Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Measuring – testing – or controlling by inanimate means – Preparing solid product in final form by heating
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-07
2001-02-13
Simone, Timothy F. (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Measuring, testing, or controlling by inanimate means
Preparing solid product in final form by heating
C099S323500, C099S323700, C426S438000, C426S450000, C426S523000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06187353
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to apparatus for preparing popcorn via a closed-loop hot air cooking process and more particularly to such an apparatus suitable for use as a low maintenance, free-standing vending machine.
Popcorn vending machines are well known in the art and are discussed in various prior patents including, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,307,657 and 5,020,688, as well as the references cited therein.
The use of hot air to “cook” or “pop” hard popcorn kernels is well known. The quality of the end product, i.e., the popcorn, is dependent upon several factors including the temperature of the air used for cooking and the cooking time duration.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a hot air popcorn machine including a programmable control system for precisely controlling various operating parameters including air flow and air temperature to enable the machine to consistently produce high quality popcorn in a low maintenance environment, e.g., a free-standing vending machine.
A machine in accordance with the invention includes a reservoir for hard kernel inventory; a cooking chamber; a kernel metering device, e.g., an auger, for delivering hard kernels to the cooking chamber; a heater; a blower for delivering heated air to the cooking chamber; an output container for receiving popped kernels, i.e., popcorn, from the cooking chamber; and a programmable control system for controlling operation of the machine. In use, the control system responds to a “start” event, e.g., a user depositing money into a coin/currency reader, to initiate an operational cycle preferably comprised of the following sequential phases: (1) preheat, (2) kernel delivery, (3) cook (including flavoring dispensing), and (4) kernel purge.
A preferred control system in accordance with the invention incorporates a programmed controller, e.g., a microprocessor based microcomputer, and a feedback loop for controlling air flow to the cooking chamber. More particularly, the controller responds to an air flow sensor to control the air flow to the cooking chamber to conform to a set point defined by a programmed or calculated air flow profile. Closed loop, i.e., feedback, control of air flow compensates for variations in components (attributable to either manufacture and/or aging) and environment (e.g., voltage and air temperature variations). Various techniques can be used to control air flow such as blower speed control and/or air baffle control.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment, the speed of a blower motor is controlled by duty cycle variation; e.g., by use of a pulse density modulation technique with the controller applying fixed duration pulses at a rate appropriate to establish the desired set point air flow.
In accordance with a further aspect of a preferred embodiment, the blower functions not only to deliver heated air to the cooking chamber for cooking but additionally functions to propel each popped kernel through an output chute to the output container. Still further, the blower is selectively controlled to purge any kernels from the cooking chamber toward the end of each operational cycle.
A control system in accordance with the invention preferably also incorporates a closed loop heater control. That is, a temperature sensor is preferably provided to measure the temperature in a heat chamber to allow the controller to control the heater to maintain air flow temperature at a target set point.
In accordance with a further aspect of a preferred embodiment, an optical sensor is provided for counting popped kernels delivered out of the cooking chamber through the output chute. The popped kernel count can be selectively used by the controller to time the actuation of a pump for delivering butter flavoring, e.g., butter, to the output container.
When used as a vending machine, apparatus in accordance with the invention is preferably configured with a transparent housing so that a user can readily watch the popcorn preparation process; i.e., the steps of metering the hard kernels into the cooking chamber, the popping of the kernels, the delivery of the popped kernels through the chute to the output container, and the dispensing of butter flavoring into the container. An alphanumeric visual display is preferably carried by the housing for presenting informative (and/or entertaining) messages to the user such as instructions and feedback. Further, the housing is preferably adorned with attractive eye-catching lighting such as multicolor neon lights so that the machine will afford a user an entertaining experience in addition to providing a high quality popcorn product.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4196342 (1980-04-01), Chailloux
patent: 4307657 (1981-12-01), Avery
patent: 4438682 (1984-03-01), King et al.
patent: 4484064 (1984-11-01), Murray
patent: 4494314 (1985-01-01), Gell, Jr.
patent: 4860461 (1989-08-01), Tamaki et al.
patent: 5020688 (1991-06-01), Power
patent: 5269072 (1993-12-01), Waligorski
patent: 5501139 (1996-03-01), Lee
patent: 5564331 (1996-10-01), Song
patent: 5609097 (1997-03-01), Newnan
patent: 5638607 (1997-06-01), Lemme et al.
patent: 5735194 (1998-04-01), Cochran
Brokke Vernon L. M.
Dillon Bobby
Moody Dwight A.
Wyman Melvin J.
Young Roger C.
Freilich Hornbaker & Rosen
Pop-N-Go, Inc.
Simone Timothy F.
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