Patent ID: 8598500

Claim:
A susceptor assembly for use in heating an article in a resonant cavity of a microwave oven, the susceptor assembly comprising: a susceptor including an uninterrupted electrically lossy layer, the electrically lossy layer of the susceptor defining a generally planar presentation surface to accept an article for presentation to the resonant cavity of the microwave oven, the susceptor having a second generally planar opposed surface; at least one substantially planar vane having a connection edge and a single free edge thereon, the vane being mechanically connected along its connection edge to the opposed surface of the susceptor such that substantially the entire length of the vane is overlaid by the opposed surface of the susceptor, the mechanical connection being implemented by either a fixed or a hinged connection between the connection edge of the vane and the opposed surface of the susceptor, at least a first portion of the vane being electrically conductive and at least a second portion of the vane being electrically non-conductive, the electrically conductive portion of the vane having a predetermined width dimension and a corner thereon, the corner of the electrically conductive portion being rounded in the plane of the vane at a radius up to and including one half of the width dimension, the electrically non-conductive portion of the vane being disposed between the electrically conductive portion of the vane and the opposed surface of the susceptor such that the electrically conductive portion of the vane is spaced at least a predetermined close distance from the electrically lossy layer of the planar susceptor, so that the occurrence of arcing in the vicinity of the electrically conductive portion is prevented when the susceptor assembly is used in an unloaded microwave oven.