High volume forced convection tunnel oven

Claim 2

A tunnel oven comprising: a cooking compartment; means to control temperature of air in said compartment; said walls on said cooking compartment; a conveyor having edges and upper and lower surfaces, said upper surface lying in a plane in said cooking compartment, said conveyor being adapted to transport food through said compartment; an air distribution chamber spaced from said conveyor; blower means adapted to draw air from said cooking compartment and to discharge air into said air distribution chamber in a plane generally parallel to the plane of said conveyor; first and second plenums in said cooking compartment adjacent one edge of said conveyor; a gate adapted to divide air flow from said distribution chamber into said first and second plenums; a plurality of air dispensing ducts having air dispensing openings communicating with said plenums on opposite sides of said conveyor for dispensing air toward said upper and lower surfaces of said conveyor, said conveyor being spaced from walls of said cooking compartment a distance sufficient to permit passage of air adjacent an edge of the conveyor en route to said blower without interfering with flow of air from said air dispensing ducts toward said conveyor.

Claim 3

A tunnel oven according to claim 1, the sum of the areas of said air dispensing openings in said dispensing ducts being equal to more than 6% of the area of the conveyor upon which air is dispensed from each duct.

Claim 4

A tunnel oven according to claim 1, wherein said first and second plenums are formed by spaced walls extending longitudinally of said cabinet adjacent one edge of said conveyor.

Claim 5

A tunnel oven according to claim 1, with the addition of air flow sensor means in each of said first and second plenums providing indicia indicative of air flow through each plenum.

Claim 6

A tunnel according to claim 4, with the addition of damper pivotally secured in said plenum adapted to adjust air flow into each air dispensing duct from said first and second plenums.

Claim 7

A tunnel oven according to claim 1, with the addition of: hanger means in said cooking compartment; means securing said hanger means to said air dispensing ducts; and means to move said hanger means to adjust the position of said dispensing ducts relative to said conveyor.

Claim 8

A tunnel oven according to claim 1, with the addition of: means to control humidity of air in said cooking compartment.

Claim 9

A tunnel oven according to claim 1, with the addition of: a plurality of cooking compartments; means routing said conveyor sequentially through each of said cooking compartments.

Claim 10

A tunnel oven according to claim 1 in which the space "X" between the edge of the conveyor and the side wall of the oven is at least 12% of the width of the conveyor and the total area of said air dispensing openings in the air dispensing ducts is more than 6% of the conveyor area.

Claim 11

An oven comprising: a cabinet; a cooking compartment in said cabinet; walls on said cooking compartment; support means in said cooking compartment adapted to support a food product in said compartment; plenum means in said cabinet; blower means adapted to draw air from said cooking compartment aqnd to deliver air into said plenum means; upper and lower air dispensing ducts communicating with said plenum means on opposite sides of said support means for dispensing air toward opposite upper and lower surfaces of a food product on said support means; a plurality of dampers movably secured between said plenum means and each of said air dispensing ducts, each of said dampers being arranged to adjust air flow from said plenum means into said upper and lower dispensing ducts; and control means associated with each of said dampers to independently move said dampers to adjust the sequence and intensity of air flow to upper and lower surfaces of a food product on said support means.

Claim 12

An oven comprising: a cabinet; a cooking compartment in said cabinet; walls on said cooking compartment; support means in said cooking compartment adapted to support a food product in said compartment; plenum means in said cabinet; blower means adapted to draw air from said cooking compartment aqnd to deliver air into said plenum means; upper and lower air dispensing ducts communicating with said plenum means on opposite sides of said support means for dispensing air toward opposite upper and lower surfaces of a food product on said support means; a plurality of dampers movably secured between said plenum means and each of said air dispensing ducts, each of said dampers being arranged to adjust air flow from said plenum means into said upper and lower dispensing ducts; and control means associated with each of said dampers to independently move said dampers to adjust the sequence and intensity of air flow to upper and lower surfaces of a food product on said support means.

Claim 13

An oven according to claim 10, said plenum means comprising: first and second plenums in said cabinet; and with the addition of a gate adapted to divide air flow from said blower means into said first and second plenums.

Claim 14

An oven according to claim 11, wherein said air dispensing ducts have openings formed therein through which air is dispensed toward said support means, the sum of the area of said openings in said air dispensing ducts being equal to more than 6% of the total area of said support means upon which air is dispensed from said air dispensing ducts.

Claim 15

An oven according to claim 12, with the addition of a pair of air flow sensors in each of said plenums, said air flow sensors being positioned to indicate flow rate of air through said upper and lower air dispensing ducts; and means associated with said air flow sensors to provide a visual indication of the relative flow rates of air through said upper and lower air dispensing ducts.

Claim 16

An oven according to claim 12, said support means being spaced from walls of said cooking compartment a distance sufficient to permit passage of air adjacent the side of said support means enroute to said blower without interfering with flow of air from said air dispensing ducts toward said support means.

Claim 17

A tunnel oven comprising: a cooking compartment; walls on said cooking compartment; a conveyor in said cooking compartment adapted to transport food through said compartment, said conveyor having upper and lower surfaces extending between spaced edges; distribution chamber spaced from said conveyor; blower means adapted to draw air from said cooking compartment and to discharge air into said air distribution chamber; first and second plenums in said cabinet adjacent one edge of said conveyor; a gate adapted to adjust air flow from said distribution chamber into said first and second plenums; air flow sensor means in each of said plenums providing indicia indicative of air flow through each plenum; a plurality of upper and lower dispensing ducts communicating with each of said plenums on opposite sides of said conveyor for dispensing air toward upper and lower surfaces of said conveyor; hanger means in said cooking compartment; means securing said hanger means to said upper dispensing ducts; means to move said hanger means to adjust the position of said upper dispensing ducts relative to said conveyor; means heating air in said cooking compartment; and means to control humidity of air in said cooking compartment.

Claim 18

A tunnel oven comprising: a cooking compartment; walls on said cooking compartment; a conveyor in said cooking compartment adapted to transport food through said compartment, said conveyor having upper and lower surfaces extending between spaced edges; distribution chamber spaced from said conveyor; blower means adapted to draw air from said cooking compartment and to discharge air into said air distribution chamber; first and second plenums in said cabinet adjacent one edge of said conveyor; a gate adapted to adjust air flow from said distribution chamber into said first and second plenums; air flow sensor means in each of said plenums providing indicia indicative of air flow through each plenum; a plurality of upper and lower dispensing ducts communicating with each of said plenums on opposite sides of said conveyor for dispensing air toward upper and lower surfaces of said conveyor; hanger means in said cooking compartment; means securing said hanger means to said upper dispensing ducts; means to move said hanger means to adjust the position of said upper dispensing ducts relative to said conveyor; means heating air in said cooking compartment; and means to control humidity of air in said cooking compartment.

Claim 19

A tunnel oven comprising: a cooking compartment; walls on said cooking compartment; means to control temperature of air in said cooking compartment; a conveyor in said cooking compartment adapted to transport food through said compartment; an air distribution chamber spaced from said conveyor; blower means adapted to draw air from said cooking compartment and to discharge air into said air distribution chamber; first and second generally vertically extending plenums in said cabinet adjacent one of said walls; upper and lower air dispensing ducts; means securing said upper air dispensing duct to said first plenum and positioning said upper duct to dispense air downwardly toward said conveyor; means securing said lower air dispensing duct to said second plenum and positioning said lower air dispensing duct for dispensing air upwardly toward said conveyor; and gate means adapted to divide air flow from said distribution chamber into said first and second plenums to control the rate at which air is simultaneously dispensed from said upper and lower air dispensing ducts toward said conveyor.

Claim 20

A tunnel oven comprising: a cooking compartment; walls on said cooking compartment; means to control temperature of air in said cooking compartment; a conveyor in said cooking compartment adapted to transport food through said compartment; an air distribution chamber spaced from said conveyor; blower means adapted to draw air from said cooking compartment and to discharge air into said air distribution chamber; first and second generally vertically extending plenums in said cabinet adjacent one of said walls; upper and lower air dispensing ducts; means securing said upper air dispensing duct to said first plenum and positioning said upper duct to dispense air downwardly toward said conveyor; means securing said lower air dispensing duct to said second plenum and positioning said lower air dispensing duct for dispensing air upwardly toward said conveyor; and gate means adapted to divide air flow from said distribution chamber into said first and second plenums to control the rate at which air is simultaneously dispensed from said upper and lower air dispensing ducts toward said conveyor.

Claim 21

A tunnel oven according to claim 16 with the addition of a plurality of upper air dispensing ducts; and a damper associated with each of said upper air dispensing ducts, each said damper being adapted to adjust air flow from said first plenum into each of said upper air dispensing ducts for adjusting air flow from each of said upper air dispensing ducts downwardly toward said conveyor relative to the volume of air dispensed from each of the other upper air dispensing ducts.

Claim 22

A tunnel oven according to claim 16, said means securing said upper air dispensing duct to said first plenum comprising: means securing said hanger means to said upper air dispensing ducts; and means to move said hanger means vertically relative to said conveyor to position said upper air dispensing ducts relative to the conveyor.