Abstract:
An oven includes an internal cavity defined by rear, bottom, top, left and right sidewalls. A front opening of the cavity is selectively accessible by moving a door between open and closed positions. A heating device is associated with the cavity for heating the environment within the cavity. The cavity includes multiple rack supports therein for supporting racks at multiple elevations within the cavity. A rack hanger is located on an exterior side wall of the oven housing and includes at least one arm extending outward from the exterior side wall for receiving and holding racks thereon.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/930,543, filed May 17, 2007, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0002]    This application relates generally to ovens for cooking foods and, more specifically, to an oven having a cooking cavity with removable racks and a mechanism for storing racks that are removed from the cooking cavity. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    Conventional ovens, steam ovens and combination ovens (combi ovens) all comprise a cavity that is heated for cooking foods. The cavity is surrounded on five sides by walls, and on the front by a door that is moveable to provide access to the cavity. The back side of each cavity wall is typically covered or surrounded by insulation. Internal of the cavity horizontally disposed racks may be provided to enable multiple trays, pans or pots of food items to be placed therein at different levels within the cavity. 
         [0004]    Various types of food products may be cooked in the ovens. For example, trays of peas may be placed in the ovens. In most instances, the peas do not stand above the lip of a shallow tray. In contrast the ovens may also be used to cook chickens which have a vertical height much higher than a tray. The oven racks are typically removable to facilitate formation of rack slots of the necessary height for the items being cooked. It would be desirable to provide an oven that facilitates rack handling upon removal. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0005]    In one aspect, an oven includes an internal cavity defined by rear, bottom, top, left and right sidewalls. A front opening of the cavity is selectively accessible by moving a door between open and closed positions. A heating device is associated with the cavity for heating the environment within the cavity. The cavity includes multiple rack supports therein for supporting racks at multiple elevations within the cavity. A rack hanger is located on an exterior side wall of the oven housing and includes at least one arm extending outward from the exterior side wall for receiving and holding racks thereon. 
         [0006]    In another aspect, an oven and rack combination includes an oven with an internal cavity defined by rear, bottom, top, left and right sidewalls. A front opening of the cavity is selectively accessible by moving a door between open and closed positions. A heating device is associated with the cavity for heating the environment within the cavity. The cavity includes multiple rack supports therein for supporting racks at multiple elevations within the cavity. At least one rack is supported horizontally within the cavity by one or more shelf supports. A rack hanger is located on an exterior side wall of the oven housing and includes at least one arm extending outward from the exterior side wall. At least one rack is supported in a hanging manner from the arm such that the rack has a substantially upright orientation alongside the exterior side wall. 
         [0007]    In a further aspect, a method of operating a food product cooking oven including M racks, where M is an integer number, involves: (i) providing multiple rack supports within a cavity of the oven for selectively supporting racks at multiple elevations within the cavity; (ii) identifying N racks, where N is an integer number, from among the M racks, to be used for a given cooking operation; (iii) providing only N racks within the cavity at respective elevations during the given cooking operation; (iv) providing a rack hanger arm at an exterior side wall of the oven; and (v) hanging M-N racks on the rack hanger arm during the given cooking operation. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0008]      FIG. 1  is a perspective, schematic depiction of a food product cooking oven; 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  is a front elevation schematic depiction of the cooking cavity of the oven of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0010]      FIGS. 3A and 3B  show schematic front elevations of cooking cavities with different food product items therein; 
           [0011]      FIGS. 4A and 4B  show a perspective and side profile, respectively, of one embodiment of a rack hanger; 
           [0012]      FIG. 5  shows a top plan view of a metal plate used to form the rack hanger of  FIG. 4A ; 
           [0013]      FIG. 6  shows a front elevation of an oven with the rack hanger of  FIG. 4A  mounted thereon; 
           [0014]      FIG. 7  shows a front elevation of a double stacked oven with rack hangers mounted thereon; and 
           [0015]      FIG. 8  shows a partial view of a rack hanger attached to an oven using double-sided adhesive tape. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0016]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , an oven  100  is shown including an external housing  102 , oven door  104  and a user interface control panel  106 . Internal to the housing a cooking cavity  108  is defined by left, right, top, bottom and rear walls  10 ,  12 ,  14 ,  16  and  18  and a front opening  20  that is selectively closeable via movement of the door  104 . The oven includes one or more heating mechanisms or cooking sources for heating the environment within the cavity and/or for heating food product within the cavity. 
         [0017]    For example, the oven may be a steam oven having an associated steam generator (e.g., an electric or gas boiler)  110  plumbed for controlled delivery of steam to the cavity  108 . The steam generator  110  may be incorporated within the primary housing  102  as shown, or could be a separate unit connected with the primary housing  102 . In another example, a microwave generator  112  produces microwave radiation that is delivered to the oven cavity  108  via a suitable path as may be defined utilizing waveguides. In another example, a convection heating source  114  may be formed by an electric or gaseous heating element  116  in association with one or more blowers  118 , with suitable delivery and return airflow paths to and from the cavity  108 . The exact configuration of any given cooking source could vary. Moreover, in the case of a combi oven, multiple different cooking sources could be provided. 
         [0018]    Referring to  FIG. 2 , where the oven cavity is shown in a front view, regardless of the oven configuration, the cavity may include multiple rack supports  22  therein for supporting racks  24  at multiple elevations within the cavity. In one implementation, the rack supports  22  may be formed by separate structures, such as brackets, that are mounted to the left and right side walls  10  and  12 . In another implementation, the rack supports  22  may be formed by bends or stamped contours in sheet metal used to form the side walls  10  and  12 . Five racks  24  are shown, but variations are possible. The racks are selectively removable from the cavity via the front opening  20  when the door  104  is opened. Also shown in  FIG. 2  is exemplary insulation layer  26  that may be provided at the exterior surfaces of the cavity walls. 
         [0019]    As noted above, various types of food products may be cooked in the ovens. For example, referring to the schematic of  FIG. 3A , relatively shallow trays of peas may be placed in the ovens, in which case the trays and food product fit within the space between adjacent racks, enabling all of the racks  24 A- 24 E to remain in the oven during the cooking operation. In contrast, referring to the schematic of  FIG. 3B , deeper trays  32  may be used to cook other food products, or food products taller than the shallow trays  30  may be placed in the oven. In either case, one or more of the racks  24  needs to be removed to accommodate the food product. In the schematic of  FIG. 3B  at least racks  24 B and  24 D would need to be removed during the cooking operation. 
         [0020]    Referring now to  FIGS. 4A and 4B , one configuration of a rack hanger  40  is shown. The rack hanger  40  includes a main body  42  and spaced apart arms  44  and  46  extending outwardly from the body. The main body  42  has a generally L-shaped profile with a horizontal segment  48  and a downwardly extending segment  50 . Each arm  44 ,  46  has a generally L-shaped profile with a horizontally extending segment  52  and an upwardly extending segment  54 . The rack hanger may be formed as a unitary piece by cutting a piece of metal sheet or plate into the configuration  60  of  FIG. 5  and then bending the plate along line  62  to form the two perpendicular segments of the main body, and bending the arms along lines  64  and  66  to form the two segments of each arm. It is recognized that the rack hanger may have other configurations, including configurations having only one arm or configurations having more than two arms. 
         [0021]    The rack hanger includes multiple openings  70  that may be used to attach the rack hanger to an oven. Specifically, referring to front elevation of  FIG. 5 , the L-shaped main body  42  is configured for mounting at the top edge of the left  72  or right  74  exterior side wall of the oven. In the illustrated embodiment the rack hanger is positioned on the right exterior side wall, with segment  48  positioned adjacent the top exterior housing wall  76  and segment  50  positioned adjacent right exterior side wall  74 . Self-tapping screws may be used to connect the hanger directly to the housing and/or an internal frame of the oven by drilling suitable holes in the housing and/or frame, aligning the rack hanger openings  70  with the drilled holes and passing the screws through the openings  70  and into the drilled holes. Other types of fasteners may be used, including various mechanical fasteners, adhesives, epoxies or structures that capture the rack hanger. In one variation shown in  FIG. 8 , a two-sided adhesive tape  80  (e.g., of the acrylic foam type) could be applied to the underside of segment  48  for securing the rack hanger to the oven. 
         [0022]    In the illustrated embodiment, racks  24 A,  24 C and  24 E are shown positioned horizontally within the oven cavity, while racks  24 B and  24 D are illustrated in hanging, upright and substantially vertical orientation at the side of the oven supported on the arms of the rack hanger. Depending upon the exact structure of the racks and the length of the rack hanger arms, the number of racks that can be supported by a given rack hanger can be set or varied. In an oven with five racks, the rack hanger could be configured to hold 4 racks, with the assumption that at least one rack would always be in use in the cavity. Alternatively the rack hanger could be configured to hold all five racks, as may be desired during cleaning of the cavity when all racks might be removed from the cavity. 
         [0023]    Providing a rack hanger as shown facilitates selective use and storage of racks in accordance with the food products being cooked in the cavity. Take, for example, a food product cooking oven including M racks, where M is an integer number (e.g., in  FIG. 6 , M=5) and where multiple rack supports are provided within a cavity of the oven for selectively supporting racks at multiple elevations within the cavity. Based upon the food product being cooked, an operator identifies N racks, where N is an integer number, from among the M racks, to be used for a given cooking operation (e.g., in  FIG. 6 , N=2 or 3). The operator then provides only N racks within the cavity at respective elevations during the given cooking operation. The remaining oven cavity racks, numbering M-N, are hung on the rack hanger arm during the given cooking operation. Hanging the unused racks in such a manner facilitates a clean and reliable way to store and retrieve racks in the hectic environment of a commercial kitchen. 
         [0024]    Referring now, to  FIG. 7 , exemplary use of rack hangers in a double stacked oven (i.e., two ovens stacked one atop the other) is shown. One rack hanger  40 A is shown in association with the right side wall of the top oven  100 A, and another rack hanger  40 B is shown in association with the right side wall of the lower oven  100 B. In the case of the lower rack hanger  40 B, the horizontal segment of the main body may be sandwiched between the bottom wall of the upper oven and the top wall of the lower oven, which in some cases may provide all the support necessary to secure the rack hanger  40 B in place. In other cases, the lower rack hanger  40 B may also be secured by screws or other fasteners. 
         [0025]    It is to be clearly understood that the above description is intended by way of illustration and example only and is not intended to be taken by way of limitation, and that changes and modifications are possible. For example, other rack hanger configurations are possible, such as a rack hanger in which the main body lacks horizontal segment  48 , in which case openings may be provided on segment  50  for securing to the rack hanger to the oven using fasteners. In another example, a pair of separate brackets may be secured to the oven to form the rack hanger. Other variations are possible.