Microwave Oven Hot-Air Layout for Uniform Heating
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional heating cookers with hot-air heating functions often result in uneven heating due to the flow of hot air, requiring rotation of cooked objects to prevent heating inconsistencies.
Innovation Solution
A heating cooker design with a hot-air generating unit positioned outside the rear wall of the heating chamber, featuring an outlet port higher than the storage's back plate, and an introducing plate to guide hot air diagonally into the storage, ensuring uniform heating by directing air from back to front.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If hot air is blown out downward from the upper duct and toward the side duct, then the heating cooker can provide hot-air heating function, but the hot air flow does not reach the front lower right part and back lower left part of the object to be cooked, causing uneven heating
Solution Approach 1:
The hot air outlet is divided into multiple outlet ports positioned at different locations (front wall, rear wall, side walls) at heights above the storage back plate. This segmentation allows hot air to be distributed to multiple regions simultaneously, ensuring all parts of the object to be cooked receive adequate heating without rotation.
Solution Approach 2:
The outlet ports are positioned in the vertical dimension (above the back plate height) rather than only at the front or side. This vertical positioning allows hot air to flow downward and reach areas that would otherwise be in shadow zones, creating three-dimensional heat distribution that eliminates dead zones without requiring object rotation.
2Temperature
If the hot-air generating unit is positioned inside the heating chamber, then the structure is compact, but the hot air flow pattern causes dead zones and uneven heating
Solution Approach 1:
The hot-air generating unit is extracted from the interior of the heating chamber and positioned outside the rear wall. This external positioning changes the hot air introduction point to be above the storage back plate, allowing hot air to flow downward and forward into all corners of the storage, eliminating dead zones while simplifying the internal chamber structure.
3Loss of energy
If conventional hot air circulation is used with air-intake opening at the lower right corner, then energy efficiency is maintained, but the hot air flow creates uneven heating zones
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple outlet ports are positioned at different locations (front wall, rear wall, side walls) with different orientations. Each outlet port is locally optimized to direct hot air toward specific regions that would otherwise be difficult to reach, ensuring uniform heating throughout the storage while maintaining efficient heat utilization.
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 configuration allows for uniform heating of objects with improved heat cooking efficiency, adjustable based on material, shape, and type, without the need for object rotation.
Implementation Method 1
a hot-air generating unit generating hot air, the hot-air generating unit being located outside the rear wall of the heating chamber and being provided with an outlet port for blowing out the hot air
Data Source
AI summary
A microwave oven includes: a cooker body in the shape of a box having a heating chamber with an opening at the front side thereof; a storage having a door which opens and closes the opening, and an inner box including two side plates, a bottom plate and a back plate connected to the door, the storage being movable to the front side and storing an object to be cooked; and a hot-air generating unit generating hot air. The hot-air generating unit is located at the outer side of a rear wall of a heating chamber, and an air outlet from which hot air is blown out is located on the rear wall at a position higher than the back plate.