Movable cooking appliance

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10995963-B2
Application number	US-201916368181-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 28, 2019
Priority date	Apr 9, 2010
Publication date	May 4, 2021
Grant date	May 4, 2021

Abstract

A movable cooking appliance comprises a structure which is adapted to be placed on a kitchen worktop appliance or inside a cooking oven appliance and includes a heating element and releasable connector assembly for making electrical connection with power supply connectors. The heating element is an induction heating element and an electronic driving unit is mounted on the appliance. The releasable connector assembly comprising a plug connector having a plurality of terminals designed in order to provide a disconnection signal to the electronic unit before the power supply connectors are fully extracted.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A cooking appliance comprising:
a cooking unit;
an tray configured to be removably attached to the cooking unit; and
a connector assembly interconnecting the tray to the cooking unit, wherein the connector assembly includes:
a female connector assembly including a plurality of female terminals, the female connector assembly being attached to one of the tray or the cooking unit; and
a male connector assembly including a plurality of male terminals, the male connector assembly being attached to another one of the tray or the cooking unit, wherein the plurality of male terminals are configured to be selectively inserted into, or removed from, respective ones of the plurality of female terminals to interconnect the tray to a power source, the connector assembly incorporates a safety cut-off for causing the power source to be disconnected from the tray through the male and female connector assemblies before the plurality of male terminals are fully removed from the plurality of female terminals, the safety cut-off comprises the connector assembly being configured such that at least one male terminal of the plurality of male terminals is removed from at least one female terminal of the plurality of female terminals before all of the plurality of male terminals are fully removed from their respective plurality of female terminals, and the connector assembly includes a temperature sensor terminal electrically connected to a temperature sensor.

2. The cooking appliance of claim 1 , wherein the at least one male terminal is shorter in length than another one of the plurality of male terminals.

3. The cooking appliance of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of male terminals vary in length so as to be removed from respective ones of the plurality of female terminals at varying times.

4. The cooking appliance of claim 3 , wherein the plurality of male terminals includes at least three sets of terminals with distinct lengths so as to be removed from respective ones of the plurality of female terminals at three different times.

5. The cooking appliance of claim 1 , wherein another male terminal of the plurality of male terminals and at least one female terminal of the plurality of female terminals are configured to establish a ground connection for a sensor circuit, the sensor circuit including the temperature sensor.

6. The cooking appliance of claim 1 , wherein the at least one male terminal constitutes the temperature sensor terminal, and the plurality of male terminals further includes a second temperature sensor terminal, first and second power terminals and a ground terminal.

7. The cooking appliance of claim 6 , wherein the at least one male terminal and the second temperature sensor terminal are shorter in length than the first and second power terminals, and the first and second power terminals are shorter in length than the ground terminal.

8. A cooking appliance comprising:
a cooking unit;
an tray configured to be removably attached to the cooking unit; and
a connector assembly interconnecting the tray to the cooking unit, wherein the connector assembly includes:
a female connector assembly including a plurality of female terminals, the female connector assembly being attached to one of the tray or the cooking unit; and
a male connector assembly including a plurality of male terminals, the male connector assembly being attached to another one of the tray or the cooking unit, wherein the plurality of male terminals are configured to be selectively inserted into, or removed from, respective ones of the plurality of female terminals to interconnect the tray to a power source, the connector assembly incorporates a safety cut-off for causing the power source to be disconnected from the tray through the male and female connector assemblies before the plurality of male terminals are fully removed from the plurality of female terminals, and the safety cut-off comprises a switch selectively acted upon by one of the plurality of male terminals.

9. The cooking appliance of claim 8 , wherein the switch is a mechanical switch.

10. The cooking appliance of claim 8 , wherein the switch is a proximity switch.

11. The cooking appliance of claim 8 , wherein the one of the plurality of male terminals is different in length than a second one of the plurality of male terminals so as to disengage from the switch before all of the plurality of male terminals are fully removed from their respective plurality of female terminals.

12. The cooking appliance of claim 11 , wherein the one of the plurality of male terminals is longer in length than the second one of the plurality of male terminals.

13. The cooking appliance of claim 8 , wherein the plurality of male terminals vary in length so as to be removed from respective ones of the plurality of female terminals at varying times.

14. The cooking appliance of claim 13 , wherein the plurality of male terminals includes at least three sets of terminals with distinct lengths so as to be removed from respective ones of the plurality of female terminals at three different times.

15. The cooking appliance of claim 8 , wherein the plurality of male terminals includes first and second sensor terminals, first and second power terminals and a ground terminal.

16. The cooking appliance of claim 15 , wherein the first and second sensor terminals are shorter in length than the first and second power terminals, and the first and second power terminals are shorter in length than the ground terminal.

17. A cooking appliance comprising:
a cooking unit;
an tray configured to be removably attached to the cooking unit; and
a connector assembly interconnecting the tray to the cooking unit, wherein the connector assembly includes:
a female connector assembly including a plurality of female terminals, the female connector assembly being attached to one of the tray or the cooking unit; and
a male connector assembly including a plurality of male terminals, the male connector assembly being attached to another one of the tray or the cooking unit, wherein the plurality of male terminals are configured to be selectively inserted into, or removed from, respective ones of the plurality of female terminals to interconnect the tray to a power source, the connector assembly incorporates a safety cut-off for causing the power source to be disconnected from the tray through the male and female connector assemblies before the plurality of male terminals are fully removed from the plurality of female terminals, the safety cut-off comprises the connector assembly being configured such that at least one male terminal of the plurality of male terminals is removed from at least one female terminal of the plurality of female terminals before all of the plurality of male terminals are fully removed from their respective plurality of female terminals, the safety cut-off further comprises a switch selectively acted upon by one of the plurality of male terminals, and the connector assembly includes a temperature sensor terminal electrically connected to a temperature sensor.

18. The cooking appliance of claim 17 , wherein the plurality of male terminals vary in length so as to be removed from respective ones of the plurality of female terminals at varying times.

19. The cooking appliance of claim 17 , wherein the at least one male terminal constitutes the temperature sensor terminal, the plurality of male terminals further includes a second temperature sensor terminal, first and second power terminals and a ground terminal, the a

Assignees

• Whirlpool Co

Inventors

• Gutierrez Diego Neftali
• Santacatterina Gianpiero
• Farachi Francesco

Classifications

• F24C15/16

  Shelves, racks or trays inside ovens; Supports therefor · CPC title

• F24C15/166 Primary

  with integrated heating means · CPC title

• H01R13/7032

  making use of a separate bridging element directly cooperating with the terminals · CPC title

• H01R13/7037

  making use of a magnetically operated switch · CPC title