GB2292509A

GB2292509A - Microwave cooking vessel with energy concentration

Info

Publication number: GB2292509A
Application number: GB9516698A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Jung Suk Jo
Original assignee: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
Current assignee: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
Priority date: 1994-08-19
Filing date: 1995-08-15
Publication date: 1996-02-21
Also published as: JPH0866305A; KR0143181B1; KR960006849A; GB9516698D0

Abstract

A microwave cooking vessel (30a) is provided with structures (31a) on its base which serve to concentrate microwave energy, incident thereon, within the vessel. The concentration of microwave energy within the vessel is said to improve cooking such as popping of corn. The structures (31a) may comprise polyhedral protrusion from the vessel, or polyhedral or rounded depressions on the inside of the vessel. A perforated lid which allows the escape of hot gases while preventing the escape of foodstuff is also described. <IMAGE>

Description

Cooking Vessel for Microwave Cooking Description The present invention relates to a cooking vessel for microwave cooking.

Referring to Figure 1, a conventional pop corn cooking vessel comprises a paper vacuum pack 10 which is coated with a cooking fat, such as margarine, on an inner surface and contains grains of corn.

The conventional paper pack 10 suffers from the problem that the corn (P) is not uniformly heating, resulting in some of the corn remaining uncooked.

This problem arises because the structure of the pack 10 is not configured to receive high frequency waves incident from various angles.

There is another problem with the conventional paper pack 10 in that, the pre-cooked corns which have "popped" tend to be burnt during re-cooking, and electric power consumption is increased due to extension of the cooking time.

A further undesirable characteristic of the pack 10 is that it is intended to be disposed of after a single use, thereby increasing environmental pollution.

It is an aim of the present invention to overcome the aforementioned problems of the prior art.

According to the present invention, there is provided a microwave cooking vessel having a base portion provided with a plurality of media interface regions, wherein the interface regions are arranged such that microwave energy incident onto the outside of the base portion tends to be concentrated in the vessel.

Preferably, the interface regions comprises interfaces between the ambient atmosphere and the material forming the vessel.

The interface regions may comprise surfaces of polyhedral body protruding from the base portion, or surfaces of a polyhedral or rounded depression in an internal surface of the vessel.

Where the surfaces are of a polyhedron, they are preferably triangular or pentagonal.

Preferably, the vessel includes an apertured lid which allows hot gasses to escape but prevents the escape of popping corn.

In a preferred embodiment, the cooking vessel comprises: a vessel body formed with a many-sided body unit thereunder so that various kinds of food such as corns and the like contained therein can be uniformly heated and cooked by high frequency waves incident from various angle through a floor thereof; and a vessel lid coupled to an upper area of the vessel body so as to cause the heat generated in the course of cooking various kinds of food such as corns and the like to be discharged outside of the vessel body and to prevent the food from being bolted out of the vessel body.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to Figures 2 to 9 of the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a sectional view illustrating a pop corn cooking process using a conventional paper pack in a microwave oven; Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a cooking vessel and a lid according to a first embodiment of the present invention; Figure 3 is a plan view of the cooking vessel illustrated in Figure 2; Figure 4 is a bottom plan view of the cooking vessel illustrated in Figure 2; Figure 5 is a side view of the cooking vessel illustrated in Figure 2; Figure 6 is a longitudinal sectional view along A-A line in Figure 4; Figure 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of a cooking vessel according to a second embodiment of the present invention;; Figure 8 is a longitudinal sectional view of a cooking vessel according to a third embodiment of the present invention; and Figure 9 is a schematical diagram illustrating how the use of a cooking vessel according to the present invention.

A first embodiment of the present invention will now be described.

Referring to Figures 2 to 6, a vessel body 30a has a many-sided body unit 31 centrally located at its floor and a radially outwardly extending flange 32a at its rim for connecting the body 30a to a lid 40. The many-sided body unit 31a protrudes from the exterior surface of the floor of the vessel body 30a.

The many-sided body unit 31a comprises a combination of a plurality of pyramid-like structures. A foot 33 is provides at the apex of each of the pyramid-like structures for preventing abrasion and slippage of the vessel body 30a during use.

The vessel lid 40 is generally disc-like and is provided with a plurality of holes 41, arranged at a regular interval. The lid prevents food, such a popping corn, escaping during cooking while allowing the discharge of hot gasses.

An annular flange 42 extends from periphery of the lid 40 and is provided with two detents 43 for clipping the lid 40 to the flange 32a on the body 30a.

The detents 43 interact with the flange 32a such that the lid 40 will not separate from the vessel body 30a during cooking but can be removed by a user.

The body 30a and the lid 40 are made either of heat-resistant glass or synthetic resm.

Now, effea and operation of the present invention thus construaed will be described.

For convenience sake, a method of cooking pop corn will be described with reference to the vessel shown in Figure 5.

First of all, a large quantity of grains of corn (P) are put into the vessel body 3oL The opening on the body 30a is covered by the lid 40, and the body 30a is placed on the turntable 22 of a microwave oven 20 (Figure 9). Then the door (not shown) of the microwave oven 20 is closed When electric power is applied to the microwave oven 20, high frequency waves generated a magnetron 23 figure 9) propagate along waveguide 24 in the direction of the dotted line and are introduced to the cavity 21 of the microwave oven 20 through holes (not shown) arranged at an upper wall of the cavity 21.

Microwave energy penetrates into and is absorbed by the grains of corn (P) in the vessel body 30a, so that they are heated and caused to pop.

The microwaves incident on the floor of the vessel body 30a are refracted at various angles by the many-sided body unit 31a and penetrate into the body 30a, to thereby cause the grains of corn in the body 30a to be uniformly heated and cooked quickly.

In other words, the high frequency waves irradiated to the floor of the body 30a are incident in various angles by the many-sided body unit 31a provided centrally at the floor thereof and penetrate into the body 30a, to thereby cause the large quantity of corns in the body 30a to be uniformly heated and cooked quickly.

Second and third embodiment of the present invention will now be described.

Referring to Figure 7, in the second embodiment of the present invention, a many-sided structure 31b comprise depressions in internal floor surface of a vessel body 30b. The surfaces of the depressions comprise combinations of triangles and/or pentagons.

Referring to Figure 8, In the third embodiment of the present invention, a many-sided structure 31c comprise depressions in internal floor surface of a vessel body 30b. The depressions comprises a plurality of rounded indentations.

Having described specific preferred embodiments of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to those precise embodiments, and that various changes and modifications may be effected therein by one skilled in the art.

Claims

1. A microwave cooking vessel having a base portion provided with a plurality of media interface regions, wherein the interface regions are arranged such that microwave energy incident onto the outside of the base portion tends to be concentrated in the vessel.

2. A vessel according to claim 1, the interface regions comprises interfaces between the ambient atmosphere and the material forming the vessel.

3. A vessel according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the interface regions comprise surfaces of polyhedral body protruding from the base portion.

4. A vessel according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the interface regions comprise surfaces of a polyhedral depression in an internal surface of the vessel.

5. A vessel according to claim 3 or 4, wherein said surfaces are triangular or pentagonal.

6. A vessel according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the interface regions comprise the surface of a rounded depression in an internal surface of the vessel.

7. A vessel according to any preceding claim, including an apertured lid.

8. A cooking vessel of a microwave oven, the cooking vessel comprising: a vessel body formed with a many-sided body unit thereunder so that various kinds of food such as corns and the like contained therein can be uniformly heated and cooked by high frequency waves incident from various angles through a floor thereof; and a vessel lid coupled to an upper area of the vessel body so as to cause the heat generated in the course of cooking various kinds of food such as corns and the like to be discharged outside of the vessel body and to prevent the food from being bolted out of the vessel body.

9. A cooking vessel of a microwave oven as defined in claim 8, wherein the many-sided body unit is protrudingly formed at an external surface of the vessel body.

10. A cooking vessel of a microwave oven as defined in claim 8, wherein the many-sided body unit is concavely provided on an inner floor surface of the vessel body.

11. A cooking vessel of a microwave oven as defined in daim 8, wherein the many-sided body unit is formed in a shape thereof in a combination of a plurality of triangles.

12. A cooking vessel of a microwave oven as defined in claim 8, wherein the many-sided body unit is formed in a shape thereof in a combination of a plurality of pentagons.

13. A cooking vessel of a microwave oven as defined in claim 8, wherein the many-sided body unit is provided in a shape thereof in a combination of a plurality of round forms.

14. A cooking vessel of a microwave oven as defined in claim 8, wherein the vessel lid is formed at a flat surface thereof with a plurality of holes at a regular interval.

15. A microwave cooking vessel substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 2 to 6 of the accompanying drawings.

16. A microwave cooking vessel substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figure 7 of the accompanying drawings.

17. A microwave cooking vessel substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figure 8 of the accompanying drawings.