Automatic cooking apparatus
First Claim
1. Apparatus for automatically cooking a culinary preparation of prescribed ingredients according to a predetermined recipe comprising:
- a cooking vessel;
dispensing means structured and arranged to hold and to dispense said ingredients into said vessel;
heating means for heating said vessel;
stirring means for stirring the contents of said vessel;
control means communicating with said dispensing means for controlling the dispensing of said ingredients therefrom according to a dispensing schedule predetermined by said recipe, said control means further communicating with said heating means for controlling the heating of said vessel according to a heating schedule predetermined by said recipe, and said control means further communicating with said stirring means for controlling the stirring of said contents according to a stirring schedule predetermined by said recipe;
means, responsive to said control means, for automatically closing said cooking vessel; and
memory means for storing control instruction according to said recipe.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A microcomputer-controlled, integrated cooking apparatus for automatically preparing culinary dishes. The constituent ingredients of a particular dish are loaded into a compartmentalized carousel, which is mounted on the cooking apparatus. The apparatus includes a memory for storing one or more recipe programs. The recipe program specifies schedules for dispensing the ingredients from the carousel into a cooking vessel, for heating the vessel (either covered or uncovered), and for stirring the contents of the vessel. These operations are performed automatically under control of the microcomputer.
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Citations
13 Claims
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1. Apparatus for automatically cooking a culinary preparation of prescribed ingredients according to a predetermined recipe comprising:
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a cooking vessel; dispensing means structured and arranged to hold and to dispense said ingredients into said vessel; heating means for heating said vessel; stirring means for stirring the contents of said vessel; control means communicating with said dispensing means for controlling the dispensing of said ingredients therefrom according to a dispensing schedule predetermined by said recipe, said control means further communicating with said heating means for controlling the heating of said vessel according to a heating schedule predetermined by said recipe, and said control means further communicating with said stirring means for controlling the stirring of said contents according to a stirring schedule predetermined by said recipe; means, responsive to said control means, for automatically closing said cooking vessel; and memory means for storing control instruction according to said recipe.
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2. In an apparatus for automatically cooking a culinary preparation of prescribed ingredients according to a predetermined recipe, including a cooking vessel, heating means for heating the vessel, dispensing means for holding and dispensing said ingredients into said vessel, and control means communicating with said dispensing means and with said heating means for controlling the dispensing of said ingredients and the heating of said vessel according to dispensing and heating schedules predetermined by said recipe, the improvement wherein
said dispensing means comprises: -
a chamber-defining assembly mounted for rotation and formed with a plurality of chambers of first and second types, said first type for holding non-liquid ingredients and said second type for holding liquid ingredients; and means, actuated by rotation of said chamber-defining assembly, for mechanically causing the contents of said chambers to be dispensed, in sequence, into said vessel; and said apparatus further comprises means for rotating said chamber-defining assembly upon command from said control means. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5)
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6. In an apparatus for automatically cooking a culinary preparation of prescribed ingredients according to a predetermined recipe, including a cooking vessel, heating means for heating the vessel, dispensing means for holding and dispensing said ingredients into said vessel, agitation means for agitating the contents of said vessel, and control means communicating with said dispensing means, heating means, and agitation means for controlling the dispensing and agitation of said ingredients and the heating of said vessel according to dispensing, agitation, and heating schedules predetermined by said recipe, the improvement wherein
said cooking vessel is disposed in fixed relation with respect to said heating means; - and
said agitation means comprises a stirring member extending into said vessel and mounted for rotation about a vertical axis for stirring the contents of said vessel in a generally circular pattern; and said apparatus further comprises means for rotating said stirring member upon command from said control means. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. Apparatus suitable for use in a domestic kitchen for automatically cooking a culinary preparation of prescribed ingredients according to a predetermined recipe comprising:
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a cooking vessel having substantially vertical walls; heating means for heating said vessel; dispensing means for holding and dispensing said ingredients into said vessel, said dispensing means comprising; a chamber-defining assembly mounted for rotation and formed with a plurality of chambers therein of first and second types, said first type for holding non-liquid ingredients and said second type for holding liquid ingredients; and means, actuated by rotation of said chamber-defining assembly, for mechanically causing the contents of said chambers to be dispensed, in sequence, into said vessel; a housing having a lower portion for housing said heating means, whereby said vessel is maintained in heat transfer relation to said heating means, and an upper portion for supporting said chamber-defining assembly over said vessel; a stirring member extending into said vessel and mounted for rotation about a vertical axis for stirring the contents of said vessel in a generally circular pattern; a lid for covering said vessel, said lid being formed with a lid aperture through which said dispensing means dispenses ingredients into said vessel, and a closure member mounted for rotation about said vertical axis and sized to cover said lid aperture; control means for controlling the heating of said vessel, the dispensing and stirring of said ingredients, and the covering and uncovering of said lid aperture according to heating, dispensing, stirring, and covering schedules predetermined by said recipe; means for rotating said chamber-defining assembly upon command from said control means; means for simultaneously rotating said stirring member and said closure member upon command from said control means according to said stirring and dispensing schedules; and memory means for storing control instructions according to said recipe; wherein said control means and said means for rotating are housed within said housing so as to form a compact, self-contained, integrated cooking apparatus. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
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Specification