Electric heating – Heating devices – Combined with container – enclosure – or support for material...
Reexamination Certificate
1998-01-27
2001-03-27
Paik, Sang (Department: 3742)
Electric heating
Heating devices
Combined with container, enclosure, or support for material...
Reexamination Certificate
active
06207933
ABSTRACT:
RELATED APPLICATION
This application claims priority from German application no. DE 197 03 269.9-16 filed in the Federal Republic of Germany on Jan. 31, 1997.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to stoves and, more particularly, to stove tops used for cooking in, e.g., households, food service establishments and the like.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Commonly, stoves are configured for use with gas or electric burners exposed through openings in the top cooking plate. A more recent innovation involves “smooth top” stoves, i.e., stoves having electric burners mounted beneath an imperforate, substantially flat cooking plate made of special, high-temperature glass.
Irrespective of the specific type of burner and configuration of the cooking plate, it is common to mount the cooking plate to the supporting stove structure by means of some type of frame. At the least, the frame covers and masks the edges of the stove structure and the cooking plate and provides a finished product of attractive appearance.
One approach to cooking plate mounting is disclosed in German patent document DE 31 26 013 C2. Such document discloses a substantially flat cooking plate which is made of glass ceramic and which adheres to a frame. During manufacture, portions of the frame are coated with silicone adhesive and the cooking plate is then placed against the adhesive. Excess adhesive is displaced by plate placement and after a predetermined hardening time, the plate and the frame adhere firmly to one another. The resulting assembly can be handled as a unitary structure.
While such cooking plate mounting arrangements have been generally satisfactory, they are not without disadvantages. One disadvantage of the arrangement disclosed in the above-noted German patent document is that the excess adhesive that has been displaced during plate placement must then be removed during post-processing stages. This operation take time and translates into increased manufacturing cost and, of course, higher consumer prices.
A corollary disadvantage of the aforedescribed arrangement is that there is no way to prevent the excess adhesive from being displaced. The adhesive “oozes” unrestrained.
Another disadvantage of the arrangement disclosed in the above-noted German patent document is that proper positioning of the plate and the frame to one another must be performed while the adhesive is hardening. Most desirably, a two-component, rapidly hardening adhesive is used and there is little time to make precise positioning adjustment. Nor, of course, is there any way to reliably retain alignment, once achieved and if achieved.
A new mounting support and related method which addresses shortcomings of the prior art would be a distinct technological advance in the art.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of this invention to provide a stove top mounting support and related method which address some of the problems and shortcomings of the prior art.
Another object of this invention is to provide a stove top mounting support and related method which help reduce manufacturing costs.
Another object of this invention is to provide a stove top mounting support and related method which avoid post-assembly removal of excess adhesive.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a stove top mounting support and related method which restrain the adhesive joining the frame and plate from free-flowing to unwanted locations.
Another object of this invention is to provide a stove top mounting support and related method which permit relative plate-and-frame positioning prior to adhesive application.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a stove top mounting support and related method which retains the selected plate-and-frame positioning during adhesive application. How these and other objects are accomplished will be apparent from the following descriptions and from the drawings.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention involves a stove top assembly comprising a relatively thin, substantially flat cooking plate of the type made of high-temperature glass, glass ceramic or the like. The plate has a perimeter portion and there is a mounting frame around such portion.
In the improvement, the frame includes a lateral, generally horizontal carrier member and a wall-like upstanding retention member extending away from the carrier member. The plate and the frame and its retention member are cooperatively sized so that the retention member and the perimeter portion define an upwardly-opening space between them. Foam substantially fills the space and adheres to the retention member and to the perimeter portion, thereby affixing the plate and the frame to one another.
The preferred foam is a reactive foam having plural constituents mixed together and expanded to substantially fill the space. The frame includes at least one opening for injecting the foam through such frame and into the space.
In a preferred embodiment, the plate is spaced above the carrier member and the foam is between the plate and the carrier member and adheres to the carrier member. In a more specific embodiment, the foam substantially fills the space to a level slightly below the top surface of the cooking plate.
In another aspect of the invention, the carrier member includes a groove formed in it. A sealing element is in the groove and contacts the plate and the foam adheres to the sealing element.
When making the stove top assembly, it has been found desirable to use a specially-configured manufacturing tool to do so. One embodiment of a preferred tool has a slab-like body component and a foot-like tool support member extending downwardly therefrom. The support member has a support surface substantially coplanar with the top surface and spanning the space. In a specific embodiment, both the space and the support member circumscribe a rectangle-shaped area.
In more specific aspects of the invention, the tool and the cooking plate top surface define a gap between them and a gasket is in the gap. In a specific embodiment, the gasket also circumscribes a rectangle-shaped area. The tool includes an evacuation channel in air flow communication with the gap and the gasket extends around the perimeter portion, thereby sealing the tool and the cooking plate with respect to one another.
In an alternate embodiment, the tool includes a resilient foot member extending downwardly from it and spanning the space. The perimeter portion of the cooking plate includes a chamfered upper edge and the foot member includes a lip sealing against the chamfered upper edge at a location below the plate top surface.
Another aspect of the invention involves a new method for making a stove top assembly. Such method includes providing a cooking plate having a perimeter portion and providing a mounting frame including a lateral carrier member and an upstanding retention member extending away from the carrier member. The cooking plate is positioned in the mounting frame to define an upwardly-opening space around the perimeter portion and between the perimeter portion and the retention member. Substantially all of the space is then filled with reactive adhesive foam, thereby affixing the cooking plate and the mounting frame to one another.
A more specific method includes providing a tool of the embodiment described above as having a support member, a support surface, a gasket and an evacuation channel. The filling step is preceded by the step of placing the support surface on the cooking plate top surface in a position whereby the support surface spans the space. Then air is evacuated from the gap through the channel so that the support surface is urged snugly against the cooking plate top surface and the retention member. The space is then filled with foam and the support surface (coacting with the carrier member and the retention member) constrains the foam within the space.
In an alternate method, the cooking plate is formed so that its perimeter portion has a chamfered upper edge. The tool has a resilient foot member and lip as described above. The filling step is p
Hottum Werner
Schultheiss Bernd
Stedron Horst
Jansson, Shupe, Bridge & Munder, Ltd.
Paik Sang
Schott Glasswerke
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