Who invented and invented the microwave

Today, many families use a microwave oven, and it’s difficult to surprise anyone with this device at work. It is affordable and not a luxury, it is small in size, convenient and easy to use. But it was not always so. We offer a brief historical excursion into the creation of the microwave oven. It’s interesting what a microwave was like in its original form.

Who invented the microwave

There is no agreement on this issue to this day. Russia and the United States dispute the authorship of the microwave oven, however, the patent belongs to the inventor from the United States.

Historians' versions of who invented the microwave oven

One of the most plausible versions sounds like this: the American engineer and inventor Percy LeBaron Spencer once, during experimental work with a magnetron, discovered that a chocolate bar in his pocket had melted during the work. There is also a version that he placed a sandwich on a magnetron, and then discovered the heating of food while the device was operating. It is likely that during the experiments he received a burn, but when he received a patent for the invention of a microwave oven, he decided to keep silent about it so as not to spoil the image of his brainchild.

Another version, set forth in the Trud newspaper on May 17, 2011, states that back on June 13, 1941, on the pages of the same newspaper, a device was described that used ultra-high-frequency currents to process meat products. The development was allegedly carried out in the magnetic wave laboratory of the All-Union Research Institute of the Meat Industry.

There are also versions about German developments during the Third Reich that fell into the hands of scientists from the USSR and the USA. But they never received confirmation.

Patent for the invention of a microwave oven

A patent for a prototype microwave oven was issued in 1946. It was called “Radarange”, its first release dates back to 1947, and was used to quickly defrost food products. It was used only by military personnel in canteens and hospitals.

Interesting to know!

The first microwave was about 180 cm in height and weighed about 340 kg. The power consumption was twice that of modern analogues and consumed 3 kW, its cost was quite high - 3 thousand dollars.

The first microwave ovens

Serial production of the above model began in 1949. The first household microwave oven for the general public was created by the Tappan Company in 1955. Serial production of household microwave ovens dates back to 1962, it was established by the Sharp company, Japan. The new product was met with distrust and did not gain much popularity.

In the Soviet Union, the beginning of mass production of microwave ovens dates back to the early 80s. years of the last century. They were produced by ZIL, YuzhMash, the Elektropribor plant (Tambov), and the Dnieper Machine-Building Plant named after V.I. Lenin.

Who invented the microwave: the USSR or America?

As already written above, it is not possible to accurately establish the authorship of the invention. The fact is that in 1941 the Soviet Union was drawn into the most difficult and bloody war in history, and everyone simply had no time for invention. According to existing international rules, authorship is recognized by the person who received the patent. Therefore, the official author of the microwave oven is Percy LeBaron Spencer from the USA.

Microwave: from the time of invention to the present day

Since the creation of the first models to this day, the appearance of the microwave oven has changed a lot - it has become more compact, more convenient to use, and a lot of useful functions have appeared:

• The calling card of any microwave oven is the rotating tray, which appeared in 1962 thanks to the developments of the Japanese company Sharp.
• The microprocessor that controls the operation of the microwave began to be used for the first time in 1979.
• At the end of the 90s. Since the last century, models have appeared in which the device is controlled by a built-in microcomputer, and at the same time grill and convection functions appeared.

Panasonic has introduced another innovation - inverter microwave ovens. Unlike conventional models, where the magnetron is powered by a transformer, in inverter furnaces the power is supplied through an inverter that converts direct current into alternating current. As a result, the food being heated has a controlled, gentler effect, allowing it to be heated evenly. In addition, the inverter is smaller in size than the transformer, which also makes it possible to reduce the weight and dimensions of the device, which has already become compact compared to the first prototypes, which weighed more than three hundred kilograms and were not inferior in size to a large refrigerator.

On a note! The first models of microwave ovens weighed about 300 kg.

Modern ovens, unlike the initial ones, are equipped with a timer that allows you to automatically turn off the device at the right time. Thus, you don’t need to monitor the microwave as before; it will turn itself off after a certain time and beep.

In a word, progress does not stand still, and many companies compete with each other for the sales market, offering the buyer more and more new models with different functions. Despite the emergence of many different innovations, the principle of operation of the microwave has not changed since its invention. It still uses ultra-high frequency currents to heat and cook food.