US2733706A - feder - Google Patents

Description

A. G. FEDER COOKING RANGE Feb. 7, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 11, 1952 s R r m M Na K m4 0 F 7 m r a A k 0 m 2 A WWWW Feb. 7, 1956 A. G. FEDER 2,733,706

COOKING RANGE Filed Feb. 11, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 d? 048 if "1: f via E?- I \Y 4! 3 Maw; we 2 I N V EN TOR AA7/l0l? 6. 20.47

wwwgw ATTORNEYS United States Patent COOKING RANGE Arthur G. Feder, Detroit, Mich., assignor to Welbilt Cor- .poration, a corporation of Michigan Application February 11, 1952, Serial No. 270,915

1 Claim. ((11. ,126200) This invention relates to cooking ranges of the type having surface heating elements on the top wall and having an oven positioned below the top wall.

In ranges of the above general type, it is desirable to provide means enabling a user to view the contents of the oven without the necessity of opening the oven door, and thereby causing a drop in the oven temperature. In an elfort to accomplish the above results, many manufacturers of cooking ranges provide a sight opening through the oven door. This proposed solution to the problem has not proved satisfactory for two reasons, which are: 1) an opening in the oven door doesnot provide a clear unobstructed view of the interior of the oven from front to back; and (2) the user is required to stoop or kneel .on the floor at the front of the range in order to look through the sight opening in the oven door.

With the above in view it is an object of this invention to provide a cooking range with a sight opening located to enable viewing the interior of the oven compartment throughout substantially its full length from a normal standing position at the front side of the range. Morevparticularly the present invention contemplates a range construction wherein the top of the range has an opening which extends fore and aft of the oven compartment, and is visually open to the interior of the oven compartment.

It is anothenobject of this invention to locate the sight opening in the top wall of the range in a position where it does not interfere with the location of surface heating elements on the top wall of the range directly above the oven, and also where it does not materially restrict the area of the working surface provided by the top wall of the range.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a range structure of the type set forth above with means for illuminating the interior of the oven compartment so that the contents of the compartment maybe clearly viewed through the sight opening in the top wall of the range.

vThe foregoing as well as other objects will be made more apparent as this description proceeds, especially when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a cooking range embodying the features of this invention;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary top plan view of the range shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 33 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 44 of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional view illustrating the illuminating means for the interior of the oven compartment; and

Figure 6 is an exploded perspective view of several 2,733,706 Patented Feb. 7, 1956 parts of the frame structure employed to secure the trans parent panels to the oven compartment. I

The numeral 10 in Figure 1 of the drawings designates a cooking range comprising a shell 11 having a top wall 12, side walls 13 and a front wall 14. The range specifically illustrated in the drawings is of the divided top type; or in other words, has a working surface 15 located between two pairs of surface heating elements 16, which in the present'instance, are in the form of gas burners.

More particularly the top wall 12 of the shell 11 is formed with openings 17 at-opposite sides of the working surface 15, and these openings extend in ,a rearward direction from the front wall .14 of the shell. A pair of panels 18 are respectively removably supported within the openings 17 with the top surfaces thereof substantially flush with the working surfacelS on the top wall 12 of-the range. Each panel 18 has a front opening 19 and a rear opening 20 for respectively receiving the burners 16 of each pair. The pairs of burners 16 are respectively supported on suitable rests 21 located below the top wall- 12 .of the range within an enclosure commonly known as a burner box 22. The rests 21 also form supports for the usual mixing tubes .23, which connect therespective burners to a source of fuel supply.

The burner box 122 is formed by .a partition 24 suitably supported within.the confinestof the shell 11' below the top wall 12 in vertical spaced relation to the latter and providing a bottom wall for the burner box 22. An oven compartment 25 is enclosed by the shell 11 and occupies a position below the partition or bottom wall 24 of the burner box 22. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the oven compartment .25 extends directly beneath the pair of heating elements 16 at the right hand side of the range and the top wall 26 of the oven compartment assumes a position in vertical spaced relation to the bottom wall 24 of the burner box 22. In addition the oven compartment 25 extends rearwa'rdly from the front wall 14 of the shell to a position adjacent the rear wall 27 of the shell, .and an .opening 28 is formed in the front wall 14 in registration with .theiopen front end .of the oven compartment 25. The opening 28 provides an access opening to the oven compartment, and is normally closed by a door 29 hingedl'y connected in the usual manner along its bottom edge to .theshell 11. It isto be understood that the :walls of the oven'c'ompartment 25 including the access door 29 are effectively insulated by a suitable thermal insulation in order to reduce-heat loss to a minimum, and any acceptable construction may be provided for this purpose.

In accordance with the .present invention the interior of the. oven compartment 25'r'nay be readily viewed throughout the full lengthof'the 'oven compartment from a normal standing position at the front side of the range. This is accomplished by providing a sight opening 30 in the top wall 12 of the shell 11 and by visually connectingthe opening 30 to the interior of the oven compartment 25; In detail the opening 30 is elongated in the direction of length of the oven compartment '25, and is formed in the top wall 12 adjacent the inner edge of the opening 17 at the right hand side of the range. As shown in Figure 3 of the drawings the oven compartment 25 is of a width to extend laterally beneath the opening 30 so that this opening overlies the top wall 26 of the oven compartment.

In practice the top wall 12 of the shell 11 is embossed downwardly and the opening 30 is formed in the embossed portion to provide a seat 31 around the perimeter of the opening 30 for a transparent panel 32. The depth of the embossed portion approximates the thickness of the panel 32, so that the top surface of this panel lies ICC flush with the surface of the top wall 12. Hence the transparent panel 32 forms, in effect, a continuation of the working surface 15, and does not materially reduce the effective area of this surface. A rectangular frame 33 surrounds the transparent panel 32, and is provided at spaced points -with clips 34, which extend through slots formed in the seats 31, and may be bent laterally outwardly to secure the panel 32 in place. I g

Referring again to Figure 3 of the drawings, it will be noted that the bottom wall 24 of the burner box and the top Wall 26 of the oven compartment are respectively formed with vertically aligned openings 35 and 36. These openings arealso visually aligned with the opening 30 in the top Wall 12 of the shell 11, and it will be seen from both Figures 3 and 4 of the drawings that the space in the burner box'22 between the sight opening 30 and the opening is visually unobstructed, so that a relatively wide angle of vision into the oven co1npartment is alforded from a position above the top of the range. I I

The openings35 and 36 are closed by transparent panels 37 and 38 supported in vertical spaced relationship between the walls 24 and 26 by a frame structure 39. As shown in Figure 6 of the drawings the frame structure 39 has an inwardly opening channel-shaped clamping member 40 which surrounds the transparent panelsand is formed of two parts 41 and 42 to enable assembling the samewith the transparent panels. A rim 43 is secured in the channel-shaped clampingmernber- 40 at the bottom of the latter, and provides a seat for the transparent panel 38. The-rim 43 has a depending laterally outwardly flared flange 44 which cooperates with the adjacent part of the clamping member 40 to form a channel for retaining a resilient thermal insulating material45 in place. The material 45 provides a heat seal for the joint around the opening 36, and this result is accomplished by fashioning an upturned flange 46 on the top wall 26. The flange 46 extends continuously around the opening 36 and is positioned to be engaged throughout its length by the sealing material 45.

The transparent panels 37 and 38 are held in vertically spaced relationship by an outwardly opening channelshaped spacer 47 positioned within the clamping member 40 between the .marginal edges of the transparent panels. The top flange of the spacer 47 provides aseat for the transparent panel 37, and-a continuous rim 48 is clamped between. the top flange of the channel-shaped member40 and the adjacent marginal edge portion of the panel 37. The rim 48 has an upwardly extending flange 49 which isflared laterally outwardly-and abuts a depending flange 50 turned downwardly from the marginal edgeof the opening 35 in thewall 24.

Suitablelugs 5 1 are: secured to the outer-side of the clamping member 40 at spaced'points and these lugs are clamped to brackets 52 welded or otherwise fastened to the. top wall 26 of the oven compartment. The lugs 51, are secured to the brackets 52 by fastener elements 53 and the arrangement issuch that when the fastener elements53 arev tightened, .the frame structure 39 together with the glass panels is forced downwardly relative to the wall 26. Hence the upstanding ,flange 46 surrounding the opening 36 in the top wall 26 of the oven compartment is pressed againstxthe resilient insulating material 45 to provide an efficient seal regardless of any inaccuracies that may occurin theframe structure.

It follows from the above that the sight opening 30 in the top wall 12 of the shell is visually aligned with the transparent panels 37 and 38. The openings 35 and 36 respectively closed by the transparent panels 37' and 38 may be of the same general size as the sight opening 30. In any case the openings 35 and 36 also extend in the direction of length of the oven compartment 25, and afford a clear view of the interior of the oven throughout substantially the full length of the latter. This view is obtainable through the sight opening 30 from a normal standing position at the front of the'range, and without the necessity of providing expensive and complicated optical arrangements.

In Figure 5 of the drawings, provision is made in the form of an electric light bulb 55 for illuminating the interior of the oven compartment. In detail an electrical socket 56 is suitably secured to the rear wall of the oven compartment adjacent the top of the latter, so that the interior of the oven is illuminated without producing a glare in the region of the transparent panels or otherwise interfering with viewing the interior of the oven through said panels. The socket 52 may have the usual electrical connections associated therewith for co action with an electrical supply plug.

What I claim as my invention'is: I

A stove having a flat, elongated horizontal top stove wall providing a working surface, said wall having burner openings at opposite ends, a second flat horizontal wall spaced substantially beneath said top wall and defining a burner compartment therewith, burners in the ends of said compartment beneath said burner openings, an oven in said stove extending from one end thereof beneath the burners thereat to a point intermediate said burner openings, said oven having a top wall spaced downwardly from said second wall, insulation between said top oven wall and said second Wall, said top oven wall and said second wall having elongated registering openings therein extending substantially from front to rear of said stove and located between said burners, a double glazed horizontal insulating window in the space provided by said two openings including sealing means engaging said top oven wall and said second wall, said top stove wall having an elongated opening in registration with the window in the top of the oven, and a-horizontal window in said last mentioned opening constituting a part of the working surface of the stove and completely separated from the window in said oven to leave said burner compartment completely unobstructed.

Germany Oct. 2. 1902

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