Patent Publication Number: US-9835339-B2

Title: Induction ventilation system for air supply and exhaust

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     The present invention generally relates to an induction ventilation system for air supply and exhaust. More particularly, the present invention relates to an induction ventilation system for air supply and exhaust that has advantages of: easily exhausting indoor air containing vapor by installing a vertically movable unit that exhausts contaminated indoor air, in a rear portion of a first storage portion; enabling easy removal of grease by collecting grease condensed on the wall of an air suction passage, a filter, a flexible duct, and a chamber and that falls down due to its weight, using an grease tray while contaminated indoor air is being discharged through the air suction passage, filter, flexible duct, and chamber; illuminating a cooking space with a built-in lamp so that it is unnecessary to use an additional indoor lamp when cooking; enabling easy replacement of a filter by installing a door in front of the filter; being not easily contaminated by using an air suction opening-and-closing unit that opens and closes an air suction hole by its up and down movement; allowing both a first storage portion and a second storage portion that are provided above and under an upper plate to be used by arranging an air discharging means in a rear portion of the upper plate; allowing easy installation of a fire extinguisher in an air supply hood; enabling liquid contained in the fire extinguisher to be uniformly sprayed onto the entire area of the upper plate in case of fire; and being capable of remaining clean for a long period of use by using a replaceable anti-contamination member. 
     Description of the Related Art 
     An induction range is a heater that uses electromagnetic induction for heating and is an alternative to a gas oven range. The induction range uses an induction current that is generated by magnetic field as a heat source. 
     Accordingly, when a vessel with a metallic bottom is placed on an induction range, eddy currents occurs on the surface of the metallic bottom due to electromagnetic induction, and the vessel is heated by the eddy currents. 
     A gas oven range heats a cooking vessel by combusting fuel gas. Therefore, there occurs convection current and radiant heat during cooking in case of using a gas oven range. A gas oven range can heat ambient air around the range even when a cooking vessel is not placed on the range. However, an induction range only heats the surface that is in contact with a dedicated cooking vessel. Therefore, an induction range is less dangerous than a gas oven range in terms of risk of burning or fire and has high heat efficiency. For these advantages, an induction range is becoming increasingly popular. 
     In addition, food on an induction range can be completely cooked, and at this point a large amount of water vapor and oil vapor are generated. Since an induction range does not increase the ambient temperature around the range, water and oil vapor that escapes a cooking vessel rapidly condenses as the vapor exits the vessel. For this reason, steam (white fog) occurs due to water or oil vapor that escapes a cooking vessel placed on an induction range. 
     In addition, as water or oil vapor condenses, the size of water droplets or oil sludge (grease) that is absorbed onto a filter of a range hood installed above an induction range is increased. As a result, the water droplets or grease is increased to be too big to stick on the filter, the water droplets or grease falls down, making trouble. 
     In order to solve this problem, Korean Patent No. 10-1208596 discloses an induction range hood. 
     A conventional induction range hood is hung above an induction range, and collects and discharges condensed water or oil using a filter screen and a gutter. Since an induction range hood is equipped with an exhaust fan and an exhaust duct that are used to discharge a gas, a space above the induction range hood cannot be used as a storage portion. Furthermore, when a fire extinguisher is installed, a filter screen serves as an obstruction in arranging a nozzle of a fire extinguisher. Yet furthermore, sometimes liquid that is discharged from a fire extinguisher cannot be adequately sprayed onto fire due to an inappropriate location of the fire extinguisher. 
     The foregoing is intended merely to aid in the understanding of the background of the present invention, and is not intended to mean that the present invention falls within the purview of the related art that is already known to those skilled in the art. 
     DOCUMENTS OF RELATED ART 
     (Patent Document 1) Korean Patent No. 10-1208596 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the related art, and an object of the present invention is to provide an induction ventilation system for air supply and exhaust that can easily exhaust g indoor air containing vapor attributable to condensation by installing a vertically movable unit in a first storage portion, and can easily remove grease by collecting the grease that condenses on the wall of an air suction passage, a filter, a flexible duct, and a chamber using a grease tray while indoor air containing oil is being discharged. 
     Another object of the invention is to provide an induction ventilation system for air supply and exhaust that has a built-in lamp so that it is unnecessary to use an additional indoor lamp when cooking, enables easy replacement of a filter by installing a door in front of the filter, and maintains a clean state by using an air suction opening-and-closing unit that opens and closes an air suction hole according to its up and down movement. 
     A further object of the invention is to provide an induction ventilation system for air supply and exhaust that enables both a first storage portion and a second storage portion that are provided above and under an upper plate to be used by arranging an air discharging means in a rear portion of the upper plate, enables easy installation of a fire extinguisher in an air supply hood, and enables liquid contained in the fire extinguisher to be uniformly sprayed onto the entire area of the upper plate in case of fire. 
     A yet further object of the invention is to provide an induction ventilation system for air supply and exhaust that includes a support protrusion provided in a lift hole formed in the upper plate and an anti-contamination member that comes into contact with the surface of the vertical movable unit, thereby preventing foreign matter or grease generated during cooking from entering into the first storage portion through the lift hole. The anti-contamination member is provided with an opening and is attached via an attachment means so that it can be easily picked up and replaced. Therefore, the anti-contamination member can remain clean. 
     According to one aspect, there is provided an induction ventilation system for air supply and exhaust, including: an upper plate that is unified with an upper portion of a first storage portion of a sink table, has a lift hole that communicates with the first storage portion in a rear portion thereof, and has an induction heating portion on an upper surface thereof; a vertically movable unit that is arranged in a position corresponding to the lift hole formed in the upper plate, moves up and down by a lift means, and forms an air suction passage; an air suction and discharge unit that includes a chamber arranged in a lower portion of the first storage portion, a flexible duct connected between the vertically movable unit and the chamber, an air suction fan that is installed in the chamber and sucks in indoor air through an air suction passage, and an air discharging pipe through which the indoor air drawn by the air suction fan is discharged outside; a grease tray that is installed under the chamber of the air suction and discharge unit and collects grease from the indoor air that is drawn by the air suction fan; an air supply hood that is arranged above the upper plate and supplies air to the upper plate by using an air supply fan to guide indoor air to the air suction passage of the vertically movable unit; and a second storage portion that is unified with an upper portion of the air supply hood. 
     In the induction ventilation system for air supply and exhaust, the vertically movable unit for air exhaust is installed in a rear portion of the first storage portion by vertically moving up and down. Therefore, it is possible to easily discharge indoor air containing vapor outside a room. In addition, since it is possible to collect oil that condenses as grease on the wall of the air suction passage, the filter, the flexible duct, and the chamber within the grease tray using the weight of oil, grease can be easily removed. 
     According to the embodiment of the present invention, a user can cook even without turning on an additional indoor lamp by using a lamp that is built into the vertically movable unit. In addition, the filter that is inserted into filter slots can be easily replaced through a door installed in front the filter. The induction ventilation system can remain clean while unused by preventing contaminants from sticking thereto by using an air suction opening-and-closing unit that opens and closes the air suction hole according to up and down movement of the vertically movable unit. 
     In addition, since an air discharging means is arranged in a rear portion of the upper plate, both of the first and second storage portions provided above and under the upper plate can be used. This arrangement also enables easy installation of a fire extinguisher in the air supply hood and enables liquid contained in the fire extinguisher to be uniformly sprayed onto the entire area of the upper plate in case of fire. 
     In addition, since a support protrusion is formed in the lift hole formed in the upper plate and an anti-contamination member that comes into contact with the surface of the vertically movable unit is provided on the support protrusion, it is possible to prevent foreign matter or grease that is generated during cooking from entering into the first storage portion through the lift hole. In addition, since the anti-contamination member can be detachably attached to the support protrusion via an attachment means and removed through an opening, the anti-contamination member can be easily replaced. Therefore, the induction ventilation system may remain clean. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a cross-sectional view illustrating an induction ventilation system for air supply and exhaust; 
         FIG. 2  is an enlarged cross-sectional view illustrating a state in which a vertically movable unit, an air suction and discharge unit, and a grease tray are connected to an upper plate; 
         FIG. 3  is an enlarged view of a portion A of  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view illustrating a state in which the vertically movable unit is moved up; 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view illustrating a state in which a door of the vertically movable unit is opened; 
         FIG. 6  is an exploded perspective view illustrating the upper plate, the vertically movable unit, and an anti-contamination member; and 
         FIG. 7  is a flowchart illustrating an operation flow of the induction ventilation system that operates in automatic operation mode. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described. 
       FIGS. 1 through 7  illustrate an induction ventilation system for air supply and exhaust  100  according to one embodiment of the present invention. The induction ventilation system  100  performs ventilation by supplying outdoor air into a kitchen and discharging indoor air outside the kitchen while food is being cooked on an induction range. The induction ventilation system  100  includes an upper plate  10 , a vertically movable unit  20 , an air suction and discharge unit  30 , a grease tray  40 , an air supply hood  50 , and a second storage portion  60 . 
     The upper plate  10  is unified with an upper portion of a first storage portion  13  of a sink table. An induction heating portion  11  that heats a cooling vessel  1  using electromagnetic induction is installed on an upper surface of the upper plate  10 . The induction heating portion  11  is the basic form of a known induction range. Therefore, details of the induction heating portion  11  will not be described here. 
     A lift hole  15  that communicates with the first storage portion  13  is formed in a rear portion of the upper plate  10 . The vertically movable unit  20  moves up and down through the lift hole  15 . 
     A support protrusion  17  is provided at the edge of the lift hole  15  formed in the upper plate  10 . The support protrusion  17  is preferably provided with an anti-contamination member  70  that comes into contact with the surface of the vertically movable unit  20 . The anti-contamination member  70  fills a gap between the vertically movable unit  20  and the lift hole  15 , thereby preventing contaminants or grease from flowing along the surface of the vertically movable unit  20  and from entering into the first storage portion  13 . 
     The anti-contamination member  70  includes a base portion  71  that is supported on the support protrusion  17  in the lift hole  15  via an attachment means  80 , and a contact portion  73  that is unified with the base portion  71  and comes into tight contact with the inside surface of the lift hole  15  and with the vertically movable unit  20 . 
     The anti-contamination member  70  may have an opening  75  that allows a user to easily pick up the anti-contamination member  70  so that the anti-contamination member  70  can be easily replaced when the anti-contamination member  70  becomes dirty due to a long period of use. The contact portion  73  may be formed of a cushioning member or a brush not to impede up-down movement of the vertically movable unit  20 . 
     The attachment means  80  may be an adhesive. In this case, the anti-contamination member  70  may be attached to the support protrusion  17  formed in the lift hole  15 . However, it is preferable that the attachment means  80  be Velcro so that the anti-contamination member  70  can be easily detached and then replaced as necessary. When the attachment means  80  is Velcro, an upper portion of the support protrusion  17  and a lower portion of the base portion  71  of the anti-contamination member  70  are formed to correspond to each other. 
     The vertically movable unit  20  is located in a position corresponding to the lift hole  15  of the upper plate  10  and is moved up and down by a lift means (not shown). The vertically movable unit  20  is installed in an air suction passage  24   a  through which indoor air is drawn from an indoor space and discharged outside through the air suction and discharge unit  30 . The lift means is installed in the first storage portion  13  and may be formed as a typical lifter so that the vertically movable unit  20  is moved up and down by the lift means. 
     Hereinafter, the vertically movable unit  200  will be further detailed. 
     The vertically movable unit  20  moves up and down to discharge indoor air outside a room (kitchen) during cooking. The vertically movable unit  20  includes a lift plate  21 , vertical plates  22 , a back plate  23 , a door  24 , an air suction opening-and-closing unit  25 , a filter  26 , and a lamp  27 . 
     The lift plate  21  is connected to the lift means, thereby moving the vertically movable unit  20  up and down according to operation of the lift means. The lift plate  21  is larger than the lift hole  15  and limits the lifting height of the vertically movable unit  20 . The vertically movable unit  20  is installed in the first storage portion  13  and is provided with an air suction passage  21   a  through which indoor air (exhaust gas) passes. 
     The vertical plates  22  are positioned at both edges of the lift plate  21 . The vertical plates  22  are distanced from each other with the air suction passage  21   a  therebetween and lower ends of the vertical plates  22  are inserted into the lift hole  15  formed in the upper plate  10 . Opposing surfaces of the vertical plates  22  are provided with respective filter slots  22   a . The filter slots  22   a  are inclined at a predetermined angle so that air that passes through the air suction passage  21  can pass the filter  26 . 
     The back plate  23  is a well-known ordinary plate and closes a rear side of the vertical plates  22  to form the air suction passage  24   a  between the vertical plates  22 . 
     The door  24  is attached to the front surfaces of the vertical plates  22  to form the air suction passage  24   a . The door  24  is attached to the vertical plates  22  via hinge in order to enable replacement of the filter  26  that is inserted into the filter slots  22   a . The door is shorter than the vertical plates  22  and the air suction hole  24   b  that communicates with the air suction passage  24   a  is provided above the door  24 . 
     The air suction opening-and-closing unit  25  connects upper portions of the vertical plates  22  to each other and has the same size as the lift hole  15 , thereby opening and closing the air suction hole  24   b.    
     The filter  26  is inserted into the filter slots  22   a  of the vertical plates  22  as described above, and filters out contaminants contained in indoor air that is taken into the air suction passage  24   a.    
     The lamp  27  is combined with the vertical plates  22  and is installed in the air suction passage  24   a . The lamp  27  illuminates the upper plate  10  through the air suction hole  24   b.    
     The air suction and discharge unit  30  is connected with the vertically movable unit  20  to draw and discharge indoor air through the air suction hole  24   b  and the air suction passage  24   a . The air suction and discharge unit  30  forms a chamber  31  in a lower portion of the first storage portion  13 . The chamber  31  has a grease drain hole  31   a  at a lower end thereof to drain grease that is collected from the indoor air that is drawn by the vertically movable unit. The chamber  31  has an air discharge hole in a rear portion thereof to discharge indoor air that is drawn. 
     The chamber  31  is in contact with the wall  9  and extends through the rear surface of the first storage portion  13  for the purpose of discharge of indoor air that is drawn from the indoor space. The first storage portion  13  and the chamber  31  are provides with respective through holes that correspond to each other. For safe and stable installation, it is preferable that the chamber  31  be fixed to the inside rear surface of the first storage portion  13 . 
     The air suction and discharge unit  30  may further include a flexible duct  33  that is connected between the vertically movable unit  20  and the chamber  31 . The flexible duct  33  is used to smoothly draw indoor air when the height of the vertically movable unit  20  is adjusted. 
     The air suction and discharge unit  30  includes an air suction fan  35  that is installed in the rear surface of the chamber  31  and draws indoor air through the air suction passage  24   a , and a discharge pipe  37  that is connected to the air discharge hole of the chamber  31  to discharge the indoor air that is drawn by the air suction fan  35  outside a room. A through hole is formed in the wall  9  so that the discharge pipe  37  is inserted into the through hole in the wall  9  and the indoor air that is drawn through the discharge pipe  37  can be discharged outside. 
     The grease tray  40  is installed in a lower portion of the chamber  31  of the air suction and discharge unit  30  and collects grease discharged through the grease drain hole  31   a  formed in the lower end of the chamber  31 . The grease means condensed oil that is formed on the inside surface of the filter  26 , the flexible duct  33 , and the chamber  31  while oil-containing air is passing through the filter, flexible duct, and chamber. 
     The grease tray  40  is separately installed in a lower portion of the chamber  31 . A handle is attached to the front surface of the great tray  40  so that grease in the great tray  40  can be easily removed. 
     The grease tray  40  is installed at the bottom of the first storage portion  13  so that the grease can be easily removed through the door of the first storage portion  13 . Alternatively, a through hole is formed in the bottom plate of the first storage portion  13  and the grease tray  40  may be installed at the bottom of a sink table so that grease can be collected in the great tray as it falls down and passes through the through hole formed in the bottom plate of the first storage portion  13 . 
     An air supply hood  50  is arranged above the upper plate  10  and has a well-known structure that supplies air toward the upper plate. The air supply hood  51  includes an air supply fan  51  that is well known and has a ventilation hole  53  at a lower end portion of a front portion thereof. Air can be vertically or obliquely supplied by the air supply fan  51  through the ventilation hole  53 . 
     The air supply hood  50  is equipped with a fire extinguisher  55 . According to the embodiment of the present invention, since the structure for discharging exhaust gas is separately provided in a rear portion of the upper plate  10 , the fire extinguisher  55  and a spray nozzle  57  can be installed in the center of the upper plate  10  without any interference of other parts. Furthermore, a lamp for lighting also can be easily installed. 
     Therefore, when the air supply fan  51  of the air supply hood  50  starts operating, air is supplied to the upper plate. As a result, indoor air is guided to the air suction passage  24   a  of the vertically movable unit  20 , and condensation is suppressed. Furthermore, since a fire-extinguishing liquid is uniformly sprayed to the entire area of the upper plate  10  through the spray nozzle  57  from the fire extinguisher  55  installed at the center of the upper plate in case of fire, fire can be easily put out. 
     The second storage portion  60  has a known structure and is unified with an upper portion of the air supply hood  50 . Since the structure for discharging exhaust air is separately installed in a rear portion of the upper plate as described above, the second storage portion  60  may be an empty space so that it can be used as a storage space. 
     Hereinafter, operation of the induction ventilation system according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described below. 
     In automatic operation mode, when a cooking vessel  1  is placed on the induction heating portion  11  of the upper plate  10 , the air supply hood  50  and the lamp are simultaneously turned on according to control of a central controller. At this point, a lamp of a display unit of an induction range flashes green and the induction range becomes ready to heat the cooking vessel  1 . 
     The operation described above is a preliminary operation to optimize control of odor and vapor during cooking and is automatically continued for two to three minutes after a power switch is turned on. 
     Next, the lamp of the display unit of the induction range flashes red when the cooking vessel  1  is heated based on the principle of electromagnetic induction, thereby indicating a start of operation of the induction range. Next, when the lift means for lifting the vertically movable unit  20  detects that the cooking vessel  1  is heated, the vertically movable unit  20  moves up and the air suction hole  24   b  is opened. 
     When the vertically movable unit  20  completely moves up, the air suction fan  35  of the air suction and discharge unit  30  automatically starts operating in medium or strong mode. When the air suction fan  35  automatically starts operating, indoor air that is drawn through the air suction hole  24   b  passes through the air suction passage  24   a , the flexible duct  33 , and the chamber  31  and is finally discharged outside. The indoor air that is drawn into the air suction passage  24   a  passes through the filter  26  inserted into the filter slots  22   a  while it passes through the air suction passage  24   a . Therefore, indoor air quality can be maintained. 
     While the indoor air passes through the air suction passage  24   a , flexible duct  33 , filter  26 , and chamber  31 , an oil component contained in the indoor air condenses. The condensate oil passes through the grease drain hole  31   a  of the chamber  31  and is gradually collected in the grease tray  40 . The grease collected in the grease tray  40  can be easily removed through the door of the first storage portion  13 . 
     When the air suction fan  35  operates, the air supply fan  51  of the air supply hood  50  also starts operating. In this way, indoor air can be drawn into the air suction hole  24   b . With this operation, it is possible to prevent the scent of food from diffusing into other rooms during cooking, so that fresh air quality can be maintained. 
     On the other hand, while a portion of indoor air that is drawn into the air suction hole  24   b  collides with the vertically movable unit  20 , oil components and contaminants in the air condense on the surface of the vertically movable unit  20  and the condensed water or oil flows down. In this case, there is a risk that the condensed water or oil enters into the first storage portion  13  through the lift hole  15 . Therefore, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the anti-contamination member  70  that is installed in the lift hole  15  prevents contaminants including oil components from entering into the first storage portion  13 . In addition, since the anti-contamination member  70  is detachably attached by the attachment means  80  such as Velcro and is provided with an opening therein, the anti-contamination member can be easily replaced as necessary. Therefore, the anti-contamination member  70  can remain clean. 
     After cooking is completed, the cooking vessel  1  is removed from the induction heating portion on the upper plate  10 . At this point, the lamp of the display unit of the induction range flashes blue according to control of the central controller and the air supply fan  51  stops operating. After that, the lamp and the air suction fan  35  continuously operate for about five minutes and are then automatically turned off. As the lamp and the air suction fan  35  are turned off, the vertically movable unit  20  moves down. This operation is called “post operation”. 
     The operation of the air suction fan  35  prevents the scent of cooked food from diffusing into rooms other than a kitchen when food in the cooking vessel  1  is put on a dish or bowl and enables easy discharge of existing food odors from the kitchen. At this point, the air suction fan  35  operates in weak mode because it is not necessary to strongly draw indoor air, so that noise of the fan is decreased. By repeatedly performing the above operation, quality of indoor air can be maintained during cooking. 
     According to the embodiment of the present invention described above, the vertically movable unit, the air suction fan  35 , and the air supply fan  51  are automatically operated when the induction heating portion  11  starts heating. However, the vertically movable unit  20 , the air suction fan  35 , and the air supply fan  51  may be manually operated. 
     Although a preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.