WO2023140800A1

WO2023140800A1 - An oven with an illumination element

Info

Publication number: WO2023140800A1
Application number: PCT/TR2021/051528
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ogun DUZGUN; Halil Ibrahim SAHAN; Sevinc GULDOGAN; Irem ARPACIK
Original assignee: Femas Metal San. Ve Tic. A.S.
Priority date: 2021-12-27
Filing date: 2021-12-27
Publication date: 2023-07-27

Abstract

The invention relates to an oven comprising a housing (12); a front panel (14) at least partially forming the front portion of the housing (12); at least one rotary knob (22) located at the front panel (12) allowing for automatic or manual temperature adjustment to a cooking temperature (20) of a cooking chamber (18); a controller (24) electrically connected to the rotary knob (22) and starting heating by activating the set cooking temperature (20); an illumination element (30) having an indicator light (28) in a first state (32) where it is in the off position surrounding the rotary knob (22), and the illumination element (30) is activated through the controller (24) set to switch from a first state (32) to a second state (34) where the indicator light (28) is turned on.

Description

AN OVEN WITH AN ILLUMINATION ELEMENT

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to an oven with a front panel and/or at least one control button that displays cooking temperature, providing visual notification with indicator lights.

STATE OF THE ART

There are two main settings in ovens, temperature and function. Temperature and function settings in the oven can be made using controller knobs (with one, two, or more buttons) or electronic displays. In addition, depending on the display structure, temperature and function settings can be made without using knobs or through the knob (with one or two buttons) with the help of both knob and electronic display. Due to the emphasis on economical and simple designs in knob-operated ovens, the use of two-knob ovens is widespread. Here, one of the knobs adjusts the oven thermostat, and thus the temperature, while the other adjusts the function.

The thermostat is directly connected to the knob due to the cost saving. However, in products where the temperature is electronically controlled, instead of the thermostat, information is transmitted to the main board with an element that detects the position, such as an encoder, and the desired temperature can be set. The thermostat adjustment knob (temperature adjustment button) sets the temperature at which the cooking will be performed; the time setting button, key, or display also sets the cooking time. When the set cooking time is completed, performing the cooking is terminated and can be communicated to a user with an audible or visual alert. Based on this feature, ovens are being developed in the literature with visual notifications shown on the panel, in a segmented structure, by lighting up or turning off when the cooking section heats up to the temperature set by the user or automatically programmed cooking temperature.

EP1417440B1 relates to a cooking device comprising a housing. A cooking chamber is arranged inside said housing and can be closed by means of a door, in addition to at least one control and display panel which is provided with an optical luminous indication function.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The object of the invention is to provide a digital display providing a temperature indicator on a single control button, or an oven in which a visual indication formed around the digital display is indicated to a user by a turning on or off the illuminated image.

In order to achieve above objective, the invention describes an oven comprising a housing; a front panel at least partially forming the front portion of the housing; at least one rotary knob located at the the front panel allowing for automatic or manual temperature adjustment to a cooking temperature of a cooking chamber; a controller electrically connected to the rotary knob and starting heating by activating the set cooking temperature; an illumination element having an indicator light in a first state where it is in the off position surrounding the rotary knob. Further, the illumination element activated through the controller is set to switch from a first state to a second state where the indicator light is turned on. Therefore, a visual indication enabled via the controller is provided to the user using an oven with an illumination element located around a knob. Herein, the illumination element creates a visual indication, which is enabled via the controller, on the front panel and around the button. In addition, the visual indication can be provided on a single knob, as well as on multiple knobs which can be positioned on the front panel. Accordingly, an oven is obtained, which is cost effective, convenient and provides a simple visual indication.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the first state of the illumination element is set so as to be the time point in which the cooking starts. Therefore, a visual indication is not created instantly around the knob when the heating is started by setting the temperature in the oven and the illumination element around the knob operates as the cooking time increases, making it possible for the user to monitor the temperature of the cooking process. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the indicator light arranged at the front panel so as to provide a visual indication. Therefore, an indication is also provided to the user by the indicator lights provided on the panel.

A preferred embodiment of the invention comprises a digital display is provided on the rotary knob and shows the set cooking temperature. Therefore, a user can visually acess the cooking temperature which is set digitally on the rotary knob.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, in the second state of the illumination element, the light intensity of the indicator light is set so as to be proportional to the temperature of the cooking chamber. Therefore, a configuration can be formed, in which an indication about the cooking process is provided to the user by changing the brightness of the indicator light which is a visual indication so as to be in direct proportion to the temperature and at the cooking time from the beginning of cooking to the end of cooking.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, in the second state of the illumination element, the color intensity of the indicator light is set so as to be proportional to the temperature of the cooking chamber. Therefore, a configuration is formed, in which an indication about the cooking process is provided to the user by changing the color intensity (color tone) of the indicator light which is a visual indication so as to be in direct proportion to the temperature and at the cooking time from the beginning of cooking to the end of cooking.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, when the cooking chamber reaches the set cooking temperature, the indicator light of the front panel is set so as to pass from the first state to a second state enabled via the controller. Therefore, with the indicator light on the panel, the lighting is provided from the first moment in which it is off to the end of cooking, and as soon as the cooking is finished, the indicator light turns on, informing the user that the cooking process is finished.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, when the cooking chamber reaches the set cooking temperature, the indicator light of the front panel is set so as to pass from the second state to a first state enabled via the controller. Therefore, with the indicator light on the panel, the lighting is provided from the first moment in which it is on to the end of cooking, and as soon as the cooking is finished, the indicator light turns off, informing the user that the cooking process is finished.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the indicator light is provided on the digital display as a visual indication. Therefore, the user can be informed by providing the indicator light on the digital display with the digit area displaying the temperature value. Moreover, a visual indication on the digital display can be provided to the user by a blinking image.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, when the cooking chamber reaches the set cooking temperature, the indicator light of the digital display is set so as to pass from the first state to a second state enabled via the controller. Therefore, the user can be informed by the indicator light which gets in an on-position so as to be activated at the first moment in which the cooking starts, and the indicator light is off and at the last moment in which the cooking in the cooking chamber is terminated as soon as the set temperature value is achieved.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the indicator light is designed to provide a circular ring light. Therefore, an indication can be provided to the user about the cooking process by the indicator light which is a visual indication so as to be a circular ring light and by changing the light brightness or color intensity in proportion to the temperature.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the indicator light is designed to provide a strip line-half ring light. Therefore, an indication can be provided to the user about the cooking process by the indicator light which is a visual indication so as to be a strip line-half ring light and by changing the light brightness or color intensity in proportion to the temperature. Herein, the strip line-half ring light is an indicator light in the form of strip lines appearing around the button in proportion to the temperature and the number of these strip lines increases by providing a semi-circle. A bright area is formed in the area in which the strip lines are formed, and a dark area is provided in the area in which the strip lines are not formed. Thus, an indication can be provided to the user, in which the indicator light is provided in connection with the panel and knob structure. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the indicator light is designed to provide at least one strip light line which emanates from the sides of the rotary knob and provides a linear and constant light-visual indication. Therefore, the user can be informed by the indicator light which is a strip light line with a linear and constant light and which is designed on the panel.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the indicator light is designed to provide at least one strip light line which emanates from the sides of the rotary knob and provides a linear and partial light-visual indication. Therefore, the user can be informed by the indicator light which is a strip light line with a linear and partial light and which is designed on the panel.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the indicator light is configured such that the cooking temperature is displayed on the digital display by increasing the light and color intensity. Therefore, the user can be informed by a luminous display and color display provided on the digital display.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an oven with an illumination element according to the subject matter invention.

Fig. 2 is a schematic view of the front panel on which an indicator light is provided relating to an oven with an illumination element of the invention.

Fig. 3 is a schematic view of the illumination element around the knob on which an indicator light is provided relating to an oven with an illumination element of the invention.

Fig. 4 is a schematic view of the digital display on which an indicator light is provided relating to an oven with an illumination element of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In this detailed description, the development of the invention is described without any limitation and only with reference to the examples to better illustrate the subject matter.

In Fig. 1 , a perspective view of an oven with an illumination element of the invention is shown. There is a housing (12) surrounding and forming an oven (10). In an upper area at a front of the housing (12), there is a front panel (14) which partially forms the upper area. There is a cooking chamber (18) which is located inside the housing (12) and which can be closed with a cover (16). On the upper part of the front panel (14), there is a rotary knob (22). The rotary knob (22) provides the temperature of the cooking chamber (18) to be set manually or automatically by a user. For example, in the oven (10) of the invention, there can be a single knob (22) by which the temperature is set, as well as there can be the ovens (10) in which two, three, four or five rotary knobs (22) are on the front panel (14). Herein, an indicator light (28) can be provided on or around at least one rotary knob (22) and also on the front panel (14) in connection with the rotary knob (22).

In Fig. 2, a schematic view of the front panel on which an indicator light is provided relating to an oven with an illumination element of the invention is shown. The rotary knob (22) is a switch which provides the cooking temperature (20) to be set and the cooking to be started in the cooking chamber (18). There is a controller (24) which initiates the heating in the cooking chamber (18) by activating its heating up to the set cooking temperature (20) via this switch (22) and is electrically connected with the rotary knob 22 located at the bottom of the front panel (14). The controller (24) is also in electrical connection with the cooking chamber (18) and sends the electrical signals to the cooking chamber (24), and the cooking process continues until the set temperature is achieved. On the rotary knob (22), there is a digital display (26) on which the set temperature (20) is displayed. The temperature (20) displayed on the digital display (26) includes at least one digit. The oven (10) of the invention may comprise, for example, the different configurations of the indicator light (28), shown in Fig. 1 , on the front panel (14). The off-position of the indicator light (28), shown in Fig. 1 , on the front panel (14) is a first state (32) and the state in which the indicator light (28) is in the on-position is a second state (34). In an embodiment of the oven (10) of the invention, the front panel (14) is in the first state at the beginning of the heating in the cooking chamber (18); the controller (24) is activated and the front panel (14) switches to the second state (34) when the temperature of the cooking chamber (18) reaches the set temperature (20). The indicator light (28) in the second state (34) is designed so that at least one stripe light line (40) emanates from the sides of the rotary knob (22), for example, two stripe light lines (40) are provided on the opposite sides. Herein, the strip light line (40) is the indicator light (28). In an embodiment of the invention, the transition is performed from the state (34), in which the front panel (14) passes from the second state (34) to the first state (32) by the activation of the controller (24) and the strip light line (40) provides a light visual indication, to the state in which the light visual indication turns off and is in the off-position (32) as soon as the cooking chamber (18) reaches the cooking temperature (20). Thus, when the cooking is completed, the user can be informed about the termination of the cooking with the indicator light (28) with the strip light line provided on the front panel. In an embodiment, the strip light line (28) can provide a linear and constant light visual indication, as well as can provide a linear and partial light visual indication in another embodiment.

In Fig. 3, a schematic view of the illumination element around the button on which an indicator light is provided relating to an oven with an illumination element of the invention is shown. In Fig. 3, there is the illumination element (30) located on the front panel (14) shown in Fig. 2 and surrounding the button (22). The illumination element (30) can form the indicator light (28) shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 around the button (22). The illumination element (30) passes from the first state (32) in the off-position at the beginning of the cooking to the second state (34) by the activation of the controller (24) in proportion to the temperature. Herein, in the second state (34), the illumination element (30) forms the indicator light (28) and provides a gradual transition in proportion to the temperature. In addition, the indicator light (28) providing the visual indication formed by the illumination element (30) around the button (22) is a circular ring light (36) or a strip line-half ring light (38). For example, the indicator light (28) is configured to change the light intensity or color intensity in proportion to the temperature around the button (22) of the circular ring light (36), as well as configured to change the light intensity or color intensity in the strip line-half ring light (38). Therefore, an indication can be provided to the user about the cooking process by the illumination element (30) so that the indicator light (28) which is a visual indication is a circular ring light (36) and by the change of the light brightness or color intensity in proportion to the temperature. In addition, the strip line-half ring light as an indicator light (28) is the indicator light (28) in the form of strip lines (38) appearing around the knob (22) in proportion to the temperature and the number of these strip lines (38) increases by forming a semi-circle. In the area in which the strip lines (38) are formed, a bright area (382) is formed; a dark area (384) is provided in the area in which the strip lines do not form, so that the user can be informed.

In Fig. 4, a schematic view of the digital display on which an indicator light is provided relating to an oven with an illumination element of the invention is shown. For example, there are the configurations of a luminous display (42) in which the digital display (26) is lighted and the configurations of a color display (44) in which the display (26) is colored in order to inform the user at the end of the cooking by the indicator light (18) providing the visual indication and to provide the digits to be visible on the digital display (26) located on the rotary knob (22) and showing the set temperature (20). When cooking starts in the cooking chamber (18), the indicator light (28) provided on the digital display (26) is in the first state (32) and remains in the first state (32) until the cooking temperature (20) is reached. When the cooking chamber reaches the cooking temperature (20), the controller (24) is activated and the indicator light (28) changes to the second state (34) and the configurations of the color display (44) with the luminous display (42) can be provided. Therefore, when the cooking chamber (18) reaches the set cooking temperature (20), the digital display (26) is illuminated and colored, providing a visual indication on the digital screen (26) and informing the user that the cooking is finished.

REFERENCE NUMBERS

Claims

1. An oven comprising a housing (12); a front panel (14) at least partially forming the front portion of the housing (12); at least one rotary knob (22) located at the the front panel (12) allowing for automatic or manual temperature adjustment to a cooking temperature (20) of a cooking chamber (18); a controller (24) electrically connected to the rotary knob (22) and starting heating by activating the set cooking temperature (20); an illumination element (30) having an indicator light (28) in a first state (32) where it is in the off position surrounding the rotary knob (22) characterized in that the illumination element (30) activated through the controller (24) is set to switch from a first state (32) to a second state (34) where the indicator light (28) is turned on.

2. An oven according to claim 1 , wherein the first state (32) of the illumination element (30) is set so as to be the time point in which the cooking starts.

3. An oven according to the preceding claims, wherein the indicator light (28) arranged at the front panel (14) so as to provide a visual indication.

4. An oven according to the preceding claims, wherein a digital display (26) is provided on the rotary knob (22) and shows the set cooking temperature (20).

5. An oven according to claim 2, wherein in the second state (34) of the illumination element (30), the light intensity of the indicator light (28) is set so as to be proportional to the temperature of the cooking chamber (18).

6. An oven according to claim 2, wherein in the second state (34) of the illumination element (30), the color intensity of the indicator light (28) is set so as to be proportional to the temperature of the cooking chamber (18).

7. An oven according to claim 3, wherein when the cooking chamber (18) reaches the preset cooking temperature (20), the indicator light (28) of the front panel (14) is set so as to pass from the first state (32) to a second state (34) enabled via the controller (24).

8. An oven according to claim 3, wherein when the cooking chamber (18) reaches the set cooking temperature (20), the indicator light (28) of the front panel (14) is set so as to pass from the second state (34) to a first state (32) enabled via the controller (24).

9. An oven according to claim 4, wherein the indicator light (28) is provided on the digital display (26) as a visual indication.

10. An oven according to claim 9, wherein when the cooking chamber (18) reaches the set cooking temperature (20), the indicator light (28) of the digital display (26) is set so as to pass from the first state (32) to a second state (34) enabled via the controller (24).

11 . An oven according to claims 5-6, wherein the indicator light (28) is configured to provide a circular ring light (36).

12. An oven according to claims 5-6, wherein the indicator light (28) is configured to provide a strip line-half ring light (38).

13. An oven according to claims 7-8, wherein the indicator light (28) is configured to provide at least one strip light line (40) which emanates from the sides of the rotary knob (22) and provides a linear and constant light-visual indication.

14. An oven according to claims 7-8, wherein the indicator light (28) is configured to provide at least one strip light line (40) which emanates from the sides of the rotary knob (22) and provides a linear and partial visual indication.

15. An oven according to claims 9-10, wherein the indicator light (28) is configured such that the cooking temperature (20) is displayed on the digital display (26) by increasing the light and color intensity.