Maytag Corporation

Sondra Denice Proffitt

Robert Z Whipple, Jr

Timothy J Arntz

Trieu Huynh

Dennis Michael Brandon Burns

Damien L Esprit

Herbert Dustin Sims

William Darryl Sneed

A microwave delivery system for a cooking appliance includes a toroidal waveguide, a launching zone and a waveguide cover. The launching zone includes opposing top, bottom and side walls that form a pathway for a microwave energy field to travel from a magnetron through the waveguide and into a cooking chamber. In accordance with one aspect of the overall invention, the bottom wall of the launching zone is aligned with a bottom surface of the waveguide to establish a direct conducting surface for the microwave energy field. The waveguide cover shields a hollow interior portion of the waveguide from cooking byproducts generated in the cooking chamber during a cooking process. The waveguide cover is preferably constituted by a metallic conductor having a finish that enhances the microwave energy field distribution in the cooking chamber.

Microwave delivery system for a cooking appliance

A rapid cook convection oven is constructed to efficiently cook a food item by breaking down a thermal insulation layer maintained about the food, while effectively removing contaminates from within a convection air flow. The rapid cook oven preferably includes both a microwave cooking system and a convection cooking system. The convection cooking system is provided with a dual flow fan adapted to simultaneously draw in an oven air flow from a cooking chamber and a fresh air flow from the surroundings. In order to reduce the presence of contaminates and, by extension, smoke, the two air flows are combined in a mixing chamber and passed over a heating element arranged within a combustion chamber prior to re-entry into the cooking chamber.

Rapid cook oven with dual flow fan assembly

A microwave delivery system for a cooking appliance having a cooking chamber includes a toroidal-shaped waveguide, a magnetron, a tubular feed member interconnecting the magnetron with the toroidal-shaped wave guide and a field flux generator positioned about the tubular feed member. The flux field generator shifts a microwave energy field produced by the magnetron in the tubular feed member. The shifted microwave field focuses high energy standing waves that are directed into the toroidal-shaped wave guide and, ultimately, the cooking chamber. The field flux generator produces either magnetic or electrical fields and is driven by a pulsed DC current, a rectified AC current or a pure AC signal energy source.

Microwave feed system for a cooking appliance having a toroidal-shaped waveguide

A microwave delivery system for a cooking appliance includes a toroidal waveguide having a ring diameter twice that of the wavelength of the microwaves produced by a magnetron, and a cross-sectional diameter equal to one-half of the produced microwaves. The waveguide includes a plurality of cavity excitation ports through which the microwaves enter a cooking cavity. The delivery system further includes a rotating stirrer positioned within the waveguide. The stirrer includes a plurality of openings which become aligned with the cavity excitation ports when the stirrer is rotated to create a uniform, high energy pattern of microwave energy to enter the cooking cavity. Finally, the waveguide includes a plurality of openings along spaced portions thereof to allow a flow of air through the waveguide.

Growing community of inventors

Springfield, TN, United States of America

Sondra Denice Proffitt