GB2344881A - Control device for oven and grill - Google Patents

Abstract

An oven, primarily intended for use in leisure-based environments, has a shared cavity for use as an oven or for use as a grill. A control knob is arranged to rotate in a clockwise direction to control the oven and to rotate in an anticlockwise direction to control the grill. No gas is supplied to either the grill or the oven when the control knob is in an intermediate position. The control includes a locking device with a release button (<B>805</B>) for restraining the device in the intermediate position after rotation to turn the gas off from either the grill or the oven.

Description

ST-P102-GB 2344881 Control Device For Oven And Grill The present invention

relates to an oven having oven heating means and grill heating means in a shared cavity, and an oven/grill control device arranged to rotate in the first direction to operate the oven and arranged to rotate in an opposite direction to control the grill.

Ovens are known in which a shared cavity is used for both oven cooking and grilling. Configurations of this type are particularly attractive in leisure-based environments in which additional limitations are placed on the design of cooking equipment in terms of the availability of space, the total weight and the overall cost.

In order to ensure that the device is only used as an oven or as a grill, it is known to provide a shared control device such that rotation in a first direction controls operation of the grill whereas rotation in the opposite direction controls operation of the oven. Thus, the device can only be rotated in one of said directions thereby ensuring that only the grill or only the oven are operated at any one time.

A problem with devices of this known type is that rotation of the device in order to switch off either the oven or the grill may result in accidental activation of the grill or oven respectively. It is known to provide safety devices using thermo-couples etc. but even with such devices present, it would still be possible for a modest leakage of gas to occur, which may in turn cause concern to operators. Furthermore, unnecessary activation of safety devices is undesirable because the devices provide safety backup in case of misuse or system failure.

An oven primarily for use in leisure-based environments is disclosed in the applicant's co-pending British patent application (ST-PlOl-GB). An oven door is disclosed with secondary hinging means. The secondary hinging means is provided so as to allow a partial opening of an upper portion of the oven door, thereby providing access to a grilling area without the necessity ST-P102-GB 2 for the whole of the door to be opened.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided, in an oven having oven heating means and grill heating means in a shared cavity, an oven/grill control device arranged to rotate in a first direction to supply gas to said oven heating means and configured to rotate in a second direction to supply gas to said grill heating means, such that no gas is supplied to either heating means when said device is said intermediate position; said device including locking means for restraining said device in said intermediate position after rotation to turn gas off from one of said heating means.

In a preferred embodiment, the locking means includes means engagable with a control knob. Preferably, the means engagable with said control knob comprises a locking carriage configured to be received within a well defined by said control knob when said knob is in its intermediate position and configured to be supported by a support rail when said knob is being used to control said oven or said grill.

The invention will now be described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which; Figure 1 shows an internal view of a caravan including an oven; Figure 2 shows a similar view to that shown in Figure 1, in which said oven is being used for grilling purposes; Figure 3 shows a similar view to that shown in Figures I and 2 in which the oven is being used for grilling purposes; Figure 4 shows the opening of the oven door shown in Figure 3 for the purposes of grilling; Figures 5 and 6 detail the mechanism for the door opening operation shown in Figure 4.

Figure 7 shows the oven Figure 4 with the upper door portion in its open position; ST-P102-GB 3 Figure 8 details the control knob for controlling operation of the oven and grill identified in Figure 7; Figure 9 shows an exploded view of the control knob identified in Figure 8; Figure 10 shows a reverse view of the control knob shown in Figure 9; Figure 11 details a cross section of the control knob shown in Figure 8.

An internal view of a caravan is shown in Figure 1. The caravan includes soft furnishing 101, a small dining table 102, washing facilities 103 and cooking facilities 104.

Cooking facilities 104 include a built-in installation for the cooking and preparation of foodstuffs. The installation includes an oven 105, that also includes facilities for the grilling of food:

The oven 105 includes an oven door 106 and said door is openable about a first hinge 107 to provide full access to the oven, thereby allowing pots to be placed into the oven and subsequently removed therefrom.

During these operations, door 106 is open for relatively short periods of time given that in order for the cooking operation to take place, it is necessary for relatively high temperatures to build-up inside the oven cavity, thereby requiring the door 106 to be closed.

In addition to being used as an oven, the oven cavity also facilitates grilling operations, as illustrated in Figure 2. Heating burners for grilling are located towards the top 201 of the oven cavity 105. A shelf 202 is adjusted to allow a grill pan 203 to be brought into cooking proximity with the grilling burners at the top 201 of the oven cavity. In this way foodstuffs may be placed in the grill pan 203 and observed while grilling takes place.

The oven door shown in Figure 2 has been modified. The door 106 is openable about a first hinging means 105 to provide full access to the oven.

In addition, the door 106 is provided with secondary hinging means to allow partial opening of the door so as to provide access to the grill. Thus, ST-P102-GB 4 operation of the secondary hinging means such as to provide an access opening of sufficient size to facilitate a grilling operation, without creating an obstacle of any significance when left permanently open.

Thus, the oven door has a first mode of operation, as shown in Figure 1, allowing access to oven cavity 105 for oven cooking purposes. In addition, door 106 has a second mode of operation, as shown in Figure 3, providing reduced access for grilling purposes.

Door 106 has a first hinging mechanism employed during the door's first mode of operation as shown in Figure 1, such that the whole of the door swings outwards to provide full access to the oven cavity. In addition, door 106 is provided with a secondary hinging mechanism 301 allowing an upper portion 302 of door 106 to hinge about the lower portion of said door. The lower portion of door 106 remains held firmly in place while access is provided to the grilling area via the open upper portion 302.

Upper portion 302 may remain permanently open during the grilling process, thereby ensuring that the handle of pan 203 is not resting upon the glass of upper door portion 302. However, upper portion 302 is approximately one third of the size of the whole door 106 thereby the extent to which said upper portion extends into the centre of the caravan while the upper portion remains open is significantly less than the extent to which the whole door extends into the centre of the caravan when in its open position as shown in Figure 1. Consequently, the opening of upper door portion 302 does not present a dangerous hazard while at the same time the grilling operation may be observed in the normal way.

Door 106 is held in its closed position by means of springs, such that a force is applied to the door, causing the door to close, unless the door is in its fully closed position already or unless the door is placed in its fully open position as shown in Figure 1. Consequently, minimal further modifications are required to primary hinges 107 and to the mechanisms for retaining the door 106 in its closed orientation.

ST-P102-GI3 Operation of the secondary hinging mechanism is illustrated in Figure 4. Upper door portion 302 is provided with a handle 401. If the handle is pulled outwards away from the door, the whole door 106 opens in the normal way, thereby providing access to the full oven cavity as illustrated in Figure 1.

When in its closed position the whole of door 106 lies flush with a front control panel 402. In order to activate the secondary hinging mechanism, door 106 is pulled slightly ajar, thereby providing clearance between the top of the door and the bottom of the control panel 402.

Having cleared the control panel, the door is pulled lineally in a direction against the primary hinging mechanisms 107, resulting in upper door portion 302 becoming displaced form the remaining lower portion of the door 106. The door extends for a distance of between ten to twenty millimetres (10 to 20mm), whereafter the upper door portion 302 is rotated downwards against the secondary hinge 301.

The secondary hinge 301 includes a pair of co-operating hinging mechanisms, towards the edges of the door. A right hinging mechanism is detailed in Figure 5. The upper door portion 302 has a substantially similar construction to the remainder of the door 106. The door is fabricated from a pair of substantially parallel aluminium extrusions 501, arranged to support a front glass panel 502 and a rear glass panel 503, with an air gap 504 between said glass panels. The air gap between glass panels 502 and 503 allows cooling air to be directed through gap 504, thereby ensuring that the temperature of front panel 502 is maintained below acceptable limits. Thus, in this way, it is possible to provide a window into the oven cavity, thereby allowing foodstuffs to be viewed while at the same time ensuring that the temperature of the door does not reach dangerously high levels.

Aluminium extrusion 502 includes a substantially rectangular cavity 506 and a locking hinge, the locking hinge consists of a first hinge portion 507 and a second hinge portion 508 located in respective lower and upper sides of rectangular cavity 506.

ST-P102-GB 6 Lower hinge portion 507 includes a substantially cylindrical hinge pin 511, while upper hinge portion 508 includes a channel 512 such that pin 511 is locatable within channel 512. Thus, channel 512 allows upper door portion 302 to be pulled away from the lower portion of door 106 and then rotated downwards as shown in Figure 4.

The operation of the upper door portion 302 is detailed in Figure 6. At 601, the upper door portion is shown in its fully closed orientation. Thus, in the 601 orientation, both door portions may be fully closed or the whole of the door 106 may be open as shown in Figure 1. Upper door portion 302 is moveable with respect to the remainder of the door by use of the secondary hinging mechanism.

Cylindrical hinge pin 511 is attached to the lower door portion and thereby remains substantially stationary. Movement of the upper door portion 302 is provided by means of cavity 512. Operation of the secondary hinge firstly involves a co-planar displacement of the upper portion with respect to the lower portion as shown at 602. Thus, in 602, cylindrical pin 511 has moved relatively with respect to cavity in a substantially co-planar direction.

Having reached the orientation shown at 602, upper portion 302 rotates in to its substantially horizontal position as detailed at 603. Thus, channel 512 effectively rotates about cylindrical pin 511 so as to present the required horizontal orientation as shown at 603. Furthermore, channel 512 is substantially 'L' shaped, such that pin 511 is held securely within a channel extension region 605 when placed in its substantially horizontal orientation as shown at 603. Furthermore, upper hinge portion 508 also includes a side cut a-way 606 thereby allowing the upper portion 302 to adopt a substantially horizontal orientation without being obstructed by the front glass panel 502 of the remaining door portion.

Front glass panel 502 of the lower door portion restrains the upper portion 302 in a substantially horizontal orientation as illustrated in Figure 7.

Control panel 402 includes knobs 701, 702, 703 and 704 for the operation of ST-P102-GB 7 gas rings 705. Thus, gas rings 705 may be controlled independently and there are no overall restrictions, such that all of said gas rings may be used simultaneously.

In order to use the oven for the purposes of oven cooking, it is necessary for door 106 to remain closed so as to ensure that the oven cavity reaches the appropriate oven temperature. The oven includes thermostatic control such that if the oven door remains open, the thermostat would remain fully open, leading to an excessive use of gas while failing to reach to desired operational temperatures.

As previously described, and as illustrated in Figure 7, the upper portion of the door remains open, during grilling operations so as to provide easy access to the grill pan and so as to allow the foodstuffs to be observed during the grilling operation. Thus, it can be appreciated that when a shared cavity 105 is provided for either grilling of oven cooking, h is not possible to perform both grilling operations and oven cooking operations simultaneously.

Consequently, gas should only be supplied exclusively to either the grilling burners or to the oven cooking bumers.

Shared control knob 706 is used for both control of the grilling operation and control of the oven cooking operation. Knob 706 has an intermediate position and when the knob is placed in this intermediate position neither the oven nor the grill receive gas thereby ensuring that both are effectively switched off. From this intermediate position, gas is supplied to the grill by rotating knob 705 in an anfi-clockwise direction. Thus, from the intermediate position, more gas is supplied to the grill as knob 706 is displaced further in the anticlockwise direction. Similarly, the oven is controlled by rotation of knob 705 in a clockwise direction.

The oven includes thermostatic control therefore further rotation of knob 705 in the clockwise direction does not directly control the amount of gas supplied to the oven but does effectively define the required oven temperature, such that further displacement in the clockwise direction defines ST-P102-GB 8 higher cooking temperatures for the oven cavity.

Knob 706 is detailed in Figure 8. The knob includes a circular bevel portion 801 and a manually operable portion 802 extending from said bevel portion. The manually operable portion 802 is substantially rectangular and lies in a substantially horizontal direction when the knob 706 is positioned in its central intermediate location; that is to say, when positioned such that both the grill and the oven are turned off. Bevel portion 801 includes an arrow indication 803 and this arrow points vertically upwards when the knob is in its intermediate (off) position. Directly above knob 706, there is provided a release button 804. The release button includes a downward pointing arrow indication 805 which lines up with arrow 803 when the knob is in its intermediate off position.

When knob 706 is placed in its intermediate off position, a mechanism behind the control panel locks the knob in this stationary intermediate orientation such that further rotation of the knob in either the clockwise or anticlockwise direction, is not possible. If the oven has been in use, the oven is switched off by anticlockwise rotation of knob 706 until the knob reaches its intermediate position. In the intermediate position, arrow indicators 803 and 805 line up. Furthermore, when this position is reached, a locking mechanism is activated such that further rotation of knob 706 is not possible.

Thus, when rotating knob 706 in an anticlockwise direction, in order to switch the oven off, it is not possible to overshoot and thereby accidentally switch the grill on, given that the locking mechanism will activate when the knob reaches its intermediate position. Similarly, if knob 706 is rotated in a clockwise direction, in order to switch the grill off, the grill will be switched off when the knob reaches its intermediate position and thereafter further rotation in the clockwise direction is not possible because the lock mechanism activates.

From the off intermediate position, knob 706 must be rotated in a clockwise direction in order to activate the oven or rotated in an antiST-P1 02-GB 9 clockwise direction in order to activate the grill. In order to achieve one of these rotations, it is necessary to first press the release button 804, until the end of said button becomes substantially flush with control panel 402. When release button 804 is pressed in this way, the locking mechanism is released thereby allowing the control knob 706 to be rotated in either its clockwise or anticlockwise directions.

Once activated in either a clockwise or anticlockwise direction, the mechanism restrains release button 804 such that the button remains unlocked. Thus, the size of the grill flame or the temperature setting for the oven may be adjusted during operation without the locking mechanism taking effect. However, as soon as the knob is rotated sufficiently for it to reach the intermediate off position again, the locking mechanism is activated and further rotation of knob 706 is only possible after the release button 804 has been pressed and held in place.

Mechanisms identified in Figure 8 are detailed in an exploded view in Figure 9. Knob 706 is connected to a control spindle 901 and rotation of control spindle 901 in a clockwise direction activates operation of the oven with similar rotation in the anticlockwise direction resulting in gas being supplied to the grill. Knob 706 engages with a locking lug 902 of a locking carriage 903. Release button 804 extends from locking carriage 903 such that the depression of release button 804 results in locking lug 902 being displaced away from knob 706, thereby allowing knob 706 to rotate.

The locking carriage 903 is pushed outwards away from the control panel by means of a compression spring 904. The locking carriage 903 is held within a carriage support 905 including a spring seat 910. Thus, spring 904 rests against spring seat 910 thereby forcing locking carriage 903 away from the carriage support 905. As the release button 804 is pressed, locking carriage 903 is received within the carriage support 905 so as to hold the locking cardage 903 firmly in position as rotation of knob 706 takes place.

ST-P102-GB A reverse view of knob 706 is shown in Figure 10. Control spindle 901 is received within a D' shaped spindle recess 1001. Locking lug 902 engages within a lug locking well 1002 when knob 706 is positioned in as intermediate position. Thus, on reaching its intermediate position, locking lug 902 is forced into the lug locking well 1002 by expansion of compression spring 904. Thus, the amount of force exerted by locking lug 902 upon the control device may be controlled by an appropriate selection of spring 904.

Force supplied by spring 904 should be sufficient to ensure that locking lug 902 engages within lug locking well 1002, thereby ensuring that it is not possible to continue rotation of knob 706 beyond the intermediate position.

However, spring 904 must also be selected so that it is possible to release the locking lug 902 by modest manual pressure being applied to release button 804.

After activation of release button 804, locking lug 902 is disengaged from lug locking well 1002. If manual pressure is then removed from release button 804, without rotating control device 706, the locking lug 902 will re engage within the lug locking well 1002 and rotation of the control device will be prevented. However, if after activation of release button 804, thereby disengaging the locking lug 902, control knob 706 is rotated in either a clockwise or anticlockwise direction, the lug locking well 1002 will be displaced such that after removing manual pressure from release button 804, the lug locking well 1002 is not in a position for the locking lug 902 to be received therein.

After rotation of knob 706, the lug locking well is supported by a substantially circular lug compression rail 1003. The locking lug 902 includes a recess 1004 configured to co-operate with rail 1003 and to facilitate a smooth movement of the rail 1003 against the locking lug 902 while the control knob 706 is being rotated. Thus, due to the presence of compression spring 904 the locking lug 902 is forced up against rail 1003 and said rail is sufficiently lubricated such that manual operation of the device, in order to ST-P102-GB control the grill or the oven, is still relatively easy.

With the locking lug 902 being held by compression rail 1003, manual operation of the control knob 706 is made possible in a substantially conventional way until the knob reaches its intermediate off position. Upon reaching this intermediate position, locking lug 902 reaches the end of the lug compression rail 1003 whereafter the locking lug 902 is received within the lug locking well 1002, thereby locking the knob 706 at its intermediate position such that further manual activation of release button 804 is required in order to allow further rotation of control knob 706.

A cross section of the assembly shown in Figures 8 to 10 is shown in Figure 11. Knob 706 is shown in a position such that the control spindle 901 has been received within the D' shaped spindle recess 1001. The knob is shown in its intermediate posiflon, such that locking lug 902 has been received within the lug locking well 1002. In order to allow rotation of control knob 706, manual activation of release button 804 is required in the direction of arrow 1101. This results in the locking carriage 903 being received within carriage support 905 such that compression sphng 904 is further compressed, thus exerting a force upon the locking carriage in the opposite direction to arrow 1101. The control knob 706 may now be rotated such that locking lug 902 is supported by rail 1003.

The provision of the locking mechanism ensures that the control knob is held firmly in its off position. Furthermore, the locking mechanism ensures that the turning of the device to h off posftion results in a firm off location being felt by an operator, such that K is not possible to overshoot and thereby accidentally turn the grill on when ching the oven off or, similarly, to switch the oven on in an operation of switching the grill off.

ST-PI02-GB 12

Claims (15)

Claims

1. In an oven having oven heating means and grill heating means in a shared cavity, an oven/grill control device arranged to rotate in a first direction to supply gas to said oven heating means and configured to rotate in a second direction to supply gas to said grill heating means, such that no gas is supplied to either heating means when said device is in an intermediate position; said device including locking means for restraining said device in said intermediate position after rotation to turn gas off from one of said heating means.

2. A control device according to claim 1, wherein said locking means includes means engageable with a control knob.

3. A control device according to claim 2, wherein said means engageable with said control knob comprises a locking carriage configured to be received within a well defined by said control knob when said knob is in its intermediate position and configured to be supported by a support rail when said knob is being used to control of said oven or of said grill.

4. A control device according to claim 3, wherein said carriage is forced against said support rail by means of a compression spring.

5. A control device according to any of claims 1 to 4, wherein said control knob controls a thermostat when being used to control oven temperature.

6. A control device according to any of claims I to 5, used in an oven for the cooking of foodstuffs, wherein said oven includes an oven door ST-P102-GB 13 openable about a primary hinging means to provide full access to said oven, and including secondary hinging means to allow partial opening of said door to provide access to a grill.

7. An oven door according to claim 6, wherein said primary hinging means is provided at the bottom edge of said door.

8. An oven door according to claim 7, wherein said secondary hinging means is substantially parallel to said primary hinging means.

9. An oven door according to any of claims 6 to 8, wherein said door is constructed from end support members configured to support glass panels.

10. An oven door according to claim 9, wherein said end support members secure secondary hinging mechanisms for said secondary hinging means.

11. An oven door according to claim 10, wherein said secondary hinging mechanisms are configured to extend, thereby separating an upper door portion from a lower door portion.

12. An oven door according to claim 11, wherein said secondary hinging mechanisms allow said upper door portion to open in a downwards direction such that said upper door portion extends outwards with respect to said lower door portion.

13. An oven door according to claim 12, wherein said end support members are extrusions each having a cavity configured to receive portions of a secondary hinging mechanism.

ST-P102-GB

14 14. An oven door substantially as herein described with reference to Figures 1 to 6.

15. A control device for an oven and grill arranged in a shared cavity, substantially as herein described with reference to Figures 7 to 11.