MXPA06010098A - Conveyor oven. - Google Patents

Abstract

An accelerated cooking or speed cooking conveyor oven with at least one discrete cooking zone. The oven includes a first and a second gas directing member configured to cause the gas from the first gas directing member to collide with the gas fron the second gas directing member upon the upper or lower surface of the food product being conveyed.

Description

CONVEYOR OVEN CROSS REFERENCE WITH RELATED REQUESTS The present invention claims the benefit of the provisional application of EE. UU No. 60 / 550,578, filed on March 5, 2004, entitled "SPEED COOKING CONVEYOR OVEN"; the benefit of the provisional application of EE UU No. 60/551, 268, filed on March 8, 2004, entitled "ANTENA COVER"; and the benefit of the provisional application of EE. UU No. 60 / 615,888, filed on October 5, 2004, entitled "CATALYST FOR SPEED COOKING OVEN" The present application is a continuation in part of the EE application. UU Serial No. 10 / 614,479, filed July 7, 2003, entitled "SPEED COOKING OVEN", currently pending, which claims the benefit of the provisional application of EE. UU No. 60 / 394,216, entitled "RAPID COOKING OVEN"; filed on July 5, 2002; a continuation in part of the EE application UU Serial No. 10 / 614,268, filed on July 7, 2003, entitled "MULTI RACK SPEED COOKING OVEN", currently pending, which claims the benefit of the provisional application of EE. UU No. 60 / 394,216, entitled "RAPID COOKING OVEN", filed on July 5, 2002; a continuation in part of the EE application UU Serial No. 10 / 614,710, filed on July 7, 2003, entitled "SPEED COOKING OVEN ITU GAS FLOW CONTROL", currently pending, which claims the benefit of the provisional application of EE. UU No. 60 / 394,216, entitled "RAPID COOKING OVEN", filed on July 5, 2002; a continuation in part of the EE application UU Serial No. 10 / 614,532, filed July 7, 2003, entitled "SPEED COOKING OVEN", currently pending, which claims the benefit of the provisional application of EE. UU No. 60 / 394,216, entitled "RAPID COOKING OVEN", filed on July 5, 2002. This application contains a technical description in common with document PCT / US03 / 021225, entitled "SPEED COOKING OVEN", presented on July 5 2003, currently pending, claiming the benefit of the provisional EE application. UU No. 60 / 394,216, entitled "RAPID COOKING OVEN", filed on July 5, 2002; and contains technical description in common with PCT / US04 / 035252, entitled "SPEED COOKING OVEN WITH SLOTTED MICROWAVE ANTENNA", filed on October 21, 2004, which claims the benefit of the provisional application of EE. UU No. 60 / 513,110, filed on October 21, 203, entitled "SLOTTED ANTENA", which also claims the benefit of the provisional application of EE. UU No. 60 / 513,111, filed on October 23, 2003, entitled "MICROWAVE ANTENNA COVER FOR RAPID COOKING OVEN", which also claims the benefit of the EE application. UU No. 60 // 614,877, filed on September 30, 2004, entitled "SLOT ANTENNA". Each of these applications is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The typical cooking time of a food product such as a medium-sized raw pizza (30 to 35 centimeters) through a conventional conveyor oven is about 7 minutes, and 15 minutes through a platform-type oven. The conveyor oven reduces the cooking time compared to the platform oven and also simplifies the cooking process because the food product is automatically loaded and unloaded from the cooking tunnel. Conveyor kilns typically use an open link continuous conveyor belt to transport food products through a hot cooking tunnel that has openings at each end of the furnace, through which the conveyor belt is extended sufficiently for the operator Start the intake of the food product at one end and remove the finished cooked product from the other. These conveyor tunnel tunnels are generally open at each end and when microwave energy is used, large inlet and outlet tunnels are required to reduce the amount of microwave energy exiting the ends of the tunnel. The production capacity of the pizza in these large conveyor ovens is generally from 100 to 120 medium pizzas per hour, approximately. Although the cooking speed is important, the quality of the food is also very important. Generally the quality is higher when the food product is cooked and presented to the consumer as soon as possible (cooked to order). As such, food service operators must provide a fast service in addition to a high quality product, and therefore it is not desirable to pre-cook or retain the food because the quality is substantially less than that of a cooked food product. order. A conveyor oven virtually guarantees that a cooked food product will be removed from the oven at the appropriate time, but conveyor ovens have generally not been compatible with some types of food service operations, such as: fast service restaurant (QSR); kilns operated by the consumer where the consumer is a retail customer in a retail location such as a convenience store; or retail food service locations with no space for a large conveyor oven, to name a few.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION It has now been found that the above objects are obtained in a conveyor oven with at least one cooking zone, which uses gas flow to cook or reheat a food product. The flow of gas to the food product is such that opposing and shocking gas flows produce a high heat transfer on the surface of the food product. The conveyor furnace of the present may also use microwave energy or other means, such as radio frequency, induction and other thermal means, to further heat the food product. Microwave producing magnetrons are used with microwave waveguides mounted on the side wall, which use slotted antenna, although it is not necessary for the microwave system to fire the microwaves from the side walls of the oven cavity and can actually be used the launching of microwaves from other surfaces of the oven cavity. The conveyor furnace of the present invention can operate as a conventional convection speed oven, accelerated speed or speed. The speed cooking oven is described here as an exemplary embodiment or version. The speed cooking oven has a cooking tunnel with one or more separate cooking zones and means of transport that move or space the food product through the cooking tunnel, with product loading and unloading areas located before and after after the cooking tunnel. The loading area of the conveyor for the food product is dimensioned such that the area available for the food product is smaller than the area of each cooking zone of the cooking tunnel. Gas flow and microwave energy (when microwaves are used) are distributed in the food product in a way that produces uniform cooking and heating; A typical temperature range of the cooking zone may be from about 190 ° C to about 260 ° C, although temperatures in the cooking zone may be less than 190 ° C and higher than 260 ° C. Gas flow throughout the cooking tunnel is common to all cooking zones, and a common heating medium provides hot gas to the cooking tunnel. The cooking controls allow to sequentially pass a wide variety of food products through the cooking tunnel, each food product having a cooking profile or a single recipe that will be executed in a sequential format as the food product moves or spans through the cooking zones. The spacer conveyor of the exemplary mode operates at a fixed speed, that is, each cooking zone retains the food product during the same time, but the spacing time may vary or be altered or put in another way, according to the needs of the operator. An optimal conveyor oven at high speed will maintain the convenience of a conventional conveyor oven, but will cook a raw food product, such as a medium pizza, with a high grade of quality, in less than 3 minutes, representing a decrease of approximately fifty percent of the cooking time with respect to the conventional conveyor oven. The increase of more than twice the production rate of the present invention over the conventional conveyor oven represents a significant decrease in the cooking time, and may allow a food service operation to increase the number of customers served: by adding a continuous operation operation; increasing table service turn speeds; implementing a conveyor oven operated by the consumer; or allowing a quick entry and exit function, to name a few. For operations that currently require multiple ovens to meet customer demand, the significantly reduced cooking times of the speed cooking oven of the present invention, allow the same performance of collective food with fewer ovens. In addition to products such as pizzas, the present invention is capable of heating and cooking a wide variety of foods, such as fish and seafood, Mexican food, hot dogs, sausages, sandwiches, casseroles, bísquets, muffins, potato chips, and raw snacks. frozen, raw proteins, empanadas, bread products and, in reality, any food product that can be cooked in a conventional oven. Generally conventional conveying ovens do not have a high cooking tunnel, but as different food products are of varying volumes, heights and profiles, a high cooking tunnel is desirable for cooking several food products, and the cooking tunnel of the present invention allows said cooking of several food products. It is also desirable to keep the energy consumption as low as possible. To reduce energy costs, the present invention utilizes recirculating gas flow and reduces heat loss from tunnel ends. Energy savings are not only a benefit, reducing the heat loss from the ends of the tunnel improves the transfer of energy to the food product. The speed cook oven is also simple and easy to operate, easy to clean and maintain, easy to service and low manufacturing cost. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a conveyor oven capable of cooking and heating a wide variety of food products with variable size and volume profiles, in conventional cooking times or at speed. A further object is to provide a conveyor furnace such that it is energy efficient, simple and easy to operate, simple and easy to clean, very functional, and has a low manufacturing cost. Another object is to provide a conveyor furnace such that it is capable of cooking high quality food product within metal coppers, pots, sheet coppers and other metal cooking devices commonly used in residential, commercial and sales settings. A further object is to provide an oven with a microwave distribution system that is easier to clean and maintain, and whose manufacture is more affordable. Another object is to provide a mecrowave distribution system that is reliable due to improvements and simplifications. Another object is to provide an oven that can be easily and quickly programmed by an operator to cook several food products with the touch of a button, or a furnace such that automatically enters cooking recipes in a controller without human intervention. Additional objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the exemplary embodiment, when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like reference numbers refer to the corresponding parts in the various views .

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The novel features of the invention are set forth in the appended claims. However, the invention itself and also its preferred mode of use, objectives and additional advantages, will be better understood by reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: Figure 1 is a front view of the conveyor furnace of the present invention that illustrates the supply of the gas flow; Figure 2 is a front view of the conveyor furnace of the present invention illustrating the return of the gas flow; Figure 3 is a top view of the conveyor furnace of the present invention; Figure 4 is a top view of the conveyor oven of the present invention, illustrating the location of product with respect to the cooking zones; Figure 5 is an end view of the cooking tunnel of the conveyor furnace of the present invention; Figure 6 schematically depicts gas flow nodes for the conveyor furnace of the present invention; Figure 7 is a front view of the microwave containment mechanism of the entrance door of the conveyor furnace of the present invention; Figure 8 is a front view of the front side section illustrating a microwave slot antenna; Figure 9 is a schematic view of the microwave slot antenna of Figure 8; Figure 10 is an end view of the front side of the conveyor furnace, illustrating gas flow deflecting means; Figure 11 is an end view of the rear side of the conveyor oven, illustrating gas flow diverting means; Figure 12 illustrates the flow of purged gas from the conveyor furnace of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The oven of the exemplary embodiment is shown as a commercial cooking appliance, cooking at speed with three cooking zones, where each cooking zone is shown manufactured in the same way, although it is not necessary that each cooking zone be same and in fact in some cases it may be desirable that one or more cooking zones be made differently. The conveyor furnace of the present invention can be constructed in other embodiments because it is ascending or descending scalable. The term "scalable" means here that smaller or larger additional versions can be developed, and each mode or version may have different size characteristics and use different electricity voltages, various forms of electric resistance heating means, or use other thermal sources, such as natural gas, propane or other thermal means to heat the gas. As used herein, the terms "magnetron", "magnetron tube" and "tube" have the same meaning; the terms "slot", "slots" and "antenna" have the same meaning; the term "commercial" includes, without limitation, the commercial food service industry, restaurants, fast food establishments, speed service restaurants, convenience stores (to list some), and other popular food establishments; the term "residential" refers, generally speaking, to residential applications (domestic use), although the term is not limited to residences only, but refers to non-commercial applications for the speed oven, and the oven Speed cooking conveyor of the present invention is not limited only to commercial uses, it is equally applicable for sales, residential and other cooking uses; the terms "kiln zone" and "kiln cavity" have the same meaning, and the term "gas" refers to any mixture of fluid, including air, nitrogen and other mixtures that can be used for cooking, and applicants consider within the term any gas or gas mixture that exists or develops in the future, that performs the same function. The term "cooking zone" refers to a separate and discrete cooking area within the oven cooking tunnel, and the term "cooking tunnel" refers to the area of the conveyor oven where cooking occurs. For example, in a cooking oven at the speed of a cooking zone there will be a cooking zone and a cooking tunnel. In a cooking oven at the speed of two cooking zones there will be two cooking zones but only one cooking tunnel, and so on. The means for moving the food product through the speed cooking conveyor oven are referred to herein as the "conveyor means". The terms "residence time" and "cooking time" have the same meaning, and the terms "conventional cooking" and "conventional means" have the same meaning and refer to cooking with the quality and speed that are widely used in the present. By way of example, the "conventional cooking time" for a 25-30 cent raw pizza through a conventional oven is approximately 7 minutes (eg, conventional cooking time). The term "cooking byproducts" refers to smoke, grease, vapors, small grease particles, odors and other products caused by the cooking process; the term "odor filter" does not refer exclusively to filtering odors, but rather refers in general to filtering, reducing, removing or catalytically destroying the by-products of the cooking process. As used herein, the term "k cooking" and "speed cooking" have the same meaning and refer to cooking five to ten times faster, and in some cases more than ten times faster, than conventional cooking. The term "accelerated cooking" has the meaning of cooking at higher speeds than conventional cooking, but it is not as fast as speed cooking. The exemplary embodiment employs spacer conveyor means wherein the operating speed or the feed rate is fixed, which means that each cooking zone retains the food product during the same time period. The residence time can be varied or fixed, it can be altered manually or by the controller 334 (see Figure 3), and it is not limited. The movement of spacing of the conveying means is a cycle consisting of a step to move the food product to the next cooking zone, followed by a period of residence or cooking where the food product is stopped within an area of cooking. This movement of spacing ensures that the energy supplied to the food product can be individualized for each food product. The control of the energy applied to the food product is particularly important in those cases where the conveyor oven will successively cook a variety of food products, and the cooking profile or the cooking recipe must be adjusted according to the different products of the food. Food enter the tunnel of the furnace. The conveyor furnace can operate as a conventional, accelerated or at speed cooking furnace. The apparatus, 301, includes cooking zones, 380, 381 and 382, within the cooking tunnel, 394, Figure 4. The cooking zones can be spaced a distance, depending on the particular conveying oven that is desired. Each cooking zone is generally defined by an oven cavity, 302, FIG. 5, an upper wall, 303, a lower wall, 304, a front side wall, 305, and a rear side wall, 306. The front wall 305 is comprised of the upper gas discharge plate, 323a, microwave launcher, 320a (when microwave is used), and lower gas discharge plate, 327a. The rear side wall 306 is comprised of the upper gas discharge plate, 323b, microwave launcher, 320b, (when microwave is used), and lower gas discharge plate, 327b, figure 5. In those cases where no microwave energy is used in the conveyor oven, the front and rear sidewalls 305 and 306 may be comprised of a sheet of metal instead of the front waveguides 320a and 320b. The furnace cooking tunnel 394 has associated therewith a mobile access door, 398, and a mobile exit door, 397, Figure 1. The food product, 310, Figure 4, is placed on the conveyor means, 399 , for its transport spaced through the furnace tunnel 394. As described above, spaced motion is not indispensable and a continuous transport medium can be used in those cases where microwave energy is used and access doors are used and different outputs to contain the microwave energy inside the cooking tunnel 394. Although the doors 397, 398 are shown as vertically movable with respect to the conveyor means, other door opening and closing means may be employed; such as doors hinged laterally, doors of upper hinge or doors that use other means of union, and the applicant considers that they are not limited and that they include any structure currently existing or developed in the future that performs the same function as the doors 397, 398. The conveyor oven is comprised of two separate gas transfer systems, described here as a front gas transfer system and a rear gas transfer system, where the front gas transfer system, 393a, supplies gas a, and from, the front side of the cooking zones, 380, 381, 382, Figure 3, and wherein the rear gas transfer system, 393b, supplies gas to, and from, the rear side of the zones of cooking 380, 381, 382. The cooking zones 380, 381, 382, can also be associated with the ventilation pipe, 371, Figure 5, which allows the passage of ventilation gas from any or all of the cooking zones 380 , 381, 382 to the atmosphere. A ventilation odor filter, 372, which removes the cooking by-products can be attached to the ventilation tube 371. The ventilation odor filter 372 can be made removable for cleaning or replacement, and various materials including catalytic materials can be used to eliminate odors. In some cases, the efficiency of said materials may also be varied to allow the escape of various amounts of odors from the oven cavity. Referring again to Figure 3, the gas is transferred to the cooking zones, 380, 381, 382, through the front gas transfer conduit, 393a, which extends from the gas flow means 316a, to a first cooking zone 380, then continuing to the second cooking zone 381, and ending with the third cooking zone 382, figures 1 and 3. In fluid communication with the front conducting means 393a, there are the gas flow nodes , 390a, 391a, 392, Figure 6, which allow the passage of gas from the gas transfer conduit 393a, to an upper gas transfer section 317a, Figure 5, of each cooking zone 380, 381 and 382. In communication of fluid with the upper gas transfer section 317a, there is an upper gas outlet opening, 312, FIG. 2, within each cooking zone, which opens towards the oven zone 302 through the upper wall 303, and it is in fluid communication with said zone. The upper gas outlet opening 312 is substantially rectangular, although other geometries may be employed, and is located centrally within each upper wall of the furnace 303, and provides the gas passage from the furnace zone 302 to the conduit means return 389, figure 1, which returns the gas from the cooking zones of the oven 380, 381, 382, to the gas flow means 316a, as the gases are removed from the oven zone 302 through the outlet opening of gas 312. Located within each upper gas outlet opening, 312, may be the grease remover, 313, FIG. 2. As the gas is extracted through the upper gas outlet opening 312 of each zone of gas. In the oven, the gas passes through the grease remover 313, which removes the larger grease particles. The removal of larger grease particles simplifies the handling of grease buildup in the outlet ducts and the heating area. It may be desirable for each cooking zone to use the grease remover 313, or alternatively no grease remover; In addition, additional grease extractors can be placed in the entire gas flow path. During normal cooking it may be desirable to bake a food product after another food product of different type with successive continuous cycles. For example, you can first bake a food product such as shrimp, followed by a bakery or pastry product. Without proper filtration, the cooking by-products would contaminate the baked product, producing an undesirable taste and odor in bakery products. Although grease extractors 313 may be used, gas filtration may also be desirable, and other odor filters 343, FIG. 2 may be placed within any or all of the cooking zones, or within the furnace tunnel, and can be placed before blowers 316a, 316b, which will be discussed later; they can be made from various materials including catalytic materials such as a corrugated thin sheet coated with catalyst, or screens coated with catalyst. The catalyst acts to burn (oxidize) the cooking by-products. These catalyst materials may also include, without limitation: activated carbon, zeolite or ultraviolet wavelength light. It is beneficial that the odor filters are comprised of one or more materials that efficiently purify or clean the gas flow with minimal interference with the gas flow rate, and it is beneficial that the odor filters can be easily removed and cleaned and they are cheap so that the operator can replace them. The most efficient use of the spent hot gas from the cooking cavity 302 is by recirculation of the gas through the furnace tunnel many times during a cooking cycle. In some applications, it may be desirable to use additional odor filters, which can be placed anywhere in the gas flow path. Depending on the various degrees of cooking the control of the by-products may be desired, depending on the food products to be cooked, the particular use of the oven, or the requirements of the regulatory agencies, or other factors, to minimize by-products of cooking inside each cooking zone; therefore, the furnace tunnel or gas supply and return ducts may include an odor filter per apparatus 301, "n" number of odor filters determined by "n" cooking zones, or more than number "n" of odor filters. As used herein, the term "back" refers to a location within the gas flow path that is before the gas flow means 316a and 316b. For example, the gas supplied to the gas flow means 316a, 316b is behind the gas flow means 316a, 316b, and the gas discharged from the gas flow means 316a, 316b is in front of said means of gas flow. The exemplary embodiment illustrates gas flow means such as blower wheels 316a, 316b, although the present invention may utilize a single gas flow device, such as a single blower wheel, and the Applicant intends to include with this terminology any structure currently. existing or developed in the future that performs the same function as 316a, 316b. The blower wheels 316a, 316b, act much like centrifugal separators that separate and coalesce the small particles of grease in the winding area of the blower, and discharge larger particles in the supply area. In an alternative embodiment, a portion of the gas flow exiting the gas flow means 316a, 316b, is diverted to the inlet portion of the gas purge chamber 365a, 365b, with odor filters 340 located within the purge chambers. The gas flow portion diverted to said purge chamber is referred to herein as the "purge gas flow". The flow of purge gas passes through! odor filter 340, figure 12, shown as a catalytic converter, where a portion of the cooking by-products is oxidized. The cleaner gas leaving the odor filter 340 is reintroduced into the gas flow stream or vented to the atmosphere through the vent pipe 371. The odor filter 340 will remove the desired amount of grease during a single pass in accordance with The small flow of purge gas continuously removes the grease generated during cooking. In fact, in some embodiments it may be desirable for the odor filter to remove all by-product, or as much by-product of cooking as possible. Variable destruction efficiencies of the odor filter 340 will produce variable results, and in those cases where the odor filter 340 is of the catalytic type, it has been shown that with destruction efficiencies of more than 50%, acceptable results are produced. The purge gas flow is configured as an internal cleaning gas circuit separate from the main gas flow to furnace tunnel 394. In those cases where the odor filter 340 is a high efficiency catalytic type filter for destruction of cooking byproducts with high efficiency, a large pressure drop can occur through the odor filter 340. The space rates for the scale of the catalytic converter normally vary from about 60,000 / hour to 120,000 / hour, depending on the catalyst material used, the amount of cooking by-product charge in the gas stream and the odor filter 340 at the ambient inlet temperature. Unlike the placement of the odor filter 343 in the main gas flow, which causes a significant pressure drop across the recirculating gas flow, the use of purge gas catalytic type filters, or other odor filters , does not significantly reduce the pressure of the gas flow system to the furnace tunnel 394. The small flow of purge gas uses almost all the pressure capacity of the gas flow media through the gas purge system, allowing thus the use of the catalytic materials required for a high destruction efficiency, based on a pass through the odor filter 340. Additionally, the small purge gas odor filters 340 are easily installed, can be placed in convenient locations and They are easily accessible. The purge gas flows are a fraction of the main gas flow to the kiln tunnel; therefore, preheating of the inlet gas at significant temperature can be achieved. By placing small gas preheaters 341a, 341 b, FIG. 12, prior to the odor filters 340 within the purge gas flow system, the destruction efficiency of the odor filter 340 can be further improved. The preheater 341a, 341 b, they are capable of increasing the gas inlet temperature by more than 55.5 ° C, and this increase in the temperature in the purge gas for the odor filter 340 makes it possible to obtain the destruction efficiency with less catalyst material. In some cases, a by-product cleaning system and main gas flow odor may have difficulty cleaning the gas, when the preset oven value is less than approximately 218.3 ° C. The preheaters 341 are able to control the cooking by-product with furnace tunnel temperatures of less than 176.67 ° C. More flexibility of the apparatus is obtained by simultaneously allowing lower preset cooking temperature values in the oven, while controlling the fat. The purge gas flow is approximately 10% of the total gas flow; the blowers 316a, 316b and the preheaters 341a, 341b, would each provide approximately 600 watts of heat for an elevation of 55.5 ° C of the inlet gas temperature. The heating of the combined 1200 watts is less than one third of the total heat required for each zone of the conveyor furnace, and is very close to the heat necessary to meet the standby state losses of the furnace (that is, the heat loss due to conduction and radiation, and loss by ventilation to the environment). Therefore, the preheaters can be primary gas heaters, using the largest main gas heater (for this example 3000 W) to meet the cooking needs. As previously described, in fluid communication with the return duct means 389, and located therein, are a front gas flow means, illustrated as the front blower wheel 316a, figures 1 and 5. The present invention it can use variable speed blower motors and variable speed blower motor controllers, but they are not indispensable, and in reality the conveyor furnace of the present invention can avoid the problems and complexity of the variable speed blower motors by maintaining a flow gas constant, or alternatively a substantially constant gas flow velocity through the furnace zones, the furnace tunnel and the gas delivery and gas supply systems. The gas flow can be very energetic, or less energetic, depending on the cooking requirements of each food product; One means to modulate the gas flow is the use of gas pumping means, such as a combination of blower motor and blower wheel, which uses a controller or a multiple speed switch that allows the switching of the motor speed of blower in predetermined fixed increments. Other means of gas flow can be used to accelerate gas flow, and the applicant intends to include with this terminology any structure currently existing or developed in the future that performs the same function as 316a, 390a, 391a and 316b, 390b and 391 b, which will be discussed later. Attached to the front blower wheel 316a, there is a blower motor arrow 390a, which is direct driven with the electric motor 391a, FIG. 5. Other means may be employed to couple the blower wheel 316a to the electric motor 391a, such that the band propulsion and the propelling means are not limited to direct propulsion, and the applicant intends to include in this terminology any structure currently existing or developed in the future that performs the same function. The blower wheel 316a takes gas from the return duct means 389 and supplies the gas through the duct means 393a, to the node sections 390a, 391a, 392a, FIG. 6. Within the node sections 390a, 391a, 392a, are the gas flow control means 388a, FIG. 1, which allow the passage of gas from the media of conduit 393a, to the gas transfer section 317a of each zone of the furnace. The gas flow control means 388a can allow the passage of varying amounts of gas, or no gas at all, to the transfer section 317a of each cooking zone, and they are shown as the valves 388a, although others can be employed means for allowing, limiting or restricting the gas flow to each zone of the furnace 380, 381, 382, by means of the nodes 392a, 391a, 390a, and the applicant intends to include in this terminology any structure currently existing or developed in the future that performs the same function as valves 388a. The upper front gas transfer section, 317a, FIG. 5, is in fluid communication with a lower frontai gas transfer section, 318a, through a vertical front gas transfer section, 319a. The vertical front gas transfer section 319a is joined by the front side wall 366 and a front microwave waveguide 320a section, when using microwaves: When no microwave is used, the waveguide launcher 320a can be replaced with metal. As can be seen in Figure 5, as gas is supplied to the upper front gas transfer section 317a, the gas is discharged through an upper front gas discharge plate, 323a, to the furnace zone 302 through openings 300a, and to the upper front and front side portion of the food product 310. The openings 300a can be slotted, regularly formed or irregularly formed openings, and are illustrated here as the nozzles 300a and 300b, 329a, 329b, FIG. 5, and the applicant intends to include in this terminology any structure previously existing or developed in the future that performs the same function as 300a, 329a and 300b and 329b, which are set forth below. The gas that has not been discharged through the upper front gas discharge plate 323a, flows to the lower front gas transfer section 318a through the vertical transfer section 319a. The gas that is distributed to the lower front gas transfer section 318a can be reheated, if desired, by lower front heating means 303a, figure 5, before said gas passes through the front gas discharge plate. bottom, slotted or perforated, 327a, through the openings 329a, for unloading on the front lower and front frontal portions of the food product 310 in the area of the oven 302. The lower front heating means 303a may be present in some embodiments , and not present in others, depending on the particular requirements of the speed cooking oven. Although the lower front heating means 303a is shown as an open coil electric heater, other means for heating the gas can be used, such as other types of electric heating means, electrical resistance elements, natural gas, propane or other means of heating. heating, and the applicant intends to include in this terminology any structure currently existing or developed in the future that performs the same function as 303a and 303b, which will be discussed below. The openings 300a and 329a are dimensioned for a low pressure drop, while providing and maintaining adequate gas velocities in the range of approximately 609.6 meters / minute to approximately 1828.80 meters / minute, to properly cook the food product as herein described. describes In some cases, speeds of less than 609.6 meters / minute or above 1828.80 meters / minute may also be used, depending on the particular food product to be cooked, or a particular cooking recipe that is being executed by the controller, which will be discussed below, and the applicant does not intend to limit the invention to gas speeds within a particular scale. The openings 300a are dimensioned in such a way that most of the gas is supplied from the upper front gas discharge plate 323a. The resulting disproportionation of gas flows between the upper front gas discharge plate 323a and the lower front gas discharge plate 327a, is desirable because the upper flows must vigorously remove the produced moisture and escape from the upper and upper side surfaces of the gas. food product 310. The disproportionation of gas flow also serves to heat, toast, or heat and toast, the food product 310. Referring again to Figure 3, the gas is transferred to the back of the cooking zones 380, 381, 382, through a rear gas transfer duct, 393b, Figure 3, extending from the gas flow means 316b to the first cooking zone 380, thus continuing to the second cooking zone 381 , and ending with the third cooking zone 382, FIGS. 1 and 3, in the same manner previously described for the frontal gas transfer section 393a. In fluid communication with the rear conduit means 393b, there are the gas flow nodes 390b, 391b, 392b, FIG. 6, which allow the passage of gas from the gas transfer conduit 393b to the upper gas transfer sections. 317b, Figure 4, of each cooking zone 380, 381 and 382. In fluid communication with the upper gas transfer section 317b, there is the upper gas outlet opening 312 described above, which is in fluid communication with the return duct means 389b. The return duct means 389b are in fluid communication with a subsequent gas flow means, illustrated as the rear blower wheel 316b, figure 3. As with the blower wheel 316a, other devices can be used as flow means gas 316b, to accelerate the flow of gas, and the applicant intends to include in this terminology any structure currently existing or developed in the future that performs the same function. Attached to the rear blower wheel 316b is the blower motor arrow 390b, which is in direct drive with the electric motor 391b, and as with the electric motor 391a, other means for coupling the blower wheel 316b may be employed. to the electric motor 391b. The blower wheel 316b takes gas from the furnace zone 302 through the common return duct means 389, and supplies the gas through the duct means 393b to the knot sections 390b, 391b, 392b, figure 6. Within the node sections 390b, 391b, 392b, are the gas flow control means 388b, Figure 5, which allow gas to pass from the conduit means 393b to the transfer section 317b of each zone of oven. As with the gas flow control means 388a, the flow control means 388b, FIG. 5, may not allow the passage of gas, or the passage of variable amounts of gas, to the transfer section 317b, and are shown as the valves 388b, although other means may be employed to limit or restrict the flow of gas to each zone of the furnace 380, 381, 382, and the applicant intends to include in this terminology any structure currently existing or developed in the future that performs the Same function as 388b valves. The upper rear gas transfer section 317b, FIG. 5, is in fluid communication with a lower rear gas transfer section 318b, through a vertical rear gas transfer section 319b. The vertical rear gas transfer section 319b is joined by the rear side wall 367 and the subsequent microwave waveguide section320b. As can be seen in Figure 5, as a gas is supplied to the upper rear gas transfer section 317b, the gas is discharged through an upper rear gas discharge plate 323b, to the kiln zone 302, by the openings 300b and on the upper rear and rear side portion of the food product 310. The openings 300b can be slotted, regularly formed or irregularly shaped openings, and are illustrated here as the nozzles 300b and 329b, Figure 5, and the applicant intends to include in this terminology any structure currently existing or developed in the future that performs the same function as 300b and 329b. The gas that is distributed to the lower rear gas transfer section 318b can be reheated, if desired, by a lower rear gas heating means 303b, FIG. 5, before said gas passes through the gas plate. lower, slotted or perforated rear gas discharge 327b, through the openings 329b, for discharge onto the lower rear and rear lateral portions of the food product 310 in the area of the oven 302. The lower rear gas heating means 303b may be present in some embodiments and not present in others, depending on the particular requirements of the speed cooking oven conveyor, and as with the gas heating means 303a described above, can be made of any material with which gas heating is achieved . The openings 300b and 329b are dimensioned for a low pressure drop, while providing and maintaining sufficient gas velocities, in the range of approximately 609.6 meters / minute to approximately 1828.8 meters / minute, to properly cook the food product as shown in FIG. describes in the present. In some cases you can also use speeds of less than 609.6 meters / minute and greater than 1828.8 meters / minute. The openings 300b are dimensioned in such a way that most of the gas is supplied from the upper rear gas discharge plate 323b. As with the frontal gas system, the resulting disproportionation of gas flow between the upper rear gas discharge plate 323b and the lower rear gas discharge plate 327b, is desirable because higher flows must vigorously remove the produced moisture and escape of the upper and upper side surface of the food product 310. The disproportion also serves to heat, toast, or heat and toast, the food product 310. The gas supply systems front and rear, although described herein independently, are of the same configuration and function to uniformly flow hot gas flow through the top and top side and the bottom and bottom side of the feed product, and return the gas to the heating mechanism and the gas flow means for refueling to the areas of the oven. Although the same configuration is shown in the exemplary embodiment, this symmetry is not indispensable and the front gas supply system can be configured differently from the subsequent supply system, and the upper gas supply systems can be configured differently from the lower ones. In reality, each cooking zone can be configured differently from the other cooking zones, and many combinations of configurations may be desirable for a particular conveyor oven. When a conveyor oven with a single cooking zone is required, various combinations can also be used as described above. As described above, the gas flow is supplied through four gas transfer sections, 317a, 317b, 318a, 318b, which are located in the upper and lower corners of each oven cavity 302, as shown in FIG. Figure 5. The gas flow transfer sections 317a, 317b; 318a and 318b, extend the width of each furnace zone 302, although it is not essential that the gas flow transfer sections extend over the entire length of the furnace zone. The gas transfer section 317a is located in the upper front corner of the oven zone 302, FIG. 5, wherein the upper wall 303 crosses the lateral front wall 366 of the oven zone; the gas transfer section 317b in the upper rear corner, wherein the upper wall 303 crosses the lateral rear wall 367; the gas transfer section 318a in the lower front corner of the oven zone 302, wherein the bottom wall 304 crosses the side front wall 366; and the gas transfer section 318b in the lower rear corner, wherein the bottom wall 304 crosses the rear side wall 367. Each gas transfer section is dimensioned and configured to supply the appropriate gas flow for the particular furnace used. For example, in a small furnace, the gas supply sections, actually the complete furnace, can be dimensioned in a smaller proportion than the smallest occupied space of the particular requirements, and a larger furnace may have gas supply sections. proportionally larger gas. As seen in Figure 5, the gas flows from the front side and the rear side converge on the food product 310, creating an energetic gas flow field on the surface of the food product, which removes the boundary layer from the food product. humidity. This flow of turbulently mixed gas, directed to the food product, can best be described as a pattern of incident, colliding and incident gas flows that spatially average the gas flow over the surface area of the food product, producing a high heat transfer and moisture removal on the surface of the food product, thus optimizing cooking at speed. The gas flow is directed towards the upper part, the lower part and the sides of the food product, from the front and rear sides of the kiln zone, and the gas flows from the front and rear side impinge and strike the surface of the food product before leaving the oven zone through the gas outlet opening 312. As used herein, the term "combine" refers to the pattern of incident, opposite and shocking gas flows that are they find in and on the upper surface, the lower surface and the frontai and posterior lateral surfaces of the food product, and produce high heat transfer for both conventional and speed cooking of the food product, due to the spatial averaging of the transfer of heat from the gas flow. The pattern of combined gas flows is created within the kiln zone, and when properly directed and diverted they produce a high quality cooked food product that can be cooked very quickly. Although this invention can achieve the speed cooking of a high quality food product, it can also achieve conventional cooking by adjusting gas flow and microwave energy (in cases where microwave energy is used) to the food product; or using the gas flow alone, without microwave energy. By increasing the flow of highly agitated gas, incident, opposite and in shock in the flow path generates! The gas will follow, as shown in FIG. 5, through the upper gas outlet opening 312, as the gas leaves the upper part of the kiln zone 302. This rising gas flow also extracts the gas. of the lower gas discharge sections 318a and 318b, thereby debugging the lower part of the food product, pot, perol or other cooking vessel, extracting gas flow around the sides of said vessel, further increasing the heat transfer, as well as extracting the gas that cleans the upper surface of the upper wall of the kiln zone. Going back to figure 5, the gas discharge plates 323a and 323b are positioned within the oven zone 302, such that the gas flow of the upper gas transfer section 317a, oppositely impinges and collides with the gas flow of the section of gas transfer upper 317b on the surface of the food product, and collides with the food product at an angle that is between zero degrees and 90 degrees, taking as reference the horizontal top wall (where zero degrees is parallel to the horizontal top wall); and the lower gas discharge plates 327a and 327b are positioned within the furnace zone 302, such that the gas flow of the lower gas transfer section 318a impinges and collides against the gas flow of the section lower gas transfer 318b on the lower surface of the food product, at an angle that is between zero degrees and ninety degrees, taking as reference the horizontal bottom wall. Various cooking requirements may require adjustment of the angle of the gas discharge plates 323a, 323b, 327a and 327b, during manufacturing, or that are adjustable within the oven after manufacture, for the chef or chef to change the angles (vectors) of gas flow velocity to perform different cooking profiles. The number and placement of the openings 300a, 300b, 329a and 329b will vary according to the particular oven that is desired. For example, a general-purpose cooking speed oven furnace can be scaled to a toaster oven by changing the number of openings, which may be smaller in number but larger in size, thus allowing smoother gas flow through the product. food, and producing the proper delicate baking of the food product. If a toasting oven is desired, the openings may be more numerous and smaller in diameter. Additionally, the operator may desire more cooking flexibility and in this circumstance the gas discharge plates 323a, 323b, 327a and 327b can be manufactured so as to allow a rapid exchange of the plates by the operator. As used herein, the term "aperture" refers to irregular slots, irregular holes or irregular nozzles, regularly formed slots, regularly formed holes or regularly formed nozzles, or a combination of slots, holes or nozzles formed regularly and irregularly. Figure 5 illustrates the use of three rows of openings, 300a and 300b, on the upper gas supply sections 317a and 317b, and two rows of openings on the lower gas supply systems 318a and 318b, although more can be used or fewer rows and numbers of openings, and the applicant intends to include in this terminology any structure currently existing or developed in the future that performs the same function. The gas supply system illustrated in Fig. 5 produces a pattern of incidence, opposition and energetic shock of the gas flows 330a and 330b, wherein a superior energetic flow of incident, opposite and shock gas 330a also interacts with the gas flows 330a and 330b. the upper front portion and the lateral upper front portion of the food product 310, and a similar upper posterior flow of incident, opposite and impact gas 330b, interacts with the upper rear portion and the upper rear lateral portion of the food product 310. The energetic flow of incident, opposite and shock gas 331a, interacts with the lower frontal and lateral portions of the food product, and the gas flow 331b interacts with the lower and posterior portions of the food product. This cooking profile creates a high heat transfer capacity using the surface of the food product, as well as the interference of flow fields to minimize the growth of the boundary layer. After the gas incident and opposing energetic flows 330a and 330b contact or collide with the food product, they are discharged through the upper outlet section 312, and are recycled to the furnace as described herein. The highly turbulent flow pattern of the opposite gas flows described herein has several benefits. First, the pattern of opposing gas flows creates a gas flow in the cooking zone that is spatially averaged, or a flow condition that tends to average the highs and lows of the flow variation at a given point in time. the cooking cavity, and greatly reduces the complexity of the design necessary to impose a uniform flow field on a cooking zone. When the gas transfer sections 317a, 317b, 318a and 318b are in use, the opposing gas flows produce an "X" style gas flow, where the high heat transfer rates necessary for speed cooking average the flow conditions over space and time, thus producing a uniform cooking and roasting. Another advantage of the ascending return gas path is that conveying means can pass through the cooking zones because the two ends of the cooking cavity 302 are now free of any gas flow medium or microwave subsystem ( that is, without blower gas return path or microwave power). Also, uniform lateral toasting is performed because the lower gas flow is removed by passing the edges of the food product as the gas flows up to the exit point 312 within the ceiling 303. Third, the grease load in the gas is reduced. return gas stream. Control of gas flow to the various zones is effected by simple gas flow valves or gates, referred to as nodes 390a, 390b, 391a, 3191b, 392a, 392b. This approach maintains a relatively constant flow through the furnace, thus eliminating the need to vary the speed of the blower. The gas flow within the conveyor oven, as well as other functions of the cooking appliance 301, are directed by the controller 334, figure 3. Speed cooking of individual food products generally requires a separate cooking profile or recipe for that product of food. The oven speed cooking oven of the exemplary mode is capable of cooking several food products at the same time, therefore the oven controls must track the food products as they move through the cooking zones, and adjust the gas flow energies and microwave energies (when using microwave energy) of each cooking zone, according to the cooking recipe that has been introduced by the operator or by a scanning device or other device for each product of food. The cooking profile for a food product, referred to herein as the "cooking recipe", can be very complex, and the time and work consumption associated with the cooking recipes that are introduced can be minimized by using the controller 334 loaded with preset cooking recipes from a smart card, or loaded with an automatic product identification device, or other scanning and reading devices may be used. Alternative embodiments will allow the operator to place the food product on the conveyor means 399 in the loading area 396, Figure 4, and a unique product identification code could be used to transfer the recipes to the oven controller, thus eliminating the inputs of manual cooking recipe. Alternatively, to enter the cooking recipes the operator can make manual entries of a single button or inputs of multiple buttons, and the applicant does not consider limitations on the use of the control system for the cooking recipes. Actually optical scanners can be used at the input end of the apparatus 301. The exemplary embodiment describes a unique product identification code which is encoded with the correct preset cooking recipe values for each food product, and the information is transferred using a radio frequency identification mark ("RFID") placed on the food or food container. The RFID mark can be programmed from the restaurant point of the sale system, and can be read by the oven controller by any known means, such as unidirectional communication linked by cable, bidirectional communication, wireless communication or other means, and the applicant intends to include in this terminology any structure currently existing or developed in the future that performs the communication function. The reading of the RFID mark by the controller 334 minimizes the error associated with the entry of information by the operator of an incorrect cooking recipe, and allows the restaurant to optimize the customer service since the oven controller communicates with the operator. point of the sale system during the cooking cycle for each food product. The controller 334 determines, among other things, the gas flow rate, which can be constant or variable, or can be varied constantly during the entire cooking cycle, and whether or not gas is supplied through the cooking nodes previously. described to the cooking zones 380, 381, 382. It may be desirable to cook the food product at a speed during the entire cooking cycle, or to vary the gas speed, depending on conditions such as the predetermined cooking recipes, or to vary the gas velocity in response to ral sensors that can be placed within the cooking zone, furnace return gas paths or other positions within the furnace. The location and placement of said sensors will be determined by the particular application of the furnace. Additionally other means may be used where the data is transmitted back to the controller 334, and then the controller 334 adjusts the cooking recipe in an appropriate manner. For example, sensors (temperature, humidity, speed, vision and amount of chemical mixture that the gas carries) can be used to constantly monitor the cooking conditions and consequently adjust the gas flow, the microwave energy, when used, inside of a cooking cycle; other sensors not described herein may also be used and the speed-firing conveyor oven may utilize sensors that are currently not commercially practical due to cost or other limitations (such as non-invasive laser, temperature sensors and other sensors that currently they are too expensive to be economically feasible), and the speed cooking oven is not limited to those exposed here, since many detection devices are known and used and the applicant intends to include in this terminology any structure currently existing or developed in the future that performs the same function. Additionally, controller 334 can control the amount of purge gas flow through each odor filter 340, as described above. For example, the oven zone 380 may contain a food product which, by conventional cooking, or cooking at speed, will produce larger quantities of fat, smoke and odor carried by the air than the food products in the other cooking zones. . In such a case, the controller 334 may allow more gas flow through the odor filter 340 of the furnace zone 380, and more or less gas flow to the odor filters that may be used for the furnace zones. 381, 382, and adjust the preheaters 341a, 341 b, of the oven zone 380. The gas flow can also be adjusted depending on the available energy. For example, when the heating means of a speed-cooking furnace, all electric, requires or uses a large amount of energy (greater than the amount of energy available that can vary according to local location, code and regulation) , it may be desirable for the controller 334 to reduce the electrical power supplied to the heating means or other electrical components to conserve the available energy. In a speed cooking furnace, some systems can be energized by electric current, but the electric power requirements will not be as high as those needed for an all-electric oven, because the energy required for gas heating and cooking will be provided. by the combustion of a hydrocarbon-based fuel. In this case a controller may not be necessary; You can actually use knobs or dials. In an alternative embodiment, the gas flow control can be effected by gas flow control means, figures 10 and 11. As the gas is discharged in the upper front gas transfer section 317a, a selected portion of said gas can be directed through the openings 300a within the gas discharge plate 323a by gas diverting means, 324a, shown in the open position in FIG. 10. The gas diverting means 324a is shown pivotally attached to the gas discharge plate 324a. gas discharge 323a, although other means for effecting said gas diversion may be used. For example, means such as switched plates, normally open, normally closed, or normally open and partially closed (wherein said plates slide along the interior of the perforated plate 323a to limit the openings 300a of the discharge plate 323a), and the applicant intends to include in this terminology any structure currently existing or developed in the future that performs the same function as the 324a gas diverting means. Gas that has not been discharged or diverted through the openings 300a flows to the lower front gas transfer section 318a through the vertical transfer section 319a. A lower gas transfer deflection mechanism, 352a, is pivotally attached to the waveguide section 320a (when waveguides are used, and to the metal sheet when they are not used), Figure 10, which operates to limit the amount of gas that is transferred to the lower gas transfer section 318a. As used here, the terms "flow control means", "gas deflecting means", "transfer deflection mechanism", and "flow control means", have the same meaning, and refer to the means for controlling the flow of gas inside the conveyor furnace and in its various parts. In fact, some cooking operations may require more gas flow to the bottom of the conveyor oven, while other operations will require little or no gas flow to the underside of the oven for supply to the bottom of the food product . In those cases where little or no gas flow is desired on the lower surface of the food product, the gas transfer diversion mechanism 352a can be closed to allow all, or substantially all, of the gas flow to the section of front gas supply top 317a. The gas flowing to the lower front gas supply section 118a can be reheated, if desired, by lower front heating means 303a, FIG. 10. After passing over the heating elements 303a, the gas can be diverted further by diverter means 328a, FIG. 10, shown in the open position. As the gas deviating means 328a rotates, the directional control of the gas flow can be refined, allowing the gas flow to pass through the upper or lower rows of openings of the lower gas plate 327a, in various positions as required. length of the lower surface of the food product 310, figure 10. Although the gas diverting means 328a is shown pivotally attached to the slotted or perforated front gas discharge plate 327a, the gas diverting means 328a is not limited to the pivotally bonded means illustrated herein, and as described herein, the applicant intends to include in this terminology any structure currently existing or developed in the future that performs the same function as the gas diverting means 324a, 352a, 328a, 324b, 352b and 328b, which will be discussed later. As the gas is discharged in the upper rear gas transfer section 317b, a selected portion of said gas can be directed through the openings 300b within the gas discharge plate 323b, by gas diverting means 324b, shown in FIG. the open position, Figure 11. The gas diverting means 324b is pivotally attached to the gas discharge plate 323b, although as with 323a, other means for effecting said gas diversion may be used. For example, means such as switched plates, normally open, normally closed, or normally open and partially closed (wherein said plates slide along the interior of the perforated plate 323b to limit the openings 300b of the discharge plate 323b), and the applicant intends to include in this terminology any structure currently existing or developed in the future that performs the same function as the gas diverting means 324b. Gas that has not been discharged or diverted through the openings 300b flows to the lower front gas transfer section 318b through the vertical transfer section 319b. Pivotally attached to the waveguide section 320b (when waveguides are used, and to the metal sheet when not in use), there is a lower gas transfer deflection mechanism, 352b, shown in Figure 11, which operates to limit the amount of gas that is transferred to the lower gas transfer section 318b. As with the frontal gas transfer system, some cooking operations may require more gas flow to the bottom of the conveyor oven, while other operations will require little or no gas flow to the bottom of the kiln to supply the lower part of the food product. In those cases where little or no gas flow is desired on the lower surface of the food product, the gas transfer bypass mechanism 352b can be closed to allow all, or substantially all, of the gas flow to the section Frontal Gas Supply 317b. The gas flowing to the lower rear gas supply section 118b can be reheated, if desired, by lower front heating means 303b, Figure 11. After passing over the heating elements 303b, the gas can be further diverted by diverter means 328b, shown in the open position in FIG. 11. As the gas diverting means 328b rotates, the directional control of the gas flow can be refined, allowing the gas flow to pass through the upper or lower rows of the gas streams. openings of the lower gas plate 327b, in various positions along the lower surface of the food product 310, Figure 11. Although the gas diverting means 328b is shown pivotally attached to the slotted or perforated front gas discharge plate 327b, the gas diverting means 328b is not limited to the pivotally attached means illustrated herein, and as shown in FIG. described elsewhere, the applicant intends to include in this terminology any structure currently existing or developed in the future that performs the same function as gas diversion means 324a, 352a, 328a, 324b, 352b and 328b. In those cases where directional control of the gas flow is desired, the gas diverting means 324a, 324b, 328a, 328b, and 352a and 352b, FIGS. 9 and 10, can be rotated, such that the gas flow it is diverted to selected openings, thus effecting a different pattern of gas flow and gas mixing on the surface of the food product and above it. Additionally, in those cases where gas flow is not desired on the underside, the gas diverting means 352a, 352b can be closed, thus allowing little or no gas flow to the lower portion of the cavity. from the oven. Further adjustments of the gas diverting means are possible, and the Applicant intends to include in this terminology any structure currently existing or developed in the future which allows combinations of the open and closed positions of the openings 300a, 300b, 329a and 329b, by means of of the various gas flow control means described herein. Gas deviating means 324a, 324b, 328a, 328b and 352a and 352b can be manually controlled, can be controlled automatically by means of controller 334, can be controlled by other mechanical or electrical means, or by a combination of automatic control and manual, and the applicant intends to include in this terminology any structure currently existing or developed in the future that performs the function described here on the adjustment of gas diversion means. In those cases where the gas diverting means 324a or 324b allow the passage of little or no gas through the gas discharge plates 323a, 323b, and also when you want little gas flow through the discharge plates lower 327a, 327b, a bypass return gas flow conduit can be provided to return the gas flow to the gas return duct means 389. Additionally, in those cases where the gas steering means 328a, 328b, allow the passage of little or no gas through the gas discharge plates 327a, 327b, and less gas flow through the gas discharge plates 323a, 323b, conduit means can be provided for returning the gas flow to the return duct means 389, or alternatively to the atmosphere, or to the gas purge system described above for additional odor and grease cleaning. Actually, there are several and multiple combinations of gas flow control, depending on the particular furnace that is desired, and the gas flow can be directed to many and various openings through the conveyor furnace to obtain the finished baked product 310 which is you want The oven of the present invention can also use microwave energy to at least partially cook the food product. As can be seen in Figure 5, the microwave front side waveguide 320a is attached within the furnace zone 302 to the side front wall 305, between the upper front gas discharge plate 323a and the gas plate. 327a lower front gas discharge. The lateral rear waveguide 320b of microwave launch is connected within the furnace zone 302 to the lateral rear wall 306 between the upper rear gas discharge plate 323b and the lower rear gas discharge plate 327b. The microwave waveguides are designed to evenly distribute the microwave energy of magnetrons 100, figure 8, from back to front of the cooking cavity 302 of the oven. The vertical distance above the lower wall 304 of the cavity of the waveguides 320a and 320b is such that, under normal cooking conditions, approximately more than a third of the microwave energy is available below the food product 310 , the rest of the microwave energy being available above the food product 310. As shown in Figure 5, the microwave energy 351 a, 351 b, Figure 5, is transmitted from the waveguides 320a, 320b, to the oven zone 302, through a slotted antenna 370, FIG. 8, wherein three or four narrow openings (slots) 370, are spaced along the waveguide. Several configurations have been used for microwave distribution with variable results, and less than three slots or more than three slots can be used; the applicant intends to include in this terminology any structure currently existing or developed in the future that performs the same function. For a slotted microwave system, Figure 9, efficient and inexpensive, the length of the slot 382, the width of the slot 383, the spacing between the slots, the separation of the end of the slot, the slot angle with the slot are important. with respect to the large axis of the waveguide, the number of grooves per waveguide, and the orientation of the groove. The slots 370 in the waveguides 320a, 320b are open to the cooking cavity and must be covered or protected in such a way that grease and other contaminants can not enter the waveguide; A durable and inexpensive antenna slot cover can be used to protect said slots 370. The antenna slot covers 106, FIG. 8, are configured to cover the slots 370 in the waveguides 320a, 320b. The antenna slot covers 106 adhere to the surrounding stainless steel of the waveguides 320a, 320b, using a room temperature vulcanization sealant ("RTV") of rubber and high temperature silicone. This sealing approach creates a watertight seal of high temperature between the cover and the surrounding metal. Although an RTV sealant has been described in the exemplary embodiment, other sealing means may be used to adhere the antenna covers 106 to the waveguide 320a, 320b. The cover material must be compatible with high temperature operation, it must be low loss with respect to microwave transmission, easily cleanable, durable and cheap. It has been found that for good microwave compatibility, materials with a dielectric constant of less than 6 and a loss tangent of less than 0.2 provide these characteristics. These materials should be thin, usually less than 0.037 centimeters thick, and should be suitable for bonding using RTV. In the exemplary embodiment, a tefion cloth (polytetrafluoroethylene ("PTFE")) / glass fiber, produced by Saint Gobain (ChemFab Product No. 10 BT), having a treated side to accept silicone rubber and is of 0.025 centimeters thick, and it seems to have little impact on the microwave characteristics of the magnetron and the microwave waveguide system. The results of the Smith diagram analysis and water elevation experiments of the waveguide impedance and waveguide antenna, for slot angles greater than 17 degrees (measured from a horizontal center line, 379, FIG. 9), and without antenna cover 106, are approximately the same. Although two microwave waveguides, 320a, 320b, and two magnetrons, 100, are described per cooking zone, in another embodiment the waveguides may be provided with a larger magnetron, or alternatively, several magnetrons may be used, and the invention is not limited to two magnetrons per cooking zone and the applicant intends to include in this terminology any structure currently existing or developed in the future that performs the same function. For optimum cooking, the food product 310 is placed within the oven area 302 on the conveyor means 399 at a distance of at least 6 centimeters (for optimum cooking uniformity) from the front wall 305 and the rear wall 306 The measurement of 6.1 centimeters corresponds to half of a microwave wavelength, or 6 centimeters (for optimal cooking uniformity) (zero E field), for a microwave tube frequency of 2.45 GHz. This separation allows the Field E expands and becomes more uniform before coupling with the food product. Another lateral separation placement can be used with other types of magnetron systems. The rear microwave waveguide is identical to the front system and the microwave energy is transmitted from the rear waveguide 320b to the oven zone 302 through the slotted antenna 370, as described above for the front side. Although the waveguides 320a and 320b are configured in the same manner, infinite combinations of groove designs, groove configurations, groove widths, groove iongitudes, number of grooves by waveguides and groove orientations by groove guide are possible. wave, depending on the type of oven desired. Therefore, the microwave energy field propagates through the zone of the furnace in a uniformly distributed pattern, which couples with the food product from all directions, and provides a uniform distribution of electromagnetic energy throughout the area of the furnace, without the need for a mechanical agitator to propagate the electromagnetic field. The waveguides 320a and 320b are located on the front and rear side walls of the furnace, and therefore do not interfere with the gas discharge consumed from the furnace zone. Since the microwave waveguides are located on the side walls of the kiln zone, they are not affected by food spills, grease contamination, cleaning fluid contamination or other contamination that normally affects a lower microwave throwing system. Therefore, it will be less likely that the microwave system of the present invention will be penetrated by grease, spills, cleaning materials and other contaminants, because the systems are not located directly below the food product where hot contaminants run off. The lateral microwave launch waveguide is not indispensable, and in fact the microwave launch can be made from any surface of the oven cavity, with varying degrees of efficiency. The microwave guides 320a, 320b, with slotted antenna 370, Figure 5, are positioned along the front and rear cavity walls, such that the cooking platform 308 is slightly below the slots 370. In this way , the energy of micobananas is directed towards the upper and lower part of the food product. For safety, the microwave energy must be contained within the cooking tunnel 394, and historically the conveyor ovens incorporated large inlet and outlet tunnels to attenuate the leakage of microwaves that escape from the ends of the open oven tunnel. These large tunnels not only require a lot of additional floor space, but they result in heights of the furnace cavity of only several centimeters, thereby limiting much the food products that can pass through said conveyor furnace. The present invention eliminates the need for large inlet and outlet tunnels and the short height of the cooking cavity, employing the spacer conveyor approach coupled with tunnel doors 397, 398, Figure 1, as discussed herein. An exemplary food product flow is illustrated in Figure 4. To reduce the complexity of the controller 334, the transport speed of the conveyor can be operated at a fixed value. This approach establishes residence times where the food product 310 remains in a given cooking zone for a fixed period. In addition to simplifying the development of the food recipe and cooking recipe algorithms, a fixed residence time also reduces the complexity associated with the conveyor drive mechanisms, resulting in less expensive and more reliable means of transport. The food product 310 is placed on conveyor means 399, and preset cooking values for the product 310 can be entered automatically or manually to the controller 334, as described above. The movement of spacing of the conveyor begins with the opening of the tunnel entrance door, 398, figure 1, and the exit door of the tunnel, 397. After the doors 397, 398, open, the conveyor means 399 move towards the cooking zone (or zones), a distance such that the food product 310 is spaced or moved forward to the first cooking zone 380, FIG. 4, inside the tunnel of the oven 394. Once the transportation means 399 is stopped, the doors 398 and 397 close around the conveyor belt 399 as shown in Figure 7, and can start the cooking cycle. After the conveyor means 399 reaches its initial height, a second food product can be placed on the conveyor means 399 in the loading position 396, FIG. 4. In those cases where microwave energy is used, it must be achieved a microwave seal between the conveyor belt 399 and the doors 397, 398. The interface wall 387, FIG. 7, is attached to the web 399, and the doors 397, 398 close around the interface wall 387. The separation of wall on the conveyor belt 399 corresponds to the length of passage (central line of the zone of the furnace to the center line of the zone of the furnace). The space between the divisions or walls also defines the resting area for the product loading area, 396, Figure 4. In addition to obtaining a seal for the containment of microwave energy, the closed doors 397, 398 reduce heat losses associated with the open ends of the cooking tunnel, where the hot gas leaves the open ends of the tunnel with cold ambient gas that rushes in to replace the hot gas lost. The configuration of the door-to-wall microwave interface between the movable doors 397, 398 and the short wall 387, FIG. 7, on the conveyor belt 399, is such that precise control of the movement of the web (which is not required) is required. stops at an exact location), nor metal-to-metal contact between the edge of the door 399 and the wall 387. The wall and band design is axially flexible. A quarter-wavelength choke 386, FIG. 7, is integrated into the lower edge of the doors 397, 398. The combination of the inverted "V" shape guiding the gate 398, 397 together with the short wall 387 , by means of an elastic (non-rigid) connection of the wall 398 to the band 399, allows a small displacement of the wall when the door is closed. The inverted "V" shape is long enough to hold a quarter-wavelength choke (approximately 3 centimeters). The spacing movement of the cooking conveyer at speed 301 results in the containment of the microwaves within the cooking tunnel because the conveyor is stationary during the cooking process. With the product 310 now in the cooking zone 380, the controller 334 starts the cooking recipe for the food product 310. The cooking of the food product 310 can be completed within the cooking zone 380, or it can be cooked in the cooking zone 380. the zones 381 and 382, figure 3, and it is not necessary that the food product 310 uses the three cooking zones to complete the cooking. In fact, some cooking zones can be used to defrost the food product before it is cooked, or partially thawed followed by cooking. As described above, the residence or cooking time within each zone can be altered. The exemplary mode uses a predetermined residence value on the conveyor of 50 seconds per cooking zone. The food product 310 entering the cooking zone 380, therefore, can have a cooking recipe of 50 seconds, comprised of 25 seconds where 100% of the microwave energy and 100% of the gas flow is applied , followed by 25 seconds in which 50% microwave energy and 100% gas flow are applied. At the end of the first residence period of 50 seconds, the controller 334 starts the next spacing movement by opening the tunnel doors 398, 397, figure 1, and the transport means 399 moves, or spans a forward pitch length, moving the product 310 from the first cooking zone 380 to the second cooking zone 381, FIG. 4. In the event that a second food product has been placed in the conveyor means 399 in the loading position 396, FIG. , the second food product will be moved or spaced to the cooking zone 380. Then the predefined cooking values of the second food product can be entered into the controller 334, in case the operator has not previously entered the cooking program, or the program has not been automatically loaded as described above. Once the conveyor means 399 is stopped, the tunnel doors 398, 397 are closed again and the controller 334 executes the preset cooking values for the first food product in the cooking zone 381, and for the second food product in the cooking zone 380. Each food product is then cooked with its own cooking recipe. For example, the first food product in the cooking zone 381 may require 100% gas flow and no microwave energy during the residence period of 50 seconds, while the second food product in the cooking zone 380 can have 3 events scheduled for the residence of 50 seconds (for example, 15 seconds of 100% gas flow without a microwave, followed by 20 seconds of 100% microwave energy and no gas flow, followed by a final 15 seconds 50% microwave and 50% gas flow). The number of events per cooking zone can be programmed in infinite combinations and the applicant does not limit the possible combinations of cooking recipes to the exemplary mode. At the end of the second residence period of 50 seconds, the doors 398, 397 again open and the next movement of spacing of the transport means begins. Assuming that a third food product has been placed in the conveyor means 399 in the holding area 396, the third raising product 310 will be spaced towards the cooking zone 380, while the second food product will be spaced forward to the cooking zone 381, and the first food product will be spaced forward to the cooking zone 382. With the third food product now in the cooking zone 380, each food product can now be cooked with its own preset values of cooking recipe in the manner described above. With the termination of the third residence period, the doors 397, 398 open again and the conveyor means 399 move forward a residence length, and the first food product 310 is now outside the tunnel chamber of the furnace 394, resting on means of transportation 399, ready to be unloaded by the operator. As described above, the speed cooker 301 consists of one or more separate cooking zones. The simplest design of a zone will process only one product at a time. A multi-zone design of "n" zones would have up to "n" products in the tunnel of the conveyor oven at a given time. The total capacity or performance of the speed cooker (products per hour) is a function of the number of cooking zones and the total cooking time for a product. For example, a cooking conveyor at the speed of a zone with a residence time of 150 seconds, will process approximately 24 products per hour. A three-zone oven with a residence time of 50 seconds and a total cooking time of two and a half minutes (3 x 50 seconds) will process approximately 72 products per hour. A six-zone speed cooking conveyor with 25-second residence times will process approximately 144 products per hour. As the food product is stationary in each cooking zone, the energy flows imparted to each food product can be controlled. The energy control towards the food product in a cooking zone includes the means to modulate both the microwaves, when they are used, as the gas flow energies that can be introduced into the food product. A stationary food product during cooking also allows the uniform application of the cooking energies (microwave, convective and optionally radiant). Each cooking zone 380, 381, 382 has open ends with a conveyor belt placed on the floor of the cooking zone 304 and parallel to it. The cooking zones are placed end to end, with the conveyor means passing through each cooking zone, and the zones are separated a distance to minimize the influence of the gas flows or microwave energies that are coupled between the zones of cooking. The distances between the cooking zones will be determined by the particular conveyor oven desired and the amount of interference between the cooking zones that can be considered acceptable.

Although the exemplary embodiment illustrates the use of a two-blower design, with one blower supplying the gas flow in front of each cooking zone, and a second blower for the gas flow towards the rear of each cooking zone, they may use only one flow means, such as a blower, or more than two gas flow means may be used, and the applicant intends to include in this terminology any structure currently existing or developed in the future that performs the same function. On the front side of the apparatus 301 equipment bays can be placed to house microwave circuit components, magnetrons, cooling fans, electronic components, line filters and other electrical components. For a cooking oven at three cooking zones speed, approximately 8.5 cubic meters / minute (m3 / min) per cooking zone are used, although more than 8.5 m3 / min and less than 8.5 m3 / min of gas can be used by cooking zone. This produces a hot gas flow supply circuit, Figure 5, where the cooking zones are supplied with hot gas flow once the valves of the cooking zone 388a, 388b are opened. The actuation of the valves can be done using solenoids or stepper motors 310a, 310b, FIG. 5, or any other known means for performing the opening and closing function of the valves 388a, 388b. This method allows the blowers to operate at fixed speeds and ensures that there is always enough flow for safe and reliable operation of the gas heating source and the grease cleaning system. As described above, unique heating means 314 of an energy source, with a single source controller, are used to supply heat to the gas returning to the blower 316a, 316b. This approach greatly simplifies the heating system compared to the distribution of heat sources between the various cooking zones. You can also centralize high-energy electrical wiring or natural gas line connections. For gas combustion heating means, only one burner and one ignition module are required. The centralized approach results in the simplification of the construction of the furnace and reduction of maintenance. The gas heating energy requirements per cooking zone of the exemplary mode, are between approximately 5 and 7 kW for an electrical appliance, and 24 to 34 kBtu / h for a heater energized with natural gas of direct combustion. An electric heater for the exemplary mode is sized to approximately 15 and 21 kW, while the gas combustion heater would have a requirement of 72 to 102 kBtu / h. For any power source a standard temperature controller could be used (that is, maintaining the discharge temperature of the blower). For a gas or electric appliance, as described above, the apparatus 301 can be scaled to allow the use of available energy sources. Additionally, common gas heating means are ideal for their ease of installation, service and ability to incinerate grease particles that come in contact with very hot combustion products. Of course, the hot products of the combustion of cooking by-products are mixed with the gas that returns to the blowers, producing a slight increase in the temperature of the gas, between 11.1 ° C and 33.3 ° C, and various types of gas chambers. combustion are suitable for this application, including a surface type burner. Although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to some preferred versions thereof, other versions are possible. For example, various sizes of conveying ovens can be made, both conventional cooking and speed. In these cases you can use larger or smaller component parts, and fewer or more components. In cases where it is desirable to make a smaller conveyor oven, gas flow acceleration means can be used instead of two; use a microwave system instead of two; less thermal or smaller devices, either electrical resistance or gas combustion. In cases where a conveyor furnace at a higher speed is desirable, larger gas flow systems and microwave systems may be added to obtain a larger speed cooking furnace. To summarize, the present invention provides conventional and speed cooking convection ovens utilizing hot gas flow, and hot gas flow coupled with microwave energy, to achieve conventional and speed cooking of the food products. Conventional or speed cooking of food products is five to ten times faster than with conventional cooking, with degrees of quality, taste and appearance equal to or higher than those obtained with conventional cooking. The speed cooking oven is operable with several energy sources and its manufacture, use and maintenance are simple and economical, and it is directly scalable to larger or smaller modes. The conveyor furnace can operate as a gas combustion furnace, electric resistance furnace, a microwave oven or a combination gas and microwave oven. Additionally, the invention can be practiced without gas diversion means as in the exemplary embodiment, the gas diversion means being used as in the alternative embodiments described herein. In cases where a higher production conveyor kiln is desirable, multiple conveyors can be used with a gas flow system and additional microwave systems. Other modifications and improvements will become evident. Accordingly, the spirit and scope of the present invention is considered broad and limited only by the appended claims and not by the above specification. Any element in a claim that does not explicitly state "means to" perform a specific function, or "step to" perform a specific function, is interpreted as a "media" or "step" claim as specified in U.S.C. §112, ^ [6. In particular, the use of "step of" in the claims herein is not intended to invoke the provisions of 35 U.S.C. §112.

Claims (46)

NOVELTY OF THE INVENTION CLAIMS

1. - A conveyor oven for cooking a food product, comprising: a cooking tunnel comprising: at least one cooking zone, each cooking zone comprising: a housing defining a cooking chamber; duct means for circulating gas to and from the cooking chamber; flow means to cause gas circulation; means for heating the gas; first gas steering means disposed above the food product, the first gas steering means being operatively associated with the duct means; and second gas direction means disposed above the food product, the second gas direction means also being operatively associated with the conduit means; wherein the first and second gas direction means are configured to cause the gas of the first gas direction means to collide with the gas of the second gas direction means on the upper surface of the food product; and a conveyor to transport products through the cooking zone.

2. A conveyor oven for cooking a food product, comprising: a cooking tunnel comprising: at least one cooking zone, each cooking zone comprising a housing defining a cooking chamber; duct means for circulating gas to and from the cooking chamber; flow means to cause gas circulation; means for heating the gas; first gas steering means disposed below the food product, the first gas steering means being operatively associated with the duct means; and second gas directioning means disposed below the food product, the second gas direction means also being operatively associated with the conduit means; wherein the first and second gas direction means are configured to cause the gas of the first gas direction means to collide with the gas of the second gas direction means on the lower surface of the food product; and a conveyor to transport products through the cooking zone.

3. The furnace according to claim 1, further characterized in that it comprises: first lower gas steering means disposed below the food product, the first lower gas steering means being operatively associated with the duct means; and second lower gas steering means disposed below the food product, the second lower gas steering means also being operatively associated with the conduit means; wherein the first and second lower gas steering means are configured to cause the gas of the first lower gas steering means to collide with the gas of the lower second gas steering means on the lower surface of the food product .

4. The oven according to any of claims 1 to 3, further characterized in that each cooking zone cooks the food product independently of the other cooking zones.

5. The oven according to any of claims 1 to 4, further characterized in that it comprises: control means to control the flow of gas.

6. The oven according to any of claims 1 to 5, further characterized in that the gas leaves the cooking chamber through the upper wall.

7. The oven according to any of claims 1 to 6, further characterized in that it comprises: at least one odor filter.

8. The furnace according to any of claims 1 to 7, further characterized in that it comprises: valve means for adjusting the amount of said gas supplied through said conduit means to said first gas direction means, second means gas steering, first lower gas steering means and second lower gas steering means.

9. The furnace according to any of claims 1 to 8, further characterized in that the flow means is a blower motor.

10. - The oven according to claim 9, further characterized in that the blower motor operates at variable speeds.

11. The furnace according to any of claims 1 to 10, further characterized in that the thermal means is an electric resistance heater.

12. The furnace according to any of the preceding claims, further characterized in that the control means is a rocker switch.

13. The furnace according to claim 12, further characterized in that the rocker switch controls the flow means.

14. The furnace according to any of claims 5 to 11, further characterized in that the control means is a rotary switch.

15. The furnace according to claim 14, further characterized in that the rotary switch controls the flow means.

16. The furnace according to any of the preceding claims, further characterized in that it comprises an electromagnetic source.

17. The furnace according to claim 16, further characterized in that the control means control the electromagnetic source, the valve means, the flow means, the thermal means, or combinations thereof.

18. The furnace according to claim 16, further characterized in that the control means are comprised of rocker switches for controlling the electromagnetic source, the valve means, the flow means, the thermal means, or combinations thereof. .

19. The furnace according to claim 16, further characterized in that the control means are comprised of rotary switches for controlling the electromagnetic source, the valve means, the flow means, the thermal means, or combinations thereof.

20. The furnace according to claim 16, further characterized in that it comprises a control panel for controlling the operation of the electromagnetic source, the valve means, the flow means, the thermal means, or combinations thereof.

21. The oven according to any of the preceding claims, further characterized in that it comprises an outlet opening to allow gas to leave the cooking chamber and a catalyst located within said outlet opening.

22. The oven according to claim 21, further characterized in that said outlet opening is located in an upper wall of the cooking chamber.

23. - The oven according to claim 21, further characterized in that said outlet opening is located in a side wall of the cooking chamber.

24. The oven according to claim 21, further characterized in that said outlet opening is located in a rear wall of the cooking chamber.

25. The oven according to claim 21, further characterized in that said outlet opening is located in a lower wall of a cooking chamber.

26. The furnace according to any of the preceding claims, further characterized in that the first gas direction means and the second gas direction means are located inside an upper wall.

27. The furnace according to any of claims 1 to 25, further characterized in that the first gas direction means and the second gas direction means are located within the right and left side walls.

28. The furnace according to any of claims 1 to 25, further characterized in that the first gas direction means and the second gas direction means are located at the intersection of the side walls and an upper wall.

29. The furnace according to any of claims 1 to 25, further characterized in that the first gas directioning means and the second gas direction means are located within a rear wall.

30. The furnace according to any of claims 2 to 25, further characterized in that the first lower gas steering means and the second lower gas steering means are located within a lower wall.

31. The furnace according to any of claims 2 to 25, further characterized in that the first lower gas steering means and the second lower gas steering means are located within the right and left side walls.

32. The furnace according to any of claims 2 to 25, further characterized in that the first lower gas steering means and the second lower gas steering means are located at the intersection of the side walls and a bottom wall.

33. The oven according to any of claims 2 to 25, further characterized in that the first lower gas steering means and the second lower gas steering means are located within a rear wall.

34. The furnace according to any of claims 1 to 33, further characterized in that the thermal means is a heater driven by a gaseous fuel.

35. - The furnace according to claim 34, further characterized in that the gaseous fuel is propane.

36. The furnace according to claim 34, further characterized in that the gaseous fuel is natural gas. 37.- The oven according to any of the preceding claims, further characterized in that it is a speed cooking oven. 38.- The oven according to any of the preceding claims, further characterized in that it is a conventional baking oven. 39. The oven according to any of the preceding claims, further characterized in that it is an accelerated cooking oven. 40. The furnace according to any of the preceding claims, further characterized in that it is a recycling furnace. 41. The furnace according to any of the preceding claims, further characterized in that it comprises at least two additional gas direction means, for steering on at least one additional food product. 42. The oven according to any of the preceding claims, further characterized in that it comprises: an entrance door arranged at one end of the cooking tunnel; an exit door disposed at the other end of the cooking tunnel; a plurality of sealing means carried by the conveyor to provide a seal between the entrance door and the cooking tunnel, and between the exit door and the cooking tunnel. 43. The furnace according to claim 7, further characterized in that the odor filter is a catalytic odor filter. 44. The furnace according to any of the preceding claims, further characterized in that it has a purge gas flow system comprising: a gas purge chamber; and an odor filter inside the gas purge chamber. 45. The furnace according to claim 44, further characterized in that the odor filter causes catalytic destruction of the cooking by-products. 46. The furnace according to claim 45, further characterized in that it comprises a preheater to heat the flow of purge gas before the gas enters the catalytic odor filter.