GB2311128A - Cooking appliances - Google Patents

Abstract

A cooking appliance comprises a main base unit 1 and a slave base unit 2 each comprising one or more oven/grill/storage chambers, each of the base units 1 and 2 being individually constructed and transportable, means 23 for coupling the base units 1 and 2 together in side-by-side relationship, and a hob disposed in the top of the appliance. The hob may be formed in parts, each part being formed integrally with a respective one of the base units. Alternatively, the hob may comprise a single unit which extends across the top of the base units.

Description

Cooking Appliances This invention relates to cooking appliances and relates more especially to range type cookers exemplified by the well known AGA (Registered Trade Mark) cooker.

Such cooking appliances normally consist of a double width unit having two cavities, one above the other on one side, and one or more cavities on the other side, with a hob unit disposed across the top of the unit. The cavities may take any convenient form and conveniently may consist of an oven/grill chamber disposed above an oven chamber on one side, with a main oven chamber disposed above an optional storage chamber on the other side. The hob unit may include a plurality of gas burners and/or electric hotplates, with optional griddle and/or warming zones. The appliance may be single fuel operated e.g. by gas or electricity or dual fuel using a combination of both. Although not quite as common triple width units are also known.

A cooking appliance of this form can be provided with a wide variety of options and is very advantageous in many situations. However, existing appliances of this kind, suffer form a number of serious disadvantages. For example, the appliance is of necessity large and heavy and is difficult to instal in places which have restricted access, especially when installation by a single installer is required. Also, because of the wide variety of options available, a stockist would need to stock a large number of appliances in order to provide the full range.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a cooking appliance of the type described in which the above noted disadvantages are substantially reduced.

According to the present invention there is provided a cooking appliance comprising at least two individually constructed base units each comprising one or more oven and/or grill chambers, means for coupling said base units together in side-by-side relationship, and hob means disposed in the top of said appliance.

In one arrangement for carrying out the invention it may be arranged that said hob unit is formed in parts, each part being formed integrally with a respective one of said base units, or alternatively it may be arranged that said hob unit comprises a single unit which extends across the top of said base units.

Advantageously a connecting frame will be provided disposed between said base units for coupling them together.

An exemplary embodiment of the invention will now be described, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1, depicts a cooking appliance in accordance with the present invention; and Fig. 2, is a schematic representation illustrating the method of coupling together the units constituting the cooking appliance of Fig. 1.

The cooking appliance shown in Fig. 1 consists of a main base unit 1 disposed on the left hand side and a slave base unit 2 disposed alongside it on the right hand side. The main base unit 1 and the slave base unit 2 are constructed as individual units and are adapted to be coupled together, as will be described, when they are installed. The main base unit 1 and the slave base unit 2 may each be selected from a basic range which affords different oven and hob combinations, which may, for example, be in 500 mm or 600 mm widths and which may be gas or electric operated or dual fuel operated. In this way if a basic range of say six main base units and six slave base units is provided, a cooking appliance having up to thirty-six different combinations is possible, and this can be further increased in the electric hob versions by providing for different hob variations, such as a ceramic hob option and a sealed plate option.

In the cooking appliance shown in Fig. 1, the main base unit 1 is basically 600 mm wide, and consists of an oven/grill chamber 3, disposed above a main oven 4, with an integral hob 5 containing four electric hotplates 6. The oven/grill chamber 3 and the main oven 4 may be gas or electric operated. A control panel 7 is provided which extends across the top front of the main base unit 1, above the oven/grill chamber 3, and contains the controls 8 for the main base unit 1.

Also in the cooking appliance shown in Fig. 1, the slave base unit 2 is basically 500 mm wide and consists of a main oven 9 disposed above a storage area 10, with an integral hob 11 containing two electric hotplates 12 and an electric griddle 13. A control panel 14 is provided which extends across the top front of the slave base unit 2, above the main oven 9, and contains the controls 15 for the slave base unit 2.

As has been described, the oven/hob combinations described with reference to Fig. 1 have been given by way of example only and may take any convenient form dependent upon the options provided.

By arranging that the cooking appliance of Fig. 1 is constructed from two independently constructed, transported and delivered units, each of which is obviously more handleable by a single installer, the problems of installing the cooking appliance of Fig. 1 are greatly reduced, and since the full range of options of the cooking appliance of Fig. 1 may be selected from a reduced range of basic main and slave units 1 and 2, the requirement to stock complete cooking appliances in the full range of options is overcome.

In the cooking appliance of Fig. 1, the hobs 5 and 11 are formed integrally with their respective base units 1 and 2. As an alternative, it is envisaged that each of the main and slave base units 1 and 2 may be constructed without integrally formed hobs, in which case a separate hob unit would be provided which extends across the top of the main and slave base units 1 and 2.

In Fig. 2 there is depicted a schematic representation illustrating one method of coupling together the main base unit 1 and the slave base unit 2 of the cooking appliance of Fig. 1.

In Fig. 2, for convenience only the basic frame 21 of the main base unit 1 of Fig. 1 is shown, and only the basic frame 22 of the slave base unit 2 of Fig.

1 is shown. Also, for convenience, the integral hobs 5 and 11 of the main and slave base units 1 and 2 of Fig. 1 are not shown in detail, nor are the respective controls 8 and 15.

The coupling together of the frames 21 and 22 of Fig. 2 is effected by means of a connecting frame 23 which is provided on each side with four locating pins 24 which locate in corresponding holes in the frames 21 and 22, and with a pair of locking screws 25 which are operated when the connecting frame 23 is located between the frames 21 and 22 and effectively locks them together. Advantageously, it may be arranged that the locking screws 25 coact with a locking mechanism (not shown) which, as the locking screws 25 are operated, causes the frames 21 and 22 to be pulled tightly together. It will be appreciated that the coupling together of the base units 1 and 2 of Fig. 1 can therefore be effected very easily and quickly therefore minimising the installation time. It should also be appreciated that other ways of coupling the base units 1 and 2 together are envisaged which may obviate the need for the connecting frame.

As well as being applicable to double width units as described, the invention is applicable to cooking appliances of triple width or larger.

Claims (5)

1. A cooking appliance comprising at least two individually constructed base units each comprising one or more oven and/or grill chambers, means for coupling said base units together in side-by-side relationship, and hob means disposed in the top of said appliance.

2. An appliance as claimed in claim 1, in which said hob unit is formed in parts, each part being formed integrally with a respective one of said base units.

3. An appliance as claimed in claim 1, in which said hob unit comprises a single unit which extends across the top of said base units.

4. An appliance as claimed in any preceding claim, comprising a connecting frame disposed between said base units for coupling them together.

5. A cooking appliance substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

5. A cooking appliance substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Amendments to the claims have been filed as follows CLAIMS

1. A cooking appliance comprising at least two individually constructed floor mounted base units each comprising one or more oven and/or grill chambers, means for coupling said base units together in side-by-side relationship, and hob means disposed in the top of said appliance.

2. An appliance as claimed in claim 1, in which said hob unit is formed in parts, each part being formed integrally with a respective one of said base units.

3. An appliance as claimed in claim 1, in which said hob unit comprises a single unit which extends across the top of said base units.

4. An appliance as claimed in any preceding claim, comprising a connecting frame disposed between said base units for coupling them together.