Cooking apparatus, cooking system, and cooking control method utilizing bar code

• US 20070007279A1
• Filed: 02/24/2006
• Published: 01/11/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 07/06/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Kim, Kwang, Chun, Yun, Ji, Sook
• Granted Patent: US 7,304,275 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 219/506
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 6/6441 allowing the input of coded operation instructions, e.g. bar code reader

Abstract

A cooking apparatus, cooking system, and cooking control method using a bar code, in which automatic cooking of food is performed when the bar code attached to a package of the food is lost or damaged. The cooking apparatus for cooking food using cooking data includes a memory for storing identification data and cooking data of the food; an image capture device for obtaining an image of the food; and a controller for identifying the food by comparing the image of the food to the identification data of the food, stored in the memory, obtaining the cooking data of the identified food, and controlling the cooking apparatus so that the cooking of the food is performed based on the cooking data.

Claims

1. A cooking apparatus for cooking food using cooking data, comprising:

a memory to store identification data and associated cooking data of the food;

an image capture device to obtain an image of the food; and

a controller to identify the food by comparing the image of the food to the identification data stored in the memory, to obtain the cooking data associated with the identification data, and to control the cooking apparatus so that the food is cooked according to the obtained cooking data.

2. The cooking apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a bar code reader for receiving the cooking data of the food by reading a bar code of the food,

wherein the controller obtains the cooking data by obtaining the image of the food using the image capture device when the bar code reader cannot read the bar code.

3. A cooking system for cooking food using cooking data, comprising:

a data processing unit for obtaining the cooking data of the food from a memory provided in the cooking system or a web server connected thereto on-line; and

a cooking apparatus for receiving the cooking data obtained by the data processing unit and cooking the food based on the cooking data.

4. The cooking system of claim 3, wherein the data processing unit is one of a PC, a PDA, and a web pad.

5. A cooking system for cooking food using cooking data comprising:

an image capture device for obtaining an image of the food;

a data processing unit for identifying the food using the image and obtaining the cooking data of the identified food; and

a cooking apparatus for cooking the food based on the cooking data.

6. The cooking system of claim 5, wherein

the data processing unit is one of a PC, a PDA, and a web pad, and

the data processing unit obtains the cooking data of the food from a memory provided therein or a web server.

7. The cooking system of claim 5, wherein the image capture device is a PC camera or a digital camera, and comprises a wired or wireless transmission module for transmitting the obtained image to the data processing unit.

8. A cooking system for cooking food using cooking data, comprising:

an image capture device for obtaining an image of the food and for reading a bar code on the food, the bar code having cooking data associated therewith;

a data processing unit for associating the cooking data with the image of the food based on the bar code, to produce an association which is stored for subsequent use.

9. The cooking system of claim 8, wherein the data processing unit is one of a PC, a PDA, and a web pad.

10. The cooking system of claim 8, wherein the image capture device is a PC camera or a digital camera, and comprises a wired or wireless transmission module for transmitting the obtained image to the data processing unit.

11. A cooking control method of a cooking apparatus using cooking data, comprising:

obtaining an image of the food using an image capture device;

identifying the food by comparing the image of the food to identification data of the food that is stored in a memory of the cooking apparatus, and obtaining the cooking data of the identified food; and

controlling the cooking apparatus so that the cooking of the food is performed based on the obtained cooking data.

12. The cooking control method of claim 11, further comprising causing a user to select at least one from a bar code reading mode and a food image capturing mode.

13. The cooking control method of claim 12, wherein the cooking apparatus is automatically switched into the food image capturing mode when the bar code reading mode cannot be performed.

14. A cooking control method of a cooking system for cooking food using cooking data, comprising:

obtaining the cooking data of the food from a memory, provided in a data processing unit, or a web server; and

receiving the obtained cooking data, and performing the cooking of the food based on the cooking data.

15. The cooking control method of claim 14, wherein the obtaining of the cooking data of the food is performed using one of a PC, a PDA, and a web pad.

16. A cooking control method using cooking data, comprising:

obtaining an image of the food;

identifying the food by comparing the image of the food to identification data of the food, stored in a memory, installed in a cooking apparatus of the cooking system, or a web server, and obtaining the cooking data of the identified food;

supplying the cooking data to the cooking apparatus; and

causing the cooking apparatus to perform the cooking of the food based on the received cooking data.

17. The cooking control method of claim 16, wherein the image of the food is obtained using a PC camera or a digital camera.

18. The cooking control method of claim 16, wherein the cooking data is supplied to the cooking apparatus using power line communication or by a wired or wireless LAN.

19. The cooking control method of claim 16, wherein the cooking data is supplied to the cooking apparatus by outputting the cooking data in a bar code image and reading the bar code image using a bar code reader of the cooking apparatus.

20. The cooking control apparatus as set forth in claim 19, wherein the bar code image is displayed on a display window of the data processing unit.

21. A food preparation system, comprising:

a heating source;

a bar code reader for scanning a bar code;

a cooking data storage unit having a memory that stores cooking data for a plurality of food packages based on their bar code; and

a controller for identifying food from the bar code and controlling the heating source so that food preparation is performed based on the cooking data stored in the cooking data storage unit.

22. A cooking data storage unit, comprising:

a food identification apparatus;

a memory to store cooking data and for identifying food based on data from the food identification apparatus;

a controller for comparing the food identification to the stored cooking data and controlling a food preparation method based on the data from the food identification apparatus.

23. A cooking apparatus for cooking food using cooking data, comprising:

a data processing unit for receiving identification data from a food package;

a memory to store identification data and associated cooking data for a plurality of different foods; and

a controller to identify the food by matching the identification data obtained from the food package with the identification data stored in the memory, to obtain the cooking data associated with the identification data, and to control the cooking apparatus so that the food is cooked according to the obtained cooking data.

24. The cooking apparatus as set forth in claim 23, wherein the identification data is obtained by reading a bar code on the food package.