INGINEERING REPORT

Introduction
The purpose of this report id to outline the historical and technical facts
about a household appliance. The household appliance I am going to
discuss is a Microwave oven. Back to 400 years ago humans have being
heating up food form fire or the sun until a man named Percy Spencer
invented the modern microwave after world war 2 when the first modern
microwave oven was first sold in 1946. A micro wave works by channel
heat energy directly to the molecules tiny particles inside food.
Microwaves heat food like the sun heats your face by radiation. A
microwave is much like the electromagnetic waves that zap through the
air from TV and radio transmitters. Why is there a use for this product
because without the microwave oven our food wont heat up faster and
even. Microwave ovens work quickly and save energy when compared to
other conventional cooking methods. Using a microwave oven requires
less supervision than other conventional cooking methods. You can use
your microwave oven along with your conventional oven in order to
reduce cooking times. Foods can be both thawed and immediately cooked
in your microwave oven. Using a microwave oven can prevent the loss of
important vitamins and minerals in your food. Vitamin C and potassium
are often lost in liquid used to boil food.

Description
The microwave looks like a rectangular prism with a door to
open to put the food and buttons to operate on the side. Also
has a power cable attached to it. The buttons on the side tell
what you want the microwave oven to do for example heat up
the food for 1min or 10min. Most of the ovens have numbers 09 to set how long you want the food to heat up. Some
microwave ovens tell the time even the room temperature but
all of them have a start, stop and 0-9 numbers on the side.

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Microwaves also have a light in the inside so at night you can
tell what is cooking inside.

Raw materials
The cover or outer case of the microwave oven is usually a
one-piece, wrap-around metal enclosure. The oven's inside
panels and doors are made of galvanized or stainless steel and
are given a coating of acrylic enamel, usually light in colour to
offer good visibility. The cooking surface is generally made of
ceramic or glass. Inside the oven, electromechanical
components and controls consist of timer motors, switches, and
relays. Also inside the oven are the magnetron tube, the
waveguide, and the stirrer fan, all made of metal. The hardware
that links the various components consists of a variety of metal
and plastic parts such as gears, pulleys, belts, nuts, screws,
washers, and cables.

How is it assembled
1) The process of manufacturing a microwave oven starts with
the cavity and the door. First, the frame is formed using
automatic metal-forming presses that make about 12 to 15
parts per minute.
2) The frame is then rinsed in alkaline cleaner to get rid of any
dirt or oil and further rinsed with water to get rid of the alkaline
solution. Then each part is treated with zinc phosphate, which
prepares it for electro-deposition.
3) After the door has been painted a perforated metal plate is
attached to its window aperture. The plate reflects microwaves
but allows light to enter the cavity.

The magnetron tube subassembly

4) The magnetron tube assembly consists of a cathode cylinder
a filament heater a metal anode and an antenna.
5) An antenna enclosed in a glass tube is mounted on top of the
anode and the air within the tube is pumped out to create a
vacuum.
THE CHASSIS

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6) The chassis assembly work is performed on a pallet work
holding device used in conjunction with other tools located at
the station. First the main chassis is placed on the pallet and
the cavity is screwed on to the chassis. Next the door is
attached to the cavity and chassis by means of hinges.
7) The circuit that produces the voltage required to operate the
magnetron tube consists of a large transformer an oil based
capacitor and a high voltage rectifier. All of these components
are mounted directly on the chassis close to the magnetron
tube.
THE STIRRER FAN
8) The stirrer fan used to circulate the microwaves is mounted
on top of the cavity. Some manufacturers use a pulley to drive
the fan from the magnetron blower motor others use a
separate stirrer motor attached directly to the fan.
SWITCH AND CONTROL BOARD
9) The cook switch provides power to the transformer by
energizing a relay and a timer. The relay is mounted close to
the power transformer while the timer is mounted on the
control board. The defrost switch works like the cook switch,
activating a motor and timer to operate the defrost cycle. Also
mounted on the control board are a timer bell that rings when
the cooking cycle is complete and a light switch that allows
viewing of the cavity.
FRONT PANEL
10) A front panel that allows the operator to select the various
settings and features available for cooking is attached to the
chassis. Behind the front panel the control circuit board is
attached. The board which controls the various programmed
operations in their proper sequence when the switches are
pushed on the front panel is connected to the various
components and the front panel by means of plug in sockets
and cables
ASSENBALING THE CASE

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11) The outer case of the microwave is made of metal and is
assembled on a roll former. The case is slipped onto the
preassembled microwave oven and bolted to the main chassis.
TESTING
12) The power cords and dial knobs are now attached to the
oven, and it is sent for automatic testing. Most manufacturers
run the oven from 50-100 hours continuously as part of the
testing process. After testing is complete a palletiser robot
records the model and serial data of the oven for inventory
purposes, and the oven is sent for packaging. This completes
the manufacturing process.

ANALYSIS

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The bad part about a microwave is it is made out of radiation
thats why you cant put any type of metal in it or it will
explode. Some people the microwave over uses too much volts
which increases the electricity bill. In a study published in the
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry researchers decided
to examine the effects of microwave heating on the loss of
vitamin B-12 in foods like raw beef pork and milk. The results of
the study show there was a 30 to 40 percent loss of the vitamin
when the foods received microwave exposure.
The microwave has lots of electrical wires inside it if any catch
water or over burst this might cause a fire or worse but the new
versions of the microwaves have the ability to handle this type
of problems. New discovers such as aluminium and new types
of steel that can prevent these types of problems have been
used to build the microwaves.
Some experts say that microwave ovens don't give off enough
energy to damage the genetic material DNA in cells so they
can't cause cancer. Microwaves heat food, but do not make any
changes to it that aren't made in any other cooking method.
RECOMMENDATION/CONCLUSION
The microwave oven has increased in technology and durability
throughout the time it was sold in 1946. All thought form that
time to now it has improved in many ways inside and outside
theyre still some problems. Some people say that microwaves
poisons some of the food heated up inside form the radiation.
We can improve this by adding a layers of lead so that the
radiation can go through to the food. Another example is form
the first time it was invented till today engineers have been
improving the durability of the product but in still causes
microwave ovens do shut down or doesnt work. The only way
to fix is by factories testing the product many times before it is
sent to markets not just test some food but some food which
are known to be poisoned when put in the microwave. Food
such as tea and food which have been left for around two to
three days.
In conclusion I would like to say the microwave oven have given
us new and faster way of life by making our food hotter and to

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cook easier. Although it can have some improvements but the
modern microwave oven is the best we have till today.