GB2147990A - Fan unit - Google Patents

Abstract

A fan unit (1) has a front wall which is provided with an inlet opening and an outlet opening. A hood (5) can be displaced pivotably by a user between an operative, projecting position as shown in which the hood directs rising air towards the inlet opening and an inoperative, retracted position in which the hood lies flat against the front wall. The hood is arranged to pivot about a horizontal axis and is mounted on the front wall by means of hinges (13) which slide in a downwards sense when the hood is displaced outwardly from the inoperative to the operative positions thereby to expose the outlet opening. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Fan unit The present invention relates to an fan unit for the treatment of fumes, and particularly but not solely to a unit for use in a kitchen.

An object of the present invention is to provide an fan unit which enables efficient use to be made of available kitchen space.

Another object is to provide a fan which is unobtrusive in appearance.

The present invention provides an fan unit for use in a room, the unit having an inlet for fumes, filter means to extract impurities from the fumes to produce a cleansed stream of air, and means to direct the cleansed stream substantially horizontally back into the room.

By introducing the recirculated air into the room in a substantially horizontal direction, the air does not pass into the region vertically above the unit, thereby allowing use to be made of this region e.g. as additional storage space. Thus, the invention is particularly suited for use in a kitchen, because often the availabie space is very restricted whereas it is always desirable to have as much storage space as possible.

The fan unit may have a hood movable between an inoperative, retracted position and an operative, projecting position in which it forms an inlet for fumes. Thus, when the unit is not in use, it can be folded away in the retracted position thereby economising in space and providing an unobtrusive appearance.

Preferably, the unit has an outlet for cleansed air, which outlet is fully exposed to the room only when the hood is in its operative, projecting position. Thus, when the fan is not in use, the air outlet is not visible, or only partially so, from within the room. In one form, the hood is supported such that it moves downwardly, to reveal the air outlet, as it moves towards the operative projecting position; thus the hood may be pivotable about an axis which is urged downwards as the angle of pivoting from the vertical increases.

The fan unit may be used with a conventional gas oven, built into a fitted kitchen unit separate from a hob, so that it can treat the combustion gases emanating from the gas burner(s) as well as the hot air stream containing the cooking fats and impurities. Thus the fan unit may overcome what is thought to be a significent cause of potential customers deciding against purchasing gas ovens, namely their belief that gas ovens produce unpleasant combustion products which cannot be conveniently treated.

The fan unit can also be used with an electric oven built into a fitted kitchen unit, or with an electric or gas hob built into a fitted kitchen unit, or with any suitable combination of any of these.

The fan unit may also include an alternative outlet to direct the fumes away from the room.

In order that the invention may more readily be understood, a description is now given, by way of example only, reference being made to the accompanying drawings in which: Figures 1 to 3 are schematic elevation views, partly in cross-section, of a fan unit embodying the present invention respectively in three different modes; and Figures 4 to 6 are schematic elevation views, partly in cross-section, of another fan unit embodying the invention in three different modes.

Fan unit 1, shown in Figs. 1 to 3, is located above hob top 2 with electric elements 3, the hob top 2 being built into a fitted kitchen wall unit 4. When not in use (see Fig. 1), unit 1 has a depth (i.e. the lateral dimension of Fig.

1) and a height corresponding to those of a standard fitted kitchen wall unit, so that the front surface (which has the same decor as the other kitchen units) lies flush with the other kitchen wall units; thus the fan 1, in this position, has the appearance of a normal kitchen wall unit.

Fig. 2 shows the fan unit 1 with a hood 5, formed by the decorated front surface and two sidewalls, in its operative position. In that position hood 5 overlies the entire cooking area of hob 2 so as to form an inlet duct 6 to direct any upward heated air and cooking gases into unit 1; this is achieved with the hood at an angle of approximately 30 to the vertical axis. A fan 7, located within a main chamber 8 of unit 1, ensures that any such upward stream is sucked into unit 1 and is then forced through a grease filter 9 and a charcoal filter 10 to extract the cooking fats and odours respectively. The resultant, cleansed stream of air is urged into a grille compartment 11 before being returned to the kitchen.The grille compartment 11 has a number of narrow, elongate horizontal conduits arranged such that the velocity of the air as it exits from the unit has a substantially horizontal component. In this way, the recirculated air moves away from the region vertically above the fan unit 1 and does not tend to accumulate there. Thus this region can be used as storage space, by accommodating an additional fitted kitchen unit 1 2. Moreover, the substantially horizontal movement of the recirculated air upon exit from unit 1 ensures that there is more effective mixing with the kitchen air as compared to that achieved by a conventional fan. Thus the unit 1 provides a corresponding improvement in the heating of the kitchen.

Hood 5 has a T-shaped hinge 1 3 at each of its two top corners. Each hinge 1 3 is pivotably mounted, at its base, on the inner face of hood 5. The upper section of each hinge 1 3 (which includes its transverse arms) is located, for sliding action, within an appropriate vertical groove in the main housing forming unit 1. Also each side wall of hood 5 has, along the lower edge, a transverse ledge 1 4 with a region of increased height at the free end remote from the decorated front surface of hood 5; the main housing of unit 1 has two sets of stops suitably placed to limit movement of hood 5 such that the increased height region of each ledge 1 4 can only move between the stops in a set.Thus hood 5 is supported on unit 1 such that if a person grips lower edge 1 5 of hood 5 (when in the inoperative position) and urges this edge 1 5 towards him or her, the hood 5 will pivot outwards about an axis defined by hinges 1 3 while they move downwardly along the vertical grooves. In this way, as hood 5 is moved towards its operative position overlying hob 2 it also moves downwards by 50mm thereby exposing the outlet of grille compartment 11.

Hood 5 can be detached, when required, from unit 1 to provide ready cleaning.

The unit 1 has switch controls (not shown) to permit the user to select any one of the following switch modes: manual switching by a person while the hood 5 is in its operative position; automatic switching in accordance with the hood 5 being moved to the operative position, whereby hinges 1 3 trip a microswitch; or automatic switching in accordance with a burner 3 being turned on while hood 5 is in the operative position. Once the fan is on (regardless of the cause), it can be turned off manually; additionally, or alternatively, it can be turned off automatically either when the hood is moved from the operative position or when no burners 3 remain on. The rotational speed of the fan 7 can be varied (either discretely or continuously over a specified range) manually or in accordance with the power input to those burners 3 which are on.

The recirculation of cleansed air is advantageous in that it maintains the kitchen warm; however, in some situations, for example during hot weather, it may not be necessary to retain the heat from the extracted fumes. Thus fan unit 1 has a pivotable closure plate 1 6 which can be secured in either of two positions, namely one (see Fig. 2) in which it blocks off an outlet 1 7 to the exterior and allows fumes extracted from the kitchen to pass to grille compartment 11, and another position (see Fig. 3) in which it blocks off the grille compartment and allows fumes from the kitchen to pass to outlet 1 7. Clearly, when the fumes are to be vented to the exterior it is not necessary to extract the odours and therefore they are not passed through a carbon filter; however they are passed through grease filter 9 in order to avoid cooking fats accumulating in the fan 7 and damaging it.

Fan unit 1 has a lever 18 to change it from the recirculation mode to the venting mode, and vice versa; thus in colder weather when the recirculation mode is normally used, the unit can be changed quickly and readily for a short time to remove a particularly offensive smell.

Unit 1 has a light 1 9 on its lower surface to illuminate the hob top 2.

In a modification to the fan unit 1 shown in Figs. 1 to 3, the hood is pivotable about a horizontal rod fixed to the hood and spaced from its top edge, the ends of the rod fitting into circular recesses in the sidewalls on unit 1. Thus, as the lower edge of the hood is pulled outwards, the hood pivots about the rod, causing the top edge of the hood to move inwards relative to the unit. In this way the grille compartment can be exposed as the hood approaches the operative position, without requiring the hood to move downwardly.

Figs. 4 to 6 show, in various modes, a fan unit 20 which is suited for use with a gas oven 21 built into a fitted kitchen unit. More specifically Fig. 4 shows the fan unit 20 with a flat rectangular flap 22 in the vertical, inoperative position, so that the depth (the lateral dimension as seen in Fig. 4) and the width of unit 20 correspond with those of oven 21; thus the exterior of unit 20 is flush with that of oven 21. The flap 22 is made of smoked glass to match the oven doors and thereby present an unobtrusive appearance.

Fig. 5 shows the fan unit 20 with flap 22 in the operative position, namely with flap 22 held inclined at an angle of about 30 to the vertical. Thus, in use rising combustion products and odours (mainly those from outlet vents 23 of oven 21) are deflected towards the inlet of unit 20 and urged through charcoal filter 24 by fan 25 for cleansing. The cleaned air stream is then forced through grille compartment 26 in order that it enters the kitchen substantially horizontally so that little, if any, of the stream is directed towards the region, vertically above the fan unit 20, which contains a storage cupboard 27.

Fig. 6 shows the fan unit 20 in the operative position when venting to the exterior, rather than recirculation, is required. Thus, closure plate 28 blocks off grille compartment 26 while closure plate 29 has been moved aside to allow the air stream to pass through outlet 30 to the exterior. The unit 20 has a manually operable lever (not shown) to actuate pivoting of closure plates 28 and 29 between the two positions in Fig. 5 and 6; the mechanism effecting the pivoting of the plates ensures that it is not possible for both plates to be in the closing position simultaneously.

The unit 20 has the same facilities of control switching as those described with reference to unit 1.

Units 20 and oven 21 may be modified such that outlet vents 23 are omitted and the fumes from oven 21 pass directly into unit 20 without first entering the kitchen. Thus oven 21 has an outlet on its upper surface which is aligned with an inlet on the lower surface of unit 20.

Claims (6)

1. A fan unit for use in a room, the unit having an inlet for fumes, filter means to extract impurities from the fumes to produce a cleansed stream of air, and means to direct the cleansed stream substantially horizontally back into the room.

2. A unit according to Claim 1 comprising a hood movable between an inoperative, retracted position and an operative, projecting position in which it forms an inlet for fumes.

3. A unit according to Claim 1, comprising an outlet for cleansed air, which outlet is fully exposed to the room only when the hood is in its operative, projecting position.

4. A unit according to Claim 3, wherein the hood has support means such that the hood moves downwardly, to reveal the air outlet, as it moves towards the operative projecting position.

5. A unit according to Claim 3 or Claim 4, wherein the hood is pivotable about an axis which is urged downwards as the angle of pivoting from the vertical increases.

6. A fan unit substantially as hereinbefore described by reference to and as illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3 of the accompanying drawings.

6. A unit according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the unit also includes an alternative outlet to direct the funes away from the room.

7. A fan unit substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to an as illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3 or Figs. 4 to 6 of the accompanying drawings.

CLAIMS Amendments to the claims have been filed, and have the following effect: Claims 1 to 7 above have been deleted or textually amended.

New or textually amended claims have been filed as follows:

1. A fan unit including a front wall provided with both an inlet opening and an outlet opening and a hood, displaceable by a user, between an operative, projecting position in which the hood directs rising air towards the inlet opening and an inoperative, retracted position in which the hood lies flush against the front wall and wherein said outlet opening is fully exposed only when the hood is in its operative position.

2. A fan unit according to Claim 1 wherein the hood is supported so as to move in a downwards sense, relative to the front wall, when the hood is displaced from the inoperative to the operative positions, thereby to expose the outlet opening.

3. A fan unit according to Claim 2 wherein the hood is displaceable pivotably about a substantially horizontal axis and said axis moves in a downward sense, relative to the front wall, when the hood is displaced from the inoperative to the operative positions, thereby to expose the outlet opening.

4. A fan unit according to any one of Claims 1 to 3 wherein the outlet opening includes means to expel therefrom air in a substantially horizontal stream.

5. A fan unit according to any preceding claim including a further outlet opening.