Cooking appliance

• US 5,618,458 A
• Filed: 05/10/1995
• Issued: 04/08/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 05/10/1994
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Peris W. Thomas
• Original Assignee: Peris W. Thomas
• Inventors: Thomas, Peris W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Walberg, Teresa J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): PELHAM, JOSEPH MOORE
• Application Number:
  US08/438,566
• Time in Patent Office: 699 Days
• Field of Search: 219/214, 219/387, 219/391, 219/394, 219/395, 219/396, 219/400, 219/403, 219/414, 219/446, 219/447, 219/448, 126/190, 126/194, 126/273 R, 126/337 R, 99/DIG. 14, 160/205, 160/220, 49/371, 312/276
• US Class Current: 219/394
• CPC Class Codes: F24C 15/02 Doors specially adapted for stoves or ranges
• CPC Class Codes: F24C 15/16 Shelves, racks or trays inside ovens; Supports therefor
• CPC Class Codes: F24C 3/124 Control panels

Abstract

A cooking appliance is disclosed which comprises an oven intended to be built into a space of predetermined volume in a kitchen unit. Controls for the oven are mounted externally of the space in order to maximise the volume available for the oven cavity. In preferred embodiments, the oven has a partition to divide its cavity into a plurality of cooking spaces. In a further preferred embodiment, the oven has a door assembly having a plurality of leaves which can be opened individually or together to give access to the whole cavity.

Claims

1. A cooking appliance comprising an oven unit, the oven unit being adapted to be built into a space within an item of kitchen furniture having a cooking cavity, the cooking appliance further comprising a control unit for the oven unit, and a hob unit separate from the oven unit, the control unit incorporating at least one control operable by a user to control operation of the oven unit and at least one further control operable by a user to control operation of the hob unit, the control unit being mounted on the hob unit remote from the oven unit, outside of the said space, so as to permit a volume within the cooking cavity to be maximized within the space.

2. A cooking appliance according to claim 1 in which the cavity of the oven unit is divided to comprise a plurality of cooking cavities and the control unit comprises a plurality of controls by means of a respective one of which a cooking temperature in each of the plurality of cooking chambers of the oven unit can be independently controlled.

3. A cooking appliance comprising an oven unit, the oven unit comprising an oven cavity into which food to be cooking can be place, a partition received within the cavity to divide the cavity into a plurality of cooking spaces, a cooking temperature of each cooking space being independently controllable, the cooking appliance comprising further a control unit, and detection means for detecting the presence of or absence of the partition, the detection means begin operative to modify the operation of the control means.

4. A cooking appliance according to claim 3 in which the partition carried heating means to heat a cooking space of the oven unit.

5. A cooking appliance according to claim 3 in which the partition can be selectively received within the oven cavity in a plurality of positions.

6. A cooking appliance according to claim 3 in which the partition can be selectively installed or removed by an operator of the cooking appliance.

7. A cooking appliance according to claim 3 in which the partition is installed during manufacture of the oven unit.

8. A cooking appliance according to claim 3 in which the partition is insulated to provide a thermal barrier between cooking spaces within the oven cavity.

9. A cooking appliance according to claim 3 in which the control unit includes at least two oven controls, each oven control being operative to control a respective cooking space when the partition is in place in the oven cavity.

10. A cooking appliance according to claim 9, in which one of the oven controls is disabled and another is operative to control the entire oven cavity on removal of the partition from the oven cavity.

11. A cooking appliance according to claim 3 in which the control unit comprises one or more hob controls each adapted to control a respective cooking element of a hob unit and more than one oven control each adapted to control a respective cooking space of the oven unit, the control unit being adapted for mounting remote from the oven unit.

12. A cooking appliance comprising a door assembly which door assembly comprising first and second leaves arranged, in a closed condition, to be adjacent one another and each hingedly mounted to be openable independently of the other through pivoting about respective spaced parallel axes to reveal a respective opening, in which the first leaf is mounted such that its axis is displaceable in a direction normal to the axes towards the axis of the second leaf, in which displaced condition the opening of the first and second leaves reveals a single opening of size greater than that of either said respective opening, the first leaf being mounted on a linkage assembly, which linkage assembly functions to secure the first leaf onto the cooking appliance which linkage assembly comprises hinge components to which the leaf is hingedly mounted and occurring components which connect the hinge components to the cooking appliance such that the hinge components are displaceable in said direction normal to the axes, and which linkage assembly comprises urging members which, on displace of the hinge components, move to urge the second door leaf from its closed condition towards its open position.

13. A cooking appliance according to claim 12 in which the door assembly further includes control means whereby displacing movement of the first leaf is restricted to a path substantially normal to its hinging axis, and rotation of the first leaf about any other axis is inhibited.

14. A cooking appliance according to claim 13 in which the control means comprises tensioned wires disposed so as to cause displacement of one of the hinge parts to be similarly imposed on the other hinge part.

15. A cooking appliance according to claim 12 in which the first and second axes are horizontal, the first being disposed above the second, such that displacement of the first leaf is accomplished by a downward push on a upper part of the leaf.