Electric heating – Heating devices – Combined with container – enclosure – or support for material...
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-22
2001-04-17
Pelham, Joseph (Department: 3742)
Electric heating
Heating devices
Combined with container, enclosure, or support for material...
C219S507000, C200S528000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06218645
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the general technical field of electrical cooking appliances having a case, a bowl and a heating element associated with the bowl, and relates more particularly to a control device accessible from outside the appliance to allow the user to initiate various functions.
It is known to provide electric fryers having a case forming a housing that opens toward the top and receives a bowl, which may or may not be removable, as well as a lid connected by a hinge to the case in such a manner as to be able to close the bowl from the top, the lid being retained in its closed position by a bolt, or lock, usually located diametrically opposite to the hinge. A control button accessible from the exterior permits the bolt to be unlocked in order to open the lid when desired.
Such a fryer includes, in addition, heating means disposed at the bottom of the housing and an on-off control means for the electric current to the heating means. Such an on-off control means can be a conventional on-off switch which is accessible from the outside, and/or means for controlling the temperature in the bowl. The latter means generally include a thermostat having a part which comes into contact with the bowl and a control element, such as a dial, accessible from the outside to permit selection of the desired cooking temperature.
In known fryers, the control device generally protrudes from the external face of the case, in the form of a large rotatable dial whose initial operating positions permit the on-off switch to be turned on and whose subsequent angular positions permit selection of the desired temperature to which the thermostat is to respond. Alternatively, the control means can be constituted by a lever that is movable within a groove.
These control devices thus have elements that protrude in a significant way from the external face of the case, rendering the latter difficult to clean. This is all the more true when dirt can come to lodge at the bottom of slots, hollows and other cavities, as is particularly true in the case of levers. Moreover, such protruding control means are considered by users to be unsightly.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a control device for an electrical cooking appliance composed of a case and a bowl associated with heating means, the control device having a nonobtrusive form while remaining reliable in its operation and inexpensive to fabricate.
This and other objects are achieved by a control device comprising a rotatable part mounted for rotation about an axis, supporting elements having indicia, or markings, and/or comprising elements arranged to control power switching means and/or arranged to modify a position of a setting element for means for controlling temperature or pressure, and/or arranged to act through a mechanism on a lock for the lid,
a control button mounted for movement in translation parallel to the axis of rotation of the rotatable part, in opposition to elastic means, between a rest position, where it is at least approximately flush with an external face of the case, and a depressed position in which it is at least partly retracted into the case,
first means defining camming surfaces on a surface of the rotatable part that is concentric with the axis of rotation of the rotatable part,
second means defining camming surfaces on a surface of the button that is concentric with the axis of rotation of the rotatable part and being located to interact with the first means in such a manner as to provoke a first rotation of the rotatable part during depression of the button from its rest position to its depressed position,
third means defining camming surfaces on a surface of the rotatable part that is concentric with the axis of rotation of rotation of the rotatable part, the third means being offset with respect to the first means, and
at least one finger which bears elastically on the third means in such a manner as to start a second rotation of the rotatable part during return of the button to its rest position.
As will be understood, the second rotation then permits shifting of the angular position of the second means arranged on the control button with respect to the first means arranged to be facing on the rotatable part, in such a manner that a subsequent depression of the control button leads to a new rotation of the rotatable part.
As a result of this arrangement, a manually induced control movement from the outside, which in the prior art is usually a movement in translation in the plane of the face of the case, is transformed into a movement in translation perpendicular to the plane of that face.
This then permits the exterior control button to be arranged in such a manner that, at rest, it is at least approximately flush with the plane of the face of the case in order to form therewith a continuous surface. The invention could be implemented with a control button whose outer surface is perfectly flush with the outer surface of the case. However, it is presently considered to be preferable to have the button protrude slightly from the outer surface of the case to enable the user to locate it by touch.
In addition, it is desirable that the outer surface of the button form a smooth continuation of the surrounding portion of the outer surface of the case. The face of the case is thus more watertight and is easier to clean, even when the appliance is in use.
The device according to the invention is particularly advantageous when used on a fryer, because this type of appliance emits relatively fatty vapors which can then fall back onto the outside of the case. The ease of cleaning provided by a control button that is flush with, or at least forms a smooth continuation with, the outer surface of the case is then greatly improved.
Advantageously, the rotatable part is in the form of a ring arranged in a circular depression of a support plate fixed between the outer surface and an internal wall of the case.
If desired, one or several hooks protruding from the plate are engaged in a groove or behind a flange formed on the ring in proximity to the edge thereof which is contact with the plate. These hooks assure that the ring is retained in position to not move relative to the plate in the direction of the axis of rotation, or longitudinal axis, of the ring.
With this new arrangement, there are provided no fewer than two circular faces, one internal and one external, where command elements and the means defining camming surfaces can be provided.
Advantageously then, the first means are provided in the internal or external circular face of the ring, and the elements arranged to act on the on-off means of the heating circuit, or to act on the temperature setting element of the temperature control means, or to act on the mechanism for opening the lid are preferably arranged on the other circular face of the ring. Thus, all interference between, on the one hand, the rotation mechanism of the ring produced by the control button accessible from the outside and, on the other hand, the control elements acting on the different functions of the fryer is avoided.
Advantageously, the on-off control means of the electrical current supply circuit for the heating means include one or several switches whose cases are arranged in proximity to the ring, in such a manner that their actuators, maintained at rest in a protruding position from their case by an internal elastic means, interact with lugs, or projections, of the third means distributed regularly around the perimeter of the external circular face of the ring. This arrangement is characterized by its simplicity, and thus its reliability.
Advantageously, each of the lugs on the ring has a hollow portion at its peak, interacting with the actuator in such a manner as to initiate, or to contribute to initiation of, the second rotation of the rotatable ring during return of the control button of the device to its rest position.
Advantageous use is thus made of the elastic means present in the on-off switches for the
Browdy and Neimark
Pelham Joseph
Seb S.A.
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