Cooking Chamber Cooling-Rate Detection for Food Parameter Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cooking technologies lack a differentiated method to determine process parameters for food treatment, relying on temperature rise during heating, which is influenced by mains voltage and does not provide sufficient insight into food characteristics.
Innovation Solution
A method where the cooking space is heated during a start-up phase, followed by a measuring phase with deactivated heating, allowing the temperature to drop, and the rate of drop is used to determine a food parameter that informs process parameters, such as cooking duration, independent of mains voltage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If temperature rise during heating is used to determine food parameters, then the cooking process can be controlled, but the measurement is influenced by mains voltage and does not provide sufficient insight into food characteristics
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of measuring temperature rise during heating (traditional approach), the patent measures temperature drop after heating is deactivated. This inversion of the measurement approach eliminates dependence on mains voltage variations while providing reliable information about food mass and thermal properties. The cooling phase measurement is不受influenced by heating power fluctuations.
2Measurement precision
If a measuring phase with deactivated heating is introduced to measure temperature drop rate, then more accurate food parameter determination is achieved, but the cooking process time is extended
Solution Approach 1:
The measuring phase with deactivated heating is performed as a preliminary action before the actual cooking phase. By determining food parameters (mass, thermal capacity) during this initial measurement phase, the system can optimize and adapt the subsequent cooking process duration and parameters, ensuring efficient cooking without unnecessary time loss.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the heating parameter from active to inactive state during the measuring phase, allowing temperature drop measurement. Based on the measured temperature drop rate, the system then adapts cooking parameters (time, temperature) for the subsequent cooking phase, optimizing the overall process.
3Reliability
If the food is introduced into the cooking chamber before the end of the start-up phase, then defined conditions prevail at the beginning of the measuring phase, but the temperature profile becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The cooking process is segmented into distinct phases: start-up phase (with heating), measuring phase (with deactivated heating for temperature drop measurement), and cooking phase. This segmentation allows clear definition of measurement conditions during the measuring phase while managing temperature profile complexity through systematic phase transitions.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach provides more accurate and differentiated control of the cooking process by assessing the food's thermal properties through temperature drop rates, ensuring appropriate cooking times and temperatures based on food mass and thermal capacity.
Implementation Method 1
the cooking space is heated with a heater in a start-up phase
Implementation Method 2
the heating is deactivated so that it does not run or only runs with negligible power. This leads to a drop in the temperature in the cooking space
Implementation Method 3
the rate of drop depending on the type and size of the food being cooked
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3
AI summary
During the cooking process, a measurement phase (C) is run through, in which the heating (4, 5a, 5b) of the cooking appliance is switched off. During this measuring phase, the speed at which the temperature in the cooking chamber (1) falls is measured. From this, a cooking item parameter can be determined which is dependent on the thermal mass and surface of the cooking item and which can be used to define at least one process parameter of the cooking process.