EP2472185B1 - Heizvorrichtung - Google Patents

Heizvorrichtung Download PDF

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Publication number
EP2472185B1
EP2472185B1 EP10811695.5A EP10811695A EP2472185B1 EP 2472185 B1 EP2472185 B1 EP 2472185B1 EP 10811695 A EP10811695 A EP 10811695A EP 2472185 B1 EP2472185 B1 EP 2472185B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
heater
heating
magnetic member
power
heating system
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Not-in-force
Application number
EP10811695.5A
Other languages
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP2472185A1 (de
EP2472185A4 (de
Inventor
Sadayuki Matsumoto
Ikuro Suga
Miyuki Takeshita
Kazufumi Tanaka
Kazuhiro Kameoka
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Mitsubishi Electric Home Appliance Co Ltd
Mitsubishi Electric Corp
Original Assignee
Mitsubishi Electric Home Appliance Co Ltd
Mitsubishi Electric Corp
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Application filed by Mitsubishi Electric Home Appliance Co Ltd, Mitsubishi Electric Corp filed Critical Mitsubishi Electric Home Appliance Co Ltd
Publication of EP2472185A1 publication Critical patent/EP2472185A1/de
Publication of EP2472185A4 publication Critical patent/EP2472185A4/de
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP2472185B1 publication Critical patent/EP2472185B1/de
Not-in-force legal-status Critical Current
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H05B—ELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL
    • H05B6/00—Heating by electric, magnetic or electromagnetic fields
    • H05B6/02—Induction heating
    • H05B6/36—Coil arrangements
    • H05B6/365—Coil arrangements using supplementary conductive or ferromagnetic pieces
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H05B—ELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL
    • H05B6/00—Heating by electric, magnetic or electromagnetic fields
    • H05B6/02—Induction heating
    • H05B6/10—Induction heating apparatus, other than furnaces, for specific applications
    • H05B6/12—Cooking devices
    • H05B6/129—Cooking devices induction ovens

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a heating system, and in particular, relates to a heating cooker incorporating an induction current heater as a heat source in a heating box such as a heating oven, roaster, and grill.
  • heating cookers applying an electromagnetic induction heating principle include, a heating box for cooking a grilled fish and the others.
  • the heating box is generally named as a heating oven, roaster, or grill.
  • a grilled fish (especially a saury grilled with salt, etc.) is popular when its surface is browned by radiation heat from burning heat source and its inside is well-heated within hot atmosphere.
  • the heating box of the IH cooking heater is typically provided with upper and lower electrical heaters such as sheath heaters and radiant heaters, which may also be referred to as "resistive heaters" since they generate Joule heat when current flows through resistive elements.
  • the electrical heaters are supplied with power through terminals electrically connected to a power source that is positioned outside the heating box, thereby generating Joule heat when electric power is supplied from the power source.
  • the electrical heaters supplied with electric power transduce electric energy into thermal energy which heats and grills food to be cooked within the heating box directly and/or indirectly via heated atmosphere around the food.
  • Such a heating cooker is incorporated not only within the IH cookers but also within a toaster oven and electric oven.
  • the heating cooker has a simple structure, it is difficult to clean inside the heating box because the electrical heaters are fixed within the heating box, and therefore it is required to improve the structure of the heating cooker to be more easily cleaned.
  • the easy-to-clean feature is highly demanded, which is an essential demand for cookers of foods.
  • many of heating ovens have been proposed so far, which has the heating source of metal for food which may be arranged within the heating box in a non-contact or induction manner, and/or detached from the heating box.
  • a conventional oven using the induction-heating technique includes upper and lower heating coils provided over and beneath the heating box made of magnetic material, and heats the heating box by supplying high-frequency current through the heating coils.
  • the heating box can be detached from the oven, so as to make it easily cleaned. See Patent Document 1, paragraphs [0008]-[0009] and Fig. 2 .
  • a heat-resisting insulating separator of heat-resisting glass is used for mechanically and electrically separating an induction-heating coil from the heating chamber, and a metal heated body is provided within the heating chamber over the separator, opposing to the heating coil.
  • the heated body is formed as a metal band in a closed loop, and therefore, it can be designed to have induction current effectively generated, and area for radiation heat arbitrarily adjusted.
  • the heated body is also structured to be detachably arranged within the heating chamber. See Patent Document 2, paragraphs [0024]-[0028] and Figs. 1 , 3 .
  • FIG. 1 JP 06-18044 A
  • FIG. 1 JP 06-18044 A
  • FIG. 1 JP 06-18044 A
  • FIG. 1 JP 06-18044 A
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  • FIG. 1 JP 06-18044 A
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  • FIG. 1 JP 06-18044 A
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  • FIG. 1 JP 06-18044 A
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  • FIG. 1 JP 06
  • the oven dish is structured to have a lower portion of magnetic material such as magnetic stainless steel and an upper portion of highly heat-conductive material such as aluminum and copper.
  • the magnetic material is induction-heated by the magnetic flux through the coil and the core, of which heat is eventually propagated to the oven dish of highly heat-conductive material. See Patent Document 3, paragraphs [0022], [0029]-[0036], and Figs. 1, 2 , 5-7 .
  • the fat-receiving separator is to be provided between the metal band and the heating coil. It should be designed to have the magnetic flux run through the metal band to be heated but not through the fat-receiving separator.
  • the fat-receiving separator is required to be made of insulating material such as ceramics.
  • the ceramic separator should be thick enough to ensure mechanical strength, and also be spaced away sufficiently from the metal band to keep temperature of the separator less than the kindling point of the fat so as to prevent fat on the separator from burning.
  • the microwave oven disclosed in Patent Document 3 may be used with the oven dish for a frying-pan cooking, but not suitable for the grill-cooking although the oven dish may possibly be heated to generate radiation heat for the grill-cooking.
  • the heating coils of the microwave oven suggested by Patent Document 3 may heat only the peripheral portions of the oven dish, and thus, the middle or central portion thereof is merely heated indirectly by heat transferred from the peripheral portions of the oven dish, which is made of highly heat-conductive material such as aluminum and copper. Therefore, it is required to make the highly heat-conductive material fairly thick in order to sufficiently heat the central portion of the oven dish. This causes drawbacks, in turn, such as reduction of space of the heating chamber and increase of heat capacity of the oven dish requiring substantial time to heat the oven dish.
  • the present invention addresses the above-mentioned drawbacks and has a purpose to realize a heating system which improves the easy-to-clean feature of the heating chamber with detachable heaters, and eliminates the problem of the food fat by arranging induction-heating means for heating the heaters outside the side walls of the heating chamber, also achieving substantially high temperature overall in the heating chamber.
  • heating system generates induction current through a heater made of conductive material in an electrical loop, which generates Joule heat by induction current throughout the heater.
  • heating cooker heating system
  • 10 heating chamber (box-shaped housing)
  • 12a upper wall
  • 12b lower wall
  • 16 front wall
  • 18 rear wall
  • 20 heater
  • 22 low-resistive part
  • 24 power-supplied part
  • 25 cooling part
  • 26 high-resistive part (heating part)
  • 30 coil
  • 32 magnetic member
  • 34 heat-insulating member
  • 36 groove (opening)
  • 37 grid
  • 38 fat-receiving dish
  • 40 base portion
  • 42 side portion
  • 44 extended portion
  • 45 heat-insulating member
  • 50 stationary component
  • 54 heater-access port
  • 56 airtight case
  • 58 lower heater
  • 59 cutout
  • 70 box-shaped airtight container
  • 72 lid member
  • 74 container member
  • 75 container body
  • ⁇ 1, ⁇ 2 magnetic flux.
  • the present invention relates to any types of heating systems and may be applicable even for an industrial firing furnace and drying furnace, and a household cooker as well.
  • a cooker as an example of the heating system according to the present invention will be described herein.
  • a couple of terms for indicating the directions (for example, “upper”, “lower”, “left” and “right”, etc.) are conveniently used just for facilitating clear understandings, it should not be interpreted that those terms limit the scope of the present invention.
  • Similar components are denoted with similar reference numerals throughout the description.
  • Fig. 1 is a cross sectional view of the heating cooker 1 according to the first embodiment
  • Fig. 2 is a perspective view schematically illustrating an overall of main components of the heating cooker of Fig. 1 .
  • the heating cooker 1 is suitably used for an IH cooking heater, especially useful as a heating chamber for grill-cooking.
  • the present invention may also be adapted for any other types of heating cookers such as a microwave oven and/or a toaster oven, which is used for various cookeries such as oven-cooking, as well as grill-cooking.
  • the heating cooker 1 includes a heating chamber (box-shaped housing) 10 as illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 .
  • the heating chamber 10 includes upper and lower walls 12a, 12b, right and left side walls 14a, 14b extending vertically, and front and rear side walls (not shown).
  • the heating cooker 1 includes detachable heaters 20a, 20b formed of metal in a closed loop (in a closed electrical circuit) provided within the heating chamber 10 near to the upper and lower walls 12a, 12b. It also includes coils 30a, 30b provided along the right and left side walls 14a, 14b of the heating chamber 10, and a pair of magnetic members 32 of magnetic material such as ferrite core provided along and adjacent the coils 30a, 30b.
  • Each of the coils 30a, 30b may be formed, for example, by twisting a plurality (nineteen) of copper wires having diameter of 0.3mm coated with resin wire (so called a litz wire), and by winding the litz wire a plurality of times (25 times) in parallel with the side walls 14a, 14b in a rectangular shape each of which corner is bent in a right curved or an elliptic shape.
  • litz wire wound along the sides of the rectangular shape of the coil current (magnetic flux) runs through the same direction.
  • each of the magnetic members 32 is formed in a U-shaped so as to cover or surround the litz wires, and is arranged to oppose the upper and lower heaters 20a, 20b.
  • the magnetic members 32 may be made of magnetic material similar to one generally used as the ferrite core around the heating coil of a typical IH cooking heater. Also, a plurality of U-shaped heat-insulating members 34 are provided inside each of the U-shaped magnetic members 32. Thus, the coils 30a, 30b are intervened between the magnetic members 32 and the heat-insulating members 34 at least in portions where the coils oppose to the heaters 20a, 20b, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 . Furthermore, the heat-insulating members 34 may have a double-layered structure having a heat-insulating layer 34a made of glass wool or ceramic wool and a ceramics layer 34b as shown in Fig. 3 , and a portion of the side walls 14a, 14b of the heating chamber 10 may be formed of ceramics or metal such as iron and stainless steel.
  • the heat-insulating members 34 so structured thermally insulates the coils 30a, 30b and the magnetic members 32 from hot atmosphere within the heating chamber 10.
  • the insulating layer 34a is formed as air gap or air stream.
  • Portions of he side walls 14a, 14b may be composed of the heat-insulating members 34 and the magnetic members 32 together with the coils 30a, 30b as illustrated in Fig. 1 .
  • the other portions of the walls composing the heating chamber 10 e.g., upper and lower walls 12a, 12b
  • the heating chamber 10 is defined also by the front and rear walls.
  • the heating chamber 10 is formed as a closed box or housing from the upper and lower walls 12a, 12b, side walls 14a, 14b, and the front and rear walls.
  • the front wall has a front door (not shown) that can be opened and closed for accessing food inside the heating chamber 10.
  • the heaters 20a, 20b are inserted and supported within grooves (openings) 36 of the heat-insulating members 34, each of which extends horizontally as shown in drawings.
  • the heaters 20a, 20b are merely situated or seated on the grooves 36, which allows the heaters to be detachable from the front door.
  • this structure of the heating chamber 10 allows both of a grid 37 for supporting food and a fat-receiving dish 38 for receiving food fat to be inserted in and/or detached from the heating chamber 10 through the front door.
  • the grid 37 and the fat-receiving dish 38 may be made of material and be structured in any configurations used in the heating chamber 10 of a conventional IH cooking heater.
  • the side walls 14a, 14b and the other walls of the heating chamber 10 may preferably have inner surfaces coated with suitable material for various purposes realizing an antifoulant effect and an infrared-ray effect.
  • the operation of the heating cooker 1 will be described herein.
  • the high-frequency current having frequency in a range of 20kHz through 100kHz is supplied with coils 30a, 30b from a power circuitry (not shown)
  • a high-frequency magnetic field is generated by and around the coils 30a, 30b.
  • the high-frequency magnetic flux generated by the coils 30a, 30b defines a magnetic loop running through the U-shaped magnetic members 32, the heaters 20a, 20b, and the grooves (openings) 36 of the heat-insulating members 34.
  • the heaters 20a, 20b magnetically interlinks with the high-frequency magnetic flux.
  • induction current is generated through each of the heaters 20a, 20b that is electrically closed or formed as a loop, and then Joule heat is to generated by the induction current, so that the heaters 20a, 20b are heated entirely and uniformly.
  • the heaters 20a, 20b heats the food received within heating chamber 10 in an even manner.
  • the power circuitry supplies sufficient power (e.g., 2kW in total) with the coils 30a, 30b
  • the heaters 20a, 20b are heated over 800 degrees C, from which infrared energy is radiated to directly heat the food.
  • the heaters 20a, 20b heats peripheral atmosphere which is distributed by convection throughout the heating chamber 10, and then indirectly heats the food in hot atmosphere.
  • the food within the heating chamber 10 is heated by infrared radiation and hot atmosphere, for grill-cooking.
  • Fat flowing from the food to be heated is received by a fat-receiving dish 38 provided beneath the lower heater 20b.
  • the induction current runs through the looped lower heater 20b, thereby generating Joule heat.
  • This is the heating principle different from that of the conventional heating cooker as disclosed in the above Patent Documents 1, 2, where the magnetic body is directly induction-heated. Therefore, even if the fat-receiving dish 38 is made of metal and arranged beneath the lower heater 20b, it is not directly induction-heated by the lower heater 20b, and therefore, the fat-receiving dish 38 can be kept at temperature much lower than the kindling temperature of the fat, by spacing the gap between the lower heater 20b and the fat-receiving dish 38.
  • the heating principle utilizing Joule heat generated by the induction current running through the looped heater is different from the "induction--heating" " principle for pans seated on the top plate of a typical IH cooking heater, and thus, the heating principle the present invention may not be referred to as the "induction-heating".
  • the present invention utilizes Joule heat generated by the "induction current” running through the looped heater caused by the "electromagnetic induction”
  • this application will also uses the term of the "induction-heating” herein.
  • the coils 30a, 30b and the magnetic members 32 are collectively referred to as “induction-heating means" for generating induction current through the heaters 20a, 20b.
  • the temperature and the input power of the heaters 20a, 20b are indicated above as an example, and the temperature of the heaters 20a, 20b may be determined by parameters including the input power and the radiation surface area thereof, etc.
  • any types of power circuitries may be incorporated which are similar to ones used in a typical induction-heating cooker such as a IH cooker, including, for example, a half-bridge circuitry, a full-bridge circuitry, and an one-oscillator circuitry.
  • a half-bridge circuitry As easily be configured for a person skilled in the art without further description of the power circuitry in the embodiments, an oscillating capacitance is connected with the coil in series used in the half-bridge circuitry and the full-bridge circuitry, and in parallel used in the one-oscillator circuitry. This is well known in the art, and therefore is also adapted in other embodiments according to the present invention.
  • each of the coils 30a, 30b is supplied with power individually from the respective one of the power circuitries, or the coils 30a, 30b connected in parallel or series with each other may be supplied with power from the same the power circuitry.
  • the coils 30a, 30b are connected in parallel or in series with each other, attention should be paid for connection thereof, taking into consideration of current flow direction, which will be discussed more hereinafter.
  • Fig. 4 illustrates directions of coil current running through the coils 30a, 30b, directions of magnetic flux generated by coil current, and directions of induction current running through the heaters 20a, 20b induced by electromagnetic induction.
  • all of components except the coils 30a, 30b and the heaters 20a, 20b are eliminated.
  • flow directions of the coil current and the induction current are traced over the coils 30a, 30b and the heaters 20a, 20b.
  • the coil current and the induction current have flow directions alternated at driving frequency, and Fig. 4 is illustrated at a certain moment of the flow directions. As illustrated in Fig.
  • the coil current through the coils 30a, 30b generates the magnetic flux around the coils 30a, 30b with which heaters 20a, 20b magnetically interlink, thereby developing electromotive force and generating the induction current through the heaters 20a, 20b formed in a closed loop.
  • this mechanism is the same as one of a transformer, in which the coils 30a, 30b may be regarded as being equivalent to primary coils, and so the heaters 20a, 20b being as secondary coils of the transformer.
  • the heaters 20a, 20b are heated by using such mechanism, when the coils 30a, 30b connected in series or in parallel are driven by a single power circuitry, the coils 30a, 30b should be connected so as to allow the coil current running as shown in Fig. 4 .
  • the phase (or direction) of the coil current through the coils 30a, 30b may be adjusted for obtaining any desired (or controllable) heating efficiency, and may be set optimal for realizing the most heating efficiency when the phase (or direction) is controlled as shown in Fig. 4 .
  • Fig. 5 is an enlarged cross sectional view of one of four induction-heating means of the heating cooker 1 in Fig. 1 , which includes the coil 30 and the magnetic member 32 (together with the heat-insulating members 34 and the heater 20).
  • the heater 20 is illustrated only for a portion which magnetically interlinks with the magnetic flux.
  • the high-frequency current runs through the coil 30, the high-frequency magnetic flux is generated around the coil 30.
  • the high-frequency magnetic flux runs through a magnetic circuit (loop) which penetrates the U-shaped magnetic member 32 and transverses the U-shaped opening thereof.
  • the "U-shaped magnetic member 32" is defined as including a base portion 40 extending along the coil 30, and a pair of side portions 42a, 42b extending perpendicularly to the base portion 40 from ends thereof, between which the opening 36 is formed.
  • the magnetic flux extending across the opening 36 of the U-shaped magnetic member 32 includes one ( ⁇ 1) that does not pass through the heater 20 and another one ( ⁇ 2) that penetrate the heater 20. While the magnetic flux ( ⁇ 1) is quite effective in generating the induction current through the electrically looped heater 20, the magnetic flux ( ⁇ 2) is less effective because its magnetic energy is used mostly for generating eddy current within the portion where the magnetic flux is penetrated but few for generating the induction current throughout the looped heater 20. Thus, the heater 20 is heated by Joule heat caused by the induction current and the eddy current as well.
  • the heater 20 since the heater 20 is made of uniform material and shaped as having the same section along its extending direction, in general, it has higher temperature at portions which are closer to and magnetically interlinked with the coils 30a, 30b, and lower temperature at the other portions.
  • the magnetic energy of the magnetic flux ( ⁇ 2) closer to the coils 30a, 30b also contributes heating atmosphere within the heating chamber 10 without energy loss, however, this requires further improvement of thermal insulation between the coil 30 (and the magnetic member 32) and the heater 20, by providing air gap for circulating air therethrough and/or by designing the heat-insulating member 34 thicker for thermally protecting the coil 30.
  • Figs. 6A and 6B are plan views of the heater 20 suitably used in the heating cooker 1 of the first embodiment.
  • the heater 20 is illustrated structurally in Fig. 6A and functionally in Fig. 6B .
  • the heater 20 used for the heating cooker 1 of the present invention is not limited thereto, and may be formed in any shape and configuration with any material as far as being shaped in an electrically closed loop.
  • the heater 20 may be composed of two parts structurally different from each other. That is, the heater 20 may include low-resistive parts 22 having lower electrical resistance at the end regions adjacent the coils 30a, 30b, and high-resistive parts 26 having higher electrical resistance in the middle thereof.
  • the terms, i.e., the "low-resistive" part and the "high-resistive” part are intended as having lower or higher electrical resistance per unit length relative to each other.
  • the low-resistive part 22 and the high-resistive part 26 may be formed from a solid bar and a hollow pipe, respectively, and may be connected, e.g., by welding each other.
  • the low-resistive part 22 may be made of lower specific resistance such as copper and the high-resistive part 26 may be made of higher specific resistance such as stainless steel.
  • the low-resistive part 22 and the high-resistive part 26 may have structure and material different from each other.
  • the low-resistive part 22 may be made from a solid bar of copper or copper alloy having diameter of 6mm
  • the high-resistive part 26 may be made of hollow pipe of stainless steel having diameter of 6mm and radial thickness in a range between 0.3mm through 1mm, which are connected together by welding or gluing.
  • the hollow bar may possibly have the specific resistance less than that of the solid due to the skin effect, and if this is the case, the low-resistive part 22 may be made of hollow pipe.
  • the heater 20 includes no electrical core like a heating wire of a sheath-heater, the heater 20 may be formed in any configuration as shown in Figs. 6A and 6B at a reasonable cost without damage by being folded. Furthermore, the heater so structured may be coated with various material for antifouling and/or protecting effect.
  • the heater 20 will be described in a functional aspect herein.
  • the low-resistive part 22 shown in Fig. 6B is composed of a power-supplied part 24 and a cooling part 25.
  • the high-resistive part 26 shown in Fig. 6A is also referred to as a heating part 26.
  • the heater 20 includes the low-resistive part 22 composed of the power-supplied part 24 and the cooling part 25 both made of a solid copper bar, and the high-resistive part (heating part) 26 of a stainless pipe. As illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 , the heater 20 is inserted into the grooves (openings) 36 of the heat-insulating members 34 and situated within the heating chamber 10.
  • the coil 30 When the coil 30 is supplied with high-frequency current by the power circuitry, high-frequency magnetic flux is generated around the coil 30, which magnetically interlinks with the power-supplied part 24 so as to generate induction current through the heater 20.
  • the power-supplied part 24 is heated in response to Joule heat caused by induction current and eddy current, as it has relative lower resistance, less Joule heat by the induction current is generated therein. Also, as the power-supplied part 24 is made of material having relative low resistance, such as nonmagnetic metal (e.g., copper), it is possible to sufficiently reduce Joule heat by the eddy current.
  • nonmagnetic metal e.g., copper
  • the power-supplied part 24 Since the power-supplied part 24 is situated within or surrounded by the groove 36 of the heat-insulating member 34, it is less cooled than the cooling part 25.
  • the cooling part 25 has the same structure and construction material as the power-supplied part 24, since the cooling part 25 is surrounded by air, it is much more cooled than the power-supplied part 24. Also, the cooling part 25 is made of material having less resistance, Joule heat by induction current is reduced and kept at relative lower temperature.
  • the heating part 26 is overall exposed in the air, it is cooled equally as the cooling part 25, however, since the heating part 26 has greater electronic resistance, it generates more Joule heat by induction current than the cooling part 25. Therefore, the food within the heating chamber is efficiently heated and grilled by radiation heat from the heating part 26. Also, the cooling part 25 generates less heat and radiates more heat transferred from the heating part 26 to peripheral air, which minimizes the heat that is generated by the heating part 26 and transferred through the cooling part 25 to the power-supplied part 24, thereby keeping the power-supplied part 24 at lower temperature.
  • the magnetic member 32 defining the magnetic loop (magnetic circuit).
  • the high-frequency current through the coil 30 generates the high-frequency magnetic flux around the coil 30 which defines the magnetic circuit running through the U-shaped magnetic member 32 and across the opening 36.
  • both of the magnetic flux generate induction current running through the heater 20.
  • the magnetic flux ( ⁇ 1) is increased as much as possible.
  • Fig. 7 is a cross sectional view of an improved heating cooker 1, which is generally similar to that as illustrated in Fig. 1 , except that the magnetic member 32 has a different shape and/or configuration.
  • Fig. 8 is an enlarged cross sectional view of a portion of the induction-heating means, similar to Fig. 5 , which includes the coil 30, the magnetic member 32, the heat-insulating members 34, and the heater 20.
  • the magnetic member 32 of Fig. 8 is basically the same as that of Fig. 5 except its shape and/or configuration so that the magnetic member 32 is improved to increase a ratio ( ⁇ 1/ ⁇ 2) of the magnetic flux.
  • the magnetic member 32 of Fig. 5 has a U-shaped cross section
  • the magnetic member 32 of Figs. 7 and 8 has a C-shaped cross section.
  • the "C-shaped magnetic member” are intended as one including a base portion 40 extending along the coil 30, a pair of side portions 42a, 42b extending perpendicularly to the base portion 40 from the ends thereof, and a pair of extended portions 44a, 44b extending from tips of the side portions 42a, 42b towards each other, between which the opening 36 is formed.
  • the magnetic member 32 of Fig. 8 has a cross section which has a rectangular shape having one member partially opened or broken in its middle.
  • the magnetic member 32 may have a trapezium or oval shape rather than the rectangular shape.
  • the C-shaped magnetic member 32 reduces magnetic resistance of the magnetic flux ( ⁇ 1), thereby increasing the magnetic flux ( ⁇ 1) between the extended portions 44a, 44b and reducing the magnetic flux ( ⁇ 2). Therefore, the C-shaped magnetic member 32 of Figs. 7 and 8 reduces Joule heat by eddy current within the power-supplied part 24 of the heater 20, in comparison with the U-shaped magnetic member 32 of Fig. 5 .
  • the C-shaped magnetic member 32 requires greater volume of construction material than the U-shaped magnetic member 32, and therefore, raises manufacturing cost of the C-shaped magnetic member 32.
  • the power-supplied part 24 and the heating part 26 of the heater 20 may not necessarily be structured or formed in a different manner, so that the manufacturing cost of the heater 20 is substantially reduced.
  • the manufacturing cost upon taking consideration of the other design factors such as the manufacturing cost, it is to be determined whether the U-shaped or C-shaped magnetic member 32 is incorporated.
  • the C-shaped magnetic member 32 has the smaller opening 36 (less distance between the extended parts 44a, 44b), and it is ultimately or most desirable that the distance between the extended parts is zero and the magnetic member 32 has an O-shaped cross section.
  • the heater 20 may be formed from a metal plate instead of a bar or pipe having a circular cross section.
  • the heater 20 made of non-magnetic stainless steel plate having thickness of 2mm may cause the opening 36 (the distance between the extended parts) of the C-shaped magnetic member 32 to be smaller by 4mm.
  • Fig. 9 is a cross sectional view of the induction-heating means of the heating chamber 10 used in the experiment, in which the scale size thereof was almost precisely duplicated as actually used one.
  • the magnetic member 32 has the C-shaped cross section as shown in Fig.
  • the magnetic member 32 is made from ferrite core and has thickness of 5mm.
  • the heat-insulating member 34 is made of ceramic wool and has thickness of 10mm.
  • the coil 30 was formed by 25 times winding the litz wire of nineteen of twisted copper wires having diameter of 0.3mm coated with resin wire.
  • the coils 30a, 30b provided at left and right side walls of the heating chamber 10 as shown in Fig. 2 , were connected in parallel and supplied with the high-frequency current of 25kHz from a half-bridge power circuitry.
  • the heater 20 has a circular cross section having diameter of 6mm. As seen from Fig.
  • Fig. 10 shows the structure of the heater 20 used in the experiment, in which the scale size thereof was almost precisely duplicated as actually used one.
  • the heater 20 was made to have two different types of material and configuration also as shown in Fig. 6 .
  • the low-resistive part 22 was made from a bar of copper having diameter of 6mm and the high-resistive part 26 was made from a hollow pipe of non-magnetic stainless steel SUS 304, which has outer diameter of 6mm, inner diameter of 4mm, and radial thickness of 1mm.
  • the copper bar (low-resistive part 22) and the stainless pipe (high-resistive part 26) were connected by gold soldering.
  • a pair of portions as shown by left and right dashed rectangles in Fig. 10 is inserted in the grooves 36 of the heat-insulating members 34 when situated within the heating chamber 10.
  • the heater 20 so structured includes no cooling part 25 as shown in Fig. 6B .
  • Several points where the thermoelectric couples were provided for thermal measurements are indicated by solid circles A-D on the heater 20 of Fig. 10 .
  • the thermoelectric couples were attached by winding a Kapton tape on those points. Because of the thermally resisting limit of the Kapton tape, the temperature was measured in a range less than 400 degrees C.
  • Fig. 11 is a graph showing temperature detected at each of the temperature measurement points of the heater 20 when the power circuitry is supplied with power of 1kW.
  • the temperature measurement were made on the upper heater 20a at the points A, B, C, D in Fig. 10 , and on the lower heater 20b at the points A, B, C.
  • the denotation of "power-supplied parts" in Fig. 11 indicates the temperature detected at the points A, B, and the denotation of "heating parts” in Fig. 11 indicates the temperature detected at the points C, D.
  • Temperature on the upper and lower heaters 20a, 20b detected at each of the points are approximately the same as one another, those measurements are plotted in Fig. 11 without distinguishing the upper or lower heater 20a, 20b.
  • the heating cooker 1 having the heater 20 of Fig. 2 is used for heating and cooking food. Since the heating part 26 of the heater 20 at each measurement point has approximately the same temperature, it is clear that the heating part 26 is heated by Joule heat caused by induction current running throughout the looped heater 20. The thermal increase rate of the heating part 26 is substantial, which is partially because of less heat capacity of the heating part 26 made of a stainless pipe. For example, two minutes after initiating heating, the temperature of the heating parts 26 is rather higher than that of the power-supplied parts 24, which also clearly shows that the heating parts 26 are heated by itself and not by the heat transferred from the power-supplied parts 24.
  • the present invention looks similar to aforementioned Patent Document 3 in view that the magnetic cores are used for applying the high-frequency magnetic flux through the side walls, but is totally different from it in view of the heating mechanism.
  • Patent Document 3 only the side portions of the oven dish are magnetically interlinked with magnetic flux to be induction-heated by induction current running therethrough.
  • the overall of the heater 20 rather than only the power-supplied parts 24 of the heater 20 is induction-heated by induction current running throughout the looped heater 20, which is caused by the high-frequency magnetic flux passing by (not penetrating through) the power-supplied parts 24 of the heater 20.
  • the temperature of the power-supplied part 24 increases moderately but eventually more than that of the heating part 26. This is partially because the power-supplied part 24 is heated by eddy current generated by magnetic flux running through the power-supplied part 24. This is also because a portion of the heating part 26 connected with the power-supplied part 24 is received in the groove 36 of the heat-insulating member 34 as shown in Fig. 10 so that the portion of the heating part 26 radiates thermal energy less than the other portions (at measurement points C, D), thereby raising the temperature thereof. Heat from the raised portion of the heating part 26 is transferred to the power-supplied part 24 which also radiates less thermal energy, which may make the temperature of the power-supplied part 24 higher.
  • the cooling part 25 as shown in Fig. 6B in order to lower the temperature of the power-supplied part 24. It may be needless to mention that while the temperature of the heating part 26 in the experiment of Fig. 11 is relatively low for grill-cooking, the temperature of the heating chamber 10 can be raised by providing the upper wall 12a and the front wall thereof and by supplying with greater power, which is suitable for grill-cooking.
  • the heating chamber 10 of the heating cooker 1 of Figs. 1 and 2 may include the side walls 14a, 14b made of metal such as iron plate, which may also be induction-heated by the magnetic flux generated by the coils 30a, 30b, as well as the magnetic members 32. Yet, the induction-heated side walls may efficiently raise the temperature of air within the heating chamber 10.
  • the heating cooker 1 includes the induction-heating means on the side walls 14a, 14b of the heating chamber 10. Also, the heating cooker 1 includes the electrically looped heaters 20a, 20b which are detachably arranged within the heating chamber 10 and overall heated by induction current generated by high-frequency magnetic flux from the side wallsl4a, 14b. This allows the heating chamber 10 more easily cleaned and the fat-receiving dish 38 of metal positioned beneath and spaced enough from the lower heater 20b.
  • Fig. 12 is a cross sectional view of the heating cooker 1 according to the second embodiment of the present invention
  • Fig. 13 is a perspective view schematically illustrating an overall of main components of the heating cooker of Fig. 12 .
  • the induction-heating cooker 1 of the second embodiment is similar to one of the first embodiment except that only one coil is provided on the side wall 14 for supplying the high-frequency magnetic flux with the heater 20 formed in an electrical loop. Therefore, the duplicated description in detail for the common features will be eliminated. Similar components are denoted with similar reference numerals throughout the description.
  • the heating chamber 1 of the heating cooker 1 according to the second embodiment includes only one induction-heating means.
  • the heater magnetically interlinks with the high-frequency magnetic flux generated by electromagnetic induction, so that induction current runs through the heater formed in an electrical loop. Therefore, the second embodiment will be described as including one induction-heating means having one set of a coil and other components, while possibly having two sets as the first embodiment, or having three or more sets thereof. Also, what is described for the first embodiment may naturally be applicable for the heating cooker 1 according to the second embodiment.
  • the heating chamber 10 includes the left side wall 14b having grooves 39 for supporting the heaters 20a, 20b but no coil 30 provided thereon.
  • the side wall 14b may be formed of metal material such as iron, in which at least one of the side wall 14b and heaters 20a, 20b should be coated with insulating material for electrical insulation between both of the heaters 20a, 20b,
  • the inner walls of the heating chamber 10 and the heaters 20a, 20b are coated with material for antifouling, protecting and/or far-infrared effects, therefore, such a coating may be adapted also for electrical insulation effect.
  • Fig. 14 is a graph showing the measured temperature of the heater 20 of the heating chamber 10 shown in Fig. 13 .
  • the driving condition of the induction-heating cooker 1 of the second embodiment is similar to one of the first embodiment except that a single induction-heating means is used.
  • the input power was 500W.
  • the power-supplied parts 24 had temperature greater than the heating parts 26. Since the upper and lower heating parts 20a, 20b had the increased temperature different from one another in this experimental result, each of measurement was individually plotted in Fig. 14 .
  • the temperature of the upper and lower heaters 20a, 20b is different from each other, which is understood because each of them has different position or relationship against the induction-heating means and the lower heater is supplied with greater power.
  • the heating parts 26 had the temperature saturated after about six minutes passed, but the power-supplied parts 24 have the temperature kept further increasing thereafter. This is understood because the temperature of the heating parts 26 is increased by its own heat rather than by heat transferred from the power-supplied parts 24.
  • the heating cooker when the heating cooker is designed to have a single induction-heating means having the coil 30 and other components, more amount of heat is generated in the power-supplied parts 24, therefore, it is useful to form the magnetic member in the C-shape as described in the first embodiment so as to increase magnetic flux passing by (not penetrating through) the heater 20 and reduce penetrating magnetic flux magnetically interlinked with the heater 20. This can suppress increased temperature of the power-supplied parts 24 and increase the temperature of heating parts 26 even when the heater 20 has one power-supplied part 24.
  • the heater 20 is provided with one power-supplied part 24, that is, when one induction-heating means is required, the manufacturing cost is advantageously reduced.
  • Fig. 15 is a cross sectional view of the heating cooker 1 including the induction-heating means arranged on the rear wall 18.
  • the magnetic member has the C-shaped cross section so as to suppress increased temperature of the power-supplied parts 24.
  • the front wall 16 of the housing (the heating chamber 10) may be structured to be opened and closed, and be partially composed of a front door 17 made of glass through which the inside thereof can be observed during cooking.
  • the heating principle of the induction-heating means arranged on the rear wall 18 is similar to that on the side wall 14 as described in the above embodiments.
  • the heater 20 having two of the low-resistive parts 22 in both ends thereof is used in this experiment, as illustrated in Figs. 6A, 6B , and 10 .
  • the heater 20 allows a user to easily install it within the heating chamber 10 without paying attention to the direction thereof, which eliminates or alleviates user's complicated installation and prevents malfunctioning due to wrong direction installation (erroneous installation in direction) of the heater 20.
  • Fig. 16 is a chart showing increased temperature of the heaters 20 which include one or two of the power-supplied parts 24 for comparison.
  • the horizontal axis of Fig. 16 indicates length of the magnetic member 32, and the increased temperature of the magnetic member 32 having 60mm-long single power-supplied part 24 is obtained through the experiment of Fig. 14 , and the increased temperature of the magnetic member 32 having 60mm-long two power-supplied parts 24 are detected through the experiment of Fig. 11 .
  • the structure of the heating chamber 10 and the driving conditions of the induction-heating means are the same as those of the first and second embodiments.
  • the vertical axis of Fig. 16 indicates relative increased temperature when the increased temperature of the single 60mm-long power-supplied part 24 measured at 30 seconds after initiation of power supply.
  • the input power to the induction-heating means is set as 500W with the single power-supplied part 24 and as 1kW with two power-supplied parts 24.
  • either one the power-supplied parts 24 is supplied with power of 500W.
  • the reason why the increased temperature is measured at 30 seconds after initiation of power supply is to compare the increased temperature of the power-supplied parts 24 when they are not too hot for reducing influence of the heat radiation. While two of the heaters 20a, 20b are provided, in case where each of them has two power-supplied parts 24, the increased temperature is plotted in Fig. 16 by averaging the temperature of the power-supplied parts 24.
  • the increased temperature of the power-supplied part 24 with two of the power-supplied parts 24 is less than that with one of the power-supplied part 24. Also, as the magnetic member 32 is longer, the increased temperature of the power-supplied part 24 is lower, but is not proportional to the length thereof and almost saturated at the length of 120mm or greater in this experiment of Fig. 16 . Furthermore, the increased temperature of the power-supplied part 24 with two of the power-supplied parts 24 each having the length of 60mm is almost equal to that with one the power-supplied part 24 having the length of 120mm.
  • each of two power-supplied parts 24 is heated with power of 500W as a solid line in Fig. 16 while single power-supplied part 24 is heated with power of 1kW as a dashed line, of which temperature is almost double of the former one.
  • the magnetic member 32 has entire length equal as each other, one having two power-supplied parts 24 is more advantageous that one having single power-supplied part 24.
  • the power--supplied part 24 is a power source and it is effective to provide more power sources in number for generating induction current through the heater.
  • the magnetic member 32 having the C-shaped cross section advantageously suppresses the increased temperature of the power-supplied part 24 than that having U-shaped cross section.
  • the heater 20 is provided with the single power-supplied part 24 only on either one of the side walls 14, the rear wall 18 and the front wall 16 of the heating chamber 10, the heating chamber 10 can be structured simply, designed with greater degree of freedom, and manufactured at a more reasonable cost.
  • Fig. 17 is a perspective view schematically illustrating an overall of the heating cooker, including the heater 20 provided with two power-supplied parts 24 and the induction-heating means arranged on the rear wall 18 of the heating chamber 10.
  • Fig. 17 also illustrates just main components of the heating cooker like Fig. 2 and eliminates the heat-insulating members 34 for clarity.
  • the heating chamber 10 of Fig. 17 is also composed of the side wall 14 and others required for defining the heating chamber 10 as shown in Fig. 1 .
  • Each of the heaters 20a, 20b is provided with two of the power-supplied parts 24 close to the rear wall 18 of the heating chamber 10.
  • a single coil 30 is arranged outside the heating chamber 10 adjacent the rear wall 18 thereof, thus four of the U-shaped magnetic members 32 are provided in total along the coil 30.
  • Each of the magnetic members 32 may be C-shaped as well.
  • the coil 30 When supplied with high-frequency current, the coil 30 generates high-frequency magnetic flux with which heaters 20a, 20b magnetically interlink, thereby inducing current throughout the heaters by electromagnetic induction. Since each of the heaters 20a, 20b has two power-supplied parts 24, even with single coil provided along the rear wall 18, increased temperature of the power-supplied parts 24 can be suppressed, while keeping high temperature of the heating part 26.
  • Fig. 18 is a cross sectional view of the heating cooker 1 according to the third embodiment of the present invention
  • Fig. 19 is a perspective view illustrating an overall of main components of the heating cooker of Fig. 18
  • the induction-heating cooker 1 of the third embodiment is similar to one of the first embodiment except that the coil 30 is formed by spirally winding a conductive wire around the magnetic member 32 so as to supply the high-frequency magnetic flux with the heater 20 formed in an electrical loop. Therefore, the duplicated description in detail for the common features will be eliminated. Similar components are denoted with similar reference numerals throughout the description.
  • each of the coils 30a-30d is formed by a spirally winding a conductive wire such as a litz wire around the base portion 40 of the magnetic member 32 having the U-shaped configuration.
  • a conductive wire such as a litz wire
  • the other coils 30b, 30d are just invisible behind the heat-insulating members 34 but actually existed.
  • Each of the coils 30a-30d may be supplied with high-frequency current by an individual power circuitry (not shown).
  • a pair of the coils 30a, 30c and a pair of the coils 30b, 30d may be electrically connected in series or parallel to be supplied with high-frequency current by two of the power circuitries, respectively.
  • a pair of the coils 30a, 30b and a pair of the coils 30c, 30d may be electrically connected in series or parallel to be supplied with high-frequency current by two of the power circuitries, respectively. Furthermore, all of the coils 30a-30d may be electrically connected in series or parallel to be supplied with high-frequency current by the single power circuitry.
  • each of the coils 30a-30d are connected to induced current running throughout the heaters 20a, 20b in directions as shown in Fig. 4 of the first embodiment.
  • the upper and lower heaters 20a, 20b may be separately heated, and therefore, each of the heaters 20a, 20b may be thermally controlled in an individual manner and/or either one of them may be driven for a desired cookery purpose.
  • Figs. 20 and 21 are enlarged cross sectional views of the induction-heating means with the coil 30 generating magnetic flux according to the third embodiment.
  • the magnetic members 32 of Figs. 20 and 21 have the U-shaped and C-shaped cross sections, respectively.
  • the magnetic flux ( ⁇ 1, ⁇ 2) are generated by the coils 30 similarly as described in the first and second embodiments.
  • the coils 30 according to the third embodiment may be replaced with ones as explained in the first and second embodiments, and also the technique in the first and second embodiments can equally be applied to the third embodiment.
  • the coil 30 may be wound around another portion (e.g., the side portion 42 extending from the base portion 40) of the magnetic member 32 different from ones of Figs. 20 and 21 .
  • Fig. 23 is a cross sectional view of the heating cooker 1 according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention
  • Fig. 24 is a perspective view schematically illustrating an overall of main components of the heating cooker of Fig. 23 .
  • the induction-heating cooker 1 of the fourth embodiment is similar to one of the first embodiment except that the coil 30 is formed by spirally winding a conductive wire around two of adjacent magnetic members 32 so as to supply the high-frequency magnetic flux with the heater 20 formed in an electrical loop. Therefore, the duplicated description in detail for the common features will be eliminated. Similar components are denoted with similar reference numerals throughout the description.
  • each of the coils 30a, 30b is formed by a spirally winding a conductive wire such as a litz wire around the side portions 42 of two neighboring magnetic members 32 provided on the side wall of the heating chamber 10.
  • the conductive wire of the fourth embodiment is spirally wound around the side portions 42 of the magnetic members 32 positioned on and along one of the side walls 14 of the heating chamber 10.
  • Fig. 25 is a cross sectional view of the heating cooker 1 having a magnetic member 32 formed in a E-shaped configuration which seems like two of neighboring U-shaped magnetic members combined together.
  • the magnetic member 32 of Fig. 25 has a base portion 40, a pair of side portions 42a, 42b extending perpendicularly to the base portion 40 from ends thereof, and a middle portion 42c extending from the middle thereof.
  • the magnetic member 32 shown in Fig. 25 has two of grooves (openings) 36a, 36b between the middle portion 42c and each of the side portions 42a, 42b.
  • the heaters 20a, 20b are inserted into the grooves 36a, 36b, respectively.
  • the heating cooker 1 of Fig. 25 is substantially the same as that of Figs. 1 and 2 .
  • the E-shaped magnetic member 32 is treated as combined magnetic member composed of two U-shaped magnetic members. Therefore, the E-shaped magnetic member 32 may have upper and lower portions each of which is C-shaped, and other features in its cross section as explained in the above embodiments.
  • the planar coil of the first embodiment may be used together with the E-shaped magnetic member 32 of Fig 25 .
  • FIGs. 26A and 26B are cross sectional views of the heating cooker 1 according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention.
  • Fig. 27 is a perspective view and
  • Fig. 28 is a cross sectional view showing the induction-heating means of the heating cooker according to the fifth embodiment.
  • the induction-heating cooker 1 of the fifth embodiment is similar to one of the second embodiment except that it has another magnetic member 32 which can be assembled to surround the heater 20 entirely in its cross section. Therefore, the duplicated description in detail for the common features will be eliminated. Similar components are denoted with similar reference numerals throughout the description.
  • the heating cooker 1 includes the magnetic member 32 formed in the U-shaped or C-shaped cross section, and the heaters 20 magnetically interlinked with magnetic flux including one ( ⁇ 1) that does not pass through the heater 20 and another ( ⁇ 2) that penetrate the heater 20. Also, the magnetic flux ( ⁇ 1) passing by (not penetrating through) the heater is more effective to generate Joule heat in the heating part of the heater 20 owing to reduction of heat by the eddy current within the power-supplied part 24 thereof. As will be described herein, the heating cooker 1 according to the fifth embodiment can maximize magnetic flux which dose not penetrate through the heater 20 and causes optimal magnetic interlinkage therewith.
  • Figs. 26A and 26B illustrate the heating cooker 1 including the induction-heating means provided on the rear wall 18 of the heating chamber 10 as the second embodiment shown in Fig. 15 , yet the induction-heating means may be arranged on either one or both of the side walls 14 as described in other embodiments.
  • the coil 30 is illustrated as being formed by spirally winding a conductive wire such as a litz wire, it may be formed by winding the conductive wire in a planer configuration as mentioned in the first and second embodiments.
  • the heating cooker 1 of Fig. 26 includes the coil 30 and other components composing the induction-heating means, which are structured differently from the heating cooker 1 shown in Fig. 15 , but similarly to those of any embodiments in view of the other components.
  • the coils 30a, 30b are made by spirally winding a conducting wire around a portion of the magnetic member 32 which is O-shaped and has no opening 36 in the cross section.
  • the O-shaped magnetic member 32 is provided with the heat-insulating member 34 to prevent the magnetic member 32 and the coils 30a, 30b from being heated by the heaters 20a, 20b.
  • another heat-insulating member 45 is provided around the O-shaped magnetic member 32 and along the inside wall of the heating chamber 10 in order to prevent the magnetic member 32 from being exposed in hot air within the heating chamber 10.
  • the heat-insulating member 34 defines the inner groove 36 for receiving the power-supplied part 24 of the heater 20.
  • the induction-heating means of the heating cooker 1 includes a stationary component 50 fixed with the heating chamber 10 and a movable component 52 designed as being slidable over the stationary component 50.
  • the stationary component 50 includes the outer heat-insulating member 45, the coil 30, the U-shaped magnetic member 32, and the heat-insulating member 34 with the groove for receiving the power--supplied part 24 of the heater 20.
  • the movable component 52 includes the outer heat-insulating member 45, the magnetic member 32 for defining a closed magnetic circuit ( ⁇ 1) in cooperation with the U-shaped magnetic member 32 of the stationary component 50, and the heat-insulating member 34.
  • Fig. 26A illustrates the movable component 52 in the closed position ready for supplying induction current through the heaters 20a, 20b for heating.
  • Fig. 26B illustrates the movable component 52 in the opened position allowing the heaters 20a, 20b detached from the heating chamber 10.
  • the movable component 52 may be operated manually or automatically by means of mechanical means.
  • Fig. 27 is a perspective view of the induction-heating means showing a concrete structure of the stationary component 50 and the movable component 52. While Fig. 27 illustrates the induction-heating means provided for the lower heater 20b, it may have a similar structure thereof for the upper heater 20a. Illustration is made especially focusing on the power-supplied part 24 of the heater 20b, which is formed in an electrically closed loop as described in the above embodiments. Fig. 27 illustrates the movable component 52 in the opened position over the stationary component 50. As illustrated, the magnetic member 32 of the stationary component 50 is surrounded by the heat-insulating member 34 and is exposed in a portion opposing to a bottom portion (not shown) of the movable component 52.
  • the exposed portion of the magnetic member 32 may be coated with a thin protection film.
  • the groove 36 provided inside the heat-insulating member 34 is a box-shaped, and when the movable component 52 is closed, the heating chamber 10 is designed to be thoroughly closed except a heater-access port 54. When the movable component 52 is closed, the heater access port 54 is structured to have a cross section conforming with the cross section of the heater 20. Also, when the power-supplied part 24 is inserted within the groove 36 and the movable component 52 is closed, the heating chamber 10 is formed to be sealed without interchanging air in the heating chamber 10 with air in the groove 36.
  • blowing means for blowing outside air into the heating chamber 10 may be provided so as to cool inside the groove 36 or to increase pressure in the groove 36 higher than that in the heating chamber 10, thereby to prevent hot air from being introduced into the groove 36.
  • Fig. 28 is an enlarged view of the magnetic flux generated by the induction-heating means of the heating cooker 1 of Fig. 26A , showing the lower heater 20b, especially the magnetic member 32 having the O-shaped cross section.
  • most of the magnetic flux ( ⁇ 1) generated by the high-frequency current through the coil 30b runs through the O-shaped magnetic member 32. Therefore, most of the magnetic flux ( ⁇ 1) does not penetrate through the heater 20b, with which the heater 20b magnetically interlinks. As the result, the heater 20 is sufficiently heated by the induction current rather than the eddy current which is generated by the magnetic flux ( ⁇ 1).
  • the detachable heater 20 with the magnetic member 32 having the O-shaped cross section
  • the power-supplied part 24 of the heater 20 formed in an electrical closed loop may be arranged outside the heating chamber 10 and may be heated by induction current caused by the induction heating means having the O-shaped magnetic member 32.
  • the heater 20 may have similar structure of a commonly used sheath heater for a conventional IH cooking heater.
  • the sheath heater is composed of a ceramics sheath surrounding a heating core wire, which is inserted in a pipe of metal such as stainless steel, and therefore its structure is complicated.
  • the conventional sheath heater has the heating core wire within the metal pipe, there is a restriction in curvature when bending it to have a desired shape. As more portions of the sheath heater are bent for the desired shape, it is more expensive to produce it. Furthermore, since the conventional sheath heater has ceramic sheath filled within the metal pipe, it has substantial heat capacity and requires much time to be well heated. On the other hand, since the heater 20 of the present invention can be made from a stainless steel pipe for example, it can be bent or curved more flexibly and more reasonably in comparison with the sheath heater. Also, when the heater 20 is made of metal pipe having less heat capacity, it can be heated more quickly than the sheath heater.
  • the heater 20 with the U-shaped or C-shaped magnetic member 32 of the present invention has several advantages over the conventional sheath heater as described in the above embodiments.
  • the heater 20 of the present invention still has another merit that Joule heat generated by eddy current in the power-supplied part 24 can be minimized by means of the O-shaped magnetic member 32 as described in the fifth embodiment.
  • the present embodiment describes the coil 30 formed by spirally winding a conductive wire around a portion of the magnetic member 32, the coil may be formed as similar ones illustrated in the first or fourth embodiment.
  • Fig. 29 is a cross sectional view of the heating cooker 1 according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention
  • Fig. 30 is a perspective view schematically illustrating an overall of main components of the heating cooker of Fig. 29 .
  • the heating cooker 1 of the sixth embodiment is similar to one of the first embodiment except that the heaters 20a, 20b are provided along the side walls 14 so that the food within the heating chamber can be heated from the side surfaces. Therefore, the duplicated description in detail for the common features will be eliminated. Similar components are denoted with similar reference numerals throughout the description.
  • the heating cooker 1 includes a heater 20 provided within the heating chamber 10 substantially along a horizontal direction
  • the heating cooker 1 according to the sixth embodiment includes another type of the heater 20.
  • the heating principle of the heater of the present embodiment is the same as aforementioned one, any one of the induction-heating means described in the above embodiments can be used in this embodiment as well.
  • Fig. 31 is a perspective view illustrating main components having a heater 20 of the heating cooker 1 of modification according to the sixth embodiment.
  • Each of the heaters 20a-20d shown in Fig. 31 has the power-supplied part 24 made from a solid metal bar having low resistance (e.g., a solid copper bar), and a heating part 28 made from a thin metal plate having high resistance and high fusing point (e.g., a thin tungsten plate).
  • the heating part 28 is received within an airtight case 56 of quarts or translucent ceramics which is hermetically sealed and filled up with inert gas such as argon.
  • the induction current runs through each of the heaters 20a-20d, so that the heating parts 28 are heated. Since the heating part 28 is made of metal having high fusing point and the airtight case 56 is filled up with inert gas, the heating part 28 can be heated up to high temperature in a range between 1000-2000 degrees C. This allows substantial amount of near-infrared and far-infrared radiation from the heating part 28, similar to an electrical light bulb such as a halogen lamp which generates substantial amount of light emission, heat, and infrared radiation. This radiation heating with infrared light makes the food grill-cooked.
  • Fig. 32 is a perspective view illustrating main components including a heater 20 of the heating cooker 1 of further modification according to the sixth embodiment.
  • the upper heaters 20a, 20b are the same as those shown in Fig. 31 .
  • the lower heater 58 is made from a metal plate (e.g., a stainless steel plate) having thickness of approximately 2mm which has several cutouts 59 as illustrated in Fig. 32 .
  • Each of the cutouts 59 may have a width enough for securing electrical insulation therein.
  • the heating cooker 1 as structured in Fig. 32 is suitable for grill-cooking a hamburger steak, for example.
  • each of the coils 30a, 30b is supplied with the high-frequency current so that it is heated by the upper heaters 20a, 20b and the lower heater 58.
  • the lower heater 58 is heated up to approximately 200 degrees C to burn the hamburger steak like a frying pan.
  • the fat coming from the food and falling down through the cutouts 59 is received onto a fat-receiving dish (not shown) arranged beneath the lower heater 58.
  • each of the upper heaters 20a, 20b radiates infrared light for grill-cooking the hamburger steak.
  • the lower heater 58 composing a high-resistive core member may be covered on its upper and lower surfaces with a cladding member 175 made of insulating material such as ceramics so as to keep the cutouts unexposed and form the lower heater 58 as a plate-like configuration.
  • Fig. 33 is a perspective view of an overall of the plate-like lower heater 20 with the cutouts 59 unexposed
  • Fig. 34 is a cross sectional view thereof.
  • this lower heater 58 can be formed by covering (sandwiching or encompassing) the metal plate having the cutouts 59 with the cladding member 175 of insulation material such as ceramics.
  • the cladding member 175 may be made of metal, another insulation material or coating is required for electrical insulation between the lower heater 58 and the cladding member 175.
  • Fig. 35 is a perspective view illustrating main components including a heater 20 of the heating cooker 1 of even further modification according to the sixth embodiment.
  • the heater 20 is housed within a box-shaped airtight container 70 having a lid member 72 and a container member 74.
  • the box-shaped airtight container 70 performs as an oven or a kettle, and oven-cooking and oven-cooking of the food inside the box-shaped airtight container 70 can be achieved by heating the lid member 72 and the container member 74.
  • Fig. 36 is a development view of the lower heater 20 housed in the container member 74, which is assembled to form the lower heater by bending up at dashed lines.
  • the upper heater 20 of the lid member 72 is also assembled in a similar manner.
  • the heater 20 includes the low-resistive parts 22 and the high-resistive part 26, in which each of the low-resistive parts has the power-supplied part and the cooling part as discussed in the above embodiments.
  • the high-resistive part 26 is formed by punching a metal plate (e.g., stainless steel or aluminum plate) in a shape like Fig. 36 .
  • Fig. 37 is a cross sectional view of the box-shaped airtight container 70.
  • the lid member 72 includes a lid body 73 of insulation material such as ceramics and the high-resistive part 26, and the container member 74 also includes a container body 75 of insulation material and the high-resistive part 26 as well.
  • the lid body 73 and the container body 75 may be made of metal. But if this is the case, since it is necessary to insulate the high-resistive part 26 from the lid body 73 and the container body 75, a thermal and electrical insulation film such as ceramic sheet should be interposed between the high-resistive part 26 and the lid body 73 (and the container body 75).
  • a thermal and electrical insulation film such as ceramic sheet should be interposed between the high-resistive part 26 and the lid body 73 (and the container body 75).
  • the lid body 73 and the container body 75 are made of aluminum, for example, they may be anode-oxidized (alumite-treatment) to form an alumina layer (an oxidized aluminum layer) on the surface thereof, thereby producing an insulating layer without preparing a separate insulating member at a reasonable cost.
  • the heaters 20 provided within the lid body 73 and the container body 75 are heated by induction current therethrough, so that the food within the box-shaped airtight container 70 is heated and cooked.
  • the heating cooker 1 is used as an oven, since the heated air within the box-shaped airtight container 70 is 300 degrees C or less which is less than the melting point of aluminum, the lid body 73 and the container body 75 can be produced of aluminum at a reasonable cost.
  • Fig. 38 is a perspective view illustrating main components including a heater 20 of the heating cooker 1 of even further modification according to the sixth embodiment.
  • the upper heater 20 is similar to that of Fig. 2
  • the lower heater 58 is similar to that of Fig. 32 .
  • the upper heater 20 may have the high resistive part made from a pipe (a hollow bar) since it is generally spaced from the food for cooking.
  • the lower heater 58 may preferably have the high resistive part made from a metal plate having substantial surface area for uniform cooking.
  • the upper and lower heaters may be have different configuration (shape, size, position) from each other, and may be designed as being detachable, therefore, any type of them may be chosen and replaced with another one in accordance with the food to be cooked.
  • Fig. 39 is a cross sectional view illustrating a heating cooker 1 of even further modification according to the sixth embodiment.
  • the induction-heating cooker 1 of Fig. 39 is similar to one of the third embodiment of Fig. 18 in structure and operation, except that the former has the coils 30a, 30b provided over the upper wall 12a and beneath the lower wall 12b rather than on the side walls 14a, 14b.
  • the induction heating means with the coils 30 are described as being arranged on the side walls in the above embodiments, the present invention can equally be adapted to the induction heating means provided over the upper wall 12a and beneath the lower wall 12b as illustrated in Fig. 39 .
  • the induction heating means may be provided on the front and rear walls, and the side walls may include the front and rear walls as well.
  • the heater is structured as being detachable, therefore, the easy-to-clean feature is fairly improved and various types of the heaters 20 may be used appropriate for cooking purposes, thereby realizing a multifunctional heating cooker.

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  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Electromagnetism (AREA)
  • Induction Heating Cooking Devices (AREA)
  • Electric Stoves And Ranges (AREA)
  • General Induction Heating (AREA)

Claims (15)

  1. Erhitzungssystem, welches umfasst:
    eine kastenförmige Erhitzungskammer (10);
    einen Erhitzer (20), welcher innerhalb der Erhitzungskammer (10) bereitgestellt ist, wobei der Erhitzer (20) aus einem leitfähigen Material zu einer elektrischen Schleife erstellt ist;
    eine Spule (30), welche außerhalb der Erhitzungskammer (10) bereitgestellt ist;
    eine Leistungsschaltung zum Versorgen der Spule (30) mit einem hochfrequenten Strom, um einen hochfrequenten Magnetfluss zu erzeugen; gekennzeichnet durch:
    ein magnetisches Element (34), welches derart angeordnet ist, dass der Erhitzer (20) magnetisch mit dem hochfrequenten Magnetfluss, welcher durch die Spule (30) erzeugt wird, gekoppelt wird, wobei das magnetische Element (34) eine Öffnung (36) hat, in welche ein Abschnitt (24) von dem Erhitzer (20) eingesetzt ist.
  2. Erhitzungssystem nach Anspruch 1, bei welchem die Spule (30) und das magnetische Element (34) entlang einer Wand angeordnet sind, welche die Erhitzungskammer (10) bildet, und wobei der hochfrequente Magnetfluss einen Induktionsstrom hervorruft, welcher durch den Erhitzer (20) fließt.
  3. Erhitzungssystem nach Anspruch 1 oder 2, bei welchem die Spule (30) durch Wicklung eines leitfähigen Drahts zu einem planaren Aufbau ausgebildet ist, und wobei das magnetische Element (34) mehrere Abschnitte des gewickelten leitfähigen Drahts, durch welche der hochfrequente Strom in die gleiche Richtung fließt, umgibt.
  4. Erhitzungssystem nach Anspruch 1 oder 2, bei welchem die Spule (30) durch spiralförmiges Wickeln eines leitfähigen Drahts um einen Abschnitt des magnetischen Elements (34) ausgebildet ist.
  5. Erhitzungssystem nach einem der Ansprüche 1 bis 4, bei welchem das magnetische Element (34) einen U-förmigen Querschnitt hat, und wobei ein Abschnitt (24) des Erhitzers (20) in die Öffnung (36) des U-förmigen Querschnitts von dem magnetischen Element (34) eingesetzt ist.
  6. Erhitzungssystem nach einem der Ansprüche 1 bis 4, bei welchem das magnetische Element (34) einen C-förmigen Querschnitt hat, und wobei ein Abschnitt (24) des Erhitzers (20) in die Öffnung (36) des C-förmigen Querschnitts von dem magnetischen Element (34) eingesetzt ist.
  7. Erhitzungssystem nach einem der Ansprüche 1 bis 4, bei welchem der Erhitzer (20) einen mit Energie versorgten Abschnitt (24) umfasst, und wobei das magnetische Element (34) den mit Energie versorgten Abschnitt (24) gänzlich umrundet.
  8. Erhitzungssystem nach einem der Ansprüche 1 bis 7, bei welchem der Erhitzer (20) einen Abschnitt (22) mit niedrigem Widerstand und einen Abschnitt (26) mit hohem Widerstand umfasst, und wobei der Abschnitt (22) mit niedrigem Widerstand magnetisch mit dem hochfrequenten Magnetfluss gekoppelt ist.
  9. Erhitzungssystem nach Anspruch 8, bei welchem der Abschnitt (22) mit niedrigem Widerstand und der Abschnitt (26) mit hohem Widerstand jeweils aus einem massiven Metall und einem ausgehöhlten Metall erstellt sind.
  10. Erhitzungssystem nach Anspruch 8, bei welchem der Abschnitt (58) mit hohem Widerstand eine Metallplatte umfasst, welche mit einer Mehrzahl von Ausschnitten (59) bereitgestellt ist.
  11. Erhitzungssystem nach Anspruch 10, bei welchem der Erhitzer (20) ein plattenförmiges Element umfasst, welches den Abschnitt (58) mit hohem Widerstand einschließt.
  12. Erhitzungssystem nach Anspruch 10, ferner umfassend ein kastenförmiges Behältnis, welches den Abschnitt (58) mit hohem Widerstand einschließt.
  13. Erhitzungssystem nach Anspruch 8 oder 9, bei welchem der Abschnitt (22) mit niedrigem Widerstand einen Kühlabschnitt (25) umfasst, welcher innerhalb der Erhitzungskammer (10) zur Atmosphäre freiliegt.
  14. Erhitzungssystem nach einem der Ansprüche 1 bis 13, bei welchem die Erhitzungskammer (10) aus Metall erstellt ist, und wobei die Innenwände der Erhitzungskammer (10) und/oder der Erhitzer (20) mit einem isolierenden Material beschichtet sind.
  15. Erhitzungssystem nach einem der Ansprüche 1 bis 14, bei welchem der Erhitzer (20) innerhalb der Erhitzungskammer (10) entnehmbar eingebaut ist.
EP10811695.5A 2009-08-27 2010-08-10 Heizvorrichtung Not-in-force EP2472185B1 (de)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
JP2009196435 2009-08-27
PCT/JP2010/063556 WO2011024645A1 (ja) 2009-08-27 2010-08-10 加熱装置

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EP2472185A1 EP2472185A1 (de) 2012-07-04
EP2472185A4 EP2472185A4 (de) 2014-12-10
EP2472185B1 true EP2472185B1 (de) 2016-01-13

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JP (1) JP5295374B2 (de)
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DE102012206991A1 (de) * 2012-04-26 2013-10-31 Behr-Hella Thermocontrol Gmbh Heizkörper
JP5868263B2 (ja) * 2012-05-25 2016-02-24 三菱電機株式会社 加熱調理器およびこれを用いた調理方法
GB201217067D0 (en) 2012-09-25 2012-11-07 British American Tobacco Co Heating smokable material
WO2014167479A1 (en) * 2013-04-08 2014-10-16 Koninklijke Philips N.V. Apparatus for cooking
CN103249192B (zh) * 2013-05-15 2015-09-02 曲颜发 电磁加热装置、及其用途和取暖器
EP3005830B1 (de) * 2013-05-30 2018-09-26 Corebon AB Heizvorrichtung und steuerbares heizverfahren
CN104822189B (zh) * 2015-05-13 2017-02-01 袁石振 穿线管式高频电加热装置、加热设备以及加热方法
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WO2011024645A1 (ja) 2011-03-03
JPWO2011024645A1 (ja) 2013-01-31
CN102483237B (zh) 2014-06-04
CN102483237A (zh) 2012-05-30
JP5295374B2 (ja) 2013-09-18
ES2562705T3 (es) 2016-03-07
EP2472185A4 (de) 2014-12-10

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