EP2751486B1

EP2751486B1 - Burner assembly for cooking equipments

Info

Publication number: EP2751486B1
Application number: EP12765981.1A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Marcos Raphael da SILVA; Rodrigo Freguilia de FÁVERI
Original assignee: Whirlpool SA
Current assignee: Whirlpool SA
Priority date: 2011-09-02
Filing date: 2012-08-28
Publication date: 2016-02-10
Anticipated expiration: 2032-08-28
Also published as: WO2013029138A8; WO2013029138A1; BRPI1104482A2; EP2751486A1; MX338811B; MX2014002456A; US20140318527A1

Description

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a burner assembly for cooking equipments, and more specifically to a burner provided with a spreading cover having two or more portico rings to output air-fuel mixture, which was developed to provide significant improvement in thermal efficiency and heat power of the equipment, in addition to presenting smooth geometry (both in the base and in the spreading cover) providing greater easiness of cleaning by the user, and which can also provide a simpler and more economical constructive process than similar known ones.

Background of the Invention

As is well known, the burners are components of stoves that are located close to the cooking table and comprise the elements responsible for receiving the fuel from the supply source (whether it a cylinder of liquefied petroleum gas or a public network of natural gas), mix it to ambient air and release the fuel-air mixture to burn, when requested by the user.
As it regards more specifically to the cooking equipment for domestic use, the burners are usually constituted by devices called bodies (or bases, as they are also called) having internal cavities which, when closed by spreading covers constitute chambers in which occurs the expansion of the mixture of air and fuel from the supply source. Such a mixture is delivered to perimeter region of the spreaders, and through openings known as porticos, the fuel-air mixture can flow out of the internal chamber and be safely burned in the outer face of the porticos.
The present invention differs from existing constructions for presenting more than one flame output ring. In the current state of the art, there is often only one of flame output ring, which limits the thermal efficiency of the burner since it does not allow the distribution of the flames under the entire surface of the cooking utensil.
Some types of burners such as those disclosed in documents CN 2229610 and CN 2835816 , allow the generation of two rings of flames through a crown-shaped construction, wherein each ring internally defines a mixing chamber containing porticos (or outlet orifices for the fuel-air mixture) in its integrated upper surface, which may possibly be coated by a lid (as shown for example in document CN 2835816 ). Note, however, that this type of burner provides a significantly complex constructive aspect of rustic appearance which requires that for each flame output ring, there is an independent mixing chamber.
Analogous construction, which also results in two rings of flames, can be observed in the burner disclosed by the document CN 2911448 that, despite a more conservative visual aspect and more proximal to the conventional, also includes an individual mixing chamber under each spreading cover provided with porticos for output of air-fuel mixture. This configuration shows a burner of construction and complex mounting and therefore costly that, moreover, also requires the manufacture and mounting of two individual covers of fittings at specific locations of the piece.
The document BR PI0112498 provides a construction in which a burner provided with two crowns of porticos have a single mixing chamber - but with very limited area due to various internal structures of the piece - which however still requires the use of two individual spreading covers on each flame output channel. Moreover, we note that the construction of the piece is extremely complex incurring in difficulties in cleaning and maintenance by users. Document EP 2466201 discloses a burner assembly according to the preamble of claim 1.
It is noted, however, that the present state of the art lacks a burner assembly for cooking equipments that enables the generation of more than one ring of porticos of output of air-fuel mixture without, therefore, requiring the construction of several spreading covers and which, moreover, preferably has a single mixing chamber and having smooth geometry (both in the base and in the spreading cover and in the porticos) providing greater easiness of cleaning by the user.

Objectives of the Invention

In view of the foregoing, it is an objective of the present invention to provide a burner assembly for cooking equipments that allows a better distribution of flames under the cooking utensil, resulting in higher thermal efficiency.
It is a further objective of the invention to provide a burner which has large total output area of air-fuel mixture by porticos, allowing work with high heat power.
Another objective among the objectives of the present invention is to reveal a burner assembly whose manufacturing process and installation is simple and therefore not very expensive.
Besides these, it is an objective of the invention to provide a burner assembly for cooking equipments that has smooth geometry, both in the porticos and in the body, providing easy cleaning on the part of end users.

Summary of the Invention

The present invention achieves the above objectives by means of a burner assembly according to claim 1
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, said base comprises in its inner region at least one supply orifice.
Furthermore, the spreading cover comprises at least one perimeter ring cooperating with the base and at least one disc cooperating with the perimeter ring.
A preferred embodiment of the invention also provides that the burner assembly preferably comprises a single internal mixing chamber cooperating with the porticos of the spreading cover.
In summary, the burner assembly comprises means for providing at least two flame rings from at least two rings of porticos existing in a spreading cover.
Preferably, the perimeter ring and the disc of the spreading cover comprises sinuous perimeters which constitute the rings of the porticos of the assembly.
Optionally, the porticos of the spreader can have any shape or a combination of shapes in one same ring of porticos or between the existing rings.
Also in a preferred embodiment, the porticos of the spreader have an elliptical shape wherein, however, any geometric configuration may alternatively be used - in a preferential manner, smooth geometries capable of providing easiness of cleaning for the user.
Preferably, the internal surface of the spreader may comprise at least one projection for engagement with existing slot(s) on the base, aiming the correct mounting by the end user, and wherein an optional construction may provide alternative positioning of the elements with coupling projection on the base and slots of the spreader. It should be noted, additionally, the invention may comprise any other system capable of assisting the user in the correct assembly of the spreader on the base without thereby escaping from the desired scope of protection.
Optionally, the base of the burner may be provided with a system of feed of any fuel-air mixture into the internal chamber of expansion of air-fuel mixture, in order to guarantee the supply of adequate amount of mixture to the combustion of gas that feeds the flame of the equipment.
Preferably such air supply system for the internal chamber of expansion comprises a fan or a blower.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The figures show:

Figure 1 - shows a perspective view of a burner assembly for the cooking equipment constructed according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 2 - shows an exploded perspective view of the embodiment illustrated in Figure 1;
Figure 3 - shows an elevation view of the embodiment illustrated in Figure 1;
Figure 4 - shows a top view of the embodiment illustrated in Figure 1;
Figure 5 - shows a longitudinal sectional view of the embodiment illustrated in Figure 1.

Detailed Description of the Invention

The accompanying Figure 1 shows a general view of burner assembly constructed according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention allowing visualization of the base 2 which, in general, rests on the cooking table M which may also have lower prolongations (not shown) for connection to the internal components for interconnection with the supply source of gas and air.
In the embodiment shown - which, it should be noted, is illustrative and not restrictive, since the piece can present other aesthetic configurations without thereby escaping from the scope of protection claimed in the present application - the base 2 has a substantially frustoconical format comprising, in its internal region, a central orifice 22 for the coupling of system for feeding air-fuel mixture (not shown).
A spreading cover 3 - better shown in figure 2 - is, in the exemplary embodiment shown in the appended figures, consisting of a perimeter ring 31 to the center from which it couples a disc 32 with perimeter surface preferably angled and central region 33 preferably flat.
The perimeter ring 31 of the spreading cover 3 has perimeter 34 preferably sinuous and having side walls 35 of substantially frustoconical conformation provided with transverse ribs 36 to provide better accommodation of the piece on the base 2, resulting in a first ring of substantially elliptical porticos by which exits the air-fuel mixture responsible for feeding the flame employed during the procedures of heating and / or cooking.
Similarly, the disc 32 also has a sinuous perimeter 37 and transverse ribs 38 for accommodating the piece of the frustoconical ring 31 when the perimeter 37 defines a ring of additional porticos, and increase the exit area of air fuel - and therefore of flame - also resulting in the increase of heat power of the burner assembly.
It should be clarified that the spreader cover 3 may consist by any number of the pieces or slots resulting in the addition of multiple rings of porticos, that may result in several configurations of spreading covers 3, thereby promoting a better distribution of the flame under the cooking utensil and thus a significant improvement in thermal efficiency of the equipment.
As shown in the cross section of Figure 5, the mounting of pieces creates, inside the burner assembly 1, an internal chamber 4 in which the fuel-air mixture from the feeding system (not shown) expands and feeds the flames existing on the outer faces of the porticos.
In most known burners, each group of output porticos has an individual mixture chamber; however, the present invention is distinguished from the others in that it comprises a single internal chamber 4 in which the air-fuel mixture is supplied to all the porticos of the assembly 1, which turns out to standardize the characteristics of resulting flames.
It is noteworthy, however, that the burner assembly object of the present application can also optionally be provided with multiple mixture chambers.
With respect to the pollution aspect, the present invention can optionally be constructed with additional elements to provide an improved mixture between gas and environment air. Therefore, the burner assembly 1 may be provided with a feeding system - preferably forced can, however, also use known systems such as those using the Venturi effect - air for expansion internal chamber 4 of air fuel, which may comprise a fan, a blower or any other device capable of achieving the same purpose. The use of a mechanized system of air supply to the mixture is capable of achieving conditions of complete pre-mixture (or any fraction of lack / excess of air) with which the combustion is more efficient and the economy of gas will be even greater.
It is noteworthy that although there have been shown preferable constructive forms of the present invention, it is understood that any omissions, substitutions and constructive alterations can be made by a person skilled in the art without departing from scope of required protection. It is also expressly stated that all combinations of the elements which perform the same function in substantially the same way to achieve the same results are within the scope of the invention. Substitutions of elements of a type described by others are also fully intended and contemplated.
It should, however, be understood that the description given based on the figures mentioned above only refers to some of the possible embodiments for the system of the present invention, wherein the real scope of the present invention is provided in the appended claims.

Claims

Burner assembly for cooking equipments, said assembly (1) being defined by a base (2) adaptable to a cooking table (M) on which a spreading cover (3) is supported, wherein the coupling of the spreading cover (3) over the base (2) originates at least one internal chamber (4) of fuel-air mixture that is released through porticos existing in the perimeter edge of the spreading cover (3), wherein
the base (2) comprises in its internal region at least one feeding orifice (22);
the spreading cover (3) comprises at least one perimeter ring (31) cooperating with the base (2) and at least one disc (32) cooperating with the perimeter ring (31),
the burner assembly (1) comprises at least one internal chamber (4) cooperating with the porticos of the spreading cover (3);
the burner assembly (1) comprises means for providing at least two rings of flames from at least two rings of porticos existing in a spreading cover (3) that rests over the base (2) characterized in that: the at least one disc (32) having a smaller diameter than the at least one perimeter ring (31);
the perimeter ring (31) and the disc (32) comprising sinuous perimeters (34 and 37) constituting the rings of porticos of the assembly (1).
Burner assembly according to claim 1, CHARACTERIZED in that the porticos of the spreader (3) have any shape or a combination of shapes in a same ring of porticos or between the existing rings.
Burner assembly according to claim 1, CHARACTERIZED in that the base (2) is provided with an air supply system and a system for feeding fuel gas to the internal chamber (4) of fuel-air mixture.
Burner assembly according to claims 1 and 3, CHARACTERIZED in that the base (2) is provided with a system of forced feeding of air to the internal chamber (4) of fuel-air mixture
Burner assembly according to claims 1, 3 and 4, CHARACTERIZED in that the forced feeding system of air to the internal chamber (4) of fuel-air mixture comprises a fan or a blower or any machine which performs the same function.