 210 fails. If heating element 210 fails, a repair
technician may disconnect heating element 210 and can connect
service heater 222 to a power source and/or controller 166, which
may then operate service heater 220 as a redundant backup to the
inoperative heating element 210.
[0034] According to exemplary embodiments, first plate 202 and
second plate 212 are upper and lower plates that extend
substantially along the entire width and depth of chamber wall 204,
e.g., bottom wall 136. First plate 202 and second plate 212 may be
riveted or otherwise fastened together to define heater cavity 214
for receiving heating element 210 and/or service heater 220.
Specifically, when assembled, first plate 202 and second plate 212
may extend between rear wall 138 and front opening 140 along the
transverse direction T, and along the lateral direction L between a
first side wall and a second side wall of lower cooking chamber 122
(or any other suitable cooking chamber). First plate 202 and second
plate 212 may be fastened together in any suitable manner. For
example, according to the illustrated embodiment, first plate 202
and second plate 212 are joined using one or more fastening joints
or rivets 222. By contrast according to alternative embodiments,
first plate 202 and second plate 212 may be joined using any other
suitable mechanical fastener, by welding, or may be a single sheet
of metal that is bent or otherwise formed to define heater cavities
214.
[0035] First plate 202 and second plate 212 may be constructed from
any suitable material and may have any suitable size and
configuration for improving the distribution of heat energy along
the entire chamber wall 204. For example, according to the
illustrated embodiment, first plate 202 and second plate 212 are
formed from aluminized steel to provide good heat conduction. In
addition, according to exemplary embodiments, first plate 202 and
second plate 212 may include a coating 224 that minimizes transfer
of heat through thermal infrared radiation. For example, such
coating 224 may be an aluminum ceramic paint or another low
infrared emitting coating or plating.
[0036] Heating assembly 200 may further include standoff features
230 which are defined on first plate 202 or on chamber wall 204 for
defining airgap 206. Specifically, according to the illustrated
embodiment, standoff features 230 are simple metal brackets that
extend from first plate 202 toward chamber wall 204 and seat
against the chamber wall 204 to maintain a constant airgap 206.
Alternatively, rivets 222 may be formed such that they have an
extension or otherwise protrude from first plate 202 to define
airgap 206.
[0037] As illustrated, airgap 206 may define a gap size (e.g.
identified herein by reference numeral 232, see FIG. 5) which is
substantially constant along an entire width and depth of chamber
wall 204. In this regard, airgap 206 extends along the transverse
direction T between rear wall 138 in front opening 140 and along
the lateral direction L between a first side wall and a second side
wall of cooking chamber 122. According to exemplary embodiments,
gap size 232 may be less than about 20 millimeters, less than 10
millimeters, or less than 5 millimeters. Alternatively, gap size
232 may be greater than 1 mm, greater than 3 millimeters, or
greater than 5 millimeters. In addition, although airgap 206 is
illustrated herein as having a constant gap size 232, it should be
appreciated that according to alternative embodiments, gap size 232
may vary a long a width and depth of chamber wall 204.
[0038] As described above, heating assembly 200 includes features
for efficiently distributing thermal energy from heating elements
210 along an entire width and depth of chamber wall 204. In this
regard, first plate 202 and second plate 212 facilitate improved
conduction away from heating elements 210 along a width and depth
of plates 202, 212. In addition, first plate 202 minimizes direct
radiant energy onto chamber wall 204. Furthermore, airgap 206
provides for homogenization of air heated by heating elements 210.
Thus, hot air may circulate within airgap 206 to provide uniform
heating to chamber wall 204. In this manner, heating elements 210
may be operated at a higher power relative to conventional heating
elements, due in part to the uniform heating and the elimination of
hotspots which would otherwise limit the maximum heating power.
Thus, while maintaining acceptable watt density, the total thermal
power crossing chamber wall 204 may increase, preheat times may be
reduced, and user satisfaction may be improved.
[0039] This written description uses examples to disclose the
invention, including the best mode, and also to enable any person
skilled in the art to practice the invention, including making and
using any devices or systems and performing any incorporated
methods. The patentable scope of the invention is defined by the
claims, and may include other examples that occur to those skilled
in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope
of the claims if they include structural elements that do not
differ from the literal language of the claims, or if they include
equivalent structural elements with insubstantial differences from
the literal languages of the claims.
* * * * *