Kitchen appliance and method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10617124-B2
Application number	US-201615566361-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 31, 2016
Priority date	Apr 15, 2015
Publication date	Apr 14, 2020
Grant date	Apr 14, 2020

Abstract

A kitchen appliance (100) is disclosed comprising a compartment (110) for receiving flour, said compartment comprising a sensor (120) for producing a sensor reading indicative of a dielectric property of said flour or a product comprising said flour. The kitchen appliance further comprises a processing arrangement (130) communicatively coupled to the sensor for determining an initial moisture content of said flour or product from said sensor reading and adapted to generate a control signal indicative of an amount of water to be added to the compartment as a function of the determined moisture content. A method of controlling a flour product-based food preparation process is also disclosed.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A kitchen appliance comprising:
a compartment that comprises a floor for receiving a single quantity of flour or a single quantity of product that includes flour, wherein said compartment is provided with a sensor for producing a sensor reading indicative of a dielectric property of said single quantity of flour or said single quantity of product that includes flour, and wherein said compartment is further provided with an interchangeable mixing implement for performing a food processing function with said single quantity of flour or said single quantity of product that includes flour; and
a processing arrangement communicatively coupled to the sensor (i) for determining an initial moisture content of said single quantity of flour or said single quantity of product that includes flour from said sensor reading, and (ii) for determining further moisture content in response to a series of periodic additional sensor readings, wherein said processing arrangement generates a control signal indicative of an amount of water to be added to said single quantity of flour or said single quantity of product that includes flour as a function of a trend in the dielectric property below a threshold value indicative of an optimal value of moisture based upon the determined initial moisture content and the determined further moisture content in response to the series of periodic additional sensor readings,
wherein the sensor comprises a probe for transmitting a radio-frequency signal and for receiving a reflection of said radio-frequency signal, and wherein said dielectric property is determined as a ratio of reflected radio-frequency power to transmitted radio-frequency power.

2. The kitchen appliance of claim 1 , wherein the kitchen appliance comprises a user interface including a display screen, wherein the control signal is for generating a water addition instruction on said display screen.

3. The kitchen appliance of claim 1 , further comprising a water inlet responsive to said control signal.

4. The kitchen appliance of claim 1 , wherein the sensor is located in one selected from the group consisting of (i) the floor of the compartment, (ii) above said single quantity of flour or said single quantity of product that includes flour in the compartment, and (iii) the interchangeable mixing implement.

5. The kitchen appliance of claim 1 , wherein the probe is a coaxial probe that comprises a coaxial line for transmitting the radio-frequency signal and a flange adjacent said coaxial line for receiving said reflection.

6. The kitchen appliance of claim 1 , wherein the processing arrangement is arranged to further generate the control signal based on a user preference of a property of a food product to be produced from said single quantity of flour or said single quantity of product that includes flour.

7. The kitchen appliance of claim 1 , wherein the processing arrangement is programmable to receive a correlation between the sensor reading and initial moisture content.

8. The kitchen appliance of claim 1 , wherein the processing arrangement comprises a detection stage for detecting the sensor reading, a determination stage for determining the initial moisture content from the detected sensor reading and a water adding stage for generating the control signal.

9. The kitchen appliance of claim 1 , wherein the processing arrangement is further for operating the kitchen appliance as a function of the trend in the dielectric property below the threshold value indicative of an optimal value of moisture based upon the determined initial moisture content and the determined further moisture content in response to the series of periodic additional sensor readings.

10. The kitchen appliance of claim 9 , further comprising a heating unit, wherein the processing arrangement is further adapted to determine an amount of water bound to said single quantity of flour or said single quantity of product that includes flour from the trend in the dielectric property below the threshold value indicative of an optimal value of moisture based upon the determined initial moisture content and the determined further moisture content in response to the series of periodic additional sensor readings and to generate a further control signal for controlling an amount of power supplied to the heating unit as a function of the determined amount of bound water.

11. The kitchen appliance of claim 1 , wherein the kitchen appliance is one of a noodle maker, dough maker or bread maker.

12. A method of controlling a flour product-based food preparation process, the method comprising:
measuring, via a sensor for producing a sensor reading indicative of a dielectric property of flour or a product that includes flour received in a compartment that comprises a floor for receiving a single quantity of the flour or a single quantity of product that includes flour, the dielectric property of the single quantity of flour or the single quantity of product that includes flour during the food preparation process, and wherein the compartment is further provided with an interchangeable mixing implement for performing a food processing function with the single quantity of flour or the single quantity of product that includes flour;
determining, via a processing arrangement, an initial moisture content of the single quantity of flour or the single quantity of product that includes flour from the measured dielectric property from the sensor reading and determining, via the processing arrangement, further moisture content in response to a series of periodic additional sensor readings; and
generating, via the processing arrangement, a control signal for adding water to the single quantity of flour or the single quantity of product that includes flour as a function of a trend in the dielectric property below a threshold value indicative of an optimal value of moisture based upon said determined initial moisture content and the determined further moisture content in response to the series of periodic additional sensor readings,
wherein measuring, via the sensor, comprises transmitting, via a probe, a radio-frequency signal and receiving, via the probe, a reflection of said radio-frequency signal, and wherein said dielectric property is determined as a ratio of reflected radio-frequency power to transmitted radio-frequency power.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
determining an amount of water bound to the single quantity of flour or the single quantity of product that includes flour; and
generating, via the processing arrangement, a further control signal for controlling an amount of power supplied to a heating unit as a function of the determined amount of bound water.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the sensor is located in one selected from the group consisting of (i) the floor of the compartment, (ii) above said single quantity of flour or said single quantity of product that includes flour in the compartment, and (iii) the interchangeable mixing implement.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein transmitting a radio-frequency signal and receiving a reflection of said radio-frequency signal, via the probe, comprises transmitting and receiving via a coaxial probe that includes a coaxial line for transmitting the radio-frequency signal and a flange adjacent said coaxial line for receiving said reflection.

16. The method of claim 12 , wherein generating the control signal, via the processing arrangement, further comprises generating the control signal based on a user preference of a property of a food product to be produced from said si

Assignees

• Koninklijke Philips Nv

Inventors

• Li Wei
• Wu Yuqiang
• Luo Zhongchi

Classifications

• A21C1/02

  with vertically-mounted tools; Machines for whipping or beating · CPC title

• A21B7/005 Primary

  in combination with mixing or kneading devices · CPC title

• A47J43/07

  Parts or details, e.g. mixing tools, whipping tools · CPC title

• A47J27/004

  with integral electrical heating means (drinking cups with integral heating means A47J36/2466) · CPC title

• A47J43/04

  Machines for domestic use not covered elsewhere, e.g. for grinding, mixing, stirring, kneading, emulsifying, whipping or beating foodstuffs, e.g. power-driven · CPC title