Touchscreen Cooking Appliance Menu Design for Rapid Area Selection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current cooking appliances require operators to navigate complex electronic menus, leading to increased operational time and potential errors, especially in high-pressure kitchen environments where flexibility and speed are crucial.
Innovation Solution
A touchscreen-based method for displaying and controlling cooking appliances with multiple menu levels, allowing operators to directly select and activate cooking areas and applications without delving into submenus, using virtual keys for intuitive operation and personalized settings.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If traditional multi-level electronic menus are used in cooking appliances, then comprehensive control functions are achieved, but operational time increases and operator error risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The touchscreen display is segmented into multiple overview fields (first, second, third, and fourth overview fields) that can be simultaneously displayed. Each field serves a specific function: area selection, subdivision selection, cooking application selection, and preset selection. This segmentation allows operators to access different control functions without navigating through multiple menu levels, thereby reducing operational time while maintaining comprehensive control capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a hierarchical menu structure (vertical navigation through multiple levels) to a spatial overview structure (horizontal arrangement of multiple fields on the same screen). This dimensional change allows all essential control options to be visible and accessible simultaneously on the first menu level, eliminating the need to delve into submenus and significantly speeding up operation.
2Adaptability or versatility
If comprehensive menu options are provided across multiple levels, then cooking flexibility is enhanced, but menu complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple menu functions into a single comprehensive overview display on the first menu level. Instead of distributing control options across multiple hierarchical levels, all essential controls (area selection, subdivisions, cooking applications, and presets) are combined into simultaneously visible overview fields. This merging maintains full cooking flexibility while presenting a simpler, more intuitive interface that reduces perceived complexity.
3Ease of operation
If detailed submenu navigation is required, then precise control is achieved, but operator error risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by providing preset configurations in the fourth overview field that pre-combine cooking chamber subdivisions with allocated cooking applications. Operators can select these pre-configured options with a single touch, eliminating the need to navigate through multiple submenu levels to achieve the same result. This preliminary preparation of common configurations significantly reduces operator error risk while maintaining precise control capabilities.
Data Source
AI summary
In a method of displaying at least one operating menu of a cooking appliance on a touchscreen and of controlling the cooking appliance, provision is made that in the first menu level, a first overview field of at least one cooking chamber defined by a flat heating surface, on which food to be cooked can be placed or poured, and having directly selectable areas of the cooking chamber in the first menu level for separate activation, and, additionally, a second overview field having different predefined cooking chamber subdivisions and/or a third overview field having a plurality of different cooking applications and/or a fourth overview field having different, predefined cooking chamber subdivisions with already allocated cooking applications are displayed at the same time.