Patent Application
20190370883
The present invention concerns a kitchen appliance for the at least partially automated processing of recipes according to the preamble of the independent device claim as well as a procedure for the purchase support of a user of a kitchen appliance.
It is well known from the state of the art that even in private households there is an increasing degree of automation in different areas of life. In particular, kitchen machines are known to support a user by at least partially automating recipes. It is well known that such kitchen machines can perform certain functions, such as heating food, depending on a user input. The integration of recipe sequences into such kitchen machines offers the advantage that recipes can be individually tailored to the conditions of the kitchen machine and/or the user. It is desirable to continue to support the user in other areas of life related to cooking.
From DE 10 2012 217 004 A1, for example, it is known that you can select a menu on a smartphone and use the menu to create a purchasing list. The menu is then transferred to a cooking device. When planning the purchasing list, however, data from the cooking appliance is not available, since this is carried out externally. In addition, the purchasing list creation function is only available via an external provisioning service, which requires the user to log in, install additional software and/or take other actions. It is therefore desirable to be able to make such functions available to the user when the kitchen appliance is put into operation.
It is therefore a task of the present invention to at least partially eliminate the disadvantages known from the referenced state of the art. In particular, one of the tasks of the present invention is to enable a user to obtain extended support in other areas of life with regard to the preparation of food, in particular by facilitating access to such functions for the user, preferably by putting a kitchen appliance into operation.
The preceding task is solved by a kitchen appliance with the features of claim 1 and a procedure with the features of claim 11. Further features and details of the invention result from the description, the dependent claims and the drawings. Features and details which have been described in connection with the kitchen appliance in accordance with the invention naturally also apply in connection with the procedure in accordance with the invention and vice versa in each case, so that with regard to the disclosure of the individual aspects of the invention, reference is or can always be made to each other.
According to the invention, the kitchen appliance for at least partially automated processing of recipes has a functional unit for processing ingredients when processing recipes. The kitchen appliance further comprises a user interface for detecting a user input and an integrated control unit, by means of which at least one recipe can be selected as a function of the user input and the electrical functional unit can be activated. The integrated control unit is designed in such a way that a recipe-specific list of ingredients for at least one recipe can be determined and made available to an external receiving device in a purchasing list via a device interface connected to the integrated control unit.
In particular, the kitchen appliance is a food processor for preparing food. The electrical functional unit preferably comprises an electrically driven agitator for mixing ingredients and/or an electrical heating element for heating ingredients. The functional unit can therefore be used to automate some or all of the steps involved in processing the recipes. To capture the user input, the user interface may preferably comprise a display unit, in particular a touch display, and/or a rotary knob. This means that at least one recipe from a recipe collection (which can also be extended, see below) can be selected by user input using the user interface. The external receiving device may preferably comprise a mobile device such as a smartphone, tablet and/or the like. Furthermore, it is conceivable that the external receiving device may comprise a server on which the purchasing list is stored. It is also conceivable that a mobile device is indirectly in communication with the control unit by first sending the purchasing list data to a server, which in turn makes the data available to the mobile device. Furthermore, the external receiving device can include a printer which can be connected to the kitchen appliance, e.g. via the external appliance interface, so that the purchasing list can be printed out immediately and the user can conveniently carry the purchasing list with him. The printer can advantageously be a wired printer that can be connected to the kitchen appliance via USB, for example, ensuring fast and secure data transfer. Alternatively, it can be a wirelessly communicating printer, i.e. with a WLAN interface or the like, which therefore does not have to be located directly in the vicinity of the kitchen appliance. Preferably, the printer can be connected to the appliance interface of the kitchen appliance via a network. The device interface may include an interface for wireless and/or wired communication. In particular, the device interface may have a USB interface, network interface, in particular LAN or WLAN interface, mobile radio interface, in particular LTE interface, Bluetooth interface and/or the like.
The integrated control unit is in particular a control unit integrated into the kitchen appliance. It is conceivable that the integrated control unit is designed at least in part as an embedded system, i.e. in particular as an embedded system, in particular whereby the integrated control unit may have a circuit in order to fulfil the intended functions. To determine the recipe-specific ingredients list and make it available in the purchasing list via the device interface of the external receiving device, the integrated control unit preferably has an interface to a memory unit or a memory unit. The recipe-specific ingredient list, the purchasing list and/or the recipe can be stored temporarily in the memory unit. Furthermore, the integrated control unit preferably has a processor which is designed to feed a program sequence for determining the recipe-specific list of ingredients, in particular by analysing the recipe.
The purchasing list may preferably include the list of ingredients and/or be formed from the list of ingredients. It is therefore conceivable that the purchasing list can be supplemented by the user so that, in addition to the ingredients of the recipe-specific ingredient list, further ingredients can be added to the purchasing list manually or automatically. In addition, the purchasing list may include, for example, a sorting of ingredients to help a user find his way around the supermarket.
Thus, the invented kitchen appliance creates a kitchen appliance which, by integrating the control unit, forms a unit easily accessible to the user in order to create the purchasing list. For example, it is not necessary for the user to create the purchasing list on an external device, although it is possible to transfer the purchasing list to such a device in order to conveniently take the purchasing list with him for shopping. With the commissioning of the kitchen appliance, the user can thus also access the function of creating the purchasing list—without detours or additional effort—whereby, in particular, device-specific data is available in a simple manner without the need to exchange data with a server. In particular, device-specific user data, environmental data and/or the like can be taken into account when creating the list of ingredients and/or the purchasing list.
It is also conceivable for a kitchen appliance according to the invention, that the purchasing list can be created by the integrated control unit as a function of the predetermined packaging sizes of the ingredients. Preferably, the packaging sizes can be obtained automatically via the device interface. It is conceivable, that sales points in the vicinity can be identified by determining the location and that common or actually existing packaging sizes can be called up in the sales points. The given packaging sizes can in particular be understood as common packaging sizes which are offered in supermarkets or ordering services. In particular, the specified packaging sizes can also be individual packaging sizes, which are specified by the user or can be obtained from local suppliers via the external device interface. By the given packaging sizes the user automatically finds an orientation, by which he can be further supported in the supermarket and thus further parts of his purchase planning can be relieved. In addition, a specification of packaging sizes can, for example, simplify or even enable automatic ordering of ingredients. In addition, when the purchasing list is made available, the user is already given an overview of how many ingredients he may have to buy too much due to minimum packaging sizes, so that he can take this into account when planning his further meals.
Preferably, for a kitchen appliance according to the invention, it may be possible to bring a memory unit into communication connection with the integrated control unit, in which at least the selected recipe, a predefined recipe collection and/or the purchasing list can be stored. This allows, for example, several recipes to be selected one after the other and/or simultaneously and at least temporarily stored in the memory unit. The predefined recipe collection can already be stored in the memory unit in particular, so that in particular it is permanently available for the user. In particular, the integrated control unit may be in communication with the memory unit. The memory unit can be an integrated memory unit or a memory unit connected to the kitchen appliance. For example, it is conceivable that the memory unit could be connected to the kitchen appliance as a USB stick or SD card or the like. This allows the memory unit to be interchangeable, for example to allow alternative and/or extended recipe collection even after the kitchen appliance has been put into service. Intermediate storage of the purchasing list in the memory unit can, for example, enable the purchasing list to be continued at a later point in time and thus to be supplemented with ingredients for further recipes. So it is conceivable that the purchasing list is called up on a certain weekday when the user goes shopping. Furthermore, it is conceivable that the memory unit is part of an external server which can be connected to the integrated control unit via the device interface. This means that storage space can be swapped out. Furthermore, the provision of a server for the provision of recipes can simplify, for example, the expansion of the recipe collection.
The invention may also provide that the user interface includes a display unit through which the recipe collection and/or the recipe-specific ingredients list and/or the purchasing list can be displayed. In particular, the display can be provided in several sub-segments. This allows the user to check the recipe-specific ingredients list and the purchasing list on the device before it is transferred to the external receiving device in the finished state. In particular, it may be provided that the display unit is designed as a touch display and that the purchasing list and/or the recipe-specific list of ingredients can be edited by the user via the display unit. For example, the user can delete ingredients from the purchasing list at the device if they already have them in stock and/or add further ingredients.
Preferably, for a kitchen appliance according to the invention, it can be provided that at least two recipes can be selected via the user interface, it being possible for a recipe-specific list of ingredients to be determined in each case for each recipe by means of the integrated control unit, it being possible for each recipe-specific list of ingredients to be processed in a separate purchasing list by means of the integrated control unit and/or the recipe-specific lists of ingredients to be combined in the purchasing list by means of the integrated control unit. If a single purchasing list is provided for ingredient lists of several recipes, this has the advantage that the user has a quick overview of how much of each ingredient he has to buy for the entire need for a single purchase. This means that the purchasing list can contain the sum of the ingredients of several recipes or several recipe-specific ingredient lists. In particular, different packaging sizes can also be taken into account, so that, for example, a larger package of a single ingredient can be sufficient to cover the need for two or more recipes. Two separate purchasing lists in turn have the advantage that the user can comfortably decide in the supermarket whether he already wants to do the shopping for a certain recipe or only wants to buy for another recipe and wants to continue the shopping for the first recipe at a later time.
Preferably, the integrated control unit of a kitchen appliance according to the invention can be designed to interpret the selected recipe in such a way that the recipe-specific ingredient list of the selected recipe can be extracted. The interpretation can thus include a text-based analysis of the recipe, whereby the recipe is broken down into individual areas and/or individual words and, for example, the naming of the ingredients can be recognised using a lexicon or a predefined library and assigned to a required quantity. It is also conceivable that the recipe may have metadata that provide the recipe-specific list of ingredients, so that only this metadata is read. Furthermore, it is conceivable that the recipe may include instructions to the user and/or the kitchen appliance which are interpreted by the integrated control unit with regard to the ingredients. Such instructions may include control commands from the kitchen appliance and/or text and/or voice output to the user. This means that the recipes can be easily designed. Furthermore, it may not be necessary for the recipe to be specially prepared for the purchasing list function. Rather, easily created standard recipes can also be used for this function.
In the context of the invention it is also conceivable that the integrated control unit is designed to store a recipe history in the memory unit, wherein the recipe history comprises previously selected recipes and a need for ingredients from the recipe-specific list of ingredients for the purchasing list can be determined by the integrated control unit as a function of the recipe history, in particular on the basis of previously carried out recipes. The recipe history can therefore include previously selected recipes, in particular recipes executed previously. So it is conceivable that the user selects different recipes and these are stored in the recipe history. The display can thus be prioritized, in particular by the integrated control unit, whereby the previously selected recipes of the recipe history are visually highlighted and/or displayed separately from other recipes. Furthermore, the recipe history can include previously performed recipes, so that on the one hand the user behaviour can be traceable on the basis of the recipe history and on the other hand a stock of the user can be determined on the basis of the recipe history. If, for example, the user has already created a purchasing list based on selected recipes, it can be planned that he processes these and that the processing is saved as existing stocks, in particular in the memory unit. If he finally executes the corresponding recipe, a residual stock can be determined, particularly depending on the packaging sizes purchased, which is reflected in the recipe history. The existing ingredients can be used accordingly for newly selected recipes and are preferably not transferred from the recipe-specific ingredients list to the purchasing list. This can significantly increase the efficiency of the use of purchases.
The invention may also provide that the integrated control unit can bring the selected recipe into a deactivated state and only transfer it into an activated state if the integrated control unit receives confirmation of at least partial processing of the purchasing list. In the deactivated state, a recipe may preferably not be executable for a user and/or at least be marked as deactivated. In the activated state, a recipe can preferably be executable for a user and/or at least marked as activated. For example, activated recipes for which the required ingredients are available can be prioritized and displayed to the user. This allows the kitchen appliance to provide the user with an overview of which recipes he can execute at all, thus avoiding a false start of a recipe in which a certain ingredient is not found to be missing until a later cooking step.
Furthermore, in the case of an inventive kitchen appliance, it may be provided that the integrated control unit is designed to automatically convert a unit of measurement of ingredients of the selected recipe as a function of a region for the purchasing list, in particular the region being automatically identifiable by the integrated control unit. The automatic determination of the region can be carried out via the device interface, for example via the IP address. In addition or alternatively a position determination unit can be provided, which can include for example a GPS sensor for the determination of the location data of the kitchen appliance. The unit of measurement can preferably be a unit of measure and/or a unit of weight. Thus it is conceivable that the region “Germany” is determined and the units of measurement of the ingredients, in particular in the purchasing list, are represented in SI units and/or locally usual shopping sizes. If the region “Great Britain” is selected, the integrated control unit can automatically convert it into an Anglo-American measurement system. In addition to or as an alternative to the automatic determination of the region, it may be provided that the region is preset and/or can be preset by the user.
It is also conceivable that the integrated control unit is designed to trigger an order automatically by sending at least part of the purchasing list via the appliance interface. For example, an external service can be notified by the kitchen appliance about the part of the purchasing list that has been sent, so that an order is placed automatically. Thus it can be sufficient for the user to select certain recipes for which the ingredients are automatically ordered and delivered. This can further improve the ease of access to this function of the kitchen appliance as well as the comfort for the user.
According to a further aspect of the invention, a procedure is claimed for the purchase support of a user of a kitchen appliance, in particular a kitchen appliance conforming to the invention. The procedure comprises the following steps:
Thus, the method according to the invention has the same advantages as described in detail with regard to a kitchen appliance according to the invention. The recording of the user input can preferably be carried out via a user interface of the kitchen appliance. Furthermore, the determination of the selected recipe and the recipe-specific list of ingredients can also be carried out by the integrated control unit. The purchasing list is preferably sent via an interface connected to the integrated control unit. This means that the user's purchasing support can already be accessible to the user when the kitchen appliance is put into operation, in particular without the user having to carry out a data comparison with a server and/or his profile. Furthermore it finds the function in the kitchen appliance and thus in a central place. By sending the purchasing list, the purchasing list can also be made available to the user in a convenient manner.
In the context of the invention, it is also conceivable that the procedure may include the following step:
Storage can preferably take place in a memory unit and be temporary or permanent. This ensures later access to the respective data. This may, for example, allow several recipes to be selected one after the other or the list of ingredients and/or the purchasing list to be changed subsequently.
In the case of an inventive method, it may also be provided that the determination of the recipe-specific list of ingredients includes an interpretation of the recipe by the integrated control unit so that the recipe-specific list of ingredients of the selected recipe is extracted. For example, individual text modules of the recipe can be separated and assigned to the recipe-specific ingredient list. For this purpose, for example, the individual building blocks of the recipe can be identified, which can preferably be text-based. Extraction may be based on instructions from the recipe, in particular audiovisual instructions and/or text-based instructions. This means, for example, that it may not be necessary for the recipes to be specially prepared for the purchasing list function.
Furthermore, an inventive method may provide that at least two recipes selected by the user are determined on the basis of one or more user inputs and that a recipe-specific list of ingredients is determined for each recipe selected, whereby a separate purchasing list is created for each recipe-specific list of ingredients or the recipe-specific lists of ingredients are merged in the purchasing list. This allows a single purchasing list to be used by the user for purchasing to cover multiple recipes by purchasing. Alternatively, a separate purchasing list can be provided for each recipe in order to differentiate between the recipes in the supermarket, for example.
In the context of the invention, it is also conceivable that the procedure may include the following steps:
The recipe history can be saved, for example, whenever a new recipe is selected and/or executed by the user. Thus, the recipe history, especially in combination with the user's previous shopping behaviour, can be used to determine the need for the ingredients. This means, for example, that stocks can be deducted from the recipe-specific ingredient lists of newly selected recipes in order to keep the purchasing list up-to-date. This can result in an efficient use of ingredients and/or shopping time.
It is also conceivable that a procedure according to the invention includes the following step:
Preferably, in the case of a process according to the invention, the process may include the following step:
Preferably, the entire purchasing list can be sent to an external service for automatic triggering of the order. In particular, a confirmation from the user that the order is to be triggered can be obtained beforehand. This means that the user can be supported in his purchasing behaviour by further automation, especially if the order results in a delivery service delivering the required ingredients.
The invention may also provide for the procedure to include the following step:
Thus the confirmation of the at least partial processing of the purchasing list may preferably be required in order to start the automatic cooking operation manually. The automatic cooking operation can include the specification of individual recipe steps to be carried out by the kitchen appliance. Furthermore, the automatic cooking operation can include the setting of certain operating parameters for the next cooking section, which is merely started by the user, for example via the user interface. This makes it easy to integrate purchasing into the cooking operation so that the user at least receives a warning if not all ingredients have been purchased and/or registered. For example, the confirmation can be done automatically when the purchasing list is finished, or manually by displaying a warning to the user when the user wants to start cooking but not all purchases are registered.
The process steps described above can be carried out in any order or in the order described. In particular, individual steps or all process steps can be repeated.
Further advantages, features and details of the invention result from the following description, in which examples of the execution of the invention are described in detail with reference to the drawings. Features mentioned in the claims and in the description may be essential to the invention either individually or in any combination.
In the following figures, the identical reference signs are used for the same technical characteristics, even for different execution examples.
Preferably, the selected recipes 10, the recipe-specific lists of ingredients 20 and/or the purchasing list 30 can be made available for a later time by storing 105 in a memory unit 7. Then a sending 108 to an external receiving device 9 of the purchasing list 30 can be performed to make the purchasing list 30 available to the user. For example, the external receiving device may include a smartphone, a tablet, a server, a computer, or the like. In particular, sending 108 of the purchasing list 30 may include triggering of an order 108.1, whereby the purchasing list 30 may be sent at least in part to a delivery service to enable the user to place the order automatically. By automatic ordering and/or manual user input 101.1, it is also possible to confirm 109 that the purchasing list 30 has been processed, which may preferably be necessary for automatic cooking of a recipe 10. When performing 110 one of the recipes 10, a saving 106 of this status can be noted in the recipe history 41, so that the need 22 can be updated according to the consumed ingredients 11. In this example, the purchasing list 30 is represented as a single purchasing list, whereby it is additionally or alternatively also conceivable that a single purchasing list is created for each recipe 10, so that the user can access different purchasing lists for individual recipes. Furthermore, it is conceivable that the method 100 shown in
The preceding explanation of the forms of execution describes the present invention exclusively in the context of examples. Of course, individual features of the design forms can be freely combined with each other, if technically reasonable, without leaving the scope of the present invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18176152.9 | Jun 2018 | EP | regional |
