Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha Corporation

Fuminori Kaneko

Yoshikazu Yamamoto

Taisuke Morino

Mami Tanaka

Shuichi Akiyama

Masato Nakatani

Shinya Ueda

Masahiro Nishijima

Yuzi Andoh

Hiroki Kitayama

Yoshikazu Kitaguchi

Toshiyuki Irie

Tadanobu Kimura

Sakio Hanatani

Yuhji Andoh

Masami Umemoto

Takao Murai

Takeyuki Ozaki

A steam cooker includes a steam generator for generating steam, a steam temperature-raising device for raising a temperature of steam coming from the steam generator, and a heating chamber in which an object to be cooked is heated by steam supplied from the steam temperature-raising device. The steam generator has a pot () to which water is supplied, a heater () placed in the pot (), a water level sensor () and a temperature sensor () placed in the pot (). The water level sensor () and the temperature sensor () are placed at opposed side surfaces in the pot () that correspond to the short sides of an elongated roughly rectangular planar shape of the pot (). An exposed state of the heater () from the water in the pot () is judged by the water level sensor () and the temperature sensor ().

Steam cooker and steam generator

A heat-cooking apparatus includes blowing means () that blows cooling air to an opening () of a heating chamber () when a door () is opened after steam is supplied to the heating chamber () for preparatory operation before heat-cooking or for heat-cooking itself. More specifically, after steam is supplied to the heating chamber (), when the door () is opened, the blowing means () drives a conventionally existing cooling fan () to suck in cooling air from outside the apparatus, and deflects the cooling air toward the opening () of the heating chamber () with a decoration box () so that the cooling air is blown to the opening () so as to pass sideways substantially across it. Thus, the cooling air mixes with high-temperature steam that tends to overflow frontward as soon as the door () is opened, and thereby lowers the temperature of the steam. This surely prevents the user from being hurt, as by being burnt, with the overflowing steam. Thus, without use of special exhausting means, it is possible to open the door () while ensuring the safety of the user even immediately after a heating medium (for example, steam) is supplied to the heating chamber ().

Heat-cooking apparatus

Water draining means (a water drain pipe and a water drain valve ()) is provided that drains water out of a pot. A control device () makes the water draining means drain the water inside the pot when one of the following conditions is fulfilled: [1] the retention time counted by a first time counter () has reached a predetermined time; [2] the total time, as counted by a second time counter (), that has elapsed after the water started to be fed has reached a predetermined time; [3] the total amount of water, as detected by a fed water amount detector (), that has been fed into the pot has reached a predetermined amount; [4] the total water feed time, as counted by a third time counter (), for which the water has been fed into the pot has reached a predetermined time; and [5] an instruction to drain the water is entered via an operation panel (). Thus, while the amount of water consumed and the work burden on the user associated with water replenishment are reduced, the water retained inside the steam generating device (pot) is prevented from getting spoilt, and the interior of the steam generating means can be kept sanitary.

Steam cooking apparatus

A cooker has an external circulation path outside a heating chamber in which foods are to be placed. A blower sucks in gas inside the heating chamber, and forms, in the external circulation path, a gas flow that makes the sucked gas return to the heating chamber. Downstream of the blower, the external circulation path is provided with an exhaust port, in which a damper is provided. The damper closes the exhaust port during cooking, and opens the exhaust port when a door of the heating chamber is opened. After the damper is changed to a position of opening the exhaust port, the blower continues to operate until a predetermined condition is satisfied.

Cooker

A high-frequency heating apparatus comprises a heating chamber, a high-frequency generator, a waveguide, an antenna, a motor for rotating the antenna, and a stage () provided above and near the antenna to partition the heating chamber and made of dielectric. A rotary base on which an object to be heated is mounted is provided on the stage. A first magnet is provided to the antenna. A second magnet is provided on the rotary base at a place corresponding to the first magnet on the rotary base. By utilizing the magnetic coupling between the first and second magnets, the rotary base is rotated in synchronism with the rotation of the antenna. While maintaining the advantages of conventional antenna high-frequency heating apparatuses, the heating efficiency by grill heating or oven heating is enhanced, and minute heating uniformness is achieved.

High-frequency heating apparatus

A heat generating container for use in a microwave oven, which includes a metallic main container, a metallic lid to be detachably applied onto said metallic main container, and microwave absorbing heat generating film layers formed on an outer surface of the metallic main container and metallic lid. The microwave absorbing heat generating film layers are varied in thickness for uniform heat generation of the main container and the lid.

Heat generating container for microwave oven

A heat cooking apparatus arranged to cook a food article through heating by projecting microwave energy generated by a magnetron and heat rays produced by an electric heating unit onto the food article placed in a heating chamber, and including a light source for projecting visible light rays onto the food article, a photo-detector for detecting a light amount of the visible light rays reflected by the food article, a temperature sensor for detecting temperature within the heating chamber, and a control unit which monitors variation with time of detection signals from the photo-detector and the temperature sensor during heating of the food article by the electric heating unit and controls to complete the heating of the electric heating unit by judging that the heating is to be terminated when the detection signal of the photo-detector is reduced by a predetermined value from a maximum value, and the detection signal of the temperature sensor is increased by a predetermined value from an initial value.

Heat cooking apparatus with photoconductive element and thermistor

A high-frequency heating apparatus includes a heating vessel for accommodating an article to be heated, which is detachably loaded in a heating chamber, a stirring mechanism provided in the heating vessel, a guide mechanism for guiding the heating vessel so as to horizontally displace the heating vessel into a heating chamber from an opening formed on a side face of the heating chamber, a rotational drive mechanism for driving the stirring mechanism so as to rotate the stirring mechanism and a coupling mechanism for transmitting a driving force from the rotational drive mechanism to the stirring mechanism. The stirring mechanism includes a transmission gear mounted on a lower end of a stirring shaft extending through a bottom wall of the heating vessel, and the coupling mechanism includes a gear mounted on an upper end of a central shaft in the heating chamber and engageable with the transmission gear.

Growing community of inventors

Habikino, Japan

Fuminori Kaneko