Pattern recognizing appliance

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11375587-B2
Application number	US-201815984006-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 18, 2018
Priority date	May 19, 2017
Publication date	Jun 28, 2022
Grant date	Jun 28, 2022

Abstract

A food preparation appliance includes a processing mechanism, a thermal element, a sensor positioned to acquire identifying data regarding identifying characteristics of a food product to be processed by the food preparation appliance, and a processing circuit. The processing circuit is configured to receive the identifying data from the sensor, identify a type of the food product based on the identifying data, and automatically set a predefined operating parameter of at least one of the processing mechanism and the thermal element to provide target processing of the food product based on the type and the identifying characteristics.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A food preparation appliance comprising:
a housing defining a processing zone;
a processing mechanism at least partially positioned within the processing zone, the processing mechanism including a conveyor;
a thermal element positioned within the processing zone, the thermal element including at least one of a heating element and a cooling element;
a first arm positioned outside of the housing and extending laterally across a first portion of the conveyor located outside of an inlet of the processing zone;
a second arm positioned outside of the housing and extending laterally across a second portion of the conveyor located outside of an outlet of the processing zone;
a first sensor positioned external to the processing zone of the housing along the first arm, the first sensor positioned to monitor the first portion of the conveyor located outside of the housing to acquire identifying data regarding identifying characteristics of a food product that is on the first portion of the conveyor and prior to the food product entering into the processing zone to be processed by the food preparation appliance;
a second sensor positioned external to the processing zone of the housing along the second arm, the second sensor positioned to acquire post-processing data regarding post-processing characteristics of the food product after processing; and
a controller having programmed instructions:
receive the identifying data from the first sensor;
identify a type of the food product based on the identifying data; and
automatically set a predefined operating parameter of at least one of the processing mechanism and the thermal element to provide target processing of the food product based on the type and the identifying characteristics.

2. The food preparation appliance of claim 1 , wherein the target processing includes at least one of a target amount of cooking, heating, warming, toasting, cooling, and freezing of the food product.

3. The food preparation appliance of claim 1 , wherein the food preparation appliance is at least one of a line conveyor oven, a conveyor toaster, a toaster, a toaster oven, an oven, and a microwave oven.

4. The food preparation appliance of claim 1 , wherein the predefined operating parameter includes at least one of a processing time, a temperature of the thermal element, and a speed of the processing mechanism.

5. The food preparation appliance of claim 1 , wherein the identifying characteristics of the identifying data include at least one of a size, a weight, a temperature, a shape, a color, a texture, a nutrition content, and a number of portions of the food product entering the food preparation appliance.

6. The food preparation appliance of claim 1 , wherein the controller has programmed instructions to adaptively adjust the predefined operating parameter based on the post-processing processing characteristics of the food product for future processing of a similar food product.

7. The food preparation appliance of claim 1 , further comprising a third sensor positioned to acquire processing data regarding processing characteristics of the food product during processing, and wherein the controller has programmed instructions to adaptively adjust the predefined operating parameter during processing of the food product in response to the processing data indicating that the food product is being processed too slowly or too quickly.

8. The food preparation appliance of claim 1 , wherein the post-processing characteristics include at least one of a change in the size, a change in the weight, a change in the temperature, a change in the shape, a change in the color, and a change in the texture of the food product.

9. The food preparation appliance of claim 5 , wherein the first sensor includes a scale positioned to weigh the food product to acquire at least a portion of the identifying data.

10. The food preparation appliance of claim 5 , wherein the first sensor includes at least one of a scanner and a camera positioned to acquire at least a portion of the identifying data.

11. The food preparation appliance of claim 10 , wherein the at least one of the scanner and the camera has an infrared imaging capability that facilitates acquiring the temperature of the food product.

12. The food preparation appliance of claim 5 , wherein the first sensor includes a temperature sensor positioned to acquire at least a portion of the identifying data.

13. The food preparation appliance of claim 1 , wherein the food preparation appliance is configured to provide independent zone processing such that multiple food products can be processed simultaneously with different operating parameters.

14. The food preparation appliance of claim 1 , wherein the controller has programmed instructions to provide a message on a user interface in response to being unable to identify the type of the food product with a requisite amount of accuracy, the message providing two or more possible options for the type of the food product for selection by an operator, and wherein the user interface is at least one of directly coupled to the controller and wirelessly coupled to the controller.

15. The food preparation appliance of claim 1 , wherein the controller has programmed instructions to:
detect that at least one of the first sensor and the second sensor is dirty or otherwise obscured; and
provide an indication on a user interface to notify an operator that cleaning of the at least one of the first sensor and the second sensor is needed;
wherein the user interface is at least one of directly coupled to the controller and wirelessly coupled to the controller.

16. A food preparation appliance comprising:
a housing defining an inlet, an outlet, and a processing zone between the inlet and the outlet;
a conveyor configured to move food products from the inlet, through the processing zone, and to the outlet;
a plurality of sensors configured to acquire data regarding the food products, the plurality of sensors including:
a first sensor positioned proximate the inlet of the housing and along a lateral side of the conveyor or along a first cantilever arm extending laterally across the conveyor;
a second sensor positioned within the processing zone; and
a third sensor positioned proximate the outlet of the housing and along a lateral side of the conveyor or along a second cantilever arm extending laterally across the conveyor;

a heating element positioned within the processing zone, wherein at least one of (i) the conveyor includes a plurality of independently controllable conveyors arranged side-by-side and (ii) the heating element includes a plurality of independently controllable heating elements; and
a controller having programmed instructions to:
receive the data from the plurality of sensors regarding a plurality of food products on the conveyor, the data including information regarding at least (i) a respective type of each of the plurality of food products and (ii) a positioning of the plurality of products relative to one another;
track the plurality of food products based on the data as the plurality of food products are moved through the processing zone simultaneously by the conveyor; and
variably control operation of at least one of the conveyor and the heating element based on the tracking to facilitate variably processing the plurality of food products as the plurality of food products are moved through the processing zone simultaneously by the conveyor.

17. The food preparation appliance of claim 16 , wherein each of the plurality of sen

Assignees

• Hatco Corp

Inventors

• Bassill Nick
• Scanlon John
• Shah Ishan
• Shang Fei
• Walker Max

Classifications

• A21B7/00

  Baking plants · CPC title

• A21B1/40

  characterised by the means for regulating the temperature · CPC title

• A21B1/48

  with surfaces in the form of an endless band · CPC title

• H05B6/6438

  allowing the recording of a program of operation of the microwave heating apparatus · CPC title

• A47J37/0871

  Accessories · CPC title