IPC분류정보
국가/구분 |
United States(US) Patent
등록
|
국제특허분류(IPC7판) |
|
출원번호 |
US-0106309
(2008-04-20)
|
등록번호 |
US-8122815
(2012-02-28)
|
발명자
/ 주소 |
|
출원인 / 주소 |
|
대리인 / 주소 |
|
인용정보 |
피인용 횟수 :
12 인용 특허 :
17 |
초록
▼
A cooking device and method heats a removable vessel with heaters of a cooking capsule, which includes a separator wall between the heaters and vessel. The heaters mount to the separator wall. The capsule is fixed in a housing, which also mounts a motor that rotates the vessel. The housing tiltably
A cooking device and method heats a removable vessel with heaters of a cooking capsule, which includes a separator wall between the heaters and vessel. The heaters mount to the separator wall. The capsule is fixed in a housing, which also mounts a motor that rotates the vessel. The housing tiltably mounts on a base. Accessories can be fixed to the vessel or a lid secured to the housing, so the accessories can rotate with the vessel or remain stationary with respect to the vessel as it rotates. A locking mechanism that secures the lid to the housing prevents lid detachment when the vessel counter-rotates and an accessory is fixed to the lid. A heat sink wall reflects heat toward the vessel and fins draw heat from the heat sink wall away from the housing and out vent holes. Computer hardware and software control power to the motor and heaters.
대표청구항
▼
1. A device for cooking and/or stirring internal contents, comprising: a vessel for containing the contents, the vessel having a center axis, a proximal end and the vessel defining a formed opening at a distal end, wherein the vessel is rotatable about its center axis; anda cooking capsule capable o
1. A device for cooking and/or stirring internal contents, comprising: a vessel for containing the contents, the vessel having a center axis, a proximal end and the vessel defining a formed opening at a distal end, wherein the vessel is rotatable about its center axis; anda cooking capsule capable of receiving the vessel thereinto, wherein the cooking capsule is stationary with respect to the vessel as the vessel rotates about its center axis;wherein the cooking capsule includes one or more heater components for radiating heat toward the vessel; andwherein the cooking capsule includes a separator wall between the one or more heater components and the vessel. 2. The device of claim 1 wherein the heater components are attached to the separator wall that provides support for the vessel and separates the one or more heater components and the vessel. 3. The device of claim 1 wherein the cooking capsule includes a heat sink wall that surrounds the heater components and reflects heat there from toward the vessel when the vessel is located in the capsule. 4. The device of claim 1 wherein the heater components include one or more electrical heating elements disposed approximately concentrically with respect to the separator wall and approximately concentrically with respect to the center axis of the vessel when the vessel has been received into the cooking capsule. 5. The device of claim 1 further comprising: a base;a housing coupled with the cooking capsule, the housing being tiltably coupled to the base and the housing having a motor mounted thereto, the motor adapted to rotate the vessel about the center axis thereof when the vessel in the capsule and is rotatably coupled to the motor via a transmission which passes through a transmission opening of the cooking capsule. 6. The device of claim 5 wherein the housing has a retainer proximate the distal end of the vessel when the vessel has been received into the cooking capsule; and wherein the device further comprises a lid having retainer tabs capable of cooperative engagement with one or more corresponding retainers to retain engagement between the lid and housing during operation of the device. 7. The device of claim 6 wherein the retainer urges the lid against the housing at the opening thereof as the lid turns in a first rotational direction. 8. The device of claim 7 further comprising at least one spring button that interferes with at least one corresponding retainer tab after the lid has been rotated in the first rotational direction such that the at least one corresponding retainer tab has passed the button to prevent the lid from disengaging from the housing when the vessel rotates in a direction opposite the first rotational direction. 9. The device of claim 7 wherein the housing includes a hanger and at least one of the retainer tabs has an opening for hanging the lid on the hanger. 10. The device of claim 6 further comprising a round knob with equally sized and spaced indentions along the circumference adapted for attachment to the lid. 11. The device of claim 6 wherein the housing includes a support floor and a locating wall, and the vessel includes a lip at the opening defined by the vessel, wherein the lip outwardly flares to a retaining flange, and wherein the support floor and locating wall locate the vessel with respect to the cooking capsule and housing when the vessel is located in the cooking capsule. 12. The device of claim 6 further comprising a heat reduction system, the heat reduction system including a heat sink wall having a heat-reflective surface which faces the vessel, wherein the heat sink wall is mounted between the heater components and the outer housing of the cooking capsule, the heat sink wall being coupled to a plurality of vertically extending heat sink fins, and wherein an insulating air space exists between the heat sink wall and fins, and the housing. 13. The device of claim 6 wherein the lid includes a lid hub and the vessel includes a vessel hub, and wherein the device further comprises an accessory rod that is adapted to be removably located within the vessel by the vessel hub and the lid hub when the lid is engaged with the housing. 14. The device of claim 13 further comprising a coupler nut for fixing one end of the accessory rod to either one or the other of the lid hub or the vessel hub. 15. The device of claim 13 wherein the accessory rod includes one of a variety of accessories. 16. The device of claim 15 wherein an accessory is a mixing paddle. 17. The device of claim 6 wherein the lid includes a lid hub and the vessel includes a vessel hub, and wherein the device further comprises an accessory that is adapted to be removably located within the vessel by the vessel hub, wherein an accessory is a colander. 18. The device of claim 1, wherein the vessel includes an integral hinged handle for removing the vessel from the heating capsule, the handle conforming to the form of the formed opening of the vessel. 19. The device of claim 1, wherein the vessel includes one or more stabilizer ribs that facilitate steady resting of the vessel on a flat surface outside of the device. 20. The device of claim 19 wherein the vessel includes one or more transmission keys at the proximal end, and wherein the transmission keys cooperate with the one or more stabilizer ribs to facilitate stability of the vessel when it rests on a flat surface. 21. The device of claim 20 further comprising a transmission hub coupled to the motor, the transmission hub adapted to engage the one or more transmission keys to transmit torque from the motor to the vessel. 22. The device of claim 1 wherein the housing and capsule are tiltable between approximately vertical and approximately horizontal positions. 23. A device for cooking and/or stirring internal contents, comprising: a vessel for containing the contents, the vessel having a center axis, a proximal end and the vessel defining a formed opening at a distal end, wherein the vessel is rotatable about its center axis;a base;a housing being tiltably coupled to the base and the housing having a motor mounted thereto;a cooking capsule capable of receiving the vessel there into, wherein the cooking capsule remains stationary with respect to the vessel as the vessel rotates about its center axis, wherein the cooking capsule includes one or more heater components for radiating heat toward the vessel, wherein the cooking capsule includes a separator wall between the one or more heater components and the vessel, wherein the capsule includes a transmission opening defined by the heater components and separator wall at a proximal end, and wherein the heater components are attached to the separator wall, which locates the vessel within and provides support for the vessel with respect to the housing;a transmission which passes through the transmission opening; andwherein the motor motivates rotation of the vessel about the center axis thereof when the vessel is located in the capsule and is rotatably coupled to the motor via the transmission. 24. The device of claim 23 wherein the cooking capsule includes a heat sink wall that surrounds the heater components and reflects heat there from toward the vessel when the vessel is located in the capsule. 25. The device of claim 24 wherein the heater components include one or more electrical heating elements disposed approximately concentrically with respect to the separator wall and approximately concentrically with respect to the center axis of the vessel when the vessel has been received into the cooking capsule. 26. The device of claim 23 wherein the vessel includes one or more stabilizer ribs and one or more transmission keys at the proximal end, wherein the transmission keys cooperate with the one or more stabilizer ribs to facilitate stability of the vessel when it rests on a flat surface. 27. The device of claim 26 wherein the transmission includes a transmission hub coupled to the motor, the transmission hub adapted to engage the one or more transmission keys to transmit torque from the motor to the vessel. 28. The device of claim 23 wherein the housing has a retainer proximate the distal end of the vessel when the vessel has been received into the cooking capsule; wherein the device further comprises a lid having retainer tabs capable of cooperative engagement with one or more corresponding retainers to retain engagement between the lid and housing during operation of the device; andwherein the device further comprises at least one spring button that interferes with at least one corresponding retainer tab after the lid has been rotated in a first rotational direction such that the at least one corresponding retainer tab has passed the button to prevent the lid from disengaging from the housing when the vessel rotates in a direction opposite the first rotational direction. 29. The device of claim 28 wherein the lid includes a lid hub and the vessel includes a vessel hub; wherein the device further comprises an accessory rod that is adapted to be removably located within the vessel by the vessel hub and the lid hub when the lid is engaged with the housing; andwherein the device further comprises a coupler nut for fixing one end of the accessory rod to either one or the other of the lid hub or the vessel hub. 30. A device for cooking and/or stirring internal contents, comprising: a vessel for containing the contents, the vessel having a center axis, a proximal end and the vessel defining a formed opening at a distal end, wherein the vessel is rotatable about its center axis;a base;a housing being tiltably coupled to the base and the housing having a motor mounted thereto;a cooking capsule capable of receiving the vessel thereinto, wherein the cooking capsule remains stationary with respect to the vessel as the vessel rotates about its center axis, wherein the cooking capsule includes one or more heater components for radiating heat toward the vessel, wherein the cooking capsule includes a separator wall between the one or more heater components and the vessel, and wherein the heater components are attached to the separator wall, which locates the vessel within and provides support for the vessel with respect to the housing;a transmission which passes through the transmission opening;wherein the motor motivates rotation of the vessel about the center axis thereof when the vessel is located in the capsule and is rotatably coupled to the motor via the transmission; andwherein the housing has an exterior surface and defines a volume of space between the cooking capsule and the exterior surface of the housing. 31. The device of claim 30 wherein the housing includes exhaust vents that provide passage of gasses from the volume of space between the cooking capsule and the exterior surface of the housing and the ambient atmosphere. 32. The device of claim 30 further comprising an automatically controllable tilt mechanism for automatic tiling of the housing with respect to the base, wherein the tilt mechanism includes a tilt transmission that is controllably engagable/disengagable with a motor, wherein engage/disengage control is generated by, and implemented under the control of, a computer device coupled to control devices for controlling the engagement and disengagement of the tilt transmission. 33. The device of claim 32 wherein the motor with which the tilt transmission engages is the same motor that motivates rotation of the vessel about its center axis. 34. The device of claim 30 wherein the base includes a safety stop formed and located thereon to limit tilting of the housing away from a vertical orientation thereof to an angle that is less than approximately ninety degrees. 35. The device of claim 34 wherein the base provides a rest area for the lid, the rest area of the base including the safety stop to support the lid and a lid stop protrusion to prevent sliding of the lid toward the housing when the lit is placed in the rest area. 36. The device of claim 30 wherein the base provides a rest area for the lid, the rest area of the base including the safety stop to support the lid and a lid stop protrusion to prevent sliding of the lid toward the housing when the lit is placed in the rest area. 37. The device of claim 36 further comprising a drip cup located by the housing between the safety stop and the lid stop protrusion. 38. The device of claim 30 further comprising a lid knob having equally sized and spaced indentions along the circumference edge of the knob. 39. The device of claim 30 further comprising a safety tilt-release mechanism, the tilt-release mechanism including: a spring biased tilt-release knob axially located at a first tilt joint that tiltably couples the housing to the base along a tilt axis of the housing, the spring biasing the knob toward a second tilt joint, the knob having a cam drum coupled thereto that engages with detents that are coupled to the housing such that contact between the detents and the cam drum during tilting of the housing from a horizontal orientation to a vertical orientation overcomes the bias force of the spring and urges the knob away from the second tilt joint without pulling of the knob away from the housing, but the cam drum resists tilting of the housing from a vertical orientation to a horizontal orientation unless the knob is pulled in a direction away from the second tilt joint. 40. The device of claim 30 further comprising ballast means for offsetting the forces induced by tilt and rotation in the device. 41. The device of claim 1 wherein the housing defines drain holes at the lowest gravitational point of the housing to allow draining of liquids that may accumulate in the housing. 42. The device of claim 1 further comprising: a computer device having control software running thereon, the computer device being coupled to drive circuitry that provides power to the motor and supply circuitry that provides power to the heaters; anduser interface means coupled to the computer device for transferring desired cooking information to the control software such that the control software instructs the drive circuitry to operate the motor and the supply circuitry to supply power to the heaters in response to desired cooking information. 43. The device of claim 42 wherein the control software includes preset values corresponding to a variety of parameters, the present values and parameters stored in a memory of the computer device, and power to the heaters and motor is controlled according to the preset values. 44. The device of claim 42 wherein the computer device is located within the base. 45. The device of claim 42 further including a power supply mounted to the base and that is coupled to the motor drive circuitry and coupled to the supply circuitry of the one or more heaters. 46. The device of claim 45 wherein the power supply couples to household current. 47. The device of claim 45 wherein the power supply includes batteries capable of providing enough energy to operate the device for a predetermined amount of time.
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