Cooking appliance

Abstract

Cooking appliance (2), with a housing (4) in which a cooking chamber (6) which can be closed by a door is formed, wherein, in the closed position of the door, a seal (8) having at least one elastic component (12) is arranged between the door and a frame (4.1) of the housing (4) surrounding the opening (6.1) of the cooking chamber (6), wherein the seal (8) has at least one heating means (10) for heating the elastic component (12), characterized in that the seal (8) has at least one spring element (14), wherein the spring element (14) prestresses the elastic component (12) of the seal (8) in the closed position of the door in the direction of the door and in the direction of the frame (4.1), and / or the heating means (10) can be controlled or regulated by a control unit of the cooking appliance (2) and depending on the cooking appliance function selected on the cooking appliance (2).

Description

The invention relates to a cooking appliance having a housing in which a cooking chamber closable by a door is formed, wherein, in the closed position of the door, a seal is arranged between the door and a frame of the housing surrounding the opening of the cooking chamber, said seal having at least one elastic component.Such cooking devices are already known from the prior art.For example, DE 197 06 185 A1 shows a cooking appliance designed as an oven, in which an at least partially encircling seal is arranged between the oven door and the oven frame enclosing the opening of the oven muffle in the closed position of the oven door.Seals for household appliances are also known from the publications U.S. Pat. No. 3,038,319 A and DE 1 708 869 U.The seals used are subjected to severe stress due to the high temperatures and the substances emerging from the articles to be cooked, for example fats, and lose the elasticity required for good sealing over time. In order to overcome this disadvantage, it is proposed in DE 197 06 185 A1 to use a further sealing part.The invention thus addresses the problem of specifying a cooking appliance in which the function of the seal is retained in another way over a relatively long period of time.According to the invention, this problem is solved by a cooking appliance having the features of claim 1. Advantageous embodiments and further developments of the invention are evident from the following dependent claims.The advantages which can be achieved with the invention consist in particular in the fact that the elasticity of the seal and thus its function is retained for a longer time. In this way, the service life of the seal is extended, which also leads to a reduction in costs. By heating the elastic component of the seal, hardening of the seal, for example by the incorporation of fats released during the cooking process, is effectively prevented. As a result, the function of the cooking appliance according to the invention as a whole and also sub-functions of the cooking appliance are retained in the desired manner for a longer time.For example, a correctly functioning seal is required for a pyrolysis function of a self-cleaning cooking appliance. In the event of leaks, the surfaces in the vicinity of the seal cannot be heated to the required pyrolysis temperature, which results in incomplete cleaning of these surfaces.Heating the elastic component of the seal has the further advantage that the environment of the seal is also easily heated. For example, this effectively prevents the formation of condensation on a door pane.In principle, it is possible for the elastic component of the seal to be selected in such a way as to be of a type, material, arrangement, shape and dimensioning that the elastic component alone ensures a sufficiently firm contact of the seal on the door and on the frame of the housing in the closed position of the door.According to the invention, it is provided that the seal has at least one spring element, wherein the spring element, in the closed position of the door, prestresses the elastic component of the seal in the direction of the door and in the direction of the frame. In this way, it is possible to optimize the elastic component of the seal in terms of type, material, shape and dimensioning with respect to a tight contact on the door and frame. The contact pressure force of the seal against the door and the frame is ensured by the at least one spring element. By distributing the two functions, a better adaptation to different cooking appliance models is also possible in a structurally simple manner.A further advantageous refinement provides that the elastic component of the seal is formed from glass floss or has a layer of glass floss. Fiberglass, for example, tubularly woven glass fibers, is a material that has been proven for these applications.In principle, the heating means can be freely selected within wide suitable limits according to the mode of operation, arrangement, shape and dimensioning. An advantageous further development provides that the heating means is designed as a heating tube arranged in the interior of the elastic component. This enables the heating of the elastic component in a reliable and energy-saving manner.For example, a heating medium can flow through the heating tube or be designed in the manner of a heat pipe. However, a particularly advantageous development provides that the heating tube is designed as an electrical resistance heating element. In this way, the heating tube is realized in a particularly simple manner. This is because cooking devices usually have an electrical power supply, which can also be used for operating the electrical resistance heating element for the seal.According to the invention, it is provided that the heating means can be controlled or regulated by a control unit of the cooking appliance and as a function of the cooking appliance function selected at the cooking appliance. On the one hand, this makes it possible to dispense with an additional control unit for the heating means. On the other hand, the amount of heat supplied to the elastic component can thereby be controlled or regulated as required. This allows efficient operation of the cooking appliance.An exemplary embodiment of the invention is illustrated purely schematically in the drawings and is described in more detail below. It shows FIG. 1 shows an exemplary embodiment of a cooking appliance according to the invention in a partial view from the front, shown in perspective; FIG. 2 shows the frame of the housing of the cooking appliance from FIG. 1 in a comparable illustration; FIG. 3 shows the frame from FIG. 2 in a perspective illustration from behind; FIG. 4 shows the seal of the cooking appliance from FIG. 1 in a lateral sectional illustration, and FIG. 5 shows the seal in a partial view, in perspective.FIG. 1 shows an exemplary embodiment of a cooking appliance according to the invention by way of example. The cooking appliance is designed here as an oven 2 with pyrolysis function, i.e. self-cleaning function, and has a housing 4 and a cooking chamber 6 which can be closed by a door, not shown. In the closed position of the door, the latter covers the opening 6.1 of the cooking chamber 6, the opening 6.1 being surrounded by a circumferential seal 8, the seal 8 being detachably fastened to a frame 4.1 of the housing 4. In the closed position of the door, i.e. when the cooking chamber 6 is closed, the seal 8 is arranged between the door and the frame 4.1 of the housing 4 and in this way closes the cooking chamber 6 against undesired air exchange with the environment.The frame 4.1 is here a sheet metal frame 4.1 screwed to the rest of the housing 4, which is shown in more detail in FIGS. 2 and 3. FIG. 2 shows the sheet metal frame 4.1 from the front, i.e. in a position analogous to FIG. 1, while the sheet metal frame 4.1 in FIG. 3 is rotated by 180° and can thus be seen from the rear. In the regions denoted by "B" in FIG. 2 and by "A" in FIG. 3 and highlighted by circles, the electrical connections of a heating means 10 of the seal 8 embodied as an electrical resistance heating element are illustrated.In FIG. 4, the seal 8 is shown in a cross section, i.e. perpendicular to the plane of the opening 6.1.The seal 8 has an elastic component 12 which is annularly formed in cross section and is produced from a woven fabric made of fine glass fibers. In this context, one also speaks of glass silk. Furthermore, the seal 8 has a spring element 14 designed as a braid of stainless steel; see also FIG. 5. both the elastic component 12 and the spring element 14 are designed here in the manner of a hose, wherein the spring element 14 is arranged over the full surface on the inner side of the elastic component 12.The spring element 14 supports the elastic component 12 such that the elastic component 12 is biased radially outward in FIG. 4. The elastic component 12 of the seal 8 mounted on the frame 4.1 of the cooking appliance 2 is thus pressed both against the door and against the frame 4.1 by means of the spring element 14 in the closed position of the door, not shown. In this way, the cooking chamber 6 is closed off from undesired air exchange with the environment in the closed position of the door.As can be seen from FIGS. 4 and 5, the heating means 10 of the seal 8 is a tube 10.1, which has a current-carrying heating rod 10.2 in its interior. The heating rod 10.2 and the tube 10.1 are electrically insulated from one another by an electrical insulator 10.4 filling the intermediate space 10.3. The electrical insulator 10.4 filling the intermediate space 10.3 is not shown in FIG. 5. The electric resistance heating element 10 extends substantially along the entire elastic component 12, so that uniform heating thereof is ensured.The electrical power supply of the electrical resistance heating element 10 is regulated in the present exemplary embodiment by means of a control unit, not shown, of the cooking appliance 2. The electric resistance heating element 10 is switched on and off as required by means of the control unit. The duration of the switch-on time then results in the amount of heat supplied to the elastic component 12 of the seal 8.During operation of the cooking appliance 2 according to the invention, the electrical resistance heating element 10 is regulated as a function of the cooking appliance function selected at the cooking appliance 2. If, for example, the pyrolysis function of the cooking appliance 2 is selected, the electrical resistance heating element 10 is switched on. The heat supply is regulated by means of pulse width modulation or another suitable modulation method known and suitable to the person skilled in the art in such a way that the region of the housing 4 and of the door in the immediate vicinity of the seal 8 is also cleaned in the desired manner.In other cooking appliance functions, for example in circulating air operation or top and / or bottom heat operation, control of the electrical resistance heating element 10 can be effected in a manner differing therefrom. The skilled person will adapt the control or regulation of the electric resistance heating element 10 depending on the cooking appliance and cooking appliance function.The invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiment. The heating means can also be formed in other suitable ways known to the person skilled in the art. For example, the heating means can also be arranged only in sections and / or only over a partial length of the circumferential seal.In addition, a plurality of heating means of the same or different mode of operation can also be used.Also, the heating means does not necessarily have to be arranged in the interior of the elastic component. Instead of regulating the power supply of the heating means, a control is also conceivable in a simpler embodiment. Furthermore, the teaching according to the invention can also be used advantageously in other cooking appliances, such as steam cookers, for example.List of reference characters2 Cooking appliance, 4 housing of the cooking appliance 4.1 frame of the housing 4, 6 cooking chamber, 6.1 opening of the cooking chamber 6, 8 seal 10 heating means, 10.1 tube of the heating means 10.2 heating rod of the heating means 10.3 intermediate space 10.4 insulator of the heating means 12 elastic component of the seal 8, 14 spring element of the seal 8 formed as fabric of glass fibers, configured as an oven 4 housing of the cooking appliance 4.1 frame of the housing 4.

Claims

Cooking appliance (2), having a housing (4) in which a cooking chamber (6) which can be closed by a door is formed, wherein, in the closed position of the door, a seal (8) which has at least one elastic component (12) is arranged between the latter and a frame (4.1) of the housing (4) surrounding the opening (6.1) of the cooking chamber (6), wherein the seal (8) has at least one heating means (10) for heating the elastic component (12), characterized in that the seal (8) has at least one spring element (14), wherein, in the closed position of the door, the spring element (14) prestresses the elastic component (12) of the seal (8) in the direction of the door and in the direction of the frame (4.1), and / or the heating means (10) can be controlled or regulated by a control unit of the cooking appliance (2) and depending on the cooking appliance function selected at the cooking appliance (2).Cooking appliance (2) according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the elastic component (12) of the seal (8) is formed from glass silk or has a layer of glass silk.Cooking appliance (2) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the heating means (10) is designed as a heating tube (10) arranged in the interior of the elastic component (12).Cooking appliance (2) according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the heating tube (10) is designed as an electrical resistance heating element (10).

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