Gas Burner Assembly with Elevated Support for Easier Cooktop Cleaning
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Cleaning beneath gas burners on modern cooktops is difficult due to food particles accumulating in cracks and holes, and the hot surface can burn and harden spills, making them challenging to clean.
Innovation Solution
A cooktop appliance design featuring a gas burner assembly with a support member and cap that positions the burner body above the top panel, creating a fuel supply passage and reducing heat transfer, allowing for easier access and cleaning beneath the burners.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the gas burner is positioned coincident to the top surface of the cooktop, then the burner is securely mounted and structurally stable, but the hot surface heats the top panel and burns food particles, making cleaning difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a removable support structure as an intermediary element between the burner and the cooktop surface. This support member includes a support leg that extends downward from the burner assembly, positioning the burner above the cooktop surface rather than directly on it. The support leg acts as a thermal barrier, preventing direct heat transfer to the cooktop panel while maintaining secure burner mounting.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions the burner mounting from a two-dimensional surface-level attachment to a three-dimensional elevated position. By extending the support leg vertically downward and positioning the burner body above the cooktop surface, the design creates vertical spacing that reduces thermal contact. This dimensional change allows the burner to remain stable while minimizing harmful heat transfer to the cooktop panel.
2Ease of operation
If the gas burner is removable for cleaning, then accessibility for cleaning is improved, but the burner includes holes, supporting geometry and fasteners that are difficult to clean around
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the burner assembly into separable components: the burner body and the support member are distinct elements that can be detached from each other. The support member includes a support leg that connects to the burner body through a detachable connection. This segmentation allows users to remove the burner body for cleaning while leaving the support member in place, and the separate components have fewer complex geometries that trap food particles.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the support function from the burner body itself by introducing a separate support member. The support leg is a distinct component that provides structural support without adding cleaning complexity to the burner body. This extraction allows the burner body to be simpler in design with fewer internal geometries, holes, and fasteners that would otherwise be difficult to clean.
3Reliability
If the burner is fastened to the cooktop with cracks at assembly interfaces, then secure mounting is achieved, but food particles accumulate in cracks and are difficult to clean
Solution Approach 1:
The support member acts as an intermediary that eliminates direct contact interfaces between the burner and cooktop surface. By positioning the burner above the cooktop on support legs, the design removes the assembly interface cracks where food particles would accumulate. The support leg provides secure mounting through alternative means without creating crevices at the burner-cooktop interface.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the mounting function from the burner body and implements it through the separate support member. This extraction removes the problematic assembly interface cracks from the burner structure itself. The support leg provides secure attachment to the cooktop while the burner body remains elevated, eliminating the source of food particle accumulation at mounting interfaces.
Data Source
AI summary
A cooktop appliance includes a top panel and a gas burner assembly with a support member formed integrally with a cap at a first end portion of the support member. The support member defines a fuel supply passage that extends between first and second end portions of the support member. A burner body is mounted to the cap such that the burner body is positioned above and spaced from the top panel.