Drawer type cooking device

Abstract

The invention provides a drawer type cooking device, wherein the mounting positions of roller-shaped shock absorbing members 10b and 10b attached to a drawer body 2 are either aligned with portions of the side walls 3b and 3b of the heating chamber 3 where fixing angles 8 of the slide rails 7 are attached and thus having enhanced rigidity, or arranged close to a bottom wall 3c of the heating chamber 3, so that when a biased operation force is applied to the door, the generation of a gap between a front side panel of the cooking device body 1 and the inner side of the door is suppressed, and the occurrence of a microwave leakage through the gap caused by not stopping the generation of microwave until the operation of a latch is thereby prevented in advance.

Claims

1. A drawer type cooking device comprising: an outer casing having a front side panel with a rectangular opening; an inner casing with left and right side panels, a rear panel, and top and bottom panels, fit to the outer casing and having a rectangular parallelepiped shape, including a heating chamber formed in the interior thereof having an opening at a front side thereof corresponding to the opening of the outer casing, wherein the left and right side panels are elastic; a drawer body having a drawer-type loading portion capable of being moved into and out of the heating chamber, and a door disposed integrally in a partition-like manner to the front side of the loading portion; a slide mechanism having fixed-side moving members disposed on an outer side of the inner casing and movable-side moving members disposed on the drawer body and capable of moving in sliding motion by engaging with the fixed-slide moving member, for guiding the drawer body to move into and out of the heating chamber; one or more pairs of shock absorbing members disposed on outer sides of both left and right sides of the loading portion so as to oppose the side panels of the inner casing on the inside of the heating chamber, wherein the areas of the side panels opposed to the shock absorbing members are reinforced by a portion of the fixed-side moving members in order to reduce elasticity at the areas, wherein the shock absorbing members come in contact with the respective side panels.

2. The drawer type cooking device according to claim 1, wherein when the door is at a closed state, the pair of shock absorbing members are in internal contact with the side panels at areas close to bent bottom corners of the inner casing where the bottom panel intersects with the side panels of the inner casing.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a drawer type cooking device according to the present invention;

(2) FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional schematic view showing the arrangement of shock absorbing members of the drawer type cooking device illustrated in FIG. 1;

(3) FIG. 3 is a partially cross-sectional front view showing the drawer type coking device having shock absorbing members as illustrated in FIG. 2 with the door removed;

(4) FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional side view showing the drawer type cooking device having shock absorbing members illustrated in FIG. 2 with the drawer body stored;

(5) FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional side view showing the drawer type cooking device illustrated in FIG. 4 with the drawer body drawn out;

(6) FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional plan view of a prior art drawer type cooking device;

(7) FIG. 7 is a partially cross-sectional front view of the prior art drawer type cooking device illustrated in FIG. 6 with the door removed;

(8) FIG. 8 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the prior art drawer type cooking device illustrated in FIG. 6 with the drawer body stored; and

(9) FIG. 9 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the prior art drawer type cooking device illustrated in FIG. 6 with the drawer body drawn out.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(10) Now, the preferred embodiments of the drawer type cooking device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIGS. 1 through 5 illustrate a drawer type microwave oven as one preferred embodiment of the drawer type cooking device according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, a cooking device body 1 includes a heating chamber 3 for heating and cooking an object 6 to be heated. A drawer body 2 is movably disposed in the cooking device body 1 so that the drawer body can be drawn out from within the heating chamber 3 of the cooking device body 1 toward the direction of the arrow. The cooking device has a slide mechanism including slide rails 7 as a mechanism for moving the drawer body 2 within the cooking device body 1. The drawer body 2 is equipped with a door 4 for opening and closing an opening 3a formed in the front side of the heating chamber 3, and a container-like table 5 capable of loading thereon the object 6 to be heated and capable of being moved in and out through the opening of the heating chamber 3. The table 5 has a rear wall 5a erected on the rear side of the table and side walls 5b and 5b erected on the left and right sides so as to surround the table 5, wherein the upper area is opened to enable the object 6 to be heated to be taken into and out of the table, and on the front side of the table is attached a door 4 via engagement or the like. When the door 4 closes the opening 3a of the heating chamber 3, the internal space of the heating chamber 3 is formed as a sealed space defined by the inner walls of the cooking device body 1 and the drawer body 2.

(11) The cooking device body 1 comprises an outer casing, and in the interior of the cooking device body 1, the heating chamber 3 is formed by assembling and welding metal panels or the like as an inner casing having an opening 3a formed in the front side thereof. The cooking device body 1 has a heating chamber assembly having assembled a front side panel 1a which is a substantially rectangular metal panel having an opening that corresponds to the opening 3a. Slide rails 7 for guiding the drawer body 2 slidably with respect to the cooking device body 1 are disposed at three locations on the outer side of the heating chamber 3, that is, on both outer sides of the left and right sides thereof and the outer side of the bottom portion thereof. A driving mechanism using an electric motor can be assembled with the slide rail disposed on the outer side of the bottom portion thereof, and in that case, the drawer body 2 can be automatically drawn out and stored via the drive mechanism. In the stored position where the table 5 is completely stored in the heating chamber 3, the door 4 can close the opening on the front side panel 1a (opening of the heating chamber 3).

(12) In microwave ovens, a latch mechanism as gap detection means must be disposed so as to ensure the operation of a switch for starting and stopping the power supply to the heating source during the opening and closing of the door 4. The latch mechanism is operated to ensure positive engagement when the door 4 is at a closed state, and to enable prompt separation when the door 4 is opened. As for the location of the latch mechanism, since the drawer body 2 moves linearly in the horizontal direction in drawer type cooking devices, the latch mechanism can be disposed in any arbitrary position from the position near the front side panel 1a of the cooking device body 1 to the area near the rear end of the slide rail 7. An example is illustrated (FIG. 2, FIG. 6) in which latch heads 11 and 11 are disposed on the deepest ends of the slide rails 7, and latch hooks 12 and 12 capable of being engaged with the latch heads 11 and 11 when the door 4 is at a closed state are disposed on the inner side of the depth wall of the heating chamber 3, so that the latch switch is turned on when the latch heads 11 and 11 are engaged with the latch hooks 12 and 12, but the latch mechanism can also be disposed on two symmetric portions on the left and right sides of the opening 3a near the front side panel 1a.

(13) When the drawer body 2 is at a stored state in the heating chamber 3, a clearance in the horizontal direction exists between the drawer body 2 and the inner walls (side walls 3b and 3b and bottom wall 3c) of the heating chamber 3. Therefore, when the drawer body 2 is moved crookedly in the horizontal direction, the outer side wall of the drawer body may collide against the inner wall of the heating chamber 3 at the depth portion, and if the drawer body is opened or closed in that manner, the drawer body may scrape against the inner side of the heating chamber 3. In order to prevent such collision and scraping from occurring, a roller assembly 10 in which roller-shaped shock absorbing members formed of plastic material are supported in axially-rotatable manner on the outer side of the end portion 2a of the drawer body 2 in an intervened position with the inner wall of the heating chamber 3. The roller assembly 10 is composed of side shock absorbing members 10b and 10b exerting a shock absorbing action with respect to the side walls 3b and 3b of the heating chamber 3, and a lower shock absorbing member 10c exerting a shock absorbing action with respect to the bottom wall 3c of the heating chamber 3.

(14) During the jerk microwave leakage test, when a force to twist the door 4 in the horizontal direction is applied to the door 4 by holding one end of the handle 4a, one of the side shock absorbing members 10b and 10b is pushed against the wall surface of the side wall 3b of the heating chamber 3. The thickness of the side walls 3b and 3b of the heating chamber 3 is reduced year by year, since the side walls are not required to ensure mechanical strength. Further, the side walls 3b and 3b are designed to elastically deform when pressing force is applied thereto from the side shock absorbing members 10b and 10b. Therefore, when the drawer body 2 is operated to move in a horizontally torsional manner, the roller assembly 10 is designed so that the side shock absorbing members 10b and 10b relieve the shock of collision against the side walls 3b and 3b, and as for the moving operation, the roller-shaped shock absorbing members are rotated so as to prevent the drawer body from scraping against the side walls 3b and 3b.

(15) As illustrated in FIGS. 6 through 9, according to prior art cooking devices (microwave ovens), the side shock absorbing members 10b and 10b are disposed at positions close to the lower shock absorbing member 10c, and the areas of the side walls 3b and 3b where the side shock absorbing members 10b and 10b come into contact therewith are basically not reinforced. As a result, when the drawer body 2 moves in a horizontally torsional manner, the roller-shaped side shock absorbing member 10b corresponding to the direction of distortion comes into contact with the side wall 3b of the heating chamber 3, and the side wall 3b elastically deforms and is displaced in the direction in which the side shock absorbing member 10b is pressed against the wall. The drawer body 2 is displaced further toward the direction of distortion by the displacement of the side wall 3b, by which a gap g is formed between the front side panel 1a and the inner side of the door 4, through which microwave leakage occurs. The present inventor has discovered through comprehensive analysis of the results of repeated jerk microwave leakage tests of the prior art cooking devices that the microwave leakages occurring during the tests are caused by such structural factor.

(16) Based on such discovery, the collision of the drawer body 2 of the side walls 3b and 3b of the heating chamber 3 itself is considered to be caused only during transportation for distribution of cooking device products, but in the present invention, the consideration to the shock absorbing effect during collision of the drawer body 2 to the side walls 3b and 3b is set as a low priority item, and higher priority is given to conform to the jerk microwave leakage test. In other words, when the thickness of the heating chamber components is reduced, the rigidity of the contact portions of the side walls 3b and 3b of the heating chamber where the upper side shock absorbing members 10b and 10b come into contact therewith is increased such as by utilizing angle components 8 of the slide rails 7, so that the contact portions of the side walls 3b of the heating chamber 3 will not deform by the pressure applied from the side shock absorbing members 10b, and the drawer body 2 will not be displaced in the torsional direction. In this manner, no gap will be formed between the front side panel 1a of the cooking device body component and the inner side of the door 4 of the drawer body 2, according to which a microwave leakage-free drawer type microwave oven capable of passing the jerk microwave leakage test can be obtained.

(17) Other possible measures for forming a microwave leakage-free drawer type microwave oven capable of passing the jerk microwave leakage test while reducing the thickness of the components of the heating chamber and enhancing the rigidity of the side walls 3b and 3b of the heating chamber 3 include increasing the thickness of the plate members, especially the side walls 3b and 3b, constituting the heating chamber 3, disposing reinforcement ribs to the side walls 3b and 3b, or additionally providing reinforcement members to the areas of the side walls 3b and 3b where side shock absorbing members 10b and 10b come into contact therewith. However, it is difficult to actually adopt such measures, since they run counter to the intension of reducing the weight of the device and cutting down the costs thereof.

(18) In the present drawer type microwave oven, the areas of the heating chamber 3 occupied by the side shock absorbing members 10b and 10b when the drawer body 2 is at a stored state in the heating chamber 3 are aligned with the attachment areas of fixing angles 8 and 8 arranged on the rear side of the side walls 3b and 3b of the heating chamber 3 for attaching the slide rails 7 and 7 to the cooking device body 1. According to such aligned arrangement, at the contact positions where the side shock absorbing members 10b apply pressure to the side walls 3a and 3a of the heating chamber 3, the fixing angles 8 and 8 reinforce the side walls 3b and 3b from behind so that the rigidity of the side walls 3b and 3b is increased. Further, since the pressing force of the side shock absorbing members 10b and 10b applied on the side walls 3b and 3b is received by the reinforced side walls 3b and 3b, the deformation of the side walls 3b and 3b can be suppressed. Thus, since no gap g is formed between the front side panel 1a of the cooking device body 1 and the inner side of the door 4, microwave leakage will not occur during the jerk microwave leakage test, and the present drawer type microwave oven will pass the jerk microwave leakage test.

(19) As described, according to the present invention, when the plate thickness of the side walls 3b and 3b of the heating chamber 3 is reduced, the rigidity of the contact portion of the side walls 3b and 3b of the heating chamber 3 coming into contact with the side shock absorbing members 10b and 10b can be improved without attaching additional reinforcement members, so that the costs for manufacturing the heating chamber 3 can be cut down. Furthermore, even if the door handle 4a adopts a linear pole shape design disposed in parallel to the front side of the door enabling the user to hold and apply a door opening/closing force at arbitrary positions instead of the door handle shape design enabling the user to only hold the center portion so as not to apply any torsional force to the door 4, the present cooking device can prevent microwave leakage through the door caused by the operating force of the user, and the design limitation of the door handle can substantially be solved.

(20) Further, when the panel thickness of the side walls 3b and 3b of the heating chamber 3 is reduced, as shown in FIG. 7, it is possible to arrange the upper roller-shaped side shock absorbing members 10b and 10b near the bent bottom corner portions where the bottom wall 3c of the heating chamber 3 formed as an inner casing intersects with the side walls 3b and 3b when the door 4 is at a closed state. According to such arrangement, the side shock absorbing members 10b and 10b come into contact with the corner portions of the bottom wall where the structural rigidity is highest in the heating chamber 3 and therefore is least likely to deform, according to which the elastic deformation of the side walls 3b and 3b of the heating chamber 3 can be suppressed even further, which is desirable since distortion of the drawer body 2 is less likely to occur. According to the present example, even when the panel thickness of the structural members of the heating chamber 3 is reduced, the strength of the side walls 3b and 3b of the heating chamber 3 is sufficient so that it will not be elastically deformed by the pressure applied thereto from the drawer body 2. Therefore, microwave leakage will not occur during the jerk microwave leakage test according to the present drawer type microwave oven, and the microwave oven will pass the jerk microwave leakage test.

(21) The above-described arrangement of the present invention is desirable, since when the panel thickness of the side walls 3b and 3b of the heating chamber 3 is reduced, the side walls will still have sufficient rigidity with respect to the rotation of the drawer body when the door is at a completely closed state, which corresponds to the state of the jerk microwave leakage test, but when the door is at a opened state, the rotation of the drawer body is supported in a flexible manner by the elastic force of the side wall panels of the heating chamber, so that even if the user bumps against the drawer body from the side direction, the shock thereof is desirably relieved.