KR20050024692A - Microwave oven and control method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A microwave oven and a control method thereof are provided to achieve compact size, a simple assembling process, and low production cost, by having a convection function and a stirrer function by one fan. CONSTITUTION: A microwave oven comprises a cooking chamber(102) in which an object is received and cooked; a magnetron(116) producing microwaves; a heater(108) installed to the upper part of the cooking chamber to heat air in the cooking chamber; and a fan rotatably installed to the upper part of the cooking chamber to make one of dispersion of the microwaves and convection of the air in the cooking chamber achieved through rotation. A wave guide(114) for leading the microwaves to the inside of the cooking chamber is installed to the outer upper part of the cooking chamber.

Description

Microwave oven and its control method {MICROWAVE OVEN AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a microwave oven, and more particularly, to a microwave oven having a magnetron for generating microwaves and a heater for generating convection heat, and a control method thereof.

Microwave ovens can be classified into single-function microwave ovens and multi-functional microwave ovens according to the provided heating means. The microwave oven irradiates microwaves into the cooking chamber by a magnetron installed in the battlefield so that food placed on the tray may be cooked. In the multi-functional microwave oven, a separate heater is installed on the upper side of the cooking chamber, and a convection fan is installed on the rear side of the cooking chamber to cook the surface of food with the heat generated from the heater, or to cook food using both the microwave and the heater. It is equipped with various functions.

Such a multifunctional microwave oven requires a stirrer fan for evenly dispersing microwaves generated in the magnetron in the cooking chamber together with a convection fan for convection of the air heated by the heater in the cooking chamber. If a convection fan and a stirrer fan are separately provided in a microwave oven, it takes up a lot of installation space and the appearance of the microwave will increase. In addition, the increase in the number of parts and the resulting increase in the assembly process causes a rise in the production cost of the product.

The microwave oven and the method of controlling the same according to the present invention are intended to realize a compact product size, a simple assembly process, and a low production cost by combining a convection function and a stirrer function with a single fan.

The microwave oven according to the present invention for this purpose includes a cooking compartment in which food is accommodated and cooked. The magnetron generates microwaves, and a heater is installed above the cooking chamber to heat air in the cooking chamber. The pan is rotatably installed on the upper portion of the cooking chamber to rotate at least one of microwave dispersion and convection of air inside the cooking chamber.

Such a method for controlling a microwave includes rotating the pan at a first rotational speed in a cooking mode using microwaves and a cooking mode using both a microwave and a heater, and rotating the pan in a cooking mode using only a heater alone. Rotate at rotation speed.

The preferred embodiment of the microwave oven and the control method according to the present invention made as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of a microwave oven according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, a tray 118 for rotating food is provided at a lower portion of the cooking chamber 102. In addition, a pan 106 having a convection function and a stirrer function is rotatably installed at an upper portion of the cooking chamber 102, and a heater 108 for heating the air inside the cooking chamber 102 is fixedly installed below the cooking chamber 102. . The magnetron 116 for generating microwaves is installed in the electrical equipment room 104, and the microwaves generated from the magnetron 116 are provided in the cooking chamber through the wave guide 114 provided on the outer upper portion of the cooking chamber 102. 102) supplied internally. A plurality of holes 120 are formed in the upper surface of the cooking chamber 102, so that microwaves are incident into the cooking chamber 102 through the holes 120. The microwaves incident through the holes 120 are evenly distributed inside the cooking chamber 102 by the rotation of the pan 106. The rotation of the pan 106 also convections the air inside the cooking chamber 102. The fan 106 is mechanically connected to the fan motor 112 installed above the wave guide 114 through the rotation shaft 110. The male screw 106a is formed in the center of the fan 106, and the female screw 110a is formed in the rotation shaft 110 so that the male screw 106a can be coupled. The combination of the male screw 106a and the female screw 110a facilitates the coupling and disengagement of the fan shaft 112 and the rotational shaft 110 of the fan motor 112. That is, the fan 106 can be cleaned, repaired or replaced very easily.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control system of the microwave oven shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 2, an input unit 204 is connected to an input terminal of the controller 202 that controls the overall operation of the microwave oven. The input unit 204 is provided with a cooking mode setting button for allowing a user to set a cooking mode or a numeric button for setting cooking conditions such as a cooking time. The magnetron driver 208, the fan driver 212, the tray motor driver 216, the display driver 220, and the heater driver 224 are respectively connected to the output terminal of the controller 202. The magnetron driver 208 drives the magnetron 116 to generate microwaves. The fan driver 212 drives the fan motor 112 to rotate the fan 106 to perform the convection function and the stirrer function. The tray motor driver 216 drives the tray motor 218 to rotate the tray 118 in the cooking chamber. The display driver 220 drives the display unit 222 to display help, cooking information, setting values, and the like, for the cooking mode. The heater driver 224 drives the heater 108 to heat and convection the air in the cooking chamber 102.

The controller 202 may drive only one of the magnetron 116 and the heater 108 alone or may drive both the magnetron 116 and the heater 108 according to the cooking mode selected by the user so that the corresponding cooking mode is performed. do. At this time, the fan 106 is used as a convection pan in the cooking mode using the heater 108 alone, and is used as a stirrer and convection pan in the cooking mode using the heater 108 and the magnetron 116 in parallel. In addition, the control unit 202 controls the pan 106 to rotate at different speeds according to each cooking mode, which will be described with reference to FIG. 3 as follows.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling a microwave oven according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, if a cooking mode is selected by the user (302), it is determined whether the selected cooking mode is a cooking mode using both the magnetron 116 and the heater 108 (304).

If the selected cooking mode is a cooking mode using both the magnetron 116 and the heater 108, the half speed power is supplied to the fan motor 112 to adjust the rotation speed of the fan 106 to 35 rpm, and then the cooking is performed. Proceed to mode (308). At this time, the fan 106 basically acts as a stirrer fan and at the same time performs some degree of convection. When operating the stirrer fan, if the rotation speed of the fan 106 is too fast, it is difficult to supply half-wave power to adjust the rotation speed to about 35 rpm.

Even if the cooking mode selected by the user is a cooking mode using only the magnetron 116 (310), after supplying half-wave power to the fan motor 112, the rotation speed of the fan 106 is adjusted to 35 rpm (306). The cooking mode proceeds to operation 308. At this time, the fan 106 operates only as a stirrer fan.

Finally, when the cooking mode selected by the user is a cooking mode using only the heater 108 alone (312), the electric power is supplied to the fan motor 112 to increase the rotation speed of the fan 106 to 500 rpm, and then ( In operation 308, the cooking mode is performed.

That is, when the cooking mode selected by the user is a cooking mode using both the magnetron 116 and the heater 108 or a cooking mode using only the magnetron 116, the rotation speed of the pan 106 is relatively lowered to allow the stirrer function. In the case of a cooking mode using only the heater 108, the rotation speed of the fan 106 is relatively increased to perform the convection function.

The microwave oven and its control method according to the present invention combine a convection function and a stirrer function with a single fan to realize a compact product size, a simple assembly process, and a low production cost. In addition, since the installation structure of the fan is removable, easy maintenance.

1 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of a microwave oven according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control system of the microwave oven shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling a microwave oven according to an embodiment of the present invention.

* Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings *

102: cooking room

104: battlefield

106: fan

108: heater

110: rotation axis

112: fan motor

114: wave guide

116: magnetron

Claims (9)

A cooking chamber in which food is accommodated and cooked; A magnetron for generating microwaves; A heater installed at an upper portion of the cooking chamber to heat air in the cooking chamber; And a fan installed on the upper portion of the cooking compartment to rotate so that at least one of the microwave dispersion and the convection of the air inside the cooking compartment is performed. The method of claim 1, And a wave guide for guiding the microwaves into the cooking compartment at an outer upper portion of the cooking compartment. The method of claim 1, Microwave oven that is installed so that the fan is removable. The method of claim 1, At least a rotational speed of the pan in the cooking mode using only the heater alone than at least a rotational speed of the pan in the cooking mode using the microwaves. The method of claim 1, Using half-wave power when in a cooking mode using the microwave and in a cooking mode using both the microwave and the heater; A microwave oven using radio wave power when in a cooking mode using only the heater. The cooking chamber in which food is stored and cooked, a magnetron generating microwaves, a heater installed at an upper portion of the cooking chamber to heat air in the cooking chamber, and rotatably installed at an upper portion of the cooking chamber to rotate the microwaves. In the control method of the microwave oven comprising a fan to allow both the convection of the air inside the cooking chamber, Rotating the pan at a first rotational speed when in a cooking mode using the microwave and in a cooking mode using both the microwave and the heater; The control method of the microwave oven which rotates the said fan at a 2nd rotation speed in the cooking mode using only the said heater alone. The method of claim 6, And the second rotation speed is higher than the first rotation speed. The method of claim 7, wherein A fan motor for rotating the fan; Supplying half-wave power to the fan motor to rotate the fan at the first rotational speed; And a radio wave power supply to the fan motor to rotate the fan at the second rotational speed. The method of claim 6, The first rotational speed is 35 rpm; And the second rotation speed is 500 rpm.