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US 10,684,022 B2Granted
Multizone oven with variable volume steam-assisted cooking zones
AssigneeAlto-Shaam, Inc.
InventorsPhilip R. McKee, Lee Thomas VanLanen, Jeff Maddox
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A multi-compartment oven provides separate humidity controlled zones using separately controlled steam generators and humidity resistant partitions between cavities. A removable humidity wall may allow resizing of the cavities while providing the necessary humidity sealing and may be augmented by venting control based on neighboring cavity usage.
Claims16
A multi-cavity oven comprising:
- a housing defining an interior cooking volume surrounded by insulated outer walls and at least one door that may open and close to provide access to the interior cooking volume;
- at least one humidity blocking barrier subdividing the cooking volume into cooking cavities having different humidities;
- a steam generator system introducing steam into selective cooking cavities according to an electric signal;
- a set of fans circulating air independently through the cooking cavities in isolation from the other cooking cavities;
- and
- a baffle for separating the air from each fan into separate upper and lower channels for providing air to the cooking cavity therethrough and wherein each baffle presents a surface opposed to an outlet of a corresponding fan and providing a gap between the outlet and the surface that is less than a width of the outlet;
- wherein each cavity provides a separate heater and a thermal sensor;
- and
- further including a controller receiving a user command to independently set temperature and humidity of the different cooking cavities.
6 more elements
A multi-cavity oven comprising:
- a housing defining an interior cooking volume surrounded by insulated outer walls and at least one door that may open and close to provide access to the interior cooking volume;
- at least one humidity blocking barrier subdividing the cooking volume into cooking cavities having different humidities;
- wherein the at least one humidity blocking barrier is movable to allow adjustment of a size of at least one cooking cavity during operation of the oven;
- a steam generator system introducing steam into selective cooking cavities according to an electric signal;
- a set of fans circulating air independently through the cooking cavities in isolation from the other cooking cavities;
- wherein each cavity provides a separate heater and a thermal sensor;
- a controller receiving a user command to independently set temperature and humidity of the different cooking cavities;
- and
- elastomeric seals positioned between the blocking barrier and inner walls of the oven cavities wherein the elastomeric seal presents a concave surface separating a path between cooking cavities so that excess pressure on the concave side of the elastomeric seal promotes sealing of the elastomeric seal against a surface.
6 more elements
A multi-cavity oven comprising:
- a housing defining an interior cooking volume surrounded by insulated outer walls and at least one door that may open and close to provide access to the interior cooking volume;
- at least one humidity blocking barrier subdividing the cooking volume into cooking cavities having different humidities;
- a steam generator system introducing steam into selective cooking cavities according to an electric signal;
- a set of fans circulating air independently through the cooking cavities in isolation from the other cooking cavities;
- and
- a baffle for separating the air from the fan into separate upper and lower channels for providing air to the cooking cavity therethrough and wherein the baffle is asymmetric about a plane defined by a horizontal axis and a central axis of air exiting from the fan;
- wherein each cavity provides a separate heater and a thermal sensor;
- and
- further including a controller receiving a user command to independently set temperature and humidity of the different cooking cavities.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.