Gas cooker and method of operation of such gas cooker
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Solution Overview
Problem
Compact gas cookers used in boats and caravans suffer from overheating of user-operable control means due to radiation and combustion products, inadequate thermal insulation, and inefficient fume evacuation, leading to safety concerns and non-compliance with European safety standards.
Innovation Solution
A gas cooker design featuring a box-like housing with a horizontal metal plate dividing upper and lower compartments, slits for fluid communication, a sliding baffle for controlling airflow, and an exhaust path with a folded metal sheet to separate the control means from heat sources and facilitate fume evacuation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If movable baffles are used to deflect hot air flow away from control means, then control means overheating is reduced, but effective evacuation of fumes and combustion products is hindered
Solution Approach 1:
The internal structure is segmented into distinct functional zones: an upper compartment for control means and a lower compartment for combustion, separated by a partition wall with controlled openings. This segmentation allows hot air deflection while maintaining separate pathways for fume evacuation, resolving the contradiction between protecting control means and ensuring effective exhaust.
Solution Approach 2:
A partition wall with controlled openings acts as an intermediary structure between the combustion zone and control means zone. It mediates the conflicting requirements by allowing selective passage of gases while providing thermal protection, enabling both fume evacuation and control means temperature reduction.
2Temperature
If insulating systems with low-conductivity materials are used for inner walls, then thermal insulation is improved, but device complexity and installation difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The partition wall structure employs asymmetric design with different configurations on each side: one side facing the combustion zone and the other facing the control means zone. This asymmetric structure provides effective thermal insulation where needed while maintaining manufacturing and installation simplicity, avoiding the need for complex symmetric insulation systems.
Solution Approach 2:
Thermal insulation is applied locally at the partition wall between compartments rather than throughout the entire structure. This localized approach provides necessary thermal protection to control means while minimizing overall device complexity and maintaining ease of manufacture and installation.
3Temperature
If a folded metal sheet conduit is used to separate combustion products from control means, then thermal protection is enhanced, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The partition wall with controlled openings provides dynamic control over airflow and thermal separation. The structured openings allow optimization of both thermal protection and fume evacuation without requiring complex static conduit structures, reducing overall device complexity while maintaining effective thermal separation.
4Object-generated harmful factors
If the oven door is kept partially open to promote heat migration and fume evacuation, then combustion product evacuation is improved, but control means are exposed to more heat and combustion products
Solution Approach 1:
The cooker is segmented into vertically separated compartments: the lower combustion zone and the upper control means zone. This vertical segmentation allows the oven door to remain partially open for effective fume evacuation while the partition wall prevents hot air and combustion products from reaching the control means, resolving the contradiction between evacuation efficiency and thermal protection.
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
Prevents overheating of control means, ensures effective fume evacuation, and provides adequate thermal insulation, enhancing user safety and compliance with safety standards while maintaining a compact size and ease of assembly.
Implementation Method 1
a folded metal sheet accommodated in the upper compartment at the slits and having lateral lower edges contacting the metal plate to define a conduit adapted to establish fluid communication between the slits and the exhaust path
Implementation Method 2
separate it from the rest of the upper compartment which houses the control means, to prevent them and the front panel from being overheated
Implementation Method 3
a box-like housing delimiting an upper compartment and a lower compartment, the compartments being divided by a substantially horizontal metal plate
Data Source
AI summary
A gas cooker includes a housing delimiting an upper and a lower compartment divided by a plate and communicating through slits formed in the plate; a hob having a plurality of burners; an oven housed in the lower compartment and having a front opening, a pivoting door selectively closing the lower compartment, and a grill device; a front panel having controls elements connected to the burners and the oven; and an exhaust path for fumes and combustion products of the oven. The gas cooker further includes a folded metal sheet disposed in the upper compartment by the slits and having lateral edges contacting the plate to define a conduit between the slits and the exhaust path, and separate the exhaust path from the rest of the upper compartment which houses the control element, so as to prevent the control elements and the front panel from overheating.