Microwave oven

Abstract: There is disclosed a microwave oven including a display unit (154) for presenting the information on the cooking time and a cooking menu, a display protecting member (155) that is formed in the front of the display unit to be movable forward and backward, a plurality of switches (210, 220, 230, 240) actuated by coming in contact with surfaces of the display protecting member that correspond to the respective switches. If a user selects a desired cooking function, they should press a portion of the display protecting member (155) relevant to the desired cooking function so that one of the switches (210, 220, 230, 240) corresponding to the pressed portion can be also pressed down for actuation. The present invention allows the display protecting member (155) to serve as an operating switch, too, and may save space of the control panel so that a set of function keys contained in a keypad can be of larger size.

Description: The present invention relates generally to a microwave oven. More particularly, it relates to a microwave oven which has an operating switch employed for controlling the microwave oven, and a display unit used for presenting the information input by means of buttons for visual reading at the same location of the front of the microwave oven. Attention is first invited to Figures 4 and 5 of the accompanying drawings, respectively, depicting a microwave oven with a control panel manufactured by a conventional prior art technique. As shown in Figure 4, the conventional microwave oven includes a main body 10. The main body 10 is divided into a cooking chamber (not illustrated) in which foodstuffs are cooked by microwave energy, and an electrical component compartment 30 which accommodates a plurality of electrical components. More specifically, the electrical component compartment 30 contains a magnetron 31 which serves as a high-frequency microwaves to the interior of the cooking chamber (not illustrated), a high-voltage transformer 32 and a high-voltage capacitor 33 that supply the magnetron 31 with high voltages, respectively. The main body 10 also includes a door 40 attached to the front of the main body 10 to open and close the opening to the cooking chamber, and a control panel 50 (shown in cross-section in Figure 5) disposed on the front of the electrical component compartment 30 with a set of function buttons and switches. The control panel 50 includes a keyboard 52 consisting of a set of function buttons by which a user can input various commands to start, stop, or control the microwave oven, an operating switch 53 used for actuating the microwave oven in response to an input command, and a button 58 installed under the operating switch 53, supported by a resilient member 57, and used for opening and closing the door 40. The control panel 50 also has a circuit board 51 whose front contains a display unit 54 and a plurality of electrical components 56, and a display protecting member, i.e. a display protecting member 55 which is installed on the front of the display unit 54 to allow the display unit 54 to clearly indicate the information relating to the operating state of the microwave oven. The above-described circuit board 51 is fixed to a panel 59 by the use of screws and the like. After putting food in the cooking chamber of a conventional microwave oven having the above-described construction, the user inputs the information on the cooking time, a cooking method and the like into the microwave oven system according to the kind of a food to be cooked, its weight, and its bulk by means of the function buttons of the keyboard 52. After that, the user checks to see whether or not the input information is correct by using the display unit 54, and then pushes the operating switch 53 to operate the microwave oven for cooking. Since the microwave oven is equipped with a plurality of function buttons for making selections from a series of cooking menus on its restricted area, each function button should be small in size, and the keyboard having a set of the function buttons takes up much space in the limited area on the control panel so thereby making the size of the operating switch smaller. Therefore, it is not easy for users to press such a small-sized operating switch with their hands, particularly with a hand smeared with oil during cooking. Moreover, the display unit and the keyboard are designed to be spaced from one another on the upper and lower sections of the control panel of the conventional microwave oven. Thus, after a user sees if the information on the cooking time or the selection of a cooking menu is correctly input to the microwave oven system through the display unit, they stop to confirm the position of the operating switch that is placed below and then depresses it to start the microwave oven. Such an arrangement in which the display unit and the keyboard are each disposed on the upper and lower sections inconveniences users, and it is more difficult to use. EP-A-0 329 111 discloses an electronic oven having cooking information retrieving means, an image display, image switching means, cooking program locking and transmission means etc. and including push button means having indicator display lamps. Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a microwave oven of improved structure which can substantially eliminate the problem due to limitations and disadvantages of the conventional art. It is an objective of the present invention to provide a microwave oven in which the display unit for presenting the data on the operation and a starting switch for activating the microwave oven are formed at the same location of the control panel, and the size of function buttons are increased in size than those of the conventional ones in a limited area of the control panel for the purpose of offering greater convenience to the users. The objectives and other advantages of the present invention will be realised and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings. To accomplish these and other advantages, the present invention relates to a microwave oven including a main body that has a cooking chamber; high-frequency microwave generating unit which is installed in the main body and produces high-frequency microwaves to the cooking chamber's interior; and a control panel that is disposed at the front of the main body. According to the present invention, there is provided a microwave oven comprising: a main body having a cooking chamber; high-frequency microwave generating means installed in the main body and emitting high-frequency microwaves to the cooking chamber's interior; a control panel disposed at the front of the main body; display means presenting data on the cooking time and a cooking menu input by a user to operate the microwave oven by means of keys of the control panel; the oven being characterised by a display protecting member disposed in front of and spaced apart from the display means by elastic means, the display means being viewable through the display protecting member, said display protecting member being disposed on the front of the main body to be elastically movable forward and backwards, towards and away from, the display means, and the oven being further characterised by a plurality of switches which are selectively actuated by coming in contact with corresponding portions of the display protecting member during said forward movement of said display protecting member. In order to actuate one of the predetermined switches, a user depresses a portion of the display protecting member which corresponds to the switch. By way of example, a specific embodiment of the invention will now be described, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :- Figure 1 is a side-sectional view of a control panel in accordance with the present invention; Figure 2 is an enlarged-sectional view of a part indicated by X in Figure 1; Figure 3 depicts a front view as taken along line 3-3 of Figure 1; Figure 4 shows a cutaway-perspective view of a conventional microwave oven; and Figure 5 shows a sectional view as taken along line 5-5 of Figure 4. Figures 1, 2 and 3, respectively, depict an embodiment of microwave oven in accordance with the present invention. As shown in Figure 1, a control panel 150 of the present invention includes a keyboard 152 in which a set of function buttons are formed to be used for feeding various commands to control the operation of the microwave oven into its system, and a display protecting member 155 also comprises an operating switch used for operating the microwave oven in response to the input command. The control panel 150 also includes a circuit board 151 whose front contains a display unit 154 for presenting the information input by a set of function buttons and electrical components 156, and this circuit board 151 is fixed to a penal 159 by the use of screws and the like. On the front of the panel 159 are a plurality of tack switches 210, 220, 230 and 240 mounted around the display unit 154. A compression spring 257 is interposed between the panel 159 and the display protecting member 155 so that the display protecting member 155 can be movable left and right when viewed from Figure 2. The compression spring 257 has one end supported by a block portion 259 of the panel 159, and the other end supported by a front section 256H of the display protecting member 155. In the meantime, a lug 255 is formed to prevent the display protecting member 155 from springing out of the panel 159 against an elastic force produced by the compression spring 257. When the compression spring 257 is in its expanded condition, in other words, when the display protecting member 155 is not pressed yet, a stop 255B which is on the left side of the lug 255 comes in touch with the blocking portion 259 of the panel 159 all the time, and a contact portion 255A which is on the right side of the lug 255 is disposed to be opposite to the tack switch 210. A plurality of the lugs 255 are disposed around the display protecting member 155, oppositely respective to the tack switches 210, 220, 230 and 240. In this preferred embodiment of the present invention, there are four lugs 255, and four springs 257 which are each interposed between the panel 159 and the display protecting member 155. The spring 257 are disposed between the panel 159 and the display protecting member 155 so that when a user presses the front portion 256H of the display protecting member 155 corresponding to the tack switch 210, front portions 265L, 265R and 265L of the display protecting member 155 corresponding to the tack switches 220, 230 and 240, respectively, cannot be pressed by their corresponding springs 257. If the tack switch 210 is in charge of starting of the cooking function, the tack switch 230 allows a cancellation of the input command, and if the tack switch 220 takes charge of extending the cooking time that is preset by a user, the tack switch 240 serves to reduce the preset cooking time. The following description relates to the operation of the inventive microwave oven equipped with the above-described control panel. If a user presses the button 58, door 40 of the microwave oven opens. After they put food to be cooked in its cooking chamber, they close the door 40 and input the information on the cooking conditions as desired to the microwave oven system by means of a set of buttons of the keyboard 152 whose contact surface is larger in size than those of conventional art. Once the user presses the higher front portion 265H of the display protecting member 155, watching the display unit 154, the contact portion 255A of the lug 255 comes to press down the tack switch 210 which is in charge of starting the cooking function to thereby initiate the operation of the microwave oven. In case that the user wants to change the cooking conditions, they should press the lower front portion 265L of the display protecting member 155 because the command that is already input by them can be cancelled as the lower front portion 265L presses the tack switch 230 which allows the cancellation of the input command. If the user wants to extend the cooking time while the microwave oven is in operation, they should press the left-side front portion 265L of the display protecting member 155 corresponding to the tack switch 220 which is in charge of the extension of cooking time. As they press the left-side front portion 265L, there is a change in the time appearing on the display unit 154. Once the desired cooking time is indicated, the user stops pressing the left-side front portion 265L. If the user wants to reduce the current cooking time during the operation of the microwave oven, they should press the right-side front portion 265R of the display protecting member 155 corresponding to the tack switch 240 which allows the reduction of the current cooking time in order to establish a desired cooking time.

Claims: A microwave oven comprising: a main body (10) having a cooking chamber with an interior space; high-frequency microwave generating means (31) installed in the main body (10) and emitting high-frequency microwaves to the cooking chamber's interior; a control panel (150) disposed at the front of the main body (10); display means (154) presenting data on the cooking time and a cooking menu input by a user to the microwave oven system by means of keys of the control panel (150) ; the oven being characterised by a display protecting member (155) disposed in front of and spaced apart from the display means (154) by elastic means (257), the display means (154) being viewable through the display protecting member (155), said display protecting member (155) being disposed on the front of the main body (10) to be elastically movable forward and backwards, towards and away from, the display means (154), and the oven being further characterised by a plurality of switches (210-240) which are selectively actuated by coming in contact with corresponding portions (255A) of the display protecting member (155) during said forward movement of said display protecting member (255). A microwave oven as set forth in Claim 1, wherein surfaces (255A) of the display protecting member (155) that are facing the display means (154) are arranged to come into contact with their corresponding switches (210-240). A microwave oven as set forth in Claim 2, wherein a plurality of the elastic means (257) are interposed between the display protecting member (155) and the switches (210-240). A microwave oven as set forth in Claims 2 or 3, wherein the plurality of the switches (210-240) are arranged along the edge of the display protecting member (155). A microwave oven as set forth in claim 3, wherein one of the predetermined switches (210-240) is actuated by pressing down a portion of the display protecting member (155) corresponding to said predetermined switch (210-240). A microwave oven as set forth in claim 5, wherein the portions of the display protecting member (255) corresponding to the switches (210-240) that are not actuated except said actuated switch, maintain spacing from said switches that are not actuated.

Inventors: PARK GEUN YOUNG, PARK, GEUN YOUNG, Park, Geun Young, c/o Samsung Elec. Co., Ltd.
Applicants: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO LTD, SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
Application year: 1996
Main classification: H05B6
IPC codes: H05B6, F24C7, H01H9, H01H25