Vapour extraction device and method for operating a vapour extraction device

Abstract

The invention relates to a range hood (100) comprising a hood unit (110) designed to capture fumes (203) generated by a cooking process from a cooktop (201). The hood unit (110) includes a first control unit (112) comprising a logic unit (114) designed to process user input via a user interface (116) and, depending on the user input, to generate a control signal (115) for controlling the operation of the range hood (100). The range hood (100) also includes a fan unit (120) arranged separately from the hood unit (110). The fan unit (120) comprises a fan (126) and a second control unit (122). The blower (126) is designed to extract the vapors (203) taken up via the hood unit (110) from the hood unit (110) via an exhaust duct (140).The second control unit (122) includes a control device (124) configured to control the blower (126) of the blower unit (120) depending on the control signal (115). The exhaust hood (100) also includes a cable (130) configured to connect the first control unit (112) and the second control unit (122) to each other in a signal-transmitting manner.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a fume hood and a method for operating a fume hood.

[0002] An external fan for a kitchen extractor hood is known from EP 4 063 746 A1, wherein the external fan comprises a control unit for controlling the external fan and a communication interface for wireless communication with at least one transmitter, and the control unit is connected to the communication interface. A potential disadvantage of a system as described in EP 4 063 746 A1 is, in particular, that the connection method is wireless and can therefore be disadvantageous with regard to the following points: Wireless communication typically requires at least one communication gateway or router; functionality can be affected by interference or building-related factors such as steel beams, etc.; in the event of signal loss or connection interruption, uncontrolled operation may occur.

[0003] The invention aims to provide an improved extractor hood and an improved method for operating such an extractor hood. According to the invention, this objective is achieved by an extractor hood and a method for operating an extractor hood with the features of the main claims. Advantageous embodiments and further developments of the invention are described in the dependent claims.

[0004] The advantages achievable with the invention arise particularly from the fact that a simplified control unit is provided both in the housing of a range hood and in an external fan, and these units are coupled to each other via a cable connection capable of signal transmission. In this way, advantageous control and operation of a range hood with an external fan can be enabled. A commercially available solution for operating an external fan, in particular an external DC fan, for example as an outdoor or ceiling fan, in conjunction with a range hood can be provided. This solution enables trouble-free operation of an external fan, especially an external DC fan, in conjunction with a range hood. Thus, for example, a fault-resistant operating system for external range hood fans can be implemented.Optionally, the connection of multiple external fans can be enabled.

[0005] A range hood is presented, the range hood comprising the following features: A hood unit configured to capture fumes generated by a cooking process from a cooking appliance, the hood unit comprising a first control unit, the first control unit comprising a logic device configured to process user input via a user interface and, depending on the user input, to generate a control signal for controlling the operation of the extractor hood; a fan unit arranged separately from the hood unit, the fan unit comprising a fan and a second control unit, the fan configured to extract the fumes captured by the hood unit via an exhaust duct from the hood unit, the second control unit comprising a control device configured to control the fan of the fan unit depending on the control signal;and a cable designed to connect the first control unit and the second control unit in a signal-transmitting manner.

[0006] The extractor hood can be a household appliance. Although the described approach is based on a household appliance, it can be applied analogously to commercial or professional equipment. Optionally, the extractor hood can also include the exhaust duct. The fan unit can be an external unit. The fan unit can be located outside the hood unit. The fan unit can be positioned at a distance from the hood unit. The fan can function as an external fan or a ceiling fan, with an external fan being mounted on an exterior wall of a building and a ceiling fan being mounted on a ceiling of a room. The fan can be designed to convey the fumes extracted by the hood unit into the surrounding area of ​​the building where the extractor hood is installed.The user interface can be integrated into the hood unit, another household appliance, or a mobile device. The cable can be an electrical cable or a communication cable.

[0007] Each of the control units can be configured to execute, control, or implement the steps of a variant of a procedure presented here in appropriate facilities. Each of the control units can be configured to read input signals and, using these input signals, determine and provide output signals. An input signal can, for example, be a sensor signal readable via an input interface of the control unit. An output signal can be a control signal or a data signal that can be provided at an output interface of the control unit. Each of the control units can be configured to determine the output signals using a processing instruction implemented in hardware or software.For example, the control unit can include a logic circuit, an integrated circuit or a software module and can be implemented as a discrete component or comprised of a discrete component.

[0008] According to one embodiment, the first control unit can be implemented as a reduced-density power electronics unit, and the second control unit can also be implemented as a reduced-density power electronics unit. Such an embodiment offers the advantage that cost savings can be achieved by reducing the number of components in both power electronics units.

[0009] The cable can also be routed in or along the exhaust duct when the extractor hood is installed. This design offers the advantage that an existing fluid channel between the hood unit and the fan unit can be used for cable routing. This allows the cable to be routed in a protected and safe manner.

[0010] Furthermore, the cable can be designed as a voltage-carrying and galvanically isolated bus cable. Such a design offers the advantage of achieving a particularly interference-resistant and reliable data connection between the control units.

[0011] In particular, the cable can be designed as a two-wire system. Such a design offers the advantage of enabling particularly secure communication between the control units and particularly secure operation of the extractor hood.

[0012] Furthermore, the blower can be designed as a direct current (DC) blower. Such a blower can also be referred to as a DC fan, DC blower, or DC voltage blower or fan. This design offers the advantage of a blower with minimized power consumption and reduced electromagnetic interference.

[0013] According to one embodiment, the extractor hood can have at least one additional fan unit, which is arranged separately from the hood unit. This additional fan unit can comprise another fan and another control unit. The additional fan can be configured to extract the fumes captured by the hood unit via a further exhaust duct. The additional control unit can include another control device configured to control the additional fan of the additional fan unit. The cable can be configured to connect the first control unit and the additional control unit for signal transmission. The additional fan unit can be identical or similar to the first fan unit. Such an embodiment offers the advantage that the extractor hood can be designed to be scalable. This allows for adaptation to a wide variety of requirements.

[0014] A method for operating an embodiment of a fume hood mentioned herein is also presented, the method comprising the following steps: Processing user input via a user interface; generating a control signal to control the operation of the extractor fan depending on the user input; and controlling the fan of the blower unit depending on the control signal.

[0015] By carrying out the steps of the method, an embodiment of a fume hood mentioned herein can be advantageously operated and / or its operation can be advantageously controlled. The steps of the method can be advantageously carried out using control units of an embodiment of a fume hood mentioned herein.

[0016] A computer program product or computer program with program code that can be stored on a machine-readable medium such as semiconductor memory, hard disk memory, or optical memory is also advantageous. If the program product or program is executed on a computer or at least one control unit, it can be used to carry out, implement, and / or control the steps of the method according to one of the embodiments described herein.

[0017] An embodiment of the invention is shown purely schematically in the drawings and is described in more detail below. It shows Figure 1 is a schematic representation of an embodiment of a cooker hood; Figure 2 is a schematic representation of an embodiment of a cooker hood; Figure 3 is a schematic representation of an embodiment of a cooker hood; and Figure 4 is a flowchart of an embodiment of a method for operating a cooker hood.

[0018] Figure 1 Figure 1 shows a schematic representation of an exemplary embodiment of a cooker hood 100. The cooker hood 100 is, for example, designed as a household appliance. The cooker hood 100 comprises a hood unit 110, a fan unit 120, and a cable 130.

[0019] The hood unit 110 is designed to capture steam generated by a cooking process from a cooktop. The hood unit 110 comprises a first control unit 112, which in turn includes a logic unit 114. The logic unit 114 is designed to process user input via a user interface 116 and, depending on the user input, to generate a control signal 115 to control the operation of the extractor hood 100. According to one embodiment, the hood unit 110 also includes the user interface 116. Alternatively, the user interface 116 can be implemented separately from the extractor hood 100, for example, as part of another device, in particular another household appliance or a mobile device.

[0020] The blower unit 120 is separate from the hood unit 110, arranged independently and / or at a distance. The blower unit 120 is thus located outside the hood unit 110. The blower unit 120 comprises a blower 126 and a second control unit 122, which in turn includes a control device 124. The blower 106 is designed to extract the fumes absorbed by the hood unit 110 via an exhaust duct 140 from the hood unit 110. The control device 124 is designed to control the blower 106 and 20 of the blower unit 120 depending on the control signal 115. According to one embodiment, the exhaust system 100 also includes the exhaust duct 140.

[0021] Cable 130 is designed to connect the first control unit 112 and the second control unit 122 for signal transmission. Thus, the first control unit 112 and the second control unit 122 are connected to each other via cable 130 for signal transmission. Consequently, the logic unit 114 and the control unit 124 are also connected to each other via cable 130 for signal transmission. Specifically, the first control unit 112 is designed as a reduced-density power electronics unit, and the second control unit 122 is also designed as a reduced-density power electronics unit.

[0022] The exhaust duct 140 is arranged between the hood unit 110 and the blower unit 120. The hood unit 110 and the blower unit 120 are fluidically connected to each other via the exhaust duct 140. In particular, the blower 126 is designed as a DC blower.

[0023] According to one embodiment, in the assembled state of the extractor hood 100, the cable 130 is routed along the exhaust duct 140. According to another embodiment, in the assembled state of the extractor hood 100, the cable 130 is routed within the exhaust duct 140. The cable 130 is an electrical cable. According to one embodiment, the cable 130 is designed as a two-wire system. The cable 130 is, for example, designed as a live and galvanically isolated bus cable.

[0024] Figure 2 Figure 1 shows a schematic representation of an embodiment of a cooker hood 100. The cooker hood 100 corresponds to the following: Figure 2 the extractor fan Figure 1 , in which the representation of Figure 2Only some elements of the extractor hood 100 are not explicitly shown, but the hob 201, the steam 203 and a wall 205 are also shown.

[0025] The extractor hood 100 are shown in the illustration of Figure 2The hood unit 110 with the first control unit 112, the fan unit 120 with the second control unit 122 and the fan 126, and the cable 130 are shown. The exhaust duct 140 is also shown. The fumes 203 are symbolically represented between the cooking area 201 and the hood unit 110. The cooking area 201 is, for example, a cooktop or the like. According to the embodiment shown here, the exhaust duct 140 extends through the wall 205, which is, for example, an exterior wall of a building. The hood unit 110 is arranged on a first side of the wall 205, for example, inside the building, and the fan unit 120 is arranged on a second side of the wall 205, for example, outside the building.

[0026] Figure 3Figure 1 shows a schematic representation of an embodiment of a cooker hood 100. The cooker hood 100 corresponds to the following: Figure 3 the extractor fan Figure 1 and / or Figure 2 with the exception that the extractor fan is 100 in Figure 3 In addition to the blower unit 120, a further blower unit 320 is included. The further blower unit 320 corresponds to the blower unit 120.

[0027] The additional blower unit 320 is also arranged separately from the hood unit 110. This additional blower unit 320 comprises another blower 326 and another control unit 322 with an additional control device 324. The additional blower 326 is designed to extract the fumes received by the hood unit 110 via an additional exhaust duct 340 from the hood unit 110. The additional control device 324 is designed to control the additional blower 326 of the additional blower unit 320. The cable 130 is designed to connect the first control unit 112 and the additional control unit 322 to each other for signal transmission. According to one embodiment, the extractor hood 100 also includes the further extraction duct 340. Instead of a single cable 130, an additional cable can also be provided alongside the cable 130.

[0028] Figure 4Figure 400 shows a flowchart of an embodiment of method 400 for operating a range hood. Method 400 can be implemented to operate, or control the operation of, the range hood from one of the figures described above or a similar range hood. Method 400 comprises a processing step 402, a generating step 404, and a controlling step 406.

[0029] In step 402 of the processing process, user input submitted via a user interface is processed. Subsequently, in step 404 of the generation process, a control signal is generated based on the user input to control the operation of the extractor hood. Following this, in step 406 of the control process, the fan of the blower unit is controlled based on this control signal.

[0030] With reference to the figures described above, an exemplary embodiment is summarized below and briefly explained in other words.

[0031] The extractor hood 100 uses reduced-capacity power electronics units or power components, i.e., the first control unit 112 and the second control unit 122, and optionally at least one additional control unit 322, for example, the use of two reduced-capacity power electronics units according to the specifications in Figure 1 and Figure 2 illustrated embodiments or the use of at least three under-populated power electronics units according to the one in Figure 3In the illustrated embodiment, the standard power electronics in the hood unit 110 are reduced by the control component of the blower, i.e., by one functional unit (FU). This results in the first control unit 112. The power electronics without the logic component, i.e., for the user interface (UI) and the application logic, are connected to the blower unit 120. This results in the second control unit 122.

[0032] The two power electronics or control units 112 and 122, for example, are connected to each other via a voltage-carrying and galvanically isolated bus system (e.g., RS485) as cable 130. The connection is physically established, for example, by a 2-wire system and routed in or on the duct system or exhaust duct 140. This is done according to the specifications in Figure 1 and Figure 2 In the illustrated embodiments, the cable 130 is routed along the exhaust duct 140. According to the Figure 3In the illustrated embodiment, the cable 130 is only by way of example led to the second control unit 122 along the extraction duct 140 and to the further control unit 322 in the further extraction duct 340.

Claims

1. Extractor extraction device (100), wherein the extractor extraction device (100) comprises the following features: a hood unit (110) which is designed to receive vapors (203) generated by a cooking process from a cooking area (201), wherein the hood unit (110) comprises a first control unit (112), wherein the first control unit (112) comprises a logic device (114) which is designed to process a user input made via a user interface (116) and, depending on the user input, to generate a control signal (115) for controlling an operation of the extractor extraction device (100);a blower unit (120) arranged separately from the hood unit (110), the blower unit (120) comprising a blower (126) and a second control unit (122), the blower (126) being designed to extract the vapors (203) collected via the hood unit (110) from the hood unit (110) via an exhaust duct (140), the second control unit (122) comprising a control device (124) designed to control the blower (126) of the blower unit (120) depending on the control signal (115); and a cable (130) designed to connect the first control unit (112) and the second control unit (122) to one another in a signal-transmitting manner.

2. Extractor device (100) according to claim 1, wherein the first control unit (112) is designed as a low-equipped power electronics unit and the second control unit (122) is designed as a low-equipped power electronics unit.

3. Extractor extraction device (100) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein in an assembled state of the extractor extraction device (100) the cable (130) is guided in or on the extraction duct (140).

4. Extractor device (100) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the cable (130) is designed as a voltage-carrying and galvanically isolated bus cable.

5. Extractor device (100) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the cable (130) is designed as a two-wire system.

6. Extractor device (100) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the fan (126) is designed as a direct current fan.

7. Extractor extraction device (100) according to one of the preceding claims, with at least one further fan unit (320) which is arranged separately from the hood unit (110), wherein the further fan unit (320) comprises a further fan (326) and a further control unit (322), wherein the further fan (326) is designed to extract the vapors (203) taken in via the hood unit (110) from the hood unit (110) via a further extraction duct (340), wherein the further control unit (322) comprises a further control device (324) which is designed to control the further fan (326) of the further fan unit (320), wherein the cable (130) is designed to connect the first control unit (112) and the further control unit (322) to one another in a signal-transmitting manner.

8. A method (400) for operating an extractor device (100) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the method (400) comprises the following steps: processing (402) a user input made via a user interface (116); generating (404) a control signal (115) for controlling operation of the extractor device (100) depending on the user input; and controlling (406) the fan (126) of the fan unit (120) depending on the control signal (115).

9. Computer program product with program code for carrying out the method (400) according to claim 8, when the computer program product is executed on at least one control unit (112, 122; 322).

10. A machine-readable storage medium on which the computer program product according to claim 9 is stored.

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