COOKING OVEN CONTROL SYSTEM AND RELATED METHODS

• US 20080236562A1
• Filed: 03/27/2008
• Published: 10/02/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 03/27/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Premark FEG LLC (Illinois Tool Works Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Premark FEG LLC (Illinois Tool Works Inc.)
• Inventors: Foray, Michel G., Sager, David D., Delbos, Sebastien R.
• Granted Patent: US 8,191,465 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 126/273R
• CPC Class Codes: F24C 7/08 Arrangement or mounting of control or safety devices
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 6/6441 allowing the input of coded operation instructions, e.g. bar code reader

Abstract

An oven includes a scanning mechanism that facilitates cooking food items according to cooking recipes/programs associated with the food items. The oven may include a Bluetooth link to facilitate receipt of cooking programs and other information, as well as export of data.

Claims

1. An oven, comprising:

a cooking chamber with at least one associated cooking source;

a user interface;

a scanning mechanism for scanning product codes associated with food products to be cooked;

a controller for receiving scanned product code information and connected for (i) receiving input from the user interface and (ii) controlling operation of the cooking source,

wherein in a cook ready mode the controller operates such that upon receiving a scanned product code the controller;

(a) implements a cook preparation sequence associated with the scanned product code, including operating the cooking source to prepare the cooking chamber for cooking and setting a timer to a duration associated with the scanned product code; and

(b) maintains the oven in a ready state, without initiating countdown of the timer, until a start cooking input is received via user actuation of a portion of the user interface.

2. The oven of claim 1 wherein the scanning mechanism is a bar code scanning mechanism and wherein the scanned product code information includes cook program details therein.

3. The oven of claim 1 wherein in the cook ready mode the controller operates such that upon receiving the scanned product code the controller identifies a stored cooking program associated with the scanned product code and implements the cook preparation sequence for the identified cooking program.

4. The oven of claim 3 wherein the cooking source is operated to preheat the oven chamber to a specified temperature associated with the scanned product code.

5. The oven of claim 3 wherein the scanning mechanism is one of (i) a bar code scanner that communicates scanned product bar code information to the controller or (ii) an RFID tag reader that communicates scanned RFID tag code information to the controller.

6. The oven of claim 3 wherein the controller includes a cooking program input/modify mode selectable via the user interface, during the cooking program input/modify mode the controller operates such that:

(i) a display of the user interface displays at least a program link icon in association with a specific cooking program;

(ii) upon user selection of the program link icon the controller initiates a timeout operation;

(iii) upon receipt of a scanned product code prior to completion of the timeout operation, the scanned product code is linked, in memory of the controller, to the specific cooking program; and

(iv) upon receipt of a scanned product code after completion of the timeout operation, the scanned product code is not linked to the specific cooking program.

7. The oven of claim 6 wherein in the cooking program input/modify mode the controller operates such that the display of the user interface further displays a program unlink icon in association with the specific cooking program, upon user selection of the program unlink icon a link between a scanned product code and the specific cooking program is eliminated.

8. The oven of claim 7 wherein in the cooking program input/modify mode the controller operates such that if the specific program is linked with a scanned product code, the scanned product code number is displayed on the display.

9. The oven of claim 6 wherein in the cooking program input/modify mode the controller operates such that if the received scanned product code is already linked with another stored cooking program, the controller operates such that an identifier of the other stored cooking program is displayed and the scanned product code is not linked to the specific cooking program.

10. An oven, comprising:

a cooking chamber with at least one associated cooking source;

a user interface;

a scanning mechanism for scanning product codes associated with food products to be cooked;

a controller for receiving scanned product code information and connected for (i) receiving input from the user interface and (ii) controlling operation of the cooking source,

wherein in a cook ready mode the controller operates such that upon receiving a scanned product code the controller identifies a stored cooking program associated with the scanned product code;

wherein in a cooking program input/modify mode selectable via the user interface, the controller operates such that;

(i) a program link selection for a specific cooking program can be activated by a user;

(ii) upon user activation of the program link selection the controller initiates a timeout operation;

(iii) upon receipt of a scanned product code prior to completion of the timeout operation, the scanned product code is linked, in memory of the controller, to the specific cooking program; and

(iv) upon receipt of a scanned product code after completion of the timeout operation, the scanned product code is not linked to the specific cooking program.

11. The oven of claim 10 wherein in the cooking program input/modify mode the controller operates such that a program unlink selection for the specific program can be activated by the user, upon user activation of the program unlink selection a link between a scanned product code and the specific program is eliminated.

12. The oven of claim 10 wherein in the cooking program input/modify mode the controller operates such that if the specific program is linked with a scanned product code, the scanned product code number is displayed on the display.

13. The oven of claim 10 wherein in the cooking program input/modify mode the controller operates such that if the received scanned product code is already linked with another stored cooking program, the controller operates such that an identifier of the other stored cooking program is displayed and the scanned product code is not linked to the specific cooking program.

14. The oven of claim 10 wherein the scanning mechanism is one of (i) a bar code scanner that communicates scanned product bar code information to the controller or (ii) an RFID tag reader that communicates scanned RFID tag code information to the controller.

15. A method of communicating oven cooking programs to an oven, the method comprising the steps of:

storing multiple cooking programs in a file with a binary format;

uploading the binary file to a portable hand-held device including Bluetooth communication capability;

utilizing the hand-held device, selecting the binary file for transfer to an oven having Bluetooth communication capability;

transferring the binary file to the oven via the Bluetooth communication link between the oven and the hand-held device.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the hand-held device is one of a phone, a PDA or a portable computer.

17. The method of claim 15 wherein the oven includes a controller, the method further comprising the controller identifying each of the multiple cooking programs contained in the binary file and storing each of the cooking programs as a distinct, selectable cooking program for the oven.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein each cooking program stored in the binary file includes an associated cooking program number, the controller operates to overwrite any previously stored cooking program having a cooking program number that is the same as the cooking program number associated with an identified cooking program of the binary file.

19. The method of claim 17 wherein each cooking program stored in the binary file includes an associated cooking program identifier, the controller operates to overwrite any previously stored cooking program having a cooking program identifier that is the same as the cooking program identifier associated with an identified cooking program of the binary file.

20. The method of claim 17 wherein each cooking program stored in the binary file includes an associated cooking program number, the controller operates to avoid overwriting any previously stored cooking program having a cooking program number that is the same as the cooking program number associated with an identified cooking program of the binary file.

21. The method of claim 17 wherein each cooking program includes an associated product bar code number that is stored in the binary file.

22. The method of claim 15 wherein the uploading step involves e-mailing the binary file to the portable hand-held device and/or retrieving the binary file from a web site.

23. A method of retrieving information from a food equipment device, the method comprising the steps of:

configuring an information request as a binary file;

uploading the binary file to a portable hand-held device including Bluetooth communication capability;

utilizing the hand-held device, selecting the binary file for transfer to the food equipment device, wherein the food equipment device has Bluetooth communication capability;

transferring the binary file to the food equipment device via the Bluetooth communication link between the food equipment device and the hand-held device;

the food equipment device includes a controller and responsive to receipt of the binary file the controller identifies the information request and transfers the information in a text file format to the hand-held device via the Bluetooth communication link.

24. The method of claim 23 wherein the hand-held device is one of a phone, a PDA or a portable computer.

25. The method of claim 23 wherein the uploading step involves e-mailing the binary file to the portable hand-held device and/or retrieving the binary file from a web site.

26. The method of claim 23 wherein the food equipment device is an oven including an oven chamber with an associated food cooking source.