Patent Application
20190120498
The present invention relates to an oven for the cooking/regeneration of food with a dynamic multi-level cooking/regeneration system.
The invention finds particular although not exclusive application in the sector of production and marketing of cooking/regeneration ovens mainly intended for the foodservice industry as well as in the sector of production and marketing of equipment for the cooking and/or regeneration of food.
In the prior art various equipment solutions are known, by type and operation, which are intended for the cooking of food, be they for domestic use or for the foodservice industry. Also known are solutions of equipment for the foodservice industry, which allow to obtain a type of food processing commonly known by the term regeneration, this term designating a particular cooking mode. Equipment is also known both for domestic cooking and for the foodservice industry, which allows to perform both cooking as such and to carry out a regeneration of food, since said cooking/regeneration possibilities are combined in one single apparatus. Among the known solutions of equipment for the cooking/regeneration of food, the ovens with a multi-level cooking/regeneration system, which are particularly intended for the foodservice industry, have been known for a long time. Said ovens enabling the cooking/regeneration of food are notoriously arranged for the cooking/regeneration of food with a multi-level cooking/regeneration system in order to obtain a processing of the food put in the cooking chamber, thanks to which said food can be prepared on a daily basis; the most required and widespread system usually requires a kitchen on site and the meal to be eaten in the same place where it was cooked a given time immediately after production. By “regeneration” one means both a phase of processing of the so-called cook and chill system and a phase of the cook and freeze system. The first implies a processing technique by which the food, hot packaged, after cooking/regeneration, is subjected to a fast cooling passing in a very short time from an upper temperature to another considerably lower temperature determined at the core of the processed product, to be then, after having been preserved for a few days, reactivated or regenerated upon eating of the meals by means of suitable ovens intended to determine a suitable increase in the temperature of the product maintained for a given time by the cooking characteristics of the product itself, usually said latter step providing a temperature of +120° C. for about 30 minutes or more. In the second case, on the other hand, the products are pre-cooked, enclosed in single-serving or multi-serving containers, then subjected immediately afterwards to a cooling process to −30° C. and preserved at −18° C. until regeneration with—mainly convection—ovens.
With particular reference to the technical sector of multi-level cooking/regeneration, this is a particular option provided by specific cooking/regeneration equipment that allows to manage the cooking/regeneration time or temperature at the core of the food of every single tray or grate, placed on different levels with respect to each other, on the oven rack. It is known that an oven for the foodservice industry, like gas-convection ovens, steam ovens, mixed ovens or even electrical ovens, comprises a large cooking/regeneration chamber, inside which, by means of an access door, some trays are positioned on top of each other, wherein each tray or crate, positioned on a different level from the others with respect to the bottom of the cooking/regeneration chamber, is intended to contain the food to be cooked or regenerated. This cooking/regeneration will be subject to and bound by the setting of the cooking/regeneration parameters, wherein said parameters will have to be homogenous for the food inserted in the various levels. In this case at least one probe, with multiple needles as well, will be used for each tray in such a way that the sensor can detect the temperature at the core of the food to be cooked/regenerated. In the prior art, again with reference to the cooking/regeneration equipment of the multi-level type, be it of the convection or of the combined type, in some cases the cooking/regeneration is managed in such a way as to provide the association of a time count by means of timers settable for every single level of the trays or the grates present in the cooking/regeneration apparatus. In the cooking/regeneration equipment provided with said management each timer is set and activated simultaneously to the insertion of the product to be cooked/regenerated in correspondence of the chosen level in such a way as to generate an acoustic and/or visual signal such as to inform about the end of cooking in the indicated level, also indicating the number and/or the position corresponding to the monitored level, the cooking/regeneration time by level being able to be displayed or not in a suitable graphical interface with which the cooking/regeneration apparatus can be equipped. In the prior art it is also known that in such types of cooking/regeneration equipment the cooking/regeneration times can be set manually or by assigning a predefined program to each level, which includes the setting of a predefined cooking/regeneration time according to a series of available programs, which vary depending on the dish to be cooked/regenerated and which will have to be compatible with each other in terms of cooking/regeneration mode depending on whether they are of the convection, steam or combined type and on the cooking/regeneration temperature. Said type of cooking/regeneration equipment, through a series of probes at the core of the food to be cooked/regenerated, may also be able to manage the various cooking/regeneration levels also by detecting that the temperature at the core of the dish to be cooked/regenerated has been reached.
In patent literature some solutions of cooking/regeneration equipment of the multi-level type including systems for managing one single or multiple cooking/regeneration levels can be found, among which—by way of example only—mention should be made at least of the following:
D1 no. US20080280000 (RATIONAL)
D2 no. EP 1653833 (RATIONAL)
D3 no. IT 1380883 (LAINOX)
D1 synthetically describes a solution of a method for managing at least one cooking process in the cooking chamber of an oven by means of the possibility, implemented by means of an interface, of entering a multiple number of cooking parameters concerning at least one specific product to be cooked and/or a cooking program and at least one start and end time of the cooking of at least one product to be cooked and/or of at least one cooking program, wherein at least one cooking parameter can be selected, whereby, in dependence of the selection of the start time and/or end time in the selection of a multiple number of cooking products and/or cooking programs, said interface indicates when which cooking product is to be loaded into the cooking chamber and to be removed from the cooking chamber also based on at least one cooking parameter.
D2 synthetically describes a cooking device for regenerating products cooked in a regeneration chamber with which said cooking/regeneration device is provided, in said regeneration chamber at least two regeneration levels are arranged or can be arranged, said regeneration levels being placed at different heights and wherein each regeneration level is equipped with a timer able to send an alarm after a set regeneration time has elapsed.
D3 synthetically describes a method and system of multi-level cooking/regeneration for ovens for the cooking/regeneration of food to be served all at once that comprises a primary function of multi-level cooking/regeneration, in which, through the selection of a key from the primary function of multi-level cooking/regeneration, one accesses a secondary function that, in the phase of setting of a first level corresponding to the chosen tray with the food, activates a control mechanism that considers some times set afterwards, managing them in order to allow, in following guided phases, to load the trays to which the levels correspond, in order to take all the food out of the oven at the same time.
All the known solutions of cooking/regeneration ovens of the multi-level type that include systems for managing one single or multiple cooking/regeneration levels as in the known prior art have defects and limits that are translated into consequent disadvantages.
A first drawback, according to the applicant, that characterizes the multi-level oven solutions as in the known prior art, lies in the fact that the current solutions of multi-level ovens do not allow to perform the activation, management and control of more than one timer per level, thus being unsuitable for the possibility of dynamic management of the products to be cooked/regenerated per level of the cooking chamber.
A second drawback, according the applicant, that characterizes the multi-level oven solutions as in the known prior art, lies in the fact that the current solutions of multi-level ovens do not allow to also coordinate multiple timers per level depending on the position given to the products to be cooked/regenerated.
Another drawback, according to the applicant, that characterizes the multi-level oven solutions as in the known prior art, lies in the fact that the current solutions of multi-level ovens do not allow to dynamically adapt the positioning of one or more timers to corresponding sectors as in the levels of the cooking chamber in such a way that the positioning of the timers can be coordinated with the shifts of products being cooked/regenerated that may be made from one level to the other or even within the same level, thus obtaining corresponding shifts of corresponding timers in the command interface of the oven.
As a whole, from these introductory remarks, it is evident that it is essential to find some alternative solutions.
The aim of the present invention is also to avoid the above-mentioned drawbacks.
This and other aims are achieved by the present invention according to the characteristics as in the appended claims by solving the arising problems by means of an oven for the cooking/regeneration of food with a dynamic multi-level cooking/regeneration system comprising a multi-level cooking/regeneration chamber comprising at least two cooking/regeneration levels and wherein at least one timer and detecting sensors of cooking/regeneration parameters, such as at least temperature and/or humidity, are associated with each level, said oven being provided with a cooking/regeneration system that by means of a command and control interface enables the setting, the management and the control of at least two timers for at least one level of the oven.
In this way, by the considerable creative contribution the effect of which constitutes an immediate technical progress, multiple advantages are achieved.
A first advantageous aim is to obtain an oven for the cooking/regeneration of food with a dynamic multi-level cooking/regeneration system through whose innovative structure one can avoid the mentioned drawbacks of the current solutions of multi-level ovens as in the known prior art, in particular allowing to perform the activation, management and control of more than one timer per level, thus advantageously allowing to perform a dynamic management of the products to be cooked/regenerated per level of the cooking chamber.
A second advantageous aim is to obtain an oven for the cooking/regeneration of food with a dynamic multi-level cooking/regeneration system through whose innovative structure one can also coordinate multiple timers per level according to the position given to the products to be cooked/regenerated.
Another advantageous aim is to obtain an oven for the cooking/regeneration of food with a dynamic multi-level cooking/regeneration system through whose innovative structure one can dynamically adapt the positioning of one or more timers to corresponding sectors as at the levels of the cooking chamber in such a way that the positioning of the timers can be coordinated with the shifts of the products being cooked/regenerated that should be made from one level to the other or even within the same level, it being possible to obtain corresponding shifts of the corresponding timers in the command interface of the oven.
These and other advantages will appear from the following detailed description of some preferred embodiments, with the aid of the schematic drawings enclosed, whose details of execution are not to be considered limitative but only illustrative.
With reference to the drawings as well, an oven for the cooking/regeneration of food with a dynamic multi-level cooking/regeneration system (1) is described, which in the embodiment represented, as illustrated in
In more detail as to the present invention, said multi-level oven can also be arranged to be intended to perform a management of cooking/regeneration, that, through suitable and known timer devices as well as being also possibly provided with sensors able to detect cooking/regeneration parameters such as at least temperature and humidity also at the core of the product to be cooked/regenerated, allows to associate a time count with each of the single insertion levels of the oven trays/grates, said oven being provided with a suitable command interface (10) for the command, the management and the control of the functions of the oven. The multi-level oven according to the invention is intended to allow that each timer with which it is provided can be set/activated simultaneously to the insertion of the product to be cooked/regenerated in the corresponding level in such a way that, at the end of the cooking/regeneration in the level, an acoustic and/or visual signal is generated, it also being possible to indicate, by means of the command interface (10) for command, management and control with which the multi-level oven is provided, the corresponding level at which the cooking/regeneration ended. Furthermore, the passing of time managed by said timers can be displayed or not in the interface (10) of the multi-level oven. In such a cooking/regeneration management system the assignment of times may take place by means of manual setting by the assigned operator or optionally also by attributing a predefined program to each level, in a series of available programs that for example can be indicated with the name of the dish to be prepared, containing the cooking/regeneration times that are compatible with each other in terms of cooking/regeneration modes and of the temperature at which the cooking/regeneration must take place.
Furthermore, in a known way, the multi-level oven according to the present invention provides the possibility of being able to manage the various levels also by monitoring the temperature or other cooking/regeneration parameters, such as, yet not limited thereto, parameters of humidity at the core of the product to be cooked/regenerated by providing the multi-level oven with a series of detection probes for detecting the temperature or other cooking/regeneration parameters at the core of the product to be cooked/regenerated. The multi-level oven according to the invention can also provide the possibility that the management of the various levels can occur in such a way as to allow that different products with different cooking/regeneration times and levels can all be simultaneously ready to be served, said mode being conventionally defined as “just in time”, that is to say, so as to allow the timers to be managed in such a way that the signalling of the end of cooking/regeneration can take place simultaneously for multiple products even if said products have different cooking/regeneration times for the different products to be cooked/regenerated and also different positioning levels at which said products can be located. In the “just in time” cooking/regeneration management mode the operator preliminarily sets up, by means of the command interface (10), for the command, the management and the control of the multifunction oven, said command interface (10) being provided with a suitable screenful comprising the function/control commands, which can also include indicators, the cooking/regeneration times in the different levels or, as an alternative, the assignment of predefined cooking/regeneration programs to said levels and whose cooking/regeneration times are related to the specific products to be cooked/regenerated. In the “just in time” mode, in order to provide the possibility of serving the products to be cooked/regenerated so that they are ready at the same time, each product to be cooked/regenerated is introduced, in the corresponding assigned level of the oven, according to a time sequence dictated, by means of suitable signalling from the command interface (10), by the cooking/regeneration times of each product to be cooked/regenerated according to a progressive sequence of the cooking times of each product the introduction of which in the corresponding level of the oven will be signalled starting from the product with the longest cooking times to the product with the shortest cooking times. In this way, since the timers of each level are coordinated on the basis of the determination of the simultaneous end of the cooking times of the products for each level, when all the coordinated times set have elapsed, one will obtain the possibility of getting—ready to be served at the same time—the cooked/regenerated products with different cooking/regeneration times as well.
As an innovation with respect to what has been previously described, the present invention provides an implementation of the possibilities of management of cooking/regeneration in a multi-level oven, multifunction as well, for the cooking/regeneration of food in such a way that the user is able to operate dynamically on the setting of the levels by means of the command interface (10) of the oven. The primary function of multi-level cooking/regeneration is accessed from a series of menus, in a command interface (10), wherein said menus are guided, from the turning on of the oven to the “MULTI-LEVEL” function so that, as shown by way of example in
As shown in
The possibility as in the present invention of adding and setting more than one timer per level allows to make a subdivision of one or more levels of the multi-level oven into sectors that correspond to a settable timer, each timer possibly corresponding to an identified sector. In this way, the possibility of activating and setting more than one timer for the same level, given the connection of each timer to an identified sector of the level, consequently allows to identify the position of the product corresponding to the sector identified, in such a way as to enable the identification of the products placed inside the cooking chamber of the oven. In order to enable an easier identification of the sectors for the different levels identified by the corresponding timers, in the command and control screenful of the multi-level function as in the command interface (10) of the multi-level oven some informative representations of the identified sectors as in the corresponding timers are present, wherein said informative representations are in the form of information icons (19), in the embodiment described, as in
A possible configuration provided by the solution according to the present invention, as shown in
In more detail, with reference to the integration in the command and control screenful of the multi-level function of said function commands of a pre-set recipe (20), in order for the user to be assisted in the choice of their compatibility with the settings as in a level in relation to the homogeneity of the recipes to uniform cooking/regeneration parameters, their display in the function commands of a pre-set recipe (20) occurs on the basis of a compatibility selection of the cooking/regeneration parameters made by means of a suitable algorithm intended to make said selection of the recipes from all the recipes present in the database of the oven or in any databases present on a Web portal. In this way, by means of said selection made from the various recipes visible in the command and control screenful of the multi-level function, the user can have at his/her disposal recipes in which the association of the dish/time parameters is already set and available for a fast use avoiding the burden for the user to set said parameters.
It is also provided that the function commands of a pre-set recipe (20) may be executed in such a way that the corresponding icons can also be provided with representative pictures of the product as in the corresponding recipe in such a way as to make it simpler to be identified. For a faster accessibility, in the present invention the activation of the function command of a pre-set recipe (20), as represented for example in
As shown in
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 102017000118499 | Oct 2017 | IT | national |
