Control unit for a cooking hob
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cooking hob control units face challenges in maintaining a dust-free intermediate space between the display and the glass-ceramics panel, and compensating for manufacturing tolerances, while ensuring optimal optical quality and secure attachment of components.
Innovation Solution
A control unit with a display frame featuring a sealing lip and elastic elements, where the display frame is made of silicone, encloses the display and includes elastic knobs for resilient support and snap-in mechanisms, creating a dust-free space and accommodating manufacturing variations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If the display is pressed closely against the glass-ceramics panel to obtain sufficient optical quality, then optical quality is improved, but manufacturing tolerances cause variations in the intermediate space height making consistent positioning difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The display frame is made elastically deformable through the use of elastic elements (such as spring elements or snap-in elements) that allow the frame to adapt its shape and compensate for manufacturing tolerances, enabling consistent positioning despite variations in component dimensions
Solution Approach 2:
The elastic elements change their physical parameters (deformation, compression) to compensate for dimensional variations, allowing the display frame to maintain a defined constant distance from the glass-ceramics panel across different manufacturing batches
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the intermediate space between the glass-ceramics panel and display is sealed to prevent dust ingress, then dust protection is improved, but the structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing function is merged into the display frame structure itself through the sealing lip, which is an integral part of the frame that directly contacts the glass-ceramics panel to create the seal, eliminating the need for separate sealing components
Solution Approach 2:
The sealing lip acts as a flexible sealing element that can deform to accommodate surface irregularities and create an effective dust barrier between the intermediate space and the external environment
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 effectively prevents dust ingress and compensates for manufacturing tolerances, ensuring a dust-free and optically superior interface between the display and the glass-ceramics panel, enhancing the reliability and performance of the cooking hob control unit.
Implementation Method 1
elastic elements at its lower side... The elastic elements allow resilient supporting of the display on the control unit, so that manufacturing tolerances can be compensated
Implementation Method 2
The sealing lip is pressed or can be pressed against the viewing window and allows a dust-free intermediate space between the display and the viewing window
Data Source
AI summary
A control unit (10) for a cooking hob has at least one viewing window (24). The control unit (10) is attached or attachable below the viewing window (24) and has a plurality of control elements (12) operable from a top side of the control unit (10). At least one display (14) is arranged on the top side of the control unit (10). A control panel (16) forms an unmovable part of the control unit. A number of elastic elements (30) are for resiliently supporting the display (14) on the control unit (10). The control unit (10) has a display frame (18) for at least partially enclosing the display (14). The display frame (18) includes a sealing lip (28) on its upper side and the elastic elements (30) at its lower side. A cooking hob has at least one control unit (10).