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BR-112022019395-B1 - MODULAR COOKING APPLIANCE

BR112022019395B1BR 112022019395 B1BR112022019395 B1BR 112022019395B1BR-112022019395-B1

Abstract

MODULAR COOKING APPLIANCE. A modular cooking appliance is disclosed. The modular cooking appliance includes a housing that has a first interchangeable cooking module, a second interchangeable cooking module, and a single power connection to receive electrical power from a wall outlet. The first interchangeable cooking module contains a first oven, and the second interchangeable cooking module contains a second oven. The second oven is a different type of oven from the first oven. The modular cooking appliance also includes a controller within the housing to control the first and second ovens. The controller includes a memory to store a list of food items to be cooked within the modular cooking appliance and a corresponding oven type for each of the food items. The modular cooking appliance additionally includes a control panel in the housing to display only the food items for which the first oven or the second oven is a corresponding oven type.

Inventors

  • PHILIP R. MCKEE
  • HAROLD HANSEN
  • Andrew Podevels

Assignees

  • Automation Tech, LLC

Dates

Publication Date
20260310
Application Date
20210329
Priority Date
20200402

Claims (20)

  1. 1. Modular cooking apparatus (10, 10’) characterized by: a housing (11, 11’) having a first interchangeable cooking module (12a, 12b, 12c), a second interchangeable cooking module (12a, 12b, 12c) and a single power connection to receive electrical power from a wall socket; a first oven (20, 40, 60) contained in said first interchangeable cooking module (12a, 12b, 12c); a second oven (20, 40, 60) contained in said second interchangeable cooking module (12a, 12b, 12c), wherein said second oven is a different type of oven from said first oven; a controller (70) within said housing (11, 11’) to control said first oven (20, 40, 60) and said second oven (20, 40, 60), wherein: said controller (70) includes a memory (73) for storing: a list of food items to be cooked within said modular cooking appliance and a corresponding oven type for each of said food items; and a table of electrical current consumption history that includes a plurality of time units and that contains electrical currents consumed by said first oven (20, 40, 60) in said plurality of time units when said first oven is cooking a type of food item listed in said list of food items and electrical currents consumed by said second oven (20, 40, 60) in said plurality of time units when said second oven is cooking a type of food item listed in said list of food items; and said control (70) is configured to control the oven temperatures of said first oven (20, 40, 60) and said second oven (20, 40, 60) using said electric currents contained in said plurality of time units of said electric current consumption history table; and a control panel (17, 17’) in said housing (11, 11’) to display only said food items for which said first oven (20, 40, 60) or said second oven (20, 40, 60) is a corresponding oven type.
  2. 2. Modular cooking apparatus (10, 10’), according to claim 1, characterized in that, in response to the removal of said first oven (20, 40, 60) from said modular cooking apparatus, said food items for which said first oven is a corresponding type of oven are not displayed on said control panel (17, 17’).
  3. 3. Modular cooking apparatus (10, 10’), according to claim 2, characterized in that, in response to the insertion of said first oven (20, 40, 60) into said modular cooking apparatus, said food items for which said first oven is a corresponding type of oven are displayed on said control panel (17, 17’).
  4. 4. Modular cooking apparatus (10, 10’), according to claim 1, characterized in that, in response to the removal of said second oven (20, 40, 60) from said modular cooking apparatus, said food items for which said second oven is a corresponding type of oven are not displayed on said control panel (17, 17’).
  5. 5. Modular cooking apparatus (10, 10’), according to claim 4, characterized in that, in response to the insertion of said second oven (20, 40, 60) into said modular cooking apparatus, said food items for which said second oven is a corresponding type of oven are displayed on said control panel (17, 17’).
  6. 6. Apparatus for modular cooking (10, 10’), according to claim 1, characterized in that said first oven is an impact oven (20) and said second oven is a convection oven (40).
  7. 7. Modular cooking apparatus (10, 10’), according to claim 1, characterized in that said first oven is an impact oven (20) and said second oven is a microwave oven (60).
  8. 8. Modular cooking apparatus (10, 10’), according to claim 1, characterized in that said first oven is a convection oven (40) and said second oven is a microwave oven (60).
  9. 9. Modular cooking apparatus (10, 10’), according to claim 1, characterized in that said memory (73) additionally stores cooking settings for each of said food items.
  10. 10. Modular cooking apparatus (10, 10’), according to claim 1, characterized in that: the housing (11, 11’) includes a plurality of electrical connectors (15-1, 15-2, 15-3, 15-4, 15-5, 15-6) within said housing; and each of said first oven (20, 40, 60) and said second oven (20, 40, 60) includes a set of different electrical connectors for connection to the corresponding connectors among said plurality of electrical connectors (15-1, 15-2, 15-3, 15-4, 15-5, 15-6) within said housing.
  11. 11. Modular cooking apparatus (10, 10’), according to claim 1, characterized in that said set of electrical connectors of each of said first oven (20, 40, 60) and said second oven (20, 40, 60) is used to identify said oven types of said first oven and said second oven.
  12. 12. Apparatus for modular cooking, according to claim 1, characterized in that said second oven (20, 40, 60) is the same type of oven as said first oven (20, 40, 60).
  13. 13. Apparatus for modular cooking (10, 10’), according to claim 12, characterized in that said first oven and said second oven are impact ovens (20).
  14. 14. Modular cooking apparatus (10, 10’), according to claim 12, characterized in that said first oven and said second oven are microwave ovens (60).
  15. 15. Apparatus for modular cooking (10, 10’), according to claim 12, characterized in that said first oven and said second oven are convection ovens (40).
  16. 16. Apparatus for modular cooking (10, 10’), according to claim 1, characterized in that one of said first oven (20, 40, 60) and said second oven (20, 40, 60) are designated as a standard oven.
  17. 17. Modular cooking apparatus (10, 10’), according to claim 1, characterized in that: the housing (11, 11’) has a third interchangeable cooking module (12a, 12b, 12c); a third oven (20, 40, 60) contained within said third interchangeable cooking module (12a, 12b, 12c), wherein said third oven is a type of oven different from said first oven and said second oven; the controller (70) controls said third oven (20, 40, 60), wherein: the electrical current consumption history table stored in memory (73) contains electrical currents consumed by said third oven (20, 40, 60) in said plurality of time units when said third oven is cooking a type of food item listed in said list of food items; and said control (70) is configured to control oven temperatures of said third oven (20, 40, 60) using said electric currents contained in said plurality of time units of said electric current consumption history table; and the control panel (17, 17’) in said housing (11, 11’) displays only said food items for which said third oven (20, 40, 60) is a corresponding oven type.
  18. 18. Modular cooking apparatus (10, 10’), according to claim 17, characterized in that, in response to the removal of said third oven (20, 40, 60) from said modular cooking apparatus, said food items for which said third oven is a corresponding type of oven are not displayed on said control panel (17, 17’).
  19. 19. Modular cooking apparatus (10, 10’), according to claim 17, characterized in that, in response to the insertion of said third oven (20, 40, 60) into said modular cooking apparatus, said food items for which said third oven is a corresponding type of oven are displayed on said control panel (17, 17’).
  20. 20. Modular cooking apparatus (10, 10’), according to claim 17, characterized in that: the housing (11, 11’) includes a plurality of electrical connectors (15-1, 15-2, 15-3, 15-4, 15-5, 15-6) within said housing; and each of said first oven (20, 40, 60), said second oven (20, 40, 60) and said third oven (20, 40, 60) includes a set of different electrical connectors for connection to the corresponding connectors among said plurality of electrical connectors within said housing.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED REQUESTS [001] This application claims the benefit and priority of U.S. Patent Application No. 16/838,540, filed April 2, 2020, and U.S. Patent Application No. 17/094,438, filed Tuesday, November 10, 2020, which is a continuation in part of U.S. Patent Application No. 16/838,540, the contents of both being incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. FIELD OF TECHNIQUE [002] The present invention relates to cooking equipment in general and, specifically, to a modular cooking equipment that has multiple ovens with the capacity to cook various types of food at the same time. BACKGROUND [003] To cook and serve a wide variety of foods, such as pizzas, baked goods, breakfast sandwiches, proteins, etc., food service operators often have to have different types of ovens in the same shop location. Typically, different operational skills are required to use each of the different types of ovens for cooking, and multiple ovens tend to occupy valuable counter space and require multiple electrical power outlets. [004] The present disclosure provides an improved cooking equipment that can speed up the cooking task of a food service operator. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [005] In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a modular cooking apparatus includes a housing that has a first interchangeable cooking module, a second interchangeable cooking module, and a single power connection to receive electrical power from a wall outlet. The first interchangeable cooking module contains a first oven, and the second interchangeable cooking module contains a second oven. The second oven is a different type of oven from the first oven. The modular cooking apparatus also includes a controller within the housing to control the first and second ovens. The controller includes a memory to store a list of food items to be cooked within the modular cooking apparatus and a corresponding oven type for each of the food items. The modular cooking apparatus further includes a control panel in the housing to display only the food items for which the first oven or the second oven is a corresponding oven type. [006] All the features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the detailed written description that follows. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [007] The invention itself, as well as a preferred mode of use, additional objectives and advantages thereof, will be better understood by reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment when read in combination with the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is an isometric view of a modular cooking apparatus according to an embodiment; Figure 1A is an isometric view of the structure of a modular cooking apparatus according to an alternative embodiment; Figure 1B is an isometric view of an interchangeable cooking module within the modular cooking apparatus of Figure 1A according to an embodiment; Figure 1C is an isometric view of a rear wall within the interchangeable cooking module of Figure 1B according to an embodiment; Figures 2A-2C are cross-sectional views of an impact oven within the modular cooking apparatus of Figure 1 according to an embodiment; Figure 3 is a diagram of the heating and airflow system in the impact oven of Figures 2A-2C, Figure 4 is an isometric view of a convection oven within the modular cooking equipment of Figure 1, according to one embodiment; Figure 5 is a diagram of a heating and airflow system within the convection oven of Figure 4, according to one embodiment; Figure 6A is a front cross-sectional view of a microwave oven within the modular cooking equipment of Figure 1, according to an embodiment; Figures 6B-6D are cross-sectional views of a food loading system within the microwave oven of Figure 6A, according to an embodiment; Figure 7 is a block diagram of a controller for controlling various oven modules within the modular cooking equipment of Figure 1, according to an embodiment; Figure 8A shows an example of a Food Input Table within the modular cooking equipment of Figure 1; Figure 8B shows an example of a Maximum Electrical Current Consumption Table within the modular cooking equipment of Figure 1; Figure 8C shows an example of an Electrical Current Consumption History Table within the modular cooking equipment of Figure 1; Figure 9 is a flow diagram of a method for cooking food items using the modular cooking equipment of Figure 1, according to an embodiment; Figure 10 is a schematic diagram of a modular cooking equipment, according to one modality. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED OPTIONS I. EQUIPMENT CONFIGURATION FOR MODULAR COOKING [008] With reference now to the drawings and in particular to Figure 1, an isometric view of a modular cooking apparatus is represented, according to an embodiment. As shown, a modular cooking apparatus 10 is defined by a housing 11 containing multiple interchangeable cooking modules. For the present embodiment, the housin