Data processing: generic control systems or specific application – Generic control system – apparatus or process – Sequential or selective
Reexamination Certificate
1998-06-19
2001-06-19
Gordon, Paul P. (Department: 2121)
Data processing: generic control systems or specific application
Generic control system, apparatus or process
Sequential or selective
C700S013000, C700S017000, C700S018000, C700S210000, C700S211000, C702S130000, C702S010000, C219S702000, C219S703000, C219S710000, C219S719000, C219S720000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06249710
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to a system for physical or chemical process control. The invention is directed to an interpretive BIOS machine for controlling a chemical or physical process such as heating an object or objects, i.e., food, within a microwave oven. The interpretive BIOS machine controls the course and sequence of a physical, chemical, or thermodynamic process stream, such as the heating of food articles within a microwave oven. The invention in particular is directed to a Work Manager that controls the work performed on a specimen disposed within the confines of the microwave oven. The invention is more particularly directed to a Cold Oven Manager in communication with the Work Manager to manage the thermal aberrations of the microwave oven.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A microwave oven cooks food by bombarding the food with electromagnetic waves which cause molecules in the food to vibrate billions of times per second. The heat is created when dipolar molecules (such as water) vibrate back and forth aligning themselves with the electric field or when the ions migrate in response to the electric field.
The vibrations cause heat by friction, although only at a depth of about 1 to 1.5 inches. Heat transfer properties of food continue the process of cooking by transmitting heat to areas of the cooking food that are relatively cool in comparison to the areas that have been heated by the electromagnetic waves.
Convenience of the microwave oven and reduced preparation time are key factors in the success of the microwave oven. Taste and quality of the food after being cooked in the microwave oven were at times lacking with early models because of inconsistent voltage management, inaccurately controlled magnetron tubes, and imperfect software control. Convenience was also lacking because as the demand for microwavable food increased so did the complexity of instructions for cooking that food. Imprecision of cooking instructions was fostered by, among other factors, the differing user interfaces. Other factors include operational characteristics of dissimilar and similar sized microwave ovens and allied microwave oven operational control and user interface disparities. Consumers want the convenience of microwave cooking but do not want to constantly refer back to a package to enter and re-enter multi-step instructions into a microwave oven to obtain cooked food, and still, after all their efforts receive sub-standard cooking results due to microwave oven operational and performance variances.
Because of more active lifestyles and less time spent in the kitchen, consumer demand for microwavable products is increasing along with the demand for a microwave oven that does not require a plurality of instructions to cook food, or different instructions for the same food item for different size and/or manufactured microwave ovens. Complicating the issue of product demand and usable microwave ovens is the wide variance in magnetron output power, performance variances, and user control interfaces now prevalent in the available universe of microwave ovens. A food product that may cook very well in a 1200 watt oven may take three times as long in an oven which can only provide 600 watts of power. Moreover, the user interface from microwave ovens of one manufacturer to another is often markedly different and non-intuitive.
Further complicating the issue of the wide variation in magnetron tube output power is the local utility (power company) that supplies power to the microwave oven of the user. Utility companies are often unable to balance adequately user demand for power with available power generation capability. The effects of power fluctuations on a microwave oven are numerous. In particular, the suggested cooking instructions for a particular food becomes meaningless. An example of this would be a power fluctuation of 6% by the public utility or power generation source for a brief period of time. The results of the degradation of power supplied to the microwave oven will be food that is undercooked. This may very well result in health hazards to the consumer of the food cooked in a microwave oven if bacteria are not killed by sufficient cooking. The sensitivity of output power to line voltage is a source of concern to the microwave oven food developer as well as the consumer. Measured power as a function of line voltage is shown in
FIG. 18
for three commercially available microwave ovens. Note the variation of the 500 watt number two oven indicating a 6% change in line voltage. The output power of the magnetron tube of the microwave oven has decreased from 500 watts to 375 watts. Also, note the non-linear relationship between line voltage and power output of the magnetron tube of the microwave oven. This non-linear relationship will produce wide swings in output power due to rather small changes in line voltage (
Microwave Cooking and Processing
, Charles R. Buffler).
Microwave ovens presently in use employ various data entry mechanisms to input data into an oven control mechanism. These data entry mechanisms may be electrical and mechanical keyboards, card readers, light pens, wands, or the like. The control mechanism may be a computer or a microprocessor based controller. In general, the computer or controller has a basic input and output system (BIOS) associated with the input and output of data to and from the data entry mechanism. In such microwave ovens the user manually actuates the data entry mechanism to enter data relating to the type or mode of oven operation desired, i.e., bake, roast, re-heat, etc., as well as the length of the desired cooking time.
Present microprocessor-based controllers are capable of receiving a substantial amount of complex information from their associated data entry mechanism. This requires the oven user or process stream designer to manually enter a substantial amount of information generally in a multi-step series of data inputs on a keyboard. This information could be entered by a magnetic card containing all of the required input data, but this type of format does not allow flexibility in changing the cooking instructions. Alternately, user input could recall a stored recipe specific to a particular food item. Those familiar with the art can understand that an item-specific stored recipe system is static and inherently limited to the universe of food items known to its author at its moment of creation. Such a system is closed to food items or processes created subsequent to its moment of manufacture. Such a system is a stored recipe system specific and limited to a single host microwave oven or process stream.
In the manufacture of consumer appliances, such as microwave ovens, it is advantageous to assume that the overall control requirements are nearly the same from model to model. This is done to reduce the cost of manufacture of the microwave ovens and make the repair of the ovens more economical. The functions of the microwave oven such as “auto cook,” “auto defrost” and a number of other cooking parameters associated with these functions vary from model to model, depending upon such factors as microwave cavity size, magnetron size, and other factors well known to practitioners in the art. Thus a controller may be required to operate correctly in different microwave oven chassis having different oven cooking cavities. Typical oven cavity size ranges from about 0.5 cubic feet to about 2.0 cubic feet. The ovens also may vary in their effective magnetron power output, one to another of the same model, and for a single oven from one use to another, depending on the electrical power supplied to it.
A well-known oven output power phenomenon concerning the mass of a specimen is documented in the IEC 705 publication. This publication defines a procedure for determining the output power of a microwave oven. Following the IEC 705 procedure a 1000 ml specimen of water is placed in a microwave oven. Power is applied to the specimen by the magnetron tube. The water boils at a specific power level in a given tim
Drucker Steven J.
Raynault David Marcel
Bernstein Jason A.
Bernstein & Assoc., P.C.
Gordon Paul P.
Microwave Science, LLC
Patel Ramesh
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