Air curtain arrangement for an appliance, and associated apparatus and method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10132515-B2
Application number	US-201514950844-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 24, 2015
Priority date	Nov 24, 2015
Publication date	Nov 20, 2018
Grant date	Nov 20, 2018

Abstract

An appliance includes a housing defining a cavity having an opening, and a cover member pivotable between open and closed positions with respect to the opening to selectively allow access to the cavity through the opening. A plurality of vents is engaged with the housing about the opening, including a positive pressure vent configured to direct a positive airflow in a first lateral cross-opening direction, a negative pressure vent configured to apply a suction in a second lateral cross-opening direction to pull at least a portion of the positive airflow therethrough, and opposing first and second neutral vents arranged laterally across the opening and configured to neutralize effects on and maintain the positive airflow from the positive pressure vent and pulled through the negative pressure vent by the applied suction caused by the cover member pivoting between open and closed positions. An associated apparatus and method are also provided.

First claim

That which is claimed:

1. An appliance, comprising:
a housing defining a cavity having an opening;
a cover member engaged with the housing and configured to be pivotable between an open position and closed position with respect to the opening so as to selectively allow access to the cavity through the opening; and
a plurality of vents operably engaged with the housing about the opening, the plurality of vents providing first, second and third airflow manipulations, and including:
a positive pressure vent configured to direct a positive airflow therethrough in a first lateral direction across the opening for the first airflow manipulation;
a negative pressure vent configured to apply a suction in a second lateral direction across the opening so as to pull at least a portion of the positive airflow therethrough for the second airflow manipulation; and
opposing first and second neutralizing vents arranged to be directed laterally across the opening to provide the third airflow manipulation, in response to pivoting of the cover member between the open and closed positions with respect to the opening, by neutralizing effects on and maintaining the positive airflow directed across the opening from the positive pressure vent and pulled through the negative pressure vent by the applied suction, caused by pivoting of the cover member between the open and closed positions, the neutralizing effects including directing a positive airflow from the neutralizing vents between the cover member and the opening, upon the cover member pivoting from the closed position to the open position, and directing a negative airflow through the first or second neutralizing vents from between the cover member and the opening, upon the cover member pivoting from the open position to the closed position.

2. The appliance of claim 1 , wherein the positive pressure vent is laterally opposed to the negative pressure vent across the opening.

3. The appliance of claim 2 , wherein the first and second neutralizing vents are arranged to be directed perpendicularly to the positive and negative pressure vents.

4. The appliance of claim 1 , wherein each of the first and second neutralizing vents is configured to direct a positive airflow therethrough, to apply a suction therethrough, to allow egress of air from between the cover member and the opening to an exterior of the housing, or to allow ingress of air from the exterior of the housing to between the cover member and the opening, as the third airflow manipulation.

5. The appliance of claim 1 , comprising a condensate trap operably engaged with the first neutralizing vent or the second neutralizing vent for removing moisture from the air directed therethrough.

6. The appliance of claim 1 , comprising an actuator engaged with the cover member, with a handle associated with the cover member, with the housing, or between the cover member and the housing, the actuator being configured to actuate an airflow source for providing the positive airflow or a suction source for providing the suction, in response to the cover member being pivoted from the closed position toward the open position, and to deactuate the airflow source or the suction source in response to the cover member being pivoted to the closed position.

7. The appliance of claim 6 , wherein the actuator is configured to open one or more of the plurality of vents in response to the cover member being pivoted from the closed position toward the open position, and to close the one or more of the plurality of vents in response to the cover member being pivoted to the closed position.

8. The appliance of claim 1 , wherein the housing and the cover member are components of an oven, a refrigerator, a wine cooler, a freezer, an icemaker, a dishwasher, a clothes washer, a clothes dryer, or a clothes steamer.

9. An air curtain arrangement for an appliance including a housing defining a cavity having an opening, and a cover member engaged with the housing, with the cover member being configured to be pivotable between an open position and closed position with respect to the opening so as to selectively allow access to the cavity through the opening, the air curtain arrangement comprising:
a positive pressure vent configured to be operably engaged with the housing about the opening, and to direct a positive airflow therethrough in a first lateral direction across the opening;
a negative pressure vent configured to be operably engaged with the housing about the opening, and to apply a suction in a second lateral direction across the opening so as to pull at least a portion of the positive airflow therethrough; and
opposing first and second neutralizing vents configured to be operably engaged with the housing about the opening, and being arranged to be directed laterally across the opening, the first and second neutralizing vents being configured to be responsive to pivoting of the cover member between the open and closed positions with respect to the opening, to neutralize effects on and maintain the positive airflow directed across the opening from the positive pressure vent and pulled through the negative pressure vent by the applied suction, caused by pivoting of the cover member between the open and closed positions, the neutralizing effects including directing a positive airflow from the neutralizing vents between the cover member and the opening, upon the cover member pivoting from the closed position to the open position, and directing a negative airflow through the neutralizing vents from between the cover member and the opening, upon the cover member pivoting from the open position to the closed position.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the positive pressure vent is laterally opposed to the negative pressure vent across the opening.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the first and second neutralizing vents are arranged to be directed perpendicularly to the positive and negative pressure vents.

12. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein each of the first and second neutralizing vents is configured to direct a positive airflow therethrough, to apply a suction therethrough, to allow egress of air from between the cover member and the opening to an exterior of the housing, or to allow ingress of air from the exterior of the housing to between the cover member and the opening.

13. The apparatus of claim 9 , comprising a condensate trap operably engaged with the first neutralizing vent or the second neutralizing vent for removing moisture from the air directed therethrough.

14. The apparatus of claim 9 , comprising an actuator adapted to be engaged with the cover member, with a handle associated with the cover member, with the housing, or between the cover member and the housing, the actuator being configured to actuate an airflow source for providing the positive airflow or a suction source for providing the suction, in response to the cover member being pivoted from the closed position toward the open position, and to deactuate the airflow source or the suction source in response to the cover member being pivoted to the closed position.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the actuator is configured to open one or more of the plurality of vents in response to the cover member being pivoted from the closed position toward the open position, and to close the one or more of the plurality of vents in response to the cover member being pivoted to the closed position.

16. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the positive and negative pressure vents and the first and second neutralizing vents are configured to be received by an oven, a refrige

Assignees

• Electrolux Home Prod Inc

Inventors

• Smith Stephen M

Classifications

• D06F2224/00

  Textiles & Paper · mapped topic

• F24F9/00 Primary

  Use of air currents for screening, e.g. air curtains · CPC title

• F25D23/023

  Air curtain closures · CPC title

• F24C15/025

  with air curtain closures · CPC title

• D06F37/28

  Doors; Security means therefor · CPC title