Method of treating foodstuffs
- Filed
- 8 October 1945
- Granted
- 24 January 1950
- Assignee
- Raytheon Manufacturing Company
Electronics
Percy L. Spencer: inventions and patents
Known for High-efficiency magnetron production and the microwave ovenNationality Born in Howland, Maine, United States19 July 1894 to 8 September 1970
Percy L. Spencer, born in Howland, Maine, worked at Raytheon, where the National Inventors Hall of Fame says his redesign raised magnetron production from 17 a day in 1941 to 2,600 a day. In 1945 he created a device that cooked food using microwave radiation, which led to the microwave oven. He held 150 patents, according to the Hall of Fame, including US Patent 2,495,429 for a method of treating foodstuffs.1,2
Patents
Inventions
- Microwave cooking, 1945. A device that cooked food with microwave radiation. The Hall of Fame says the first microwave oven was called the Radarange.1
- High-efficiency magnetron manufacture. A more efficient way to make magnetrons for radar.1
Recognition
Sources
- National Inventors Hall of Fame, Percy L. Spencer (accessed 2026-10-27)
- Google Patents, US2495429A Method of treating foodstuffs (accessed 2026-10-27)