Glass-ceramic worktop

Abstract

An item of equipment includes a worktop formed of at least one substrate made of transparent monolithic glass material with a surface area of greater than 0.7 m.sup.2. The substrate exhibits a light transmission T.sub.L of greater than 10% and an opacity indicator between 5 and 90. The substrate is predominantly or completely bare or provided with coating(s) such that the substrate, thus coated, exhibits a haze of less than 15% and/or a light transmission T.sub.L of greater than 60% and/or an opacity indicator of less than 85. The item of equipment also includes a heating element and a light source to mark one or more zones or one or more elements or displays of the substrate. The item of equipment also includes at least one interface for communication with at least one element of the worktop and/or with at least one external element for wireless communication.

Claims

1. An item of equipment, comprising: at least one worktop formed of at least one substrate made of transparent monolithic glass material with a surface area of greater than 0.7 m.sup.2, said substrate exhibiting a light transmission T.sub.L of greater than 10% and an opacity indicator of between 5 and 90, said substrate being predominantly or completely bare or provided with coating(s) such that the substrate, thus coated, exhibits a haze of less than 15% and/or a light transmission T.sub.L of greater than 60% and/or an opacity indicator of less than 85; at least one heating element; at least one light source configured to mark one or more zones or one or more elements or displays of the substrate, the at least one light source occurring straight above the substrate, for a display by projection, or under the substrate, for a display by transmission through the substrate; and at least one interface for communication with at least one element of the worktop and/or with at least one external element for wireless communication.

2. The item of equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein the surface area of the substrate made of glass material is greater than 0.9 m.sup.2, the thickness of said substrate is at least 2 mm, and the thickness of the substrate is less than 15 mm.

3. The item of equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein the substrate made of glass material occupies at least 50% of the surface area of the worktop.

4. The item of equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein the substrate is made of tempered glass or of glass-ceramic.

5. The item of equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein the substrate exhibits a flatness of less than 0.1% of the diagonal of the substrate.

6. The item of equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein the glass material exhibits a light transmission T.sub.L of between 10% and 20% or of greater than 60%.

7. The item of equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein the glass material comprises colorants.

8. The item of equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein the item of equipment comprises, as the at least one heating element, one or more inductive heating means, the at least one heating element being located in one or more zones of the substrate or uniformly distributed under the substrate.

9. The item of equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein one or more cooking locations on the worktop and/or other zones and/or elements and/or functions and/or decorations are signaled, on activation and/or permanently, by the at least one light source and/or by a permanent decoration.

10. The item of equipment as claimed in claim 9, wherein the cooking location or locations and/or other zones and/or elements and/or functions and/or decorations are signaled by and/or demonstrated by the at least one light source, on activation of said at least one light source, said at least one light source being placed above the substrate or on the side of the visible face of the substrate or on the side where the display is desired or has to be seen, and the at least one light source is configured to produce a light display by projection onto the screen-forming face.

11. The item of equipment as claimed in claim 9, wherein the cooking location or locations and/or other zones and/or elements and/or functions and/or decorations are signaled by and/or demonstrated by the at least one light source, on activation of said at least one light source, said at least one light source being placed under the substrate, said at least one light source being configured to produce a light display by transmission through the worktop.

12. The item of equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one light source or other component(s) of the item of equipment are capable of being activated by contact on the surface of the worktop and/or on the interface and/or on an external unit, or by movement.

13. The item of equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one light source includes several light sources which are positioned so that the angle between each of the several light sources, or between each element sending the light toward the worktop, and the normal to the worktop is between 5 and 60 to minimize the effects of shadows cast by a person using the worktop.

14. The item of equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein the interface enables wireless communication with a unit external to the worktop to remotely active the at least one heating element and/or the at least one light source and/or to control different functions of the item of equipment.

15. The item of equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein the interface is configured to transmit different signals initiated by contact or movement in order to activate different components of the item of equipment and/or to download and/or transmit data.

16. The item of equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein the item of equipment comprises one or more interfaces that are configured to manage one or more elements of the item of equipment or to coordinate the activation of the at least one heating element with the activation of the at least one light source.

17. The item of equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein the worktop comprises at least one added element for example in the form of a slab of mica, of wood, of plywood, of laminate, of plastic, of glass or of stone.

18. The item of equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein the worktop is mounted on at least one or more supporting elements thus forming, with said supporting elements, a table, an uninterrupted or interrupted piece of furniture, or a counter.

19. A worktop, comprising: at least one substrate made of transparent monolithic glass material with a surface area of greater than 0.7 m.sup.2, said substrate exhibiting a light transmission T.sub.L of greater than 10% and an opacity indicator of between 5 and 90, said substrate being predominantly or completely bare or provided with one or more coatings such that the substrate, thus coated, exhibits a haze of less than 15% and/or a light transmission T.sub.L of greater than 60% and/or an opacity indicator of less than 85.

20. A method, comprising: obtaining a substrate made of transparent monolithic glass material with a surface area of greater than 0.7 m.sup.2, said substrate exhibiting a light transmission T.sub.L of greater than 10% and an opacity indicator of between 5 and 90, said substrate being predominantly or completely bare or provided with one or more coatings such that the substrate, thus coated, exhibits a haze of less than 15% and/or a light transmission T.sub.L of greater than 60% and/or an opacity indicator of less than 85; and using the substrate with the item of equipment as claimed in claim 1.

Description

(1) Other advantageous characteristics and details will emerge below from the description of a nonlimiting embodiment of the invention, with reference to the appended drawings, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 represents a diagrammatic perspective view of an item of equipment according to the invention;

(3) FIG. 2 represents a diagrammatic top view of a similar item of equipment (the utensils at the surface or the underlying elements of the piece of furniture not being represented);

(4) FIG. 3 represents a diagrammatic side view in which a section of the piece of furniture (23) has been removed in order to reveal certain components of the item of equipment.

(5) In this example, the item of equipment (1) according to the invention comprises a piece of furniture (2) formed of a casing (4) surmounted by a worktop (5) formed of at least one substrate made of glass-ceramic with a surface area of 3.4 m.sup.2, this substrate occupying the majority (in this instance all) of the surface (measured on the upper face) of the worktop and being formed of a transparent (monolithic) glass-ceramic plate (6), this plate/this substrate made of glass-ceramic optionally being coupled to an added element (10) in the form of a mica slab with a thickness of 0.75 mm, the glass-ceramic plate being of the type of that sold under the KeraLite reference by Eurokera, this plate exhibiting a smooth upper face and a smooth lower face (it also being possible for this face to be provided with tear drops) and a thickness of 5 mm, and exhibiting a light transmission T.sub.L of 87.78% and an opacity indicator of 26.83 (the assembly formed by the substrate and the mica slab exhibiting a light transmission T.sub.L of 0.01% and an opacity indicator of 100). The substrate is, for example, obtained by reducing, in the process for the manufacture of glass-ceramics of KeraLite type, the rate of passage in the ceramization furnace by 50%.

(6) The substrate made of glass-ceramic obtained exhibits a flatness of less than 2 mm (the flatness obtained being between 2 and 3 mm for a rate reduced by only 25% and being more than 15 mm for a rate unchanged with respect to that used in the abovementioned patent application to order to obtain a plate with standard dimensions of less than 0.4 m.sup.2), the flatness desired for good optical properties and good coupling and thermal efficiency properties in particular being less than 3 mm and preferably less than 2 mm.

(7) The item of equipment additionally comprises, in the present example, three heating elements (7), for example inductors, positioned under the plate (6). These inductors are, in the present case, distributed in the middle of the work surface but might just as easily be located at one end of the top.

(8) The item of equipment also comprises three light sources (8) intended to signal the cooking locations and placed above the substrate (and overhanging the worktop). These sources make it possible to signal the cooking locations, for example using a luminous disk or circle of color (9) delimiting each location (it being possible for the colors, if appropriate, to be identical or different according to the locations) and encircling the inductors, when these sources are activated, indeed even when the heating elements are activated if the sources are connected to said elements by an appropriate interface. The sources (8) are formed, for example, of a plurality of LEDs carried by a seat housed in a profiled element and are, for example, integrated in a suction hood (14) overhanging the worktop. These sources, apart from the signaling of the heating zones, can also or alternatively be used for the illumination (local or complete) of the worktop or for the display by projection of various items of information, such as the display of data, of cooking recipes (11), and the like.

(9) The item of equipment additionally comprises at least one interface (12) (hidden by the substrate) for communication with the heating elements and, if appropriate, with the light sources, this interface also communicating wirelessly with an external unit in the form, for example, of a touch tablet (13) for the activation of different zones and functions of the plate or of the item of equipment. The external unit can be advantageously movable and lie on the worktop (FIG. 1) or be used for the remote activation (FIG. 3) of different zones or functions. Alternatively or cumulatively, the interface might also comprise or be connected to a permanent control panel located on the surface of the substrate (2) for the activation of different zones and functions, in particular of the substrate.

(10) The item of equipment also comprises other elements, in particular electrical cables (15) for the activation of the heating elements and for the activation of the sources, and comprises drawers (16) or cupboards (17) inserted into the casing supporting the worktop, for storing various articles, and the like. The item of equipment can also comprise other elements; for example, the worktop can comprise a trim, the substrate can be coated with an decoration, for example made of enamel, the casing can be uninterrupted or comprise different recesses (such as the recess (18)) or integrate other elements (for example a built-in oven, and the like). The worktop (5) can be used for different purposes, such as writing (as symbolized by the paper and the pen (19)), the support for objects (as symbolized by the tableware (20)), while making possible the cooking of food (as symbolized by the cooking receptacles (21)), and the like. If appropriate, the casing can also be replaced by supporting legs (for example only the walls 22 and 23, or four legs at the four corners, the item of equipment under the worktop in this case preferably being hidden by a localized enclosure with a thickness of a few centimeters under the substrate), such as a table.

(11) The item of equipment according to the invention can in particular be advantageously used to produce a new range of interactive and multiuse pieces of furniture in particular integrating cooking zones or a cooking function.