Cooking appliance
A cooking appliance including a heater that is vertically movable in a cooking chamber is proposed. The cooking appliance includes a casing having a cooking chamber therein, a door rotatably provided at one portion of the casing and opening and closing the cooking chamber, a heater provided at one portion of the casing and generating heat, a movable heater system provided at one portion of the casing and allowing the heater to be movable in the cooking chamber, and a detection function detecting whether or not the heater is brought into contact with food in the cooking chamber or is spaced apart from the food at a predetermined distance and a function of detecting recovery of the heater to the original position. With the cooking appliance, there is an advantage in that cooking efficiency is improved and malfunction or damage to parts is prevented.
1 . A cooking appliance comprising:
a cooking chamber;
a movable assembly disposed above the cooking chamber and supporting a heater, the movable assembly being configured to move downward from an original position into the cooking chamber and to return upward to the original position;
a driver configured to move the movable assembly between the original position and a heating position in the cooking chamber;
a shielding structure disposed around an opening through which the movable assembly passes, the shielding structure including multiple shielding members arranged such that, when the movable assembly is returned to the original position, the shielding members cooperate to close the opening and suppress microwave leakage from the cooking chamber;
an original-position detector configured to detect whether the movable assembly has returned to the original position;
a contact/overload detector configured to detect abnormal contact or overload of the movable assembly during downward movement toward food in the cooking chamber;
and a controller configured to:
(i) stop the driver in response to the contact/overload detector detecting the abnormal contact or overload; and
(ii) inhibit microwave heating unless the original-position detector detects that the movable assembly is in the original position with the shielding structure closing the opening.
2 . The cooking appliance of claim 1 , wherein the movable heater system comprises:
a link assembly movably connecting the movable assembly to a fixed assembly.
3 . The cooking appliance of claim 1 , wherein the fixed assembly comprises:
a moving controller configured to restrain the movable assembly so that the movable assembly moves upward and downward.
4 . The cooking appliance of claim 3 , wherein the moving controller comprises:
a motor generating a rotation power, a lead screw provided at one portion of the motor and configured to be rotated in conjunction with rotation generated by the motor, and a lead nut fastened to the lead screw by screwing.
5 . The cooking appliance of claim 4 , wherein a connection coupling is provided between the motor and the lead screw to connect one end of the lead screw to a motor shaft.
6 . The cooking appliance of claim 4 , wherein the motor is provided at a fixed bracket securely mounted to the fixed assembly, and the lead nut is mounted to a moving bracket movably provided at the fixed assembly.
7 . The cooking appliance of claim 3 , wherein the fixed assembly comprises:
an upper plate providing an upper surface of the cooking chamber;
a protection cover provided at the upper plate, and shielding electromagnetic waves through a gap between the moving assembly and the fixed assembly; and a fixed frame provided above the upper plate, and supporting the moving controller.
8 . The cooking appliance of claim 7 , wherein the fixed frame is provided above the upper plate to be spaced apart therefrom by a fixed guide, and a gap of a predetermined size is provided between the fixed frame and the protection cover.
9 . The cooking appliance of claim 7 , wherein the fixed frame is provided above the upper plate to be spaced apart therefrom by a fixed guide, and a gap of a predetermined size is provided between the fixed frame and the protection cover.
10 . The cooking appliance of claim 7 , wherein the protection cover comprises:
a plurality of guide members configured to guide vertical movement of the moving assembly.
11 . The cooking appliance of claim 7 , wherein the protection cover comprises:
a plurality of guide members configured to guide vertical movement of the moving assembly.
12 . The cooking appliance of claim 2 , wherein the link assembly comprises a structure including at least one link, and an upper end thereof is rotatably connected to the fixed assembly and a lower end thereof is rotatably connected to the movable assembly.
13 . The cooking appliance of claim 2 , wherein the link assembly comprises a pair of front links and a pair of rear links, and the pair of front links are provided to be spaced apart from the pair of rear links at a predetermined distance forward and rearward.
14 . The cooking appliance of claim 13 , wherein a link frame is provided below lower ends of the front links and the rear links, the link assembly being coupled to the movable assembly, and at least one of left and right lower ends of each of the front links and the rear links is movable while being coupled to the link frame.
15 . The cooking appliance of claim 1 , wherein an original position detector and a contact detector are provided at one portion of the fixed assembly, the original position detector being configured to detect an original position of the movable assembly, and the contact detector being configured to detect whether or not a lower end of the movable assembly is brought into contact with food in the cooking chamber.