Interactive kitchen control system and method

• US 20020174014A1
• Filed: 04/02/2002
• Published: 11/21/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 05/21/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Douglas Wittrup
• Original Assignee: Douglas Wittrup
• Inventors: Wittrup, Douglas
• Granted Patent: US 6,976,004 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/15
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/12 Hotels or restaurants

Abstract

A system and method for controlling preparation of a plurality of food items on a cooking apparatus such as a grill. A food order consisting of the plurality of food items is input to a controller which retrieves cooking times for the items from a database. A primary fire item (PFI) is determined as the item with the longest cooking time. A display screen near the cook has a surface that is laid out in a grid pattern representing the cooking surface of the grill. An icon associated with the PFI is then displayed in a position corresponding to the item'"'"'s intended position on the grill. Time delays are calculated for displaying subsequent icons so that, by placing the food items on the grill when each icon is displayed, the preparation of the food items is completed simultaneously.

Claims

1. A system for controlling preparation of a plurality of food items on a cooking apparatus having a cooking area, said system comprising:

a visual display screen positioned for viewing by a cook, said display screen having a surface that is laid out in a grid pattern representing the cooking area of the cooking apparatus;

a database that stores cooking times for each of the plurality of food items; and

a controller comprising;

means for displaying a plurality of icons on the display screen, each of said icons corresponding to a particular one of the plurality of food items, and each of said icons being displayed on the display screen in a location corresponding to a position on the cooking area;

means for retrieving the cooking times from the database; and

means for indicating to the cook when the preparation of each particular food item is complete.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the means for displaying a plurality of icons includes means for displaying each particular icon at a time such that placing the corresponding food item on the cooking area when the icon is first displayed results in the preparation of the plurality of food items being completed simultaneously.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein the controller includes means for determining which of the plurality of food items has the longest cooking time, and the means for displaying each particular icon includes means for displaying first, a first icon corresponding to the food item having the longest cooking time.

4. The system of claim 3 wherein the means for displaying each particular icon includes means for calculating a time delay before displaying a subsequent icon after displaying the first icon, the time delay equaling a difference between the cooking time of the food item having the longest cooking time, and the cooking time of a food item corresponding to the subsequent icon.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein the system is in a restaurant kitchen, and the system further comprises an order-entry terminal interfaced with the controller, said order-entry terminal being utilized by food servers to identify to the controller, the plurality of food items on a particular ticket.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein the controller also includes means for determining whether the cook has taken an action in response to a displayed icon or in response to an indication that the preparation of a food item is complete.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein the visual display screen is a touch screen display through which the cook interfaces with the controller, said touch screen display providing means for the cook to indicate to the controller that the cook has taken an action in response to a displayed icon or in response to an indication that the preparation of a food item is complete.

8. The system of claim 7 wherein the cooking time for a particular food item includes a plurality of turn times indicating when the food item is to be turned, and the means for indicating to the cook when the preparation of each particular food item is complete also includes means for indicating to the cook when the particular food item is to be turned.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein the touch screen display also provides means for the cook to indicate to the controller that the cook has turned a food item in response to an indication that the particular food item is to be turned.

10. The system of claim 9 further comprising a messaging subsystem interfaced with the controller, said messaging subsystem sending an alert message to a manager if the cook does not respond to an indicated action within a predefined period of time.

11. The system of claim 10 further comprising a temperature probe interfaced with the controller, and the controller includes means for calculating a time at which the cook is to determine the temperature of a particular food item utilizing the temperature probe.

12. The system of claim 11 further comprising a cooking apparatus temperature sensor interfaced with the controller, and wherein the database stores cooking times for each of the plurality of food items based upon different temperatures of the cooking apparatus.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the steps of calculating a time delay and displaying a subsequent icon are repeated for each food item in the order.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the display screen includes a surface that is laid out in a grid pattern representing the cooking area of the cooking apparatus, and the steps of displaying the first and subsequent icons include displaying the icons in relative positions on the display screen corresponding to actual positions on the cooking area of the cooking apparatus.

16. The method of claim 15 further comprising indicating to the cook when the preparation of each particular food item is complete.

17. The method of claim 16 further comprising the steps of:

determining whether there is any space available on the cooking area of the cooking apparatus; and

if there is no space on the cooking area for a food item waiting to be prepared, calculating a queue time equal to the time period before the waiting food item can be placed on the cooking area.

18. The method of claim 17 further comprising calculating an estimated time to completion for the waiting food item equal to the queue time, plus the time delay for starting the waiting item after the PFI is started, plus the cooking time for the waiting item.

19. The method of claim 18 further comprising changing an icon'"'"'s appearance on the display screen to indicate an action required by the cook.

20. The method of claim 19 further comprising sending an alert message to a manager if the cook does not respond to an indicated action within a predefined period of time.

13. A method of controlling preparation of a plurality of food items on a cooking apparatus having a cooking area, said method comprising the steps of:

storing in a database, cooking times for each of the plurality of food items;

inputting through an order-entry terminal, an order consisting of the plurality of food items;

retrieving the cooking times from the database for the plurality of food items included in the order;

determining a primary fire item (PFI), said PFI being the food item in a particular order with the longest cooking time;

displaying a first icon on a visual display screen positioned for viewing by a cook, said first icon being associated with the PFI;

calculating a time delay equaling a difference between the cooking time of the PFI, and the cooking time of a food item corresponding to a subsequent icon; and

displaying the subsequent icon on the display screen when the calculated time delay expires;

wherein by placing the food items on the cooking area when each icon is displayed, the preparation of the food items is completed simultaneously.

21. A method of controlling preparation of a plurality of food items on a plurality of cooking apparatus, each apparatus having an associated cooking area, said method comprising the steps of:

storing in a database, a cooking time and cooking apparatus for each of the plurality of food items;

inputting through an order-entry terminal, an order consisting of the plurality of food items;

retrieving from the database, a cooking time and cooking apparatus for each food item in the order;

determining a primary fire item (PFI), said PFI being the food item in the order with the longest cooking time;

displaying a first icon associated with the PFI on a first visual display screen associated with the PFI'"'"'s cooking apparatus;

calculating a time delay equaling a difference between the cooking time of the PFI, and the cooking time of a subsequent food item associated with a subsequent icon; and

displaying the subsequent icon on a second visual display screen associated with the subsequent item'"'"'s cooking apparatus when the calculated time delay expires;

wherein by placing the food items on the cooking areas of their associated cooking apparatus when each icon is displayed, the preparation of the food items is completed simultaneously.