Oven Cooking Mode Switching Under Component Faults
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional ovens face frequent stoppages and unavailability due to organ malfunctions, leading to food product loss and prolonged downtime for maintenance, as existing solutions primarily focus on immediate shutdown upon detecting faults rather than allowing continued operation in a degraded mode.
Innovation Solution
The method automatically switches to a degraded cooking mode when a defect is detected, altering one of the cooking instructions to maintain oven operation, allowing continued use for completing food preparation and enabling subsequent repairs without complete shutdown.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the oven shuts down immediately upon detecting a fault, then safety is ensured, but productivity and reliability deteriorate due to complete stoppage and food loss
Solution Approach 1:
The oven dynamically adjusts its operational state based on detected faults. Instead of a static shutdown response, the system transitions between different operational modes (normal mode, degraded mode with reduced functionality, and shutdown mode) depending on the severity and type of fault detected, allowing continuous operation in a degraded state when safe
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes operational parameters when faults are detected. Rather than immediately stopping all operations, the oven modifies cooking parameters (temperature, humidity, cooking mode) to accommodate the faulty component while maintaining sufficient cooking capability to complete the current cycle and prevent food waste
2Productivity
If the oven continues operating in normal mode despite faults, then productivity is maintained, but reliability deteriorates due to potential complete failure
Solution Approach 1:
The system prepares for potential complete failure by implementing a degraded operational mode that serves as a buffer state. When faults are detected, the oven transitions to this intermediate state that maintains sufficient functionality to complete cooking cycles while protecting against total system collapse, cushioning the impact of potential complete failure
3Reliability
If the oven shuts down for maintenance upon fault detection, then reliability is improved through preventive maintenance, but loss of time increases due to complete stoppage
Solution Approach 1:
The oven maintains continuous useful action by transitioning to a degraded operational mode rather than shutting down completely. This allows cooking operations to continue with modified parameters, ensuring that maintenance can be scheduled at convenient times rather than forcing immediate stoppage and minimizing downtime
Data Source
Figure 1
AI summary
The process of cooking a food product in an oven comprising components whose operation determines cooking instructions, is remarkable in that: - the cooking instructions are entered to define an associated cooking mode and determine (1); - the food product is placed in the oven (2); - the cooking is started (3); - the operation of the components is monitored (4) and, in the event of a defect in one of these components, the operation of the cooking mode associated with the oven is automatically switched (6) to a degraded cooking mode (7), at least one of whose associated instructions differs from the entered instruction.