Abstract:
A foot for a pan support of a home appliance is provided. The foot includes an insertion portion at a first end of the foot for inserting into a recess in the pan support; and a lower portion adjacent the insertion portion, the lower portion having a compression edge at a second end of the foot opposite the first end in a longitudinal direction of the foot. The compression edge is adapted to deform under the weight of the pan support when the foot is received by a flat receiving surface of the home appliance.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention is directed to a foot for a grate or pan support, and, more particularly, to a compressive grate foot that stabilizes a grate or pan support. 
     An example of an application for the invention is a foot on a grate or pan support of a household gas cook top. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Many home appliances, such as, for example, gas cook tops, have a grate or pan support that is positioned above a heat source, such as a gas burner. The grate often sits on a sheet metal upper surface, or mainsheet, of the cook top and is supported by a number of feet. Often four or six feet are used to support a single grate. Grates are usually made of a rigid, strong, material such as cast metal. Because the grates are rigid and are usually supported by more than three feet, the grates have a tendency to rock due to the grate or the mainsheet not being perfectly flat. 
     A rocking grate can be an unstable support for a pan being used on the cook top, which can result in spilled food items and/or an unlevel cooking surface. A grate that is not stable and tends to rock also gives an appearance of low quality to the cook top. 
     Also, grates made of metal, such as cast iron, can be very heavy. A heavy grate having metal or hard rubber feet can create a loud bang when dropped from only a small distance above a sheet metal mainsheet. This loud noise is undesirable and the impact of the metal or hard rubber feet can damage the mainsheet and/or grate. 
     SUMMARY 
     The invention recognizes that it is desirable to provide a stable foundation for a grate on a cook top. In addition, the invention realizes that it is desirable to provide grate feet that soften the impact between the grate and the mainsheet when the grate is dropped onto the mainsheet. 
     Exemplary embodiments of the invention provide a pliable grate foot that stabilizes the grate on the mainsheet. 
     Particular embodiments of the invention are directed to foot for a pan support of a home appliance, the foot including an insertion portion at a first end of the foot for inserting into a recess in the pan support; and a lower portion adjacent the insertion portion, the lower portion having a compression edge at a second end of the foot opposite the first end in a longitudinal direction of the foot. The compression edge is adapted to deform under the weight of the pan support when the foot is received by a flat receiving surface of the home appliance. 
     Other embodiments of the invention are directed to a grate for a home appliance, the grate including a pan support having a recess; and a foot. The foot has an insertion portion at a first end of the foot that is inserted into a recess in the pan support; and a lower portion adjacent the insertion portion, the lower portion having a compression edge at a second end of the foot opposite the first end in a longitudinal direction of the foot. The compression edge is adapted to deform under the weight of the pan support when the foot is received by a flat receiving surface of the home appliance. 
     Still other embodiments of the invention are directed to a home appliance, the home appliance including a mainsheet having a foot receiving surface, the foot receiving surface being flat; a pan support having a recess; and a foot. The foot has an insertion portion at a first end of the foot that is inserted into a recess in the pan support; and a lower portion adjacent the insertion portion, the lower portion having a compression edge at a second end of the foot opposite the first end in a longitudinal direction of the foot. The compression edge deforms under the weight of the pan support when the foot is received by the foot receiving surface of the mainsheet. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The following figures form part of the present specification and are included to further demonstrate certain aspects of the disclosed features and functions, and should not be used to limit or define the disclosed features and functions. Consequently, a more complete understanding of the exemplary embodiments and further features and advantages thereof may be acquired by referring to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a grate foot that is an exemplary embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the exemplary embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is side sectional view of the exemplary embodiment shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 ; and 
         FIG. 4  shows a home appliance in accordance with the invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The invention is described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings in which exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown. The invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. 
       FIGS. 1 and 2  show an example of an embodiment of the invention. In this example, a foot  100  has a lower section  120  is separated from an upper section by a shoulder  110 . The upper section has a shape that creates recesses  130  around a perimeter of the upper section. As shown in  FIG. 2 , lower section  120  has at its bottom end a compression edge  125  that forms a thin contact patch with a surface on which foot  100  rests. 
       FIG. 3  shows a cross-section of foot  100  installed in a recess  210  of a grate or pan support  200 . In this example, foot  100  is inserted into recess  210  until shoulder  110  contacts a lower edge of pan support  200 . Recesses  130  of foot  100  create spaces between foot  100  and recess  210  for an optional adhesive for bonding  100  to pan support  200 . In some embodiments foot  100  is held in place in recess  210  by a friction fit, while in some embodiments an adhesive holds foot  100  and place. 
     In some embodiments a hole  140  is provided in foot  100 . Hole  140  can serve multiple functions. Hole  140  can receive a pin that guides and stretches foot  100  during installation and recess  210 . Hole  140  can also provide added air volume to increase a suction effect between foot  100  and the surface on which foot  100  rests. 
     In the example shown in  FIG. 3 , foot  100  rests on a flat portion  310  of a mainsheet  300  of a cooktop. Mainsheet  300  is, in this example, a piece of formed sheet metal that is the upper surface of the cooktop, through which gas burners extend. Pan support  200  rests on mainsheet  300  at a number (usually four or six) areas to support pans over the gas burners. Pan support  200  is usually made from a metal such as, for example, cast iron. During the manufacturing process, the mainsheet and/or the pan support can be slightly twisted or otherwise not perfectly straight or level. If no feet are applied to the pan support, or if non-compressible feet are used, these twisted or non-flat components can result in the pan support rocking when placed on the mainsheet. Such rocking is undesirable because it does not provide a stable support for pans and because it portrays poor quality. 
     Compression edge  125  at the lower end of foot  100  provides a deformable contact patch between foot  100  and mainsheet  300 . Having a foot  100  at each contact point between pan support  200  and mainsheet  300  (or at least all but one of the contact points), provides deformable contact patches that can compensate for irregularities in pan support  200  and/or mainsheet  300 . As a result, a pan support having one or more of its lower support surfaces (the bottom edges of recess  210  in  FIG. 3 ) not coplanar will compress one or more of the feet in different amounts to provide a stable, fully supported platform for supporting pans. Similarly, if the areas of mainsheet  300  that receive the feet are not coplanar, one or more of the feet will compress in different amounts. While this example has referred to the contact points between the pan support and the mainsheet being ideally coplanar, it is noted that the invention can provide a conforming support system for any pan support/mainsheet combination that has irregularities in their contact patches. 
     Examples of compression edge  125  have a thickness in the horizontal direction of approximately 10% of the overall width of lower section  120  (resulting in approximately 20% of the overall width of lower section  120  being in contact with mainsheet  300 ). Other examples of compression edge  125  have a thickness of less than 10% of the overall width of lower section  120 . Particular examples of compression edge  125  have a thickness of less than 5% of the overall width of lower section  120 . While the embodiment in the figures provides compressibility by way of a thin compression edge  125 , other embodiments provide compressibility by using a thicker compression edge and a more compressible material. 
     While the embodiment shown in the figures has a round lower section  120 , it is noted that the lower section of foot  100  can have other shapes, such as, for example, square, rectangular, oval, or any other shape. 
     Some conventional systems provide a convex feature on the mainsheet and corresponding concave feature on the foot. The purpose of this configuration is to provide location of the pan support relative to the mainsheet in a horizontal plane. However, irregularities in the dimensions of the pan support, feet, and/or mainsheet can result in the pan support not resting properly on the mainsheet at all contact points. This can result in an unstable pan support. In particular embodiments of the invention, mainsheet  300  has a plurality of flat portions  310  for receiving feet  100 . Because there is no feature (such as, for example, a convex portion) on mainsheet  300  that interacts with any feature (such as, for example, void  150 ) of foot  100 , the invention allows for dimensional irregularities of the pan support and/or the mainsheet in the horizontal direction. 
     Void  150  in lower section  120 , in conjunction with the compressibility of compression edge  125 , can act as a suction cup on flat portion  310  of mainsheet  300 . This suction cup effect can prevent pan support  200  from moving relative to mainsheet  300 . The weight of pan support  200  and/or the weight of pans placed on pan support  200  (or a user pushing down on pan support  200 ) can push air from void  150 . The subsequent lessening of weight on foot  100  can cause the pressure in void  150  to be less than atmospheric pressure, resulting in a suction cup effect between foot  100  and flat portion  310  of mainsheet  300 . 
       FIG 4  shows an example of a home appliance in accordance with the invention. The home appliance shown in  FIG 4  is a cooktop  500  having a plurality og grates  200 . Each grate  200  can have a plurality of the grate foot as shown, for example, in  FIGS. 1-3 , as described above. Other examples of home appliances in accordance with the invention include, for example, gas ranges. 
     It will be appreciated that variants of the above-disclosed and other features and functions, or alternatives thereof, may be combined into many other different systems or applications. Various presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations or improvements therein may be subsequently made by those skilled in the art which are also intended to be encompassed by the invention.