Cooking appliance and controlling method thereof
AssigneeLG Electronics Inc.
InventorsTaehong YEO, Sungsoo KIM, Jaewon BYUN, Eunseo CHOE
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Disclosed is an invention relating to a cooking apparatus and a method for controlling same. The disclosed invention comprises a locking mechanism that selectively restricts the movement of a latching mechanism for fixing a door in a closed position, wherein the locking mechanism comprises a lever provided so as to allow restricting the movement of the latching mechanism, a driving unit for moving the lever, and a door configuration key for generating a signal for activating the driving unit.
Claims20
A method of operating a cooking apparatus, the cooking apparatus having a main body with a cooking compartment and a front surface defining a cooking compartment opening and having an opening, a door provided at a front of the main body and configured to open or close the cooking compartment opening, and a latch mechanism having a latch configured to move vertically when the latch is inserted into or withdrawn from the opening, the method comprising:
- detecting the latch being inserted into the opening when the door closes the cooking compartment;
- and
- enabling a locking state of the door in a closed position by rotating a locker having a protrusion of a prescribed shape such that the protrusion rotates into a space above the latch and prevents the door from opening the cooking comparting by impeding a vertical movement of the latch.
A method of operating a cooking apparatus, the cooking apparatus having a main body with a cooking compartment and a front surface defining a cooking compartment opening and having an opening, a door provided at a front of the main body and configured to open or close the cooking compartment opening, and a latch mechanism having a latch configured to move vertically when the latch is inserted into or withdrawn from the opening, the method comprising:
- (a) detecting that the latch has been inserted into the opening when the door has closed the cooking compartment;
- and
- (b) rotating a locker having a protrusion to a locking state where the protrusion is rotated into a space above the latch and prevent the door from opening the cooking compartment by impeding a vertical movement of the latch;
- (c) rotating the locker to an unlocking state where the protrusion of the locker is rotated out of the space above the latch;
- (d) detecting that the latch is maintained in the space for a prescribed period of time even though the latch is moveable in the vertical direction to open the door;
- and
- (e) rotating the protrusion of the locker to the locking state after the latch has remained inside the opening for the prescribed period of time.
A method of operating a cooking apparatus, the cooking apparatus having a main body with a cooking compartment and a front surface defining a cooking compartment opening and having an opening, a door provided at a front of the main body and configured to open or close the cooking compartment opening, and a latch mechanism having a latch configured to move vertically when the latch is inserted into or withdrawn from the opening, the method comprising:
- disabling a locking function of the door based on at least one first input on the control panel, wherein
- the cooking apparatus includes a locker having a protrusion rotatable into or out of a space above the latch when the latch is inside the opening, and
- when the locking function is disabled, the protrusion of the locker is maintained out of the space above the lever regardless as to whether the door closed based on detection of the latch has been inserted into the opening.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.