Electric heating – Heating devices – Combined with container – enclosure – or support for material...
Reexamination Certificate
2001-02-28
2001-11-20
Pelham, Joseph (Department: 3742)
Electric heating
Heating devices
Combined with container, enclosure, or support for material...
C219S405000, C126S200000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06320164
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND
View windows of various sizes and having various structures have long been used in oven doors. In order to meet applicable safety standards for allowable exterior temperatures of said view windows, however, they have typically been small in size, deeply tinted, or otherwise treated so that the view into the cooking chamber is very limited, thus creating a periodic need to open the oven door to check the progress of the item or items that are being cooked. Each time the oven door is opened, the interior temperature of the cooking chamber decreases below the desired cooking temperature, and additional energy is consumed in returning the temperature to such desired temperature. Additionally, the hot cooking chamber can pose a safety risk to small children or others who are not aware of the risk of being burned when the oven door is open.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to have an oven view window which would meet applicable safety standards, but would allow a substantial size view window being essentially transparent to enable the user to have a clear and expansive view of the items of food being cooked so that it is unnecessary to open the oven door to check the progress of such items.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a view window in an oven, the view window comprising a glass substrate having two major surfaces and a thermally activated, light scattering coating disposed on at least one of the major surfaces. More particularly, the glass substrate carries a normally translucent-to-opaque coating which upon exposure to heat becomes essentially transparent.
One important quality of the window is its ability to provide improved viewing to the interior of the oven cooking chamber, and food items located in such chamber. Additionally, a plurality of glass substrates inside the oven door should reflect/absorb the heat generated in the interior of the oven during use and transmit as little as possible of that heat to the exterior surface of the oven door.
The present invention may beneficially be used in any type of oven in which sufficient heat is generated, when such oven is in operation, so as to heat the oven door to a temperature above the activation temperature of the thermally activated light-scattering coating.
The invention provides a view window that, when the oven is not in use or is at a temperature below a predetermined activation temperature, will appear translucent-to-opaque, thus masking the interior of the oven, i.e., the cooking chamber, from view. Upon exposure to a temperature above a predetermined activation temperature, however, the viewing window will appear color neutral and essentially transparent, clearly revealing the interior of the cooking chamber.
The advantages of the invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment when considered in the light of the accompanying drawing in which:
REFERENCES:
patent: 5337727 (1994-08-01), Borens et al.
patent: 5588421 (1996-12-01), Busch et al.
patent: 1-18946 (1989-01-01), None
patent: 9-48640 (1997-02-01), None
Marshall & Melhorn LLC
Pelham Joseph
Pilkington North America Inc.
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