A method for uniformizing microwave heating

Abstract

This invention discloses a method for homogenizing microwave heating in a heating cavity of a microwave heating device. The outer surface of the heating cavity has a plurality of microwave power sources. The method mainly includes the following steps: activating the microwave power sources to provide the heating cavity with the microwave power required to heat an object; and controlling at least one of the microwave power sources to be turned off or its power level adjusted for a period of time to provide different microwave power distributions within the heating cavity. According to the method for homogenizing microwave heating according to this invention, a more diverse and varied uniform microwave power distribution can be provided to achieve homogenized heating of materials.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a heating method, and more particularly to a method for homogenizing microwave heating. Prior Technology

[0002] Heating equipment is a device that heats objects, and therefore can be used for evaporation, sterilization, baking, etc. Microwaves are electromagnetic waves with frequencies between 300MHz and 300GHz, typically used for information transmission in radar and communication technologies. In recent years, they have also been applied in various industrial and agricultural fields for heating, drying, or pyrolyzing substances. Commonly used microwave power frequencies are 915MHz and 2450MHz, which can generate heat through friction between polar molecules. The appropriate frequency can be selected based on the shape, size, and moisture content of the material being heated. Microwave heating makes the object itself the heat source, eliminating the need for heat conduction. It heats both the inside and outside simultaneously, thus achieving a heating effect in a short time. Furthermore, during microwave heating, electromagnetic waves typically penetrate all parts of the object evenly, generating heat and significantly improving uniformity. In microwave heating, microwave energy is only absorbed by the object being heated, while the air in the heating chamber and the corresponding container remain unheated, resulting in extremely high thermal efficiency and a significantly improved production environment.

[0003] In traditional microwave heating equipment, multiple fixed microwave power sources provide microwave power to the cavity, but this results in cold spots and hot spots, causing uneven heating of the material. Microwave heating equipment typically allows adjustment of settings such as heating time, microwave power, and the placement of the material to be heated. However, the microwave power variations produced by these settings are limited. For highly variable conditions of the material to be heated, conventional microwave power is insufficient to achieve uniform heating. Some microwave equipment uses a rotating Ferris wheel within the cavity to reduce the material remaining at cold and hot spots; however, the Ferris wheel rotation wastes a significant amount of space, resulting in a substantial reduction in the amount of material being heated.

[0004] In view of the above problems, it is necessary to propose a method to homogenize microwave heating in order to solve these problems. Summary of the Invention

[0005] Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a method for homogenizing microwave heating, so as to provide a more diverse and uniform microwave power distribution to achieve uniform heating of materials.

[0006] The present invention provides a method for homogenizing microwave heating to solve the problems of prior art. This method is used within a heating cavity of a microwave heating device, the outer surface of which has a plurality of microwave power sources. The method mainly includes the following steps: These microwave power sources are activated to provide the microwave power required to heat an object within the heating cavity; and Control at least one of the microwave power sources to shut down or adjust its microwave power for a period of time to provide different microwave power distributions within the heating cavity.

[0007] According to one feature of the present invention, in step two, at least one of the microwave power sources is randomly controlled to be turned off or have its microwave power adjusted for a period of time in order to provide different microwave power distributions within the heating cavity.

[0008] According to one feature of the present invention, in step two, at least one adjacent microwave power source among the microwave power sources is sequentially controlled to be turned off or have its microwave power adjusted to provide different microwave power distributions within the heating cavity.

[0009] According to one feature of the present invention, in step two, the time period is between one second and ten minutes.

[0010] According to one feature of the present invention, in step two, the microwave power of at least one of the microwave power sources is controlled to be lower than the microwave power of the other uncontrolled microwave power sources.

[0011] According to one feature of the present invention, the microwave heating device further includes a vacuum pipe, one end of which is connected to the heating cavity and the other end of which is connected to a vacuum device.

[0012] According to one feature of the present invention, the microwave heating device further includes an operating interface, which is signal-connected to the control device. The operating interface is operated by the user to transmit a drying setting signal to the control device.

[0013] The method for homogenizing microwave heating according to the present invention employs a technique that randomly or sequentially controls the activation, deactivation, and adjustment of the microwave power of at least one of the microwave power sources to provide different microwave power distributions within the heating cavity. Therefore, corresponding to different objects being heated, the method for homogenizing microwave heating according to the present invention can provide the desired microwave power distribution by changing the state of the microwave power sources. Simple Explanation of the Diagram [Figure 1] is a schematic diagram of a microwave heating apparatus showing a method for homogenizing microwave heating according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of a heating cavity portion of a method for homogenizing microwave heating according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] is a flowchart illustrating a method for homogenizing microwave heating according to an embodiment of the present invention. Implementation

[0014] The embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to Figures 1 and 2. This description is not intended to limit the embodiments of the present invention, but rather to illustrate one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figures 1 to 2, a microwave heating device 100 for homogenizing microwave heating according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a heating cavity 1, at least one microwave power source 2, a control device 3, an operation interface 4, and a device housing 5.

[0015] The heating chamber 1 is used to contain the object to be heated. The material of the heating chamber 1 can be a magnetic / non-magnetic metal or ceramic. The thickness of the heating chamber 1 is greater than 0.1 mm. The energy leakage and current leakage of the heating chamber 1 meet international safety standards. In this embodiment, the heating chamber 1 is connected to a vacuum pipe 7, one end of which is connected to the inside of the heating chamber 1, and the other end is connected to a vacuum device 8, making the heating chamber 1 a vacuum chamber. In other embodiments, the heating chamber 1 can also be a general non-vacuum chamber, without the vacuum pipe 7 and the vacuum device 8.

[0016] The heating cavity 1 has a cavity door. A plurality of microwave power sources 2 are disposed on the outer surface of the heating cavity 1. As shown in Figure 2, in this embodiment, the heating cavity 1 has the microwave power sources 2 on two sides, with nine rectangular microwave power sources 2 on each side. In other embodiments, the microwave power sources 2 may be located on one or more sides of the heating cavity 1, and their distribution, number, and shape are not limited thereto.

[0017] The microwave power sources 2 are disposed in one or more of the heating cavity 1. These microwave power sources 2 can be installed in mounting spaces on multiple grooves, tracks, slides, etc., allowing them to slide, be inserted, rotate, and be assembled. This structure may have a foolproof design to ensure the correct orientation of the microwave power sources 2. The microwave power sources 2 can be installed as needed, and the number of microwave power sources 2 used can be increased or decreased as needed. In one embodiment, the microwave power sources 2 are disposed on multiple sides of the heating cavity 1. In another embodiment, the microwave power sources 2 are disposed on two sides of the heating cavity 1.

[0018] Each of the microwave power sources 2 has an external component 21 and an output component 22. The external component 21 receives electrical energy from the control device 3. The microwave power sources 2 convert electrical energy into corresponding microwave power and output it to the heating cavity 1 through the output component 22.

[0019] In this embodiment, the microwave power sources 2 are devices composed of components such as magnetrons and waveguides. The external component 21 is the connector of the magnetron, and the output component 22 is the waveguide. The output component 22 faces into the heating cavity 1 to provide the heating cavity 1 with the microwave power required to heat the object to be heated.

[0020] The control device 3 is connected to the external component 21 of the microwave power sources 2, and controls at least one of the microwave power sources 2 to start, stop, and adjust the microwave power. Specifically, the control device 3 provides corresponding electrical energy to drive the microwave power sources 2 based on the device operating parameters input by the user. In one embodiment, the control device 3 randomly controls the start, stop, and adjustment of the microwave power of at least one of the microwave power sources 2 to provide different microwave power distributions within the heating cavity 1. In another embodiment, the control device 3 sequentially controls the start, stop, and adjustment of the microwave power of at least one adjacent microwave power source 2 to provide different microwave power distributions within the heating cavity 1.

[0021] The operation interface 4 is disposed on the device housing 5 and is signal-connected to the control device 3, allowing the user to operate and transmit a heating setting signal to the control device 3. The heating setting signal contains device operating parameters. In other embodiments, the operation interface 4 can also be a remote operation interface remotely connected to the control device 3, allowing the heating setting signal to be input remotely.

[0022] Please now refer to Figure 3, along with Figures 1 and 2, to illustrate a flowchart of a microwave heating homogenization process according to an embodiment of the present invention. A method for homogenizing microwave heating is used within a heating cavity 1 of a microwave heating device 100, the outer surface of which has a plurality of microwave power sources 2, and mainly includes the following steps: Step 1: Activate the microwave power sources 2 to provide the heating cavity 1 with the microwave power required to heat an object; and Step 1: Control at least one of the microwave power sources 2 to turn off or adjust the microwave power for a period of time in order to provide different microwave power distributions within the heating cavity 1.

[0023] In step two, at least one of the microwave power sources 2 is randomly controlled to be turned off or have its microwave power adjusted for a period of time to provide different microwave power distributions within the heating cavity 1. The time intervals for controlling the power changes of each microwave power source 2 are not necessarily the same, but preferably they are. For example, in Figure 2, there are nine microwave power sources 2 on one side. Any one microwave power source is controlled to be turned off or have its power reduced by half for one minute, and then the next microwave power source is randomly switched off or has its power reduced by half for one minute, and this process continues randomly until the heating time ends.

[0024] In step two, at least one adjacent microwave power source 2 is sequentially controlled to turn off or adjust its microwave power to provide different microwave power distributions within the heating cavity 1. The duration of each power change for each microwave power source 2 is not necessarily the same, but preferably it is. For example, in Figure 2, there are nine microwave power sources 2 on one side. The first microwave power source is controlled to turn off or have its power reduced by half for two minutes. Then, the next adjacent microwave power source is switched off or has its power reduced by half for one minute, and this process continues until the heating time ends.

[0025] In step two, this time period ranges from one second to ten minutes. It should be noted that the time periods for controlling the power variation of each microwave power source are not necessarily the same, but preferably they are the same.

[0026] In step two, the microwave power of at least one of the microwave power sources 2 is controlled to be lower than the microwave power of the other uncontrolled microwave power sources.

[0027] The method for homogenizing microwave heating according to the present invention employs a technique that randomly or sequentially controls the activation, deactivation, and adjustment of the microwave power of at least one of the microwave power sources 2 to provide different microwave power distributions within the heating cavity. Therefore, corresponding to different objects being heated, the method for homogenizing microwave heating according to the present invention can provide the desired microwave power distribution by changing the state of the microwave power source 2.

[0028] The above description and explanation are merely illustrative of preferred embodiments of the present invention. Those skilled in the art may make other modifications based on the following defined scope of the patent application and the above description, but such modifications should still be within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the invention. 1: Heating cavity 2: Microwave power source 3: Control device 4: User Interface 5: Equipment casing 7: Vacuuming pipe 8: Vacuum device 21: External components 22: Output Components 100: Microwave heating equipment for homogenization heating

Claims

1. A method for homogenizing microwave heating, used in a heating cavity of a microwave heating device, the outer surface of which has a plurality of microwave power sources, mainly comprising the following steps: Step 1: activating the microwave power sources to provide the heating cavity with the microwave power required to heat an object; and Step 2: controlling one of the microwave power sources to turn off or adjust its microwave power for a period of time, and then sequentially turning off or adjusting the microwave power of an adjacent microwave power source for a period of time, continuing in this manner, and returning to the first microwave power source after the rotation ends, until the heating time ends, so as to provide different microwave power distributions in the heating cavity.

2. The method for homogenizing microwave heating as described in claim 1, wherein in step two, the time intervals for controlling the power change of each microwave power source are different.

3. The method for homogenizing microwave heating as requested in claim 1, wherein in step two, the time intervals for controlling the power variation of each microwave power source are the same.

4. The method for uniform microwave heating as described in claim 1, wherein in step two, the time period is between one second and ten minutes.

5. The method for homogenizing microwave heating as claimed in claim 1, wherein in step two, the microwave power of one of the microwave power sources is controlled to be lower than the microwave power of the other uncontrolled microwave power sources.

6. The method for homogenizing microwave heating as claimed in claim 1, the microwave heating apparatus further includes a vacuum pipe, one end of which is connected to the heating cavity and the other end of which is connected to a vacuum device.

7. The method for uniform microwave heating as claimed in claim 1, the microwave heating device further includes an operating interface, which is signal-connected to a control device, the operating interface being operated by a user to transmit a heating setting signal to the control device.

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