Glass-Ceramic Hob Coating Layout for Hidden Heaters and Visible Displays
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing glass-ceramic hobs face challenges in balancing visibility of heating elements and displays with aesthetic appeal and ease of maintenance, as coatings on both sides complicate handling and cleaning, and modifications to achieve these criteria often compromise desired properties.
Innovation Solution
A transparent or translucent glass-ceramic plate with a coating applied exclusively on the lower face, featuring a background region to mask heating elements and an indicating region for visibility, using high-temperature resistant paints and thin layers to ensure durability and visibility of operational elements without dazzling, while maintaining an attractive appearance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If a coating is applied on both faces of the glass-ceramic plate to mask heating elements, then the aesthetic appearance and masking effect are improved, but the manufacturing complexity and handling difficulty increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the coating application from both faces and applies it exclusively to the lower face only. This removes the unnecessary complexity of coating the upper face while maintaining the essential masking function, as the coating on the lower face is sufficient to mask heating elements when viewed from above through the transparent glass-ceramic.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of applying coating to the face that contacts the user (upper face), the invention inverts the approach by applying the coating to the opposite face (lower face) that contacts the heating elements. This inversion maintains the masking effect while eliminating the problems of fingerprint visibility and coating abrasion on the user-facing surface.
2Shape
If a coating is applied on the upper surface of the plate, then the masking effect is improved, but the ease of maintenance deteriorates due to abrasion and soiling
Solution Approach 1:
The invention removes the coating from the upper surface entirely, extracting it and relocating it to the lower surface. This eliminates the direct exposure of the coating to abrasion from cleaning activities and soiling from food particles, thereby dramatically improving ease of maintenance while preserving the masking effect through the plate's transparency.
3Shape
If a coating is applied on both faces of the plate, then the masking effect is enhanced, but the handling and transportation difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the coating requirement from both faces and reduces it to a single-face application. This significantly simplifies handling and transportation procedures, as operators no longer need to exercise special precautions to protect coating on both surfaces, while the masking effect remains sufficient when viewed through the transparent plate from the upper face.
4Shape
If a coating is applied on the upper face to mask heating elements, then the aesthetic appearance is improved, but the visibility of displays and operational signs deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The invention inverts the coating location from the upper face to the lower face. This allows the upper face to remain completely transparent and free of coating, ensuring optimal visibility of displays and operational signs from above, while the lower face coating provides the necessary masking effect for heating elements when viewed through the plate.
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 simplifies manufacturing and handling, enhances maintenance by reducing abrasion and soiling, and provides improved visibility of heating elements and displays without compromising the plate's properties, offering an attractive and practical cooking surface.
Implementation Method 1
a coating, in particular intended to at least partly mask the underlying elements when not in use, while still allowing the heating elements and optional displays to be detected when they are in use
Implementation Method 2
it must also have a high transmission in the wavelength in the infrared range, in particular for use with radiant or halogen heat sources
Data Source
AI summary
A transparent or translucent glass-ceramic plate, capable of covering or receiving at least one underlying heating element. The plate has a coating which at least partly masks the underlying heating element(s), while still allowing the heating element(s) and optional displays to be detected. At least 90% of the coating is on the face of the plate to be turned toward the heating element(s) and optional displays in the use position. The coating has a region or a group of regions known as a background region(s), wherein the background region(s) occupy most of the surface of the coating. The coating also has a region or a group of regions known as indicating region(s), wherein the indicating region(s) making it possible to display, relative to the background region(s), a pattern, a sign and/or the location of functional elements while also making it possible to detect if the elements are in operation.