Importance

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Abstract

A tunnel oven includes a framework forming an elongated cooking tunnel with an entrance at one end for ingress of products to be heated in the tunnel during traverse through the tunnel and an exit at the opposite end for egress of heated products. A conveyor of either in-line type with over-and-under reaches or a return type with coplanar reaches conveys products from the entrance to the exit. The tunnel floor is a plate constituting a hearth. Infrared radiant heater panels along the tunnel length above and below the hearth provide heat. Pairs of thermocouples arranged in two sets, each set having an upper and lower thermocouple, to provide sensing of the temperatures of the hearth and the upper heating elements. The sets are located at predetermined distances from the entrance and exit, respectively, with temperature controllers being interconnected with the hearth and roof heater panel temperature sensing elements, respectively, for controlling energization of the radiant heater panels by proportional control. The first set of temperature sensors is located for being responsive to ingress of cool products to be heated. The temperature controllers connected with the thermocouples which sense the hearth and roof source temperatures, respectively, preferably are responsive to the arithmetic means of temperatures respectively sensed by the temperature sensing devices.

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First Claim