Patent Description:
A cooking apparatus including a gas burner is an apparatus for cooking food using gas as fuel. The gas burner of the cooking apparatus burns gas and injects flames for heating a cooking container that contains food.

In general, a gas burner with two or more burner ports is classified into a horizontal-type gas burner or a stack-type gas burner. Such gas burners are designed to concentrate on a high turn down ratio (TDR, a ratio of maximum input to burner input) and satisfactory simmering. In the horizontal-type gas burner, burners are radially arranged on a horizontal surface, an external burner and an internal burner are simultaneously used in a power mode, and the internal burner is used in a simmering mode, in general. In the stack-type gas burner, vertically stacked upper and lower burners are simultaneously used in a power mode and one of the upper and lower burners is used in a simmering mode.

In addition, a typical gas burner receives secondary air from the periphery of flame above a cook top during gas combustion. That is, most burners receive secondary air from an upper side of a cook top of a cooking apparatus. Accordingly, a typical stack-type gas burner is not capable of sufficiently supplying secondary air to an upper burner and, thus, it is difficult to increase output of the upper burner. Accordingly, there is a problem in terms of reduction in overall output of a gas burner. <CIT> relates to a gas burner apparatus according to the preamble of claim <NUM>.

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention overcome the above disadvantages and other disadvantages not described above.

The present invention provides a gas burner apparatus and a cooking apparatus including the same, for maximizing output of an upper burner to achieve high output and to reduce a boiling time and minimizing output of a lower burner to achieve satisfactory simmering.

The present invention provides a gas burner apparatus and a cooking apparatus including the same, for supplying a sufficient amount of secondary air to an upper burner and satisfactorily forming flames injected from the upper burner.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a gas burner apparatus includes a first burner configured to receive gas mixed with primary air and to inject flames through a plurality of burner ports, a second burner spaced apart from a lower side of the first burner and configured to receive gas mixed with primary air and to inject flames through a plurality of burner ports, a support plate on which the second burner is installed, and a secondary air supply flow path connected to a path between the first and second burners, spaced apart from a lower side of the support plate.

The first burner may include a mixture gas supply pipe that is formed sequentially through the second burner and a through hole of the support plate, and the through hole of the support plate may have an inner circumference surface that is spaced apart from an outer circumferential surface of the mixture gas supply pipe to form a portion of the secondary air supply flow path.

The support plate may include a shielding rib that extends toward the first burner from the through hole of the support plate.

The secondary air supply flow path may include a path between the shielding rib and the mixture gas supply pipe.

The support plate and the second burner may be spaced apart from each other, and the gas burner apparatus may include a liquid (for example, soup) discharging flow path including a path between the first and second burners, a path between an internal side of the second burner and an external side of the mixture gas supply pipe, and a path between the support plate and the second burner.

Outlines of the first and second burners may or may not correspond to each other.

At least a portion of the first burner may be positioned within the outline of the second burner. The outline of the first burner may be formed like a non-circle and the first burner may include at least one concave portion, the outline of the second burner may be formed like a circle, and at least one burner port may be formed in the concave portion.

Some of the plurality of burner ports of the first burner may be spaced apart from each other at the same interval and the remaining burner ports may be spaced apart from each other at different intervals. The plurality of burner ports of the first burner may be spaced apart from each other at different intervals.

The first burner may include at least one separation block so as to widen an interval between adjacent burner ports. The separation block may have a width of <NUM> times an interval between adjacent burner ports of the first burner.

The plurality of burner ports of the first burner may be inclined upward. The plurality of burner ports of the first burner may be formed by a head and a cap for closing the head, included in the first burner, and the head may include a first inclined block with a first inclination angle and a second inclined block with a second inclination angle.

The first inclination angle is <NUM> to <NUM> degrees from a horizontal surface and the second inclination angle is <NUM> to <NUM> degrees from a horizontal surface.

The plurality of burner ports of the second burner may be inclined upward. The burner ports of the second burner may include at least one main burner port in charge of output power of the second burner and an auxiliary burner port for moving flames to the first burner. The at least one main burner port of the second burner may be disposed at a location corresponding to any one of the plurality of burner ports of the first burner.

A total area of the plurality of burner ports of the first burner may be larger than a total area of the main burner port of the second burner.

The gas burner apparatus may further include an orifice holder detachably coupled to a lower side of the support plate and configured to supply mixture gas to the first and second burners, wherein the orifice holder may include that is shaped like a tub surrounding the mixture gas supply pipe with an interval from an external side of the mixture gas supply pipe of the first burner. The shielding member of the orifice holder may be inserted into the through hole of the support plate, and a path between an internal surface of the shielding member of the orifice holder and an external surface of the mixture gas supply pipe of the first burner forms a portion of the secondary air supply flow path.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a cooking apparatus includes a body, a gas burner apparatus disposed above the body, and an adjuster installed in the body and configured to combust the gas burner apparatus and to adjust intensity of output power.

Additional and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

The above and/or other aspects of the present invention will be more apparent by describing certain exemplary embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:.

Certain exemplary embodiments of the present invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, this is not intended to limit the present invention to particular modes of practice, and it is to be appreciated that all modifications, equivalents, and/or alternatives that do not depart from the technical scope of the present invention encompassed in the present invention. Like reference numerals in the drawings denote like elements.

It will be understood that, although the terms "first", "second", etc. are used herein to describe various elements irrespective an order and/or importance thereof, are only used to distinguish one element from another element, and are not be limited by these terms. For example, a first element and a second element may indicate different elements irrespective of an order and/or importance thereof. For example, a first element may be termed a second element and a second element may be termed a first element without departing from the teachings of the present invention.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms including technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art described in the present invention. As necessary, even terms defined in the specification are not interpreted to exclude embodiments in the specification.

Hereinafter, with reference to <FIG>, a cooking apparatus and a gas burner apparatus included in the cooking apparatus will be described with regard to exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

<FIG> is a perspective view of a cooking apparatus <NUM> according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. <FIG> is a diagram illustrating an example of adjusting output power of a gas burner apparatus <NUM> according to rotation of control valves <NUM> to <NUM> illustrated in <FIG>. <FIG> is a perspective view illustrating an example of the gas burner apparatus <NUM> included in the cooking apparatus <NUM> according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. <FIG> is a cross-sectional view illustrating the gas burner apparatus <NUM> illustrated in <FIG>.

The cooking apparatus <NUM> according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may include the gas burner apparatus <NUM> formed at an upper part and may be configured in the form of a built-in type cooking apparatus with at least one cooking room <NUM> formed therein or a non-built-in type cooking apparatus.

Referring to <FIG>, the cooking apparatus <NUM> according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may include a body <NUM>, a grate <NUM>, a plurality of control valves <NUM> to <NUM>, a panel portion <NUM>, a door <NUM>, and the gas burner apparatus <NUM>. In this case, in the cooking apparatus <NUM> according to the present exemplary embodiment, the cooking room <NUM> that functions as an oven, the door <NUM> for opening and closing the cooking room <NUM>, and the panel portion <NUM> may be omitted.

The body <NUM> may include the cooking room <NUM> formed therein and include a heater (not shown) for heating food, etc. contained in the cooking room <NUM> and a blast fan unit (not shown) that inhales outside air inside the body <NUM>, cools the body <NUM> and, then re-discharges the air out of the body <NUM>.

The grate <NUM> is a frame that allows a cooking container <NUM> to be positioned above the gas burner apparatus <NUM> and is detachably positioned on a support plate <NUM> to be described later. The grate <NUM> may be positioned above the gas burner apparatus <NUM> and a plurality of grates may be used.

The control valves <NUM> to <NUM> may be disposed on a front side of an upper portion of the body <NUM> to facilitate user access. With regard to the control valves <NUM> to <NUM>, some control valves <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> are used for ignition, extinction, and adjustment of output power of each burner included in the gas burner apparatus <NUM> and the other control valve <NUM> may be used to turn on/off a heater (not shown) for heating the cooking room <NUM> as an oven and controlling heater temperature.

In particular, the control valves <NUM> to <NUM> for control of output power of the gas burner apparatus <NUM> may turn on an upper burner <NUM> and a lower burner <NUM> or adjust output power of each of the upper burner <NUM> and the lower burner <NUM>. That is, referring to <FIG>, when the control valve <NUM> is set at an angle corresponding to an off-position, gas supply to the upper burner <NUM> and the lower burner <NUM> may be shut off. In this state, when the control valve <NUM> is rotated clockwise to an on-position for ignition, mixture gas may be simultaneously supplied to the upper burner <NUM> and the lower burner <NUM> through the orifice holder <NUM> and flames F1 and F2 (refer to <FIG>) may be formed as spark is generated in a spark plug (not shown) and the mixture gas discharged through each burner port of the upper burner <NUM> and the lower burner <NUM> is burned. In this case, the control valve <NUM> may be rotated in a direction (counterclockwise) of rotating an on-position to an off-position, both the upper burner <NUM> and the lower burner <NUM> may be turned on in a period A1 (a period in which a power mode to be described later is executed), and the upper burner <NUM> may be turned off and only the lower burner <NUM> may be maintained in an on-state in a period A2 (a period in which a simmering mode to be described later is executed). In the period A1, when the control valve <NUM> is rotated counterclockwise, the amount of the mixture gas supplied to the upper burner <NUM> is gradually reduced and output power of the upper burner <NUM> is gradually weakened, and when the control valve <NUM> is positioned at a boundary between the periods A1 and A2, the mixture gas supplied to the upper burner <NUM> may be shut off and the upper burner <NUM> may be turned off. In the period A2, when the control valve <NUM> is rotated counterclockwise, the amount of the mixture gas applied to the lower burner <NUM> is gradually reduced and output power of the lower burner <NUM> is gradually weakened, and when the control valve <NUM> reaches an off-position, the mixture gas supplied to the lower burner <NUM> may be shut off and, accordingly, the lower burner <NUM> may be turned off.

The panel portion <NUM> may include a display <NUM> that protrudes on a rear portion of an upper portion of the body <NUM> and indicates state information of the cooking apparatus <NUM>, such as a temperature and cooking state of a cooking room, to a user. In this case, the panel portion <NUM> may include a controller (not shown) formed therein that is electrically connected to the display <NUM> and controls a blast fan, a heater, etc. installed in the body <NUM>. Needless to say, the display <NUM> may be disposed on a front portion of an upper portion of the body <NUM>, on which the control valves <NUM> to <NUM> are positioned, rather than being disposed on the panel portion <NUM>.

The door <NUM> may have one side hinged to the body <NUM> so as to open and close the cooking room <NUM> and include multiple glass layers through which an inner part of the cooking room <NUM> is checked with the unaided eye. The multiple glass layers may be disposed at a predetermined interval so as to pass air for cooling.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the gas burner apparatus <NUM> may be a stack type (which is referred to as a 'vertical type') gas burner in which at least two burners are vertically stacked. Hereinafter, the gas burner apparatus <NUM> will be described in terms of an example in which the upper burner <NUM> and the lower burner <NUM> each have a circular outline. In this case, although the case in which the outline of the upper burner <NUM> has a diameter smaller than the outline of the lower burner <NUM> has been described, the present invention is not limited thereto, or needless to say, the upper burner <NUM> and the lower burner <NUM> may have the same outline.

Hereinafter, with reference to <FIG> and <FIG>, a structure of the gas burner apparatus <NUM> will be described in detail. The gas burner apparatus <NUM> may include the support plate <NUM>, the upper burner <NUM>, the lower burner <NUM>, and the orifice holder <NUM>.

The support plate <NUM> may include a predetermined through hole <NUM> that is formed in an upper end portion of the body <NUM>. The support plate <NUM> may include the lower burner <NUM> that is positioned on an external upper surface of the support plate <NUM> and the orifice holder <NUM> that is detachably coupled to an interior lower (also referable as bottom) surface of the support plate <NUM>.

The support plate <NUM> may include the through hole <NUM> with a larger diameter than a diameter of the shielding member <NUM> of the orifice holder <NUM> so as to insert a shielding member <NUM> of the orifice holder <NUM> to be described later into the through hole <NUM>. The gas burner apparatus <NUM> according to the present invention may sufficiently supply secondary air toward the flame F1 of the upper burner <NUM> from a lower side of the support plate <NUM> and, accordingly, the flame F1 injected from the upper burner <NUM> may be completely combusted so as to contribute to maximize output of the upper burner <NUM>.

The upper burner <NUM> may inject and use the flame F1 and F2 simultaneously with the lower burner <NUM> in a power mode during cooking. In a simmering mode, in order to enhance simmering, only the lower burner <NUM> that is farther disposed from the cooking container <NUM> than the upper burner <NUM>.

The upper burner <NUM> may be disposed above the lower burner <NUM> and spaced apart from an upper end of the lower burner <NUM> at a predetermined interval. Accordingly, a first path S1 through which secondary air passes may be formed between the upper burner <NUM> and the lower burner <NUM>. The first path S1 may function as a path for supplying secondary air to the periphery of the upper burner <NUM> including a plurality of burner ports <NUM>. In addition, when liquid (for example, soup) contained in the cooking container <NUM> overflows the cooking container <NUM> during cooking, the first path S1 may also function as a path for discharging overflowing soup through a through hole <NUM> of the lower burner <NUM>.

The upper burner <NUM> may include a head <NUM> with an open upper portion and a cap <NUM> that closes the upper portion of the head <NUM>. The head <NUM> may include a mixture gas supply pipe 111a that is formed to extend downward from an approximate center.

The mixture gas supply pipe 111a may be formed with a smaller diameter than a diameter of the shielding member <NUM> so as to be inserted into the shielding member <NUM> of the orifice holder <NUM> to be described later at an interval from the shielding member <NUM>. In an internal portion of the mixture gas supply pipe 111a, gas injected from a nozzle <NUM> of the orifice holder <NUM> and primary air may be mixed. The mixture gas supply pipe 111a may form a negative pressure therein by gas that is injected into the mixture gas supply pipe 111a at high speed. Accordingly, air present in the periphery of a lower end portion of the mixture gas supply pipe 111a may be used as primary air that is drawn into the mixture gas supply pipe 111a and mixed with gas.

The mixture gas supply pipe 111a may be formed with a narrower path P than an internal space of the upper burner <NUM> as an upper end portion 111b protrudes toward a bottom surface of the cap <NUM> of the upper burner <NUM>. Mixture gas supplied to a chamber C1 of the upper burner <NUM> from the mixture gas supply pipe 111a through the narrow path P may be supplied to the chamber C1 of the upper burner <NUM> at high speed. The chamber C1 of the upper burner <NUM> may store mixture gas so as to continuously inject the flame F1 through the burner ports <NUM> formed along an edge of the upper burner <NUM>.

According to the invention, an external surface of the mixture gas supply pipe 111a may be spaced apart from the shielding member <NUM> of the orifice holder <NUM> to form a second path S2. The second path S2 may receive secondary air from a lower side of the support plate <NUM> and may be connected to the first path S1 so as to guide secondary air to the first path S1. As such, the first and second paths S1 and S2 may form a flow channel for supplying secondary air to the periphery of the upper burner <NUM>.

By virtue of the secondary air supplied from the lower portion of the support plate <NUM>, when the gas burner apparatus <NUM> is operated in a power mode, the upper burner <NUM> may be heated to form radiant heat while the flame F1 is injected from a burner port of the upper burner <NUM> and, simultaneously, temperature of the second path S2. as well as the periphery of the upper burner <NUM> may be increased by conductive heat transferred to the orifice holder <NUM> disposed below the upper burner <NUM>. Accordingly, density of air present in the second path S2 is lowered and, simultaneously, air climbs according to a negative pressure while the air is heated and, thus, the air may be moved to the periphery of the burner ports <NUM> along the first path S1. In this case, air present below the support plate <NUM> may climb toward the upper burner <NUM> with lowered density and may flow into the second path S2. According to such convection current, secondary air may be continuously supplied to the second path S2 from the lower portion of the support plate <NUM>. With reference to <FIG>, a structure of the burner ports <NUM> formed in the upper burner <NUM> will be described. <FIG> is an enlarged cross-sectional view of an angle of the burner port <NUM> of the gas burner apparatus <NUM> illustrated in <FIG>.

The burner port <NUM> of the upper burner <NUM> may be formed to couple the head <NUM> and the cap <NUM> to each other. The burner port <NUM> may be formed approximately upward with a predetermined angle. As such, the burner port <NUM> may be inclined upward in order to increase an angle of the flame F1 to reduce a boiling time period of the upper burner <NUM>.

In order to incline the burner ports <NUM> upward, the head <NUM> may include a first inclined block 112a that is formed on an upper surface thereof along an internal side of an outline of the head <NUM> and the cap <NUM> may include a second inclined block 112b that is formed on a bottom surface along an internal side of an outline of the cap <NUM>. A first inclination angle α1 of the first inclined block 112a may be set to <NUM> to <NUM> degrees, more particularly, <NUM> degrees from a horizontal surface. A second inclination angle α2 of the second inclined block 112b may be set to <NUM> to <NUM> degrees, more particularly, <NUM> degrees from a horizontal surface. In this case, there is a problem in that, when the first inclination angle α1 is greater than <NUM> degrees or the second inclination angle α2 is greater than <NUM> degrees, the flame F1 is merged and when the first inclination angle α1 is less than <NUM> degrees or the second inclination angle α2 is less than <NUM> degrees, the flame F1 is radially spread and a boiling time is increased.

With reference to <FIG>, an optimum setting interval between the burner ports <NUM> formed in the head <NUM> of the upper burner <NUM> will be described. <FIG> is a plan view illustrating the head <NUM> of the upper burner <NUM> of the gas burner apparatus <NUM> illustrated in <FIG>.

Burner port load of the upper burner <NUM> with a smaller size than the lower burner <NUM> may be increased to enhance output of the upper burner <NUM>. Here, the burner port load may be a value obtained by dividing input of the upper burner <NUM> by a total burner port area of the upper burner <NUM>. When a pitch as a distance between the burner ports <NUM> of the upper burner <NUM> is small, flames injected from the burner ports <NUM> are merged and secondary air may not be smoothly supplied to each of the burner ports <NUM> and, thus, the flame F1 may be lengthened and incomplete combustion such as Yellow tip may occur.

Accordingly, in order to achieve large output while minimize a size of the upper burner <NUM>, a separation block <NUM> may be disposed between a pair of burner ports <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM> so as to increase an interval D1 between a pair of burner ports <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM>. Accordingly, an interval D2 between the burner ports <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM>, in which the separation block <NUM> is disposed, may be increased compared with the interval D1 between the burner ports <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM>. Accordingly, the flame F1 injected from the pair of burner ports <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM> may be prevented from being merged and mixture gas in the chamber C1 of the upper burner <NUM> may be smoothly discharged. In this case, an approximate width W of the separation block <NUM> may be <NUM> to <NUM> (approximately) times an interval D between burner ports 112b and 112c. When the approximate width W of the separation block <NUM> is less than <NUM> times of the interval D1 between the burner ports <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM>, there is a problem in that flames may be merged and thus lengthened and carbon dioxide may be generated and thus combustibility may be degraded. In addition, when the approximate width W of the separation block <NUM> is more than <NUM> times the interval D1 between the burner ports <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM>, there is a problem in that flame carryover is poor, it is difficult to increase a burner port area and, thus, output power of flame is reduced.

As seen from Tables <NUM> to <NUM>, the approximate width W of the separation block <NUM> may be supported according to an experimental result.

As shown in Table <NUM> above, when the approximate width W of the separation block <NUM> is less than <NUM>, flames of adjacent burner ports are merged and lengthened. In this case, when a cooking container with a bottom diameter of <NUM> is put on a grate <NUM> and a length of flame climbing above the grate <NUM> is measured, it may be seen that the length of flame is remarkably reduced when the approximate width W of the separation block <NUM> is less than <NUM>.

In addition, when the approximate width W of the separation block <NUM> is greater than or equal to <NUM>, COAFCO is remarkably reduced to <NUM>% or less. This means that flames are not merged and secondary air is smoothly supplied to each flame to improve combustibility.

As shown in Table <NUM> above, when the approximate width W of the separation block <NUM> is equal to or less than <NUM>, flame carryover is <NUM>% but when the approximate width W of the separation block <NUM> is more than <NUM>, flame carryover is remarkably degraded. As such, it may be seen that, when the approximate width W of the separation block <NUM> is greater than or equal to <NUM>, a distance between flames is increased and thus flames are not satisfactorily propagated. <FIG> is a plan view illustrating a state in which the grate <NUM> is disposed on the separation block <NUM>.

Referring to <FIG>, the separation block <NUM> may be positioned below the grate <NUM> and, thus, the flame F1 of the upper burner <NUM> may be prevented and minimized from contacting the grate <NUM>, thereby contributing to reduce a boiling time.

As such, the separation block <NUM> may allow secondary air to more contact the flame F1 of the upper burner <NUM> so as to prevent flames from being merged and to enhance combustibility, thereby enhancing output of the upper burner <NUM>. Accordingly, when the separation block <NUM> is applied to a small size burner, strong flame may be maintained.

Although the present invention discloses that the structure of the separation block <NUM> is applied to a gas burner apparatus with a flow channel for supply of secondary air, the present invention is not limited thereto and, thus, the present invention may be applied to various structures in which the flow channel for supply of secondary air is omitted, secondary air is directly supplied to the periphery of a burner port of a burner, or secondary air is supplied between upper and lower burners, and the aforementioned flame merge and increase in a length of flame may be prevented to maintain strong flame.

In general, as a burner port area is maximized and supply of mixture gas is increased, burner input may be increased. As such, in order to increase burner input, a burner is enlarged and flame injected from the burner is lengthened, in general. As such, when the burner is enlarged and flame is lengthened, this may adversely affect efficiency, a boiling time (time until a predetermined temperature is reached from another predetermined temperature by heating a predetermined amount of water contained in the cooking container <NUM> at maximum input), safety, etc. Accordingly, conditions such as a limited interval between the grate and upper and lower burners, a degree by which flame droops when a cooking container is put on the grate, lifting/flashback/incomplete combustion of flames are satisfied and, also, an appropriate area of a burner port may be determined in consideration of safety requirement of each country and, accordingly, input of the burner and the size of the burner may be determined.

The upper burner <NUM> according to the present invention may have a large burner port area or high burner port load (value obtained by dividing input of a burner by a burner port area) so as to achieve high output. Accordingly, the upper burner <NUM> may have a reduced burner size while having high output. In this case, as the burner port area of the upper burner <NUM> and the burner port load is increased, high output may be achieved although the upper burner <NUM> has a small size. To this end, as described above, primary air may be supplied to the chamber C1 of the upper burner <NUM> and secondary air may be sufficiently supplied to the first path S1 between the upper burner <NUM> and the lower burner <NUM> in order to prevent flames from lifting.

Referring back to <FIG> and <FIG>, the lower burner <NUM> may be used for simmering, as described above. Similarly to the upper burner <NUM>, the lower burner <NUM> may include a head <NUM> with an open upper portion and a cap <NUM> for closing the upper portion of the head <NUM>.

The head <NUM> of the lower burner <NUM> may include the through hole <NUM> that is formed through a center of the head <NUM> so as to allow the shielding member <NUM> of the orifice holder <NUM> to pass therethrough. In this case, the through hole <NUM> may be formed with a larger diameter than the shielding member <NUM> of the orifice holder <NUM>. Accordingly, an inner circumference surface of the through hole <NUM> may be spaced apart from an external surface of the shielding member <NUM> of the orifice holder <NUM> to form a third path S3. In addition, the head <NUM> of the lower burner <NUM> may be configured in such a way that a portion of a lower portion is spaced apart from the support plate <NUM> and a flange portion 150a of the orifice holder <NUM> to form a fourth path S4. In this case, the third path S3 may have one side connected to the first path S1 and the other side connected to the fourth path S4.

<FIG> is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a flow path for discharging soup of the gas burner apparatus <NUM> illustrated in <FIG>.

Referring to <FIG>, first, third, and fourth paths S1, S3, and S4 may form the flow path for discharging liquid (for example, soup). The flow path for discharging soup may prevent soup that overflows the cooking container <NUM> from flowing into a lower portion of the support plate <NUM> or an internal portion of the orifice holder <NUM>, preventing a mal-operation of the cooking apparatus <NUM>.

The flow path for discharging soup may displace another flow path for supplying secondary air to the periphery of the upper burner <NUM>. That is, air around the lower burner <NUM> may be sequentially moved through the fourth path S4, to the third path S3, and to the first path S1 to supply to the periphery of the upper burner <NUM>. However, the amount of secondary air that is sequentially supplied through the second path S2 and the first path S1 may be larger than the amount of secondary air supplied through the flow paths of S1, S3 and S4 for discharging soup. Accordingly, most secondary air supplied to the periphery of the upper burner <NUM> may be supplied through the first and second paths S1 and S2.

Referring back to <FIG>, the head <NUM> of the lower burner <NUM> may include a mixture gas supply pipe 131a that is formed to extend downward. The mixture gas supply pipe 131a may be inserted into a guide pipe <NUM> of the orifice holder <NUM> so as to be spaced apart from an inner circumference surface of the guide pipe <NUM>. In the mixture gas supply pipe 131a, gas injected from a nozzle <NUM> of the orifice holder <NUM> is mixed with primary air. In the mixture gas supply pipe 131a, a negative pressure may be formed by gas injected into the mixture gas supply pipe 131a at high speed. Accordingly, air present in the periphery of a lower end portion of the mixture gas supply pipe 131a may be used as primary air that is drawn into the mixture gas supply pipe 131a and mixed with gas.

A chamber C2 of the lower burner <NUM> may store mixture gas so as to continuously inject the flame F2 through a plurality of burner ports <NUM>, <NUM> formed along the periphery of the lower burner <NUM>.

The lower burner <NUM> may have a burner port with a smaller area than a burner port of the upper burner <NUM> and, accordingly, output of the lower burner <NUM> may be reduced compared with output of the upper burner <NUM> so as to achieve satisfactory simmering.

Some of a plurality of burner ports <NUM> and <NUM> of the lower burner <NUM> may be a main burner port for injecting flame and the other burner port <NUM> may be an auxiliary burner port for moving flame to the upper burner <NUM>. In this case, the main burner port <NUM> may be disposed at a location corresponding to any one burner port <NUM> of a plurality of burner ports of the upper burner <NUM>. Under such arrangement, the flame F2 of the lower burner <NUM> may contact the flame F1 of the upper burner <NUM>, thereby preventing the flame F1 of the upper burner <NUM> from lifting. In addition, the auxiliary burner port <NUM> may be formed with a narrower burner port area than the main burner port <NUM> so as to form small-size flame for enabling flame carryover of flame injected from the auxiliary burner port <NUM>. Referring back to <FIG> and <FIG>, the orifice holder <NUM> may include the flange portion 150a that is detachably fixed to a bottom surface of the support plate <NUM> through a plurality of coupling screws <NUM>. In addition, the orifice holder <NUM> may include a first gas supply pipe <NUM> and a second gas supply pipe <NUM> that are each connected to a gas supply source (not shown) through a predetermined connection tube (not shown).

The first gas supply pipe <NUM> may be fixed to the flange portion 150a through a connection member <NUM>. The first gas supply pipe <NUM> may include a nozzle support <NUM> disposed to correspond to an opening of a lower side of the mixture gas supply pipe 111a of the upper burner <NUM>. The nozzle support <NUM> may include the nozzle <NUM> installed therein for injecting gas into the mixture gas supply pipe 111a of the upper burner <NUM>. When the nozzle <NUM> injects gas into the mixture gas supply pipe 111a of the upper burner <NUM>, air (which is used as secondary air) around a lower end portion of the mixture gas supply pipe 111a of the upper burner <NUM> may be drawn into the mixture gas supply pipe 111a of the upper burner <NUM> and mixed with gas in the mixture gas supply pipe 111a of the upper burner <NUM> according to Venturi effect.

The second gas supply pipe <NUM> may include a nozzle support <NUM> that is disposed to correspond to an opening of a lower side of the mixture gas supply pipe 131a of the lower burner <NUM>. The nozzle support <NUM> may include the nozzle <NUM> installed therein for injecting gas into the mixture gas supply pipe 131a of the lower burner <NUM>. In this case, the second gas supply pipe <NUM> may include the guide pipe <NUM> that extends to simultaneously surround the nozzle support <NUM> and the mixture gas supply pipe 131a of the lower burner <NUM>. The second gas supply pipe <NUM> may be fixed to a flange portion 158a through the guide pipe <NUM>. When the nozzle <NUM> injects gas into the mixture gas supply pipe 131a of the lower burner <NUM>, air (which is used as secondary air) around a lower end portion of the mixture gas supply pipe 131a of the lower burner <NUM> may be drawn into the mixture gas supply pipe 131a of the lower burner <NUM> and mixed with gas in the mixture gas supply pipe 131a of the lower burner <NUM> according to Venturi effect.

The orifice holder <NUM> may include a through hole 150b that is formed through a center of the orifice holder <NUM> so as to allow the mixture gas supply pipe 111a of the upper burner <NUM> to pass therethrough. In this case, the through hole 150b of the orifice holder <NUM> may include the shielding member <NUM> that is shaped like a tub with a predetermined height and extends toward the upper burner <NUM>. In this case, the shielding member <NUM> may be positioned to approximately correspond to an upper surface of the cap <NUM> of the lower burner <NUM>. Accordingly, secondary air supplied through the second path S2 may be smoothly moved to the first path S1 without interfering with an upper end of the shielding member <NUM>.

An inner circumference surface of the shielding member <NUM> of the orifice holder <NUM> may be spaced apart from an outer circumferential surface of the mixture gas supply pipe 111a of the upper burner <NUM> to form the second path S2. The shielding member <NUM> may partition the second and third paths S2 and S3 and, simultaneously, constitute the second and third paths S2 and S3.

Although the present embodiment in which the orifice holder <NUM> includes the shielding member <NUM> has been described, the present invention is not limited and, thus, the shielding member <NUM> may extend in the through hole <NUM> of the support plate <NUM>. That is, the shielding member <NUM> may have a lower end that extend around the through hole <NUM> of the support plate <NUM> and may be formed toward the upper burner <NUM> with a predetermined height. In this case, the through hole <NUM> of the support plate <NUM> may have a reduced diameter so as to extend up to a location of the shielding member <NUM> illustrated in <FIG>.

Needless to say, the orifice holder <NUM> may be integrally formed with the support plate <NUM> and, that is, the flange portion 150a of the orifice holder <NUM> may be integrally formed with the support plate <NUM>.

In the gas burner apparatus <NUM>, an outline of the upper burner <NUM> may be formed like an approximately circular shape and an outline of the lower burner <NUM> may also be formed like an approximately circular shape. In this case, a diameter of the outline of the upper burner <NUM> may be smaller than a diameter of the outline of the lower burner <NUM> in order to minimize supply of secondary air discharged to the first path S1 to the burner ports <NUM> and <NUM> of the lower burner <NUM> and to supply most secondary air to the burner ports <NUM> of the upper burner <NUM>.

Hereinafter, with reference to <FIG>, a structure of a gas burner apparatus <NUM>' according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail. <FIG> is a perspective view illustrating another example of a gas burner apparatus included in a cooking apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. <FIG> is a plan view of the gas burner apparatus illustrated in <FIG>. <FIG> is a perspective view of another example of a gas burner apparatus included in a cooking apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. <FIG> is a diagram illustrating another example illustrating a cap of a lower burner.

A structure of the gas burner apparatus <NUM>' illustrated in <FIG> is almost the same as the aforementioned gas burner apparatus <NUM>. Accordingly, the same components among components of the gas burner apparatus <NUM>' as the aforementioned gas burner apparatus <NUM> are denoted by the same reference numerals, a detailed description thereof will be omitted, and the gas burner apparatus <NUM>' will be described in terms of a difference from the aforementioned gas burner apparatus <NUM>.

Referring to <FIG>, the gas burner apparatus <NUM>' may be configured in such a way that an upper burner <NUM>' is formed like an approximate cross and the lower burner <NUM> is formed like an approximate circle. In this case, an outline of the upper burner <NUM>' may partially correspond to an outline of the lower burner <NUM>. The upper burner <NUM>' and the lower burner <NUM> may be stacked so as not to be spaced apart from each other unlike the aforementioned first and second burners <NUM> and <NUM> of the aforementioned gas burner apparatus <NUM>. As such, when the upper burner <NUM>' and the lower burner <NUM> are not spaced apart from each other, secondary air may be stably supplied to burner ports <NUM>' formed in a concave portion G of the upper burner <NUM>' from a lower side of the orifice holder <NUM> through an internal portion of the second burner <NUM>.

The upper burner <NUM>' of the gas burner apparatus <NUM>' may include four concave portions G. The plurality of concave portions G may allow flames generated by the upper burner <NUM>' to be positioned in an internal side of a bottom surface of the cooking container <NUM> so as to reduce a cold spot of the cooking container <NUM> and to increase a hot spot, thereby reducing a boiling time.

Like the aforementioned upper burner <NUM> (refer to <FIG>), the plurality of burner ports <NUM>' may be formed along the periphery of the upper burner <NUM>' while a head <NUM>' and a cap <NUM>' are coupled to each other. In this case, the head <NUM>' may include a separation block <NUM>' for widening an interval between the burner ports <NUM>'.

Some of the plurality of burner ports <NUM>' may be formed adjacent to the concave portion G of the upper burner <NUM>'. In this case, secondary air discharged from the first path S1 is sufficiently supplied toward the burner ports <NUM>' formed adjacent to the concave portion G and, thus, flames injected from the burner ports <NUM>' adjacent to the concave portion G may be satisfactorily injected with the same degree as flames injected from the burner ports <NUM>' that are not formed adjacent to the concave portion G. In this case, secondary air supplied to the first path S1 may be supplied from a lower portion of the support plate <NUM> or a lower portion of the orifice holder <NUM>.

The auxiliary burner port <NUM> for flame carryover among the plurality of burner ports <NUM> and <NUM> of the lower burner <NUM> may be disposed at a location corresponding to the concave portion G of the upper burner <NUM>'. Thus, an amount of flames injected from the auxiliary burner port <NUM> of the lower burner <NUM>, which contact secondary air supplied to the concave portion G through the first path S1, may be remarkably reduced. Accordingly, flames injected from the burner ports <NUM>' formed in the concave portion G may sufficiently contact secondary air so as to prevent frame merge and to facilitate smooth combustion. Accordingly, output of the upper burner <NUM>' may be increased.

Secondary air supplied to the burner ports <NUM>' that are not formed in the concave portion G may be present around the upper burner <NUM>'. Similarly, secondary air supplied to the burner ports <NUM> of the lower burner <NUM> may also be present around the lower burner <NUM>.

Although an example in which the outline of the upper burner <NUM>' is formed like a cross as illustrated in <FIG> has been described, the present invention is not limited thereto and, thus, the outline of the upper burner <NUM>' may be formed like various non-circular shapes. In this case, the non-circular upper burner includes at least one concave portion that does not exceed an outline of a lower burner and, thus, flames injected from the upper burner <NUM>' may be positioned adjacently to a center of a bottom of the cooking container <NUM> so as to minimize a cold spot of the cooking container <NUM> and to reduce a boiling time.

In <FIG>, a non-described reference numeral 150c is an installment groove in which a spark plug (not shown) for generating spark in mixture gas supplied to the lower burner <NUM> to form flames is installed. The spark plug and the installment groove may also be included in the aforementioned gas burner apparatus <NUM> and a gas burner apparatus <NUM>" to be described later.

With reference to <FIG>, arrangement of a plurality of burner ports formed in the upper burner <NUM>' will be described below. <FIG> is a plan view of a head of the gas burner apparatus illustrated in <FIG>.

Like the aforementioned upper burner <NUM> (refer to <FIG>), the upper burner <NUM>' may also be configured in such a way that the separation block <NUM>' is disposed between the pair of adjacent burner ports <NUM>' in order to achieve high output while minimizing the size of the upper burner <NUM>'.

Referring to <FIG>, a cap <NUM>' of the lower burner <NUM> may be formed in such a way that a peripheral portion <NUM>' is inclined downward to a center from the outside so as to satisfactorily discharge soup. In this case, an inclination angle β may be <NUM> degrees or more. In this case, when the inclination angle β of the peripheral portion <NUM>' is less than <NUM> degrees, there is a problem in that soup is not smoothly discharged and flown.

Accordingly, when soup overflowing the cooking container <NUM> (refer to <FIG>) drops on the cap <NUM>' of the lower burner <NUM>, the cap <NUM>' of the lower burner <NUM> may guide the soup to rapidly flow to the head <NUM> of the lower burner <NUM> using the inclination angle β and soup introduced to the head <NUM> may evaporate in the head <NUM>. Vapor generated as soup evaporates is separated from the first path S1 and, thus, secondary air that is supplied to the burner ports <NUM>' of the upper burner <NUM>' through the first path S1 may be shut so as to prevent flames from being extinguished.

Needless to say, as illustrated in <FIG>, the present invention may be applied to a stack-type gas burner apparatus <NUM> in which an upper burner <NUM> and a lower burner <NUM> are integrally formed. In <FIG>, a non-described reference numeral <NUM> is a burner port of the upper burner <NUM> and a reference numeral <NUM> is a burner port of the lower burner <NUM>.

Hereinafter, with reference to <FIG>, another example of a structure of the gas burner apparatus <NUM>" will be described. <FIG> is a perspective view of another example of a gas burner apparatus included in a cooking apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invenion disclosure.

The gas burner apparatus <NUM>" illustrated in <FIG> is a single-type gas burner apparatus unlike the aforementioned stack-type gas burner apparatuses <NUM> and <NUM>'. That is, the gas burner apparatus <NUM>" may include only a burner <NUM>" corresponding to an upper burner of the aforementioned gas burner apparatuses <NUM> and <NUM>' but not a burner corresponding to a lower burner of the aforementioned gas burner apparatuses <NUM> and <NUM>'. That is, the gas burner apparatus <NUM>" may be configured by omitting a lower burner <NUM>' from the aforementioned gas burner apparatus <NUM>' and including the upper burner <NUM>' and the orifice holder <NUM>. Accordingly, most components of the gas burner apparatus <NUM>" are the same as those of the aforementioned gas burner apparatus <NUM>' and, thus, a detailed description of the same components as the aforementioned gas burner apparatus <NUM>' will be omitted and only a difference from the aforementioned gas burner apparatus <NUM>' will be described.

An outline of the burner <NUM>" is formed like a non-circular shape like the upper burner <NUM>' of the aforementioned gas burner apparatus <NUM>' and the structure of the burner <NUM>" may also be the same as the upper burner <NUM>' and the burner <NUM>" of the aforementioned gas burner apparatus <NUM>'. That is, the burner <NUM>" may include a head <NUM>" and a cap <NUM>" for opening and closing an upper opening of the head <NUM>". In this case, the head <NUM>" may be installed so as not to be spaced apart from an upper side of a support plate.

At least one burner port <NUM>" may be formed in the concave portion G of the burner <NUM>". Flames injected from the burner port <NUM>" formed in the concave portion G may sufficiently contact secondary air supplied through the first path S1 disposed below the burner <NUM>" so as to be completely combusted. Accordingly, the burner <NUM>" may reduce a cold spot and increase a hot spot with respect to the cooking container <NUM>, thereby remarkably reducing a boiling time.

<FIG> is a plan view illustrating another example of a cap of a burner illustrated in <FIG>. <FIG> is a plan view illustrating arrangement of a nozzle and a base plate corresponding to the cap of the burner illustrated in <FIG>.

Needless to say, as illustrated in <FIG>, a single burner <NUM>"' may be formed to have a predetermined length. The burner <NUM>"' may be configured in such a way that a plurality of burner ports are arranged along an outline of the burner <NUM>'" and at least one burner port is formed in a plurality of concave portions G". The burner <NUM>'" may include a through hole <NUM>'" formed so as to inject flames to the center and a plurality of burner ports that are formed along an inner circumference portion of the through hole <NUM>'" at a predetermined interval.

Referring to <FIG>, when the burner <NUM>'" is formed to have a predetermined length, a support plate <NUM>"' may include holes H1, H2, H3, and H4 for supply of a plurality of secondary air, which are formed in consideration of a shape of the burner <NUM>'". That is, the holes H1, H2, H3, and H4 for supply of a plurality of secondary air may be formed at locations corresponding to protrusions of the burner <NUM>"', and although the holes H1, H2, H3, and H4 are formed like an oval as illustrated in <FIG>, the shape may not be limited to an oval and may have various shapes such as a rectangular shape.

Claim 1:
A gas burner apparatus (<NUM>) comprising:
a first burner (<NUM>) to receive supplied gas mixed with a first primary air from a first primary air supply flow path (P) and to inject flames (F1) through a plurality of first burner ports (<NUM>) formed along an edge of the first burner (<NUM>);
a second burner (<NUM>), spaced apart from a lower side of the first burner (<NUM>) and including an upper side (<NUM>),
to receive the supplied gas mixed with a second primary air from a second primary air supply flow path and to inject flames (F2) through a plurality of second burner ports (<NUM>, <NUM>) formed along an edge of the second burner (<NUM>); a support plate (<NUM>) spaced apart from a lower side of the second burner (<NUM>); and
a secondary air supply flow channel (S1, S3, S4) to supply secondary air to the first burner (<NUM>),
wherein the secondary air supply flow channel (S1, S3, S4) comprises:
a first secondary air supply flow path (S1) formed between the first (<NUM>) and second (<NUM>) burners;
a third secondary air supply flow path (S3) formed inside the second burner (<NUM>) and connected to the first secondary air supply path (S1); and
a fourth secondary air supply flow path (S4) formed between the second burner (<NUM>) and the support plate (<NUM>) and connected to the third secondary air supply path (S3);
characterized in that,
the secondary air supply flow channel (S1, S3, S4) further comprises a second secondary air supply flow path (S2) starting from an area lower than the support plate (<NUM>) and connect to the first secondary air supply flow path (S1).