The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 10, 1998
Filed:
May. 23, 1996
Masayuki Aoki, Inuyama, JP;
Kazuo Kitamura, Owariasahi, JP;
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Kawasaki, JP;
Abstract
A heating apparatus such as a microwave oven includes a magnetron and a heating chamber for accommodating food to be heated by microwaves generated by the magnetron. The heating chamber has a front opening opened and closed by a door. An operation panel is mounted to be adjacent to the door. The operation panel includes a panel section and an operation section mounted on the panel section and has a function of displaying a plurality of pieces of cooking information. The operation section includes a liquid crystal element subsection including a nematic curvilinear aligned phase (NCAP) liquid crystal permitting light to pass through it when voltage is applied to it, an indicia subsection laid on the liquid crystal element subsection and having a plurality of indicias corresponding to the pieces of cooking information, respectively, and a switch subsection including a plurality of switches corresponding to the indicias of the indicia subsection, respectively. A heat-resistant panel frame is mounted between the door and the operation section. The panel frame cuts off heat transmission through a gap between the heating chamber and the door and heat transmission from the door to the liquid crystal element subsection.