Hot air fryer cooking appliance

Abstract

A hot air fryer cooking appliance includes a hot air blowing system, a vessel and a basket. The basket includes a manipulating handle having a bracket and the vessel including an upper edge and a receiving area for the handle. The bracket bears against the upper edge and the handle is housed in the receiving area when positioning the basket in the vessel. The basket includes on its outer and inner walls a first and a second assembly part, respectively. These assembly parts cooperate and ensure the lateral guiding of the basket when positioning the basket in the vessel until the handle reaches its position in its receiving area and the basket reaches a centered bearing position in the vessel, allowing the bottom of the basket to be kept away from the bottom of the vessel and to be laterally wedged in the vessel.

Claims

1. A hot air fryer cooking appliance comprising a hot air blowing system, a vessel and a basket, the basket comprising a front side on which is arranged a manipulating handle equipped with a bracket and the vessel comprising an upper edge and a front side on which is arranged a receiving area for the manipulating handle, the bracket bearing against the upper edge and the manipulating handle being housed in the receiving area when positioning the basket in the vessel, wherein the basket comprises an outer wall equipped with at least one first assembly part and the vessel comprises an inner wall equipped with at least one second assembly part, the at least one first assembly part and the at least one second assembly part being configured to cooperate and ensure lateral guiding of the basket when positioning the basket in the vessel until the manipulating handle reaches its position in its receiving area and the basket reaches a centered bearing position in the vessel, allowing the bottom of the basket to be kept away from the bottom of the vessel and allowing the basket to be laterally wedged in the vessel so as to position the basket in a functional cooking position.

2. The hot air fryer cooking appliance according to claim 1, wherein the basket comprises a rear side equipped on its outer face with a first assembly part and the vessel comprises a rear side equipped on its inner face with a second assembly part, the first assembly part and the second assembly part being configured to cooperate and ensure the lateral guiding of the basket when placing the basket in the vessel until the basket reaches a centered bearing position in the vessel, allowing the bottom of the basket to be kept away from the bottom of the vessel and allowing the basket to be laterally wedged in the vessel.

3. The hot air fryer cooking appliance according to claim 2, wherein each first assembly part comprises two guide branches extending upward while drawing closer to each other until forming a peak and each second assembly part comprises a protruding element which is housed between the two branches when positioning the basket in the vessel.

4. The hot air fryer cooking appliance according to claim 3, wherein the lower extremities of the guide branches are extended toward the front of the appliance by two deflectors arranged at right angles with respect to the branches and extending below the bottom of the basket, the deflectors making it possible to direct the circulation of hot air in the vessel.

5. The hot air fryer cooking appliance according to claim 4, wherein the two deflectors form a tip oriented toward the front of the vessel.

6. The hot air fryer cooking appliance according to claim 4, wherein the branches and the deflectors are formed of a single piece.

7. The hot air fryer cooking appliance according to claim 4, wherein the branches and the deflectors are made of plastic material.

8. The hot air fryer cooking appliance according to claim 4, wherein the deflectors are configured to stay away from the bottom of the vessel when the basket is housed in the vessel.

9. The hot air fryer cooking appliance according to claim 3, wherein each protruding element is formed of a boss on the inner wall of the vessel.

10. The hot air fryer cooking appliance according to claim 3, wherein each protruding element is formed of a part connected on the inner wall of the vessel.

11. The hot air fryer cooking appliance according to claim 1, wherein the basket comprises two lateral sides each equipped on their outer faces with a first assembly part, and the vessel comprises two lateral sides each equipped on their inner faces with a second assembly part, the two first assembly parts and the two second assembly parts being configured to cooperate and ensure the lateral guiding of the basket when placing the basket in the vessel until the basket reaches a centered bearing position in the vessel, allowing the bottom of the basket to be kept away from the bottom of the vessel and allowing the basket to be laterally wedged in the vessel.

12. The hot air fryer cooking appliance according to claim 1, further comprising a locking system arranged between the manipulating handle and the receiving area so as to keep the basket and the vessel assembled, the locking system being able to be deactivated by a control button so as to separate the basket from the vessel.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

(1) The following description of a non-restrictive embodiment of the hot air fryer cooking appliance highlights the characteristics and benefits of this invention. This description is supported by figures, among which:

(2) FIG. 1 illustrates a basket housed in a vessel, the basket and the vessel being assembled together;

(3) FIG. 2 shows a cross-section side view of FIG. 1;

(4) FIG. 3 shows in perspective, from above, the vessel alone;

(5) FIGS. 4 and 5 show in perspective the basket alone, according to two different viewing angles, the bottom of the basket not being illustrated in FIG. 5;

(6) FIG. 6 shows in perspective an embodiment, in a single piece, of the first assembly part and the deflectors.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(7) FIGS. 1 to 6 do not illustrate the entire hot air fryer cooking appliance, but only the characteristics according to an embodiment of the invention which deal with the vessel and the basket. The other characteristics (hot air blowing system, chamber in which the vessel and the basket are inserted, etc.) of such an appliance are already known, and therefore they are not described below. The person skilled in the art may refer to the hot air fryers already on the market.

(8) FIGS. 1 and 2 show a basket 1 placed inside a vessel 2 and assembled with the latter. As illustrated by FIGS. 1 to 3, the vessel 2 comprises an upper edge 3, a bottom 4, a front side 5, a rear side 6, two lateral sides 7, 8 and a facade 9 which is arranged on the front side 5. A receiving area 10 is provided on the facade 9. The upper edge 3 comprises a small notch 11 arranged opposite the receiving area 10. The receiving area 10 comprises in its lower portion 10a an opening 12. As illustrated by FIGS. 1, 2, 4 and 5, the basket 1 comprises a front side 13, a rear side 14, two lateral sides 15, 16, a bottom 17 and a manipulating handle 18 which is fixed to the front side 13 by means of a bracket 19 having a curved shape. The manipulating handle 18 comprises a body 20 with dimensions adapted to the receiving area 10 and a shaft 21 for gripping. A control button 22 is arranged in the upper portion of the shaft 21 to actuate a transmission mechanism 23 acting on a latch 24 for unlocking the basket 1 from the vessel 2. When the basket 1 is placed in the vessel 2, the bracket 19 is positioned in the small notch 11, the body 20 is positioned in the receiving area 10 and the latch 24 penetrates the opening 12 and snaps under the rear edge 25 of this opening 12, ensuring that the basket 1 locks onto the vessel 2. The actuation of the button 22 makes it possible to release the latch 24 from the rear edge 25 of the opening 12, to unlock the basket 1 and extract it from the vessel 2. Two fingers 26, 27 are arranged on the lateral sides 20a, 20b of the body 20 and are positioned in guide notches 28, 29 arranged on the lateral sides 10b, 10c of the receiving area 10; when the fingers 26, 27 are housed in the notches 28, 29, the basket 1 is wedged in translation from front to back with respect to the vessel 2 and the front side 13 of the basket 1 is laterally wedged in translation with respect to the front side 5 of the vessel 2.

(9) Thus, the transmission mechanism 23, the latch 24 and the rear edge 25 form a locking system arranged between the manipulating handle 18 and the receiving area 10 so as to keep the basket 1 and the vessel 2 assembled in a functional cooking position, the locking system being able to be deactivated by a control button 22 so as to separate the basket from the vessel.

(10) As illustrated by FIGS. 4 to 6, the basket 1 comprises a first assembly part 30 which is made of plastic material, for example, a polyphenylene sulfide (PPS). This part 30 is connected on an outer face 31 of the rear side 14 and on an inner face 32 of the bottom 17 by means of three assembly points 33, 34, 35, the assembly being carried out by screwing on the contour 17a of the bottom and on the rear side 14. The part 30 comprises two guide branches 36, 37 whose lower extremities 36a, 37a are flared and whose upper extremities 36b, 37b join in a peak 38. The two branches 36, 37 are arranged against the outer face 31 of the rear side 14. The part 30 also comprises two deflectors 39, 40 which are arranged at right angles with respect to the branches 36, 37 and below the lower face 32 of the bottom 17. The rear extremities 39a, 40a of the deflectors 39, 40 extend the lower extremities 36a, 37a of the branches 36, 37 and the front extremities 39b, 40b of the deflectors 39, 40 join to form a tip 41. The branches 36, 37 are arranged symmetrically in relation to the median plane of the basket 1, the tip 38 being situated in this median plane. Likewise, the deflectors 39, 40 are arranged symmetrically in relation to the median plane of the basket 1.

(11) As illustrated by FIG. 3, the inner face 42 of the rear side 6 of the vessel 2 comprises a second assembly part having a protruding element 43 which is implemented by forming a boss on the rear side 6. However, a stud (not illustrated) could be connected by screwing on this inner face 42 in order to implement the protruding element 43. The protruding element 43 is arranged in the median plane of the vessel 2.

(12) As illustrated by FIGS. 1 and 2, when the basket 1 is placed in the vessel 2, the lower extremities 36a, 37a of the branches 36, 37 are positioned one on each side of the protruding element 43, the flared shape of the branches 36, 37 facilitating the introduction of the protruding element 43 between the lower extremities 36a, 37a. When the basket 1 is lowered into the vessel 2, the narrowing of the distance between the branches 36, 37 makes it possible to center the peak 38 with respect to the protruding element 43, until the peak 38 abuts the protruding element 43. In this stop position illustrated on FIGS. 1 and 2, the bottom 17 of the basket 1 is away from the bottom 4 of the vessel 2 and positioned in a functional cooking position. Likewise, the deflectors 39, 40 are not in contact with the bottom 4 of the vessel 2. In addition, the protruding element 43 is wedged between the upper extremities 36b, 37b of the branches 36, 37, which blocks the lateral translation of the rear side 14 of the basket 1 with respect to the rear side 6 of the vessel 2. As described previously, once the body 20 of the manipulating handle 18 is inserted in the receiving area, the fingers 26, 27 of the body 20 are wedged from front to back in the notches 28, 29 on the receiving area, which blocks any translation from front to back (and inversely) between the basket 1 and the vessel 2 and, thus, ensures that the peak 38 is kept abutting against the protruding element 43. In other words, the protruding element 43 cannot be released from the two branches 36, 37. The wedging in lateral translation of the front side 13 and rear side 14 of the basket 1 with respect to the front side 5 and rear side 6 of the vessel 2, and the wedging in translation from front to back (and inversely) of the basket 1 with respect to the vessel 2 make it possible to keep the basket 1 centered with respect to the vessel 2 and, in this way, to maintain a constant space 44 between the periphery of the basket 1 and the periphery of the vessel 2.

(13) Thus, the precise placement of the basket 1 in the vessel 2 is carried out intuitively due to the branches 36, 37 and the protruding element 43 which guide the insertion of the basket 1 into the vessel 2. The constant space 44 between the periphery of the basket 1 and the periphery of the vessel 2 ensures a uniform distribution of hot air in the vessel 2, around the basket 1. Keeping the bottom 17 of the basket 1 away from the bottom 4 of the vessel 2 also ensures uniform circulation of hot air below the basket 1. The presence of the deflectors 39, 40 below the basket 1 makes it possible to direct the flow of hot air and make it circulate appropriately in the vessel 2 and the basket 1.

(14) Other characteristics may be envisioned without departing from the context of the invention.

(15) As illustrated by FIGS. 1, 2, 4 and 5, the bottom 17 of the basket 1 is removable to facilitate its cleaning, or even to change the bottom 17 according to the type of foods to be cooked. For this purpose, the bottom 17 rests on the contour 17a and is kept in position with elastic strips 45, 46.

(16) The manipulating handle 18 is removable from the basket 1 to facilitate cleaning of the basket 1. For this purpose, as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 5, the body 20 of the manipulating handle 18 comprises on its lateral sides 20a, 20b two triggers 47, 48 which can be actuated to move a bolt 49 on the body 20 and take it out of a striker 50 arranged on the bracket 19, so as to unlock the bracket 19 with respect to the body 20 and to allow the manipulating handle 18 to travel downward with respect to the bracket 19.

(17) Design variants of the invention may be envisioned.

(18) For example, one could arrange on the outer face 31 of the rear side 14 of the basket 1 a protruding element similar to the protruding element 43, and arrange on the inner face 42 of the rear side 6 of the vessel 2 two branches of similar design to the branches 36, 37, but with the direction reversed such that the peak 38 is at the bottom and forms a small pit in which the protruding element of the basket 1 will be housed when it is placed in the vessel 2. In this case, the deflectors 39, 40 will be implemented by means of an independent part, in a position similar to the one illustrated in FIG. 4.

(19) One could also provide several protruding elements similar to the protruding element 43 and arranged on the inner wall 51 of the vessel 2 and provide as many branches similar to the two branches 36, 37 and arranged on the outer wall 52 of the basket 1 corresponding to the protruding elements. For example, two protruding elements are arranged on the inner faces 53, 54 of the lateral sides 7, 8 of the vessel 2 and two sets of two branches are arranged on the outer faces 55, 56 of the lateral sides 15, 16 of the basket 1. In this case, the deflectors 39, 40 will be implemented by means of an independent part, in a position similar to the one illustrated in FIG. 4. The positions of the protruding elements and of the branches on the inner wall 51 and outer wall 52 could also be reversed, as explained above.