COOKING APPLIANCE

Abstract

A cooking appliance includes at least one food treatment area. A kitchen machine or a food processor, in particular a cooking food processor, is included in the cooking appliance. Alternatively, the cooking appliance provides a space for including the kitchen machine or food processor and/or a connection to an energy supply for energizing the kitchen machine or food processor.

Claims

1. A cooking appliance comprising at least one food treatment area, in particular a cooking hob comprising at least one cooking zone, wherein: a kitchen machine or a food processor, in particular a cooking food processor, is included in the cooking appliance, or the cooking appliance provides a space for including the kitchen machine or food processor and/or a connection to an energy supply for energizing the kitchen machine or food processor.

2. The cooking appliance according to claim 1, wherein a dedicated area in or of the cooking appliance, in particular a permanently assigned zone on a cooking surface of a cooking hob, is provided for the arrangement of the kitchen machine or food processor.

3. The cooking appliance according to claim 1, wherein the kitchen machine or food processor is configured to perform at least one food processing method selected from the group consisting of: stirring, mixing, kneading, cutting, mincing, weighing, warming, cooking, steaming, steam cooking, browning, and caramelizing.

4. The cooking appliance according to claim 1, wherein the kitchen machine or food processor comprises at least one apparatus selected from the group consisting of: a cutting device, in particular a fly cutter, a driving unit, in particular a motor, a weighing device, in particular a scale, a heating unit, and a food receiving and/or processing container, in particular a mixing bowl.

5. The cooking appliance according to claim 1, wherein a control unit and/or a user interface is/are included in the cooking appliance for operating the kitchen machine or food processor, wherein the control unit and/or the user interface in particular forms an integrated unit/form integrated units with a control unit and/or a user interface for the food treatment area, in particular for the at least one cooking zone.

6. The cooking appliance according to claim 1, wherein the position, in particular the height level, of at least a part of the kitchen machine or food processor is modifiable.

7. The cooking appliance according to claim 6, wherein the kitchen machine or food processor is at least partially arranged on a cooking surface, in particular on a cooktop of the cooking hob, wherein at least a part of the kitchen machine or food processor is retractable when the kitchen machine or food processor is not operated.

8. The cooking appliance according to claim 6, wherein the cooking appliance, in particular the kitchen machine or food processor, comprises a motor or a mechanical adjusting unit for the position modification of the at least a part of the kitchen machine or food processor.

9. The cooking appliance according to claim 1, wherein a cut-out is included in a top plate of the cooking appliance, in particular in a cooktop of the cooking hob, the cut-out forming an installation opening or a receiving opening for at least a part of the kitchen machine or food processor, in particular for at least the food receiving and/or processing container.

10. The cooking appliance according to claim 1, wherein the cooking appliance further comprises or accommodates an extraction device for a removal of cooking fumes from a cooking area, in particular from a cooking zone of the cooking hob.

11. The cooking appliance according to claim 10, wherein an installation opening of the kitchen machine or food processor is at the same level as an installation opening of the extraction device.

12. The cooking appliance according to claim 10, wherein in that the construction height and/or the installation depth of the kitchen machine or food processor is/are aligned with the construction height and/or the installation depth of the extraction device.

13. The cooking appliance according to claim 1, wherein the kitchen machine or food processor takes up the space of at most one food treatment area, in particular of at most one cooking zone on a cooktop of the cooking hob, so that the number of the food treatment areas of the cooking appliance is reduced by not more than one food treatment area compared with another cooking appliance with the same or similar structure, particularly with the same or similar outside dimensions.

14. The cooking appliance according to claim 1, wherein a scale device is integrated in a top plate of the cooking appliance, in particular in a cooktop of the cooking hob, the scale device particularly being arranged in the top plate side-by-side with the kitchen machine or food processor, the scale device being integrated in or allocated to a cooking zone of the cooking hob.

15. The cooking appliance according to claim 1, wherein an upper part, in particular a top section or a top frame of the upper part, of a casing of the kitchen machine or food processor is fixed to a top plate of the cooking appliance, particularly on a bottom surface of the top plate.

16. A cooking appliance comprising: at least one food treatment area, in particular a cooking hob comprising at least one cooking zone; a kitchen machine or a cooking food processor, wherein the kitchen machine or food processor is configured to perform at least one food processing method selected from the group consisting of: stirring, mixing, kneading, cutting, mincing, weighing, warming, cooking, steaming, steam cooking, browning, and caramelizing; a control unit and/or a user interface for operating the kitchen machine or food processor, wherein the control unit and/or the user interface in particular forms an integrated unit/form integrated units with a control unit and/or a user interface for the food treatment area, in particular for the at least one cooking zone, wherein the control unit and/or a user interface uses thin film transistor (TFT) technology and comprises a touchscreen display; and an extraction device for a removal of cooking fumes from a cooking area, in particular from a cooking zone of the cooking hob, the extraction device being configured to aspirate fumes arising during an operation of the kitchen machine or food processor, wherein: a permanently assigned zone on a cooking surface of the cooking hob is provided for the arrangement of the kitchen machine or food processor, or a cut-out is included in the cooktop of the cooking hob, the cut-out forming an installation opening or a receiving opening for at least a part of the kitchen machine or food processor.

17. The cooking appliance according to claim 16, wherein the kitchen machine or food processor comprises at least one apparatus selected from the group consisting of: a cutting device, in particular a fly cutter, a driving unit, in particular a motor, a weighing device, in particular a scale, a heating unit, and a food receiving and/or processing container, in particular a mixing bowl, which is detachable from the kitchen machine or food processor.

18. The cooking appliance according to claim 17, wherein: the position, in particular the height level, of the entire kitchen machine or food processor is modifiable, the kitchen machine or food processor, comprises an actuating motor or a mechanical adjusting unit for the position modification of the entire kitchen machine or food processor, and the entire kitchen machine or food processor is retractable when the kitchen machine or food processor is not operated.

19. The cooking appliance according to claim 17, wherein: the installation opening of the kitchen machine or food processor is at the same level as an installation opening of the extraction device, the installation opening of the kitchen machine or food processor and the installation opening of the extraction device are arranged in a top plate of the cooking appliance, in particular in a cooktop of the cooking hob, and the construction height and/or the installation depth of the kitchen machine or food processor is/are aligned with the construction height and/or the installation depth of the extraction device.

20. The cooking appliance according to claim 17, wherein a scale device is integrated in a top plate of the cooking appliance, in particular in a cooktop of the cooking hob, the scale device particularly being arranged in the top plate side-by-side with the kitchen machine or food processor, the scale device being integrated in or allocated to a cooking zone of the cooking hob.

Description

[0022] The present invention will be described in further detail with reference to the drawings, in which

[0023] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a combination appliance comprising a cooking hob and a downdraft extraction device installed in a kitchen cabinet;

[0024] 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 removable filter device;

[0025] FIG. 3 is a top perspective view of a combination appliance following the structure of FIGS. 1 and 2, with a cooking zone being replaced by a kitchen machine;

[0026] FIG. 4 is the combination appliance of FIG. 3 with the kitchen machine in a resting position; and

[0027] FIG. 5 is a bottom perspective view of the combination appliance of FIGS. 3 and 4.

[0028] In all figures the same or equivalent part are marked with the same reference numbers.

[0029] FIG. 1 illustrates a general setup of a standard 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 implemented in a cut-out 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. The cooking hob 12 comprises cooking regions 20a, 20b arranged on a left half and a right half of a cooktop 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 cooktop centreline. The suction opening 24 is covered by a cover grid 26 for preventing items, e. g. cookware, to fall into the suction opening 24. Instead of the cover grid 26 a lid may be used for entirely covering the suction opening when the extraction device 14 is out of use, but for the operation of the extraction device 14 the lid is pivotable into an upright open position.

[0030] A housing 28 of the extraction device 14 is shown in FIG. 1 in transparent illustration. Said housing 28 provides a closed outer shell or channel segment 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.

[0031] 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 housing 28. Said extraction fan 36 comprises a bottom-sided intake opening 38 for sucking the cooking vapours from the interior space of the housing 28.

[0032] A rear-sided fan outlet is arranged for a horizontal exit of the air blown out backwards from the extraction fan housing 42. The fan outlet 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 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.

[0033] The course of the cooking vapours from the cooking area through the extraction device 14 to a re-entry into ambient air is illustrated in FIG. 1 by dotted arrows 461 to 465. 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 for providing a purification of the conveyed air. Said filter assembly 48 includes a filter carrier 50 supporting a filter element (not shown) that is usually configured for filtering out grease particles and droplets.

[0034] The structure of the combination appliance 10 with the air duct 44 inside of the kitchen cabinet 16 and the exhaust opening 30 on the front of the cabinet 16 as shown in FIG. 1 is only one installation option. In other exemplary installations, the illustrated air duct 44 may be replaced by a direct blow-out opening at the cabinet rear side through an opening in the rear-sided cabinet wall or by an air channel guided through a wall of the installation location of the combination appliance 10, e. g. for an air exhaust outdoors.

[0035] 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 58 that are arranged below the cooktop 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 56 for the combination appliance 10.

[0036] The combination appliance embodiment 10 according to FIGS. 3 to 5 generally differs from the setup of the combination appliance 10 according to FIGS. 1 and 2 in that in addition to the cooking function performed by the cooking zones in the cooking regions 20a, 20b and the cooking fumes extraction function performed by the downdraft extraction device 14 an overall food preparing functionality is integrated in the entire appliance. Said overall food preparing functionality is embodied in a kitchen machine 62, which is configured to perform a plurality of food processing and preparation methods like stirring, mixing, kneading, cutting, mincing, weighing, warming, cooking, steaming, steam cooking, browning and/or caramelizing.

[0037] The combination appliance 10 is presented in FIGS. 3 to 5 in a transparent view in order to allow a deeper insight. Further, for a better understanding of the appliance structure and the components relevant to the present invention, some elements of the extraction device 14 have been omitted, but rather only the filter assembly 48, the suction opening 24, the cover grid 26 and the extraction fan 36 are the illustrated components of the extraction device 14 in FIGS. 3 to 5.

[0038] The transparent view of FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate the arrangement of the induction coils 58 below the cooktop 22, which may be a glass ceramic plate. In these figures only two induction coils 58 defining two cooking zones, respectively, are shown on the cooking regions 20a arranged on the left half of the cooktop 22 of the cooking hob 12. However, a third cooking zone 60 may be arranged at a rear area of the right half of the cooktop 22. As an alternative to the third cooking zone 60, the right rear area may comprise a weighing zone 60 configured to receive a container for taking up food ingredients to be weighed during preparatory steps prior to the cooking process. A more advanced alternative, however, may provide for a combined zone on this area, the combined cooking zone including both a cooking and weighing function, so that e. g. during preparatory steps the right rear area is operable as a weighing zone 60, and is operable during the cooking process as a third cooking zone 60. Said weighing zone 60 may particularly be favourable, when the previously mentioned kitchen machine 62 does not include a weighing function, or for providing an additional weighing opportunity, e. g. for large-sized food items.

[0039] The fourth zone of the cooking hob 12 of the combination appliance 10, which is situated at a front area of the right half of the cooktop 22, is occupied by the kitchen machine 62, which includes a main body 64 and a food container 66 that is detachable from the main body 64 for filling and emptying and specifically when the kitchen machine 62 is not operated, but in a standby mode instead. Alternatively, the kitchen machine 62 may be designed in that it is entirely, i. e. inclusively with the food container 66, retractable into the combination appliance 10 in the standby mode, so that an upper edge of the food container 66 is flush with the upper surface of the cooktop 22, as is illustrated by FIG. 4.

[0040] A second cut-out, besides the first cut-out required for the suction opening 24, is arranged in the cooktop 22 for the implementation of the kitchen machine 62. The main body 64 of the kitchen machine 62 comprises a casing 68, which is designed in two parts including an upper part 68 and a lower part 68. The upper part 68 is attached to, preferably glued on, the bottom side of the cooktop 22, while the lower part 68 is connected to the upper part 68 by means of screws. The upper part 68 is entirely enclosed by a housing 70 of the cooking hob 12, while the lower part 68 is attached to a bottom side of the housing 70, so that a hob bottom wall 72 of the housing 70 forms a parting plane for upper and lower parts 68, 68 of the casing 68.

[0041] Within the casing 68 all components for operating the kitchen machine 62 are embedded, including a motor with drive shaft, a heating element, sensor means, electronic components and electric connection to mains supply and to a user interface for operating the kitchen machine 62.

[0042] According to FIGS. 3 and 5, a first user interface 74 for the operation, in particular for user inputs, of the cooking hob 12 is arranged next to a left front edge of the cooktop 22, which user interface 74 may also include a user interface function for the extraction device 14 and/or a user interface function for the weighing zone 60. Further, a second user interface 76 is arranged next to a front right edge of the cooktop 22, which is intended to solely operate the kitchen machine 62. Alternatively, the operation, in particular user inputs, of the weighing zone 60 and/or of the extraction device 14 may be performable by the second user interface 76 instead of being allocated to the first user interface 74. Yet another option, however, provides for a common user interface 78 for all functions and units of the combination appliance 10, as is illustrated by FIG. 4.

[0043] Finally, although a combination appliance 10 with specific dimensions is presented by FIGS. 1 to 5, the herein described set-ups of combination appliance 10 may be applicable to all known sizes of cooking hobs 12 and respective combination appliances 10 with a width of at least 580 mm. In combination with the kitchen machine 62 occupying one operating area of the cooktop 22, two, three or four cooking zones may be provided, specifically depending on the size of the cooking hob 12.

[0044] 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.

[0045] Moreover, features which are described in the context of separate aspects and embodiments of the invention may be used together and/or be interchangeable. Similarly, features described in the context of a single embodiment may also be provided separately or in any suitable sub-combination.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0046] 10 combination appliance [0047] 12 cooking hob [0048] 14 downdraft extraction device [0049] 16 kitchen cabinet [0050] 18 kitchen countertop [0051] 20a, 20b cooking regions [0052] 22 cooktop [0053] 24 suction opening [0054] 26 cover grid [0055] 28 extraction device housing [0056] 30 exhaust opening [0057] 32 base area [0058] 34 outlet grille [0059] 36 extraction fan [0060] 38 intake opening [0061] 42 fan housing [0062] 44 air duct [0063] 46.sup.1 to 5 arrows indicating air flow [0064] 48 filter assembly [0065] 50 filter carrier [0066] 54 power boards [0067] 56 control electronics [0068] 58 induction coils [0069] 60 third cooking zone [0070] 60 weighing zone [0071] 62 kitchen machine [0072] 64 main body [0073] 66 food container [0074] 68 casing [0075] 68 upper part [0076] 68 lower part [0077] 70 hob housing [0078] 72 hob bottom wall [0079] 74 first user interface [0080] 76 second user interface [0081] 78 common user interface