Kitchen appliance for sensing food and beverage properties

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11213170-B2
Application number	US-201615742866-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 6, 2016
Priority date	Jul 8, 2015
Publication date	Jan 4, 2022
Grant date	Jan 4, 2022

Abstract

A kitchen appliance for processing content is described. The kitchen appliance comprises a body portion, a removable accessory received by the body portion, the removable accessory being in contact with the content during processing thereof; and at least one sensor incorporated into the removable accessory. The kitchen appliance also comprises a wireless transmitter associated with the removable accessory, the transmitter receiving input from the at least one sensor and transmitting parameters associated with the input; and a controller in the body portion for controlling operation of the kitchen appliance based upon the parameters. The removable accessory is a food processing attachment that rotates with a mixing action.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A kitchen appliance for processing content, the kitchen appliance comprising:
a body portion;
a removable accessory received by the body portion, the removable accessory being rotatable about an axis of rotation;
a transmitter assembly adapted to cooperate with the removable accessory, to identify the removable accessory, and to transmit data associated with an identity of the removable accessory, the transmitter assembly being located separately from the removable accessory; and
a receiver associated with the body portion for receiving the data associated with the identity; and
wherein the removable accessory has an identifier part having a metal reference contact and zero, one, or more additional metal contacts, and wherein the transmitter assembly comprises a sensor arrangement for sensing the metal reference contact and the presence or absence of any of the additional metal contacts, a configuration of the zero, one or more additional metal contacts encoding the identity of the removable accessory; and
wherein the transmitter is positioned in close proximity to, and rotates about, the axis of rotation of the removable accessory.

2. The kitchen appliance according to claim 1 wherein the removable accessory is die-cast having a nonconductive tab attached thereto, the nonconductive tab carrying the metal reference contact and the zero, one or more additional metal contacts.

3. The kitchen appliance according to claim 1 wherein the removable accessory comprises a collar, the collar carrying the metal reference contact and the zero, one or more additional metal contacts.

4. The kitchen appliance according to claim 1 , further comprising a controller for controlling operation of the kitchen appliance based upon the identity, wherein the controller uses the identity to set a speed parameter and a heating temperature of the kitchen appliance.

5. The kitchen appliance according to claim 4 wherein the controller uses the identity to present to a user a group of recipes associated with the removable accessory.

6. The kitchen appliance according to claim 1 , wherein the transmitter assembly is removable.

7. The kitchen appliance according to claim 1 , and further including at least one sensor incorporated into the removable accessory.

8. The kitchen appliance according to claim 7 , wherein the transmitter assembly is arranged to receive input from the at least one sensor and to transmit parameters associated with the input.

9. The kitchen appliance according to claim 1 , wherein the removable accessory is a food processing attachment that rotates with a mixing action.

10. The kitchen appliance according to claim 1 ,
wherein the metal contacts are adapted to encode the identity of the removable accessory by using a binary code.

11. The kitchen appliance according to claim 10 , wherein the binary code is calculated based on the presence or absence of the metal contacts.

12. The kitchen appliance according to claim 11 , wherein the binary code is calculated based on the formula:
2 (x−1) =y
wherein:
x=the number of metal contacts present; and
y=the number of different types of attachments.

13. A kitchen appliance for processing content, the kitchen appliance comprising:
a body portion;
a removable accessory received by the body portion, the removable accessory being rotatable about an axis of rotation;
a detachable transmitter assembly adapted to cooperate with the removable accessory, to identify the removable accessory, and to transmit data associated with an identity of the removable accessory, the transmitter assembly being located separately from the removable accessory; and
a receiver associated with the body portion for receiving the data associated with the identity;
wherein the removable accessory has a metal reference contact and zero, one or more additional metal contacts, and the transmitter assembly comprises a sensor arrangement for sensing the reference contact and any additional metal contacts, a configuration of the one or more metal contacts encoding the identity of the removable accessory depending on the presence or absence of the additional metal contacts; and
wherein the transmitter assembly is positioned in close proximity to the axis of rotation of the removable accessory.

Assignees

• Breville R & D Pty Ltd

Inventors

• Widanagamage Don Lochana Subasekara
• Thomas Mark

Classifications

• A47J43/06 Primary

  with a plurality of interchangeable working units {, e.g. with a single driving-unit} · CPC title

• A47J2202/00

  Devices having temperature indicating means · CPC title

• A47J43/07

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

• A47J43/0711 Primary

  mixing, whipping or cutting tools · CPC title

• A47J2043/04454

  Apparatus of counter top type · CPC title