Patent ID: 7087874

Claim:
An apparatus for drying ceramic molded articles, comprising a drying chamber for accommodating the ceramic molded articles, a plurality of microwave generators for supplying microwave energy in the frequency range of 300 MHz to 300 GHz into said drying chamber, a conveyor for charging said ceramic molded articles continuously into said drying chamber, conveying said ceramic molded articles through said drying chamber and delivering said ceramic molded articles from said drying chamber, and a plurality of rests each adapted to receive a ceramic molded article and be conveyed by the conveyor through said drying chamber, wherein said drying chamber has arranged therein said plurality of microwave generators in the direction of conveyance of said conveyor and at least a sensor for detecting the distribution of said ceramic molded products in said drying chamber, and further comprising: a control device for changing the output of each of said microwave generators in accordance with the distribution of said ceramic molded articles in said drying chambers, wherein a substantially tabular reflector for reflecting the microwave eneray is mounted, substantially at a right angle to the direction of conveyance, at one of the forward and rearward end portions of at least some of said rests, the other rests having no tabular reflector mounted thereto, and wherein each of said microwave generators is adapted to change the output thereof in accordance with the quantity of said ceramic molded articles existing in respective drying areas formed between adjacent ones of said reflectors in said drying chamber.