White Consolidated Industries, Inc.

Duane A Lee

Robert McFarland

A top gas burner control employs touch keypads to provide operator input signals to a microcomputer. The microcomputer controls reversible gear motor to operate gas burner valves, and the positions of the shafts of the valves are fed back to the microcomputer via decoders. The initial operation of a burner requires the operator to touch and ON keypad, in response to which the microcomputer rotates the shaft of the valve to a maximum open position and energizes an igniter at this position. The operator must the touch a further keypad within a predetermined time in order to prevent the microprocessor from closing the valve.

Control system for gas burners

A domestic cooking range provides an upswept cook top which promotes ease of cleaning in combination with a vent stack which exhausts flue gases from the oven through an elongated opening between the upswept portion and a control panel on the backguard. A deflector is provided to prevent the flue gases from impinging upon either the control panel or the cook top.

Cooling backguard on upswept gas cook top

A cooking appliance is disclosed which has a cooking control system responsive to selection of a given food to be cooked, for indicating the optimum cooking position of the food in the appliance. The appliance may be an oven, with the indicator indicating the optimum position of a shelf in the oven, or the optimum position of the food on the shelf. In a further disclosed feature, a cooking appliance may have an air circulation system, such as a blower, for circulating air about food to be cooked. A cooking control system is responsive to selection of a given food to be cooked for controlling the air flow about the food for optimum cooking thereof. In another disclosed feature, a cooking appliance which has a control system responsive to the selection of given food and the number of rack positions required, will control the rate of energy released from the oven heat sources for optimum cooking.

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Springfield, TN, United States of America

Duane A Lee