Systems and methods for single-sensor oil quality measurement

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9228965-B2
Application number	US-201213651965-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 15, 2012
Priority date	Aug 22, 2010
Publication date	Jan 5, 2016
Grant date	Jan 5, 2016

Abstract

A cooking medium filter system determines a quality of a cooking medium. The cooking medium filter system includes a filter container, a filter medium, a pump, a sample chamber, and a controller. The filter container receives the cooking medium from a cooking vessel. The filter medium is disposed in the filter container and removes contaminants from the cooking medium. The pump conveys the cooking medium along a filter path from the filter container to the cooking vessel. The sample chamber is disposed in the filter path downstream from the filter medium. The sample chamber includes an electrode disposed therein. The sample chamber receives therein a quantity of the cooking medium that is sufficient to immerse the electrode therein. The controller controls operations of the filter pump and controls the electrode to measure a property of the cooking medium that is associated with the quality of the cooking medium.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A cooking medium filter system configured to determine a quality of a cooking medium, the cooking medium filter system comprising:
a filter container configured to receive the cooking medium from a cooking vessel;
a filter medium disposed in the filter container and configured to remove contaminants from the cooking medium received in the filter container;
a pump configured to convey the cooking medium along a filter path from the filter container to the cooking vessel;
a sample chamber disposed in the filter path downstream from the filter medium, the sample chamber comprising an electrode disposed therein, and the sample chamber configured to receive therein a first quantity of the cooking medium that is sufficient to immerse the electrode therein; and
a controller configured to control operations of the pump and configured to control the electrode to measure a property of the cooking medium that is associated with the quality of the cooking medium,
wherein the electrode comprises:
an electrode plate comprising a first side and a second side opposite the first side, the electrode plate configured to be immersed in the first quantity of cooking medium, the electrode plate having a height, a width, and a thickness; and
an insulator formed on the first side of the electrode plate and covering a surface of the electrode defined by the height and the width,

wherein the insulator is fixed to a first inner side wall of the sample chamber,
wherein the electrode is disposed within the sample chamber to form a first gap between a floor of the sample chamber and the electrode plate in a height direction, to form a second gap between a second inner side wall of the sample chamber and the electrode in a width direction, and to form a third gap between a third inner side wall of the sample chamber and the electrode in the width direction, and
wherein a size of each of the first gap, the second gap, and the third gap substantially define a gain of the electrode.

2. The cooking medium filter system of claim 1 , wherein the sample chamber comprises a lower opening formed therein, the lower opening formed near a floor of the sample chamber,
wherein the sample chamber comprises an upper opening formed therein, the upper opening formed near a top of the sample chamber and disposed in the filter path downstream from the lower opening,
wherein the sample chamber is configured to receive the cooking medium via the lower opening, and
wherein the sample chamber is configured to discharge the cooking medium via the upper opening.

3. The cooking medium filter system of claim 1 , wherein the sample chamber is disposed in the filter path downstream from the filter medium and upstream of the pump.

4. The cooking medium filter system of claim 1 , wherein the size of each of the first gap, the second gap, and the third gap is based on at least one of the height, width, and thickness of the electrode plate.

5. The cooking medium filter system of claim 1 , wherein the electrode further comprises a conductor that is fixed to the first inner side wall of the sample chamber and disposed above the electrode plate to form a fourth gap between the conductor and the electrode,
wherein a size of the fourth gap is based on at least one of the height, width, and thickness of the electrode plate, and the size of each of the first gap, the second gap, the third gap, and the fourth gap substantially define the gain of the electrode.

6. The cooking medium filter system of claim 1 , wherein the sample chamber further comprises a temperature sensor disposed therein,
wherein the sample chamber is configured to receive therein a second quantity of the cooking medium sufficient to immerse the electrode and the temperature sensor therein, and
wherein the controller is configured to control the temperature sensor to measure a temperature of the cooking medium.

7. The cooking medium filter system of claim 6 , wherein the property measured by the electrode is a conductivity of the cooking medium, and
wherein the controller is configured to determine the quality of the cooking medium at a particular temperature based on the measured temperature of the cooking medium and the measured conductivity of the cooking medium.

8. The cooking medium filter system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to control the pump to pause conveyance of the cooking medium along the filter path for a particular period of time, and
wherein the controller is configured to control the electrode to measure the property of the cooking medium during the particular period of time.

9. The cooking medium filter system of claim 1 , wherein the property measured by the electrode is a capacitance of the cooking medium, and
wherein the controller is configured to determine the quality of the cooking medium based on the measured capacitance of the cooking medium.

10. The cooking medium filter system of claim 1 , wherein the sample chamber comprises a level sensor configured to determine that the electrode is immersed in the cooking medium,
wherein the level sensor is configured to notify the controller when the level sensor determines that the electrode is immersed in the cooking medium, and
wherein the controller is further configured to control the electrode to measure the property of the cooking medium when the controller receives a notification from the level sensor that the electrode is immersed in the cooking medium.

11. The cooking medium filter system of claim 1 , wherein the cooking medium filter system further comprises a pressure transducer disposed at an outlet of the pump,
wherein the pressure transducer is configured to determine that the sample chamber has received the first quantity of cooking medium,
wherein the pressure transducer is configured to notify the controller when the pressure transducer determines that the sample chamber has received the first quantity of the cooking medium, and
wherein the controller is further configured to control the electrode to measure the property of the cooking medium when the controller receives a notification from the pressure transducer that the sample chamber has received the first quantity of the cooking medium.

12. A cooking medium filter system configured to determine a quality of a cooking medium, the cooking medium filter system comprising:
a filter container configured to receive the cooking medium from a cooking vessel;
a filter medium disposed in the filter container and configured to remove contaminants from the cooking medium received in the filter container;
a pump configured to convey the cooking medium along a filter path from the filter container to the cooking vessel;
a sample chamber disposed in the filter path downstream from the filter medium, the sample chamber comprising an electrode disposed therein, and the sample chamber configured to receive therein a first quantity of the cooking medium that is sufficient to immerse the electrode therein, wherein the sample chamber comprises a U-shaped trap; and
a controller configured to control operations of the pump and configured to control the electrode to measure a property of the cooking medium that is associated with the quality of the cooking medium.

13. A method for monitoring a quality of a cooking medium conveyed through a cooking medium filter system, the method comprising:
receiving the cooking medium in a filter container from a cooking vessel;
activating a pump to convey the cooking medium along a filter path from the filter container to the cooking vessel;
removing contaminants from the received cooking medium;
supplying a first quantit

Assignees

• Henny Penny Corp

Inventors

• Burkett Douglas A
• Phillipps Jr Edmond L

Classifications

• A47J37/1266 Primary

  Control devices, e.g. to control temperature, level or quality of the frying liquid · CPC title

• G01N33/03

  Edible oils or edible fats · CPC title

• G01N27/06

  of a liquid (involving electrolysis G01N27/26) · CPC title

• G01N27/07 Primary

  Construction of measuring vessels; Electrodes therefor · CPC title

• G01N27/10

  Investigation or analysis specially adapted for controlling or monitoring operations or for signalling · CPC title