EP3894754A1

EP3894754A1 - Cooking appliance with a top sheet

Info

Publication number: EP3894754A1
Application number: EP19832866.8A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Jose Manuel Alonso Lopez; Melca Gutierrez Humara; Carlos Pelayo Alonso; Emilio Placer Maruri
Original assignee: BSH Hausgeraete GmbH
Current assignee: BSH Hausgeraete GmbH
Priority date: 2018-12-14
Filing date: 2019-12-13
Publication date: 2021-10-20
Anticipated expiration: 2039-12-13
Also published as: WO2020120783A1; EP3894754B1; ES2766954A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a cooking appliance (1) comprising a top sheet (11), a lower wall (20) and at least four side walls (30) connecting the top sheet (11) and the lower wall (20), thereby delimiting an inner space (40) of the cooking appliance (1), wherein the top sheet (11) has at least a cooking hob (16). To provide a simpler and more stable construction of the appliance, the lower wall (20) is divided into at least a fixing fin (22) and a closing lid (21) and the top sheet (11), the side walls (30) and the fixing fin (22) of the lower wall (20) are made in one piece of metal sheet forming a housing set (10).

Description

COOKING APPLIANCE WITH A TOP SHEET

The invention relates to the field of the cooking appliances comprising a top sheet, a lower wall and at least four side walls connecting the top sheet and the lower wall, thereby delimiting an inner space of the appliance, wherein the top sheet has an external surface with at least a cooking hob.

Patent EP 2192352 B1 describes a cooking field having a top sheet, in which at least a cooking hob, a lower supporting element comprising a lower wall and side walls, and at least a fastening element to fix the top sheet to the lower supporting element in a detachable manner are arranged.

The object of the invention consists in providing a cooking appliance of a simplified construction and having a more robust structure.

This object is achieved by means of a cooking appliance comprising a top sheet, a lower wall and at least four side walls connecting the top sheet and the lower wall, thereby delimiting an inner space of the cooking appliance, wherein the top sheet has an external surface having at least a cooking hob, wherein the lower wall is divided into at least a fixing fin and a closing lid and the top sheet, the side walls and the fixing fin of the lower wall are made in one piece of metal sheet forming a housing set.

The housing set is preferably made of a sheet of austenitic or ferritic steel with a thickness ranging from 2 mm to 0.4 mm, preferably from 1.5 mm to 0.5 mm, more preferably from 1 mm to 0.6 mm and, in a particularly preferred manner, amounting to 0.7 mm. The manufacture process of the housing set comprises a series of steps consisting in cutting, folding and deep-drawing the sheet. Austenitic steel is preferred since it withstands better the deep-drawing process. At least an electrical or gas cooking hob is mounted in the top sheet projecting heat towards outside the appliance. The appliance can have more than one cooking hob of a different nature mounted in the top sheet on its external surface. The cooking hob can be fixed to a cooking hob opening made in the metal sheet the top sheet is composed of, or can be fixed in an orifice of an intermediate element of top surface that is connected to the top sheet such as a ceramic glass forming part of the top sheet.

The at least four side walls extend downwards from the perimeter of the top sheet. Preferably, every two main planes formed by the side walls are parallel, even though this is not necessary and they could extend forming an angle different from a right angle relative to the main plane formed by the top sheet. The metal sheet extends forming a fixing fin from the perimeter of at least two opposed side walls, opposed to the perimeter with which each side wall is joined to the top sheet, thereby forming the housing set of metal sheet in one piece. Preferably, a fixing fin part extends from each side wall and the closing lid is connected to these fixing fins forming the lower wall of the cooking appliance and forming a component box enclosing at least in part an inner space of the cooking appliance, in which the rest of appliance components are installed.

This configuration of the cooking appliance results in a more rigid structure better withstanding the stress due to the assembly of the rest of components and the stress due to temperature gradients generated by the heat from cooking in the cooking hobs. In this manner, deformations of the external surface of the top sheet visible to the user are avoided.

To have access to the components of the appliance, the closing lid is joined to the fixing fin by means of demountable fixing elements, thereby closing the inner space of the cooking appliance.

The perimeter of the top sheet outwards of the cooking appliance is folded on itself forming an appliance edge that can rest on a rim of an installation opening of a kitchen worktop. So, the side walls project downwards from the perimeter of the top sheet, remaining set back with respect to the outermost perimeter of the appliance edge, and the appliance edge forms a cantilever protruding from the rim of the installation opening when the appliance is mounted in the kitchen worktop. This simplifies the construction since the own housing set includes the appliance edge so the cooking appliance rests in the installation opening. When the cooking appliance is installed in the installation opening of the cooking worktop, the appliance edge rests on the rim and the component box is introduced in the installation opening.

To give rigidity to the top sheet, it is provided that at least a part of the perimeter of the top sheet inwards of the cooking appliance has a perimetral shaping sinking into the cooking appliance up to a base surface of the top sheet. The shaping can be continuous around the whole perimeter of the top sheet or in parts, and it can be composed of undulations defining channels or figures on the surface of the top sheet.

In order to place an area having the control elements of the appliance, it is provided that, on at least one of the sides of the perimeter of the top sheet, in the space between the perimeter and the base surface, the top sheet has a control surface raised with respect to the base surface, on which the control elements of the cooking appliance can be arranged.

To give rigidity to the area of the cooking hob, at least a cooking hob shaping is provided on the top sheet extending around the cooking hob. Likewise, this shaping can extend around the entire cooking hob or a part of it and preferably protrudes towards outside the appliance, thereby raising the cooking hob with respect to the base surface of the top sheet.

In order to give more rigidity to the component box, the side walls extend away from the top sheet and are joined to at least one of the adjacent side walls with a connector at an edge of component box. The connector can be formed by a flange protruding from one of the side walls and is fixed to the adjacent wall being screwed, welded, glued o clipped. Therefore, the connector can be fixed by welding o gluing or demountable such as clips or a screw.

A fixing fin part extends over the lower perimeter of the side walls towards the opposite side wall that, together with at least another fixing fin part, forms the fixing fin and this forms a surface to which the closing lid connects. A fixing fin part extends from each side wall, giving more rigidity to the appliance when connecting with the closing lid. Furthermore, it is provided that, to strengthen the housing set, the fixing fin part of a side wall is joined at its end to the fixing fin part of the adjacent side wall, thereby forming the fixing fin. This connection between fixing fin parts can be equally realized by means of any mentioned fixing system. In order to simplify the construction of the closing lid and make it as simple as possible, it is provided that the fixing fin parts are arranged on a same plane and that the lid is so made with its perimeter on a same plane.

Other advantages derive from the following description of the figures. In the figures, an exemplary embodiment of the invention is represented. The figures, the description and the patent claims contain numerous features in combination. The expert shall also advantageously consider said features separately and join them in other appropriate combinations.

These show:

Figure 1 shows a perspective view of the cooking appliance,

Figure 2 shows a section of the housing set, and Figure 3 shows a bottom perspective view of the housing set with the closing lid in a demounted position.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Figure 1 shows a cooking appliance 1 in the form of a gas cooktop in a perspective view. The appliance has four cooking hobs 16 rising in a cooking hob shaping 15 on a base surface 13 of the top sheet 11. A protruding appliance edge 17 is formed in the perimeter of the top sheet 11 , which can rest on the rim of an installation opening of a kitchen worktop (not shown). Around the appliance edge 17, there is a perimetral shaping 12 inwards of the appliance lowering the level of the top sheet 11 up to the level of the base surface 13.

At one of the sides of the appliance 1 , the perimetral shaping 12 is further spaced apart from the perimeter of the top sheet 11 , leaving a space for a control surface 14 on which the control elements 18 of the appliance 1 are arranged.

A component box is arranged under the top sheet 11 and delimited by the top sheet 11 , the side walls 30 and a lower wall 20. The rest of the appliance components are located inside the component box. The side walls 30 are connected to each other at the box edges 32 by means of connectors 31. In this case, the connector 31 is realized as a flange of one of the walls is shown, extending towards the adjacent wall and being joined to this by means of a welding point.

Figure 2 shows a housing set 10 made in one piece of metal sheet processed by means of a folding, deep-drawing and stamping process. From the inner space 40 of the cooking appliance 1 , the section of the housing set 10 shows an appliance edge 32 where two side walls 30 and two fixing fin parts 24 are joined together, these forming the fixing fin 22. In the fixing fin 22 there are several fixing elements 23 by means of which the housing set 10 closes with the closing lid 21 , as it can be seen in figure 3.

The side walls 30 connect with the top sheet 11 at the appliance edge 17. The top sheet 11 has a perimetral shaping 12 sinking the surface of the top sheet 11 inwards of the appliance 40 up to a deeper level, thereby forming a base surface 13 from which a cooking hob shaping 15 protrudes. There is an opening to fix the cooking hob 16 shown in figure 1 on the top of the cooking hob shaping 15.

Figure 3 shows a bottom perspective view of the housing set 10 and the closing lid 21. The housing set 10 is free of components of the cooking appliance 1. Therefore, the entire free inner space 40 can be observed, which is left for said components when the closing lid 21 is opened. The base surface 13 of the top sheet 11 can be seen from the inner space 40, onto which four cooking hob shapings 15 with their respective openings are provided, where the cooking hobs 16 are connected. The appliance edge 17 is shown at the perimeter around the top sheet 11 , which can be also seen from the inner space 40.

The four side walls 30 extend downwards from the appliance edge 17, which are joined to the adjacent side walls 30 at the four box edges 32 by means of the connectors 31. The inner space 40 surrounded by the side walls 30 and the lower wall 20 form the component box.

From the lowest edge of each of the side walls 30, the fixing fin parts 24 are folded towards the opposite side wall 30 and are joined to the adjacent fixing fin parts 24 in the area close to each box edge 32 forming the fixing fin 22. The fixing fin 22 remains on a plane parallel to the top sheet 11. The fixing fin 22 has orifices that form part of the fixing element 23 to screw the closing lid 21 and close the inner space 40 of the component box, the cooking appliance 1 being closed. The closing lid 21 with the fixing fin 22 forms the lower wall 20 of the appliance 1. The closing lid 21 can be detached when disconnecting the fixing elements 23 that join it to the fixing fin 22.

REFERENCE NUMERALS Cooking appliance

Housing set

Top sheet

Perimetral shaping

Base surface

Control surface

Cooking hob shaping

Cooking hob

Appliance edge

Lower wall

Closing lid

Fixing fin

Fixing elements

Fixing fin part

Side wall

Connector

Box edge

Inner space

Claims

PATENT CLAIMS

1. A cooking appliance (1) comprising a top sheet (11), a lower wall (20) and at least four side walls (30) connecting the top sheet (11) and the lower wall (20), thereby delimiting an inner space (40) of the cooking appliance (1), wherein the top sheet (11) has at least a cooking hob (16),

characterized in that

the lower wall (20) is divided into at least a fixing fin (22) and a closing lid (21) and that the top sheet (11), the side walls (30) and the fixing fin (22) of the lower wall (20) are made in one piece of metal sheet forming a housing set (10).

2. The cooking appliance according to claim 1 , characterized in that the closing lid (21) is joined to the fixing fin (22) by means of demountable fixing elements (23), thereby closing the inner space (40) of the cooking appliance (1_).

3. The cooking appliance according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the perimeter of the top sheet (11) outwards of the cooking appliance (1) is folded on itself forming an appliance edge (17) that can rest on a rim of an installation opening of a kitchen worktop.

4. The cooking appliance according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least a part of the perimeter of the top sheet (11) inwards of the cooking appliance (1) has a perimetral shaping (12) sinking into the cooking appliance (1) up to a base surface (13) of the top sheet (11).

5. The cooking appliance according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that on at least one of the sides of the perimeter of the top sheet (11), in the space between the perimeter and the base surface (13), the top sheet (11) has a control surface (14) raised with respect to the base surface (13), on which the control elements (18) of the cooking appliance (1) can be arranged.

6. The cooking appliance according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the top sheet (11) has at least a cooking hob shaping (15) extending around the cooking hob (16).

7. The cooking appliance according to claim 6, characterized in that the cooking hob shaping (15) protrudes outwards of the cooking appliance (1) raising the cooking hob (16) with respect to the base surface (13) of the top sheet (11).

8. The cooking appliance according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the side walls (30) extend away from the top sheet (11) and are joined to at least one of the adjacent side walls (30) with a connector (31) at a box edge (32) of the cooking appliance (1).

9. The cooking appliance according to claim 8, characterized in that the connector (31) can be fixed such as a welding o gluing or demountable such as clips or a screw.

10. The cooking appliance according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that a fixing fin part (24) extends over the lower perimeter of the side walls (30) towards the opposite side wall (30).

11. The cooking appliance according to claim 10, characterized in that the fixing fin part (24) of a side wall (30) is joined at its end to the fixing fin part (24) of the adjacent side wall (30).

12. The cooking appliance according to claim 10 or 11 , characterized in that the fixing fin parts (24) are arranged on a same plane forming the fixing fin (22).

13. The cooking appliance according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the housing set (10) is made by means of at least one among the folding, stamping and deep-drawing procedures of the metal sheet.

14. The cooking appliance according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is a gas cooktop (1).