Microwave oven

Details Microwave oven Microwave oven

2002-06-04

2004-08-03

Van, Quang T. (Department: 3742)

Electric heating

Microwave heating

Field modification

C219S751000, C219S754000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06770859

ABSTRACT:

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims the benefit of Korean Application No. 2001-76071, filed Dec. 4, 2001, in the Korean Industrial Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microwave oven, and more particularly to a microwave oven comprising a plurality of microwave dispersing apparatuses which disperse high-frequency electromagnetic waves and are arranged in a row below a cooking cavity so as to uniformly radiate the high-frequency electromagnetic waves into the cooking cavity.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a microwave oven is an electrically operated oven which cooks food disposed in a cooking cavity using high-frequency electromagnetic waves generated from a magnetron installed in a machine room. Specifically, such a microwave oven radiates high-frequency electromagnetic waves into a cooking cavity to repeatedly excite the molecular bonds of moisture laden in food. This excitation generates an intermolecular frictional heat within the food to cook the food.
A cooking cavity of a microwave oven includes an opening which is provided at its front, an air inlet and outlet holes which are provided at its sidewalls, and a cooking tray which receives food to be cooked, and is disposed on a bottom of the cooking cavity. A machine room of the microwave oven includes electrical elements such as a magnetron, a high-voltage transformer, a high-voltage condenser which generates high-frequency electromagnetic waves, and a cooling fan which cools the above electrical elements. The cooking cavity is partitioned from the machine room by one of the sidewalls of the microwave oven.
A microwave oven can be classified into a turntable type microwave oven and a stirrer type microwave oven. A turntable type microwave oven rotates a cooking tray at a low speed to uniformly radiate food with high-frequency electromagnetic waves. A stirrer type microwave oven includes a microwave dispersing apparatus and a waveguide which is provided to one of an upper wall, a lower wall and sidewalls of the microwave oven. The waveguide allows a cooking cavity to communicate with a machine room as the waveguide is provided at a portion extended into the machine room having a magnetron and at a portion disposed in the cooking cavity having the microwave dispersing apparatus. The microwave dispersing apparatus disperses high-frequency electromagnetic waves guided by the waveguide to the cooking cavity so as to uniformly radiate the high-frequency electromagnetic waves to food.
The present invention relates to a stirrer type microwave oven.
FIGS. 1 and 2
show a conventional stirrer type microwave oven having a waveguide
10
and microwave dispersing apparatuses
15
that are disposed below a cooking cavity
1
.
FIG. 2
is a cross-sectional view taken along line II—II of FIG.
1
.
As shown in
FIGS. 1 and 2
, the conventional stirrer type microwave oven includes a cabinet (not shown) which defines an exterior of the microwave oven and in which the cooking cavity
1
and a machine room
2
are partitioned. The cooking cavity
1
is configured into a box shape having an opening which receives food to be cooked, and a cooking tray
3
which is provided at a bottom of the cooking cavity
1
. To rotate the cooking tray
3
at a low speed, the cooking tray
3
is centrally connected at its lower surface to a motor
4
. The cooking tray
3
cooperates with the microwave dispersing apparatuses
15
(described later) so as to more uniformly cook the food. Alternatively, the cooking tray
3
may be fixedly mounted on the bottom of the cooking cavity
1
without the motor
4
so as to cook the food placed on the cooking tray
3
with only the high-frequency electromagnetic waves that are uniformly generated from the microwave dispersing apparatuses
15
.
The machine room
2
includes a magnetron
5
, a high-tension transformer (not shown), a high voltage condenser (not shown) which applies a high voltage current to the magnetron
5
, and a cooling fan (not shown) which cools the above electrical elements.
The waveguide
10
is disposed below the cooking cavity
1
and the machine room
2
, and guides the high-frequency electromagnetic waves generated from the magnetron
5
to the cooking cavity
1
. The waveguide
10
is configured to have an approximately hexahedral box shape having a large surface area, and partially extends to the machine room
2
. The magnetron
5
is installed in a portion of the waveguide
10
, which is extended to the machine room
2
.
The waveguide
10
comprises openings
11
which are formed at approximately a middle portion of the cooking cavity
1
so as to be located at the same distance from the magnetron
5
and are positioned perpendicular to a front face of the cooking cavity
1
. High-frequency electromagnetic waves generated from the magnetron
5
are guided by the waveguide
10
and radiated into the cooking cavity
1
through the openings
11
.
The waveguide
10
further includes the microwave dispersing apparatuses
15
to disperse the high-frequency electromagnetic waves, which are guided by the waveguide
10
and introduced through the openings
11
, into the cooking cavity
1
. The microwave dispersing apparatuses
15
are positioned so as to align with the openings
11
.
Each of the microwave dispersing apparatuses
15
comprises a motor
16
which is disposed below the waveguide
10
, a dispersing fan
17
which is disposed above the opening
11
of the waveguide
10
, and a driving shaft
18
connected between the motor
16
and the dispersing fan
17
which transmits a turning force from the motor
16
to the dispersing fan
17
.
The high-frequency electromagnetic waves are first generated from the magnetron
5
and then guided by the waveguide
10
. The high-frequency electromagnetic waves in the waveguide
10
pass through the openings
11
, which are disposed at a middle portion of the cooking cavity
1
and spaced at a certain distance from each other. Subsequently, the high-frequency electromagnetic waves are reflected diffusely by a rotation of the dispersing fans
17
and dispersed into a region of the cooking cavity
1
as the cooking tray
3
is rotated at a low speed. The high-frequency electromagnetic waves are dispersed into an internal space of the cooking cavity
1
so as to evenly cook the food placed on the cooking tray
3
.
However, since the above-mentioned conventional stirrer type microwave oven includes openings disposed at an approximately middle portion of a cooking cavity and spaced at the same distance from a magnetron, so as to equally distribute high-frequency electromagnetic waves to both of the openings, a waveguide must inevitability have a surface area occupying nearly a full surface area of the cooking cavity. Hence, the size and manufacturing cost of the conventional stirrer type microwave oven must be increased due to the structural provision of its waveguide. In addition, since the openings are positioned perpendicular to a front face of the cooking cavity, where the cooking cavity has a rectangular shape with a front width larger than a side width parallel to the openings, dispersion of the high-frequency electromagnetic waves toward both sides of the cooking cavity is not sufficiently achieved. Therefore, food in the cooking cavity of the conventional stirrer type microwave oven is unevenly cooked.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention is to provide a microwave oven having openings and microwave dispersing apparatuses which are provided at a bottom of a cooking cavity and are in alignment with a magnetron so as to reduce the size of a waveguide and evenly disperse high-frequency electromagnetic waves to all sides of the cooking cavity.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the inventi

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