Table-Top Cooking Appliance

The invention relates to a table-top cooking appliance with at least one electrical heating element associated with a cooking surface, with the possibility of adjusting and displaying the heat output, with a residual heat display and a platform-like shaped part of glass, glass ceramic or ceramic as the heating surface which is the cook surface closing the top of the housing of the cooking appliance.

Table-top cooking appliances with an electric heating element associated with a burner and a heatable, planar surface of glass ceramic are known. The cook surface covers only the top of the cooking appliance and is held by framework which is sealed off from the cook surface and/or from the housing. The operating and/or indicating elements are arranged at an exposed place on the side of the housing.

Due to the said kind of construction of table-top cooking appliances, the housing is protected only at the top by the cook surface. Due to the complicated frame construction and the seals necessary for it the formation of indentations cannot entirely be prevented. The frame and its seal, the sides and bottom parts of the housing as well as the exposed operating controls and indicating means cannot be protected or cannot be protected completely against soiling and corrosion, e.g., by liquids that boil over. Therefore, some loss of safety of operation and greater wear and tear on the parts thus impaired cannot be excluded.

In former table-top cooking appliances of known type, no finger recesses are provided on the sides for a sure grip. To date there has been no possibility of knowing through active status displays the actual temperature of the burner or of attaching individual cooking appliances together by simple mechanical couplings to form a larger, compact unit.

The invention stated in claim 1 is addressed to the problem of creating a table-top cooking appliance which avoids the described disadvantages, which is of especially simple construction and can be manufactured at low cost with little assembly cost, which is easy to handle, safe to operate and control, easy to maintain, of mechanically stable construction with low total weight and good thermal insulation, and whose entire functional working area is covered continuously in one piece without indentations. The invention is furthermore addressed to the problem of avoiding exposed operating means and confining frame structures.

This problem is solved by a table-top cooking appliance wherein the shaped part consists of glass, glass ceramic or ceramic, the heatable surface and at least the front side is formed as a side part and the shaped part thus covers the cooking appliance continuously in one piece (closed) and especially also free of indentations. The heatable surface can form the cook surface and the front side can form the operating and/or display surface. To facilitate the operation of the appliance and the reading of the displays, the cook surface and the operating and display surface can, in a preferred embodiment, form an angle with one another between surfaces in the range of 100.degree. and 160.degree., and especially is 130.degree..

According to a further embodiment of the invention the shaped part can form the heatable surface, the front side and two additional side parts, so that the shaped part thus covers the cooking appliance continuously and in one piece.

The shaped part can consist preferably of borosilicate glass, especially float borosilicate glass also tempered for certain applications, of glass ceramic, especially of translucent glass ceramic containing dark .beta.-quartz solid solution as the chief crystal phase, or opaque, whitish .beta.-spodumene as the chief crystal phase or of ceramic, especially a ceramic of high thermal conductivity such as ceramic containing silicon nitrite or silicon carbide.

As additional features of embodiment, the cooking appliance of the invention can include a stirring motor, especially for a variable speed stirring system, and the electrical heating elements, especially foil heating elements, radiant heatable elements, halogen heating elements and/or induction heating elements.

The control means, especially for the ON/OFF function, for adjusting the heating power and for adjusting the stirring speed, are disposed on the operation and display surface, which can also be added on and combined modularly, and which is preferably made as an infrared-sensitive and/or capacitive touch panel. Likewise, display means, preferably as light-emitting diodes, especially also so-called "7-segment" displays or bar graph displays, are disposed on the operation and display surface, especially for visual control of the heat power control, stirring speed and residual heat.

The housing is laid upon the shaped part. It is preferably in a bipartite form, with a frame part corresponding to the geometry of the shaped part, rests on the shaped part, and with a pan-like bottom part corresponding to the geometry of the frame part, and the housing contains the functioning elements necessary for the operation of the cooking appliance, such as heating elements, their connections and fastenings and a thermal insulating material. The housing parts are fastened together by snap-fastening, by cementing and/or by screws. The bottom part and frame part are of tridimensional shape formed of pressure-cast aluminum and/or injection molded thermoplastic and/or hot-pressed thermosetting plastic and/or a bent sheet metal housing, wherein the frame part of the bipartite housing can consist of a different material than the bottom part. In a greatly preferred embodiment at least one housing part can consist of thermosetting plastic reinforced with long fibers.

Cementing the molded body to the housing, for example with a silicone material known on the market, is advantageous.

For the ventilation of the cooking appliance the frame part and/or the bottom part of the housing can have openings.

Especially safe to operate is a configuration of the cooking appliance with finger recesses on the lateral part of the frame.

As a practical expansion, the cooking appliance can be equipped with devices formed on the frame part for fastening holders, e.g., upstanding hangers.

A plurality of cooking appliances can be connected together with appropriate clips and coupled mechanically to form a larger unit.

By the invention it is brought about that, with the new shaping of the cook surface, a continuous, integral and indentation-free covering of the surface as well as at least the front side is obtained, which closes off the top of the housing of the cooking appliance. Complex frames and gasket designs are eliminated. The known advantageous properties of glass, glass ceramic or ceramic, such as ease of cleaning, high thermal stability, great resistance to chemical attack, at preferred material for forming the burner in the cooking area are transferred at least to the front side for protection of the housing as well as of the operating and display elements. The integration of the operating and display elements into the surface of the front side of the integral covering offers an especially good protection against external influences. Active status displays, such as for example the present heat setting and/or the present temperature of the burner, increase the convenience of operation and the safety of operation; the residual heat indication warns the user against the danger of bums. At the same time the residual heat can be rationally utilized for preheating an additional pot to save energy. Secure operation and control of the cooking appliance is additionally permitted by the inclination of the front side away from the cook surface. The simple and weight-saving bipartite construction of the housing permits low-cost manufacture, assembly and maintenance. The stable and hermetically sealed housing of noncombustible materials provides for trouble-free and enduringly stable utilization. By means of recessed finger holds on the side portions of the housing the cooking appliance can be safely handled. Devices on the housing for easy attachment of holders and for the mechanical coupling of individual cooking appliances to form a larger unit facilitate secure and uncomplicated working with it.

For ease in operating the table-top cooking appliance the color of the surface can be chosen so as to provide good contrast with the material being heated and any possible stains can easily be seen.

Additional protection of the housing is achieved in that the shaped part of glass, glass ceramic or ceramic forms the heating surface, the front and two additional sides, and covers the cooking appliance continuously, integrally and without indentations.

FIGS. 1 and 2 will serve to further explain the invention, by showing one possible embodiment of the invention, but the invention is not to be limited to this embodiment.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a table-top cooking appliance according to the invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of a cross section of the table-top cooking appliance of FIG. 1.

In the figures a table-top cooking appliance 1 according to the invention is represented; its main element is a platform-like shaped part 2 of glass, glass ceramic or ceramic as the heatable surface 2a which covers continuously, integrally and indentation-free the top of the housing consisting of the frame part 6 and bottom part 7 as cooking surface and at least continuing to the front side 2b.

The portion of the shaped part 2 which forms the front side 2b is equipped with integrated operating elements 4 protected under the surface, e.g., infrared touch panels and display elements 5, e.g., for indicating the current temperature of the surface 2a, and is tilted down from the surface 2a to facilitate operating the cooking appliance and reading the displays.

An electric heating element 3, e.g., a radiant element or foil element and/or a stirring motor are disposed under the surface 2a.

The simply constructed housing is in two parts, with a frame part 6 on which the shaped part 2 rests, and with a pan-like bottom part 7 corresponding to the geometry of the frame part 6, and the housing contains the operating elements necessary for the operation of the cooking appliance 1, and their connections and fastening devices. The frame part 6 and the bottom part 7 of the housing, as well as the operating elements 4 and display elements 5 are thermally insulated by known thermal insulating materials 8 against the electrical heating element 3. Ventilation openings 10 are provided in the housing.

By snap-fastening means, by cementing and/or by screw fastening the housing parts are joined together and hermetically sealed to the shaped part 2 by sealing with a silicone material 9.

On the frame part 6 of the housing are molded-in devices for attaching holders 11, e.g., upstanding hangers.

Other alternative variants (not represented here) are described below.

The shaped part 2 is designed such that two additional side parts are formed on the heated surface and on the front side 2b, and that the shaped part 2 of the cooking appliance 1 is continuous, made in one piece, and free of indentations.

Recesses for the fingers are provided on the side of the housing for easy and secure handling.

To be able to couple several cooking appliances together to form a larger unit, coupling means are formed on the side of the housing.