AU718031B2 - Prepared meals system - Google Patents

Description

(1 it Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT

(ORIGINAL)

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C Name of Applicant: Actual Inventors: Address for Service: SMART COOK PTY.LTD.

Dominic LAMANNA DAVIES COLLISON CAVE, Patent Attorneys, 1 Little Collins Street, Melbourne, 3000.

"Prepared meals system" Invention Title: Details of Associated Provisional Application(s) No(s): PN6843/95 filed 28 November, 1995 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us: Q.VDPERUMM3HPN43326 -21/11/96 P:\OPER\RSH\PN643.SPE- 21/11/96 -2- PREPARED MEALS SYSTEMS The present invention relates to prepared meals systems and more particularly to cooker units for use in prepared meals systems and which are a development to the cooker unit disclosed in our patent application No. 71476/94.

In our earlier application as aforesaid there is disclosed a cooker unit comprising a lower hotplate and an upper radiant grilling element, the lower hotplate having two separate heating zones. The cooker unit is designed for household use, principally for elderly or disabled people and is pre-programmed for use with pre-prepared meals in different "compartments of foil containers so that the food is automatically cooked by the heating zones of the hotplate and/or by the radiant grilling element in accordance with the predetermined program.

15 This invention relates to a development of that concept whereby the cooker unit is able to produce several meals or a large number of meals simultaneously.

According to the invention, there is provided a cooker unit comprising a plurality of cooking stations, each cooking station comprising at least one lower heating element for 20 heating a food container from the underside, and at least one radiant heating element at a position above the lower element to radiantly heat from above food within the container, control means for operating the heating elements, said control means operating in accordance with a selected one of a plurality of predetermined program, and program selector means operable by the user to select the required program, the control means being such that each cooking station can be separately controlled in accordance with a selected one of the predetermined programs.

Preferably, the control means is such as to control operation of the respective cooking stations such that cooking finishes at substantially the same time in each of the cooking stations.

p:\OPE\RSfl\PN6843.SPE -21/11196 -3- In one embodiment of the invention, each cooking station may be designed to cook food within a plurality of different compartments in the food container, in which case each of the compartments is associated with a different heating element whereby to provide differential cooking between the respective compartments of the container. In another embodiment of the invention each cooking station is designed to cook a single food product within a container in which case the lower heating element is operative to heat from below the entire container and the radiant heating element is operative to heat from above the entire container in accordance with the selected program.

The embodiments of the invention will now be further described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of the first embodiment of a cooker unit in accordance with the invention; Figure 2 is a front view of the cooker unit shown in Figure 1; 15 ~Figure 2 is a fronschematic sectional side view of the cooker unit shown in Figure 1; 15 Figure 3 is a schematic sectional side view of the cooker unit shown in Figure 1; Figure 4 is a perspective view of a cooker unit in accordance with a second embodiment of the invention; Figure 5 is a front view of the cooker unit shown in Figure 4; Figure 6 is a schematic sectional side view of the cooker unit shown in Figures 4 and A first embodiment of the invention relates to a cooker unit for producing several meals simultaneously. The cooker unit is open at the front and comprises several cooking stations. As shown there are five cooking stations although the cooker unit may comprise a greater or lesser number of cooking stations. Each cooking station comprises a hotplate 2 divided into front and rear cooking zones 2a, 2b with separate heating elements for each zone, and an upper radiant grilling element 4 which extends over the rear cooking zone 2b of the hotplate 2. The radiant grilling element 4 is associated with a reflector 6 to direct radiant energy downwardly. In effect, each of the cooking stations A-E is equivalent to the single cooker unit described in our earlier application as aforesaid. The hotplate 2 is provided P:\OPERSHPN6843.SPE -21/11/96 -4with upstanding ribs along its opposite sides and rear end so as to locate a two-compartment food container (preferably a foil container) on the hotplate with one of the compartments located on the rear zone 2b of the hotplate 2 and beneath the radiant grilling element 4 and the other compartment on the front zone 2a of the hotplate 2. Each cooking station is program-controlled to provide a programmed cooking action corresponding to the food within the container in a similar manner to that disclosed in our earlier application as aforesaid. In particular there is a set of program buttons 10 each programmed to provide a different cooking program, and a set of station selection buttons 12 whereby each cooking station can be programmed with any selected one of the program buttons 10. The program control may include a facility whereby after the particular program required for each individual station has been selected, the overall group of programs is actuated automatically at start times which will ensure that cooking at each of the stations is finished at the same time even although each cooking station may be operating to a different cooking program.

15 Preferably the cooker unit is of modular construction whereby a number of units can be arranged side-by-side and in stacked relationship in order to increase the number of available cooking stations.

The cooker unit described in our earlier application and that described in connection o 20 with the first embodiment of this invention are designed for use with complete pre-prepared meals in different compartments of a single container. The embodiment shown in Figures 4 to 6 comprises several cooking stations but in this case each station is designed to cook a single food product within a container. As shown, there are eight stations but the actual number may be different from that shown. Each cooking station has a lower hotplate 20 and an upper radiant grilling element 22 associated with a reflector 23 to direct radiant energy downwardly; as each station is designed to cook only a single food product, the hotplate 20 is not divided into different cooking zones and the radiant grilling element extends over the whole of the hotplate.

The cooking stations A-H are arranged in tiers. In some tiers there are two cooking stations whereas in other tiers there is a single cooking station which can handle larger size P:\OPERRISHT\PN6843.SPE 21/11/96 containers. In each cooking station cooking can be achieved either using the hotplate only, the radiant grilling element only, or a combination of the hotplate and radiant grilling element. The cooking program for each cooking station is selected from a number of predetermined cooking programs in a similar manner to that previously described and for this purpose the cooker unit comprises a series of program selection buttons 24 corresponding to each cooking station; alternatively, there may be a single set of program selection buttons and a series of station selection buttons. With a cooker unit such as this, different containers containing different meats, poultry, or fish and different vegetables are placed into the respective cooking stations, and the cooking program corresponding to the particular food product is selected and programmed into the appropriate station. In the unit illustrated where certain of the tiers only have a single cooking station (the stations G and these stations °9° are particularly suitable for cooking large dishes of vegetables. The program control system include a facility to automatically set the starting times of the different cooking stations so that all stations finish cooking at the same time.

In each of the embodiments described herein the food is prepared in advance, preferably in foil containers, and is refrigerated or frozen. Advantageously, each container is coded with a marking corresponding to the required cooking program so that the operator only has to select the program corresponding to that which is coded on the food container.

Each of the cooking programs is pre-programmed into the cooker unit and the user is not required to perform basic programming actions, although if required the unit may include some facility for program adjustment. For most applications a complete range of foods can be cooked in this way with only about six different cooking programs.

The basic food product stored in the containers is uncooked with the result that the end product delivered from the cooker unit is freshly cooked rather than just reheated. The simplicity of cooking using pre-installed cooking programs which can be selected in accordance with the coding on the food container provides a prepared meals system which is suitable for a wide variety of applications, such as bars and small canteens.

P:\OPER\RSH\PN6843.SPE 1/9/99 -6- The embodiments have been described by way of example only and modifications are possible within the scope of the invention.

Throughout this specification and claims which follow, unless the context requires otherwise, the word "comprise", and variations such as "comprises" or "comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or group of integers or steps but not the exclusion of any other integer or group of integers.

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Claims (6)

1. A cooker unit comprising a plurality of cooking stations, each cooking station comprising at least one lower heating element for heating a food container from the underside, and at least one radiant heating element at a position above the lower element to radiantly heat from above food within the container, control means for operating the heating elements, said control means operating in accordance with a selected one of a plurality of predetermined programs, and program selector means operable by the user to select the required program, the control means being such that each cooking station can be separately controlled in accordance with a selected one of the predetermined programs.

2. A cooker unit according to claim 1, wherein the control means is such as to control operation of the respective cooking stations such that cooking finishes at substantially the same time in each of the cooking stations.

3. A cooker unit according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein each cooking station is operative to cook food within a plurality of different compartments in the food container, each of the compartments being associated with a different heating element of the station whereby to provide differential cooking between the respective compartments of the 20 container.

4. A cooker unit according to claim 3, wherein each station comprises a lower hotplate having a front portion and a rear portion each associated with a respective heating element to provide differential heating between front and rear compartments of the container, and the radiant heating element is in a position to overlie only one of said portions whereby to effect grilling of food only within one of the compartments.

A cooker unit according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein each cooking station is operative to cook a single food product within a container, the lower heating element being operative to heat from below the entire container and the radiant heating element being P:\OELURSHTPN6843.SPE .21/1 IJ96 -8- operative to heat from above the entire container in accordance with the selected program.

6. A cooker unit substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. DATED this 21st day of November, 1996. SMART COOK PTY. LTD. 10 By its Patent Attorneys: DAVIES COLLISON CAVE