Electric heating – Heating devices – Combined with container – enclosure – or support for material...
Reexamination Certificate
2000-05-26
2001-10-09
Walberg, Teresa (Department: 3742)
Electric heating
Heating devices
Combined with container, enclosure, or support for material...
C219S464100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06300602
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to cooktops in which burners are supported beneath a cooktop glass or ceramic panel and having a heated area light tube exposed to the panel.
BACKGROUND ART
Cooktops have been developed in which radiant heating elements are mounted beneath a glass or ceramic panel. Such panels prevent contamination of the heating elements and provide a continuous surface that is easy to clean and enhances the appearance of the appliance in which the cooktop is mounted. However, while radiant heating elements typically radiate light as well as the heat for cooking, pans placed on the top surface of the panel obscure the visibility of the radiant light, particularly when a cooking pan is centered over the heating element for efficient heating. Moreover, even though electrical power to the heating element may have been shut off, the heating element may still remain hot even though the heating element does not radiate a visible indication of its temperature. Accordingly, previously known cooktops have employed a heat indicator lamp near the heating element or in the area of a control panel for the cooktop to indicate that a surface area of the cooktop remains at a high temperature. However, light displays that are small or only near to a portion of the heated area or in the case of placement in the control zone remote that may be from the heated area, such illumination does not provide a complete visual depiction of the heated area where inadvertent contact should be avoided.
Several problems must be overcome in order to improve the size of the area to be illuminated to more nearly correspond with the heated area. Increasing the surface area of the lighting subjects a large number of illuminating elements or substantial surface areas of large lighting elements to cyclic heating and cooling and the incident stresses and strains of such cycling. Moreover, the use of large lighting elements can illuminate substantially more than the surface area visible to the user, and may illuminate the entire interior of the appliance below the cooktop panel. Such illumination may detract from the appearance of the appliance as it illuminates far more details of the interior construction of the appliance than may be desirable. Moreover, proper positioning of the light at the heated area often requires special construction of the heater support or other mounting in order to incorporate the illumination at the heated area. Moreover, attempts to control illumination often resulted in the use of increasingly permeable coatings or thermochromic materials on the cooktop panel to control illumination through the heat radiating surface. Alternatively, multiple light sources may be employed at a particular area and selectively illuminated depending upon the temperature range of the heated area. Such illumination controls substantially increase the cost of the appliance and subject a substantially greater number of parts and surfaces to the stresses and strains of cyclic heating.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
The present invention overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages by providing an illuminator for heated zones on a translucent cooktop in which a tubular lamp is curved and positioned beneath the cooktop panel to peripherally depict a burner area on the cooktop panel. The tubular lamp is mounted in a gasket retained against the cooktop panel by the burner support. The gasket exposes a portion of the tube to the panel while pliably engaging the panel surface and may recess the lamp from contact with the panel to avoid breakage during shipping, handling or when objects are dropped on the panel. Similarly, the present invention provides a method for aligning light transmission through a translucent cooktop panel by inserting a tubular light in a gasket having raised walls defining a channel, positioning the channel in exposed alignment to the cooktop panel and supporting the gasket beneath the cooktop panel, the gasket being resiliently engaged against the surface of the cooktop panel.
In a preferred embodiment, a tubular lighting element suggests, such as a tubular neon bulb curved to fit about the periphery of a heating element, is retained in a gasket of opaque material. The gasket includes a pair of walls that define an open topped channel dimensioned to receive the tube and expose a peripheral portion of the tube. Preferably, the channel is formed as a socket to resiliently engage a large portion of the tube while the top portion of the tube remains exposed through the channel to the cooktop panel, although recessed from the surface of the panel. A gasket also includes a mount, preferably an inverted channel adapted to receive a support bracket flange extending from the periphery of a heating element support. Preferably, the gasket is made of a silicone foam which can be pliably or resiliently engaged against the cooktop panel.
Alternatively, or in addition, the light tube may be opaquely coated over a substantial portion of its surface so that the illuminating area is limited by the coating on the bulb and may not require opaque gasket material. In a preferred method of coating a bulb, the bulb may be prefit into a gasket and the assembly is subjected to an application, preferably by spraying, of a masking material covering an exposed surface portion of the bulb. The bulb may be removed from the gasket and then coated with an opaque material. After coating, the masking layer on the tube is removed so that the area of illumination is aligned toward the cooktop surface regardless of the gasket material or support used to position the light ring under the cooktop surface.
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Daerendinger Hans
Platt Nils
Brooks & Kushman P.C.
BSH Home Appliances Corporation
Fastovsky Leonid
Walberg Teresa
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