Cooking Appliance Door Lighting With Reflective Gap Emission
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional light-emitting devices in cooking appliances suffer from light distortion due to glass penetration, poor aesthetics due to exposed light-emitting units, and lack of cooling, leading to reduced durability and unclear light emission.
Innovation Solution
A light-emitting device with a gap between the door edge and the body front face, utilizing a reflective portion to direct light outward and a cooling unit to prevent heat exposure, ensuring clear light emission and improved aesthetics.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If light is transmitted through the door glass and emitted outside the door, then the light can be seen from outside, but the color and illumination of the light are distorted due to glass penetration
Solution Approach 1:
The light-emitting unit is extracted from the door glass structure and positioned in a separate cavity, allowing light to be emitted without passing through the door glass. This eliminates the glass penetration effect that causes color distortion while maintaining light visibility from outside.
Solution Approach 2:
A reflective portion is introduced as an intermediary element to redirect light from the light-emitting unit toward the gap between the door edge and body front face. This mediator allows light to reach the exterior without direct transmission through the door glass, preserving color accuracy.
2Illumination intensity
If the light-emitting unit is formed on the rear face of the door to emit light toward the door front face, then light can be emitted outward, but the light-emitting unit is exposed directly out of the outer face of the cooking appliance, deteriorating aesthetics
Solution Approach 1:
The light-emitting unit is extracted from the visible door front face and relocated to a cavity that is not directly exposed to the exterior. This hides the light-emitting unit from direct view while maintaining its light emission function through the gap between the door edge and body front face.
Solution Approach 2:
The light emission path is shifted from the traditional front-face dimension to a side-gap dimension between the door edge and body front face. This dimensional change allows light to be emitted outward without exposing the light-emitting unit on the outer face, improving aesthetic appearance.
3Device complexity
If no structure is provided in the light emission path to control light direction, then the light-emitting device is simple, but the light radiated to the outside is not clear and diffuses in unnecessary directions
Solution Approach 1:
A reflective portion is introduced as a simple intermediary structure to control light direction. This reflective surface redirects light from the light-emitting unit toward the gap between the door edge and body front face, preventing diffusion in unnecessary directions while maintaining structural simplicity.
4Device complexity
If no cooling means is provided for the illumination unit, then the device structure is simple, but the illumination unit fails or durability is lowered due to heat exposure
Solution Approach 1:
The light-emitting unit is extracted and positioned in a cavity that is separated from the high-temperature cooking chamber. This spatial extraction provides passive thermal isolation, protecting the illumination unit from heat exposure and improving durability without adding active cooling means.
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 prevents light distortion, enhances the aesthetic appeal of the appliance, and improves user satisfaction by providing clear, uniform light while maintaining the light-emitting unit's durability through effective cooling.
Implementation Method 1
a reflective portion extending from a portion of the body front face, in which a light beam emitted from the light-emitting member is reflected to be directed outwardly of an edge portion of the door
Data Source
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AI summary
The present disclosure relates to a light-emitting device in a door for a cooking appliance and a cooking appliance having the same. The light-emitting device in a door for a cooking appliance, wherein the cooking appliance comprises: a body having a cooking chamber defined therein having an opening; and the door for opening and closing the opening of the cooking chamber, wherein the light-emitting device comprises: a gap defined between an edge portion of the door and a portion of a front face of the body; a light-emitting member disposed adjacent to the gap and configured to emit light of a predetermined color in a response to a preset operation of the cooking chamber; and a reflective portion extending from the portion of the front face of the body, wherein the reflective portion guides light emitted from the light-emitting member to be directed outwardly of the edge portion of the door.