Cooking apparatus with cooking information display means

• US 5,183,984 A
• Filed: 02/24/1992
• Issued: 02/02/1993
• Est. Priority Date: 01/21/1988
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Nakagawa, Tatsuya
• Primary Examiner(s): Leung, Philip H.
• Application Number:
  US07/841,260
• Time in Patent Office: 344 Days
• Field of Search: 219/10.55 B, 219/10.55 R, 219/10.55 E, 219/10.55 M, 219/506, 99/451, 99/325, 340/711, 340/789, 340/794, 340/798, 340/799
• US Class Current: 219/720
• CPC Class Codes: F24C 7/08 Arrangement or mounting of control or safety devices
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 6/6435 Aspects relating to the user interface of the microwave heating apparatus

Abstract

A cooking apparatus has necessary cooking functions and comprises a cooking information storage for storing names of materials of each dish to be cooked by the apparatus and quantities per person of the materials of the dish, a display for displaying at least the quantities of the materials, and input switch for inputting the number of persons to be served with the dish, an operating device for calculating quantities of the materials of the dish for the inputted number of persons according to the quantities of the materials per person stored in the storage, and a data correction device for correcting the calculated quantities and providing optimum visible display data intuitionally understandable by the user to the display.

Claims

1. A method of displaying suitable quantities of materials necessary for preparing each dish to be cooked in a cooking apparatus, comprising a control system for processing data for said dish and a display device for displaying information derived from the data, said method comprising the steps of:

(a) calculating quantities of materials necessary for preparing the dish for an indicated number of persons in accordance with the quantities of materials per person stored in a cooking information storage means of the cooking apparatus;

(b) converting the calculated quantities of the materials associated with a first unit to equivalent quantities represented by fewer effective digits associated with a second unit different than said first unit as a first display information;

(c) separating a decimal portion of the first display information from an integral portion, converting the decimal portion to a proper fraction, and adding the fraction to the integral portion to obtain second display information;

(d) dropping the digits of said first display information expressed in the decimal number system to obtain third display information; and

(e) selecting one of the first, second, and third display information and displaying on a display the selected display information, said steps (b), (c), (d) and (e) being performed by said control system.

2. A cooking apparatus having predetermined cooking functions, comprising:

cooking information storage means for storing names of materials necessary for preparing each dish to be cooked by the cooking apparatus and quantities of the materials needed for preparing the dish per person;

display means for displaying at least the quantities of the materials;

input means for inputting the number of persons to be served with a required dish to be cooked by the apparatus;

operating means for calculating quantities of the materials necessary for preparing the dish for the number of persons inputted through said input means, according to the quantities of the materials per person stored in said cooking information storage means; and

display data correction means for correcting the quantities calculated by said operating means to provide equivalent quantities represented by fewer effective digits than with said first uncorrected quantities;

wherein the correcting operation carried out by said display data correction means comprises a value rounding means for rounding up or down values of the respective quantities of the materials calculated according to the inputted number of persons, and adding character strings corresponding to the rounding up or down operations to the value being rounded up or down.

3. The cooking apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the correcting operation carried out by said display data correction means comprises:

an easily understood unit selecting means for selecting units for the respective quantities of the materials calculated according to the inputted number of persons, and converting values of the calculated quantities into other values according to the selected optimum units; and

a fractional number preparing means for preparing fractional numbers corresponding to the respective quantities of the materials calculated according to the inputted number of persons or a value rounding process for rounding up or down the respective quantities of the materials calculated and according to the inputted number of persons and adding character strings corresponding to the rounding up or down operations to the values which have been rounded up or down.

4. The cooking apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein each of the character strings corresponding to the rounding up or down operations is one of "little", "little over" and "little under".