A COOKING RANGE

The present invention relates to a cooking range comprising gas burners.

In cooking devices, in particularly the gas ranges, the heat transferred to the cooking container is considerably low. The reason is that the flame cannot be delivered to the cooking container efficiently and heat losses occur due to dissipation of heat to the environment.

Since the flame in the burner used in the state of the art gas ranges is formed with a certain angle independent from the size of the cooking container, heat can only be delivered to a certain region on the lower portion of the cooking container by contact of the flame. Since the size and angle of the flame is constant for the cooking duration, temperature/cooking differences occur in the middle and side portions of the food in the container with respect to time. Moreover, the flame control being limited results in heat losses thereby increasing the gas consumption.

In state of the art Japanese Patent Document No JP2002276907, a gas cooking stove is explained wherein the lateral sides of the cooking pot is also intended to be heated. In the gas cooking stove, the flames emanating from the gas burner contact a flame induction surface in the vicinity of the flame exit holes by the Coanda effect and thus the flames are enabled to spread out to the sides.

The aim of the present invention is the realization of a cooking range wherein the effectiveness of the flame emanating from the gas burner is increased.

In the cooking range realized in order to attain the aim of the present invention, explicated in the first claim and the respective claims thereof, the flames are enabled to emanate at the desired angle from the burner with respect to the size of the cooking container, the type of food cooked or the cooking duration. The desired characteristic and positioning properties of the flame are maintained by means of induction coils that produce a magnetic field. The induction coils can be positioned at the desired angles in the vicinity of the burner, preferably on the lower side or the lateral side.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the induction coil comprises a winding that produces a magnetic field in the horizontal direction for changing the flames emanating from the burner from the vertical position to the horizontal position and increasing the diameter of the circular area at the base of the cooking pot affected by the flames.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the induction coil comprises a winding that produces a magnetic field in the vertical direction for changing the flames emanating from the burner from the horizontal position to vertical position and decreases the diameter of the circular area at the base of the cooking container affected by the flames.

In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the induction coil is configured

frusto-conically and comprises one or more windings wound on the conical surface that provide the desired amount of flames to change from the vertical position to the horizontal position or from the horizontal position to the vertical position.

[0010] In a further embodiment of the present invention, more than one induction coil is disposed on the circular or elliptical surface situated below the burner and the induction coils forming an arcuate shape side by side provide to control the magnetic fields in the vertical and horizontal directions all together.

[0011] In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the data relating to cooking are defined to a control unit by the user or detected by a sensor and the control unit activates the induction coil according to the physical features defined by the user or detected by the sensor for changing the area affected by the flame on the base of the cooking container during cooking.

[0012] The cooking range realized in order to attain the aim of the present invention is illustrated in the attached figures, where:

[0013] Figure 1 - is the schematic view of a cooking range wherein the flames are guided by a horizontally active induction coil.

[0014] Figure 2 - is the schematic view of a cooking range wherein the flames are guided by a vertically active induction coil.

[0015] Figure 3 - is the schematic view of a cooking range in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0016] Figure 4 - is the schematic view of a cooking range in another embodiment of the present invention.

[0017] The elements illustrated in the figures are numbered as follows:

1. Cooking range

2. Burner

3. Induction coil

4. Control unit

5. Winding

[0018] The cooking range (1) comprises one or more burners (2) that produce flames (F) by burning the inflammable gases and heating the cooking container (A) placed thereon.

[0019] Since the flame (F) produced during burning is a fluid that contains plasma phase gas and ions, it has a property of being affected by magnetic fields.

[0020] The burner (2) operates with gas and emanates flames (F) with a certain angle and intensity from the flame holes situated on the periphery thereof.

[0021] The cooking range (1) of the present invention comprises one or more induction coils (3) disposed in the vicinity of the burner (2) that changes the angle of the flames (F) emanating from the flame holes of the burner (2) by creating a magnetic field thus changing the direction and/or the intensity of the flames (F) affecting on the cooking container (A).

[0022] The cooking range (1) furthermore comprises a control unit (4) that regulates the

magnetic field created by the induction coil (3) by controlling the current transmitted to the induction coil (3) with respect to the desired angle and intensity of the flame (F).

[0023] In the cooking range (1) of the present invention, the magnetic field, created by the induction coil (3) and the intensity regulated by the control unit (4) provides the flames (F) having ionic plasma feature to be directed by changing the angle at the exit from the flame holes of the burner (2) and the intensity of the flames (F) affecting on the cooking container (A) to be regulated in accordance with the base of the cooking container (A).

[0024] In an embodiment of the present invention, the flames (F) emanating from the flame holes on the periphery of the burner (2) affect on the base of the cooking container (A) in a circular area matching the shape of the burner (2) and the diameter of the circle created by the flames (F) affecting on the base of the cooking container (A) can be increased, decreased by the induction coil (3).

[0025] The induction coil (3) is disposed below or around the burner (2) such that the created magnetic field can control the flames (F) emanating from the burner (2).

[0026] In an embodiment of the present invention, the induction coil (3) comprises a winding (5) that provides the flames (F) to be changed from the vertical position to the horizontal position by creating a magnetic field in the horizontal direction (Figure 1). The magnetic field is created around the induction coil (3) by passing current over the induction coil (3). This magnetic field affects on the plasma ions in the flame (F). The ions, hence the flames (F) change from the vertical position to the horizontal position due to the repulsive force created on the ions by the magnetic field.

[0027] In this embodiment, by means of the horizontally active induction coil (3), the diameter of the circle affected by the flames (F) on the base of the cooking container (A) is increased by changing the flames (F) from the vertical position to the horizontal position. The flames (F) spread out becoming long-range thus the surface area on the base of the cooking container (A) in direct contact with the flames (F) increases. By increasing the surface area affected by the flames (F), more homogeneous heat dissipation is maintained on the base of the cooking container (A). The intensity of the flame (F) is changed, the angle of the flame (F) hence the area in direct contact with the flame (F) can be enlarged as much as desired by regulating the energy transmitted to the induction coil (3) by the control unit (4).

[0028] In another embodiment of the present invention, the induction coil (3) comprises a winding (5) that provides the flames (F) to be changed from the horizontal position to the vertical position by creating a magnetic field in the vertical direction (Figure X). A magnetic field is created in the vertical direction by passing current through the induction coil (3). This magnetic field affects on the plasma ions in the flame (F). The ions, hence the flame (F) changes from the horizontal position to the vertical position due to the repulsive force created on the ions by the magnetic field.

[0029] In this embodiment, by means of the vertically active induction coil (3), the diameter

of the circle affected by the flames (F) on the base of the cooking container (A) is decreased by changing the flames (F) from the horizontal position to the vertical position. The flames (F) shrink becoming short-range thus the surface area on the base of the cooking container (A) in direct contact with the flames (F) decreases. By decreasing the flame (F) contact area, the cooking containers (A) with smaller bases can be heated effectively. By regulating the energy transmitted to the induction coil (3) by the control unit (4), the intensity of the flame (F) is changed, the angle of the flame (F) hence the area in direct contact with the flame (F) can be decreased as much as desired (Figure 4).

[0030] In another embodiment of the present invention, the induction coil (3) comprises one or more windings (5) that create magnetic fields in the horizontal or vertical directions by regulating the energy transmitted by the control unit (4) and provide the desired amount of flames (F) to be changed from the vertical position to the horizontal position and/or from the horizontal position to the vertical position. The energy transmitted to the windings (5) is adjusted by the control unit (4) and the magnetic field control is provided all together and as desired in the vertical or horizontal directions.

[0031] In a version of this embodiment, the induction coil (3) is configured frusto-conically and comprises one or more windings (5) wound on the conical surfaces (Figure 3). In this embodiment, the flames (F) can easily be changed from the vertical position to the horizontal position or from the horizontal position to the vertical position by regulating the energy transmitted to the windings (5) in the induction coil (3) used.

[0032] In another embodiment of the present invention, the cooking range (1) comprises more than one induction coil (3) disposed on a circular or elliptical surface situated below the burner (2) (Figure 4). The induction coils (3) provide the magnetic field control all together in the vertical or horizontal directions. The angle, intensity of the flames (F) and hence the surface contacted on the cooking container (A) can be changed as desired by regulating the energy transmitted to the induction coils (3).

[0033] In another embodiment of the present invention, the data relating to cooking such as the type of food, the size of the cooking container (A) are defined to the control unit (4) by the user and the control unit (4) operates the induction coil (3) in accordance with the defined data changing the area on the base of the cooking container (A) affected by the flames (F) during the cooking process. For example, at the start of the cooking, the flames (F) under the cooking container (A) are intensified at the center and towards the end of cooking are spread out to be thinned by regulating the energy transmitted to the induction coil (3) by the control unit (4).

[0034] In another embodiment of the present invention, the physical features relating to cooking such as the type of food and the size of the cooking container (A) are detected by a sensor and the control unit (4) operates the induction coil (3) with respect to the data received from the sensor to change the area on the base of the cooking container (A) affected by the flames (F) during the cooking process.

By means of the present invention, the flames (F) are directed to the desired directions at the desired angle, with the assistance of the magnetic field created by the induction coil (3) taking advantage of the ionic property of the flame (F) and thus providing the flame (F) to effectively reach cooking containers (A) of various sizes during the cooking process by changing the angle of the flames (F) emanating from the burner (2) and the total diameter of the flame (F).