Patent Publication Number: US-9897327-B2

Title: Anti-spill oven door vents

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     Field of the Disclosure 
     The present disclosure relates to cooking appliances, and, more particularly, to an oven door having an anti-spill vent. 
     Description of Related Art 
     Ovens, such as a wall oven or freestanding range, have a hinged oven door that provides access to the oven or cooking cavity. The inner surface of the oven door can have vents, and the vents can allow airflow through the oven door to cool the outer surface of the door when the oven is operating. The vents in the oven door may align with vents on the oven housing when the oven door is closed. Such a configuration can allow air to be drawn into the oven door through additional vents along a lower edge of the door. Air drawn into the door can flow between panes of window glass in the oven door to cool the glass. The air drawn into the oven door flows through the vents in the inner surface of the oven door and through the aligned vents on the oven housing. The air can then flow through channels within the oven housing and be discharged from the oven housing. 
     A problem associated with vents in the inner surface of an oven door is that solid food or liquids can enter the interior of the oven door through the vents. For example, liquids can be accidentally spilled into the vents when the door is open. Such liquids may stain the window glass of the oven door and/or cause unpleasant odors during cooking. It can be difficult to clean such liquids from the interior of the oven door, which may require disassembling the door. Thus, it would be desirable close the vents on the inner surface of the oven door when the door is open. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY 
     The following summary presents a simplified summary in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the devices discussed herein. This summary is not an extensive overview of the devices discussed herein. It is not intended to identify critical elements or to delineate the scope of such devices. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later. 
     In accordance with one aspect, provided is a cooking apparatus that includes a housing forming an oven cavity within the housing. A door is attached to the housing for selectively opening and closing the oven cavity. The door includes an outer surface and an inner surface. The inner surface includes a vent in fluid communication with an air channel within the door. A movable blocking element selectively opens and closes the vent. The movable blocking element is biased against the vent when the door is open, thereby closing the vent when the door is open. The movable blocking element is configured to translate linearly within the door, toward the vent and away from the outer surface of the door to close the vent, and toward the outer surface of the door and away from the vent to open the vent. 
     In accordance with another aspect, provided is a cooking apparatus that includes a housing forming an oven cavity within the housing. A door is attached to the housing for selectively opening and closing the oven cavity. The door includes an outer surface and an inner surface. The inner surface includes a vent in fluid communication with an air channel within the door. A movable blocking element selectively opens and closes the vent. The movable blocking element is biased against the vent when the door is open, thereby closing the vent when the door is open. A bearing surface is located within the door and extends toward the outer surface of the door and toward the inner surface of the door. The movable blocking element is configured to translate within the door on the bearing surface. 
     In accordance with another aspect, provided is a cooking apparatus that includes a housing forming an oven cavity within the housing. A door is attached to the housing for selectively opening and closing the oven cavity. The door comprises an outer surface and an inner surface. The inner surface includes a vent in fluid communication with an air channel within the door. A movable blocking element selectively opens and closes the vent. The movable blocking element is biased against the vent when the door is open, thereby closing the vent when the door is open. A blocking element bracket is located within the door and comprises an upper bearing surface and a lower bearing surface. A bias spring biases the movable blocking element. The movable blocking element is attached to the blocking element bracket through the bias spring. A movable pin extends from the movable blocking element and through the inner surface of the door. The movable pin and the bias spring are coaxially aligned. The movable blocking element is configured to translate linearly within the door, toward the vent and away from the outer surface of the door to close the vent, and toward the outer surface of the door and away from the vent to open the vent. The movable blocking element comprises an upper support arm that slides along the upper bearing surface, and a lower support arm that slides along the lower bearing surface, as the movable blocking element translates linearly within the door. The movable blocking element further comprises a first alignment arm extending from the movable blocking element past the lower bearing surface, and a second alignment arm extending from the movable blocking element past the upper bearing surface. The first and second alignment arms limit movement of the moveable blocking element in a side-to-side direction within the door, the side-to-side direction being substantially perpendicular to a linear translation direction of the movable blocking element toward the vent and away from the outer surface of the door. The movable pin contacts the housing of the oven when the door is in a closed position and the movable pin drives the movable blocking element away from the vent when the door is in the closed position. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a front elevation view of a cooking appliance; 
         FIG. 2  is a front view of the cooking appliance; 
         FIG. 3  is a partial side section view of the cooking appliance; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a door of the cooking appliance; 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a portion of the cooking appliance; 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view of a portion of the cooking appliance; 
         FIG. 7  is a perspective view of a portion of the cooking appliance; 
         FIG. 8  is a perspective view of a portion of a cooking appliance; 
         FIG. 9  is another perspective view of the portion of the cooking appliance of  FIG. 8 ; and 
         FIG. 10  is a partial perspective view of a portion of a door of a cooking appliance. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Examples will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings in which example embodiments are shown. Whenever possible, the same reference numerals are used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts. However, aspects may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. 
       FIG. 1  shows a cooking apparatus or appliance, such as a wall oven or freestanding range (hereinafter “oven”)  10 . The oven  10  has a door  12  attached to the housing  14  of the oven. The door  12  is typically hinged at its lower edge to open forward, but it could be hinged at one of its vertical edges. The door  12  alternatively closes and opens to provide access to an oven cavity  16  (see  FIG. 2 ). 
     The door  12  can include a window  18  for allowing the oven cavity  16  to be viewed when the door  12  is in the closed position. The window can have an outer pane  20 , an inner pane  22 , and additional panes if desired. 
     The door  12  has an outer surface  24  that faces forward when the door is in the closed position (and faces generally downward when the door is fully open). The door  12  further has an inner surface  26  that closes the oven cavity  16  when the door is in the closed position. The inner surface  26  faces generally upward when the door  12  is fully open. 
     The inner surface  26  of the door  12  can have one or more vents  28 . It can be seen in  FIG. 2  that the inner surface  26  of the door has a plurality of vents  28 . The vents  28  allow air to flow through the door to cool the outer surface  24  of the door (e.g., the outer pane  20 ) when the oven operates. Air can be drawn into the door  12  through additional vents along the lower edge of the door. The air can flow upward through the door  12 , between the outer  24  and inner  26  surfaces of the door (e.g., between the outer  20  and inner  22  panes) and be discharged from the door through the vents  28 . The air passes from the vents  28  in the inner surface of the door  12  into corresponding vents  30  in the oven housing  14 . The air can flow through the housing  14  via appropriate ducting to cool the interior of the oven  10 , and the air can be discharged through further vents  32  in the housing. The air can be pulled through the door  12  and oven housing  14  by one or more fans within the door  12  and/or oven housing  14 . 
     A schematic example of an airflow path through the door  12  and oven housing  14  is shown in  FIG. 3 . Air can be drawn into the door by a fan in the oven housing. The air enters the door  12  through vents located along the lower edge of the door or elsewhere on the door. The air can flow upward within the door through air channels  40  within the door. The air channels  40  can be formed by the outer surface  24  and/or outer pane of the door  12 , the inner surface and/or inner pane  22  of the door, and one or more additional interior panes  34 ,  36 . The vents  28  on the inner surface of the door  12  and the vents on the lower edge of the door are in fluid communication with the air channel(s)  40 . The air flowing through the door  12  flows through the air channel(s)  40  and passes through the vents  28  in the inner surface of the door  12 , and through the corresponding vents  30  in the oven housing  14 . The air is blown by the fan out of the further vents  32  in the housing  14 . The airflow through the door  12  can cool the outer surface of the door and also cool components within the oven housing  14 , such as oven control system electronics for example. The air can then be recirculated into a kitchen in which the oven  10  is located. 
     As discussed above, one problem associated with the vents  28  in the inner surface of the door  12  is that food or liquids can enter the interior of the oven door through the vents, due to an accidental spill for example. Such food or liquids may stain the panes of the oven door  12  and/or cause unpleasant odors during cooking, and it can be difficult to clean food or liquid from the interior of the oven door  12 . 
     Turning to  FIG. 4 , the oven door  12  includes a movable blocking element  42  that is located within the door, between the inner surface and the outer surface of the door. The movable blocking element  42  is configured to automatically close the vents  28  ( FIG. 2 ) when the door  12  is open, to prevent or substantially inhibit the ability of solids or liquids from entering the interior of the door through the vents when the door is open. The movable blocking element  42  is further configured to automatically open the vents  28  ( FIG. 2 ) when the door  12  is closed, thereby allowing air to flow through the door and through the open vents  28  and into the oven housing, via the corresponding vents  30  ( FIG. 2 ) in the housing. Thus, the movable blocking element  42  is capable of selectively opening and closing the vents  28 , depending on the position of the door  12 . 
     It can be seen in  FIG. 4  that the movable blocking element  42  spans substantially the entire width of the door  12 , from a first lateral side  44  of the door (e.g., the right-hand side of the door) to a second lateral side  46  of the door (e.g., the left hand side of the door). Thus, the movable blocking element  42  can open and close the various discharge vents  28  ( FIG. 2 ) in the door simultaneously. 
     With reference to  FIGS. 1-7 , the movable blocking element  42  is mounted within the door by a first blocking element bracket  48  and a second blocking element bracket  50  located within the door. The blocking element brackets  48 ,  50  and the movable blocking element  42  are all located in the interior of the door  12 , between the inner and outer surfaces of the door. The first blocking element bracket  48  is located adjacent the first lateral side  44  of the door and the second blocking element bracket  50  is located adjacent the second lateral side  46  of the door. 
     The blocking element brackets  48 ,  50  can have an “L” or “C” shape, with a first leg  52  of the bracket attached to the door and a second leg  54  of the bracket having an opening or slot  56  for receiving one end of the movable blocking element  42 . In an embodiment, the first leg  52  and the second leg  54  of the bracket are substantially perpendicular to each other. 
     The movable blocking element  42  can translate linearly within the door  12  and within the slot  56  in blocking element brackets  48 ,  50 . The movable blocking element moves toward the vents  28  and away from the outer surface  24  of the door to close the vents, and toward the outer surface of the door and away from the vents to open the vents. The movable blocking element&#39;s direction of motion is shown by arrow  58  in the figures. The movable blocking element&#39;s direction of motion can be considered to be generally perpendicular to parallel planes corresponding to the inner and outer surfaces of the door  12 . The movable blocking element  42  can include embossed or stamped projections that are aligned with the vents  28  and plug the vents when the door  12  is open. 
     The movable blocking element  42  is attached to the blocking element brackets  48 ,  50  through respective bias springs  60 . The bias springs  60  push or bias the movable blocking element  42  toward the vents  28 . The movable blocking element  42  can move within the slot  56  in the brackets  48 ,  50 , and the bias springs  60  resist such movement, pushing the movable blocking element toward the vents  28 . When the door  12  is open, the movable blocking element  42  is biased against the vents  28  to thereby close the vents. However, when the door  12  is closed, the bias springs  60  are compressed and the movable blocking element  42  is driven away from the vents  28  to open the vents  28 . 
     To compress the bias springs  60  and push the movable blocking element  42  away from the vents, movable pins  64 ,  66  are provided that move with the movable blocking element. The movable pins  64 ,  66  can be attached to the movable blocking element  42  through an interference fit or through appropriate mounting hardware, or the movable pins  64 ,  66  can be integrally formed with the movable blocking element. The movable pins  64 ,  66  can extend from the movable blocking element  42  through the inner surface  26  of the door  12 , so as to extend from the inner surface of the door. Thus, the movable pins  64 ,  66  will project outward from the inner surface  26  of the door  12  when the door is open. 
     To automatically open the vents  28  when the door  12  is closed, the movable pins  64 ,  66  are configured to contact the housing  14  of the oven and compress the bias springs  60  driving the movable blocking element  42  away from the vents  28 . The compression of the bias spring  60  and the movement of the movable blocking element  42  within the slot  56  in the blocking element bracket  48  can be seen in  FIGS. 5 and 6 . In  FIG. 5 , the bias spring  60  is not compressed, and the movable blocking element  42  is pushed toward the rear of the slot  56  by the bias spring. In  FIG. 6 , the bias spring is compressed and the movable blocking element  42  is pushed toward the front of the slot  56  by the movable pin  64 . 
     In certain embodiments, the bias spring  60  and the movable pin  64  can be coaxially aligned. This can allow the movable pin  64  to compress the bias spring  60  while applying a minimum amount of torque to the movable blocking element  42 . 
     Projecting inward toward the interior of each blocking element bracket  48 ,  50  are a lower bearing tab  68  and an upper bearing tab  70 . The movable blocking element  42  includes a lower support arm  72  that sits on the lower bearing tab  68 , and an upper support arm  74  that engages the upper bearing tab. The lower and upper support arms  72 ,  74  extend away from the movable blocking element  42  in the direction of movement of the movable blocking element. The weight of the movable blocking element  42  is supported by the blocking element brackets  48 ,  50  by the lower bearing tabs  68 . As the movable blocking element  42  moves within the slot  56 , the support arms  72 ,  74  of the movable blocking element slide along respective lower and upper bearing surfaces on the bearing tabs  68 ,  70 . That is, the lower support arm  72  slides along the upwardly-facing lower bearing surface on the lower bearing tab  68 , and the upper support arm  74  slides along the downwardly-facing upper bearing surface on the upper bearing tab  70 . It can be seen that the bearing surfaces of the bearing tabs  68 ,  70  extend in the direction of movement of the movable blocking element  42 , i.e., in the direction shown by arrow  58 , toward the inner  26  and outer  24  surfaces of the door  12 . 
     To limit the side-to-side movement of the moveable blocking element  42  in a direction generally perpendicular to the direction shown by arrow  58  (e.g., in a direction from the first lateral side  44  of the door  12  toward the second lateral side  46  of the door), the movable blocking element  42  includes a lower alignment arm  76  and an upper alignment arm  78 . The lower alignment arm  76  projects downward from the movable blocking element  42  past the lower bearing surface of the lower bearing tab  68 . The upper alignment arm  78  projects upward from the movable blocking element  42  past the upper bearing surface of the upper bearing tab  70 . The lower and upper alignment arms  76 ,  78  are provided at both lateral ends of the movable blocking element  42 . Thus, side-to-side movement of the movable blocking element  42  will be blocked by the lower and upper alignment arms  76 ,  78  respectively contacting the lower and upper bearing tabs  68 ,  70 . The lower and upper bearing tabs  68 ,  70  of each blocking element bracket  48 ,  50  will limit the motion of the movable blocking element  42  in a direction perpendicular to the primary linear translation direction of the movable blocking element within the door  12 , which is toward the vents  28  and away from the outer surface  24  of the door  12  and vice versa. 
       FIGS. 8 and 9  show another embodiment a movable blocking element  42   a  actuation system  80 . An exterior perspective view of the door is provided in  FIG. 8 , and a partial interior view is provided in  FIG. 9 . Rather than having movable pins, the actuation system  80  includes a movable arm  82  that projects outward from a lateral side of the oven door  12 . The movable arm  82  is biased toward the inner surface  26  of the door  12  by a bias spring  60   a . When the oven door is closed, the movable arm  82  contacts the oven housing or an element attached to the oven housing and is pushed forward toward the outer surface of the door  12 , compressing the bias spring  60   a . As the movable arm  82  is pushed forward, a slotted member  84  attached to the movable arm  82  is also driven forward. A pin  86  attached to the movable blocking element  42   a  rides in the slot  88  of the slotted member  84 . As the slotted member  84  is driven forward, the pin  86  and movable blocking member  42   a  are driven downward along the direction of arrow  90 , thereby opening the vents. When the door  12  is opened, the bias spring  60   a  pushes the movable arm  82  toward the inner surface  26  of the door along the direction of arrow  92 , which automatically drives the pin  86  and movable blocking member  42   a  upward, thus blocking the vents in the door. The door  12  can include a single actuation system  80  located at a lateral side of the door, or actuation systems located at both lateral sides of the door. 
       FIG. 10  shows a further embodiment of a movable blocking element  42   b . The movable blocking element  42   b  is in the form of a cover arranged on an outside top portion of the door  12 . The cover is hinged and can pivot upward to expose the vents. The cover is biased downward to cover the vents when the door  12  is open. The cover can be biased downward by a spring, for example. When the door  12  is closed, cam elements  94  on the cover contact the housing of the oven, which forces the cover to pivot upward, exposing the vents. 
     It should be evident that this disclosure is by way of example and that various changes may be made by adding, modifying or eliminating details without departing from the fair scope of the teaching contained in this disclosure. The invention is therefore not limited to particular details of this disclosure except to the extent that the following claims are necessarily so limited.