Ampleon and Midea, a leading global consumer appliance manufacturer, announced the results of a yearlong joint collaboration into the use of solid state technology for compact oven design. This initiative has resulted in Midea launching what is believed to be the world's first commercially available solid state RF energy oven.
By addressing the technical challenges associated with designing a small cavity appliance with a single antenna, Midea has created a 200 W table top oven that achieves homogenous cooking. Designed for space constrained kitchens or for portable food-on-the-go applications the oven can be powered either from a mains power source or, for portable use, from a 24 VDC battery. Midea and Ampleon jointly developed the electronics and power amplifier stages while Midea focused on the overall product design.
Pinglu Chen, Head of Sales Asia and Country Manager Greater China, Ampleon, commented, "The major benefit to adopting a solid state approach to cooking is that it yields a more uniform cooking experience by allowing total control over output power, frequency and phase, something that is impossible with a magnetron. Embracing this concept is as significant as the move from analogue to digital television. Our collaboration with Midea typifies our efforts to partner with leading global brands to deliver not only new technologies but to build an ecosystem across the white goods value chain. We are extremely pleased to have worked with them to develop the world's first commercially available compact oven.”
Alan Luan, director of Midea Kitchen Appliances Division Innovation Center, said, "The microwave heating and cooking industry is likely to be influenced by semiconductor microwave technology in the future. Midea, as a leader of the microwave heating industry, will continue to pay close attention and invest to improve people's lives with innovative technology."