Oven Air Plenum and Nozzle Layout for Even Browning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cooking appliances fail to efficiently and uniformly cook a wide range of food items, particularly open-faced grilled sandwiches, due to inadequate heat distribution and uneven browning, which is exacerbated by the need for multiple heat sources and inefficient airflow designs.
Innovation Solution
A convection cooking appliance with a combination of radiant, convection, and microwave heating, featuring a recirculating airflow system with a specifically configured plenum and nozzle structure that enhances air flow and heat transfer, ensuring even browning and crisping of food items.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional radiant heating is used, then the appliance structure is simple, but the cooking time is long and heating uniformity is poor
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines three different heating methods (radiant heating elements, convection fan with heating element, and microwave generators) into a single cooking appliance. This merging of multiple heating systems allows the appliance to cook food rapidly using multiple heat sources simultaneously, resolving the contradiction between cooking speed and system complexity by integrating functions rather than adding separate appliances.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooking appliance is designed to perform multiple heating functions (radiant, convection, and microwave heating) within a single device. This multi-functionality enables the appliance to handle various cooking tasks and food types efficiently, improving productivity while maintaining a unified appliance structure rather than requiring multiple separate devices.
2Manufacturing precision
If dual radiant ovens are used for open-faced sandwiches, then heat can be directed from both sides, but the heating is not uniform and cooking time is still long
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs different heating methods targeted at specific locations and food characteristics. Radiant heating elements provide direct heat from above and below, convection provides circulating hot air for overall heating, and microwave generators penetrate to heat the interior of food items. This localized application of different heating qualities achieves uniform heating throughout the food, eliminating the uneven browning and extended cooking times associated with dual radiant ovens alone.
Solution Approach 2:
The heating system uses a composite approach by combining three distinct heating mechanisms (radiant, convection, and microwave) working together. This composite heating system addresses the limitations of any single method by providing complementary heating actions that collectively achieve uniform and rapid cooking, particularly for complex items like open-faced sandwiches with multiple layers.
3Manufacturing precision
If conventional convection airflow is used, then the appliance structure is simple, but browning is uneven with circular patterns from air nozzles
Solution Approach 1:
The air circulation system is segmented into multiple independent components: a convection fan for generating airflow, a convection heating element for heating the air, and multiple air nozzles strategically positioned to distribute air uniformly. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized for its specific function, achieving uniform browning through coordinated air distribution while maintaining manageable system complexity through modular design.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a catalyst as an intermediary element in the air circulation path. The catalyst is positioned to interact with the air stream, potentially enhancing heat transfer and promoting uniform browning across the food surface. This intermediary component helps distribute heat more evenly without requiring complex nozzle arrangements, resolving the contradiction between browning uniformity and airflow system 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 appliance achieves rapid cooking times with uniform heating and browning, reducing the time required to prepare various food items and minimizing uneven browning patterns.
Implementation Method 1
at least one radiant heating element exposed to the oven cavity
Implementation Method 2
a blower having a convection fan, a convection heating element directly exposed to an airflow generated by the convection fan
Implementation Method 3
multiple microwave heating devices
Data Source
AI summary
A cooking appliance includes a recirculating airflow which is directed through particularly configured air plenum and nozzle structure that synergistically combine to enhance an overall cooking efficiency and effectiveness. In particular, the configuration of the air plenum, as well as the sizing and distribution of oven cavity entry nozzles, provides for an enhanced flow of heated air to the food product, thereby resulting in short cooking times due to high heat transfer while also providing an even browning and crisping of the food item being cooked. In addition, the cooking appliance incorporates an exhaust system wherein cooling air and a percentage of the recirculating airflow are mixed prior to being exhausted from an angled exhaust mixing tube.