Patent Publication Number: US-6670594-B1

Title: Wall-mounted type microwave oven

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of Korean Application No.  2002-33871 , filed Jun. 18, 2002, in the Korean Industrial 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 with an improved fan cover, which is adapted to cover an exhaust fan. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     FIG. 1 shows a conventional wall-mounted type microwave oven installed over a gas oven range. As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional wall-mounted type microwave oven  1  is generally installed over a gas oven range  1  in a kitchen, and serves to carry out a function of exhausting exhaust gas, fumes and the like, generated from the gas oven range  1  disposed therebelow to the outside. The conventional microwave oven  1  also serves to carry out a cooking function by generating high-frequency electromagnetic waves. 
     As shown in FIG. 2, the wall-mounted type microwave oven  1  is provided at a rear and upper portion of its oven body  2  with an exhaust fan  3  to exhaust gas and fumes, and is provided therein with an exhaust path, which is extended from a bottom of the oven body  2  to the exhaust fan  3  to suck and guide gas and fumes. 
     Furthermore, the oven body  2  is provided at its rear and upper portion with a fan-mounting compartment  4  to house the exhaust fan  3 . An external case  5  of the oven body  2  is provided at its upper surface with an opening  6 , which has an area corresponding to a planar area of the exhaust fan  3  to allow the exhaust fan  3  to be mounted into the fan-mounting compartment  4  therethrough, and to be easily pulled out of the compartment  4 . The opening  6  is hingedly equipped with a fan cover  7  to close the opening  6 . The fan cover  7  includes discharging ports  8  containing a filter  9  to filter foreign substances. 
     However, since the conventional wall-mounted type microwave oven  1  is constructed such that the fan cover  7  to cover the exhaust fan  3  is separately manufactured and then coupled to the opening  6 , a configuration required to mount the exhaust fan  3  is complicated and a number of components is increased, thereby causing a decrease of productivity and an increase of manufacturing cost. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a wall-mounted type microwave oven, which is intended to allow an increase of productivity and decrease of manufacturing cost by improving a fan cover. 
     Additional objects 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. 
     The foregoing and other objects of the present invention are achieved by providing a wall-mounted type microwave oven including an oven body, an external case adapted to cover the oven body, which is provided with an opening to allow an exhaust fan to be mounted on the oven body therethrough, and a fan cover integrally formed with the external case to close the opening. 
     According to an aspect of the invention, the fan cover is bent with respect to the external case to be opened and closed. 
     According to an aspect of the invention, a conjunction portion, at which the fan cover and the external case are connected, is provided at its lower surface with a folding notch line having a certain depth. 
     According to an aspect of the invention, the fan cover is separated from the external case by two slits forwardly extended from a rear end of the external case, so that a rear free end of the fan cover is opened and closed up and down. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more appreciated from the following description of the preferred embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which: 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional wall-mounted type microwave oven, which is installed above a gas oven range; 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a conventional wall-mounted type microwave oven, in which an exhaust fan is removed to show its detailed construction; 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a wall-mounted type microwave oven, in which an external case and a control panel are removed to show its interior components, according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the wall-mounted type microwave oven of FIG. 3, which shows a structure required to mount an exhaust fan; 
     FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of the structure to mount the exhaust fan of FIG. 3; 
     FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the structure to mount the exhaust fan, in which a fan cover is opened; 
     FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6, in which the fan cover is closed; and 
     FIG. 8 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of circle VIII of FIG.  7 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Reference will now be 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 like elements throughout. 
     As shown in FIG. 3, a wall-mounted type microwave oven according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an oven body  10 , which is provided therein with a cooking chamber  11  to receive foods to be cooked, and an electric component compartment  12  to receive various electric components, both of which are isolated from each other. 
     The cooking chamber  11  is provided at its front face with a door  14  to be closed and opened. The electric component compartment  12  is isolated from the cooking chamber  11  by a partition plate  15 . The electric component compartment  12  is provided therein with a magnetron  16  to generate high-frequency electromagnetic waves into the cooking chamber  11 , a high voltage transformer  17  to apply high voltage to the magnetron  16 , and a cooling fan  18  to cool the electric components received in the electric component compartment  12 . The magnetron  16  is mounted on an upper surface of the electric component compartment  12 , and the high voltage transformer  17  is mounted on a bottom of the electric component compartment  12 . A waveguide  19  is provided on upper surfaces of the cooking chamber  11  and the electric component compartment  12 , such that the waveguide  19  is extended between both centers of the upper surfaces of the cooking chamber  11  and the electric component compartment  12 . The waveguide  19  serves to guide high-frequency electromagnetic waves generated from the magnetron  16  into the cooking chamber  11 . The electric component compartment  12  is further provided at its front face with a control panel  20  equipped with a plurality of control buttons to control various functions, and a display to indicate an operational condition of the microwave oven. 
     The microwave oven according to the present invention further includes an air flow path, which is adapted to allow outside air to be introduced into the electric component compartment  12  and the cooking chamber  11 , and then discharged to the outside, so as to provide cooling of the electric component compartment  12  and ventilation of the cooking chamber  11 . The air flow path includes a front air inlet  21  disposed over the control panel  20  and communicating with the electric component compartment  12 . The air flow path also includes a plurality of vent holes  22  formed at the partition plate  15  to allow air introduced into the electric component compartment  12  through the front air inlet  21  to be introduced into the cooking chamber  11  while cooling the electric component compartment  12 . The air flow path is further provided with a plurality of vent holes  23  formed at the upper surface of the cooking chamber  11 , and a front air outlet  24  disposed at an upper portion of a front face of the cooking chamber  11 , to allow air in the cooking chamber  11  to be discharged to an outside therethrough. 
     By the airflow path, when the cooking fan  18  is operated, the outside air is introduced into the electric component compartment  12  through the front air inlet  21  to cool the components in the electric component compartment  12 , and then introduced into the cooking chamber  11  through the vent holes  22  of the partition plate  15  to ventilate the cooking chamber  11 . Subsequently, the air in the cooking chamber  11  is discharged to the outside through the vent holes  23  and the front air outlet  24 . 
     Further, the wall-mounted type microwave oven according to the present invention includes an exhaust flow path, which is constructed to be isolated from the cooking chamber  11  and the electric component compartment  12  to exhaust gas and fumes generated from a gas oven range (not shown) disposed below the oven body  10 . Accordingly, the oven body  10  is provided at its upper and rear portion with an exhaust fan assembly  40  to discharge gas and fumes introduced into the exhaust flow path to the outside. 
     The exhaust flow path includes an intake port  26  formed at a bottom panel  25  of the oven body  10 , and a lower path section  28  defined between bottom plates of the cooking chamber  11  and the electric component compartment  12 , and the bottom panel  25  of the oven body  10 . The exhaust flow path further includes two rising path sections  29  and  30  defined between a side plate of the cooking chamber  11  and a rear plate of the electric compartment  12  and panels of the oven body  10 . The exhaust flow path includes two upper path sections  31  and  32  disposed on the oven body  10 , which serve to guide the gas and fumes introduced into the rising path sections  29  and  30  toward the exhaust fan assembly  40 . Accordingly, when the exhaust fan assembly  40  is operated, gas and fumes sucked through the intake port  26  of the bottom panel  25  are discharged to the outside through the lower path section  28 , the two rising path sections  29  and  30 , and the two upper path sections  31  and  32 . 
     As shown in FIGS. 3 through 5, the exhaust fan assembly  40  includes first and second fans  41  and  42  to discharge gas and fumes introduced into the two rising path sections  29  and  30 , and a motor  43  interposed between the first and second fan elements  41  and  42  to rotate the first and second fans  41  and  42 . 
     The exhaust fan assembly  40  is mounted on the oven body  10  such that the exhaust fan assembly  40  is received in a fan-mounting compartment  45  of the oven body  10 . An external case  50  of the oven body  10  is formed with an opening  53  at a position corresponding to the exhaust fan assembly  40  to allow the exhaust fan assembly  40  to be mounted on and separated from the oven body  10  therethrough. The opening  53  is provided with a fan cover  60 , which has discharging ports  61  through which gas and fumes are discharged. The discharging ports  61  of the fan cover  60  are provided with filters  62  to filter foreign substances contained in the gas and fumes. 
     As shown in FIG. 4, the fan cover  60  and the opening  53  enable the exhaust fan assembly  40  to be easily mounted on the oven body  10  therethrough even though the external case  50  is attached to the oven body  10  in advance, and to be easily separated from the oven body  10  when there is need to replace the exhaust fan assembly  40  with a new one or to repair the exhaust fan assembly  40 . 
     According to the present invention, the fan cover  60  is integrally formed with the external case  50 . More specifically, the fan cover  60  is formed in the course of manufacturing the external case  50  by carrying out a press working of a steel plate, such that the fan cover  60  is connected to an edge of the external case  50  defining the opening  53 . By this integral configuration of the fan cover  60  and the external case  50 , a number of components required to manufacture a microwave oven and manufacturing cost are reduced, resulting in simplification of its manufacturing process and improvement of productivity. 
     Since the fan cover  60  is raised from the external case  50  in a hinge manner by two slits  63  forwardly extended from a rear end of the external case  50  by a length corresponding to a width of the fan cover  60 , a rear end of the fan cover  60  may be opened and closed up and down. The slits  63  are formed during the press working of the external case  50 . 
     As shown in FIGS. 6 through 8, a conjunction portion  64 , at which the fan cover  60  and the external case  50  are connected, is formed at its lower surface with a folding notch line  65  having a certain depth. Since the conjunction portion  64  is weak compared to other portions of the external case  50  due to the folding notch line  65 , the fan cover  60  is easily bent at the conjunction portion  64 , thereby facilitating opening and closing of the fan cover  60 . The rear side of the fan cover  60  is fixedly attached to the external case  50  by screws  66 , as shown in FIG.  7 . 
     As described above, since a wall-mounted type microwave oven is constructed such that a fan cover is integrally formed with an external case, its construction is simplified due to a decreased number of components, and thus improvement in productivity and reduction of manufacturing cost are obtained. 
     Although a few preferred 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.