Oven Door Camera Assembly with Light Shield to Reduce Glass Reflection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional oven cameras positioned outside the cooking chamber to avoid high temperatures suffer from reduced image quality due to light reflection off glass layers, especially when these glasses are coated to reflect infrared radiation.
Innovation Solution
The oven appliance incorporates a camera assembly with a mounting bracket between inner and outer glass assemblies, featuring a primary light shield that surrounds the camera to block reflected light, and an air gap to reduce thermal interference, ensuring improved image quality by minimizing light reflection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If the camera is positioned outside the cooking chamber to avoid high temperatures, then the camera operating temperature is maintained within safe limits, but light reflection off the glass layers reduces image quality
Solution Approach 1:
A light shield is introduced as an intermediary element between the glass layers and the camera lens to block reflected light paths. The light shield acts as a mediator that prevents harmful reflections from reaching the lens while allowing the camera to remain in its safe thermal zone outside the cooking chamber.
Solution Approach 2:
The camera is extracted from the high-temperature cooking chamber environment and positioned in the cooler door assembly area. This separation maintains safe operating temperatures for the camera while the light shield compensates for the resulting optical interference from glass reflections.
2Loss of energy
If the glass layers are coated with materials to reflect infrared radiation, then thermal insulation performance is improved, but light reflection increases and degrades image quality
Solution Approach 1:
The infrared-reflective coating on the glass, which initially causes harmful light reflections that degrade image quality, is reframed as a necessary thermal insulation feature. The light shield then converts this potentially harmful reflection issue into a manageable optical interference problem that can be blocked, allowing the glass coating to maintain its beneficial thermal insulation function.
Solution Approach 2:
The light shield serves as an intermediary that decouples the thermal function of the reflective glass coating from the optical function of image capture. It allows the glass to perform its thermal insulation role with infrared reflection while preventing these same reflections from reaching the camera lens.
3Measurement precision
If the camera is positioned inside the cooking chamber for direct viewing, then image quality is improved, but the camera is exposed to high temperatures that may damage it
Solution Approach 1:
The light shield acts as an intermediary that enables the camera to achieve good image quality without direct exposure to high temperatures. It blocks reflected light paths while allowing the camera to remain in the protected, cooler environment outside the cooking chamber.
Solution Approach 2:
The solution moves the camera positioning problem from a spatial dimension (inside vs. outside the cooking chamber) to an optical dimension (managing light paths through shielding). This allows the camera to be positioned optimally for both temperature safety and image quality by controlling light rather than just physical location.
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
This configuration enhances image quality by effectively blocking reflected light and maintaining camera operation within high-temperature environments, providing clear images of cooking progress without interference from undesired light reflections.
Implementation Method 1
Light from inside or outside of the cooking chamber may reflect off this glass and result in reduced image quality
Implementation Method 2
an air gap to reduce thermal interference
Data Source
AI summary
A door assembly for providing selective access to a cooking chamber of an oven appliance includes an inner glass assembly and an outer glass assembly spaced apart by an outer air gap. A mounting bracket is positioned within the outer air gap and a camera is mounted to the mounting bracket. The door assembly further includes a primary light shield, which may be an extension of the mounting bracket or a non-reflective coating on the outer glass assembly, which blocks reflected light from reaching the camera. In addition, the inner glass assembly may include an inner glass pane and a middle glass pane separated by an inner air gap, and a secondary light shield may be positioned within the inner air gap to block more reflected light.