SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL
It is an object of the present invention to provide a steam box which overcomes or at least partially solves the above mentioned problems.
The utility model aims to provide a steam box which can prevent high-temperature steam from hurting people and cannot pollute the indoor environment or influence the food purity.
The utility model further aims to simplify the structure of the steam box and save the cost of the steam box.
In particular, the present invention provides a steam box comprising:
a cabinet defining a cooking chamber having one side opened;
the door body is arranged on the box body and used for opening and closing the cooking cavity;
a steam generating part for controllably supplying steam into the cooking cavity; and
a steam recovery part for controllably receiving the steam discharged from the cooking cavity.
Optionally, the vapor recovery part contains condensate, so that the vapor entering the vapor recovery part is contacted with the condensate to release heat so as to be liquefied into liquid water.
Optionally, the vapor recovery section comprises:
the gas collecting box is arranged in the box body and contains the condensate;
the two ends of the exhaust pipe are respectively communicated with the cooking cavity and the gas collecting box and are used for introducing steam into the gas collecting box; and
and the exhaust valve is arranged on the exhaust pipe and used for controlling the opening and closing of the exhaust pipe and adjusting the flow of the exhaust pipe.
Optionally, the exhaust duct communicates with a top of a sidewall of the cooking chamber.
Optionally, the gas collecting box is vertically arranged in a flat shape and is arranged in one side wall of the box body.
Optionally, the plenum box is mounted to a lower region of the side wall.
Optionally, the gas collection box is removably mounted to the housing.
Optionally, the condensate is liquid water.
Optionally, the steam generation part comprises:
a steam generator installed at the bottom of the cooking cavity and configured to heat liquid water into steam after being electrified;
the water tank is arranged in the box body and used for containing liquid water;
a water supply pipe having both ends respectively communicated with the water tank and the steam generator to supply water to the steam generator; and
and a water supply valve installed in the water supply pipe to control opening and closing of the water supply pipe and to adjust a flow rate thereof.
Optionally, the water tank is vertically flat and embedded in one side wall of the tank body.
Optionally, the water tank is mounted to an upper region of the side wall.
The steam box is provided with a steam recovery part, and condensate is contained in the steam recovery part. Before the steam box is opened, the steam recovery part can be controlled to receive high-temperature high-pressure steam discharged from the cooking cavity, and the high-temperature high-pressure steam is contacted with condensate to release heat so as to be liquefied into liquid water. Thus avoiding the high-temperature steam from spraying out to scald the human body when the door is opened. Moreover, the high-temperature and high-pressure steam and other substances such as grease carried by the steam are merged into the condensate together, so that the recovery process is finished, and the steam cannot be diffused to the indoor environment to cause pollution.
Furthermore, in the steam box, the gas collecting box is detachably arranged in the box body, when the accumulated liquid (including the original condensed liquid and the condensed water formed by introducing steam at the later stage) in the gas collecting box reaches the limit, the gas collecting box can be detached to pour the accumulated liquid, and the gas collecting box can be cleaned at any time, so that the steam box is ingenious in design and convenient to use.
Furthermore, the steam box of the utility model absorbs and condenses high-temperature steam by using liquid water, has a very simple structure and is lower in cost.
Furthermore, in the steam box, the gas collecting box and the water tank are vertically arranged in a flat shape and arranged in the side wall of the box body, so that the occupied space of the steam box can be saved to the maximum extent, and the whole structure of the steam box is more compact.
The above and other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will become more apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of specific embodiments thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Detailed Description
A steam box according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to fig. 1 to 2. Where the orientations or positional relationships indicated by the terms "front," "back," "upper," "lower," "top," "bottom," "inner," "outer," "lateral," and the like are based on the orientations or positional relationships shown in the drawings, the description is for convenience only and to simplify the description, and no indication or suggestion is made that the device or element so indicated must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and is therefore not to be construed as limiting the utility model.
The terms "first", "second", etc. are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, features defined as "first," "second," etc. may explicitly or implicitly include at least one such feature, i.e., one or more such features. In the description of the present invention, "a plurality" means at least two, e.g., two, three, etc., unless specifically limited otherwise. When a feature "comprises or comprises" a or some of its intended features, this indicates that other features are not excluded and that other features may be further included, unless expressly stated otherwise.
FIG. 1 is a schematic structural view of a steam box according to one embodiment of the present invention; fig. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the steam box of fig. 1, and fig. 2 illustrates the flow direction of steam and water with arrows.
As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the steam box according to the embodiment of the present invention may generally include a box body 100, a door body 900, a steam generation part 200, and a steam recovery part 300.
The cabinet 100 defines a cooking chamber 101 having one side opened for placing food. Specifically, the case 100 may be opened forward or upward. The enclosure 100 may specifically include an outer shell and an inner container disposed within the outer shell. The outer appearance of the cabinet 100 is formed by the outer casing, and the aforementioned cooking chamber 101 is defined by the inner container. The door 900 is mounted to the cabinet 100 to open and close the cooking chamber 101. The door 900 and the box 100 may be connected in a rotating manner, or may be connected in a sliding manner, and the detailed structure is not described again. The door 900 may be disposed at a front side of the cabinet 100 as shown in fig. 1. Of course, it may be disposed on the top of the case 100. When the door 900 is in a closed state, the door is sealed from the cabinet 100 to prevent steam from leaking.
The steam generating part 200 is used for controllably supplying steam into the cooking cavity 101 to heat food in the cooking cavity 101 by the steam, thereby completing a food steaming process. That is, liquid water may be supplied to the steam generating unit 200, and the steam generating unit 200 may generate heat by being energized to heat the liquid water to evaporate the water to generate high-temperature steam.
In some embodiments, the vapor recovery section 300 contains a condensate 500. And, the vapor recovery part 300 is for controllably receiving the vapor discharged from the cooking cavity 101 and making the portion of the vapor contact the condensate 500 to release heat to be liquefied into liquid water.
Specifically, after the vapor enters the vapor recovery unit 300, a part of the vapor is directly mixed into the condensate 500, and the liquefaction process is rapidly completed, and a part of the vapor is located outside the condensate 500, but the condensation process is gradually completed by contact with the surface and wall surfaces of the condensate 500.
During the food steaming process, a large amount of high-temperature and high-pressure steam is accumulated in the cooking cavity 101, so that the air pressure is generally high. After the food steaming is finished, if a user opens the door body 900 in a trade, high-temperature and high-pressure steam is ejected at a high speed, and the human body is scalded very easily. Some prior art pressure release methods directly discharge high temperature high pressure steam to the indoor environment, because often mix in the steam has grease, causes the pollution of indoor environment.
In the embodiment of the present invention, after the food is steamed and before the user opens the door 900, the steam recovery part 300 can be controlled to receive some steam in an electric or manual manner, so that the pressure in the cooking cavity 101 is reduced, and the pressure relief and the temperature reduction are completed. At the moment, the user just opens the door body 900, high-temperature and high-pressure steam cannot be sprayed out, and the risk of scalding is avoided. Further, since the recovered steam enters the steam recovery part 300, the indoor environment is not polluted.
When the accumulated liquid (including the original condensed liquid 500 and the condensed water formed by introducing the steam at the later stage) in the steam recovery part 300 reaches the limit, the accumulated liquid can be poured or led out, and then the new condensed liquid 500 is replaced.
The condensate 500 is preferably liquid water, which is readily available and relatively clean and inexpensive. Of course, the condensate 500 may be other aqueous solutions that facilitate the absorption of vapor, or the condensation of vapor.
In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 2, the vapor recovery section 300 can be made to include a vapor collection box 330, an exhaust pipe 320, and an exhaust valve 310. The vapor collection box 330 is mounted to the housing 100 and contains the condensate 500 therein. Both ends of the exhaust pipe 320 communicate with the cooking chamber 101 and the gas collecting box 330, respectively, for introducing steam into the gas collecting box 330. Since the vapor may also form liquid water when encountering condensation in the exhaust pipe 320, it is preferable to make the air inlet end (end communicating with the cooking chamber 101) of the exhaust pipe 320 higher than the air outlet end (end communicating with the air collecting box 330) to prevent the water from flowing back into the cooking chamber 101. The exhaust valve 310 is mounted to the exhaust pipe 320, and controls opening and closing of the exhaust pipe 320 and adjusts a flow rate thereof.
The exhaust valve 310 may be a solenoid valve so as to be connected with a main control panel of the steam box. A control panel of the steam box can be provided with keys, and a user controls the opening of the electromagnetic valve through the control panel before opening the door, so that the pressure relief and exhaust process of the cooking cavity 101 is completed. After the pressure relief is finished, the main control board controls the electromagnetic valve to be automatically closed. Of course, the door body 900 may also be provided with a door opening sensor and connected to the main control board. When the door body 900 is stressed, the door opening sensor senses the door opening action and transmits a signal to the main control board, and the main control board controls the electromagnetic valve to be opened, so that the pressure relief and exhaust process is completed.
Of course, the exhaust valve 310 may also be a manual valve. When the food is steamed and before the door needs to be opened, the user manually operates the exhaust valve 310 to complete the pressure relief and exhaust process of the cooking cavity 101. This makes the user feel more comfortable.
In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 2, the exhaust pipe 320 may communicate with the top of the sidewall of the cooking chamber 101 to preferentially exhaust the high-temperature and high-pressure steam in the upper region of the cooking chamber 101. The exhaust pipe 320 may be a metal pipe, which has a faster heat transfer, so that the steam can complete some condensation process on the inner wall of the exhaust pipe 320.
In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 1 and 2, the vapor collection box 330 can be vertically flat and disposed in one side wall of the box 100 to save the space occupied thereby to the maximum extent, so that the overall structure of the steam box is more compact. Specifically, the side wall of the housing 100 may be provided with a receiving cavity (not shown) into which the gas collecting box 330 is inserted. Alternatively, the vapor collection box 330 can be positioned against the outside of the side wall of the housing 100. The gas collecting box 330 itself is made of a material having good heat insulating properties, or a heat insulating structure is provided between the gas collecting box 330 and the side wall of the cabinet 100, so that the temperature in the gas collecting box 330 is kept relatively low, and is prevented from being heated by high-temperature steam in the cooking cavity 101.
In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 1 and 2, the vapor collection box 330 may be installed at a lower region of the sidewall of the cabinet 100 such that the lowermost end of the exhaust pipe 320 is lower, so that condensed water formed on the inner wall of the exhaust pipe 320 can flow downward without flowing back into the cooking chamber 101.
In some embodiments, the vapor collection cartridge 330 can be removably mounted to the housing 100. In this way, when the accumulated liquid (including the original condensed liquid 500 and the condensed water formed by introducing the steam at the later stage) in the gas collecting box 330 reaches the limit, the accumulated liquid can be removed to be poured out, and then the accumulated liquid is replaced with a new condensed liquid 500. A sensor may be provided to sense the liquid level within the gas collection box 330 to alert the user to a liquid change operation when the liquid level reaches a limit position.
In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 1 and 2, the steam generating part 200 includes a steam generator 210, a water tank 240, a water supply pipe 220, and a water supply valve 230. Wherein, the steam generator 210 is installed at the bottom of the cooking cavity 101 and configured to heat the liquid water into steam after being electrified. Steam generators are widely used in existing steam boxes and their operation and structure will not be described in detail here. The water tank 240 is installed at the tank 100 to contain liquid water. Both ends of the water supply pipe 220 communicate with the water tank 240 and the steam generator 210, respectively, to supply water to the steam generator 210. The water supply valve 230 is installed at the water supply pipe 220 to control opening and closing of the water supply pipe 220 and to adjust a flow rate thereof.
In some aspects, as shown in fig. 2, the water tank 240 may be positioned high, for example, mounted to an upper region of a sidewall of the cabinet 100, so that water can flow into the steam generator 210 by gravity without providing a water pump for pressurization. The water supply valve 230 may be an electromagnetic valve, which is connected to a main control panel of the steam box to be controlled by the main control panel.
In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 1 and 2, the water tank 240 is vertically flat and embedded in one side wall of the box 100, so as to save the occupied space to the maximum and make the whole structure of the steam box more compact.
The embodiment of the utility model solves the problem of steam splashing when the steam box opens the door, reduces the steam overflow amount when the steam box opens the door 900 after cooking or in the cooking process, reduces the complexity of the system structure and improves the steam absorption efficiency.
Thus, it should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that while a number of exemplary embodiments of the utility model have been illustrated and described in detail herein, many other variations or modifications consistent with the principles of the utility model may be directly determined or derived from the disclosure of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the utility model. Accordingly, the scope of the utility model should be understood and interpreted to cover all such other variations or modifications.