CN111374563B

CN111374563B - Cooking utensil

Info

Publication number: CN111374563B
Application number: CN201811628348.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 樊杜平; 陈建化; 曹凯
Original assignee: Zhejiang Supor Electrical Appliances Manufacturing Co Ltd
Current assignee: Zhejiang Supor Electrical Appliances Manufacturing Co Ltd
Priority date: 2018-12-28
Filing date: 2018-12-28
Publication date: 2022-02-25
Anticipated expiration: 2038-12-28
Also published as: CN111374563A

Abstract

The present invention provides a cooking appliance, comprising: the food storage module comprises a plurality of food storage bins for storing food; the food material information acquisition module is used for scanning the food material storage bin to acquire food material information; the display unit is used for displaying food material information and cooking information and comprises a cooking function display area, a food material type display area and a food material quantity display area; and the control module controls the display unit to display the food material information and the cooking information in different display areas. The cooking appliance can display more cooking information for a user, and is convenient for the user to use.

Description

Cooking utensil

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of household appliances, in particular to a cooking appliance.

Background

With the improvement of living standards, cooking appliances such as electric cookers are increasingly used, and the degree of automation and intelligence of the cooking appliances is also increasing. Automatic cooking utensil has appeared in the existing market, is provided with the device of storage edible material among the automatic cooking utensil, through the rotation of control motor, drives to eat the material and transports the automatic culinary art cavity (being interior pot) that enters into automatic cooking ware through eating the material. Automatic cooking utensil still has water pump and flow detection sensor, is opened through flow detection sensor detection water flow through the water route simultaneously by control module control water pump and gives control module to realize adding the function of eating material and water automatically, made things convenient for the user to a certain extent, promoted user and used experience.

However, the display interface of the automatic cooking appliance is too simple, and the user cannot know the amount of food (e.g., rice) in the food storage compartment of the automatic cooking appliance, nor the water amount in the water tank of the automatic cooking appliance. If the rice or water quantity in the automatic cooking appliance cannot meet the requirement of the cooking function selected by the consumer and the information cannot be fed back to the user, the cooking function cannot be completed, so that the use experience of the user is influenced.

Therefore, there is a need for a cooking appliance that at least partially solves the problems of the prior art.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above problems, the present invention provides a cooking appliance, which can display more cooking information for a user, and is convenient for the user to use.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cooking appliance, including:

the food storage module comprises a plurality of food storage bins for storing food;

a food material information acquisition module for scanning the food material storage bin to acquire food material information;

a display unit for displaying food material information and cooking information

And the control module controls the display unit to display the food material information and the cooking information in different display areas.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the display unit includes a cooking function display area, a food material type display area, and a food material quantity display area;

the control module controls the display unit to display a cooking function in the cooking function display area, the food type display area displays the food type in the food storage module, and the food quantity display area displays at least one of the number of the food storage bins in the food storage module, the number of the selected food storage bins and the number of the food storage bins in which the addition of food is completed.

According to the cooking appliance disclosed by the invention, the food material information is acquired by scanning the food material storage bins in the food material storage module, and at least one of the number of the food material storage bins, the number of the selected food material storage bins and the number of the food material storage bins in which the addition of the food material is completed is displayed on the display unit, so that a user can know the current state of the food material in real time, and the convenience in use of the user is improved.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the cooking appliance further includes:

the water storage module is used for storing cooking water;

the water adding module is used for adding water in the water storage module into the cooking cavity;

the display unit also comprises a water quantity information display area;

the control module controls the display unit to display the current water amount in the water storage module and the water amount added into the cooking cavity in the water amount information display area.

With the arrangement of the mode, a user can conveniently obtain the information of the current water level and the water amount added into the cooking cavity, and the use convenience of the user is improved.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the display unit further includes a time information display area, a food material information display area, and a nutritional ingredient display area;

the control module controls the display unit to display the current time in the time information display area, display the information of the food materials in the scanned food material storage bin in the food material information display area, and display the nutritional ingredients of the food materials in the scanned food material storage bin in the nutritional ingredient display area.

With the arrangement of the mode, a user can conveniently obtain the current time, and the food material information and the nutritional ingredients of the currently scanned food material storage bin improve the use convenience of the user.

In an embodiment of the present invention, an indicator light is disposed corresponding to each food material storage bin, and the indicator light is used for indicating when the food material storage bin is at a scanning position.

With the arrangement of the mode, a user can conveniently know which food material storage bin is scanned currently, and the use convenience of the user is improved.

In an embodiment of the invention, the indicator light is lighted when the food material storage bin is at the scanning position.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the food material information includes a food material type, a production date, a shelf life duration, and a nutritional component.

With the arrangement of the mode, the user can conveniently know the food material information, so that the user can select the required food material, and the use convenience of the user is improved.

the water level detection module is used for detecting the water level in the water storage module;

the control module controls the display unit to display the water quantity in the water storage module in the water quantity information display area according to the detection result of the water level detection module.

With the arrangement of the mode, a user can know the water level information in the water storage module conveniently to judge whether water is enough or not, and the use convenience of the user is improved.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the water adding module includes a water pump, a water path communicating the water storage module and the cooking cavity, and a flow rate detecting unit, the water pump is configured to pump water in the water storage module into the cooking cavity, and the flow rate detecting unit is configured to detect a water amount flowing through the water path to determine a water amount added into the cooking cavity;

the control module controls the display unit to display the water amount added into the cooking cavity in the water amount information display area according to the detection result of the flow detection unit.

With the arrangement of the mode, a user can know the water amount added into the cooking cavity conveniently so as to judge whether the water is enough or not, and the use convenience of the user is improved.

In an embodiment of the invention, the display unit further includes a warning information display area, and the control module controls the display unit to display warning information prompting a user that the food material in the food material storage module and/or the water in the water storage module is insufficient in the warning information display area when determining that the food material in the food material storage module and/or the water in the water storage module is insufficient.

With the arrangement of the mode, when the food in the food storage module and/or the water in the water storage module is determined to be insufficient, the related information is known in time, so that food and/or water are added, the situation that cooking cannot be finished due to insufficient food and/or water is avoided, and the convenience in use of a user is improved

Drawings

The following drawings of the invention are included to provide a further understanding of the invention. There are shown in the drawings, embodiments and descriptions thereof, which are used to explain the principles and apparatus of the invention. In the drawings, there is shown in the drawings,

fig. 1 is a schematic structural block diagram of a cooking appliance according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a schematic structural view of a food material storage and barcode scanning module of the cooking appliance shown in fig. 1; and

fig. 3 is a schematic view of a display interface of a cooking appliance according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a more thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that the present invention may be practiced without one or more of these specific details. In other instances, well-known features have not been described in order to avoid obscuring the invention.

In the following description, for purposes of explanation, specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It is apparent that the practice of the invention is not limited to the specific details set forth herein as are known to those of skill in the art. The following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention, however, the invention is capable of other embodiments in addition to the detailed description and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein.

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural block diagram of a cooking appliance according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The embodiment of the invention provides a cooking appliance 100, and the cooking appliance 100 can be an electric cooker, an electric pressure cooker or other electric heating appliances. In addition, the cooking appliance 100 may have other functions such as cooking porridge and cooking soup in addition to the function of cooking rice.

The cooking appliance 100 according to the present embodiment may have various structures, and as an example, the cooking appliance 100 according to the present embodiment generally includes a pot body. The pot body may be in a generally rounded rectangular parallelepiped shape, a generally cylindrical shape, or any other suitable shape. An inner pot of generally cylindrical shape or any other suitable shape is provided in the pot body. The inner pot can be freely put into the inner pot containing part of the cooker body or taken out of the inner pot containing part, so that the inner pot is convenient to clean. The inner pot is used for storing food to be cooked, such as rice, soup, etc. The top of the inner pot is provided with a top opening. The user can store food to be cooked in the inner pot through the top opening or take cooked food out of the inner pot through the top opening.

The cooker body is provided with a cover body. The shape of the cover body basically corresponds to the shape of the cooker body. For example, the cover may have a rounded rectangular parallelepiped shape. The cover body is arranged on the cooker body in an openable and closable manner and is used for covering the whole top of the cooker body or at least the inner pot of the cooker body. Specifically, in the present embodiment, the lid body may be pivotably provided above the pot body between the maximum open position and the closed position by, for example, a hinge. When the cover body is covered on the cooker body, a cooking cavity is formed between the cover body and the cooker body (specifically, the inner pot of the cooker body).

A steam passage (not shown) is further provided in the cooking appliance 100 to allow gas in the cooking cavity to flow to the outside of the cooking appliance 100. Wherein, the one end of steam channel is provided with the steam inlet with culinary art cavity intercommunication, and the other end of steam channel is provided with the steam outlet with external intercommunication.

A controller (not shown) is also provided in the cooking appliance 100. The controller can be arranged in the cover body and can also be arranged in the cooker body. The controller implements various functions by controlling various modules in the cooking appliance 100.

The cooking appliance 100 may have various functional modules, and the cooking appliance 100 provided in the present embodiment is described below with reference to fig. 1.

As shown in fig. 1, the cooking appliance 100 provided in this embodiment includes a food material storage module 10, a food material information acquisition module 11, a heating module 12, a water adding module 13, a setting module 14, an indication module 15, a cooking cycle recording module 16, a water storage module 17, a water level detection module 18, a communication interface 19, and a control module 20.

The food material storage module 10 is used for storing food materials with identification codes. The identification code carries food material information, and the food material information comprises information of food material types, such as rice types, food material production date T0, shelf life duration T1, nutritional ingredients and the like. The identification code may be a two-dimensional code, a bar code, or the like. Exemplarily, in the present embodiment, the identification code is a barcode. The food storage module 10 may have various structures, for example, as shown in fig. 2, the food storage module 10 includes a plurality of food storage bins 21, the food is stored in the food storage bins 21, the identification code is attached to the food storage bins 21, and the information of the food stored in the food storage bins 21 can be obtained by scanning and analyzing the information of the identification code. Also, the ingredients stored therein may be entered into the cooking cavity (inner pot) of the cooking appliance 100, for example, by piercing a seal at the bottom of the ingredient storage bin 21. The food storage module 10 further includes an indicator light 22 and a motor (not shown), and the motor can drive the food storage bins 21 to rotate under the control of the control module 20, so that each food storage bin 21 can be shifted to the position of the food information acquiring module 11. The indicator lamp 22 is used to indicate information, such as a location of the food material storage bin 21 or storage information, under the control of the control module 20. For example, when the food material storage bin 21 is shifted to the position (i.e., the scanning position) of the food material information acquiring module 11, the indicator light 22 is turned on to indicate that the food material information acquiring module 11 scans the food material storage bin 21 corresponding to the currently turned-on indicator light 22. Alternatively, the indicator light 22 may indicate the number of the ingredients in the ingredient storage 21 by different colors, for example, when the indicator light 22 is green, it indicates that the corresponding ingredient storage 21 stores the ingredients, and when the indicator light 22 is red, it indicates that the corresponding ingredient storage 21 does not store the ingredients. The food storage module 10 may be disposed at any suitable position of the cooking appliance 100, and in the present embodiment, the food storage module 10 is disposed in a cover of the cooking appliance 100.

In addition, in the present embodiment, a food material adding module (not shown) may be further included for adding the food material in the food material storage module 10 to the cooking cavity. Exemplarily, the food material adding module comprises a food material conveying channel communicated with the cooking cavity and a motor, wherein the motor is used for controlling the opening and closing of the food material conveying channel, when a sealing member at the bottom of the food material storage bin 21 is punctured by the puncturing device, the food material in the food material storage bin falls into the food material conveying channel, and then the motor opens the conveying channel to convey the food material into the cooking cavity, so that the automatic adding of the food material is realized.

The food material information acquiring module 11 is disposed in a circumferential direction of the food material storage module 10, and is configured to acquire information of the food material stored in the food material storage module 10. The food material information obtaining module 11 may adopt a scanning gun or a scanning module corresponding to the identification code. Exemplarily, in the present embodiment, the food material information acquiring module 11 employs a barcode scanning gun, which acquires the food material information by scanning a barcode on the food material storage bin 21. Exemplarily, in the present embodiment, it is also provided in the cover of the cooking appliance 100.

The heating module 12 is used for heating the food material in the cooking cavity of the cooking appliance 100. The heating module 12 may be provided in the pot body, which may heat the inner pot at the bottom and/or sides thereof. The heating module 12 may be an electric heating tube or an induction heating device such as a solenoid coil. In the structure in which the cooking appliance 100 includes a detachable base, the heating module 12 may also be provided in the base of the cooking appliance 100.

The water adding module 13 is used for adding water into the cooking cavity of the cooking appliance 100. The water adding module 13 comprises a water pump and a water path communicated with the cooking cavity. The water pump is used for pumping water from the water source into the cooking cavity through the waterway. The water route includes the delivery port with culinary art cavity intercommunication, the water inlet with external water pipe or water tank intercommunication to and connect the pipeline of water inlet and delivery port. The water adding module 13 may further include a water tank provided on the cooking appliance 100, and a valve and a flow rate detecting unit provided on the water tank or the pipe connecting the water inlet and the water outlet. The water tank is used for storing cooking water, and the water pump can pump the water in the water tank into the cooking cavity through the waterway. The valve is used for controlling the opening and closing of the water path. The flow rate detecting unit is used for detecting the amount of water flowing through the water path, and may be various flow meters, such as an optical flow meter, an electromagnetic flow meter, or the like, or may be other flow rate detecting circuits/components. The water adding module 13 adds a predetermined amount of water into the cooking cavity under the control of the control module 20, and a better cooking effect can be achieved by accurately controlling the amount of added water. The water adding module 13 may be disposed on the cover or the pot body of the cooker 100, or a part of the structure may be disposed on the cover and a part of the structure may be disposed on the pot body.

The setting module 14 is used for providing various cooking settings for the user, such as setting rice type, taste, timing time, appointment time, cooking mode, and the like. The setup module 14 may be various keys, a touch pad, or a touch screen. The setting module 14 may be disposed on a lid, a pot, or a base of the cooking appliance 100.

The indication module 15 is used for indicating cooking information or other related information or status, such as total cooking time, remaining time to the user. The indication module 15 may include an LED lamp, a four-position eight-segment nixie tube, a display screen, a buzzer/speaker or other devices, and is used to display the cooking time and status set by the user or during the cooking process, and to sound or voice prompt the cooking status of the user through the buzzer. The indication module 15 may be disposed on the lid, the pot body, or the base of the cooking appliance 100.

The cooking cycle recording module 16 is configured to record information such as a number of cooking cycles experienced by the food material stored in the food material storage module 10. The cooking cycle recording module 16 may be various memory modules that do not lose information when power is lost, such as an EEPROM (electrically erasable programmable read only memory). Specifically, the control module 20 may record the number of cooking cycles experienced by the food material in each food material storage bin 21 of the food material storage module 10, and store the number of cooking cycles into the cooking cycle recording module 16, for example, after the cooking appliance 100 is powered on to cook each time, the control module 20 adds 1 to the number of cooking cycles experienced by the food material not used in the food material storage module 10, and stores the number of cooking cycles into the cooking cycle recording module 16, and when the number of cooking cycles experienced by the currently used food material needs to be known, the number of cooking cycles may be read from the cooking cycle recording module 16.

The communication interface 19 is used to implement a networking function of the cooking appliance 100, and a current date and time synchronization function and the like can be implemented through the communication interface 19. The communication interface 19 can include one or more wired or wireless communication interfaces. Such as a communications interface network interface card, wireless modem, or wired modem. In one application, the communication interface 19 can be a WiFi modem. In other applications, the communication interface 19 can be a 3G modem, a 4G modem, an LTE modem, a bluetooth component, a radio frequency receiver, an antenna, or a combination thereof. Exemplarily, in the present embodiment, the communication interface 19 is an NB-IoT communication module.

The water storage module 17 is used for storing water for cooking. Illustratively, the water storage module 17 is, for example, a water tank provided on the pot body, which may be provided at a rear end or a side end of the pot body or at other suitable positions.

A water level detection module 18 is disposed on the water storage module 17 for detecting the water level of the water storage module, thereby determining the amount of water in the water storage module 17. The water level detection module 18 may be a capacitive or photoelectric water level detection module, or other suitable water level detection device.

The control module 20 is used to control the above modules and other modules of the cooking appliance 100, so as to control various functions of the cooking appliance 100 and various cooking modes or programs. The control module 20 may be implemented as the above-described controller, which may be various types of controllers, such as an MCU or the like.

In the present embodiment, the control module 20 is used for instructing a display unit, such as a display screen or a nixie tube, in the module 15 to display cooking related information.

Exemplarily, in the present embodiment, the display unit is a dot-matrix liquid crystal panel. The display unit is divided into a cooking function display area, a food material type display area, a food material quantity display area, a time information display area, a food material information display area, a nutritional component display area, a water quantity information display area and a warning information display area.

After the cooking appliance 100 according to the present embodiment is powered on, the control module 20 controls the display unit to display the cooking function in the cooking function display area according to the cooking function of the cooking appliance 100, so that the user can select the cooking function. Then, the food material storage bins 21 are rotated by controlling the starting motor, and the scanning head scans the food materials in each food material storage bin 21 at the same time, so that the information of a plurality of food materials is continuously read, wherein the information comprises the types, the production dates, the nutritional ingredients and the like of the food materials, and thus, the number of the food material storage bins 21 and the information of the food materials can be obtained. The control module 20 controls the display unit to display the food material type in the food material type display area according to the obtained information for the user to select, and displays the quantity information of the food material storage bins (such as capsules, i.e. food materials) in the food material quantity display area, such as the total number of capsules, the number of selected capsules, and the number of added capsules. And, when each food material storage bin 21 is scanned, the control module 20 controls the display unit to display the information of the food material currently scanned in the food material storage bin, such as rice type, production date, production place, shelf life and the like, and the nutritional component information of the food material currently scanned in the nutritional component display area in the food material information display area according to the scanned information. The nutritional ingredients include, for example, the content of proteins, carbohydrates, minerals, and the like.

After the cooking appliance 100 according to the present embodiment is powered on, the control module 20 controls the water level detection module 18 to detect the water level information of the water storage module, and obtains the amount of water in the water storage module 17 according to the water level information. Then, the control module 20 controls the display unit to display the water amount information of the water storage module such as the water tank in the water amount information display area. In addition, during the water adding process, the control module 20 may further obtain the flow rate of the water flowing through the water path through the flow rate detection unit, so as to determine the amount of water in the heating cooking cavity. Then the system module 20 controls the display unit to display the information of the added water amount in the water amount information display area.

In addition, the control module 20 may also acquire the current time through the communication interface 19 and control the display unit to display the current time in the time information display area.

Further, the control module 20 may further determine the required amount of water according to the cooking function and the amount of food materials selected by the user, and determine whether the amount of water in the water storage module 17 is sufficient, or determine whether the variety of food materials selected by the user is sufficient according to the amount of food materials in the food material storage bin, and when determining that the amount of water in the food material storage module 10 and/or the water storage module 17 is insufficient, the control module 20 controls the display unit to display, in the warning information display area, warning information prompting the user that the amount of food materials in the food material storage module and/or the water storage module is insufficient.

In addition, in this embodiment, the control module 20 can also determine the freshness of the food material according to the food material information, and control the display unit to display the freshness information of the food material in the currently scanned food material storage bin in the food material information display area of the display unit.

Exemplarily, the determining of the freshness of the food material according to the food material information is realized by the following steps:

firstly, determining the time length delta T3 of the food material from the production date according to the production date T0 and the current date T2 of the food material, wherein the time length delta T3 is T2-T0.

Then, determining an equivalent time length delta T4 of the food material from the production date according to the time length delta T3 of the food material from the production date and the number m of the cooking cycles undergone by the food material; illustratively, Δ T4 ═ Δ T3+ k0 × m, k0 is a coefficient, and illustratively, k0 is equal to or greater than 3 and less than 20.

Finally, the freshness of the food material is determined by comparing the equivalent time length delta T4 of the food material from the production date with the shelf life time length T1. The freshness of the food material is determined, for example, by the size of Δ T4/T1, the closer Δ T4 is to the shelf life duration T1, i.e., the larger Δ T4/T1 is, the lower the freshness of the food material is, and vice versa. Exemplarily, in the present implementation, food freshness is considered low when Δ T4/T1 is greater than 1/2 and food freshness is considered high when Δ T4/T1 is less than or equal to 1/2.

It is to be understood that the above-described manner of determining freshness is merely exemplary, and that in other embodiments according to the present invention, various other suitable manners may also be employed to determine freshness of food material.

Fig. 3 is a schematic view of a display interface of a cooking appliance according to an embodiment of the present invention. An example of the display interface according to the present embodiment is described below with reference to fig. 3.

As shown in fig. 3, the first behavior cooking function display area of the display unit is used to display a cooking function for the user to select. The cooking function includes, for example, cooking rice, cooking porridge, rice in a pot, and quick cooking for the user to select.

The 2 nd row of the display unit is a food material type display area used for displaying food material types for the user to select.

The 3 rd row of the display unit is a food material quantity display area for displaying the quantity information of the food material storage bins (e.g., capsules, i.e., food materials). The total number of the capsules represents the number of food material storage bins identified after the food material storage module rotates for 1 circle by scanning, the selected number of the capsules refers to the number of the capsules selected by a consumer through a 'number of capsules' key on a control panel, and the number of the added capsules refers to the number of the capsules added into the cooking cavity at present.

And the 4 th action time information display area of the display unit is used for displaying the current time.

The 5 th row of the display unit is a food material information display area for displaying the information of the currently scanned food materials in the food material storage bin, such as rice seeds, production date, production place, quality guarantee period, freshness and the like.

And the 6 th row of the display unit is a nutrient component display area used for displaying the nutrient component information of the food materials in the currently scanned food material storage bin. The nutritional ingredients include, for example, the content of proteins, carbohydrates, minerals, and the like.

The 7 th line of the display unit is a water amount information display area for displaying water amount information of a water storage module such as a water tank and water addition information.

According to the cooking utensil of the embodiment, a user can select the cooking utensil according to information such as the number of capsules, the types of rice and the water quantity of a water tank displayed on a display interface, and after the user selects the functions, the number of capsules, the types of rice and other settings, the user presses a start key to start cooking. Before beginning culinary art, if discover the water tank water yield can not satisfy the culinary art demand, then instruction module will send out the early warning information of lack of water to the suggestion consumer in time adds water to the water tank.

Although the illustrative embodiments have been described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the foregoing illustrative embodiments are merely exemplary and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention thereto. Various changes and modifications may be effected therein by one of ordinary skill in the pertinent art without departing from the scope or spirit of the present invention. All such changes and modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware or combinations of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the implementation. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present invention.

In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus and method may be implemented in other ways. For example, the above-described device embodiments are merely illustrative, and for example, the division of the units is only one logical functional division, and other divisions may be realized in practice, for example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or integrated into another device, or some features may be omitted, or not executed.

In the description provided herein, numerous specific details are set forth. It is understood, however, that embodiments of the invention may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known methods, structures and techniques have not been shown in detail in order not to obscure an understanding of this description.

Similarly, it should be appreciated that in the description of exemplary embodiments of the invention, various features of the invention are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the invention and aiding in the understanding of one or more of the various inventive aspects. However, the method of the present invention should not be construed to reflect the intent: that the invention as claimed requires more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive aspects lie in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus, the claims following the detailed description are hereby expressly incorporated into this detailed description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment of this invention.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that all of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), and all of the processes or elements of any method or apparatus so disclosed, may be combined in any combination, except combinations where such features are mutually exclusive. Each feature disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings) may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise.

Furthermore, those skilled in the art will appreciate that while some embodiments described herein include some features included in other embodiments, rather than other features, combinations of features of different embodiments are meant to be within the scope of the invention and form different embodiments. For example, in the claims, any of the claimed embodiments may be used in any combination.

The various component embodiments of the invention may be implemented in hardware, or in software modules running on one or more processors, or in a combination thereof. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that a microprocessor or Digital Signal Processor (DSP) may be used in practice to implement some or all of the functionality of some of the modules in an item analysis apparatus according to embodiments of the present invention. The present invention may also be embodied as apparatus programs (e.g., computer programs and computer program products) for performing a portion or all of the methods described herein. Such programs implementing the present invention may be stored on computer-readable media or may be in the form of one or more signals. Such a signal may be downloaded from an internet website or provided on a carrier signal or in any other form.

It should be noted that the above-mentioned embodiments illustrate rather than limit the invention, and that those skilled in the art will be able to design alternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the appended claims. In the claims, any reference signs placed between parentheses shall not be construed as limiting the claim. The word "comprising" does not exclude the presence of elements or steps not listed in a claim. The word "a" or "an" preceding an element does not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements. The invention may be implemented by means of hardware comprising several distinct elements, and by means of a suitably programmed computer. In the unit claims enumerating several means, several of these means may be embodied by one and the same item of hardware. The usage of the words first, second and third, etcetera do not indicate any ordering. These words may be interpreted as names.

The above description is only for the specific embodiment of the present invention or the description thereof, and the protection scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily conceive of the changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present invention, and the changes or substitutions should be covered within the protection scope of the present invention. The protection scope of the present invention shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A cooking appliance, comprising:

a display unit for displaying food material information and cooking information;

the control module controls the display unit to display the food material information and the cooking information in different display areas, determines the freshness of food materials according to the food material information, and controls the display unit to display the currently scanned freshness information of the food materials in the food material storage bin; and

the cooking period recording module is used for recording the information of the number of cooking periods of the food materials stored in the food material storage module;

wherein, the control module determines the freshness of the food material according to the food material information, and comprises:

determining the time length of the food material from the production date according to the production date and the current date of the food material;

determining the equivalent duration of the food material from the production date according to the duration of the food material from the production date and the number of cooking cycles experienced by the food material;

and comparing the equivalent duration of the food material from the production date with the shelf life duration to determine the freshness of the food material.

2. The cooking appliance according to claim 1, wherein the display unit comprises a cooking function display area, a food material type display area, a food material quantity display area;

3. The cooking appliance of claim 1, further comprising:

the water storage module is used for storing cooking water;

the display unit also comprises a water quantity information display area;

4. The cooking appliance of claim 1,

the display unit also comprises a time information display area, a food material information display area and a nutrient composition display area;

5. The cooking appliance of claim 1, wherein one indicator light is provided for each food material storage bin, the indicator light being configured to indicate when the food material storage bin is in the scanning position.

6. The cooking appliance of claim 1, wherein the food material information comprises at least one of a food material type, a production date, a shelf life duration, and a nutritional composition.

7. The cooking appliance of claim 3, further comprising:

8. The cooking appliance of claim 7, wherein the display unit further comprises a warning information display area, and the control module controls the display unit to display warning information in the warning information display area prompting a user that the amount of food material in the food material storage module and/or the amount of water in the water storage module is insufficient when determining that the amount of food material in the food material storage module and/or the amount of water in the water storage module is insufficient.