OVEN AND ASSOCIATED RACK HANGER
An oven includes an internal cavity defined by rear, bottom, top, left and right sidewalls. A front opening of the cavity is selectively accessible by moving a door between open and closed positions. A heating device is associated with the cavity for heating the environment within the cavity. The cavity includes multiple rack supports therein for supporting racks at multiple elevations within the cavity. A rack hanger is located on an exterior side wall of the oven housing and includes at least one arm extending outward from the exterior side wall for receiving and holding racks thereon.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/930,543, filed May 17, 2007, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference.
TECHNICAL FIELDThis application relates generally to ovens for cooking foods and, more specifically, to an oven having a cooking cavity with removable racks and a mechanism for storing racks that are removed from the cooking cavity.
BACKGROUNDConventional ovens, steam ovens and combination ovens (combi ovens) all comprise a cavity that is heated for cooking foods. The cavity is surrounded on five sides by walls, and on the front by a door that is moveable to provide access to the cavity. The back side of each cavity wall is typically covered or surrounded by insulation. Internal of the cavity horizontally disposed racks may be provided to enable multiple trays, pans or pots of food items to be placed therein at different levels within the cavity.
Various types of food products may be cooked in the ovens. For example, trays of peas may be placed in the ovens. In most instances, the peas do not stand above the lip of a shallow tray. In contrast the ovens may also be used to cook chickens which have a vertical height much higher than a tray. The oven racks are typically removable to facilitate formation of rack slots of the necessary height for the items being cooked. It would be desirable to provide an oven that facilitates rack handling upon removal.
SUMMARYIn one aspect, an oven includes an internal cavity defined by rear, bottom, top, left and right sidewalls. A front opening of the cavity is selectively accessible by moving a door between open and closed positions. A heating device is associated with the cavity for heating the environment within the cavity. The cavity includes multiple rack supports therein for supporting racks at multiple elevations within the cavity. A rack hanger is located on an exterior side wall of the oven housing and includes at least one arm extending outward from the exterior side wall for receiving and holding racks thereon.
In another aspect, an oven and rack combination includes an oven with an internal cavity defined by rear, bottom, top, left and right sidewalls. A front opening of the cavity is selectively accessible by moving a door between open and closed positions. A heating device is associated with the cavity for heating the environment within the cavity. The cavity includes multiple rack supports therein for supporting racks at multiple elevations within the cavity. At least one rack is supported horizontally within the cavity by one or more shelf supports. A rack hanger is located on an exterior side wall of the oven housing and includes at least one arm extending outward from the exterior side wall. At least one rack is supported in a hanging manner from the arm such that the rack has a substantially upright orientation alongside the exterior side wall.
In a further aspect, a method of operating a food product cooking oven including M racks, where M is an integer number, involves: (i) providing multiple rack supports within a cavity of the oven for selectively supporting racks at multiple elevations within the cavity; (ii) identifying N racks, where N is an integer number, from among the M racks, to be used for a given cooking operation; (iii) providing only N racks within the cavity at respective elevations during the given cooking operation; (iv) providing a rack hanger arm at an exterior side wall of the oven; and (v) hanging M-N racks on the rack hanger arm during the given cooking operation.
Referring to
For example, the oven may be a steam oven having an associated steam generator (e.g., an electric or gas boiler) 110 plumbed for controlled delivery of steam to the cavity 108. The steam generator 110 may be incorporated within the primary housing 102 as shown, or could be a separate unit connected with the primary housing 102. In another example, a microwave generator 112 produces microwave radiation that is delivered to the oven cavity 108 via a suitable path as may be defined utilizing waveguides. In another example, a convection heating source 114 may be formed by an electric or gaseous heating element 116 in association with one or more blowers 118, with suitable delivery and return airflow paths to and from the cavity 108. The exact configuration of any given cooking source could vary. Moreover, in the case of a combi oven, multiple different cooking sources could be provided.
Referring to
As noted above, various types of food products may be cooked in the ovens. For example, referring to the schematic of
Referring now to
The rack hanger includes multiple openings 70 that may be used to attach the rack hanger to an oven. Specifically, referring to front elevation of
In the illustrated embodiment, racks 24A, 24C and 24E are shown positioned horizontally within the oven cavity, while racks 24B and 24D are illustrated in hanging, upright and substantially vertical orientation at the side of the oven supported on the arms of the rack hanger. Depending upon the exact structure of the racks and the length of the rack hanger arms, the number of racks that can be supported by a given rack hanger can be set or varied. In an oven with five racks, the rack hanger could be configured to hold 4 racks, with the assumption that at least one rack would always be in use in the cavity. Alternatively the rack hanger could be configured to hold all five racks, as may be desired during cleaning of the cavity when all racks might be removed from the cavity.
Providing a rack hanger as shown facilitates selective use and storage of racks in accordance with the food products being cooked in the cavity. Take, for example, a food product cooking oven including M racks, where M is an integer number (e.g., in
Referring now, to
It is to be clearly understood that the above description is intended by way of illustration and example only and is not intended to be taken by way of limitation, and that changes and modifications are possible. For example, other rack hanger configurations are possible, such as a rack hanger in which the main body lacks horizontal segment 48, in which case openings may be provided on segment 50 for securing to the rack hanger to the oven using fasteners. In another example, a pair of separate brackets may be secured to the oven to form the rack hanger. Other variations are possible.
Claims
1. An oven, comprising:
- an internal cavity defined by rear, bottom, top, left and right sidewalls and having a front opening selectively accessible by moving a door between open and closed positions;
- a heating mechanism associated with the cavity for heating the environment within the cavity;
- multiple rack supports within the cavity for supporting racks at multiple elevations within the cavity, the racks removable from the cavity via the front opening;
- a rack hanger located at an exterior side wall of the oven and including an arm extending outward from the exterior side wall for receiving and holding racks thereon.
2. The oven of claim 1 wherein the rack hanger includes a main body portion that is secured to the oven via one or more fasteners, the arm extends outward from the main body.
3. The oven of claim 2 wherein the main body portion has a first segment positioned adjacent a exterior top wall of the oven and a second segment positioned adjacent the exterior side wall, the first segment and second segment oriented substantially perpendicular to each other.
4. The oven of claim 3 wherein the arm is a first arm the extends substantially horizontally from the main body, the rack hanger includes a second arm spaced apart from the first arm and extending substantially horizontally from the main body.
5. The oven of claim 3 wherein the arm includes a portion extending generally laterally from the exterior side wall and a distal end portion extending upward.
6. The oven of claim 5 wherein the rack hanger is formed as a unitary piece from metal plate with bends therein.
7. The oven of claim 1 wherein the rack hanger includes a main body portion that is secured to the oven via a two-sided adhesive tape.
8. The oven of claim 1 wherein the oven is a lower oven of a stacked oven arrangement, an upper oven being placed atop the lower oven, the rack hanger includes a portion sandwiched between a top exterior wall of the lower oven and a bottom exterior wall of the upper oven.
9. An oven system, comprising:
- an internal cavity defined by rear, bottom, top, left and right sidewalls and having a front opening selectively accessible by moving a door between open and closed positions;
- a heating mechanism associated with the cavity for heating the environment within the cavity;
- multiple rack supports within the cavity at multiple elevations within the cavity, at least one rack is supported horizontally within the cavity by one or more of the rack supports;
- a rack hanger located at an exterior side wall of the oven and including an arm extending outward from the exterior side wall, at least one rack supported in a hanging manner from the arm such that the rack has a substantially upright orientation alongside the exterior side wall.
10. The oven system of claim 9 wherein the rack hanger includes a main body portion that is secured to the oven via one or more fasteners.
11. The oven system of claim 9 wherein the main body portion has a first segment positioned adjacent a exterior top wall of the oven and a second segment positioned adjacent the exterior side wall, the first segment and second segment oriented substantially perpendicular to each other.
12. The oven system of claim 11 wherein the arm is a first arm the extends substantially horizontally from the main body, the rack hanger includes a second arm spaced apart from the first arm and extending substantially horizontally from the main body.
13. The oven system of claim 1 wherein the rack hanger includes a main body portion that is secured to the oven via a two-sided adhesive tape.
14. The oven system of claim 1 wherein the oven cavity is formed in a lower oven of a stacked oven arrangement, an upper oven being placed atop the lower oven, the rack hanger includes a portion sandwiched between a top exterior wall of the lower oven and a bottom exterior wall of the upper oven.
15. A method of operating a food product cooking oven including M racks, where M is an integer number, and where multiple rack supports are located within a cavity of the oven for selectively supporting racks at multiple elevations within the cavity, the method comprising:
- identifying N racks, where N is an integer number, from among the M racks, to be used for a given cooking operation;
- providing only N racks within the cavity at respective elevations during the given cooking operation;
- hanging M-N racks on a rack hanger arm during the given cooking operation, the rack hanger arm extending outward from one exterior side of the oven.
Type: Application
Filed: May 16, 2008
Publication Date: Nov 20, 2008
Inventor: Kenneth A. Graven (Louisville, KY)
Application Number: 12/121,820
International Classification: F24C 15/16 (20060101);