EP0164454A1

EP0164454A1 - Gas cooker

Info

Publication number: EP0164454A1
Application number: EP84200857A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Gerardus Jan Marie Timmermans
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1982-11-17
Filing date: 1984-06-13
Publication date: 1985-12-18
Also published as: NL8204458A

Abstract

A gas cooker comprising a gas jet (6) and a detachable or non-detachable pan-supporting member (2) in the vicinity thereof, and cooperating therewith, and having one or more through apertures therein, which permit a direct contact of the gas flame with thebottom side of the pan to be put on, in which said one or more apertures of the pan-supporting member are sealable in cooperation with at least the pan bottom; the pan-supporting member is peripherally provided with a rim (23) arranged to cooperate with the pan bottom to form a gas combustion space (7) that is in open, closable or non-closable communication with the atmosphere, and is arranged to be coupled by means of a connecting channel (11) to at least a second, rimmed pan-supporting member (3) which at the pan-supporting side is also of an open structure sealable in cooperation with at least the pan bottom, thereby to provide, together with the rim, an enclosed space (8) communicating with said connecting channel, said second pan supporting member having one or more closable or non-closable vent apertures connected with the atmosphere.

Description

The invention relates to a gas cooker comprising a gas jet and a detachable or non-detachable pan-supporting member in the vicinity thereof and cooperating therewith, and having one or more through apertures therein which permit a direct contact of the gas flame with the bottom side of the pan to be put on.
In known gas cookers, such as domestic gas-rings or cooking- ranges, the pan-supporting members may have various forms. Generally speaking, the prior pan-supporting members are designed and dimensioned so that pans may be positioned over the gas jets for them to be stably supported and well-centred. Moreover, the construction is selected to be as open as possible, i.e. the aim is for the supply of air to the gas combustion zone around the gas jet and for the removal of the combustion gases from this zone to be obstructed as little as possible.
Taking the above desirable properties of the pan supporting members into account, these may also be combined with loose pan-supporting elements often purporting to avoid a direct contact of the gas flame with the pan bottom, while retaining the freedom of gas transport into and out of the gas combustion zone around the gas jet.
It is evident that, in prior pan-supporting members, attention has been paid one-sidedly to the pan-supporting, centering and flame-distributing functions thereof, without regard to an optimum use of the heat that becomes available during the combustion. Practice has shown that the combustion gases ascending around the pans and flowing to the chimney still have a considerable heat content.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to achieve an improved useful effect of the heat that becomes available during the combustion of gas in a gas cooker.
For this purpose, according to the invention, there is provided a gas cooker of the kind defined in the opening paragraph hereof, which is characterized in that said one or more apertures of the pan-supporting member are sealable in cooperation with at least the pan bottom; the pan-supporting member is peripherally provided with a rim arranged to cooperate with the pan-bottom to form a gas combustion space that is in open,closable or non-closable communication with the atmosphere, and is arranged to be coupled by means of a connecting channel to at least a second, rimmed, pan-supporting member which at the pan supporting . side is also of an open structure sealable in cooperation with at least the pan bottom, thereby to provide, together with the rim, an enclosed space comamicating with said connecting channel, said second pan supporting member having one or more closable or non-closable vent apertures connected with the atmosphere.
According to the invention the gas jet concerned and the pan-supporting member associated therewith together form a master combustion zone, to which one or more heating spaces can be connected. Thus, for example, it has been found that, in a standard gas-fired cooking-range for domestic purposes with 4 gas jets, i.e. 4 sources of heat, while retaining 4 sources of heat, these may also be composed, according to the invention, from one of the gas jets with the corresponding pan-supporting member as the master combustion zone, to which are connected the second and a third combustion space and also a fourth combustion space connected to the second and third combustion spaces. Surprisingly it has been found that when the four sources of heat of such a cooking-range modified in accordance with the invention for cooking purposes, a saving in gas consumption of approximately 50% can be achieved without unduly prolonging the cooking time.
According to one embodiment of the invention, to which embodiment the invention also relates, in a standard gas cooker, e.g. a 4-jet cooking-range, one gas jet may be assembled by the manufacturer to the master combustion zone at a fixed part of the apparatus, supplying the other combustion spaces as loose individual elements to be connected in accordance with the invention, to each other and to the master fire, or as an integral accessory already assembled to a structual unit and to be connected to the master combustion zone. On the other hand, in one embodiment to which the invention accordingly also relates, it is possible for the pan-supporting member which together with the gas jet forms the master combustion zone to be supplied as a loose element beside the other elements serving as a source of heat, or in the form of an integral accessory forming a structual unit.
The invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings, which, by way of example, show one embodiment of a detachable integral accessory to be placed on a 4-jet gas cooker to form, in combination with one gas jet, a master combustion zone and three other heating sources adjacent to the other three gas jets of the gas cooker, which are not to be ignited. In said drawings

_Fig. 1 diagrammatically shows the accessory in plan view;
Fig. 2 shows the accessory in side-elevational view, taken on the line II-II of Fig. 1;
Fig. 3 shows the accessory in side-elevational view, taken on the line III-III of Fig. 1; and
Fig. 4 diagrammatically shows a survey of the possible embodiments of the integral accessory or the corresponding diagram of connections within the framework of the integral accessory shown in Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, the accessory designated by 1 comprises the pan-supporting member 2 which, provided with a rim 23, together with the gas jet 6 forms the master combustion zone 7, and further the pan-supporting members 3, 4 and 5, which together with their respective rims 33 form the respective heating spaces 8, 9 and 10. These heating spaces 8, 9 and 10 are internally provided with cruciform gas-stream conducting channels 27, 28 and 29, which are closed at the bottom.
The master combustion zone 7 and the heating spaces 8, 9 and 10 are interconnected by means of connecting channels 11, 12, 13, 14, of which channels, 12, 13 and 14 are provided with butterfly valves 15, 16 and 17, with which the corresponding channel passageways can be closed.
The connecting channels 11, 12, 13, 14 are formed in two parts which are telescopic for adjustment of the correct desired spacing between the master combustion zone and the heating spaces. Once the desired spacing has been adjusted, it can be fixed by means of clamps 18, 19, 20, 21.
Connecting channel 11 is non-closable, so that the combustion gases formed in the master combustion zone 7 are. assured of a way of escape to the atmosphere, for which purpose combustion space 8 is additionally provided with closable apertures, not shown, venting to the atmosphere in order that combustion gases may escape to the atmosphere even if a pan is placed on heating space 8 and connecting channels 12 and 14 are closed.
The use and operation of the accessory are as follows.
The accessory is placed upon the gas cooker by means of fasteners 22. when gas jet 6 is ignited and the master combustion zone 7 is sealed by placing a pan or kettle on the pan-supporting member 7, the pan or kettle is partly heated by direct flame contact, while hot combustion gases flow via the connecting channels 11 and 12 to the heating spaces 8 and 9, and possibly through connecting channels 13 and 14 further to heating source 10 in accordance with arrows P.
There is a possibility of taking heating sources 9 and 10 of the system off-stream by closing connecting channels 14 and 15. Fig. 4 shows other possible variants of connections.
Naturally, the apparatus as described above and shown in the drawings can be modified without departing from the scope of the invention.
Thus, for example, heating sources 9 and 10 may be provided with a circular plate 24 and rings 25, 26, which can be separately removed in succession, whereby the open top of the heating sources 9 and 10 can be increased or decreased in area as desired,or can even be closed.
It is also possible, according to the invention, within a circuit of a master combustion zone and one or more other heating spaces connected to it, in addition to the master combustion zone to make another heating space suitable for use as a combustion zone in combination with a gas jet.
Furthermore, within heating spaces 8, 9, 10, the gas-current conducting channels may be omitted leaving the bottom side of said spaces fully open. This greatly simplifies the construction of the heating spaces, which is advantageous as far as cost is concerned.

Claims

1. A gas cooker comprising a gas jet and a detachable or non-detachable pan-supporting member in the vicinity thereof, and cooperating therewith, and having one or more through apertures therein, which permit a direct contact of the gas flame with the bottom side of the pan to be put on, characterized in that said one or more apertures of the pan-supporting member are sealable in cooperation with at least the pan bottom; the pan-supporting member is peripherally provided with a rim arranged to cooperate with the pan bottom to form a gas combustion space that is in open, closable or non-closable communication with the atmosphere, and is arranged to be coupled by means of a connecting channel to at least a second, rimmed pan-supporting member which at the pan-supporting side is also of an open structure sealable in cooperation with at least the pan bottom, thereby to provide, together with the rim, an enclosed space communicating with said connecting channel, said second pan supporting member having one or more closable or non-closable vent apertures connected with the atmosphere.

2. A gas cooker according to claim 1, characterized in that the length of the connecting channel between the first and the second pan-supporting member is adjustable.

3. A gas cooker according to claims 1-2, characterized in that the first and/or the second pan-supporting member are each arranged to be coupled via a separate connecting channel, which may or may not be adjustable in length, to a third or, respectively,to a third and a fourth pan-supporting member, each member being peripherally provided with a rim, which third or respective third and fourth pan-supporting members are, at the pan-supporting side thereof, of an open structure sealable ! in cooperation with at least the respective pan bottoms, thereby to provide, together with the respective rims, enclosed spaces communicating with the respective connecting channels, the third and fourth pan-supporting members being also arranged to be coupled together via a connecting channel, which may or may not adjustable in length, and is connected to the respective enclosed spaces, and the third or the third and fourth pan-supporting members being each provided with one or more closable apertures connected with the atmosphere.

4. A gas cooker according to claim 3, characterized in that the passageways of the connecting channels connecting the third and fourth pan-supporting members with each other and with the first and the second pan-supporting member are closable.

5. A gas cooker according to claims 1-4, characterized in that one of the gas jets and the pan-supporting member associated therewith are combined as a fixed part of the gas cooker to form the gas combustion space in cop[eration with the pan bottom.

6. A gas cooker according to claims 1-5, having two or more gas jets, characterized in that the pan-supporting members are positionable to suit the arrangement of the gas jets.

7. A combination of pan-supporting members, separate or combined to form one accessory, combinable with a gas cooker according to claims 1-6.