OPERATING SYSTEM FOR A COOKING APPLIANCE

Abstract

A cooking appliance, system, and method use one or more split-surface-area radiative heating elements and may also use one or more additional heating elements, such as microwave and convection heating elements, to heat or cook food. The radiative heating elements are used in a cooking chamber having an improved geometry. A controller includes features to adaptively learn and adjust cooking recipes based on modifications and user ratings of a particular cooking recipe or based on learning in response to analysis of modifications and user ratings of plural cooking recipes. The controller may learn from ratings of other users of similar cooking appliances via a network connection.

Description

BACKGROUND

Various appliances are available for heating and cooking food. For example, toasters and toaster ovens typically use fixed heating elements such as metal wires, ribbons, strips, and coils that convert electricity into heat. Typically, these appliances rely on a timer that regulates the amount of time that a food item is to be cooked and/or toasted. These cooking appliances typically require that a user periodically check food that is being cooked, or learn from past cooking experiences, to determine when food has been properly cooked and is ready to be served. For example, there are a number of variables to be considered when cooking food such as, for example, the power of the heating elements of the cooking appliance, the type of food, including the size, thickness, density, humidity content, and temperature of the food, can all affect cooking times.

The difficulty in estimating an appropriate amount of time for cooking food may result in the food being burnt, or alternatively, not being sufficiently cooked according to a user's preference. Thus, there is a need for an improved cooking appliance that intelligently determines when food has been properly cooked such that based on the food selected for cooking, the appliance will have the intelligence to determine how best to cook the food based on user choices of desired doneness.

SUMMARY

In general terms, this disclosure is directed to a cooking appliance, system, and method for cooking food. In some embodiments, and by non-limiting example, an appliance, system and method offer a simple, flexible, and intelligent cooking experience. Advanced control technology allows the appliance to optimize cooking based on internal and/or external sources of information, such that internally, the appliance has embedded recipes (formulas/intelligence) for optimizing the quality cooking food, and externally, the appliance has the ability to reach out to cloud based networks having consumer based cooking intelligence for optimizing the quality cooking food.

In some aspects, an appliance, system and method may employ one or more split-surface-area heating elements. The appliance, system and methods may also implement one or more additional cooking sources to heat or cook food, such as microwave, free convection, or forced convection. A controller may be employed that may include features to adaptively learn and adjust cooking recipes based on specific modifications and user ratings of a particular cooking recipe or based on learning in response to analysis of modifications and user ratings of plural cooking recipes. The controller may learn from ratings of other users of similar cooking appliances, such as via a network connection. The split-surface area heating elements may be used in an appliance with an improved chamber geometry for more even and higher temperature application of infrared energy to the food and for uniform microwave energy density.

In one aspect, the disclosed technology relates to a cooking appliance comprising: a housing defining a cooking cavity; one or more heating elements positioned inside the cooking cavity; and a controller for controlling the one or more heating elements, the controller including: a processor and a memory, the memory adapted to receive and store instructions that when performed by the processor cause the one or more heating elements to perform one or more recipes for cooking food inside the cooking cavity. The one or more recipes include parameters for selecting one or more heating elements within the cooking cavity, a sequence of heat intensity and duration, and a total cooking time.

In some examples, the cooking appliance includes a user interface for receiving inputs including food type and brand, and the controller provides a list of suggested recipes based on the food type and brand. In some examples, the parameters of the one or more recipes include starting time, relative starting time, intensity and duration of one or more primary heating elements, intensity and duration of one or more secondary heating elements, and spacing of the primary or secondary heating elements from the food.

In some examples, the one or more recipes are stored locally within a nonvolatile memory of the cooking appliance. In some examples, the one or more recipes are received from a server accessible over a network. In some examples, the cooking appliance is adapted to receive a suggested recipe from a portable electronic device or personal computer. In some examples, the cooking appliance is adapted to adjust a selected recipe before or after starting the recipe for cooking food, rating the recipe, and storing the recipe for later identification. In some examples, the cooking appliance is adapted to receive a rating of a recipe after a cooking operation has been completed, and the controller is adapted to suggest another recipe based on the rating.

In some examples, the controller includes a learning feature that incorporate iterative optimization of the one or more recipes. In some examples, the controller adjusts the one or more recipes in response detecting a trend of adjustments made by the cooking appliance when implementing the one or more recipes.

In one aspect, the one or more heating elements include radiative heating elements comprising: first and second terminals; and one or more heating element segments extending between the first and second terminals, each heating element segment having a plurality of cutouts linked together, each cutout having an elliptical shape; wherein the first and second terminals and the one or more heating element segments are a continuous sheet of material, and the one or more heating element segments generate infrared radiation when a voltage is applied across the first and second terminals.

In one aspect, the cooking appliance is a toaster, and the cooking cavity includes one or more bread slots.

In another aspect, the cooking appliance is a toaster oven, and further comprises a door for accessing and closing the cooking cavity. In this aspect, the cooking cavity may have an optimized width-to-height ratio range of about 1.75:1 to about 2:1. Also, in some examples, the cooking appliance may have a microwave or convection heating mechanism.

In another aspect, the disclosed technology relates to a method of optimizing the performance of a cooking appliance, the method comprising: receiving an identification of a food item; generating an ordered list of suggested recipes for cooking the identified food item, the ordered list of suggested recipes being based on a weighted score, each suggested recipe including parameters for selecting one or more heating elements of the cooking appliance, a sequence of heat intensity and duration, and a total cooking time; receiving a selected recipe; monitoring adjustments made to the selected recipe before, during, or after the implementation of the selected recipe; and updating the selected recipe based on adjustments made to the selected recipe.

In some aspects, the method may further include: updating the selected recipe based on adjustments made before, during, or after the implementation of the selected recipe by users of other cooking appliances.

In some examples, the step of generating the ordered list of suggested recipes includes filtering the ordered list of suggested recipes based on brand, food type, ingredients, and whether frozen or unfrozen.

In some aspects, the method may further include: determining the weighted score based on ratings provided by users of other cooking appliances and a number of users who have rated the suggested recipe.

In some aspects, the heat intensity corresponds to an infrared intensity, a microwave intensity, or a convection intensity.

A variety of additional aspects will be set forth in the description that follows. The aspects can relate to individual features and to combination of features. It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the broad inventive concepts upon which the embodiments disclosed herein are based.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of an example cooking appliance in accordance with certain examples of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing an optimized cooking cavity.

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of a cooking appliance.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a radiative heating element.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example system for optimizing the performance of a cooking appliance.

FIG. 6 is a schematic illustration of an example system for optimizing the performance of a cooking appliance.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example method of optimizing the performance of a cooking appliance.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals represent like parts and assemblies throughout the several views. Reference to various embodiments does not limit the scope of the claims attached hereto. Additionally, any examples set forth in this specification are not intended to be limiting and merely set forth some of the many possible embodiments for the appended claims.

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of an example cooking appliance 100. The cooking appliance 100 includes a housing 102 that defines a cooking cavity 104. When in use, the cooking appliance 100 operates to supply energy to food arranged within the cooking cavity 104. The cooking appliance 100 can take a variety of forms, such as a toaster oven (including, for example, a pizza oven), a microwave oven, an electric grill, a contact cooker (including a contact grill or griddle), a slow cooker, or a toaster.

A heating assembly 106 is positioned inside the cooking cavity 104 and includes one or more radiative heating elements 108 for cooking food within the cooking cavity 104. A user controls touchscreen 122 can be used for controlling the operation of the cooking appliance 100. In the example of FIG. 1, the cooking appliance includes a door 120 that can be opened and closed for accessing and closing the cooking cavity 104.

The cooking appliance 100 may use the one or more radiative heating elements 108 as its primary heating mechanism. In some examples, the one or more heating elements 108 are radiative split-surface-coverage elements. Radiative heating from the one or more heating elements 108 may be combined with one or more additional heating mechanisms such as free/forced convection and microwave.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a schematic diagram of the cooking cavity 104 shows that the cooking cavity 104 is sized to increase the radiated energy transferred to the food and/or allowing optimized distance between the food and radiative heating elements 108. For example, the cooking cavity 104 includes a width W and a height H. A typical microwave oven may employ a cavity width-to-height ratio range of about 1:1 to about 1.5:1 whereas the width W and height H of the cooking cavity 104 in the cooking appliance 100 may employ a width-to-height ratio range of about 1.75:1 to about 2:1.

By reducing the height H of the cooking cavity 104 with respect to its width W, microwave heating to the food may have a more even distribution to across the food. In addition, the distance between the radiative heating elements 108 and the surface of the food is made smaller to be able to more intensely heat the food, which helps provide an accelerated cooking process. This improves heating and improves efficiency.

Reflective material 124 may line the internal surfaces of the cooking cavity 104 to reflect infrared radiation for further maximizing the radiative effectiveness of the cooking cavity 104. The radiative heating elements 108 may be positioned between the food to be cooked and the reflective surfaces 124 of the cooking cavity 104. For examples, a first radiative heating element 108a can be positioned above a reflective bottom surface of the cooking cavity 104 and a second radiative heating element 108b can be positioned below a reflective top surface of the cooking cavity 104.

The first and second radiative heating elements 108a, 108b may have a surface area that is substantially planar and arranged horizontally in the cooking cavity 104. The vertical position of one or both of the first and second radiative heating elements 108a, 108b may be adjustable to adjust the distances between the heating elements and the top and bottom surfaces of the food to be cooked.

FIG. 3 is schematic block diagram of the example cooking appliance 100. In addition to the housing 102, cooking cavity 104, the heating assembly 106, and the one or more radiative heating elements 108, the cooking appliance 100 includes an electrical control and coupling 110, and a power cable 112. In some examples, the electrical coupling and control 110 includes electrical conductors 114 (including conductors 114A and 114B) and a coupler 116. In some examples, the power cable 112 includes electrical conductors 112A and 112B and a plug 118. The cooking appliance 100 is powered by a power source such as by connecting the power cable 112 to a mains power source 90.

The one or more heating elements 108 are electrically coupled to the power cable 112, such as through an electrical control and coupling 110, and can be electrically connected to a power source such as the mains power source 90.

The cooking appliance 100 can include an electrical control and coupling 110, including conductors 114 and coupling 116. In some examples, the coupling 116 includes a switch or other control device for selectively coupling the heating assembly 106 to the power source 90, to turn on and off the heating assembly 106. In some examples, when the electrical control and coupling 110 has selectively coupled the heating assembly 106 to the power source 90, the heating assembly 106 is directly coupled to the power source through the conductors 114A and 114B and the conductors 112A and 112B of the power cable 112. In such examples, the cooking appliance 100 does not require a separate power supply including a voltage transformer or other power regulation electronics to supply the electricity from the mains power source to the heating assembly, instead electricity can be supplied directly through the conductors.

The heating assembly 106 can be selectively coupled to a power source, such as by a switch. The switch can be manually controlled by a user (e.g., by pressing a power button), or can be controlled by an electronic control system such as in a microwave oven. When coupled to the power source, the heating assembly 106 is energized. When directly coupled to a mains power source, the heating assembly 106 is energized by an alternating current signal. In North America the alternating current signal typically has a voltage of +/−120 V and a frequency of 60 hertz. In other parts of the world other signals (such as having different voltages) are used, and the heating assembly 106 can be designed to work with any appropriate mains power source, or even a DC power source such as from a battery or utilizing a power inverter. In the example discussed herein a voltage of +/−120 V is discussed for illustrative purposes.

The heating assembly 106 can have one or more radiative heating elements 108. One benefit of having multiple radiative heating elements 108 is that the heating elements may be positioned in different locations within the cooking appliance 100. For example, in a toaster there may be one heating element 108 positioned on each side of a cooking cavity so as to heat a slice of bread on each side. As another example, a toaster oven or microwave can have heating elements 108 arranged on the top and bottom of the cooking cavity such that radiative heating may be combined with one or more additional mechanisms such as free/forced convection and microwave. Other examples are possible having various numbers of heating elements arranged in various possible configurations.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a radiative heating element 108 for the cooking appliance 100 may include first and second terminals 130A, 130B that act as electrically conductive contact points. One or more heating element segments 134A-F extend between the first and second terminals 130A, 130B, each heating element segment having a plurality of cutouts 140 linked together. In certain examples, each cutout 140 has an elliptical shape. The first and second terminals 130A, 130B and the one or more heating element segments 134A-F are a continuous single sheet of material. The one or more heating element segments 134A-F generate infrared radiation when a voltage is applied across the first and second terminals 130A, 130B.

In certain examples, the radiative heating element 108 may further include one or more buses 136A-136E arranged between the first and second terminals 130A, 130B. The one or more buses 136A-136E may connect the one or more heating element segments 134A-F in a zig-zag configuration. The one or more heating element segments 134A-F are connected in series and are arranged parallel to each other. In certain examples, the heating element 108 may have a total width W1 greater than a sum of the widths W2 of the one or more heating element segments 134A-134F.

In certain examples, the radiative heating element 108 may include a first set of heating element segments having a first length L1, a second set of heating element segments having a second length L2, and a third set of heating element segments have a third length L3. The third set of heating element segments are arranged between the first and second sets of heating element segments, and the first length L1 is less than the second length L2, and the second length L2 is less than the third length L3. The first length L1, second length L2, and third length L3 define an optimized heating surface area HS_A that reduces energy waste in the cooking cavity 104, for example, when the cooking appliance 100 is a toaster. In other examples, the heating element segments 134A-F each have the same length, for example, when the cooking appliance 100 is a toaster oven.

The cutouts 140 form a cutout pattern on each heating element segments 134A-F. In certain examples, each cutout 140 includes first and second walls that are curved and that flare out in opposing directions along a vertical axis. Each cutout 140 is linked to an opposing first or second wall of an adjacent cutout.

In certain examples, the heating element 108 is a single sheet of material such that the terminals 130 (including terminals 130A and 130B), heating element segments 134 (including segments 134A-F), and buses 136 (including buses 136A-E) are all continuous with one another. Accordingly, separate elements or pieces are not used for connecting the terminals 130, heating element segments 134, and buses 136 since they are all part of the same continuous sheet of material. In certain examples, the heating element 150 is a single sheet of Resistohm 130 alloy or similar alloy material including, for example, Resistohm 145. In other examples, the heating element 150 is a single sheet of an alloy of at least nickel and chromium, known as Nichrome.

To form the terminals 130, heating element segments 134, and buses 136 as a single piece of material, a blank sheet is cut from a roll of material and is then processed. In certain examples, the blank sheet is processed using photolithography to remove unwanted portions of the sheet through an etching process, leaving only the desired features of the heating element 108. In certain examples, the photolithography process includes the steps of applying a photoresist material onto a surface of the blank sheet, aligning a photomask having an inverse pattern to that of the desired heating element 108 with the sheet and the photoresist, exposing the photoresist to ultraviolet light through the photomask, and removing the portions of the photoresist exposed to ultraviolet light. Etching is then performed to remove those portions of the sheet of material that are not protected by the remaining photoresist. The remaining photoresist is then removed leaving the heating element 108 shown in FIG. 4. In certain examples, the sheet of conductive material is etched from both sides simultaneously due to the sheet of material not being attached to a substrate during the photolithography process.

The photolithography process optimizes the structure of the heating element 108 by imparting a continuous and smooth transition between the terminals 130, heating element segments 134, and buses 136 which are all part of the same continuous sheet of material. This improves the current flow through the heating element 108, and accordingly, improves the performance of the heating element 108 so that the infrared radiation generated by heating element 108 reaches higher temperatures in less time.

When powered, electricity flows through the heating element 108 generating heat. As the temperature of the heating element rises, the heating element 108 begins to generate infrared radiation. The heating element 108 continues to generate infrared radiation until the heating assembly is disconnected from the power source. The infrared radiation is directed to the cooking cavity 104 where it operates to heat food.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example system 200 for optimizing the performance of a cooking appliance. The example system 200 includes a cooking appliance 202 and a recipe delivery server 204 that are connected over a network 206 for delivering an ordered list of suggested recipes 208 from the recipe delivery server 204 to the cooking appliance 202.

A user U may select from a user interface 210 a recipe 220 from the ordered list of suggested recipes 208 for cooking food using the cooking appliance 202. In certain examples, the user interface 210 is presented on a touch screen 212 located on the housing of the cooking appliance 202. In other examples, the user interface 210 is presented on a touchscreen 212 that is separate from the cooking appliance 202. For example, a touchscreen that displays the user interface 210 may be located on a separate device 226 such as a smartphone, tablet P.C., or personal computer. In certain examples, there is no interface 210 or touchscreen 212, and the user U may select a recipe using voice control.

FIG. 6 is a schematic illustration of the example system 200. The cooking appliance 202 may include a controller 214 that includes a processor 216 configured by software stored in a memory 218 of the cooking appliance to control the operation of various elements of the cooking appliance 202 according to certain cooking parameters. For example, the controller 214 may control the operation of the radiative heating elements 108 described above, or other types of heating mechanisms including microwave and convection heating mechanisms.

The cooking appliance 202 may also include a network access device 219 that operates to communicate with other computing devices over one or more networks, such as the network 206. Examples of the network access device 219 include wired network interfaces and wireless network interfaces. Wireless network interfaces may include a wireless local area network, Bluetooth wireless connection, 802.11 WiFi, the Internet, or similar wireless connections such as a 802.15.4 radio using the Nest weave protocol for device to device communication.

The cooking parameters may select a power corresponding to an infrared intensity (e.g., from the radiative heating elements 108), a power corresponding to a microwave intensity (e.g., from a microwave heating element), or a power corresponding to a convection intensity (e.g., from an air circulator or fan). The cooking parameters may also include a selection of a duration of the power, a relative time of operation, and a location of the radiative heating elements with respect to food being cooked within a cooking cavity of the cooking appliance 202. In certain examples, the temperature is controlled based on recipe as well as what heating tech gets used at an instance of time.

Cooking recipes 220 may be provided as cooking algorithms (e.g., a sequence of software instructions performed by the processor 216 of the controller 214). In certain examples, the cooking recipes 220 may be fully performed by the cooking appliance 202 such that the recipe 220 is limited to operation of the appliance as instructed by the cooking algorithm on food placed in the appliance by the user. In other examples, the cooking recipes 220 may also include additional steps for the user such as mixing ingredients, stirring, etc. The cooking recipes 220 may set forth the various cooking parameters of the cooking appliance 202 for the controller 214 to implement by controlling the corresponding element of the appliance in a particular sequence, duration and/or combination.

The controller 214 may provide an ordered list of suggested recipes 208 (e.g., recipes for certain types of food and/or brands of food). The ordered list of suggested recipes 208 may be stored locally within the controller 214 (e.g., stored within a nonvolatile memory of the appliance and accessible by the processor 216) or may be accessible and received from the recipe delivery server 204 over the network 206 (e.g., the Internet or wireless local network).

The controller 214 may receive inputs from the user interface 210 for selection of a recipe 220 from the ordered list of suggested recipes 208. For example, the touch screen 212 may operate to display the user interface 210 and to detect an input 213 from a selector (e.g., a finger) controlled by the user U for selecting a recipe 220 from the ordered list of recipes 208. In this example, the touch screen 212 displays the user interface 210 for interacting with the cooking appliance 202 such that the touch screen 212 operates as both a display device and a user input device. In some examples, the touch screen 212 detects inputs based on one or both of touches and near-touches. Some examples may include a display device and one or more separate user interface devices. In some examples, the cooking appliance 202 may not include a touch screen 212. In some examples, the touchscreen 212 may be included on a separate device 226 (e.g., smartphone, tablet P.C., or personal computer). Further, some examples may not include a display device.

The recipe delivery server 204 is accessible to the controller 214 over the network 206 and may be a source of the cooking recipes 220 as well as updated cooking recipes 222. In some examples, the recipe delivery server 204 may include a processing device 234, a memory device 236, and a network access device 238. The processing device 234, memory device 236, and network access device 238 may be similar to the processor 216, memory 218, and network access device 219 respectively, described above. The original cooking recipes 220 and the updated cooking recipes 222 may be stored in the memory device 236 of the recipe delivery server 204 and may be communicated to the network 206 via the network access device 238.

The updated cooking recipes 222 may be based on original cooking recipes 220 whose parameters have been adjusted by other users of similar cooking appliances. For example, parameters such as duration, starting time, relative starting time, intensity of heating elements, use of and/or intensity of secondary heating sources (e.g., microwave heating elements, convection heating elements, etc.), and spacing of heating elements from the food inside a cooking cavity of the cooking appliance may be adjusted by users of similar cooking appliances. A trend of adjustments by the users of similar cooking appliances may be detected by the recipe delivery server 204, and an updated or new cooking recipe 222 can be created in response to the detected trend of adjustments.

Both original or updated cooking recipes 220, 222 may be provided from the recipe delivery server 204 to the controller 214 of the appliance via the network 206. In certain examples, the recipes are provided in an ordered list of suggested recipes 208 based on ratings (e.g., one to five stars) of the cooking recipes from other users of similar appliances. For example, the ordered list of suggested recipes 208 may have an order based on an overall weighting score determined by the strength of the rating (e.g., a higher rating acting to increase the overall weighting of the cooking recipe to move the cooking recipe towards the top of the list) and/or the number of users who have ranked the cooking recipe (e.g., a higher number of user ratings acting to increase the overall weighting of the cooking recipe to move the cooking recipe upwards to the top of the list).

Additionally, the ordered list of suggested recipes 208 may be filtered, such as based upon an input by a user of the appliance 202 of an ingredient (e.g., broccoli, chicken, etc.), a type of food (e.g., pizza, hamburger, quiche), a particular food brand, and/or a bar code on a package or other identification of a particular food purchase.

In certain examples, the cooking appliance 202 may be equipped with a bar code reader 224 such as, for example, a scanner, camera, or other similar device to recognize a bar code on a food packaging. Once the bar code has been recognized, the controller 214 can access the recipe delivery server 204 via the network 206 to obtain suggested cooking recipes 220 in an ordered list of suggested recipes 208.

In some examples, the device 226 (e.g., smartphone, tablet P.C., or personal computer) may be configured with an application 228 for reading bar codes on food packaging by scanning the bar code with a camera built into the device 226. In some examples, the application 228 is downloadable from the Internet.

In some examples, the controller 214 may receive an input such as a bar code decimal number for identifying a particular food item via user operation of the user interface 210 presented on the touchscreen 212 of the cooking appliance 202, or user operation of the device 226 operable to communicate with the cooking appliance 202.

In certain examples, the device 226 may include a processing device, a memory device, and a network access device similar to the processor 216, memory 218, and network access device 219 respectively, described above. The application 228 may be stored in the memory device of the device 226, and the device 226 may communicate to the network 206 via the network access device.

In certain examples, the application 228 configures the device 226 to access the recipe delivery server 204 via the network 206 to receive a list of suggested cooking recipes 220. In certain examples, the device 226 may receive an ordered list of suggested recipes 208 that has an order based on an overall weighting score as described above. In other examples, the device 226 may receive a list of suggested recipes 220 that is filtered or unfiltered, ranked or unranked. Once a cooking recipe 220 is selected by a user of the device 226, the application 228 configures the devices 226 to communicate the selected cooking recipe 220 to the cooking appliance 202 via the network 206 so that the cooking recipe 220 can be performed to cook food within the cooking appliance 202.

The application 228 may also configure the device 226 to allow the user to adjust the cooking recipe 220 before or after implementing the cooking recipe 220 to cook the food using the cooking appliance 202. The application 228 may also allow the user of the device 226 to rank the cooking recipe 220, and to store the cooking recipe 220 such as by flagging the cooking recipe 220 as a favorite for later identification.

Ratings of a particular user of the cooking appliance 202 may be used to suggest cooking recipes 220 based on the preferences of that particular user, such as by identifying and increasing overall weighting scores of cooking recipes associated with similar ingredients as those cooking recipes which the particular user rates highly, and decreasing overall weighting scores of cooking recipes associated with similar ingredients to those cooking recipes which the user provides a lower rating.

The parameters of the cooking recipes 220 may be adjusted based on a user input to the controller 214 via the user interface 210 presented on the touchscreen 212 of the cooking appliance 202, or the device 226, or voice control.

The controller 214 may also include a learning feature that incorporate iterative optimization of cooking performance. For example, the controller 214 may automatically adjust cooking recipes 220 in response to detection of a trend of adjustments of cooking recipes 220 made by the user of the cooking appliance 202.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example method 700 of optimizing the performance of a cooking appliance, such as the cooking appliance depicted in FIG. 1. The method 700 includes step 702 of receiving an identification of a food item. In some examples, a food item may be identified based upon an input received from a user of the appliance that identifies one or more ingredients (e.g., broccoli, chicken, etc.), a type of food (e.g., pizza, hamburger, quiche), or a particular food brand. In some examples, a food item may be identified based upon a bar code or other type identification such as a bar code decimal number, a product number, or a QR code displayed on the packaging of the food item.

Next, the method 700 includes a step 704 of generating an ordered list of suggested recipes for cooking the identified food item. The ordered list of suggested recipes may be based on a weighted score for each suggested recipe. Each suggested recipe may include parameters for selecting one or more heating elements of the cooking appliance, a sequence of heat intensity and duration, and a total cooking time.

In some examples, each suggested recipe may include parameters that include a power corresponding to an infrared intensity (e.g., from adiative heating elements), a power corresponding to a microwave intensity (e.g., from a microwave heating element), or a power corresponding to a convection intensity (e.g., from an air circulator or fan). In some examples, the cooking parameters may further include a selection of a duration of the power, a relative time of operation, and a location of the radiative heating elements with respect to food being cooked within a cooking cavity of the cooking appliance.

Next, the method 700 includes a step 706 of receiving a selected a recipe. In some examples, user U may select from a user interface a recipe from the ordered list of suggested recipes for cooking food using the cooking appliance. In some examples, the user interface is presented on a touch screen located on the housing of the cooking appliance. In other examples, the user interface is presented on a touchscreen that is separate from the cooking appliance. For example, a touchscreen that displays a user interface may be located on a separate device such as a smartphone, tablet P.C., or personal computer. In some examples, the touch screen may operate to display the user interface and to detect an input from a selector (e.g., a finger) controlled by the user U for selecting a recipe from the ordered list of recipes such that the touch screen operates as both a display device and a user input device. Other examples may include a display device and one or more separate user interface devices. Some examples may not include a touch screen.

Next, the method 700 includes a step 708 of monitoring adjustments made to the selected recipe before, during, and/or after the implementation of the selected recipe. For example, adjustments such as duration, starting time, relative starting time, intensity of heating elements, use of and/or intensity of secondary heating sources (e.g., microwave heating elements, convection heating elements, etc.), and spacing of heating elements from the food inside a cooking cavity of the cooking appliance may be monitored. In some examples, a trend of adjustments to the selected recipe may be monitored.

Next, the method 700 includes a step 710 of updating the selected recipe based on adjustments made to the selected recipe before, during, and/or after the implementation of the selected recipe. In some examples, a user of the cooking appliance may be prompted as to whether he or she would like to update the cooking recipe based on the adjustments made to the selected recipe. In some examples, the selected recipe is updated upon receiving a user input confirming such an update is appropriate.

In some examples, the method 700 may further include a step 712 of updating the selected recipe based on adjustments made before, during, and/or after the implementation of the selected recipe by users of other cooking appliances. In some examples, adjustments by users of other cooking appliances to the duration, starting time, relative starting time, intensity of the heating elements, use of and/or intensity of secondary heating sources (e.g., microwave, convection heating elements, etc.), and spacing of the heating elements from food inside a cooking cavity of the cooking appliance may be monitored for updating the selected recipe. In some examples, an early termination or an extension of the selected recipe by users of the other cooking appliances may be monitored for updating the selected recipe. In some examples, a trend of adjustments by users of other cooking appliances may be monitored for updating the selected cooking recipe.

In some examples, step 704 of generating an ordered list of suggested recipes may include filtering the ordered list of suggested recipes based on brand, food type, ingredients, and whether frozen or unfrozen. In some examples, step 704 may use a weighted score based on ratings provided by users of other cooking appliances and a number of users who have rated the suggested recipe. In some examples, the heat intensity of a suggested recipe in the ordered list of suggested recipes generated in step 704 corresponds to an infrared intensity, a microwave intensity, or a convection intensity.

The various embodiments described above are provided by way of illustration only and should not be construed to limit the claims attached hereto. Those skilled in the art will readily recognize various modifications and changes that may be made without following the example embodiments and applications illustrated and described herein, and without departing from the true spirit and scope of the following claims.

Claims

1. A cooking appliance comprising: a housing defining a cooking cavity;one or more heating elements positioned inside the cooking cavity; anda controller for controlling the one or more heating elements, the controller including: a processor and a memory, the memory adapted to receive and store instructions that when performed by the processor cause the one or more heating elements to perform one or more recipes for cooking food inside the cooking cavity;wherein the one or more recipes include parameters for selecting one or more heating elements within the cooking cavity, a sequence of heat intensity and duration, and a total cooking time.

2. The cooking appliance of claim 1, wherein the cooking appliance further comprises a user interface for receiving inputs including food type and brand, and the controller provides a list of suggested recipes based on the food type and brand.

3. The cooking appliance of claim 1, wherein the parameters of the one or more recipes include starting time, relative starting time, intensity and duration of one or more primary heating elements, intensity and duration of one or more secondary heating elements, and spacing of the primary or secondary heating elements from the food.

4. The cooking appliance of claim 1, wherein the one or more recipes are stored locally within a nonvolatile memory of the cooking appliance.

5. The cooking appliance of claim 1, wherein the one or more recipes are received from a server accessible over a network.

6. The cooking appliance of claim 1, wherein the cooking appliance is adapted to receive a suggested recipe from a portable electronic device or personal computer.

7. The cooking application of claim 1, wherein the cooking appliance is adapted to adjust a selected recipe before or after starting the recipe for cooking food, rating the recipe, and storing the recipe for later identification.

8. The cooking appliance of claim 1, wherein the cooking appliance is adapted to receive a rating of a recipe after a cooking operation has been completed, and the controller is adapted to suggest another recipe based on the rating.

9. The cooking appliance of claim 1, wherein the controller includes a learning feature that incorporate iterative optimization of the one or more recipes.

10. The cooking appliance of claim 1, wherein the controller adjusts the one or more recipes in response detecting a trend of adjustments made by the cooking appliance when implementing the one or more recipes.

11. The cooking appliance of claim 1, wherein the one or more heating elements include radiative heating elements comprising: first and second terminals; andone or more heating element segments extending between the first and second terminals, each heating element segment having a plurality of cutouts linked together, each cutout having an elliptical shape;wherein the first and second terminals and the one or more heating element segments are a continuous sheet of material, andthe one or more heating element segments generate infrared radiation when a voltage is applied across the first and second terminals.

12. The cooking appliance of claim 1, wherein the cooking appliance is a toaster, and the cooking cavity includes one or more bread slots.

13. The cooking appliance of claim 1, wherein the cooking appliance is a toaster oven, and further comprises a door for accessing and closing the cooking cavity.

14. The cooking appliance of claim 13, wherein the cooking cavity has an optimized width-to-height ratio range of about 1.75:1 to about 2:1.

15. The cooking appliance of claim 14, further comprising a microwave or convection heating mechanism.

16. A method of optimizing the performance of a cooking appliance, the method comprising: receiving an identification of a food item;generating an ordered list of suggested recipes for cooking the identified food item, the ordered list of suggested recipes being based on a weighted score, each suggested recipe including parameters for selecting one or more heating elements of the cooking appliance, a sequence of heat intensity and duration, and a total cooking time;receiving a selected recipe;monitoring adjustments made to the selected recipe before, during, or after the implementation of the selected recipe; andupdating the selected recipe based on adjustments made to the selected recipe.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising: updating the selected recipe based on adjustments made before, during, or after the implementation of the selected recipe by users of other cooking appliances.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the step of generating the ordered list of suggested recipes includes filtering the ordered list of suggested recipes based on brand, food type, ingredients, and whether frozen or unfrozen.

19. The method of claim 16, further comprising: determining the weighted score based on ratings provided by users of other cooking appliances and a number of users who have rated the suggested recipe.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein the heat intensity corresponds to an infrared intensity, a microwave intensity, or a convection intensity.