Patent ID: 8058594

Claim:
A cooking apparatus, comprising: a cooking cavity provided in a housing; an upper space formed between an upper surface of the cooking cavity and a corresponding upper surface of the housing, wherein a flow path extends through the upper space; and a door configured to open and to close an entire front face of the housing, the door comprising: a door panel; a front plate provided at a front of the door panel; a door frame provided at a rear of the door panel and configured to block microwaves from passing therethrough; a middle plate coupled to the door panel, between the front plate and the door frame, and configured to block heat transfer from the cooking cavity to the front plate; and an inlet formed in an upper interior surface of the door, at a portion thereof corresponding to the upper space, so as to receive cooling air from the upper space and an outlet provided at a lower end of the door, wherein the upper interior surface of the door in which the inlet is formed covers the upper space when the door is in a closed position against the housing so that the inlet communicates with the flow path in the upper space so as to receive cooling air therefrom that is directed into the door, and wherein the inlet and the outlet direct cooling air from an upper end to the lower end of the door along a cooling passage formed between the front plate and the middle plate.