Abstract: A lightweight cooking utensil with raised side walls and a high temperature flexible plastic sheet stretched across the bottom portion of the side walls and sealed thereto to form a leak-proof container. The utensil is adapted to be heated on a low energy, low temperature solid plate surface heating unit with a slight convex top surface so that the plastic sheet of the utensil will conform to the top surface and make a highly efficient thermal coupling.

Abstract: A sliding latch mechanism for the door of a heated cavity, such as a microwave oven that is provided with a pyrolytic self-cleaning oven cycle. This latch mechanism has a handle with only two positions; namely, a first unlatched position and a second latched position. The second latched position has two separate modes or functions; namely, an unlocked function and a locked function. The first unlatched position of the handle may be considered as providing an unlatched function. This first unlatched position of the handle is used for opening the door when needed, or when cooking within the oven with standard radiant heating means. The second latched position of the handle in its unlocked mode is used for microwave cooking alone or for combined microwave and radiant cooking.

Abstract: A door construction for an appliance such as a baking and broiling oven for domestic use. The door has a counterbalance spring mechanism at each side of the door that includes a swing link interposed between the tension spring and the hinge lever of the door to obtain a door balancing torque that substantially follows the torque of the door as it moves between a vertical closed position and a horizontal fully open position.