COMBINATION APPLIANCE COMPRISING A COOKING HOB AND AN EXTRACTION DEVICE

Abstract

The present invention is related to a combination appliance (10) comprising a cooking hob (12) and an extraction device (14). The cooking hob (12) comprises at least one cover plate or worktop (22) having an opening (24) or a recess formed therein. The extraction device (14) is arranged below the cover plate or worktop (22) and comprises at least one fan (36) for sucking air from the area above the cooking hob (12) through the opening (24) or recess of the cover plate or worktop (22). The extraction device (14) further includes at least one filter carrier (50) and at least one filter (52; 52a, 52b), which is removable through the opening (24) or recess. According to the invention, the extraction device (14) comprises at least one liquid collector (28a, 62, 74, 76, 76′) and a lid or grid (26), which is inserted in the opening (24) or recess. The at least one liquid collector (62) is preferably removable through the opening (24) or recess of the cover plate or worktop (22) and/or may comprise at least one overflow opening (68).

Claims

1. A combination appliance comprising a cooking hob, which comprises a cover plate or worktop having an opening or a recess formed therein, and an extraction device arranged below the cover plate or worktop, wherein the extraction device comprises: a fan for sucking air from an area above the cooking hob through the opening or recess of the cover plate or worktop, a filter carrier, a filter, that is removable through the opening or recess, at least one liquid collector, and a removable or pivotable lid, or grid, inserted in the opening or recess, Wherein the at least one liquid collector is: removable through the opening or recess of the cover plate or worktop and/or comprises an overflow opening.

2. The combination appliance according to claim 1, wherein the filter carrier is integrated or included in the at least one liquid collector.

3. The combination appliance according to claim 1, wherein the filter: is coupled with the filter carrier and/or arranged in the at least one liquid collector, and includes two plain filter elements arranged in parallel to each other or arranged in a V-shaped alignment.

4. The combination appliance according to claim 1, wherein a separation element arranged in the opening or recess of the cover plate or worktop and separates components of the cooking hob from components of the extraction device, wherein the separation element has at least two holding or support elements for holding or supporting the lid or grid.

5. The combination appliance according to claim 1, wherein the at least one liquid collector comprises a first liquid collector and a second liquid collector, wherein the second liquid collector is arranged downstream the first liquid collector, facilitating a liquid flow from the first liquid collector to the second liquid collector, said second liquid collector being removable from the combination appliance in a movement direction away from the first liquid collector.

6. The combination appliance according to claim 5, wherein the second liquid collector is formed as a drawer and/or as a drip tray, arranged or arrangeable at or on a kitchen drawer that is spatially positioned in relation to the combination appliance.

7. The combination appliance according to claim 6, further comprising: a locking system, which prevents the drawer from being opened during an operation of the extraction device and/or of the cooking hob, and/or a sensor or switching element, which is coupled with the drawer effecting a switch off of the extraction device and/or of the cooking hob, when the drawer is not completely closed.

8. The combination appliance according to claim 1, wherein at least one sensor selected from among a liquid sensor, a dirt sensor, a weight sensor, a detection sensor and a filling level sensor, is in operative connection with the at least one liquid collector, the at least one sensor being arranged in or at the at least one liquid collector, respectively.

9. The combination appliance according to claim 8, further comprising a signalling means for generating a visual and/or an acoustic signal depending on a signal provided by the at least one sensor.

10. The combination appliance according to claim 1, wherein the at least one liquid collector is connected or connectable to a domestic drain system by a first pipe or hose.

11. The combination appliance according to claim 10, wherein the connection to the domestic drain system is arranged in a way that a suction effect is generated downstream and/or a pressure is provided upstream of a liquid to be removed from the at least one liquid collector.

12. The combination appliance according to claim 10, wherein the at least one liquid collector is connected to a domestic water supply by a second pipe or hose.

13. The combination appliance according to claim 1, wherein at least one illumination element is arranged in the opening or recess, in or at the at least one liquid collector.

14. The combination appliance according to claim 1, wherein at least one component of the extraction device comprises or is coated by an anti-bacterial material.

15. The combination appliance according to claim 5, wherein the second liquid collector, is made of or comprises a sponge.

16. A combination appliance comprising: a cooking hob having a cover plate adapted to support cookware for cooking thereon and having an opening formed therein, and a cover adapted to fit within said opening and configured to inhibit passage of objects through said opening; and an extraction device arranged below the cover plate, the extraction device comprising: a filter carrier arranged directly beneath said opening and comprising a carrier housing, wherein a bottom area of said carrier housing is configured as a basin adapted to collect liquid spillage that passes through the opening in said cover plate, a first filter installed within the carrier housing and suspended above the bottom area thereof, said first filter being adapted to filter particulates and or droplets that pass through said opening in the cover plate, and to accommodate passage of air therethrough, a fan having a downward-facing intake, said fan being configured to draw air from an area above the cover plate, through the opening therein, then through the first filter, and into an exhaust duct for recirculation of the drawn air back into a room space housing the combination appliance via an exhaust opening, and an overflow collection device adapted to collect liquid spillage from said basin once a capacity of said basin has been reached.

17. The combination appliance according to claim 16, said overflow collection device being adapted to collect the liquid spillage from said basin via overflow therefrom, wherein the overflow collection device is disposed beneath and extends laterally beyond said basin in all directions, said overflow collection device being selected from among: a tray-like shell removably affixed to a bottom part of a casing of the extraction device, a liquid-receiving part of a drawer movably arranged at the bottom of said casing of the extraction device, a drawer of a kitchen cabinet, said drawer being disposed beneath the carrier housing in a closed position of the drawer, said cabinet drawer being openable by pulling away from kitchen cabinet to provide access thereto for removing liquid collected therein, and a removable casing part of the casing of said extraction device, wherein the removable casing part and a fixed casing part of said casing together form a sealed compartment defined thereby when the removable- and fixed casing parts are installed together, said removable casing part substantially enclosing the filter carrier when installed, and said fixed casing part substantially enclosing the fan.

18. The combination appliance according to claim 17, said filter carrier being removable from said combination appliance through said opening when said cover is removed therefrom, and said first filter being removable from said filter carrier.

19. The combination appliance according to claim 16, said overflow collection device comprising a drain hose connecting the bottom area of said filter housing to a domestic drain system, wherein liquid accumulated within the basin of the filter housing beyond a predetermined capacity thereof flows through said drain hose and into the domestic drain system.

Description

[0035] The present invention will be described in further detail with reference to the drawings, in which

[0036] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a combination appliance comprising a cooking hob and a downdraft extraction device installed in a kitchen cabinet;

[0037] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional perspective view of the disassembled combination appliance of FIG. 1 with a frontal surface cut away and including a first collection device and a first example of a second collection device for spilled liquids;

[0038] FIG. 3 is a rear view of the combination appliance of FIG. 2;

[0039] FIG. 4 is a combination appliance slightly different from that one of FIG. 2 with transparent worktop in a central cross-sectional view and from another perspective;

[0040] FIG. 5 is a filter carrier removed from the combination appliance of FIG. 4;

[0041] FIG. 6 is an individual depiction of a filter carrier similar to FIG. 5 with modified filter assembly;

[0042] FIG. 7 is the filter assembly of FIG. 6 with lifted filter assembly;

[0043] FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a combination appliance similar to FIG. 4 including a second example of the second collection device for spilled liquids;

[0044] FIG. 9 is a schematic perspective view of a combination appliance similar to FIG. 8 installed in a kitchen cabinet and including a third example of the second collection device;

[0045] FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a combination appliance similar to FIG. 4 including a fourth example of the second collection device;

[0046] FIG. 11 is the combination appliance of FIG. 2 in a perspective from below with downwards removed first collection device;

[0047] FIG. 12 is a schematic illustration of a combination appliance with a fifth example for the second collection device; and

[0048] FIG. 13 is the combination appliance of FIG. 12 with a modification of the fifth example for the second collection device.

[0049] In all figures the same or equivalent part are marked with the same reference numbers.

[0050] FIG. 1 illustrates a combination appliance 10 comprising a cooking hob 12 and a downdraft extraction device 14 installed in a kitchen cabinet 16. The cooking hob 12 is installed in a cutout of a kitchen countertop 18 forming a top cover plate of the kitchen cabinet 16. The downdraft extraction device 14 is configured to take away cooking vapours occurring during cooking processes, in particular when cooking with uncovered cookware. As can best be seen in FIGS. 2 and 4, the cooking hob 12 comprises cooking regions 20a, 20b arranged on a left half and a right half of a worktop 22 of the cooking hob 12, which left and right halves are separated from each other by a suction opening 24 for an intake of the cooking vapours, the suction opening 24 being arranged alongside a worktop centreline. The suction opening 24 is covered by a cover grid 26 for preventing items, e.g.

[0051] cookware, to fall into the suction opening 24.

[0052] A casing 28 of the extraction device 14 is shown in FIG. 1 in transparent illustration. Said casing 28 provides a closed outer shell or first channel for a flow of the sucked-in cooking vapours on their way from the suction opening 24 to an exhaust opening 30 in a base area 32 of the kitchen cabinet 16. Said exhaust opening 30 is also covered, namely by an outlet grille 34.

[0053] The flow of the sucked-in cooking vapours through the extraction device 14 is driven by the operation of an extraction fan 36 arranged inside of the casing 28. Said extraction fan 36 comprises a bottom-sided intake opening 38 for sucking the cooking vapours from the interior space of the casing 28.

[0054] As illustrated by FIG. 3, which is a rear view of the combination appliance 10, a rear-sided fan outlet 40 is arranged for a horizontal exit of the air blown out backwards from the extraction fan housing 42. The fan outlet 40 is connected to a first end of an air duct 44 designed as a rectangular tube and forms a second channel arranged downstream the above-mentioned first channel. Directly at the passage from the fan outlet 40 to the air duct 44, an air duct bending by 90 degrees is implemented, which redirects the air flow from horizontal to vertical downwards. The air duct 44 may be guided alongside a rear side of the kitchen cabinet 16 and may be bent again by 90 degrees close to a rear lower edge of the kitchen cabinet 16 in order to direct the airflow towards exhaust opening 30 in the base area 32 of the kitchen cabinet 16. Accordingly, the second end of the air duct 44 is connected to the exhaust opening 30. The embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 shows a solution of the air duct 44 with an inclined section of its downwardly directed portion, directed slightly to the right. Naturally, a solution with said portion arranged in an exact vertical direction is considerable as well.

[0055] The course of the cooking vapours from the cooking area through the extraction device 14 to a re-entry into room air is illustrated in FIG. 1 by dotted arrows 46.sup.1 to 46.sup.5. On their way through the extraction device 14, the cooking vapours pass through a filter assembly 48, which is arranged downstream directly behind the suction opening 24. Said filter assembly 48, which will be described in more detail further down below, includes a filter carrier 50 and a filter 52, in particular a grease filter, which is adapted to filter particles and droplets, in particular fat droplets, out of the cooking vapours, in that purifying the cooking vapours in order to feed filtered air back to the room air.

[0056] The cross-sectional view of FIG. 2 further shows two power boards 54, one for the left cooking region 20a and one for the right cooking region 20b, the power boards 54 providing cooking zones in the left and right cooking regions 20a, 20b with electrical power. In the present embodiment, the cooking hob 12 is an induction cooking hob and the cooking zones are defined by induction coils 56 (see particularly FIGS. 4 and 10) that are arranged below the worktop 22 of the cooking hob 12. Attached to the bottom side of the power board 54 assigned to the right cooking region 20b, a further circuit board is arranged forming a control electronics for the combination appliance 10.

[0057] As can be seen from FIG. 4, which is also a cross-sectional illustration of the combination appliance 10, but with a section plane in a centre region (lengthwise related to the rectangular design of the cooking hob 12), the extraction fan 36 comprises a cylindrical fan propeller with a plurality of fan blades arranged along a cylinder shell surface, the fan propeller rotating around a vertical axis 60. In that, air is sucked in from below (intake opening 38) and blown out radially outwards, and leaving the fan housing 42 at the fan outlet 40, as already mentioned above. Further, a central cross-section through the filter assembly 48 is also provided by FIG. 4, which illustrates the arrangement of the filter 52 in the filter carrier 50.

[0058] According to FIG. 5, the filter assembly 48 of FIG. 4 is removed from the suction opening 24 and illustrated in a raised position compared to the cooking hob 12. In order to remove the filter assembly 48, the cover grid 26 has to be removed prior to the removal of the filter assembly 48. This virtual state is not shown in the figures. Rather, according to FIG. 5, the cover grid 26 is illustrated in a position reinstated into the suction opening 24. The removed filter assembly 48, presented in FIG. 5 in its entirety and enlarged compared to FIG. 4, includes a V-shaped filter element 52 housed in the filter carrier 50 in a suspended position. The filter 52 of the embodiment according to FIGS. 4 and 5 is designed in one piece; i.e. the filter surface extends along the entire V-shaped area, including a rounded acute-angled bottom section thereof.

[0059] Contrary to the above-described filter design according to FIGS. 4 and 5, the differently designed filter according to FIGS. 6 and 7 comprises two rectangular flat filter elements 52a, 52b arranged in inclined directions, in a way that, in the assembled state of the filter assembly 48 according to FIG. 6, they also form a V-shaped filter arrangement.

[0060] Both filter assembly embodiments, according to FIGS. 4, 5 and FIGS. 6, 7, are interchangeable, i.e. both solutions are equally suited for the combination appliance 10 according to the present invention.

[0061] As can be seen from FIGS. 5 and 7, not only the entire filter assembly 48 is removable from the suction opening 24, but also the filter 52, both the V-shaped filter 52 according to FIG. 5 and the two rectangular flat filter elements 52a, 52b according to FIGS. 6 and 7, are removable from the carrier housing 62, specifically for cleaning and/or replacing purposes.

[0062] FIG. 7 also shows the construction of the filter assembly 48 in more detail. As illustrated, the filter carrier 50 includes a carrier housing 62 and a carrier frame 64, which are separable from each other. In an assembled state, the carrier frame 64 forms an upper face of the filter carrier 50 and, in that, covers the open upper side of the carrier housing 62. Both types of filter arrangement, either the single-piece V-shaped filter 52 or the V-shaped arrangement of the two flat filter elements 52a, 52b, may be fixedly connected to the carrier frame 64. Preferably, however, as indicated by FIG. 7, either filter arrangement 52; 52a, 52b is also detachable from the carrier frame 64. In this respect, as is explained in the example using the embodiment pursuant to FIGS. 6 and 7, each one of the two flat filter elements 52a, 52b is detachably coupled to one of the longer frame parts 66, which are arranged in parallel to each other.

[0063] As shown in FIG. 2 by dotted arrows 46.sup.1 and 46.sup.2, the flow of cooking vapours is conducted from the suction opening 24 and the open top side of the V-shaped filter arrangement 52; 52a, 52b through the filter surface (mainly that one facing the extraction fan 36) before leaving the filter assembly 48 by penetrating the lateral surfaces 68 extending downwards from the longer frame parts 66. In order to provide an extensive passage for the airflow on its way out from the carrier housing 62, the lateral surfaces 68 are open to a great extent, which results in remaining merely a frame section of each lateral surface 68.

[0064] An entire filtering of the cooking vapours, i.e. without providing any non-filtering bypass for the cooking vapours, is received by the two different filter arrangements 52; 52a, 52b in different ways: [0065] The single-piece V-shaped filter 52 provides an all-round filter surface, of course not including its open top side, but, instead, including its end surfaces, so that an airflow in all horizontal directions penetrates a filter surface; [0066] the V-shaped arrangement of the two flat filter elements 52a, 52b only provide a filtering passage through the filter surfaces of the flat filter elements 52a, 52b. In order to prevent any non-filtering bypass, the bottom edges of the rectangular flat filter elements are supported by the inner surface of the bottom area 70 in a way as to provide a mostly sealed contact area against that part of the carrier housing 62. Further, the end surfaces of this type of filter arrangement, which are lacking a filter surface, are also sealed against the carrier housing 62, namely by way of the lateral edges of the flat filter elements 52a, 52b abutting against the inner surfaces of end walls 72 of the carrier housing 62, also in a way as to provide a mostly sealed contact area against these parts of the carrier housing 62.

[0067] Both above-described filter designs are washable, e.g. in a dishwasher. Also the carrier housing 62 is washable after having been separated from the carrier frame 64.

[0068] Moreover, in addition to its function of housing anyone of the filter arrangement 52; 52a, 52b, the carrier housing 62 also serves the purpose of collecting spilled liquids, which occur from time to time during cooking processes and which may flow into the suction opening 24 of the downdraft extraction device 14. In order to prevent any malfunction of any component, particularly any electrical component, of the combination appliance, specifically of the extraction device 14, the liquids entering the suction opening 24 are collected by the bottom area 70 of the carrier housing 62, which bottom area 70 is of a shell-like or tray-like construction. Liquids that have been collected therein have to be removed by emptying the bottom area 70. Also for that purpose the removability of the filter assembly 48 is necessary.

[0069] However, due to the extensively open lateral surfaces of the carrier housing 62, its bottom area 70 only provides a limited volume for the collection of liquid spillage, so that an extensive occurrence of liquid spillage may cause an overflow passing through the lateral surfaces 68, which, in turn, may cause malfunctions of the combination appliance, e.g. a short circuit at an electric component. Therefore, safety regulations regulate that a second collection device, which is independent from the first collection device provided by the bottom area 70 of the carrier housing 62, shall be additionally included in the combination appliance 10. Said second collection device shall be configured to receive or to handle liquid spillage overflowing from the first collection device, providing an additional, preferably an even more enlarged, volume for the collection of liquid spillage. The present invention provides different examples of such second collection devices, which will be explained as follows.

[0070] A first example of said second collection device is illustrated in FIG. 2. Directly beneath the filter carrier 50, a tray-like shell 74 is positioned in a way as to receive liquid overflowing from the bottom area 70 of the carrier housing 62 and dripping down therefrom. In order to ensure that the entire overflowing liquid will be taken up by the shell 74, its receiving area extends the bottom area 70 in all horizontal directions. The shell is fixed to the bottom of the casing 28, particularly by screws.

[0071] According to a second example of the second collection device, the shell 74 forms a liquid receiving part of a drawer 76. Said drawer 76 is movably arranged at the bottom of the casing 28.

[0072] Also FIG. 9 shows (only schematically) a drawer solution for the second collection device, according to a third example. This solution is characterized by a drawer 76′ movably arranged at the kitchen cabinet 16. The drawer 76′ can be pulled out from the kitchen cabinet 16 in common way. Due to the fact that the drawer 76′ extends over the entire width of the combination appliance 10, the volume for the collection of liquid spillage overflowing from the first collection device is comparably high.

[0073] A fourth example of the second collection device is illustrated by FIG. 10. According to this embodiment, the casing 28 of the extraction device 14 is designed by a combination of a first casing part 28a and a second casing part 28b. While the second casing part, which is fixedly attached to a bottom of the cooking hob 12, encloses the extraction fan 36, the filter assembly 48 with its carrier housing 62 is completely included in the first casing part 28a. Said first casing part 28a is removably attached to the bottom of the cooking hob 12. In the assembled state of the first casing part 28a, the first and second casing parts 28a, 28b provide an airtight entire casing 28. The bottom of the first casing part 28a provides a second collection device in a similar way as the tray-like shell 74 of the first example above. To this end, the open side facing the second casing part 28a comprises a raised edge at its bottom.

[0074] In the situation of an overflow of liquid from the first collection device, i.e. from the bottom area 70 of the carrier housing 62, any of the above-described second collection devices 74, 76, 76′ needs to be emptied. The drawer solutions of second and third examples according to FIGS. 8 and 9 can be emptied by removing the drawer 76, 76′ from their related drawer runners, arranged either directly at the bottom of the casing 28 (FIG. 8) or at the kitchen cabinet (FIG. 9). The solutions with a tray-like shell 74 according to first and fourth examples can be emptied only by releasing the removable parts 74, 28a, in particular by unscrewing fixation screw, and removing them in a downwards movement as indicated in FIGS. 10 and 11.

[0075] Sensor means (not shown) may be arranged in the combination appliance 10, which sensor means may be adapted to detect a fill level in at least one of the first and second collection devices. Additionally or alternatively, the sensor means may be adapted to detect pollutions in at least one of the first and second collection devices. Said sensor means may be selected from anyone of the known solutions including reed switches or laser sensor means.

[0076] Finally, a fifth example of a second collection device is schematically illustrated by FIG. 12. Contrary to the above-described first to fourth examples, this solution does not comprise any kind of collection container. In fact, the liquid spillage collected in the bottom area 70 of the carrier housing 62 is drained off via a drain hose 78, which is connected to a drainpipe 80 of a kitchen sink for a direct removal of the liquid spillage after receiving a pre-defined fill level, which is significantly below an overflow level defined by the lower edge of the lateral surface 68 of the carrier housing 62. The evacuation of the liquid inside of the carrier housing 62 may be enforced by flow of drained water 84 causing a negative pressure to the inner volume of the drain hose 78 when running through the drainpipe 80, hence, making use of a Venturi effect.

[0077] Due to the connection of a drain hose 78 for this fifth example, a removal of the carrier housing for cleaning purposes through the suction opening 24 may be difficult. Therefore, in order to perform such cleaning, the fifth example may be modified by an additional hose as illustrated by FIG. 13, which additional hose is a supply hose 84. Said supply hose can be flooded with fresh water from time to time in order to clean the carrier housing 62, in particular its bottom area 70. To this end, a first end of said supply hose 86 is connected to the kitchen sink 82 for receiving fresh water on demand, wherein a closing valve (not shown) may be arranged at said first end of the supply hose 86. The second end of the supply hose 86 is connected to the lateral surface 68 of the carrier housing 62 close to the overflow edge defined by the lower edge of the opening in the lateral surface 68.

[0078] Although illustrative embodiments of the present invention have been described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to these precise embodiments, and that various other changes and modifications may be affected therein by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. All such changes and modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

List of Reference Numerals

[0079] 10 combination appliance

[0080] 12 cooking hob

[0081] 14 downdraft extraction device

[0082] 16 kitchen cabinet

[0083] 18 kitchen countertop

[0084] 20a,20b cooking regions

[0085] 22 worktop

[0086] 24 suction opening

[0087] 26 cover grid

[0088] 28 casing

[0089] 28a,28b first and second casing parts

[0090] 30 exhaust opening

[0091] 32 base area

[0092] 34 outlet grille

[0093] 36 extraction fan

[0094] 38 intake opening

[0095] 40 fan outlet

[0096] 42 fan housing

[0097] 44 air duct

[0098] 46.sup.1 to 5 arrows indicating air flow

[0099] 48 filter assembly

[0100] 50 filter carrier

[0101] 52 filter

[0102] 52a,52b flat filter elements

[0103] 54 power boards

[0104] 56 induction coils

[0105] 58 control electronics

[0106] 60 vertical axis

[0107] 62 carrier housing

[0108] 64 carrier frame

[0109] 66 longer frame parts

[0110] 68 lateral surfaces

[0111] 70 bottom area

[0112] 72 end walls

[0113] 74 shell

[0114] 76,76′ drawer

[0115] 78 drain hose

[0116] 80 drainpipe

[0117] 82 kitchen sink

[0118] 84 drained water

[0119] 86 supply hose