Refrigeration – Automatic control – Refrigeration producer
Reexamination Certificate
2000-12-22
2001-11-06
Tanner, Harry B. (Department: 3744)
Refrigeration
Automatic control
Refrigeration producer
C062S130000, C062S131000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06311509
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to commercial food chilling equipment and, more particularly, to chillers having features for minimizing the potential for user error and confusion during the set-up and monitoring of a chilling operation.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Commercial food product chillers, commonly referred to as blast chillers, are typically used to chill hot food products to a safe temperature for storage. For example, a hot food product at 145° F. to 160° F. or more may be taken just out of the oven, placed in the chiller, and rapidly cooled to a low temperature of 40° F. or less. Such rapid chilling of the food product is desirable for a variety of reasons, including food safety.
Known food product chillers generally operate in one of two modes, namely a chill by temperature mode or a chill by time mode. In the chill by temperature mode a temperature probe is placed in the food product and the desired chilled temperature of the food product can be entered into the machine by a user. The chilling operation then runs until the temperature probe indicates that the food product has reached the desired chilled temperature. In the chill by time mode, a user simply enters a time period for chilling the food product and the chilling operation then runs for the entered time period. In either type of chilling operation a user may also set the type of chill (hard or soft), and/or a desired air temperature within the chilling compartment. Some chillers are also configured to operate in a freeze mode for freezing food products. As used herein the term “chiller” broadly encompasses both units which include a freeze mode and units which do not include a freeze mode.
One opportunity for user error with known chillers occurs during the initialization of a chill by temperature operation when the user must select one of several temperature probes to monitor the cooling cycle of a hot food product. When this step is performed properly, the user will insert a given temperature probe into a hot food product and identify the inserted probe for use in the chilling operation through a user input device. For this purpose the probes are typically numbered. The identified temperature probe will then monitor the temperature of the food product as it is cooled. Occasionally, however, the user will accidentally identify a different temperature probe than the one placed into the hot food product causing the cooling cycle of the food product to run improperly. When this error occurs it may also be necessary to discard the food product. Consequently, it would be desirable to provide a method for automatically identifying for use a temperature probe that has been placed into a hot food product, thereby eliminating the potential for user error.
Another opportunity for user confusion occurs during the loading and unloading of food products through a chiller door. Because opening of the chiller door can cause rapid temperature increases in the cooling compartment, users who monitor the cooling compartment temperature through a temperature display may become concerned that the chilling operation has been interrupted. When this confusion occurs users will occasionally discard food products as waste thinking them unsafe. A similar problem can occur in other types of cooling apparatus such as refrigerators having temperature displays. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a method for filtering the temperature that is displayed to the user in a manner such that the responsiveness of the display to rapid temperature changes in the cooling compartment is reduced when the door is opened, thereby eliminating the potential for user confusion.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In a first aspect of the present invention, a chiller apparatus is provided including a chilling compartment, a chilling system for chilling the chilling compartment, and a plurality of temperature probes for monitoring the temperatures of food products during chilling operations. A controller is coupled to the temperature probes for receiving signals therefrom and is capable of determining whether to identify a given temperature probe for use in a chilling operation based, at least in part, on a signal received from the given temperature probe.
In a second aspect of the invention, in a chiller including a chilling compartment having a plurality of temperature probes associated therewith, a method for automatically determining whether a given temperature probe has been selected for use in a chilling operation is provided. The method involves comparing a temperature of the given temperature probe to a threshold temperature; and determining whether the given temperature probe has been selected for use in the chilling operation based at least in part upon the comparison. In one embodiment the determination is made in order to automatically identify the given probe for use in the chilling operation if a user selected the given probe by placing it in a hot food product. In another embodiment, the given probe may be examined based upon user identification of the given probe via a user input device, wherein the determination is made in order to verify that the user identification of the given probe was correct.
In a third aspect of the invention, a method for displaying an air temperature of a cooling compartment involves altering the responsiveness of the temperature that is displayed to temperature changes according to the status of the cooling compartment door as being open or closed. When the door is closed the temperature that is displayed is most responsive to temperature changes in the cooling compartment. When the door is open the responsiveness of the temperature display to temperature changes is decreased in order to reduce the likelihood of user confusion.
In the fourth aspect of the present invention, a cooling apparatus is provided including a cooling compartment, a cooling system for cooling the cooling compartment, and a door which can be opened to load or unload food products from the cooling compartment. An air temperature sensor is used to obtain an air temperature of the cooling compartment and a display device is used to display the air temperature to the user. A controller is coupled to the air temperature sensor and the display device for displaying a temperature based, at least in part, on a signal received from the air temperature sensor. The controller is also coupled to a door state sensor and is operable at least once during an open state of the door to reduce the responsiveness of the display temperature to temperature changes in the cooling compartment.
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Hobart Corp. HQC45 Quickchill & HQCF45 Quickchill Freezer Instructions (Form 34374 (9-99)).
Boryca Walter J.
Cartwright Richard W.
Edelmann David Charles
Smith Al D.
Premark FEG L.L.C.
Tanner Harry B.
Thompson Hine LLP
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