Method and apparatus for uniform microwave heating of an article using resonant slots
US5369250A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 25, 1992 |
| Grant date | Nov 29, 1994 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 25, 2012 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH05B6/708
- WIPO fieldElectrical machinery, apparatus, energy
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
In the heat treatment of food particularly pre-packed food it is important to control the temperature and to provide uniform heat distribution within the article, By using a number of microwave emission slots in a waveguide which are brought to resonance in the presence of pre-packed articles carried over the slots by a conveyor the rate of rise of temperature within the article is controlled without unnecessary energy loss between articles carried seriatim on the conveyor The slots may be set obliquely to the direction of passage of the article Alternatively the slots may be formed by a series of smaller slots staggered obliquely across the waveguide so that the presence of the article tunes each of the slots in turn as it passes over the waveguide. The slots may be covered with low-loss dielectric material to prevent extraneous matter falling into the slots and to space the article from the slots so as to control power dissipated.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.