Cooking apparatus

Abstract

A cooking apparatus that is capable of effectively cooling a heat reflecting unit without increasing a temperature thereof, thereby preventing oil dropped onto the heat reflecting unit from being burnt. The cooking apparatus includes a grill unit disposed on a body of the cooking apparatus, a plurality of heating units mounted at sides of an interior of the body while being inclined toward the grill unit, and a heat reflecting unit disposed under the grill unit in the body. The heat reflecting unit includes a pair of partitions disposed in the longitudinal direction thereof while being opposite to the heating units, respectively, such that an interior of the heat reflecting unit is partitioned into a pair of side channels and a central channel by the partitions. The cooking apparatus further comprises cooling fans mounted in front of the side channels, respectively, to cool the heat reflecting unit.

1 . A cooking apparatus comprising: 
 a body;    a grill unit disposed on the body;    a plurality of heating units mounted at sides of an interior of the body, facing the grill unit; and    a heat reflecting unit disposed under the grill unit in the body, to reflect heat generated from the heating units to the grill unit, wherein    the heat reflecting unit comprises a pair of cooling fans mounted therein to enable air to flow along the side surfaces thereof adjacent to the respective heating units.    
   
   
       2 . The cooking apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the heat reflecting unit comprises: 
 side plates and a rear plate;    a front part having a predetermined space formed therein; and    a heat reflecting plate comprising 
 a pair of first reflecting surfaces extending from upper ends of the side plates while being inclined downward, respectively, and  
 a pair of second reflecting surfaces extending from lower ends of the first reflecting surfaces while being inclined upward, respectively, until the upper ends of the second reflecting surfaces meet each other, and wherein  
   the cooling fans are disposed to forcibly blow air toward the respective first reflecting surfaces.    
   
   
       3 . The cooking apparatus according to  claim 2 , wherein the heat reflecting unit further comprises: 
 a pair of partitions to partition the first reflecting surfaces from the second reflecting surfaces, respectively, and wherein    the heat reflecting unit comprises two side channels to allow air forcibly blown by the respective cooling fans to flow from a front to a rear of the heat reflecting unit along sides thereof, respectively, and a central channel to allow the air to flow from the rear to the front of the heat reflecting unit along a center thereof.    
   
   
       4 . The cooking apparatus according to  claim 2 , further comprising: 
 a plurality of fan casings, wherein each of the cooling fans is mounted in a respective fan casing; and    each fan casing comprising an inlet port formed at an upper part thereof and an outlet port formed at a rear part thereof, and wherein the front part includes a plurality of suction holes formed at both sides of the upper surface thereof, and a plurality of discharge holes formed at a center of the front surface thereof, wherein air is introduced through the upper surface of the front part, to cool the heat reflecting plate and the air is then discharged through the front surface of the front part.    
   
   
       5 . The cooking apparatus according to  claim 4 , wherein the body comprises a plurality of communication holes formed at the upper part of the front surface thereof, and the communication holes communicating with the suction holes such that the air is introduced into the suction holes through the communication holes in front of the body.  
   
   
       6 . The cooking apparatus according to  claim 4 , wherein each of the cooling fans is of a centrifugal fan.  
   
   
       7 . The cooking apparatus according to  claim 3 , wherein the body comprises a front opening formed at the front surface thereof, through which the heat reflecting unit is slidably released from/mounted into the body, and wherein a bottom of the body corresponding to the front part of the heat reflecting unit, is opened such that air circulated through an interior of the heat reflecting unit is discharged through a lower part of the front part.  
   
   
       8 . The cooking apparatus according to  claim 2 , further comprising: 
 recesses formed between the first reflecting surfaces and the second reflecting surfaces, respectively, by the inclined structure of the first reflecting surfaces and the second reflecting surfaces, the recesses serving as oil collection parts to collect oil dropped from food placed on the grill unit.    
   
   
       9 . A cooking apparatus comprising: 
 a body;    a grill unit disposed on the body;    a plurality of heating units mounted at sides of an interior of the body while being inclined toward the grill unit;    a heat reflecting unit disposed under the grill unit in the body, wherein    the heat reflecting unit comprises a pair of partitions disposed in the longitudinal direction thereof while being opposite to the heating units, respectively, such that an interior of the heat reflecting unit is partitioned into a pair of side channels and a central channel by the partitions; and    cooling fans mounted in front of the side channels, respectively, to cool the heat reflecting unit.    
   
   
       10 . The cooking apparatus according to  claim 9 , wherein the heat reflecting unit has a plurality of suction holes, which are provided above the cooling fans, and the heat reflecting unit has a plurality of discharge holes formed at the center of the front surface thereof.  
   
   
       11 . The cooking apparatus according to  claim 10 , further comprising: 
 oil collection parts provided at the sides of the upper surface of the heat reflecting unit to collect oil dropped from food placed on the grill unit.    
   
   
       12 . The cooking apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising: temperature sensors attached at a lower surface of the heat reflecting unit to sense the temperature of the heat reflecting unit, wherein the cooling fans automatically operate when the temperature of the heat reflecting unit increases above the predetermined level.  
   
   
       13 . The cooking apparatus of  claim 9 , further comprising: temperature sensors attached at a lower surface of the heat reflecting unit to sense the temperature of the heat reflecting unit, wherein the cooling fans automatically operate when the temperature of the heat reflecting unit increases above the predetermined level.