Kitchen appliance

Abstract

The invention relates to a kitchen appliance (1), preferably a kitchen appliance (1) with a steam function, particularly a steam cooking drawer (1), comprising an inner chamber (12), preferably a cooking chamber (12), which is designed to receive at least one item of cookware (16) and / or at least one food through an access opening (13), a closure element (14), preferably a cover (14), which is designed to close and release the access opening (13) of the inner chamber (12) by being pivoted by means of a pivoting element (15), preferably a hinge (15), and at least one contact element (18) which is designed to be manually contacted by a user on least one contact surface (18a) in order to close and / or open the closure element (14). The kitchen appliance (1) is characterized in that the contact element (18) is thermally insulated from the closure element (14).

Description

[0001] Description

[0002] kitchen appliance

[0003] The invention relates to a kitchen appliance according to claim 1.

[0004] For the preparation of food, which can also be referred to as food to be treated or food to be cooked, various kitchen appliances are known, which can also be referred to as cooking appliances. These include hobs, on which the food can be cooked in a cooking utensil such as a saucepan, with or without a lid, in a pan, and the like, by boiling, frying, and the like.

[0005] Household appliances for preparing food are known, for example, from the documents US 2019 374 060 A1, US 2005 034 716 A1 and CN 100 549 532 C.

[0006] Cooking appliances are also known which have a fixed, i.e., stationary, cooking chamber formed with the cooking appliance, in which the food to be cooked can be placed in or on a cooking utensil and cooked with the cooking chamber of the cooking appliance closed. Such a cooking appliance can be, for example, an oven, a steamer, a microwave, a combination appliance comprising an oven with a steamer and / or with a microwave, and the like. Such cooking appliances with a fixed cooking chamber usually have a vertical height of approximately 45 cm, at least in Germany, although ovens with a height of approximately 60 cm are also common.

[0007] Such cooking appliances with a fixed cooking chamber have in common that they have an outer housing which essentially encloses the cooking appliance on the outside and protects its individual components and elements, as well as making them easier to handle. Within the cooking appliance, an interior space is formed which represents the cooking chamber and is essentially enclosed by an inner housing, also referred to as a cooking chamber muffle or muffle. Between the inner housing and the outer housing, a housing space is formed as an intermediate space, in which functional elements of the cooking appliance, such as a control system or control unit, an electrical power supply and other components which serve the intended use of the cooking appliance can be arranged. In terms of depth from the front, i.e. viewed from the user's perspective, the outer housing ora panel in the form of a furniture material or in the form of a control panel and the like together with the inner housing closes off the housing space so that the housing space is not accessible to the user.

[0008] The interior of the cooking appliance has a through-opening at the front in depth as an access opening, through which the interior of the cooking appliance is accessible to the user in order to insert cooking utensils into the interior of the cooking appliance as its cooking chamber and to arrange them there, as well as to remove cooking utensils from the interior of the cooking appliance after the food has been cooked. The access opening can be opened by the user by means of a closure element, for example in the form of a door that can be pivoted to the side, a flap that can be pivoted downwards, or the like, in order to access the interior of the cooking appliance, as described above, or to close the interior of the cooking appliance and carry out the cooking operation or process. Such a closure element can be closed or have a viewing window to allow the user a view into the closed interior of the cooking appliance.

[0009] Such cooking appliances with a fixed cooking chamber are usually designed as built-in appliances or as built-in kitchen appliances in order to be arranged with their outer casing in a space-saving manner and at a height that is easily accessible for the user in the vertical direction in kitchen furniture, such as in built-in kitchen cupboards, and to be arranged with their locking element, if necessary additionally with their panel, see above, towards the front of the user, flush with the surfaces of the other cooking appliances, drawers, doors and the like of the kitchen furniture, which can improve the visual impression for the user.

[0010] Other built-in kitchen appliances are also known, such as warming drawers, vacuum-sealing drawers, and the like. These are installed in the kitchen as described above and, in particular, combined with the previously described cooking appliances as built-in appliances, arranged horizontally one above the other and / or vertically next to each other. Warming drawers are used, for example, to keep cooked food warm without further cooking and to preheat dishes. Vacuum-sealing drawers allow food to be vacuum-sealed in an airtight container.

[0011] A generic kitchen appliance designed as a drawer is known from the document EP 3 508 792 A1.

[0012] Drawers such as kitchen appliances are fundamentally constructed in a similar way to the previously described cooking appliances with a fixed cooking space, whereby drawers are significantly flatter, i.e. smaller in the vertical direction, and thus have to be pulled forwards by the user out of the kitchen unit in order to allow access to their interior in the vertical direction from above. For this purpose, the movable part of the drawer, which can also be referred to as a pull-out, has a pull-out shelf which serves to hold, for example, the cooking utensils in the vertical direction from above and which can be movable in depth relative to the inner casing of the drawer, for example via rails arranged laterally in the transverse direction. The pull-out shelf usually has a vertically aligned panel in the depth towards the front, which defines the interior of the drawer orwhose access opening closes when closed.

[0013] Such drawers, also called built-in drawers, usually have a vertical height of approximately 15 cm, at least in Germany. Drawers are usually arranged vertically below a cooking appliance with a fixed cooking space, such as an oven, a steamer, or the like, or in combination with another drawer, one above the other in the vertical direction, but can also be installed individually and independently in a piece of kitchen furniture. Since the installation spaces for built-in kitchen appliances in kitchen furniture, which can also be referred to as niches, usually have a vertical height of approximately 60 cm, at least in Germany, a drawer with a height of approximately 15 cm and a cooking appliance with a fixed cooking space with a height of approximately 45 cm can be used in a modular combination as built-in appliances.

[0014] It is also known to design cooking appliances with a steam cooking function as built-in drawers, which can be referred to as steam cooking drawers. Such steam cooking drawers usually accommodate at least one cooking container with food to be cooked in their cooking chamber, which is arranged on the pull-out floor. The cooking container can usually be removed, usually upwards from the open built-in drawer. Accordingly, the access opening to the cooking chamber in steam cooking drawers is horizontal and usually rectangular and can usually be opened and closed with a pivoting lid. The pivoting lid is usually arranged on the rear edge of the steam cooking drawer, which faces away from the panel, and can be pivoted upwards.

[0015] The cooking chamber of a steamer drawer can be closed with a lid. The lid can be designed as a glass lid, allowing the user to see into the cooking chamber through a glass pane when the lid is closed.

[0016] In any case, the closed lid of the steam cooking drawer can be opened using a button function, whereby the lid is automatically unlocked by a button function and pushed open by a spring. The user can then reach behind the lid from below and swing it up to open it, gaining access to the cooking chamber from above. To close the lid, the user can swing the lid back into the horizontal position and then push it shut, which can automatically hold the lid closed. In any case, the user can touch the front of the lid, i.e. on the edge facing the user, in order to operate it, i.e. to open and / or close it.

[0017] In any case, especially when opening the lid of a steamer drawer, it is important to remember that during the steaming process in the closed steamer drawer, the 100°C steam reaches the lid and thus heats it up. The hot lid therefore poses a burn hazard to the user.

[0018] To avoid this, or at least reduce the risk, the lid can be made thicker. To achieve this, a layer of thermal insulation material can be added to the underside of the lid, which faces the cooking chamber. If the lid has a glass pane, the glass pane can be made thicker. However, this reduces the height of the cooking chamber, which is already limited in a steam drawer.

[0019] Alternatively, a double-glazed pane can be used for glass lids, with the gap between them allowing air to circulate. However, cyclical heating and cooling can cause condensation to form on the cold interior of the double-glazed pane. This can lead to contamination and deposits, which may impair a clear view of the food being cooked due to a veil of drops or mist. This can also require the user to perform an additional cleaning step, which can be annoying.

[0020] The gap between the double-glazed panes of a glass lid can also be filled with argon gas to improve thermal insulation. However, this results in additional costs and requires long-term gas-tightness of the gap between the double-glazed panes.

[0021] In any case, all of the measures described above can only delay the spread of heat to the outer surface of the closed lid facing the user, thereby increasing the time it takes for the outer surface of the closed lid to heat up to the final temperature of 100°C, thus creating a risk of burns for the user. However, this cannot be prevented in this way. To achieve this, the duration of the steaming process would have to be reduced, which would, however, limit the user's options for using the steamer drawer. This applies in a similar way to other kitchen appliances with a steaming function and generally to other kitchen appliances with a heatable cooking chamber that can be closed using a locking element in the form of a door, a flap, or a lid.

[0022] The invention therefore addresses the problem of providing a kitchen appliance, preferably a kitchen appliance with a steam function, particularly preferably a steam cooking drawer, of the type described above, so that the risk of burns for the user when opening and / or closing the closure element of the cooking chamber can be avoided or at least reduced. This should preferably be achieved by reducing the temperature of the outer surface of the closed lid during the cooking process. This should preferably be achieved with a kitchen appliance as a drawer or as a built-in drawer with a lid as the closure element. In any case, this should be as simple, cost-effective, space-saving, durable and / or visually unobtrusive or appealing as possible. At the very least, an alternative to known kitchen appliances of this type should be created.

[0023] According to the invention, this problem is solved by a kitchen appliance having the features of patent claim 1. Advantageous embodiments and further developments of the invention emerge from the following subclaims.

[0024] The invention thus relates to a kitchen appliance, preferably a kitchen appliance with a steam function, particularly preferably a steam cooking drawer, with an interior space, preferably a cooking chamber, which is designed to receive at least one cooking utensil and / or at least one food item through an access opening, with a closure element, preferably a lid, which is designed to close and open the access opening of the interior space by pivoting by means of a pivoting element, preferably a hinge, and with at least one contact element which is designed to be touched by a user with the hand on at least one contact surface in order to close and / or open the closure element.

[0025] The kitchen appliance is characterized by the fact that the contact element is thermally insulated from the closure element. This can be achieved in various ways, as explained in more detail below, whereby different thermal insulation options can also be implemented in combination.

[0026] In any case, a contact surface of the touch element can be provided on the outer or upper side of the closure element so that it can be reached by the user with their hand or with at least one finger. The touch element can be an additional body which is arranged on or facing the user on the closure element. In order to reduce heat conduction from the closure element to the touch element or its contact surface, thermal insulation can be provided between the closure element or its outer or upper side and the touch element or its contact surface. This can make the touch element or its contact surface cooler than the outer or upper side of the closure element, so that the user can touch or actuate the closure element to open and close it, in particular using a button function, without getting burned.

[0027] According to one aspect of the invention, at least one first insulating layer is arranged in a thermally insulating manner between the contact surface and the closure element. An insulating layer is understood to be a layer made of a thermally insulating material. This can represent a particularly simple implementation option, which can be used alone or in combination with other measures, as will be explained in more detail below.

[0028] According to a further aspect of the invention, at least one cooling channel, preferably a plurality of cooling channels, is arranged between the contact surface and the closure element, preferably the first insulation layer. This can represent an alternative or additional measure for keeping the heat of the closure element away from the contact surface of the contact element or at least slowing its spread. Stagnant air can be used as thermal insulation material within the cooling channel, which can be enclosed within the cooling channel. The cooling channel can also be connected to the surroundings of the contact element by air flow, so that heated air can flow from the cooling channel into the surroundings and thus dissipate heat. This can be further improved by a forced air flow, as will be described in more detail below.

[0029] According to a further aspect of the invention, the kitchen appliance comprises at least one fan, which is designed and arranged to generate an airflow through the cooling channel. This can, as already mentioned, increase the dissipation of heat and thus have a cooling effect on the touch element.

[0030] According to a further aspect of the invention, the fan is designed as a chimney fan and is configured to be driven by the Seebeck effect of a Seebeck element. Thus, the fan can be operated without additional electrical power supply and without control, as the temperature difference that occurs during the cooking process can be used to generate electrical energy, and this electrical energy can be used to operate the fan as a chimney fan. According to a further aspect of the invention, at least one Peltier element is arranged between the contact surface and the closure element, preferably the first insulation layer. A temperature difference can be generated by means of a Peltier element when electrically powered, thus effecting active cooling of the contact element or its contact surface.

[0031] One aspect is that the closure element is only partially covered by the contact element, in particular the contact surface of the contact element. This not only makes it possible to visually define the area for the most advantageous force introduction. This design ensures that a large part of the surface of the closure element can remain uncovered, particularly in the case of a closure element made of glass which is intended to enable the best possible view into the interior. The width of the contact element, in particular of the contact surface, is preferably less than half the width of the closure element. The width is measured parallel to the transverse direction. The depth of the contact element, in particular of the contact surface, is preferably less than half the depth of the closure element.

[0032] Particularly preferably, the width of the touch element, in particular the touch surface, is greater than 5 centimeters and / or the depth of the touch element, in particular the touch surface, is greater than 3 centimeters. This ensures that the touch surface can be touched by at least one or more fingers.

[0033] A special embodiment of the household appliance provides that the closure element has a transparent glass pane, wherein only a part of the glass pane of the closure element is covered by the contact element, in particular the contact surface of the contact element.

[0034] According to a further aspect of the invention, the Peltier element is designed and configured to be driven by the Seebeck effect of a Seebeck element. Thus, in this case, too, the Peltier element can be operated without additional electrical power and without control by means of the temperature difference that occurs during the cooking process, as previously described.

[0035] According to a further aspect of the invention, the Seebeck element is thermally conductively connected to both the interior and an outer housing. Accordingly, the temperature difference between the interior and the outer housing can be used to generate electrical current in order to operate the fan and / or the Peltier element as described above. According to a further aspect of the invention, at least one locking element is arranged in a thermally conductive manner between the contact surface and the closure element, preferably the first insulation layer, wherein the locking element is designed and configured to hold the closure element in the closed state, wherein the locking element is further designed to be thermally conductively connected to an intermediate space and / or to an outer housing when the closure element is in the closed state.In this way, the locking element can, in addition to its holding function, also create a thermal bridge to absorb and dissipate heat from the locking element without this heat reaching the contact element or its contact surface. This can have an additional or alternative cooling effect.

[0036] According to a further aspect of the invention, the kitchen appliance, preferably the outer housing, has at least one heat sink, which is designed to be thermally conductively connected to the locking element when the closure element is closed. This can promote the dissipation of the dissipated heat to the environment.

[0037] According to a further aspect of the invention, a heat-conducting layer is arranged between the contact surface and the closure element, preferably the first insulation layer, and adjacent to the locking element, and is thermally conductively connected to the locking element. This can promote heat conduction to the locking element.

[0038] According to a further aspect of the invention, a second insulating layer is arranged in a thermally insulating manner between the contact surface and the locking element, as well as the heat-conducting layer. This can provide an additional thermally insulating effect.

[0039] According to a further aspect of the invention, the closure element comprises, at least in sections, a first glass plate and a second glass plate, which are spaced apart from each other by a gap. This can provide an additional thermally insulating effect.

[0040] According to a further aspect of the invention, the intermediate space is filled with a thermally insulating gas, preferably argon. This can further enhance the additional thermal insulation effect. Using argon for this purpose can represent a cost-effective and effective implementation option.

[0041] According to a further aspect of the invention, the kitchen appliance is designed as a drawer. This can enable the implementation and utilization of the previously described features and advantages, particularly in such kitchen appliances.

[0042] Several embodiments of the invention are illustrated purely schematically in the drawings and are described in more detail below. Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a piece of kitchen furniture with a kitchen appliance according to the invention according to a first embodiment as a steam cooking drawer in the inserted state;

[0043] Figure 2 shows the representation of Figure 1 with the steam drawer pulled out;

[0044] Figure 3 is a more detailed plan view of the extended steam drawer of Figure 2;

[0045] Figure 4 is a perspective view of a side detail of the extended steam drawer of Figure 2;

[0046] Figure 5 shows a cross section through the front area of ​​the steam cooking drawer according to the first embodiment;

[0047] Figure 6 shows a cross section through the front area of ​​a steam cooking drawer according to a second embodiment; and

[0048] Figure 7 shows a longitudinal section through the center of a steam cooking drawer according to a third embodiment.

[0049] The above figures are viewed in Cartesian coordinates. There is a longitudinal direction X, which can also be referred to as depth X or length X. Perpendicular to the longitudinal direction X extends a transverse direction Y, which can also be referred to as width Y. Perpendicular to both the longitudinal direction X and the transverse direction Y extends a vertical direction Z, which can also be referred to as height Z and corresponds to the direction of gravity. The longitudinal direction X and the transverse direction Y together form the horizontal X, Y, which can also be referred to as the horizontal plane X, Y.

[0050] Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a piece of kitchen furniture 2 with a kitchen appliance 1 according to the invention according to a first embodiment as a steamer drawer 1 in the inserted state. Figure 2 shows the representation of Figure 1 in the extended state of the steamer drawer 1.

[0051] The kitchen furniture 2, which can also be referred to as a kitchen unit 2, has a furniture front 20 or a plurality of furniture panels 20, with which the kitchen furniture 1 is closed off towards a user in the longitudinal direction X. The furniture front 20 is formed by a plurality of doors, flaps and the like (not designated), possibly also drawers (not shown), which are arranged pivotably, foldably or pullably on a frame 21, rack 21 or body 21 of the kitchen furniture 2.

[0052] A kitchen appliance 1 according to the invention in the form of a steam cooking drawer 1 as a kitchen appliance 1 with a steam function is arranged approximately centrally between two furniture fronts 20 along the vertical direction Z. The steam cooking drawer 1 has an outer housing 10, which can also be referred to as an outer housing 10 and which essentially closes off or encloses the steam cooking drawer 1 to the outside. The outer housing 10 closes along the longitudinal direction X towards the front, i.e. towards the user, with a panel 10a which, when the steam cooking drawer 1 is pushed in, is flush with the furniture fronts 20 of the kitchen furniture 2, see Figure 1. A pair of telescopic rails (not shown) are arranged laterally in the transverse direction Y on the outer housing 10, so that the steam cooking drawer 1 can be pulled out and pushed in relative to the frame 20 of the kitchen furniture 2 in the longitudinal direction X.

[0053] Arranged within the outer housing 10 is an inner housing 11, which can also be referred to as the inner housing 11. The inner housing 11 terminates with the outer housing 10 in the longitudinal direction X to the rear and forward up to the panel 10a, in the vertical direction Z downwards, and in the transverse direction Y on both sides, so that a space (not shown) is formed between the outer housing 10 and the inner housing 11, which can also be referred to as the housing space. This space represents the interior of the steam cooking drawer 1.

[0054] The inner housing 11 also essentially encloses an interior space 12 in which a cooking or steaming process can be carried out. For this purpose, a steam generator (not shown) is arranged in the housing space or in the space between the steaming drawer 1, which can evaporate water and convey the steam into the interior space 12. Accordingly, the interior space 12 can also be referred to as the cooking chamber 12.

[0055] The interior space 12 is accessible to the user from above through an access opening 13 in the vertical direction Z. The access opening 13 can be closed and opened by means of a closure element 14 in the form of a lid 14. For this purpose, the lid 14 is connected to the outer housing 10 of the steam cooking drawer 1 by means of at least one pivoting element 15 in the form of a hinge 15 or a lid hinge 15, which can be pivoted upwards in the vertical direction Z, so that the lid 14 can be pivoted away from the user or upwards toward the furniture panel 20 located above it in order to access the cooking chamber 12 when the steam cooking drawer 1 is pulled out (see Figure 2). If the lid 14 is pivoted down into the horizontal X, Y axes, the cooking chamber 12 is closed, and the steam cooking drawer 1 can be pushed into the kitchen furniture 2 (see Figure 1).

[0056] Figure 3 shows a more detailed top view of the extended steam drawer 1 of the

[0057] Figure 2. Figure 4 shows a perspective view of a side detail view of the extended steam cooking drawer 1 of Figure 2. Figure 5 shows a cross section through the front area of ​​the steam cooking drawer 1 according to the first embodiment.

[0058] As can be seen in detail in Figure 3 (not shown in Figure 2 for better clarity), a display element 10a in the form of a display 10a is arranged at the top of the front area of ​​the panel 10a and thus facing the user, as well as several control elements 10c in the form of buttons 10c on both sides next to it. An air outlet 10d is provided in the front right corner. In the cooking chamber 12, two removable cooking utensils 16 as fermentation containers 16 in the form of cooking bowls 16 are arranged next to one another in the transverse direction Y. A removable water container 17 in the form of a water tank 17 is provided in the right area of ​​the steam cooking drawer 1.

[0059] During the steaming process in the cooking chamber 12, the lid 14 is exposed to the hot steam, so that the lid 14 heats up over the duration of the steaming process and can reach up to 100°C, depending on the temperature of the steam. This can cause a user to burn their fingers when touching the top (unspecified) of the lid 14.

[0060] To avoid this, the lid 14, whose underside 14a or inner side 14a faces the cooking chamber 12, can have a first, lower or inner glass plate 14b and a second, upper or outer glass plate 14c, spaced apart from the first glass plate 14b by a gap 14b and running parallel. The gap 14b can be filled with argon to improve the thermally insulating effect. This can reduce the heat conduction of the lid 14 from its underside 14a to its upper side, which faces the user and is accessible to the user, and thus at least increase the time during which the upper side of the lid 14 reaches a temperature that can be at least uncomfortable or even dangerous for the user.

[0061] According to the invention, a touch element 18, also called a touch pad 18, is arranged on a section of the upper side of the cover 14, centrally in the transverse direction Y and in the longitudinal direction X towards the user or the panel 10a, the upper side of which faces the user as a touch surface 18a, see Figures 3 to 5. The user can therefore touch the cover 14 on the touch surface 18a of the touch pad 18 instead of on its upper side, for example to activate a button function of the cover 14 for opening and closing by pressing.

[0062] In order to keep the heat from the top side of the lid 14 as far away as possible from the contact surface 18a of the touch pad 18, a first insulating layer 18b is arranged in a thermally insulating manner between the contact surface 18a and the top side of the lid 14. Furthermore, between the contact surface 18a and the first insulating layer 18b, several cooling channels 18c are provided, through which air flows in order to transport heat away from there. For this purpose, a fan 19 is provided, which is designed and arranged to generate an air flow through the cooling channel 18c. The fan 19 is designed as a chimney fan 19 and is configured to be driven by the Seebeck effect of a Seebeck element 19a. In this way, neither an electrical supply nor a control system for the fan 19 is required, since the electrical power to the fan 19 can be obtained from the temperature difference between the cooking chamber 12 and the environment.For this purpose, the Seebeck element is thermally conductively connected to both the cooking chamber 12 and an outer housing 10.

[0063] Figure 6 shows a cross-section through the front area of ​​a steam cooking drawer 1 according to a second embodiment. In this case, a Peltier element 18d is arranged between the contact surface 18a and the first insulation layer 18b, which can also be electrically powered by a Seebeck element 19a (not shown) as described above.

[0064] Figure 7 shows a longitudinal section through the center of a steam cooking drawer 1 according to a third exemplary embodiment. In this case, a locking element 18g is arranged in a thermally conductive manner between the contact surface 18a and the first insulation layer 18b, which locking element is designed and configured to hold the lid 14 in the closed state. The locking element 18g is further designed to be thermally conductively connected to an intermediate space and, furthermore, to the outer housing 10 when the lid 14 is closed. In this way, heat that reaches the locking element 18g via the first insulation layer 18b can be dissipated to the outside via the locking element 18g and thus kept away from the contact surface 18a of the touch pad 18.

[0065] In order to improve the dissipation of heat to the outside, the steam cooking drawer 1 has a heat sink 18h on its panel 10a to the outside or within the intermediate space, which is designed to be thermally conductively connected to the locking element 18g when the lid 14 is closed.

[0066] For this purpose, a thermally conductive layer 18f can be arranged between the contact surface 18a and the first insulation layer 18b and adjacent to the locking element 18g, and thermally conductively connected to the locking element 18g, so that more heat can be conducted to the locking element 18g and dissipated via the locking element 18g. For further thermal insulation of the contact surface 18a of the touch pad 18, a second insulation layer 18e can be arranged in a thermally insulating manner between the contact surface 18a and the locking element 18g as well as the thermally conductive layer 18f. List of reference symbols (part of the description)

[0067] X longitudinal direction; depth; length

[0068] Y transverse direction; width

[0069] Z vertical direction; height

[0070] X, Y Horizontal; horizontal plane

[0071] I Kitchen appliance; Kitchen appliance with steam function; Steam drawer

[0072] 10 outer casing; outer casing

[0073] 10a aperture

[0074] 10b Display element; display

[0075] 10c Controls; buttons

[0076] 10d air outlet

[0077] II inner casing; inner casing

[0078] 12 Interior; cooking chamber

[0079] 13 Access opening

[0080] 14 Closure element; lid

[0081] 14a Underside or inside of the closure element 14

[0082] 14b first, lower, inner glass plate of the closure element 14

[0083] 14c Space or gap of the closure element 14

[0084] 14d second, upper, outer glass plate of the closure element 14

[0085] 15 Swivel element; hinge; lid hinge

[0086] 16 cooking dishes; fermentation tanks; cooking bowls

[0087] 17 water tank; water tank

[0088] 18 Touch element; touch pad

[0089] 18a Contact surface

[0090] 18b first insulation layer

[0091] 18c Cooling channels

[0092] 18d Peltier element

[0093] 18e second insulation layer

[0094] 18f thermal conductivity layer

[0095] 18g bar element

[0096] 18h heat sink

[0097] 19 fans; (chimney) fans

[0098] 19a Seebeck-Element kitchen furniture; kitchen unit furniture front; furniture panel frame; frame; body

Claims

Patent claims 1. Kitchen appliance (1), preferably a kitchen appliance (1) with a steam function, particularly preferably a steam cooking drawer (1), with an interior (12), preferably a cooking chamber (12), which is designed to receive at least one cooking utensil (16) and / or at least one food item through an access opening (13), with a closure element (14), preferably a lid (14), which is designed to close and open the access opening (13) of the interior (12) by pivoting by means of a pivoting element (15), preferably a hinge (15), and with at least one contact element (18), which is designed to be touched by a user with the hand on at least one contact surface (18a) for closing and / or opening the closure element (14), characterized in that the contact element (18) is thermally insulated from the closure element (14).

2. Kitchen appliance (1) according to claim 1, wherein at least one first insulation layer (18b) is arranged in a thermally insulating manner between the contact surface (18a) and the closure element (14).

3. Kitchen appliance (1) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein at least one cooling channel (18c), preferably a plurality of cooling channels (18c), is arranged between the contact surface (18a) and the closure element (14), preferably the first insulation layer (18b).

4. Kitchen appliance (1) according to claim 3, further comprising at least one fan (19) which is designed and arranged to generate an air flow through the cooling channel (18c).

5. Kitchen appliance (1) according to claim 4, wherein the fan (19) is designed as a chimney fan (19) and is arranged to be driven by means of the Seebeck effect of a Seebeck element (19a).

6. Kitchen appliance (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein at least one Peltier element (18d) is arranged between the contact surface (18a) and the closure element (14), preferably the first insulation layer (18b).

7. Kitchen appliance (1) according to claim 6, wherein the Peltier element (18d) is designed and arranged to be driven by means of the Seebeck effect of a Seebeck element (19a).

8. Kitchen appliance (1) according to claim 5 and / or 7, wherein the Seebeck element (19a) is thermally conductively connected both to the interior (12) and to an outer housing (10).

9. Kitchen appliance (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein at least one locking element (18g) is arranged in a thermally conductive manner between the contact surface (18a) and the closure element (14), preferably the first insulation layer (18b), wherein the locking element (18g) is designed and configured to hold the closure element (14) in the closed state, wherein the locking element (18g) is further designed to be thermally conductively connected to an intermediate space and / or to an outer housing (10) in the closed state of the closure element (14).

10. Kitchen appliance (1) according to claim 9, wherein the kitchen appliance (1), preferably the outer housing (10), has at least one heat sink (18h) which is designed to be thermally conductively connected to the locking element (18g) in the closed state of the closure element (14).

11. Kitchen appliance (1) according to claim 9 or 10, wherein a heat-conducting layer (18f) is arranged between the contact surface (18a) and the closure element (14), preferably the first insulation layer (18b), and next to the locking element (18g) and is thermally conductively connected to the locking element (18g).

12. The kitchen appliance (1) according to claim 11, wherein a second insulating layer (18e) is arranged in a thermally insulating manner between the contact surface (18a) and the locking element (18g) as well as the heat-conducting layer (18f).

13. The kitchen appliance (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the closure element (14) comprises, at least in sections, a first glass plate (14b) and a second glass plate (14d), which are spaced from one another by a gap (14c).

14. Kitchen appliance (1) according to claim 13, wherein the intermediate space (14c) is filled with a thermally insulating gas, preferably with argon.

15. Kitchen appliance (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the closure element (14) is only partially covered by the contact element (18), in particular the contact surface (18a) of the contact element (18).

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