Programmable load compensation method and apparatus for use in a food oven

Abstract

A method and apparatus is disclosed which automatically adjusts the on-time of preferably quartz lamp heating elements in an oven having both quartz lamp and electric heating elements. In such an oven having dual heating elements, the temperature of the oven's cavity increases when numerous food items (loads) are rapidly cooked in succession. The present invention allows a dual heating element oven to automatically compensate for these increases in temperature by preferably shortening a predetermined on-time of the quartz bulbs. The on-time is continuously compensated using a microcomputer, dependent upon the current oven temperature. The microcomputer preferably uses at least two clocks to shorten the predetermined on-time of the quartz bulbs.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.