Patent ID: 11862432
Assignee: MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORPORATION
Field: Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H | IPC H

Claim 0:
1. A microwave heating device, comprising:
a heating chamber capable of storing therein a heating target and having walls each made of a conductor;
a microwave generator to generate a microwave;
at least one radiation element to radiate, into the heating chamber, the microwave generated by the microwave generator, the radiation element being provided at one of the walls;
at least one hollow dielectric member in which a gas is sealed, the hollow dielectric member having electrodes at both end portions thereof; and
processing circuitry to control a state of the hollow dielectric member; and to adjust a current to be applied to the electrodes of the hollow dielectric member, the processing circuitry being connected to the electrodes;
wherein the at least one hollow dielectric member is provided along one of the walls which is other than the wall at which the radiation element is provided; and
wherein the processing circuitry controls the state of the hollow dielectric member so that the hollow dielectric member is put into one of states of: a plasma state in which the microwave is reflected by the gas; a plasma state in which the microwave is absorbed by the gas; and a gas state in which the microwave is allowed to be transmitted through the gas.