Conveyor oven apparatus and method
AssigneeThe Middleby Corporation
InventorsJohn H. Wiker, Mohan K. Panicker, Magdy A. Albert, William S. Schjerven, Sr.
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An oven according to some embodiments includes an oven chamber in which food is cooked, a heating element, a fan, a sensor for sensing the temperature of the oven chamber, a remote input device, and a controller configured to receive a signal from the remote input device and to change the fan or heating element based at least in part upon the signal received from the remote input device. In a method of operating the oven according to some embodiments, the oven enters an operating mode from an energy-savings mode responsive to receiving an signal from a remote device.
Claims16
A conveyor oven for cooking food product wherein the conveyor oven has a cooking mode and an energy saving mode, the conveyor oven comprising:
- an oven chamber in which food product is cooked;
- a conveyor for moving food product through the oven chamber;
- a heating element operable to generate heat to be provided to the oven chamber;
- a fan operable to move air in the oven chamber,
- at least one controller that controls components of the conveyor oven;
- one or more sensors to detect (i) temperature within the oven chamber and (ii) at least one of the presence and absence of food product in the oven chamber;
- wherein in the energy saving mode (i) the fan moves air in the oven chamber at a reduced speed from the cooking mode in response to a first signal associated with the absence of food product from the oven chamber and (ii) responsive to the controller the output of the heating element is reduced in response to a change in the temperature of the oven chamber detected by the one or more sensors to maintain the oven chamber substantially at a steady state temperature, wherein the change in temperature of the oven chamber is due at least in part to the absence of food product from the oven chamber;
- and
- at least one input device operatively associated with the oven by which a second signal indicating the presence of food product to be cooked is transmitted and operation of the fan is changed from the energy saving mode to the cooking mode in response to the second signal.
A conveyor oven for cooking food product wherein the conveyor oven has a cooking mode and an energy saving mode, the conveyor oven comprising:
- an oven chamber in which food product is cooked;
- a conveyor for moving food product through the oven chamber;
- a heating element operable to generate heat to be provided to the oven chamber;
- one or more sensors to detect (i) temperature within the oven chamber and (ii) at least one of the presence and absence of food product in the oven chamber;
- a fan operable to move air in the oven chamber;
- and
- at least one controller that
- controls components of the conveyor oven, including at least one of the fan and the heating element, and
- changes operation of the fan, after the passage of a period of time indicating the absence of food product from the oven, to an energy saving mode in which the fan moves air in the oven chamber at a reduced speed from the cooking mode,
- wherein in the energy saving mode the output of the heating element is reduced in response to a change in temperature of the oven chamber detected by the one or more sensors to maintain the oven chamber substantially at a steady state temperature, and wherein the change in temperature of the oven chamber is due at least in part to the absence of food product from the oven chamber.
A method of operating a conveyor oven for cooking food product, the method comprising:
- operating a fan in a cooking mode to move air in an oven chamber at a first speed;
- operating a heating element in the cooking mode to generate heat to be provided to the oven chamber at a first temperature;
- changing operation of the oven from the cooking mode to an energy saving mode, based at least in part on a first signal associated with the absence of food product from the oven chamber, wherein in the energy saving mode the fan moves air in the oven at a second speed reduced from the first speed;
- detecting a change in temperature in the oven chamber due at least in part to the absence of food product from the oven chamber;
- reducing the output of the heating element after the oven enters the energy saving mode in response to the change in the temperature of the oven chamber to maintain the oven chamber substantially at a steady state temperature;
- and
- changing operation of the fan from the energy saving mode to the cooking mode in response to a second signal associated with the presence of food product to be cooked.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.