Popcorn popper
AssigneeValley Popcorn Company, Inc.
InventorsDale M. Cherney, Richard D. Sorenson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A popcorn popping machine which pops popcorn in batches/cycles. A sensor on a popcorn popping machine senses pops of popcorn in the kettle. A system computer controller monitors the rate of popping sensed by the sensor and uses the beginning of the decline in the rate of popping as a basis for controlling heat to the kettle during a given cycle/batch. Activation of the dump mechanism, which terminates the popping cycle/batch, is initiated when the computer controller detects a predetermined programmed minimum pop count rate after the heat has been turned OFF.
Claims31
A popping system for popping popcorn, comprising:
- (a) a kettle adapted and configured to receive popcorn;
- (b) a heater adapted to heat said kettle;
- (c) an audio sensor positioned in sufficient proximity to said kettle to sense popping sounds of popcorn popping inside said kettle, said audio sensor generating a series of pop signals, where each pop signal represents a time when the sound of at least one kernel of popcorn popping is detected;
- and
- (d) a controller adapted and configured to receive information representative of respective such pop signals, to identify a sequence of popping rates over corresponding periods of time based on the pop signals so received, and to issue a heat control command to said heater based on changes in the popping rates.
A control system adapted and configured to control operation of a popcorn popper, said popcorn popper including a heated kettle, said control system comprising:
- (a) an audio sensor positioned in sufficient proximity to the kettle to sense popping sounds of popcorn popping inside the kettle, said audio sensor generating a series of pop signals, where each pop signal represents a time when the sound of at least one kernel of popcorn popping is detected;
- (b) a signal counter adapted to receive the pop signals sensed by said audio sensor and to count the number of pop signals so received over a given sampling period of time, thus to generate sample counts, each sample count representing a number of pops counted over a respective such sampling period of time,
- said sample counts being stored in an electronic memory;
- and
- (c) a programmable computer controller, having a processor and a memory, said programmable computer controller being programmed, and thus being specifically adapted and configured, to compare the sample count in a first such sample taken over a first such sampling period of time with the sample count in a second subsequent such sample taken over a second such sampling period of time.
A control system adapted and configured to control operation of a popcorn popper, said popcorn popper including a heated kettle, said control system comprising:
- (a) an audio sensor positioned in sufficient proximity to the kettle to sense popping sounds of popcorn popping inside the kettle, said audio sensor generating a series of pop signals where each pop signal represents a time when the sound of at least one kernel of popcorn popping is detected;
- (b) a signal timer adapted to receive the pop signals from said audio sensor, where each pop signal represents a time when the sound of one kernel of popcorn popping is detected, said signal timer determining at least one of
- (i) time periods between such pop signals, and
- (ii) time periods over which sets of such pop signals are received,
- the time periods for at least one of
- (i) receiving respective ones of the pop signals, or
- (ii) receiving sets of sequential pop signals
- being stored in an electronic memory;
- and
- (c) a programmable computer controller having a processor and a memory, said programmable computer controller being programmed, and thus being specifically adapted and configured
- (iii) to compare the time periods between at least one of
- A. respective sequential ones of the pop signals, or
- B. respective sets of sequential ones of the pop signals,
- thereby to identify a sequence of popping rates over corresponding sampling periods of time, and
- (iv) to issue a heat control command to said heater based on changes in the popping rates so identified.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.