Patent Publication Number: US-6660984-B1

Title: Wall-mounted type microwave oven

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of Korean Application No. 2002-37792, filed Jul. 2, 2002, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a wall-mounted type microwave oven, and more particularly, to a wall-mounted type microwave oven, in which a structure for holding a power cord on a top panel of oven body of the wall-mounted type microwave oven is improved so as to afford easy assembly and reduction of manufacturing cost. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     In general, a wall-mounted type microwave oven is mounted on a kitchen wall over a gas oven and not only carries out a cooking operation, but also exhausts gas and fumes generated from the gas oven disposed below the wall-mounted type microwave oven. 
     The wall-mounted type microwave oven includes an oven body having a cooking chamber and an electric component compartment therein, each being isolated from one another. An exhaust flow path is defined between outer surfaces of the cooking chamber and the electric component compartment and the oven body to allow gas and fumes generated from the gas oven disposed below the oven body to be exhausted therethrough. 
     The exhaust flow path is disposed around the cooking chamber and the electric component compartment. A bottom panel of the oven body is provided with intake ports so as to allow the gas and fumes existing below the oven body to be introduced into the oven body therethrough. The oven body is provided at an upper portion of the oven body with an exhaust fan to discharge the gas and fumes, introduced into the oven body, to an outside. 
     The wall-mounted type microwave oven includes a power cord to supply an electric current from an external power source to a power supply provided in the oven body, the power cord being outwardly extended from the oven body. The power cord is usually extended from the oven body through the top panel of the oven body. Since the oven body of the wall-mounted type microwave oven is usually mounted on a kitchen wall so as to be closely interposed between kitchen cabinets, to take the power cord out of the oven body through a rear surface or side surfaces of the oven body is difficult, and heat generated from the gas oven disposed below the oven body can disadvantageously be transmitted to the power cord if the power cord is extended from the microwave oven body through the bottom panel of the oven body of the wall-mounted type microwave oven. 
     Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, a substantial part of a conventional wall-mounted type microwave oven is shown. As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, a top panel  2  of an oven body  1  is provided with a lead-out hole  4 , through which a power cord  3  is extended from the oven body  1 . A plug  3   a  is coupled to a free end of the power cord  3  extended from the oven body  1 . The power cord  3  is provided with a holding piece  5  to hold the power cord  3  on the top panel  2 . The holding piece  5  includes a peripheral groove  5   a  formed at a peripheral surface of the peripheral groove  5   a  such that the peripheral groove  5   a  of the holding piece  5  is engaged with a holding edge  4   a  formed adjacent to the lead-out hole  4 . 
     After the holding piece  5  of the power cord  3  is held by the holding edge  4   a  of the lead-out hole  4 , a cover  6  is attached to the top panel  2 . The cover  6  is attached to the top panel  2  by screws  7  to cover the lead-out hole  4 . The cover  6  is provided at one side of the cover  6  with a retainer  6   a  which is adapted to surround a portion of the holding piece  5  so as to prevent the holding piece  5  from being separated from the holding edge  4   a.    
     However, since the above-described conventional wall-mounted type microwave oven requires additional components, such as the cover  6  to hold the power cord  3  on the top panel  2 , manufacturing cost become high. Further, since the cover  6  must be attached to the top panel  2  of the oven body  1  by screws, assembling time of the wall-mounted type microwave oven is increased, thereby deteriorating productivity. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, a wall-mounted type microwave oven is provided, in which a holding structure of a power cord is improved so as to assure easy assembly and reduction of manufacturing cost. 
     Additional aspects and 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. 
     In order to accomplish the above and other aspects, a wall-mounted type microwave oven is provided comprising: a top panel defining an upper surface of an oven body and having an opening allowing an exhaust fan assembly to be received into the oven body therethrough; a cover removably attached to the top panel to cover the opening; and a power cord which is pulled from the oven body through the opening and held on the top panel by an attachment of the cover. 
     The power cord may be provided with a holding piece, which includes a peripheral groove between upper and lower surfaces of the holding piece. The top panel may be provided with a cut portion to be connected to the opening, so that edges of the top panel defining the cut portion are engaged with the peripheral groove of the holding piece. The cover may be provided with a retaining portion to support the holding piece which is fitted into the cut portion of the top panel. 
     The cut portion may be formed at an edge of the top panel defining the opening, and the retaining portion may be provided at an edge of the cover to support an upper surface and a side surface of the holding piece. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     These and other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the preferred embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which: 
     FIG. 1A is a partial perspective view of a conventional wall-mounted type microwave oven; 
     FIG. 1B is an exploded view of FIG. 1A at area A; 
     FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view of a wall-mounted type microwave oven according to an embodiment of the present invention; and 
     FIG. 2B is an exploded view of FIG. 2A at area B; 
     FIG. 3A is a partial perspective view of the wall-mounted type microwave oven shown in FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 3B is an exploded view of FIG. 3A at area C. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Reference will now made in detail to the present preferred 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 in order to explain the present invention by referring to the figures. 
     As shown in FIGS. 2A,  2 B,  3 A and  3 B, a wall-mounted type microwave oven includes an oven body  10 , which is divided by a partition plate, into a cooking chamber  11  to cook food therein, and an electric component compartment  12  which accommodates various electric components. The oven body  10  is provided with an exhaust flow path  13  therein, which is isolated from the cooking chamber  11  and the electric component compartment  12 , to exhaust gas and fumes generated from a gas oven (not shown) disposed below the oven body  10 . The oven body  10  is further provided at an upper and rear portion of the oven body  10  with an exhaust fan assembly  14  to discharge the gas and fumes introduced into the exhaust flow path  13 . 
     The electric component compartment  12  is equipped with a magnetron  12   a  therein to generate high-frequency electromagnetic waves into the cooking chamber  11 , a high voltage transformer  12   b  for applying high voltage to the magnetron  12   a , and a cooling fan  12   c  to cool the electric component compartment  12 . A waveguide  15  is disposed on the cooking chamber  11  and the electric component compartment  12  to guide high-frequency electromagnetic waves, generated from the magnetron  12   a , into the cooking chamber  11 . The oven body  10  is provided at a front face of the oven body  10  with a door  16  and a control panel  17 , such that the door  16  is openably coupled to the oven body  10  to close the cooking chamber  11 , and the control panel  17  is disposed on the front face of the electric component compartment  12 . The control panel  17  includes a plurality of control buttons to control various functions of the microwave oven and a display to display an operational condition of the microwave oven. 
     The exhaust flow path  13  comprises a lower path section  13   a  defined between a bottom surface of the cooking chamber  11  and the electric component compartment  12  and a bottom panel  18  of the oven body  10 , two rising path sections  13   b  vertically disposed beside the cooking chamber  11  and the electric component compartment  12  respectively, and an upper path section  13   c  disposed on a top of the cooking chamber  11  and the electric component compartment  12  between a top surface of the cooking chamber  11  and a top panel  20  of the oven body  10  to guide the gas and fumes, introduced into the rising path sections  13   b , to the exhaust fan assembly  14 . The bottom panel  18  of the oven body  10  is formed with a pair of intake ports  18   a  to allow the gas and fumes existing therebelow to be introduced into the oven body  10 . Further, the gas and fumes are introduced into the oven body  10  through the intake ports  18   a , and then discharged from the oven body  10  through the lower path section  13   a , the rising path sections  13   b  and the upper path section  13   c , when the exhaust fan assembly  14  is operated. 
     The exhaust fan assembly  14  includes discharge openings  14   a  to discharge the gas and fumes, introduced into the exhaust flow path  13 , to an outside. The gas and fumes discharged through the discharge openings  14   a  can be directed in a desired direction such that the discharge openings  14   a  of the exhaust fan assembly  14  are positionably directed to the desired direction, for example, upwardly and forwardly. To allow the gas and fumes to be discharged through the discharge openings  14   a  when the discharge openings  14   a  are directed forwardly, the oven body  10  is provided at a front face with a front discharge outlet  19  positioned on the door  16  and the control panel  17 . 
     The top panel  20  of the oven body  10  is provided with an opening  30 , so that the exhaust fan assembly  14  is removable from the oven body  10 , thereby allowing the discharge openings  14   a  to be directed to the desired direction and to be repaired. A cover  40  having upper discharge outlets  41  is detachably attached to the top panel  20  of oven body  10  to close the opening  30  such that the gas and fumes are discharged upwardly through the discharge openings  14   a  when the discharge openings  14   a  are directed upward. The cover  40  is attached to the top panel  20  of the oven body  10  by tightening screws  22  into threaded holes  21  formed at the top panel  20  adjacent to the opening  30  through screw holes  42  formed at a circumferential edge of the cover  40 . 
     The wall-mounted type microwave oven includes a power cord  50 , which serves to allow an electric current from an external power source (not shown) to be supplied to a power supply (not shown) provided in the oven body  10 . The power cord  50  is outwardly extended from the oven body  10 . The power cord  50  is usually extended from the top panel  20  of the oven body  10 , because a rear face of the oven body  10  and both side faces of the oven body  10  are in close contact with a kitchen wall and kitchen cabinets and the bottom panel  18  of the oven body  10  is exposed to heat from a gas oven (not shown) disposed therebelow. 
     The free end of the power cord  50  is coupled to a plug  51 , which is inserted into a socket (not shown) provided on a appropriate wall of a kitchen. Another end of the power cord  50 , disposed in the oven body  10 , is connected to the power supply (not shown) supplying electric current to various electric components of the microwave oven. The power cord  50  is further provided with a holding piece  60  to hold the power cord  50  on the top panel  20 . 
     In the wall-mounted type microwave oven, the power cord  50  is extended from the top panel  20  of the oven body  10  through the opening  30 , which is formed at the top panel  20  to allow the exhaust fan assembly  14  to be received into the oven body  10  therethrough. Accordingly, the power cord  50  is held at the opening  30  on the top panel  20  by an attachment of the cover  40  to the top panel  20 . 
     The structure used to hold the power cord  50  on the top panel of the oven body will now be described in detail. 
     The holding piece  60  adapted to hold the power cord  50  is formed as a rectangular plate, which comprises an upper plate  61  and a lower plate  62  with an engaging groove  62  defined therebetween, all of which are integrally formed. In connection with the holding piece  60 , the top panel  20  is formed with a cut portion  31  so as to allow edges of the cut portion  31  to be engaged with the engaging groove  31  of the holding piece  60 . 
     The cut portion  31  is formed at the top panel  20  extending from the opening  30 . Consequently, once the holding piece  60  is fitted into the cut portion  31 , the holding piece  60  is firmly held on the top panel  20  by engagement of the upper and lower plates  61  and  63  of the holding piece  60  and the top panel  20  corresponding to the edges of the cut portion  31 . 
     After the holding piece  60  is fitted into the cut portion  31  of the top panel  20 , the cover  40  is attached to the top panel  20  such that the peripheral edge of the cover  40  is placed on the edge portion of the top panel  20  defining the opening  30 . The cover  40  is provided at one side of the cover  40  with a retainer  70 , which is adapted to surround a portion of the holding piece  60  so as to prevent the holding piece  60  from being separated from the cut portion  31 . 
     The retainer  70  is integrally formed with the cover  40 , and includes a vertical portion  71  adapted to support a side surface of the upper plate  61  of the holding piece  60 , a horizontal portion  72  extended from an upper end of the vertical portion  71  and adapted to support an upper surface of the upper plate  61 , and two vertical side portions  73  downwardly extended from respective opposite sides of the horizontal portion  72  and adapted to support respective opposite side surfaces of the upper plate  61  of the holding piece  60 . Further, since the respective opposite side surface of the holding piece  60  are supported by the vertical portion  71  of the retainer  70  and the upper surface of the holding piece  60  is supported by the horizontal portion  72  of the retainer  70  once the cover  40  is attached to the top panel  20 , the holding piece  60  fitted into the cut portion  31  can be firmly held on the top panel  20  without being separated from the cut portion  31  toward the opening  30 . 
     The operation of holding the power cord of the wall-mounted type microwave oven according to the embodiment of the present invention will now be described. 
     First, the power cord  50  is connected at one end thereof to the power supply (not shown), and outwardly extends out of the oven body  10  through the opening  30 . The holding piece  60 , fixed to the power cord  50 , is fitted into the cut portion  31  connected to the opening  30  by an engagement of the engaging groove  62  of the holding piece  60  and the edge of the cut portion  31 . The exhaust fan assembly  14  is mounted in the oven body  10  through the opening  30 , and the cover  40  is attached to the top panel  20  such that the screws  22  are tightened into the threaded holes  21 , formed in the top panel  20  adjacent to the opening  30 , through the screw holes  42  formed in the cover  40 . The opposite side surfaces and the upper surface of the holding piece  60  fitted into the cut portion  31  are supported by the retainer  70  formed at the cover  40 . Accordingly, the holding piece  60  cannot be separated from the cut portion  31 , and the power cord  50  can be securely held on the top panel  20  by the engagement of the holding piece  60 . 
     As described above, a wall-mounted type microwave oven with an improved structure to hold a power cord on the top panel of the oven body is provided. Accordingly, the power cord is held on the top panel of the oven body such that a power cord extends out of the oven body through the opening, which is provided in the top panel to allow an exhaust fan assembly to be received into the oven body therethrough, and a holding piece fixed to the power cord is fitted into the cut portion connected to the opening and by attaching a cover to the top panel the opening is covered. Since additional components to hold the power cord are therefore not necessary, manufacturing cost of the microwave oven is reduced and assembling efficiency of the microwave oven is improved. 
     Although a preferred embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in this embodiment without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.