Cooking appliance having a downdraft ventilation system with a deflection blade

Abstract

A cooking appliance having a cooking surface with a vent opening defined therethrough. A duct arranged to convey an airflow therethrough and defining an upstream portion and a downstream portion, wherein the duct is in fluid communication with the opening. A blower comprising a blower motor having a speed of operation selectable between at least a first speed and a second speed wherein the blower is active into the duct and is operative to draw the airflow through the duct from the upstream portion to the downstream portion. At least one deflection blade operatively located into the duct downstream the opening and/or the at least one set of louvers to act on the airflow flowing along the duct from the upstream portion to the downstream portion, wherein the deflection blade is located upstream the blower.

1 . A cooking appliance comprising:
 a cooking surface having a vent opening defined therethrough;   a duct arranged to convey an airflow therethrough and defining an upstream portion and a downstream portion, the duct being in fluid communication with the vent opening;   a blower comprising a blower motor, the blower motor having a speed of operation selectable between at least a first speed and a second speed, the blower being active into the duct and being operative to draw the airflow through the duct from the upstream portion to the downstream portion; and   at least one deflection blade operatively located into the duct downstream of the vent opening to act on the airflow flowing along the duct from the upstream portion to the downstream portion, and the deflection blade being located upstream of the blower.   
     
     
         2 . The cooking appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one deflection blade is directionable inside the duct to modify the airflow path therethrough, the at least one deflection blade being swivelling among a plurality of relative positions wherein the corresponding lying plane changes orientation with respect to at least one of three orthogonal axis of the duct, namely a longitudinal axis, a first transversal axis, perpendicular to the longitudinal axis and a second transversal axis, perpendicular to the longitudinal axis and the first transversal axis, in particular the at least one deflection blade being directionable among:
 three particular relative positions, wherein two of the three orthogonal axis of the duct stand on the lying plane of the deflection blade;   a plurality of first relative positions, wherein only one of the three orthogonal axis of the duct stand on the lying plane of the deflection blade being the latter inclined with respect to the other two orthogonal axis; and   a plurality of second relative positions, wherein the deflection blade is inclined with respect to all the orthogonal axis of the duct.   
     
     
         3 . The cooking appliance of  claim 1 , further comprising a controller module communicatively coupled to the at least one deflection blade and configured to trigger a change in the position or orientation of the at least one deflection blade inside the duct among the particular plurality of relative positions and/or the first relative positions and/or the second relative positions, and further comprising at least one sensor, in particular a temperature sensor, communicatively coupled to the controller module, the controller module controlling the position and/or orientation of the deflection blade on the base of at least one triggering signal emitted by the at least one sensor. 
     
     
         4 . The cooking appliance of  claim 3 , wherein the controller module is configured to:
 receive a first signal indicative of a value of a first parameter from a user interface; and   receive a second signal indicative of a measured value of a second parameter from a second sensor communicatively coupled to the controller module.   
     
     
         5 . The cooking appliance of  claim 4 , wherein the controller module is configured to trigger the position and/or orientation of the deflection blade inside the duct, based on the value of the first parameter and/or the second parameter. 
     
     
         6 . The cooking appliance of  claim 4 , wherein the controller module is also communicatively coupled to the blower motor to trigger at least one of a change in the speed of operation of the blower motor, and wherein the controller module is configured to trigger the speed of operation of the blower motor based on the value of the first parameter and/or the second parameter. 
     
     
         7 . The cooking appliance of  claim 4 , further comprising at least one set of louvers disposed in the duct downstream or in correspondence of the vent opening, and wherein the at least one deflection blade is operatively located into the duct downstream of the at least one set of louvers, the at least one set of louvers being selectively movable between a closed position, wherein the airflow cannot flow through the at least one set of louvers, and a plurality of open positions, wherein a corresponding opening size of the at least one set of louvers changes and the airflow can flow through the set of louvers, and at least one louver positioning motor being coupled to the corresponding at least one set of louvers and being operative to selectively move the corresponding at least one set of louvers, and wherein the at least one set of louvers comprises two or more set of louvers, each of the set of louvers being individually movable between a closed position, wherein the airflow cannot flow through the corresponding set of louvers and a plurality of open positions, wherein a corresponding opening size changes and the airflow can flow through the corresponding set of louvers, and one louver positioning motor being coupled to each corresponding set of louvers and being operative to selectively move the corresponding set of louvers, in particular each set of louvers corresponding to at least one region of the cooking surface of the cooking appliance wherein at least one heatable portion is included, more in particular each set of louvers corresponding to a region of the cooking surface of the cooking appliance having two heatable portions substantially aligned with the set of louvers. 
     
     
         8 . The cooking appliance of  claim 7 , wherein the at least one louver positioning motor comprises:
 a first louver positioning motor coupled to a set of first louvers operative to selectively move the set of first louvers between a first position and a second position; and   a second louver positioning motor coupled to a set of second louvers operative to selectively move the set of second louvers between a third position and a fourth position, wherein the controller module is communicatively coupled to the first louver positioning motor and to the second louver positioning motor and is configured to trigger at least one of a change in the blower motor speed of operation, a change in the position of the set of first louvers, and a change in the position of the set of second louvers, based on the value of the first parameter and the second parameter.   
     
     
         9 . The cooking appliance of  claim 8 , wherein the controller module is also communicatively coupled to the at least one set of louvers to trigger a change in the position of the at least one set of louvers between the closed position and the plurality of the open positions, and the controller module being configured to trigger a change in the position of the set of louvers based on the value of the first parameter and/or the second parameter, in particular the triggering of the position and/or orientation of the deflection blade being independent with respect the triggering of at least one of a change in the speed of operation of the blower motor and/or a change in the position of the set of louvers, in particular the controller module maintaining a temperature stabilization of at least one cooking vessel by controlling one or more of the following: speed of operation of the blower motor; opening size of the at least one set of louvers; orientation of the deflection blade; more in particular, the controller module controlling the position and/or orientation of the deflection blade inside the duct to prevent undesired temperature changes of the at least one cooking vessel, particularly temperature reduction, by controlling the airflow path around/near such the at least one cooking vessel being used for cooking. 
     
     
         10 . The cooking appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the duct comprises a transversal cross-section the size of which changes along the longitudinal development of the duct between the upstream portion and the downstream portion, the duct comprising at least one body portion wherein the transversal cross-section presents a size reduction, and the point of maximum cross-section reduction, in particular the body portion of the duct with the size reduction being interposed between the upstream portion and the downstream portion, more in particular the deflection blade being located close to or in correspondence of the body portion of the duct with the size reduction, in particular the transversal cross-section of the duct decreasing from the upstream portion to the body portion and increasing from the latter to the downstream portion, more in particular the transversal cross-section decrease in the upstream portion being more pronounced than the transversal cross-section increase in the downstream portion, more in detail the blower being located in correspondence of the downstream of the duct. 
     
     
         11 . The cooking appliance of  claim 4 , wherein the controller module is further configured to select a set of predetermined desired values from a memory based on the value of the first parameter and the value of the second parameter, and wherein the at least one of the change in the blower motor speed of operation and the change in the position of the first and second set of louvers, and the change in the position of the set of first louvers and/or the change in the position of the set of second louvers, is based on the set of predetermined desired values, the controller module being further configured to calculate a set of desired values based on the value of the first parameter and the value of the second parameter, and wherein the at least one of the change in the blower motor speed of operation and/or the change in the position of the set of louvers, and the change in the position of the set of first louvers and/or the change in the position of the set of second louvers, is based on the set of desired values. 
     
     
         12 . The cooking appliance of  claim 1 , further comprising at least two filters located inside the duct, wherein a first filter of the two filters is a grease filter and is located upstream of the blower and upstream of the at least one deflection blade and a second filter of the two filter is an odour filter and is located downstream of the blower, in particular wherein the at least one filter forms a downdraft extracting hood or a downdraft filtering hood in combination with at least said duct and said blower. 
     
     
         13 . The cooking appliance of  claim 4 , wherein the first parameter includes a heat setting and/or wherein the second parameter includes at least one of a temperature of air within the duct, an ambient temperature external to the duct, a relative humidity within the duct, a relative humidity external to the duct, an airflow volume within the duct, an air pressure within the duct, and air pressure external to the duct, a relative amount of a volatile organic compound in the duct, a temperature of the cooking surface, a temperature of a cooking vessel, a change in the temperature of the cooking vessel, the position of the at least one set of louvers, and the position of the set of first louvers and/or the position of the set of second louvers, and the blower motor speed of operation. 
     
     
         14 . A ventilation system comprising:
 a duct arranged to convey an airflow therethrough and defining an upstream portion and a downstream portion, the duct being in fluid communication with a vent opening defined in a cooking surface;   a blower comprising a blower motor having a speed of operation selectable between at least a first speed and a second speed, the blower being active into the duct and being operative to draw the airflow through the duct from the upstream portion to the downstream portion;   at least one deflection blade operatively located into the duct downstream of the vent opening, in particular downstream of at least one set of louvers disposed in the duct downstream or in correspondence of the vent opening, to act on the airflow flowing along the duct from the upstream portion to the downstream portion, the deflection blade being located upstream the blower, the deflection blade preventing undesired temperature changes of at least one cooking vessel, particularly temperature reduction, by controlling the airflow path around/near such at least one cooking vessel being used for cooking.   
     
     
         15 . A method of operating a cooking appliance comprising the steps of:
 arranging a duct in fluid communication with an aperture or a vent opening defined in a cooking surface, to convey an airflow therethrough to define an upstream portion and a downstream portion;
 disposing a blower comprising a blower motor having a speed of operation selectable between a first speed and a second speed, the blower being active into the duct and being operative to draw the airflow through the duct; 
 disposing at least one deflection blade operatively located into the duct downstream of the vent opening, in particular downstream of the at least one set of louvers disposed in the duct downstream or in correspondence of the vent opening, to act on the airflow flowing along the duct from the upstream portion to the downstream portion, the deflection blade being disposed upstream of the blower, and the deflection blade being disposed into the duct to prevent undesired temperature changes of at least one cooking vessel, particularly temperature reduction, by controlling the airflow path around/near such at least one cooking vessel being used for cooking.