DOOR SEALING MEANS FOR MICROWAVE OVENS AND FOR COMBINED MICROWAVE AND SELF-CLEANING OVENS

摘要

1461918 Microwave oven seal GENERAL ELECTRIC CO 13 March 1974 [28 March 1973] 11208/74 Heading H5H [Also in Divisions F2 and F4] A microwave oven door seal comprises an outer, endless, flexible, conductive jacket 40 for making electrical contact between the oven door and the oven liner, an elongate flexible electrically insulating sleeve 44 disposed within the jacket 40 and formed to provide two coextensive chambers 48, 50 joined by a web 52, a plane reinforcing insert 60 shaped to conform to the periphery of the oven opening and inserted in chamber 48 adjacent web 52 to prevent puckering of the seal as it is formed about the corners of the opening, and a resilient core 56 disposed coextensively in the sleeve chamber 48 for exerting a radial pressure against the insert 60 and sleeve chamber 48 and likewise outer jacket 40, to maintain insert 60 in position and ensure continuous electrical contact between the oven door and liner about the oven opening. The insulating sleeve 44 is preferably formed of woven glass fibre so that it will prevent the escape of heat, smoke and gases when the microwave oven is provided with a pyrolitic oven cleaning heater. The jacket 40 is made of metallic mesh, e.g. stainless steel mesh or any high temperature heat insulating electrically conductive material. The resilient core 56 may be of stainless steel knitted mesh or of silicone rubber. The web 56 and sleeve chambers 48, 50 are formed by lines of stitching 46. Sleeve chamber 50 accommodates a fibre glass drawstring 64 by which the seal may be secured about the inner panel 34 of the oven door. After tightening and securing the drawstring 64, the free ends of the seal are wrapped with a band having a fibreglass inner core and a metallic mesh outer jacket so that the seal becomes endless. The peripheral door liner 36 is then secured to the inner panel 34 so that the seal is clamped between them. On locking the oven door, the microwave seal will be compressed between the door and the oven liner, and on unlocking the door, the seal will resume its elliptical profile.