NL2012523B1 - Kitchen air extraction canopy. - Google Patents

Abstract

A kitchen air extraction canopy comprises an extraction area for extracting air from a kitchen space, especially from a space above cooking equipment, away through the extraction area; and a cavity for collecting air drawn from the kitchen space through an open downward facing side of the cavity into the cavity towards the extraction area, the extraction area being arranged in a wall of the cavity. A substantially horizontal strip is arranged along at least a part of the inside perimeter of the cavity at or near the downward facing side of the cavity. The strip can be configured as a drain and arranged such as to allow collecting water condensed at a wall of the cavity into the drain. Additionally or alternatively, the canopy comprises an air jet arrangement at one or more sides of the canopy such as to provide, in use, one or more air jet streams below and along the open downward facing side of the cavity, the air jet stream(s) being directed to an opposing side, and wherein the strip is provided above the air jet arrangement such as to guide the air jet streams.

Description

KITCHEN AIR EXTRACTION CANOPY FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[ 01 ] The invention relates to kitchen air extraction canopy comprising an extraction area arranged for extracting air from a kitchen space, especially from a space above cooking equipment, away through the extraction area; and a cavity arranged for collecting air drawn from the kitchen space through an open downward facing side of the cavity into the cavity towards the extraction area, the extraction area being arranged in a wall of the cavity.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[ 02 ] Such canopies are well known and widely in use in kitchens. Air is extracted from the kitchen space and collected within the cavity should remain inside the cavity for subsequent extraction through the extraction area into an exhaust system. However, it occurs that air collected escapes again from the cavity into the kitchen area. Air jet arrangements around the edge region of the open downward facing side of the cavity have been proposed as a barrier for air inside the cavity. Near the edge regions air may still escape from the cavity, especially in between individual air jets form the edge regions.

[ 03 ] The air extracted from the kitchen area is generally very humid. The water vapor entrained in the extracted air may condense against the inside walls of the cavity, drip along the inside walls and fall down from the canopy.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[ 04 ] It is an objective of the invention to provide a kitchen air extraction canopy that prevents dripping of condensed waterfrom the canopy.

[ 06 ] It is another or alternative objective of the invention to provide a kitchen air extraction canopy that collects and/or drains water condensed on the inside of the cavity.

[ 06 ] It is yet another or alternative objective of the invention to provide a kitchen air extraction canopy with enhanced extraction efficiency.

[ 07 ] It is yet another or alternative objective of the invention to provide a kitchen air extraction canopy having an air screen barrier with improved barrier efficiency.

[ 08 ] At least one of the above objectives is achieved by a kitchen air extraction canopy comprising - an extraction area arranged for extracting air from a kitchen space, especially from a space above cooking equipment, away through the extraction area; and - a cavity arranged for collecting air drawn from the kitchen space through an open downward facing side of the cavity into the cavity towards the extraction area, the extraction area being arranged in a wall of the cavity, wherein a substantially horizontal strip is arranged along at least a part of the inside perimeter of the cavity at or near the downward facing side of the cavity.

[ 09 ] In a preferred embodiment the strip is configured as a drain and arranged such as to allow collecting water condensed at a wall of the cavity into the drain.

[ 10 ] In an advantageous embodiment the strip is arranged around the full inside perimeter of the cavity. , which allows collection of all water condensed against the inside walls of the cavity.

[ 11 ] In another advantageous embodiment the strip is arranged along a part of the inside perimeter of the cavity associated with a front side and flank sides of the canopy, and adjoins a grease collector arranged along a part of the inside perimeter of the cavity associated with a back side of the canopy. Such embodiment also allows collection of all water condensed against the inside walls of the cavity, but in combination with another collecting arrangement in the backside region of the canopy.

[ 12 ] Preferably, the strip is substantially flat with an upward directed rim, which efficiently and in an easy manner provides for condensed water collection and drainage.

[ 13 ] In an advantageous embodiment the strip is connected to a discharge such as to allow discharging water collected in the drain for removal of condensed water from the drain.

[ 14 ] In another preferred embodiment the canopy comprises an air jet arrangement constructed and arranged at one or more sides of the canopy such as to provide, in use, one or more air jet streams below and along the open downward facing side of the cavity, the air jet stream(s) being directed to an opposing side, and wherein the strip is provided above the air jet arrangement such as to guide the air jet streams. The strip provides a smooth upper surface of the air jet streams to assist in an effective air jet screen formation, which acts as a barrier for air trapped within the cavity. The strip acts in providing laminar flow conditions for the air jet streams, which together with a smooth upper surface of the air jets and air jet screen prevents mixing of air trapped within the cavity with the air screen for enhanced barrier action. Close to the air jet arrangement the individual air jets will not form a horizontally closed air screen. The strip will block the areas in between the individual air jets to prevent escape of any air from the cavity between the individual air jets. The one or more sides of the canopy may comprise at least one of a front side, back side, flank sides and longitudinal sides of the canopy.

[ 15 ] In an embodiment the air jet arrangement is recessed with respect to the inside perimeter of the downward facing side of the cavity such as to provide an air jet guiding surface above the air jets, the air jet guiding surface being directed substantially parallel to the open downward facing side of the cavity, and wherein the strip is provided substantially as an extension of the air jet guiding surface. The strip provides for an extended guiding surface for the air jets and an additional blocking in between individual air jets.

[16] Preferably, a bottom surface of the strip is provided in plane with the air jet guiding surface for optimum efficiency in air jet guiding.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[ 17 ] Further features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the description of the invention by way of non-limiting and non-exclusive embodiments. These embodiments are not to be construed as limiting the scope of protection. Various other embodiments can be envisioned within the scope of the invention. Embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like or same reference symbols denote like, same or corresponding parts, and in which [ 18 ] Figure 1 shows a cross sectional view of an embodiment of a kitchen air extraction canopy according to the invention; [ 19 ] Figure 2 shows a cross sectional view of a kitchen area with another embodiment of the extraction canopy according to the invention; and [ 20 ] Figure 3 shows another cross sectional view of the embodiment of figure 1, which is perpendicular to the cross sectional view of figure 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[ 21 ] A kitchen air extraction canopy 1 is shown in figures 1 and 2 in a cross sectional view. Figure 2 shows the canopy provided in a kitchen space 200. The canopy is generally provided above cooking equipment 100, such as a cooking stove, to extract any fumes and vapors from the kitchen area, especially from above the cooking stove. A front side 1 a of the canopy 1 faces to a space where kitchen personnel will be standing while working at the cooking stove and a back side 1b is provided against a wall 250 of the kitchen space 200. In an alternative arrangement, which is not shown in the figures, two extraction canopies are provided back-to-back above, for instance, a cooking stove that is more centrally provided in the kitchen space. A bottom side 1c of the canopy faces downwards towards the cooking equipment. The fumes and vapors from pans, such as cooking or frying pans, on the cooking stove are to be extracted from the kitchen space to keep a good working environment without excess humidity from cooking vapors and any odors and grease from fumes escaping from the pans. The fumes and vapors will be extracted by the canopy together with other air from the kitchen space, which all will be generally referred to as air. This air will thus contain any fumes, vapors and further gases that are to be extracted and drawn away by the canopy from the kitchen space.

[ 22 ] The extraction canopy 1 comprises a housing 2 in which an extraction area 10 is provided. The extraction area 10 is connected to an extraction channel 15 in which a fan 16 is arranged to extract and draw away the air in the direction of the arrow indicated in the extraction channel in the figures. The extraction area 10 has one or more openings through which the air is drawn away and comprises a filter 11 to separate out any contaminants, such as, for instance, grease particles. Grease separated out of the air extracted will have fluid components that are partly collected in a grease collector tray 3. Tray 3 can be taken out and emptied regularly. A filter 11 is known as such.

[ 23 ] The extraction area 10 is provided in a wall of a cavity 20 in the housing 2 of the canopy 1. Air extracted from the kitchen space, which is indicated by arrows 210, 210a, 210b and 210c, is first collected into the cavity 20, which cavity may also be referred to as a buffer or buffer cavity, through its open downward facing side 21. Part of the air flow 201a is then immediately drawn away through the extraction area 10 into the extraction channel 15. Another part of the extracted airflow 210b is collected and trapped within the cavity to be subsequently extracted through Ihe extraction area 10. An air jet stream 220 provided through air outlets 41 from an enclosed space 40 assists in trapping air with the cavity and also entrains some air flow 201c from the kitchen space backwards. Enclosed space 40 is provided with pressurized air by fan 45 as shown in figure 2. Fan 45 draws air from a top region in the kitchen space as shown.

[ 24 ] An edge region 50 surrounds the open downward facing side 21 of the cavity 20, and comprises backside edge region 51, flank side edge regions 52 and front side edge region 53. The flank side edge regions 52 have air outlets 42 from the enclosed space 40, which provide air jet streams 221 as is shown particularly in figure 3. The air jet arrangement having air outlets 41,42 is recessed with respect to the inside perimeter of the downward facing side 21 of the cavity and provides an air jet guiding surface 45 above the air jets. The air jet streams 220, 221 from the multiple air outlets 41,42 are directed towards an opposite side of the canopy to provide an air flow, which preferably forms an air screen, along and below the open downward facing side 21 of the cavity 20 to provide a barrier for trapping air within the cavity 20. The air screens 220, 221 are formed from the flank and front side edge regions 52, 53 towards opposite edge regions. The air jet guiding surfaces 45 due to the recessed air jet arrangements is effective in providing a laminar flow and a smooth upper surface for and of the air jet streams or screens. Having a laminar flow and a smooth surface is advantageous for an effective barrier action of the air jet screens 220, 221.

[ 25 ] The air jet arrangement with the air outlets 41,42 is only recessed over a limited distance as a trade of between cavity size and canopy size. One would like to have a maximum cavity size with the smallest canopy size possible. A strip 60 is provided along the inside perimeter of the open downward facing side 21 of the cavity 20 to obtain a larger effective air jet guiding surface. The strip 60 is in the embodiment shown arranged such that the bottom surface of the strip 60 is provided in plane with the air jet guiding surface 45. Having the strip 60 thus allows a maximum cavity size with minimum canopy size while having a large effective air jet guiding surface to provide a smooth and very effective air screen from the air outlets 41, 42 of the air jet arrangements. A horizontally closed air screen will only form at some distance from the individual air outlets 41,42. Close to the air outlets the air screen is not yet horizontally closed between the air jets from the individual air outlets. The width of the strip 60 is chosen such that it extends to a position where a closed air screen is formed.

[ 26 ] During use kitchen air extracted from above a cooking stove will generally contain a large amount of water vapor due hot food being prepared on the cooking stove 100. The water vapor may condense against the inside walls of the cavity 20 and drip along the walls downwards. The condensed water is collected on the top side of the strip 60, which is configured as a drain channel for the condensed water. To that end the strip is substantially flat but with an upward directed rim 65. The top side of the strip 60 therefore forms a channel for collecting the condensed water.

[ 27 ] The backside edge region provides a grease collector 55 for any grease from the filter 11 which passes along the backside cavity wall part 23 of the cavity 20 downwards. A considerable part of the grease, and possibly other contaminants, from the filter does not end up in grease collector tray 3. Part of the grease will exit the filter 11 along the backside cavity wall part 23 down to its bottom end 23a, from where it may drip into grease collector 55. Some grease may further pass along wall part 24 and end up in grease collector 55. However, since wall part 24 is retracted with respect to wall part 23 grease may drop off from the bottom end 23a of the backside cavity wall part 2 into the grease collector 55. The backside cavity wall part 23 is essentially straight and provided in a slanted position. The backside cavity wall part 23 comprises the extraction area 10. The top side of the backside edge region 51 is open for receiving grease from the filter in the extraction area into the grease collector 55. Any water vapor condensed against the back side wall of the cavity will also be collected into the grease collector 55, which thus doubles as a grease and condensed water collector.

[ 28 ] The strip 60 is provided at the edge region 50 along the inside perimeter of the open downward facing side 21 of the cavity 20 at the flank and front side edge regions 52 and 53 and adjoins the grease collector 55 at the backside edge region 51. A drain for condensed water is thus provided around the full inside perimeter of the open downward facing side 21 of the cavity 20. In an alternative embodiment without grease collector 55 in the backside region, a strip 60 may also be provided in the backside region to provide a condensed water vapor drain and in some embodiments an extended air jet guiding surface.

[ 29 ] Figures 1 and 2 further show a discharge 66, embodied as a tube, connected to the strip 60 to discharge any water collected in the drain. The discharge tube can be connected to a further discharge for discharging the condensedwater in a tank or into the sewer system.

Claims (9)

A kitchen extractor hood (1) comprising - a suction surface (10) arranged for extracting air from a kitchen space (200), in particular from a space above cooking equipment (100), through the extraction surface; and - a cavity (20) arranged for collecting air extracted from the kitchen space through an open downward-pointing side (21) of the cavity in the cavity to the suction surface (10), which suction surface is arranged in a wall of the cavity, wherein a substantially horizontal strip (60) is disposed along at least a portion of the inner circumference of the cavity at or near the downward-pointing side (21) of the cavity (20). The cap according to claim 1, wherein the strip (60) is designed as a drain channel and arranged to enable water condensed on a wall of the cavity to be collected in the drain channel. The cap of claim 2, wherein the strip (60) is arranged around the entire inner circumference of the cavity (20). The hood of claim 2, wherein the strip (60) is disposed around the inner circumference of the cavity (20) associated with a front (53) and flank sides (52) of the hood, and connects to a fat collection device (55) disposed along a portion of the inner circumference of the hood associated with a rear side (51) of the hood. The cap according to one or more of claims 2 to 4, wherein the strip (60) is substantially flat with an upwardly directed edge (65). The cap according to one or more of claims 2 to 5, wherein the strip (60) is connected to a drain (66) to allow drainage of water collected in the drain channel. The hood according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein the hood (1) comprises an air jet feature constructed and mounted on one or more sides of the hood to provide one or more air jet streams (220, 221) during use below and along the open downward-facing side (21) of the cavity (20), which air-jet stream or streams are directed to an opposite side, and wherein the strip (60) is provided above the air-jet provision to guide the air-jet streams. The cap according to the preceding claim, wherein the air jet provision is recessed with respect to the inner circumference of the downward facing side (21) of the cavity (20) to provide an air jet guide surface (45) above the air jet flows, which air jet guide surface is substantially parallel along the open downward facing side (21) of the cavity (20) is oriented, and wherein the strip (60) is provided as substantially an extension of the air guide surface (45). The cap according to the preceding claim, wherein a lower surface of the strip (60) is provided in one plane with the air guiding surface (45).