Abstract:
An over-the-range hood covering a larger space above a gas range to efficiently discharge fumes, oil droplets and odors generated from the gas range to outside of a room is provided, in which a pair of guide rods is included, each of which is coupled to respective side plates of the over-the-range hood by a pivot to be rotated forwardly, and a pair of wing plates rotatably connected to the pair of guide rods respectively by a holding unit. The over-the-range hood enables an amount of odors, fumes and oil droplets diffused into the room to be minimized, thereby maintaining pleasant room air.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of Korean Application No. 2002-33084, filed Jun. 14, 2002, in the Korean Industrial Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to an over-the-range hood which is adapted to discharge oil droplets, odors and the like generated from a gas range disposed therebelow while cooking food on the gas range, and more particularly, to an over-the-range hood which is provided with wing plates preventing oil droplets, odors and the like generated from a gas range from diffusing in a room. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     In general, an over-the-range hood is an appliance for discharging various oil droplets, odors and the like generated from a gas range to outside of a room while cooking food on the gas range. The conventional over-the-range hood will now be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. 
     FIG. 1 is a front elevation view showing a conventional over-the-range hood disposed over a gas range, and FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of the conventional over-the-range hood of FIG.  1 . 
     As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, pots  103  are placed on a gas range  102 . When cooking is carried out by the gas range  102 , various odors and oil droplets  104  are inevitably generated from the pots  103 . To discharge the odors and oil droplets  104  to outside of the room, an over-the-range hood  101  is provided over the gas range  102 . The over-the-range hood  101  is provided therein with a blower fan (not shown) to discharge various odors and oil droplets  104  generated from the pots  103 , and a fan motor (not shown) driving the blower fan, so that various odors and oil droplets  104  can be discharged to the outside of the room through a ventilation duct  201  (shown in FIG.  2 ). 
     However, the above-described conventional over-the-range hood has disadvantages as follows. The disadvantages in the conventional over-the-range hood will be disclosed with reference to FIG.  2 . 
     A gas range is equipped at a top of the gas range with a gas range part  202 , which is comprised of two pairs of top burners, i.e., a front pair of top burners  202   b  and a rear pair of top burners  202   a , in order to cook several kinds of food simultaneously. In the gas range, the front pair of top burners  202   b  is positioned forwardly from a front face of the over-the-range hood when viewed from the side. In this case, as shown in FIG. 2, although various odors, oil droplets and the like  104   a  generated from the rear pair of top burners  202   a  can be easily discharged to the outside of the room through an intake port  203  of the over-the-range hood  101 , odors, oil droplets and the like  104   b  generated from the front pair of top burners  202   b  vertically rise and diffuse into the room without being sucked into the over-the-range hood  101 . Consequently, room air cannot be maintained in a pleasant condition due to contamination by odors and oil residue from odors, oil droplet and the like  104   b.    
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, an over-the-range hood, which is adapted to discharge oil droplets, odors and the like generated from a gas range disposed therebelow, is provided. 
     Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. 
     In order to accomplish the above object, an over-the-range hood adapted to discharge odors and undesired substances generated from ranges to the outside of the room at a time of cooking by a gas range, comprising: a pair of guide rods coupled to both side plates of the over-the-range hood by a pivot to be rotated forwardly; and a pair of wing plates connected to the pair of guide rods respectively, and adapted to be rotated toward each other about the pair of guide rods by a holding unit. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the preferred embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which: 
     FIG. 1 is a front elevation view showing a conventional over-the-range hood disposed over a gas range; 
     FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of the conventional over-the-range hood of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a side elevation view of an over-the-range hood according to an embodiment of the present invention, which is disposed over a gas range; 
     FIGS. 4A-4C are side views showing an extending operation of guide rods and wing plates according to FIG. 3; 
     FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view of the over-the-range hood according to FIG. 3; 
     FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of coupling structures according to FIG. 3; 
     FIG. 7 is a front elevation view of the over-the-range hood according to FIG. 3; and 
     FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the over-the-range hood according to FIG. 3, which is installed in a finished kitchen. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below in order to explain the present invention by referring to the figures. 
     FIG. 3 is a side elevation view of an over-the-range hood according to an embodiment of the present invention, which is disposed over a gas range  312 , FIGS. 4A to  4 C are side views showing an extending operation of guide rods and wing plates according to FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view of the over-the-range hood according to FIG. 3, and FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of coupling structures according to FIG.  3 . 
     As first shown in FIG. 3, each of side plates  301  of outer panel  315  defining an external appearance of the over-the-range hood  300  is provided at a front portion of the side plates  301  with a guide rod  302  such that the guide rod  302  is rotatably supported by a pivot  304  provided at a front and lower position of the side plate  301 . To prevent the guide rod  302  from rotating more than a certain angle, a stopper protrusion  307  is provided at the side plate  301  such that the stopper protrusion  307  is positioned at a location before and just below the pivot  304 . A wing plate  303  is rotatably coupled to the guide rod  302  by a holding unit  306 . The guide rod  302  is provided at an approximately middle portion of the guide rod with a stopper blade  302   a  to prevent the wing plate  303  from rotating beyond a certain position. FIG. 3 shows the wing plate  303  retracted on the side plate  301  of the over-the-range hood  300 . 
     FIGS. 4A to  4 C show an operation of forwardly extending the wing plate retracted in the over-the-range hood. 
     In FIG. 4A, the wing plate  303  is retracted on the side plate  301  of the over-the-range hood  300 . When there is need to extend the wing plate  303 , the guide rod  302  is pulled in a direction of an arched arrow, i.e., in a forward direction of the over-the-range hood  300  to a position, as shown in FIG.  4 B. That is, the guide rod  302  is rotated forwardly by an angle of about 90° to be protruded from the over-the-range hood  300 . Subsequently, the wing plate  303  is rotated about the guide rod  302  such that both the wing plates  303  are rotated toward each other to be substantially flush with each other. Therefore, after the rotation of the wing plate  303  about the guide rod  302 , the wing plate  303  is in a position, as shown in FIG.  4 C. With the wing plate  303  protruded forwardly and horizontally positioned, odors and undesired substances  311   b  generated from pots  309   b  placed on a front pair of top burners  310   b  as well as odors and undesired substances  311   a  generated from pots  309   a  placed on a rear pair of top burners  310   a  are prevented from rising vertically. At this point, the odors and the undesired substances  311  from the pots  309   a  and  309   b  positioned on the gas range part  310 , as shown in FIG. 3, are introduced into the over-the-range hood  300  through an intake port  308  and then discharged to the outside of the room through an exhaust duct  305  by a suction force at the intake port  308 , where the suction force is provided by the blower fan (not shown) in the over-the-range hood  300 . 
     FIG. 5 shows the pair of wing plates  303 , which are forwardly extended to be substantially flush with each other via the extending operation shown in FIG. 4, when viewed from above. In this state, in which the wing plates  303  are protruding forwardly, the wing plates  303  are positioned above the front pair of top burners. 
     With reference to FIG. 6, a coupling structure  304  of the side plate  301  and the guide rod  302 , a coupling structure of the guide rod  302  and the wing plate  303 , and a structure preventing over-rotation of the guide rod  302  and the wing plate  303 , are described hereinbelow. 
     In the coupling structure of the guide rod  302  and the side plate  301  of the over-the-range hood  300 , the guide rod  302  is provided at one end with an enlarged circular coupling portion  302   c . The enlarged circular coupling portion  302   c  is centrally provided with a pivot hole formed thereat, through which a pivot bolt  304   a  passes. The side plate  301  is formed with a threaded hole  304   b  into which the pivot bolt  304   a  is screwed to provide the coupling structure  304 . Alternatively, the side plate  301  may be formed with a plain hole and a nut may be provided at an inside of the side plate  301 . The pivot bolt  304   a  may be provided with a plain shank portion, which is disposed between a head portion and a threaded portion of the bolt, so that the guide rod  302  can be freely rotated thereon. 
     To prevent the guide rod  302  pivotably coupled to the side plate  301  from rotating beyond a predetermined angular displacement, the side plate  301  is provided with a stopper protrusion  307 . The stopper protrusion  307  may be positioned such that the guide rod  302  can be rotated by only a rotation angle of 90° to 100° from a vertical retracted position of the guide rod  302 . When a rotation angle of the guide rod  302  is set to be slightly larger than the rotation angle of 90°, the wing plates  303  can function to guide odors, oil droplets and the like toward the intake port of the over-the-range hood  300 . 
     The coupling structure rotatably holding the wing plate  303  on the guide rod  302  will now be described. 
     The wing plate  303  is attached at both ends of one side of the wing plate  303  with the holding unit  306 , in which the guide rod  302  is rotatably held, so that the wing plate  303  can be rotated about the guide rod  302 . As shown in FIG. 6, the holding units  306  are comprised of a bracket plate, which is adapted to be attached to the wing plate  303  by screws. The bracket plate has a U-shaped curved portion to receive the guide rod  302  therein. The guide rod  302  is provided at a middle portion of the guide rod  302  with a stopper blade  302   a , which prevents over rotation of the wing plate  303 , i.e., to prevent the wing plate  303  from rotating beyond a certain angular position. The wing plate  303  is formed with a cut portion  303   a  at a middle portion of one side of the wing plate, i.e., at a position corresponding to the stopper blade  302   a . The cut portion  303   a  may be provided with a plate-shaped downward extension  303   b  to obtain a stable stopped state. An enlarged head  302   b  is provided preventing the wing plate  303  from being separated from the guide rod  302 . 
     By the above-described coupling structures, a limited rotation of the guide rod  302  relative to the side plate  301 , and a limited rotation of the wing plate  303  relative to the guide rod  302  are achievable. Consequently, the wing plate  303 , which is positioned on the side plate  301  of the over-the-range hood  300  in a normal resting state, can be rotated and extended forwardly to prevent the rise, and thus diffusion, of odors and oil substances generated from the pots  309   a  and  309   b , as shown in FIG. 3, disposed therebelow, if necessary. 
     FIG. 7 is a front elevation view of the over-the-range hood  300  according to FIG. 3 disposed above a gas range, in which a pair of wing plates  303  are extended forwardly from the over-the-range hood  300  at a time of cooking. 
     FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the over-the-range hood according to FIG. 3, which is installed with kitchen cabinets, in which the wing plates  303  are also extended forwardly from the over-the-range hood at the time of cooking. 
     It will be appreciated that the coupling structures and the rotation limiting structures can be alternatively embodied in various manners different from the above description. 
     As described above, an over-the-range hood is equipped on each side with a pair of wing plates, which are extended forwardly at the time of cooking to prevent odors, oil droplets and the like from rising and thus diffusing into the room and to guide them toward an intake port of the over-the-range hood, thereby maintaining pleasant room air. In a normal resting state, each of the pair of wing plates is retracted to respective sides of the over-the-range hood and maintained thereto, thereby enabling a kitchen space to be efficiently used. 
     Although a few preferred embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in this embodiment without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.