SETTING DESIRED BROWNING ON A DOMESTIC COOKING APPLIANCE

Abstract

In a method for setting a desired degree of browning of food to be cooked, an image from a cooking chamber of a household cooking appliance containing food to be cooked is recorded and the image is displayed on a screen. A user-selectable image measurement region is defined in the displayed image and a desired degree of browning is ascertained for the selected image measurement region.

Claims

1.-14. (canceled)

15. A method for setting a desired degree of browning of food to be cooked, said method comprising: recording an image from a cooking chamber of a household cooking appliance containing food to be cooked; displaying the image on a screen; defining in the displayed image a user-selectable image measurement region; and ascertaining a desired degree of browning for the selected image measurement region.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein defining the image measurement region comprises a user-led positioning of the image measurement region over the screen.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the user-led definition of the image measurement region comprises a touch-led and/or control panel-led positioning of the image measurement region over the screen.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the image measurement region is defined by: selecting an image region by the user; determining automatically a pattern region comprising the image region at the image region; and assuming the pattern region to be the image measurement region.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the pattern region is automatically recognized by matching a pattern with a pattern database which stores image patterns associated with predetermined food to be cooked.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein the image measurement region is variable by the user.

21. The method of claim 15, wherein the user-selectable image measurement region is selected automatically, and further comprising assuming the user-selectable image measurement region within a predetermined period of time after a user confirmation or an absence of a user confirmation.

22. The method of claim 15, further comprising automatically tracing the user-selectable image measurement region during a subsequent cooking procedure.

23. The method of claim 15, further comprising setting the desired degree of browning by the user.

24. Apparatus for setting a desired degree of browning of food to be cooked, said apparatus comprising: a household cooking appliance having a cooking chamber, a camera directed into the cooking chamber, a screen for displaying an image recorded by the camera, an operator interface designed to define a user-selectable image measurement region in the displayed image and to ascertain the desired degree of browning; and a data processing device designed to carry out a cooking process taking into account the desired degree of browning.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the apparatus is the household cooking appliance.

26. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the screen and the operator interface are components of a user terminal, said household appliance including a communication interface for transmitting data relating to the image measurement region and the desired degree of browning with the user terminal

27. The apparatus of claim 24, further comprising a pattern database in which image patterns associated with predetermined food to be cooked are stored and which is stored in a network-assisted data memory.

28. The apparatus of claim 24, further comprising a network-assisted image processing facility designed to define the user-selectable image measurement region in the displayed image through automatic pattern recognition.

Description

[0068] The above-described properties, features and advantages of this invention and the manner in which these are achieved will become clearer and more readily understandable in connection with the following schematic description of an exemplary embodiment, which will be described in further detail making reference to the drawings.

[0069] FIG. 1 shows a possible process flow for operating a household cooking appliance including setting a desired degree of browning;

[0070] FIG. 2 shows food to be cooked introduced into a cooking chamber of the household cooking appliance;

[0071] FIG. 3 shows an image of the food to be cooked, recorded by means of the household cooking appliance, on a touch-sensitive screen;

[0072] FIG. 4 shows a first sub-step of a user selecting an image measurement region;

[0073] FIG. 5 shows a second sub-step of a user selecting the image measurement region; and

[0074] FIG. 6 shows an alternative second sub-step for a user selecting the image measurement region;

[0075] FIG. 7 shows a sectional representation in the side view of a drawing of an apparatus for carrying out the method.

[0076] FIG. 1 shows a possible process flow for operating a household cooking appliance in the form of an oven 1 (see FIG. 7), for instance, including setting a desired degree of browning.

[0077] In a step S1, a user loads the cooking chamber 2 of the oven 1 with food to be cooked G. The food to be cooked G can, as shown schematically in FIG. 2, comprise a chicken H placed on a colored baking tray B and potato slices K or French fries arranged around it. In order to determine an image measurement region which is suited to high user satisfaction, it is fully automatically only unreliably possible, namely not even possible, if complex AI algorithms are used.

[0078] In a step S2, an image P of the cooking chamber 2 is recorded by means of a camera 5 (see FIG. 7) of the oven 1, which here shows the baking tray B, the food to be cooked G and its environment. Such an image P is shown schematically in FIG. 3.

[0079] In a step S3, the image P is sent to a touch-sensitive screen S, e.g. a screen 7 of the baking oven 1 and/or a screen 9 of a user terminal such as a smartphone SP (see FIG. 7) and displayed there, as shown schematically in FIG. 4.

[0080] As likewise shown in FIG. 4, in a step S4 a user N can tap a region of the screen S, on which the image P is displayed, e.g. with his finger, a pen etc., here an image region which belongs to the chicken H.

[0081] An image pattern region is now generated automatically in a step S5 relating to the tapped image region, which is shown with a dashed line as a contour C of the chicken H in FIG. 5. If the image pattern region corresponds to the image measurement region required by the user N, the user N can confirm the image pattern region as the image measurement region, e.g. by tapping an affirmative check box (top check box in FIG. 5) or if not reject it, e.g. by tapping a negative check box (bottom check box in FIG. 5). The image measurement region then corresponds to the confirmed image pattern region C. Alternatively, the user N can place the image measurement region on the potato slices K.

[0082] The image pattern region C can be calculated only from the image information contained in the image P. In one variant, a comparison with image patterns stored in a pattern database DB (see FIG. 7), which are assigned to specific foods to be cooked G, can additionally be performed. As a result, the at least one image pattern determined in the image P can approximate the shape of known foods to be cooked in an improved manner. Therefore, the image patterns of chicken H can be stored in the pattern database DB, e.g. varied according to viewing angle, part (e.g. whole chicken, half chicken, drumstick etc.).

[0083] In a step S6, a scale of browning (no fig.) is automatically generated for the selected or defined image measurement region and displayed on the screen S. With the aid of the scale of browning the user N can enter or select a desired degree of browning (here of the chicken H). Alternatively, the user N can ascertain the desired degree of browning of the potato slices K.

[0084] In a following step S7, a cooking process is carried out by means of the control facility 6 of the baking oven 1, until the desired degree of browning is reached, namely on the basis of a comparison of a current actual degree of browning calculated by means of the image measurement region with the desired degree of browning.

[0085] In an alternative step S5, which can be carried out instead of the above-described step S5, a predetermined image region (cursor CUR) is overlaid onto the image P on the screen S. The cursor CUR can be moved by the user N, e.g. by tapping or a drag and drop movement by means of a finger, pen etc. to a point of the image B at which the user N would like to evaluate the degree of browning. The cursor CUR can, as shown in FIG. 6, reproduce the shape and size of the image measurement region, wherein only the position of the cursor CUR still needs to be ascertained by the user N. The image measurement region therefore corresponds here to the image region determined by the cursor CUR. In one variant the user N can adjust the size and/or shape of the cursor CUR and thus also the image measurement region.

[0086] In a further variant, the cursor CUR can be confirmed by a user at its starting position (e.g. the image center) on the image P without the cursor CUR needing to be moved.

[0087] The confirmation can also take place in that the user does not change the image measurement region C, CUR for a predetermined period of time.

[0088] If the user N moves the food to be cooked G during the cooking process, the movement can be followed by means of an image evaluation algorithm, and the image measurement region C, CUR can be traced accordingly or adjusted to the movement. As a result, the user N does not need to select a new image measurement region C, CUR.

[0089] FIG. 7 shows as a sectional representation in the side view a drawing of an apparatus 1, SP, DB for carrying out the method. The apparatus comprises a baking oven 1, a user terminal in the form of a smartphone SP and optionally a pattern database DB.

[0090] The baking oven 1 has a cooking chamber 2, the front loading opening 3 of which can be closed by means of a door 4. By means of the loading opening 3 the cooking chamber 2 can be loaded with the food to be cooked G which is present in the baking tray B. There is a camera 5 in the region of a ceiling of the cooking chamber 2 which is directed from above or obliquely above into the cooking chamber 2. The camera 5 can optionally be located at another point. A number of cameras 5 may also be present. The camera 5 is connected to a touch-sensitive screen 7 by way of a control facility 6, for instance. Images P recorded by the camera 5 can be sent to this screen 7, whereupon the user N, as described above, can define the image measurement region C, CUR and can also set a desired degree of browning. On the basis of the selected image measurement region C, CUR and the desired degree of browning, the control facility 6 can control a cooking process, (e.g. activate heating elements, not shown), e.g. until the desired degree of browning is reached. In one variant the method can be carried out autonomously on the baking oven 1.

[0091] In an alternative or additional second variant, the baking oven 1 can be wirelessly connected to the smartphone SP by way of a communication module 8, e.g. a Bluetooth and/or WLAN module. The smartphone likewise has a touch-sensitive screen 9, by way of which the above method steps S3 to S6 can proceed, namely instead of or in addition to the screen 7 of the baking oven 1.

[0092] The baking oven 1 and/or the smartphone 2 can be connected to a pattern database DB way of of a network NW, e.g. the internet.

[0093] The present invention is naturally not restricted to the exemplary embodiment shown.

[0094] Therefore generally two or even more image measurement regions can also be defined by a user and the same or different browning target values can be assigned to these image measurement regions. The following cooking process can then be terminated for instance if the actual degrees of browning of one or more of the image measurement regions reach the associated desired degree of browning.

[0095] In general, “a”, “an”, etc. can be understood as singular or plural, in particular in the sense of “at least one” or “one or more”, etc., provided this is not explicitly excluded, e.g. by the expression “precisely one”, etc.

LIST OF REFERENCE CHARACTERS

[0096] 1 Oven [0097] 2 Cooking chamber [0098] 3 Loading opening [0099] 4 Door [0100] 5 Camera [0101] 6 Control facility [0102] 7 Touch-sensitive screen of the oven [0103] 8 Communication module [0104] 9 Touch-sensitive screen of the smartphone [0105] B Baking tray [0106] C Contour [0107] CUR Cursor [0108] DB Pattern database [0109] G Food to be cooked [0110] H Chicken [0111] K Potato slice [0112] N User [0113] NW Network [0114] P Image of the cooking chamber [0115] S Touch-sensitive screen [0116] S1-S7 Method steps [0117] SP Smartphone