Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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CONVECTION OVEN
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to ovens and specifically to forced
air
convection ovens having multiple cooking chambers and arrangements.
2. Description of Related Art
A forced air convection oven heats objects, such as food, within the oven by
transferring heat energy from a heat source to the objects by circulating a
gas
within the cooking cavity. Typically, the circulating gas is air, but other
gases,
such as steam, may also be used within the oven, depending upon the desired
results. Commonly, a fan or blower is used to circulate the gas. Additionally,
convection ovens often include radiant elements to supplement the heated gas.
lmpinger ovens are a type of convection oven, and utilize jets to force
pressurized hot gas onto the food within the oven. Impingement of hot gas onto
the food increases cooking speed. Convection ovens may utilize a combination
of hot gas circulation and impingement jets.
Typically, the cooking temperature of a convection oven chamber is controlled
by detecting the temperature within the oven using sensors, and adjusting the
gas flow and radiant elements as necessary. The temperature within the oven
is impacted by cooling gradients around the food being cooked, and by the
opening of oven doors.
It is desirable to control the moisture content within the oven cavity while
cooking. When cooking at high temperatures, moist foods may not cook evenly
when the moisture content within the oven is too high. Conversely, uneven
cooking with overbrowning in spots may occur when the moisture content within
the oven is too low. Automatic humidity controls are beneficial to ensure the
optimal moisture levels within the cooking chamber.
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Some previous convection oven designs have included a combination of radiant
heating elements, blower and impingement jets to improve cooking efficiency,
such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2011/0276184 Al, McKee et al., and
4,829,158, Burnham. These designs incorporate just one cooking chamber and
do not allow the option of adding hyper heat. Additionally, they do not
incorporate combined heat and humidity control systems, or an included
internal gas and or electric cooking system.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to a first embodiment of the present invention there is disclosed an
apparatus for cooking food articles comprising a casing having an interior
having a plurality of cooking locations therein, a processor and a plurality
of
heat supply units adapted to provide a plurality of heated fluids to the
interior of
the casing wherein the processor is adapted to independently distribute the
plurality of heated fluids to each of the plurality of cooking locations so as
to not
substantially effect adjacent cooking locations.
The plurality of heat supply units may comprise a first heater adapted to
output
a first stage of heated air to the interior of the casing at a rate controlled
by the
processor, a second heater adapted to output a second stage of superheated
air to the casing at a rate controlled by the processor and a steamer adapted
to
output a steam supply to the casing at a rate controlled by the processor. The
air supply to the first heater may be drawn from the interior of the casing.
The
air supply to the second heater may be provided from the output of the first
heater. The air supply to the steamer may be provided from the output of the
second heater.
The output from the first heater may be divided into a first portion
distributed
into an interior of the casing and wherein the second portion is distributed
into
a plenum in a bottom of the casing. The second portion may be discharged
from the plenum by a plurality of upwardly oriented nozzles. The apparatus
may further include deflectors adapted to direct a portion of air discharged
from
the upwardly oriented nozzles to each of the plurality of cooking locations as
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determined by the processor. The first portion may be discharged from a
plurality of supply columns through an opening adjacent to each of the
plurality
of cooking locations as determined by the processor.
The plurality of cooking locations may comprise a plurality of locations on a
rack
inside the interior of the casing. A portion of the superheated air may be
distributed to each of a plurality of discharge nozzles oriented towards each
of
the cooking locations. A portion of the steam may be distributed to each of a
plurality of discharge nozzles oriented towards each of the cooking locations.
The processor may be adapted to select a proportion between 0 and 100% of
each of the heated air, superheated air and the steam that is directed to each
of the discharge nozzles. The plurality of discharge nozzles may be adapted
to provide impingement cooking of a food article located in the cooking
locations. Each of the discharge nozzles may be adapted to have their angle
of impingement, pattern, rate and frequency of heated air, super-heated air
and
steam selectably adjusted.
The apparatus may further comprise a plurality of cooking elements locatable
at each of the plurality of cooking locations. A portion of each of the heated
air,
the superheated air and the steam may be distributed to a plurality of output
ports positioned to engage with each of the plurality of cooking elements. The
apparatus may further comprise a gas outlet and an electrical outlet
positioned
to engage with each of the plurality of cooking elements. Each of the
plurality
of cooking elements may be adapted to utilize a combination of the heated air,
superheated air, steam, electricity and gas to provide a cooking output to an
adjacent zone as determined by the processor. Each of a top and bottom
surface of each of the plurality of cooking elements may be adapted to provide
a cooking output independently of each other. The apparatus may further
comprise at least one steam nozzle directed towards each of the cooking
locations. At least one of the plurality of cooking elements may include a
plurality of protrusions adapted to space an article to be cooked apart
therefrom. The plurality of protrusions may include a bore therethrough for
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discharging the heated air, the super-heated air and the steam into the
article
to be cooked as determined by the processor.
The interior of the casing may be divided into a plurality of chambers. The
plurality of chambers may be selectably isolatable from each other by
partition
walls. The partition walls may include a fixed member having a plurality of
apertures therethrough and a movable partition having a plurality of apertures
therethrough selectably alignable with the apertures of the fixed member. Each
of the plurality of cooking locations may have a unique associated access door
providing access thereto independent of any other of the plurality of cooking
locations. Each of the unique access door may include a plurality of nozzles
along at least one edge thereof adapted to form an air curtain across the
access
door when the access door is open.
Other aspects and features of the present invention will become apparent to
those
ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the following description of
specific
embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying figures.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In drawings which illustrate embodiments of the invention wherein similar
characters of reference denote corresponding parts in each view,
Figure 1 is a front perspective view of a convection oven.
Figure 2 is a rear perspective view of the convection oven of Figure
1.
Figure 3 is a top view of the convection oven of Figure 1.
Figure 4 is a cross sectional view of the convection oven of Figure 3,
taken
along the line 4-4.
Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of the piping layout of a convection
oven of
Figure 1.
Figure 6 is a perspective view of a recirculating air supply column
of the
convection oven of Figure 1.
Figure 7 is a perspective view of a spiralator nozzle for use in the
convection
oven of Figure 1.
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Figure 8 is a
schematic of a control system for use in the convection oven of
Figure 1.
Figure 9 is a perspective view of an oscillator nozzle for use in the
convection
oven of Figure 1.
Figure 10 is a side view
of a cooking element for use in the convection oven
of Figure 1 having a plurality of cooking surface types.
Figure 11 is a perspective view of one of the service doors of the
convection
oven of Figure 1.
Figure 12 is a
perspective view of one of the service doors of the convention
oven of Figure 1 according to a further embodiment of the present
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Referring to Figures 1 and 2, a convection oven according to a first
embodiment
of the invention is shown generally at 10. The oven 10 utilizes a
recirculating
heat and steam generation system, as illustrated in Figure 5, to heat one or
more modular cooking chambers and cooking locations contained therein in a
variety of configurations, as will be described in more detail below.
Referring to Figures 1 through 4, the oven 10 comprises a body 12 extending
between left side 14 and right side 16, between front 18 and back 20, and
between top 22 and bottom 24. The body 12 is divided into two chambers, first
and second cooking chambers, 30 and 60, respectively. The first cooking
chamber 30 extends substantially between the left side 14 and the centre plane
200. The second cooking chamber 60 extends substantially between the right
side 16 and the centre plane 200. A sliding vane wall 50, located at the
centre
plane 200, separates the first and second cooking chambers 30 and 60. When
the wall 50 is in place, the oven 10 is separated into two cooking chambers,
30
and 60, as indicated. The wall 50 may be opened to operate the oven 10 as
one large chamber. When the wall 50 is closed, it may be possible to
deactivate
one cooking chamber and utilize the other chamber on its own, thereby
improving efficiency and reducing energy usage or creating two different
cooking environments using one cooking source. Although the present
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embodiment of the invention illustrates two cooking chambers, it may be
appreciated that more chambers may be beneficial, as well.
A plurality of adjustable cooking locations may be located within each cooking
chamber 30 and 60. As best seen on Figure 4, the first cooking chamber 30
comprises first and second cooking zones, 32 and 34 respectively. The second
cooking chamber 60 comprises third and fourth cooking zones, 62 and 64,
respectively. The cooking zones may be further divided into a plurality of
cooking locations by inserting elements 52 therein, as will be described in
more
detail below. As illustrated in Figure 4, a plurality of racks 40 are
distributed on
either side of each cooking zone, 32, 34, 62 and 64. A plurality of elements
52
may be inserted into the cooking chambers such that they are supported by the
removable racks 40. As illustrated, each rack may define a cooking zone
although it will be appreciated that two zones may include a single rack
spanning thereacross. Each of the cooking zones may be adapted to have an
adjustable size by adjusting the size of the rack or by adjusting the size of
the
elements included therebetween as will be more fully described below. In
particular, as illustrated in Figure 4, the first cooking zone 32 is
illustrated with
a plurality of small sized cooking locations 36 and the second cooking zone 34
is illustrated with a plurality of medium sized cooking locations 38. Both the
third and fourth second cooking zones, 62 and 64, respectively, are
illustrated
as large cooking locations, without any elements 52 therein. It may be
appreciated that each cooking zone, 32, 34, 62 and 64, may be divided into a
variety of cooking location size combinations, by adjusting the number of
elements 52 therein. In the present illustrated embodiment of the invention,
each left and right cooking chamber may be divided into up to six cooking
locations, for a total of twenty-four possible small sized cooking locations
in the
oven 10. It may be appreciated that more or less elements may be useful, as
well. It may be appreciated that the elements 52 may be larger or smaller than
illustrated. By removing the removable racks 40 from the centre of a cooking
chamber, a double-width element could be accommodated within the oven. It
will also be appreciated that other combinations of larger or smaller elements
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may be utilized by adjusting the size and spacing of the racks to provide the
cooking location sizes desired by a user.
As best seen on Figure 1, each cooking chamber, 30 and 60, may be accessed
by either service doors or access doors. First cooking zone 32 may be
accessed by a first service door 54. Second cooking zone 34 may be accessed
by second service door 56. Third cooking zone 62 may be accessed by a third
service door 66. Fourth cooking zone 64 may be accessed by a fourth service
door 68. Door details such as hinge type, door handle and locking method may
be designed with any method as is commonly known in the art. Each service
door, 54, 56, 66 and 68, may include a plurality of identical access doors 70.
Each access door 70 includes an window 72 and permits access to each small
cooking area without the need to open the larger service doors, 54, 56, 66 and
68, to insert and remove items to be cooked. In particular each access door 70
may be supported and rotated on geared pins so as to present a frameless seal
between each door. Rotation about such pins may be powered or unpowered.
As illustrated in Figure 11, each service door 54, 56, 66 and 68 may include a
plurality of air nozzles 71 located along a side thereof at a position adapted
to
be covered or uncovered by the access doors so as to project an air curtain
across the opening when an access door 70 is opened. As illustrated in Figure
1, each service door, 54, 56, 66 and 68, includes 6 access doors 70, although
it may be appreciated that more or less access doors may be useful, as well.
Each access door 70, as seen in Figure 1 may be opened rotationally on as set
out above. In the present embodiment of the invention, as seen on Figure 1,
the top three access doors 70 on each service door pivot upwards, while the
bottom three access doors on each service door pivot downwards, to allow a
larger opening between the middle access doors on each service door. It may
be appreciated that other hinge configurations and door quantities may be
utilized, as well. Each access door 70 is contained within an access port 74
which as illustrated may comprise a common access port for all the doors
within
each service door. Each access port may include a plurality of air curtain
nozzles which are activated when such access door is opened, such that an air
curtain restricts the amount of heat that may escape from the oven 10, thereby
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increasing oven efficiency. Optionally, each service door 54, 56, 66 and 68
may include dividers 99 extending thereacross to separate the service door
into
a plurality of access ports 74 as illustrated in Figure 12. The dividers may
hingedly support the access doors 70 as is commonly known and may also
include the air nozzles on one or both of the top and bottom of each access
port
74 so as to be uncovered by the opening of that corresponding access door 70.
It will be appreciated that the air nozzles 71 may be located on one or both
of
the top and bottom. As illustrated in Figure 1, the access doors 70 at the top
of
each service door may open in an direction and the access doors 70 at the
bottom ay open in a downward direction wherein the divider 99 in the middle of
the access port 74 may be omitted as illustrated in Figure 12 so as to create
a
larger access port 74 between the two middlemost access doors 70.
Turning to Figure 5, the recirculating air/steam process for the oven 10 is
illustrated in a schematic diagram. The process is shown for the first cooking
chamber 30, although it may be appreciated that the same process may be
applicable for one or more cooking chambers, with some key components
utilized for both chambers. The supply fan 100 moves the air into the primary
heat exchanger 102 where the air is heated to the desired temperature, which
may be in a range such as, by way of non-limiting example, 500 to 700 degrees
Fahrenheit, as set by the control system, as will be described below. From the
primary heat exchanger 102 the heated air may be further heated by the
secondary hyper heat exchanger 104, which will be described in more detail
below, or it may continue through distribution pipes to a plurality of
recirculating
air supply columns 108, as will be described in more detail below, and
optionally
to a plurality of back wall air supply locations 114 to heat elements 52, as
seen
on Figure 4. The air supply columns 108 supply heated air to individual
cooking
locations within the first cooking chamber 30 from the four corners of the
first
cooking chamber 30 and to the floor plenum 110, as will be described in more
detail below. The floor plenum 110 supplies heated air to a plurality of
interchangeable floor nozzles 112, which may be distributed in any
configuration on the floor of the cooking chamber 30. The floor nozzles 112
are
adjustable both for direction and flow rate therethrough, as is commonly
known.
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It will be appreciated that the floor nozzles 112 may be controlled or
adjusted
independently or in any grouping as desired. As seen on Figure 4, a plurality
of deflectors 42 within the cooking chamber deflect the heated air from the
nozzles 112 to each individual cooking locations further distribute the heated
air within the cooking chamber. All components supplied from the primary heat
exchanger 102, including the air supply columns 108, the elements 52,
independent rotary heads, as set out below, and the floor nozzles 112, expel
the heated air into the first cooking chamber 30.
The secondary hyper heat exchanger 104, superheats the air, which may be in
a range such as, by way of non-limiting example, 800 to 1000 degrees
Fahrenheit, as set by the control system, as will be described below. The
superheated air may continue through distribution pipes optionally to a
plurality
of individually controlled back wall hyper heat air supply locations 116 to
heat
elements 52. Also optionally, the superheated air may be supplied to a
plurality
of mixing chambers 119, as will be described in more detail below, which
supply
a plurality of discharge nozzles 118, as shown in Figures 7, which will be
described in more detail below. Alternately, the independent rotary heads may
comprise stationary direct spray nozzles with adjustable pattern control, or
moving oscillators 170 adapted to oscillate back and forth in a direction
generally indicated at 172, as shown in Figure 9,. It will be appreciated that
the
oscillators are illustrated in Figure 9 as moving in the direction indicated
as well
as along different oscillating directions through mounting upon gimbals or the
like. The superheated air may also continue from the secondary hyper heat
exchanger 104 to the steam generator 106. All components supplied by the
secondary hyper heat exchanger 104, including the elements 52 and the
spiralators 118, expel the superheated air into the first cooking chamber 30.
The steam generator 106 utilizes the superheated air to produce steam from a
water supply source 160 which is introduced into the system through the back
wall steam ports 44 as set out above. From the steam generator 106, the steam
may continue through distribution pipes and mixed with additional superheated
air from the secondary hyper heat exchanger 104 optionally within a plurality
of
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individual mixing chambers 119 to the plurality of spiralators 118. The
spiralators 118 may be supplied either directly with heated air from the
primary
heat exchanger 102, superheated air from the hyper heat exchanger 104,
steam from the steam generator 106, as described above, or with a mixture of
heated air from the primary heat exchanger 102 superheated air from the hyper
heat exchanger 104 and steam from the steam generator 106. As shown on
Figure 5, the steam, heated air and superheated air may be mixed within a
mixing chamber 119 prior to the spiralators 118 or, alternately, they may be
mixed directly within the spiralators 118. In the current embodiment of the
invention, each spiralator 118 is preceded by an independent mixing chamber
119, and each mixing chamber 119 is independently controllable by the control
system, such that each spiralator may deliver the desired mixture of steam and
superheated air, independent of other spiralators within the oven. Also
optionally, the steam may be supplied to a plurality of back wall steam supply
locations 120 to heat elements 52. Also optionally, the steam may be supplied
to a plurality of back wall steam ports 44, as seen on Figure 4, to supply
steam
directly into the cooking chamber 30. All components supplied by the steam
generator 106, including the spiralators 118, the elements 52, and the steam
ports 44 expel the steam into the first cooking chamber 30.
The combined air and steam within the cooking chamber 30 is drawn out of the
chamber 30 with an extract fan 122. As seen in Figure 4, each cooking
chamber, 30 and 60, includes an extract fan 122 proximate to the top 22 of the
oven 10. The extract fan 122 moves the air and steam to a centrifugal grease
separator 124 and subsequently to a catalytic particle scrubber 126, from
which
the air is recirculated through the supply fan 100, and the process is
repeated
as described above. It will be appreciated that a make-up air supply 99 may
also provide air to the supply fan 100 to replace any air released from or
lost by
the system during normal operation. The grease separator 124 and catalytic
particle scrubber 126 may be selected as known in the art, and may be utilized
to eliminate the need for an external exhaust system.
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Figure 6 illustrates the recirculating air supply columns 108. A recirculating
air
supply column 108 may be a hollow cylindrical shape, as illustrated, with a
divider 130 therein to separate the heated airflow therethrough. It may be
appreciated that other shapes may be useful, as well. The divider 130 provides
two passages through the column 108, first passage 132 and second passage
134. The column 108 is formed with a plurality of openings 136 spaced
therealong to allow the heated air within first passage 132 to exit the column
108 and enter the cooking chamber 30 at each individual cooking location. Each
opening 136 is fitted with a balancing baffle 135 having a manual adjustor 137
which may be adjusted to balance the amount of heated air expelled from each
opening 136. Each opening may also include a deflector 138 having a manual
adjustor 139 such as a screw or the like to adjust the direction of the
airflow
leaving each opening. It will be appreciate that each deflector 138 may also
include an actuator controlled by the processor to adjust the air directed to
each
cooking location or may optionally be pre-set to a predetermined position. The
baffles and deflectors may be of any shape and size that is commonly known
in the art. The second passage 134 connects to an opening in the floor of the
cooking chamber 30 to supply heated air to the floor plenum 110. The floor
plenum 110 may have a plurality of connected chambers, as illustrated in
Figure
4. The floor plenum 110 supplies a plurality of floor nozzles 112 that are
adjustable for both flow and direction. The floor nozzles 112 may be
distributed
throughout the bottom of the cooking chamber 30 in any desirable
configuration. As described above, a plurality of deflectors 42 within the
cooking chamber 30 aid in distributing the heated air from the floor nozzles
112
within the cooking chamber 30 at each individual cooking location.
As described above, a plurality of elements 52 may be installed into the
cooking
chamber 30. The elements 52 may be attached by any suitable method, as
known in the art. Each element is supported by a removable rack 40, as
described above. Each element 52 may be heated with a selectable
combination of heated air, superheated air, steam, gas provided heat or
electrically provided heat. Gas is provided to each element 52 through a gas
supply system 162 and electricity is provided by an electrical supply system
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164, as is commonly known. Each
element 52 may be controlled
independently, such that each element 52 may be heated to an individually
selected temperature via the control system. Additionally, each element 52
may provide a different type of heat, such as described above, from the top or
bottom of each element 52, also controllable by the control system. It may be
appreciated that multiple designs of elements 52 may be utilized such that
they
may be interchanged within the cooking area depending on the type of heating
desired.
Turning now to Figure 10, an element 52 is illustrated having a plurality of
surface treatments and profiles for providing heat to a food article to be
cooked
thereabove or thereunder. As illustrated, the element may be formed with top
and bottom plenums, 500 and 502, respectively adjacent to the interior of the
element with top and bottom surfaces, 504 and 506, respectively thereover and
thereunder. The top and bottom plenums 500 and 502 serve to distribute the
heated air, superheated air and steam from the rear wall of the chambers
throughout the element. The top and bottom surfaces 504 and 506 may be
formed of or treated with a variety of materials selected for that particular
cooking operation. By way of non-limiting example, the top and bottom
surfaces 504 and 506 may be formed of and/or include therein, stones,
ceramics metals or combinations thereof. The top and bottom surfaces 504
may also be solid or perforated to permit the heated air, hyper heated air and
steam to pass therethrough or be contained as may be desired.
Each of the top and bottom surfaces may include one or more enhancement to
assist with the heat delivery to the food article. By way of non-limiting
example,
the enhancements may comprise a griddle 508, platen 509 or induction element
518 which may be stationary or movable or grilling racks 510. It will be
appreciated that the induction element may be electrically heated.
Furthermore, pins 512 may be provided to support the food article above the
top surface which may be solid or include passages therethrough to deliver
heated air to the food article. Radiant or infrared heaters 514 may be
provided
on the top or bottom to provide a radiant heat to the food article from either
the
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electrical or gas supplies as are commonly known. Needles 520 or nozzles 516
may also extend from the top and/or bottom surfaces to inject heat into or
direct
heat onto the food article. It will be appreciated that the needles and/or
pins
may be hollow to inject air and/or steam into the food and may optionally be
heated by electricity, gas or the heated and/or steamed air. It will also be
appreciated that each of the griddle 508, platen 509 grilling racks 510, pins
512,
infrared heaters 514 nozzles 516 induction element 518 or needles 520 may
include perforations through the top or bottom surface so as to permit the
heated air, superheated air or steam within the top and bottom plenums 500
and 502 to escape therethrough which may come into contact with the food
articles to assist cooking.
Figure 7 illustrates a spiralator 118. A plurality of spiralators 118 may be
distributed throughout the cooking chamber 30 as illustrated in Figure 4. Each
spiralator 118 may be a forced air impeller which includes a plurality of arms
140, each including a plurality of nozzles 142 sized and positioned to produce
a spinning motion generally indicated at 144 when superheated air or steam is
passed through the nozzles 142. It will also be appreciated that the
spiralators
118 may be mounted on gimbals or the like to move in different rotations,
direction or patterns. The spiralators 118 direct an automatically
predetermined
mixture of hot air and steam in a multi-spiral pattern directly onto the food
items
to be cooked. As described above, direct adjustable pattern spray nozzles, or
oscillators as shown in Figure 9, may be used in place of the spiralators 118.
Accordingly, although spiralators and oscillators are illustrated, other
movable
and stationary spray pattern devices may be utilized as a discharge nozzle. It
will also be appreciated that although the spiralators are illustrated as
having
three arms, a different number of arms or alternative configurations may also
be utilized including disk shaped and that a different number, configuration,
angle, arrangement and distribution of the nozzles may also be utilized. It
will
be appreciated that different sizes and patterns of nozzles 142 may be
utilized
to achieve different movement patterns for the independent rotary heads.
Additionally, the nozzles 142 and/or the entire independent rotary head may be
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removable and replacable so as to permit an operator to customize the desired
pattern and airflow at each cooking location.
The oven 10 may be controlled through a plurality of touchscreen panels 150.
Each touchscreen panel 150 may be used to select the desired heat and
humidity within a small cooking area 36. Sensors 320 within the cooking
locations, as illustrated on Figure 8, provide information to the control
panel to
thereby control the heated air and steam supplied to each cooking area through
the air supply columns 108, elements 52, spiralators 118, floor nozzles 112
and
steam ports 44. A plurality of control valves 310, as illustrated in Figures 5
and
8, control the amount of heated air and steam supplied to each component.
Sensors, control panels and control valves may be selected as known in the
art. It will be appreciated that each of the elements, sprilators, nozzles and
any
heating distribution or control devices described herein and utilized by the
present apparatus may be controlled independently or in groups so as to
provide flexibility and customization for the different cooking processes
desired.
With the ability to control the oven 10 using the selectable combination of
heated air, superheated air, steam, electric heat or gas heat, each cooking
location 36 may be operated at individually desired temperatures and humidity
levels, thus allowing the user to cook a variety of different foods at the
same
time as well as optional high speed cooking, depending on the program
selected.
Turning now to Figure 8, the convection oven 10 includes a processor 300 for
operating the convection oven as set out above, and a memory 302 that stores
machine instructions that when executed by the processor 300 cause the
processor 300 to perform one or more of the operations and methods described
herein. Processor 300 may optionally contain a cache memory unit for temporary
local storage of instructions, data, or computer addresses. For example, using
instructions retrieved from memory 302, the processor 300 may control the
reception and manipulation of input between a user input device 304 such as by
way of non-limiting example, a key pad or touch screen and the valves
generally
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indicated at 310 for controlling the operation of the oven 10. In various
embodiments, the processor 300 can be implemented as a single-chip, multiple
chips and/or other electrical components including one or more integrated
circuits
and printed circuit boards.
The processor 300 together with a suitable operating system may operate to
execute instructions in the form of computer code and produce and use data. By
way of example and not by way of limitation, the operating system may be
Windows-based, Mac-based, or Unix or Linux-based, among other suitable
operating systems. Operating systems are generally well known and will not be
described in further detail here.
Memory 302 encompasses one or more storage mediums and generally provides
a place to store computer code (e.g., software and/or firmware) and data that
are
used by the oven 10. It may comprise, for example, electronic, optical,
magnetic,
or any other storage or transmission device capable of providing the processor
300 with program instructions. Memory 302 may further include a floppy disk,
CD-ROM, DVD, magnetic disk, memory chip, ASIC, FPGA, EEPROM, EPROM,
flash memory, optical media, or any other suitable memory from which processor
300 can read instructions in computer programming languages.
Memory 302 may include various other tangible, non-transitory computer-
readable media including Read-Only Memory (ROM) and/or Random-Access
Memory (RAM). As is well known in the art, ROM acts to transfer data and
instructions uni-directionally to the processor 300, and RAM is used typically
to
transfer data and instructions in a bi-directional manner. In the
various
embodiments disclosed herein, RAM includes computer program instructions that
when executed by the processor 300 cause the processor 300 to execute the
program instructions described in greater detail below. The memory 302 may
further have installed within the device's memory, computer instructions as a
program for executing the various cooking functions of the disclosure to carry
out
the methods of the embodiments disclosed herein.
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While specific embodiments of the invention have been described and
illustrated, such embodiments should be considered illustrative of the
invention
only and not as limiting the invention as construed in accordance with the
accompanying claims.
