Cooking apparatus, information display apparatus, control method, cooking tool, and non-transitory computer-readable recording medium

• US 10,213,046 B2
• Filed: 06/22/2015
• Issued: 02/26/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Nonaka, Masao, Aso, Mitsuhiro
• Primary Examiner(s): Stapleton, Eric
• Application Number:
  US14/746,800
• Publication Number:
  US 20150374162A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,345 Days
• Field of Search: 99331, 99337, 99341, 99342, 99344, 99348
• 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 communicator that communicates with a terminal, a link-state manager that manages link-state information indicating whether or not a link to the terminal is active, a heater that performs a heating operation on a cooking tool, a receiver that receives a user operation, and a controller that controls the communicator or the heater which is a control target, on the basis of the user operation. In the case where the link is active, when the user operation is performed on the receiver, the controller causes the communicator to transmit instruction information to the terminal. The instruction information indicates an instruction to switch an image being displayed on the information display apparatus from a first image to a second image.

Claims

1. A cooking appliance comprising:

a communication interface that communicates with a display via a network, the display being physically separately provided from the cooking apparatus and configured to display an image indicating a cooking process comprising a recipe, the image being read from a memory included in the display;

a heater that performs a heating operation on a cooking tool based on the recipe;

a user interface that accepts a user operation; and

a processor that controls one of the communication interface and the heater, in response to the user operation,

wherein, when the communication interface receives a request, sent from the display to the cooking appliance, for linking the display to the cooking appliance through the network, the processor transmits, to the display, a response indicating acceptance of the request, to establish a link between the cooking apparatus and the display through the network via the communication interface,

when the user interface accepts the user operation and the link between the cooking apparatus and the display is established through the network via the communication interface, the processor causes the communication interface to transmit instruction, to the display, to cause the display to switch an image being displayed on the display from a first image to a second image, and does not cause the heater to control heating applied on the cooking tool,

when the user interface accepts the user operation and the link between the cooking apparatus and the display is not established through the network, the processor causes the heater to control heating applied on the cooking tool, and does not cause the display to switch an image being displayed on the display,

wherein the first image indicates a first cooking process comprising the recipe,

wherein the second image indicates a second cooking process, comprising the recipe, to be performed just after the first cooking process, or to be performed just before the first cooking process, and

wherein the first cooking process and the second cooking process are performed on the cooking appliance.

2. The cooking appliance according to claim 1, further comprising:

a sensor that detects the cooking tool positioned on the heater,

wherein the processor causes the communication interface to transmit the response to the display, indicating the acceptance of the request, when the sensor detects the cooking tool positioned on the heater.

3. The cooking appliance according to claim 1,

wherein the processor controls a temperature for the heating operation on the heater.

4. The cooking appliance according to claim 1, wherein,

when the user interface accepts the user operation after the communication interface receives the request, from the display to the cooking appliance for linking the display to the cooking appliance through the network, the processor determines whether or not the link between the cooking appliance and the display is established through the network via the communication interface, and

when the processor determines that the link between the cooking appliance and the display is established, the processor causes the communication interface to transmit the instruction to the display.

5. A cooking tool connected to a display and a cooking appliance having a heater via a network, the cooking tool comprising:

a communication interface that communicates with the display via a network and the cooking appliance, the display being physically separately provided from the cooking tool and configured to display an image indicating a cooking process comprising a recipe, the image being read from a memory included in the display;

a user interface that accepts a user operation; and

a processor that causes the communication interface to transmit a control signal to one of the display and the cooking appliance, in response to the user operation, the control signal controlling the one of the display and the cooking appliance, which receives the control signal,

wherein, when the communication interface receives a request, sent from the display to the cooking tool, for linking the display to the cooking tool through the network, the processor transmits, to the display, a response indicating acceptance of the request, to establish a link between the cooking tool and the display through the network via the communication interface,

when the user interface accepts the user operation and the link between the cooking tool and the display is established through the network via the communication interface, the processor causes the communication interface to transmit the control signal, to the display, to cause the display to switch an image being displayed on the display from a first image to a second image, and does not cause the communication interface to transmit the control signal, to control heating applied on the cooking tool by the heater,

when the user interface accepts the user operation and the link between the cooking tool and the display is not established through the network, the processor causes the communication interface to transmit the control signal to the cooking appliance, to control heating applied on the cooking tool by the heater, and does not transmit the control signal to cause the display to switch an image being displayed on the display,

wherein the first image indicates a first cooking process comprising the recipe,

wherein the second image indicates a second cooking process, comprising the recipe, to be performed just after the first cooking process, or to be performed just before the first cooking process, and

wherein the first cooking process and the second cooking process are performed on the cooking appliance.

6. The cooking tool according to claim 5, wherein,

when the user interface accepts the user operation after the communication interface receives the request, from the display to the cooking tool for linking the display to the cooking tool, the processor determines whether or not the link between the cooking tool and the display is established through the network via the communication interface, and

when the processor determines that the link between the cooking tool and the display is established, the processor causes the communication interface to transmit the control signal to the display.