US 12,753,928 B2Granted

Cooking appliance for multi-zone cooking at different temperatures

AssigneeHaier US Appliance Solutions, Inc.

InventorsEric Scott Johnson, James Lee Armstrong

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

A cooking appliance includes a cabinet forming a cooking chamber, the cooking chamber defining a plurality of cooking zones therein; a plurality of heating elements provided within the cooking chamber; a user interface; and a controller operably connected with the plurality of heating elements and the user interface, the controller configured to perform a cooking operation. The cooking operation includes receiving a first temperature request for a first cooking zone; receiving a second temperature request for a second cooking zone, the second cooking zone being different from the first cooking zone and the second temperature request being different from the first temperature request; determining a heating pattern of the plurality of heating elements based on the first temperature request, the second temperature request, the first cooking zone, and the second cooking zone; and directing each of the plurality of heating elements according to the determined heating pattern.

Claims16

Dependent claims

A cooking appliance comprising:

a cabinet forming a cooking chamber, the cooking chamber defining a plurality of cooking zones therein;
a plurality of heating elements provided within the cooking chamber, each of the plurality of heating elements being independently operated, wherein the plurality of heating elements comprises a broil heating element provided at a top of the cooking chamber, a bake heating element provided at a bottom of the cooking chamber, and a convection heating assembly provided at a rear of the cooking chamber, wherein the convection heating assembly comprises a convection fan;
a user interface configured to receive inputs;
and
a controller operably connected with the plurality of heating elements and the user interface, the controller configured to perform a cooking operation, the cooking operation comprising:
receiving a first temperature request for a first cooking zone of the plurality of cooking zones via the user interface;
receiving a second temperature request for a second cooking zone of the plurality of cooking zones via the user interface, the second cooking zone being different from the first cooking zone and the second temperature request being different from the first temperature request;
determining a heating pattern of the plurality of heating elements based on the first temperature request, the second temperature request, the first cooking zone, and the second cooking zone, wherein determining the heating pattern comprises determining an effective speed and rotational direction for the convection fan according to the first temperature request, the second temperature request, the first cooking zone, and the second cooking zone;
and
directing each of the plurality of heating elements according to the determined heating pattern, wherein directing each of the plurality of heating elements comprises directing the convection fan according to the determined effective speed and rotational direction.

7 more elements

A method of operating a cooking appliance, the cooking appliance comprising a cooking chamber defining a plurality of cooking zones, a plurality of heating elements provided within the cooking chamber, wherein the plurality of heating elements comprises a broil heating element provided at a top of the cooking chamber, a bake heating element provided at a bottom of the cooking chamber, and a convection heating assembly provided at a rear of the cooking chamber, wherein the convection heating assembly comprises a convection fan, and a user interface configured to receive inputs, the method comprising:

receiving a request to perform a cooking operation;
receiving a first temperature request for a first cooking zone of the plurality of cooking zones via the user interface;
receiving a second temperature request for a second cooking zone of the plurality of cooking zones via the user interface, the second cooking zone being different from the first cooking zone and the second temperature request being different from the first temperature request;
determining a heating pattern of the plurality of heating elements based on the first temperature request, the second temperature request, the first cooking zone, and the second cooking zone, wherein determining the heating pattern comprises determining an effective speed and rotational direction for the convection fan according to the first temperature request, the second temperature request, the first cooking zone, and the second cooking zone;
and
directing each of the plurality of heating elements according to the determined heating pattern, wherein directing each of the plurality of heating elements comprises directing the convection fan according to the determined effective speed and rotational direction.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.