COOKING DEVICE AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING A COOKING DEVICE

Abstract

A cooking device includes at least two insulation elements and a heating coil which has at least two windings. The heating coil is arranged at least partially between the at least two insulation elements. At least one of the at least two insulation elements, when viewed at least in a direction parallel to a main extension plane of the heating coil, is arranged at least partially between the at least two windings.

Claims

1-13. (canceled)

14. A cooking device, comprising: at least two insulation elements; and a heating coil including at least two windings and arranged at least partially between the at least two insulation elements, at least one of the at least two insulation elements, when viewed at least in a direction parallel to a main extension plane of the heating coil, being arranged at least partially between the at least two windings.

15. The cooking device of claim 14, wherein at least one of the at least two insulation elements encompasses at least one of the at least two windings in a circumferential direction by at least 30%.

16. The cooking device of claim 14, wherein at least one of the at least two insulation elements is embodied in a flat form with a maximum material thickness of at most 0.8 mm.

17. The cooking device of claim 14, wherein at least one of the at least two insulation elements is in contact with the heating coil.

18. The cooking device of claim 14, wherein the at least two insulation elements are in contact with each other.

19. The cooking device of claim 14, wherein at least one of the at least two insulation elements is embodied in one piece.

20. The cooking device of claim 14, wherein the at least two insulation elements are connected to each other in one piece.

21. The cooking device of claim 14, wherein the at least two insulation elements are at least essentially structurally identical to each other.

22. A cooking appliance, comprising a cooking device, said cooking device comprising at least two insulation elements, and a heating coil including at least two windings and arranged at least partially between the at least two insulation elements, at least one of the at least two insulation elements, at least viewed in a direction parallel to a main extension plane of the heating coil, is arranged at least partially between the at least two windings.

23. The cooking appliance of claim 22, wherein at least one of the at least two insulation elements encompasses at least one of the at least two windings in a circumferential direction by at least 30%.

24. The cooking appliance of claim 22, wherein at least one of the at least two insulation elements is embodied in a flat form with a maximum material thickness of at most 0.8 mm.

25. The cooking appliance of claim 22, wherein at least one of the at least two insulation elements is in contact with the heating coil.

26. The cooking appliance of claim 22, wherein the at least two insulation elements are in contact with each other.

27. The cooking appliance of claim 22, wherein at least one of the at least two insulation elements is embodied in one piece.

28. The cooking appliance of claim 22, wherein the at least two insulation elements are connected to each other in one piece.

29. The cooking appliance of claim 22, wherein the at least two insulation elements are at least essentially structurally identical to each other.

30. A method for producing a cooking device, comprising: arranging a heating coil at least partially between at least two insulation elements; and arranging at least one of the at least two insulation elements, at least viewed in a direction parallel to a main extension plane of the heating coil, at least partially between two windings of the heating coil.

31. The method of claim 30, further comprising plastically shaping at least one of the at least two insulation elements.

32. The method of claim 30, further comprising impregnating at least one of the at least two insulation elements.

33. The method of claim 30, further comprising subjecting the at least one of the at least two insulation elements to a pressure and/or a temperature as the at least one of the at least two insulation elements is arranged between the two windings of the heating coil.

Description

[0022] Wherein:

[0023] FIG. 1 shows a part of a cooking appliance embodied by way of example as an oven with a cooking device in a schematic representation,

[0024] FIG. 2 shows two insulation elements and a heating coil of the cooking device in an exploded diagram,

[0025] FIG. 3 shows the insulation elements and the heating coil viewed in a direction perpendicular to a main extension direction of the heating unit,

[0026] FIG. 4 shows the insulation elements and the heating coil in a cutaway drawing,

[0027] FIG. 5 shows an exemplary flow-chart of a method for producing the insulation elements,

[0028] FIG. 6 shows the method from FIG. 5 with the insulation elements and the heating coil prior to the insulation elements being subjected to a pressure and a temperature and

[0029] FIG. 7 shows a further exemplary embodiment of a cooking device with two heating coils and three insulation elements in an exploded diagram.

[0030] FIG. 1 shows at least a part of a cooking appliance embodied, by way of example, as an oven 10a in a schematic representation. The cooking appliance 10a is embodied as an induction cooking appliance, in the present case in particular as an induction oven. Alternatively, a cooking appliance could be embodied as an induction cooktop, an induction grill appliance and/or as an induction microwave oven. It is however also conceivable that the cooking appliance is embodied as a conventional cooking appliance, for example as a microwave oven.

[0031] The cooking appliance 10a comprises a cooking device. The cooking device comprises a cooking device housing 12a (shown only in part). The cooking device housing 12a defines an in particular contiguous cooking compartment 14a. To this end, the cooking device housing 12a comprises an external housing (not shown) and a muffle 16a arranged within the external housing, delimiting the cooking compartment 14a. In addition, the cooking device comprises an appliance closure element (not shown). In the present case the appliance closure element is embodied as an appliance flap. The appliance closure element is provided for closure of the cooking compartment 14a. Alternatively, however, an appliance closure element could also be embodied as an appliance door.

[0032] The cooking device further comprises at least one heating unit 24a. The heating unit 24a is integrated into the cooking device housing 12a. The heating unit 24a is arranged between a muffle wall of the muffle 16a and the external housing. The heating unit 24a is here arranged, in particular fixed, on the muffle wall. The heating unit 24a is further embodied in a flat form. In addition, the cooking device can have further heating units, advantageously at least essentially structurally identical to the heating unit 24a, which however for the sake of clarity are not shown in FIG. 1. In particular, a cooking device could here comprise at least two, advantageously at least three and particularly preferably at least four heating units.

[0033] In FIG. 2 the heating unit 24a is shown in an exploded diagram. The heating unit 24a is provided to heat foodstuffs to be cooked located in the cooking compartment 14a. To this end, the heating unit 24a comprises a heating coil 30a. The heating coil 30a is embodied as an induction heating element. The heating coil 30a is embodied from a ribbon-like heating conductor, which in the present case in particular has a rectangular cross-section. The heating coil 30a is embodied from a single heating conductor. The heating coil 30a is embodied in copper. The heating coil 30a comprises a multiplicity of windings 34a, 36a. In the present case the heating coil 30a comprises a total of seventeen windings 34a, 36a, wherein for the sake of clarity only two of the windings 34a, 36a are provided with reference characters in the figures. The windings 34a, 36a of the heating coil 30a form a flat coil plane. All windings 34a, 36a of the heating coil 30a are here arranged in the coil plane. In addition, viewed from above, the heating coil 30a has an essentially rectangular form. Alternatively, a heating unit could have a number of heating coils. In addition, a heating coil could have a number of windings differing from seventeen. Viewed from above, a heating coil could further have an essentially circular, oval and/or triangular form.

[0034] In particular, in order to enable insulation of the heating coil 30a from the muffle 16a and/or from the external housing, the heating unit 24a further has two insulation elements 26a, 28a, in particular a first insulation element 26a and a second insulation element 28a (cf. in particular FIGS. 2 and 3). The insulation elements 26a, 28a are at least essentially structurally embodied in identical form. The insulation elements 26a, 28a consist of an electrically insulating material, in the present case in particular mica. The insulation elements 26a, 28a are in each case embodied in one piece. The insulation elements 26a, 28a are embodied in a flat form. A maximum material thickness of the insulation elements 26a, 28a here amounts to at most 0.3 mm. In an assembled state the insulation elements 26a, 28a, are arranged on different sides of the heating coil 30a, in particular in relation to the coil plane. A respective main extension plane of the insulation elements 26a, 28a is here arranged parallel to the coil plane. The heating coil 30a is arranged between the insulation elements 26a, 28a. Furthermore, the insulation elements 26a, 28a are in bilateral contact with the heating coil 30a. Alternatively, a cooking device could have more than two insulation elements. Insulation elements could also be embodied in fundamentally different form from each other.

[0035] Furthermore, at least one of the insulation elements 26a, 28a, in the present case in particular the first insulation element 26a, has an insulation recess 42a. The insulation recess 42a is here arranged in a central area of the first insulation element 26a, and serves in particular to effect electrical contacting of the heating coil 30a. Alternatively, an insulation recess could be arranged in any other area of an insulation element, for example in a peripheral area and/or in the area of an edge. Furthermore, both insulation elements could also have an insulation recess.

[0036] FIG. 4 shows the heating unit 24a in a cutaway drawing in a completely assembled state. Viewed at least in a direction parallel to a main extension plane of the heating coil 30a, the insulation elements 26a, 28a, are here arranged between the windings 34a, 36a. Alternatively, however, just one insulation element could also be arranged between the windings of a heating coil. In the present case, the insulation elements 26a, 28a encompass the windings 34a, 36a in a circumferential direction in each case to an extent of at least 30%, by means of which in particular an advantageous insulation between the windings 34a, 36a of the heating coil 30a can be achieved. In the present case the first insulation element 26a encompasses the windings 34a, 36a to an extent of 50% of a first side of the heating coil 30a. Furthermore, the second insulation element 28a encompasses the windings 34a, 36a to an extent of 50% of a second side of the heating coil 30a. The insulation elements 26a, 28a are here arranged in such a way that the insulation elements 26a, 28a are in contact with each other. In the present case, the insulation elements 26a, 28a are here connected in one piece. Alternatively, however, connection of insulation elements in one piece could also be dispensed with.

[0037] FIG. 5 shows an exemplary flow-chart of a method for producing the cooking device.

[0038] In a first method step 100a, at least one of the insulation elements 26a, 28a is impregnated with a synthetic resin. Alternatively, however, such an impregnation could also be dispensed with.

[0039] In a second method step 102a, the heating coil 30a is positioned between the insulation elements 26a, 28a. The insulation elements 26a, 28a are then plastically shaped. To this end, at least one of the insulation elements 26a, 28a is subjected, at least in a direction parallel to a main extension plane of the heating coil 30a, to an increased pressure 110a, in the present case a pressure of at least 15 kg/cm.sup.2, and an increased temperature 112a, in the present case a temperature of at least 300 C., so that the insulation elements 26a, 28a wrap around the windings 34a, 36a, in particular in a form-fitted manner (cf. in particular also FIG. 6).

[0040] Furthermore, the insulation elements 26a, 28a are cured in a third method step 104a.

[0041] FIG. 7 shows a further exemplary embodiment of the invention. The subsequent descriptions and the drawings confine themselves essentially to the differences between the exemplary embodiments, wherein with regard to identically designated components, in particular with regard to components with the same reference characters, reference can also in principle be made to drawings and/or the description of the other exemplary embodiment, in particular from FIGS. 1 to 6. To distinguish between the exemplary embodiments, the letter a is suffixed to the reference characters of the exemplary embodiment in FIGS. 1 to 6. In the exemplary embodiment from FIG. 7, the letter a is replaced by the letter b.

[0042] The further exemplary embodiment from FIG. 7 differs from the previous exemplary embodiment at least essentially in the embodiment of a heating unit 24b.

[0043] In the present case the heating unit 24b comprises two heating coils 30b, 32b and three insulation elements 26b, 28b, 29b, wherein each of the heating coils 30b, 32b is arranged between two of the insulation elements 26b, 28b, 29b. A first insulation element 26b and a third insulation element 29b here outwardly delimit the heating unit 24b.

[0044] In addition, at least viewed in a direction parallel to a main extension plane of the heating coils 30b, 32b, at least the first insulation element 26b and the third insulation element 29b are arranged at least between windings 34b, 36b, 38b, 40b of the heating coils 30b, 32b. Alternatively or additionally, a second insulation element 28b, in particular centrally arranged, could likewise be arranged at least partially between the windings 34b, 36b, 38b, 40b of the heating coils 30b, 32b.

REFERENCE CHARACTERS

[0045] 10 Cooking appliance [0046] 12 Cooking device housing [0047] 14 Cooking compartment [0048] 16 Muffle [0049] 24 Heating unit [0050] 26 Insulation element [0051] 28 Insulation element [0052] 29 Insulation element [0053] 30 Heating coil [0054] 32 Heating coil [0055] 34 Winding [0056] 36 Winding [0057] 38 Winding [0058] 50 Winding [0059] 42 Insulation recess [0060] 100 Method step [0061] 102 Method step [0062] 104 Method step [0063] 110 Pressure [0064] 112 Temperature