ROTATING INDUCTION FOOD WARMING DEVICE
First Claim
1. Apparatus operable to heat food product, said apparatus comprising:
- a base presenting an upper surface and an underside, said base being permeable to a time-changing magnetic field;
structure on the upper surface of said base configured to receive a cooking container holding said food product, and to maintain the container in a heating orientation on the base; and
a drive mechanism operable to rotate said cooking container when the container is in said heating orientation,said base being positionable in overlying relationship to an induction heating device in order to heat said food product during rotation of said container, said base and container being separable from said heating device at the conclusion of heating of said food product.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Improved induction heating systems are provided for the cooking/heating of food products requiring stirring during preparation thereof, such as chilis or stews. The stems include an induction heating device (38) and an associated container-holding apparatus (32) having a cradle (52) operable to hold a food container (40) and allow shifting thereof between an upper loading/unloading positions and a lower cooking position. A drive mechanism (36) is provided for rotating the container (40) during induction heating thereof. The apparatus (30) and container (40) can be moved separately from the heating device (38), as required. The container (40) includes a plurality of circumferentially spaced apart temperature sensing assemblies (128) serving to wirelessly transmit temperature information to the heating device (38), in order to control the heating/cooking process. Each assembly (128) preferably includes a temperature sensor (130, 136, 138, 142, 146) operably engaging the container (40), along with a coupled RFID tag (134). The heating device (38) includes an antenna (102) located to interrogate the respective assemblies (128) during rotation of container (40), thereby receiving continuously updated temperature information.
50 Citations
32 Claims
-
1. Apparatus operable to heat food product, said apparatus comprising:
-
a base presenting an upper surface and an underside, said base being permeable to a time-changing magnetic field; structure on the upper surface of said base configured to receive a cooking container holding said food product, and to maintain the container in a heating orientation on the base; and a drive mechanism operable to rotate said cooking container when the container is in said heating orientation, said base being positionable in overlying relationship to an induction heating device in order to heat said food product during rotation of said container, said base and container being separable from said heating device at the conclusion of heating of said food product. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 20)
-
-
13. A system for heating food product, said system comprising:
-
an induction heating device operable to generate magnetic induction radiation; a base situated over said device and being permeable to said magnetic induction radiation; structure on the upper surface of said base configured to receive a cooking container holding said food product, and to maintain the container in a heating orientation on the base; and a drive mechanism operable to rotate said cooking container when the container is in said heating orientation, said heating device operable to heat said food product during rotation of said container, said base and container being separable from said heating device at the conclusion of heating of said food product. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
-
-
28. A container adapted to hold food product to be heated, said container comprising:
-
a generally cylindrical container body adapted to hold said food product and presenting a bottom wall and a tubular sidewall extending from the bottom wall, said container body being axially rotatable during heating of said food product; and a plurality of temperature sensing assemblies operably secured to said tubular sidewall in circumferentially spaced apart relationship, each of said assemblies including a temperature sensor positioned to sense the temperature of said food product during heating thereof, and temperature data-transmitting structure operably coupled with said sensor in order to wirelessly transmit sensed temperature information to a heating device, each of said data-transmitting structures operable to successively transmit updated temperature information related to the temperature of said food product during said rotation of the container body. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32)
-
Specification