Adjustable Oven Floor and Door Sealing for Variable Cooking Space
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing ovens lack adjustable cooking spaces and oven doors that accommodate adjustable components, limiting flexibility and efficiency in heating only the necessary space, especially in commercial settings where space optimization and cost-effectiveness are crucial.
Innovation Solution
An adjustable oven design featuring a movable floor with adjustable heating elements and a specialized door handle, allowing for a smaller cooking chamber to be created, with the heating element remaining just above the floor, and an oven door that seals with the floor to conserve heat and reduce strain on the user.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a conventional fixed oven design is used, then the structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but the cooking space cannot be adjusted to optimize heating efficiency and energy consumption
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the dynamics principle by making the oven floor movable rather than fixed. The floor can be positioned at multiple heights along guide rails, allowing the cooking chamber volume to be dynamically adjusted according to the cooking load size. This enables the oven to adapt between heating a small or large space, improving energy efficiency while maintaining a relatively simple overall structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The heating element is segmented into multiple independent sections that can be individually controlled and positioned. This allows different portions of the cooking space to be heated independently, enabling the oven to efficiently heat only the necessary volume while maintaining structural simplicity through modular design.
2Use of energy by moving object
If the heating element is positioned close to the cooking load to improve heating efficiency, then energy consumption is reduced, but the area beneath the heating element is still heated unnecessarily
Solution Approach 1:
The heating element is divided into multiple independently controllable sections with different power levels. This allows the oven to apply local quality by activating only the specific heating zones needed for the current cooking task, rather than heating the entire cooking chamber. The adjustable floor further enhances this by creating a boundary that prevents heat from being wasted in areas below the cooking load.
3Loss of energy
If an adjustable floor is implemented to create a smaller cooking chamber, then energy is saved by heating only necessary space, but the oven door must accommodate the adjustable components while maintaining sealing
Solution Approach 1:
The oven door is designed with universal adaptability to accommodate the adjustable floor in various positions. The door includes a sealing mechanism that can effectively seal against the floor regardless of its height position along the guide rails. This multi-functional design allows the door to maintain thermal sealing while the floor provides adjustable cooking chamber volume, preventing heat loss without requiring a completely complex door structure.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution provides a thermally closed, space-efficient cooking environment that saves money and time by heating only the necessary space, while also offering ergonomic benefits through the new handle system, reducing strain on the user's wrists during door operation.
Implementation Method 1
a lower heating element removably engaged above and adjacent the floor to heat the cooking chamber above the floor
Implementation Method 2
An oven gasket is provided about the circumference of the floor to both accommodate the walls and the door to form a seal thereabout when the door is closed
Data Source
AI summary
An adjustable oven having a floor and heating element that can be adjusted from a lower position to an upper position forming a smaller cooking space. An oven door has grooves to accommodate an adjustable oven floor, and a handle extending perpendicular to the face of the oven the door, and along the plane of the side wall, for opening the door in which one hand may be used.