Control panel and method of assembling the same and cooking appliance having the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9863642-B2
Application number	US-201414571791-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 16, 2014
Priority date	Jan 7, 2014
Publication date	Jan 9, 2018
Grant date	Jan 9, 2018

Abstract

A cooking appliance including a body provided with a heating part, a control panel detachably provided at the body, and a coupling unit configured to allow the control panel to come into close contact with the body. The coupling unit includes a first lever rotatably provided at an inner side of the control panel and is configured to receive an external force outside the control panel. The coupling unit also includes a second lever provided in between the control panel and the body to allow the control panel to come into close contact with the body while interlocked with an operation of the first lever.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A cooking appliance, comprising:
a body provided with a heating part;
a control panel detachably provided at the body; and
a coupling unit configured to allow the control panel to come into close contact with the body, wherein the coupling unit comprises:
a first lever rotatably coupled to the body and configured to receive an external force, the first lever comprising opposing first and second ends rotatable about a point therebetween; and
a second lever rotatably coupled to the body and comprising opposing first and second ends rotatable about a second point therebetween, the second end of the second lever configured to engage the control panel,

wherein the second end of the first lever interlocks with the first end of the second lever, such that moving the first end of the first lever toward the body rotates the second end of the second lever towards the body to thereby move the control panel into close contact with the body.

2. The cooking appliance of claim 1 , wherein:
the first lever comprises a pushing part exposed to an outside of the control panel to receive the external force, and
the first lever moves between a first position at which the pushing part is spaced apart from the body and a second position at which the pushing part comes into close contact with the body after being rotated from the first position, and
when the first lever moves from the first position to the second position, the second lever presses the control panel toward the body while interlocked with the first lever.

3. The cooking appliance of claim 2 , wherein:
when the first lever is at the second position, an operation of the second lever is restricted by the first lever in a state that the second level presses the control panel toward the body.

4. The cooking appliance of claim 2 , wherein: when the first lever is at the second position, the second end of the second lever presses the control panel toward the body, while the first end of the second lever makes contact with the first lever such that an operation of the second lever is restricted.

5. The cooking appliance of claim 2 , wherein: the pushing part is provided to be fixed to the body when the first lever is at the second position.

6. The cooking appliance of claim 1 , wherein: the first lever comprises a pushing part disposed at the first end thereof to be exposed to an outside the control panel, the second lever comprises a pressing part at the second end thereof configured to press the control panel toward the body, and a direction of an external force being applied to the pushing part and a pressing direction of the pressing part are identical to each other.

7. The cooking appliance of claim 1 , wherein:
the first lever further comprises:
a pushing part at the first end thereof exposed to an outside of the control panel;
a first rotating shaft between the first and second ends of the first lever; and
a first driving force delivering part provided at the second end thereof in between the control panel and the body, to deliver a driving force to the second lever when the pushing part is rotated toward the body about the first rotating shaft.

8. The cooking appliance of claim 7 , wherein:
the second lever further comprises:
a second driving force delivery part at the first end thereof to receive a driving force through the first driving force delivering part;
a second rotating shaft between the first and second ends of the second lever; and
a pressing part at the second end thereof allowing the control panel to come into close contact with the body by being moved in a direction opposite to a movement direction of the second driving force delivering part by use of the second rotating shaft.

9. The cooking appliance of claim 8 , wherein: the first rotating shaft and the second rotating shaft are parallel to each other.

10. The cooking appliance of claim 7 , wherein:
the first driving force delivering part is formed to be thicker than the first lever adjacent to the first driving force delivering part.

11. The cooking appliance of claim 1 , wherein:
the first lever and the second lever rotate in opposite directions with respect to each other.

12. The cooking appliance of claim 1 , wherein: the first end of the first lever is bent so as to make a surface contact with the body.

13. The cooking appliance of claim 1 , further comprising:
an opening through which food to be cooked is introduced or withdrawn, and a door to open and close the opening,
wherein the control panel is disposed at an upper side of the door.

14. The cooking appliance of claim 13 , wherein:
the first end of the first lever is disposed to be exposed beyond a lower side of the control panel and covered by the door at the time of when the opening is closed by the door.

15. The cooking appliance of claim 1 , further comprising:
a sealing member provided in between the body and the control panel while surrounding along the control panel.

16. The cooking appliance of claim 1 , wherein:
the control panel comprises:
a panel body; and
a temporary coupling protrusion bentedly formed at the panel body to be parallel to an outer surface of a side of the control panel of the body,

wherein the second lever presses the temporary coupling protrusion.

17. A cooking appliance, comprising:
a body having an opening through which food to be cooked is introduced or withdrawn, and a door configured to open and close the opening;
a control panel detachably provided at the body; and
a coupling unit configured to allow the control panel to come into close contact with the body, wherein the coupling unit comprises
a pushing unit rotatably coupled to the body and comprising opposing first and second ends rotatable about a point therebetween, the first end thereof comprising a pushing part exposed to an outside of the control panel to receive an external force, the pushing unit configured to operate by the external force delivered to the pushing part; and
a pressing unit rotatably coupled to the body and comprising opposing first and second ends, wherein the first end thereof is interlocked with the second end of the pushing unit, and wherein the second end thereof is configured to press the control panel toward the body when the pushing part is moved toward the body.

18. The cooking appliance of claim 17 , wherein: the pushing part is not exposed to an outside by the door at the time of when the door closes the opening.

19. The cooking appliance of claim 17 , wherein:
the pushing unit moves between a first position at which the pushing part is spaced apart from the body and a second position at which the pushing part comes into close contact with the body after being rotated from the first position, and
when the pushing unit moves from the first position to the second position, the pressing unit presses the control panel toward the body while interlocked with the pushing unit.

20. The cooking appliance of claim 17 , wherein: the pressing unit comprises a pressing part at the second end thereof to allow the control panel to be pressed toward the body, and the pushing part and the pressing part are moved in a same direction.

21. The cooking appliance of claim 17 , wherein:
the pushing part further comprises a coupling hole coupled to the body.

22. A control panel assembling method of coupling a control panel to a body provided with a heating part, the control panel assembling method comprising:
providing a couplin

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Je Ji Woon
• Kang Han Seong

Classifications

• Y10T403/595

  Lever · CPC title

• Y10T29/49826

  Assembling or joining · CPC title

• F24C7/082 Primary

  on ranges, e.g. control panels, illumination · CPC title

• Y10T403/52

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• F16B2200/60

  Coupler sealing means · CPC title