Oven appliance and rack assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional oven appliances face issues such as food spills, difficulty in achieving high localized heat for certain foods, and slow preheating due to the design of wire racks and hidden bake features, which affect cooking performance and usability.
Innovation Solution
A rack assembly with a non-permeable cook plate and a rack frame that extends along a transverse direction, providing a permeable support surface and allowing the cook plate to be rotatably attached, which can be easily cleaned and positioned to localize heat while hiding the lower heating assembly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If a wire rack with permeable support surface is used, then air circulation and heat distribution are improved, but spill prevention and localized heat capability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The rack system is segmented into two distinct components: a permeable wire rack for air circulation and a separate non-permeable cook plate for spill containment. This segmentation allows each component to fulfill its specific function optimally - the wire rack maintains heat distribution while the cook plate prevents spills and enables localized heating.
Solution Approach 2:
The cook plate acts as an intermediary element between the food being cooked and the permeable wire rack below. It provides a solid surface that contains spills and concentrates heat, while still allowing the underlying wire rack structure to facilitate air circulation and even heat distribution across the oven chamber.
2Ease of operation
If the bake heating assembly is hidden from view, then aesthetics and safety are improved, but preheating speed and heating performance deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The cook plate is designed with a rear nose that can be preliminarily positioned or adjusted to optimize its relationship with the heating assembly. This preliminary positioning ensures that when the hidden bake feature is activated, the cook plate is already in the optimal position to receive and conduct heat efficiently, compensating for the hidden nature of the heating assembly.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If a non-permeable cook plate is added to the rack assembly, then spill prevention and localized heat capability are improved, but device complexity and ease of cleaning deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The cook plate is merged with the rack frame through the rear nose attachment mechanism, creating an integrated assembly that functions as a single unit. This merging reduces the number of separate components that need to be handled, thereby simplifying the overall device complexity while maintaining spill prevention and localized heat capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The rear nose design enables the cook plate to be self-positioning and self-retaining on the rack frame. This self-service mechanism eliminates the need for complex fastening systems or multiple adjustment components, allowing the cook plate to be easily installed and removed by the user without requiring additional tools or complex procedures.
Data Source
AI summary
An oven appliance or rack assembly may include a rack frame and a non-permeable cook plate. The rack frame may extend along a transverse direction between a front end and a rear end. The rack frame may define a permeable support surface. The non-permeable cook plate may be selectively disposed on the rack frame. The non-permeable cook plate may include a rear nose rotatably attached to the rack frame at the front end.