Programmable oven for cooking holding and proofing comestibles
First Claim
1. An upstanding oven cabinet having a compartment to cook and hold comestible foods with at least one door for access to the compartment, an oven circuit with a heater means and an energy source with electric current to the oven, comprising:
- a heat sink comprising a first material characterized by a high thermal capacity, and a heat conductor comprising a second material characterized by a high thermal conductivity, the heater means contacting the first material and further in contact with the second material;
wherein the heater means comprises heating element including a Nichrome wire wrapped around and insulated with mica, and sheathed in a metal jacket; and
,an inner chamber formed by a thermal baffle to smooth out heat flow and minimize heat variations within the chamber.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A holding oven designed for creating a natural convection current in the chamber of the oven, and constructed by fixing the heater element to a first material characterized by its high thermal conductivity for rapid build-up of thermal gradient into an insulated space, while that heater element is simultaneously in contact with a second material which is characterized by its high thermal capacitance for slowing thermal discharge upon repeated opening and closing of oven doors. The first material forms a heat conductor and the second material forms a heat sink and the heat conductor is adapted to maintain a safe holding temperature over a more extended period of time in a power off mode. An ergonomically designed operating panel provides an interactive intuitive method of programming the desired cooking sequences. Remote operation and programming is accomplished using preprogrammed software on a conventional home computer via a modem. Switch selections are monitored by a microprocessor which branches to the various preprogrammed functions. In addition, self-analysis and self-diagnostics aid the user in displaying a walk-back of the stored times and temperatures that occurred during an operating cycle before a power outage.
91 Citations
46 Claims
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1. An upstanding oven cabinet having a compartment to cook and hold comestible foods with at least one door for access to the compartment, an oven circuit with a heater means and an energy source with electric current to the oven, comprising:
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a heat sink comprising a first material characterized by a high thermal capacity, and a heat conductor comprising a second material characterized by a high thermal conductivity, the heater means contacting the first material and further in contact with the second material; wherein the heater means comprises heating element including a Nichrome wire wrapped around and insulated with mica, and sheathed in a metal jacket; and
,an inner chamber formed by a thermal baffle to smooth out heat flow and minimize heat variations within the chamber. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. A programmable oven for preparation of comestibles, comprising:
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a one-piece, free standing oven cabinet having a chamber adapted to be heated by a plurality of heater elements to a designated chamber temperature, an oven circuit with a bank of heating elements in the circuit for providing heat to the chamber, and a means for protection against a transient surge voltage said means for protection connected across an AC source voltage at the input of a first DC power supply for providing a current to the circuit and to the elements; a microprocessor with a memory and an ADC converter with a plurality of ADC input channels, the microprocessor communicating with the first power supply and with a second back-up power supply through steering diodes for isolation between the first and said second power supply, the diodes adapted to block current flow from the back-up power supply when the first power supply is active; and
,means for controlling chamber temperature associated with the microprocessor. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
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46. A process for programming a programmable oven having capabilities integrated therein for cooking, holding, and proofing comestible foods, the oven comprising an oven cabinet having a chamber adapted to be heated by a plurality of heater elements to a designated chamber temperature, an oven circuit with a bank of heating elements in the circuit for providing heat to the chamber, and a means for protection against a transient surge voltage said means for protection connected across an AC source voltage at the input of a first DC power supply for providing a current to the circuit and to the elements;
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an oven controller comprising a microprocessor with a memory, a modem, and an ADC converter with a plurality of ADC input channels, the microprocessor communicating with the first power supply and with a second back-up power supply through steering diodes for isolation between the first and said second power supply, the diodes adapted to block current flow from the back-up power supply when the first power supply is active; means for controlling chamber temperature associated with the microprocessor;
the means for controlling comprises a control algorithm which is stored in the microprocessor memory and first temperature sensor to measure the chamber temperature and a second temperature sensor comprising a thermal probe associated with a food product within the chamber for measuring internal temperature of the product, the first and second temperature sensors connected to a respective ADC channel of the plurality for inputs to the microprocessor;a plurality of solid state drivers on output from the microprocessor for controlling current flow to the heater elements; wherein said means for protection against a transient surge voltage is a Varistor; wherein the microprocessor comprises 24 bi-directional I/O lines and 8 unidirectional I/O lines; further comprising a means to select operation in a manual mode, the means to select operation in manual mode comprising a control panel having a plurality of mode switches as inputs to the microprocessor for selection among a plurality of oven operating functions;
said plurality of mode switches comprising four mode switches for selection among the four oven operating functions, preheat, roast, probe and hold modes, as inputs to the microprocessor;a means to program oven operation in automatic mode, including remote programming via the modem by use of a personal computer; wherein the means to program oven operation in automatic mode comprises program select switches on the control panel, the program select switches serving as inputs to the microprocessor for selection and storage of a cooking sequence in the microprocessor memory; the oven further comprising a means for audible output from the microprocessor upon successful completion of the program entry, the four mode switches, program switches and audible output serving as a user friendly interface with an operator of the oven; further comprising a means for self-analyzing oven operations, said means for self-analyzing comprising in combination, a plurality of time data select switches and a time display having up and down push-buttons adapted for scrolling the time display to show the various times stored in memory;
a plurality of temperature select switches and a temperature display having up and down push-buttons adapted for scrolling the temperature display to show the various temperatures stored in memory;
a plurality of status LED'"'"'s with display indicators showing a current status of oven activity and a clear status button for status reset;the oven further comprising a means to reset the current status of oven activity following self-analyzing oven operations; wherein the means to reset the current status of oven activity comprises a clear status button of the control panel; wherein the control panel further comprises cycle start and stop push-buttons, power on and power off push-buttons; further comprising a set button for display of the set temperature and an actual button to display the actual temperature reading; the plurality of heater elements comprising Calrod heating elements and a bank of quartz lamps, comprising the steps of; depressing a Select push-button "n" times until a desired "Program Select" area is reached, whereby for each push of the Select push-button, the next LED in sequence is illuminated showing the current program area; entering the Start Time by scrolling the Time Display with Up Arrow and Down Arrow push-button switches respectively; depressing the Enter push-button to advance the display to the next digit, whereby when the last digit is entered into the display, the program sequence automatically advances to Date display and the date advances with each push of the Enter push-button; depressing the Enter push-button for at least 3 seconds to store the data into memory when the Time and Date entry is accurate and complete; selecting the "Auto Preheat" mode if so desired; entering the desired preheat temperature if the "Auto Preheat" function is selected; entering the temperature by the same data entry process; selecting the oven mode function by depressing the appropriate mode push-button; entering the Time and Temperature selections; activating a Hold function pushing the Hold push-button; entering the Hold Temperature and the Hold Time; depressing and holding the Select push-button for at least 3 seconds to store the entire program into memory; issuing three consecutive beeps on piezoelectric buzzer upon completion of the data entry program, for acknowledgement by the microprocessor that the data entry was successful.
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Specification