Cooker

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10697643-B2
Application number	US-201615573011-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 23, 2016
Priority date	Aug 26, 2015
Publication date	Jun 30, 2020
Grant date	Jun 30, 2020

Abstract

In a cooker according to the present disclosure, a convection heater for executing a convection mode and a circulation fan are disposed in a convection forming space that is in communication with a heating chamber, and a fan driver is disposed outside of the convection forming space. The cooker includes a leakage suppression mechanism for suppressing a microwave leak from the convection forming space. The leakage suppression mechanism is formed by a coaxial seal for setting a distance between opposing faces, i.e., between a circulation fan shaft passing through a first wall forming the convection forming space and the first wall to a predetermined distance or smaller. Therefore, a microwave leak from a mechanism for executing the convection mode is suppressed, and heat cooking with a microwave-heating mode can highly effectively be performed.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A cooker comprising:
a heating chamber configured to accommodate and heat an object;
a microwave-heating mechanism configured to form microwaves and radiate the microwaves into the heating chamber to heat the object with a microwave-heating mode;
a convection-heating mechanism configured to heat the object with a convection mode; and
a microwave leak suppression mechanism configured to suppress a microwave leak, wherein
the convection-heating mechanism includes:
a circulation fan for taking air from the heating chamber and for blowing the air into the heating chamber;
a convection heater for heating the air taken from the heating chamber by the circulation fan;
a hot air guide for guiding the air taken from the heating chamber by the circulation fan toward the convection heater, and for guiding a direction of the hot air blown into the heating chamber by the circulation fan to a desired position in the heating chamber; and
a fan driver for driving a circulation fan shaft for rotating the circulation fan,

the convection heater and the circulation fan are disposed in a convection forming space that is in communication with the heating chamber,
the fan driver is disposed outside of the convection forming space,
the microwave leak suppression mechanism includes a coaxial seal mechanism for forming a gap between the circulation fan shaft passing through a first wall forming the convection forming space and the first wall and setting the gap between opposing faces of the circulation fan shaft and the first wall to a predetermined distance or smaller, and suppresses a microwave leak from the convection forming space,
the microwave leak suppression mechanism includes
a fan support fixing the circulation fan at a predetermined position with respect to the circulation fan shaft, and
an annular first bushing fixed so as to cover an inner face of a through hole on the first wall, into which the circulation fan shaft passes through,

the fan support includes
a plain face portion having a plain face for fixing the circulation fan at a predetermined position, and
a cylindrical portion covering an outer peripheral surface of the circulation fan shaft that is orthogonal to the plain face of the plain face portion, and

a gap between opposing faces of the first bushing and the plain face portion is 3.0 mm or smaller.

2. The cooker according to claim 1 , wherein the gap between opposing faces of the circulation fan shaft and the first wall is 3.0 mm or smaller.

3. The cooker according to claim 1 , wherein
a gap between opposing faces of an inner peripheral surface of the first bushing and an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion is 3.0 mm or smaller.

4. The cooker according to claim 3 , further comprising a second wall covering the first wall forming the convection forming space with a space interposed, wherein
the circulation fan shaft passes through the first wall and the second wall,
the fan driver joins the circulation fan shaft passing through the second wall, and
other faces than a face facing the heating chamber in the convection forming space are formed in a double wall structure.

5. The cooker according to claim 4 , wherein, as the microwave leak suppression mechanism, a leak suppression wall provided so as to join the first wall and the second wall forms a leak suppression space surrounding the circulation fan shaft.

6. The cooker according to claim 4 , wherein, as the microwave leak suppression mechanism, a metal mesh seal disposed in an annular shape around the circulation fan shaft passing through the second wall is provided on a side of the second wall, on which the fan driver is provided.

7. A cooker comprising:
a heating chamber configured to accommodate and heat an object;
a microwave-heating mechanism configured to form microwaves and radiate the microwaves into the heating chamber to heat the object with a microwave-heating mode;
a convection-heating mechanism configured to heat the object with a convection mode;
a microwave leak suppression mechanism configured to suppress a microwave leak, wherein
the convection-heating mechanism includes:
a circulation fan for taking air from the heating chamber and for blowing the air into the heating chamber;
a convection heater for heating the air taken from the heating chamber by the circulation fan;
a hot air guide for guiding the air taken from the heating chamber by the circulation fan toward the convection heater, and for guiding a direction of the hot air blown into the heating chamber by the circulation fan to a desired position in the heating chamber; and
a fan driver for driving a circulation fan shaft for rotating the circulation fan,

the convection heater and the circulation fan are disposed in a convection forming space that is in communication with the heating chamber,
the fan driver is disposed outside of the convection forming space, and
the microwave leak suppression mechanism includes a coaxial seal mechanism for forming a gap between the circulation fan shaft passing through a first wall forming the convection forming space and the first wall and setting the gap between opposing faces of the circulation fan shaft and the first wall to a predetermined distance or smaller, and suppresses a microwave leak from the convection forming space;
wherein the gap between opposing faces of the circulation fan shaft and the first wall is 3.0 mm or smaller;
wherein:
the microwave leak suppression mechanism includes:
a fan support fixing the circulation fan at a predetermined position with respect to the circulation fan shaft, and
an annular first bushing fixed so as to cover an inner face of a through hole on the first wall, into which the circulation fan shaft passes through, and

a gap between opposing faces of the fan support and the first bushing is 3.0 mm or smaller when the fan support passes through the first bushing;

wherein:
the fan support includes
a plain face portion having a plain face for fixing the circulation fan at a predetermined position, and
a cylindrical portion covering an outer peripheral surface of the circulation fan shaft that is orthogonal to the plain face of the plain face portion,

a gap between opposing faces of an inner peripheral surface of the first bushing and an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion is 3.0 mm or smaller, and
a gap between opposing faces of the first bushing and the plain face portion is 3.0 mm or smaller;

a second wall covering the first wall forming the convection forming space with a space interposed, wherein:
the circulation fan shaft passes through the first wall and the second wall,
the fan driver joins the circulation fan shaft passing through the second wall, and
other faces than a face facing the heating chamber in the convection forming space are formed in a double wall structure;

wherein, as the microwave leak suppression mechanism, a metal mesh seal disposed in an annular shape around the circulation fan shaft passing through the second wall is provided on a side of the second wall, on which the fan driver is provided; and
wherein the metal mesh seal is pressed and fixed to the second wall by a seal pressure plate into which the circulation fan shaft passes through, and the seal pressure plate forms a microwave sealing space in the metal mesh seal.

8. The cooker according to claim 7 , wherein, as the microwave leak suppression mechanism, a second bushing fixed to the seal pressure plate and disposed on the outer peripheral surface of the circulation fan shaft to have a predetermined gap is provided, the second bushing having a coaxial seal function.

9. The cooker according to claim 8 , wherein a

Assignees

• Panasonic Ip Man Co Ltd

Inventors

• Yamashita Seiichi
• Hayashi Takahiro

Classifications

• H05B6/76 Primary

  Prevention of microwave leakage, e.g. door sealings · CPC title

• H05B6/6473

  combined with convection heating (H05B6/6485 takes precedence) · CPC title

• F24C7/02 Primary

  using microwaves · CPC title

• F24C7/04

  with heat radiated directly from the heating element · CPC title