Apparatus and method for controlling a conveyor oven

A conveyor oven comprising:

• an oven chamber in which food is cooked;
• a conveyor moveable to convey the food through the oven chamber;
• a gas burner to generate heat for the oven chamber, wherein the gas burner has a variable heat output and a combustion airflow rate;
• a main blower for circulating air within the oven chamber, wherein the main blower has variable speeds and operates at a first speed when food is present in the oven chamber;
• a combustion blower that provides air to the gas burner, wherein the combustion blower has variable speeds;
• a sensor to detect at least one of a temperature within the oven and the presence of food product upon the conveyor;
• and
• a controller that
• controls the variable heat output and combustion airflow rate of the gas burner, and
• controls the speeds of the main blower and combustion blower, wherein the controller is responsive to the detection of the absence of food from the oven chamber based at least in part upon operation of the sensor and, in response to the detection of the absence of food from the oven chamber, the controller (i) reduces the speed of the main blower from the first speed to a second slower speed, (ii) activates or increases the speed of the combustion blower, and (iii) maintains the oven at a set-point temperature by varying the heat output of the gas burner, and (iv) increases the speed of the main blower from the second speed to the first speed in response to detecting the presence of food on the conveyor upstream from the oven chamber.

A conveyor oven comprising:

• an oven chamber in which food is cooked;
• a conveyor moveable to convey the food through the oven chamber;
• a gas burner to generate heat for the oven chamber, wherein the gas burner has a variable heat output and a combustion airflow rate;
• a main blower for circulating air within the oven chamber, wherein the main blower has variable speeds;
• a combustion blower that provides air to the gas burner, wherein the combustion blower has variable speeds;
• and
• a controller that
• controls the variable heat output and combustion airflow rate of the gas burner,
• controls the speed of the main blower,
• activates or increases the speed of the combustion blower when the main blower speed is reduced below a threshold, and
• reduces the speed of the main blower when the combustion blower is activated.

A conveyor oven comprising:

• an oven chamber in which food is cooked;
• a conveyor moveable to convey the food through the oven chamber;
• a gas burner having a combustion airflow rate;
• a main blower for circulating air within the oven chamber, wherein the main blower has variable speeds;
• a damper for adjusting the gas burner combustion airflow rate, wherein the damper has variable configurations;
• and
• a controller that
• detects and changes the configuration of the damper for adjusting the gas burner combustion airflow rate.