Oven appliance

Abstract

An oven appliance is provided. The oven appliance includes a light emitting device with a plurality of light emitters. Light emitters of the plurality of light emitters can be selectively activated and deactivated in order to provide visual information regarding various operations of the oven appliance to a user of the oven appliance.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An oven appliance defining a lateral direction, the oven appliance comprising:
 a cabinet defining a cooking chamber for receipt of articles for cooking;   a heating element for heating the cooking chamber of the cabinet;   a control panel having a plurality of user inputs;   a light emitting device mounted to the cabinet, the light emitting device extending between a first end portion and a second end portion, the first and second end portions of the light emitting device spaced apart from each other along the lateral direction, the light emitting device having a plurality of light emitters, the plurality of light emitters spaced apart from one another between the first and second end portions of the light emitting device; and   a controller in communication with the heating element, the control panel, and the light emitting device, the controller configured for
 receiving a preheat activation input from the control panel; 
 activating the heating element in order to increase a temperature of the cooking chamber of the cabinet from a first temperature to a second temperature based at least in part on the preheat activation input of said step of receiving; 
 operating the plurality of light emitters of the light emitting device intermittently during said step of activating such that the plurality of light emitters of the light emitting device pulsate; and 
 working the plurality of light emitters of the light emitting device continuously after said step of activating such that the plurality of light emitters of the light emitting device emit light constantly. 
   
     
     
         2 . The oven appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the cabinet extends between a first side portion and a second side portion along the lateral direction, the first end portion of the light emitting device positioned at the first side portion of the cabinet, the second end portion of the light emitting device positioned at the second side portion of the cabinet. 
     
     
         3 . The oven appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the cabinet defines a width along the lateral direction, the light emitting device also defining a width along the lateral direction, the width of the cabinet being substantially equal to the width of the light emitting device. 
     
     
         4 . The oven appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of light emitters of the light emitting device pulsates with a predetermined frequency during said step of operating. 
     
     
         5 . The oven appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured for deactivating the light emitting device based at least in part on a self-clean activation input received from the control panel. 
     
     
         6 . The oven appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured for dimming the light emitting device based at least in part on a self-clean activation input received from the control panel. 
     
     
         7 . The oven appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured for:
 deactivating the heating element based at least in part on a deactivation input received from the control panel;   monitoring the temperature of the cooking chamber of the cabinet;   working the plurality of light emitters of the light emitting device intermittently during said step of monitoring such that the plurality of light emitters of the light emitting device pulsate; and   deactivating the plurality of light emitters of the light emitting device when the temperature of the cooking chamber drops below a predetermined temperature.   
     
     
         8 . The oven appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured for working the plurality of light emitters of the light emitting device intermittently during a fault code mode of the oven appliance. 
     
     
         9 . The oven appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured for dimming the light emitting device after a time interval elapses. 
     
     
         10 . The oven appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of light emitters comprise light emitting diodes. 
     
     
         11 . An oven appliance defining a lateral direction, the oven appliance comprising:
 a cabinet defining a cooking chamber for receipt of articles for cooking;   a heating element for heating the cooking chamber of the cabinet;   a control panel having a plurality of user inputs and a display;   a light emitting device mounted to the cabinet, the light emitting device extending between a first end portion and a second end portion, the first and second end portions of the light emitting device spaced apart from each other along the lateral direction, the light emitting device having a plurality of light emitters, the plurality of light emitters spaced apart from one another between the first and second end portions of the light emitting device; and   a controller in communication with the heating element, the control panel, and the light emitting device, the controller configured for
 receiving a timer activation input from the control panel; 
 activating a timer function on the display of the control panel based at least in part on the timer activation input of said step of receiving, the timer function counting down a time interval; and 
 operating the plurality of light emitters of the light emitting device during said step of activating such that a number of active light emitters of the plurality of light emitters corresponds to an elapsed proportion of the time interval. 
   
     
     
         12 . The oven appliance of  claim 11 , wherein the cabinet extends between a first side portion and a second side portion along the lateral direction, the first end portion of the light emitting device positioned at the first side portion of the cabinet, the second end portion of the light emitting device positioned at the second side portion of the cabinet. 
     
     
         13 . The oven appliance of  claim 11 , wherein the cabinet defines a width along the lateral direction, the light emitting device also defining a width along the lateral direction, the width of the cabinet being substantially equal to the width of the light emitting device. 
     
     
         14 . The oven appliance of  claim 11 , wherein a minimum number of light emitters of the plurality of light emitters are activated at a start of the time interval and a maximum number of light emitters of the plurality of light emitters are activated at an end of the time interval during said step of operating. 
     
     
         15 . The oven appliance of  claim 11 , wherein said step of operating comprises operating the plurality of light emitters of the light emitting device such that at least one light emitter at a first end portion of the light emitting device is activated at a start of the time interval and light emitters between the first end portion of the light emitting device and a second end portion of the light emitting device are sequentially activated during the time interval. 
     
     
         16 . The oven appliance of  claim 11 , wherein the controller is further configured for deactivating the light emitting device based at least in part on a self-clean activation input received from the control panel. 
     
     
         17 . The oven appliance of  claim 11 , wherein the controller is further configured for dimming the light emitting device based at least in part on a self-clean activation input received from the control panel. 
     
     
         18 . The oven appliance of  claim 11 , wherein the controller is further configured for:
 deactivating the heating element based at least in part on a deactivation input received from the control panel;   monitoring the temperature of the cooking chamber of the cabinet;   working the plurality of light emitters of the light emitting device intermittently during said step of monitoring such that the plurality of light emitters of the light emitting device pulsate; and   deactivating the plurality of light emitters of the light emitting device when the temperature of the cooking chamber drops below a predetermined temperature.   
     
     
         19 . The oven appliance of  claim 11 , wherein the controller is further configured for working the plurality of light emitters of the light emitting device intermittently during a fault code mode of the oven appliance. 
     
     
         20 . The oven appliance of  claim 11 , wherein the controller is further configured for dimming the light emitting device after the time interval elapses.