Cooking appliance, especially commercial cooking appliance

Abstract

Cooking appliance (1), in particular a commercial cooking appliance, comprising a housing (2), a cooking chamber (3) arranged in the housing (2), and a cooking chamber opening (4) surrounded by a circumferential door seal (5) and openable and closeable by means of a cooking chamber door (6), wherein the cooking chamber door (6) has an inner pane (7) adjacent to the cooking chamber (3), which rests against the door seal (5) when the cooking chamber door (6) is closed, and an outer pane (8) spaced apart from the inner pane (7), which together with the inner pane (7) defines a cooking chamber door interior (9), and an optoelectronic sensor (10) arranged in the cooking chamber door interior (9), characterized in that the optoelectronic sensor (10) projects into a receiving area (11) of the cooking chamber door interior (9) when the cooking chamber door (6) is closed, which is located outside the door seal. (5) is ordered- the optoelectronic sensor (10) is arranged on a housing projection (13) of the housing (2) which projects from a device end face (14), and - the housing projection (13) dips into the receiving area (11) when the oven door (6) is closed.

Description

The invention relates to a cooking appliance, in particular in the form of a commercial cooking appliance, according to the preamble of claim 1. Such a cooking appliance is known in the form of an oven from EP 2 520 169 A1. In this cooking appliance, a camera is arranged in the oven door to take pictures of the food being cooked in the oven and to make these pictures available to an operator. The technical problem with this cooking appliance is that, due to its positioning in the cooking chamber door between an inner pane and an outer pane, the camera can be overheated by the heat radiation from the cooking chamber. Therefore, the known cooking appliance is preferably equipped with a plurality of cooling devices, which may include cooling elements, thermal insulation material and cooling channels as well as a partition. The disadvantage of this arrangement is therefore that, in order to prevent overheating of the camera located in the oven door, a large number of additional technical precautions must be taken to avoid the overheating described above. Another disadvantage to highlight is that attaching cooling elements to one or more door panels can make it more difficult to monitor the food inside the cooking chamber and in front of the cooking appliance. From DE 20 2011 002 570 U1, a device for the heat treatment of food is known, which has at least one sensor for detecting the type of product and the presence of products on a product carrier. This sensor is arranged outside the cooking chamber, in front of the cooking chamber door and above it. Alternatively, it is possible to assign a sensor to each shelf level, which is then connected to the control unit via a corresponding data line. From DE 10 2013 114 230 A1 a cooking appliance is also known, on the top of which a flow channel is provided in which an optic, such as a camera, can be arranged. WO 2016 / 128 372 A1 relates to an oven door for closing an oven chamber, comprising a first and a second door wall element, wherein the first door wall element is arranged on the outside of the oven door and comprises or consists of a transparent door glass, wherein the door wall elements are arranged at a distance from each other, wherein an electronic display is arranged in the space between the first door wall element and the second door wall element to provide information to a user in front of the oven door, and wherein the oven door comprises an image capture device, wherein the image capture device is arranged between the first and the second door wall element and the image capture device is coupled to the electronic display to show the captured images. DE 10 2007 058 942 A1 relates to a cooking appliance with a cooking chamber bounded by walls and having a loading opening, a door for closing the loading opening and a lighting device for illuminating the cooking chamber, which has at least one reflector which reflects the light of a first light source of the lighting device into the cooking chamber for illumination, wherein a further light source for illuminating the cooking chamber is arranged centrally on a ceiling wall. DE 197 05 697 A1 shows a glass oven door. A sealing ring made of fiberglass material is provided in the door to thermally seal the inside of the door, facing the oven muffle, against the front of the muffle. When the door is closed, this sealing ring rests on the front edge of the oven muffle. DE 10 2013 114 227 A1 discloses a cooking appliance comprising a housing, a cooking chamber provided in the housing, a door attached to the housing and closing a cooking chamber opening of the housing in the closed position, a light source and a light sensor connected to the light source, wherein the area occupied by the door in the closed position constitutes a detection area, the light source can at least partially illuminate the detection area and the light sensor is designed in such a way that it can detect the light emitted by the light source and determine the travel time of the light between the light source and the light sensor. The object of the present invention is to create a cooking device of the type specified in the preamble of claim 1 which makes it possible to observe food being cooked inside the cooking chamber and food being cooked outside of the cooking chamber before being placed inside it, and to make this possible in a technical manner. This problem is solved by the features of claims 1 and 3. By arranging the optoelectronic sensor of the cooking appliance according to the invention in a receiving area of ​​the cooking chamber door, located outside the door seal, when the cooking chamber door is closed, the advantage arises that the existing door seal can be used as thermal shielding for the optoelectronic sensor, and that a portion of the interior of the cooking chamber door, which is also already present, can be used as a receiving space for the sensor. Therefore, the cooking appliance according to the invention does not require any additional cooling devices to prevent overheating of the optoelectronic sensor. Furthermore, the advantage arises that an airflow occurs between the inner and outer panes, which can serve as a cooling flow for the optoelectronic sensor without the need for additional cooling devices.In this respect, the disclosure content of DE 10 2004 020 181 A1 is made fully incorporated into the disclosure content of the present application by reference. This offers the advantage that the cooking device according to the invention makes it possible to create a so-called stacking kit, in which cooking devices can be arranged on top of each other. Furthermore, it offers the advantage of an aesthetic design, as no additional parts need to be attached. Furthermore, the optoelectronic sensor can detect both the cooking chamber and the area in front of it, allowing monitoring of the food inside the cooking appliance and the food yet to be added. This offers the additional advantages of increased process reliability and improved quality through the provision of core temperature data. Furthermore, automated documentation of the processes in the oven and easier compliance with hygiene regulations, such as the "hygiene traffic light", HACCP, can be achieved. Furthermore, it is possible to achieve simplified product traceability through image documentation and a reduction in training times for new operating personnel. Another advantage is that the cooking device according to the invention makes it possible to document and monitor the goods being cooked, the cooking process and the cooking results. Another advantage to highlight is that the cooking appliance according to the invention does not require a cable in the cooking chamber door, which would have to be guided through hinges, which could result in damage to cables and also has the advantage that the design according to the invention is significantly cheaper than designs in which cables have to be laid in the door. Furthermore, this offers the advantage of easier maintenance in the event of a service call. Finally, with the cooking appliance according to the invention, it is possible to document the condition of the cooking chamber with regard to contamination and hygiene, as well as to monitor the cooking process in the cooking appliance in real time. Ultimately, this makes it possible to minimize operator errors. The dependent claims contain advantageous further developments of the invention. Further details, advantages, and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the drawings. These show: Fig. 1 a highly simplified schematic perspective view of a first embodiment of the cooking appliance according to the invention with the cooking chamber door closed; Fig. 2 a view corresponding to Fig. 1 with the cooking chamber door open; Fig. 3 a highly simplified schematic, partially cutaway representation of a part of a second embodiment of the cooking appliance according to the invention; Fig. 4 a view corresponding to Fig. 3 of a third embodiment of the cooking appliance according to the invention; Fig. 5 a view corresponding to Figs. 3 and 4 of a fourth embodiment of the cooking appliance according to the invention; Fig. 6 a view corresponding to Figs. 3, 4 to 5 of a fifth embodiment of the cooking appliance according to the invention; Fig. 7 a view corresponding to Figs. 3 and 4.Fig. 1 shows a representation of a sixth embodiment of the cooking device according to the invention, Fig. 8 shows a representation of a seventh embodiment of the cooking device according to the invention corresponding to Fig. 3, Fig. 4, Fig. 5 and Fig. 6, Fig. 9 shows a representation of an eighth embodiment of the cooking device according to the invention corresponding to Fig. 1, Fig. 10 shows a highly simplified schematic representation of a top view of a ninth embodiment of the cooking device according to the invention, and Fig. 11 shows a representation of a tenth embodiment of the cooking device according to the invention corresponding to Fig. 1. Before discussing the principles of the present invention in detail, it should be emphasized that, within the scope of this application, the term "cooking appliance" encompasses both commercial and household cooking appliances, and, more generally, food treatment appliances capable of performing both cold and hot treatment of food, including, for example, hot air steamers, combi steamers, beverage dispensers, beverage mixers, microwave ovens, and other food treatment appliances. Figure 1 shows a highly simplified schematic representation of a cooking appliance 1 according to the invention, which has a housing 2. A cooking chamber 3, visible in Figure 2, is arranged in the housing 2 and has a cooking chamber opening 4, which is also visible in Figure 2 with the cooking chamber door 6 open. The cooking chamber opening 4 can be opened and closed by means of the cooking chamber door 6, for example, to place food GP arranged on a food carrier T into the cooking chamber 3 or, after the cooking process, to remove it from the cooking chamber 3. Figures 1 and 2 further illustrate the arrangement of a door seal 5, which is a door seal running around the four sides of the cooking chamber opening 4, as can be seen in particular from the illustration in Figure 2 with the cooking chamber door 6 open. Fig. 2 further illustrates that the oven door 6 has an inner pane 7 adjacent to the oven chamber 3, which rests against the door seal 5 when the oven door 6 is closed. Furthermore, the oven door 6 has an outer pane 8 spaced apart from the inner pane 7, which together with the inner pane 7 defines an oven door interior 9. The first embodiment of the cooking appliance 1 according to the invention, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, further comprises a schematically simplified optoelectronic sensor 10, which, when the cooking chamber door 6 is closed according to Figure 1, is arranged in a receiving area 11 of the interior of the cooking chamber 9, which is located outside the door seal 5. In Figure 1, the door seal 5 is shown with dashed lines due to the closed cooking chamber door 6, while in Figure 2, due to the open state of the cooking chamber door 6, it is visible in its entirety as the described circumferential door seal 5. Both Figures 1 and 2 illustrate that, due to the representation chosen in these figures, the sensor 10 is arranged above the door seal 5 in this case, so that the door seal 5, which is a component already provided, can function as thermal shielding for the sensor 10 arranged in the receiving area 11. The receiving area 11 can further be provided with a viewing window 12, which is visible in Fig. 2, since, as mentioned, this figure illustrates the open state of the oven door 6. The viewing window 12 can have an anti-reflective coating on its inner surface to prevent reflections. The outer surface of the viewing window 12 can be color-matched to the surrounding metal sheets of the oven door frame. In the embodiment according to Figs. 1 and 2, the optoelectronic sensor 10 is arranged on a housing projection 13, which is attached to and projects from a housing end face 14, thus extending into an area in front of the entire front of the oven 1. With this arrangement, the sensor 10 can cover a detection area E1, which is indicated by the dashed line, when the cooking chamber door 6 is open, in which it can detect food that has not yet been placed in the cooking chamber 3, such as the food or cooking product GP shown in Fig. 1.Once a food carrier T with food on it has been inserted and the oven door 6 is closed, the sensor 10, with its housing projection 13, is immersed in the receiving area 11 of the oven door interior 9 and, in this state, while the oven 3 is being heated, is protected from the heat radiation of the oven 3. Although hot air may flow over the optoelectronic sensor 10 when the oven door is opened, this is not critical in the case of the cooking appliance according to the invention, since this heat exposure is only brief and the hot air passes by the sensor, thus not noticeably stressing the optoelectronic sensor 10. Fig. 3 illustrates a second embodiment of the cooking appliance 1 according to the invention in a highly simplified schematic partial view of the cooking appliance 1. This partially cutaway view makes the design of the cooking chamber door 6 clearer, which, due to the spacing between the inner pane 7 and the outer pane 8, has the interior space 9 of the cooking chamber door. The cooking chamber door 6 can, for example, be pivotally hinged to the housing 2 via a door hinge 30. Fig. 3 illustrates the closed state of the oven door 6, in which the inner pane 7 rests on the circumferential door seal 5 in an outer edge area of ​​the inner pane 7. Fig. 3 again illustrates that the receiving area 11 of the oven door interior 9 lies outside the door seal 5, so that in this embodiment the door seal 5 can also serve as heat shielding. In the second embodiment shown in Fig. 3, an optoelectronic sensor 10 is provided, comprising a sensor housing 10A and a sensor eye 10B. The sensor housing 10A is located within the housing 2 and outside the cooking chamber 3, i.e., in a cool area. The sensor eye, which can be, for example, an optical lens, is located in the receiving area 11 and is thermally shielded by the door seal 5. In the embodiment according to Fig. 3, the sensor eye 10B is connected to the sensor housing 10A via a fiber optic cable 10C, thus providing even better protection for the sensor housing 10A and the image acquisition components located within it against thermal stress, since only the sensor eye 10B is located in the receiving area 11. Fig. 3 illustrates, by means of the dashed lines E1 and E2, the possibility of monitoring the cooking chamber 3 as well as the exterior of the cooking appliance 1, as has already been explained previously with reference to Fig. 1 and Fig. 2. The third embodiment of the cooking appliance 1 according to the invention, shown in Fig. 4, largely corresponds to that of Fig. 3, with the exception that this embodiment provides two optoelectronic sensors 10, 10'. The two sensor housings 10A and 10A' are again arranged in the housing 2, i.e., a cool area of ​​the cooking appliance 1, and are connected to sensor eyes 10B and 10B' via associated optical fibers 10C, 10C', the two optical fibers 10C and 10C' terminating in an air gap 15 provided between the housing 2 and the cooking chamber door 6. The two sensor eyes 10B and 10B' are the endpoints of associated light guide bodies, with sensor eye 10B resting on the inner surface of the outer disc 8, while sensor eye 10B' resting on the inner surface of the inner disc 7, so that this gives the detection area E1 in the cooking chamber 3, while sensor eye 10B gives the detection area E2 in the outside of the cooking appliance 1.In this embodiment, the sensor eyes 10B and 10B' can preferably be designed as optics, such as lenses, in particular wide-angle lenses. Although two optoelectronic sensors 10, 10' are provided in the particularly preferred embodiment of Fig. 4, it is also possible to provide only one of these two optoelectronic sensors in the manner described above. Since in this embodiment the two housings 10A and 10A' are already protected from thermal overheating in a cool area of ​​the housing 2, it is sufficient that in the embodiment according to Fig. 4 the door seal 5 only protects the respective upper parts of the two light guide elements 10B and 10B' arranged in the receiving area 11. Fig. 5 shows a fourth embodiment of the cooking device 1 according to the invention, which largely corresponds to that of Fig. 3. In this embodiment, however, the optoelectronic sensor 10 is arranged in its entirety within the receiving chamber 11 and interacts with the inner disc 7, which is provided with optical lenses 16, 17, and 18. This results in three detection areas: E1 and E1' in the cooking chamber 3 and E2 outside the cooking device 1. These optical lenses 16, 17, and 18 can, for example, be ground surfaces of the inner disc 7, as can be seen in the drawing of Fig. 5. Fig. 6 shows a fifth embodiment of the cooking appliance 1 according to the invention, which largely corresponds to that shown in Fig. 3. Here, too, an optoelectronic sensor 10 is provided, the sensor housing 10A of which is arranged in the housing 2 and is operatively connected to the sensor eye 10B, which is arranged in the receiving area 11, via a suitable light guide. The special feature of this embodiment is a split prism 19, which is arranged in the interior of the cooking chamber door 9. This prism 19 has two light emission surfaces or coupling points 19A and 19B, which, in the case of coupling point 19A, are directed towards the cooking chamber 3, while coupling point 19B is directed towards the exterior of the cooking appliance 1, which in turn results in the detection areas E1 and E2, respectively. The sixth embodiment of the cooking appliance 1 according to Fig.Figure 7 is merely intended to illustrate that it is possible to arrange an optoelectric sensor 10 not only above the door seal 5, but also to the side of it, as in the example case due to the representation chosen in Fig. 7 on the left side of the left longitudinal area of ​​the door seal 5. The seventh embodiment of the cooking device 1 according to the invention, as shown in Fig. 8, essentially corresponds to that of Fig. 3, wherein a deflecting mirror 20 is provided in the cooking chamber 3 to achieve two detection areas E1 and E3. This deflecting mirror 20 is arranged in the interior of the cooking chamber door 9. This deflecting mirror 20 makes it possible to detect a cooking product GP2, which is arranged below the cooking product GP1, detected by detection area E1, through detection area E3. Such a deflecting mirror 20 can be planar or spherical. The optoelectronic sensor 10 shown in Fig. 8 can in turn be constructed as described with reference to Fig. 3, or it can also be a camera arranged in the recording area 11, which corresponds to an arrangement according to Fig. 5. The eighth embodiment of the cooking appliance 1 according to the invention, as shown in Fig. 9, essentially corresponds to that of Fig. 1, wherein, accordingly, an optoelectronic sensor 10, for example in the form of a camera, is again arranged in the housing projection 13. When the cooking chamber door 6 is closed, this housing projection 13 extends into the receiving area 11 of the interior of the cooking chamber door 9, which in this embodiment is open at the top, as can be seen from the illustration in Fig. 9. The ninth embodiment of the cooking appliance 1 according to the invention, as shown in Fig. 10, essentially serves to illustrate that the optoelectronic sensor 10, which is again arranged in the receiving area 11 and thermally protected by the door seal 5, can be in signal or data communication with a device controller 21 via a suitable data line 22. This controller 21 can be in operative communication with a user interface 24 via a further data line, which can be mounted on a device front 26 of the housing 2. This connection of the sensor 10 with a controller, which in turn is in data communication with a user interface, is of course also technically possible in all other previously described embodiments, which is symbolized in Figs. 1, 2, 7, and 9 by the representation of the user interface 24.As mentioned, this embodiment of Fig. 10 is also possible in the embodiments of Figs. 3 to 6 and 9. Fig. 11 shows a final embodiment of the cooking device 1 according to the invention, also in a highly simplified schematic representation. This representation is intended merely to illustrate that it is possible to provide one or more deflecting mirrors 27, 28, 29 in the cooking chamber 3 to enable corresponding beam paths, which is symbolized by the dashed lines. Otherwise, the embodiment according to Fig. 11 can be one of the embodiments described above in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 to 10. In addition to the foregoing written description of the invention, explicit reference is hereby made to the graphic representation of the invention in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 to 11 for its supplementary disclosure. Furthermore, to supplement the disclosure of the present application, the disclosures of EP 2 638 325 B1 and DE 10 2008 031 378 A1 are hereby incorporated in their entirety into the disclosure content of the present application. Reference symbol list 1 Cooking appliance, in particular commercial cooking appliance 2 Housing 3 Cooking chamber 4 Cooking chamber opening 5 Door seal 6 Cooking chamber door 7 Inner pane 8 Outer pane 9 Cooking chamber door interior 10, 10' Optical sensor, in particular camera 10A, 10A' Sensor housing 10B, 10B' Sensor eye (optics, optical lens, camera lens) 10C, 10C' Fiber optic cable 11 Recording area 12 Viewing window 13 Housing protrusion 14 Housing end face 15 Air gap 16, 17, 18 Optical eyes (coupling points) 19 Prism 19A, 19B Coupling points 20 Deflection mirror 21 Device control / device regulation 22 Data line 23 Cooking chamber door handle 24 User interface 25 Data line 26 Device front 27, 28, 29 Deflection mirror 30 Door hinge T, T1-T3 Cooking tray GP, GP2, GP2, GP3 Cooking product E1, E1', E2, E3 Detection areas

Claims

Cooking appliance (1), in particular a commercial cooking appliance, with a housing (2), with a cooking chamber (3), which is arranged in the housing (2), and which has a cooking chamber opening (4) surrounded by a circumferential door seal (5) and which can be opened and closed by means of a cooking chamber door (6), wherein the cooking chamber door (6) has an inner pane (7) adjacent to the cooking chamber (3), which rests against the door seal (5) when the cooking chamber door (6) is closed, and an outer pane (8) spaced apart from the inner pane (7), which together with the inner pane (7) defines a cooking chamber door interior (9), and with an optoelectronic sensor (10), which is arranged in the cooking chamber door interior (9), characterized in that the optoelectronic sensor (10) projects into a receiving area (11) of the cooking chamber door interior (9) when the cooking chamber door (6) is closed, which is outside the door seal. (5) is ordered- the optoelectronic sensor (10) is arranged on a housing projection (13) of the housing (2) which projects from a device end face (14), and - the housing projection (13) dips into the receiving area (11) when the oven door (6) is closed. Cooking appliance (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the receiving area (11) is provided with a viewing window (12). Cooking appliance (1), in particular a commercial cooking appliance, with a housing (2), with a cooking chamber (3), which is arranged in the housing (2), and which has a cooking chamber opening (4) surrounded by a circumferential door seal (5) and which can be opened and closed by means of a cooking chamber door (6), wherein the cooking chamber door (6) has an inner pane (7) adjacent to the cooking chamber (3), which rests against the door seal (5) when the cooking chamber door (6) is closed, and an outer pane (8) spaced apart from the inner pane (7), which together with the inner pane (7) defines a cooking chamber door interior (9), and with at least one optoelectronic sensor (10, 10'), which is arranged in the cooking chamber door interior (9), characterized in that the at least one optoelectronic sensor (10, 10') is positioned in a receiving area (11) of the cooking chamber door interior when the cooking chamber door (6) is closed. (9) protrudes, which is arranged outside the door seal (5),and that the at least one optoelectronic sensor (10, 10') comprises a sensor housing (10A, 10A') and a sensor eye (10B, 10B'), wherein the sensor eye (10B, 10B') is connected to the sensor housing (10A, 10A') via an optical fiber (10C, 10C') and wherein the sensor eye (10B, 10B') is arranged in the recording area (11) and the sensor housing (10A, 10A') is arranged in the housing (2). Cooking device (1) according to claim 3, characterized in that two sensor housings (10A, 10A') are provided in the housing (2) and two sensor eyes (10B, 10B') are provided in the receiving area (11), wherein the sensor housings (10A, 10A') are each coupled with a fiber optic cable (10C, 10C') which extends to an air gap (15) between the housing (2) and the receiving area (11). Cooking device (1) according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the inner disc (7) is provided with optical eyes (16, 17, 18) formed by ground surfaces of the inner disc (7). Cooking appliance (1) according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that a prism (19) is arranged in the interior of the cooking chamber door. Cooking appliance (1) according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that a deflecting mirror (20) is arranged in the interior of the cooking chamber door. Cooking appliance (1) according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the at least one optoelectronic sensor (10, 10') is operatively connected via a data line (22) to a device control / regulation unit (21) which is arranged in the housing (2). Cooking appliance (1) according to claim 8, characterized in that the appliance control / appliance regulation (21) is operatively connected via a further data line (25) to a user interface (24) arranged on a front side (26) of the appliance. Cooking appliance (1) according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that deflecting mirrors (27, 28, 29) are arranged in the cooking chamber (3). Cooking appliance (1) according to one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the at least one optoelectronic sensor (10, 10') is designed as a camera with a camera housing (10A, 10A') and a camera lens as a sensor eye (10B, 10B').

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