Lighting system for an oven appliance

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9528709-B2
Application number	US-201514700329-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 30, 2015
Priority date	Apr 30, 2015
Publication date	Dec 27, 2016
Grant date	Dec 27, 2016

Abstract

An oven appliance including a cabinet having a first wall at least partially defining a cooking chamber configured for receipt of items to be cooked is provided. The oven appliance also includes a lighting system positioned adjacent to an opening defined by the first wall of the cabinet. The lighting system includes an optical feature and a light source positioned outside the cooking chamber and spaced from the opening in the first wall. The optical feature extends between the light source and the opening defined by the first wall to direct light from the light source into the cooking chamber when the lighting system is activated.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An oven appliance comprising:
a cabinet comprising a first wall at least partially defining a cooking chamber configured for receipt of items to be cooked, the first wall further defining an opening; and
a lighting system having at least a portion positioned adjacent to the opening defined by the first wall of the cabinet, the lighting system including
a light source positioned outside the cooking chamber and spaced from the opening in the first wall of the cabinet;
an optical feature extending between the light source and the opening defined by the first wall of the cabinet for directing light from the light source into the cooking chamber through the opening in the first wall when the lighting system is activated; and
a heat sink in thermal communication with the light source, wherein the heat sink is positioned at least partially within a cooling duct of the oven appliance such that the heat sink is exposed to a cooling airflow during operation of the oven appliance.

2. The oven appliance of claim 1 , wherein the light source includes one or more light emitting diodes.

3. The oven appliance of claim 2 , wherein the light source includes an array of light emitting diodes.

4. The oven appliance of claim 1 , wherein the optical feature is a piece of glass extending between the light source and the opening in the first wall of the cabinet.

5. The oven appliance of claim 1 , wherein the oven appliance includes a panel positioned over the lighting system, the panel forming at least in part the cooling duct.

6. The oven appliance of claim 5 , wherein the panel is a removable panel.

7. The oven appliance of claim 1 , wherein the lighting system further includes an electrical insulation layer disposed between the heat sink and the light source.

8. The oven appliance of claim 1 , wherein the lighting system further includes a thermal insulation layer positioned between the light source and the wall of the cabinet.

9. The oven appliance of claim 8 , wherein the heat sink is disposed on an opposite side of the light source from the thermal insulation layer.

10. The oven appliance of claim 1 , wherein the first wall of the cabinet is a first side wall of the cabinet, wherein the cabinet further comprises a second side wall spaced from the first side wall along the lateral direction, wherein the second side wall defines a second opening, and wherein the oven appliance further includes a second lighting system configured for providing light to the cooking chamber through the second opening when activated.

11. An oven appliance defining a lateral direction, the oven appliance comprising:
a cabinet comprising a first side wall and a second side wall spaced from one another along the lateral direction, the first and second side walls at least partially defining a cooking chamber configured for receipt of items to be cooked, the first side wall further defining an elongated first opening; and
a lighting system having at least a portion positioned adjacent to the first opening defined by the first side wall of the cabinet, the lighting system including
a light source comprising an array of lights positioned outside the cooking chamber and spaced from the opening in the first side wall of the cabinet;
an optical feature extending between the light source and the opening in the first side wall of the cabinet for directing light from the light source into the cooking chamber through the opening in the first wall when the lighting system is activated; and
a heat sink in thermal communication with the light source, wherein the heat sink is positioned at least partially within a cooling duct of the oven appliance such that the heat sink is exposed to a cooling airflow during operation of the oven appliance.

12. The oven appliance of claim 11 , wherein the light source includes one or more light emitting diodes.

13. The oven appliance of claim 11 , wherein the optical feature is a piece of glass extending between the light source and the opening in the first side wall of the cabinet.

14. The oven appliance of claim 11 , wherein the oven appliance includes a panel positioned over the lighting system, the panel forming at least in part the cooling duct.

15. The oven appliance of claim 14 , wherein the panel is a removable panel.

16. The oven appliance of claim 11 , wherein the lighting system further includes an electrical insulation layer disposed between the heat sink and the light source.

17. The oven appliance of claim 11 , wherein the lighting system further includes a thermal insulation layer positioned between the light source and the first side wall of the cabinet.

18. The oven appliance of claim 17 , wherein the heat sink is disposed on an opposite side of the light source from the thermal insulation layer.

Assignees

• Gen Electric
• Haier Us Appliance Solutions Inc

Inventors

• Hettinger Christopher Lee
• Brown Justin Tyler
• Muhammad Edward LaVoisier

Classifications

• F21W2131/307

  for ovens · CPC title

• F21V29/15

  Thermal insulation · CPC title

• F21Y2101/00

  Point-like light sources · CPC title

• F24C15/008 Primary

  Illumination for oven cavities · CPC title

• F21V29/503

  of light sources (cooling arrangements structurally associated with gas-discharge or vapour-discharge lamps H01J61/52; cooling arrangements structurally associated with electric incandescent lamps H01K1/58; cooling arrangements structurally associated with light-emitting diodes H10H20/858) · CPC title