Glass-ceramic worktop

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10663176-B2
Application number	US-201515124443-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 9, 2015
Priority date	Mar 10, 2014
Publication date	May 26, 2020
Grant date	May 26, 2020

Abstract

An item of furniture or appliance includes at least one worktop formed from at least one substrate made of a transparent monolithic glazing material and of area larger than 0.7 m2, equipped with a coating so that the substrate equipped with the coating has a haze higher than 15%, a light transmission TL lower than 60% and an opacity indicator higher than 85. The item of furniture or appliance also includes at least one heating element, at least one light source to light up one or more zones or one or more elements or displays of the substrate, the source being located plumb with the substrate in order to form a display by projection, or under the substrate in order to form a display by transmission through the substrate, and at least one interface for communicating with at least one element of the worktop.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An item of furniture or appliance, comprising:
at least one monolithic worktop formed from only one substrate made of a transparent monolithic glazing material providing a continuous, uniform and joint-free surface and of area larger than 0.7 m 2 , equipped with a coating so that the substrate equipped with the coating has a haze higher than 40%, a light transmission T L lower than 30% and an opacity indicator higher than 90;
at least one heating element;
at least one light source; and
at least one interface for communicating with at least one element of the worktop,
wherein said worktop has at least one cooking location plumb with the at least one heating element and wherein the transparent monolithic glazing material has a light transmission T L higher than 60%.

2. The item of furniture or appliance as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the area of the substrate is larger than 0.9m 2 and a thickness of said substrate is at least 2 mm and smaller than 15 mm.

3. The item of furniture or appliance as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the substrate has a flatness lower than 0.1% of a diagonal of the substrate.

4. The item of furniture or appliance as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the substrate is made of tempered glass or glass-ceramic.

5. The item of furniture or appliance as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the transparent monolithic glazing material contains colorants.

6. The item of furniture or appliance as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the at least one heating element includes one or more inductive heating means.

7. The item of furniture or appliance as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said at least one cooking location is signaled, on activation or permanently, by said at least one light source.

8. The item of furniture or appliance as claimed in claim 7 , wherein said at least one light source is placed under the substrate and provides a luminous display via the transmission of light through the worktop.

9. The item of furniture or appliance as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the coated substrate has a light transmission T L of at least 5%.

10. The item of furniture or appliance as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the at least one light source is activatable via at least one of contact with a surface of the worktop, with the interface, with an external system, and via a movement.

11. The item of furniture or appliance as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the item of furniture or appliance comprises a plurality of light sources that are placed so that the angle between each source, or between each element transmitting the light to the worktop, and the normal to the worktop is between 5 and 60° in order to minimize effects of shadows projected by a person using the worktop.

12. The item of furniture or appliance as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the interface enables wireless communication with a system external to the worktop to allow heating zones or light sources to be activated or various functions to be controlled remotely, the external system including a keyboard, a tablet, a touch screen, or a cellphone, and the wireless communication being of limited range.

13. The item of furniture or appliance as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the interface allows various signals initiated via contact or a movement to be transmitted in order to activate various components or allow data to be downloaded or transmitted, the data being transmitted to light sources to be displayed on a surface of the worktop.

14. The item of furniture or appliance as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the item of furniture or appliance comprises one or more interfaces allowing the activation of the heating zones to be coordinated with the activation of the light sources.

15. The item of furniture or appliance as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the worktop comprises one or more functional or decorative coatings based on enamel, paint, or one or more thin films.

16. The item of furniture or appliance as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the worktop is mounted on one or more supporting elements to form, with said supporting elements, a table, an unapertured unit, or a counter.

17. The item of furniture or appliance as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the at least one interface is configured to communicate wirelessly with at least one external element.

Assignees

• Eurokera

Inventors

• Charpentier Bertrand
• Fernandez Javier
• Lismonde Michel
• Ravel Michael
• Roux Nicolas
• Vilato Pablo

Classifications

• A47B13/12

  Transparent tops {, e.g. with lighting means under the table top} · CPC title

• A47B33/00

  Kitchen or dish-washing tables · CPC title

• F24C3/126

  on ranges · CPC title

• F24C15/10 Primary

  Tops, e.g. hot plates; Rings (cover lids or splash guards F24C15/12; spillage trays or grooves F24C15/14) · CPC title

• C03C2217/72

  Decorative coatings · CPC title