Oven using structured air

• US 10,088,172 B2
• Filed: 07/29/2016
• Issued: 10/02/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 07/29/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alto-Shaam Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Alto-Shaam Incorporated
• Inventors: McKee, Philip R., VanLanen, Lee Thomas
• Primary Examiner(s): Savani, Avinash
• Application Number:
  US15/224,319
• Publication Number:
  US 20180031250A1
• Time in Patent Office: 795 Days
• Field of Search: 126 21 A, 126 39 D, 219400
• CPC Class Codes: A21B 1/26 by hot air
• CPC Class Codes: F24C 15/322 with forced circulation

Abstract

A jet plate for directing a flow of air into a cooking cavity of an oven may comprise a body configured to be disposed along a top wall or a bottom wall of the cooking cavity, and one or more structured air inlets that are openings through the body. Each of the structured air inlets comprises holes and slots that are alternatingly arranged and serially connected. The structured air inlets enable air to be introduced into the cooking cavity in a structured formation to improve cooking speed and cooking efficiency. In addition, structured air inlets in a jet plate may be configured in various manners to address unevenness in the distribution of air flow within the cooking cavity.

Claims

1. An oven comprising:

a housing sealable by a door to create a cooking cavity, the cooking cavity providing a lower wall and opposed upper wall separated by vertical sidewalls including a sidewall formed by the door, the upper wall providing an upper plenum receiving air at a plenum entrance and conducting the air to a plurality of openings distributed over a lower surface of the upper plenum;

a blower receiving air from the cooking cavity and blowing the air into the upper plenum for discharge through the openings;

a heater for heating the air before discharge through the openings;

wherein the openings are adapted to produce elongate fans of air diverging along a plurality of horizontally spaced, parallel vertical planes with substantially no overlap between adjacent fans of air within the cooking cavity, each elongate fan extending substantially a full distance between two sidewalls; and

wherein the fans include a set of interconnected columns and sheets of air wherein the columns are adapted to penetrate temperature gradients surrounding food positioned beneath the upper plenum.

2. An oven comprising:

a housing sealable by a door to create a cooking cavity, the cooking cavity providing a lower wall and opposed upper wall separated by vertical sidewalls including a sidewall formed by the door, the upper wall providing an upper plenum receiving air at a plenum entrance and conducting the air to a plurality of openings distributed over a lower surface of the upper plenum;

a blower receiving air from the cooking cavity and blowing the air into the upper plenum for discharge through the openings;

a heater for heating the air before discharge through the openings;

wherein the openings are adapted to produce elongate fans of air diverging along a plurality of horizontally spaced, parallel vertical planes with substantially no overlap between adjacent fans of air within the cooking cavity, each elongate fan extending substantially a full distance between two sidewalls; and

wherein the fans of air are spaced to provide even cooking of food positioned beneath the upper plenum at areas beneath the openings and areas between the openings without movement of the food.

3. An oven comprising:

a housing sealable by a door to create a cooking cavity, the cooking cavity providing a lower wall and opposed upper wall separated by vertical sidewalls including a sidewall formed by the door, the upper wall providing an upper plenum receiving air at a plenum entrance and conducting the air to a plurality of openings distributed over a lower surface of the upper plenum;

a blower receiving air from the cooking cavity and blowing the air into the upper plenum for discharge through the openings;

a heater for heating the air before discharge through the openings;

wherein the openings are adapted to produce elongate fans of air diverging along a plurality of horizontally spaced, parallel vertical planes with substantially no overlap between adjacent fans of air within the cooking cavity, each elongate fan extending substantially a full distance between two sidewalls; and

wherein the openings are a set of spaced parallel conduits corresponding to each fan of air, the conduits extending substantially a full distance between two sidewalls.

4. The oven of claim 3 wherein the conduits have a conduit width measured perpendicularly to a length of the conduit being a longest extent of the conduit, and the width of the conduit varies along the length of the conduit to provide columns of air at wider portions of the conduit flanking sheets of air at narrower portions of the conduit.

6. The oven of claim 4 wherein the conduits comprise substantially parallel-walled slot segments joining a series of multiple holes distributed along the length of the conduit wherein a width of the holes is larger than a width of the slot segments.

7. The oven of claim 6 wherein a length of the slot segments between the holes is greater than a width of the holes.

8. The oven of claim 6 wherein a number of holes is greater than a number of slot segments.

9. The oven of claim 6 wherein the conduits are substantially straight.

10. The oven of claim 6 wherein the holes are substantially circular.

11. The oven of claim 6 wherein an average width of the conduit decreases with distance from the plenum entrance.

12. The oven of claim 11 wherein the holes decrease in area with distance from the plenum entrance.

13. The oven of claim 6 wherein the width of the slot segments is substantially constant.

5. An oven comprising:

a housing sealable by a door to create a cooking cavity, the cooking cavity providing a lower wall and opposed upper wall separated by vertical sidewalls including a sidewall formed by the door, the upper wall providing an upper plenum receiving air at a plenum entrance and conducting the air to a plurality of openings distributed over a lower surface of the upper plenum;

a blower receiving air from the cooking cavity and blowing the air into the upper plenum for discharge through the openings;

a heater for heating the air before discharge through the openings; and

wherein the openings are adapted to produce elongate fans of air diverging along a plurality of horizontally spaced, parallel vertical planes with substantially no overlap between adjacent fans of air within the cooking cavity, each elongate fan extending substantially a full distance between two sidewalls;

wherein the openings are a set of spaced parallel conduits corresponding to each fan of air to provide columns of air flanking sheets of air, the conduits extending substantially a full distance between two sidewalls; and

wherein the columns of air are adapted to accelerate air of the sheets.

14. A jet plate for directing a flow of air into a cooking cavity of an oven, the jet plate comprising:

a body configured to be disposed along a top wall or a bottom wall of the cooking cavity, wherein the body comprises a front end disposed proximate to a front of the cooking cavity, a rear end disposed proximate to a rear of the cooking cavity, and left and right ends disposed proximate respectively to left and right sides of the cooking cavity; and

one or more structured air inlets that are openings through the body, each of the structured air inlets comprising a plurality of holes and slots that are alternatingly arranged and serially connected;

wherein the jet plate is configured to separate the cooking cavity from an air plenum of the oven and enable air to be introduced into the cooking cavity from the air plenum.

16. The jet plate of claim 14, wherein each of the structured air inlets extends along a substantially straight line.

17. The jet plate of claim 14, wherein each of the slots comprises two substantially parallel straight edges having substantially equal lengths.

18. The jet plate of claim 14, wherein edges of each of the holes form substantially circular arcs.

19. The jet plate of claim 14, wherein a width of each of the slots is smaller than a diameter of each of the holes.

20. The jet plate of claim 14, wherein a length of each of the slots is greater than a diameter of each of the holes.

21. The jet plate of claim 14, wherein a number of the holes is greater than a number of the slots in at least one of the structured air inlets.

22. The jet plate of claim 14, wherein at least one of the structured air inlets begins with a hole and ends with a hole.

23. The jet plate of claim 14, wherein each of the structured air inlets extends longitudinally in parallel to a direction from the front end of the body to the rear end of the body.

24. The jet plate of claim 14, wherein each of the structured air inlets extends transversely in parallel to a direction from the left end of the body to the right end of the body.

25. The jet plate of claim 14, wherein each of the structured air inlets extends diagonally in parallel to a direction from where the left and front ends of the body meet to where the right and rear ends of the body meet.

26. The jet plate of claim 14, wherein each of the structured air inlets extends diagonally in parallel to a direction from where the right and front ends of the body meet to where the left and rear ends of the body meet.

27. The jet plate of claim 14, wherein all of the structured air inlets are substantially identical in size and dimension.

28. The jet plate of claim 14, wherein the holes in at least one of the structured air inlets are different in size.

29. The jet plate of claim 28, wherein the hole disposed proximate to one of the left and right ends of the body is larger in size than the hole disposed proximate to the other one of the left and right ends of the body in at least one of the structured air inlets.

30. The jet plate of claim 28, wherein the one or more structured air inlets comprise a first structured air inlet disposed proximate to one of the front and rear ends of the body and a second structured air inlet disposed proximate to the other one of the front and rear ends of the body, the holes in the first structured air inlet being larger in size than the holes in the second structured air inlet.

31. The jet plate of claim 14, wherein the one or more structured air inlets comprise two or more substantially parallel structured air inlets and a spacing between adjacent ones of the structured air inlets is configured to avoid a gap or an overlap between coverages of air flows from adjacent structured air inlets on a food product in the cooking cavity.

15. A jet plate for directing a flow of air into a cooking cavity of an oven, the jet plate comprising:

a body configured to be disposed along a top wall or a bottom wall of the cooking cavity, wherein the body comprises a front end disposed proximate to a front of the cooking cavity, a rear end disposed proximate to a rear of the cooking cavity, and left and right ends disposed proximate respectively to left and right sides of the cooking cavity; and

one or more structured air inlets that are openings through the body, each of the structured air inlets comprising a plurality of holes and slots that are alternatingly arranged and serially connected;

wherein the body is a substantially rectangular shaped, flat plate.

32. An oven comprising:

a cooking cavity configured to receive a food product;

a blower;

an air plenum configured to receive air from the blower; and

a jet plate configured to separate the cooking cavity from the air plenum and direct a flow of the air from the air plenum into the cooking cavity, the jet plate comprising;

a body configured to be disposed along a top wall or a bottom wall of the cooking cavity, wherein the body comprises a front end disposed proximate to a front of the cooking cavity, a rear end disposed proximate to a rear of the cooking cavity, and left and right ends disposed proximate respectively to left and right sides of the cooking cavity; and

one or more structured air inlets that are openings through the body, each of the structured air inlets comprising a plurality of holes and slots that are alternatingly arranged and serially connected;

wherein the body is a substantially rectangular shaped, flat plate.

33. The oven of claim 32, wherein each of the structured air inlets extends along a substantially straight line.

34. The oven of claim 32, wherein each of the slots comprises two substantially parallel straight edges having substantially equal lengths.

35. The oven of claim 32, wherein edges of each of the holes form substantially circular arcs.

36. The oven of claim 32, wherein a width of each of the slots is smaller than a diameter of each of the holes.

37. The oven of claim 32, wherein a length of each of the slots is greater than a diameter of each of the holes.

38. The oven of claim 32, wherein a number of the holes is greater than a number of the slots in at least one of the structured air inlets.

39. The oven of claim 32, wherein at least one of the structured air inlets begins with a hole and ends with a hole.

40. The oven of claim 32, wherein each of the structured air inlets extends longitudinally in parallel to a direction from the front end of the body to the rear end of the body.

41. The oven of claim 32, wherein each of the structured air inlets extends transversely in parallel to a direction from the left end of the body to the right end of the body.

42. The oven of claim 32, wherein each of the structured air inlets extends diagonally in parallel to a direction from where the left and front ends of the body meet to where the right and rear ends of the body meet.

43. The oven of claim 32, wherein each of the structured air inlets extends diagonally in parallel to a direction from where the right and front ends of the body meet to where the left and rear ends of the body meet.

44. The oven of claim 32, wherein all of the structured air inlets are substantially identical in size and dimension.

45. The oven of claim 32, wherein the holes in at least one of the structured air inlets are different in size.

46. The oven of claim 45, wherein the hole disposed proximate to one of the left and right ends of the body is larger in size than the hole disposed proximate to the other one of the left and right ends of the body in at least one of the structured air inlets.

47. The oven of claim 45, wherein the one or more structured air inlets comprise a first structured air inlet disposed proximate to one of the front and rear ends of the body and a second structured air inlet disposed proximate to the other one of the front and rear ends of the body, the holes in the first structured air inlet being larger in size than the holes in the second structured air inlet.

48. The oven of claim 32 further comprising one or more return air openings, wherein the holes of the structured air inlets disposed proximate to the one or more return air openings are smaller in size than the holes of the structured air inlets disposed proximate to an opposite side of the one or more return air openings.

49. The oven of claim 32, wherein one portion of the air plenum has a greater air pressure than other portions of the air plenum and the holes of the structured air inlets disposed proximate to the one portion of the air plenum are smaller in size than the holes of the structured air inlets disposed proximate to the other portions of the air plenum.

50. The oven of claim 32, wherein the one or more structured air inlets in the jet plate comprise two or more substantially parallel structured air inlets and a spacing between adjacent ones of the structured air inlets is configured to avoid a gap or an overlap between coverages of air flows from adjacent structured air inlets on the food product in the cooking cavity.

51. An oven comprising:

a cooking cavity comprising a horizontal portion for placing a food product;

an air plenum for providing an air to the cooking cavity; and

a jet plate configured to direct flows of the air from the air plenum into the cooking cavity, the jet plate comprising;

an air impermeable body disposed substantially horizontally along a top of the cooking cavity, and

air inlets comprising openings through the body,

wherein a shape and a dimension of each of the air inlets, a spacing between two adjacent ones of the air inlets, and a vertical distance between the jet plate and the horizontal portion of the cooking cavity are configured to provide a substantially even coverage of the air flows over the horizontal portion with substantially no gap or overlap in the coverage by the air flows from the two adjacent ones of the air inlets, and

wherein the air inlets are adapted to produce elongate fans of air to provide a set of interconnected columns and sheets of air wherein the columns are adapted to penetrate temperature gradients surrounding food positioned beneath the upper plenum.

52. An oven comprising:

a cooking cavity comprising a horizontal portion for placing a food product;

an air plenum for providing an air to the cooking cavity; and

a jet plate configured to direct flows of the air from the air plenum into the cooking cavity, the jet plate comprising;

an air impermeable body disposed substantially horizontally along a top of the cooking cavity, and

air inlets comprising openings through the body,

wherein a shape and a dimension of each of the air inlets, a spacing between two adjacent ones of the air inlets, and a vertical distance between the jet plate and the horizontal portion of the cooking cavity are configured to provide a substantially even coverage of the air flows over the horizontal portion with substantially no gap or overlap in the coverage by the air flows from the two adjacent ones of the air inlets, and

wherein the air inlets are adapted to produce elongate fans of air spaced to provide even cooking of food positioned beneath the air plenum at areas beneath the air inlets and areas between the air inlets without movement of the food.

53. An oven comprising:

a cooking cavity comprising a horizontal portion for placing a food product;

an air plenum for providing an air to the cooking cavity; and

a jet plate configured to direct flows of the air from the air plenum into the cooking cavity, the jet plate comprising;

an air impermeable body disposed substantially horizontally along a top of the cooking cavity, and

air inlets comprising openings through the body,

wherein a shape and a dimension of each of the air inlets, a spacing between two adjacent ones of the air inlets, and a vertical distance between the jet plate and the horizontal portion of the cooking cavity are configured to provide a substantially even coverage of the air flows over the horizontal portion with substantially no gap or overlap in the coverage by the air flows from the two adjacent ones of the air inlets,

wherein the air inlets are adapted to produce elongate fans of air and the air inlets are a set of spaced parallel conduits corresponding to each fan of air, the conduits extending substantially a full distance between two sidewalls.

54. An oven comprising:

a cooking cavity comprising a horizontal portion for placing a food product;

an air plenum for providing an air to the cooking cavity; and

a jet plate configured to direct flows of the air from the air plenum into the cooking cavity, the jet plate comprising;

an air impermeable body disposed substantially horizontally along a top of the cooking cavity, and

air inlets comprising openings through the body,

wherein a shape and a dimension of each of the air inlets, a spacing between two adjacent ones of the air inlets, and a vertical distance between the jet plate and the horizontal portion of the cooking cavity are configured to provide a substantially even coverage of the air flows over the horizontal portion with substantially no gap or overlap in the coverage by the air flows from the two adjacent ones of the air inlets,

wherein the air inlets are adapted to produce elongate fans of air and the air inlets are a set of spaced parallel conduits corresponding to each fan of air to provide columns of air flanking sheets of air, the conduits extending substantially a full distance between two sidewalls, and

wherein the columns of air are adapted to accelerate air of the sheets.