Cooktop appliance and heating element having a thermally isolated thermostat
AssigneeHaier US Appliance Solutions, Inc.
InventorPaul Bryan Cadima
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A cooktop appliance or electric resistance heating coil assembly, as provided herein, may include a shroud cover, a thermostat, and a heat transfer disk. The shroud cover may define an axial hole. The thermostat may be positioned radially inward from the shroud cover. A continuous circumferential thermal break may be defined as a radial gap within the axial hole between the thermostat and the shroud cover. The heat transfer disk may be attached to the thermostat at the distal end of the thermostat and extend radially outward above the shroud cover.
Claims20
An electric resistance heating coil assembly, comprising:
- a spiral wound sheathed heating element having a first coil section and a second coil section;
- a shroud cover disposed radially inward from the first and second coil sections, the shroud cover defining an axial hole;
- a thermostat positioned within the axial hole and connected in series between the first and second coil sections of the spiral wound sheathed heating element, the thermostat spring loaded such that a distal end of the thermostat is urged away from a top surface of the spiral wound sheathed heating element;
- and
- a heat transfer disk attached to the thermostat at the distal end of the thermostat,
- wherein the shroud cover defines a continuous circumferential thermal break around the thermostat at the axial hole to prevent direct thermal conduction between the shroud cover and the thermostat.
A cooktop appliance, comprising:
- a heating element defining a heating zone;
- and
- a sensor support assembly positioned within the heating zone of the heating element, the sensor support assembly comprising
- a shroud cover defining an axial hole,
- a thermostat positioned radially inward from the shroud cover, a continuous circumferential thermal break being defined as a radial gap within the axial hole between the thermostat and the shroud cover, and
- a heat transfer disk attached to the thermostat at the distal end of the thermostat and extending radially outward above the shroud cover.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.