Solid state RF oven with context awareness

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11696374-B2
Application number	US-202016901288-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 15, 2020
Priority date	Jun 19, 2019
Publication date	Jul 4, 2023
Grant date	Jul 4, 2023

Abstract

An oven may include a cooking chamber configured to receive a food product, a radio frequency (RF) heating system configured to provide RF energy into the cooking chamber using solid state electronic components to heat the food product, and a context awareness engine. The context awareness engine may include processing circuitry configured to receive RF signature data (including measurements of at least forward power and reflected power) associated with provision of RF energy into the cooking chamber, and to correlate an RF signature with a phenomenon observed with respect to the food product to define a signature profile for the phenomenon observed.

First claim

That which is claimed:

1. An oven comprising:
a cooking chamber configured to receive a food product; and
a radio frequency (RF) heating system configured to provide RF energy into the cooking chamber using solid state electronic components to heat the food product; and
a context awareness engine comprising processing circuitry configured to:
receive RF signature data associated with provision of RF energy into the cooking chamber, the RF signature data including measurements of at least forward power (P fwd ) and reflected power (P ref1 ),
correlate an RF signature with a phenomenon observed with respect to the food product to define a signature profile for the phenomenon observed, and
initiate a change in air flow into the cooking chamber based on the signature profile.

2. The oven of claim 1 , wherein the phenomenon observed is correlated with the RF signature automatically by machine learning.

3. The oven of claim 1 , wherein the phenomenon observed is correlated with the RF signature manually by an operator.

4. The oven of claim 1 , wherein receiving the RF signature data comprises receiving the RF signature data in real time, and
wherein correlating the RF signature with the phenomenon observed is also performed in real time during a cooking operation involving the oven.

5. The oven of claim 1 , wherein receiving the RF signature data comprises receiving the RF signature data as previously recorded data, and
wherein correlating the RF signature with the phenomenon observed is also performed post hoc relative to a cooking operation during which the RF signature data was generated.

6. The oven of claim 5 , wherein the previously recorded data was recorded on a different oven.

7. The oven of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:
receive current RF signature data responsive to a cooking operation being performed on the food product in the cooking chamber;
perform a comparison of the current RF signature data to a library of signature profiles; and
classify context information based on the comparison.

8. The oven of claim 7 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:
perform a function execution associated with the context information classified.

9. The oven of claim 8 , wherein performing the function execution comprises initiating a change in frequency or phase of the RF energy provided into the cooking chamber.

10. The oven of claim 8 , wherein performing the function execution comprises stopping the provision of the RF energy into the cooking chamber.

11. The oven of claim 8 , wherein performing the function execution comprises providing a notification to an operator of the oven.

12. The oven of claim 8 , wherein performing the function execution comprises initiating a change in a temperature setting for the cooking chamber.

13. The oven of claim 7 , wherein classifying context information comprises determining a symmetric or non-symmetric load placement for the food product.

14. The oven of claim 7 , wherein classifying context information comprises determining an occurrence of a phase change in the food product.

15. The oven of claim 7 , wherein classifying context information comprises determining a type of cookware supporting the food product.

16. The oven of claim 15 , wherein classifying context information further comprises determining a location of the food product or the cookware within the cooking chamber.

17. An oven comprising:
a cooking chamber configured to receive a food product; and
a radio frequency (RF) heating system configured to provide RF energy into the cooking chamber using solid state electronic components to heat the food product; and
a context awareness engine comprising processing circuitry configured to:
receive RF signature data associated with provision of RF energy into the cooking chamber, the RF signature data including measurements of at least forward power (P fwd ) and reflected power (P ref1 ), and
correlate an RF signature with a phenomenon observed with respect to the food product to define a signature profile for the phenomenon observed,

wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:
receive current RF signature data responsive to a cooking operation being performed on the food product in the cooking chamber;
perform a comparison of the current RF signature data to a library of signature profiles; and
classify context information based on the comparison
by determining a temperature of each component of a multi-component instance of the food product.

18. A method of operating an oven having a cooking chamber configured to receive a food product, the oven having a radio frequency (RF) heating system configured to provide RF energy into the cooking chamber using solid state electronic components to heat the food product, the method comprising:
receiving current RF signature data responsive to a cooking operation being performed on the food product in the cooking chamber;
performing a comparison of the current RF signature data to a library of signature profiles;
classifying context information based on the comparison, and
performing a function execution associated with the context information classified,
wherein performing the function execution comprises initiating a change in air flow into the cooking chamber.

Assignees

• Illinois Tool Works

Inventors

• Hopper Christopher

Classifications

• H05B6/6467

  using detectors with R.F. transmitters · CPC title

• H05B6/6435 Primary

  Aspects relating to the user interface of the microwave heating apparatus · CPC title

• H05B6/68

  for monitoring or control · CPC title

• H05B6/647

  Aspects related to microwave heating combined with other heating techniques · CPC title

• H05B6/705 Primary

  using microwave tuning · CPC title