Cooking apparatus having heaters

• US 7,060,943 B2
• Filed: 10/25/2002
• Issued: 06/13/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 08/20/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (Samsung Group)
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (Samsung Group)
• Inventors: Hwang, Yun-Ic
• Primary Examiner(s): PELHAM, JOSEPH MOORE
• Application Number:
  US10/279,881
• Publication Number:
  US 20040035862A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,327 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 219/414
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 6/6435 Aspects relating to the user interface of the microwave heating apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 6/6482 combined with radiant heating, e.g. infrared heating

Abstract

A cooking apparatus having heaters and a cooking chamber defined in the cooking apparatus, the heaters are provided in the cooking chamber, and two or more buttons are provided representing different cooking temperatures. A temperature of the cooking chamber is set by pushing one of the two or more buttons. One of a plurality of cooking modes is selected depending on a kind of food, and each of the cooking temperatures is represented by one of the two or more buttons corresponds to each of the cooking modes. Therefore, setting various cooking temperatures depending on the kind of food is possible.

Claims

1. A cooking apparatus comprising:

a cooking chamber defined in the cooking apparatus;

a heater provided in the cooking chamber;

two or more buttons respectively, representing different cooking temperatures;

wherein a temperature of the cooking chamber is set by pushing one of the two or more buttons; and

wherein the buttons comprise a keypad including numerical keys allocated with preset numeric characters, each of the numerical keys of the keypad representing a preset cooking temperature.

2. The cooking apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein one of a plurality of cooking modes is selected depending on a kind of food, and each of the cooking temperatures represented by one of the two or more buttons corresponds to each of the cooking modes.

3. The cooking apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the numerical keys indicate temperature values which increase stepwise.

4. The cooking apparatus as set forth in claim 1 further comprising:

mode selection keys to select a cooking mode by manipulation of one or more of the mode selection keys.

5. The cooking apparatus as set forth in claim 4, wherein the buttons comprise a keypad including numerical keys that indicate temperature values corresponding to the cooking mode selected.

6. The cooking apparatus as set forth in claim 1, further comprising:

a display unit displaying a temperature selected after a cooking mode and desired cooking temperature are selected.

7. The cooking apparatus as set forth in claim 5, wherein after the display unit displays a temperature selected, a set cooking time is displayed.

8. A cooking apparatus having a cooking chamber therein to heat food, comprising:

two or more heaters provided in the cooking chamber to heat the cooking chamber wherein each heater can have different cooking temperatures; and

two or more selectors representing the different cooking temperatures wherein the temperature of the cooking chamber is set by manipulating one of the selectors wherein the selectors comprise a keypad including numerical keys allocated with preset numeric characters, each of the numerical keys of the keypad representing a preset cooking temperature.

9. A cooking apparatus having a cooking chamber therein, comprising:

two or more heaters provided in the cooking chamber to heat the cooking chamber wherein each heater can have different cooking temperatures; and

two or more dual mode buttons, representing the different cooking temperatures depending on a cooking mode and numerical keys to numerically select the cooking temperature by manipulating two or more of the dual mode buttons to set the cooking temperatures.

10. A method of controlling a cooking apparatus having a cooking chamber therein to heat food using two or more heaters, comprising:

storing different cooking temperatures in a control unit;

connecting an input unit to the control unit wherein the input unit includes two or more selectors wherein each selector can be used to set a temperature of each of the heaters;

manipulating at least one of the two or more selectors to set the cooking chamber to a desired temperature for one of the two or more heaters wherein the selectors comprise a keypad including numerical keys allocated with preset numeric characters, each of the numerical keys of the keypad representing a preset cooking temperature;

optionally manipulating at least one of the remaining selectors to set the cooking chamber to a desired temperature for another heater; and

heating the cooking chamber using the heaters to heat the food.

11. A method of controlling a cooking apparatus having a cooking chamber therein to heat food using two or more heaters, comprising:

selecting a cooking mode using a set of buttons that corresponds to each of the cooking modes;

setting a temperature of at least one of the heaters of the cooking chamber to a basic temperature by selecting mode selection keys wherein the selection keys automatically select the temperature;

optionally manipulating at least one of the remaining mode selection keys to set the cooking chamber to a basic temperature for another heater;

determining if the basic temperature should be retained as a final set temperature wherein the basic temperature can be changed by manipulating numerical keys corresponding to the desired cooking temperature if a preset period has not elapsed after the cooking mode is selected or alternatively retaining the basic temperature as a final set temperature; and

displaying on a display unit the final set temperature of the cooking chamber.

12. The method of controlling a cooking apparatus according to claim 12, further comprising:

inputting an initial cooking time for the food to cook in the cooking chamber;

setting a desired cooking time by manipulating numerical keys corresponding to the desired cooking time;

determining if the desired cooking time of the cooking chamber is different from the inputted initial cooking time for the food to cook in the cooking chamber; and

displaying on the display unit the inputted initial cooking time for the food to cook in the cooking chamber.

13. A method of controlling a cooking apparatus having a cooking chamber therein, comprising:

setting a temperature in the cooking chamber by a set of dual mode buttons wherein each dual mode button can represent different cooking temperatures depending on a cooking mode and represent numerical keys to numerically select a cooking temperature by consecutively manipulating two or more of the dual mode buttons.