Abstract:
A cooking apparatus, in which lamps are conveniently and quickly replaced, including a lamp assembly having a lamp casing accommodating lamps and covering an irradiation hole formed in a front panel, and a transparent plate completely covering the irradiation hole. The lamp casing is screwed to the front panel, or is hinged to the front panel to allow rotation of the lamp casing. An open bottom of the lamp casing is covered with a lamp cover screwed or hooked to the lamp casing. A front cover is screwed to the front panel to cover the lamp assembly, or is hinged to the front panel to allow rotation thereof.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2003-89775, filed Dec. 10, 2003 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0003]     The present invention relates generally to a cooking apparatus and, more particularly, to a cooking apparatus, in which a lamp assembly having lamps is mounted on an upper portion of a front panel located at a front end of a cooing cavity, thereby not only illuminating the cooking cavity, but also allowing the lamps to be conveniently and quickly replaced.  
         [0004]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0005]     In general, cooking apparatuses, such as a microwave oven and an electrical oven, are provided with cooking cavities therein and cook food in the cooking cavities by radiating microwaves, or heat that is generated by electrical heaters, to the food.  
         [0006]     Other cooking apparatuses use overheated steam to uniformly heat food by supplying the overheated steam to cooking cavities, thus preventing the food from being locally burned, and to allow a cooking temperature to be easily adjusted by adjusting a temperature of and an amount of the overheated steam, thus improving the taste of the cooked food.  
         [0007]     In the cooking apparatuses, lamp assemblies having lamps are mounted inside the cooking cavities to illuminate the cooking cavities and, thus, allow users to observe food being cooked. When the lamp assemblies are mounted inside the cooking cavities as described above, the structures of the lamp assemblies become complicated, and it is difficult, and requires excessive time, to replace the lamps.  
         [0008]     Furthermore, when lamp assemblies are mounted inside the cooking cavities of the cooking apparatuses, openings are provided through inside walls of the cooking cavities. Heat is easily discharged from the cooking cavities through the openings and, thus, energy is lost. Additionally, because the lamp assemblies are mounted inside the cooking cavities, the cooking cavities cannot have curved shapes.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0009]     It is an aspect of the present invention to provide a cooking apparatus, which allows lamps placed in a lamp assembly to be easily and quickly replaced.  
         [0010]     It is another aspect of the present invention to provide a cooking apparatus in which a lamp assembly is mounted on a front panel, thus reducing a loss of heat from a cooking cavity and allowing the cooking cavity to have a curved shape.  
         [0011]     Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.  
         [0012]     To achieve the above and/or other aspects of the present invention, there is provided a cooking apparatus that includes a cooking cavity open in a front thereof, a front panel defining a front periphery of the cooking cavity, and a lamp assembly mounted on the front panel to illuminate the cooking cavity from the front panel.  
         [0013]     The front panel has an irradiation hole in an upper portion of the front panel, and the lamp assembly may include a lamp casing accommodating at least one lamp and covering a space in front of the irradiation hole, and a transparent plate covering the irradiation hole.  
         [0014]     The transparent plate may be made of a heat-resistant material and is attached to the front panel to close the irradiation hole.  
         [0015]     The lamp casing may have a flange, extending from at least one edge of the lamp casing, with screw holes to attach the lamp casing to the front panel using screws.  
         [0016]     The lamp casing may be attached to the front panel by welding edges of the lamp casing to the front panel.  
         [0017]     The lamp casing may be open at a back and a bottom thereof; have at least one socket, to which the at least one lamp is inserted, in an upper portion of an interior of the lamp casing; and have a lamp cover at the bottom of the lamp casing.  
         [0018]     The lamp cover may be detachably attached to the bottom of the lamp casing by screws.  
         [0019]     The lamp casing may have hook holes at both sides of the lamp casing, and the lamp cover may have hooks to detachably engage the hook holes.  
         [0020]     The cooking apparatus may further include a front cover detachably attached to the front panel to surround the lamp assembly.  
         [0021]     The front cover may be hinged to the front panel at both sides of an upper end of the front panel, and may be screwed to the front panel at both sides of a lower end of the front cover to expose the lamp assembly to an outside of the front cover by rotating the front cover upwards after unscrewing the front cover at the both sides of the lower end of the front cover.  
         [0022]     Alternatively, the front cover may be screwed to the front panel at both sides of an upper end of the front panel and at both sides of a lower end of the front cover to expose the lamp assembly to an outside of the front cover by unscrewing screws from the front cover to separate the front cover from the front panel.  
         [0023]     A bottom of the front cover and a bottom of the lamp casing may be arranged on an upper portion of the front panel to correspond to each other and the front cover may have an opening at the bottom of the front cover to allow access to the bottom of the lamp casing, with the front cover attached to the front panel.  
         [0024]     The cooking cavity may be formed to be curved, and the cooking cavity may be supplied with overheated steam to cook food.  
         [0025]     To achieve the above and/or other aspects of the present invention, there is provided a lamp assembly for a cooking apparatus having a front panel defining a front periphery of a cooking cavity and an irradiation hole in the front panel, the lamp assembly including a lamp casing accommodating one or more lamps and surrounding the irradiation hole; a transparent plate at a back of the lamp casing to cover the irradiation hole; and a lamp cover detachably attached to a bottom of the lamp casing using screws.  
         [0026]     To achieve the above and/or other aspects of the present invention, there is provided a lamp assembly for a cooking apparatus having a front panel defining a front periphery of a cooking cavity, an irradiation hole in the front panel, and a front cover detachably attached to the front panel with an opening in a bottom of the front cover, the lamp assembly including a lamp casing accommodating one or more lamps and surrounding the irradiation hole, the lamp casing having hook holes at both sides thereof; a transparent plate at a back of the lamp casing to cover the irradiation hole; and a lamp cover detachably attached to a bottom of the lamp casing, the lamp cover having hooks at both ends thereof that engage the hook holes, the lamp cover having a smaller size than the opening in the bottom of the front cover, and the lamp cover being adjacent to the opening in the bottom of the front cover when the front cover is attached to the front panel. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0027]     These and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:  
         [0028]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a cooking apparatus with a lamp assembly mounted on a front panel, according to the present invention;  
         [0029]      FIG. 2  is a partial perspective view showing a lamp assembly mounted in a front cover, according to a first embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0030]      FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view of the lamp assembly taken along line IIII-IIII of  FIG. 2 ;  
         [0031]      FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view of the lamp assembly taken along line IV-IV of  FIG. 2 ;  
         [0032]      FIG. 5  is a partial perspective view showing a lamp assembly mounted in a front cover, according to a second embodiment of the present invention; and  
         [0033]      FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view of the lamp assembly taken along line VI-VI of  FIG. 5 . 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0034]     Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below to explain the present invention by referring to the figures.  
         [0035]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a cooking apparatus with a lamp assembly  20  mounted on a front panel, according to the present invention. As depicted in  FIG. 1 , the cooking apparatus includes a housing  1  with a cooking cavity  2  therein and a door  5  attached to a front of the housing  1  to selectively open and close the cooking cavity  2 .  
         [0036]     The cooking cavity  2  is defined by a cavity wall  3 , and a front panel  4  with an opening corresponding to the cavity wall  3  and placed in front of the cavity wall  3 .  
         [0037]     The cavity wall  3  is cylindrically shaped, and a rack  6  is suspended on the cavity wall  3  to allow food to be placed thereon. A steam generator (not shown) is located behind the housing  1  to supply overheated steam to the cooking cavity  2  to cook the food.  
         [0038]     In the cooking apparatus, an electrical heater (not shown) or a magnetron (not shown), instead of the steam generator, may be provided, and food may be cooked using heat generated by the electrical heater or microwaves generated by the magnetron.  
         [0039]     The lamp assembly  20  according to the present invention is mounted on an upper portion of the front panel  4  to illuminate the cooking cavity  2 , so that a user can observe food being cooked from outside the cooking cavity  2  and easily put food into, and take food out of, the cooking cavity  2 .  
         [0040]     A front cover  10  is located in front of the upper portion of the front panel  4  to cover the lamp assembly  20 . The front cover  10  may include a control panel (not shown) used to input the type of food and the cooking time to control cooking of the food.  
         [0041]     FIGS.  2  to  4  are views showing the lamp assembly according to a first embodiment of the present invention, which is located in the front panel  4 . As shown in FIGS.  2  to  4 , an irradiation hole  7  of a predetermined size is formed through the upper portion of the front panel  4  to allow light generated from the lamp assembly  20  to be radiated to the cooking cavity  2 .  
         [0042]     The lamp assembly  20  includes a lamp casing  30  to accommodate lamps and cover a space in front of the irradiation hole  7 ; a transparent plate  40  to prevent heat from being emitted from the cooking cavity  2  by closing the irradiation hole  7 , and pass the light therethrough to the cooking cavity  2 ; a pair of lamps  21  to illuminate the cooking cavity  2 ; a pair of sockets  22  to mount the pair of lamps  21  in the lamp casing  30 ; and a lamp cover  50  to allow the lamps  21  mounted in the lamp casing  30  to be replaced.  
         [0043]     The transparent plate  40  is made of a heat-resistant and transparent material, both to be resistant to heat generated from the cooking cavity  2  during cooking, and to allow light generated from the lamps  21  to be radiated to the cooking cavity  2  without blockage. The transparent plate  40  is attached to a vicinity of the irradiation hole  7  on an outside surface of the front panel  4  using a material, such as silicon or rubber, to seal the transparent plate  40  to the irradiation hole  7 . The transparent plate  40  may be attached to an inner surface of the front panel  4  to close the irradiation hole  7 .  
         [0044]     The lamp casing  30  has a box shape with a back and a bottom thereof opened, and surrounds the irradiation hole  7  with only the bottom of the lamp casing  30  being opened. A flange  31  extends upwardly and has screw holes on an upper edge thereof to fasten the lamp casing  30  to the front panel  4  using screws.  
         [0045]     Alternatively, flanges  31  may extend from both upper and lower back edges of the lamp casing  30  to fasten the lamp casing  30  to the front panel  4  using screws. As another alternative, an upper edge and both side edges of the lamp casing  30  may be welded to the front panel  4 .  
         [0046]     The sockets  22  are inserted into an inside of the lamp casing  30  through the top of the lamp casing  30 , and are fastened to the lamp casing  30  with the lamps  21  being located within the lamp casing  30 . See  FIGS. 3 and 4 .  
         [0047]     The lamp cover  50  is fastened to a bottom of the lamp casing  30  by screws  23  to prevent light from leaking through the open bottom of the lamp casing  30  and to give access to the lamps  21  to replace the lamps  21  by unfastening the screws  23  from the lamp casing  30 .  
         [0048]     The front cover  10  is mounted on the front panel  4  to cover and surround the lamp assembly  20  and prevent the lamp assembly  20  from being exposed outside the cooking apparatus.  
         [0049]     The front cover  10  is rotatably fastened to the front panel  4  by fastening both sides of a top edge of the front cover  10  to the front panel  4  using hinges  12  and fastening lower portions of both sides of the front cover  10  to tabs  11  projecting from both sides of the front panel  4 , by placing screws  23  in screw holes in the tabs  11 .  
         [0050]     Accordingly, when the lamps  21  contained in the lamp casing  30  are replaced, a bottom of the front cover  10  is removed from the front panel  4  by unfastening the screws  23  in the tabs  11 . Thereafter, the front cover  10  is rotated upwards and, thus, the lamp assembly  20  is exposed to the outside of the front cover  10 . Subsequently, when the screws  23  fastening the lamp cover  50  to the bottom of the lamp casing  30  are unfastened, access to the lamps  21  is provided to the user and, thus, the lamps  21  may be removed from the sockets  22 .  
         [0051]      FIGS. 5 and 6  are views showing the lamp assembly  20  according to a second embodiment of the present invention, which is located in the front panel  4 . The lamp assembly  20  according to the second embodiment of the present invention is identical to the lamp assembly  20  according to the first embodiment of the present invention, except for the fastening structure of a lamp cover  50   a  and the installation structure of the front cover  10 . Accordingly, only the fastening structure of the lamp cover  50   a  and the installation structure of the front cover  10  are described below.  
         [0052]     Like the lamp assembly  20  according to the first embodiment, the lamp assembly  20  according to the second embodiment includes a lamp casing  30  to accommodate lamps  21 , which is mounted on the front panel  4 , a transparent panel  40  to cover the irradiation hole  7  (refer to  FIG. 2 ), and a lamp cover  50   a  to cover a bottom of the lamp casing  30 .  
         [0053]     Hooks  51  projected upwardly are formed on both ends of the lamp cover  50   a,  while hook holes  52  are formed in lower portions of both sides of the lamp casing  30  to correspond to the hooks  51 .  
         [0054]     Accordingly, when the lamp cover  50   a  is forced upward below the lamp casing  30 , the hooks  51  engage the hook holes  52  and, thus, the lamp cover  50   a  engages the bottom of the lamp casing  30 . See  FIG. 6 . When the hooks  51  are pushed inwardly, the hooks  51  detach from the hook holes  52  and, thus, the lamp cover  50 a is removed from the lamp casing  30 .  
         [0055]     The front cover  10  is fastened to the front panel  4  by fastening both sides of the front cover  10  to tabs  11  projected from both ends of the front panel  4 , which are provided with screw holes.  
         [0056]     To replace the lamps  21  with the front cover  10  fastened to the front panel  4 , an opening  14  that is larger than the lamp cover  50   a  is formed in a bottom surface of the front cover 10 to correspond to the lamp cover  50   a.    
         [0057]     After the lamp cover  50   a  is removed from the lamp casing  30  by forcing inwardly the hooks  51  of the lamp cover  50   a  and removing the lamp cover  50   a  through the opening  14  of the front cover  10 , the lamps  21  may be easily removed from the lamp casing  30 .  
         [0058]     As described in detail above, in the cooking apparatus of the present invention, a lamp assembly is mounted on a front panel in front of a cooking cavity, so that a mounting hole does not need to be formed in an inner wall of the cooking cavity to mount the lamp assembly in the cooking cavity, thus reducing the loss of heat from the cooking cavity and allowing the cooking cavity to have a curved shape, which adds variety to the appearance of the cooking apparatus.  
         [0059]     Furthermore, the cooking apparatus of the present invention allows lamps to be conveniently replaced in the lamp assembly, thus increasing consumer satisfaction with the cooking apparatus.  
         [0060]     Although two embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.