Household appliance for cooking food and related operating method

The present disclosure relates to a household appliance for cooking food which can be usefully employed in the field of kitchen equipment, according to the preamble of claim.

It is also an object of the present disclosure a method of operating the above-mentioned household appliance for cooking food, in accordance with the preamble to claim.

During the cooking of baked food it is necessary to perform several operations of opening and closing the cooking compartment of the oven to be able to introduce or extract the food to be cooked.

Such closing and opening operations are performed with the oven at temperature, i.e. while the cooking compartment is at temperatures that are potentially harmful and irritating for the skin and eyes of the user. Typically, the temperatures used for baking food in an oven are between 150° C. and 250° C.

During the opening operation, the user is disposed in front of the oven, and is the act of bending down to lower the door, positioning the face just above the opening of the oven cooking compartment.

Consequently, due to the spontaneous upward movement of the hot fluids, the user's face will be exposed to the flow of hot air escaping from the cooking compartment.

Disadvantageously, in addition to causing a significant feeling of discomfort, this could irritate the face and eyes of the user.

In addition, if the latter wears glasses, the flow of hot air escaping out of the cooking compartment could damage the lenses or even the frame.

The above disadvantages are amplified if the oven is used in steam cooking mode.

In fact, in this case, the flow of hot air leaving the cooking compartment is saturated with water vapor and, therefore, has a greater heat exchange capacity. In thermodynamics, in fact, it is known that an air flow saturated with water vapor allows convective heat exchanges to be obtained which are significantly higher than those that would be obtained by an equivalent flow of dry air that is at the same temperature.

In light of the above, the manufacturers feel the need to reduce the health risks and discomfort associated with opening the cooking compartment of an oven, especially when used in steam mode.

Steam ovens are known in the state of the art comprising door locking mechanisms adapted to allow the opening of the cooking compartment only when the concentration of water vapor is lower than a certain value, and/or the temperature of the cooking compartment is lower than a limit temperature. One example of such an oven type is disclosed in FR2776478A1.

However, disadvantageously, although on the one hand such ovens are capable of improving the safety of use, on the other hand they are particularly inconvenient to use. In fact, the user must also wait tens of seconds before being able to access the cooking compartment.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,032,028A discloses an oven for cooking food having a cooking compartment selectively closable using a door and a system for extraction of the cooking steam. In detail, the latter comprises extraction members that are fluid-dynamically connected, with a first opening arranged at the mouth of the oven and a second opening arranged on one of the walls defining the cooking compartment. During use, when the user opens the door of the cooking compartment, the extraction members increase their operating speed to prevent the hot air present in the cooking compartment from hitting the user.

Document US2006/237425A discloses an oven having an extraction system configured, when the oven door is opened, to extract the hot air present in the cooking compartment through an opening made on the walls of the cooking compartment at the access mouth.

It should be noted that in the ovens disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,032,028A and US2006/237425A, in order for the volume of hot air contained in the cooking compartment to be sucked in, the user is required to move close to the oven and, acting on the door handle, open the cooking compartment. Therefore, if the suction effect of the extraction members is not sufficient to capture the entire flow of hot air escaping the cooking compartment-for example, due to the transient to bring the extraction members to full speed-it is evident that this will hit the user who is in located the vicinity of the oven for the purpose of opening the door.

In this context, the technical task underlying the present disclosure is to propose a household appliance which overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art mentioned above.

In particular, it is an object of the present disclosure to provide a household appliance for cooking food that is both safe and practical to use.

In detail, it is an object of the present disclosure to provide a household appliance for cooking food having a convenience of use, in terms of availability of access to the cooking compartment, comparable to that of common ovens, and which at the same time is able to avoid the aforementioned risks to the health of the user.

The present disclosure relates to a household appliance for cooking food comprising a frame defining a cooking compartment adapted to accommodate one or more food to be cooked.

In detail, the cooking compartment can be controlled in temperature and has an access opening configured to allow the introduction and extraction of the food.

The household appliance further comprises a door hingedly connected to the frame and switchable between a cooking position, an access position, and a ajar position intermediate between the cooking position and the access position. In detail, in the cooking position the door is positioned to close the opening of the cooking compartment, in the access position the door leaves the opening free so as to allow the introduction and extraction of the food from the cooking compartment, while in the ajar position the door is at least partially spaced apart from the opening of the cooking compartment. The door has a hinging portion rotatably connected to the frame and a pushing portion opposite the hinging portion.

The household appliance also comprises opening members configured to act on the door to switch it between the cooking position and the ajar position, and a suction unit configured to extract at least part of a volume of air present in the cooking compartment when the door is in the ajar position or access position. In detail, the opening members are configured to abut the pushing portion of the door and exert an opening force on the latter, i.e. a force adapted to switch the door from the cooking position to the ajar position.

The object of the present disclosure is also a method of operating a household appliance of the type disclosed above. This method comprises the steps of: bringing the cooking compartment to a defined use temperature with the door in the cooking position; simultaneously actuating the opening members and the suction unit; keeping the suction unit operated as long as the door is in the ajar position; and deactivating the suction unit when the door is brought into the access position or into the closing position.

It should be noted that the simultaneous actuation of the opening members and of the suction unit allows the removal of at least part of the volume of air, and therefore of the heat, present in the cooking compartment which tends to escape while the door moves from the cooking position to the ajar position. Therefore, when the door is in the ajar position, the user, without running the risk of being hit by a hot air current, can immediately access the cooking compartment by bringing the door into the ajar position, as is usual with common ovens.

It is therefore evident that the synergistic effect of the opening members and the suction unit allows the convenience of use of the household appliance to be increased without compromising its safety of use.

Even if not explicitly highlighted, the individual features disclosed with reference to the specific embodiments shall be understood as accessory to and/or interchangeable with other features disclosed with reference to other embodiments.

With reference to the accompanying Figures, the present disclosure relates to a household appliancefor cooking food in a thermally controlled environment. Typically, this type of method of cooking food in an oven is referred to as baking.

With reference to, the household appliancecomprises a framedefining a cooking compartmentthat can be controlled in temperature and adapted to accommodate food to be cooked.

In the context of the present disclosure, a temperature-controllable cooking compartmentmembers a cavity, of a certain volume, peripherally delimited by the frameof the household applianceand configured to be brought to temperatures suitable for cooking food by members of special heating members that, as these are known to the person skilled in the art, will not be further described.

As shown in, the cooking compartmentis delimited above, below, and at least partly laterally by respective walls of the frame. According to a preferred embodiment, the cooking compartmentis parallelepipedal in shape.

The household appliancecomprises an oven and the cooking compartmentrealizes the cooking chamber of said oven.

Therefore, the cooking compartmentmay include all those components typical of the cooking chambers of ovens such as, for example, the ventilation system of the chamber or the support grills which can be adjusted to different levels.

Preferably, moreover, the cooking compartmentcan be adapted to carry out the steam cooking of foodstuffs.

To this end, for example, the lower wall of the framedelimiting the cooking compartmentmay have a concave region adapted to be filled with water.

Alternatively, the water vapor can be produced in a boiler and then placed in the cooking compartment.

With reference to, the cooking compartmenthas an openingconfigured to allow the introduction and extraction of food from the cooking compartmentitself.

In other words, the openingis specially sized to allow the easy movement of containers for cooking food, such as for example ramekins, cake tins, and trays, to and from the cooking compartment.

Preferably, with reference to, the openingof the cooking compartmentis delimited by a perimeter contour C defined by the frame. Preferably, said perimeter contour has an upper edge Cand an opposite lower edge C. Further preferably, the openinghas a polygonal geometry, in particular quadrangular.

The household appliancefurther comprises a doorhingedly connected to the frameconfigured to selectively close the openingof the cooking compartment.

In the embodiments of the attached figures, the dooris rotatably attached to the frame by members of special hinging members; however, in alternative embodiments, the doorcan be connected in translation to the frame by members of sliding guides or the like.

Preferably, with reference to the embodiments of the attached figures, the doorhas a hinging portionrotatably connected to the frameby members of hinging members, and a pushing portionopposite to the hinging portion

It should be noted that the hinging members bind the doorto the framealong an axis of rotation A-A, the doorrotating around said axis of rotation A-A assumes different angles with respect to the openingof the cooking compartment.

Preferably, the hinging portionof the dooris bound to the frameat the lower edge Cof the perimeter contour C of the opening, and the pushing portionof the doorcan be connected to the upper edge Cof the perimeter contour C of the opening.

With particular reference to, the household appliancehas a cooling ductat least partially surrounding the cooking compartmentand configured to cause therein a flow of cooling air adapted to prevent overheating of the regions of the framenext to the cooking compartment.

Preferably, the cooling ductextends at least partly in the vicinity of the upper wall of the cooking compartment.

Still with reference to, the doorcomprises a cooling gapadapted to cause a flow of cooling air inside.

According to one aspect, the cooling gapis obtained between an inner wallof the door, that can be connected to the openingof the cooking compartment, and an outer wallopposite the inner wall.

Said cooling gapis delimited on opposite sides by an inlet openingand an outlet opening, respectively configured to allow the introduction and the discharge of the cooling air flow of the door.

The dooris switchable between a cooking position (and), an access position (), and a ajar position () intermediate between the cooking position and the access position.