Oven with automatic control of pan elevation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11339971-B2
Application number	US-201916570987-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 13, 2019
Priority date	Sep 13, 2019
Publication date	May 24, 2022
Grant date	May 24, 2022

Abstract

System and method for controlling a smart cooking appliance, including: at an oven comprising a cooking chamber, a food support platform, and a control unit; detecting a first event corresponding to a start of a cooking process for a food item, wherein a first heating surface of the cooking chamber is operating at a first preset output level; in response to detecting the first event, activating one or more actuators to move the food support platform to a first position; while the food support platform is at the first position and while the first heating surface is operating at the first preset output level, detecting that oven reconfiguration criteria are met; and in response to detecting that the oven reconfiguration criteria are met, activating the one or more actuators to move the food support platform from the first position to a second position that is distinct from the first position.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
at an oven comprising a cooking chamber, a food support platform within the cooking chamber, and a control unit:
detecting a first event that corresponds to a start of a cooking process for a food item, wherein, at the start of the cooking process, a first heating surface of the cooking chamber is operating at a first preset output level;
in response to detecting the first event, activating one or more actuators to move the food support platform to a first position relative to the first heating surface of the cooking chamber;
collecting raw sensor data from the oven and sending the raw sensor data to a training set server, wherein the training set server is configured to process training data in accordance with training models and training methods employed by a training model server, wherein the training data comprises the raw sensor data received from the oven and annotated data from one or more user devices or an annotation station;
while the food support platform is at the first position relative to the first heating surface of the cooking chamber and while the first heating surface is operating at the first preset output level, detecting that oven reconfiguration criteria are met based in part on information provided by the training model server, wherein the oven reconfiguration criteria includes a first requirement that at least one of a time threshold and a temperature threshold is met in order for the oven reconfiguration criteria to be met; and
in response to detecting that the oven reconfiguration criteria are met, activating the one or more actuators to move the food support platform relative to the first heating surface of the cooking chamber, from the first position to a second position that is distinct from the first position, wherein the oven further comprises a pan with channels, and a liquid that comes out of the food item during the cooking process is directed to a part of the cooking chamber that is cooler than a location of the food item in the pan, and the liquid is redirected back to the food item when the food item is moved out of a high-temperature zone of the cooking chamber.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the cooking chamber has an upper heating surface and a lower heating surface, the first heating surface is one of the upper and lower heating surfaces, and the first and second positions are between the upper heating surface and the lower heating surface of the cooking chamber.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein at the start of the cooking process, the lower heating surface is operating at a second preset output level, and the first position is closer to the first heating surface than to the second surface and the second position is closer to the second heating surface than to the first heating surface.

4. The method of claim 1 , including:
in response to detecting that the oven reconfiguration criteria are met:
determining a temperature distribution within the cooking chamber at a plurality of positions relative to the first heating surface; and
selecting the second position for the food support surface based on the temperature distribution within the cooking chamber.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein selecting the second position for the food support surface is further based on a cooking parameter of the cooking process, wherein the cooking parameter includes a food item type or a cooking method specified for the cooking process.

6. The method of claim 1 , including:
receiving a user input that specifies a third position for the food support platform that is distinct from the second position; and
in response to receiving the user input that specifies the third position for the food support platform, activating the one or more actuators to move the food support platform relative to the first heating surface of the cooking chamber, from the second position to the third position.

7. The method of claim 1 , including:
turning off the first heating surface; and
in accordance with a determination that the first heating surface is turned off, activating the one or more actuators to move the food support platform relative to the first heating surface of the cooking chamber in accordance with a current temperature distribution within the cooking chamber.

8. The method of claim 1 , including:
detecting a second event that corresponds to an interruption of the cooking process; and
in response to detecting the second event that corresponds to an interruption of the cooking process, activating the one or more actuators to move the food support platform relative to the first heating surface of the cooking chamber in accordance with a current temperature distribution within the cooking chamber.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the raw sensor data comprises an image, a weight, a temperature, or thermal map data.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the raw sensor data is sent to the training set server, the method further comprising using a training model server to train an identification model, a localization models, or a doneness models based on the training data received from the training set server.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising providing a cooking progress level determined by the training set server to the oven.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the raw sensor data comprises an image of a food present in the cooking compartment of the oven captured by a camera, and wherein the image is captured after an image capture triggering system detects that there has been a change in the field of view of the camera.

Assignees

• Guangdong Midea Kitchen Appliances Mfg Co Ltd
• Midea Group Co Ltd

Inventors

• Liu Qiang
• Yan Xin

Classifications

• A23L5/15

  using wave energy, irradiation, electrical means or magnetic fields, e.g. oven cooking or roasting using radiant dry heat · CPC title

• A47J36/32

  Time-controlled igniting mechanisms or alarm devices · CPC title

• F24C7/081 Primary

  on stoves · CPC title

• F24C7/043

  Stoves · CPC title

• F24C7/085 Primary

  on baking ovens · CPC title