Field

The present invention relates to the technical field of small home appliances, and in particular to an upper cover and a cooking utensil comprising the same.

Background

By using a cooking utensil, one can perform pressure cooking and baking of food. A cooking utensil comprises an upper cover and a pot. A heating element and a fan are provided in a lid of the upper cover, wherein the heating element heats air to be hot air and the fan blows air towards the heating element so that hot air is blown towards food inside the pot to achieve baking. The upper cover further comprises an inner lid removably provided under the lid and covered by the same. The pot can be sealed by means of the inner lid and thus pressure cooking can be performed.

In the relevant art, as the edge of the lid is provided with a pressure limiting valve that will affect air passage design, the cooking utensil cannot form effective circulation of hot air, affecting baking results.

Summary

The present invention provides an upper cover and a cooking utensil comprising the same, so as to solve the problem in the prior art that a cooking utensil cannot form effective circulation of hot air.

According to an aspect of the present invention, an upper cover is provided, comprising: a lid; a heating assembly comprising a heating element and a fan provided inside the lid, the fan being located above the heating element; an inner lid removably connected with the lid and covering the heating assembly from below, a pressure limiting valve being provided at a middle part of the inner lid, the fan having a first avoidance hole provided in a manner corresponding to the pressure limiting valve that passes through the first avoidance hole.

By applying the technical solution of the present invention in which the upper cover comprises the lid, the heating assembly, and the inner lid, with the pressure limiting valve provided at the middle part of the inner lid and the first avoidance hole provided at the fan, the pressure limiting valve is avoided by means of the first avoidance hole so that the pressure limiting valve will not interfere with the fan, enabling the upper cover to use a fan with a larger diameter and air blown by the fan to be blown peripherally towards the cooking chamber, so that a cooking utensil forms effective circulation of hot air. Further, the upper cover further comprises a venting cylinder passing through the lid and the first avoidance hole, the pressure limiting valve passing through a lower end of the venting cylinder which has a venting opening at its upper end. When using the cooking utensil to perform baking, water vapor produced by food inside a cooking chamber passes through the venting cylinder and is discharged to the exterior via the venting hole. When using the cooking utensil to perform pressure cooking, gas discharged by the pressure limiting valve at the time of pressure relief can be discharged to the exterior by means of the venting cylinder.

Further, the heating element is a heating tube having a second avoidance hole at its middle part and sleeved to an outer side of the venting cylinder through the second avoidance hole. By using this structure, the venting cylinder can be avoided through the second avoidance hole so that the venting cylinder extends upward without obstruction.

Further, the lid comprises a lid body and a reflective cover provided below the lid body, the venting cylinder being provided to traverse the lid body and the reflective cover, so that the upper end of the venting cylinder extends out of the lid without obstruction. As the reflective cover is located above the heating element, heat generated by the heating element can be radiated towards the inside of the cooking chamber by the reflective cover, and a function of heat insulation can be achieved by using the reflective cover, preventing the lid body above the reflective cover from melting due to an excessive temperature.

Further, the reflective cover is moveable up and down along an outer wall of the venting cylinder, a lower end of the reflective cover being provided to face an edge of the inner lid. When the cooking utensil is in a pressurized state, the inner lid is assembled with the lid, at which time the inner lid pushes the reflective cover to move upwards, and the lower end of the reflective cover abuts against the edge of the inner lid; when the cooking utensil is in a baking state, the inner lid is removed from the lid, and the reflective cover moves downward naturally due to gravity and abuts against the edge of the inner pot to achieve an airtight engagement so that hot air will not leak out from between the reflective cover and the inner pot.

Further, the lid further comprises a protective cover provided below the heating element and having a third avoidance hole, the lower end of the venting cylinder passing through the third avoidance hole. By using the protective cover, the heating tube can be protected, and by using the third avoidance hole, the venting cylinder can be avoided so that water vapor in the cooking chamber can enter the venting cylinder without obstruction.

Further, the upper cover further comprises a motor provided at one side of the lid and capable of driving the fan to rotate. By providing the motor at one side of the lid, on one hand, the motor will not block the venting cylinder, and on the other hand, the motor will not occupy too much longitudinal assembly space of the lid, which allows to reduce the thickness of the upper cover and makes it easier to render the upper cover lighter and thinner.

Further, the upper cover further comprises a fixing ring provided at a top face of the lid, the fan being provided with a transmission sleeve, a lower end of which passes through the fixing ring and cooperates with the fixing ring in a position limiting manner, the fixing ring being able to circumferentially limit the position of the lower end of the transmission sleeve so as to prevent the transmission sleeve from swinging in the course of rotation; the upper cover further comprises a driving wheel and a transmission belt sleeved to the driving wheel and the transmission sleeve, the motor being drivingly connected with the driving wheel. The motor drives the driving wheel to rotate, and the driving wheel drives the transmission sleeve to rotate via the transmission belt and thus drives the fan to rotate.

Further, the fan is a centrifugal fan, which is able to blow out hot air circumferentially from the fan so that hot air enters the cooking chamber along the side wall of the container; the lid body comprises a face lid and a liner located below the face lid, the space between the face lid and the liner being reserved for positioning various parts; the lid further comprises a metallic lid located below the lid body and having a lid tooth, the lid being able to be locked to the pot by means of the cooperation between the lid tooth and a pot tooth of the pot; the inner lid is provided with a pot opening sealing ring at its periphery, which sealingly fits the pot and thus seals the cooking chamber.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a cooking utensil is provided, comprising: a pot; an upper cover provided on the pot in such a manner that it can be opened and closed, the upper cover being the upper cover provided in the above description. Therefore, air blown out of the fan of the cooking utensil can be blown towards the cooking chamber peripherally so that the cooking utensil can form effective circulation of hot air.

Further, the pot comprises: a housing; a container provided in the housing and having an accommodating chamber for accommodating food; a frying basket removably provided in the accommodating chamber, a gap existing between an outer wall of the frying basket and an inner wall of the container, the fan of the upper cover blowing air towards the gap. Hot air blown out of the fan enters the gap, and enters the frying basket from below the frying basket through the gap so as to bake food. Hot air continues to rise in the frying basket and enters the fan via an opening at the top of the frying basket, forming a thermal circulation. Description of the Drawings

The accompanying drawings of the specification that constitute a part of the present invention provide further understanding of the present invention. Illustrative embodiments of the present invention and their description are used for explaining the present invention and do not unduly limit the present invention. In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 shows a sectional view of a cooking utensil provided by an embodiment of the present invention in a pressure cooking state;

Fig. 2 shows an exploded view of a cooking utensil provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 3 shows a sectional view of a cooking utensil provided by an embodiment of the present invention in a baking state;

Fig. 4 shows a schematic structural view of a cooking utensil provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 5 shows an assembly view of the fan, transmission sleeve, transmission belt, and driving wheel in Fig. 1 .

The accompanying drawings include the following references:

10. lid; 11. lid body; 112. liner; 12. reflective cover; 13. protective cover; 131. third avoidance hole; 14. metallic lid; 20. heating assembly; 21. heating element; 211. heating tube; 2111. second avoidance hole; 22. fan; 221. first avoidance hole; 222. transmission sleeve; 30. inner lid; 31. pressure limiting valve; 32. pot opening sealing ring; 40. venting cylinder; 41 . venting opening; 50. motor; 60. fixing ring; 70. driving wheel; 80. transmission belt; 90. pot; 91 . housing; 92. container; 921 ; accommodating chamber; 93. frying basket; 94. gap.

Detailed Description of the Embodiments

The technical solutions in embodiments of the present invention will be described clearly and completely below in reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some, instead of all, of the embodiments of the present invention. The following description of at least one exemplary embodiment is merely illustrative in nature and in no way serves as any limitation on the present invention or its application or use. All other embodiments obtained by a person of ordinary skill in the art without creative labor based on the embodiments in the present invention all fall in the scope of protection of the present invention.

As shown in Figs. 1 to 5, an embodiment of the present invention provides an upper cover comprising a lid 10, a heating assembly 20, and an inner lid 30. In this embodiment, the heating assembly 20 comprises a heating element 21 and a fan 22 provided in the lid 10. The fan 22 is located above the heating element 21 . The inner lid 30 is removably connected to the lid 10. The inner lid 30 is provided to cover the heating assembly 20 from below. A middle part of the inner lid 30 is provided with a pressure limiting valve 31 . The fan 22 has a first avoidance hole 221 corresponding to the pressure limiting valve 31 that is provided to pass through the first avoidance hole 221 .

By applying the technical solution of the present invention in which the upper cover comprises the lid 10, the heating assembly 20, and the inner lid 30, with the pressure limiting valve 31 provided at the middle part of the inner lid 30 and the first avoidance hole 221 provided at the fan 22, the pressure limiting valve 31 is avoided thanks to the first avoidance hole 221 so that the pressure limiting valve 31 will not interfere with the fan 22, enabling the upper cover to use a fan 22 with a larger diameter and air blown by the fan 22 to be blown peripherally towards the cooking chamber, so that the cooking utensil forms effective circulation of hot air.

It should be noted that, in the present embodiment, when the cooking utensil is in a pressure cooking state, the pressure limiting valve 31 passes through the first avoidance hole 221 , at which time a valve body at an upper end of the pressure limiting valve 31 is located in the first avoidance hole 221 , and a venting rod at a lower end of the pressure limiting valve 31 is located in the cooking chamber.

In addition, in the present embodiment, “the middle part of the inner lid 30” of the expression “the middle part of the inner lid 30 is provided with the pressure limiting valve 31” refers to the center of the inner lid 30. In another embodiment, the pressure limiting valve 31 can be provided around the center of the inner lid 30, for example, in a circle centered at the center of the inner lid 30 with a diameter of 5 cm.

As shown in Figs. 1 to 3, the upper cover further comprises a venting cylinder 40 provided to pass through the lid 10 and the first avoidance hole 221 . The pressure limiting valve 31 passes through a lower end of the venting cylinder 40, and an upper end of the venting cylinder 40 has a venting hole 41 . When using the cooking utensil for baking, water vapor produced by food in the cooking chamber passes through the venting cylinder 40 and is discharged to the exterior via the venting hole 41. When using the cooking utensil for pressure cooking, gas discharged by the pressure limiting valve 31 at the time of pressure relief can be discharged to the exterior by means of the venting cylinder 40.

As shown in Fig. 2, the heating element 21 is a heating tube 211. A middle part of the heating tube 211 has a second avoidance hole 2111. The heating tube 211 is sleeved to the venting cylinder 40 at its outer side by means of the second avoidance hole 2111. By using the above-described structure, the venting cylinder 40 is avoided thanks to the second avoidance hole 2111 , so that the venting cylinder 40 extends upwards without obstruction.

As shown in Fig. 2, the lid 10 comprises a lid body 11 and a reflective cover 12 provided below the lid body 11 . The venting cylinder 40 is provided to traverse the lid body 11 and the reflective cover 12 so that the upper end of the venting cylinder 40 extends out of the lid 10 without obstruction. As the reflective cover 12 is located above the heating element 21 , heat produced by the heating element 21 can be radiated into the cooking chamber by the reflective cover 12, and a function of heat insulation can be achieved by using the reflective cover 12, preventing the lid body 11 above the reflective cover 12 from being melted due to excessive temperature.

As shown in Figs. 1 to 3, the reflective cover 12 is able to move up and down along an outer wall of the venting cylinder 40. A lower end of the reflective cover 12 is provided to face an edge of the inner lid 30. When the cooking utensil is in a pressurized state, the inner lid 30 is assembled with the lid 10, at which time the inner lid 30 pushes the reflective cover 12 to move upward and the lower end of the reflective cover 12 abuts against the edge of the inner lid 30; when the cooking utensil is in a baking state, the inner lid 30 is removed from the lid 10, and the reflective cover 12 naturally moves downward due to gravity and abuts against an edge of an inner pot to achieve an airtight engagement, so that hot air will not leak out from between the reflective cover 12 and the inner pot.

It should be noted that, "the reflective cover 12 is able to move up and down along an outer wall of the venting cylinder 40” means that the middle part of the reflective cover 12 has an avoidance hole and the reflective cover 12 can move up and down along the outer wall of the venting cylinder 40 through the avoidance hole.

As shown in Fig. 2, the lid 10 further comprises a protective cover 13 provided below the heating element 21. The protective cover 13 has a third avoidance hole 131 , and the lower end of the venting cylinder 40 passes through the third avoidance hole 131. By using the protective cover 13, the heating tube 211 can be protected.

In the present embodiment, the lower end of the venting cylinder 40 is at the same level as a lower surface of the protective cover 13. As shown in Figs. 1 to 3, the upper cover further comprises a motor 50 provided at one side of the lid 10. The motor 50 is able to drive the fan 22 to rotate. By providing the motor 50 at one side of the lid 10, on one hand, the motor 50 will not block the venting cylinder 40, and on the other hand, the motor 50 will not take up too much of the longitudinal assembly space of the lid 10, which allows reduction of the thickness of the upper cover and makes it easier to render it lighter and thinner.

As shown in Figs. 1 to 4, the upper cover further comprises a fixing ring 60 provided at a top face of the lid 10. The fan 22 is provided with a transmission sleeve 222, a lower end of which passes through the fixing ring 60 and cooperates with the fixing ring 60 in a position limiting manner. By using the above-described structure, the fixing ring 60 can circumferentially limit the position of the lower end of the transmission sleeve 222, which allows to prevent the transmission sleeve 222 from swinging in the course of rotating.

As shown in Figs. 1 to 4, the upper cover further comprises a driving wheel 70 and a transmission belt 80 sleeved to the driving wheel 70 and the transmission sleeve 222. The motor 50 is drivingly connected with the driving wheel 70. The motor 50 drives the driving wheel 70 to rotate, which drives the transmission sleeve 222 to rotate via the transmission belt 80 and thus drives the fan 22 to rotate.

In the present embodiment, the fan 22 is a centrifugal fan, which can blow out hot air peripherally from the fan 22. The hot air then enters the cooking chamber along a side wall of the container.

Specifically, the lid body 11 comprises a face lid and a liner 112 located below the face lid. The space between the face lid and the liner 112 is a space reserved for arranging various parts. The lid 10 further comprises a metallic lid 14 located below the lid body 11 and having lid teeth. The lid 10 can be locked to a pot 90 by means of cooperation between the lid teeth and pot teeth of the pot. A pot opening sealing ring 32 is provided at the edge of the inner lid 30 and is sealingly fitted to the pot 90, thus sealing the cooking chamber.

As shown in Figs. 1 to 5, another embodiment of the present invention provides a cooking utensil comprising a pot 90 and an upper cover provided on the pot 90 in such a manner that it can be opened and closed. The upper cover is the upper cover provided in the above description. Therefore, air blown out of the fan 22 of the cooking utensil can be blown towards the cooking chamber peripherally so that the cooking utensil can form effective circulation of hot air.

As shown in Fig. 3, the pot 90 comprises a housing 91 , a container 92, and a frying basket 93. In this embodiment, the container 92 is provided in the housing 91 and has an accommodating chamber 921 for accommodating food. The frying basket 93 is removably placed in the accommodating chamber 921. There is a gap 94 between an outer wall of the frying basket 93 and an inner wall of the container 92. The fan 22 of the upper cover blows air towards the gap 94. Hot air blown out of the fan 22 enters the gap 94, and enters the frying basket 93 from below the frying basket 93 through the gap 94 so as to bake food. Hot air continues to rise in the frying basket 93 and enters the fan 22 via an opening at the top of the frying basket 93, forming a thermal circulation.

In the present embodiment, the container 92 is an inner pot removably placed in the housing 91 .

In the present embodiment, the cooking utensil includes an air fryer or an electric rice cooker or an electric pressure cooker or a multifunctional cooker having functions of baking, rice cooking, and dishes cooking.

It should be noted that the terms used herein are merely for describing specific modes of realization and not intended to limit exemplary modes of realization according to the present invention. As used herein, unless otherwise explicitly indicated by the context, the singular form is intended to also include the plural form. In addition, it should also be understood that, when the terms “comprise” and/or “include” are used in the present specification, they signify that a feature, step, operation, part, assembly, and/or a combination thereof exists.

Unless otherwise specifically indicated, the relative arrangement of parts and steps, numerical expressions, and values set forth in those embodiments do not limit the scope of the present invention. Moreover, it should be understood that to facilitate description, the size of each part illustrated in the accompanying drawings is not drawn according to actual scale. Technologies, methods, and devices known to a person of ordinary skill in the art may not be described in detail. But when appropriate, the technologies, methods, and devices described should be considered as part of the specification. In all the examples illustrated and discussed here, any specific value should be interpreted as merely illustrative rather than as a limitation. Therefore, another example of the exemplary embodiments may have a different value. It should be noted that: similar references and letters designate similar items in the accompanying drawings. Therefore, once an item has been defined in an accompanying drawing, it does not need to be described further in subsequent accompanying drawings.

In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that directional or positional relationships indicated by directional terms such as “front,” “rear,” “upper,” “lower,” “left,” “right,” “transversal,” “vertical,” “perpendicular,” “horizontal,” “top,” and “bottom” are generally based on the directional or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, are merely for describing the present invention and simplifying the description, and unless indicated otherwise, those directional terms do not indicate or imply that the referenced means or element must has a specific position or be configured or operated with a specific position, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation to the scope of protection of the present invention; directional terms “inner” and “outer” refer to the inside and outside of the contour of each part itself.

To facilitate description, spatial relative terms such as “above,” “on top of,” “on the upper surface of,” and “top” can be used here to describe the spatial position relationship between one part or feature and another part or feature as shown in a drawing. It should be understood that the spatial relative terms are intended to include different positions in use or operation of a part other than the position described in a drawing. For example, if a part in an accompanying drawing is inverted, then a part described as “above another part or configuration” or “on top of another part or configuration” will then be positioned “below another part or configuration” or “beneath another part or configuration.” Therefore, the exemplary term “on top of” can include two positions, “on top of” and “below.” The part can also be positioned in a different manner (rotated by 90 degrees or at a different position) and the spatial relative description used herein is interpreted correspondingly.

In addition, it should be noted that defining a part by using words such as “first” and “second” is merely for distinguishing corresponding parts, and unless otherwise stated, those words do not have any special meaning and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation to the scope of protection of the present invention.

What have been described above are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, and are not for limiting the present invention. To a person of ordinary skill in the art, various modifications and changes can be made to the present invention. Any modification, equivalent replacement, and improvement made within the spirit and principle of the present invention shall fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.