Food cooking oven
The invention relates to a food cooking oven comprising a chamber, a turbine which is used to agitate the atmosphere in the chamber and a heating device which is disposed at the centre of the turbine.
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The present invention relates to ovens for cooking food.
More particularly, the invention relates to an oven for cooking food that comprises:
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- an enclosure for receiving the food to be heated and for containing a cooking atmosphere, the enclosure having two horizontal walls forming respectively a bottom and a ceiling, interconnected by at least two vertical side walls, said enclosure being closed by at least one door that is also vertical;
- a heater device placed inside the enclosure; and
- a fan also placed inside the enclosure comprising at least one blade rotating about a central space, following a circular path centered on an axis of rotation in order to stir the cooking atmosphere heated by the heater device.
Ovens of this type are already known in which, for example, the food for cooking is placed on trays disposed at a plurality of levels. In such ovens, the food must all cook at the same speed and with the same degree of cooking at all of the levels. It is therefore particularly important to ensure that heat is distributed uniformly within such ovens.
A particular object of the present invention is to improve the uniformity with which heat is distributed within the enclosure of an oven of this type.
To this end, according to the invention, an oven is provided which, in addition to the characteristics mentioned above, is characterized by the fact that the heater device is placed facing the central space situated inside the circular path.
By means of these dispositions, the heat produced by the heater device is sucked in by the fan and then distributed around it in uniform manner. This contributes to considerably improving the distribution of heat throughout the volume of the enclosure.
In preferred embodiments of the invention, recourse may optionally be had to one or more of the following dispositions:
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- the axis of rotation is horizontal; thus, for example, the fan is mounted to rotate on one of the vertical walls of the enclosure;
- the heater device is an electric element or a burner for burning gas;
- in this last case, the burner comprises a bowl and a plate, the bowl being connected to a duct for feeding gas for burning, and being closed by the plate covering its face facing towards the wall of the enclosure on which the fan is mounted, the plate being provided with orifices for passing the gas for burning; the burner is thus oriented towards the wall of the enclosure on which the fan is mounted; thus, if the burner and the fan are protected merely by a simple grid, the heat generated by the burner is not emitted directly towards the food to be heated and/or cooked;
- the orifices in the plate of the burner are adapted so that the flames generated by burning the gas for burning are distributed over 360° about the axis of rotation;
- wires for electrically powering a device for lighting the gas of the burner pass within the feed duct; advantage is thus taken of the relatively low temperature that exists inside the feed duct, given that it is swept by the gas for burning, thereby protecting the electrical power supply wires contained therein;
- the plate is provided with an igniter electrode and with a flame control device, e.g. operating by ionization; and
- the oven includes a protective grid provided with a frame defining an opening of area greater than or substantially equal to the area of the fan when considered perpendicularly to the axis of rotation.
Other aspects, objects, and advantages of the invention will appear on reading the following description of an embodiment thereof.
The invention will also be better understood with the help of the drawings, in which:
In the various figures, the same references are used to designate elements that are identical or similar.
An embodiment of the oven of the invention is described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.
As shown in
The enclosure 2 is substantially in the form of a rectangular parallelepiped having a front face 6 that is open or closed by the door 5, a back wall 7 that is opposite the front wall 6, two vertical side walls 8 between the front face 6 and the back wall 7, and a bottom wall 9 and a ceiling 10 forming two horizontal walls.
As shown in
The heater device 11 is placed inside the enclosure 2 facing the fan 12. Advantageously it is a burner for burning gas. It is fed with gas for burning by a duct 15. The burner is ignited by an electrode 16 that is powered electrically by a wire 17 penetrating into the burner via the duct 15. The burner is described in greater detail below with reference to
The burner advantageously includes a flame control device 16a, e.g. using ionization, that is connected to a control unit (not shown) by a wire 17a.
The gas for burning is advantageously a mixture of air and gas and it is delivered to the burner at small positive pressure.
The fan 12 is constituted by a disk 18 centered on an axis of rotation 19. At the periphery of the disk 18, the fan 12 has a plurality of blades 20 that are regularly distributed angularly around the axis of rotation 19. The blades 20 are constituted, for example, by plane rectangular plates extending in planes that are substantially perpendicular to the disk 18 and that include the axis of rotation 19. While they are being rotated, they follow a circular path centered on the axis of rotation 19 and defining a central space 21. The fan 12 is rotated about the axis of rotation 19 by a motor 22, e.g. an electric motor. It serves to distribute the heat energy within the enclosure 2.
The protective grid 13 extends in a vertical plane facing the disk 18, in front of the burner 11 and the fan 12, relative to the space 23 that is to receive the food to be heated and that is situated between the burner 11 and the door 5.
Ten pairs of slideways 14 are disposed substantially horizontally on the side walls 8. Each side wall 8 has one of the slideways 14 of each pair. These slideways 14 enable trays to be supported, which in turn serve to carry the food that is to be heated and/or cooked.
The burner 11 is placed facing the central space 21. Advantageously, a portion of the burner 11 penetrates into the central space 21. The enclosure 2 includes an exhaust orifice 31 for exhausting gas contained inside the enclosure 2.
As shown in
The bowl 24 is connected to the feed duct 15 and it is closed by the plate 25 on the side of the burner 11 that faces towards the back wall 7 of the enclosure 2.
As shown in
The plate 25 includes a setback 29 having a depth that is substantially equal to 3 mm. As a result, the orifices 28 are not directly flush with the surface of the plate 25 and they are thus protected in part from the turbulence generated by the fan 12. The shapes of the orifices 20 and of the setback 29 are adapted so that, under the effect of the fan 12, the flames generated by burning the gas extend radially relative to the central opening 26 over 360°.
The plate 25 also has two passages 30 for the igniting electrode 16 and for the flame control device 16a.
The burner of the invention can be varied in numerous ways without going beyond the ambit of the invention.
Thus, in a variant that is not shown, the enclosure 2 has a front face and a rear face each of which can be opened or closed by a door. Under such circumstances, a fan 12 is mounted, for example, on at least one of the side walls 8, and the heater device 11 is placed facing each fan 12.
In other variants, a plurality of fans and a plurality of burners are placed on the same wall.
In yet other variants, the oven of the invention has a protective grid 13 of the kind shown in
Claims
1. An oven for cooking food, the oven comprising:
- an enclosure for receiving the food to be heated and for containing a cooking atmosphere, the enclosure having two horizontal walls forming respectively a bottom and a ceiling, interconnected by at least two vertical side walls, said enclosure being closed by at least one door that is also vertical;
- a heater device placed inside the enclosure; and
- a fan also placed inside the enclosure comprising at least one blade rotating about a central space, following a circular path centered on an axis of rotation in order to stir the cooking atmosphere heated by the heater device;
- the oven whereby the heater device is placed facing the central space situated inside the circular path.
2. An oven according to claim 1, in which the axis of rotation is horizontal.
3. An oven according to claim, in which the heater device is a burner for burning gas.
4. An oven according to claim 3, in which the burner comprises a bowl and a plate, the bowl being connected to a duct for feeding gas for burning, and being closed by the plate covering its face facing towards the wall of the enclosure on which the fan is mounted, the plate being provided with orifices for passing the gas for burning.
5. An oven according to claim 4, in which the orifices in the plate of the burner are adapted so that the flames generated by burning the gas for burning are distributed over 3600 about the axis of rotation.
6. An oven according to claim 4, in which wires for electrically powering a device for lighting the gas of the burner pass within the feed duct.
7. An oven according to claim 4, in which the plate is provided with an igniter electrode and with a flame control device.
8. An oven according to claim 1, including a protective grid provided with a frame defining an opening of area greater than or substantially equal to the area of the fan when considered perpendicularly to the axis of rotation.
Type: Application
Filed: May 7, 2003
Publication Date: Sep 1, 2005
Applicant: PREMARK FEG L.L.C. (WILMINGTON, DE)
Inventors: Robert Bujeau (Charbuy), Michel Foray (Passenans)
Application Number: 10/513,497