Control Box for a Cooking Appliance and Cooking Appliance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Combi-steamer control boxes face conflicting requirements for efficient air exchange and cleaning liquor supply while preventing microwave radiation escape, requiring a design that balances large flow cross-sections with minimal openings for effective shielding.
Innovation Solution
A control box with a grid structure that includes flow channels for steam, arranged between the steam inlet and outlet, effectively shields microwave radiation while allowing unhindered air and cleaning liquor exchange, using a grid structure that attenuates microwave power by at least 20 dB and extends over the entire height and width of the control box.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If large flow cross-sections are provided for efficient air exchange and cleaning liquor supply, then productivity is improved, but microwave radiation shielding becomes insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The control box is divided into multiple flow channels (e.g., three channels) within the grid structure, allowing the total flow cross-section to be distributed across multiple paths. This segmentation maintains high air exchange efficiency while each individual channel remains small enough to provide effective microwave shielding.
Solution Approach 2:
The grid structure extends in the dimensional direction (depth/thickness of the control box) to provide microwave attenuation. By increasing the path length through which microwaves must travel (e.g., 20-40 mm flow channel length), effective shielding is achieved even with adequate flow cross-sections for air exchange.
2Reliability
If openings are minimized for effective microwave shielding, then reliability is improved, but air exchange and cleaning liquor supply efficiency deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The grid structure provides different properties at different locations: the walls of the flow channels provide microwave shielding (small opening characteristic), while the collective arrangement of multiple channels provides sufficient total flow area for cleaning liquor supply and air exchange. Each local region (channel wall) is optimized for shielding, while the global structure is optimized for flow efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The design optimizes parameters such as flow channel length (20-40 mm), flow channel cross-sectional area, and number of channels to achieve the required microwave attenuation (at least 20 dB) while maintaining sufficient flow capacity for cleaning liquor supply and air exchange.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the grid structure covers the entire control box, then microwave shielding is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The grid structure serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides microwave radiation shielding, maintains structural integrity of the control box, and defines the flow channels for steam, air, and cleaning liquor. This multi-functionality reduces the need for additional separate components, thereby limiting the increase in device complexity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The grid structure ensures reliable shielding of microwave radiation while maintaining a large flow cross-section for efficient air exchange and cleaning liquor supply, effectively attenuating microwave power by a factor of 20,000, thus enabling operation at higher microwave powers without compromising radiation containment.
Implementation Method 1
The length of the flow channels in relation to a flow cross-section of an individual flow channel can be selected such that a power level of an electromagnetic wave impinging on the at least one grid structure and having a frequency of 2.4 GHz to 2.5 GHz is attenuated by the grid structure by at least 20 dB
Implementation Method 2
the steam is guided inside the cooking appliance to the control box in which the steam is reduced by condensation
Data Source
AI summary
A control box for a cooking appliance includes a housing, in which at least one steam inlet and at least one steam outlet are present, wherein at least one grid structure for shielding high-frequency radiation is present in the housing, wherein the grid structure is arranged between the steam inlet and the steam outlet with respect to a flow path of the steam, and wherein the grid structure has a plurality of flow channels which form in sections a flow path to the steam outlet for the steam entering through the steam inlet. A cooking appliance is furthermore described.