JP2015516561A - Vehicle oven with optimized water vapor injector - Google Patents

Abstract

The oven heating element includes a heating element operable to heat air flowing through the heating element, a fan operable to flow air through the heating element, and a water vapor injector. The water vapor injector is operable to inject mist into the air heated by the heating element and promote the conversion of the mist into steam by the heated air. [Selection] Figure 2

Description

Cross-reference of related applications
[0001] This application claims the priority of US Provisional Patent Application No. 61 / 616,812, filed March 28, 2012, in the title of "Vehicle Oven with Optimized Steam Injector". The contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

[0002] Embodiments relate to an oven for heating food. In particular, embodiments relate to a vehicular oven having an optimized water vapor injector.

[0003] Conventional ovens for use in vehicles such as aircraft typically have a water vapor injector built into the heating element. This leads to excessive water use and chalk accumulation in the heating element, thereby reducing the life of the heating element.

[0004] According to one embodiment, an oven heating element assembly includes a heating element operable to heat air flowing through the heating element, a fan operable to flow air through the heating element, a steam injector, ,including. The steam injector is operable to inject mist into the air heated by the heating element to facilitate the conversion of the mist into steam by the heated air.

[0005] The steam injector may be disposed at a position on the opposite side of the heat generator from the fan, whereby the heated air may flow in the vicinity of the steam injector after flowing through the heat generator.

[0006] The oven heating element assembly may further include a compartment in which the oven heating assembly is mounted, the heating element is operable to heat the air in the compartment, and the water vapor injector is provided with the heated air in the compartment. It is arranged in the vicinity of the place where it flows.

[0007] The compartment may further include a wall to which the heating element, the fan, and the water vapor injector are attached.

[0008] The heating element may include an electric heating element that generates heat when a current passes therethrough.

[0009] The heating element may include a plurality of electric heating elements in the vicinity of each other.

[00010] The heating element may surround most of the fan, and the fan may send air to the majority of the heating element surrounding the fan.

[00011] The water vapor injector may include a nebulizer.

[00012] The heating element may heat the air to a temperature exceeding the boiling point of water.

[00013] The water vapor injector may be disposed at a position for injecting water vapor into the heated air having a temperature exceeding the boiling point of water.

[00014] According to another embodiment, a method of injecting water vapor into an oven includes heating an oven heating element to a temperature above the boiling point of water, and flowing air through a heated heating element with a fan. Heating the air flowing through the heated heating element to a temperature exceeding the boiling point of water with the heating element; injecting mist into the heating air with a water vapor injector; converting the mist into steam with the heating air; including.

[00015] According to another embodiment, the oven is a compartment, and a heating element disposed in the compartment, the heating element operable to heat air flowing through the heating element; A fan that is arranged in the vicinity of the heating element and is operable to allow air to flow through the heating element, and injects mist into the air heated by the heating element and promotes the conversion of mist into steam by the heated air And a water vapor injector operable to.

[00016] Although the exemplary embodiments described herein are shown in the context of an oven for an aircraft galley, these embodiments are merely exemplary and should not be considered limiting. Apparatus embodiments are not limited to ovens for use in aircraft galleys. The oven may be used for a variety of applications including, but not limited to, cooking or heating food. Various embodiments may be used in any vehicle, including aircraft, spacecraft, ships, buses, trains, entertainment vehicles, trucks, passenger cars, and the like. The apparatus embodiments are also used in residences, offices, hotels, factories, warehouses, garages, and other buildings that have increased reliability of heating elements and where lower costs may be desired. Also good. In general, the embodiments may be used in any location or application where it may be desirable to have increased heating element reliability and reduced cost.

[00017] Exemplary embodiments will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which embodiments described briefly below are shown.

1 shows a schematic diagram of a conventional oven heating element assembly including a water vapor injector. FIG. 6 shows a schematic view of a water vapor injector mounted on a real wall of an oven compartment away from a heating element assembly, according to one embodiment. 6 illustrates a method of using a water vapor injector in heating an oven, according to one embodiment. 1 illustrates a system for heating an oven including a water vapor injector, according to one embodiment. FIG. 6 illustrates a controller for heating an oven using a water vapor injector, according to one embodiment. FIG.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a conventional oven heating element assembly 100 that includes a water vapor injector 180. The heating element assembly 100 includes a first heating element having a first end 110 and a second end 120, where the first end 110 and the second end 120 are part of a continuous loop. Similarly, the heating element assembly 100 is a second heating element having a first end 130 and a second end 140, where the first end 130 and the second end 140 are part of a continuous loop. A third heating element having a second heating element and a first end 150 and a second end 160, wherein the first end 150 and the second end 160 are part of a continuous loop. A third heating element. Each loop of the three heating elements is very close to each other. The first heating element, the second heating element, and the third heating element may be electric heating elements combined with an electric heating element control system of the oven (see FIGS. 4 and 5). In order to heat the air in the oven compartment 105, the heating element assembly 100 may be mounted in the oven compartment 105, for example, on the rear wall of the oven compartment 105. Since the heating element assembly 100 heats the interior of the oven compartment 105, a continuous loop of the first heating element, the second heating element, and the third heating element surrounds the fan 190, so that the air flow is the first heating element. It may be attached to flow on the body, the second heating element and the third heating element.

[00024] The water vapor injector 180 sprays water 185 onto a fan 190 surrounded by the first heating element, the second heating element, and the third heating element, so that the heating element assembly 170 is attached to the oven compartment. Water 185 is injected. Water 185 may be sprayed on one of a variety of different locations on fan 190, and three potential locations are shown in FIG. For example, the water 185 may be sprayed on one position of the fan 190 on the right side of the top of the fan 190. The fan 190 then creates a water spray 193 from the jetted water. The water spray 193 and any existing liquid water droplets hit the first heating element, the second heating element and the third heating element due to the air flow from the fan 190 to the outside, which converts the water spray 193 and the liquid water droplets into the vapor 195. Depending on where in the fan 190 the water 185 is sprayed and in which direction the fan 190 rotates, the water spray 193 may strike different areas of the first heating element, the second heating element and the third heating element. FIG. 1 shows some other potential areas of the first heating element, the second heating element and the third heating element that may be hit by a water spray 193. For example, when the water 185 is sprayed to one position of the fan 190 on the right side of the upper portion of the fan 190 and the fan 190 rotates in the clockwise direction, the first heating element and the second heating element shown in FIG. The water spray 193 may hit the upper right part of the heating element loop of the body and the third heating element.

[00025] Since the water spray 193 and the liquid water droplet are in physical contact with the first heating element, the second heating element, and the third heating element in FIG. Deposit on the second heating element and the third heating element. The mineral residue thus accumulates in the heating element at the position where the liquid water droplets contact the heating element, leading to a reduction in the lifetime of the heating element. In addition, frequent temperature changes of the heating element due to spraying of cold water 185 on the heating element adversely affect the reliability of the heating element. Furthermore, alignment of the water vapor injector 180 with the fan 190 is important for the fan 190 to properly produce and distribute the water spray 193 that the heating element converts to the steam 195.

[00026] FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of a water vapor injector 210 mounted on the rear wall 205 of the oven compartment 200 away from the heating element assembly 220, according to one embodiment. 2 also shows a first end 230 and a second end 240, a first end 250 and a second end 260, a first end 270 and a second end 280 attached to the rear wall 205, respectively. Fig. 3 shows a fan 290 in a continuous loop formed by a first heating element, a second heating element and a third heating element having the same. In various embodiments, there may be more or fewer heating elements. For example, there may be one, two, four, five or more heating elements. Each of the heating elements may generally surround the fan 290 generally along a plane parallel to the wall 205 of the oven compartment 200 to which the water vapor injector 220 is attached. There may be an opening between the ends of the heating element so that, for example, air sent by the fan 290 does not flow through the heating element. In addition, the heating element is along a plane perpendicular to the wall of the oven compartment 200 to which the heating element assembly 220 is attached, and along a plane parallel to the wall 205 of the oven compartment 200 to which the heating element assembly 220 is attached. The air flow 295 from the fan 290 along a diagonal plane that is between perpendicular and parallel to the wall 205 of the oven compartment 200, or through the heating element to be heated. May be arranged relative to each other in other arrangements. The fan 290 may be a rotary fan having a propeller blade, an axial fan, a radial fan, a centrifugal fan, or a cross flow fan. Other types of fans known in the art may be used.

[00027] The steam injector 210 may be disposed at a position opposite to the fan 290 of the heating element, whereby the heated air flows in the vicinity of the steam injector 210 after flowing through the heating element. In other embodiments, the water vapor injector 210 may be located on the same side of the heating element as the fan 290, such as below, above or near the heating element assembly 220. The steam injector 210 may inject the mist 213 into the air flow 295 generated by the fan 290 and heated by the first heating element, the second heating element, and the third heating element. The mist 213 may be heated in the heated air stream 295 until the mist 213 changes state to the vapor phase and becomes the vapor 215 without physically touching the heating element or fan.

[00028] Although the water vapor injector 210 is shown as being attached to the left of the heating element assembly 220, this should not be construed as limiting. In various embodiments, to optimize the formation and distribution of the steam 215 within the oven compartment 200, the steam injector 210 may be placed in other or multiple locations regardless of the shape or placement of the heating element assembly 220. May be. In contrast to the water vapor injector 180, the arrangement of the water vapor injector 210 is more flexible.

[00029] The water vapor injector 210 may include a nozzle coupled to a water source so that the mist 213 is controllably injected into the oven compartment 200 using a sprayer or solenoid driven valve and nozzle. The heated air stream 295 from the fan 290 quickly heats the mist 213 injected by the water vapor injector 210 to produce steam 215. Mist 213 from steam injector 210 is converted to steam 215 by a heated air stream 295 flowing through the heating element in heating element assembly 220 rather than directly by the heating element as in FIG.

[00030] The water vapor injector 210 uses less water than the conventional water vapor injector 180, and prevents accumulation of chalk in the heating element. This is because, in contrast to the conventional water vapor injector 180, the water vapor injector 210 does not spray mist or water droplets directly onto the heating element. The heating element assembly 220 may be heated in this respect because the fineness of the mist 213 facilitates the conversion of the mist 213 into steam 215 by the heated air stream 295 without first touching the heating element assembly 220. It does not have the problem of assembly 170. In various embodiments, other factors that may contribute to the prevention of problems in the heating element assembly 220 similar to those of the heating assembly 170 include the first heating element, the second heating element, and the third heating element of FIG. And the air flow 295 from the fan 290 that sends the mist 213 and any liquid droplets present in a direction away from the steam injector 210 and away from the heating element assembly 220. As a result, the lifetime of the heating element assembly 220 of FIG. 2 is increased compared to the heating element assembly 170 of FIG.

[00031] Additionally, because the water vapor injector 210 is not integrated into the heating element assembly 220, the water vapor injector 210 may be easier to clean, maintain and replace than the water vapor injector 180 of FIG. However, in various embodiments, the steam injector 210 is integrated with the heating element assembly 220 while still enjoying the advantages of the combination of the heating element assembly 220 and steam injector 210 described herein. May be. Further, in the embodiment as shown where the steam injector 210 is farther from the heating element than the steam injector 180, the steam injector 210 is not exposed to as extreme a temperature as the steam injector 180. As a result, more material may be selected than the water vapor injector 180 in configuring the water vapor injector 210. For example, in the conventional heating element assembly 170, the steam injector 180 is very close to the heating element, so the material choice for the steam injector 180 is typically limited to stainless steel. In the water vapor injector 210, other materials may be selected to reduce or eliminate mineral deposition in the water vapor injector 210. Accordingly, the life of the steam injector 210 may also be extended and the total cost of ownership of the steam injector 210 and / or heating element assembly 220 is reduced compared to the steam injector 180.

[00032] FIG. 3 illustrates a method of using a water vapor injector in heating an oven, according to one embodiment. In step 310, the heating element is heated. The heating element is one or more heating elements each having a first end 230 and a second end 240, a first end 250 and a second end 260, a first end 270 and a second end 280. There may be. In the case of an electrical heating element, the heating element may be heated by passing a current through the electrical resistance heating element. In various embodiments known in the art, other power sources or other heating elements are used that are heated by a fuel such as gas, propane or kerosene, or use other power sources or fuel to heat air. May be. The heating element may be heated to a temperature at or above the boiling point of water, which is 100 degrees Celsius at one atmosphere pressure under standard conditions. The boiling point of water is a physical property of water that depends on factors such as environmental conditions including atmospheric pressure. Impurities in water such as salt can increase their boiling point. In an aircraft in flight, the atmospheric pressure is usually less than one atmospheric pressure. As a result, the boiling temperature of water in an aircraft during flight is usually lower than at one atmosphere. In various embodiments, the heating element may be heated to 100 ° C., 150 ° C., 200 ° C., 250 ° C. or 300 ° C. or higher, and the air in the oven compartment is approximately the same as the temperature of the heating element. You may heat to temperature.

[00033] In step 320, air is sent to the heating element heated in step 310. Air may be sent by a fan, eg, fan 290. Air may be sent in the direction from the fan toward the heating element, whereby most of the air sent by the fan is sent to the heating element. The fan may send air outward from the fan and to a heating element surrounding the fan. The speed and direction of airflow through the fan may be set by a variably controlled power used to drive the fan motor.

[00034] In step 330, the heating element heats the air flowing through the heating element. As the air circulates in the oven, the air may be heated by an incremental amount each time the air flows through the heating element, increasing the temperature of the air each time the air flows through the heating element. If the air circulates in the oven before returning to the fan, the temperature of the air may drop. During any given air circulation cycle, the air flowing between the fan and the heating element may be at a temperature above the boiling point of water before being incrementally heated by the heating element. The amount of air temperature that increases by passing through the heating element may be determined by how hot the heating element is, and in the case of an electric heating element, how much current has passed through the heating element. May be determined by:

[00035] In step 340, mist is injected into the heated air. The mist may be injected by the water vapor injector 210. The mist may be jetted away from the heating element so that the heated air contacts the mist after the heated air is heated by the heating element in step 330. Mist provides a sufficiently large surface area relative to volume to reduce the time required to be converted to steam by heated air to a sufficiently short time and to prevent mist or fine water droplets from reaching the heating element May be sprayed in the form of mist or fine water droplets. Thus, the mist may be sufficiently fine so that it changes state to the vapor phase before reaching the heating element. A sprayer or solenoid driven valve and nozzle may be used to inject the mist into the heated air.

[00036] In step 350, the mist injected into the heated air in step 340 is converted into steam by the heated air. The mist may be quickly converted to steam based on the fineness of the mist and the temperature of the heated air. Both finer mist and hotter heated air reduce the time required to convert the mist to steam. Since the mist may be converted to steam by heated air away from the heating element, the heating element may not have any mineral deposits left behind by the mist when the mist is converted to steam.

[00037] FIG. 4 illustrates a system 400 for heating an oven, including a water vapor injector 420, according to one embodiment. The control system 410 may control the water vapor injector 420 to inject mist into the oven compartment according to the methods described herein. The control system 410 may include an embodiment of the control unit 500 shown in FIG. The control system 410 may include sensors and actuators and may use the sensors and actuators to control the water vapor injector 420, the heating element 430, and / or the fan 440. The sensor may, for example, measure the temperature of air in the vicinity of the heating element 430, in the vicinity of the steam injector 420, in the vicinity of the fan 440 or in other areas of the oven compartment, or in the heating element 430 and / or the steam injector 420. A temperature sensor that measures its own temperature may be included. The sensors may also include, for example, a humidity sensor that measures the temperature of air in the vicinity of the heating element 430, in the vicinity of the water vapor injector 420, in the vicinity of the fan 440, or in other areas of the oven compartment. The sensor may additionally include a flow rate sensor that measures the amount of air flow from the fan 440 or the amount of fluid or water flow that passes through the water vapor injector 420 and / or water distribution piping that provides water to the water vapor injector 420. . The sensor may also include a pressure sensor that measures the atmospheric pressure in the oven. In the case of an electric heating element, the sensor may further include a current sensor that measures how much current is flowing through the heating element 430 or a voltage that measures the voltage of the heating element 430. The actuator includes a motor that drives the fan 440, an actuator that controls the flow of water through the steam injector 420, and, in the case of an electrical heating element, elements such as a switch or driver that control the amount of current flowing through the heating element 430; May be included.

[00038] The water vapor injector 420 may be an embodiment of the water vapor injector 210. The heating element 430 is an embodiment of a heating element having a first end 230 and a second end 240, a first end 250 and a second end 260, a first end 270 and a second end 280, respectively. There may be. Fan 440 may be an embodiment of fan 290.

[00039] FIG. 5 illustrates a controller for heating an oven using a water vapor injector, according to one embodiment. The controller 500 may be coupled to the control panel 540 via the input / output interface 530. The controller 500 may be included in an oven having an oven compartment 200, and the control panel 540 may be mounted on the external surface of the oven or near the oven mounting position. The controller 500 may receive input commands from the user via the control panel 540 such as turning the oven on or off, selecting an operation mode, and setting a desired temperature of the oven compartment 200. . The controller 500 uses the control panel 540 to provide information regarding the operating state of the oven (e.g., operating mode, operation of the steam generation cycle, shutdown due to overheating of the oven compartment 205 and / or oven components, etc.). You may output with respect to a user.

[00040] The control unit 500 includes a processor 510 that executes calculations according to program instructions, a memory 520 that stores arithmetic instructions and other data used or generated by the processor 510, an Ethernet (registered trademark), a galley data bus ( And a network interface 550 including a data communication circuit for connecting to a data communication network 590, such as a Galley Data Bus (GAN) or a controller area network (CAN). The processor 510 may include a microprocessor, a field programmable gate array, an application specific integrated circuit or a specially designed very large scale integrated circuit chip, or other electronic circuitry that performs control functions. The processor 510 may also include a state machine. The controller 500 may also include one or more electronic circuits and a printed circuit board. The processor 510, the memory 520, and the network interface 550 may be coupled to each other using one or more data buses 580. The controller 500 may communicate with and control various sensors and actuators 570 of the oven via the control interface 560. The sensors and actuators of the control system 410 may be the embodiment of the sensors and actuators 570 of FIG.

[00041] The controller 500 may be controlled by or communicate with a central processing system, such as one mounted on an aircraft. The controller 500 may execute an ARINC 812 compliant logical communication interface on an ARINC 810 compliant physical interface. The controller 500 may communicate via a galley data bus (for example, a galley network GAN bus), and a galley network controller (for example, a master gain control unit (Master GAIN Control Unit as described in the ARINC812 standard)). )) And data may be exchanged. In accordance with the ARINC812 standard, the controller 500 may provide network monitoring, output control, remote operation, failure monitoring, and data transmission functions. For an appropriate response, the controller 500 may implement the menu definition request received by the galley network controller (GNC) for display on the GNC touch panel display and process the corresponding button press event. . The controller 500 may provide additional communication such as communication with a personal computer (PC) or a personal digital assistant (PDA) using an RS-232 communication interface and / or an infrared data port. Such additional communications may include real time monitoring of oven operation, long term data collection and control system software updates. In addition, the control interface 560 may include a serial peripheral interface (SPI) bus that may be used for communication between the controller 500 and the motor controller in the oven.

[00042] The user may use the control board 540 to select the desired temperature of the oven compartment 200. The user may also use the control panel 540 to select the desired humidity and / or pressure for the oven compartment 200. The controller 500 may control the temperature in the oven compartment 200 with a high level of accuracy according to a desired temperature. The controller 500 may also control the humidity in the oven compartment 200 with a high level of accuracy according to the desired humidity and / or the desired pressure. For example, if the pressure drops below a threshold value, additional water vapor may be injected into the oven compartment to increase the pressure. Therefore, the quality of the food cooked in the oven compartment 205 according to the operation mode of the oven selected by the user may be obtained uniformly.

[00043] All references, including publications, patent applications and patents cited herein are incorporated by reference as if each reference were incorporated by reference and as if fully set forth herein. Are incorporated herein by reference to the same extent as indicated individually and specifically.

[00044] In order to facilitate an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference has been made to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings and specific language has been used to describe the embodiments. However, it is not intended that the scope of the invention be limited by this particular language, but the invention should be construed to include any embodiment that would normally occur to one skilled in the art. The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments of the invention. In the description of the embodiments, certain detailed descriptions of the prior art are omitted if they are believed to unnecessarily obscure the essence of the present invention.

[00045] An apparatus described in this specification is for communicating with a processor, a memory for storing program data executed by the processor, a permanent storage device such as a disk drive, and an external device. A communication port and a user interface device including a display, a touch panel, keys, buttons, and the like may be included. When software modules are included, these software modules can be stored as program instructions or computer readable code executable by a processor on a magnetic storage medium (eg, magnetic tape, hard disk, floppy disk), optical recording medium (eg, CD-ROM, digital versatile disc (DVD), etc.) and solid state memory (eg, random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), static random access memory (SRAM), electrically erasable read only memory ( (E.g., EEPROM), flash memory, thumb drive, etc.). The computer readable recording medium may also be distributed on a network coupled computer system such that the computer readable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion. This computer readable recording medium may be read by a computer, stored in a memory, and executed by a processor.

[00046] Further, a functional program, code, and code segment for making and using the present invention can be used by a programmer having ordinary skill in the technical field to which the present invention relates by using the disclosure in the present specification. Can be easily implemented.

[00047] The present invention may be described in terms of functional block components and various processing steps. Such functional blocks may be implemented by any number of hardware and / or software components configured to perform a particular function. For example, the present invention provides various integrated circuit components, such as storage elements, processing elements, logic elements, that can perform various functions under the control of one or more microprocessors or other control devices. A lookup table or the like may be used. Similarly, if the elements of the present invention are implemented using software programming or software elements, the present invention may be implemented in any programming or scripting language such as C, C ++, JAVA, assembler, etc. Various algorithms may be implemented by any combination of data structures, objects, processes, routines or other programming elements. Functional aspects may be implemented in algorithms that execute on one or more processors. Furthermore, in the present invention, a conventional technique such as an arbitrary number of electronic device configurations, signal processing and / or control, and data processing may be used. Finally, all method steps described herein may be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.

[00048] For simplicity, conventional electronic devices, control systems, software development and other functional aspects of the system (and components of the individual operating components of the system) may not be described in detail. Further, the connecting lines or connections shown in the various figures presented are intended to illustrate exemplary functional relationships and / or physical or logical connections between the various elements. It should be noted that there may be many alternative or additional functional relationships, physical connections or logical connections in a practical device. The terms “mechanism”, “element”, “unit”, “structure”, “means” and “configuration” are widely used. Good.

[00049] Use of all examples or exemplary languages (eg, “such as”) provided herein are intended solely to better clarify the invention and are not specifically claimed. As long as there is no limitation on the scope of the present invention. Many modifications and adaptations will be readily apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following claims. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is to be defined by the following claims rather than by the detailed description of the invention, and all differences within the scope are construed as being included in the invention.

[00050] Articles or components are not essential to the practice of the invention unless the element is specifically described as "essential" or "important". Also, the terms “comprises”, “comprising”, “includes”, “including”, “has”, and “having” are used herein. It will be appreciated that, in particular, it is intended to be interpreted as an open-ended technical term. The use of the terms “a” and “an” and “the” and similar designations in the context of the description of the invention (especially in relation to the claims below) is singular unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It should be construed to include both forms and plurals. In addition, the terms “first”, “second”, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, but these elements should not be limited by these terms, It should be understood that it is only used to distinguish one element from another. Further, the recitation of numerical ranges herein is intended to serve as a concise way of referring to each individual discrete number within the range, unless specifically stated otherwise in this specification. Each discrete number is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually listed herein.

Claims (20)

A heating element operable to heat the air flowing through the heating element;
A fan operable to flow air through the heating element;
An oven heating element assembly comprising: a water vapor injector operable to inject mist into the air heated by the heating element and to facilitate the conversion of the mist into steam by the heated air.   The water vapor injector is disposed at a position on the opposite side of the heat generator from the fan, so that the heated air flows in the vicinity of the water vapor injector after flowing through the heat generator. The oven heating element assembly as described. Further comprising a compartment in which the oven heating assembly is mounted;
The heating element is operable to heat the air in the compartment;
The oven heating element assembly according to claim 1, wherein the water vapor injector is disposed at a position in the compartment near a location where heated air flows.   The oven heating element assembly according to claim 3, wherein the compartment further comprises a wall to which the heating element, the fan, and the water vapor injector are attached.   The oven heating element assembly of claim 1, wherein the heating element comprises an electrical heating element that generates heat when current is passed through it.   The oven heating element assembly of claim 5, wherein the heating element comprises a plurality of electrical heating elements in proximity to each other.   The oven heating element assembly of claim 5, wherein the heating element surrounds a majority of the fan and the fan sends air to a majority of the heating element surrounding the fan.   The oven heating element assembly of claim 1, wherein the water vapor injector comprises a nebulizer.   The oven heating element assembly of claim 1, wherein the heating element heats the air to a temperature above the boiling point of water.   The oven heating element assembly of claim 1, wherein the water vapor injector is located at a position for injecting water vapor into heated air having a temperature above the boiling point of water. A method of spraying water vapor into an oven,
Heating the heating element of the oven to a temperature above the boiling point of water;
Flowing air through the heated heating element with a fan;
Heating the air flowing through the heated heating element to a temperature above the boiling point of water by the heating element;
Injecting mist into the heated air by means of a steam injector;
Converting the mist into steam by the heated air.   The method of claim 11, wherein heating the heating element includes passing a current through the heating element.   12. The heating element according to claim 11, wherein the heating element is heated in the oven compartment, and the mist is injected into the heated air at a location in the compartment near a location where heated air flows. Method.   The method of claim 11, wherein the heating element surrounds a majority of the fan and flowing air through the heated heating element comprises sending air to a majority of the heating element surrounding the fan.   The method of claim 11, wherein injecting the mist into the heated air includes generating the mist using an atomizer. A compartment,
A heating element disposed in the compartment, wherein the heating element is operable to heat air flowing through the heating element;
A fan arranged near the heating element and operable to flow air through the heating element;
An oven comprising: a water vapor injector operable to inject mist into the air heated by the heating element and to promote the conversion of the mist into steam by the heated air.   The oven according to claim 16, further comprising a wall to which the heating element, the fan, and the water vapor injector are attached.   The oven of claim 16, wherein the heating element comprises a plurality of electrical heating elements in the vicinity of each other.   The oven of claim 16, wherein the heating element surrounds a majority of the fan, and the fan sends air to a majority of the heating element surrounding the fan.   The oven of claim 16, wherein the water vapor injector comprises a nebulizer, and injecting the mist into the heated air includes generating the mist using the nebulizer.

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