The present invention relates to a heater, and more particularly to an intelligent heater. The present invention also relates to a temperature measuring device for use with the intelligent heater.
Nowadays, a variety of cooking utensils such as gas stoves, infrared oven, microwave oven and electric stove are widely used to cook food. Different cooking utensils have their advantages or disadvantages. Depending on the food to be cooked, a desired cooking utensil is selected.
Take an induction cooking stove for example. When a current flows through the induction coil of the induction cooking stove, electromagnetic induction is performed to produce eddy current, thereby heating a foodstuff container. By adjusting the electricity quantity to the induction coil, the heat quantity supplied to the induction coil is controllable. As known, depending on the kinds and ingredients of the foodstuffs, the heat quantity and the heating time required for heating different foodstuff containers are usually different. By undue experiments, the user may realize optimal cooking data associated with different foodstuffs. The cooking data include the heat quantity and the heating time required for heating the foodstuff container and a sequence of placing ingredients of a foodstuff into the foodstuff container. If the user forgets the cooking data, the user may fail to cook a delicious food.
Furthermore, the conventional induction cooking stove has a function of measuring a temperature of the foodstuff container. Since the temperature of the foodstuff contained in the foodstuff container fails to be measured, the heat quantity and the heating time required for heating the foodstuff container are empirically determined. For achieving the optimal cooking data, the user may place a thermometer into the foodstuff container to be in contact with the foodstuff in order to measure the foodstuff temperature. According to the foodstuff temperature, the heat quantity and the heating time required for heating the foodstuff container could be determined more reliably. As known, some kinds of foodstuffs need to be cooked at a specified temperature in order to produce delicacy taste. In other words, the actual foodstuff temperature is an important factor for cooking such foodstuffs. Even if a thermometer is used to measure the foodstuff temperature, the user needs to continuously adjust the heat quantity for heating the foodstuff container. A too long or too short heating time fails to produce the delicacy taste.
There is a need of providing an intelligent heater so as to obviate the drawbacks encountered from the prior art.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an intelligent heater for adaptively adjusting the heat quantity and the heating time according to different foodstuffs or foods.
Another object of the present invention provides an intelligent heater for sharing cooking data with an external electronic device.
A further object of the present invention provides temperature measuring device for use with an intelligent heater to measure a foodstuff temperature, so that the foodstuff temperature could be transmitted to the intelligent heater in real time.
In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an intelligent heater for heating a first foodstuff container. The intelligent heater includes a first induction coil, a control panel, a power supply unit, a storage unit, a data transmission interface, and a controlling unit. The control panel includes an input unit for inputting, adding, amending, deleting or refreshing a cooking data and a display unit for showing an operating condition of the intelligent heater. The power supply unit is connected with the first induction coil for providing a first power to the first induction coil. The storage unit is used for storing the cooking data. The data transmission interface is used for transmitting the cooking data. The controlling unit is connected to the control panel, the power supply unit, the storage unit and the data transmission interface for controlling the power supply unit to provide an electricity quantity of the first power to the first induction coil according to the cooking data, so that a heat quantity and a heating time required for heating the first foodstuff container are adaptively adjusted.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a temperature measuring device for use with an intelligent heater. The temperature measuring device includes a temperature detecting unit, a signal processing unit, and a temperature data transmission interface. The temperature detecting unit is used for issuing a temperature signal according to a temperature change. The signal processing unit is connected to the temperature detecting unit for controlling operations of the temperature measuring device. According to the temperature signal, the signal processing unit issues a temperature data. The temperature data is transmitted to the intelligent heater through the temperature data transmission interface in real time.
The above contents of the present invention will become more readily apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art after reviewing the following detailed description and accompanying drawings, in which:
The present invention will now be described more specifically with reference to the following embodiments. It is to be noted that the following descriptions of preferred embodiments of this invention are presented herein for purpose of illustration and description only. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to be limited to the precise form disclosed.
The control panel 12 is disposed on the outer surface of the intelligent heater 1 and connected to the controlling unit 14. The control panel 12 comprises an input unit 121 and a display unit 122. Via the input unit 121, the user could input the cooking data. The display unit 122 is used for displaying the operating condition of the intelligent heater 1. The power supply unit 13 is connected to the first induction coil 11a, the second induction coil 11b and the controlling unit 14 for providing a first power W1 and a second power W2 to the first induction coil 11a and the second induction coil 11b, respectively. As such, the first foodstuff container 2a and the second foodstuff container 2b are respectively heated by the first induction coil 11a and the second induction coil 11b. The controlling unit 14 is connected to the control panel 12, the power supply unit 13, the storage unit 15 and the data transmission interface 16. According to the cooking data stored in the storage unit 15, the voltage values or the frequency values of the first power W1 and the second power W2 are controlled by the controlling unit 14. As a consequence, the intelligent heater 1 could automatically adjust the heat quantity and the heating time required for heating the first foodstuff container 2a and the second foodstuff container 2b. The data transmission interface 16 is connected to the controlling unit 14. Via the controlling unit 14, the intelligent heater 1 and the external electronic device (not shown) exchange data between each other.
The storage unit 15 of the intelligent heater 1 is used for storing cooking data, for example the heat quantity and the heating time required for heating various foodstuff containers with respect to different foodstuffs or foods. For cooking foodstuffs or foods, the user could select a desired cooking item through the input unit 121 of the control panel 12. After the desired cooking item is selected, the voltage values or the frequency values of the first power W1 and the second power W2 that are provided by the power supply unit 13 are controlled according to the cooking data under control of the controlling unit 14. In other words, according to the cooking data, the intelligent heater 1 will automatically adjust the heat quantity and the heating time required for heating the first foodstuff container 2a and the second foodstuff container 2b.
By operating the control panel 12, a first signal K1 is transmitted to the controlling unit 14. According to the first signal K1, the controlling unit 14 issues a second signal K2 to the power supply unit 13. In a case that the user input a data through the input unit 121 of the control panel 12, the status of the first signal K1 is changed and thus the input data is transmitted to the controlling unit 14. Furthermore, by changing the status of the first signal K1, the display data could be transmitted to the display unit 122 of the control panel 12, so that the operating condition of the intelligent heater 1 is shown on the display unit 122. By changing the status of the second signal K2, the controlling unit 14 could control the voltage values or the frequency values of the first power W1 and the second power W2. As such, since the electricity quantity provided by the power supply unit 13 to the first induction coil 11a and the second induction coil 11b is controlled, the intelligent heater 1 will automatically adjust the heat quantity and the heating time required for heating the first foodstuff container 2a and the second foodstuff container 2b. Furthermore, according to status of the second signal K2, the controlling unit 14 could realize the operating data of the power supply unit 13 (e.g. the voltage values or the frequency values of the first power W1 and the second power W2).
An example of the controlling unit 14 of the intelligent heater 1 includes but is not limited to a pulse frequency modulation (PFM) controller or a digital signal processor (DSP). In an embodiment, the power supply unit 13 is an AC-to-AC converting circuit. The voltage and frequency of an input AC voltage Vin (i.e. input power) is subject to conversion by the power supply unit 13, so that the power supply unit 13 provides the first power W1 and the second power W2 to the first induction coil 11a and the second induction coil 11b, respectively. Since the electricity quantity inputted into the first induction coil 11a is in reverse proportion to a first frequency f1 of the first power W1 and the electricity quantity inputted into the second induction coil 11b is in reverse proportion to a second frequency f2 of the second power W2, the electricity quantity outputted from the power supply unit 13 to the first induction coil 11a and the second induction coil 11b could be adjusted by controlling the voltage values or the frequency values of the first power W1 and the second power W2. Accordingly, the heat quantity to be outputted from the first induction coil 11a and the second induction coil 11b to the first foodstuff container 2a and the second foodstuff container 2b is adjustable.
In this embodiment, the input unit 121 of the intelligent heater 1 is for example a button-type operating element or a rotary operating element. The display unit 122 of the intelligent heater 1 is for example a liquid crystal display (LCD) or an indicator lamp. In some embodiments, the input unit 121 and the display unit 122 are integrated into a touch panel. In this embodiment, the first induction coil 11a and the second induction coil 11b of the intelligent heater 1 are used to heat the first foodstuff container 2a and the second foodstuff container 2b, respectively. In some embodiments, the first induction coil 11a and the second induction coil 11b are used to simultaneously heat a single larger foodstuff container (not shown). Hereinafter, the first foodstuff container 2a and the second foodstuff container 2b respectively heated by the first induction coil 11a and the second induction coil 11b will be illustrated in more details.
In this embodiment, the ingredients of the foodstuff (i.e. 300 grams of adzuki beans and appropriate amount of water) are placed in the first foodstuff container 2a before the first time spot t1. During the automatic cooking process, the controlling unit 14 could control the heat quantity and the heating time for heating the first foodstuff container 2a.
In a case that the thermal properties of different ingredients of the foodstuff are considerably different, some ingredients are suitably placed in the foodstuff container before the first time spot t1 but some other ingredients are suitably placed in the foodstuff container during the cooking process.
After the first foodstuff container 2a has been heated with the first electricity quantity P1 for a first time interval Ta1, the controlling unit 14 controls the display unit 122 of the control panel 12 to indicate a second prompt message “please place a second ingredient of the foodstuff” according to the cooking item (at the second time spot t2). After the second ingredient of the foodstuff (e.g. 600 grams of pork and water) is placed in the first foodstuff container 2a, the controlling unit 14 controls the power supply unit 13 to provide a second electricity quantity P2 to the first induction coil 11a. Corresponding to the second electricity quantity P2, the first induction coil 11a provides a second heat quantity to heat the first foodstuff container 2a.
After the first foodstuff container 2a has been heated with the second heat quantity for a second time interval Ta2, the water contained in the first foodstuff container 2a is boiled to 100° C. (at the third time spot t3). Meanwhile, the controlling unit 14 controls the power supply unit 13 to provide a third electricity quantity P3 to the first induction coil 11a according to the cooking item. Corresponding to the third electricity quantity P3, the first induction coil 11a provides a third heat quantity to heat the first foodstuff container 2a. After the first foodstuff container 2a has been heated with the third electricity quantity P3 for a third time interval Ta3, the cooking process is finished (at the fourth time spot t4). Meanwhile, the controlling unit 14 controls the power supply unit 13 to stop providing electricity to the first induction coil 11a.
From the above description, the cooking data are classified according to the cooking item. The cooking data usually include the heat quantity required for performing the cooking process, the heating time, the sequence of placing the ingredients of the foodstuff into the foodstuff container, or the like. According to the selected cooking item, the controlling unit 14 will adaptively adjust the heat quantity and the heating time. In a case that a cooking item related to the foodstuff or food to be cooked is not included in the cooking data which are stored in the storage unit 15, the user may add the heat quantity and the heating time related to the foodstuff or food via the data transmission interface 16. Alternatively, the automatic cooking function may be disabled. In other words, the user may manually adjust the heat quantity and the heating time of the first induction coil 11a and/or the second induction coil 11b.
During the manual cooking process, the cooking item related to the foodstuff or food to be cooked and the heat quantity and the heating time corresponding to the cooking item will be automatically recorded into the cooking data. In some embodiments, the new cooking item could be inputted via the input unit 121 of the control panel 12, and the heat quantity and the heating time corresponding to the cooking item could be automatically stored in the storage unit 15 under control of the controlling unit 14. In an automatic recording mode of the intelligent heater 1, the user needs to carefully adjust the heat quantity by continuously monitoring the change of the foodstuff. Whereas, in the manual cooking mode of the intelligent heater 1, the controlling unit 14 will automatically record the heating time corresponding to the cooking item into the cooking data. Moreover, via the input unit 121 of the control panel 12, the user could edit, amend or add the contents of the cooking data, so that the heat quantity and the heating time become more feasible.
In this embodiment, the data transmission interface 16 is a bidirectional transmission interface. Through the data transmission interface 16, the added or amended cooking item included in the cooking data could be shared with an external electronic device. For example, the cooking data stored in the storage unit 15 could be directly transmitted from this intelligent heater 1 to the storage unit of another intelligent heater through the data transmission interface 16. Alternatively, the cooking data stored in the storage unit 15 could be transmitted from this intelligent heater 1 to a portable storage device such as a portable hard disk, a USB disk or a SD memory card. An example of the data transmission interface 16 includes but is not limited to a USB (universal serial bus) interface, a Bluetooth interface or an Ethernet interface.
From the above discussion, it is found that the contents of the cooking data could be added, amended, deleted or refreshed via the data transmission interface 16 as well as the input unit 121 of the control panel 12.
After the temperature measuring device 3 is activated by triggering the input unit 331 of the control panel 33, the temperature detecting unit 31 issues a temperature signal to the signal processing unit 32. By calculating the temperature signal, the signal processing unit 32 generates a corresponding temperature data. The temperature data could be directly shown on the display unit 332 of the control panel 33. Furthermore, the temperature data could be transmitted to an external electronic device 4 through the temperature data transmission interface 34. An example of the external electronic device 4 is the intelligent heater 1 of the present invention. An example of the temperature data transmission interface 34 includes but is not limited to a USB (universal serial bus) interface, a Bluetooth interface or an Ethernet interface.
The temperature data could be transmitted to an external electronic device 4 through the temperature data transmission interface 34 in a wired or wireless transmission manner. For example, in a case that the temperature data transmission interface 34 is a USB interface, the temperature data transmission interface 34 is connected with the external electronic device 4 through a transmission wire (not shown), so that the measured temperature data could be transmitted from the temperature data transmission interface 34 to the external electronic device 4 in real time. When the temperature measuring device 3 is applied to the intelligent device 1 of the present invention, the temperature measuring device is in direct contact with the foodstuff that is placed in the first foodstuff container 2a or the second foodstuff container 2b in order to actually measure the foodstuff temperature. Moreover, when the foodstuff in the first foodstuff container 2a or the second foodstuff container 2b is be stirred by the temperature measuring device 3, the temperature data associated with the foodstuff could be transmitted to the controlling unit 14 of the intelligent heater 1 through the temperature data transmission interface 34 of the temperature measuring device 3 and the data transmission interface 16 of the intelligent heater 1. Therefore, the intelligent heater of the present invention could actually measure the foodstuff temperature and adaptively adjust the heat quantity and the heating time of for heating the first foodstuff container or the second foodstuff container according to different foodstuffs and foods.
From the above description, the intelligent heater of the present invention could adaptively adjust the heat quantity and the heating time for heating the first foodstuff container or the second foodstuff container according to different foodstuffs and foods. In an automatic recording mode of the intelligent heater, the user could carefully adjust the heat quantity by continuously monitoring the change of the foodstuff. In the manual cooking mode of the intelligent heater, the controlling unit will automatically record the heating time corresponding to the cooking item into the cooking data. The contents of the cooking data could be added, amended, deleted or refreshed via the data transmission interface as well as the input unit of the control panel. Moreover, through the data transmission interface, the added or amended cooking item included in the cook data could be shared with an external electronic device.
The temperature measuring device of the present invention is capable of measuring temperature and transmitting the temperature data to an external electronic device (e.g. the intelligent heater of the present invention). When the temperature measuring device is applied to the intelligent heater, the temperature measuring device is contacted with the foodstuff that is placed in the first foodstuff container or the second foodstuff container, so that the temperature data associated with the foodstuff could be transmitted to the intelligent heater in real time. According to the temperature data, the intelligent heater could adaptively adjust the heat quantity and the heating time required for heating the first foodstuff container or the second foodstuff container.
While the invention has been described in terms of what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention needs not be limited to the disclosed embodiment. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims which are to be accorded with the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar structures.
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