Patent ID: 7316080

Claim:
In a conveyor oven for heating a product, said conveyor oven having a conveyor with a conveying run extending from a heating section, through a transition section and into a cooling section, and a return run extending from said cooling section to said heating section, said heating section having a heating section housing having at least one heating element mounted therein and at least one heating section blower for circulating air through said heating section and past said heating element to heat the circulated air and creating an area of relatively positive pressure beneath said conveying run of said conveyor in said heating section, said cooling section having a cooling fan connected to a cooling section housing through an inlet in said cooling section housing for drawing-cooling air through said cooling section and creating an area of relatively low pressure beneath said conveying run of said conveyor in said cooling section, and said heating section is divided from said transition section by one or more baffles interposed between said transition section and said heating section and between said conveying run and said return run and wherein no heating elements and no means for circulating air through said transition section are incorporated into said transition section, the improvement comprising means connected to and extending through a housing for said transition section for introducing ambient air into said transition section between said conveying run and said return run to thereby increase the air pressure in said transition section relative to the air pressures in areas of said cooling section and of said heating section below said conveying run and proximate said transition section wherein the temperature of the air introduced into said transition section is lower than the temperature of the heated air in said drying section.