System and method for making popcorn using a self-regulating heating system
AssigneeGakken (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd.
InventorKenzo Kurosawa
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present application describes a popcorn maker including a self-regulating heating unit. The self-regulating heating unit provides a regulated heat to the popcorn maker. The self-regulating heating unit can be configured to maintain a predetermined temperature for the popcorn maker. The predetermined temperature can be adjusted to provide appropriate amount of heat to the popcorn maker for popping a maximum number of corn kernels while limiting the heat from causing damage to heating coils and thermoplastic parts of the popcorn maker. The self-regulating heating unit includes a positive temperature coefficient heater.
Claims12
A popcorn maker comprising:
- a heating chamber, wherein the heating chamber comprises,
- a vessel, and
- a self-regulating heating unit coupled to the vessel, wherein the self-regulating heating unit is configured to provide a regulated heat to the vessel;
- and
- a rotary table loading system coupled to the heating chamber, the rotary table loading system comprising:
- a foundation unit,
- at least one handle unit coupled to the foundation unit,
- a rotary table operably coupled to the handle unit,
- a cabinet coupled to the foundation unit and covering the rotary table, and
- a pre-heating storage unit coupled to the cabinet, wherein the cabinet includes an outlet.
A method for making popcorn comprising:
- loading kernels of corn into a heating chamber of a popcorn maker using a rotary table loading system coupled to the heating chamber, the rotary table loading system comprising:
- a foundation unit,
- at least one handle unit coupled to the foundation unit,
- a rotary table operably coupled to the handle unit,
- a cabinet coupled to the foundation unit and covering the rotary table, and
- a pre-heating storage unit coupled to the cabinet, wherein the cabinet includes an outlet:
- heating the kernels of corn to a regulated temperature in the heating chamber using a self-regulating heating unit;
- maintaining the regulated temperature in the heating chamber;
- popping the kernels of corn in the heating chamber;
- and
- removing popped kernels of corn from the heating chamber.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.