COUNTERTOP OVEN WITH THIN-FILM HEATING ELEMENT

1 . A cooking appliance comprising:

an inner housing enclosing an interior space, the inner housing comprising an inner wall having an outer surface;

an outer housing comprising an outer wall having an inner surface opposed to and spaced from the outer surface of the inner wall to define an insulating region therebetween; and

at least one thin-film heating element coupled to the outer surface of the inner wall.

2 . The cooking appliance of claim 1 , wherein each of the at least one thin-film heating elements comprises a resistive film extending between a pair of electrical bus bars.

3 . The cooking appliance of claim 2 wherein the resistive film is coupled to the outer surface of the inner wall.

4 . The cooking appliance of claim 2 wherein the first resistive film comprises a metal oxide.

5 . The cooking appliance of claim 4 wherein the metal oxide comprises tin oxide.

6 . The cooking appliance of claim 1 , wherein the inner wall is constructed of at least one of: ceramic, clay, stone, glass, concrete, brick, and porcelain.

7 . The cooking appliance of claim 1 , wherein the inner wall comprises a substantially transparent material.

8 . The cooking appliance of claim 1 , wherein the outer housing comprises a substantially transparent material.

9 . The cooking appliance of claim 1 , wherein the at least one thin-film heating element comprises an upper thin-film heating element situated on a top portion of the inner housing.

10 . The cooking appliance of claim 9 , wherein the at least one thin-film heating element further comprises a lower thin-film heating element situated on a bottom portion of the inner housing.

11 . The cooking appliance of claim 10 , further comprising a controller configured to operate the at least one thin-film heating element in accordance with a selected mode of a plurality of selectable modes, wherein operating parameters for the at least one thin-film heating element varies between the plurality of selectable modes, the selectable modes comprising modulation of the upper thin-film heating element and the lower thin-film heating element to maintain a predetermined temperature in the interior space.

12 . A toaster oven comprising:

an outer housing enclosing an interior space, the outer housing comprising a top wall defining an aperture passing therethrough;

a thin-film heating element situated within the aperture and coupled to the top wall;

a panel positioned over the thin-film heating element and spaced from the thin-film heating element to define an insulating region therebetween.

13 . The toaster oven of claim 12 , wherein the thin-film heating element comprises a resistive film coupled to an outer surface of an electrically non-conductive substrate, the resistive film extending between a pair of electrical bus bars.

14 . The toaster oven of claim 13 wherein the resistive film comprises a metal oxide.

15 . The toaster oven of claim 14 wherein the metal oxide comprises tin oxide.

16 . The toaster oven of claim 13 , wherein the electrically non-conductive substrate and the panel comprise a substantially transparent material.

17 . A pizza oven comprising:

an inner housing enclosing an interior space, the inner housing comprising a transparent inner top panel having an outer surface;

an outer housing comprising a transparent outer top panel having an inner surface opposed to and spaced from the outer surface of the inner top panel to define an insulating region therebetween; and

a first thin-film heating element coupled to the outer surface of the inner top panel.

18 . The pizza oven of claim 17 , wherein the thin-film heating element comprises a resistive film extending between a pair of electrical bus bars.

19 . The pizza oven of claim 18 , wherein the resistive film is coupled to the outer surface of the inner wall.

20 . The pizza oven of claim 17 , further comprising a lower heating element situated on a bottom portion of the inner housing.