DOMESTIC APPLIANCE HAVING AN ENERGY TRANSMISSION DEVICE

Abstract

A household appliance includes a door pivotable via door hinges and having an electrical load. A treatment chamber has a loading opening which is closeable by the door. An energy transmission device has a primary side including a primary coil which is attached to a stationary part of a respective one of the door hinges, and a secondary side including a secondary coil which is arranged on the door and is electrically connected to the electrical load. The primary coil is capable of being coupled in a manner of a transformer to the secondary coil when the door is closed.

Claims

1-11. (canceled)

12. A household appliance, comprising: a door pivotable via door hinges and having an electrical load; a treatment chamber having a loading opening which is closeable by the door; and an energy transmission device having a primary side including a primary coil which is attached to a stationary part of a respective one of the door hinges, and a secondary side including a secondary coil which is arranged on the door and is electrically connected to the electrical load, wherein the primary coil is capable of being coupled in a manner of a transformer to the secondary coil when the door is closed.

13. The household appliance of claim 12, wherein the primary side is attached to a hinge housing of the respective one of the door hinges.

14. The household appliance of claim 13, wherein the primary side is attached to a front-side end section of the hinge housing.

15. The household appliance of claim 14, wherein the primary side projects laterally from the front-side end section and is connected via a cable running on a longitudinal side of the hinge housing with a connector plug arranged on a rear end section of the hinge housing.

16. The household appliance of claim 15, wherein the connector plug is arranged on a front face of the rear end section of the hinge housing.

17. The household appliance of claim 15, wherein the cable runs at least in a section within the hinge housing or in a cable channel arranged on the longitudinal side of the hinge housing.

18. The household appliance of claim 12, wherein the secondary side is fastened to a door panel of the door.

19. The household appliance of claim 18, wherein the secondary side has current-carrying parts which are accommodated in a housing which is open to the door panel, said housing being glued to the door panel in a water-tight manner.

20. The household appliance of claim 12, constructed in the form of a microwave appliance, wherein the primary side and the secondary side are accommodated in housings, respectively, with at least one of the housings including a shield against microwaves radiating from the microwave appliance.

21. The household appliance of claim 12, wherein the energy transmission device is configured to identify a door opening position of the door.

22. The household appliance of claim 12, wherein the primary side includes a circuit for operating the primary coil and/or the secondary side includes a circuit for operating the secondary coil.

23. The household appliance of claim 12, wherein the primary side and the secondary side are coupled to one another for wireless data transmission.

Description

[0041] The afore-described properties, features and advantages of this invention and the manner in which these are achieved will become clearer and more intelligible in connection with the following schematic description of an exemplary embodiment, which is explained in more detail in connection with the drawings.

[0042] FIG. 1 shows an oblique rear view of a door hinge of an oven with a door panel attached thereto and shown in sections as well as an energy transmission device of the oven;

[0043] FIG. 2 shows a sectional representation in a side view of a cutout of the oven from FIG. 1 in the region of the energy transmission device when the door is closed;

[0044] FIG. 3 shows a sectional representation in a side view of a cutout of the oven from FIG. 1 in the region of the energy transmission device when the door is open;

[0045] FIG. 4 shows a sectional representation in a front view of a housed primary side of the energy transmission device;

[0046] FIG. 5 shows a sectional representation in a front view of the housed primary side of the energy transmission device; and

[0047] FIG. 6 shows a sectional representation in an oblique view of a housing of a secondary side of the energy transmission device.

[0048] FIG. 1 shows an oblique rear view of a door hinge 2 of an oven 1 with a door panel 3 of an oven door 4 attached thereto and shown in sections as well as an energy transmission device 5 of the oven 1. In its closed position, the oven door 4 closes a loading opening (figure above) of a cooking chamber (figure above). This door hinge 2 is the left door hinge 2 in a front view onto the loading opening.

[0049] The door hinge 2 has a hinge housing 6 installed in a stationary manner in the oven 1, on which hinge housing a door strut 7 connected to the oven door 4 is mounted pivotably about a horizontal axis of rotation D. The oven door 4 and consequently also the door panel 3 can be pivoted with the door strut 7, e.g. between the closed position of the oven door 4 shown and a completely open position of the oven door 4. At least one electrical load (figure above) is arranged on the oven door 4. The energy transmission device 5 is provided (i.e. designed and arranged) to wirelessly supply the at least one electrical load at least with energy (current, voltage etc.) at least when the oven door 4 is closed. In one variant, data can also be transmitted in a unidirectional or bidirectional manner by way of the energy transmission device 5.

[0050] To this end, the energy transmission device 5 has a primary side 8 fastened to the hinge housing 6 and a secondary side 9 fastened to the door panel 3. The primary side 8 has a primary coil 10 and primary electronics 11 controlling and/or evaluating this, while the secondary side 9 has a secondary coil 12 and secondary electronics 13 controlling and/or evaluating this. The secondary electronics 13 are connected to the at least one door-side load for their current supply.

[0051] In the closed state of the oven door 4 shown, the primary side 8 and the secondary side 9 and thus also the primary coil 10 and the secondary coil 12 face one another separated only by a short distance from one another. The two coils 10, 12 can then be coupled in the manner of a transformer, e.g. if the primary coil 10 is excited by an alternating current, the magnetic alternating field generated thereby can induce an induction voltage in the secondary coil 12, which, possibly after processing by the secondary electronics 13, such as rectification, smoothing etc., is made available to the door-side load as an operating voltage. If the oven door 4 is opened, the coupling in the manner of a transformer or inductor can collapse with merely a small door opening angle. The energy transmission device 5 can then also be used to identify a door opening position (in particular an existence of a closed door position). The energy transmission device 5 can be used in addition or alternatively to a conventional door switch.

[0052] In order also to be able to operate the at least one electrical load at least for a certain time when the oven door 4 is open, an energy storage unit (figure above), such as a super capacitor or similar, can be present on the door side. This energy storage unit can likewise be charged by way of the energy transmission device 5.

[0053] The primary side 8 is attached to a door-side or front-side end of the hinge housing 6, namely so that it projects at right angles therefrom, specifically in a horizontal direction, in particular in the direction of the other door hinge. In the closed state of the oven door 4, the primary side 8 and the secondary side 9 are aligned parallel with one another on their broad sides.

[0054] On the longitudinal side of the hinge housing 6, from which the primary side 8 also projects, a cable channel 15 runs on the outside from the primary side 8 or the front-side end section to a rear or appliance-side end face of the hinge housing 6. A connector plug 16 is arranged on the rear end face. The connector plug 16 is connected to the primary side by way of cables (figure above), which run through the cable channel 15. Electrical signals (e.g. for supplying current and possibly transmitting data) can therefore be received by way of the connector plug 16 and routed through the cables to the primary side 8. Conversely, data or data signals can also be routed from the primary side 8 to the connector plug 16, for instance. The primary side 8, the cable channel 15 and the connector plug 16 can be present as a single-piece module which is in particular rigid or only elastically flexible with effort. This can be fastened to the door hinge 2 in particular before the door hinge 4 is assembled in the oven 1. This is advantageous in that the assembly process for assembling the door hinge 4 does not need to be changed or need only be changed marginally.

[0055] FIG. 2 shows a sectional representation in a side view of a cutout of the oven 1 in the region of the energy transmission device 5 when the oven door 4 is closed. The oven door 4 not only has the door panel 3 which is used as an outer panel, but also an inner panel 17 on the cooking chamber side and an intermediate panel 18, which form a panel packet of the oven door 5.

[0056] The primary side 8 is arranged in front of a condensate drip tray 19, so that the drip tray 19 forms a protective wall for the primary side 8 vis-à-vis the cooking chamber, e.g. in order to protect against high temperatures, soiling, microwave radiation etc. The primary side 8 has a support 20, which prevents the primary side 8 from breaking or bending down in the event of mechanical stress, since the primary side 8 attaches to the drip tray with its support 20 beforehand.

[0057] FIG. 3 shows a sectional representation in a side view of a cutout of the oven 1 in the region of the energy transmission device 5 when the oven door 4 is open. In this door position, the secondary side 9 is arranged relative to the axis of rotation D so that it sinks below the primary side 8 in a space-saving manner.

[0058] FIG. 4 shows a sectional representation in a side view of a housed primary side 8 of the energy transmission device 5. FIG. 5 shows a sectional representation of the housed primary side 8 in a front view. The primary side 8 has the primary coil 10, on which a ferrite layer 14 is arranged on its broad side facing away from the door or on the side of the appliance. The primary electronics 11 are arranged here facing away from the door or behind the ferrite layer 14. These components 10, 11, 14 can, in particular with the exception of the broad side facing away from the door, be surrounded by a shield 21, such as e.g. a metal sheet. The shield 21 protects the components 10, 11, 14 e.g. from electromagnetic radiation produced in the oven 1, such as microwave radiation and/or induction radiation e.g. of an induction hob. The oven 1 can therefore have a microwave function and/or represent part of a cooker, which has a hob, in particular an induction hob, in addition to the oven 1. The components 10, 11, 14, 21 can be surrounded on all sides by a casing 22, e.g. a plastic case, in order to further protect against environmental influences. The casing 22 can also be considered to be a housing of the primary side 8.

[0059] FIG. 6 shows a sectional representation in an oblique view of a housing 23 of the secondary side 9 of the energy transmission device 5. The housing 23 may have been produced separately. The housing 23 consists of dielectric or electrically non-conducting material such as plastic. The housing 23 has a cavity 24 in the form of a flat cuboid, wherein a door-side broad side 25 of the cavity 24 is open. The free edge of the broad side 25 is embodied as a planar support or flange 26. The housing 23 can be glued to the door panel 3 by way of the flange 26. The secondary coil 12, the secondary electronics 13, possibly a ferrite layer etc. can be accommodated in the cavity 24. In particular, the cavity 24 can be fastened to the door panel 3 in a water-tight manner. The housing 23 can additionally have one or more apertures (figure above), through which cables (figure above) can run to the at least one door-side load.

[0060] The invention is naturally not restricted to the exemplary embodiment shown.

[0061] In general, “a” or “an” can be understood to mean a single or a multiple, in particular in the sense of “at least one” or “one or more” etc., unless this is explicitly excluded, e.g. by the expression “precisely one” etc.

[0062] A number can also comprise precisely the number specified and also a typical tolerance range, unless this is explicitly excluded.

LIST OF REFERENCE CHARACTERS

[0063] 1 oven [0064] 2 door hinge [0065] 3 door panel [0066] 4 oven door [0067] 5 energy transmission device [0068] 6 hinge housing [0069] 7 door strut [0070] 8 primary side [0071] 9 secondary side [0072] 10 primary coil [0073] 11 primary electronics [0074] 12 secondary coil [0075] 13 secondary electronics [0076] 14 ferrite layer [0077] 15 cable channel [0078] 16 connector plug [0079] 17 inner panel [0080] 18 intermediate panel [0081] 19 condensate drip tray [0082] 20 support [0083] 21 shield [0084] 22 casing [0085] 23 housing [0086] 24 cavity [0087] 25 broad side [0088] 26 flange [0089] D axis of rotation