OVEN AND COOKING METHOD FOR THE FOOD SERVICE INDUSTRY WITH REMOTE CONTROL AND PROGRAMMING UNIT

Abstract

An oven and cooking method is provided. The oven comprises a washing system with controlled feeding, distribution and recirculation means of a detergent liquid in the cooking chamber and with means for the removal of the detergent from the cooking chamber. The oven also has a device for flavouring food and a logic unit that communicates with the user via the Internet for remote access, instruction, monitoring, and control.

Claims

1. An oven comprising: a cooking chamber comprising an oven body and a door, wherein said door is vertically hinged with respect to said oven body and sealably closes said oven; at least one recirculation fan located within said cooking chamber; means for heating said oven; a washing system; a device for flavoring food; and a logic unit that communicates via the Internet with a remote computer server.

2. The oven of claim 1 wherein said washing system comprises a system for controlled feeding, distribution and recirculation of a liquid detergent and removal of said detergent from said cooking chamber.

3. The oven of claim 2 wherein said logic unit is configured to receive automated cooking instructions from said server based on a user profile.

4. The oven of claim 3 wherein said logic unit is further configured to receive cooking data common to other ovens.

5. The oven of claim 3 further comprising a user interface screen in communication with said logic unit, wherein said logic unit is further configured to receive additional information regarding a cooking procedure from said remote computer server and to display said additional information on said screen.

6. The oven of claim 5 wherein said logic unit is further configured to receive cooking data common to other ovens.

7. The oven of claim 3 wherein said logic unit is further configured to receive application updates from said remote computer server.

8. The oven of claim 7 wherein said logic unit is further configured to receive cooking data common to other ovens.

9. The oven of claim 3 wherein said logic unit is further configured to transmit a status of said oven to remotely located technicians via said remote computer server.

10. The oven of claim 9 wherein said logic unit is further configured to receive cooking data common to other ovens.

11. The oven of claim 10 wherein said logic unit is further configured to transmit recorded cooking data to said remote computer server.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] FIG. 1 illustrates an interface flow diagram of the appliance with the network cloud unit.

[0029] FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic view of an example of screen with access to the recipe database of the network cloud unit.

[0030] FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic view of an additional example of screen with access to the recipe database of the network cloud unit.

[0031] FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic view of an additional example of screen with access to the recipe database of the network cloud unit.

[0032] It will be appreciated that the drawings are illustrative and not limiting of the scope of the invention which is defined by the appended claims. The embodiments shown accomplish various aspects and objects of the invention. It is appreciated that it is not possible to clearly show each element and aspect of the invention in a single figure, and as such, multiple figures are presented to separately illustrate the various details of the invention in greater clarity.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0033] Reference will now be made in detail to the presently preferred embodiments of the invention. There are also representative examples of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Throughout the following detailed description, the same reference numeral refers to the same elements in all figures.

[0034] In an oven (10) for the professional cooking of food intended for the food service industry (FIG. 1) there is a body which also acts as an external coating, in the shape of a parallelepiped, respectively made up of a back side of the oven, two parallel sides, a bottom, and a front. The front comprises the door, which, by means of the vertical hinge, is hinged to the body of the oven (10), providing access to the inside of the cooking chamber.

[0035] Said cooking chamber, closed by said door in correspondence of the front of the oven (10), along the perimeter, has a shape developing on three sides orthogonal with respect to one another, respectively a back wall and two side walls, respectively a right and a left wall. Spaced apart from the side wall or from the back wall there is a deflector in such a way as to house in the intermediate area at least one recirculation fan, which is moved by a motor placed in a space distinct from the cooking chamber, wherein said technical space is at a controlled temperature, in such a way as to not influence the electronic and electromechanical components governing the operation of the oven (10). Finally, there are also means for generating the heating of the cooking chamber, in such a way as to enable the heating of said cooking chamber by means of electrical resistors, gas or steam, or in a combined mode. Said oven (10) also comprises a washing system of the cooking chamber and/or of the boiler and also a device for flavouring food.

[0036] The solution according to the present invention (FIG. 1), by adopting the cloud unit (100), allows, through a connection to the Internet managed directly by the processing logic unit of the oven (10), for example via Wi-Fi or through an Ethernet cable, to remotely connect said oven (10) to at least the server (20) with which, by means of said cloud unit (100), it shares all or part of the data in a synchronized way. In particular, from said oven (10) it will be possible to access this function upon access by username and password recognition, in such a way as to access said company server (20), made available by the oven producing company or by a third party by means of the cloud unit (100), and through which it is possible to operate directly from the appliance (10) in order to access a series of services controlled by said company server (20). In the same way, one can possibly connect to said cloud unit (100) a tablet (30) as well a personal computer of the user (40), or a smartphone, in such a way that access to said cloud unit (100) is possible from any place in which the user is.

[0037] The most advantageous services, which can be provided in this way, are: [0038] possibility to create a copy (also synchronized) of the profile of one's appliance (10); [0039] possibility to manage one's profile also from further remote accesses through tablets (30) and/or PCs (40); [0040] access to a predefined database from said server (20) containing many cooking programs downloadable free of charge and in constant evolution, and which are constantly updated and increased with new publications. Said programs can also be accompanied by a series of additional information such as context, ingredients, preparation, presentation, all contained in the downloadable program; [0041] possibility to download software and interface application updates; [0042] monitoring of the machine status (10) by authorized technicians; [0043] possibility to download the recorded cooking data (HACCP); [0044] possibility to reproduce the created profile in other appliances (10) (supermarket chains or catering centers).

[0045] With respect to FIG. 2, which shows an example of user interface screen, the proposed architecture proposes in the first user field (110) of the cloud unit (100) the possibility to filter the view of the recipes, for example by highlighting the fields in which to search, by typing the recipe name, the country, the folder of belonging, in which there is the subdivision into first courses, main courses, desserts, etc. In the field below (120) there is a drop-down list of the folders of recipes (121), called for example Recipes, present in said cloud unit (100). The use of the touch screen function allows to act directly on the related folder (121) to open it and see and select its contents. For example, those already present in the oven (10) and/or whose download has just been completed are ticked in different colours. The lower area with respect to the field (120) of the screen of FIG. 2 includes a field (130) dedicated to the download function, and is an area in which the folders of recipes and/or the recipes that one wants to download in the oven (10) are dragged. The further lower part provides a button (140), intended for the start of the download function.

[0046] Operatively, FIG. 3 shows the next step with respect to the screen of FIG. 2, wherein, by pressing on each single folder, it is possible to see its contents. Once selected, the folders of recipes/the recipes are dragged from the display field (120) in the download area (130). The additional control of the download area (130) can be useful in order to check whether one or more files uploaded in the field (130) are correct, in such a way that, once the correctness of the desired data has been assessed, it is possible to press the download start button (140) which will transfer the selected data to the logic unit of the professional oven (10).

[0047] FIG. 4 shows a further next step with respect to the screen of FIG. 3, in which download start is represented by a pop-up (150) which indicates some data, such as: [0048] Download progress bar [0049] Percentage of downloaded file [0050] Number of downloaded recipes/Number of recipes

[0051] The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. All changes that come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.