Arrangement of glass panels for a heat insulated oven door for a cooking oven

Abstract

The present invention relates to a arrangement of at least two glass panels (12, 14, 16) for a heat insulated oven door (10) of a cooking oven. The arrangement of the glass panels (12, 14, 16) is provided as or for a window of the oven door (10). The large-area sides of said glass panels (12, 14, 16) are arranged in parallel. Two neighbored glass panels (12, 14, 16) are arranged with a predetermined distance from each other, so that an intermediate space (24, 24, 24) is formed between said neighbored glass panels (12, 14, 16).

Claims

1. A cooking oven comprising: an oven cavity; and an oven door including a front panel facing an ambient environment and an arrangement of at least three glass panels, the arrangement of the glass panels being provided as or for a window of the oven door, large-area sides of said glass panels being arranged in parallel, the glass panels being arranged a predetermined distance from each other, so that a first intermediate space and a second intermediate space are formed between adjacent glass panels, a border of the first intermediate space being filled with a silicone sealing and a border of the second intermediate space being filled with a glass solder, the first intermediate space and the second intermediate space being evacuated or filled with an inert gas, the silicone sealing and/or the glass solder, respectively, being adapted to the behaviour of the glass panels at high temperatures to compensate for motions of the glass panels due to heat expansion and/or gas pressure, and an inner glass panel of the at least three glass panels closing an open end of the oven cavity while the oven door is in a closed position.

2. The cooking oven according to claim 1, wherein the large-area sides of the glass panels have essentially the same sizes.

3. The cooking oven according to claim 1, wherein the silicone sealing is made of silicone foam.

4. The cooking oven according to claim 3, the silicone foam comprising essentially closed pores.

5. The cooking oven according to claim 3, said silicone foam comprising essentially open pores.

6. The cooking oven according to claim 5, wherein the silicone sealing is formed as a solid part, said silicone foam consisting essentially of open pores.

7. The cooking oven according to claim 5, wherein the silicone sealing consists essentially of silicone foam comprising open pores and comprises a gas barrier on a side that faces away from the first intermediate space or the second intermediate space between the adjacent glass panels.

8. The cooking oven according to claim 1, wherein the silicone sealing is formed as an elongated profile strip.

9. The cooking oven according to claim 1, wherein said first intermediate space is filled with an inert gas and said second intermediate space is evacuated.

10. The cooking oven according to claim 1, wherein said second intermediate space is arranged towards the oven cavity.

11. The cooking oven according to claim 1, wherein a supporting structure is arranged in the evacuated second intermediate space.

12. The cooking oven according to claim 11, wherein the supporting structure includes a plurality of supporting elements comprising glass beads or glass cylinders.

13. The cooking oven according to claim 12, wherein the supporting elements are arranged according to a predetermined scheme and form a grid.

14. The cooking oven according to claim 1, wherein an outer glass panel of the at least three glass panels is arranged behind the front panel of the oven door.

Description

(1) The present invention will be described in further detail with reference to the drawing, in which

(2) FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic sectional side view of a part of an arrangement of two glass panels according to the first embodiment of the present invention,

(3) FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic sectional side view of an alternative execution of the first embodiment of the present invention,

(4) FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic sectional side view of the oven door with the arrangement of the glass panels according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and

(5) FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic sectional side view of an oven door with an arrangement of glass panels according to a third embodiment of the present invention,

(6) FIG. 5 illustrates a schematic sectional side view of the oven door with the arrangement of the glass panels according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention,

(7) FIG. 6 illustrates a schematic sectional side view of the oven door with the arrangement of the glass panels according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention,

(8) FIG. 7 illustrates a schematic sectional side view of the oven door with the arrangement of the glass panels according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

(9) FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic sectional side view of a part of an arrangement of two glass panels according to the first embodiment of the invention. A silicone sealing 16 which is formed as a closed pore silicone foam is arranged to seal the border between the upper edges offrom left to righttwo neighbouring glass planes 14 and 16. The intermediate space 24 enclosed by the glass planes 14 and 16, the silicone sealing 16 and a corresponding sealing 16 at the lower edges of said glass planes (not shown) represent schematically a situation where heat has been applied to the arrangement which has lead to a thermal expansion of the inert gas that is comprised in the intermediate space 24 and hence to an outwardly bending of both glass planes 14 and 16 relative to the intermediate space 24. The schematical drawing shows in principle the corresponding deformation of the silicone sealing 16 which is compressed at its upper end and stretched at its lower endwith corresponding stresses on its adhesive contacts to the glass planes 14 and 16. The closed pores 26 indicated schematically inside the silicone sealing 16 illustrate its closed pore structure. As can be easily understood, the closed gas pores 26 allow the adaptation of the sealing 26 to the deformation of the glass planes 14, 16, which effect is further supported by the thermal volume alteration of the gas enclosed inside the gas pores 26.

(10) FIG. 2 shows a variant of the first embodiment of FIG. 1, wherein however the pores 26 of the foamed silicone sealing 26 are open. In the example shown, wherein the foamed silicone spacer 26 comprising the open pores 26 is relatively thin, a gas barrier 26 which is provided on the outer surface of the sealing 26 can support effectively avoiding any losses of the inert gas filling of the intermediate space 24.

(11) FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic sectional side view of the oven door 10 with the arrangement of the glass panels 12, 14 and 16 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The arrangement of the second embodiment includes three glass panels 12, 14 and 16.

(12) The inner glass panel 12 is arranged towards the oven cavity 18. The outer glass panel 14 is arranged behind the front panel 20 of the oven door 10. The front space 22 between the outer glass panel 14 and the front panel 20 of the oven door 10 is open in order to allow an air flow space inside said front space 22, so that the front space 22 forms an air stream channel for cooling an outer portion of the oven door 10. The central glass panel 16 is arranged between the inner glass panel 12 and the outer glass panel 14. In this example, the inner glass panel 12, the outer glass panel 14 and the central glass panel 16 have the same areas and thicknesses.

(13) A first intermediate space 24 is arranged between the outer glass panel 14 and the central glass panel 16 on the one hand, and a further second intermediate space 24 is arranged between the central glass panel 16 and the inner glass panel 12 on the other hand.

(14) The border of the first intermediate spaces 24 between the outer glass panel 14 and the central glass panel 16 is filled by the silicone sealing 26, so that the silicone sealing 26 encloses said first intermediate space 24. Further, the first intermediate space 24 is filled by the inert gas 28, such as for example Argon.

(15) In contrast, the border of the further second intermediate space 24 between the central glass panel 16 and the inner glass panel 12 is filled by a glass solder 34. Said glass solder 34 encloses the second intermediate space 24. The vacuum 30 and the supporting structure are inside the further intermediate space 24.

(16) The second intermediate space 24 comprises the supporting structure 32 that includes the plurality of supporting elements. In this example, the supporting elements are small glass cylinders. The bases of the cylinders lie against the glass panels 12 and 16, while the curved surfaces of the cylinders are in the second intermediate space 24 between the glass panels 12 and 16. The glass cylinders are distributed in the second intermediate space 24 between the glass panels 12 and 16 according to a predetermined scheme. For example, the glass cylinders are equally distributed and form a grid. The distances between horizontally neighbored glass cylinders and vertically neighbored glass cylinders may be different or equal. Alternatively, the supporting elements may be the small glass beads arranged between the glass panels 12 and 16. The supporting structure allows an increased stability of the inner glass panel 12 and the central glass panel 16 enclosing the vacuum 30 in the second intermediate space 24.

(17) FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic sectional side view of an oven door 10 with an arrangement of glass panels 12, 14 and 16 according to a third embodiment of the present invention. The arrangement of the third embodiment includes three glass panels 12, 14 and 16.

(18) An inner glass panel 12 is arranged towards an oven cavity 18. An outer glass panel 14 is arranged behind a front panel 20 of the oven door 10. There is a front space 22 between the outer glass panel 14 and the front panel 20 of the oven door 10. Preferably, the front space 22 is open in order to allow an air flow space inside said front space 22. Thus, the front space 22 may be provided as an air stream channel for cooling an outer portion of the oven door 10.

(19) A central glass panel 16 is arranged between the inner glass panel 12 and the outer glass panel 14. In this example, the inner glass panel 12, the outer glass panel 14 and the central glass panel 16 have the same areas and thicknesses. A first intermediate space 24 is arranged between the outer glass panel 14 and the central glass panel 16. In a similar way, a further second intermediate space 24 is arranged between the central glass panel 16 and the inner glass panel 12. In this example, said intermediate spaces 24, 24 have the same thicknesses. Further, the glass panels 12, 14 and 16 and the intermediate spaces 24, 24 have about the same thicknesses.

(20) The borders of the intermediate spaces 24, 24 are filled by a silicone sealing 26 in each case, so that the silicone sealings 26 enclose the corresponding intermediate spaces 24, 24. Moreover, the intermediate spaces 24, 24 are filled by an inert gas 28, such as for example Argon.

(21) FIG. 5 illustrates a schematic sectional side view of the oven door 10 with the arrangement of the glass panels 12 and 14 according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. The arrangement of the fourth embodiment includes two glass panels 12 and 14.

(22) The inner glass panel 12 is arranged towards the oven cavity 18. The outer glass panel 14 is arranged behind the front panel 20 of the oven door 10. There is the open front space 22 between the outer glass panel 14 and the front panel 20 of the oven door 10, in order to allow the air flow inside said front space 22 for cooling the outer portion of the oven door 10.

(23) A single intermediate space 24 is arranged between the inner glass panel 12 and the outer glass panel 14. In this example, the single intermediate spaces 24 has about the same thickness as the glass panels 12 and 14. The border of the single intermediate space 24 is filled by the silicone sealing 26, so that the silicone sealing 26 encloses said single intermediate space 24. Further, the single intermediate space 24 is filled by the inert gas 28, such as for example Argon.

(24) FIG. 6 illustrates a schematic sectional side view of the oven door 10 with the arrangement of the glass panels 12 and 14 according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention. The arrangement of the fifth embodiment includes two glass panels 12 and 14.

(25) The inner glass panel 12 is arranged in front of the oven cavity 18. The outer glass panel 14 is arranged behind the front panel 20 of the oven door 10. There is also the open front space 22 between the outer glass panel 14 and the front panel 20 of the oven door 10, in order to allow the air flow inside said front space 22 for cooling the outer portion of the oven door 10.

(26) A single intermediate space 24 is arranged between the inner glass panel 12 and the outer glass panel 14. In this example, the single intermediate space 24 has also about the same thickness as the glass panels 12 and 14. The border of the single intermediate space 24 is filled by the silicone sealing 26, so that the silicone sealing 26 encloses said single intermediate space 24. In this embodiment, a vacuum 30 is inside the single intermediate space 24. Further, a supporting structure 32 is arranged in the single intermediate space 24. Said supporting structure 32 allows an increased stability of the inner glass panel 12 and the outer glass panel 14 enclosing the vacuum 30 in the single intermediate space 24.

(27) The supporting structure 32 includes a plurality of supporting elements. In this example, said supporting elements are small glass beads. The glass beads are arranged between the glass panels 12 and 14. The glass beads are distributed in the single intermediate space 24 according to a predetermined scheme. For example, the glass beads are equally distributed and form a grid. The distances between horizontally neighbored glass beads and vertically neighbored glass beads may be different or equal. Alternatively, the supporting elements may be small glass cylinders. In this case, the bases of the cylinders lie against the glass panels 12 and 14, while the curved surfaces of the cylinders are in the single intermediate space 24.

(28) FIG. 7 illustrates a schematic sectional side view of the oven door 10 with the a sixth embodiment of the present invention. The arrangement of the sixth embodiment includes two glass panels 12 and 14.

(29) The inner glass panel 12 is arranged in front of the oven cavity 18. The outer glass panel 14 is arranged behind the front panel 20 of the oven door 10. A single intermediate space 24 is arranged between the outer glass panel 14 and the inner glass panel 12. There is also the open front space 22 between the outer glass panel 14 and the front panel 20 of the oven door 10, in order to allow the air flow inside said front space 22 for cooling the outer portion of the oven door 10.

(30) The border of the single intermediate space 24 between the outer glass panel 14 and the inner glass panel 12 is filled by the glass solder 34. Said glass solder 34 encloses the single intermediate space 24. The vacuum 30 and the supporting structure 32 are inside the single intermediate space 24. The supporting structure allows an increased stability of the inner glass panel 12 and the outer glass panel 14 enclosing the vacuum 30 in the single intermediate space 24.

(31) The supporting structure 32 includes the plurality of supporting elements arranged between the glass panels 12 and 14. In this example, said supporting elements are small glass beads again. The glass beads are distributed in the single intermediate space 24 according to a predetermined scheme. For example, the glass beads are equally distributed and form a grid. The distances between horizontally neighbored glass beads and vertically neighbored glass beads may be different or equal. Alternatively, the supporting elements may be also small glass cylinders. In this case, the bases of the cylinders lie against the glass panels 12 and 14, while the curved surfaces of the cylinders are in the single intermediate space 24.

(32) The first, second and/or single intermediate spaces 24, 24 or 24 with vacuum or inert gas reduce the heat conductivity of the arrangement of glass panels 12, 14 and/or 16. The temperature gradient at the glass panels 12, 14 and/or 16 is reduced. The cooking results are improved, since uneven browning is prevented. The energy consumption is lower, since the heat conductivity is reduced. The arrangement of the glass panels 12, 14 and/or 16 can easily be mounted into the oven door 10. When the oven door 10 is closed, then the acoustic characteristics are improved by the arrangement of the glass panels 12, 14 and/or 16.

(33) Further, the thermal impact and the pressure impact on the silicon sealing are reduced. The silicone sealing 26 as well as the glass solder 34 are adapted to the thermal behaviour of the glass panels 12, 14 and/or 16. The silicone sealing 26 may be made of silicone foam, so that the stability is improved, when the glass panels 12, 14 and/or 16 are deformed at high temperatures. In particular, the glass solder 34 can compensate the different heat expansions of the glass panels 12, 14 and/or 16.

(34) Unlike double or triple window panes as used for buildings, the glass panels 12, 14 and 16 do not require any drying agents, e.g. a molecular sieve, in the intermediate spaces 24.

(35) The glass panels 12, 14 and 16 as well as the glass panels 14 and 16 with the solder 34 have been tempered. In order to prevent an outgassing of the silicone sealing 26, the supporting structure 32 or other spacers, the tempering has been performed for a relative long time.

(36) If low-energy panels are used, then preferably a scavenger is applied in order to absorb highly volatile components. For example, diatomaceous earth is used as scavenger.

(37) 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 those 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

(38) 10 oven door 12 inner glass panel 14 outer glass panel 16 central glass panel 18 oven cavity 20 front panel 22 front space 24 first intermediate space 24 second intermediate space 24 single intermediate space 26 silicone sealing 26 closed pore of foamed silicone sealing 26 open pore of foamed silicone sealing 26 gas barrier on the outside of the open pore foamed silicone sealing 28 inert gas 30 vacuum 32 supporting structure 34 glass solder