Patent Application
20230128211
The present subject matter relates generally to cooking appliances, and more particularly to cooking appliances having features for different types of heating in a common chamber.
In recent years, countertop cooking appliances have become increasingly popular given, for instance, their ability to easily cook relatively small amounts of food that would be difficult or inefficient to cook in a conventional baking oven. Some such cooking appliances rely on induction cooking, for example. Generally, for induction cooking, an induction coil produces a high frequency magnetic field, which can cause eddy currents to flow through a cooking vessel made of steel or stainless steel, and thereby heats the foods by the Joule heat produced in the cooking vessel. Other cooking appliances rely on electric heating elements, such as resistive or halogen heating elements, to generate heat directly within the cooking chamber. Still other cooking appliances rely on convective heat generation (e.g., with steam), which may help certain foods retain moisture.
In spite of the variety of existing countertop cooking appliances, challenges still exist. For instance, existing cooking appliances generally generate significant amounts of heat throughout an entire cooking chamber of the cooking appliance. For certain foods, this can be highly inefficient. Additionally or alternatively, such cooking appliances may require significant insulation to retain heat within the cooking chamber (e.g., for efficiency or safety). This, however, will often add to the expense of the system. In the case of appliances within steam-generation systems, such systems are often very complex and difficult to clean. Thus, they may further add to costs and safety concerns of any such appliance.
In turn, a cooking appliance addressing one or more of the above issues would be useful. Specifically, it may be advantageous to provide a cooking appliance capable of efficiently heating a variety of food items (e.g., without requiring significant insulation). Additionally or alternatively, it may be advantageous to provide a cooking appliance with one or more features for easily generating steam and permit cleaning of the same.
Aspects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the following description, or may be obvious from the description, or may be learned through practice of the invention.
In one exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, a cooking appliance is provided. The cooking appliance may include a cabinet, an induction heating coil, an electric heat-radiation element, and a vertical lift. The cabinet may define a cooking chamber. The induction heating coil may be mounted within the cabinet below the cooking chamber to direct a magnetic field thereto. The electric heat-radiation element may be mounted within the cabinet above the induction heating coil. The vertical lift may support the electric heat-radiation element within the cooking chamber to adjust a vertical height of the electric heat-radiation element relative to the induction heating coil.
In another exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, a cooking appliance is provided. The cooking appliance may include a cabinet, an induction heating coil, an electric heat-radiation element, the cabinet may define a cooking chamber. The induction heating coil may be mounted within the cabinet below the cooking chamber to direct a magnetic field thereto. The electric heat-radiation element may be mounted within the cabinet above the induction heating coil. The secondary electric heating element may be mounted within the cabinet below the cooking chamber and horizontally spaced apart from the induction heating coil. The steam pot may be positioned on top of the secondary electric heating element to receive heat therefrom. The steam pot may define an internal volume to receive liquid water and a steam outlet to direct water vapor from the internal volume.
These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following description and appended claims. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
A full and enabling disclosure of the present invention, including the best mode thereof, directed to one of ordinary skill in the art, is set forth in the specification, which makes reference to the appended figures.
Reference now will be made in detail to embodiments of the invention, one or more examples of which are illustrated in the drawings. Each example is provided by way of explanation of the invention, not limitation of the invention. In fact, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the scope of the invention. For instance, features illustrated or described as part of one embodiment can be used with another embodiment to yield a still further embodiment. Thus, it is intended that the present invention covers such modifications and variations as come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.
As used herein, the term “or” is generally intended to be inclusive (i.e., “A or B” is intended to mean “A or B or both”). The terms “first,” “second,” and “third” may be used interchangeably to distinguish one component from another and are not intended to signify location or importance of the individual components.
Turning now to the figures,
As shown, cooking appliance 100 includes a plurality of outer walls (e.g., outer casing 114 of cabinet 110). When assembled, cooking appliance 100 generally extends along the vertical direction V between a top end 118 and a bottom end 120; along the lateral direction L between a first side end 122 and a second side end 124; and along the transverse direction T between a front end 126 and a rear end 128.
Within outer casing 114, an inner liner 116 of cabinet 110 defines a cooking chamber 112 for receipt of food items for cooking. Moreover, cabinet 110 (including outer casing 114 and inner liner 116) defines one or more chamber openings through which cooking chamber 112 can be accessed. In some embodiments, this includes a front opening 132 in fluid communication with cooking chamber 112 to permit access to cooking chamber 112. Specifically, front opening 132 may be defined at front end 126. In optional embodiments, a second opening (e.g., rear opening 134) is provided. As shown, a rear opening 134 may be defined at rear end 128, spaced apart from front opening 132 along the transverse direction T. Optionally, rear opening 134 may be similar is shape and dimensions to front opening 132 or, alternatively, defined according to a different shape or dimensions from front opening 132.
As shown, one or more doors may be provided to selectively cover each of the chamber openings (e.g., to close cooking chamber 112 or otherwise restrict access to cooking chamber 112 through the corresponding chamber opening). For instance, a front door 136 may be movably (e.g., pivotally, slidably, etc.) mounted to cabinet 110 to move between a closed position (
In certain embodiments, cooking appliance 100 includes a control panel 140 mounted on or as part of cabinet 110. Generally, control panel 140 includes a display device 142 for presenting various information to a user. Control panel 140 may also include one or more input devices (e.g., tactile buttons, knobs, touch screens, etc.). Selections may be made by engaging (e.g., pressing, rotating, etc.) the input devices. For example, many meal cook cycles and other cooking algorithms can be preprogrammed in or loaded onto a memory device of a controller 144 of cooking appliance 100 for many different food items types (e.g., pizza, fried chicken, French fries, potatoes, steak, etc.), including simultaneous preparation of a group of food items of different food types comprising an entire meal. Instructions or selections may be displayed on display device 142. In optional embodiments, display device 142 can be used as an input device. For instance, display device 142 may be a touchscreen device, as is understood.
A lower heater module 146 is generally provided within cabinet 110 (e.g., below at least a portion of cooking chamber 112). In some embodiments, lower heater module 146 includes an induction heating coils 148 in communication (e.g., transmissive communication) with cooking chamber 112 to direct a magnetic field thereto. In particular, induction heating coils 148 may be mounted beneath a bottom wall or chamber baseplate 150 of inner liner 116. In some embodiments, a hole or opening is defined through the bottom wall of inner liner 116 (e.g., defining a diameter greater than or equal to a horizontal diameter of induction heating coils 148). Above induction heating coils 148 (e.g., and within cooking chamber 112) a tray or platter may be provided on which an article (e.g., food item) may be supported. For induction cooking, any such article be provided with an induction cooking vessel, as is understood.
Separate from or in addition to lower heater module 146, an upper heater module 152 is generally provided within cabinet 110 (e.g., above lower heater module 146 and at least a portion of cooking chamber 112). In some embodiments, upper heater module 152 includes one or more electric heat-radiation elements 154 to generate and radiate heat to the air within cooking chamber 112. For instance, upper heater module 152 can include a resistive heating element (e.g., sheathed resistive heater) or halogen heating element (e.g., halogen cooking lamp).
Turning especially to
In certain embodiments, an electric motor 160 is mounted within cabinet 110 and attached in mechanical communication with vertical lift 156. Specifically, electric motor 160 may be mounted above cooking chamber 112 to actuate vertical lift 156 (e.g., automatically or as directed by a user via control panel 140). For example, electric motor 160 may rotate one or more intermediate gears to motivate raise or extend vertical lift 156 according to a desired or suitable distance between electric heat-radiation element(s) 154 and an article received within cooking chamber 112.
In the exemplary embodiments of
Advantageously, a cooking appliance 100, as provided herein, may be able to vary the concentration of heat or temperature on a variety of articles (e.g., food items) without requiring heating the entire cooking chamber 112 or requiring significant amounts/volumes of insulation between outer casing 114 and inner liner 116.
Returning generally to
In some embodiments, a steam pot 166 is provided to be selectively positioned on top of secondary electric heating element 164 (e.g., to receive heat therefrom). Generally, steam pot 166 may be a relatively small container to hold water that can be heated and released as water vapor (i.e., steam) within cooking chamber 112. Specifically, steam pot 166 may define an internal volume 168 to receive and hold liquid water, as well as a steam outlet 170 (e.g., above the internal volume 168) to direct or permit water vapor to escape internal volume 168 (and steam pot 166, generally)
Steam pot 166 may include or be formed from any suitable material for being repeatedly heated above the boiling temperature of water (e.g., metal or ceramic). Thus, as secondary electric heating element 164 is activated, the heat generated at secondary electric heating element 164 may be received at steam pot 166, within which liquid water is vaporized and released as water vapor. Optionally, steam pot 166 may be matched in horizontal width or shape to secondary electric heating element 164 such that the horizontal footprint of each is within 10% of each other. Additionally or alternatively, steam pot 166 may be selectively placed on top of secondary electric heating element 164 and subsequently removed from secondary electric heating element 164 (e.g., by a user who is able to pick up and relocate steam pot 166).
Advantageously, steam may be selectively supplied to cooking chamber 112 from steam pot 166 as desired, and when no steam is desired or cleaning of steam pot 166 would be appropriate, a user may easily remove steam pot 166 from cabinet 110 (e.g., to refill internal volume 168 or clean steam pot 166).
As shown, cooking appliance 100 may include a controller 144. Controller 144 of cooking appliance 100 can include one or more processor(s) and one or more memory device(s). The processor(s) of controller 144 can be any suitable processing device, such as a microprocessor, microcontroller, integrated circuit, or other suitable processing device. The memory device(s) of controller 144 can include any suitable computing system or media, including, but not limited to, non-transitory computer-readable media, RAM, ROM, hard drives, flash drives, or other memory devices. The memory device(s) of controller 144 can store information accessible by the processor(s) of controller 144 including instructions that can be executed by the processor(s) of controller 144 in order to execute various cooking operations or cycles (e.g., a meal cook cycle). Controller 144 is in operative communication (e.g., electrical communication or wireless communication) with various operational components of cooking appliance 100, such as components of lower heater module 146, upper heater module 152, steam heater module 162, or control panel 140. Input/output (“I/O”) signals may be routed between controller 144 and control panel 140 as well as other operational components of cooking appliance 100. Controller 144 can execute and control cooking appliance 100 in various cooking operations or cycles, such as precision cooking, which includes meal cook, warming, induction, or convection/bake modes.
Generally, controller 144 can be positioned in any suitable location throughout cooking appliance 100. For example, controller 144 may be located proximate to control panel 140 toward front end 126 of cooking appliance 100.
Turning now to
In additional or alternative embodiments, an infrared (e.g., proximity) sensor 174 is mounted to cabinet 110 (e.g., in operative communication with controller 144—
In optional embodiments, cooking appliance 100 includes one or more weight or mass sensors 176 (e.g., force or pressure sensors) mounted to cabinet 110. Generally, the mass sensor(s) 176 can be configured to measure the weight of the articles (e.g., food items) within cooking chamber 112, such as during cooking operations. In the illustrated embodiments, a discrete mass sensor 176 is arranged in each of, for example, four feet supporting cabinet 110. In turn, cooking appliance 100 may be configured to automatically determine the mass distribution within the cooking chamber 112 based on the measured mass distribution across the feet. Nonetheless, alternative embodiments may include more (e.g., five or more) or less mass sensors 176, such as a single mass sensor 176 within a single foot. Additionally or alternatively, mass sensors may be mounted at another suitable location on cabinet 110 (e.g., below cooking chamber 112).
In additional or alternative embodiments, multiple discrete cooking regions 178A, 178B, 178C, 178D are provided within cooking chamber 112. Generally, each cooking region includes a corresponding induction heating coil. Thus, lower heater module 146 may include multiple induction heating coils horizontally spaced apart from each other (e.g., such that the footprint or heating zone of each induction heating coil does not overlap with that of the other induction heating coils in a horizontal plane). For instance, lower heater module 146 may include a first induction heating coil 148A and a second induction heating coil 148B horizontally spaced apart from the first induction heating coil 148A. Thus, the second induction heating coil 148B may be mounted at a different, non-overlapping portion of cabinet 110 from the first induction heating coil 148A. The first and second induction heating coils 148A, 148B may be configured to activate independently from each other (e.g., as directed by controller 144) and, thus, may direct separate electric fields to different portions of the cooking chamber 112 (e.g., at different times). In the illustrated embodiments, a third induction heating coil 148C and a fourth induction heating coil 148D are further provided such that a discrete induction heater coil for a corresponding cooking region is provided proximal to each corner of cabinet 110. Nonetheless, it is understood that any suitable number or location layout may be provided for induction heating coils or cooking regions in accordance with the present disclosure.
Optionally, a discrete conductive temperature sensor may be provided at each discrete cooking region. As an example, a first conductive temperature sensor 172A may be mounted within the first cooking region 178A above the first induction heating coil 148A to detect a temperature of an article within the first cooking region 178A. When assembled, the first conductive temperature sensor 172A may be, for instance, mounted to the chamber baseplate 150 in vertical alignment with the first induction heating coil 148A. Thus, the first conductive temperature sensor 172A may be located directly above the first induction heating coil 148A or otherwise occupy an area that overlaps with the footprint or heating zone of the first induction heating coil 148A (e.g., when viewed along the vertical direction V).
As an additional or alternative example, a second conductive temperature sensor 172B may be mounted within the second cooking region 178B above the second induction heating coil 148B to detect a temperature of an article within the second cooking region 178B. When assembled, the second conductive temperature sensor 172B may be, for instance, mounted to the chamber baseplate 150 in vertical alignment with the second induction heating coil 148B. Thus, the second conductive temperature sensor 172B may be located directly above the second induction heating coil 148B or otherwise occupy an area that overlaps with the footprint or heating zone of the second induction heating coil 148B (e.g., when viewed along the vertical direction V).
As another additional or alternative example, a third conductive temperature sensor 172C may be mounted within the third cooking region 178C above the third induction heating coil 148C to detect a temperature of an article within the third cooking region 178C. When assembled, the third conductive temperature sensor 172C may be, for instance, mounted to the chamber baseplate 150 in vertical alignment with the third induction heating coil 148C. Thus, the third conductive temperature sensor 172C may be located directly above the third induction heating coil 148C or otherwise occupy an area that overlaps with the footprint or heating zone of the third induction heating coil 148C (e.g., when viewed along the vertical direction V).
As yet another additional or alternative example, a fourth conductive temperature sensor 172D may be mounted within the fourth cooking region 178D above the fourth induction heating coil 148D to detect a temperature of an article within the fourth cooking region 178D. When assembled, the fourth conductive temperature sensor 172D may be, for instance, mounted to the chamber baseplate 150 in vertical alignment with the fourth induction heating coil 148D. Thus, the fourth conductive temperature sensor 172D may be located directly above the fourth induction heating coil 148D or otherwise occupy an area that overlaps with the footprint or heating zone of the fourth induction heating coil 148D (e.g., when viewed along the vertical direction V).
In some embodiments, upper heater module 152 includes a discrete electric heat-radiation element (e.g., a resistive heating element or halogen heating element) corresponding to one or more of the discrete cooking regions 178A, 178B, 178C, 178D. Thus, upper heater module 152 may include multiple electric heat-radiation elements horizontally spaced apart from each other (e.g., such that the footprint or heating zone of each electric heat-radiation element does not overlap with that of the other electric heat-radiation elements in a horizontal plane).
As an example, a first electric heat-radiation element 154A may be mounted within the first cooking region 178A above the first induction heating coil 148A to radiate heat between first induction heating coil 148A and first electric heat-radiation element 154A. When assembled, the first electric heat-radiation element 154A may be, for instance, mounted to the inner liner 116 or vertical lift 156 (
As an additional or alternative example, a second electric heat-radiation element 154B may be mounted within the second cooking region 178B above the second induction heating coil 148B to radiate heat between second induction heating coil 148B and second electric heat-radiation element 154B. When assembled, the second electric heat-radiation element 154B may be, for instance, mounted to the inner liner 116 or vertical lift 156 (
As another additional or alternative example, a third electric heat-radiation element 154C may be mounted within the third cooking region 178C above the third induction heating coil 148C to radiate heat between third induction heating coil 148C and third electric heat-radiation element 154C. When assembled, the third electric heat-radiation element 154C may be, for instance, mounted to the inner liner 116 or vertical lift 156 (
As yet another additional or alternative example, a fourth electric heat-radiation element 154D may be mounted within the fourth cooking region 178D above the fourth induction heating coil 148D to radiate heat between third induction heating coil 148C and fourth electric heat-radiation element 154D. When assembled, the fourth electric heat-radiation element 154D may be, for instance, mounted to the inner liner 116 or vertical lift 156 (
Optionally, multiple electric heat-radiation elements 154A, 154B, 154C, 154D may be configured to activate independently from each other (e.g., as directed by controller 144) and, thus, may radiate heat to different portions of the cooking chamber 112 (e.g., at different times). Additionally or alternatively, the electric heat-radiation element 154A, 154B, 154C, or 154D of each cooking region 178A, 178B, 178C, or 178D may be configured to activate independently of the induction heating coils 148A, 148B, 148C, or 148D of the corresponding cooking region 178A, 178B, 178C, or 178D.
This written description uses examples to disclose the invention, including the best mode, and also to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the invention, including making and using any devices or systems and performing any incorporated methods. The patentable scope of the invention is defined by the claims, and may include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they include structural elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or if they include equivalent structural elements with insubstantial differences from the literal languages of the claims.
The present application is the National Stage Entry of and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 371 to PCT Application Serial No. PCT/CN2020/09084 filed May 18, 2020 and entitled HYBRID COOKING APPLIANCE WITH MULTIPLE HEATING FEATURES, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/CN2020/090804 | 5/18/2020 | WO |
