EP4179257B1

EP4179257B1 - Oven comprising an air sanitisation function

Info

Publication number: EP4179257B1
Application number: EP21734928.1A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Marco Borgiani
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2020-07-10
Filing date: 2021-06-14
Publication date: 2024-03-13
Anticipated expiration: 2041-06-14
Also published as: WO2022008997A1; IT202000016792A1; EP4179257A1

Description

The present invention relates to an oven comprising a function for the sanitisation of the ambient air.
More precisely, the object of the present invention is an oven for domestic, industrial use, for catering or similar sectors comprising means adapted to sanitise and purify the ambient air in which they are installed.
The invention mainly falls in the sector of the production of household appliances, more precisely in the sector of the making of ovens installable both in domestic (e.g. integrated in modular kitchens) and industrial or catering environments.
It is known that air quality is an essential requirement for any type of environment, public, private, domestic, industrial, etc.
Typically, the only exchange of natural air (e.g. through the voluntary opening of windows or doors) or mechanized (e.g. through known aspirators) or equipping the various household appliances present in an environment with filters for the air purification (in this regard, see the prior art document KR 100 820 835 B1 describing an oven including filters at the lower portion of the door to remove contaminants from the air that flows through a cooling path for the door itself) may not be sufficient to ensure a healthy environment.
Over time, therefore, technologically more advanced and complex systems have developed that have the aim of improving the quality of an environment by reducing polluting or harmful substances carried by and/or suspended in the air, such as bacteria, germs, spores, viruses, pollens, dusts or any other pathogen or pollutant of biological origin.
In general, such systems enable to purify the air through specific sanitising devices such as ozone generators, photocatalytic sanitisers, ionizers as well as through simpler and more common technologies comprising bactericidal lamps. A large variety of purifiers consisting, for example, of standalone, electrically powered and wall-mounted systems or of the "free standing" type to be moved from time to time, as needed, by a user, already exist on the market.
Very common are, for example, air purifiers combined with fans and/or fan heaters, preferably of the column type, or with the known mechanical air treatment (widely used in the industrial field) or air conditioning units.
It is readily evident that such technologies present issues related to their purchase cost, sometimes high, and to their footprints.
As anticipated, said air purifiers may in fact have the appearance of fans, fan coils, conditioning or similar units intended for air circulation and treatment. Such devices, both when wall-mounted and when leaned on the floor, inevitably end up taking away space to be allocated for the installation or positioning of furniture and/or other equipment.
When of free-standing type, said devices may also constitute real obstacles to the normal usability of the domestic and non-domestic environments; this is particularly evident in small or narrow environments such as, for example, apartments or rooms of modest surface area.
Sometimes, the aforesaid air purifiers may be objects that do not integrate well with the architectural style of the environment to be sanitised and/or with the furnishings present therein, especially in the domestic setting.
The object of the present invention is to eliminate the drawbacks of the prior art listed above, by devising an innovative device for sanitising the ambient air in which it is used.
More particularly, the object of the present invention is to implement in an oven, devices designed for the aforesaid sanitisation of environments without this leading to substantial modifications to its structure and to its basic components.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a device for sanitising the ambient air that is economical, not cumbersome or hindering and compatible with the style of the environment to be sanitised.
These and other objects are achieved according to the invention, with the features listed in the annexed independent claim 1.
Further features of the present invention shall be better highlighted by the following description of a preferred embodiment, in accordance with the patent claims and illustrated, purely by way of a non-limiting example, in the annexed drawing tables, in which:

figure 1 schematically shows a section of an oven according to the invention for domestic, industrial use or for catering;
figure 2 shows a component of the oven of figure 1 integrating sanitising devices according to a possible variant of the invention.

The elements of the oven of the invention integrating an air sanitising function using the references contained in the attached figures are now described. With the purpose of highlighting some features instead of others, not necessarily what described in the figures is to scale.
It is also noted that any dimensional and spatial term (such as "lower", "upper", "inner", "outer", and the like) refers to the positions of the elements as shown in the annexed figures, without any limiting intent relative to the possible operating conditions.
For simplicity, during the present description, explicit reference will be made to ovens for domestic use or catering, i.e. used for cooking food and dishes, it being understood that everything that will be said with reference to them may be extended, with minimal adaptations within the reach of a man skilled in the art, to any other types of oven, e.g. for the industrial ones.
The term "oven" shall also mean any type of oven already available and known on the market, for example and without any limiting intent, the so-called static, ventilated, pyrolytic ovens for domestic use or in the catering as well as the wide variety of industrial ovens used in the production, transformation and treatment processes of raw materials as well as those for the preparation and storage of products (e.g. used in the field of food industries or in those carrying out specific heat treatments).
As shown in figure 1, 1 indicates, as a whole, the oven according to the invention comprising devices for sanitising at least the ambient air in which it is installed.
Said oven 1 comprises a bearing structure 10 (or body) inside which two cavities are substantially identified:

a first cavity 11 that defines the muffle wherein the usual cooking operations are carried out,
a second cavity 12, located above the muffle 11, and intended to contain some of the functional components of the oven 1.

More precisely, inside the muffle 11, the temperatures necessary for cooking food and dishes are developed by means of one or more heating elements 13, e.g. electrical resistors, located at at least one of its walls.
In the example of figure 1, said heating elements 13 are shown at the rear wall (or back) 110 of the muffle 11 and/or of its upper and lower inner walls 111, 112.
A first fan 14, also normally placed in the rear wall 110 of the muffle 11, ensures perfect circulation of hot air, the maintenance of the cooking temperature and uniform distribution thereof within the same muffle 11.
The muffle 11 also comprises a front access door 15, preferably equipped with a handle 16 (visible and protruding from the same door or recessed therein) and hinged below the bearing structure 10 of the oven 1 so as to allow an opening or closing rotation thereof.
Usually, among the inner and outer glasswork or glass of the door 15 a gap 150 is identified, which, as known, creates a thermal barrier opposing heat losses, contributing to the maintenance of the cooking temperatures set and to the reduction of energy consumption.
According to a now well-established practice, the upper cavity 12 of the oven 1 defines a housing compartment 12 for at least the control unit (not shown in figure 1) comprising at least the electronic board (and related electrical connections and components) and/or an electromechanical selector of a user interface equipped, for example, with knobs or touch controls for the selection of the different functions of oven 1 and/or a display for viewing the cooking steps and the related parameters set.
Said compartment 12 is frontally closed by a front plate 17 whereon the aforesaid electronic board or the electromechanical selector may be fixed internally and the relative user interface externally.
For the reasons that will be clarified shortly, one or more slits 18 are identified and arranged between the lower edge of the front plate 17 and the upper one of the underlying door 15 of the muffle 11.
At least a second fan 2, e.g. of the tangential type (but also other known types are still allowed), at fixed or variable speed, recalls air from the installation environment of the oven 1 generating a first (called "cooling") air flow A1 through the compartment 12 and directed towards said one or more slits 18, said flow A1 cooling:

the same compartment 12 that overlies the muffle 11 and, as a result, the control unit housed therein and the relevant user interface,
the door 15 of the oven 1 so as to lower its temperature during the cooking operations and avoid the discomfort or danger of burns by contact with its glasswork and/or with the handle 16.

A plurality of openings or slits (not shown) obtained on the bearing structure 10 of the oven 1 (e.g. on the ceiling and/or the back) act as cooling air inlet in the compartment 12 while the aforesaid slits 18 enable it to be reintroduced into the installation environment of the oven 1.
For the objects listed above, the fan 2 is preferably located inside the same compartment 12, for example in its rear part opposite to the front plate 17, although nothing prevents the possibility of arranging it in any other advantageous zone or housing of the bearing structure 10 of the oven 1 provided that it is always in fluid communication with said compartment 12 (the latter solution is rather frequent in ovens of industrial use).
Said fan 2 may automatically turn on during cooking operations and turn off when, once the use of the oven 1 has ended, the temperature inside the muffle 11 drops below a threshold value.
Preferably, the fan 2 is in fluid communication with an optional conveyor 3 suitably shaped and moulded in order to make, in the proximity of the one or more slits 18, a depression adapted to:

guide and facilitate the circulation of the first air flow A1 through said compartment 12 and/or
induce at least a second air flow A2 (called "return") through the gap 150 of the access door 15, equipped for such purpose with an air inlet section 151 on its lower edge and with an upper exhaust section 152 in the proximity of said one or more slits 18, said flow A2 speeding up and optimising the aforesaid cooling of door 15 and/or handle 16.

More precisely, the conveyor 3 may comprise a Venturi duct consisting, as known, of at least one first converging portion 30 and a subsequent portion, called "groove" 31 (of reduced section), located near one or more slits 18.
What described thus far does not substantially depart from the prior art.
For the purposes of the invention, it is further noted how the cooling fan 2 of the control unit, of the user interface and/or of the door 15 and relative handle 16 of the oven 1 generates a constant movement of the air in the environment in which said oven 1 is installed and used.
As seen, there is in fact a suction of ambient air through the oven 1 and, after the cooling of the aforesaid components, re-introduction thereof into the same environment through one or more slits 18.
According to the invention, the installation and use of one or more air sanitising devices 4 is envisaged in a zone of the oven 1 concerned by at least the aforesaid cooling flow A1.
In this way, there is the possibility to sanitise the air sucked from the environment, for example reducing bacteria, viruses or any other biological pathogen, and then to reintroduce it substantially purified in the same environment.
The sanitising devices 4 comprise bactericidal generators, for example, ultraviolet lamps or emitters, and/or plasma sanitizers, or similar emitters chosen from those with negligible size, easy to install, low-consumption and high-efficiency.
According to a possible embodiment, which is among the preferred ones, shown in figure 2, said one or more sanitising devices 4 may be positioned at the fan 2, e.g., between its inlet section 20 for the ambient air and the outlet one 21, in fluid communication with the aforesaid conveyor 3 and/or the slits 18.
By way of example, figure 2 shows a sanitising device 4 fixed on the plate 22 for the support and connection of the fan 2 to its drive motor 5.
Such embodiment is among the preferred ones because it is the one that ensures a quicker and simpler replacement of the sanitising device 4 in case of failure and because it may allow retrofitting operations consisting in replacing traditional fans 2, adapted to the only cooling of the door 15 of the oven 1 and of the related electronic components, with those of the invention implementing the further sanitising function of the ambient air.
Of course, nothing prevents that, as an alternative or in addition to the aforementioned sanitising device 4, other similar UV emitters may also be arranged inside the compartment 12, of the conveyor 3, when provided, and/or in the gap 150 of the door 15 of the oven 1, also, as seen, concerned by an air flow A2 drawn and reintroduced into the installation environment of oven 1. Advantageously, said one or more sanitising devices 4 may be powered by the power supply means already provided for the oven 1 and/or the fan 2.
The turning on and the operation of the sanitising devices 4 may also be assigned to specific program selectors (the classic knobs or touch keys of the user interface) and/or to the control electronics, wherewith every oven 1 is already equipped for the choice and management of cooking modes.
Being them known and within the reach of a person skilled in the art, the implementation methods, mechanical and/or electronic, of said "room sanitisation" function in the aforesaid ovens will not be described here.
It is sufficient to specify how, for example, the activation of said one or more sanitising devices 4 may be correlated to the automatic tuning on of the fan 2 for cooling the components, of the door 15 and relative handle 16 of the oven 1, when operating.
Of course, nothing prevents the possibility of using said sanitising devices 4 and the aforesaid fan 2 even with the oven 1 turned off (i.e. not in use for cooking operations), e.g. when purification of the ambient air from bacteria, viruses, polluting pathogens and any resulting odours, is deemed necessary.
In such case, the operation, continuous or for programmed times, of the fan 2 and of the relative sanitising devices 4 may be managed directly and at the discretion of the user through the user interface of the oven 1, with the possibility of setting different speeds of the fan 2 according to the desired degree of purification and/or to avoid excessive noise.
Experimental tests have shown that, for example, using as sanitising devices 4 a 1 W UV emitter and assuming the use of a tangential fan 2 capable of treating about 300 m³/h of ambient air at "normal" speed (i.e. at the default speed for cooling of the oven 1), after 1 hour of operation there is a reduction of about 70% in the pathogens present therein.
It is also clear that in the practical embodiment of the invention numerous modifications and further variants may be provided, all falling within the same inventive concept. For example, nothing prevents from inserting and positioning inside the compartment 12, along the conveyor 3 and/or near the aforesaid slits 18, known mechanical and/or activated carbon and/or Hepa filters so as to intercept also fine dusts, particulates and other pollutants suspended in the ambient air.
With the oven 1 of the invention, therefore, the stated objects are achieved, in particular the possibility of integrating an ambient air sanitisation device in a consumer household appliance.
According to the invention, an innovative household appliance is thus obtained, capable of carrying out separately or simultaneously, a dual function: the one for which it was designed (in the case of an oven 1 for domestic use or for catering, the one of cooking food and dishes) and an additional "sanitising" function useful for the healthiness of domestic environments (therefore with no need to purchase a specific tool dedicated to such purpose).
Since they are integrated and "hidden" inside the oven 1, said sanitising devices 4 may effectively carry out their function without causing encumbrances and being hindering in the environment to be sanitised and without any impact with its architectural style and with the aesthetic features of the furniture.
The reduced purchase and installation costs of the sanitising devices 4 do not significantly affect the sale price of the household appliance.
Finally, it should be noted that with the sanitising devices 4 of the invention, an efficient sanitisation may be obtained not only in the environment in which the oven 1 is actually installed (e.g. a kitchen) but also in the contiguous rooms, especially in case of "open-space" environments and/or taking appropriate precautions (e.g. keeping the doors open between one room and the other).

Claims

Oven (1) comprising a bearing structure (10) inside which there is comprised:
- a first cavity (11) that defines a muffle (11), said muffle (11) comprising an access front door (15),

- a second cavity (12) located above said muffle (11) and adapted to define a compartment (12), frontally closed by a front plate (17), for housing at least the control unit of the oven (1),

- one or more slits (18) arranged between the lower edge of said front plate (17) and the upper one of said access door (15)

- at least one fan (2) adapted to recall ambient air from the installation environment of said oven (1) and generate at least a first air flow (A1) in said compartment (12) and towards said one or more slits (18) for the cooling of said control unit, of said access door (15) and/or of a relative handle (16) thereof,

said oven (1) further comprising one or more sanitising devices (4) of said ambient air located in a zone of the oven (1) concerned by said at least first cooling air flow (A1), said sanitising devices (4) sanitising the air sucked from the environment to then reintroduce it, purified, to the same environment from said one or more slits (18),

characterised in that said one or more sanitising devices (4) comprise bactericidal generators.
Oven (1) according to claim 1,
characterised in that said one or more sanitising devices (4) are positioned at said fan (2), between an inlet section (20) thereof for said ambient air and its outlet section (21) in fluid communication with said one or more slits (18).
Oven (1) according to the previous claim,
characterised in that said one or more sanitising devices (4) are fixed on the plate (22) for the support and connection of said fan (2) to its drive motor (5).
Oven (1) according to any previous claim,
characterised in that said fan (2) is in fluid communication with a conveyor (3) shaped and moulded in order to create a depression in the proximity of said one or more slits (18) adapted to:
- guide and facilitate the circulation of said at least first air flow (A1) through said compartment (12) and/or

- induce a second air flow (A2) through gap (150) of said access door (15), said second flow (A2) speeding up and optimising the cooling of said door (15) and/or handle (16).
Oven (1) according to the previous claim,
characterised in that said conveyor (3) comprises a Venturi conduit, its groove (31) being located in the proximity of said one or more slits (18).
Oven (1) according to claim 4 or 5,
characterised in that it comprises additional sanitising devices (4) inside said compartment (12) and/or conveyor (3) and/or said gap (150) of said door (15).
Oven (1) according to any previous claim,
characterised in that the operation of said one or more sanitising devices (4) is assigned to specific program selectors and/or to said control electronics of said oven (1), said operation, continuous or for programmed times, being able to be:
- related to the automatic turning on of said fan (2) when the oven (1) is operating or

- managed directly and at the discretion of the user even with the oven (1) turned off.
Oven (1) according to one or more of the previous claims,
characterised in that it comprises mechanical and/or activated carbon and/or Hepa filters arranged in said compartment (12), at said conveyor (3) and/or in the proximity of said one or more slits (18).
Oven (1) according to one or more of the previous claims
characterised in that said bactericidal generators consist of:
- ultraviolet lamps or emitters, and/or

- plasma sanitizers.
Oven (1) according to any previous claims,
characterised in that it is for domestic, industrial or catering use.