EP2546577A1

EP2546577A1 - Household cooking top and liner thereof

Info

Publication number: EP2546577A1
Application number: EP12175210A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Piergiorgio Gasparetti
Original assignee: Indesit Co SpA
Current assignee: Whirlpool EMEA SpA
Priority date: 2011-07-14
Filing date: 2012-07-05
Publication date: 2013-01-16
Anticipated expiration: 2032-07-05
Also published as: PL2546577T3; ITTO20110625A1; EP3034949A3; EP2546577B1; EP3034949A2

Abstract

The present invention relates to a household cooking top (1) of the type comprising:
- a first surface (10) which houses at least one cooking point (20);
- at least one heating element (30) associated with said at least one cooking point (20);
- a liner (40) adapted to protect at least one portion of said first surface (10).

The invention is characterized in that said liner (40) is made of a silicone-based material.

Description

The present invention relates to a household cooking top according to the preamble of claim 1.
The present invention typically applies to household cooking tops of the type comprising a plurality of burners, in particular gas burners, for cooking foods placed in cooking containers.
Cooking tops of this type are known and widespread, in different forms, in every household kitchen.
In some cases, such cooking tops are separate units; in other cases, such cooking tops are add-on components adapted to be flush-mounted in standard-size apertures or recesses obtained in the worktop of a sectional kitchen; or, in other cases, such cooking tops are the upper portion of a household appliance comprising an oven suitable for cooking foods.
Household cooking tops are generally equipped with a first surface that houses a plurality of cooking points.
In particular, with each cooking point at least one heating element is associated, e.g. a gas burner.
Generally, the heating element is associated with an adjuster element adapted to be operated by a user for turning on and/or off the burner, as well as for adjusting the heat generated by said burner, said adjuster element allowing the user to adjust the gas flow and hence the heat generated by combustion.
The cooking containers, e.g. pots and pans, containing the foods to be cooked, are placed over said cooking points.
Said first surface of the cooking top can become dirty. For instance, splashes of oil or other dressings may foul the first surface as foods are being cooked.
This implies that the cooking top, in particular said first surface thereof, needs to be cleaned; it is also appropriate to do such cleaning quite often, so as to prevent said first surface from getting encrusted with food and/or dressing residues, thus becoming more difficult to clean.
It is clear that this requires much user's work and time, and that such cleaning involves additional costs for purchasing suitable cleaning products.
Furthermore, the first surface of the cooking top may be subject to accidental and unpleasant scratches, e.g. due to rubbing with inadequate cleaning products (such as insufficiently soft sponges).
Document EP2258990 to the present Applicant relates to a cooking top comprising a first surface which houses a plurality of cooking points and a liner which is adapted to protect at least one portion of said first surface. In particular, said liner comprises a plurality of sheets stacked one on top of the other and reciprocally separable; hence, the user can remove the uppermost sheet when it has become dirty, so as to uncover a clean sheet which previously was at least partly covered by the uppermost sheet just removed. While it appropriately solves the problem of keeping the first surface of the cooking top clean, the cooking top of EP2258990 still has a few drawbacks.
In particular, a first drawback of the above-described solution is that the plurality of sheets stacked one on top of the other creates an excessively thick layer on the first surface of the cooking top and interferes with the proper operation thereof.
A further drawback of such a solution is that, in order to hold the sheets of said plurality of sheets stacked one on top of the other, adhesive materials are used which lose their effectiveness when placed near the heat irradiated from each cooking point of the cooking top.
In this frame, it is the main object of the present invention to overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks by providing a cooking top designed in a manner such that it can be easily kept clean and the user is not required to lose much time and energy.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a cooking top which is designed in a manner such that any additional costs for purchasing cleaning products are avoided. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a cooking top which is so designed as to avoid any accidental and unpleasant scratches.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a cooking top which is so designed as to ensure proper operation without being affected by the heat irradiated from each cooking point of the cooking top.
Said objects are achieved by the present invention through a household cooking top incorporating the features set out in the appended claims, which are intended to be an integral part of the present description.
Further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description and from the annexed drawings, which are supplied by way of non-limiting example, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a household cooking top according to the present invention;
Fig. 2 is an exploded view of the cooking top of Fig. 1.

Said description and said drawings are to be considered as non-limiting examples. Referring now to the drawings, in Fig. 1 reference numeral 1 designates as a whole a household cooking top according to the present invention:
Said cooking top 1 comprises a first surface 10, which houses at least one cooking point 20 (said at least one cooking point 20 being visible in particular in Fig. 2).
It is apparent that said first surface 10 is that surface which is substantially facing upwards once the cooking top 1 has been installed.
The cooking top 1 comprises at least one heating element 30 associated with said at least one cooking point 20. Preferably, said at least one heating element 30 consists of a gas burner; it is however clear that, in accordance with the present invention, a different type of heating element 30 may also be used, such as, for example, a radiating plate or an inductor. The first surface 10 may be made of metal or glass-ceramic, or a material derived from glass and/or ceramic.
In addition, the cooking top 1 comprises a liner 40 adapted to protect at least one portion of said first surface 10.
In accordance with the present invention, said liner 40 is made of a silicone-based material.
Preferably, said silicone-based material is the material known under the brand name SILOPREN LSR2660.
In a further preferred embodiment, the silicone-based material of the liner 40 is reinforced with glass fibre.
In particular, the thickness of the liner 40 according to the present invention is between 0.2 mm and 2 mm, preferably between 0.5 mm and 1 mm.
The particular realization of the liner 40 allows to provide adequate protection of the first surface 10 of the cooking top 1 without having to use an excessively thick liner 40 interfering with the proper operation of the cooking top 1.
Also, the particular realization of the liner 40 according to the present invention allows to avoid the use of adhesive materials, which may lose effectiveness when placed near the heat generated by the heating element 30.
The particular realization of the liner 40 also allows to obtain an element that can be easily washed (either manually or in a dishwasher) and reused, so that the first surface 10 and the whole cooking top 1 can be kept in optimal hygienic conditions.
Preferably, the liner 40 comprises at least one first aperture 41 adapted to allow a heating element 30 to pass through; the shape of said first aperture 41 may possibly be such as to also allow the passage of any accessories of the heating elements 30, such as, for example, a thermocouple and/or a spark plug (not shown in the annexed drawings). In addition, in a preferred embodiment the liner 40 comprises at least one ring 50 associated with said at least one first aperture 41; said ring 50 allows protecting the surface of the liner 40 which is closest to the heating element 30, i.e. the one which is exposed most to the heat coming from the heating element 30.
Preferably, said at least one ring 50 is made of a metallic material, in particular steel or aluminium, or in a polymeric material characterized by high heat resistance; moreover, said at least one ring 50 may be associated with the liner 40 in different ways, e.g. by overmoulding or glueing or through mechanical fasteners. As an alternative, said ring 50 may also be simply laid onto the liner 40, which in such a case will be fitted with suitable reference means (not shown) for properly positioning the ring 50.
Said at least one ring 50 may also be so designed as to have a flat section, or else a dished or bent section, e.g. a U section; in particular, said dished or bent section makes it easier to insert therein a sticky material in order to associate the ring 50 with the liner 40.
As can be seen in the annexed drawings, the cooking top 1 may further comprise at least one adjuster element 31 adapted to be operated by a user for turning on and/or off and/or for adjusting said at least one heating element 30.
The annexed drawings show a plurality of cooking points 20 associated with a plurality of heating elements 30, which in turn are associated with a plurality of adjuster elements 31.
If said at least one adjuster element 31 is positioned on the first surface 10 of the cooking top 1, the liner 40 can be so designed as to:

include a recess 40R that leaves uncovered that portion of the cooking top 1 where said at least one adjuster element 31 is located (as shown in Fig. 2), or
include at least one second aperture (not shown in the drawings) adapted to allow said at least one adjuster element 31 to pass through. Alternatively, said second aperture may allow the passage of a control interface (not shown in the drawings) or of an additional component of the cooking top 1.

The cooking top 1 further comprises at least one grate 60 adapted to support a cooking vessel (not shown in the drawings) above said at least one cooking point 20 and said at least one heating element 30.
The grate 60 may be unnecessary if the rings 50 have adequate height and shape to be able to support the cooking vessels.
It is apparent from the above that the liner 40 is installed on the cooking point 1 in the following steps:

a) clearing at least one portion of a first surface 10 of the cooking point 1, said first surface 10 being adapted to house at least one cooking point 20;
b) positioning the liner 40 on said at least one portion of the first surface 10, in particular by inserting at least one heating element 30 into at least one first aperture 41 of the liner 40.

It is clear that said step b) of positioning the liner 40 on said at least one portion of the first surface 10 may also be carried out by inserting at least one adjuster element 31 into at least one second aperture 42 of the liner 40.
Furthermore, said step b) of positioning the liner 40 on said at least one portion of the first surface 10 may be followed by a step c) of associating at least one grate 60 with the cooking top 1, in particular by positioning said grate 60 at least partially on said liner 40, said at least one grate 60 being adapted to support a cooking vessel (not shown in the drawings) above said at least one cooking point 20 and said at least one heating element 30.
In addition, step a) of clearing at least one portion of a first surface 10 of the cooking top 1 may be carried out by removing said at least one grate 60 and possibly also at least one heating element 30 from said at least one cooking point 20, in particular if said heating element 30 cannot pass through said first apertures 41.
The features and advantages of the cooking top 1 and of the liner 40 thereof according to the present invention are apparent from the above description.
In particular, this design of the cooking top 1 and of the liner 40 allows to ensure adequate protection of the first surface 10 of said cooking top 1 without having to use an excessively thick liner 40 that interferes with the proper operation of the cooking top 1.
Also, the particular realization of the cooking top 1 and of the liner 40 according to the present invention allows to avoid the use of adhesive materials, which may lose effectiveness when placed near the heat generated by the heating element 30.
The particular realization of the cooking top 1 and of the liner 40 also allows to obtain an element that can be easily washed (either manually or in a dishwasher) and reused, so that the first surface 10 and the whole cooking top 1 can be kept in optimal hygienic conditions.
The presence of a ring 50 associated with said at least one first aperture 41 of the liner 40 allows to protect the surface of said liner 40 which is exposed most to the heat coming from the heating element 30.
The cooking top and the liner described herein by way of example may be subject to many possible variations without departing from the novelty spirit of the inventive idea; it is also clear that in the practical implementation of the invention the illustrated details may have different shapes or be replaced with other technically equivalent elements.
It can therefore be easily understood that the present invention is not limited to the above-described cooking top and liner, but may be subject to many modifications, improvements or replacements of equivalent parts and elements without departing from the inventive idea, as clearly specified in the following claims.

Claims

A household cooking top (1), of the type comprising:
- a first surface (10) which houses at least one cooking point (20);

- at least one heating element (30) associated with said at least one cooking point (20);

- a liner (40) adapted to protect at least one portion of said first surface (10), characterized in that
said liner (40) is made of a silicone-based material.
A cooking top (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that said silicone-based material is the material known under the brand name SILOPREN LSR2660.
A cooking top (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the silicone-based material of the liner (40) is reinforced with glass fibre.
A cooking top (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the thickness of said liner (40) is between 0.2 mm and 2 mm, preferably between 0.5 mm and 1 mm.
A cooking top (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that said liner (40) comprises at least one first aperture (41) adapted to allow one heating element (30) to pass through.
A cooking top (1) according to claim 5, characterized in that the shape of said first aperture (41) is such as to allow accessories of the heating element (30) to pass through.
A cooking top (1) according to one or more of claims 5 and 6, characterized in that said liner (40) comprises at least one ring (50) associated with said at least one first aperture (41).
A cooking top (1) according to claim 7, characterized in that said at least one ring (50) is made of a metallic material, in particular steel or aluminium, or of a polymeric material characterized by high heat resistance.
A cooking top (1) according to one or more of claims 7 to 8, characterized in that said at least one ring (50) is so designed as to have a flat section.
A cooking top (1) according to one or more of claims 7 to 8, characterized in that said at least one ring (50) is so designed as to have a dished or bent section.
A cooking top (1) according to claim 7, characterized in that said at least one ring (50) has a height and a shape which are adapted to support a cooking vessel.
A cooking top (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises at least one adjuster element (31) adapted to be operated by a user for turning on and/or off and/or for adjusting said at least one heating element (30).
A cooking top (1) according to claim 12, characterized in that said at least one adjuster element (31) is located on the first surface (10) of the cooking top (1), and said liner (40) is so designed as to include a recess (40R) that leaves uncovered that portion of the cooking top (1) where said at least one adjuster element (31) is located.
A cooking top (1) according to claim 12, characterized in that said at least one adjuster element (31) is located on the first surface (10) of the cooking top (1), and said liner (40) is so designed as to include at least one second aperture adapted to allow said at least one adjuster element (31) and/or a control interface and/or an additional component of the cooking top (1) to pass through.
A liner (40) for a cooking top (1) according to one or more of the preceding claims 1 to 14.