Abstract:
A cooker is disclosed, the cooker comprising: a case having an air inlet and an air outlet; a cooking plate provided on the case; a heating unit formed between the case for heating the cooking plate and the cooking plate; and a cooling unit for cooling the cooking plate by introducing outside air into the air inlet, letting it circulated around the cooking plate, and discharged via the air outlet, such that the cooling time of the cooking plate can be shortened.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]     This application claims priority to the application filed with the Korean Industrial Property Office on Nov. 25, 2005, and assigned serial No. 10-2005-0113481, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference  
       BACKGROUND  
       [0002]     This invention relates to a cooker, and more particularly to a cooker and a cooking system having the same in which a cooling structure is improved to enable to quickly cool a cooking plate.  
         [0003]     The typical electric cooker or electric cook-top (hereinafter referred to as cooker) is known as an environmentally friendly product for developed countries that can always provide a clean and pleasant cooking environment because of being free from hazardous gas, soot, discharge of carbon monoxide and deficiency of oxygen.  
         [0004]     The cooker is also recognized as an energy-efficient product because it takes a short time to reach a maximum thermal power by way of using a new material as heat source, and maintains a constant temperature utilizing a temperature sensor.  
         [0005]     The cooker configuration includes a case, a cooking plate supported by the case and on which a cooking utensil containing food to be cooked is located, and a heating coil provided at the case for heating the cooking plate.  
         [0006]     If an electric power is applied to the cooker, the heating coil generates heat, and the heat thus generated is transmitted to the cooking plate via radiation or convection. Temperature of a cooking region of the cooking plate heated by the heating coil reaches up to 500 degrees Celsius.  
         [0007]     Heated condition of the cooking plate can be visually checked by the color of the heating coil in the course of cooking, such that there is hardly a case where a user gets burnt. However, if cooking is done and the power of the heating coil is turned off, the cooking plate is returned to an original color, making it difficult to visually check the temperature of the cooking plate. In other words, if the cooking is finished, there is a high likelihood of a user being burnt due to difficulty in recognizing heated condition of the heating coil.  
         [0008]     Particularly, the likelihood of being burnt further increases as it takes a long time of 40-50 minutes for the cooking plate to reach a temperature of approximately 65 degrees Celsius in which a user is not burnt after the heating coil is turned off to naturally cool off.  
         [0009]     There is another problem in that if materials such as sugar or condiment fall on the cooking plate during the spontaneous cooling-off period, the materials are solidified on the cooking plate by the high temperature to pollute the cooking plate, causing a user to spend a lot of time and effort to get rid of.  
       SUMMARY  
       [0010]     The present invention is directed to solve the afore-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a cooker and a cooking system having the same configured to improve a cooling speed of a cooking plate, thereby enabling to reduce the hazard of a user suffering from burns.  
         [0011]     In one general aspect, a cooker comprises: a case having an air inlet and an air outlet; a cooking plate provided on the case; a heating unit formed between the case and the cooking plate for heating the cooking plate; and a cooling unit for cooling the cooking plate by introducing outside air into the air inlet and letting it circulated around the cooking plate and discharged via the air outlet.  
         [0012]     According to one embodiment of the present invention, the cooling unit circulates the introduced outside air along a passage formed between the cooking plate and the heating unit.  
         [0013]     The cooling unit includes a fan motor unit provided at one side of the case, and at least one circulation guide member provided at the case for guiding the air introduced by the fan motor unit to be evenly circulated underneath the cooking plate.  
         [0014]     Preferably, the guide member has a curved surface having a predetermined curvature.  
         [0015]     The heating unit may include at least one adiabatic member supported thereunder by the case, an upper end thereof touching the cooking plate, and formed with a passage for passing therethrough the air introduced by the cooling unit, and at least one heat generating body provided at the adiabatic member for being located between the adiabatic member and the cooking plate.  
         [0016]     Preferably, an elastic member is formed between the adiabatic member and the case to elastically bring an upper end of the adiabatic member into contact with the cooking plate.  
         [0017]     According to another embodiment of the present invention, at least one heating unit is formed at a front end (FD) of the case, and the other heating unit is provided at a rear end (BD) of the case, and wherein the cooling unit comprises: a fan motor unit formed at the front end (FD) of the case; a separating wall formed between the case and the cooking plate for separating the heating unit at the front end (FD) from the heating unit at the rear end (BD) of the case; and at least one circulation guide member provided at a front area of the case divided by the separating wall.  
         [0018]     Further, the cooker may include a controller for controlling a driving time of the cooling unit relative to whether an electric power source is applied to the heating unit.  
         [0019]     In another general aspect, a cooking system comprises: an oven range provided with a pipe installation recess staged from an upper surface for accommodating a pipe to the rear end (BD) thereof; and a cook-top provided above the oven range, where the cook-top comprises: : a case having an air inlet and an air outlet; a cooking plate provided on the case; a heating unit formed between the case and the cooking plate for heating the cooking plate; and a cooling unit for cooling the cooking plate by introducing outside air into the air inlet and letting it circulated around the cooking plate and discharged via the air outlet.  
         [0020]     The cooling unit includes a fan motor unit provided at the case for being accommodated in the pipe accommodation recess, and at least one circulation guide member provided at the case for guiding the air introduced by the fan motor unit to be evenly circulated underneath the cooking plate. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0021]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view schematically illustrating a cooking system according to one embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0022]      FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view schematically illustrating a cooker of  FIG. 1 .  
         [0023]      FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III of  FIG. 2 .  
         [0024]      FIG. 4  is a structural configuration of a cooker of  FIG. 2 .  
         [0025]      FIG. 5  is a plan view explaining a cooling operation of a cooker of  FIG. 2 .  
         [0026]      FIG. 6  is a plan view of a cooker according to another embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0027]      FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional view taken along line VII-VII of  FIG. 6 . 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0028]     Referring to FIGS.  1  to  4 , a cooking system according to one embodiment of the present invention includes an oven range  10  and a cooker  20  provided above the oven range  10 .  
         [0029]     The oven range  10  includes a cavity (not shown) into which food to be cooked is accommodated, heating means (not shown) for heating the food accommodated in the cavity, and a discharge duct (not shown) and a blowing fan (not shown) for discharging the air heated in the cavity.  
         [0030]     The oven range  10  which comes in various types such as a built-in type and a free stand type is a well known art so that detailed description relative to inner structure and operating principle of the oven range  10  will be omitted herein.  
         [0031]     The oven range  10  is provided at an upper rear corner thereof with a stair-cased pipe accommodation recess  12  for accommodating a gas pipe in case the oven range  10  or the cooker  20  is fueled by gas. The pipe accommodation recess  12  is typically provided at a rear end (BD) of the cooking system facing a wall surface lest the gas pipe should be exposed outside for cosmetic reason.  
         [0032]     The cooker  20  includes a case  30  supported on an upper surface of the oven range  10  at a predetermined distance apart and opened thereon, a cooking plate  40  supported on the case  30  for covering an upper surface of the case  30 , a plurality of heating units  50  formed underneath the cooking plate  40 , cooling units  61  and  65  for cooling the cooking plate  40 , and a controller  70  for controlling the heating units  50  and the cooling units  61  and  65 .  
         [0033]     An air inlet  32  is provided at a rear end (BD) of the case  30 , the inlet  32  being inserted by a fan motor unit  61  for inwardly introducing air circulated by the fan motor unit  61 . The case  30  is formed at a front end thereof with an air outlet  34  for discharging the air inwardly introduced into the case  30 .  
         [0034]     The cooking plate  40  has a plate shape for placing a cooking utensil into which food to be cooked is inserted. The cooking plate  40  is disposed at the case  30  in order to cover an upper surface of the case  30 . The cooking plate  40  is disposed thereon with a plurality of cooking areas  42  each corresponding to the heating unit  50 . The cooking plate  40  is made of an excellent heat-resistant material such as thermally crystallizable glass of glass-ceramics.  
         [0035]     The heating units  50  include front heating units  50   fl  and  50   fr , each arranged left and right of a front end of the cooking plate  40 , and rear heating units  50   bl  and  50   br , each arranged left and right of a rear end of the cooking plate  40 . The arrangement and the number of heating units may vary or be changed according to specification of the cook-top.  
         [0036]     Each of the heating unit  50   fl ,  50   fr ,  50   bl  and  50   br  is the same in its structure mounted to the case  30 , and its structure and configuration contacting the cooking plate  40  such that configuration of one heating unit  50  will be described in the following explanation.  
         [0037]     The heating unit  50  includes a adiabatic member  51  elastically supported by a plurality of springs  53  at a floor of the case  30 , and a heat generating body  56  provided at the adiabatic member  51 .  
         [0038]     The adiabatic member  51  is of a hollow cylindrical shape having a floor surface  54  and a brim  55  extended upwards from the floor surface  54 . Between the floor surface  54  of the adiabatic member  51  and the case, there is interposed a spring  53  of elastic member  53 . The spring  53  serves to push an upper end of the brim  55  to each cooking area  42  of the cooking plate  40  and lets them closely abutted against each other. By this structure, the heat heated by the heat generating body  56  is more effectively transmitted to the cooking plate  40 . The brim  55  of the adiabatic member  51  is formed with a plurality of air grooves  52  through which air circulated by the cooling units  61  and  65  can pass.  
         [0039]     The heat generating body  56  is provided on the floor surface  54  of the adiabatic member  51  for heating the cooking plate  40 . The heat generating body  56  is a heating coil comprised of a composition of chromium (Cr), iron (Fe) and aluminum (Al) which can generate heat by way of electric resistance, but the body  56  can encompass any means which can heat the cooking plate  40  such as a halogen lamp transmitting heat to the cooking plate  40  by way of radiation, a carbon heater employing carbon nano-particles and induction heating coil.  
         [0040]     As mentioned above, the heat generating body  56  is disposed being encompassed by the adiabatic member  51 , thereby enabling to effectively heat the cooking plate  40 .  
         [0041]     Particularly, air current circulated by the fan motor unit  61  can pass upwards of an upper end of the heat generating body  56 , i.e., between the cooking plate  40  and the adiabatic member  51 , by the air grooves  52  formed at the adiabatic member  51 , such that the cooking plate  40  can be effectively heated by the heat generating body  56  during cooking operation, and can be also cooled effectively by the air current passing through the air grooves  52 .  
         [0042]     The cooling units  61  and  65 , designed to cool the cooking plate  40  once the cooking operation is finished, include the fan motor unit  61  inserted into the air inlet  32  formed at one side of the rear end (BD) of the case  30 , and a plurality of circulation guide members  65  for uniformly circulating the air introduced into an interior of the case  30  by the fan motor unit  61  to the bottom area of the cooking plate  40 .  
         [0043]     Like the typical fan motor unit, the fan motor unit  61  includes a fan  62 , a motor (not shown), and a fan motor case  64  in which the fan  62  and the motor are encased, and is disposed at one side of the rear end (BD) of the case  30  for accommodation into the gas accommodation recess  12 . Thus, an exterior of the cooking system can be beautified and can enjoy a compact look because of the fan motor unit  61  being provided at the gas accommodation recess  12 .  
         [0044]     The fan motor case  64  is frontally provided with an inlet  64   a  into which an outside air can be introduced with respect to rotation of the fan  62 , and is also disposed at a front surface thereof with an outlet  64   b  for discharging the introduced outside air into the interior of the case  30 . Although the fan motor case  64  is exemplified by fixing it to the case  30 , the case  64  may be fixed to an upper surface of the oven range  10 .  
         [0045]     Furthermore, although a transverse current fan is described in the present embodiment, any other fan motor units having a structure capable of discharging outside air into an interior of the case  30  may be applied to the present invention.  
         [0046]     The plurality of circulation guide members  65  are provided at the case  30  for uniformly circulating the air current introduced into the case  30  by the fan motor unit  61  into the interior of the cooking plate  40  or the case  30 . Preferably, each circulation guide member  65  has a predetermined curvature for a substantial lossless guidance of the air current in the midst of guiding.  
         [0047]     The controller  70  is connected to a power source unit  80  for applying an electric power to the heat generating body  56  and the fan motor unit  61 . The controller  70  controls the drive of the heat generating body  56  and the fan motor unit  61  in order to control the power source unit  80 . Particularly, the controller  70  does not apply the electric power to the fan motor unit  61  during the cooking operation, i.e., while the power is applied to the heat generating body  56 . However, once the cooking operation is over, i.e., if the heat generating body  56  is turned off, the controller  70  applies the power to the fan motor unit  61  to drive the fan motor unit  61 . Furthermore, the controller  70  counts a driving time of the fan motor unit  61  to turn off the fan motor unit  61 .  
         [0048]     It should be noted that the fan motor unit  61  may be driven by a separate switch unlike the embodiment of the present invention where the fan motor unit  61  is controlled by the controller  70 . Furthermore, unlike the embodiment of the present invention, the controller  70  may compare temperature of the heat generating body  56  or the cooking plate  40  with a pre-set temperature to controllably turn off the fan motor unit  61  if the temperature of the heat generating body  56  or the cooking plate  40  falls under the pre-set temperature.  
         [0049]     Still furthermore, the controller  70  may control the power source unit  80  to adjust current or voltage applied to the fan motor unit  61 , thereby adjusting the rotating speed of the fan  62 .  
         [0050]     Now, operation of the cooker and the cooking system according to the embodiment of the present invention, particularly, a cooling operation of the cooking plate  40  will be explained.  
         [0051]     Referring to FIGS.  3  to  5 , a user places a cooking utensil on the cooking plate  40  and applies a power to the heat generating body  56 . If the cooking operation is done, the user turns off the heat generating body  56 . Successively, the controller  70  drives the fan motor unit  61  by applying the power thereto. If the fan motor unit  61  is driven, an outside air is infused into the fan motor case  64  via the inlet  64   a . The sucked in air is further infused into the case  30  via the outlet  64   b . The air introduced into the case  30  is guided by the circulation guide member  65 , passes the plurality of heating units  50  to be discharged to the outside via the air outlet  34  of the case  30 .  
         [0052]     The air introduced into the case  30  passes the air grooves  52  formed at the adiabatic member  51  of each heating unit  50  to blow out the heat remaining between the adiabatic member  51  and the cooking plate  40  and to circulate along the bottom of the cooking plate  40 . As a result, the heat remaining between the adiabatic member  51  and the cooking plate  40  is blown away to enable to improve a cooling speed of the cooking plate  40 , and the cooking plate  40  is forcibly cooled according to the circulation of the air circulating underneath the cooking plate  40 .  
         [0053]     As explained above, when the fan motor unit  61  for cooling the cooking plate  40  is separately installed, the cooling time of the cooking plate  40  was reduced to 16-20 minutes under the same condition according to the embodiment of the present invention, while it took 40-50 minutes to cool the cooking plate  40  to below 65 degrees Celsius according to the prior art. In other words, the cooling time of the cooking plate  40  is reduced approximately by 60% according to the embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0054]     With the reduction of the cooling time of the cooking plate  40  thus explained, the likelihood of being burnt can be decreased, and the phenomenon of material such as sugar or condiment fallen on the cooking plate being solidified on the cooking plate and solidified degree thereof can be reduced to thereby enable to expedite the cleaning of the cooking plate  40 .  
         [0055]     The controller  70  turns off the fan motor unit  61  when the pre-set time lapses away, by counting the driving time of the fan motor unit  61 . However, the fan motor unit  61  may be controllably driven with respect to the temperature of the cooking plate  40  or the heat generating body  56 , as explained above.  
         [0056]     Now, referring to  FIGS. 6 and 7 , a separating wall  166  is provided at a case  130  for dividing heating units  150   fl  and  50   fr  formed at a front end (FD) of the case from heating units  150   bl  and  150   br  formed at a rear end (BD) of the case.  
         [0057]     An inlet  132  is formed at a front end (FD) of floor surface of the case  130  for inducing inflow of air into the case  130 , and an outlet  134  is formed at the other side of the case  130 . Furthermore, the case  130  is provided with a circulation guide member  165  for uniformly guiding the air current circulated by a fan motor unit  161  underneath a cooking plate  140 .  
         [0058]     As aforesaid, if the fan motor unit  161  in the cook-top  120  is driven, air is induced into the inlet  132  and the introduced air is guided by the circulation guide member  165  to circulate underneath the cooking plate  140  and to cool the cooking plate  140 . At this time, the air current is not transmitted toward the heating units  150   bl  and  150   br  provided at the rear (BD) by the separating wall  166  but circulated only at the heating units  150   fl  and  150   fr  at the front (FD) of the case.  
         [0059]     In other words, the structure is such that only the cooking areas  42   fl  and  42   fr  (see  FIG. 1 ), provided at the front of the cooking plate  140  2 which are frequently used for cooking, are cooled. As a result, the cooling speed of the cooking plate  140  can be further improved to efficiently use the energy because of the cooling structure where frequently-used front cooking areas  42   fl  and  42   fr  of the cooking plate  140  are only cooled.  
         [0060]     As apparent from the foregoing, there is an advantage in that a cooling plate is forcibly cooled to enable to reduce the time for cooling the cooking plate to a temperature at which a user is prone to suffer burns following the cooking operation. With the reduction of the cooling time of the cooking plate, the hazard of being burnt by the hot cooking plate can be reduced, and solidification of polluting materials onto the cooking plate can be prevented as well.  
         [0061]     Particularly, a separating wall is installed at a case to enable to concentratively cool only the front cooking areas of the cooking plate where the cooking operation is frequently conducted, further facilitating reduction of the cooling time and contributing to effective use of energy.  
         [0062]     Meanwhile, because a fan motor unit is arranged at a gas accommodation recess, the system is distinguishable for the absence of necessity of a separate space for accommodating the fan motor unit and of being affected by exterior look, thereby contributing to reduction of an overall size.  
         [0063]     Although the embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, the present invention is not limited to the described embodiments. Instead, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made to the embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined by the claims and their equivalents.