Method and apparatus for controlling a cooking process of food

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10085469-B2
Application number	US-201515118200-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 11, 2015
Priority date	Mar 17, 2014
Publication date	Oct 2, 2018
Grant date	Oct 2, 2018

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for controlling a cooking process of food. The method comprises a step of emitting ( 101 ) a plurality of radio frequency signals into the food non invasively. The method also comprises a step of receiving ( 105 ) a plurality of reflection signals or transmission signals of the radio frequency signals from the food, wherein the reflection signals is a part of the radio frequency signals that reflect from the food, and the transmission signals is a part of the radio frequency signals that transmit through the food. The method also comprises a step of obtaining ( 110 ) a protein status, wherein the protein status is the extent of protein denaturation, in the food in the course of heating the food based on the plurality of radio frequency signals and the plurality of reflection signals or transmission signals. The method also comprises a step of determining ( 120 ) a doneness level of the food based on the protein status, and a step of controlling ( 130 ) the cooking process of the food based on the determined doneness level. Using the protein denaturation provides a more direct and precise information of the status of food based on established relation between the doneness level and the protein denaturation extent.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for controlling a cooking process of food, comprising steps of:
emitting a plurality of radio frequency signals into the food noninvasively at different points of time in the course of heating the food, wherein the plurality of radio frequency signals have a same frequency;
receiving from the food a plurality of second radio frequency signals taken among the set defined by reflection signals and transmission signals, wherein the reflection signals comprise a part of the radio frequency signals that reflect from the food, and the transmission signals comprise a part of the radio frequency signals that transmit through the food;
obtaining a protein status, wherein the protein status is an extent of protein denaturation, in the food in the course of heating the food, based on dielectric properties of the food, the dielectric properties being determined based on phases or amplitudes of (i) the plurality of radio frequency signals and (ii) the plurality of second radio frequency signals;
determining a doneness level of the food based on the protein status, wherein the determining step comprises determining the doneness level corresponding to a change of the dielectric properties featured by a staged drop and rise associated with food doneness levels, wherein dielectric properties obtained over time form a curve, that illustrates the change in dielectric properties over time, and a shape of the curve is matched to at least one predetermined curve of a plurality of predetermined curves, each predetermined curve indicating an individual doneness level, to obtain the doneness level indicated by the curve; and
controlling the cooking process of the food based on the determined doneness level.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the dielectric properties are represented by scattering parameters, dielectric constant or loss factor.

3. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium embodied with instructions which, when executed on an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform the steps of the method according to claim 1 .

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein emitting and receiving comprises emitting and receiving with a plurality of pairs of an emitting unit and a receiving unit that comprise an array of open-ended coaxial probes, for emitting a plurality of RF signals into different parts of the food and for receiving respective reflection or transmission signals therefrom, wherein the array of open-ended coaxial probes are arranged in one plane or follow a specific curvature, further wherein obtaining the protein status includes obtaining the protein status in the different parts of the food, and further wherein determining the doneness level includes determining doneness levels of the different parts of the food based on respective protein statuses and calculating the doneness level of the food by weighting the doneness levels of the different parts of the food.

5. An apparatus configured to control a cooking process of food, comprising:
an emitting unit adapted to emit a plurality of radio frequency signals into the food noninvasively;
a receiving unit adapted to receive from the food a plurality of second radio frequency signals taken among the set defined by reflection signals and transmission signals, wherein the reflection signals comprise a part of the radio frequency signals that reflect from the food, and the transmission signals comprise a part of the radio frequency signals that transmit through the food;
an obtaining unit adapted to obtain a protein status in the food in the course of heating the food, wherein the protein status comprises an extent of protein denaturation in the food, based on (i) the plurality of radio frequency signals and (ii) the plurality of second radio frequency signals;
a determining unit adapted to determine a doneness level of the food based on the protein status; and
a controlling unit adapted to control, at least partially, the cooking process of the food based on the determined doneness level,
wherein the plurality of radio frequency signals have a same frequency, wherein the emitting unit is adapted to emit the plurality of radio frequency signals into the food at different points of time in the course of heating the food,
wherein the obtaining unit is further adapted to obtain the protein status based on dielectric properties of the food, the dielectric properties being determined based on phases or amplitudes of (i) the radio frequency signals and (ii) the plurality of second radio frequency signals, and
wherein the determining unit is further adapted to determine the doneness level of the food based on a change of the dielectric properties over time featured by a staged drop and rise associated with food doneness levels, wherein dielectric properties obtained over time form a curve, that illustrates the change in dielectric properties over time, and a shape of the curve is matched to at least one predetermined curve of a plurality of predetermined curves, each predetermined curve indicating an individual doneness level, to obtain the doneness level indicated by the curve.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein emitting unit and the receiving unit comprise a plurality of pairs of an emitting unit and a receiving unit that comprise an array of open-ended coaxial probes, for emitting a plurality of RF signals into different parts of the food and for receiving respective reflection or transmission signals therefrom, wherein the array of open-ended coaxial probes are arranged in one plane or follow a specific curvature, further wherein the obtaining unit is further adapted to obtain the protein status in the different parts of the food, and further wherein the determining unit is further adapted to determine the doneness levels of the different parts of the food based on respective protein statuses and calculate the doneness level of the food by weighting the doneness levels of the different parts of the food.

7. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein:
the emitting unit and the receiving unit comprise a plurality of pairs of the emitting unit and the receiving unit, wherein the plurality of emitting units are adapted to emit a plurality of radio frequency signals into different parts of the food;
the obtaining unit is adapted to obtain protein statuses in the different parts of the food based on the radio frequency signals and the plurality second radio frequency signals for the individual parts; and
the determining unit is adapted to (i) determine doneness levels of the different parts of the food based on the respective protein statuses, and (ii) calculate the doneness level of the food by weighing the doneness levels of the different parts of the food.

8. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the controlling unit is further adapted to tune parameters of the apparatus, wherein the parameters of the apparatus include at least one selected from the group consisting of (i) heating power level, (ii) duty cycle and (iii) a cooking time duration.

9. A cooking device, comprising an apparatus configured to control a cooking process of food according to claim 5 .

10. The cooking device of claim 9 , wherein the emitting unit and the receiving unit of the apparatus are placed on a lid of the cooking device.

11. The cooking device of claim 9 , wherein the emitting unit and the receiving unit of the apparatus are placed at the bottom of the cooking device.

Assignees

• Koninklijke Philips Nv

Inventors

• Li Wei
• Yin Bin

Classifications

• G01N22/00

  Investigating or analysing materials by the use of microwaves or radio waves, i.e. electromagnetic waves with a wavelength of one millimetre or more (G01N3/00 - G01N17/00, G01N24/00 take precedence) · CPC title

• A23L5/36

  using irradiation with frequencies of more than 10 MHz · CPC title

• H05B6/705

  using microwave tuning · CPC title

• H05B6/6467

  using detectors with R.F. transmitters · CPC title

• A23L5/10 Primary

  General methods of cooking foods, e.g. by roasting or frying · CPC title