Bertazzoni, Roberto (Via Maldotti, 2, I-Guastalla (Reggio Emilia), IT)

EP19930830461

10/14/1998

11/18/1993

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SMEG S.p.A. (Via Circonvallazione Nord, 36, Guastalla (Reggio Emilia), IT)

(IPC1-7): F24C15/18

Adorno, Silvano (c/o SOCIETA' ITALIANA BREVETTI S.p.A. Via Carducci, 8, Milano, 20123, IT)

1. A freestanding cooker, with a trolley (6) suitable to slide on guides (8) inside a space (5) provided between a side (4) of the freestanding cooker (1) and one of the sides (3a) of an oven (3) installed inside said cooker (1) and having a width smaller than that of its work top (2), said trolley having at least one shelf (9, 9a), characterized in that said trolley (6) includes lower retractable wheels for the rolling of the trolley on the floor independently from said cooker (1), means being provided for releasing said trolley (6) from said guides (8) at the forward end of its stroke, lowering said wheels in rolling position and on the contrary retracting them when the trolley is reinserted on said guides (8).

2. A cooker according to claim 1, characterized in that said space (5) is bound on the upper side by a bent sheet shaped as an inverted U, thus separating space (5) and trolley (6) from the work top (2) burners.

3. A cooker according to claim 1, characterized in that said trolley (6) includes a metallic frame (6) whereon said shelves (9, 9a) are mounted, preferably in a removable way, and to which a front panel (7), suitable to close said space (5) when the trolley is completely retracted, is integrally fixed.

The present invention concerns a trolley extractable from a space provided alongside the oven of a gas, electric or mixed type cooker having its upper work top larger in width, as well as a domestic cooker including said trolley.

It is known that so-called "freestanding" domestic cookers, i.e. not built-in, be they of the electric, gas or mixed type, have conventional standard size of 60 cm in width, but in the past cookers of greater width up to 90 cm have been produced, especially to have a free space, alongside the oven, suitable to house the liquid gas supply cylinder. More recently, due to the extension of the supply with methane on the territory, and to the coming into force of safety regulations imposing the installation of the liquid gas cylinder far from the kitchen, preferably outdoors, nonetheless a significant percentage of cookers, also with electric supply, has still been produced with a widened work top, for example up to 80-90 cm. This as a result of a widespread need of the users, which often require a widened work top in order to have a larger cooking and/or rest surface.

It is also known that, on the contrary, it is less required to have a greater size oven, most of all because the increase of its inner volume would imply a great waste of energy, with a considerable increase in the gas or electricity consumption. Therefore, an unused space would remain alongside the oven, which being arranged on the right or the left side of the cooker would allow for a space 20-30 cm wide, usually closed by a small hinged access door. However, this space, so far present in a certain number of cookers of size greater than the standard one, was almost unused, but for putting aside almost unusable items such as paper, rags, etc., due to the poor accessibility of the space, narrow and deep, not equipped to hold objects.

According to EP-A-0499801 a cooker is provided with a drawer-like trolley slidably movable in a space arranged under the oven, being provided with one or more shelves which however will not be completely accessible from outside, since this trolley cannot be released from its guides.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a freestanding cooker provided with a trolley of the above-mentioned type which can be made completely releasable from the cooker and slidable on the floor surface by means of retractable wheels, independently from said cooker. These and other objects, advantages and characteristics of the trolley according to the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, reported as non-limiting example, referring to the only annexed drawing showing a perspective view of a gas cooker provided with the extractable trolley according to the present invention.

Referring to the figure, a freestanding cooker 1 is illustrated with four gas rings, but it could be of the electric or mixed supply type as well and possibly provided with a fifth ring or a central electric plate, which has its work top 2 greater in width with respect to the standard size of 60 cm, for example 80 or 90 cm. On the contrary, oven 3 has the standard width of 60 cm and, being installed to the far left, between its side 3a and the cooker right side 4 it leaves a free space 5 wherein trolley 6 according to the invention is slidably mounted. Obviously, nothing would change if oven 3 would be moved on the right side and the space 5 arranged on the left side.

The trolley 6 is formed by a metallic frame whereon a plurality of shelves 9, 9a (at least one, but preferably two or even more) are mounted one above the other, formed for example, but not necessarily, by metallic removable baskets covered with plastic as shown in the drawing. The forward portion of trolley 6 is integral with a panel 7 forming the closing door of space 5 and it will be advantageously covered with the same material, of the same colour, of the covering of the adjacent areas of the cooker. The trolley 6 is slidably mounted on side guides 8 inside space 5 in any known way, as provided for example in pull-out drawers. A handle 10a is mounted on the upper portion of panel 7, at the same level and of similar shape of handle 10 of the adjacent oven 3. Furthermore, the inside walls of space 5 are preferably bounded by a bent sheet shaped as an inverted U whose main object is to isolate space 5 and the items on shelves 9, 9a from the area below the burners. In fact, the primary combustion air reaching the burners right from this area must be static and free from pressure variations as much as possible, which variations could be due, for example, to the opening and closing movements of door 7, which could cause the flaming out of the burners, while at the same time it must be prevented the dripping of liquids from the work top 2 on the underlying items by passing around the crown of the burners. Of lesser importance is the action of said sheet on the sides, where the heat insulation of oven 3 is assured by its heatproof materials, as in a built-in oven, so that the maximum temperature reached inside space 5 is about 40-50°C. Therefore, not only kitchen utensils and tools may be housed on shelves 9, 9a, but foodstuffs as well, in particular preserved ones, such as canned pulses and tomatoes, oil and vinegar bottles, etc., which are always easily accessible when arranged in this way.

According to the present invention, the possibility of extracting trolley 6 completely from the cooker is provided, when it is equipped with supporting wheels, retractable when it is inserted on guides 8, so that the trolley can be made completely independent from cooker 1 and can be moved in the whole surrounding room, wherever it is needed.