EP3338026B1

EP3338026B1 - Household appliance

Info

Publication number: EP3338026B1
Application number: EP16745652.4A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Aytaç Balkan; Tezcan Cetin; Yusuf Kocaman; Alexander Marsch; Yakut Ölmez Kerküklü
Original assignee: BSH Hausgeraete GmbH
Current assignee: BSH Hausgeraete GmbH
Priority date: 2015-08-19
Filing date: 2016-07-21
Publication date: 2023-07-12
Anticipated expiration: 2036-07-21
Also published as: EP3338026A1; WO2017029060A1

Description

The invention relates to a household appliance comprising at least one cover plate. The invention also relates to a method for manufacturing such a household appliance. The invention is particularly useful for front-sided cover plates of ovens and ranges.
Presently, metal cover plates of household appliances are manufactured by deep-drawing a sheet metal part into the desired form. During deep-drawing, the sheet metal part is three-dimensionally deformed using a press and a respective tool. However, the deep-drawing is disadvantageously associated with high costs for its tooling equipment. Also, costs are high and duration is long for changing the form of the deep-drawn metal cover plates because new tools have to be used. This results in a low flexibility.
Document JP 2004 286271 A describes a household appliance with a cover plate, wherein the cover plate is a formed metal part.
It is the object of the present invention to overcome at least parts of the disadvantages of the prior art. It is a particular object to improve manufacturing a cover plate for a household appliance.
The object is achieved by the features of the independent claims. Embodiments are listed in the dependent claims and are included in the description.
The object is achieved by a household appliance comprising at least one cover plate, which cover plate is a formed sheet metal part. The cover plate is a bent sheet metal part or piece having linear bending lines that each extend over a respective width of the cover plate. This gives the advantage that the sheet metal part has only been bent two-dimensionally at any time (and not three-dimensionally as it is the case of deep-drawing). This in turn enables the use of particularly simple forming methods, i.e. bending methods, to manufacture the cover plate.
An extension of a bending line over the respective (full) width of the cover plate may comprise that the bending line extends from edge to edge of the cover plate. The width of the cover plate may be different for different bending lines such that the length of the respective bending lines may also differ.
The object is also achieved by a method for manufacturing a household appliance wherein a cover plate is formed exclusively by bending a sheet metal part or piece, in particular over its entire width. The forming by only bending enables the use of relatively small and relatively inexpensive machinery. Resetting and re-tooling the machinery can be achieved fastly and requires no or only minor changes to the tools (e.g. rollers). Also, time needed to manufacture the cover plate is very low.
The bending method may include using rollers or cylinders to bend the sheet metal part. The use of rollers or cylinders enables a particularly fast manufacture of the cover plate and an easy and fast re-tooling thus allowing a very high flexibility. Also, the dimensions of bent sections are easily set and varied. The method may in particular include or be roll-forming.
The bending method may include using a linear movement of the tool, e.g. a punch. This method may include or be air bending, coining, three-point bending, folding etc.
By bending the sheet metal part, a stable cover sheet is provided that shows only small deformations under a change of temperature. Also, bending does not produce excess material or only a small amount of excess material.
Acording to the present invention the sheet metal part is at least partially bent in a linear fashion, i.e. that at least one of the respective bending lines is a linear bending line. It is preferred for a particularly easy manufacture that all bending lines are linear bending lines.
It is an embodiment of the present invention that the bending lines - in particular all bending lines - extend in parallel to each other. This allows a particularly simple set-up of the bending machinery and a particularly fast bending process.
Preferably, the at least two bending lines are inclined to each other. I his allows a three-dimensional forming of the cover plate by using several two-dimensional bending processes and linear bending lines, respectively.
If the cover plate is attached to the household appliance - at least one bending line may be aligned or may run horizontally when the cover plate is attached to the household appliance. In particular, most or all bending lines may be aligned horizontally.
It is an embodiment of the present invention that the cover plate has a frontal section, a lower rearwards extending section, and an upper rearwards extending section which are differentiated by respective bending lines. In particular, the frontal section is the section that constitutes or is used as part of a frontal side or wall of the household appliance. The lower rearwards extending section and the upper rearwards extending section allow precise positioning and/or fixing of the cover plate at the household appliance. At least the frontal section may stretch or extend over the full width of the household appliance.
It is another embodiment of the present invention that the frontal section comprises an upper frontal section and a lower frontal section which are differentiated by a respective bending line, i.e. the frontal section is in itself bent at least once. This allows forming of the frontal section by a simple bending process. For example, the upper and lower frontal section may be inclined around a common horizontal bending line. This enables a particularly high-quality design and/or improved usability.
It is another embodiment of the present invention that the frontal section is at least partially curved over its full width. This gives the advantage that a spring-back effect under mechanical or thermal loads can be avoided. Also, surface disconformities of the generally smooth surface are eliminated that may exist after manufacturing. This avoidance of the spring-back effect is particularly advantageous if the cover plate or sheet metal part is made of or from stainless steel. Therefore a lower frontal section is curved while an upper frontal section is not curved.
It is an embodiment of the present invention that the curvature has a concave or inwardly bending form (as seen from a user looking at the frontal section). In particular, the concave form is a horizontally extending profile. Such a concave form may be described as having at least a partially cylindrical cross-section.
To securely avoid the spring-back effect without having a visually noticeable curvature, it is an embodiment of the present invention that a radius of the curvature is between 1500 and 7000 mm. This in particular holds if a height of the curved section is between 150 and 200 mm. In general, it is preferred that the radius is at least five times greater than the height of the curved area, particularly between ten and fifty times greater.
The cover plate may be a cover plate of a control panel of the household appliance. This allows fast and inexpensive manufacturing of the control panel. The control panel advantageously lends itself to be formed by the bending method since it typically covers a full width of a household appliance.
The cover plate may have one or more cut-outs for inserting at least one control element. In particular, the one or more cut-outs may exclusively be positioned in the upper frontal section or the lower frontal section. For example, if the cover plate is fixed to the household appliance, the at least one cut-out may exclusively be positioned in a vertically aligned lower frontal section while the upper frontal section is inclined to the vertical direction.
According to the present invention the cover plate is a cover plate of a drawer of the household appliance. This allows fast and inexpensive manufacturing of this cover plate. The cover plate of the drawer advantageously lends itself to be formed by the bending method since it typically covers a full width of a household appliance.
It is further according to the present invention that end caps are covering sides of the cover plate. This allows a particularly easy covering of the open sides of the cover plate, in particular when using several (partial) frontal sections, i.e. a frontal section that is not fully flat. The end caps also provide additional structural strength (in particular torsional stiffness) to the cover plate, in particular against twisting. The end caps can be fixed at the cover plate, e.g., by latching, catching, clipping, clamping, screwing, gluing etc.
According to the invention the end caps are formed as grip plates. This enables an easy handling of the cover plate and thus a movable component of the household appliance covered by and connected to the cover plate, resp. Such a movable component may be a drawer.
The object is therefore achieved by a household appliance comprising at least one such cover plate. The household appliance may be an oven or an oven combination (oven range) etc. The household appliance may also be a laundry care appliance like a washing machine and/or a clothes dryer etc. The household appliance may also be a dish washer or sanitizer etc. The household appliance may also be a cooling appliance like a refrigerator etc.
The above described invention is now further explained by means of a schematic description of an embodiment in conjunction with respective figures.

Fig.1: shows an oblique frontal view of an oven range;
Fig.2: shows an oblique frontal view of a cover plate of a drawer of the oven range with attached end caps;
Fig.3: shows an oblique frontal view of the cover plate of Fig.2 with the end caps detached;
Fig.4: shows an oblique frontal view of another cover plate of a drawer of the oven range with attached end caps;
Fig.5: shows an oblique frontal view of the other cover plate of Fig.4 with the end caps detached;
Fig.6: shows a cross-sectional view of the cover plate of Fig.4;
Fig.7: shows an oblique frontal view of the other cover plate of Fig.4 without end caps;
Fig.8: shows an oblique frontal view of a cover plate of a control panel of the oven range with attached end caps; and
Fig.9: shows an oblique frontal view of the cover plate of Fig.8 with the end caps detached.

Fig.1 shows an oblique frontal view of a household appliance in form of an oven range 1. The oven range 1 has an top-side cooking hob 2 comprising several gas burners 3. Alternatively, the cooking hob can, e.g., be a ceramic glass cooktop having several electric heaters. Below the cooking hob 2 is an oven 4 that can be a gas oven or an electrical oven etc. The oven 4 has a frontal opening for inserting and retrieving food items, which opening can be covered by an oven door 5. The oven 4 is placed within a housing 6, as is a drawer 7.
The drawer 7 is slidable in a frontal direction F, i.e., it can be pulled out of the housing 6 and pushed into the housing 6 in this direction. On the front side, the drawer 7 comprises a cover plate 8 that itself is covered left and right at its open sides by respective end caps 9.
The oven 1 further comprises a control panel 10 that is frontally placed between the oven door 5 and the cooking hob 2. On its front side, the control panel 10 comprises a cover plate 11 that is also covered left and right at its open sides by respective end caps 12. Several control elements are inserted in or through the cover plate 11, e.g., several knobs 13, push buttons 14, and a display 15.
The cooking hob 2, the oven door 5, the drawer 7 (in particular its cover plate 8), and the control panel 10 (in particular its cover plate 11) virtually extend over a full width W of the oven range 1.
Fig.2 shows an oblique frontal view of the cover plate 8 of the drawer 7 with the end caps 9 attached. Fig.3 shows an oblique frontal view of the cover plate 8 with the end caps 9 detached (exploded view).
The cover plate 8 is made of one sheet metal part or piece of stainless metal, e.g., stainless steel. The cover plate 8 has been formed exclusively by bending the sheet metal part. The bending regions are shaped as linear bending lines 16, 17, and 18. The bending lines 16 to 18 extend horizontally over the full (uniform) width of the cover plate 8 and thus all extend in parallel to each other.
The bending has created several sections of the cover plate 8, namely a frontal section 19, a lower rearwards extending section 20, and an upper rearwards extending section 21 which are differentiated by bending lines 16 and 18, respectively. The frontal section 19 itself comprises an upper frontal section 19a and a lower frontal section 19b which are differentiated by bending line 17.
Such a bending can easily be achieved by exclusively using rollers or cylinders which enables a particularly fast bending of the cover plate. Also, if other bending dimensions or characteristics (bending radii, bending distances, bending angles etc.) are desired, a re-tooling or re-setting of the machinery is fastly and inexpensively implementable. The bending may in particular include or be roll-forming.
The open sides of the cover plate 8 are covered by the respective end caps 9 that are formed as grip plates. These end caps / grip plates 9 have a five-sided form with a cup-shaped recess 22. The two end caps 9 have a mirror-symmetrical form. The recesses 22 are provided to be gripped by hand to move the drawer 7, thus eliminating the need of a frontal handle or handle shell. The recesses 22 are not visible if viewed from a fully frontal direction but correspond to undercuts. The recesses 22 can be provided without extra costs. The recesses 22 may be connected or fixed to the cover plate 8 by, e.g., screws (not shown) etc.
Fig.4 shows an oblique frontal view of a cover plate 23 according to another embodiment that can be used with the drawer 8 of the oven range 1 with attached end caps 24. Fig.5 shows an oblique frontal view of the cover plate 23 with the end caps 24 detached. Only the left sided end cap 24 is shown.
The cover plate 23 is formed similar to the end plate 8 but further comprises several bracket-shaped extensions or flanges 25 extending angled from a rear edge of the lower rearwards extending section 20 and the upper rearwards extending section 21. The edges are also the upper and lower edges of the cover plate 23. The flanges 25 extend perpendicular to the sections 20 and 21 and may comprise a hole. The flanges 25 may be used to attach the end caps 24 and/or other part of the drawer 8. The end caps 24 have a generally similar shape to the end caps 9 but may, e.g., be adapted to be screwed to the flanges 25.
The flanges 25 may also be made by bending, in particular roll-forming of respective sections of the metal sheet part. The respective bending lines 26 are parallel to the other bending lines 16, 17, and 18. The bending lines 26 have a significant smaller width than the other bending lines 16, 17, and 18 corresponding of the smaller width of the flanges. There may be even further bending lines, in particular at the upper rearwards extending section 21.
Fig.6 shows a cross-sectional view of the cover plate 23 of the drawer 8. Fig.7 shows an oblique frontal view of the cover plate 23 without end caps. The lower frontal section 19b of the frontal section 19 is deliberately slightly curved, as indicated by the arrows in Fig.6 and Fig.7 and the dashed line in Fig.6. The curvature C has a horizontally aligned cylindrical shape that extends over the full width of the lower frontal section 19b.
The curvature C has a radius that is large compared to a height of the lower frontal section 19b. This enables avoiding a spring-back effect and small surface disconformities to appear while at the same time maintaining an un-curved or plane appearance. The height may be between 150 mm to 200 mm, e.g., in particular about 165 mm, while the radius may be between 1500 mm and 7000 mm.
Fig.8 shows an oblique frontal view of the cover plate 11 of the control panel 10 of the oven range 1 with attached end caps 12. Fig.9 shows an oblique frontal view of the cover plate 11 with the end caps 12 detached.
The cover plate 11 is similar to cover plate 8. The cover plate 11 is also made of one sheet metal part or piece of stainless metal, e.g., stainless steel. The cover plate 11 has also been formed exclusively by bending the sheet metal part. The bending regions are shaped as linear bending lines 27, 28, and 29. The bending lines 27 to 29 extend horizontally over the full (uniform) width of the cover plate 11 and thus all extend in parallel to each other.
The bending has created several sections of the cover plate 11, namely a frontal section 30, a lower rearwards extending section 31, and an upper rearwards extending section 32 which are differentiated by respective bending lines 27 and 29, respectively. The frontal section 30 itself comprises an upper frontal section 30a and a lower frontal section 30b which are differentiated by bending line 28. In contrast to cover plate 8, the lower frontal section 30b is aligned vertically.
As in case of cover plate 8, such a bending can easily be achieved by exclusively using rollers or cylinders which enables a particularly fast bending of the cover plate. The bending may in particular include or be roll-forming.
The open sides of the cover plate 11 are covered by the respective flat end caps 12.
Since the control panel 10 is not supposed to be movable, the flat end caps 12 have no recesses. The end caps 12 also have a five-sided form. The two end caps 12 have a mirror-symmetrical form. The end caps 12 may be screwed to the cover plate 11 etc.
The lower frontal section 30b comprises cut- outs 34, 35, and 36 for inserting the control elements 13, 14, and 15, respectively, or parts thereof.

List of reference numbers

1: Oven range
2: Cooking hob
3: Gas burner
4: Oven
5: Oven door
6: Housing
7: Drawer
8: Cover plate
9: End caps
10: Control panel
11: Cover Plate
12: End caps
13: Knob
14: Push button
15: Display
16: Bending line
17: Bending line
18: Bending line
19: Frontal section
19a: Upper frontal section
19b: Lower frontal section
20: Lower rearwards extending section
21: Upper rearwards extending section
22: Recess
23: Cover plate
24: End caps
25: Flange
26: Bending line
27: Bending line
28: Bending line
29: Bending line
30: Frontal section
30a: Upper frontal section
30b: Lower frontal section
31: Lower rearwards extending section
32: Upper rearwards extending section
34: Cut-out
35: Cut-out
36: Cut-out
C: Curvature
F: Frontal direction
W: Width

Claims

A household appliance (1) comprising at least one cover plate (8; 11; 23), which cover plate (8; 11; 23) is a formed sheet metal part, wherein
- the cover plate (8; 11; 23) is a bent plate sheet metal part having linear bending lines (16-18; 26; 27-29) that each extend over a respective full width (W) of the cover plate (8; 11; 23),

- the cover plate (8; 23) is a cover plate (8; 23) of a drawer (8) of the household appliance (1),

- the cover plate (8) is designed to cover the front side of the drawer (7), and

- end caps (9; 12; 24) are fixed to the cover plate (8; 11; 23) covering sides of the cover plate (8; 11; 23),
characterized in that
- the end caps (9; 24) are formed as grip plates (22) respectively comprising a cup-shaped recess (22), wherein the recesses (22) are provided to be gripped by hand to move the drawer (7).
The household appliance according to claim 1, characterized in that all bending lines (16-18; 26; 27-29) of the cover plate (8; 11; 23) extend in parallel to each other.
The household appliance according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the cover plate (8; 11; 23) has a frontal section (19; 30), a lower rearwards extending section (20; 31), and an upper rearwards extending section (21; 32) which are differentiated by respective bending lines (16, 18; 27, 29).
The household appliance according to claim 3 wherein the frontal section (19; 30) comprises an upper frontal section (19a; 30a) and a lower frontal section (19b; 30b) which are differentiated by a respective bending line (17; 28).
The household appliance according to claim 4 wherein the frontal section (19b) of the cover plate (23) is at least partially curved (C) over its full width (W).
The household appliance according to claims 4 and 5 wherein the lower frontal section (19b; 30b) of the cover plate (23) is curved while the upper frontal section (19a; 30a) is not curved.
The household appliance according to any of the claims 5 to 6 wherein the frontal section (19b) of the cover plate (23) has a concave bending form.
The household appliance according to claim 7 wherein the concave bending form is shaped as a horizontally extending profile.
The household appliance according to any of the claims 5 to 8 wherein a radius of a curvature of the frontal section (19b) of the cover plate (23) is between 1500 and 7000 mm.
The household appliance according to any of the claims 5 to 9 wherein a radius of a curvature of the frontal section (19b) of the cover plate (23) is at least five times greater than a height of the curved area.
A method for manufacturing a household appliance (1) according to any of the claims 1-10, the household appliance comprising at least one cover pate (8; 11; 23), which cover plate (8; 11; 23) is a formed sheet metal part, and which cover plate (8; 11; 23) is designed to cover and to be connected to a drawer (7) of the household appliance (1),
- wherein the cover plate (8; 11; 23) is formed by exclusively bending a sheet metal part over its entire width (W), and

- wherein end caps (9; 12; 24) are fixed to the cover plate (8; 11; 23) covering sides of the cover plate (8; 11; 23) and wherein the end caps (9; 24) are formed as grip plates (22) respectively comprising a cup-shaped recess (22), wherein the recesses (22) are provided to be gripped by hand to move the drawer (7).