Turntable oscillation during cooking appliance meal cook cycle
AssigneeHaier US Appliance Solutions, Inc.
InventorMark Heimerdinger
Life of this patent
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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 in a back-and-forth motion during at least a portion of a cook cycle.
Claims16
A cooking appliance, comprising:
- a casing defining a 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 and into the cooking cavity;
- a turntable rotatably mounted in the cooking cavity;
- an upper pan mounted above the turntable;
- a motor operatively coupled to the turntable to rotate the turntable within the cooking cavity;
- 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, wherein the meal cook cycle comprises a plurality of stages;
- activating the upper heating module for delivering radiant and thermal energy to a first location within the cooking cavity, wherein the first location is a distinct spatial location defined on the upper pan, and wherein the first location is in direct thermal communication with the upper heating module;
- and
- activating the motor to simultaneously rotate the turntable and the upper pan in a back-and-forth motion within the cooking cavity only during one stage of the plurality of stage, wherein rotating the turntable and the upper pan in the back-and-forth motion comprises rotating the turntable and the upper pan from a first position to a second position in a first direction followed by rotating the turntable and the upper pan from the second position to the first position in a second direction opposite the first direction,
- wherein the first position and the second position are defined by the first location on the upper pan.
A method of operating a cooking appliance, the cooking appliance comprising a casing defining a cooking cavity, the method comprising:
- receiving, by a controller of the cooking appliance, an input indicating that the cooking appliance is to operate in a meal cook cycle, the meal cook cycle comprises a plurality of stages;
- activating an upper heating module for delivering radiant and thermal energy to a first location within the cooking cavity, wherein the first location is a distinct spatial location defined on an upper pan mounted above a turntable, and wherein the first location is in direct thermal communication with the upper heating module;
- and
- activating a motor to simultaneously rotate the turntable and the upper pan mounted above the turntable in a back-and-forth motion within the cooking cavity only during one stage of the plurality of stage, wherein rotating the turntable and the upper pan in the back-and-forth motion comprises rotating the turntable and the upper pan from a first position to a second position in a first direction followed by rotating the turntable from the second position to the first position in a second direction opposite the first direction, wherein the first position and the second position are defined by the first location on the upper pan.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.