Cooking appliance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Mini ovens with downward opening doors face challenges such as door protrusion in narrow spaces, increased risk of toppling due to biased center of mass, limited shelf insertion and withdrawal paths, and safety concerns from direct user interaction with hot components.
Innovation Solution
A cooking appliance design featuring a door that rotates upward to open both the front and upper surfaces of the cooking compartment, incorporating a hinge assembly for automatic tray movement and a see-through window with air intake and exhaust ports to enhance safety and visibility, along with induction heating and wireless power reception for improved stability and convenience.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the door is provided as a downward opening type to enable easy opening and closing, then the door can be conveniently operated, but the door protrudes from the front of the mini oven making it difficult to open and withdraw/insert shelves in narrow spaces
Solution Approach 1:
The door opening direction is inverted from the conventional downward opening to an upward opening. The door rotates about a hinge axis at its lower end, opening upward to a substantially horizontal position. This inversion eliminates the protrusion problem in narrow spaces while maintaining ease of operation, as the door opens into the interior space of the oven rather than outward.
Solution Approach 2:
The door opening motion is changed from a vertical downward arc to an upward arc that utilizes the interior vertical space of the oven. By changing the dimension of motion from downward external opening to upward internal opening, the door no longer protrudes forward, enabling installation in narrow spaces while preserving operational convenience.
2Ease of operation
If the door opens forward from the mini oven, then the door can be easily opened, but the center of mass becomes biased towards the front increasing the risk of the mini oven toppling forward
Solution Approach 1:
The door opening direction is inverted from forward/downward opening to upward opening. The hinge assembly is positioned at the lower end of the door, causing the door to rotate upward about this hinge axis. This inversion moves the door's mass distribution during opening, preventing the center of mass from shifting forward and thus eliminating the toppling risk while maintaining ease of operation.
3Loss of information
If a glass window is provided in the door for viewing the inside, then the cooking state can be monitored without opening the door, but heat may be transmitted to the user's hand when opening the door
Solution Approach 1:
The door opening direction is inverted from downward to upward motion. This inversion changes the sequence and path of heat exposure: the upper portion of the door (farther from the hot cooking chamber) opens first, allowing the user to grasp the handle from a cooler position. The heat gradient along the door is exploited, with the hinge area being cooler and the viewing area providing thermal protection during the opening motion.
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
Facilitates easy door opening and shelf/tray handling in tight spaces, reduces the risk of appliance toppling, enhances user safety by minimizing direct contact with hot components, and provides efficient heating and power management.
Implementation Method 1
a hinge assembly which withdraws the tray forward from the inside of the cooking compartment by interlocking with rotation of the door when the door is opened and inserts the tray rearward toward the inside of the cooking compartment by interlocking with rotation of the door when the door is closed
Implementation Method 2
induction heating and wireless power reception for improved stability and convenience
Implementation Method 3
induction heating and wireless power reception for improved stability and convenience
Data Source
AI summary
A cooking appliance includes a housing having a cooking compartment, which is surrounded by a bottom surface, a pair of side surfaces, and a back surface of the housing, and has an upper surface and a front surface which are open. A door includes a door upper surface part which covers the upper surface of the housing and a door front surface part which is connected to a front side of the door upper surface part and covers the front surface of the housing and opens and closes the upper surface and the front surface of the housing by rotating about a rear side of the door upper surface part. A heating part is installed in at least one of the housing or the door.