US 12,135,133 B2
Oven muffle having rack-support embossments at a lower position and associated structural features
Greg Funk, Nashville, TN (US); Mikel Woodall, Springfield, TN (US); and Robert W. Smith, Springfield, TN (US)
Assigned to Electrolux Home Products, Inc., Charlotte, NC (US)
Filed by Electrolux Home Products, Inc., Charlotte, NC (US)
Filed on Dec. 7, 2020, as Appl. No. 17/114,140.
Prior Publication US 2022/0178551 A1, Jun. 9, 2022
Int. Cl. F24C 15/16 (2006.01); F24C 15/08 (2006.01)
CPC F24C 15/16 (2013.01) [F24C 15/08 (2013.01)] 19 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
19. A cooking appliance, comprising:
an outer cabinet;
a muffle disposed within the outer cabinet, the muffle comprising a cavity wrapper disposed between and connected to each of a bottom cap and a top cap, wherein the top cap, the bottom cap, and the cavity wrapper collectively define a cooking chamber having a front opening, and wherein the top cap includes a top wall, the bottom cap includes a bottom wall, and the cavity wrapper includes a pair of opposing side walls and a rear wall,
a door movably coupled to the outer cabinet to selectively close the front opening of the cooking chamber; and
a heating element disposed within the cooking chamber,
the bottom cap having a pair of opposing lateral skirt portions or segments extending away from respective opposing lateral ends of the bottom wall, each said skirt portion or segment extending towards a respective one of the opposing side walls of the cavity wrapper and joined thereto via a weld seam,
each of the opposing lateral skirt portions or segments having, when viewed in cross-section, first and second curved sections and a linear section disposed between the first and second curved sections,
each of the opposing lateral skirt portions or segments having a lower rack-support embossment formed integral therewith at a location vertically beneath the weld seam, and
each of the lower rack-support embossments having at least two embossed features extending into a volume of the cooking chamber, wherein each of the at least two embossed features has a respective contour that is or converges to tangent to the linear section of the respective lateral skirt portion or segment.