Griddle With Integrated Resistive Heating and Microwave Shielding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional griddles using a combination of resistive heating and microwave radiation for cooking often result in undercooked food, especially for larger items, due to incomplete heating, and have complex designs that increase manufacturing costs and maintenance challenges due to numerous interstices requiring additional shielding and cleaning complexity.
Innovation Solution
A cooking apparatus with resistive heating elements integrated as a single piece with the heating plates, reducing interstices and the need for extensive microwave shielding, and incorporating a hollow stem element for electrical cables, along with a temperature sensor for improved thermal management and reduced complexity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If microwave generators are added to cook food products completely, then cooking quality and speed are improved, but device complexity increases due to the need for microwave shielding
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the microwave generator and resistive heating elements into a single integrated cooking apparatus. The microwave generator (30) and resistive heating elements (26, 28) are housed together in the same device, allowing simultaneous operation to cook food products completely while maintaining a unified structure that reduces overall complexity compared to separate devices.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooking apparatus is designed to perform multiple cooking functions using both microwave radiation and resistive heating. The device can operate in different modes (microwave only, resistive heating only, or combination) to handle various food products and cooking requirements, making it a universal cooking solution.
2Reliability
If microwave shielding members are installed to prevent microwave leakage, then safety is improved, but manufacturing costs and device complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The heating plates (4, 10) serve dual functions as both cooking surfaces and microwave shielding barriers. The heating plates are positioned to form a continuous barrier that contains microwave radiation within the inner compartment, eliminating the need for separate shielding members and reducing component count.
Solution Approach 2:
The heating plates perform multiple functions: they provide thermal heating through resistive elements, serve as cooking surfaces for food products, and act as microwave shielding barriers. This multi-functionality reduces the total number of components needed in the device.
3Ease of manufacture
If numerous interstices and slots are present in the design, then ease of assembly is improved, but microwave leakage occurs and additional shielding is required
Solution Approach 1:
The heating elements (26, 28) are integrated directly with the heating plates (4, 10) to form single-piece constructions. This integration eliminates interstices between separate components, preventing microwave leakage while maintaining ease of manufacture through simplified assembly of fewer parts.
Solution Approach 2:
The heating plates act as continuous thin film barriers that seal against microwave leakage. By making the heating plates themselves the shielding barrier rather than adding separate shields, the design maintains simplicity while preventing leakage through the plate surfaces.
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
This design ensures more efficient and complete cooking of food products by minimizing microwave leakage and interstitial areas, reducing manufacturing costs, and simplifying maintenance and cleaning operations.
Implementation Method 1
by exploiting the Joule effect, i.e., the generation of heat produced by the passage of electric current across a conductor material
Implementation Method 2
the electromagnetic radiation in the microwave spectrum generated by a microwave generator element is adapted to provide heat by directly causing polarized molecules in the food to rotate and build up thermal energy (said process is known as dielectric heating)
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus for cooking food products includes: a first heating plate adapted to support the food products; a second heating plate adapted to face the food products during a cooking operation; a first resistive heating element associated with the first heating plate and adapted to provide heat to the food products during the cooking operation; a second resistive heating element associated with the second heating plate and adapted to provide heat to the food products during the cooking operation, and at least one microwave generator element configured to selectively generate microwave radiation for haeting the food products during the cooking operation. At least a selected resistive heating element between the first resistive heating element and the second resistive heating element is joined to a surface of the associated heating plate so that it forms a single piece with the associated heating plate.