EP3963265B1 - Household appliance with energy transfer device - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a household appliance, having a treatment chamber with a loading opening that can be closed by means of a door that can be pivoted via door hinges, which door has at least one electrical consumer, and at least one energy transmission device with a primary side that has at least one primary coil and a secondary side that has at least one secondary coil, wherein the secondary side is arranged on the door and is electrically connected to the at least one consumer and the primary coil can be coupled to the secondary coil in a transformer-like manner at least when the door is closed. The invention is particularly advantageously applicable to household cooking appliances such as ovens and/or microwaves.

DE 103 19 532 A1 discloses a device for inductively transmitting energy from a stationary part of a household appliance to a part of the household appliance that is movably mounted relative to the stationary part, with a primary winding arranged in the stationary part and a secondary winding arranged in the movable part, wherein the primary winding surrounds a primary core and the secondary winding surrounds a secondary core. The movably mounted part can be a door.

DE 10 2013 105 114 A1 discloses a cooking appliance having a housing on which a system for supplying energy is provided, wherein the energy supply system has at least one electrical coil which is intended to interact contactlessly with a second electrical coil which is assigned to a consumer.

DE 90 12 505 U1 discloses an electronic door locking device with a wireless energy transmission for supplying an energy storage device on the door leaf from a mains connection on the frame, having an inductive energy transmission to the energy storage device by means of a magnetic circuit composed of a magnetic partial circuit arranged in the door frame and in the door leaf, respectively, and closed across the air gap between the door frame and the door leaf.

US 2002/009903 A1 discloses a household appliance in which the body of the household appliance is connected to a pivotably attached door via pin hinges. Wireless energy transfer from the body to the door takes place inductively via a primary coil surrounding the hinge pin, which is arranged stationary on the body, via the hinge pin serving as the coil core and a secondary coil arranged on the door side of the hinge pin.

It is the object of the present invention to at least partially overcome the disadvantages of the prior art and in particular to provide an energy transmission device that is particularly robust, easy to install and effectively transmits energy to a door of a household appliance.

This object is achieved according to the features of claim 1. Advantageous embodiments are the subject of the dependent claims 2-10.

• einen Behandlungsraum mit einer Beschickungsöffnung, die mittels einer über Türscharniere verschwenkbaren Tür verschließbar ist, welche Tür mindestens einen elektrischen Verbraucher aufweist, und
• mindestens eine Energieübertragungseinrichtung mit einer Primärseite, die zumindest eine Primärspule aufweist, und einer Sekundärseite, die zumindest eine Sekundärspule aufweist,

wobei

• die Türscharniere ein stationäres Scharniergehäuse aufweisen, das in dem Haushaltsgerät fest verbaut ist und mit einem Türschwert, das mit der Tür fest verbunden ist, verschwenkbar verbunden ist,
  • die Sekundärseite an der Tür angeordnet und mit dem mindestens einen Verbraucher elektrisch verbunden ist und
  • die Primärspule im geschlossenen Zustand der Tür der

The task is solved by a household appliance, comprising

• a treatment room with a loading opening which can be closed by means of a door which can be pivoted via door hinges, which door has at least one electrical consumer, and
• at least one energy transmission device with a primary side having at least one primary coil and a secondary side having at least one secondary coil,

where

• the door hinges have a stationary hinge housing which is permanently installed in the household appliance and is pivotably connected to a door blade which is firmly connected to the door,
  • the secondary side is arranged on the door and is electrically connected to at least one consumer and
  • the primary coil in the closed state of the door of the

• die Primärseite an einem Scharniergehäuse mindestens eines Türscharniers angebracht ist.

Secondary coil separated by an air gap and can be coupled to the secondary coil by transformer at least when the door is closed and

• the primary side is attached to a hinge housing of at least one door hinge.

This has the advantage that energy can be transmitted particularly effectively to the door consumer through transformer coupling, since the primary side and the secondary side can be positioned particularly close to one another when the door is closed. In addition, the door hinge, as a connecting element between the door and the device, advantageously has the shortest tolerance paths to the door. In addition, this energy transmission device is particularly robust, since it does not need to have any moving parts. Furthermore, the door can still be removed. In addition, the energy transmission device can be implemented in an inconspicuous manner for a user and without disadvantages for cleaning and handling. Another advantage is that the primary side is already attached to the stationary part of the door hinge. can be delivered to an assembly line and thus assembled together with the door hinge.

The household appliance can be a cooking appliance, e.g. an oven, a microwave or a combination thereof, for example an oven with a microwave function or a microwave with at least one additional IR emitter such as at least one electrical resistance heating element. The treatment room can then also be referred to as a cooking room. However, the household appliance can also be a refrigeration appliance, laundry treatment appliance, dishwasher, small household appliance, etc.

The door is typically pivotably connected to the rest of the household appliance or body via two door hinges.

The electrical consumer or load may include, for example, a display device such as a screen, one or more LEDs, etc., an operating device, at least one sensor, at least one actuator, door electronics, a communication device, etc.

By means of the energy transmission device, the at least one primary coil can be excited by current to generate an alternating magnetic field. At least when the door is closed, an induction voltage is induced in the at least one secondary coil on the secondary side, which can be tapped to supply power to at least one consumer on the door side. This can also be referred to as inductive or transformer coupling.

It is a further development that there is exactly one energy transmission device, which is arranged on one of the door hinges. Alternatively, there can be two energy transmission devices, which are arranged on each of the door hinges.

It is an embodiment that the primary side has at least one primary coil and at least one circuit ("primary electronics") for operating the primary coil and/or the secondary side has at least one primary coil and at least one circuit ("secondary electronics") for operating the secondary coil. The primary electronics can be used for The secondary electronics can be provided for operating the secondary coil, e.g. for controlling the at least one primary coil and/or for evaluating electrical signals from the at least one primary coil. The primary electronics can be or include, for example, power and/or driver electronics for the at least one primary coil. The secondary electronics can be or include, for example, power and/or driver electronics for the at least one secondary coil, a rectifier circuit, a smoothing circuit, etc. The circuits can be designed as electronic circuits or electronics. One development is that the primary side has one or more primary coils. One development is that the secondary side has one or more secondary coils.

In general, the energy transmission device can transmit not only energy to operate the door consumers ("power energy") but also data, for example unidirectionally from the primary side to the secondary side, unidirectionally from the secondary side to the primary side or bidirectionally between the primary side and the secondary side. The data can include, for example, data transmitted from the primary side to the secondary side for controlling at least one door-side consumer such as an actuator, a display device, etc. and/or measurement data transmitted from the secondary side to the primary side from at least one door-side sensor, input data from a door-side operating device, etc.

It is a further development that the primary coil and the secondary coil, which are intended to transmit the energy to operate the door consumers, are also intended or used as antennas for data transmission. For data transmission, the coil to be used as a transmitter can be excited with a data-carrying excitation signal, so that an electrical signal is induced on the opposite coil, which then serves as a receiving coil, from which the data can be read accordingly. The data transmission can take place simultaneously with the power transmission, for example by amplitude and/or frequency modulation of the excitation signal used for power transmission. Alternatively or additionally, data and power energy can be transmitted at different times ("time-multiplexed"). It is also possible to transmit the power energy and the data over different frequencies. or frequency bands ("frequency multiplexed"). In this case in particular (but not limited to this), it is advantageous that the primary side and the secondary side each have a coil for transmitting power energy and a coil for data transmission. The coils on one side can be adapted to the frequencies and applications used, e.g. in terms of their size, number of windings, etc. In general, to achieve a particularly short-range data transmission path, it is advantageous if the data is also transmitted using transformer coupling. Alternatively, the data can generally be transmitted via radio (e.g. via Bluetooth) or via an optical and/or infrared data transmission path.

A transformative unidirectional data transmission to the secondary side can, for example, take place with a data rate of 100 bit/s or more. With a transformative bidirectional data transmission, data rates of several Mbit/s or more can be implemented.

According to the invention, the primary side is attached to a hinge housing.

This advantageously enables particularly simple assembly and close positioning of the secondary side. The primary side can be screwed, glued and/or latched (clipped) to the hinge housing, etc. The hinge housing is permanently installed in the household appliance and pivotably connected to a door blade that is firmly connected to the door. A typically spring-supported damping mechanism for dampening door movement can be housed in the hinge housing.

One design is that the primary side is mounted as far forward as possible on the door hinge, in particular on a front end section of the hinge housing. This allows the primary side to be brought particularly close to the secondary side and an air gap between the transformer halves, primary coil and secondary coil, can be kept particularly small. Further advantages are that the temperature at this point is comparatively low and the unit is protected by a condensate drip tray, if present.

It is an embodiment that the primary side protrudes laterally from the front end section and has at least one Cable is connected to a connector plug arranged on a rear end section, in particular on a rear front side, of the hinge housing. This has the advantage that the energy transmission device can be implemented in a particularly compact manner, can be securely fastened and is easy to connect. The energy transmission device can be connected via the connector plug, for example, to a central control device of the household appliance and/or to a power supply. The connector plug can in particular have one or more power supply connections and possibly one or more data connections, possibly also combined connections for power and data. It can be designed as a USB plug, for example.

It is a further development that the primary coil protrudes laterally from the stationary part, in particular the hinge housing, in such a way that it extends parallel to the door when the door is closed. The primary coil can protrude laterally perpendicularly from the stationary part, in particular the hinge housing.

One embodiment is that the at least one cable runs at least partially within the hinge housing or in a cable duct arranged on the long side of the hinge housing. The route within the hinge housing is particularly space-saving, while the use of an external cable duct enables particularly simple installation.

It is a further development that a primary-side part of the energy transmission device is designed as a coherent, particularly rigid module that includes the primary side (primary coil(s) and electronics), the cable duct and the connection plug. This has the advantage that the primary-side part can be handled in one piece, thus enabling particularly simple assembly and, in addition, a position of the primary side can be reached easily and precisely during assembly.

It is a further development that the secondary side is arranged relative to the pivot point of the door hinge and thus the door in such a way that it dips under the primary side when the door is open. This allows the secondary side to be stowed away in a particularly space-saving and safe manner when the door is open.

One design is that the secondary side is attached to a door panel. This allows for a particularly close arrangement to the primary side and a particularly flat design.

One embodiment is that current-carrying parts of the secondary side are housed in a housing that is open to the door pane and the housing is glued to the door pane, in particular in a watertight manner. This enables the secondary side to be particularly flat in the depth direction or perpendicular to the pane surface.

To achieve a flat design, the housing can in particular have the shape of a flat cuboid hollow body, one broad side of which is open. To ensure particularly reliable attachment and sealing of the housing to the door pane, the open edge of the broad side of the housing can be designed like a flange. To provide a particularly flat design and reliable fastening, the housing has an omega shape in cross section.

It is a further development that the at least one secondary coil and the secondary electronics are accommodated in the housing. It is a further development that the secondary electronics, in particular a carrier or a circuit board thereof, is or has been clipped or locked, screwed or hot-stamped into the housing.

The housing can be glued to the door pane via the flange, e.g. by means of an adhesive tape (e.g. a foam adhesive tape) or by means of a wet bonding process, in particular in such a way that no water can penetrate into the interior of the housing.

Alternatively, the housing can be a fully enclosed or closed housing.

It is an embodiment that the primary side and the secondary side are housed in a respective housing. This also provides protection for the primary side against environmental influences. It is a further development that the at least one primary coil and the primary electronics are housed in the housing of the primary side. In a further development, the housing of the primary side is a fully enclosed housing. It is a further development that the primary electronics, in particular a carrier or a circuit board thereof, is or has been clipped or locked, screwed or hot-stamped into the associated housing. In particular, the housing of the primary side can be designed as a casing, e.g. plastic casing.

The accommodation of the coil(s) and electronics in a common unit, in particular in a common housing, also results in a particularly close arrangement of the electronics (e.g. the power and driver electronics) to an associated coil, so that particularly short cable paths are achieved. This in turn avoids insufficient signal quality.

In one embodiment, the household appliance is a microwave device and the housing of the primary side and/or the housing of the secondary side have shielding against microwaves. In this way, the primary side and/or the secondary side can be particularly reliably protected against the influence of microwaves. The shielding can be a thin shielding plate, e.g. with a thickness of approx. 0.35 to 0.5 mm. The shielding can be removed on the side of the housing facing the other coil when the door is closed. Alternatively or additionally, the shielding is impermeable to microwaves, but permeable to alternating magnetic fields and/or radio signals exchanged between the primary side and the secondary side by transformer. This embodiment can additionally or alternatively have shielding against external induction signals, which makes it particularly advantageous for cooking appliances with an induction function.

One embodiment is that the household appliance is set up to detect a door opening position, in particular the presence of a closed door, using the at least one energy transmission device. This can be implemented reliably due to the small range of the transformer coupling in the range of millimeters. For example, the presence of a closed door can be detected by tapping an electrical signal on the secondary side, in particular a power signal for operating a consumer. If the door is opened, the transformer coupling breaks down. Based on the presence of a transformer coupling, it can therefore be determined whether the door is open or closed. In a further development, the energy transmission device can replace the previously existing mechanical door contact switch.

Fig. 1

zeigt in einer Ansicht von schräg hinten ein Türscharnier eines Backofens mit einer daran angebrachten, ausschnittsweise gezeigten Türscheibe sowie eine Energieübertragungseinrichtung des Backofens;

Fig.2

zeigt als Schnittdarstellung in Seitenansicht einen Ausschnitt aus dem Backofen aus Fig.1 im Bereich der Energieübertragungseinrichtung bei geschlossener Tür;

Fig.3

zeigt als Schnittdarstellung in Seitenansicht einen Ausschnitt aus dem Backofen aus Fig.1 im Bereich der Energieübertragungseinrichtung bei geöffneter Tür;

Fig.4

zeigt als Schnittdarstellung in Seitenansicht eine gehauste Primärseite der Energieübertragungseinrichtung ;

Fig.5

zeigt die gehauste Primärseite der Energieübertragungseinrichtung als Schnittdarstellung in Vorderansicht; und

Fig.6

zeigt als Schnittdarstellung in Schrägansicht ein Gehäuse einer Sekundärseite der Energieübertragungseinrichtung .

The above-described properties, features and advantages of this invention, as well as the manner in which they are achieved, will become clearer and more clearly understood in connection with the following schematic description of an embodiment, which is explained in more detail in connection with the drawings.

Fig. 1

shows, in a view obliquely from behind, a door hinge of an oven with a door pane attached to it, shown in detail, as well as an energy transmission device of the oven;

Fig.2

shows a section of the oven in side view from Fig.1 in the area of the energy transfer device when the door is closed;

Fig.3

shows a section of the oven in side view from Fig.1 in the area of the energy transmission device when the door is open;

Fig.4

shows a sectional side view of a housed primary side of the energy transfer device;

Fig.5

shows the housed primary side of the energy transfer device as a sectional view in front view; and

Fig.6

shows a sectional oblique view of a housing of a secondary side of the energy transfer device.

Fig.1 shows a view from the rear of a door hinge 2 of an oven 1 with a door pane 3 of an oven door 4 attached to it, shown in detail, as well as an energy transmission device 5 of the oven 1. The oven door 4 closes a loading opening (not shown) of a cooking chamber (not shown) in its closed position. This door hinge 2 is the left-hand door hinge 2 in the frontal view of the loading opening.

The door hinge 2 has a hinge housing 6 which is installed in the oven 1 and on which a door blade 7 connected to the oven door 4 is pivotably mounted about a horizontal axis of rotation D. The oven door 4 and consequently also the door pane 3 can be pivoted using the door blade 7, e.g. between the closed position of the oven door 4 shown and a fully open position of the oven door. 4. At least one electrical consumer (not shown) is arranged on the oven door 4. The energy transmission device 5 is intended (ie, set up and arranged) to wirelessly supply the at least one electrical consumer with energy (current, voltage, etc.) at least when the oven door 4 is closed. In one variant, data can also be transmitted unidirectionally or bidirectionally via the energy transmission device 5.

For this purpose, the energy transmission device 5 has a primary side 8 attached to the hinge housing 6 and a secondary side 9 attached to the door pane 3. The primary side 8 has a primary coil 10 and primary electronics 11 that controls and/or evaluates it, while the secondary side 9 has a secondary coil 12 and secondary electronics 13 that controls and/or evaluates it. The secondary electronics 13 are connected to the at least one door-side consumer to supply it with power.

In the closed state of the oven door 4 shown, the primary side 8 and the secondary side 9 and thus also the primary coil 10 and the secondary coil 12 are located opposite each other and separated by only a small distance. Consequently, the two coils 10, 12 can be coupled in a transformer manner: if, for example, the primary coil 10 is excited by an alternating current, the alternating magnetic field generated in the secondary coil 12 can induce an induction voltage which, after processing by the secondary electronics 13 such as rectification, smoothing, etc., is made available to the consumer on the door side as operating voltage. If the oven door 4 is opened, the transformer or inductive coupling can break down even at small door opening angles. The energy transmission device 5 can therefore also be used to detect a door opening position (in particular the presence of a closed door position). The energy transmission device 5 can be used in addition to or as an alternative to a conventional door switch.

In order to be able to operate at least one electrical consumer for at least a certain period of time even when the oven door 4 is open, at least one energy storage device (not shown) such as a supercapacitor or similar can be present on the door side. This energy storage device can also be charged via the energy transfer device 5.

The primary side 8 is attached to a door or front end of the hinge housing 6 in such a way that it protrudes vertically therefrom, especially in the horizontal direction, in particular in the direction of the other door hinge. When the oven door 4 is closed, the primary side 8 and the secondary side 9 are aligned with their broad sides parallel to one another.

On the long side of the hinge housing 6, from which the primary side 8 also branches off, a cable duct 15 runs on the outside from the primary side 8 or the front end section to a rear or device-side face of the hinge housing 6. A connector plug 16 is arranged on the rear face. The connector plug 16 is connected to the primary side via cables (not shown) which run through the cable duct 15. Electrical signals (e.g. for power supply and possibly data transmission) can thus be received via the connector plug 16 and routed through the cables to the primary side 8. Conversely, data or data signals can also be routed from the primary side 8 to the connector plug 16. The primary side 8, the cable duct 15 and the connector plug 16 can be present as a one-piece, in particular rigid or only with difficulty elastically flexible, module. This can be attached to the door hinge 2 in particular before mounting the door hinge 4 in the oven 1. This has the advantage that the assembly process for mounting the door hinge 4 does not need to be changed or only needs to be changed slightly.

Fig.2 shows a sectional side view of a section of the oven 1 in the area of the energy transfer device 5 with the oven door 4 closed. The oven door 4 has not only the door pane 3 serving as the outer pane, but also an inner pane 17 on the cooking chamber side and an intermediate pane 18, which form a pane package of the oven door 5.

The primary side 8 is arranged in front of a condensate drip channel 19, so that the drip channel 19 forms a protective wall for the primary side 8 opposite the cooking chamber, e.g. to protect against high temperatures, dirt, microwave radiation, etc. The primary side 8 has a support 20 which prevents the primary side 8 from breaking off or bending down in the event of mechanical stress, since the primary side 8 previously rests with its support 20 on the drip channel 19.

Fig.3 shows a sectional side view of a section of the oven 1 in the area of the energy transfer device 5 with the oven door 4 open. In this door position, the secondary side 9 is arranged relative to the axis of rotation D in such a way that it dips below the primary side 8 to save space.

Fig.4 shows a sectional side view of a housed primary side 8 of the energy transmission device 5. Fig.5 shows the housed primary side 8 as a sectional view in front view. The primary side 8 has the primary coil 10, on whose broad side facing away from the door or on the appliance side a ferrite layer 14 is arranged. The primary electronics 11 is arranged away from the door and behind the ferrite layer 14. These components 10, 11, 14 can be surrounded by a shield 21 such as a metal sheet - in particular except for the broad side facing the door. The shield 21 protects the components 10, 11, 14, for example, from electromagnetic radiation generated in the oven 1, such as microwave radiation and/or induction radiation, e.g. from an induction hob. The oven 1 can therefore have a microwave function and/or be part of a stove which, in addition to the oven 1, has a hob, in particular an induction hob. The components 10, 11, 14, 21 can be surrounded on all sides by a casing 22, e.g. a plastic casing, for further protection against environmental influences. The casing 22 can also be regarded as the housing of the primary side 8.

Fig.6 shows a sectional view in an oblique view of a housing 23 of the secondary side 9 of the energy transmission device 5. The housing 23 can have been manufactured separately. The housing 23 consists of dielectric or electrically non-conductive material such as plastic. The housing 23 has a cavity 24 in the form of a flat cuboid, with a broad side 25 of the cavity 24 on the door side being open. The free edge of the broad side 25 is designed as a flat support or flange 26. The housing 23 can be glued to the door pane 3 via the flange 26. The secondary coil 12, the secondary electronics 13, possibly a ferrite layer, etc. can be accommodated in the cavity 24. In particular, the cavity 24 can be attached to the door pane 3 in a watertight manner. The housing 23 can also have one or more openings (not shown) through which cables (not shown) can run to the at least one consumer on the door side.

Of course, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment shown.

In general, "a", "an", etc. can be understood as a singular or a plural, in particular in the sense of "at least one" or "one or more", etc., as long as this is not explicitly excluded, e.g. by the expression "exactly one", etc.

A numerical value may also include the exact number stated as well as a usual tolerance range, as long as this is not explicitly excluded.

list of reference symbols

1

oven

2

door hinge

3

door window

4

oven door

5

energy transfer device

6

hinge housing

7

door sword

8

primary side

9

secondary side

10

primary coil

11

primary electronics

12

secondary coil

13

secondary electronics

14

ferrite layer

15

cable duct

16

connector

17

inner pane

18

intermediate disc

19

condensate drip tray

20

support

21

shielding

22

sheathing

23

Housing

24

cavity

25

broadside

26

flange

D

axis of rotation

Claims (10)

1. Household appliance (1), having

   - a treatment chamber with a loading opening, which can be closed by means of a door (4) which can be pivoted by way of door hinges (2), which door (4) has at least one electrical load, and

   - at least one energy transmission device (5) with a primary side (8), which has at least one primary coil (10) and a secondary side (9), which has at least one secondary coil (12), wherein

   - the secondary side (9) is arranged on the door (4) and is electrically connected to the at least one load, characterised in that

   - the door hinges (2) have a stationary hinge housing (6), which is fixedly installed in the household appliance (1) and is pivotably connected to a door strut which is fixedly connected to the door,

   - in the closed state of the door (4), the primary coil (10) faces the secondary coil (12) separated by way of an air gap and can be coupled in the manner of a transformer to the secondary coil (12) at least when the door (4) is closed, and

   - the primary side (8) is attached to a hinge housing (6) of at least one door hinge (2).
2. Household appliance (1) according to claim 1, characterised in that the primary side (8) is attached to a front-side end section of the hinge housing (6).
3. Household appliance (1) according to claim 2, characterised in that the primary side (8) projects laterally from the front-side end section and is connected via at least one cable running on a longitudinal side of the hinge housing (6) with a connector plug (16) arranged on a rear end section, in particular front face, of the hinge housing (6).
4. Household appliance (1) according to claim 3, characterised in that the at least one cable runs at least in sections

   - within the hinge housing (6) or

   - in a cable channel arranged on the longitudinal side of the hinge housing (6).
5. Household appliance (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the secondary side (9) is fastened to a door panel (3).
6. Household appliance (1) according to claim 5, characterised in that current-carrying parts (12, 13) of the secondary side (9) are accommodated in a housing (23) which is open to the door panel (3) and the housing (23) is glued to the door panel (3) in a water-tight manner.
7. Household appliance (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the primary side (8) and the secondary side (9) are accommodated in a respective housing (22, 23), the household appliance (1) is a microwave appliance, and at least one of the housings (22) has a shield (21) against microwaves.
8. Household appliance (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the household appliance (1) is designed to identify a door opening position by means of the at least one energy transmission device (5).
9. Household appliance (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the primary side (8) has at least one primary coil (10) and at least one circuit (11) for operating the primary coil (10) and/or the secondary side (9) has at least one secondary coil (12) and at least one circuit (13) for operating the secondary coil (12).
10. Household appliance (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the primary side (8) and the secondary side (9) can be coupled to one another for wireless data transmission.

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