WO2012062875A1

WO2012062875A1 - An oven with heat pipes

Info

Publication number: WO2012062875A1
Application number: PCT/EP2011/069872
Authority: WO
Inventors: Kemal Sarioglu; Asli Saime Kayihan; Nilay Yalcinkaya; Ahmet Onder Fesligil
Original assignee: Arcelik Anonim Sirketi
Priority date: 2010-11-11
Filing date: 2011-11-10
Publication date: 2012-05-18

Abstract

The present invention relates to an oven (1) comprising a casing (2), an oven cavity (3) which is located inside this casing (2) and wherein trays are disposed, in which foods to be cooked are placed, and at least one heater (4) which is located outside the oven cavity (3), wherein a heat pipe transfers the heat emitted by the heater to the casing.

Description

[Title established by the ISA under Rule 37.2] AN OVEN WITH HEAT PIPES

The present invention relates to an oven wherein the heat distribution is improved.

The cooking time depends on the efficiency of the heater located in the oven, reaching of the heated air the oven cavity and how fast the oven cavity reaches the desired temperature. The air heated by the heater loses heat until it reaches the oven cavity. Furthermore, also a certain amount of time must pass until the casing forming the walls of the oven cavity gets heated. By operating the heater, the parts of the food placed in the oven cavity for cooking which are close to the heater start cooking whereas the parts far from the heater do not cook since the heat of the heater does not reach there yet. As the user waits for the uncooked part to cook, the part close to the heater can get overcooked, or when the user takes the food out of the oven by taking into consideration the part close to the heater, he/she realizes that the parts far from the heater have not finished cooking. In order to solve this problem, a fan providing homogeneous air distribution is used or additional electric heaters are disposed to the side walls of the oven cavity. The hot air circulated by the fan can become cold when it contacts the metal sheet that is initially cold. On the other hand, the heaters disposed to the side walls increase the amount of electricity used.

In the state of the art European Patent Document No. EP0754921, an oven having heating tubes that heat up the air passing therethrough is explained.

In the state of the art Japanese Patent Document No JP56138625, an oven comprising heat pipes that are located on side walls and provide the air activated at the fan side to be heated is explained.

The aim of the present invention is the realization of an oven wherein effective heat distribution is provided without any change in the amount of energy consumption.

The oven realized in order to attain the aim of the present invention, explicated in the first claim and the respective claims thereof, comprises a heater for heating the foods that are placed in the oven cavity covered by the casing. The oven, furthermore, comprises at least one heat pipe that transfers the heat of the heater for heating the oven cavity in a short period of time. While one end of the heat pipe makes thermal contact to the heater, the other end transfers the heat received from the heater to different areas of the casing. Thus, the oven cavity does not heat up starting only from the heater side, but heats up faster by means of the heat pipe side heating up simultaneously.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the heater is disposed on the rear, side, bottom or upper walls while the heat pipe is disposed on at least one wall on which the heater is not disposed. Thus, the heat emitted by one heater is provided to heat by being transferred to more than one wall simultaneously by means of the heat pipe and the heat flow reaching the oven cavity is increased.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the oven comprises a fan which provides the heated air to be blown to the oven cavity for homogeneous distribution. The heat pipe is disposed in the air flow path and thus, the air heated by the heater is prevented from getting cold before reaching the oven cavity. The air heated by the heater is blown towards the oven cavity by means of the fan. The heat pipe is disposed on the metal sheet surfaces wherein the blown air contacts until reaching the oven cavity and thus, heat loss on the way is prevented.

In another embodiment of the present invention, by means of the heat pipe, heat is transferred to at least one carrier which is located on the side walls in order that trays can be placed in the oven cavity and which is suitable for carrying trays. Thus, while the oven cavity is heated by means of the heater, the carriers and the trays contacting the carriers are heated by means of the heat pipe.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the oven comprises at least one channel which is located at the lower and/or upper sides of the carriers at the side walls and wherein the air blown by the fan passes through and reaches the oven cavity. At least one heat pipe disposed in the channel provides the air passing through the channel to be heated and allows the air blown to the upper and/or lower parts of the trays to be hot.

By means of the heat pipes located in the oven of the present invention, the heat received from the heater is transferred to the oven cavity parts far from the heater. Thus, the oven cavity parts that include both heater and heat pipe heat up simultaneously and while the preheating time gets shorter, a homogeneous heat distribution is provided.

An oven realized in order to attain the aim of the present invention is illustrated in the attached figures, where:

Figure 1 – is the perspective view of the oven of the present invention.

Figure 2 – is the front perspective view of the oven cavity in an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 3 – is the sideways schematic view of the oven in an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 4 – is the top schematic view of the oven in another embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 5 – is the top schematic view of the oven in an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 6 – is the front schematic view of the oven in another embodiment of the present invention.

The elements illustrated in the figures are numbered as follows:

Oven
Casing
Oven cavity
Heater
Heat pipe
Rear wall
, 107. Side wall
Upper wall
Bottom wall
Fan
Hole
Carrier
Channel
Opening

The oven (1) comprises a casing (2), an oven cavity (3) which is located inside this casing (2) and wherein trays are disposed, in which foods to be cooked are placed, and at least one heater (4) which is located outside the oven cavity (3) (Figure 1, Figure 2, Figure 3 and Figure 4). The air being heated by operating the heater (4) heats up the oven cavity (3) and provides the foods placed in the oven cavity (3) to be cooked or heated.

The oven (1), furthermore, comprises at least one heat pipe (5) which receives the heat emitted by the heater (4) and transfers it to the casing (2) parts far from the heater (4) (Figure 3, Figure 4, Figure 5 and Figure 6). The heat pipe (5) is a heat transfer mechanism and a combination of both heat transfer and phase shift principles for transferring heat between two surfaces. The outer surface of the heat pipe (5) is covered with a heat conducting material and a fluid that changes from liquid phase to gas phase during the heat convection is disposed therein. The heat pipe (5) can be configured as a cylindrical tube or a plate. By means of the heat of the heater (4) being transferred by the heat pipe (5) to the casing (2) surrounding the oven cavity (3), the oven cavity (3) is heated faster. When the heater (4) starts operating, it first heats up itself and the surroundings. By means of the heat pipe (5) transferring the heat of the heater (4) to the casing (2) parts far from the heater (4), the casing (2) parts close to the heater (4) and far from the heater (4) are heated simultaneously. Thus, almost the whole oven cavity (3) volume reaches the same temperature simultaneously. Hence, a balanced heat distribution is provided inside the oven cavity (3) and the cooking time is shortened.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the oven (1) comprises a rear wall (6), two side walls (7, 107), a upper wall (8) and a bottom wall (9) surrounding the oven cavity (3). The heater (4) is disposed outside the oven cavity (3) so as to remain behind at least one of the walls (6, 7, 107, 8 and/or 9). The heat pipe (5) transfers the heat of the heater (4) to at least one of the other walls (6, 7, 107, 8 and/or 9) whereon the heater (4) is not disposed. For example, when the heater (4), which is disposed behind the rear wall (6) so as to remain outside the oven cavity (3), starts heating the rear wall (6), the heat pipes (5) transfer heat to the upper and bottom walls (8 and 9) (Figure 3). In another embodiment, the heat of the heaters (4) on the rear wall (6) is transferred to the side walls (7 and 107) by means of the heat pipes (5) (Figure 4 and Figure 6). In an embodiment wherein the heater (4) is disposed behind the bottom wall (9), the heat pipes (5) transfer heat to the rear wall (6) and side walls (7 and 107). In an embodiment, the heat transfer is realized by one end of the heat pipe (5) contacting the heater (4) and the other end contacting one of the walls (6, 7, 107, 8 and/or 9). By means of the heat pipes (5), all of the walls (6, 7, 107, 8 and/or 9) heat up almost simultaneously and the oven cavity (3) heating time gets shorter.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the oven (1) comprises a fan (10) that provides the air heated by the heater (4) to be blown into the oven cavity (3). The fan (10) is generally disposed such that the air first moves onto the heater (4) and then into the oven cavity (3). The oven (1) comprises holes (11) behind which the fan (10) and the heater (4) are situated and which are located on the rear wall (6) and allow passage of air. Thus, the air is heated by the heater (4) and the heated air reaches the oven cavity (3) by passing through the holes (11) by forced air transfer. The heat pipe (5) is disposed onto the circulation path of the air activated by the fan (10). The heat pipe (5) is disposed to the rear wall (6) whereon the air contacts and whereon holes (11) are situated. Thus, the air heated by the heater (4) does not get cold before reaching the oven cavity (3) and preserves heat by contacting the heat pipes (5) and the surfaces heated by the heat pipes (5) (Figure 5).

In another embodiment of the present invention, the oven (1) comprises at least one tray (T) whereon foods to be cooked are placed and at least one carrier (12) which is shaped as a recess or protrusion and located on the side walls (7, 107), and whereon the tray (T) is placed (Figure 2). The heat pipe (5) extending between the heater (4) and the carrier (12) transfers heat to the carrier (12) and hence, provides the carrier (12) and the trays (T) contacting the carrier (12) to be heated. Thus, the trays (T) are heated by means of the heat pipes (5) in a period of time shorter than the time required for the heater (4) to heat the oven cavity (3) and the trays (T). Consequently, the cooking time is also shortened. Furthermore, the foods are cooked equally by the tray (T), which is heated by the heat pipes (5), heating the lower parts of the foods and by the air, which is heated by the heater (4), heating the upper parts of the foods.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the oven (1) comprises one or more channel (13) through which the heated air activated by the fan (10) passes and is transferred to the oven cavity (3), and which remains on the lower and/or upper side of the carrier (12). The heat pipe (5) provides the air passing through the channel (13) to be heated by being disposed into the channel (13) (Figure 6). The oven (1) comprises openings (14) on the channel (13) surfaces facing the oven cavity (3) in order that the air heated by the heater (4) reaches the oven cavity (3) by being blown by the fan (10) and transferred along the channels (13) located for example on the side walls (7, 107). Thus, for example, while heated air is blown into the oven cavity (3) through the holes (11) located on the rear wall (6), heated air is also blown through the openings (14) of the channels (13) on the side walls (7, 107) at the same time and a balanced heat distribution is provided in the oven cavity (3). By means of the heat pipes (5) disposed in the channels (13), the air blown from the rear side does not get cold while passing through the channels (13) and preserves heat. The channels (13) are located on the lower and/or upper sides of the carriers (12) and allow warm air to be blown to the upper and lower sides of the trays (T) located on the carrier (12) through the openings (14). Thus, both the lower and the upper sides of the tray (T) are heated simultaneously. The temperatures of the air blown through the channels (13) by being heated by the heat pipes (5) and of the air blown from the rear wall (6) by being heated by the heater (4) are almost equal to one another and thus, balanced cooking is provided by all parts of the food located in the oven cavity (3) being heated simultaneously.

In the oven (1) of the present invention, by means of the heat pipes (5) transferring the heat of the heater (4) to various parts of the casing (2), all parts of the oven cavity (3) reach the desired temperature simultaneously and in a short period of time. Thus, the heated air is prevented from getting cold while reaching the oven cavity (3) and the cooking time is shortened.

It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed above and a person skilled in the art can easily introduce different embodiments. These should be considered within the scope of the protection postulated by the claims of the present invention.

Claims

An oven (1) comprising a casing (2), an oven cavity (3) which is located inside this casing (2) and wherein trays are disposed, in which foods to be cooked are placed, and at least one heater (4) which is located outside the oven cavity (3), characterized by at least one heat pipe (5) which receives the heat emitted by the heater (4) and transfers it to the casing (2) parts far from the heater (4).
An oven (1) as in Claim 1, characterized by a rear wall (6), two side walls (7, 107), an upper wall (8) and a bottom wall (9) surrounding the oven cavity (3), the heater (4) which is disposed outside the oven cavity (3) so as to remain behind at least one of the walls (6, 7, 107, 8 and/or 9), and the heat pipe (5) which transfers the heat of the heater (4) to at least one of the walls (6, 7, 107, 8 and/or 9) whereon the heater (4) is not disposed.
An oven (1) as in any one of the above claims, characterized by a fan (10) which provides the air heated by the heater (4) to be blown to the oven cavity (3) and the heat pipe (5) which is disposed on the circulation path of the air activated by the fan (10).
An oven (1) as in any one of the above claims, characterized by at least one tray (T) whereon foods to be cooked are placed, at least one carrier (12) which is disposed on the side walls (7, 107) and whereon the tray (T) is placed, and the heat pipe (5) which extends between the heater (4) and the carrier (12).
An oven (1) as in Claim 4, characterized by one or more than one channel (13) through which the heated air activated by the fan (10) passes and is transferred to the oven cavity (3), and which remains on the lower and/or upper side of the carrier (12), and the heat pipe (5) which is disposed into the channel (13).