DE20016793U1 - Cooking device with mass detection - Google Patents

Description

BOEHMERT & BOEHMERT

LAW FIRM

Boehmert & Bochmcrt · PO-B. 10 71 27 · D-28071 Bremen

German Patent and Trademark Office
Zweibrückenstr. 12

80297 Munich

DR.-INO. KARL BOEHMERT, PA (1899-1973)

DIPL.-ING. ALBERT BOEHM ERT ₁ PA (1902-1993)

WILHELM J. H. STAHLBERO, Attorney-at-Law, Bremen

DR-ING. WALTER HOORMANN, PA·, Bremen

DIPL.-PHYS. DR. HEINZ GODDAR, PA·, Munich

DR.-ING. ROLAND LIESEGANG, PA·. Some WOLF-DIETER KUNTZE, RA. Bm, Alicante

DIPL.-PHYS. ROBERT MÜNZHUBER. PA (1933-1992)

DR. LUDWIG KOUKER, RA, Brno, DR. (CHEM.) ANDREAS WINKLER, PA-, Brawn

MICHAELA HUTH-DIERIO, Ra, Munich DIPL.-PHYS. DR. MARION TÖNHARDT, PA·, Düsseldorf

DR. ANDREAS EBERT-WEIDENFELLER, LAWYER, Bremen

DIPL.-ING. EVA LIESEGANG, PA·.MOuhn

DR. AXEL NORDEMANN, RA, Berlin DIPL.-PHYS. DR. DOROTHEE WEBER-BRULS, PA·, Fmnkfuri

DIPL.-PHYS. DR. STEFAN SCHOHE, PA·, Munich

DR.-ING. MATTHIAS PHILIPP, PA·, Bielefeld

DR. IAN BERND NORDEMANN, LL.M., RA, Berlin

PA - Patent&nwaU/PatetU Attorney

RA - Rechts&nwali/Atlame y at Law

• - European Patent Attorney

^a · Brandenburg, admitted to OLO Brandenburg

^D - Master of Laws

AHe »igclisaen to represent ™r the European Marienunl,Alicuie

Prof. Dr. Thomas E. Krüger, ^Attorney at Law, Director General PROF. DR. WILHELM NORDEMANN, Attorney at Law, Director General DIPL.-PHYS. EDUARD BAUMANN, Attorney at Law, Hallenkirchen DR.-ING. GERALD KÖPSCH, Attorney at Law, Düsseldorf DIPL.-ING. HANS W. GROENING, Attorney at Law, _Director General DIPL.-ING. SIEGFRIED SCHIRMER, Attorney at Law, Bielefeld DIPL.-PHYS. LORENZ HANEWINKEL, Attorney at Law, Paderborn DIPL-ING. DR. JAN TÖNNIES, Attorney at Law, Kiel DIPL.-PHYS. CHRISTIAN BIEHL, Attorney at Law, Kiel MARTIN WIRTZ, Attorney at Law, Düsseldorf
DR. DETMAR SCHÄFER, RA, Bremen DIPL.-PHYS. DR.-ING. UWE MANASSE, PA·, Bremen DR. CHRISTIAN CZYCHOWSKL RA, Berti« DR. CARL-RICHARD HAARMANN, RA, Manchen DIPL.-PHYS. DR. THOMAS L. BlTTNER, Pa', Berlin DR. VOLKER SCHMITZ, RA, Munich DR. FRIEDRICH NICOLAUS HEISE, PA Potsdam DIPL.-PHYS. CHRISTIAN W. APPELT, PA, Munich DR. ANKE NORDEMANN-SCHIFFEL, Ra", Pols&rr, KERSTIN MAUCH, LL.M., RA, Potsdnm

In cooperation with/in cooperation witb

DIPL.-CHEM. DR. HANS ULRICH MAY, PA·, Munich

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L50023(M) Bremen,

27.

Rational AG

Iglinger Strasse 62

86899 Landsberg am Lech

Cooking appliance with mass detection

Description

The invention relates to a cooking appliance with a cooking chamber for food to be cooked and at least one sensor for detecting at least one food and/or cooking appliance size.

Cooking appliances are generally known and are available in a wide variety of designs with various components. Cooking appliances known from the prior art include, for example, a cooking chamber that is separated from a fan chamber by a panel. A fan is arranged in this fan chamber, which circulates the air within the cooking chamber.

-23/31.95-

Hollerallee 32 · D-28209 Bremen · P.O.B. 10 71 27 · D-28071 Bremen · Telephone+49-421-34090 · Fax+49-421-3491768

MUNICH - BREMEN - BERLIN - DÜSSELDORF - FRANKFURT - POTSDAM* BRANDENBURG - KKL - PASSENGER BORDER - HÖHENKIRCHEN - ALICANTE

A cooking appliance of this type is known from DE 299 232 15.8. The cooking appliance includes a cooking process sensor for controlling a cooking process, which is inserted into the food being cooked and with which several temperature values can be recorded. Specific food and/or cooking appliance parameters can be determined using the thermokinetics of the recorded temperature values. However, the disadvantage is that the cooking process sensor according to DE 299 232 15.8 has to be inserted into the food being cooked and statements about the food being cooked have to be made based on the temporal progression of the recorded temperature values.

An important variable within a cooking process that changes with the cooking time is the mass of the food being cooked, i.e. the change in mass of the food being cooked as a function of the cooking time. Determining the mass or the change in mass of the food being cooked as a function of the cooking time offers an important opportunity to optimize the cooking process. Sensors for detecting the mass and/or change in mass of food being cooked within a cooking device are not known from the current state of the art.

It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a generic cooking appliance which overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art and in which in particular the mass and/or mass change of food to be cooked can be detected.

The object is achieved in that the mass and/or mass change of food to be cooked in the cooking chamber can be detected via the sensor, which can be arranged inside or outside the cooking chamber.

The invention provides that the sensor, which is located inside or outside
of the cooking chamber, the mass and/or mass change of food to be cooked in the cooking chamber can be detected.

It is also proposed that the sensor be equipped with at least one component that deforms depending on the mass and/or mass change of the food, such as the cooking appliance cover.

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ke, the cooking appliance base, a food support, a rack and/or the like.

Furthermore, it is provided that the deformation force and/or the deformation path can be detected via the sensor.

It is also proposed that the sensor is a deformation sensor, in particular comprising a strain gauge.

Furthermore, the invention provides that a control and/or regulating device is in operative connection with the sensor.

It can be provided that the control and/or regulating device operates depending on a cooking program, a product to be cooked, the detected size of the product to be cooked and/or the detected size of the cooking appliance, in particular for controlling and/or regulating a cooking process and/or cleaning process.

According to the invention, at least one further sensor, such as a temperature sensor, pressure sensor, humidity sensor and/or the like, in particular in operative connection with the control and/or regulating device, is also proposed.

Furthermore, it can be provided that the quality, size, shape, fat content and/or water release amount of the food to be cooked can be detected as food size via the mass at the beginning of a cooking process and the change in mass of the food to be cooked during the cooking process.

The invention also proposes that the degree of contamination and/or moisture content of the cooking chamber can be detected as a cooking appliance variable via the mass at the beginning of the cooking process and the change in mass of the food to be cooked during the cooking process.

The invention is therefore based on the surprising discovery that the mass or change in mass of the food being cooked can be recorded as a function of the cooking time by arranging special sensors. The sensors are preferably designed in such a way that they record the deformation force and/or the deformation path of deforming components of the cooking appliance and thus enable a conclusion to be drawn about the mass or change in mass of the food being cooked.

In addition to recording the mass or change in mass of the food being cooked, the sensors can also be used to determine the position of the food being cooked in the cooking chamber, or rather the mass distribution of the food being cooked in the cooking chamber. With the cooking device according to the invention, it is also possible, for example, to draw conclusions about the quality of the food being cooked, the size of the food being cooked, the shape of the food being cooked, the fat content of the food being cooked, and the swelling steam that forms as a result of water being released from the food being cooked.

It is also possible, particularly in combination with other sensors, to differentiate the mass changes into a water loss and a fat loss of the food being cooked, whereby the determination of the fat loss of the food being cooked can be used, for example, for the control and/or regulation of a cleaning process following a cooking process, for example via the amount of cleaning agent required.

Furthermore, with the cooking appliance according to the invention, the cooking process can be regulated independently of direct moisture measurement.

Further features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description, in which embodiments of the invention are explained in detail with reference to schematic drawings.

It shows:

Fig. 1 shows a first embodiment of the cooking appliance according to the invention in cross section;

Fig. 2 shows a second embodiment of the cooking appliance according to the invention in cross section; and

BOEHMERT

Fig. 3 shows a third embodiment of the cooking appliance according to the invention in cross section.

Fig. 1 shows a cooking appliance 1 with a cooking chamber 4 separated from a fan chamber 3 by an air baffle 2. A fan wheel 5 is arranged in the fan chamber 3, which can be driven by a motor 6. A drain 7 is arranged in the bottom area of the cooking chamber 4, and inside the cooking chamber there is a frame 8, with a sensor 11, in particular a deformation sensor, such as a
strain gauges, is arranged.

Of course, it is conceivable that the sensors 11 are also attached to other cooking appliance components that are deformable, such as the cooking appliance lid, cooking appliance base, food support, oven rack
and/or the like, can be placed.

When operating the cooking appliance 1 according to the invention, food 10 is placed on the individual rack floors 9 and the cooking process is started. The sensors 11 arranged on the individual rack floors 9 can, for example, measure the deformation force
and/or the deformation path, the mass and/or the mass change of the respective
of the food 10 to be cooked on the individual rack levels 9. With the help of these recorded values, the cooking process can be optimized via a control and/or regulating device (not shown) in order to achieve the best cooking results.

If, for example, a roast chicken is cooked in the cooking device according to the invention, the mass of the chicken is recorded at the beginning of the cooking process via the sensors 11. The change in the chicken's mass, which occurs as a function of a certain cooking temperature, is proportional to the degree of doneness of the chicken to be cooked. If a certain mass or change in mass is recorded by the sensors 11, the control unit (not shown) can be used to
and/or control unit the cooking process can either be terminated or the cooking process can be varied in a targeted manner.

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For example, when cooking a chicken, it is exposed to a lot of energy at the beginning of the cooking process. In a second cooking process phase, the chicken loses a lot of water, which can be registered by the sensors 11 due to the loss of mass. If such a water loss is detected by the sensors 11, a dehumidification process of the cooking chamber 4 can be initiated via the control and/or regulating device (not shown) using a dehumidification device (not shown) in order to achieve optimal cooking results.

Fig. 2 shows a further embodiment of the cooking appliance according to the invention. As shown in Fig. 2, the sensors 11' detect the mass and/or mass change of the entire frame 8 and the food 10 to be cooked thereon, again by measuring the deformation force and/or the deformation path. The frame 8 is thus mounted as a whole on the sensors IV .

In the third embodiment of the cooking appliance according to the invention shown in Figure 3, the food 10 to be cooked is stored on a support 12, wherein these supports 12 are stored on the respective rack floors 9 via sensors 11". This embodiment enables a particularly precise determination of the mass and/or mass change of the respective food 10 to be cooked by the sensors 11".

In addition to the sensors for detecting the mass and/or mass change, it is also conceivable that at least one further sensor, such as a temperature sensor, pressure sensor, humidity sensor and/or the like, can be arranged in the cooking appliance according to the invention in order to further optimize the cooking process.

The features of the invention disclosed in the above description, in the drawings and in the claims may be essential for the realization of the invention in its various embodiments both individually and in any combination.

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L50023(M)

1 Cooking appliance 2 Air baffle 3 Fan room 4 Cooking chamber 5 Fan wheel 6 engine 7 Drain 8th frame 9 Rack floor 10 Food &eegr;,&igr;&idiagr;',&igr;&idiagr;" sensor 12 Edition

List of reference symbols

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Claims (9)

1. Cooking appliance ( 1 ) with a cooking chamber ( 4 ) for food ( 10 ) and at least one sensor ( 11 , 11 ', 11 ") for detecting at least one food and/or cooking appliance size, characterized in that the mass and/or mass change of food ( 10 ) in the cooking chamber ( 4 ) can be detected via the sensor ( 11 , 11 ', 11 "), which can be arranged inside or outside the cooking chamber ( 4 ). 2. Cooking appliance according to claim 1, characterized in that the sensor ( 11 , 11 ', 11 ") is operatively connected to at least one component ( 8 , 9 , 12 ) which deforms depending on the mass and/or change in mass of the food ( 10 ), such as the cooking appliance cover, the cooking appliance base, a food support, a rack and/or the like. 3. Cooking appliance according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the deformation force and/or the deformation path can be detected via the sensor ( 11 , 11 ', 11 "). 4. Cooking appliance according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the sensor ( 11 , 11 ', 11 ") is a deformation sensor, in particular comprising a strain gauge. 5. Cooking appliance according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by a control and/or regulating device in operative connection with the sensor ( 11 , 11 ', 11 "). 6. Cooking appliance according to claim 5, characterized in that the control and/or regulating device operates as a function of a cooking program, a product to be cooked, the detected size of the product to be cooked and/or the detected cooking appliance size, in particular for controlling and/or regulating a cooking process and/or cleaning process. 7. Cooking appliance according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by at least one further sensor, such as temperature sensor, pressure sensor, humidity sensor and/or the like, in particular in operative connection with the control and/or regulating device. 8. Cooking appliance according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the quality, the size, the shape, the fat content and/or the amount of water released of the food ( 10 ) can be detected as food size via the mass at the beginning of a cooking process and the change in mass of the food ( 10 ) during the cooking process. 9. Cooking appliance according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the degree of soiling and/or moisture content of the cooking chamber ( 4 ) can be detected as a cooking appliance variable via the mass at the start of the cooking process and the change in mass of the food ( 10 ) to be cooked during the cooking process.