Microwave oven having improved structure for extracting power supply cord

Disclosed is a microwave oven comprising a body divided into a cooking chamber and a device chamber, a heater installed at an upper portion of the cooking chamber, a magnetron installed in the device chamber of the body, a high voltage condenser and a high voltage transformer, and a power supply cord for supplying electric power to the components installed in the cooking chamber and the device chamber. The power supply cord is extracted out of the body through an opening formed at a bottom panel of the body. The power supply cord is extracted through the opening formed at the bottom panel of the body. Thus, the damage of the power supply cord due to the heat of the rear panel of the body which is heated by the heater is prevented.

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 an improved structure wherein a power supply cord 
is extracted through a bottom surface thereof. 
2. Description of the Prior Arts 
Generally, a microwave oven is an appliance for cooking a food by employing 
a microwave of high frequency. The microwave oven is popular these days 
for its advantage that it cooks the food in a relatively short time while 
maintaining the original shape of the cooked object. 
Structure of the microwave oven is briefly described with reference to FIG. 
1. 
As shown, a body 10 of the microwave oven constructed with a plurality of 
panels has a cooking chamber 10a and a device chamber 10b. 
The cooking chamber 10a is a space that a food is received and cooked 
therein. A rotatable tray 21 is positioned at the bottom of the cooking 
chamber 10a. During the cooking operation, the rotatable plate 21 is 
rotated by a rotating motor (not shown) installed at a lower portion 
thereof. A heater (not shown) for performing a baking, roasting, heating, 
etc. is also installed at an upper portion of the cooking chamber 10a. 
The device chamber 10b is installed with a magnetron 32 for producing a 
microwave required for cooking the food, a high voltage transformer 23 for 
applying a high voltage to the magnetron 22, a high voltage condenser 24, 
and so on. In addition, a cooling fan 25 for cooling the heat of above 
components is fixed on a rear panel 11 of the body 10 which defines a 
device chamber 10b. 
In addition, the cooking chamber 10a is installed with a door 30 for 
opening/closing the cooking chamber 10a on a front thereof, and the device 
chamber 10b is installed with a control panel 40 for inputting cooking and 
operational conditions on a front thereof. 
Meanwhile, components installed within the cooking chamber 10a and the 
device chamber 10b are operated by a power supplied through a filter 
section 26 which is connected with a power supply cord 27. 
The filter section 26 functions to block the microwave of high frequency 
not to outflow through the power supply cord 27. Another function of the 
filter section 26 is that it filters unadjusted electric current flowing 
into the inner portion of the microwave oven through the power supply cord 
27. 
Conventionally, the filter section 26 is positioned at an upper side of the 
cooling fan 25, and accordingly, the power supply cord 27 connected 
therewith is extracted out through the upper rear side of the body 10 as 
shown in FIG. 2. 
More specifically, the body 10 is installed with a bushing 28 having an 
opening at a upper side of the rear panel 11, and the power supply cord 27 
is extracted outside the body 10 from the filter section 26 through the 
opening of the bushing 28. The bushing 28 is made of a nonconducting 
substance so that it is not damaged by the heat of the rear panel 11 
during the cooking operation. 
The conventional microwave oven having such a structure that the power 
supply cord is extracted out through the upper side of the rear panel, 
however, has drawbacks as follows. 
Since the area which the power supply cord is extracted through, i.e., the 
bushing is a nonconductor of the heat, it is not damaged from the heat of 
the rear panel which is heated during the cooking operation. However, the 
problem arises in that some portion of the power supply cord which is 
extracted out extends down along the rear panel. Thus, when the extracted 
part of the power cord comes in contact with the heated rear panel, the 
power supply cord can be damaged from the heat thereof. 
Moreover, the power supply cord is merely connected with the filter section 
through the opening of the bushing. Accordingly, if physical force is 
exerted to the power supply cord, the latter may be easily pulled out from 
the filter section. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to prevent the power 
supply cord from being in contact with the rear panel of the body by 
improving the extracting structure of a power supply cord. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improvement to the 
extracting structure of the power supply cord, which prevent the power 
supply cord from being pulled out from the filter section even though a 
strong force is applied thereto. 
In order to achieve above objects, the present invention provides a 
microwave oven comprising: a body divided into a cooking chamber and a 
device chamber; a heater installed at an upper portion of said cooking 
chamber; a magnetron installed in said device chamber of said body, said 
magnetron for producing microwave; a high voltage condenser and a high 
voltage transformer; and a power supply cord for supplying electric power 
to the components installed in said cooking chamber and said device 
chamber, wherein said power supply cord is extracted out of said body 
through an opening formed at a bottom panel of said body. 
Another object of the present invention is achieved by installing a member 
for clamping said power supply cord. The clamping member comprises a 
clamping section for clamping said power supply cord, and a fixing section 
for fastening said clamping section onto the bottom panel of said body. 
Furthermore, a bushing is disposed between the opening formed at the bottom 
panel of said body and said power supply cord extracted therethrough. A 
lower end of said bushing rests on a support surface so that the bushing 
functions as a foot for supporting the body, and the opening is formed at 
a circumference of said bushing. 
According to the present invention, the power supply cord is extracted 
through the opening formed at the bottom panel of the body. Thus, the 
damage of the power supply cord due to the heat of the rear panel of the 
body which is heated by a heat is prevented. Furthermore, since the 
clamping member installed at the upper part of the opening firmly clamps 
the power supply cord, the power supply is not disconnected by the outside 
force.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Hereinafter, the preferred embodiment of the present invention will be 
described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
The basic constitution of the microwave oven of the present invention is 
identical with that of the conventional microwave oven shown in FIG. 1. 
Therefore, description of the same part will be skipped, and attentions 
are now invited only to a main part of the present invention, a power 
supply extracting structure. 
FIGS. 3 through 5 show a power supply extracting structure according to the 
first preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
According to the first embodiment of the present invention, a body 110 is 
formed with an opening 112a at a bottom panel 112 thereof, through which a 
power supply cord 127 is extracted out. Accordingly, the power supply cord 
127 connected with a filter section 126 passes through the opening 112a 
and then finally extracted out toward a lower portion of the bottom panel 
112. 
The bottom panel 112 is installed with a clamping member 150 at an upper 
side of the opening 112a thereof. 
The clamping member 150 includes a clamping section 151 and a fixing 
section 152. The clamping section 151 has a downwardly falling clamping 
face of semi-cylindrical shape, and the inner diameter thereof is 
identical to a diameter of the power supply cord 127. The fixing section 
152 is fastened onto the bottom panel 112 of the body 110 by a bolt 153. 
When the bolt 153 is assembled with the fixing section 152, the clamping 
section presses the power supply cord 127 downward against an upper 
surface of the bottom panel, and thereby the power supply cord 127 is 
clamped so as to be fixed. 
As described, the power supply cord 127 is extracted out to the underside 
of the bottom panel 112 of the body 110 through the opening 112a formed at 
the bottom panel 112. 
Meanwhile, FIGS. 6 through 8 show a second embodiment of the present 
invention. 
According to the second preferred embodiment of the present invention, the 
opening 212a for extracting the power supply cord 227 is formed at the 
bottom panel 212 of the body 210. Accordingly, the power supply cord 227 
connected with the filter section 226 is extracted out through the bottom 
panel 212 of the body 210. 
A bushing 250 is inserted into the opening 212a. The lower face 250a of the 
bushing 250 rests upon the support surface on which the microwave oven 
stands, so the bushing 250 functions as a foot for supporting the 
microwave oven. 
In addition, as the bushing 250 rests on the support surface, the power 
supply cord 227 is extracted out through a passage formed in the bushing, 
the passage intersecting the circumferential side face 250b of the bushing 
to form an opening 251. 
Since the bushing 250 functions as the foot to the microwave oven as 
described above, the bushing 250 is disposed at the position where the 
usual foot would be installed, the bushing acts as a substitute for the 
usual foot. To this end, it is preferable that the filter section 226 
which distributes the electric power supplied through the power supply 
cord 227 to the components in the device chamber 210b and the cooking 
chamber is installed at a rear surface of a control panel 240 which is 
positioned on the front of the device chamber 210b. 
According to the present invention described as above, the power supply 
cord is extracted out through the opening formed at the bottom panel of 
the body toward the lower side of the bottom panel. Accordingly, the power 
supply cord is prevented from being contacted with the rear panel of the 
body, so the damage of the power supply cord is prevented. 
In addition, according to the first preferred embodiment of the present 
invention, since the clamping member installed at an upper portion of the 
opening firmly clamps the power supply cord, the power supply cord is 
prevented from being pulled out even though a strong force is applied to 
the power supply cord. 
Also, according to the second preferred embodiment of the present 
invention, since the bushing installed between the opening of the bottom 
panel and the power supply cord functions as both a bushing and a foot of 
the microwave oven, the number of components is reduced, and thereby the 
manufacturing cost can be lowered. 
While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with 
reference to a preferred embodiment thereof, it will be understood by 
those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be 
effected therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the 
invention as defined by the appended claims.