Microwave thawing apparatus and method
AssigneeUT-Battelle, LLC
InventorsZakaryae Fathi, Robert J. Lauf, April D. McMillan
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus for thawing a frozen material includes: a microwave energy source; a microwave applicator which defines a cavity for applying microwave energy from the microwave source to a material to be thawed; and a shielded region which is shielded from the microwave source, the shielded region in fluid communication with the cavity so that thawed material may flow from the cavity into the shielded region.
Claims66
An apparatus for thawing a frozen material, said apparatus comprising:
- an electromagnetic energy source;
- an energy applicator which defines a cavity for applying energy from said energy source to a material to be thawed;
- and
- a shielded region which is shielded from said energy, said shielded region in fluid communication with said cavity so that thawed material may flow from said cavity into said shielded region.
An apparatus for thawing a material, said apparatus comprising:
- a multimode microwave applicator cavity;
- a microwave source adapted for sweeping the frequency of microwave energy introduced into said cavity over a usable bandwidth of at least +/−2% of a center frequency so that the microwave power density within said cavity is substantially uniform;
- and
- a shielded region which is shielded from said microwave source, said shielded region in fluid communication with said cavity so that thawed material may flow from said cavity into said shielded region.
A method of thawing a selected material comprising the steps of:
- a. providing an electromagnetic energy source;
- an energy applicator which defines a cavity for applying energy from said energy source to a material to be thawed;
- and a shielded region which is shielded from said energy source, said shielded region in fluid communication with said cavity so that thawed material may flow from said cavity into said shielded region;
- b. placing a material to be thawed into said energy applicator cavity;
- and
- c. introducing electromagnetic energy into said cavity to thaw said material so that thawed liquid flows from said cavity into said shielded region.
A method of thawing a selected material comprising the steps of:
- a. providing a multimode microwave applicator cavity;
- a microwave source adapted for sweeping the frequency of microwave energy introduced into said cavity over a usable bandwidth of at least +/−2% of a center frequency so that the microwave power density within said cavity is substantially uniform;
- and a shielded region which is shielded from said microwave source, said shielded region in fluid communication with said cavity so that thawed material may flow from said cavity into said shielded region;
- b. placing a material to be thawed into said microwave applicator cavity;
- and
- c. introducing microwave energy into said applicator cavity to thaw said material so that thawed liquid flows from said cavity into said shielded region.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.