KR20080032708A - Cooking equipment and cleaning method - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a cooking appliance, and more particularly, to a cooking appliance that makes it easier to clean contaminants such as food residues attached to the wall of the cooking appliance.

The present invention forms a body; A cavity provided inside the main body to form a space for heating and cooking an object, the inner surface of which has a super water-repellent property; It provides a cooking apparatus comprising a spray device: for spraying water or steam on the inner surface of the cavity to wash away the contaminants on the inner surface of the cavity.

In addition, the inner surface of the cavity provides an enamel is formed on the base material, and the exposed surface of the enamel is provided with a plasma surface treatment to have a super water-repellent property.

Therefore, according to the present invention, since contaminants do not adhere well to the inside of the cavity and can be cleaned only by water or steam, there is an advantage that the inside of the cavity does not need to be heated to a high temperature.

Cooking equipment, enamel, super water repellent, plasma surface treatment

Description

Cooking device and cleaning method {Cooking device ＆ Cleaning method for the same}

1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a cooking appliance according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a configuration diagram schematically showing the inside of the cooking appliance of FIG. 1;

3a to 3c is a view showing the difference in water repellency according to the contact angle to the water droplets and the surface,

3A shows a case where the surface is superhydrophilic;

3B shows a case in which the surface is water repellent;

3c shows a case where the surface is super water-repellent;

Figure 4 is a schematic diagram showing that the base material forming the wall surface of the cavity is plasma surface treatment;

5A-5C illustrate contaminants and water droplets flowing down from a super water-repellent surface; And,

Figure 6 is a flow chart showing the operation sequence of a preferred embodiment of the cleaning method of the cooking appliance of the present invention.

* Explanation of Signs of Major Parts of Drawings

100: main body 102: door

104: control unit 106: rack

110: cavity 110a: the base material

110b: enamel 122: top heater

124: bottom heater 126: convection heater

130: spray device 132: water tank

134: nozzle 136: pump

150: contaminant S: super water-repellent surface

W: water drop

The present invention relates to a cooking appliance, and more particularly, to a cooking appliance that makes it easier to clean contaminants such as food residues attached to the wall of the cooking appliance.

A cooking apparatus is an apparatus for heating food and cooking, and typical examples thereof include a gas range, a microwave oven, and an oven.

In general, the oven is composed of a cavity constituting the cooking space, a heater for heating the inside of the cavity.

Therefore, the user puts a cooking object in a tray or the like and puts it inside the cavity and heats it through a heater.

However, when food is heated, food overflows or fried foods are stuck to the wall of the cooking appliance. Since the inside of the cavity is heated by heat, it may be more strongly attached to the wall, which is difficult to clean, which is not only an oven but also an electronic Range also had problems.

Recently, in order to make cleaning easier, a method of heating the inside of the cavity to a high temperature after cooking is used to burn off the residues on the wall. This method is to burn the residue by heating the inside of the cavity to about 460 ℃ or more for 2 hours or more.

However, this method also has the disadvantage of consuming excessive time and energy, and the inside of the cavity is heated to a very high temperature. Considering the installation of cookers such as ovens in a built-in manner, the danger of fire as well as the surrounding furniture It may cause thermal deformation problems of these, in order to prevent the use of more heat insulating material is difficult to manufacture and design, the cost increases, there is a problem that the internal capacity of the cavity is reduced by the thickness of the heat insulating material.

The present invention is to solve the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a cooking apparatus that is easy to clean contaminants without heating to a high temperature. In addition, another object of the present invention is to provide a cooking apparatus that is strong wear resistance does not deteriorate even after a use time.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a body for forming an appearance; The cooking apparatus includes a cavity provided inside the main body to form a space for heating and cooking an object, and an enamel layer is formed on an inner side thereof, and an exposed surface of the enamel layer is plasma surface treated to have super water repellency. To provide.

The plasma surface treatment may be performed in a fluorine-containing gas atmosphere.

In addition, the present invention is characterized in that it further comprises a spray device for spraying water or steam on the inner surface of the cavity to wash away the contaminants on the inner surface of the cavity.

And, the spray device, a water tank for storing water; It is preferable to include a cooking appliance, characterized in that it comprises a nozzle: for spraying water or steam to the inner surface of the cavity.

In addition, the spray device may further comprise a heater for heating the water in the water tank.

In addition, the water sprayed on the inner surface of the cavity may be heated by the heat of the cavity.

In addition, a control unit for detecting the completion of cooking of food is provided in the main body, and the spray device may be configured to automatically spray water or steam on the inner surface of the cavity after the cooking is finished.

Alternatively, the main body is provided with a control unit for inputting a signal by the user, and the spray device may be configured to be operated by a user's operation.

In addition, the present invention comprises the steps of cooking food in the interior of the super water-repellent coated cavity; Injecting water or steam to the inner wall surface of the cavity: Provides a cleaning method of a cooking appliance comprising a.

Here, the step of spraying the water or steam is characterized in that it is performed after the end of cooking.

In addition, the present invention provides a cooking apparatus having a wall surface having a surface on which the enamel surface-treated to have a super water repellency by plasma treatment.

Therefore, according to the cooking apparatus of the present invention, it is easy to clean the food residues deposited on the inside of the cavity, there is no need to heat the cavity to a high temperature, energy is saved, and high temperature heating is not performed, so there is a safe use effect.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings a preferred embodiment according to the cooking apparatus of the present invention will be described.

In the following description, the present embodiment describes an oven as an example, but can also be applied to a microwave oven and the like.

1 is a perspective view illustrating an appearance of a cooking appliance according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a view schematically illustrating the inside of the cooking appliance.

The cooking apparatus according to the present embodiment first includes a main body 100 forming an exterior, a cavity 110 provided inside the main body 100 to form a space for heating and cooking a cooking object, and the cavity 110. It consists of a heater which heats the inner space.

The heater is generally provided with an upper surface heater 122 provided on the upper surface and a lower surface heater 124 provided on the lower surface, and a convection heater 126 and a fan are further provided for heating through convection on the rear surface. It may be. However, the present invention is not limited by the position of the heater, and in the case of a microwave oven, a high frequency oscillator (not shown) for emitting microwaves may be provided instead of the heater.

In addition, a control unit 104 for controlling the cooking appliance is installed on the front of the main body 100. And, the door 102 for opening and closing the cavity 110 is installed in the front of the main body 100 is hinged. Of course, the control unit 104 may be remotely controlled, and the door 102 may be installed to be slidable from the front of the main body 100.

In addition, the inside of the cavity 110 is a rack 106 that can accommodate food. The rack 106 is installed to enable adjustment of the position inside the cavity 110 according to the intention of the user.

Rack supporters 108 for supporting the rack 106 are installed at both ends of the rack 106. The rack supporter 108 includes a plurality of rack guides 108b on which the rack 106 can be supported, and a guide support member 108a for supporting the rack guide 108.

Here, the inner surface of the cavity 110 is preferably treated to have super water repellency.

3A to 3C are views showing the contact angle and the water repellency of the surface and water droplets.

Briefly, the super water repellency is as follows. When the water droplets W are formed on the surface S of the material, the surface S and the water droplets W form an angle, which is called a contact angle α.

The larger the contact angle is, the lower the surface energy of the material surface is, so that the water repellency that pushes out the water becomes larger. Generally, as shown in FIG. 3A, the contact angle α is 10 ° or less. As shown in FIG. 3B, the contact angle is expressed as having water repellency greater than 90 °. In particular, as shown in Fig. 3C, the case where the contact angle becomes 140 ° or more is expressed as having super water repellency. When the surface (S) of the material has a super water-repellent state, the surface energy is extremely low, and the water q droplets (W) on the surface do not bury the material surface (S) while maintaining a more spherical shape. In addition, such a tendency is applied not only to water but also to an object having other components such as oil, and the lower the surface energy, the more difficult to attach.

In order for the inner surface of the cavity to have super water repellency, the cavity is coated with enamel 110b on the surface of the base material 110a forming the cavity as shown in FIG. 4, and the surface of the enamel 110b. It is desirable to have super water repellency by the plasma treatment.

A brief description of the plasma treatment is as follows. As shown in FIG. 4, when a high voltage is applied to both electrodes at a predetermined interval, a discharge is formed in a space between the electrodes, thereby generating plasma. When the plasma is brought into contact with the surface of the material, the surface of the material can be subjected to various treatments, and thus the surface can be cleaned and modified, surface deformation and reduction of metal oxides can be obtained.

Therefore, enamel 110b is coated on the surface of the base material 110a constituting the cavity, and plasma treatment is performed so that the surface of the enamel 110b has super water repellency. The surface of the enamel 110b that leads to the inner wall of the cooking chamber through the plasma surface treatment is modified in the micro unit area to have super water repellency.

At this time, if the plasma treatment is performed in an atmosphere of fluorine-containing gas, further improved super water repellency can be obtained.

Here, the degree of the surface of the enamel 110b having superhydrophobicity or superhydrophilicity may be controlled by the conditions of the plasma treatment, the intensity and processing time of the voltage, the type of the surrounding gas, and the interval between the gaps. Since it is obvious to the user, detailed description will be omitted.

In addition, the surface of the enamel 110b layer was plasma-treated to improve the super water repellency of the surface while maintaining the mechanical properties of the enamel 110b, compared to the case where other components were coated on the surface of the enamel 110b layer. Even after this or the number of cleaning is passed, super water repellency is maintained, the properties of the high hardness enamel 110b is maintained as it is excellent in wear resistance.

In addition, according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the water tank 132 provided inside the main body 100 to store water, and the water of the water tank 132 into the cavity 110. It is preferable that a spray device 130 including a nozzle 134 for injecting steam generated by spraying or heating water into the cavity 110 is further installed. In addition, a pump 136 for transferring water from the water tank 132 to the nozzle may be further provided as necessary.

In addition, a heating device such as a heater for heating water in the water tank 132 or between the water tank 132 and the nozzle 134 to heat the water in the water tank 132 for the purpose of generating steam. (Not shown) may be further provided. Of course, the water in the water tank 132 may be heated by the heat of the cavity 110.

The reason for installing the spray device 130 is to spray steam or water on the inner surface of the cavity 110 to which the contaminants are attached during cooking.

5A to 5C are views illustrating a case where water and contaminants adhere to a surface having super water repellency.

In the inner surface of the cavity 110 of the present invention, the enamel surface S is subjected to plasma treatment so as to have super water repellency, and food waste or oil 150 is buried on the surface when cooking on the enamel surface S.

At this time, the enamel surface (S) has a super water-repellent property, so the surface energy is very low, food waste, oil, etc. 150 is very difficult to attach, even if attached, the adhesion is very low state.

At this time, when the water droplets (W) are sprayed on the enamel surface (S), the water droplets (W) also slip down by gravity without adhering to the surface. Then, as the water droplets (S) slide down to wash away the contaminants (150) attached to the enamel surface (S). As described above, the contaminants 150 and the like adhered to the enamel surface S have a very low adhesion force due to low surface energy, and thus are easily washed by the flowing water droplets W.

That is, by being provided with a spray device 130 for spraying water or steam on the inner surface of the cavity 110, the contaminants 150, such as food waste or oil attached to the inner surface of the cavity 110 is sprayed from the nozzle 134 It is to be easily washed by the water flowing down the inner surface of the cavity (110).

Here, the steam or water is preferably a degree that the water droplets evenly flow down to the inner surface of the cavity (110).

In order to evenly form the water droplets W on the inner surface of the cavity 110, a plurality of nozzles 134 may be mounted.

In addition, when the temperature of the cavity 110 is higher than room temperature when steam or water flows down the inner surface of the cavity 110, the contaminant 150 is more effectively washed off.

Therefore, it is desirable to slightly heat the cavity 110 when steam or water is sprayed into the cavity 110. At this time, it is preferable to use the heaters 122, 124, and 126 provided in the cavity 110, but there is no need to heat separately when the temperature in the oven is high, such as immediately after cooking. In addition, when steam is injected into the cavity 110 through the nozzle 134, it is not necessary to heat separately because it is heated by the heat of steam itself without separately heating.

In addition, the spray of water or steam as described above may be made to start the cleaning of the cavity 110 by automatically spraying water or steam from the cooking apparatus after the cooking object is withdrawn from the cavity 110 after cooking. Here, the cooking device may be recognized in various ways, such as when the cleaning start using steam or water is recognized as the closing time after the first opening of the cooking appliance 102 after the cooking is finished.

Of course, the user's operation, such as through the external input of the control unit 104 may be made to start cleaning using steam or water.

Hereinafter, the operation of the cooking apparatus of the present embodiment will be described. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of the cooking appliance according to the present embodiment.

First, the step of putting food into the interior of the cavity 110, the inner wall surface of the super water-repellent treatment is carried out. (S1)

When food is put into the cavity 110 and cooked and heated, contaminants 150 such as oil splashing while the food is heated during cooking are buried in the wall of the cavity 110.

At this time, the wall surface of the cavity 110 is already coated with enamel 110b having super water repellency through plasma treatment, so that the contaminant 150 is hardly buried, or even if the contaminant 150 is buried on the wall surface. The attached strength is in a weak state.

Then, a heater (not shown) for heating the water in the pump 136 or the water tank 132 is operated to inject steam or water onto the inner wall surface of the cavity 110. (S3)

The step of spraying the steam or water (S3) is preferably performed after cooking is finished and the cooking object is drawn out in the cavity 110. This is because steam or water is sprayed into the cavity while the cooked food is still left in the cavity 110, thereby risking spoiling the taste of the food.

Therefore, an end determination step S2 of determining whether the step S1 of cooking the food is completed may be further included. That is, in the end determination step (S2), it is determined whether the step of cooking the food (S1) is finished, and if it is finished, the step of spraying steam or water (S3) is performed.

When the steam is injected, as shown in FIGS. 5A to 5C, steam forms water droplets W due to steam on the surface 110b of the inner wall of the cavity 110, and the water droplets grow as gravity falls. This slides and falls on the inner wall surface of the cavity. At this time, since the surface 110b of the inner wall surface of the cavity has a super water-repellent property, the contaminants 150 such as food residues on the wall surface are also washed down with water as the water droplets slide, and this is the cavity ( It is accumulated at the bottom of 110).

After the injection of steam is finished, the user wipes the water and contaminants accumulated on the floor with a cloth or rag, the cleaning of the cavity 110 is completed.

Of course, the same process as above when the water is injected, not steam.

In addition, the process as described above may be automatically started and proceeded after the end of cooking and withdrawal of food, as described above, the user may start and proceed by inputting a signal with a button or the like.

In addition, when the cavity 110 is cooled to increase the washing effect, it may be heated through a heater or the like.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, since contaminants do not adhere well to the inside of the cavity and can be cleaned only by water or steam, there is an advantage that the inside of the cavity does not need to be heated to a high temperature.

Although the preferred embodiments of the invention have been described above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention may be embodied in many other forms without departing from its spirit and scope.

Accordingly, the described embodiments are to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive, and all embodiments within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents are included within the scope of the present invention.

As described above, the cooking apparatus of the present invention has the following effects.

First, since the interior of the cavity is formed with a super water-repellent enamel layer, food waste or oil such as contaminants are not easily adhered, the adhesion strength of the attached contaminants is also very small, there is an advantage that easy to clean.

Second, water or steam is supplied to the inside of the super water-repellent cavity so that the contaminants attached to it are washed away with the running water, so it is not necessary to heat the cavity to a high temperature, saving energy and risking heat deformation of fire and surrounding furniture. Also, the safety of the user is also improved, and there is no need to form a thick heat insulating material for heat insulation, so it is easy to design and manufacture, reducing the production cost, and also has the effect of making the internal volume large.

Third, because the enamel layer coated on the base material to give a super water repellency by plasma treatment, the mechanical properties of the enamel is maintained as it is, the super water repellency is maintained, and the time and cleaning frequency is much higher than that of other materials such as Teflon Even if it loses, super water-repellent property is maintained, and wear resistance is excellent.

Claims (10)

A body forming an appearance; And a cavity provided in the main body to form a space for heating and cooking an object, an enamel layer formed on an inner side thereof, and an exposed surface of the enamel layer being plasma surface treated to have super water repellency. The method of claim 1, And the plasma surface treatment is performed in a fluorine-containing gas atmosphere. The method of claim 1, And a spray device for spraying water or steam on the inner surface of the cavity to wash away the contaminants on the inner surface of the cavity. The method of claim 3, The spray device, the water tank for storing water; And a nozzle for spraying water or steam on the inner surface of the cavity. The method of claim 4, wherein The spray apparatus further comprises a heater for heating the water in the water tank. The method of claim 4, wherein The water sprayed on the inner surface of the cavity is heated by the heat of the cavity cooking apparatus. The method of claim 1, The control unit for detecting the completion of cooking of food is provided in the main body, The spraying apparatus is characterized in that the spraying water or steam to the inside of the cavity automatically after the end of cooking. The method of claim 1, The main body is provided with a control unit for inputting a signal by the user, The spray apparatus is characterized in that the operation by the operation of the user. Cooking food in the interior of the super water-repellent cavity; Spraying water or steam to the inner wall surface of the cavity: cleaning method comprising a. The method of claim 9, The spraying of the water or steam is a cleaning method of a cooking appliance, characterized in that performed after the end of cooking.

Images