Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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Description
Domestic Hob
The present invention relates to a domestic hob comprising a
housing with a bottom wall.
Domestic hobs of the above-mentioned kind are known in prior
art. If such domestic hobs are to be installed in built-in fur-
niture, such as in a floor cupboard, it is to be considered that
the temperature within the furniture does not exceed an admissi-
ble threshold due to the heat dissipation of the hob in order to
prevent a damage of the furniture.
In this context DE-A-10 2005 053 173 proposes a domestic hob of
the above-mentioned kind comprising two temperature sensors. The
sensors detect and monitor the temperature of the furniture or
rather the heat yielded to the furniture. However, the detection
and monitoring of the temperature is expensive due to the neces-
sary electronic equipment.
A further domestic hob of the above-mentioned kind is described
in DE-U-20 2005 018 776. This domestic hob is installed in a
floor cupboard, wherein a drawer is provided directly beneath
the hob. In order to provide a space for stowing the cables of
the hob, an intermediate plate is arranged between the upper
edges of the drawer and the bottom side of the hob. Moreover,
the furniture comprises a heat resistant and/or thermically iso-
lating protection plate or protection layer arranged between the
intermediate plate and the bottom side of the hob. This interme-
diate plate or intermediate layer can be provided directly on
the intermediate plate. One draw-back of this solution is that
the size of the intermediate plate as well as the size of the
protection plate or the protection layer have to be adapted to
the dimensions of the floor cupboard when assembling the hob.
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This adaption makes the assembly of the hob very time-consuming
and expensive.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a domestic
hob of the above-mentioned kind giving the user protection
against thermal and/or electrical dangers emanating from the
bottom side of the hob, and which is inexpensive to manufacture
and to assemble.
In order to solve this object the present invention provides a
domestic hob of the above-mentioned kind which is characterized
in that at least one thermically and/or electrically isolating
and/or flame resistant protection plate is attached to the hob
underneath the bottom wall, wherein a main plane of the protec-
tion plate is spaced apart from the bottom wall by a predeter-
mined distance.
Such a domestic hob is inexpensive to manufacture thanks to its
simple construction. Moreover, since the protection plate is at-
tached to the hob its size does not need to be adapted to the
dimensions of the furniture in which the hob is to be housed,
e.g. to the dimensions of a floor cupboard. Accordingly, the do-
mestic hob according to the present invention is easy and inex-
pensive to assemble.
According to one embodiment of the present invention at least
one spacer is provided for maintaining the predetermined dis-
tance between the main plane of the protection plate and the
bottom wall of the housing. The at least one spacer can be made
integral with the protection plate and/or the bottom wall. For
example, one or more border areas of the protection plate can
form upwardly bent sections, which abut against the bottom wall
of the hob and thus maintain the predetermined distance between
the main plane of the protection plate and the bottom wall of
the housing. Due to the integral configuration of the at least
one spacer and the protection plate and/or the bottom wall, the
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number of components is reduced such that in particular the as-
sembly of the domestic hob can be simplified.
Alternatively, the at least one spacer is provided as a separate
component, such as a spacer bushing, a spacer pin or the like
extending between the main plane of the protection plate and the
bottom wall of the housing. Of course it is also possible to use
a combination of separate spacers and spacers, which are made
integral with the protection plate and/or the bottom wall.
According to one embodiment of the present invention the protec-
tion plate is screwed and/or riveted and/or bonded to or hooked
in the hob.
Alternatively, snap-fitting means are provided for fixing the
protection plate to the hob. Such snap-fitting means are advan-
tageous in that they form a releasable connection between the
protection plate and the hob, which is very easy and fast to as-
semble and to disassemble. Preferably, the snap-fitting means
are made integral with the protection plate and/or the housing
in order to reduce the number of components and thus to simplify
the assembly of the domestic hob.
According to one embodiment of the present invention the protec-
tion plate comprises at least one cable opening for feeding
through cables. Accordingly, the cables of the hob can be fed
out of the clearance present between the main plain of the pro-
tection plate and the bottom wall of the housing in a defined
manner. The edges of the cable opening are preferably chamfered
and/or provided with a cable protecting means in order to pro-
tect the cables from being damaged. As a cable protecting means
a plastic rail may be clipped on the edges of the cable opening,
only to cite an example.
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Preferably, the protection plate and/or the bottom wall of the
housing comprises at least one venting opening for venting the
hob.
According to an embodiment of the present invention a first pro-
tection plate section is provided with at least one venting
opening for feeding air and a second protection plate section is
provided with at least one venting opening for removing air,
wherein the protection plate sections are spacially separated
from each other in order to ensure an effective air circulation.
For separating the protection plate sections a separation wall
and/or sealing means may be provided.
Moreover, the present invention provides a protection plate de-
signed to be attached underneath a bottom wall of a housing of a
domestic hob such that a main plane of the protection plate is
spaced apart from the bottom wall of the housing by a predeter-
mined distance, wherein the protection plate is thermically
and/or electrically isolated and/or flame resistant.
According to one embodiment of the present invention the protec-
tion plate comprises at least one spacer for defining the prede-
termined distance.
The protection plate may be designed to be screwed and/or riv-
eted and/or bonded to or hooked in the hob.
Alternatively, the protection plate may comprise snap-fitting
means for fixing the protection plate to the hob.
Preferably, at least one cable opening for feeding through ca-
bles is provided whose edges are preferably chamfered and/or
provided with a cable protecting means.
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Advantageously, a first protection plate section is provided
with at least one venting opening for feeding air and a second
protection plate section is provided with at least one venting
opening for removing air, wherein the protection plate sections
are spacially separated from each other.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
The detailed configuration, features and advantages of the pre-
sent invention will become apparent in the course of the follow-
ing description with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Figure 1 is a perspective, exploded bottom view of a domestic
hob according to an embodiment of the present inven-
tion.
Figure 2 is an perspective, exploded top view of the hob shown
in figure 1.
Figure 3 is an perspective, exploded bottom view of a domestic
hob according to a second embodiment of the present in-
vention.
Figure 4 is a perspective, exploded top view of the hob shown in
figure 3.
Figures 1 and 2 show a domestic hob 10 according to a first em-
bodiment of the present invention. The hob 10 comprises a con-
ventional ceramic top plate 12 and a housing 14. In order to ac-
commodate the electronic components of the hob 10 the housing 14
has a box-shape which is defined by a bottom wall 16 and four
side walls 18. Along the upper edges of the side walls 18 angle
profiles 20 are arranged for receiving the ceramic top plate 12
and for fixing it to the housing 14. The bottom wall 16 of the
housing 14 is provided with venting openings 22a, 22b and 22c
for cooling the interior of the housing 14 by the circulation of
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ambient air. The circulation is caused by means of a fan (not
shown) received in the housing 14, which sucks in ambient air
through the venting openings 22a and 22b and ejects the air
through the venting opening 22c.
Moreover, the hob 10 comprises a protection plate 24 which is
made.of a thermically and electrically isolating and fire resis-
tant material and which is fixed to the bottom wall 16 of the
housing 14 by means of screws 23. The protection plate 24 in-
cludes a square main plane 26 extending essentially in parallel
to the bottom wall 16 of the housing 14, wherein three border
areas of the main plane 26 are bent upwardly towards the housing
14 of the hob 10 in order to form spacers 28. These spacers 28
abut against the bottom wall 16, such that the main plane 26 of
the protection plate 24 is spaced apart from the bottom wall 16
by a predetermined distance. Thus, a clearance is created be-
tween the main plane 26 of the protection plate 24 and the bot-
tom wall 16 of the housing 14. The clearance is devided by a
separation wall 34, which extends between the two opposing spac-
ers 28 and is fixed to the main plane 26 of the protection plate
24, whereby two protection plate sections 36 and 38 are formed.
Within the protection plate section 36 a first venting opening
40a is provided underneath the venting openings 22a and 22b of
the housing 14 for feeding air, and in the protection plate sec-
tion 38 two venting openings 40b and 40c are provided underneath
the venting opening 22c of the housing 14 for removing air. Ac-
cordingly, ambient air is sucked in by means of the fan through
the venting opening 40a formed in the protection plate 24, flows
through the venting openings 22a and 22b into the housing 14,
receives the heat generated by the electric components arranged
within the housing 14 and flows out through the venting openings
22c of the housing 14 and the venting openings 40b and 40c of
the protection plate 24.
Moreover, the main plane 26 of the protection plate 24 is formed
with a cable opening 42 for feeding through the cables of the
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hob 10. The edges of the cable opening 42 may be chamfered
and/or provided with a cable protection means (not shown), e.g.
a plastic protection rail, which can be clipped on the edges of
the cable opening 42 in order to protect the user from getting
cut.
Thanks to the thermically isolated protection plate 24 as well
as to the distance between the bottom wall 16 of the housing 14
and the main plane 26 of the protection plate 24 created by the
spacers 28 it is prevented that a user, who accidentally comes
into contact with the bottom side of the hob 10, gets burned.
Moreover, the electrical isolation of the protection plate 24
prevents that the user receives an electric shock. Since the
protection plate 24 is not fixed to the furniture but to the hob
10 itself there is no need to adapt the size of the protection
plate 24 to the dimensions of the furniture, e.g. to the dimen-
sions of floor cupboard. Thus, the assembly of the hob 10 can be
performed in an easy, fast and inexpensive manner.
It should be noted that the spacers 28 can also be provided as
separate elements, e.g. in the form of spacer bushings arranged
around the screws 23.
Figures 3 and 4 show a hob 50 according to a second embodiment
of the present invention. The structure of the hob 50 is very
similar to the one of the hob 10 shown in figures 1 and 2 for
which reason corresponding components of the hob 50 are desig-
nated with the same reference numerals as used in figures 1 and
2 in order to simplify matters. The hobs 50 and 10 only vary in
that the hob 50 comprises snap-fitting means 52 instead of the
screws 30 for fixing the protection plate 24 to the housing 14
of the hob 50. The snap-fitting means 52 are provided at the ex-
terior of the spacers 28 and project upwardly towards the hous-
ing 14. The snap-fitting means 52 comprise snap-fitting projec-
tions 54 which project inwards and latch into corresponding
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snap-fitting openings 56 formed in the side walls 18 of the
housing 14.
Thanks to the snap-fitting means 52 the fixation of the protec-
tion plate 24 to the bottom wall 16 of the housing 14 can be
performed in a very fast and comfortable manner.
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