JP2009516816A - Stove top interface, system and method for controlling the temperature of a cooking appliance, and cooking method using numerical temperature control - Google Patents

Abstract

  A temperature control interface for the stove top is provided. The temperature control interface includes a numerical temperature setting to which the temperature of the object heated on the stove top is to be adjusted. A cooking method on a stove top is provided. In the method, the recipe includes a numerical temperature at which the cookware object is to be adjusted during cooking.

Description

  This is a statute of US patent law of copending US Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60 / 738,259, filed November 18, 2005, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Claim priority according to section 119 (e). This is a continuation of U.S. Application Serial No. 10 / 833,356, filed April 28, 2004, and U.S. Application, filed June 9, 2005, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. This is a continuation-in-part of No. 11 / 148,802.

(Technical field)
The present invention generally relates to cooking utensils and cooking devices. More specifically, the present invention relates to temperature controlled cooking utensils and serving utensil articles, including pots, pans, buffet pans, pans, platters, etc., temperature for manual control of stovetops. The present invention relates to a control interface and a method of cooking on a stove top using a numerical control interface.

  Cooking is often referred to as art, but it is necessary not only by the combination of ingredients that go into a particular recipe, but also to adequately apply various levels of heat over a given period through various stages in the process of making a meal. Depends on skill. All conventional cooking devices such as ovens (except microwave ovens), grills, heating lamps and stove use a thermodynamic conduction process to transfer heat from the outer surface of the food to the interior. This is because the type of heat source used to heat the surface of the food is a radiant heat source (ie, a heating lamp), a conductive heat source (ie, a stove top), or a convective heat source (ie, a heat source). Whether it is a convection oven or a food dehydrator).

  It is well known to use thermometers and other temperature sensors to monitor and control the cooking process. Typical thermometers used to monitor and control the cooking process include probe-type or contact-type thermometers that are inserted directly into the food to obtain the temperature inside the food. However, such thermometers are not desirable for use with cookware / bathroom objects with lids. This is because in order to use a probe-type thermometer, the lid must be removed each time a temperature reading is to be obtained. Several non-contact thermometers associated with cookware have been developed that are attached to or attached to cookware objects such as pots and pans. For example, my invention disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 10 / 833,356, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, always accurately regulates the temperature of cookware objects such as pots and pans. A means for measuring and controlling is provided, which embeds the temperature sensor in a heatable part of the object, such as a groove through the base of the pot or pan. The temperature sensor is connected to an RFID tag positioned away from the heatable part of the pot or pan. The RFID tag functions as a transmitter (and sometimes as a receiver) that communicates with a reader / writer located within a cook-top for heating the object, and temperature information about the object and Provide other information (eg heating characteristics) to the cooktop. The cook top uses the temperature information and heating information to control the temperature of the object.

  U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 10 / 833,356 and U.S. Application Serial No. 11 / 148,802, filed June 9, 2005 (the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein). My earlier invention, where the temperature sensor is embedded in the base groove, provides a very effective way to adjust the temperature during cooking, but according to that method, on the stove top It is possible to maintain a selected cooking temperature during cooking. The cooking temperature can be programmed into the stove top in the manner described in US Pat. No. 6,953,919 (the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference), but instead. The temperature can also be manually selected (again, as disclosed in US Pat. No. 6,953,919). Thus, while the desired cooking temperature can be manually selected by the cook, the prior art stove top control interface presents the actual temperature being selected to the cook. There is nothing. For example, FIG. 1 shows a prior art dial-type stove top control interface. Such a control interface is common to all types of stove tops, including inductive, gas, electricity, radiant, halogen, etc. According to the control interface shown in FIG. 1, a cook can select a temperature based on quantitative instructions such as “hot fire”, “low heat”, “medium heat”, and “high heat”. . The pan can be heated to 120 degrees Celsius whenever the knob is turned to “medium heat” (in practice, such as that disclosed in US Pat. No. 6,953,919, Can be pre-programmed in the stove top). However, cooks have no way of knowing the exact temperature unless they have measured the temperature with their own thermometer. This is because the quantitative instructions (such as “hot fire”, “low fire”, “medium fire” and “high fire”) are arbitrarily adjusted to a specific temperature by the stove top manufacturer. Therefore, “medium heat” is 120 degrees Celsius or 150 degrees Celsius depending on the stove top. Also, these arbitrary quantitative temperature indications may differ depending on the type of the stove top, such as induction type, gas, electricity, and radiation type. This is because the maximum heat that can be generated by each heat source is different (eg 1300 degrees Celsius for gas, 800 degrees Celsius for radiant). Therefore, it would be beneficial to provide a stove top temperature control interface that allows cooks to know the exact temperature that is manually selected.

In addition, the stove top recipe conventionally uses any quantitative instruction similar to that used on the stove top (i.e., "fire", "low fire", "medium fire", or "high fire"). Therefore, the recipes are changed according to large differences between different brands of stovetops and heat sources (ie induction, gas, electricity, etc.) and differences due to differences in elevation so that the dishes are cooked correctly. It must be done (or the cook must know that the temperature changes). Therefore, it would be beneficial to provide a stove top cooking method that provides more consistent results regardless of the stove top used or the altitude at which the dish is made.
U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 10 / 833,356 US Application Serial No. 11 / 148,802 US Patent No. 6,953,919

  An object of the present invention is to provide an article (or object) whose temperature is adjusted. Another object of the present invention is to provide a stove top temperature control interface that allows a cook to know the exact temperature selected manually. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a stove top cooking method that provides more consistent results regardless of the stove top used and the altitude at which the dish is made.

  The above objective is to provide a temperature controlled article (heatable body, as described in US patent application serial number 10 / 833,356 and / or US application serial number 11 / 148,802). Use a temperature sensor and an RFID tag (or other suitable transmitter / receiver) and a stovetop that includes an RFID reader / writer (or other suitable transmitter / receiver) Is achieved. The stove top further includes a temperature control interface (as shown in FIG. 2) that allows the user to select a specific numerical temperature at which the temperature of the heatable object is to be adjusted.

  Heatable objects of preferred embodiments of the present invention include cooking utensils / layout utensil objects disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 10 / 833,356 and / or U.S. Application Serial No. 11 / 148,802. The same or similar components that are configured and operate similarly, including the materials used for the body of the object, handle material, RFID tags, RFID reader / writers, and RTD sensors And materials. However, it is possible to develop alternative configurations and operations without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, and it is possible to modify some components so that the temperature sensor of the present invention can be installed. It will be understood that there is.

  The temperature control interface shown in FIG. 2 informs the cook that the exact numerical temperature that has been selected, so that the stove top recipe can be expressed in quantitative directions (ie, “fire”, “low heat”, “ It can be used based on numerical temperature, not medium heat or high heat. By providing recipes based on specific temperature values by numerical display, it is possible to achieve more consistent results regardless of the stove top brand or power source (ie electricity, gas, induction type, etc.) and altitude. It will be obtained. The cook simply needs to read the numerical temperature from the recipe and manually set the temperature to be adjusted using the control knob shown in FIG.

  In addition to the control knob shown in FIG. 2, the temperature control interface of the present invention provides a digital control interface and other user manual temperature selections that are currently known or will be developed in the future. It will be appreciated that it can be an interface that enables and displays a selected temperature. The control and the temperature display may be a single unit as shown in FIG. 2, but the temperature display may be different from the control that enables selection of the temperature. Further, the control interface of the present invention and the cooking method using the control interface are described in (US Patent Application Serial No. 10 / 833,356 and / or US Application Serial No. 11 / 148,802). Can be used with temperature-controllable cookware that includes a temperature sensor in communication with the stove top (or use one of a number of alternative methods now known or will be developed in the future) It will be appreciated that For example, the temperature sensor may monitor the temperature of the stove top itself, the sensor in the stove top may monitor the temperature of the cookware (ie, an infrared sensor), or the cooking temperature may be the stove top. May be controlled based on the amount of power provided by.

  The foregoing and other objects are intended to be illustrative of the invention and are not intended to limit the content of the invention. The present invention can be embodied in many forms, which will be readily apparent by reference to the following description and accompanying drawings that form a part thereof. Various features and subcombinations of the invention may be used without reference to other features and subcombinations. Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which illustrate embodiments of the invention and its various features.

  Preferred embodiments of the present invention showing the best mode contemplated by the applicant applying the principles of the invention are shown in the following description, shown in the drawings, and particularly shown and defined in the claims.

  Although detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein, it should be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely illustrative of the principles of the invention and that the invention can be implemented in a variety of forms. . Accordingly, the specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not intended to limit the invention but merely to serve as the basis for the claims and the various uses of the present invention in virtually any detailed structure. It should be construed as a representative basis for teaching those skilled in the art.

  Referring to FIG. 2, the stove top temperature control interface 10 of the present invention is shown. The interface 10 includes a control knob 20 (temperature selector) and an incremental numerical temperature setting 30. In operation, the control knob 20 is adjusted to a temperature setting 30 corresponding to the numerical temperature that is desired to be used for cooking by an operator (ie, a cook) turning the knob. In a preferred embodiment, the cooking temperature is the numerical temperature shown in the recipe. For example, suppose the recipe says that the food is heated at 100 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes. In that case, the control knob 20 is set to a temperature setting (30) that can be read as 100 degrees Celsius. The temperature of the cookware object placed on the stove top can then be controlled to be maintained at 100 degrees Celsius in a manner similar to that described in US Pat. No. 6,953,919.

  Cookware objects such as pots and pans configured as disclosed in US patent application Ser. Nos. 10 / 833,356 and 11 / 148,802 are heated on the stove top controlled by the control knob 20. Placed on (hob). The cookware object includes an RFID tag, which is connected to a temperature sensor embedded in a groove provided in a heatable part of the object. The temperature sensor measures the temperature of the object while the object is heated by the stove top. The RFID tag communicates with an RFID reader / writer located within the stove top via an RF signal. The RFID reader / writer is connected to a processor, which is connected to the interface 10 and a power source for the stovetop heating section. The processor receives temperature information measured by the temperature sensor of the object by RF transmission from the RFID tag to the RFID reader / writer. Thereafter, the processor uses the obtained information to adjust the temperature of the cookware object to the temperature set by the control knob 20 by controlling the power source for the heating unit. For example, if the temperature sensor reading is lower than the temperature set by the control knob 20, the processor increases the power to the power source for the heating section (or the current power is adequate heating). The object is heated by maintaining (if present) energy. If the temperature sensor reading is above the temperature set by the control knob 20, the processor will reduce power. When the heating source is an induction heating source, the increase / decrease in power corresponds to the increase / decrease (or stop) of current passing through the induction coil. When the heating source is gas, the power is increased / decreased by controlling the gas valve so as to increase / decrease (or stop) the flow rate of the gas to the cooking heating unit. Any other heating source now known or later developed (including but not limited to electricity, gas, induction) can be used in connection with the control interface and method of the present invention. It will be understood.

  In FIG. 2, the incremental temperature setting 30 is shown in 10 degrees Celsius, but other increments (eg, 5 degrees, 1 degree, decimal steps, etc.) depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention. It will be understood that it is available without. It will also be appreciated that other units of measurement (such as degrees Fahrenheit) can be used without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

  In the above description, a number of terms have been used for the sake of brevity, clarity and understanding, but these terms are used for illustrative purposes and should be interpreted broadly. These terms do not imply unnecessary limitations beyond the requirements of the prior art. Further, the description and description of the present invention have been made by way of example, and the scope of the present invention is not limited by the details explicitly or described herein.

  The above detailed description of the present invention has been given with reference to exemplary embodiments, and illustrates and describes the best mode contemplated for carrying out the invention. And any modifications, improvements or changes other than those specifically described herein may be accomplished by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. It will be understood that improvements or modifications should be considered within the general scope of the invention. Accordingly, the detailed description includes the present invention and any modifications, improvements, changes or equivalents falling within the true spirit and scope of the underlying principles disclosed herein. It is understood. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention is limited only by the appended claims, and all that is included in the above description and shown in the accompanying drawings is for purposes of illustration and limits the invention. Is not intended to be.

  The foregoing has described the features, discoveries and principles of the invention, the methods of making and using the invention, the features of making it, and the advantageous new and useful results obtained. The arrangements, parts and combinations are indicated in the claims.

  Also, the claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention described herein, as well as all statements regarding the scope of the invention that would fall between them in language. It will also be understood that it is intended to cover.

FIG. 3 shows a top view of a prior art stove top temperature control interface. FIG. 3 shows a top view of the stove top temperature control interface of the present invention.

Claims (9)

A temperature control interface for the stove top,
A temperature control selector for manually selecting the temperature;
A temperature control interface including a numerical temperature setting displayed on the temperature control interface.   The temperature control interface of claim 1, wherein the temperature control selector is a control knob.   The temperature control interface according to claim 1, wherein the temperature control selector is a digital controller. A cooking method on a stove top,
Measuring the temperature of the cookware object placed on the heating portion of the stovetop;
Manually setting on the temperature control interface a numerical temperature at which the temperature of the cookware object is to be adjusted;
Controlling the power of the heating unit to adjust the temperature of the cooking utensil object. A stove top temperature control system,
A temperature-adjustable object, the object being heatable, a temperature sensor associated with the heatable body, and the temperature sensor for transmitting temperature information obtained by the temperature sensor And a transmitter connected to the
A temperature control selector for manually selecting a temperature, the temperature control selector including a numerical temperature setting display;
A processor connected to the temperature control selector and connected to a power source for the heating part of the stove top;
A receiver connected to the processor, the receiver receiving temperature information transmitted from the transmitter;
Stove top temperature control system.   The system of claim 5, wherein the transmitter includes an RFID tag and the receiver includes an RFID reader / writer.   The system of claim 5, wherein the temperature sensor is embedded in the heatable body of the object. A stove top temperature control system,
Including an object whose temperature is to be adjusted, the object including a heatable body, and
A temperature sensor associated with the heatable body;
A temperature control selector for manually selecting a temperature, the temperature control selector including a numerical temperature setting display, and
A stove top temperature control system including a processor connected to the temperature control selector, associated with the temperature sensor, and also connected to a power source for a stove top heating section. A transmitter connected to the temperature sensor for transmitting temperature information obtained by the temperature sensor to the processor;
The system of claim 8, further comprising a receiver coupled to the processor for receiving the temperature information transmitted from the transmitter.

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