Cooking apparatus with electronic recipe display

• US 7,109,445 B2
• Filed: 02/07/2003
• Issued: 09/19/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 02/07/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sunbeam Products, Inc. d/b/a Jarden Consumer Solutions (Newell Brands Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Sunbeam Products, Inc. d/b/a Jarden Consumer Solutions (Newell Brands Inc.)
• Inventors: Rudolph, John W., Griffin, Roy A. III, Jones-Lawlor, Heather, Patterson, Justin C., Sherwood, Robert
• Primary Examiner(s): PASCHALL, MARK H
• Application Number:
  US10/361,158
• Publication Number:
  US 20030173352A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,320 Days
• Field of Search: 219/494, 219/492, 219/497, 219/501, 219/506, 219420-437, 219/438, 99325-333
• US Class Current: 219/494
• CPC Class Codes: A47J 27/004 with integral electrical heating means drinking cups with integral heating means A47J36/2466
• CPC Class Codes: A47J 36/321 the electronic control being performed over a network, e.g. by means of a handheld device

Abstract

A cooking apparatus includes a cooking chamber and user interface, which includes a controller, display, and memory for storing recipes. The display is coupled to the controller and displays recipes. A method includes selectively displaying recipes and selecting a manual or recipe mode. In the manual mode, a heat setting and cooking time is selected. The selected cooking time is decremented in predetermined increments and the heating element is energized in accordance with the selected heat setting, after which the heating element is energized according to a keep warm setting for a predetermined time, following which it is de-energized. In the recipe mode, a main menu is displayed, from which the user selects a recipe category. A sub menu is displayed, from which the user selects a recipe identifier associated with the selected recipe category. A list of ingredients for the selected recipe identifier is then displayed.

Claims

1. A cooking apparatus, which comprises:

a housing;

a thermally conductive liner disposed within the housing;

a heating element disposed in contact with the thermally conductive liner;

a stoneware cooking chamber removably inserted within the thermally conductive liner; and

a user interface, the user interface being disposed on the housing, the user interface including a controller, a display, and a memory device, the memory device being operatively coupled to the controller, the memory device storing a plurality of recipes, the display being operatively coupled to the controller, the display selectively displaying the plurality of recipes to a user, the controller selectively controlling the heating element.

2. The cooking apparatus as defined by claim 1, further comprising a lid, the lid being adapted for covering the stoneware cooking chamber.

3. The cooking apparatus as defined by claim 1, further comprising a base, the housing being disposed on the base.

4. The cooking apparatus as defined by claim 1, wherein the controller includes at least one of a microcontroller, microprocessor, application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), field programmable gate array (FPGA), programmable array logic (PAL), discrete analog devices, and discrete digital devices.

5. The cooking apparatus as defined by claim 1, wherein the memory device includes at least one of an electrically programmable read only memory (EPROM), programmable read only memory (ROM), flash memory, and non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM).

6. The cooking apparatus as defined by claim 1, further comprising a first power circuit, the first power circuit being electrically connected to an alternating current (ac) power source at a first node, the first power circuit providing direct current (dc) power to the user interface at a second node.

7. The cooking apparatus as defined by claim 6, wherein the first power circuit includes a first diode, a first resistor, and a zener diode, the first diode and the first resistor being electrically coupled in series between the first node and the second node, the zener diode being electrically coupled in parallel across the second node and ground.

8. The cooking apparatus as defined by claim 6, wherein the first power circuit includes at least one capacitor electrically connected in parallel across the second node and ground.

9. The cooking apparatus as defined by claim 1, further comprising a second power circuit and a relay, the second power circuit being coupled to an alternating current (ac) power source at a third node, the second power circuit providing direct current (dc) power to the relay at a fourth node, the relay selectively switching power to the heating element.

10. The cooking apparatus as defined by claim 9, wherein the second power circuit includes a second diode, a third diode, and a capacitor, the capacitor including a cathode, the capacitor and the first diode being electrically coupled in series between the third node and the fourth node, the third diode being electrically coupled in series between the cathode of the capacitor and ground.

11. The cooking apparatus as defined by claim 10, wherein the second power circuit further comprises a second resistor, the second resistor being electrically coupled in series between the third node and the capacitor.

12. The cooking apparatus as defined by claim 10, wherein the second power circuit further comprises a third resistor, the third resistor being electrically coupled in parallel across the capacitor.

13. The cooking apparatus as defined by claim 9, wherein the second power circuit includes at least one capacitor electrically connected in parallel across the fourth node and ground.

14. The cooking apparatus as defined by claim 9, further comprising a switching circuit, the switching circuit selectively diverting direct current (dc) power from the relay.

15. The cooking apparatus as defined by claim 14, wherein the switching circuit includes a transistor, the microcontroller outputting a heating element control signal, the transistor including a base, a collector, and an emitter, at least one of the collector and the emitter being operatively coupled to the fourth node, at least one of the collector and the emitter that is not operatively coupled to the fourth node being operatively coupled to ground, the base being responsive to the heating element control signal, thereby enabling the heating element control signal to selectively divert direct current (dc) power from the relay through the transistor.

16. The cooking apparatus as defined by claim 1, wherein the user interface includes at least one of an audio indicator and a visual indicator.

17. The cooking apparatus as defined by claim 1, further comprising a programming interface, the programming interface being operatively coupled to at least one of the controller and the memory device, the programming interface enabling at least one of the controller and the memory device to be remotely programmed.

18. The cooking apparatus as defined by claim 17, wherein the programming interface is operatively coupled to at least one of the Internet, a mass storage device, a memory device, and a computer.

19. The cooking apparatus as defined by claim 1, further comprising a temperature sensor, the temperature sensor detecting changes in temperature in the stoneware cooking chamber, the controller being responsive to the temperature sensor.

20. The cooking apparatus as defined by claim 19, wherein the temperature sensor include a thermistor, the thermistor exhibiting a change in electrical characteristics in response to a change in temperature.

21. The cooking apparatus as defined by claim 20, wherein the temperature sensor further comprises a fourth resistor and a fifth resistor, the fourth resistor, fifth resistor, and thermistor being electrically coupled in series between the controller and ground.

22. The cooking apparatus as defined by claim 21, wherein the temperature sensor further comprises a capacitor, the capacitor being electrically coupled in parallel across the series connection of the fourth resistor, fifth resistor, and thermistor.

23. The cooking apparatus as defined by claim 19, wherein the user interface includes a keep warm setting, the controller energizing the heating element in response to the temperature sensor indicating that the temperature in the stoneware cooking chamber is at least one of at and below a threshold temperature during the keep warm setting, the controller de-energizing the heating element in response to the temperature sensor indicating that the temperature in the stoneware cooking chamber is at least one of at and above a threshold temperature during the keep warm setting.

24. The cooking apparatus as defined by claim 1, wherein the user interface includes a high setting, the controller energizing the heating element substantially continuously during the high setting.

25. The cooking apparatus as defined by claim 1, wherein the user interface includes a high setting, the controller energizing and de-energizing the heating element in accordance with a predetermined duty cycle during the low setting.

26. The cooking apparatus as defined by claim 1, further comprising a sixth resistor, the sixth resistor being electrically connected in series between the controller and an alternating current (ac) power supply, the controller using the alternating current (ac) power supply as a timing signal.

27. The cooking apparatus as defined by claim 1, wherein the display includes a liquid crystal display (LCD).

28. The cooking apparatus as defined by claim 1, wherein the user interface includes at least one of a button and a switch selectable by the user, the at least one of the button and the switch being operatively coupled to the controller and controlling the operation of the user interface.

29. The cooking apparatus of claim 1, wherein the user interface is removably coupled to the housing.

30. A method of operating a cooking apparatus, which comprises the steps of:

providing a stoneware cooking chamber, the stoneware cooking chamber being removably insertable within a thermally conductive liner, the thermally conductive liner being disposed in contact with a heating element;

providing a user interface, the user interface including a controller, a display, and a memory device, the memory device being operatively coupled to the controller;

the controller being operatively coupled to the display, the heating element being selectively controllable by the controller, a plurality of recipes being stored in the memory device;

displaying at least one of the plurality of recipes selectively on the display; and

selecting at least one of a manual mode and a recipe mode.

31. The method of operating a cooking apparatus as defined by claim 30, further comprising, in response to selecting the manual mode, the steps of:

selecting a heat setting; and

selecting a cooking time.

32. The method of operating a cooking apparatus as defined by claim 30, further comprising the steps of:

selecting a heat setting;

selecting a cooking time;

decrementing the selected cooking time in predetermined increments of time to yield a remaining cooking time;

energizing the heating element in accordance with the selected heat setting and remaining cooking time; and

displaying the selected heat setting and the remaining cooking time.

33. The method of operating a cooking apparatus as defined by claim 32, wherein the step of energizing the heating element in accordance with the heat setting further comprises the step of energizing the heating element substantially continuously in response to the selected heat setting being high.

34. The method of operating a cooking apparatus as defined by claim 32, wherein the step of energizing the heating element in accordance with the heat setting further comprises the step of energizing the heating element and de-energizing the heating element in accordance with a predetermined duty cycle in response to the selected heat setting being low.

35. The method of operating a cooking apparatus as defined by claim 32, wherein the step of energizing the heating element in accordance with the heat setting further comprises the step of energizing the heating element in response to a temperature sensor indicating that a temperature in the stoneware cooking chamber is at least one of substantially equal to and below a threshold temperature in response to the selected heat setting being warm, the controller de-energizing the heating element in response to the temperature sensor indicating that the temperature in the stoneware cooking chamber is at least one of substantially equal to and above the threshold temperature in response to the selected heat setting being warm.

36. The method of operating a cooking apparatus as defined by claim 30, further comprising the step of displaying a greeting message.

37. The method of operating a cooking apparatus as defined by claim 30, further comprising the step of entering at least one of the manual mode, recipe mode, and an off mode in response to selecting at least one of a button and a switch on the user interface.

38. The method of operating a cooking apparatus as defined by claim 30, further comprising, in response to selecting the recipe mode, the steps of:

displaying a main menu, the main menu including a recipe category;

selecting the recipe category from the main menu;

displaying a sub menu associated with the selected recipe category, the sub menu including a recipe identifier;

selecting the recipe identifier from the sub menu; and

displaying a list of ingredients associated with the recipe identifier.

39. The method of operating a cooking apparatus as defined by claim 38, further comprising the steps of:

selecting at least one of a button and a switch on the user interface; and

displaying a prior display in response to selecting at least one of the button and the switch on the user interface.

40. The method of operating a cooking apparatus as defined by claim 38, further comprising the steps of:

selecting a heat setting;

selecting a cooking time;

decrementing the selected cooking time in predetermined increments of time to yield a remaining cooking time;

displaying the recipe identifier, selected heat setting, and remaining cooking time; and

energizing the heating element in accordance with the selected heat setting and remaining cooking time.

41. The method of operating a cooking apparatus as defined by claim 30, further comprising the step of activating at least one of an audible indicator and a visual indicator.

42. The method of operating a cooking apparatus as defined by claim 32, further comprising the step of energizing the heating element in accordance with a warm heat setting in response to the remaining cooking time being substantially equal to zero.

43. The method of operating a cooking apparatus as defined by claim 40, further comprising the step of energizing the heating element in accordance with a warm heat setting in response to the remaining cooking time being substantially equal to zero.

44. The method of claim 30, further comprising attaching the user interface removably to the housing.