Double oven preheat boost using cooking chamber lockout
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsJames Lee Armstrong, Joshua Stephen Wiseman
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An oven appliance is provided with features for locking out a cooking chamber to boost the preheat performance of and thereby decrease the time required to preheat another cooking chamber of the oven appliance. A method for operating an oven appliance also is provided. The method includes features for locking out a cooking chamber to boost the preheat performance of and thereby decrease the time required to preheat another cooking chamber of the oven appliance.
Claims19
A method for operating an oven appliance, the oven appliance having an upper cooking chamber and a lower cooking chamber each configured for receipt of food items for cooking, the method comprising the steps of:
- establishing a cooking chamber temperature set point Tpre for a selected cooking chamber, wherein the selected cooking chamber comprises one of the upper or the lower cooking chamber;
- activating a heating element of the selected cooking chamber;
- determining whether a boost preheat mode of the selected cooking chamber has been chosen and, if so, then
- activating a lockout element to lockout the unselected cooking chamber;
- activating an additional heating element of the selected cooking chamber;
- sensing whether the temperature in the selected cooking chamber has reached at least Tpre and, if so, then
- activating the lockout element to unlock to the unselected cooking chamber, and
- initiating a cooking cycle of the selected cooking chamber.
A method for operating an oven appliance, the oven appliance having an upper cooking chamber and a lower cooking chamber each configured for receipt of food items for cooking, the method comprising the steps of:
- establishing a cooking chamber temperature set point Tpre for a selected cooking chamber, wherein the selected cooking chamber comprises one of the upper or the lower cooking chamber;
- activating a heating element of the selected cooking chamber;
- determining whether a boost preheat mode of the selected cooking chamber has been chosen and, if so, then
- activating a lockout element to lockout the unselected cooking chamber;
- counting a time tlock;
- activating an additional heating element of the selected cooking chamber;
- determining whether the time tlock has reached at least a threshold time tthr and, if so, then
- activating the lockout element to unlock to the unselected cooking chamber.
An oven appliance, comprising:
- a cabinet, the cabinet defining an upper cooking chamber and a lower cooking chamber, each of the upper and lower cooking chamber configured for receipt of food items for cooking;
- a plurality of upper heating elements, the upper heating elements configured to heat the upper cooking chamber;
- a plurality of lower heating elements, the lower heating elements configured to heat the lower cooking chamber;
- a lockout element;
- and
- a controller in operative communication with the upper and lower heating elements and the lockout element, the controller configured for
- establishing a cooking chamber temperature set point Tpre for a selected cooking chamber, wherein the selected cooking chamber comprises one of the upper or the lower cooking chamber;
- activating one of the plurality of heating elements of the selected cooking chamber;
- determining whether a boost preheat mode of the selected cooking chamber has been chosen and, if so, then
- activating the lockout element to lockout the unselected cooking chamber;
- activating an additional heating element of the selected cooking chamber;
- sensing whether the temperature in the selected cooking chamber has reached at least Tpre and, if so, then
- activating the lockout element to unlock to the unselected cooking chamber, and
- initiating a cooking cycle of the selected cooking chamber.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.