Turntable positioning for cooking appliance meal cook cycle
AssigneeHaier US Appliance Solutions, Inc.
InventorMark Heimerdinger
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A cooking appliance includes a cooking cavity, a microwave module, a convection module, an upper heater module and a lower heater module. A turntable is rotatably mounted in the cooking cavity. The cooking appliance is operable for, and related methods may include, activating at least one of the microwave module, the upper heater module, the lower heater module, and the convection module, while also rotating the turntable within the cooking cavity within the cooking cavity. The cooking appliance is further operable for, and related methods may also include rotating the turntable to a predetermined position at a predetermined time.
Claims17
A cooking appliance, comprising:
- a casing defining a cooking cavity;
- a door rotatably mounted to the casing at a front of the casing, the door movable between an open position which permits access to the cooking cavity and a closed position which prevents access to the cooking cavity;
- a microwave module for delivering microwave energy into the cooking cavity;
- an upper heater module having one or more heating elements;
- a lower heater module having one or more heating elements;
- a convection module having one or more heating elements and a convection fan operable to move air across the one or more heating elements of the convection module;
- a turntable rotatably mounted in the cooking cavity;
- a motor operatively coupled to the turntable to rotate the turntable within the cooking cavity;
- a roller ring directly coupled to the motor, wherein the turntable is mounted on the roller ring via a plurality of registration recesses and a plurality of registration pins corresponding to the plurality of registration recesses, and wherein the turntable is positioned in a fixed alignment within the cooking cavity by the plurality of registration recesses and the corresponding plurality of registration pins;
- and
- a controller communicatively coupled with the microwave module, the upper heater module, the lower heater module, the convection module, and the motor for selective control thereof, the controller configured to:
- receive an input indicating that the cooking appliance is to operate in a meal cook cycle;
- activate at least one of the microwave module, the upper heater module, the lower heater module, and the convection module of the cooking appliance during the meal cook cycle;
- activate the motor to rotate the turntable within the cooking cavity during the meal cook cycle, wherein the turntable rotates through a plurality of positions in a sequential order during at least a portion of the meal cook cycle;
- and
- rotate the turntable, by the motor, to a predetermined one of the plurality of positions at a predetermined time.
A method of operating a cooking appliance, the cooking appliance comprising a casing defining a cooking cavity, a door rotatably mounted to the casing at a front of the casing, the door movable between an open position which permits access to the cooking cavity and a closed position which prevents access to the cooking cavity, a motor, and a roller ring directly coupled to the motor, the method comprising:
- mounting a turntable on the roller ring via a plurality of registration recesses and a plurality of registration pins corresponding to the plurality of registration recesses, whereby the turntable is positioned in a fixed alignment within the cooking cavity by the plurality of registration recesses and the corresponding plurality of registration pins;
- receiving, by a controller of the cooking appliance, an input indicating that the cooking appliance is to operate in a meal cook cycle;
- activating at least one of a microwave module for delivering microwave energy into the cooking cavity, an upper heater module having one or more heating elements, a lower heater module having one or more heating elements, and a convection module having one or more heating elements and a convection fan operable to move air across the one or more heating elements of the convection module during the meal cook cycle;
- activating the motor to rotate the turntable within the cooking cavity during the meal cook cycle, wherein the turntable rotates through a plurality of positions in a sequential order during at least a portion of the meal cook cycle;
- and
- rotating the turntable, by the motor, to a predetermined one of the plurality of positions at a predetermined time.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.