GB2471334A - Cooking hob and hob cover to completely enclose cooking hob - Google Patents

Abstract

A cooking hob 1 includes rings 2 and a cover 7, wherein cover 7 encloses all of the rings 2 of hob 1. Hob 1 may include a base plate 3, on which rings 2 are seated. Cover 7 may be separable from hob 1, be used to enclose base plate 3, and be made of a single sheet of folded, heat reflective powder coated aluminium, dimensioned so that its exterior does not become hot when enclosing a recently extinguished (i.e. turned off) ring 2. Cover 7 may include an integrally formed lip 10, which rests on a work surface 6 adjacent to hob 1 in use, and may be useable as a work surface.

Description

COOKING HOB AND HOB COVER

The present invention relates to a cooking hob and hob cover, and in particular to a hob cover.

It is known to provide a set of circular dish-shaped hob covers, each to be placed over a respective hob ring (e.g. an electric or gas bob ring) of a cooking hob. Generally, these are intended to provide an aesthetic effect, but also provide some measure of protection for the hob rings. However, as these covers typically fit fairly snugly over each ring, a user may be required to wait until the hob rings have cooled before placing each bob cover in place over a respective bob ring to avoid damaging the covers. Also, multiple covers must be put in place to cover all of the hob rings, which is a somewhat laborious process for a user.

Some free-standing cookers come equipped with a glass lid which is hingedly coimected to the cooker bob and may be folded down over the hob rings. These lids may not however enclose the hob rings as they typically leave a gap to the lateral sides of the bob, such that the bob rings are at least partially exposed even when the cover is folded down. The hob rings may therefore be exposed to dirt or damage, and a child or unwary adult might accidentally touch a newly-extinguished (and thus still-hot) hob ring, even with the cover folded down over the bob.

Hobs themselves, whether provided as part of a free-standing oven or as a separate item which is fitted into a work surface, inevitably reduce the amount of effective work surface in a kitchen, which must necessarily be disrupted to provide space for the hob.

The hingedly-connected folding hob covers described above are not necessarily suitable for work surfaces owing to their potential fragility. Further, where such covers fold down to fit closely over the hob rings, a user may be required to wait until the hob rings have cooled before the cover may be folded down. In any event, if a user were to seek to use such a cover as a work surface, cleaning of the cover after use would be impractical as the cover is hingedly connected to the hob, meaning that it cannot be readily removed for any dirt to be washed or wiped off.

The present invention seeks to ameliorate the problems associated with the prior art.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cooking hob and hob cover, wherein the cooking bob comprises hob rings and said hob cover encloses all of the bob rings of the cooking hob. Thus, according to embodiments, a user can quickly and conveniently enclose all hob rings simply by putting a single cover in place. Further, by enclosing all of the hob rings, the risk of accidental contact of the finger, palm etc. of a child or adult with a hot bob ring enclosed by the cover is prevented.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cooking hob and hob cover, wherein the cooking hob comprises bob rings and the hob cover encloses at least one of said hob rings, wherein said hob cover comprises a surface of sufficient area to enable its use as a work surface. Thus, according to embodiments, the inevitable disruption to a work surface by the presence of a hob is ameliorated by the use of a hob cover which itself provides a practical and readily useable work surface to supplement the existing work surface disrupted by the hob.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cooking hob and bob cover, wherein the cooking hob comprises bob rings and the bob cover encloses at least one of said bob rings, wherein the hob cover has an outer surface and the hob cover is dimensioned such that said outer surface does not become unduly hot when enclosing a newly-extinguished hob ring. Thus, according to embodiments, the cover readily provides a safety aspect as in addition to preventing direct contact with the at least one bob ring the cover is sized so that the risk of significant harm or damage resulting from touching the hob cover will be prevented or reduced, even where the hob cover is placed over a newly-extinguished hob.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a bob cover according to any of the first to third aspects.

In order that the present invention may be more readily understood, embodiments thereof will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which: FIGURE 1 shows a cooking hob; FIGURES 2 and 3 show an embodiment of a hob cover according to the present invention in place over the cooking hob of FIGURE 1; FIGURE 4 shows the hob cover of FIGURES 2 and 3 in use as a work surface; FIGURE 5 shows a detail of the underside of the bob cover of FIGURES 2 and 3; FIGURE 6A is a schematic view of the hob cover of FIGURES 2 and 3; and FIGURES 6B and 6C are cross-sectional views along lines A-A and B-B of FIGURE 6A, respectively.

The cooking hob 1 shown in Fig. 1 comprises four gas-fired hob rings 2 provided on the upper surface of a base plate 3 of the hob 1. Respective controls 4 for each of the four rings 2 and a spark ignition button 5 are additionally provided on a raised portion of the upper surface of the base plate 3. The base plate 3 itself is fitted into a work surface 6 which surrounds the base plate 3.

Figs. 2 and 3 show a hob cover 7 according to an embodiment of the present invention in place over the cooking hob 1. As may be seen from the Figures, the hob cover 7 is generally rectangular and is sized to extend over the entirety of the upper surface of the hob 1, to rest on the work surface 6 surrounding the base plate 3. As such, the hob cover 7 encloses the entire upper surface of the base plate 3, including all of the four hob rings 2 of the hob 1, In the present specification, references to the hob cover "enclosing" the hob rings are to be interpreted as meaning that the hob cover surrounds and covers the hob rings to the extent that the hob rings cannot be readily touched by the fingers, palm etc. of a child or unwary adult when the cover is in place.

Indeed, and as will be noted from the Figures, the present embodiment of a hob cover 7 goes further than this, and completely encloses the four hob rings 2 of the hob I (together with the entire upper surface of the base plate 3), as the upper surface 8 and four sidewalls 9 of the hob cover 7 are continuous, with no perforations, apertures or similar.

The hob cover 7 of the present embodiment is shown in greater detail in the schematic drawings of Figs. 6A to 6C. As may be seen from these Figures, the hob cover 7 comprises a rectangular upper surface 8 measuring 605 mm x 535 mm, and four sidewalls 9, each of 50mm height, extending perpendicularly downward from the upper surface 8. As best seen from Fig. 5, a 10mm wide lip 10 extends around the entire perimeter of the underside of the hob cover 7 and defines the periphery of an aperture measuring 585 mm x 515 mm. When the bob cover 7 is in use, this aperture accommodates the hob 1 with the peripheral lip 10 resting on the surrounding work surface 6.

The upper surface 8, sidewalls 9 and lip 10 of the hob cover 7 are integrally formed from a single sheet of polyester-powder coated aluminium, which sheet is folded into the shape shown in Figs. 6A to 6C to form the hob cover 7. To form the present hob cover according to the above-indicated dimensions, an aluminium sheet measuring 709 mm x 639 mm, of 2.0 mm thickness and of grade EN 485/515/573 1050 H14 VC1, has been used. In the present embodiment, the aluminium sheet has been powder coated to provide a white hob cover.

Other colours (for example cream, silver or black) may of course be alternately provided using suitable powder coatings.

As will be appreciated, the hob cover 7 provides a safety aspect, as it entirely surrounds and encloses the hob 1 and in particular all of the hob rings 2 of the hob 1, such that when the cover 7 is in place, newly-extinguished (and hence still-hot) hob rings 2 are shielded from direct contact with the fingers, palm etc. of a child or unwary adult. As the hob cover 7 is sized to enclose all rings 2 of the hob 1, this safety aspect is particularly convenient for a user, who need only put a single cover in place to shield all rings 2 of the hob 1.

The dimensions and materials of the bob cover 7 of the present embodiment all contribute to this safety aspect. In particular, as the hob cover extends over the entire hob base plate 3 to the surrounding work surface 6, rather than fitting snugly over the rings as in prior art bob covers, the hob cover 7 prevents a finger, palm etc. of a child or adult from coming within a certain distance of the hob rings 2, which distance is defined by the dimensions of the hob cover 7. These dimensions are selected to be sufficient to prevent the upper surface 8 and exterior surfaces of the walls 9 of the hob cover 7 from becoming unduly hot, even when enclosing newly-extinguished hob rings, so as to limit or eliminate the risk of injury to a person touching the hob cover 7. According to alternative embodiments, the hob cover may be sized to rest on the hob base plate 3, but to still provide a shield at a sufficient distance from the hob rings 2 to limit or eliminate the risk of injury to a person touching the hob cover 7.

Further, the material of the hob cover 7 is selected to reflect heat emanating from the hob rings 2, further enhancing the safety aspect of the cover.

In addition to a safety aspect, the hob cover 7 also provides a convenient means for protecting the hob rings 2 and also the base plate 3 of the hob cover 8 from dirt andlor damage, simply by putting the single hob cover 7 into place over the hob. Also, the hob rings 2 and any dirt baked onto the base plate 3 are quickly and easily shielded from view by the placement of the single hob cover 7 over the hob 1.

Additionally, and as shown in Fig. 4, the upper surface 8 of the hob cover 7 provides a rectangular surface of sufficient area to be readily useable as a work surface. In the present embodiment, this area is 0.36 square metres (665 mm x 535 mm), which is considered to represent, approximately, the minimum area necessary to provide a readily useable work surface.

In addition to having sufficient area, the material and construction of the present hob cover renders the upper surface 8 to be sufficiently robust to be used as a work surface, such that the carrying out of typical food preparation activities e.g. chopping of food, and the supporting of typical cooking items e.g. mixing bowls, pots etc. on the upper surface 8 do not cause damage thereto.

Hence, although the work surface 6 is disrupted by the hob 1, this disruption is ameliorated by providing an additional work surface area in the form of the sizeable and robust flat upper surface 8 of the hob cover 7.

The upper surface 8 is raised from the surrounding work surface 6, and hence also from the hob I and its hob rings 2, by a distance in accordance with the height of the sidewalls 9. The height of the sidewalls 9 is selected so as to space the upper surface 8 from the hob rings 2 beneath by a distance sufficient to allow the hob cover 7 to be put in place over (extinguished) hob rings immediately after they have been used for cooking, without the upper surface 8 becoming unduly hot. This enables instant use of the hob cover 7 as a work surface, as there is no requirement to wait for the hob rings to cool. In the present embodiment, the height of the sidewalls 9 is 50mm, although the present invention is of course not limited to this height.

The heat-reflective material of the hob cover 7 further enables the use of the upper surface 8 as a work surface, even where the cover 7 is placed over newly-extinguished hob rings.

Furthermore, the use of the upper surface 8 of the hob cover 7 as an additional work surface is particularly convenient for a user, as the hob cover 7 can simply be lifted off the hob 1 for cleaning after use -the hob cover is discrete from (i.e. not fixedly connected to) the hob I or surrounding work surface 6, and simply rests on the work surface 6 in the present embodiment. Additionally, any mess created in using the hob cover 7 as a work surface will not dirty the hob 1 itself, which is enclosed and hence protected by the hob cover 7.

As indicated above, the peripheral lip 10 on the underside of the hob cover 7 contacts the surrounding work surface 6 when the hob cover 7 is in place. By using a lip, the contact area between the hob cover 7 and the work surface 6 is increased, which limits any tendency of the hob cover 2 to slip on the surrounding work surface 6 and hence further facilitates the use of the upper surface 8 of the hob cover 2 as a work surface. Additionally, the aperture defined by the lip 10 is sized to closely match the dimensions of the hob base plate 3, such that any slip of the bob cover 7 results in the lip 10 contacting the base plate to prevent further movement.

Further, as the bob cover is integrally formed from a single sheet of material, the hob cover 7 may be produced in a cost-effective and efficient manner.

It will be understood that embodiments of the present invention are described herein by way of example only, and that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims (24)

1. Claims 1. A cooking hob and hob cover, wherein the cooking hob comprises hob rings and said hob cover encloses all of the hob rings of the cooking hob.
2. 2. A cooking hob and hob cover according to claim 1, wherein the cooking hob further comprises a base plate on which said hob rings are provided, and wherein said hob cover encloses the base plate.
3. 3. A cooking hob and hob cover according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the hob cover is dimensioned such that the exterior of the hob cover does not become unduly hot when enclosing a newly-extinguished hob ring.
4. 4. A cooking hob and hob cover according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the hob cover comprises a heat-reflective material.
5. 5. A cooking hob and hob cover according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the hob cover is discrete from the cooking hob.
6. 6. A cooking hob and hob cover according to claim 5, wherein the hob cover rests on a surface adjacent the cooking hob.
7. 7. A cooking hob and hob cover according to claim 6, wherein the hob cover is provided with a lip to rest on said surface.
8. 8. A cooking hob and hob cover according to claim 7, wherein the lip is integrally provided.
9. 9. A cooking hob and hob cover according to any preceding claim, wherein said hob cover comprises a surface of sufficient area and which is sufficiently robust to enable its use as a work surface. I0
10. 10. A cooking hob and hob cover, wherein the cooking hob comprises hob rings and the bob cover encloses at least one of said hob rings, wherein said hob cover comprises a surface of sufficient area to enable its use as a work surface.
11. 11. A cooking hob and hob cover according to claim 10, wherein the surface is sufficiently robust to enable its use as a work surface.
12. 12. A cooking hob and hob cover according to claim 10 or 11, wherein said surface has an area of approximately 0.36 square metres or above.
13. 13. A cooking hob and hob cover according to any one of claims 10 to 12, wherein the hob cover is dimensioned such that the said surface does not become unduly hot when the hob cover encloses a newly-extinguished hob ring.
14. 14. A cooking hob and hob cover according to any one of claims 10 to 13, wherein the hob cover comprises a heat-reflective material.
15. 15. A cooking bob and hob cover according to any one of claims 10 to 14, wherein said hob cover is discrete from said cooking bob.
16. 16. A cooking hob and bob cover according to claim 15, wherein the hob cover further comprises a lip which rests on a surface to support the hob cover.
17. 17. A cooking hob and hob cover according to any one of claims 10 to 16, wherein the cooking hob further comprises a base plate on which the hob rings are provided, and wherein said hob cover is arranged to enclose the base plate and all of the hob rings of the cooking hob.
18. 18. A cooking hob and bob cover according to claim 17, wherein the hol cover is provided with an aperture within which the base plate is received, and wherein the dimensions of the aperture substantially correspond to the outer dimensions of the base plate.
19. 19. A cooking hob and hob cover according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the hob cover is integrally formed from a single sheet of material.
20. 20. A cooking hob and hob cover according to claim 19, wherein the hob cover is formed by folding said single sheet.
21. 21. A cooking hob and hob cover, wherein the cooking hob comprises hob rings and the hob cover encloses at least one of said hob rings, wherein the hob cover has an outer surface and the hob cover is dimensioned such that said outer surface does not become unduly hot when enclosing a newly-extinguished hob ring.
22. 22. A hob cover according to claim 21, wherein said outer surface comprises a surface of sufficient area and which is sufficiently robust to enable its use as a work surface.
23. 23. A hob cover according to any one of the preceding claims.
24. 24. A hob cover substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to andlor as shown in the accompanying Figures 2 to 6C.