Patent Publication Number: US-9888531-B2

Title: Over-the-range microwave oven and method of using the same

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims benefit of and priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2014-0174472, filed on Dec. 5, 2014, with the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference. 
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     Embodiments according to the present disclosure relate to an over-the-range microwave oven that improves cooling capacity by improving the structure of an upper duct unit, and a method of using the over-the-range microwave oven. 
     BACKGROUND 
     In general, an over-the-range microwave oven refers to a microwave oven that discharges air. An over-the-range microwave oven is spaced apart from the upper side of a gas range in order to implement the aforementioned functionality. 
     A typical over-the-range microwave oven may include a cooking unit and a duct unit. The cooking unit heats substances such as food or liquids (hereinafter, referred to simply as food) using microwave energy. The duct unit is outside the cooking unit and sucks air around the gas range, which is disposed below the over-the-range microwave oven, or outside air into the cooking unit, and discharges air from inside the cooking unit to outside the cooking unit. 
     An over-the-range microwave oven in the related art is disclosed in Korean Patent No. 10-0538169 (Title of Invention: Wall-Mounted Microwave Oven). 
     In the related art, air is discharged through an electric equipment chamber, in which most of the drive units are disposed, via an air discharge unit of the duct unit, in order to cool the heat generated by the drive units in the over-the-range microwave oven. 
     Because the air, which has already cooled the drive units, also cools the air discharge unit in an over-the-range microwave oven in the related art, there is a problem in that the efficiency of cooling the air discharge motor of the air discharge unit is reduced. 
     In addition, in order to cool the air discharge motor of the air discharge unit, impellers having complicated structures are used in motor cooling units and air discharge units. 
     In addition, because a separate convection motor is required to create convection, there are problems in that the overall size of the over-range microwave oven and its manufacturing costs are increased. 
     In summary, there are problems in that the over-the-range microwave oven in the related art has a complicated structure, increased manufacturing costs, and reduced air discharge capacity. 
     SUMMARY 
     An example embodiment according to the present disclosure provides an over-the-range microwave oven including: a housing; a cooking unit which is disposed in the housing; an air discharge unit which includes an air discharge motor in the housing; an air discharge duct unit which discharges air through the air discharge unit; a cooling duct unit which guides outside air to the air discharge motor in order to cool the air discharge motor; and a duct unit in which the air discharge duct unit and the cooling duct unit are separated vertically. 
     In addition, a cooling hole into which the outside air flows may be formed in the front of the housing, the air discharge unit may further include an impeller, the housing may further include a partition housing which partitions the interior of the housing into the cooking unit and the duct unit, the air discharge duct unit may include an upper duct unit which is disposed at an upper side of the partition housing and discharges air flowing from the air discharge unit to the outside, and the cooling duct unit may be formed between the partition housing and the upper duct unit, may communicate with the cooling hole, and may guide the outside air flowing from the outside to flow to the air discharge motor. 
     In addition, the upper duct unit may include a first plate which is spaced apart from an upper side of the partition housing, a pair of second plates which is disposed to guide air discharged from the air discharge unit toward the front side of the over-the-range microwave oven, and a third plate which is disposed at the rear of the pair of second plates and has an inlet hole into which the air discharged from the air discharge unit flows. 
     In addition, the third plate may include a first inlet hole and a second inlet hole, and the impeller may include a first impeller which is disposed at one side of the air discharge motor to allow air to flow into the first inlet hole, and a second impeller which is disposed at the other side of the air discharge motor to allow air to flow into the second inlet hole. 
     In addition, the third plate may further include a bent or angled portion which protrudes forward between the first inlet hole and the second inlet hole. 
     In addition, a venting hole, which allows air flowing from the cooling duct unit to the air discharge motor to flow to the upper duct unit, may be formed in the angled portion. 
     In addition, the cooling duct unit may have a pair of partition walls which is formed between the partition housing and the upper duct unit to allow the outside air flowing from the cooling hole to flow to the air discharge motor. 
     In addition, the air discharge unit may be fixed to a rear surface of the housing and the partition housing, and an outside air hole into which the outside air flows may be formed in the rear surface of the housing and corresponds to a position of the air discharge motor. 
     In addition, at least two or more outside air holes may be formed in the rear surface of the housing. 
     In another example embodiment according to the present disclosure, a method of using an over-the-range microwave oven includes: operating an air discharge unit of the over-the-range microwave oven; and cooling an air discharge motor of the air discharge unit by allowing outside air to flow from an outside air hole of a housing which is disposed at the rear of the air discharge motor of the air discharge unit, and from a cooling duct unit which is formed between an upper duct unit for discharging air flowing from the air discharge unit and a partition housing of the housing. 
     Embodiments according to the present disclosure provide an over-the-range microwave oven which includes the cooling duct unit which is disposed between the upper duct unit and the cooking unit, and the outside air hole formed at the rear of the air discharge motor, thereby cooling the air discharge motor and providing excellent air discharge capacity. 
     The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments, and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and features will become apparent by reference to the drawings and the following detailed description. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  illustrates an over-the-range microwave oven in an embodiment according to the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a cutaway view of the over-the-range microwave oven of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  illustrates a flow of air for cooling an air discharge motor of the over-the-range microwave oven in an embodiment according to the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 4  is a flowchart of a method using an over-the-range microwave oven in an embodiment according to the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings. The illustrative embodiments described in the detailed description, drawings, and claims are not meant to be limiting. Other embodiments may be utilized, and other changes may be made, without departing from the spirit or scope of the subject matter presented here. 
     Hereinafter, an example embodiment according to the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
     Unless particularly defined otherwise, terms used in the present specification have the same general meanings as they would be understood by those skilled in the art, and if the terms used in the present specification conflict with the general meanings of those terms, then the meanings of the terms comply with the meanings defined in the present specification. 
     The present disclosure, which is disclosed below, is merely intended to describe example embodiments according to the present disclosure, but is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Like reference numerals designate like elements throughout the specification. 
       FIG. 1  is a top-down view illustrating an over-the-range microwave oven in an example embodiment according to the present disclosure in which the upper housing is not shown,  FIG. 2  is a cutaway view of the over-the-range microwave oven of  FIG. 1 , and  FIG. 3  is illustrates a flow of air for cooling an air discharge motor of the over-the-range microwave oven in an embodiment according to the present disclosure. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , in an embodiment, an over-the-range microwave oven  400  includes a housing  100 , a cooking unit  200 , a duct unit  300 , and an air discharge unit  380 . 
     The housing  100  defines the external appearance of the over-the-range microwave oven  400 , and may be made of a metallic material or a nonmetallic material. The housing  100  may include an upper housing and a lateral side housing, which are not illustrated, and a rear housing  110  and a lower housing  120 , which are illustrated in  FIG. 2 . The respective housings may be integrally formed or may be detachably coupled to each other. 
     In addition, the housing  100  may further include a vertical partition housing  130 , which partitions the interior of the housing  100  into the cooking unit  200  and the duct unit  300 . The partition housing  130  may be formed integrally with the housing  100 , or it may be fastened to the housing  100  by bolts, for example. 
     Cooling holes  140  into which outside air flows may be formed in the front of the housing  100 , and the cooling holes  140  may communicate with the duct unit  300  which will be described below. 
     In addition, the housing  100  may be formed as an outer wall of the duct unit  300  which will be described below. Therefore, outside air holes  150  into which outside air flows may be formed in a rear surface of the housing  100 , to correspond to the position of an air discharge motor  381  which will be described below. At least two or more outside air holes  150  may be formed. 
     It is possible to efficiently cool the air discharge motor  381  by the cooling holes  140  and/or the outside air holes  150 . 
     The cooking unit  200  is disposed in the housing  100 , and may include a cooking chamber  210  and an electric equipment chamber  220 . 
     A door  211  may be disposed in the front of the cooking chamber  210 . The door  211  may be hingedly coupled to the housing  100  so as to be closed and opened toward one side, and a handle  212  may be disposed on the door  211  to allow a user to easily open and close the door  211 . In addition, in order to allow the user to easily observe the interior of the cooking chamber  210 , the door  211  may further include a transparent window (not illustrated) made of tempered glass which may be disposed in the center of the door  211 . 
     The electric equipment chamber  220  may be provided with a control panel  221  at one side. The control panel  221  may include buttons, a touch panel, or a dial to allow the user to control the cooking unit  200 , and may include a display unit  222  to allow the user to view various types of information associated with the over-the-range microwave oven according to an example embodiment. 
     In addition, the control panel  221  may include buttons, a touch panel, or a dial to allow the user to operate the duct unit  300  which will be described below, and may control a cooking environment in the cooking chamber  210  based on a state of the interior of the cooking chamber  210 , which is sensed by a humidity sensor  450 . 
     The duct unit  300  is disposed between the housing  100  and the cooking unit  200  to form a flow path, and may be divided into an upper duct unit  310 , a lateral side duct unit, and/or a cooling duct unit  330 . 
     In addition, the duct unit  300  in an example embodiment according to the present disclosure may be divided into an air discharge duct unit and a cooling duct unit which are separated vertically. 
     The air discharge duct unit serves to discharge sucked air through the air discharge unit  380  which will be described below, and the cooling duct unit serves to guide outside air to the air discharge motor  381  in order to cool the air discharge motor  381 . 
     The lateral side duct unit is formed between the cooking unit  200  and the lateral side housing (not illustrated) or between the control panel  221  and the lateral side housing  100  (not illustrated). In this case, the housing  100  may form an outer wall of the duct unit  300 . 
     The upper duct unit  310  may include a first plate  311 , second plates  312 , and a third plate  313 . 
     By virtue of the upper duct unit  310 , the example embodiment may efficiently form an air discharge flow path from a rear side toward a front side of the over-the-range microwave oven  400 , and may be implemented in a hood and an over-the-range microwave oven to reduce the occurrence of turbulent flows, electric power consumption, and noise even though a larger amount of driving power is used. 
     The first plate  311  is disposed in the housing  100 , and may be disposed at an upper side of the cooking unit  200  by being disposed at an upper side of the partition housing  130 . In addition, the first plate  311  may be spaced apart from an upper side of the partition housing  130 , or a part of the partition housing  130  may be recessed downward, such that the partition housing  130  may be spaced apart from the first plate  311 . 
     The first plate  311  may be made of a metallic material or a nonmetallic (e.g., plastic) material. 
     Two second plates  312  may be disposed as a pair between the first plate  311  and the housing  100  so as to partition the interior of the upper duct unit  310 , and may be disposed to guide air, which is discharged from the air discharge unit  380  which will be described below, to the front side of the over-the-range microwave oven  400 . 
     The flow path, which is symmetrical and becomes narrower toward the front side of the over-the-range microwave oven  400 , may greatly improve flow efficiency of the air discharge flow path compared to the related art, and may reduce noise. 
     The third plate  313  is disposed at the rear of the pair of second plates  312 , and may have an inlet hole  313   a  into which air flows. That is, according to the air discharge flow path in the example embodiment, air may pass through a first inlet port formed at the lower side or at the lateral side and through second inlet ports formed in the first plate  311 , through impellers  382   a  and  382   b  which will be described below, into the inlet hole  313   a , and then discharged to the outside through a flow path formed by the first plate  311 , the second plates  312 , and the upper housing  100 , as shown in  FIG. 3 . 
     In addition, the third plate  313  may include the first inlet hole  313   a , which corresponds to the first impeller  382   a  which will be described below, and a second inlet hole (not illustrated), which corresponds to the second impeller  382   b  which will be described below, thereby more effectively implementing air flow. 
     In addition, the third plate  313  may further include a bent or angled portion  313   b , which is formed between the first inlet hole  313   a  and the second inlet hole (not illustrated) so as to protrude forward, thereby more efficiently implementing air flow. 
     In order to efficiently prevent turbulent flow, the angled portion  313   b  may be formed in various shapes that become narrower toward the front side of the over-the-range microwave oven  400 . For example, the angled portion  313   b  may be formed in a trapezoidal shape. 
     In addition, the angled portion  313   b  may have a venting hole  313   ba  formed to allow air, which flows from the duct unit  300  to be described below toward the air discharge motor  381 , to flow into the upper duct unit  310 . By virtue of the venting hole  313   ba , it is possible to form a flow path to smoothly cool the air discharge motor  381  which will be described below. 
     The cooling duct unit  330  is formed between the partition housing  130  and the upper duct unit  310 , and may communicate with the cooling hole  140  to guide outside air from the outside of the over-the-range microwave oven  400  to flow to the air discharge motor  381 . 
     Therefore, the cooling duct unit  330  may have a pair of partition walls which is formed between the partition housing  130  and the upper duct unit  310 , specifically, between the partition housing  130  and the first plate  311 , to allow outside air flowing from the cooling hole  140  to flow to the air discharge motor  381 . 
     By virtue of the cooling duct unit  330 , the outside air may pass through the cooling hole  140  at the front side of the housing  100 , the duct unit  300 , the air discharge motor  381 , and the venting hole  313   ba  of the angled portion  313   b , to the upper duct unit  310 , and then finally discharged, as shown in  FIG. 3 . The aforementioned flow structure has an advantage in that the air discharge motor  381  may be directly cooled. 
     The air discharge unit  380  may be disposed between the third plate  313  and the rear housing  110  that is a rear side of the housing  100 . Specifically, the air discharge unit  380  is fixed to the rear housing  110  and the partition housing  100 , and allows air to flow into the inlet hole  313   a . Specifically, the air discharge unit  380  may include the air discharge motor  381  in the housing  100 , and may include the pair of impellers  382   a  and  382   b  which is operated by the air discharge motor  381  and allows air to flow into the inlet hole  313   a.    
     In an embodiment, the impellers  382   a  and  382   b  include the first impeller  382   a  which is disposed at one side of the air discharge motor  381 , and the second impeller  382   b  which is disposed at the other side of the air discharge motor  381 . Both ends of the first impeller  382   a  and the second impeller  382   b  are disposed to correspond to the aforementioned second inlet ports, respectively, thereby allowing air sucked from the outside to flow into a space formed by the housing  100 , the first plate  311 , and the second plates  312 . 
     In an example embodiment, because the upper duct unit  310  becomes narrower toward the front side of the over-the-range microwave oven  400  as described above, constituent elements for operating the duct unit  300  may be compactly included in the over-the-range microwave oven  400 . 
     In an embodiment, a duct module may include a power source unit  410 , a running capacitor  420 , a noise filter  430 , and a fuse  440 , and may further include the humidity sensor  450 . 
     The power source unit  410  is supplied with electric power from an external source, and distributes electric power to operate the cooking unit  200  or the duct unit  300 . The power source unit  410  may be disposed on the first plate  311  outside one of its horizontal portions (at the position shown in  FIG. 1 , for example). 
     The running capacitor  420  is also called a starting condenser, and may be disposed to provide force for initially operating the air discharge motor  381 . The running capacitor  420  may be disposed on the first plate  311  outside one of its inclined portions (at the position shown in  FIG. 1 , for example). 
     The noise filter  430  serves to reduce noise components of an alternating current which are generated when the air discharge motor  381  is operated, and serves to pass required signal components. The noise filter  430  may be disposed on the first plate  311  outside one of its horizontal portions (at the position shown in  FIG. 1 , for example). 
     The fuse  440  is disposed to shut off electric power, which is distributed from the power source unit  410 , when an excessive amount of heat (for example, about 90° C. to 150° C.) is generated in the cooking unit  200 , or when overheating of the air discharge motor  381  is sensed. The fuse may be disposed on the first plate  311  outside the other of its horizontal portions (at the position shown in  FIG. 1 , for example). 
     The humidity sensor  450  senses the amount of humidity or the temperature of water vapor generated from food being cooked in the cooking unit  200 , and may transmit a signal for controlling cooking functions to a control unit (not illustrated) of the cooking unit  200 , or may produce a signal for turning on and off the air discharge motor  381 . 
     The humidity sensor  450  serves to sense the amount of humidity of water vapor generated in the cooking unit  200 , and may be disposed at an upper side of the cooking unit  200 , and the duct module may be disposed on the first plate  311  outside the other inclined portion and the other horizontal portion. 
     In summary, by allowing the configurations according to the exemplary embodiment to be disposed at the upper side of the cooking unit  200 , or by modularizing constituent elements for operating the duct unit  300  so that the constituent elements may be integrated onto the first plate  311 , it is possible to reduce assembly tolerances, increase productivity, and reduce the size of the over-the-range microwave oven. 
     In addition, by improving a structure of the duct unit  300 , a state of the cooking unit  200  may be more accurately sensed by the humidity sensor  450 . 
     An embodiment according to the present disclosure may further include a filter unit  500 , and the filter unit  500  may be disposed in front of the pair of second plates  312 . Specifically, the filter unit  500  may be disposed at a horizontal portion of a second plate (at the position shown in  FIG. 1 , for example). The filter unit  500  may be implemented as a charcoal filter, may filter air that is discharged to the outside, and may be detachable. 
     With reference to  FIG. 4 , a method  600  of using the over-the-range microwave oven in an embodiment according to the present disclosure will be described below. 
     First, the air discharge unit  380  of the over-the-range microwave oven is operated (block  602 ). 
     Then, outside air, which flows from the outside air hole  150  of the housing  100  which is disposed at the rear of the air discharge motor  381  of the air discharge unit  380 , cools the air discharge motor  381  (block  604 ). Further, the duct unit  300 , which is formed between the upper duct unit  310  for discharging air flowing from the air discharge unit  380  and the partition housing  130  of the housing  100 , allows outside air to flow from the cooling hole  140  formed in the front of the housing  100 , such that the outside air cools the air discharge motor  381  of the air discharge unit  380  (block  606 ). 
     Therefore, according to the present disclosure, a separate cooling motor is not required, and the outside air is supplied directly to the air discharge motor  381  instead of passing through the electric equipment chamber  220  of the cooking unit  200 , thereby lowering air temperature and resulting in excellent cooling efficiency, further improving the air discharge capacity of the duct unit  300  provided in the over-the-range microwave oven  400 , and improving durability. 
     From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that various embodiments according to the present disclosure have been described herein for purposes of illustration, and that various modifications may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the various embodiments disclosed herein are not intended to be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicated by the following claims.