Knob assembly and cooking apparatus including a knob assembly
AssigneeLG Electronics Inc.
InventorYeonsik Ha
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A knob assembly and a cooking apparatus including a knob assembly are provided. The knob assembly may reduce defects in assembly and operation of the knob assembly caused by a tolerance of a valve shaft. The knob assembly may include a valve in which a valve shaft may be movable, a knob connected to a knob shaft coupled with the valve shaft, a knob ring that surrounds a periphery of the knob and supports the knob shaft, a support ring coupled with the knob ring, a support frame that supports an outer circumferential surface of the support ring, and a fixing frame coupled with the support frame to prevent the support ring from separating from the support frame.
Claims21
A knob assembly, comprising:
- a valve including a valve shaft;
- a knob provided at a front surface of a front panel of a cooking appliance and having a knob shaft coupled with the valve shaft;
- a knob ring that rotates independent of the knob and surrounds a periphery of the knob and supports the knob shaft to restrict lateral movement of the knob with respect to the knob ring;
- a support ring provided at a rear surface of the front panel and coupled with the knob ring;
- a support frame coupled with the rear surface of the front panel, the support frame having a guide that supports an outer circumferential surface of the support ring to restrict lateral movement of the support ring with respect to the front panel;
- and
- a fixing frame coupled with the support frame to prevent the support ring from separating from the support frame.
A cooking apparatus, comprising:
- a panel having a front surface and a rear surface;
- a rotatable knob that controls operation of a burner, wherein the rotatable knob is connected to a knob shaft;
- a knob ring that surrounds a periphery of the knob, the knob ring being provided on the front surface of the panel and passing through the panel so as to support the knob shaft;
- a valve that adjusts a flow rate of gas introduced to the burner, the valve including a valve shaft coupled with the knob shaft;
- a support ring coupled with the knob ring;
- a support frame provided on the rear surface of the panel to support an outer circumferential surface of the support ring, the support frame configured to restrict a lateral movement of the rotatable knob and the knob ring relative to the panel;
- and
- a fixing frame coupled with the support frame to prevent the support ring from moving as the knob is rotated.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.