EP2075509B1

EP2075509B1 - Oven door

Info

Publication number: EP2075509B1
Application number: EP07124130A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Erman Osmanoglu; Ates Kumbaraci
Original assignee: Vestel Beyaz Esya Sanayi ve Ticaret AS
Current assignee: Vestel Beyaz Esya Sanayi ve Ticaret AS
Priority date: 2007-12-28
Filing date: 2007-12-28
Publication date: 2011-11-02
Anticipated expiration: 2027-12-28
Also published as: ATE532010T1; PT2075509E; ES2376652T3; EP2075509A1; DK2075509T3

Abstract

The present invention relates to an oven door (1) comprising a front panel (2) provided with an outer glass; side profiles (3,3') and an upper profile (4) behind the panel (2) for glass assembly; an inner glass (5) attached to said profiles (3,3',4) and at least one middle glass (6); and at least one spring (7) positioning said glasses (5,6). The side profiles (3,3') are positioned on two sides at the rear of the panel (2), whereas the upper profile (4) is positioned on the upper rear side of said panel (2) so as to join the side profiles (3,3') from their upper parts. Said glasses (5,6) are attached between said profiles (3,3',4).

Description

Technical Field

The present invention relates to cooking ovens comprising doors equipped with glasses detachable for cleaning purposes.

Background Art

It is known that glasses provided on the doors of cooking ovens are used to see the oven's interior. The facts that the vapor resulting from a food or any particles spattering from a food being cooked in the oven deposit on the door glass, and that such deposited materials dry in time with the high internal temperature make it hard to clean off such created dirt. Since such glasses are generally fixed to the door and cannot be detached, the results obtained by externally-performed cleaning are generally unsatisfactory. This fact results in the need of detaching the glasses from the oven door to have them cleaned separately. On the other hand, even with screw-type connections provided on such door glasses to make them attachable/detachable, the users face difficulties or even fail in detaching/attaching such glasses to/from the oven doors.
With respect to the background art, the published patent application EP1647775 discloses an oven door comprising a plurality of glasses and a spring-coupling apparatus positioning these glasses. The solution brought with this application is oriented to the assembly of glasses merely, whereas nothing is provided to easily remove and assemble back the glasses for cleaning purposes. For this reason, an oven door with easily removed glasses is provided with the present invention as disclosed in details in the following paragraphs.
In another prior art document EP1073180 , which is a published patent application, an oven door with detachable glasses is disclosed. In this document, the oven door has plurality of springs which exerts compression force on to oven glasses and each spring is related to a single glass. Because of using plurality of springs for the oven door, assembly of the door requires more connection parts and mounting effort. Also, glasses in the door are only supported form their top and bottom sides. There is no supporting for the left and right sides of the glasses. However, in the present invention, plurality of glasses are held by a special formed spring. Additionally, middle glass is supported from its upper, lower, left and right sides. This allows more reliable construction when compared to state of art.
This document discloses the preamble of claim 1.

Brief Description of Invention

The invention relates to an oven door according to claim 1.
The subject oven door comprises a front panel equipped with an outer glass, glass assembly profiles provided behind the panel, and a middle glass and inner glass assembled to these profiles. The positioning of the inner glass and the middle glass is carried out by means of said profiles and springs attached thereto (i.e. profiles). The glasses are placed in channels and slots provided on the profile margins, whereas said springs are used to make firm their positions. In this manner, any displacement of glasses out of the user's will within said channel and slots are avoided. Thanks to this arrangement, no auxiliary apparatus is required by the user to remove the glasses. In order to remove the glasses, firstly the door is opened to a small extent, the inner glass is driven upwards manually within its own channel, and the glass is released from the connecting tabs provided on the lower part of the glass. Then the glass is lifted upward from beneath and driven outward in a sloped manner so as to release the glass from the upper connection tabs. Thus, the glass already released from the lower and upper connection tabs is removed completely, The middle glass -if provided any on the door- is detached and removed from the door in a similar manner. For attaching the glasses back to the door, the steps indicated above are conducted reversely, The glass is driven toward the upper connection tab in a sloped manner, then made horizontal, and attached to the lower connection tab. These steps outline the assembly of glass to the oven door. While detaching or attaching the glass, the force to be overcome is only the spring force. The spring force is of such a magnitude that allows both the fixation of glass in place, and the detachment of glass manually. Said spring has a plate form so as to exert a downward force on the glasses from their upper margins. In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention illustrated in annexed figures, said springs are provided on the edge of said profiles, as one mutual spring couple at least. Each individual spring is formed to exert force to at least one glass at the same time (but to exert force to two glasses, i.e, the inner glass and middle glass, in the exemplary embodiment of the present invention).

Objective of Invention

The objective of the present invention is to provide a cooking oven door equipped with glasses which can manually and easily be detached and attached back without requiring the use of any apparatus.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide the opportunity to detach and remove only the inner glass and middle glass of the oven door without disassembling any other part, and attaching back said glasses in the same manner.
A further objective of the present invention is to provide the opportunity to release the glasses from their slots, or to fix them back by only driving said glasses for- or backward.
Yet another objective of the present invention is to position at least one of the springs that retain the glasses in place, so as to exert force to one glass or to a plurality of glasses concurrently.

Description of Figures

Illustrative embodiments of the subject oven door are illustrated in annexed figures briefly described hereunder.

Figure 1 is a front perspective view of the subject oven door.
Figure 2 is a top perspective view of an oven door brought to the horizontal position.
Figure 3 is a perspective view of the oven door without the inner glass.
Figure 4 is a perspective view of the oven door without the inner and middle glasses.
Figure 5 is a perspective view of the oven door without the inner and middle glasses and without the upper profile.
Figure 6 is a perspective view of the oven door with one side profile and spring.
Figure 7 is a perspective view of the oven door with one side profile.
Figure 8 is a perspective view of the side profile.
Figure 9 is a perspective view of the upper profile.
Figure 10 is a perspective view of a spring couple.
Figure 11 is a perspective view illustrating the first step of detaching the inner glass.
Figure 12 is a perspective view illustrating the second step of detaching the inner glass.
Figure 13 is a perspective view of the middle glass, while it is not detached.
Figure 14 is a perspective view illustrating the first step of detaching the middle glass.
Figure 15 is a perspective view illustrating the second step of detaching the middle glass.
Figure 16 is a perspective view of the oven door with the glasses detached.
Figure 17 is another perspective view of the oven door with the glasses detached.

The parts in said figures are individually enumerated as following.

Oven door (1)
Front panel (2)
Side profiles (3, 3')
Upper profile (4)
Inner glass (5)
Middle glass (6)
Springs (7, 7')
Springs (8, 8')
Upper surface (30)
Settling surface (31)
Connection tab (32)
A couple of connection tabs (33a)
Outer connection tab (33a')
Inner connection tab (33a")
A couple of connection tabs (33b)
Outer connection tab (33b')
Inner connection tab (33b")
Hole (34)
Flap (35)
Surface (40)
Hole (44)
Side edges (51, 51')
Lower edge (52)
Upper edge (52')
Side edges (61, 61')
Lower edge (62)
Upper edge (62')
Frame (71)
Segments (72, 73)
Hole (74)
Hole (81)

Detailed Description of Invention

The oven door (1) illustrated in figures 1-17 comprises a front panel (2) provided with an outer glass; side profiles (3; 3') and upper profile (4) provided behind the panel (2) for glass assembly; an inner glass (5) attached to these profiles (3, 3', 4), at least one middle glass (6) between the outer glass and inner glass (5); and at least one spring couple (7, 7') positioning said glasses (5, 6).
The side profiles (3, 3') among the profiles (3, 3', 4) illustrated in figures 4 to 9 are positioned on two sides at the rear of the panel (2), whereas the upper profile (4) is positioned on the upper and rear part of said panel (2) so as to join the side profiles (3, 3') from their upper parts. Said springs (7, 7'), on the other hand, are positioned on the joining section of said side profiles (3, 3') with the upper profile (4).
A settling surface (31) provided at one edge of the upper surface (30) of the illustrative side profile (3) shown in Figure 8 is formed to hold the inner glass (5) and has a stepwise formation relatively lower than the upper surface. The other side profile (3') -in symmetry with said profile (3)- blocks the sidewise displacement of the upper glass (5), once the side profiles (3, 3') are placed in the panel with their settling surfaces (31) facing each other mutually. The lower part of each profile (3) is provided with a "U" shaped connection tab (32), wherein the lower edge (52) of the inner glass (5) is accommodated (Figure 11), and which is formed to block both the downward displacement of the glass (5) and the outward displacement of the glass (5) in a direction perpendicular to such downward displacement. The upper part of the inner glass (5) extends into the interior of the upper profile (4). The configuration of the upper edge (52') of the inner glass (5) that allows said edge (52') to remain under a surface (40) of the upper profile (4) extending downwardly (illustrated in Figure 9) blocks it against any displacement (Figure 11). The inner glass (5) is also subjected to the downward force of springs (7, 7') provided at the upper part of profiles (3, 3') so that its displacement in all directions is blocked. In this position, the inner glass (5) can only displace a small distance toward the upper profile (4). This case, however, can only occur if the force is overcome of the springs (7, 7') that exert force on the upper edge (52') of the glass (5) (Figure 11).
The spring couple (7, 7') illustrated in Figure 10 is formed symmetrically, and as indicated above are positioned on the joining section of said side profiles (3, 3') with the upper profile (4). The spring (7, 7') body (71) is made from a curvature-bent sheet-metal piece. Said spring body (71) is split into as many segments (72, 73) as the number of glasses to be fastened so that one spring clamps at least one glass (these segments are shown in two -72 and 73- in annexed figures); for instance, while the upper edge (52') of the inner glass (5) is clamped by one segment (73), the upper edge (62') of the middle glass (6) is clamped by another segment (72) (Figure 13).
Additionally, at least one assembly hole (74) is provided on said springs (7, 7'). Each assembly hole (74) is fastened to the holes (34) provided on the upper part of the side profiles (3, 3') (illustrated in figures 6 and 8) by means of a connection element passed through itself.
Said springs (7, 7') can also be positioned at other locations on the door (e.g. on the upper profile (4) or at any point behind the front panel) so as to exert a downward force on the upper edges (52', 62') of glasses (5, 6) in different embodiments of the present invention. With respect to the assembly of said parts, the holes (44) on two sides of the upper surface of the upper profile (4) are aligned to other holes (34, 74) mentioned above.
Thanks to the segmented structure (72, 73) of springs (7, 7'), they can be attached to the rear parts of more than one glass panel (two panels are shown in the figures), e.g. one middle glass (6), in addition to the inner glass (5), can be used between the front panel (2) and inner glass (5) (as illustrated in figures 13 to 15). The middle glass (6) is positioned so that the side edges (61, 61') of this glass (Figure 13) become displaceable between the lower and upper tab couples (33a, 33b) (Figure 8) provided on the mutually-facing surfaces of the side profiles (3, 3'). One (33a) of the connection tab couples (33a, 33b) is close to the upper profile (4) side of the profile (3), while the other (33b) is relatively closer to the lower side. The outer tab (33a') of the tab couple (33a) closer to the upper side is closer to the upper side as compared to the inner tab (33a"). And the outer tab (33b') of the tab couple (33b) which is closer to the lower side is more close to the lower side as compared to the inner tab (33b"). The downward displacement of the middle glass (6) is blocked by means of a flap (35) (Figure 8) provided at a point closer to the lower part. Put differently, the lower edge (62) of the middle glass (6) (Figure 13) is leaned on the flap (35) provided at each side profile (3, 3'). As illustrated in Figure 17, one spring couple (8, 8') is provided at the parts -where the side profiles (3, 3') combine with the front panel (2)- to exert force on the front surface of the middle glass (6). Like the inner glass (5), the middle glass (6) is also displaceable toward the interior of the upper profile (4) to a small extent. In order to have such a displacement, the force exerted by the springs (7, 7', 8, 8') must be overcome. These springs (8, 8') are also shaped with a bent metal sheet formation and are fastened to the side profiles (3, 3') by means of at least one hole (81) provided on themselves (Figure 7).
As mentioned above, there are springs (7, 7', 8, 8') provided on the side profiles (3, 3') to be used for positioning the inner glass (5) and the middle glass (6) between the profiles (3, 3', 4). The positions of the springs (8, 8') clamping the middle glass can be altered as long as they fulfill their functions. In other words, each spring (8, 8') can be assembled at other points on the relevant side profile (3, 3') or directly at the rear of the front panel (2). Said glasses (5, 6) can only displace a small distance toward one side, e.g. toward the upper profile (4) side at the examples. In order to have such a displacement, however, the user must push the glasses (5, 6) at this direction so as to overcome the force of springs (7, 7', 8, 8').
In order to detach the inner glass (5) from the oven door (1), the following steps (illustrated in figures 11 and 12) are to be taken. First of all, to remove the inner glass (5), the glass (5) is driven toward the interior of the upper profile (4) (Figure 11). Once the lower part of the glass (5) is released from the connection tabs (32) at the lower part of the side profiles (3, 3'), this lower part of the glass (5) is moved away from the panel (2) (illustrated in Figure 12). Following this step, the glass (5) is pulled downward until the upper edge (52') of the glass (5) is removed from beneath the surface (40) of the upper profile (4) extending downwardly. Once the glass (5) is released from beneath said surface (40), it becomes entirely detached from the oven door (Figure 13).
For attaching back said glass (5), the above given steps are repeated in a reverse order. In other words, the upper edge of the glass (5) is pushed in a sloped manner toward beneath said surface (40) so that the springs (7, 7') exert force on the upper edge (52') of the glass (5), and the lower part of the glass is brought close to the panel (2). In this manner, the side edges of the glass (5) settle on the settling surface (31) provided at the side profiles (3, 3'). In a final step, the glass (5) is pushed downwards so that its lower edge become settled into the connection tabs (32) -in this position, the upper edge (52') of the glass (5) still remains below said surface (40). So the assembly of the upper glass (5) to the oven door (1) is completed.
And to insert the middle glass (6) through the oven door (1), the following steps (illustrated in figures 14 and 15) are to be taken. First of all, to remove the middle glass (6), the glass (6) is driven toward the interior of the upper profile (4) (Figure 14). Once the upper surface of glass (6) is released from the outer connection tabs (33b') at the lower edge (62) (figure 14), this lower part of the glass (6) is moved away from the panel (2) (illustrated in Figure 15). After this step, the glass (6) is pulled downward until the upper edge (62') of the glass (6) is removed from beneath the outer tab (33a') at the upper part. Once the glass (6) is released from said tab (33a'), it becomes entirely detached from the oven door (figures 16 and 17).
For attaching back said glass (6), the above given steps are repeated in a reverse order. In other words, the upper edge (62') of the glass (6) is pushed in a sloped manner between the inner and outer tabs (33a", 33a') of the tab couple (33a) at the upper part so that the springs (7, 7') exert force on the upper edge (62') of the glass (6), and the lower part of the glass (6) is brought close to the panel (2). In this manner, the side edges (61, 61') of the glass (6) settle on the inner tab couples (33a", 33b") provided at the side profiles (3, 3'). And as a final step, the glass (6) is pushed downward so that the side edges of the glass are entirely positioned between the tab couples (33a, 33b), and the lower edge (62) of the glass (6) is leaned on said flap (35) -in this position, the springs (8, 8') exert force on the surface of glass (6) facing the front panel (2). So the assembly of the middle glass (6) to the oven door (1) is completed.

Claims

An oven door (1) comprising a front panel (2) provided with an outer glass; symmetrical side profiles (3, 3') and an upper profile (4) provided behind said panel (2) and used for glass assembly; an inner glass (5) attached to said profiles (3, 3', 4), and at least one middle glass (6) provided between said outer glass and inner glass (5); and at least one spring (7) positioning said glasses (5, 6), wherein :
one "U" shaped connection tab (32) is provided at the lower part of each of said profiles (3, 3') where the lower edge (52) of the inner glass (5) is introduced;

the upper part (52') of the inner glass (5) remains beneath one surface (40) of the upper profile (4) provided on the upper part of said side profiles (3, 3');

the at least one spring (7) is positioned so as to exert downward force on the upper edge (52') of the inner glass (5); and

the inner glass (5) is displaceable once it is pushed toward the upper profile (4) until it becomes free from the lower connection tabs (32).
and said oven door (1) is characterized in that

settling surfaces (31) with a stepwise formation are provided on both mutual edges of both side profiles (3, 3') where two mutual side edges (51, 51') of the inner glass (5) are settled;

and,

said at least one spring (7) has a plate-shaped body (71) which has a plurality of segments (72, 73), each such segment (72, 73) clamping one glass (5,6).
An oven door (1) according to Claim 1, wherein a flap (35) -onto which is settled the lower edge (62) of the at least one middle glass (6)- is provided on the lower part of each side profile (3, 3') and on the side profiles' (3, 3') mutually facing surfaces; one lower and one upper tab couple (33a, 33b) are provided on lower and upper sides respectively of said surfaces to position said at least one middle glass (6) there between; and said at least one spring (7) is positioned so as to exert downward force on the upper part (62') of said at least one middle glass (6).
An oven door (1) according to Claim 2, characterized in that -among the connection tab couple (33b) positioned relatively closer to the lower side of each profile (3, 3')- an outer tab (33b') over the at least one middle glass (6) is closer to the lower side as compared to an inner tab (33b") positioned under the at least one middle glass (6).
An oven door (1) according to Claim 2, characterized in that -among the connection tab couple (33a) positioned relatively closer to the upper side of each profile (3, 3')- an outer tab (33a') that becomes located over the at least one middle glass (6) is closer to the upper side as compared to the inner tab (33a") positioned under the at least one middle glass (6).
An oven door (1) according to Claim 3, characterized in that at least one middle glass (6) is displaceable toward the interior of the upper profile (4) until the lower edge (62) of the at least one middle glass (6) becomes released from the outer connection tab (33b'), once the at least one middle glass (6) is pushed toward the upper profile (4).
An oven door (1) according to Claim 2, characterized in that one spring couple (8, 8') is provided at the section where each side profile (3, 3') combines or joins with the front panel (2) to exert force on the front surface of the at least one middle glass (6).
An oven door (1) according to Claim 6, characterized in that said springs (8, 8') have bent sheet-metal formations.
An oven door (1) according to Claim 6, characterized in that at least one hole (81) is provided on each spring (8, 8') for assembly to the side profiles (3, 3').
An oven door (1) according to Claim 1, characterized in that at least one assembly hole (74) is provided on said at least one spring (7).
An oven door (1) according to Claim 9, characterized in that said at least one spring (7) is attached to a hole (34) on at least one side profile (3, 3') by means of a connection element passed through each assembly hole (74).