US20150253012A1

US20150253012A1 - Gas flow directing device for burners of cooking appliances

Info

Publication number: US20150253012A1
Application number: US14/431,667
Authority: US
Inventors: Rodrigo Fregulia de Fáveri; Marcos Raphael da Silva
Original assignee: Whirlpool SA
Current assignee: Whirlpool SA
Priority date: 2012-09-26
Filing date: 2013-09-26
Publication date: 2015-09-10
Also published as: WO2014047706A4; WO2014047706A1; BR102012024539A2

Abstract

The present invention refers to a gas flow directing device (1) for burners (2) of cooking appliances, comprising innovative technical and functional features capable of better using gases from combustion process. However, it is mainly directed to maximize the efficiency of heat exchange of burners with cooking utensils. More particularly, said gas flow directing device (1) of the present invention comprises a base (3) provided with opening (4) for fitting a burner (2), wherein said base (3) is arranged such that it can be freely rotated around the burner (2) and comprises at least a pathway (5) configured from the arrangement of at least one outwardly projected distribution wall (6) containing at least an opening (7).

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention refers to a gas flow directing device for burners of oven-type cooking appliances. More particularly, said gas flow directing device comprises innovative technical and functional features capable of better using gases from a combustion process, but mainly maximizing efficiency of heat exchange of burners with cooking utensils.
More preferably, the present invention refers to a device to be used in cooking appliance burners having the ability to increase the residence time of hot gases under a utensil by means of reducing dissipation speed of said gases.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

As generally known by those skilled in the art, cooking appliances are used for heating cooking utensils, such as pans, dishes, frying pans, etc. To this effect, these appliances are provided with a series of burners over which said utensils for the preparations of food are disposed, wherein the configuration of said burners is intended to produce a flame capable of heating the bottom of said utensils, and, preferably, such heating must be as uniform as possible.
In this sense, in accordance with the state of the art, one may note that manufacturers of cooking appliances aim at developing burners capable of obtaining higher and more suitable heating of said utensils without increasing or wasting fuel once said proposals would render such appliances economically and ecologically inappropriate in modern market.
According to conventional cooking appliances known from the state of the art, utensils are positioned on a cooktop which usually has a grid format constituted by iron rods which allow for hot gases generated by the fuel to be radially conveyed to the outside along the utensil bottom region until dissipated to the environment. Consequently, this type of configuration leads to an increase in the consumption of fuel by virtue of loss of energy to the atmosphere.
In an attempt to increase and improve thermal efficiency of burners there are known from the state of the art some burners equipped with fixed cooktops which comprise static members or configurations intending to aid in the conduction and distribution of flame and hot air flow under the cooking utensils. Nevertheless, in spite of improving efficiency, it is noted that the hot gas flow still continues losing or exchanging heat with the atmosphere, thereby wasting heating energy from the cooking utensils. In other words, it was verified that conventional state-of-the-art burners already made use of especially developed cooktops for increasing the use of energy coming from hot gases generated by burners but unfortunately they still kept losing a substantial amount of energy to the atmosphere.
Hence, those burners known in the art still consume more energy to make up for the energy loss to the atmosphere.
In an attempt to arrive at a solution for this drawback of energy loss, there are known from the state of the art some burner models comprising a dynamic structural design whose flame-generating ports are movable and may rotate to increase the contact level of flames with a cooking utensil. By way of example, the following documents can be cited CN201487958, CN201606878, FR1535256, JP1986062731, U.S. Pat. No. 2,647,88, U.S. Pat. No. 4,938,687 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,435,863, which refers to burners having rotary flame-generating ports, looking for perturbations in each limit layer of the flames and then increasing the convection heat exchange coefficient.
Nonetheless, as can be observed by those skilled in the art, such solutions are not capable of effectively increasing burner thermal efficiency and they still cause energy loss to the atmosphere since said flame-generated hot gases are still being dissipated to the atmosphere without reusing and/or contacting the cooking utensils. Furthermore, it is noted that such burners comprise a substantially complex structure since adaptations in the connections and fuel-feeding tubes are required such that they may also rotate without risks of causing leakages. Therefore, it is clear that this type of structural configuration requires specific care such that serious accidents caused by possible damages in the fuel feeding means are prevented.
In other words, such state-of-the-art burners present problems and constructional limitations affecting their construction in addition to increasing security risks during handling and functioning of cooking appliances.
In order to solve these drawbacks, the own inventors of the present invention have developed a hot gas diffusion device to be applied to a burner such as described and defined in BR Patent Application No. PI1105163-9, which is referred to as static (i.e. non-moving) device such that the flow of hot gases generated by the flames from the ports is kept into contact with the utensil bottoms for a longer time. In spite of solving the state of the art problems and disclosing a very functional constructiveness, it was verified that this device could be further improved, mainly aiming at further enhancing the thermal efficiency of heat exchange with household appliances.
By this way, despite the fact that some models show to be functional and efficient up to now, it is noted that burners used in cooking appliances known in the art could be improved, specifically in relation to heat exchange efficiency and better use of energy contained in hot gases generated by the flames. More particularly, it can be observed that said cooking appliances do not comprise burners capable of carrying out a more efficient heat exchange with cooking appliances but which would disclose simplified construction structures with no risk of causing fuel leakage during functioning.

Objects of the Invention

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a gas flow directing device for burners of cooking appliances such as ovens, wherein it comprises technical and functional features capable of improving the functioning of burner and thus solving the drawbacks and limitations of burners known in the art, as discussed above.
More particularly, an object of the present invention is to provide a device for directing gases generated by the burner flames, comprising an innovative structure and being suitable for increasing residence time of hot gases under a cooking utensil bottom and thereby the exchange heat time and use of burner-generated energy are enhanced.
Further, said gas directing device of the present invention intends to entirely, efficiently and evenly heat a cooking appliance since the gas flow propagates along the whole utensil surface through pathways designed to reduce propagation velocity and consequently the residence time of these hot gases under the utensil is increased.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In this sense and aiming at achieving the objects and technical effects cited above, the present invention refers to a gas flow directing device for burners of cooking appliances, wherein said device comprises a base provided with at least a preferably central opening, to which a burner is attached, wherein said base is disposed so as to be freely rotated around said burner. Said base comprises at least a pathway configured from the arrangement of at least an outwardly projected distribution wall containing at least an opening for gas flow passage.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the body of the burner is coupled with a base by a fitting mechanism which comprises means capable of permitting free rotation of the device around the burner. Alternatively, said means for rotating said base are coupled with an electric and/or electronic means which can also comprise computational capacity to control rotation of said base.
In another alternative embodiment of the present invention, said gas flow directing device comprises a configuration in which the inner edge of its base near the opening of the burner fitting is provided with a series of distribution helical-shaped walls, such as arcs of circles or also with a plane geometry and disposed side-by-side. Furthermore, as will be appreciated by a person skilled in the art, other forms and geometrical configurations can be easily applied to said distribution walls with the provision that they are capable of directing the gas flow toward the radial distribution walls.
As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the essential embodiment in accordance with the present invention is a rotary gas flow directing device having gas distribution walls, wherein said walls can comprise a continuous or segmented configuration forming openings along the pathways.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Features, advantages and technical effects of the present invention, as indicated above, are better understood by a person skilled in the art from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment given by example and not intended to be limitative, and which is illustrated in figures below, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the gas flow directing device in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a partially cut perspective view of the gas flow directing device in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an upper view of the gas flow directing device in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the gas flow directing device in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; and

FIGS. 5A and 5F are upper views of the gas flow directing device in accordance with possible alternative embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with schematic figures indicated above, there will be described in more details some examples of possible embodiments of the present invention but in a merely exemplary and non-limitative manner since the device for directing the flow of gases generated by burner flames can be understood through different structural and dimensional details and aspects without diverting from the present scope of protection.
The gas flow directing device 1 of the present invention is an accessory that can be coupled with a burner 2 or alternatively it is possible that said burner comprises the directing device of the present invention. Thus, it is important to point out that said gas flow directing device can be either an entirely independent part of the burner or a part that constitutes the burner assembly of a cooking appliance.
In this sense, said gas flow directing device 1 comprises a base 3 comprising opening 4 for fitting it over the burner 2 wherein said base 3 is arranged such that it can be freely rotated around the burner 2 and comprises at least a pathway 5 configured from the arrangement of at least a upwardly projected distributed wall 6, containing at least an opening 7 for the gas flow passage F.
Specifically referring to FIG. 2, it is observed that in a possible embodiment of the present invention, the burner 2 is coupled with base 3 of the gas flow directing device 1 by at least a fitting mechanism 8, which is constituted by means that will allow said base 3 to freely rotate around the burner body 2.
By way of example, rotation movement of said base 3 around burner 2 is advantageously carried out by means of electric and/or electronic mechanism which can also comprise a certain computational capacity for eventually controlling the rotation of the device of the present invention.
As depicted in FIGS. 1, 2, 3, and 4, it is observed that the process of combustion of gases generated by flames formed in ports 9 are conducted by pathways 5 formed by walls 6 as shown by indicative arrows “F” such that the flow tends to travel the whole lower surface of utensil 10 disposed over a cooktop 10 before exiting to the atmosphere. Said base 3 rotates as indicated by arrow “R” and then it is possible to reduce the speed of gases generated by burner 2 in relation to the utensil, thereby increasing the residence time of these gases in the pathways 5 formed by said distribution walls 6.
Particularly concerning FIG. 4 it is possible to note that the gas flow directing device 1 of the present invention is arranged at a relatively short distance from the utensil 10, which rests on the cooktop 11 such that said distance is sufficient to make a kind of blockage so as to radially expel the gases to the atmosphere.
As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the rotational movement of the gas flow directing device of the present invention reduces the velocity of the gases toward the edge of base 3. This is due to the fact that a combination of the rotational movement of device 1 with the arrangement of the distribution walls 6 makes the gas flow “F” to face more barriers during the movement along the pathways 5.
From FIGS. 5A to 5E, some variations in the configuration relative to the construction of said at least one pathway 5 for circulation of gases generated by burner 2 are disclosed. More particularly, in accordance with FIG. 5A, distribution walls in helical form, such as arcs of circle 6′, are disposed on the inner edge of base 3, near opening 4, which aid in the distribution and conduction of gases toward the distribution walls 6 which restrict the flow speed and increase the time the hot gases remain under the cook utensil.
In a similar embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 5D, some distribution walls in flat-form 6″ are disposed side-by-side on the inner edge of base 3 near the opening 4, which also aim at aiding in the distribution and conduction of gases toward the distribution walls 6 which restrict the flow speed and increase the time hot gases remain under the cook utensil.
As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, said distribution walls 6′ and 6″ can be in different formats and geometric configurations, including combinations of different formats therebetween.
FIG. 5B shows another configuration of said distribution walls 6, in which said walls 6 are continuous, thereby forming a sole pathway, where hot gases generated by burner 2 enter pathway 5 and are conveyed up to the end radially away from the distributions walls 6.
Further, as depicted in FIG. 5C, it is possible to arrange said distribution walls 6 so as to force the gas flow “F” to travel a pathway 5 composed of an arc having approximately 360°, that is, distribution walls 6 provided with openings 7 diametrically opposed to each other are disclosed.
Additionally, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, it is possible to apply an infinite variation of configurations of the distribution walls 6 not only those mentioned and illustrated above, but also a combination of these configurations or also different arrangements but having equivalent technical and functional aspects which are capable of reducing the gas flow velocity along at least one pathway disposed on base 3 of the present device.
In this sense, it is important to point out that the number of distribution walls 6 may vary according to the manufacturer's interests. According to the present invention, at least one wall 6 is required, which should be sufficient to form a pathway 5 in which the gas flow can be conducted from the central region of the utensil bottom up to an opening end.
Despite the fact that the illustrative and schematic figures contain arrows to determine directions, for example, direction “R” of rotation of device 1 and gas flows F, it is clear that such directions can be altered in conformity with the design features and manufacturers' interests.
It is important to emphasize that the description above is only intended to describe by way of example the preferred embodiments of the gas flow directing device for burners of cooking appliances in accordance with the present invention. Hence, as well understood by those skilled in the art, several construction modifications, variations and combinations are possible, including elements that have the same function substantially in the same form to obtain the same results, which will be still contemplated within the scope of protection limited by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A cooking appliance burner including a gas flow directing device, the gas flow directing device comprising:

a base including an opening to fit the burner,

wherein the base is adapted to freely rotate around the burner, and the base comprising at least a pathway configured from an arrangement of at least one of an upwardly projected distribution wall having at least one opening, wherein the base is coupled with an electric and/or electronic mechanism.

2. The cooking appliance burner including the gas flow directing device according to claim 1, wherein the burner is coupled with the base by a fitting mechanism, such that the base is adapted to freely rotate around the burner.

3. The cooking appliance burner including the gas flow directing device according to claim 1, wherein the electric and/or electronic mechanism comprises computational capacity to control the rotation of the base.

4. The cooking appliance burner including the gas flow directing device according to claim 1, wherein the at least one of the upwardly projected distribution wall is arranged on an inner edge of the base close to the opening, the wall having a helical form, such that surfaces of the wall form at least one of an arc of a circle, or flat surfaces disposed side-by-side.

5. The cooking appliance burner including the gas flow directing device according to claim 1, wherein the at least one distribution wall is continuous.

6. The cooking appliance burner including the gas flow directing device according to claim 1, further comprising distribution walls having openings diametrically opposed to each other.