Autonomous apparatus for cooking food and corresponding method

Abstract

Autonomous apparatus for cooking food including a support body (12), a lid (14), a container (16) open at the top and able to be extracted/inserted with respect to said support body (12), and at least a main heating device (18).

Claims

1. An autonomous apparatus for cooking food comprising: a support body, a lid, a container open at the top, closed at the bottom and able to be extracted/inserted with respect to said support body, an air stream generator element, a main heating device located above said container and associated with a sending aperture for sending a localized air stream inside the container, an auxiliary heating device disposed below said container, a drive member associated with said container, a control and command unit (i) connected to the drive member and configured to determine a selective rotation of said container around its axis of rotation, and (ii) associated with the main heating device, wherein the activation and rotation modes of the container are functionally correlated at least to the power supplied by the main heating device and by the auxiliary heating device, wherein when the container is stationary, the main heating device is activated at a first main temperature level and the auxiliary heating device is activated at a first auxiliary temperature level higher than the first main temperature level, and when the container is rotating the main heating device is activated at a second main temperature level higher than the first main temperature level and the auxiliary heating device is activated at a second auxiliary temperature level lower than the first auxiliary temperature level, and wherein said apparatus is bladeless.

2. The autonomous apparatus as in claim 1, wherein said control and command unit is configured to at least one of (i) activate or (ii) regulate, the delivery of the air stream generator element in a manner coordinated with the rotation of the container in order to maximize the uniform transfer of the heat toward the food.

3. The autonomous apparatus as in claim 1, wherein said control and command unit is connected to a sensor element being configured to detect physical parameters inside a cooking compartment.

4. The autonomous apparatus as in claim 1, wherein said control and command unit is connected to a memory configured to memorize a plurality of control instructions.

5. The autonomous apparatus as in claim 1, wherein the container has a holed lateral wall, and the container is configured to rotate when the main heating device is deactivated to perform a drying cycle of the food and to drain residual liquids.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) These and other characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of some embodiments, given as a non-restrictive example with reference to the attached drawings wherein:

(2) FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an autonomous cooking apparatus;

(3) FIG. 2 is a section view of the cooking apparatus in FIG. 1.

(4) To facilitate comprehension, the same reference numbers have been used, where possible, to identify identical common elements in the drawings. It is understood that elements and characteristics of one embodiment can conveniently be incorporated into other embodiments without further clarifications.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SOME EMBODIMENTS

(5) Embodiments described here in FIGS. 1 and 2 refer to an autonomous apparatus 10 for cooking food, able to perform different cooking methods, such as boiling, frying, sautéing, browning, and furthermore roasting, au gratin, for making pizzas, pies/cakes, timbales, baked pasta, and similar recipes that require baking in the oven.

(6) The autonomous apparatus 10 comprises a support body 12, with which an openable lid 14 is associated, an internal container 16 removable from/insertable into the support body 12, which is open at the top and defines a cooking compartment 17 for food, and a main heating device 18.

(7) The support body 12 has an external wall 12a and an internal wall 12b, adjacent during use to the container 16. Between the external wall 12a and the internal wall 12b there is a cavity 15 which can act as a technical compartment.

(8) The support body 12 has an upper edge 13 cooperating at least partly with a lower edge of the lid 14 when the latter is closed to cover the container 16.

(9) The main heating device 18 is located above the container 16 and is associated with an aperture 29 for sending a localized stream of air inside the container 16.

(10) For example, the main heating device 18 is positioned in relation to a portion of the upper edge 13 of the container 16 and partly installed inside the cavity 15 so as to protrude with respect to the upper edge 13.

(11) According to one embodiment, the main heating device 18 is configured to heat the stream of air passing through to a temperature from 150° C. to 250° C., in particular from 200° C. to 250° C.

(12) The presence of the lid 14 is functional to create a controlled environment and the conditions necessary for cooking the food.

(13) The lid 14 can be made of the same material as the support body 12, or of a different material.

(14) Advantageously, at least the lid 14 can be made of at least partly transparent material, to allow the user to view and thus control the cooking.

(15) For example, the lid 14 can be made of polymer material or glass.

(16) The container 16 is defined by a base wall 20, which in the present case is substantially circular, and by a lateral wall 21 connected to the base wall 20.

(17) The base wall 20 can have a surface made with a plurality of configurations, for example conical or with a more or less accentuated humped shape.

(18) In a preferred embodiment, to which reference will be made below, the base wall 20 has a substantially flat configuration.

(19) In another embodiment, the container 16 is holed in correspondence with the lateral wall 21.

(20) In correspondence with the base wall 20 the container 16 has a pin 24 facing the opposite side of the cooking compartment 17 and configured to be coupled with a drive member 23.

(21) Furthermore, the pin 24 can be configured to allow for easy removal and positioning of the container 16 inside the support body 12.

(22) According to one embodiment of the present invention, which is shown by way of example in FIGS. 1 and 2, the autonomous apparatus 10 also comprises an additional auxiliary heating device 19 positioned in relation to the base wall 20, that is, below the container 16.

(23) The main heating device 18 and the auxiliary heating device 19 can be made of tubular electric resistances, or resistive bands, or resistive induction wires, able to generate heat and to convey it by induction or irradiation.

(24) The autonomous apparatus 10 comprises a control and command unit 22 configured to cooperate with the drive member 23 associated with the container 16 to determine the rotation of the latter continuously or discontinuously around its axis of rotation.

(25) According to one embodiment, the drive member 23 is configured to impart on the container 16 different levels of rotational speed according to specific cooking functions.

(26) For example, in a possible embodiment, the drive member 23 is configured to determine a first speed level from about 2 rpm to 4 rpm, a second speed level from about 6 rpm to 8 rpm, and a third speed level higher than 50 rpm.

(27) Advantageously, in combination with the container 16 having the holed lateral wall 21, and in relation to particular steps of the cooking cycle or particular recipes, the drive member 23 can impart a high number of revolutions to the container 16, for example equal to the third speed level, in order to obtain a final centrifugal drying effect of the food being cooked, and drain any liquid residues.

(28) The control and command unit 22 is also configured to cooperate with at least the main heating device 18 so as to correlate the power delivered to the rotation speed and/or time and/or the rotation frequency of the container 16.

(29) For example, and without this being a limiting condition, the control and command unit 22 is programmed to heat the stream of air to a lower first level, for example comprised between 150° C. and 200° C., when the container 16 is stationary or rotates at a first lower speed, for example 2-4 rpm, and heat it to a second higher level, for example between 200° C. and 250° C., when the container 16 rotates at a second higher speed, for example 6-8 rpm.

(30) These parameters can be pre-memorized inside the control and command unit 22, or set and/or modified by the user according to the recipe to be prepared and/or the food to be cooked or heated.

(31) The control and control unit 22 can be installed inside the cavity 15 of the support body 12.

(32) The control and command unit 22 is also connected to the auxiliary heating device 19 to coordinate the rotation speed and/or the rotation time and/or activation of the rotation of the container 16 to the power delivered by the auxiliary heating device 19.

(33) In this way, the rotation or stopping of the container 16 is coordinated with the delivery modes of the heating devices 18, 19 so that, for example, the main heating device 18 is activated at a higher level and the auxiliary heating device 19 is activated at a lower level, or switched off, when the container 16 is rotating, and vice versa when the container 16 is stationary.

(34) According to the present invention, the main heating device 18 cooperates with an element 27 to generate an air stream.

(35) The air stream generator element 27 allows to generate the hot stream of air and to send it into the cooking compartment 17.

(36) For example, the air stream generator element 27 can be an axial, centrifugal, or mixed axial/centrifugal fan, made to rotate by a drive member 28.

(37) According to one embodiment, the air stream generator element 27 associated with the drive member 28 generates a stream of air of 3 m/sec to 4 m/sec.

(38) According to another embodiment, the control and control unit 22 can be connected to a sensor element, not shown in the drawings, configured to detect physical parameters inside the cooking compartment, such as temperature, humidity, pressure, or suchlike.

(39) In this way, the control and command unit 22 is able to process instructions to be sent to the devices with which it communicates, in order to regulate the physical parameters inside the cooking compartment 17.

(40) In this case too, the control and command unit 22 can memorize functions that provide to activate the air stream generator element 27 at a higher level when the container 16 is rotating and activate it at a lower level when the container 16 is stationary.

(41) According to one embodiment, the control and command unit 22 can be connected to a memory 25 configured to memorize a plurality of control instructions.

(42) The control instructions, which can possibly be modified by the user, can comprise punctual functioning parameters such as, for example, the power level of the main heating device 18, and possibly also of the auxiliary heating device 19, the speed imparted to the container 16 by the drive member 23, the functioning mode of the drive member 23, whether continuous or discontinuous according to a functioning duty cycle, a functioning interval of the autonomous apparatus 10.

(43) According to one embodiment, the control and command unit 22 can be connected to a user interface device 26 configured to allow a user to choose the desired control instruction, for example based on the type of recipe to be prepared, whether a pizza, or a pie, or suchlike.

(44) According to a variant embodiment, the user interface device 26 can be installed in the autonomous apparatus 10 and, for example, be provided with buttons, knobs, display means, for example monitors, to facilitate the display of possible warning lights.

(45) According to another variant embodiment, the user interface device 26 can be a remote device, for example a smartphone, tablet, remote control or suchlike, which communicates wirelessly with the autonomous apparatus 10 by means of a Wi-Fi protocol, or Infrared communication, IrDa type, or other.

(46) We will now give some examples of the functioning of the autonomous apparatus 10.

(47) In a first step, the container 16 rotates at a speed of about 2 rpm to 4 rpm, while the speed of the stream of air exiting from the sending aperture 29 is 2 m/sec and the temperature at exit from the sending aperture 29 is between 150° C. and 200° C.

(48) In a second step, the container 16 rotates at a speed from about 6 rpm to 8 rpm, while the speed of the stream of air at exit from the sending aperture 29 is about 4 m/sec and the temperature at exit from the sending aperture 29 is between 200° C. and 250° C.

(49) According to one embodiment, if the container 16 has the holed lateral wall 21, the container 16 can be made to rotate, for a time determined by the cooking program, at a speed of more than 50 rpm, at least the first main heating device 18 and the air stream generator 27 being advantageously deactivated, to perform a drying cycle of the food and to drain residual liquids.

(50) It is clear that modifications and/or additions of parts can be made to the autonomous apparatus 10 and corresponding method as described heretofore, without departing from the field and scope of the present invention.

(51) It is also clear that, although the present invention has been described with reference to some specific examples, a person of skill in the art shall certainly be able to achieve many other equivalent forms of autonomous apparatus 10 and corresponding method, having the characteristics as set forth in the claims and hence all coming within the field of protection defined thereby.