Microwave cooking appliance with retracting power management
AssigneeMidea Group Co., Ltd.
InventorsDaniel J. Trice, Brian Langness, Eric Scalf
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A microwave cooking appliance having power management. The appliance may include at least one cord positionable between at least one stowed position to at least one deployed position. The appliance may include one or more strain relief members stopping the deployment of the cord. The microwave cooking appliance may include a cord housing. The microwave cooking appliance may include a pulley engaging the cord. The microwave cooking appliance may include a biasing member engaging the pulley and/or cord. The microwave cooking appliance may include a pin and slot engagement engaging the pulley and/or cord.
Claims20
A microwave cooking appliance comprising:
- a housing having a cooking cavity;
- a door movable between a closed position closing a front opening to define a portion of the cooking cavity and an open position different from the closed position;
- a cord housing having a cord cavity and positioned within the housing;
- a cord having a length, wherein the cord is positionable between at least one stowed position within the cord cavity and one or more deployed positions out of the cord cavity;
- a pulley translating and rotating within the cord housing to retract the cord towards the at least one stowed position or the one or more deployed positions;
- a biasing member urging the pulley in at least one linear direction;
- wherein the cord housing includes an inlet and an outlet adjacent a top wall of the cord housing, wherein when in a first deployed position of the one or more deployed positions a first length portion of the length is fixed at the inlet and extends downwardly towards a bottom wall of the cord housing before arcuately turning back around the pulley towards the top wall of the cord housing and extending through the outlet, and wherein when in the first deployed position the biasing member includes a first tension force;
- and
- wherein when in a second deployed position a second length portion of the length shorter than the first length, is fixed at the inlet and extends downwardly towards the bottom wall of the cord housing before arcuately turning back around the pulley towards the top wall of the cord housing and extending through the outlet, and wherein when in the second deployed position the biasing member includes a second tension force larger than the first tension force.
A microwave cooking appliance comprising:
- a housing having a cooking cavity and a top wall, and wherein the housing includes an aperture through the top wall;
- a door movable between a closed position closing a front opening to define a portion of the cooking cavity and an open position different from the closed position;
- a cord having a length, wherein the cord is positionable between at least one stowed position within the housing and one or more deployed positions out of the aperture of the housing;
- a pulley within the housing slidably engaging the cord between the at least one stowed position or the one or more deployed positions;
- and
- a pin and slot engagement within the housing having a pin and slot, wherein the pulley rotatably engages the pin and translates with the pin in the slot when slidably engaging the cord between the at least one stowed position and the one or more deployed positions to retract the length of the cord into the housing.
A method of managing a power cord of a microwave cooking appliance, the method comprising:
- providing a microwave cooking appliance housing having an aperture within the microwave cooking appliance, wherein the housing includes a cord having a length with a plug end;
- stowing a first portion of the length of the cord within the housing in a stowed position;
- deploying a second portion of the cord out of the housing from the stowed position through the aperture to a deployed position;
- and
- retracting a third portion of the cord within the housing using a pulley;
- and
- tensioning the pulley to increase a tension force of a biasing member when increasing the length of the cord out of the housing from the stowed position to the deployed position to retract the third portion of the cord.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.