Pull-Out Combi-Steamer Hob Layout for Searing and Steam Cooking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional combi-steamers are limited in their ability to sear food and have obstacles within the cooking chamber that restrict loading and cleaning, making it difficult to cook items like pizza and meat, and they lack the capability to function as a cooker or griddle.
Innovation Solution
The combi-steamer design features both heating devices outside the cooking chamber, with the hob forming the bottom and at least one wall serving as a heating field, allowing for searing and subsequent steam cooking without internal obstacles, enabling the use as a cooker, oven, or griddle.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If heating devices are arranged inside the cooking chamber, then food can be heated and seared, but obstacles are created that restrict loading and cleaning
Solution Approach 1:
The heating devices are extracted from the interior of the cooking chamber and relocated to the exterior. Specifically, at least one heating device is arranged on the front door, while another heating device is positioned on the rear wall outside the cooking chamber. This extraction eliminates internal obstacles, allowing unobstructed loading of cookware and facilitating easy cleaning of the cooking chamber interior.
Solution Approach 2:
The heating function is shifted from the three-dimensional interior space to the two-dimensional exterior surfaces (front door and rear wall). This dimensional relocation allows the heating elements to operate effectively while being positioned outside the cooking chamber volume, thus avoiding interference with internal operations.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a refractory brick is introduced into the cooking chamber for heating, then pizza and similar items can be cooked, but obstacles are created that impede loading and make cleaning difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The refractory brick heating element is extracted from the cooking chamber interior and replaced by heating devices positioned on the front door and rear wall. This eliminates the physical obstacle of the brick while maintaining the high-temperature cooking capability necessary for pizza and similar dishes.
Solution Approach 2:
The heating devices on the front door and rear wall provide universal heating capability that can accommodate various cooking tasks including pizza, steaming, and conventional cooking, replacing the specialized refractory brick solution with a more versatile system.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the combi-steamer is equipped with multiple heating devices inside the chamber, then searing and various cooking methods are enabled, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple heating devices are extracted from the cooking chamber interior and repositioned on the front door and rear wall. This maintains the multi-functional cooking capability (searing, steaming, baking) while significantly reducing internal structural complexity and eliminating the need for internal mounting structures.
4Adaptability or versatility
If vapor is generated during high-temperature cooking, then food can be seared, but the vapor must be discharged or extracted requiring additional equipment
Solution Approach 1:
The vapor generated during high-temperature searing is no longer treated as a harmful byproduct requiring complex extraction. Instead, the heating devices positioned on the front door and rear wall allow vapor to naturally circulate and condense on the cooler exterior surfaces, converting the previously harmful vapor into a beneficial condensation heat transfer mechanism that pre-heats the heating elements.
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 design expands the combi-steamer's functionality, allowing for searing and various cooking methods without internal obstructions, enhancing usability and eliminating the need for separate kitchen appliances.
Implementation Method 1
a steam generator (24), with a first heating device (28) arranged on at least one of the walls (15, 16, 18, 20) and with a second heating device (30) arranged on the floor (14)
Implementation Method 2
this injected water is vaporized by the first heating device. The first heating device is mounted in the cooking chamber on the inside of a wall thereof and encloses a fan which circulates the steam generated thereby in the cooking chamber
Implementation Method 3
a hob provided with the second heating device forms the bottom of the cooking chamber and delimits the cooking chamber at the bottom
Data Source
Figure 1
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AI summary
The cooker has a cooking chamber bounded by a bottom (14), walls (15,18,20) and a door (22), a steam generator, a heater (28) arranged on at least one of the walls and a second heater (30a) on the bottom. Both heaters are arranged outside the cooking chamber and the bottom is in the form of a cooker hob (32a) with a second heater. Then cooker hob can be pulled out of the coking chamber in the manner of a drawer.