Apparatus for securing a glass plate in a recess

In combination, an arrangement comprising:

• a plate made of glass, glass-ceramic, or a similar brittle material, wherein the plate is a cook top for a stove and has a selected area, a peripheral edge, a top surface and a bottom surface;
• a sealing frame adapted for mounting in a recess and receiving the plate, the sealing frame having a horizontal flange for projecting beyond the recess and a vertical flange for insertion into the recess when the sealing frame is in the recess, the sealing frame defining an inner peripheral area larger than the area of the plate, so that when the plate is mounted in the sealing frame, there is a peripheral gap therebetween;
• a holding frame including a ledge permanently fixed with respect to the vertical flange of the sealing frame, the ledge extending into the recess in a direction opposite the horizontal flange of the sealing frame and the ledge being disposed below the horizontal flange of the sealing frame at a selected distance therefrom;
• a permanently elastic sealing strip having a first side, a second side, an outer edge and an inner edge, the first side abutting and adhered to the ledge and the second side being abutted by but not adhering to the bottom surface of the plate because the plate is loosely mounted thereon, the elastic sealing strip having an outer peripheral portion extending beyond the peripheral edge of the plate toward the vertical flange of the sealing frame when the plate is mounted thereon;
• and
• a strip of bonding material, the strip of bonding material being separate from the elastic sealing strip, the strip of bonding material having first and second vertical sides and being bonded to the peripheral edge of the plate and the vertical flange of the sealing frame while extending across the gap between the peripheral edge of the plate and the vertical flange of the sealing frame, whereby the plate is separable from the sealing frame upon severing the bonding strip.