OVEN DOOR AND OVEN COMPRISING AN OVEN DOOR

Abstract

The invention relates to an oven door (10) for closing an oven cavity (2) comprising a first and a second door wall element (11.1, 11.2), the first door wall element (11.1) being arranged at the outer side of the oven door (10) and comprises or is constituted by a transparent door glass, said door wall elements (11.1, 11.2) being arranged at a distance from one another, wherein an electronic display (12) is arranged in the space between the first door wall element (11.1) and the second door wall element (11.2) in order to provide information to a user in front of the oven door (10) and wherein the oven door (10) comprises an image capturing device (13), said image capturing device (13) being arranged between the first and second door wall element (11.1, 11.2) and said image capturing device (13) being coupled with the electronic display (12) in order to display the recorded images.

Claims

1. Oven door for closing an oven cavity comprising a first door wall element and a second door wall element, the first door wall element being arranged at an outer side of the oven door and comprising or constituted by a transparent door glass, said door wall elements being arranged at a distance from one another, wherein an electronic display is arranged in a space between the first door wall element and the second door wall element in order to provide information to a user in front of the oven door and wherein the oven door comprises an image capturing device, said image capturing device being arranged between the first and second door wall element and said image capturing device being coupled with the electronic display in order to display the captured images.

2. Oven door according to claim 1, wherein a thermal insulation is placed between the first door wall element and the second door wall element.

3. Oven door according to claim 2, wherein the thermal insulation comprises an opaque material.

4. Oven door according to claim 2, wherein the electronic display and the image capturing device are arranged in the space between the first door wall element and the thermal insulation.

5. Oven door according to claim 2, wherein the thermal insulation comprises a capturing aperture for enabling the image capturing device to capture images of the oven cavity.

6. Oven door according to claim 1, wherein the image capturing device is arranged at an upper portion of the oven door in order to capture images according to an inclined top-down view of the oven cavity.

7. Oven door according to claim 1, wherein an optical entity is placed in an optical path between the image capturing device and the oven cavity, said optical entity being configured to modify the optical capturing area of the image capturing device.

8. Oven door according to claim 7, wherein the optical entity is configured to shield the image capturing device against thermal impact.

9. Oven door according to claim 1, comprising cooling means for providing an airflow through the space between the first door wall element and the second door wall element.

10. Oven door according to claim 1, wherein the electronic display is a liquid crystal display (LCD), a OLED, a thin film electroluminescent display or an LED-matrix display.

11. Oven door according to claim 1, comprising back-ground lighting means for providing backlight to the electronic display.

12. Oven door according to claim 1, comprising one or more control units for controlling the operation of the electronic display and/or the image capturing device.

13. Oven door according to claim 1, comprising a user control interface including a touch-sensitive interface of resistive or capacitive type, an infrared touch interface or a touch interface based on surface acoustic waves.

14. Oven door according to claim 13, wherein the user control interface is arranged between the first door wall element and the electronic display.

15. Oven for preparing food comprising an oven cavity and an oven door according to claim 1 for closing the oven cavity.

16. Oven door for closing an oven cavity, a first door wall element and a second door wall element, said first and second door wall elements defining a space therebetween, said first door wall element being remote from said oven cavity relative to said second door wall element when said door closes said oven cavity, said first door wall element being at least partially transparent such that an electronic display arranged in said space is visible through said first door wall element and is configured to provide information to a user in front of the oven door, an image capturing device arranged in said space and configured to record images from said oven cavity when said door closes said cavity, non-transparent insulation in said space, said electronic display and said image capturing device both being disposed between said first door wall element and said non-transparent insulation to shield them against heat from said oven cavity, said non-transparent insulation comprising at least one of glass wool and stone wool, said non-transparent insulation comprising an aperture through which said image capturing device can record images along an optical path defined between said image capturing device and said oven cavity and which travels through said aperture and a transparent portion of said second door wall element, said transparent portion comprising a window having a reflective coating, an optical entity disposed in said optical path that is configured to modify an optical capturing area of the image capturing device, said electronic display being further configured to display images of said cooking cavity recorded by said image capturing device.

17. Oven door according to claim 16, said insulation comprising multiple layers including a metallic layer.

18. Oven door according to claim 16, further comprising a user control at least partially located in an area of the electronic display and adapted to detect user interactions for controlling said oven.

19. Oven door according to claim 16, said electronic display covering said oven door when viewed from outside said first wall element thereof, and being customizable so as to give a user the freedom to place icons, buttons and windows on the display in a user-selectable manner.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] The various aspects of the invention, including its particular features and advantages, will be readily understood from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0029] FIG. 1 shows an example schematic view of a baking oven;

[0030] FIG. 2 shows an example schematic sectional view of an oven door according to an embodiment;

[0031] FIG. 3 shows an example front view of an oven comprising an electronic display in the area of the oven door glass;

[0032] FIG. 4 shows a section of the door glass comprising a LED-on-glass display;

[0033] FIG. 5 shows an example user control interface for enabling user inputs at the door glass; and

[0034] FIG. 6 shows an example optical touch and gesture recognition system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0035] The present invention will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which example embodiments are shown. However, this invention should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Throughout the following description similar reference numerals have been used to denote similar elements, parts, items or features, when applicable.

[0036] FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a baking oven 1. The baking oven 1 comprises an oven base body 3 with an oven cavity 2 which is adapted to receive the food to be cooked and/or baked. The baking oven 1 further comprises an oven door 10 which can opened in order to place the food into the oven cavity 2 and closed in order to obtain a closed oven cavity 2.

[0037] FIG. 2 shows the oven door 10 in closer detail. The oven door 10 comprises a frame or another structural element, for example a door bar and a set of door columns which may border the oven door 10 circumferentially. The frame or set of door bars/door columns may build the supporting structural element of the oven door 10 by means of which the oven door 10 is attached to the base body of the oven 1. The oven door 10 further comprises at least a first and a second door wall element 11.1, 11.2. The first wall element 11.1 may be an outer wall element (facing a user in front of the oven) and the second wall element 11.2 may be an inner wall element 11.2 (facing the oven cavity 2).

[0038] The oven door 10 further comprises an electronic display 12 for displaying graphical information, e.g. alphanumeric characters, symbols etc. in the area of the oven door 10. The electronic display 12 may be integrated in the sandwich-like structure between said first and second door wall element 11.1, 11.2. More in detail, the electronic display 12 may be arranged behind the first wall element 11.1 which may comprise a transparent door glass or may be constituted by a transparent door glass. Therefore, the first wall element 11.1 (in the following also referred to as door glass) is at least partially transparent, i.e. the user is able to see through the first wall element 11.1 and receive information provided by the electronic display 12. Preferably, the arrangement of the electronic display 12 is chosen such that the electronic display 12 is located as far as possible away from the oven cavity 2.

[0039] In order to avoid a significant impact of heat emitted by the oven cavity 2 and therefore keep the temperature of the electronic display 12 below a certain temperature threshold (said temperature threshold depends on the technology of the electronic display, e.g. below 100° C. for thin film electroluminescent displays (TASEL) or below 50° C. for liquid crystal displays (LCD)) the oven door 10 comprises heat isolation means. Said heat isolation means may be adapted to shield the electronic display 12 from heat emitted by the oven cavity 2. The heat isolation means may be any means which are adapted to reduce the heat impact to the electronic transparent display 12, specifically a non-transparent thermal insulation 14.

[0040] For example, said heat isolation means may comprise any heat-shielding material, specifically stone wool or glass wool. For example, the heat isolation means may comprise multiple layers including a metallic sheet material layer in order to lower the heat impact on the electronic display 12.

[0041] In order to enable a user to watch at the food to be cooked or backed despite of the fact that the oven door 10 is opaque, an image capturing device 13 is arranged within the oven door 10. More in detail, the image capturing device 13 is arranged in the space between the first wall element 11.1 and the second wall element 11.2. More in detail, the image capturing device 13 may be arranged between the first wall element 11.1 and said thermal insulation 14. As shown in FIG. 2, the thermal insulation 14 comprises a capturing aperture 14.1 though which the image capturing device 13 is able to record images of the interior of the oven cavity 2. In addition, the second wall element 11.2 may be a transparent, e.g. a glass element. Alternatively, the second wall element 11.2 may be made of any heat resistant material (e.g. a metal sheet or composite material) and may comprise a transparent section (e.g. a glass window) in the area of the capturing aperture 14.1 in order to enable the image capturing device 13 to record images of the interior of the oven cavity 2. Said window may comprise heat-shielding properties, i.e. may have a reflecting coating to prevent the capturing aperture, respectively the image capturing device 13 from thermal overload.

[0042] The image capturing device 13 may be arranged in the upper part of the oven door 10, preferably horizontally centred. Thereby, the viewing angle, respectively, the viewing direction of the image capturing device 13 is similar to the user's perspective (inclined top-down perspective).

[0043] In order to enhance the optical image capturing, an optical entity, specifically an optical entity 15 may be provided in the optical path between the oven cavity and the image capturing device 13. The optical entity 15 may be any transmissive optical device that affects the transmission path of a light beam through refraction. Specifically, the optical entity 15 may be a lens unit, a prism, a mirror or the like. By means of said optical entity 15, capturing of wide-angle images of the interior of the oven cavity may be possible by means of a single image capturing device 13. Alternatively, it may be possible to use multiple image capturing devices 13 and compose an image based on multiple images provided by said image capturing devices 13. Said composing may be done based on well-known image processing procedures. Said multiple image capturing devices 13 may be arranged in a vertical column or a horizontal row.

[0044] Said optical entity 15 may further comprise heat-shielding properties, i.e. may be adapted to shield the image capturing device 13 against detrimental heat impact. For example, the optical entity 15 may comprise a cavity which may be filled with an inert gas. The cavity reduces the heat transfer from the oven cavity to the image capturing device 13. In this way, a thermal overload of the image capturing device 13 can be prevented. Instead of using inert gas or the like, it may be also possible to evacuate the cavity.

[0045] Advantageously, the oven door 10 may comprise cooling means for cooling said electronic display 12. The cooling means may comprise a fan or blower for conveying air through the space in which the electronic display 12 is located. The air stream provided by the fan or blower may cool the electronic display 12, the image capturing device and further electronics included in said space thereby avoiding an overheating of said display. Also heat sinks and/or heat pipes may be used for enhancing the cooling effect.

[0046] For displaying information at, respectively, in the area of the door glass, different kinds of electronic displays 12 may be used. For example, a electronic display 12 (LCD, OLED or a like) may be used.

[0047] According to a first embodiment, a transparent or non-transparent screen or display may be used for displaying information at the oven door (cf. FIG. 3). The screen may cover the whole transparent area of the first door wall element 11.1 or only a section of said transparent area.

[0048] For displaying information, transparent LCDs relay on the fact of blocking or permitting the passage light through the LCD panel. In other words, transparent LCDs are passive display systems, i.e. an external source of illumination is needed to obtain a visible image on said transparent LCD. So, for displaying information, background illumination is necessary. Transparent LCDs differ from non-transparent LCDs on the fact that they do not include any background illumination because when applying background illumination, the transparency of the display is compromised. So, when using a transparent LCD external background illumination means are necessary. Therefore, it may be possible to include any background illumination means (e.g. LEDs) in the space between the electronic display 12 and the second door wall element 11.2, specifically, between the electronic display 12 and the thermal insulation 14.

[0049] According to another embodiment, the electronic display 12 may be constituted by a transparent thin film electroluminescent display (TASEL). In contrary to the transparent LCD display, TASEL is an active display, i.e. the display is adapted to emit light. More specifically, the TASEL comprises a plurality of pixels or segments which may emit light when activated. Thus, there is no need for background illumination. A further advantage of TASEL displays is the ruggedness (for example withstanding temperatures up to 100° C.) and the longer lifespan.

[0050] According to another embodiment, the electronic display 12 may be constituted by a LED-on-glass display 20. An exemplary LED-on-glass display 20 is shown in FIG. 4. An LED-on-glass display 20 comprises a plurality of LED devices or LED chips 21 adhered to a glass portion. Said glass portion may be a separate glass portion or the LED devices or LED chips 21 are directly adhered to the door glass.

[0051] The LED devices or LED chips 21 may be arranged such that alphanumeric segments are formed. Alternatively, the LED devices or LED chips 21 may form a dot matrix type display. For achieving a transparent display, the LED devices or LED chips are electrically connected by means of transparent electrical conductor traces or wires 22. Said transparent electrical conductor traces or wires 22 may be printed, sputtered or deposited directly on the surface of the glass pane at which the LED devices or LED chips 21 are also adhered to. For example, indium tin oxide (ITO), carbon- or silver-nanotubes inks may be used for forming said transparent electrical conductor traces or wires 22.

[0052] The LED-on-glass display 20 may be coupled with a control unit adapted to drive the LED devices or LED chips 21 in order to display information on the oven door 10.

[0053] Typically, electronic displays 12 comprise electrical contacts, electrical wires and/or electrical circuits/circuit boards at their edges. In order to avoid the visibility of said elements arranged at the edges, said contacts, electrical wires and/or electrical circuits/circuit boards are arranged behind nontransparent sections of the first door wall element 11.1. Preferably, the first door wall element 11.1 comprises a non-transparent section at at least one edge of the glass pane behind which the electrical contacts, electrical wires and/or electrical circuits/circuit boards are hidden. Said non-transparent section may be obtained by a dark printing at the rear side of the glass pane. As shown in FIG. 2, also a control unit 16 adapted to control the electronic display 12, the image capturing device 13 and or the user control interface 30 (described further below) may be arranged in said non-transparent section.

[0054] In order to control the oven, the oven door 10 may further comprise a user control interface 30. Said user control interface 30 may be included in the oven door 10 between the first and second door wall element 11.1, 11.2. By means of the user control interface, the user is able to control the oven 1, for example activate a certain baking program or choose the desired baking temperature. Preferably, the areas, at which the electronic display 12 and the user control interface 30 are provided at the oven door 10, may overlap in order to be able to detect touch or approximation of control means (e.g. the finger of a user) in the display area.

[0055] According to an embodiment, the user control interface 30 may be an infrared touch screen. As shown in FIG. 5, multiple infrared emitters 31, 31′ and infrared receivers 32, 32′ are arranged at the edges of the control interface 30. More in detail, a first row of infrared emitters 31 may be arranged in a horizontal direction providing transmission of IR-radiation in a vertical direction and a second row of infrared emitters 31′ may be arranged in a vertical direction providing transmission of IR-radiation in the horizontal direction. Opposite to the rows of infrared emitters 31, 31′, corresponding rows of infrared receivers 32, 32′ may be arranged adapted to receive the IR-radiation transmitted by said infrared emitters 31, 31′. By means of said infrared emitters 31, 31′ and infrared receivers 32, 32′ a detection grid is formed which may be used to detect the position of an object based on the information which optical receiver within the row of optical receivers does not receive IR-radiation because of blocking of IR-radiation by the object.

[0056] According to another embodiment, the user control interface 30 may be a touch sensor of resistive or capacitive type. For realizing said touch sensor, a touch-sensitive layer may be placed behind the first door wall element 11.1 (door glass) or may be integrated within the door glass. Preferably, the touch-sensitive layer may be placed behind or laminated to the door glass. In case of a resistive type of touch sensor, a control unit coupled with the touch-sensitive layer may be adapted to localize the touch position based on a local change of electrical resistance in the area of the touch-sensitive layer. In case of a capacitive touch sensor type, a control unit coupled with the touch-sensitive layer may be adapted to localize the touch position based on a local change of electrical capacitance in the area of the touch-sensitive layer.

[0057] Another type of touch sensor may comprise a transparent ink printed at an area of the door glass, preferably at the inner side of the door glass. Said ink may comprise electrical properties which change when touching the door glass in the area of said printing. A control unit coupled with said touch sensor may detect and localize said change of electrical properties in order to associate said touch event with a certain control input of the user. Preferably, a touch sensor using transparent ink may be used in connection with a LED-on glass display (FIG. 4) because the LED-on-glass technology also uses transparent conductive traces for electrically connecting the LEDs. Said transparent conductive traces may be also printed on the door glass and may therefore be manufactured in the same manufacturing step. However, a touchpad using transparent ink may also be used in conjunction with transparent thin film electroluminescent displays (TASEL).

[0058] According to yet another embodiment, the user control interface 30 may include a surface acoustic wave touch sensor. The surface acoustic wave touch sensor may comprise acoustic wave generator means and acoustic wave receiving means. More in detail, the surface acoustic wave touch sensor may comprise at least a first acoustic wave generator for generating acoustic waves in a horizontal direction (x-direction) and a second acoustic wave generator for generating acoustic waves in a vertical direction (y-direction). Similarly, the surface acoustic wave touch sensor may comprise at least a first acoustic wave detector for detecting acoustic waves in a horizontal direction (x-direction) and a second acoustic wave detector for detecting acoustic waves in a vertical direction (y-direction). The location of touching the touch sensor may be determined based on a variation of surface acoustic waves received by said acoustic wave detectors.

[0059] It is worth mentioning that the upper-mentioned types of touch sensors may be transparent for light in the visible wavelength range and said touch sensor and the electronic display may be arranged above one another. Thereby it is possible for a user to provide user input by means of the touch sensor in the display area. Said touch sensors may be of single touch type or multi-touch type.

[0060] According to another embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the user control interface may include optical touch or gesture recognition means based on an IR system comprising multiple IR transmitters and multiple IR receivers. An optical touch or gesture recognition system 40 may include multiple infrared transmitters 41, for example IR light emitting diodes. Said IR transmitters 41 may be adapted to transmit light in the IR wavelength spectrum towards the area in front of the door glass. In addition, the optical touch or gesture recognition system 40 may comprise multiple IR receivers 42, specifically at least a first and a second camera for receiving IR radiation. For optical touch or gesture recognition the fact is exploited that an object, e.g. the finger of a user, reflects IR radiation transmitted by the IR transmitters 41. Said reflected IR transmission is detected by said IR receivers 42 in order to determine the touch or approximation position of said object. The IR receivers 42 may be coupled with a control unit for determining the touch or approximation position based on the information received from the IR receivers 42 using complex localization algorithms. Said optical touch or gesture recognition system 40 may be preferably used in conjunction with a transparent LCD display because a full coverage of the door glass is achieved without installing any bezels (in case of IR touchscreen, FIG. 5) around the door glass.

[0061] The electrical connections between the oven door 10 and the oven base body 3 for providing power and control signals to the electronic display 12, respectively, the user control interface 30 may be realized by means of wires or in a wireless way. Also combinations of wired and wireless connections are possible.

[0062] The wired connection between the oven door 10 and the oven base body 3 may be realized by means of cablings through the door hinges or electrical connectors at the oven door 10 and the oven base body 3 wherein an electrical contact between an electrical connector at the oven door 10 and a corresponding electrical connector at the oven base body 3 is established when the oven door 3 is closed.

[0063] Wireless data transmission may be realized using wireless LAN or Bluetooth technology. Also proprietary wireless data transmission technologies may be possible. Wireless power transmission may be, for example, realized by means of inductive coupling.

[0064] Above, embodiments of an oven door according to the present invention as defined in the appended claims have been described. These should be seen as merely non-limiting examples. As understood by a skilled person, many modifications and alternative embodiments are possible within the scope of the invention.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0065] 1 oven [0066] 2 oven cavity [0067] 3 oven base body [0068] 10 oven door [0069] 11 door glass [0070] 11.1 first door wall element [0071] 11.2 second door wall element [0072] 12 electronic display [0073] 13 image capturing device [0074] 14 thermal insulation [0075] 14.1 capturing aperture [0076] 15 optical entity [0077] 16 control unit [0078] LED-on-glass display [0079] LED device/LED element [0080] 22 trace/wire [0081] 30 user control interface [0082] 31, 31′ infrared emitter [0083] 32 infrared receiver [0084] 40 optical touch or gesture recognition system [0085] 41 IR transmitter [0086] 42 IR receiver