Multi-Zone Oven Heating With Reflectors for Temperature Differentiation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Cooking appliances often fail to cook multiple foods simultaneously at their optimal temperatures, leading to undercooked or unevenly cooked results due to the inability to maintain different temperature zones within a single cooking chamber.
Innovation Solution
A cooking appliance with a shelf having multiple cooking areas and independently controlled heaters, where a heat-reflecting plate with curved reflectors focuses heat from the heaters onto specific areas, creating distinct temperature zones by reflecting and directing heat to each area, allowing for simultaneous cooking at different optimal temperatures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If multiple different foods are cooked simultaneously in a single cooking chamber, then cooking productivity is improved, but temperature uniformity deteriorates because optimal temperatures for different foods may be different
Solution Approach 1:
The cooking chamber is segmented into multiple cooking zones with independent temperature control. Each zone has its own heater and heat-reflecting plate configuration, allowing different temperatures to be maintained simultaneously for different food items with different cooking requirements
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the cooking chamber are provided with different thermal characteristics through locally adjusted heater positions, power levels, and heat-reflecting plate configurations. This enables each zone to have optimized temperature conditions suited for specific types of food being cooked in that region
2Measurement precision
If heaters are spaced apart to correspond to multiple cooking areas, then temperature control precision is improved, but device complexity increases due to multiple independently controlled heaters and heat-reflecting plates
Solution Approach 1:
The heat-reflecting plate serves multiple functions: it reflects heat from heaters to cooking areas, provides structural support for heater mounting, and can be configured in different patterns to achieve various temperature distributions. This multi-functionality reduces the need for additional separate components
3Manufacturing precision
If heat-reflecting plates with curved reflectors are used to focus heat, then temperature distribution precision is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases due to bent curved surfaces
Solution Approach 1:
Curved or spheroidal reflector surfaces are used on the heat-reflecting plates to focus and distribute heat more uniformly across cooking areas. The curved geometry allows for better heat reflection patterns compared to flat surfaces, improving temperature distribution precision
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 solution enables precise temperature control across multiple cooking areas, ensuring that each food item is cooked optimally, improving cooking quality and convenience by allowing for simultaneous cooking of diverse food types at their respective temperatures.
Implementation Method 1
a heat-reflecting plate including a plurality of reflectors respectively accommodating the corresponding plurality of heaters therein, and to reflect the heat generated by the plurality of heaters to the corresponding plurality of cooking areas
Implementation Method 2
the plurality of reflectors may respectively reflect the heat generated by the plurality of heaters to the plurality of cooking areas through the open portion
Data Source
AI summary
A cooking appliance includes a cooking chamber, a shelf disposed in the cooking chamber and comprising a plurality of cooking areas, a plurality of heaters mounted at one portion of the cooking chamber, spaced apart from one another to correspond to the plurality of cooking areas, respectively, and independently controlled to generate heat, and a heat-reflecting plate comprising a plurality of reflectors respectively accommodating the corresponding plurality of heaters therein, and to reflect the heat generated by the plurality of heaters to the corresponding plurality of cooking areas to generate a temperature difference among the plurality of cooking areas.