Heating device and refrigerator equipped with heating device
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional high-frequency heating devices for thawing frozen products face challenges in uniform heating due to non-uniform electric fields, and existing refrigerators with microwave heating systems are large and unsafe, making it difficult to achieve high-quality thawing while maintaining reliable cooling and storage functions.
Innovation Solution
A heating device with a dielectric heating mechanism featuring oscillation and counter electrodes arranged in parallel, forming a uniform high-frequency electric field, and an electromagnetic wave shielding mechanism to ensure safe and efficient thawing within a refrigerator.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a magnetron is disposed to form microwaves for thawing frozen products, then thawing speed is improved, but the refrigerator structure becomes large and complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the microwave generation function from a traditional magnetron and replaces it with a compact high-frequency generator and electrode system. This separation allows the use of a smaller, more integrated heating mechanism that doesn't require the bulky magnetron structure, thereby reducing overall refrigerator complexity while maintaining thawing capability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical magnetron-based microwave system with an electric field-based heating system using electrodes and a high-frequency generator. This substitution enables a more compact design with fewer mechanical components, reducing structural complexity while achieving the same thawing function
2Productivity
If microwaves are irradiated onto frozen products from an antenna, then thawing speed is improved, but uniform heating becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the heating function into multiple electrodes arranged within the heating chamber, allowing the electric field to be distributed more evenly throughout the space. This segmentation of the heating source enables uniform heating of frozen products while maintaining rapid thawing speed, overcoming the limitation of single-point antenna irradiation
3Adaptability or versatility
If a high-frequency heating device is disposed in the refrigerator, then thawing function is added, but high-frequency waves may adversely affect preserved foods and users
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces electromagnetic wave shielding members as intermediaries between the high-frequency heating device and the preserved foods/users. These shielding components block and contain the high-frequency waves within the heating chamber, preventing adverse effects on other stored items and users while allowing the thawing function to operate effectively
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 solution enables uniform heating of frozen products, ensuring high-quality thawing while maintaining reliable cooling and storage functions, and reducing the size of the refrigerator.
Implementation Method 1
a heating device includes: a heating chamber having a heating space that contains an object to be heated; an oscillation electrode disposed on one hand of the heating space and having an electrode surface on which an electric field concentration region is formed; a counter electrode disposed on the other hand of the heating space and having an electrode surface that faces the electrode surface of the oscillation electrode; and a high-frequency electric field forming unit for forming a high-frequency electric field applied to between the oscillation electrode and the counter electrode
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention provides a highly reliable and safe heating device that can uniformly heat an object to be heated and provides a refrigerator having a storage space in which frozen products as storage products can be easily thawed to a high-quality state. A heating device of the present invention includes an oscillation electrode disposed on one hand of the heating space and having an electrode surface on which an electric field concentration region is formed, a counter electrode disposed on the other hand of the heating space and having an electrode surface that faces the electrode surface of the oscillation electrode, and a high-frequency electric field forming unit for forming a high-frequency electric field applied to between the oscillation electrode and the counter electrode.