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US 7,804,045 B2Granted
Portable food heater
AssigneeAmeritherm, Inc.
InventorsRichard H. Rosenbloom, Leslie L. Thompson, Santina McKean, William Flanigan, Brian Louis Teachout, Ian Alan Paull
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In one aspect, the present invention provides a consumer appliance that uses RF energy to heat foods stored in a container that is suitable for RF heating.
Claims17
A portable food heater, comprising:
- a generally cylindrical housing having an opening formed in a top portion of the housing for receiving food;
- a radio-frequency (RF) heating element housed in the housing and at least partially surrounding the opening;
- a generally cylindrical base member connected to or integral with a bottom portion of said housing, said base member being configured to fit into a conventional automobile cup holder;
- an RF power circuit configured to provide RF power to the RF heating element, said RF power circuit being housed in said housing and/or said base member;
- and
- a power plug electrically coupled to the RF power circuit, said power plug being configured to mate with an automotive power socket, wherein
- the RF power circuit comprises:
- an oscillator;
- an RF power generator coupled to the oscillator;
- and
- a controller configured to control the oscillator.
8 more elements
A food heating method, comprising:
- obtaining a portable food heater, wherein the portable food heater comprises:
- a generally cylindrical housing having an opening formed in a top portion of the housing for receiving food;
- a radio-frequency (RF) heating element housed in the housing and at least partially surrounding the opening;
- a generally cylindrical base member connected to or integral with a bottom portion of said housing;
- an RF power circuit configured to provide RF power to the RF heating element, said RF power circuit being housed in said housing and/or said base member;
- and a power plug electrically coupled to the RF power circuit;
- placing the base member of the portable food heater into a cup holder of a car, the car having a power socket configured to receive a power plug;
- plugging the power plug into the power socket;
- placing food in the opening;
- and
- after plugging in the power plug and after placing the food in the opening, activating the portable food heater such that the RF power circuit provides a sufficient amount of RF power to the RF heating element to cause the food to heat, wherein
- the RF power circuit comprises:
- an oscillator;
- an RF power generator coupled to the oscillator;
- and
- a controller configured to control the oscillator.
13 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.