Toaster Oven Heat Distribution Member for Even Infrared Heating
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional cooking appliances, such as toaster ovens, face challenges in achieving even heating due to asymmetric construction and uneven distribution of infrared radiation and convection heat, leading to inconsistent cooking results.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of specifically designed heat distribution members with apertures and passive vents to alter infrared radiation distribution and enhance convective airflow, ensuring more even heating across the food product compartment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If a conventional toaster oven uses a glass front door and reflective metal walls, then the structure allows infrared radiation to escape through the glass door, but this creates uneven heat distribution with the rear being hotter and the front being cooler
Solution Approach 1:
A heat distribution member is introduced as an intermediary component between the heating element and the food product compartment. This member has a reflective surface that redirects infrared radiation and apertures that allow controlled heat transmission, thereby mediating the heat distribution to achieve more uniform temperature throughout the compartment while reducing energy loss through the glass door.
2Productivity
If heating devices are positioned to provide direct infrared radiation to the food product, then heating efficiency is improved, but this creates hot spots in the center and cooler areas on the lateral sides
Solution Approach 1:
The heat distribution member is designed with spatially varying properties: a reflective surface in certain regions to redirect radiation laterally and apertures in other regions to allow direct heat transmission. This local differentiation of functional properties enables the device to simultaneously maintain high heating efficiency in the center while improving lateral heat distribution to cooler side areas.
3Temperature
If heat distribution members are added to improve heating evenness, then temperature uniformity is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The heat distribution member is designed to perform multiple functions simultaneously: it reflects infrared radiation to redirect heat, transmits heat through its apertures to maintain heating efficiency, and distributes heat evenly across the compartment. By consolidating these multiple functions into a single component, the design improves heating evenness while minimizing the increase in device 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
This configuration results in more uniform heating and cooking, reducing temperature variations and improving the overall evenness of thermal distribution within the appliance.
Implementation Method 1
The described heating appliances generally utilize infrared radiation and/or convection for cooking the food product
Implementation Method 2
heating a food product (e.g., bread or the like) placed on the rack for cooking by thermal transmission
Implementation Method 3
reflective, (e.g., shiny to reflect various wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation) preferably metal surfaces of the other walls reflect much of the infrared radiation back into the food product compartment
Implementation Method 4
heat convection generally involves the relative movement of gaseous-state molecules between relatively hotter and relatively cooler areas, with a tendency to equalize temperature of various points within an enclosed environment
Data Source
AI summary
A heating appliance includes a housing defining a food product compartment having at least a front door and a rear wall opposite the front door. The heating appliance also includes a rack configured to support a food product within the food product compartment. The heating appliance also includes a heating assembly disposed within the food product compartment and an elongate heating device having a first length, and an angled heat distribution member having a second length disposed between the heating device and the rack. The heat distribution member includes a pattern of apertures and the heat distribution member is configured to prevent infrared radiation produced by the heating device from directly reaching the rear wall of the housing, except for infrared radiation that passes through the apertures of the heat distribution member.