EP2042809B1 - Method for simplified programming of a cooking device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a method for programming a cooking appliance according to the preamble of patent claim 1.

Program-controlled cooking appliances are now widely used in many catering establishments, as they allow an optimal guidance of a cooking process by means of automated cooking programs, and also the time required for the operation is reduced. Cooking programs can handle a number of complex functions, such as: B. an automatic detection of the amount of charge in the cooking chamber and dependent guidance of a cooking program, as for example in the DE 195 11 621 C1 is described. Also, cooking programs for controlling a cooking appliance in response to a detection of a food are known, see for example the DE 10 2005 011 304 A1 or the DE 103 53 299 A1 , Such cooking programs are usually provided by the manufacturer, since a user could be overwhelmed with the programming of complex cooking programs and often does not have the time for this.

From the WO 96/07298 A1 Furthermore, a vending machine for cooking products is known, in which a cooking process is performed via preset cooking program specific cooking programs. It is provided that individual parameters of the cooking program specific cooking programs can be changed by an operator of the vending machine.

The EP 2 031 306 A1 discloses a method for cooking a food in a cooking appliance, which comprises at least two temporally separate steps, namely a Vorgar-step, which is interrupted upon reaching a certain intermediate value of the degree and / or the cooking time, and a Fertiggar-step, the a later time is called to finish the cooking of the food, taking into account the intermediate value.

In the WO 2006/045290 A1 is a method for cooking a Gargutcharge, containing at least two items to be cooked, the state of each of which can be characterized over at least two Garzustandsgrößen, using at least one measuring device for receiving values of at least one property of at least one Garguts that as a result of the cooking process, at least two of the food items of the cooking batch differ in their caliber, in their total surface area, in their volume, in their weight and / or in their diameter. First, a first food is selected and with this the entire cooking process is carried out with prior selection of a desired value for at least the two cooking state variables for the first food, before the same cooking process is repeated with a second food. The comparison of these first and second target cooking state variables with the measured actual values of the two cooking state variables for the respective first and second food to be cooked enables by subtraction an adaptation of the cooking process.

From the EP 1 666 798 A2 is a cooking appliance with a cooking chamber, a control or regulating device, which cooperates with at least one measuring device for guiding at least one cooking process and / or for guiding at least one cleaning process, and a switching device known, wherein the control or regulating device with the various components of the cooking appliance is so operatively connected that a cooking process or a cleaning process is automatically initiated and managed.

The WO 2005/066547 A2 discloses a cooking appliance in which at least one parameter for at least one predetermined program is preset, this preset parameter via at least one change function element of a control element of the cooking appliance changeable and the change during a certain period of time via at least one confirmation and / or storage function element of the control element of the cooking appliance and upon expiry of that particular period of time, it is automatically confirmable, acceptable and / or storable by the cooking appliance.

From the DE 10 2004 040 655 A1 a method for controlling a delta-T cooking process is known, which cooks the food to be cooked reliably and reproducibly to obtain an outstanding sensor, without having to accept the risk of overgardening.

In the EP 1 041 860 A2 is a microwave oven system comprising the Internet, an information processing device, a microwave oven and a central computer connected to the Internet and having an information storage unit for storing data. The stored data includes a variety of Cooking recipes and recipe parameters, such as the corresponding Heizkontrolldaten for each recipe, which can be loaded from the central computer in the respective microwave oven system by a transfer instruction button by the user.

From the US Pat. No. 7,057,142 B1 is an oven control system comprising a display device, a data input device and a computation unit, wherein the computation unit is configured to send instructions to the display device and to be able to receive instructions from the data input device. The computing device is further configured such that a specific cooking program can be selected based on at least one function of at least one specific parameter.

The US 6,121,593 relates to a device for cooling and cooking of food in one and the same room, wherein the device can be operated by an operator remote from the device via a telephone or the Internet.

From the WO 03/031876 A1 For example, there is known a method for preparing a meal in which information for preparing the food and an ingredient list can be downloaded, wherein the information can also be forwarded to a cooking appliance that issues instructions for preparing the food to an operator.

Of the EP 1 716 795 A1 it is based on the recognition that a cooking process in which food to be cooked or poached in a fluid cooking medium, in particular in water or milk, can be further automated in that not only an operator is in communication with a cooking device performing the cooking process, but the cooking device also automatically performs cooking steps. The cooking device can automatically fill the cooking medium in a required amount in a first cooking container, automatically heat said cooking medium to a required temperature, automatically introduce food into the heated cooking medium, automatically perform a complete cooking of the food and finally the cooked food automatically back from the cooking medium remove to avoid overcooking.

From the generic US 2005/0204934 A1 is a multi-function cooker with a programmable control unit known, via a keyboard of the cooking appliance can be programmed. During programming, several separate functional elements of the cooking appliance, such as a blower, heating elements and a steam generator, are individually controlled, whereby the user can set within the cooking program the relative sequence and duration of operation of said functional elements. The disadvantage here, however, is firstly that the interaction of the separate functional elements with one another and their interaction with the food to be cooked is not taken into account during programming, which can lead to unsatisfactory cooking results. Secondly, only a trained and experienced person can perform the programming, since, for example, the manual adjustment of the operating time of said elements is usually done by a lengthy iterative adjustment process.

From the DE 44 35 931 A1 an operating device for a cooking appliance is known, which makes it possible in particular by pressing a button to select a particular cooking step or insert into a program.

Another device for operating a heatable cooking appliance is in the DE 10 2004 061 304 A1 described. In this case, a storage unit for storing at least one cooking program, a receiving unit for receiving a carried out during a learning Garprozessablaufs, by means of the memory unit and the recording unit a recorded cooking process as a retrievable cooking program can be stored, a control and regulation unit for autonomous heating of the cooking appliance according to the retrievable Cooking program and a sensor unit for detecting a temperature of the cooking appliance used, so that at least one preheat phase of the stored cooking program can be modified depending on a detected by the sensor unit output temperature.

The prior art has the disadvantage that a user of a cooking appliance on the one hand can make only very simple changes of cooking programs themselves and on the other hand is overwhelmed with the hand-programming of complex cooking programs.

It is therefore the object of the present invention to develop the generic method such that it overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art. Especially It is intended to enable a user to easily carry out programming of complex cooking programs on their own.

This object is solved by the features of the characterizing part of patent claim 1. The claims 2 to 4 describe preferred developments of the method according to the invention.

• Die Gargeräte-Funktionen der ersten Gruppe dienen der Erkennung und Kompensation von zumindest einer charakteristischen Größe des in den Garraum des Gargerätes geladenen Garguts, wie eine Beschickungsmenge, ein Gargutkaliber, eine Art des Garguts, ein Zustandes und/oder Ausgangszustandes des Garguts, wie frisch oder gefroren, ein Wendezeitpunktes von Gargut, und/oder eine räumlichen Verteilung des Garguts im Garraum. Die Gargeräte-Funktionen der zweiten Gruppe dienen der Erkennung und Kompensation von zumindest einer charakteristischen Größe eines Gargeräte-Elements, wie beispielsweise eines in ein Gargut einzuführenden Fühlers, insbesondere eines Garprozessfühlers, und/oder einer Öffnung einer Garraumtür. Schließlich dienen Gargeräte-Funktionen der dritten Gruppe der Führung eines Betriebs eines Gargerätes, wie beispielsweise ein Halten-Betrieb, ein Überkrusten-Betrieb und/oder eines Energiesparen-Betrieb.

The invention is thus based on the surprising finding that the user of a cooking appliance can also program very complex cooking programs automatically by integrating previously stored intelligent cooking program modules within a cooking appliance programming environment into an individual cooking product-specific cooking program. The cooking program modules are used to take over complex control tasks, control tasks and / or functions for a cooking process, whereby these cooking appliance functions can be divided into the following three groups:

• The cooking appliance functions of the first group are used to recognize and compensate for at least one characteristic size of the cooking appliance loaded in the cooking appliance, such as a load, a Gargutkaliber, a kind of food, a state and / or initial state of the food, such as fresh or frozen, a turning point of food, and / or a spatial distribution of the food in the oven. The cooking appliance functions of the second group serve to identify and compensate for at least one characteristic size of a cooking appliance element, such as a sensor to be inserted into a food, in particular a Garprozessfühlers, and / or an opening of the cooking chamber door. Finally, cooking equipment functions of the third group serve to guide an operation of a cooking appliance, such as hold operation, overcrusting operation and / or energy saving operation.

These functions are stored in the form of corresponding program modules by the manufacturer in advance in the cooking appliance, so that a user no longer has to program the modules themselves. Alternatively, the user may also download the program modules via an internet connection from a manufacturer's server.

Thus, it is possible for the user to either directly call the cooking program modules during a program or, if necessary, to hand over to the cooking program module at least one parameter and / or at least one data structure in order to adapt the respective cooking program module to the wishes of the user. A cooking program module automatically performs, depending on the given parameters and / or data structures, and hidden for the user, a control or regulation of at least one cooking appliance function. In this case, it is advantageously provided that the modules can also exchange data structures and / or parameters with one another in order to ensure optimal management of a program or program step.

The modules, which are executed on a control or regulating device of the cooking appliance, also communicate with sensors of the cooking appliance for detecting actual values, for example the temperature, the humidity and / or the flow velocity of the cooking chamber atmosphere, and with adjusting elements of the cooking appliance, comprising for example in each case at least one fan wheel, a heating device, a steam generator, a steam exhaust and / or a steaming device.

In this way, the user can manually create cooking programs for which otherwise highly qualified specialist personnel would be necessary. In addition, the integration of the prefabricated cooking program modules into a cooking program results in a considerable saving of time in cooking program creation compared to conventional programming. Since the user does not have to program the program modules themselves, corresponding programming errors are avoided.

A particularly user-friendly programming is made possible by the fact that the user can enter a cooking program or a cooking program step via an operating device of the cooking appliance comprising a plurality of keys, in particular symbol keys, a screen and / or a rotary knob for setting parameters of the program modules.

• Figur 1 einen schematischen Ablauf eines ersten Garprogramms, in das erfindungsgemäß vier Programm-Module eingebunden sind; und
• Figur 2 einen schematischen Ablauf eines zweiten Garprogramms, in das erfindungsgemäß drei Programm-Module eingebunden sind.

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

• FIG. 1 a schematic sequence of a first cooking program, in the invention four program modules are involved; and
• FIG. 2 a schematic sequence of a second cooking program, are incorporated in the present invention, three program modules.

An exemplary construction of a first user-specific cooking program, which has been assembled according to a method according to the invention, is disclosed in US Pat Fig. 1 shown schematically. Accordingly, the program consists of four program steps S1 to S4, which are executed one after the other within the temporal program sequence, characterized by the arrows between the program steps. If necessary, a user can program each individual program step himself, or at least use parts of a stored program. The cooking program modules M1 to M4 are optionally included in the program steps Fig. 1 each represented by a framed plus sign and a connecting line 10, 11, 12, 13. The framed plus sign can be regarded as an interface via which, if necessary, a parameter and / or a data structure can be transferred.

During the first program step S1, a cooking chamber of a cooking appliance, not shown, is preheated with hot air at a temperature of, for example, 160.degree. Thereafter, a request to load the cooking chamber with food, consisting of a plurality of substantially similar Gargutstücken and optionally a sensor, in particular a Garprozessfühler to insert into a piece of food. For this purpose, a cooking chamber door must first be opened and finally closed.

After closing the cooking chamber door follows the second program step S2, in which the cooking chamber is heated in a period of typically 5 min to a target temperature of 140 ° C of the cooking chamber atmosphere. By loading the cooking chamber with food that has not been preheated, the cooking space temperature initially drops and then rises to the desired temperature of 140 ° C. after a characteristic time or with a characteristic temperature rise. The course of the temperature is dependent on the heat capacity of the food. After considering the heat capacity of the Cooking space itself and the type of food can be concluded in this way on the amount of food to be cooked and / or the caliber of the food.

As in Fig. 1 can be seen, in the program step S2, the module for detecting and compensating the feed amount M1, also called load module, integrated. The integration takes place by simply calling the module, whereby no parameter is passed to this module M1 by the user. The module M1 automatically performs a detection of the amount of charge, in particular a load detection, in the manner described above. Depending on the amount of feed, the cooking process is performed during program step S2 and / or during all subsequent program steps S3 and S4. In each case, the temperature, the duration of the cooking program steps, a humidifying activity, a fan wheel speed and / or a humidity in the cooking chamber are adapted to the feed quantity determined by the module M1.

Advantageously, can be dispensed with by the call of the module M1 on a device-specific adjustment of the cooking parameters for different feed quantities. In particular, for the user vorborgen the calculated amount of charge and the other program modules M3 and M4 for the purpose of optimized Garprozessführung be passed as a parameter.

During the program step S2, the spatial temperature distribution of the individual items to be cooked will also change, since the food to be cooked is cooking from outside to inside. The temporal progress of this spatial temperature distribution is with a Garprozessfühler, as in the DE 100 61 821 C2 is described in detail, measured and provides a statement about the state of the Gargutstücks, which in turn is used for Garprozessführung. After loading the cooking chamber, it is therefore of interest to determine whether the Garprozessfühler is plugged into a food or not. This check is made by the program module for detecting the state of the cooking process sensor M2, which was also included by the user in the program step S2. If the module M2 detects that the cooking process sensor has not been correctly inserted into a piece of food, an alarm signal is activated, which indicates to the user the incorrect connection of the cooking process sensor.

After the program step S2 follows the approximately 10-minute program step S3, in which the cooking chamber is heated by means of hot air to 160 ° C. As in Fig. 1 can be seen, the user is called the Progremming module "turning point" M3. This module, to which no parameter is passed to the user, calculates the turning point at which the pieces of food to be cooked, in particular meat and / or baked products, should be spatially turned to achieve an optimum state of cooking. When the turning point is reached, an alarm signal is issued to the user accordingly. For calculating the turning point, the module M3 can in particular fall back on the amount of charge calculated in module M1.

This is followed by the approx. 8-minute program step S4, in which the cooking chamber is controlled with hot air to a temperature of 175 ° C, for example. For reasons of saving energy, it may be useful to consider the heat already stored in the cooking chamber and food in the adjustment of the heat supply to the cooking chamber. Such a consideration of the stored heat makes the program module for performing an energy saving function M4, which has been included by the user in the program step S4. A more detailed description of this energy saving feature can be found in the non-pre-published DE 10 2007 036 513 , Compared to the temperature during operation without energy-saving function or with almost constant heat energy supply, the temperature will typically be reduced as the program module M4 is activated with increasing time. However, the reduced intensity of the heat input into the food can be compensated for example by an extended duration of the heat input. For this purpose, a remaining time for the cooking program step is first estimated by the program module M4 and subsequently the program step duration is adapted accordingly to achieve a desired cooking state. Optionally, the degree of consideration of energy saving can be transferred as a parameter when calling the program module M4. This parameter can be used to implement different intermediate positions between the two extreme settings "Energy saving function off" and "Maximum energy saving function".

A second exemplary user-specific cooking program that has been programmed according to a method according to the invention is shown in FIG Fig. 2 shown schematically. In a similar way as related to Fig. 1 described, the program consists of three program steps S10, S20 and S30, which are executed one after the other within the temporal program sequence and are integrated in the cooking program modules M1, M4 and M5.

During a first cooking program step S10, the cooking chamber is again preheated to a temperature of about 140 ° C., wherein a cooking chamber atmosphere with a moisture content of, for example, 60% is set by a combination of hot air and steam.

After loading the cooking chamber with food, the approx. 20 minute program step S20 follows, in which a cooking chamber atmosphere with a moisture content of 60% is also set. The user has included program modules M1 and M4, which have already been described above, in program step S20.

During the last program step S30, a dry oven atmosphere with a temperature of approx. 180 ° C is generated over hot air for approx. 10 minutes. The user has included the program module for executing an overcrusting function M5, whereby the module was given a parameter "degree of browning" when called. This parameter indicates the desired browning of the food after iterating through program step S30. The module calculates the remaining running time of the program step, which is necessary to achieve the desired browning, and ends the program step after this time has elapsed.

As a further program module, which, however, is not described in a figure, for example, the program module for performing a hold operation to call, in which the user as parameters, the holding temperature and / or the holding period are passed. With this module, for example, food can be kept warm at reduced temperature or cooked overnight.

Another possible program module is used to detect and compensate for the type of food in the oven, determined in particular by the type of cooking, such as poultry, meat, fish, vegetables, baked goods or the like. Likewise, a program module for detecting and compensating the Gargutausgangszustands, determined in particular by the cooking temperature, such as frozen or fresh, be provided. It is provided in particular, a program module for detecting and compensating a state of the food in the oven, determined in particular by the core temperature, the cooking value, the hygiene, the sterilization value, the pH or the like to provide. Another advantageous program module is used to detect and compensate for a distribution of the food in the oven.

Claims (4)

1. A method for programming a cooking device, in which user-specific programs can be entered, saved and initiated by a user,
   characterised in that
   when manually creating a cooking program, at least one program step of the cooking program is entered via an operating device of the cooking device and at least one in advance saved program module of a plurality of program-modules for controlling or regulating at least one cooking device function is integrated by the user into the cooking program, and
   the plurality of program modules comprises the following:

   • at least one program module for detecting and compensating at least one characteristic variable of the cooking product(s) loaded into the cooking chamber of the cooking device, selected from

   • a first program module for detecting and compensating a filling amount of cooking product(s) in a cooking chamber,

   • a second program module for detecting and compensating the caliber of the cooking product(s) arranged in the cooking chamber,

   • a third program module for detecting and compensating the type of cooking product(s) in the cooking chamber, determined in particular by the type of cooking product(s), such as poultry, meat, fish, vegetables or baked product(s), and/or the initial state of the cooking product(s), determined in particular by the temperature of the cooking product(s), such as frozen or fresh,

   • a fourth program module for detecting and compensating a state of the cooking product(s) in the cooking chamber, determined in particular by the core temperature, the cooking value, the hygiene, the sterilisation value, the pasteurisation value or the pH-value,

   • a fifth program module for detecting and compensating a point in time for turning the cooking product(s) in the cooking chamber, and/or a sixth program module for detecting and/or compensating a distribution of the cooking product(s) in the cooking chamber,

   and/or

   • at least one program module for detecting and compensating at least one characteristic variable of a cooking device element, selected as a seventh program module for detection the insertion of a sensor to be introduced into (a) cooking product(s) and for compensating a detected faulty insertion,

   and/or

   • at least one program module for guiding at least one operation of the cooking device, selected from

   • a ninth program module for performing a hold mode,

   • a tenth program module for performing a crusting mode,

   • an eleventh program module for performing an energy-saving mode,

   • a thirteenth program module for preheating or precooling a cooking chamber atmosphere before performing a subsequent step, in particular a cooking process, and/or

   • a fourteenth program module for initiating a subsequent step, in particular after detecting a minimum temperature of the cooking chamber atmosphere,

   wherein
   at least one parameter and/or at least one data structure is or are transmitted to the program module on accessing the program module via a module interface (+) and the program module communicates via a control or regulating device of the cooking device with at least one sensor for detecting actual values, in particular the temperature, the humidity and/or the flow velocity of the cooking chamber atmosphere, and at least one actuator element of the cooking device, in particular at least one fan device, a heating device, a cooling device, a device for supplying humidity, a device for removing humidity and/or an energy storage device.
2. The method for programming a cooking device according to claim 1, characterised in that
   parameters and/or data structures are exchanged between different program modules.
3. The method for programming a cooking device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that
   at least one data structure can be entered via the operating device of the cooking device which operating device is in particular in connection with a display device of the cooking device, such as in the form of at least one keyboard, a touchscreen, and/or a rotary control.
4. The method for programming a cooking device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that
   the program module can be called from a storage device in the cooking device, an external memory, preferably in the form of a USB stick, and/or a server, in particular via an internet connection.

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