Cooking Apparatus Door Button Illumination Using Light Guide
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional cooking apparatuses do not effectively illuminate buttons, especially when they are located on the door, making it difficult for users to operate them in a visually intuitive manner.
Innovation Solution
A cooking apparatus design that incorporates a light-emitting source on the control panel and a guide to direct light to the buttons on the door, allowing for bright illumination of the buttons, even when they are touched by the user.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If buttons are provided on the door of the cooking apparatus, then the installation space is optimized and the structure is compacted, but the buttons cannot be effectively illuminated making them difficult to operate
Solution Approach 1:
A light guide member is introduced as an intermediary component between the light source and the button. The light guide member transmits light from the light source to the button area, enabling effective illumination of buttons mounted on the door without requiring the light source to be in direct contact with or adjacent to the buttons. This resolves the contradiction by allowing compact button placement on the door while maintaining adequate illumination through the mediating light guide structure.
2Ease of manufacture
If mechanical buttons are used on the door, then the structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but the buttons are not brightly illuminated when touched by users
Solution Approach 1:
The light guide member is pre-positioned and structured to direct light onto the button area before the user touches the button. The illumination is prepared in advance through the light guide's optical path design, ensuring that when the user interacts with the button, the button is already brightly illuminated. This preliminary lighting action resolves the contradiction between simple mechanical button structure and effective illumination during use.
3Area of stationary object
If the button display unit is installed at one side of the case, then the installation space is easy to secure, but the buttons are not visible and intuitive for users operating on the door
Solution Approach 1:
The button display unit is relocated from the side of the case to the door surface, utilizing the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the door for mounting. This dimensional relocation places the buttons in direct proximity to where users naturally interact with the appliance (at door level), improving visibility and intuitiveness. The light guide member further enhances this by providing targeted illumination in this new spatial arrangement, resolving the contradiction between easy installation space utilization and user-operational intuitiveness.
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 enables clear and intuitive button operation by illuminating the buttons on the door, enhancing user experience and usability while allowing for compact installation of components.
Implementation Method 1
a guide located between the input sensing unit and the light-emitting source and guiding light generated by the light-emitting source to the button
Data Source
AI summary
In order to provide a cooking apparatus with a button or a button display unit at the door and capable of illuminating the button brightly, the present invention discloses a cooking apparatus, comprising: a cooking cavity; a door for opening and closing the cooking cavity and including a button, an input sensing unit sensing an input from the button, a light-emitting source located at the opposite side of the button with respect to the input sensing unit and a guide located between the input sensing unit and the light-emitting source and guiding light generated by the light-emitting source to the button.