WO2019129600A1

WO2019129600A1 - Steam cleaning apparatus integrated oven

Info

Publication number: WO2019129600A1
Application number: PCT/EP2018/086042
Authority: WO
Inventors: Asli GENCER OZEL; Pinar CAGLAR GORURGOZ; Tansel OZTURK; Deryanur KALKAVAN
Original assignee: Arcelik Anonim Sirketi
Priority date: 2017-12-26
Filing date: 2018-12-20
Publication date: 2019-07-04
Also published as: TR201721976A2

Abstract

The present invention relates to an oven comprising in its most basic form a main body, a cooking chamber provided in the main body, a front panel provided on the main body, a steam generator to produce steam, a control unit adapted to control the steam generator, a multiport valve having an inlet and a plurality of outlets, and connected to the outlet of the steam generator, a connection tube having an inlet end and an outlet end, whose inlet end is connected to one of the outlets of the multiport valve, a cleaning apparatus comprising a cleaning body, and on the cleaning body a tube inlet provided to connect to the outlet end of the connection tube, and a steam outlet for spraying the steam generated by the steam generator.

Description

STEAM CLEANING APPARATUS INTEGRATED OVEN

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an oven enabling steam cleaning by means of an external apparatus integrated therein.

Prior Art

The fats dripping and splattering from the food products being cooked in high temperatures in cooking chambers in ovens adhere to the walls or the base of the cooking chambers. After completion of the cooking process, said adhered fats dry and stain cooking chambers. Cleaning of fats and dried food residue collected in a cooking chamber is rather cumbersome. To that end, powerful chemicals are required to be used. A high amount of effort is exerted and inner surfaces of an oven are damaged during cleaning such stains.

Various methods are employed to manually or automatically clean the stains collected in cooking chambers.

The United States patent document no. US2017082295A1 mentions cleaning an oven comprising a steam generator, using mild detergents. In said invention, primarily a user applies detergent on stains. Furthermore, the adverse effects of powerful detergents were attempted to be averted by using mild detergents in this invention. A certain amount of time is elapsed after application of detergent and then the steam generated in the steam generator is applied to the oven cavity. After reaching a certain temperature and waiting for a duration, the stains and water are cleaned from within the oven and steam is reapplied. After keeping the oven at a certain temperature for some time, the stains and water are manually cleaned in the oven. However, in this invention, cleaning process consumes a rather long time due to the waiting (incubation) periods after applications of steam.

The United States patent document no. US2017045233A1 mentions a system enabling solving the problems of drawing fats and subsequent water discharge in ovens with steam cleaning function. In this system, a cleaning liquid is sprayed into the cooking chamber by using a spraying system. In order to able to discharge fats and water separately during the cooking and cleaning processes, a system is designed capable of controlling fat and water passages by means of gates at discharge outlets. However, since the cleaning process in this invention is performed by using a spraying system pivoted in the oven, quite a lot of water is consumed when cleaning stains in the cooking chamber.

The international patent application no. WO2016059129A2 discloses a device automatically cleaning the interior of an oven. Said cleaning device is designed so as to be attached to and detached from a fixed frame. Said frame keeps together a plurality of nozzles spraying a cleaning liquid into the inner cavity of an oven. Said nozzles are divided into two groups; the first group is used for cleaning and the second group is used for the final rinsing process. Water covers a large area thanks to the nozzles rotating by means of water pressure. The stains are cleaned by means of the mechanical effect created by high pressure. However, in this invention, spraying of the cleaning liquid with high pressures by the fixed spraying nozzles may lead to abrasion on the inner surface of an oven in the long term.

Problems Solved by the Invention

The aim of the present invention is to realize an oven enabling steam to be applied directly on the stains in a cooking chamber by means of an external cleaning apparatus.

An advantage of the oven of the invention is enabling effective and convenient cleaning of dried or intensive stains by enabling steam to be focused directly on stains by means of a cleaning apparatus capable of being integrated to said oven. Furthermore, a faster cleaning is enabled since the requirement of waiting for softening of the stains is eliminated thanks to being able to apply steam directly on the stains.

Another advantage of the oven of the invention is eliminating the need for using detergent to clean the stains in a cooking chamber.

A further advantage of the oven of the invention is saving water thanks to using less water compared to the prior art for cleaning the stains in a cooking chamber.

Yet another advantage of the oven of the invention is softening the stains by combining the cleaning effect of water with heat, and minimizing the mechanical stress on the surfaces during cleaning thanks to its soft sponge. Since the inner surface of an oven is already of a structure enabling the cooking process to be performed in high temperatures, it is resistant to the effect generated by steam at high temperatures (~100˚C) on the surface.

The oven of the invention comprises a main body, a cooking chamber provided in the main body, a front panel provided on the main body, a steam generator to produce steam, a control unit adapted to control the steam generator, a multiport valve having an inlet and a plurality of outlets, with the inlet connected to the outlet of the steam generator, a connection tube having an inlet end and an outlet end, whose inlet end is connected to one of the outlets of the multiport valve, and a cleaning apparatus comprising a cleaning body, and on the cleaning body, a tube inlet provided to connect to the outlet end of the connection tube, and a steam outlet for spraying the steam generated by the steam generator. High intensity steam is concentrated directly on the stains in the cooking chamber, enabling effectively softening these stains, thanks to said cleaning apparatus.

A cleaning head is mounted on an end of the cleaning apparatus. Said cleaning head comprises a base, a sponge connected to a first surface of the base, and a coupling piece connected to a second surface of the base, adapted for mounting the cleaning head to the cleaning apparatus. The coupling piece comprises a U-profile and a connector for connecting said U-profile to the base. Said U-profile passes through two ducts each opened on one side of the cleaning body, and enables connecting the cleaning head to the cleaning apparatus. The softened stains are enabled to be cleaned by means of said cleaning head.

Detailed Description of the Invention

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the oven comprises a main body, a cooking chamber provided in the main body,, a front panel, a steam generator having an outlet, enabling generating high-temperature steam, a user interface to receive user commands, preferably provided on the front panel, and a control unit adapted to control the steam generator in accordance with the signals from the user interface.

The inlet of a multiport valve comprising an inlet and a plurality of outlets, is connected to the outlet of the steam generator. A connection tube for conveying the steam generated by the steam generator, has an outlet and an inlet, wherein the inlet is connected to one of the outlets of said multiport valve. The steam generated by the steam generator is directed to the connection tube or to the cooking chamber by means of said multiport valve.

A cleaning apparatus for cleaning the stains in the cooking chamber, is connected to the outlet end of the connection tube. Said cleaning apparatus comprises a cleaning body, a tube inlet provided on the cleaning body, and a steam outlet.

The outlet end of said connection tube is detachably mounted at the tube inlet of the cleaning apparatus. However, the invention is not limited to the above and said connection tube can be fixed to the tube inlet of the cleaning apparatus.

In an embodiment of the invention, a cleaning head is detachably mounted at an end of the cleaning body. Said cleaning head comprises a base, a sponge connected to a first surface of the base, and a coupling piece connected to a second surface of the base, enabling mounting the cleaning head to the cleaning apparatus. Said coupling piece comprises a U-profile and a connector for connecting said U-profile to the base. In this embodiment, two ducts are provided, opened on both sides of the cleaning body, and said U-profile passes through these ducts, enabling connecting the cleaning head to the cleaning apparatus. Also in this embodiment, in order for the cleaning apparatus to be able to spray steam from the steam outlet, a hole is provided on each of the base and the sponge, at a position corresponding to the steam outlet when the cleaning head is mounted to the cleaning apparatus.

In an embodiment of the invention, a power switch is provided on the cleaning apparatus, by means of which the cleaning apparatus is activated, enabling the steam coming from the tube inlet to be passed to the steam outlet.

In an embodiment of the invention, the oven comprises on the front panel a user interface having a keyboard and a screen or a touch-screen, a slot having an opening large enough for the connection wire to pass through, and a cover to cover the slot. The outlet end of the connection tube is disposed in said slot. The remaining portion of the connection tube is wound to a cable reel provided in the main body, wherein said cable reel is adapted to automatically rewind the connection tube.

In an embodiment of the invention, in order to clean the stains in the cooking chamber, the cover provided on the front panel is opened and the connection tube disposed in the slot is pulled by gripping it at the outlet end. The tube inlet disposed on an end of the cleaning apparatus is mounted at the outlet end of said connection tube, and the cleaning head (9) is mounted at the other end of the cleaning apparatus. Steam cleaning property is then activated via the user interface. Then the control unit activates the steam generator, and the steam generated by the steam generator is directed to the connection tube via the multiport valve. The steam passes through the connection tube and the tube inlet of the cleaning apparatus, and is sprayed through the steam outlet onto the stains in the cooking chamber, softening said stains by steam pretreatment. Then the stains softened by steam are cleaned by using the sponge provided on the cleaning head. When the cleaning process is completed, the cleaning apparatus is detached from the connection tube, and upon releasing, the connection tube is automatically rewound by means of the cable reel, returning to the slot in the front panel.

Claims

An oven (1) comprising a main body, a cooking chamber provided in the main body, a front panel provided on the main body, a steam generator to generate steam, and a control unit adapted to control the steam generator, characterized by

- a multiport valve comprising an inlet and a plurality of outlets, whose inlet is connected to the outlet of the steam generator,

- a connection tube having an inlet end and an outlet end, whose inlet end is connected to one of the outlets of the multiport valve,

- a cleaning apparatus comprising a cleaning body, and on the cleaning body a tube inlet provided to connect to the outlet end of the connection tube and a steam outlet to spray the steam generated by the steam generator.
An oven according to claim 1, characterized by a cleaning head for mounting to an end of the cleaning body.
An oven according to claim 2, characterized by the cleaning head comprising a base, a sponge connected to a first surface of the base, and a coupling piece connected to a second surface of the base, enabling mounting the cleaning head to the cleaning apparatus.
An oven according to claim 3, characterized by the cleaning apparatus comprising two ducts opened on both sides of the cleaning body, a U-profile adapted for mounting on said ducts, and by the coupling piece having a connector for connecting said U-profile to the base.
An oven according to claim 2 or 3, characterized by holes provided on each of the base and the sponge, at a position corresponding to the steam outlet when the cleaning head (9) is mounted to the cleaning apparatus.
An oven according to claim 1, characterized by a power switch provided on the cleaning apparatus.
An oven according to claim 1, characterized by the front panel comprising a user interface for receiving user commands, a slot wide enough for the connection tube to pass therethrough, and a cover for covering the slot.
An oven according to claim 1, characterized by a cable reel on which the connection wire is wound, adapted to automatically rewind the connection tube.