US 12,228,291 B2
Cooking appliance with self-closing user control
Richard W. Cowan, Buford, GA (US)
Assigned to MIDEA GROUP CO., LTD., Guangdong (CN)
Filed by Midea Group Co., Ltd., Foshan (CN)
Filed on Jan. 31, 2024, as Appl. No. 18/428,854.
Application 18/428,854 is a continuation of application No. 17/567,566, filed on Jan. 3, 2022, granted, now 11,933,502.
Prior Publication US 2024/0167686 A1, May 23, 2024
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. F24C 3/12 (2006.01); F24C 3/10 (2006.01)
CPC F24C 3/124 (2013.01) [F24C 3/103 (2013.01)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A cooking appliance, comprising:
a cooking element; and
a self-closing user control configured to activate the cooking element and control an output level of the cooking element, wherein the self-closing user control includes a knob and is rotatable by a user within a range of angular positions about an axis of rotation, wherein the range of angular positions includes an off angular position at which the cooking element is inactive, a biased subrange of angular positions within which the self-closing user control is biased to the off position such that the self-closing user control automatically returns to the off angular position when released by the user, and an unbiased subrange of angular positions within which the self-closing user control is unbiased such that the self-closing user control maintains its angular position when released by the user, and wherein the biased subrange of angular positions extends at least about 20 degrees from the off angular position.