Wall oven exhaust duct system

[57] ABSTRACT

A pair of built-in wall ovens for household use is shown stacked one on the other. Each oven cooking cavity is vented toward the front wall of the oven to an area just above the oven door. Duct means are provided to direct the oven exhaust to the sides of the ovens away from the oven doors and the single control panel so as to hold down the maximum surface temperatures at the front of the ovens. Vertical exhaust stacks are arranged along the front comers of the oven bodies to collect the oven exhaust from the duct means and finally discharge it at the top of the stacks with a frontward discharge.

Claims, 5 Drawing Figures

<img file="US3924601A_D0001.tif" />

U.S. Patent Dec. 9,1975

Sheet 1 of 2

3,924,601

<img file="US3924601A_D0002.tif" />

FIG. 3

F/G. 2

U.S. Patent Dec. 9, 1975

Sheet 2 of 2

3,924,601

F7G. 4

<img file="US3924601A_D0003.tif" />

<img file="US3924601A_D0004.tif" />

3,924,601

WALL OVEN EXHAUST DUCT SYSTEM BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a cooking oven and particularly to a ventilating system for discharging the oven exhaust clear of the oven door and oven control panel so as to hold down the maximum surface temperatures of these oven parts.

2. Description of the Prior Art

The present invention is particularly useful in built-in wall ovens where the oven body is fitted into an opening in a wall cabinet so that the oven is almost totally enclosed except for the front wall which includes the oven door and the overlying control panel. The exhaust from the oven cooking cavity must be vented to the front of the oven, because it may not be vented inside the kitchen cabinets unless a metal duct system is provided to carry the oven exhaust to the outside of the kitchen.

An example of a prior art oven ventilating system that has been in use for many years is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,310,046 of George A. Scott and James K. Newell, Jr., which is assigned to the same assignee as is the present invention. In this patent the oven exhaust discharges forward!? just above the top edge of the oven door between the door and the control panel which overlies the door.

Some objectionable conditions that are to be avoided are fogging or condensation appearing on either the control panel crystal, the metal trim, control knobs or glass fronts or windows of the oven doors. Also, the oven exhaust may tend to raise the surface temperature of the oven door handle, control knobs or other oven parts and create a problem. These design problem areas are magnified when the built-in wall oven is stacked into a pair of wall ovens one above the other, or when the oven has a pyrolytic self-cleaning oven cycle.

A principal object of the present invention is to provide a cooking oven with an oven exhaust ventilating system which carries the oven exhaust away from the oven door and the control panel before the exhaust is discharged into the room forwardly of the oven.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an oven ventilating system of a class described where the oven exhaust is first brought out toward the front of the oven and then carried by duct means along the oven front to the sides thereof, where it is discharged forwardly of the front wall of the oven so as to be clear of the oven door and the control panel.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an oven of the class described with a cooling air channel means associated with the duct means to restrict the maximum surface temperature of the duct means.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an oven ventilating system of the class described with vertical stack means along the front corners of the oven body so as to create an updraft of ambient air to mix with the oven exhaust before the oven exhaust is discharged back into the room.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention, in accordance with one form thereof, relates to a cooking oven having an oven cooking cavity with oven vent opening and first duct means connecting the oven vent opening to an area adjacent the front of the oven body at a location above the oven door. This first duct means is connected to a second duct means extending along the front of the oven to the side of the oven body where the oven exhaust exists with a frontward discharge from an exhaust port means at the side of the oven body.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

This invention will be better understood from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and its scope will be pointed out in the appended claims.

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a pair of built-in wall ovens for use in the home for cooking purposes.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary cross-sectional, elevation'll view on an enlarged scale taken on the line 2—2 of the upper oven of FIG. 1 and showing the nature of the oven vent opening in the top wall of the oven liner and a first duct means connecting the vent opening to an area at the front of the oven just above the top edge of the oven door.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary cross-sectional, elevational view similar to that of FIG. 2 except that it is taken on the line 3—3 of the lower oven of FIG. 1 in the area that includes the top edge of the lower oven door and the bottom edge of the top oven door to show an oven vent opening from the lower oven with a first duct connecting the oven vent opening to a second horizontal duct that extends to the two sides of the oven body.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional, side elevational view taken on the line 4—4 of FIG. 1 showing the nature of the vertical exhaust stack located at the front corner of the double oven bodies, with the stack being divided by an internal longitudinal partition into a front cool air channel and a rear exhaust channel that carries the oven exhaust from both the lower and the upper oven to top exhaust port that discharges forwardly of the front wall of the ovens.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary, cross-sectional plan view of the upper oven on an enlarged scale taken on the line 5—5 of FIG. 1 showing the nature of the connection between a first duct means that extends from the oven vent opening and a second duct means that extends across the front of the oven to the two sides of the oven body and connects into the vertical exhaust stack at the front side corner of the oven bodies.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Turning now to a consideration of the drawings, and in particular to FIG. 1, there is shown a double built-in wall oven 10 of vertically stacked arrangement comprising an upper oven 12 and a lower oven 14 with a single control panel 16 mounted above the upper oven 12 at about eye level for controlling the operation of both ovens. This invention has been particularly designed for electrically heated ovens for use in the home, but there is no reason why the same invention could not be used with gas-fired cooking ovens where the combustion gases are much larger in volume than the exhaust gases from an electrically heated oven. Moreover, the invention could be used with pyrolytic selfcleaning ovens, although the invention is not limited to such a use. The invention could be adopted for standard cooking ovens operating in the temperature range between about 150°F and 55O°F during normal cooking.

3,924,601

For a more complete explanation of the operation of an electric built-in oven, reference may be made to the before-mentioned Scott et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,310,046. It is not felt necessary to describe the entire oven in order to be able to explain the nature of the present invention. First, will be described the upper oven 12. It is a cooking oven having an external oven body or cabinet construction 20 surrounding an oven cooking cavity formed by a box-like insulated oven liner 22 and a front-opening access door 24, as is best seen in FIG. 2. The inner surface of the oven door 24 includes a door gasket 26 of woven fiber glass or the like material which is adapted to seal against the front flange 28 of the oven liner 22 when the oven door 24 is moved to its vertical closed position. If this invention is used on a pyrolytic self-cleaning oven, then the oven door 24 would be locked shut during the high temperature operating cycle, and this would provide more of a sealing action between the door gasket 26 and the front flange 28 of the oven liner so as to restrict the heat loss through the gap between the door and the oven liner. The oven liner 22 is provided with an oven vent opening 32 in the top wall of the oven liner so as to carry off the vent exhaust. Again, if this were a pyrolytic selfcleaning oven, a smoke eliminator or oxidation unit 34 would be installed in cooperation with the oven vent opening 32 for further degrading the gaseous degradation products that are created when the food soil and grease spatter within the oven cooking cavity are decomposed during the high temperature pyrolytic cycle. During such cycle, the temperatures on the walls forming the oven cooking cavity reach a maximum somewhere between 750°F and 950°F, and under abnormal conditions may reach as high as 1000°F in certain areas that are the closest to the oven heating elements (not shown).

There is a first duct 38 that is joined to the oven vent opening 32 and extends forwardly to an area adjacent the front of the oven body just above the top edge of the oven door 24, as is best seen in FIG. 2. There is an open grill work 42 positioned beneath the control panel 16 to serve as an oven air cooling system exhaust. Such cooling air is usually brought into the oven body near the bottom thereof to pass around the insulated oven liner to carry off some of the heat therefrom and to return the cooling air to the kitchen by means of the open grill 42.

The first duct 38 joins into an opening in the back side of a second horizontal duct 44 of small cylindrical cross section which extends from one side of the oven front to the other, as can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 5. At each side of the control panel 16 is positioned a hollow endcap 48, and each end of the second horizontal duct 44 is connected as at 46 into the inner side of the endcap. An internal sleeve 47 fits snugly into the end of the duct 44 and telescopes into the opening 46 in the endcap 48 to bridge these two members and prevent condensation from dripping from this connection. Each endcap has a front discharge opening 50 such that the oven exhaust discharges forwardly of the endcap, thereby avoiding interference with the control panel 16 and the oven door 24.

The allowable surface temperatures permitted by the Underwriters’ Laboratories, Inc. for range components mounted above 36 inches from the floor is 182°F for bare or painted metal, 190°F for porcelain enamel finishes, 202°F for glass and 212°F for plastics. Allowable surface temperatures for handles and knobs is about 50°F less than the above temperatures for the same materials.

The surface temperature of the second duct 44 can run rather hot depending on whether or not the oven is a pyrolytic self-cleaning oven or a standard oven. One manner of reducing this surface temperature is to provide a cooling air channel 52 is an addition to the front face of the second duct 44, as is best seen in FIG. 2. This cooling air channel 52 appears as an integral decorative trim which is substantially coextensive therewith and open along its bottom edge such that room ambient air may pass into the cooling air channel and extend from the length thereof. This cooling air channel 52 is also connected into the endcap 48 as at 54. As best seen in FIG. 5, a U-shaped channel-like, vertical partition 56 is located within the endcap 48 to confine the hot oven exhaust entering from the second duct 44 thereby separating the oven exhaust from the cooling air that enters the endcap at 54 from the cooling air channel 52. Notice that the U-shaped channel member 56 is rather small in comparison with the overall size of the endcap, such that the cooling air passes around the outside of this channel member and thereby holds down the exterior surface temperature of the endcap. The top portion of the vertical partition 56 stops short of the front discharge opening 50 so the cooling air mixes with the oven exhaust before this mixture is expelled from the discharge opening 50.

The lower oven 14 is constructed very much like the upper oven 12, except that it is controlled by control components located in the single control panel 16 that is above the upper oven 12. This lower oven 14 has an oven cooking cavity formed by a box-like oven liner 60 and a front-opening access door 62. There is a door sealing gasket 64 cooperating with a front flange 66 of the oven liner. The oven exhaust is carried out through an oven vent opening 68 which is provided with a first duct 70, which may be supplied with a smoke eliminator or oxidation unit 72 in the event this is a pyrolytic self-cleaning oven. This lower oven 14 has an oven exhaust system similar to that of the upper oven 12, except for the endcaps 48 with the front discharge openings 50. The first duct 70 connects into an opening in the back side of a second horizontal duct 74, and this second duct extends across the front of the oven to both sides of the oven body where it connects at each end into a vertical exhaust stack 78 which is located at the front corners of the double oven bodies and extends up from the bottom of the lower oven 14 to the endcap 48 at the side of the control panel 16. Each exhaust stack 78 is in effect a vertical downward extension of the hollow endcap 48 and is furnished throughout with the same U-shaped channel member 56 which is present in the endcap 48. The purpose for this is to separate the cooling air from the hot oven exhaust and also to pass cooling air around the outside of the channel member 56 so as to maintain the outer surface of the exhaust stack relatively cool. The second duct 74 of the lower oven 14 has a cooling air channel 82, as seen in FIG. 3, similar to air channel 52 of the upper oven 12 shown in FIG. 2. This second duct 74 is joined to the stack 78 through an opening 84 shown in FIG. 4. Also the air channel 82 is connected to the stack 78 through an opening 86.

A wad of cotton or felt 88 is located within the Ushaped partition 56 near the bottom thereof, as seen in FIG. 4, so as to absorb any condensation, for later evaporation, that may form within the partition of the

3,924,601 stack 78 and drip down the stack.

Vent openings 90 may be formed on the inner side of the stack 78 to allow room ambient air to enter the stack and improve the chimney action thereof.

Modifications of this invention will occur to those skilled in this art, therefore it is to be understood that this invention is not limited to the particular embodiments disclosed, but that it is intended to cover all modifications which are within the true spirit and scope of this invention as claimed.