FR2837264A1 - Positioning support, for articles in microwave oven, has fitting engaging heating chamber of oven and food article support with recess for accurate positioning - Google Patents

Abstract

The positioning support (17) for articles in a microwave oven cooking chamber (3) has fitting (18) adapted to the heating chamber and a positioning guide (21) with a recess (22) matching that of the product to be cooked. The positioning guide has adjustable lugs and the fitting have seatings (51) to receive the lugs.

Description

J The present invention relates to the technical field of micro-

  waves, used for cooking or reheating food, such as, for example but not exclusively, prepared dishes packaged in trays, sandwiches or the like. In a preferred but not exclusive application, the invention relates to the technical field of high-power microwave ovens which are able to even heat a frozen product, such as an individual dish for example, in a relatively short time, of the order of a few tens

seconds.

  Such ovens generally include a heating cavity which is

  closed by an oven door and inside which it is emitted microwaves.

  Insofar as a large microwave power is sought, the microwave source does not generally include the entire heating chamber, so that, in order to obtain suitable heating or reheating of the product placed in the heating enclosure, it is necessary to place this product in an optimal position in relation to the microwave source. Compliance with this imperative of good positioning is then all the more important as the product to be heated has a heterogeneous structure whose different constituents have a heating rate, with microwave radiation power.

equivalent, different.

  In order to provide a solution to this problem, it has, for example, been proposed to implement, inside the cavities of microwave ovens, turntables on which the products to be heated are disposed. Such trays make it possible, in fact, to try to standardize the distribution of the radiation

  applied to the product to be heated.

  However, depending on the position of the product to be heated on the tray, the distribution of microwave radiation applied to the product is more or less homogeneous. However, if this disparity is not always a problem in the case of a low-power microwave oven, it becomes, however, prohibitive in the case of

  the use of a high power microwave oven.

  In addition, the implementation of a simple turntable is not capable of guaranteeing good reproducibility of the reheating obtained from one product to another,

  even in case of product identity.

  There therefore appears to be a need for means enabling an application of microwave radiation adapted as a function of the product to be heated or reheated, and moreover offering the possibility of reproducing the conditions.

  heating or reheating for products of the same type, or even identical.

  In order to achieve these objectives, the invention relates to a device for positioning products, having a form factor, in a cavity of

heating of a microwave oven.

  According to the invention, this device is characterized in that it comprises: On the one hand, adaptation means in the heating cavity, À and, on the other hand, means for positioning at least one product which

  define a shape imprint complementary to that of the product.

  Preferably, but not strictly necessary, the means of

  wind positioning suitable for embedding the product to be heated or reheated.

  This arrangement of the invention then makes it possible for a user of the device to ensure that the product to be heated is properly placed, without having to use great care to achieve precise positioning, insofar as

  the nesting obtained with the imprint guarantees perfect positioning.

  According to a characteristic of the invention, the adjustable wind positioning means, so as to allow modification or adjustment of the shape or dimensions of the imprint which they define according to the product to be heated. The positioning means can then be produced in any suitable manner, such as, for example but not exclusively, by means of two stops, one of which at

less is mobile.

  According to a preferred embodiment, the adjustable positioning means comprise: With removable pins or stops, With housings, for receiving pins, fittings in the carrying structure, so as to define, according to the position of the pins, at least two

types of imprint.

  According to another embodiment of the device according to the invention, the positioning means comprise at least one cradle for receiving the product

to position.

  Depending on the nature of the product to be cooked or reheated, it may appear

  necessary to move the treated product in relation to the source of micro- radiation

  waves during its heating, ahm, for example, to take into account the heterogeneity of the product. This displacement can then be obtained by setting in motion the assembly of the positioning device. However, according to one embodiment of the invention, the positioning device comprises a plate which is adapted to the support structure, so as to be movable relative thereto, and which carries the positioning means. The movement of the plate, relative to the supporting structure, can

then be of different natures.

  Thus, according to a characteristic of the invention, the device comprises

  means for guiding the plate in rotation.

  According to another characteristic of the invention, the supporting structure comprises

  means for guiding the plate in translation.

  Of course, the positioning device could also include guide means making it possible to ensure a movement of the plate which would be a

  combination of rotation and translation.

  According to another characteristic of the invention, in order to allow the device to set in motion, the latter comprises drive means intended for

  cooperate with means of movement offered by the microwave oven.

  The positioning device according to the invention can be produced in any suitable manner, so as to interact as little as possible with the microwave radiation emitted inside the heating cavity. Thus, according to a preferred embodiment, the positioning device is produced in one or more materials transparent to microwaves, such as, for example, glass, ceramics, a plastic material such as that sold under the

denomination Plexiglas or the like.

  The invention also relates to a microwave oven for cooking or reheating food products, of the type comprising at least one microwave source placed in relation to a heating cavity closed by a door, characterized in that that it includes at least one suitable positioning device

in the heating cavity.

  According to a preferred but not strictly necessary characteristic of the invention, the microwave oven comprises means for displacing the imprint at least of the positioning device opposite the microwave source. According to another characteristic of the invention, the microwave oven according to the invention comprises means for extracting, at least in part, the device

  positioning outside the heating cavity when the oven door is opened.

  This advantageous feature of the invention thus allows a user to be able to remove a heated product from the oven without having to put their hands or fingers into the heating cavity and / or tilt the hot product. Thus, the risk of burns or spillage of the heated product is substantially reduced. According to another characteristic of the invention, preferred but not strictly necessary, the positioning device forms a drawer and the microwave oven comprises, in the heating cavity, guides for adapting the positioning device. According to the invention, the door of the heating cavity or of the oven can be of any type, such as, for example, tilting or sliding. However, in accordance with a preferred but not strictly necessary form of the invention, the oven door slides in a substantially horizontal direction, parallel to the direction of introduction of the positioning device into the cavity, in the manner of a drawer, and the oven door then preferably, but not necessarily, hooks the positioning device, in order to ensure an extraction, at least partially, out of the heating cavity when the door is opened . This advantageous characteristic of the invention allows, as has been specified above, to free the positioning imprint outside the cavity of

  heating to facilitate the installation and removal of the product to be heated.

  According to the invention, the oven door and the positioning device can then be linked, either temporarily by a disengageable system, or permanently. Thus, according to an embodiment of the invention, the

  positioning device is supported by the oven door.

  Various other characteristics will emerge from the description below

  made with reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate various non-limiting forms of embodiment of a positioning device and a micro oven

waves according to the invention.

  Fig. 1 is a schematic perspective of a microwave oven according to the invention. Fig.2 is a schematic longitudinal section along the plane II-II of Fig.1. Ffg.3 is a section, similar to fig.2, showing the oven door in

closed position.

  Fig.4 is a schematic cross section along line IV-IV of Fig.3 Fig. 5 is a section, similar to FIG. 4, showing an alternative embodiment of a positioning device according to the invention, incorporating a

mobile rotating table.

  Fig. 6 is a schematic perspective of a positioning device

  in accordance with the invention comprising a plate movable in translation.

  Fig.7 is an elevation, in top view, of a positioning device according to the invention, comprising means for adjusting the dimensions of an imprint carried by the device

  Fig.8 is a section along line VIII-VIII of Fig.7.

  Fig. 9 is a section, substantially similar to FIG. 2, showing another

  embodiment of a positioning device according to the invention.

  Fig. 10 is a schematic cross section of a further form

  different embodiment of a positioning device according to the invention.

  The microwave oven according to the invention, as illustrated in FIG. 1 and generally designated by the reference 1, comprises a frame 2 in which a heating cavity 3 is provided, the access of which is controlled by a door 4. The oven 1 comprises, as shown in fig.2, a microwave source 5 placed in relation to the cavity 3, so as to be able to emit microwaves therefor.

reheat the contents.

  The microwave source 5 may be of any suitable nature and, for example, constituted either by one or more magnetrons or by one or more waveguides intended to convey the waves emitted by one or more magnetrons located at a distance of the cavity 3 in the chassis 2. It should be noted that the microwave sources and the waveguides, which can be used for the manufacture of a microwave oven, are widely known to those skilled in the art and do not enter not within the scope of the present invention, so that it is not necessary to describe them further. According to the illustrated example, the door 4 is of the sliding type, in the manner of a drawer, for moving in substantially horizontal translation in a direction substantially perpendicular to the opening 6 of access to the heating cavity. To this effect, the door 4 is supported by two slides 7 each comprising a rod 8

  sliding in a ring 9 supported by the frame 2, as shown in fig. 2.

  Thus, the door 4 can be moved by means of a handle 10, integral with its facade 11, between a closed position, as illustrated in FIG. 3, and a position

  open, more particularly represented in FIG. 4.

  Of course, within the meaning of the invention, the door 4 is not necessarily sliding and could also be tilting upwards or towards the teas or,

  again, open by lateral pivoting.

  Furthermore, in accordance with the regulatory provisions relating to microwave ovens, the door 4 comprises systems of wave traps, not shown, which are widely known to those skilled in the art and which do not require further

ample description.

  According to an essential characteristic of the invention, the furnace 2 further comprises a device 15 making it possible to ensure positively in the cavity 3 of at least one product 16 to be heated, illustrated diagrammatically in phantom. The positioning device 15 comprises a support structure 17 which is equipped with adaptation means 18 in the heating cavity 3. The adaptation means 18 can be produced in any suitable manner. According to the example illustrated, the support structure 17 is produced in the form of a plate or a drawer having, as can be seen in FIG. 4, a width substantially equal to the width of the cavity 3, so that the wind adaptation means constituted by two opposite and parallel edges 18 of the support structure 17. The edges 18 are then intended to cooperate with slides or rails complementary 19 offered by the two opposite side walls 20 of the cavity 3. Thus, it is obtained a

  precise positioning of the device 15 in the chamber 3.

  The supporting structure 17 further comprises means 21 for positioning at least one product 16 which define an imprint 22, as illustrated in phantom in ffg. 1, with a shape complementary to that of the product 16. According to the example illustrated, the product 16 corresponds to a food packaging tray, so that the imprint 16 is provided to correspond to the shape of the bottom of the tray. The device 15 then makes it possible to ensure, at each heating operation, a placement as precise as possible of the product 16 in the cavity of

heating 3.

  According to the example illustrated, the positioning means 21 wind constituted by four abutments of angles 25 between which the tray 16 is fitted and is therefore perfectly immobilized. The 25 wind angle stops integrated into the

  load-bearing structure 17 and their position thereon cannot be changed.

  The invention therefore proposes to implement, for the same oven 1, different types of positioning devices 15 depending on the products 16 to be heated.

or reheated in enclosure 3.

  In accordance with a preferred, but not strictly necessary, embodiment of the furnace, in order to facilitate the operations of placing and removing the product 16, the furnace 3 comprises means 30 for driving the positioning device 15, in at least part, outside of the heating cavity 3 when the door 4 of the oven is opened. According to the illustrated example, the means 30 include a hook 31, integral with the door 4 and intended to come and engage a "hook 32 brought into the carrying structure 17, so as to cause this

  behind when opening door 4 in the direction of arrow F1.

  Of course, such an embodiment of the means 30 is not compulsory.

  Thus, in the case where the door 4 is tilting, the drive means 30 could be constituted by a mechanical system, motorized or not, integrated into the frame 2 of the oven 1 and adapted to move the positioning device in extension out of the oven 15 when opening the door 4 or after opening of the back. In certain configurations of microwave ovens, the source 5 does not encompass the entire volume of the cavity 3. Thus, it may appear necessary to be able to move the product 16 opposite the microwave source 5, so as, for example, to ensure uniform heating. To this end, the supporting structure 17 has, as shown in ffg. 3 a length less than the length of the cavity 3. In addition, the oven 1 is provided with means 35 for moving the structure 17 which comprise, for example, a pigeon 36 driven by an electric motor, not shown. The pigeon 36 is adapted to mesh with a rack 37, integral with the carrying structure 17. The displacement means are then controlled to, during the operation of the oven and more particularly during the emission of microwaves, animate the carrying structure 17 and done the device 15 of a back and forth movement, as indicated by the double arrow F2, inside the chamber 3. Of course, the drive means 30, carried by the door 4, then wind disengageable, so as to, in the closed position of the door, release the positioning device 15 to allow it to be taken over by the means of

displacement 35 integrated in the oven 2.

  Furthermore, insofar as the objective is to move, during the operation of the oven 1, the product 16 and therefore the footprint 22 in the cavity 3, it is not necessary to move the whole of the structure 17. Thus, according to another embodiment, the device 15 comprises, as illustrated in ffg. 5 and 6, a plate 40 which is adapted on the support structure 17, so as to be movable relative thereto. The plate 40 then carries the positioning means 21

  defining the imprint 23 for receiving the product 16.

  According to the example illustrated in ffg. 5, the plate 40 is adapted so as to be movable in rotation relative to the support structure 17, along a vertical axis A. The

  structure 17 then comprises means 41 for guiding the plate 40 in rotation.

  The guide means 41 can then be produced in any suitable way.

  According to the example illustrated, the support structure 17 has a circular bore 42 in which the plate 40 comes to stall. Furthermore, the displacement means comprise a scabbard 43 intended to come into play, by friction, the plate 40 in

- rotation.

  Of course, the plate 40 could also have means for driving in rotation such as, for example, a toothed crown intended to come to cooperate with a complementary pigeon belonging to the means of

travel 35.

  According to another embodiment, more particularly illustrated in FIG. 6, the plate 40 is adapted to the supporting structure 17, so as to be movable in translation relative to this behind. The supporting structure 17 then comprises means 45 for guiding in translation the plate 40 which can be produced in any suitable manner. According to the example illustrated, the guide means 45 wind constituted by two parallel edges 46 of a light 47, forming a slide, brought into the support structure 17 and in which the plate 40 is engaged. The tray then comprises, in tent as a drive means, a light 48 for receiving a hooking finger, not shown, belonging to the means 3 of displacement 35 integrated

in the oven.

  According to the examples illustrated and described above, the positioning device 15 has positioning means 21 defining an imprint 22 of fixed size and shape. However, such an embodiment is not strictly necessary. Thus, according to a variant embodiment more particularly illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8, the positioning means 21 are adjustable, so as to be able to modify the shape and / or the dimensions of the imprint for receiving the product 16. The modification and the means making it possible to ensure this behind can be carried out in any suitable manner , for example by means of stops mounted on slides integral with the support structure or the plate

integrated into this behind.

  According to the example illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8, akin to authorizing this adjustment, the positioning means 21 comprise removable pins or stops 50, intended to come to stinser in reception housings 51 arrangements in the carrying structure 17, so as to, depending on the position of the pins , to define at least two, and

  according to the illustrated example, three shapes or dimensions of imprints 16, 52, 53.

  According to the examples described above, the supporting structure is intended for

  come stadapter in slides offered by the oven cavity.

  However, in accordance with the invention, such a mode of adaptation is not strictly necessary. Thus, fig. 9 illustrates an embodiment according to which the positioning device 15 is integral with the door 4 on which it is fixed in the wall, so as to follow all the movements thereof. The adaptation means 18 of the device 15 are then formed by a plate 55 for fixing on the internal face 56 of the door, a face which contributes to delimiting the chamber 3 in the closed position of the door. According to the example illustrated in ffg. 10, the adaptation means 18 wind constituted by feet 57 intended to come into contact with the lower wall of the heating chamber, being wedges against the side walls of the chamber 3. Furthermore, according to the examples of ffg. 9 and 10, the positioning means

  21 form a cradle in which the product 16 is embedded.

  Various other modifications can be made to the invention without departing

of his frame.

Claims (16)

  1 - Device for positioning products having a form factor in a heating cavity (3) of a microwave oven (1), characterized in that it comprises a support structure (17) comprising: À d on the one hand, adaptation means (1 8) in the heating cavity (3), À and, on the other hand, positioning means (21) of at least one product (16) which define an imprint (22) of form complementary to that of the product (16).   2-Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the means of   l0 positioning (21) suitable for embotting the product to be heated (16).   3 - Device according to claim l or 2, characterized in that the positioning means (21) are adjustable, so as to allow a modification of the   shape or dimensions of the imprint (22) that they define.   4 -A device according to claim 3, characterized in that the positioning means (21) comprise at least two stops (25.50) including at least one   is movable relative to the other stop.   - Device according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the positioning means (21) comprise: To removable pins or stops (50), To and housings (51) for receiving the pins (50) fittings in the structure carrier, so as to define, according to the position of the pins, at minus two fingerprints (16.52).   6-Device according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the   positioning means (21) comprise at least one cradle for receiving the product to position.   7 - Device according to one of claims l to 6, characterized in that it   comprises a plate (40) which is adapted to the supporting structure (17), so as to   be movable relative thereto and which carries the positioning means (21).   8 - Device according to claim 7, characterized in that the structure   carrier (17) comprises means (41) for guiding the rotation of the plate (40).   9 - Device according to claim 7 or 3, characterized in that the structure   carrier (17) comprises means (45) for guiding in translation of the plate (40).   -Device according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that it   comprises drive means (37) intended to cooperate with means of   moving (35) equipment the microwave oven.   11 - Device according to one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that it forms It's a drawer.   12 - Device according to one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that it is   made in one or more transparent materials in the microwave.   13 - Microwave oven for cooking or reheating food products, of the type comprising a source (5) of microwave emission in a heating cavity (3) closed by a door (4), that it includes at least one positioning device (15)   according to one of claims 1 to 12 which is fitted in the heating cavity (3) and   which defines at least one imprint (22) for a product (16).   14 - Microwave oven, characterized in that it comprises means (35) for moving at least the imprint (22) opposite a source of microphone waves (5).   - Microwave oven, characterized in that it comprises means (30) for entraining, at least in part, the positioning device (15) outside the cavity of   heating (3) when the oven door (4) is opened.   16 - Microwave oven according to one of claims 13 to lS, characterized in that   that it comprises, in the heating cavity, slides (19) for adapting the positioning device (15).   17 - Microwave oven according to one of claims 13 to 16, characterized in that   that the oven door (4) is sliding.   18-Microwave oven according to claim 17, characterized in that the door (4) of the oven slides in a substantially horizontal direction parallel to the direction of introduction of the positioning device (15) into the cavity (3) and comprises attachment means (31) of the positioning device (15), in order to ensure an extraction, at least partial, out of the heating cavity during   the opening of the door, to release the positioning imprint (22).   19-Microwave oven according to claim 18, characterized in that the