초록 ▼

A high speed cooking apparatus employing a low voltage high current system for heating foods employing a novel wire mesh heating element. The system herein described providing the benefits of high speed cooking like that further described by U.S. Provisional Application 60/822,028 filed on Aug. 10,

A high speed cooking apparatus employing a low voltage high current system for heating foods employing a novel wire mesh heating element. The system herein described providing the benefits of high speed cooking like that further described by U.S. Provisional Application 60/822,028 filed on Aug. 10, 2006, but yet providing significant cost benefit and simplicity over said system.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A radiant oven comprising: a cooking cavity configured for receiving a cooking load;a circuit configured to carry current supplied by one or more stored energy devices; anda main heater comprising one or more wire mesh heating elements comprising parallel wire elements, wherein the one or more st

1. A radiant oven comprising: a cooking cavity configured for receiving a cooking load;a circuit configured to carry current supplied by one or more stored energy devices; anda main heater comprising one or more wire mesh heating elements comprising parallel wire elements, wherein the one or more stored energy devices power the one or more wire mesh heating elements via the circuit, with the one or more wire mesh heating elements being sized and positioned for heating the cooking load at accelerated times,wherein a ratio of a resistance of the of the one or more wire mesh heating elements to a radiative black body area of the one or more wire mesh heating elements is less than 2 ohms/m2. 2. The radiant oven of claim 1, wherein the stored energy devices are batteries. 3. The radiant oven of claim 2, wherein the batteries have an energy storage capacity of at least 25 watt-hours. 4. The radiant oven of claim 2, wherein the batteries have a power discharge capacity of at least 3 kilowatts. 5. The radiant oven of claim 1, wherein the main heater comprises multiple wire mesh elements arranged in parallel in at least one plane. 6. The radiant oven of claim 1, wherein the main heater comprises multiple wire mesh elements arranged in at least one planar matrix. 7. The radiant oven of claim 1, further comprising a charger for charging the one or more stored energy devices by drawing power from an external power supply. 8. The radiant oven of claim 1, further comprising: a tray for supporting the cooking load in the cooking region. 9. The radiant oven of claim 1, further comprising a relay for cycling the current connection to the main heater, and a control circuit for controlling the relay. 10. The radiant oven of claim 9, further comprising: a fan controlled by the control circuit for exhausting the cooking region; anda temperature sensor in communication with the control circuit. 11. The radiant oven of claim 1, further comprising: a control circuit for controlling current to the main heater by cycling on and off at a duty ratio in response to a user input, or automatically in response to a measured parameter indicating a condition of the cooking load. 12. The radiant oven of claim 1, wherein at least one wire mesh heating element is movable relative to the cooking load. 13. The radiant oven of claim 1, further comprising: a tray for supporting the cooking load, anda rotator, the rotator being configured to move the tray in a concentric motion for evenly radiating the cooking load. 14. The radiant oven of claim 1, wherein the main heater comprises at least two wire mesh heaters, the at least two wire mesh heaters sharing a first bus and a second bus, wherein the first bus is in electrical communication with a positive portion of the current connection and the second bus is in electrical communication with a negative portion of the current connection. 15. The radiant oven of claim 1, further comprising two switches configured in series, wherein both switches must be turned on for the main heater to receive current from the current connection, and wherein the main heater will not receive current from the current connection if either switch is turned off. 16. The radiant oven of claim 1, further comprising a sensor for monitoring gases or particles emitted by the cooking load. 17. The radiant oven of claim 1, further comprising an energy calculation circuit for calculating an energy consumed by the main heater by integrating power with respect to time. 18. The radiant oven of claim 17, wherein the integrating is approximated based upon discrete periodic measurements of current and voltage supplied to the main heater. 19. The radiant oven of claim 1, further comprising a first bus and a second bus, wherein the first bus comprises a tensioned support attached to one side of one or more mesh ends; and the second bus comprises a tensioned support attached to the opposite mesh end or ends. 20. The radiant oven of claim 1, further comprising a tray configured to support the cooking load, the tray being located between a top wire mesh heater and a bottom wire mesh heater, and the tray having an average thickness of less than one inch. 21. The radiant oven of claim 20, wherein: the bottom wire mesh heater is located a first distance below the tray, the first distance being approximately equal to a cooking load thickness; andthe top wire mesh heater is located a second distance above the tray, the second distance being approximately equal to twice the cooking load thickness. 22. The radiant oven of claim 1, further comprising a measurement device for measuring a thickness of the cooking load. 23. The radiant oven of claim 1, wherein a minimum distance from the cooking load to any wire mesh heater is not less than one half of an inch. 24. The radiant oven of claim 1, further comprising a tray for supporting the cooking load, the tray being movably attached to a chassis of the radiant oven for adjusting the position of the tray manually. 25. The radiant oven of claim 1, further comprising a fray for supporting the cooking load, wherein the tray is made of an electrically non-conductive material that is able to withstand high temperature. 26. The radiant oven of claim 1, further comprising one or more reflectors sized and positioned near the one or more wire mesh heaters to reflect radiation towards the cooking load. 27. The radiant oven of claim 1, further comprising an oven door, and one or more reflectors on or in the oven door for reflecting radiation towards the cooking load. 28. The radiant oven of claim 1, further comprising a control circuit for preheating the one or more wire mesh heaters using a small current. 29. The radiant oven of claim 1, further comprising a control circuit for estimating a cooking time using an initial voltage of the stored energy device as a parameter. 30. The radiant oven of claim 1, further comprising a control circuit configured for monitoring a condition of the cooking load by measuring one or more of the following parameters: a color of the cooking load, a moisture of the surface of the cooking load, a moisture of air in the oven. 31. The radiant oven of claim 1, wherein one wire mesh is configured to emit infrared light including a wavelength of at least one micron and not more than three microns. 32. The radiant oven of claim 1, further comprising a first wire mesh configured for operating at a first temperature and emitting a first light spectrum, and a second wire mesh configured for operating at a second temperature and emitting a second light spectrum. 33. The radiant oven of claim 1, further comprising a voltage control circuit configured for varying the voltage for the wire mesh. 34. The radiant oven of claim 1, further comprising a safety connection surface configured to electrically couple two stored energy devices and to block access to the two stored energy devices when the safety connection surface is in a first position, and configured to electrically decouple the two stored energy devices when the safety connection surface is in a second position. 35. The radiant oven of claim 1, in which the wire mesh heater or wire mesh heater(s) have a combined weight of less than 500 g. 36. The radiant oven of claim 1, in which the wire mesh heater or wire mesh heater(s) have a combined resistance of less than 10 ohms. 37. The radiant oven of claim 1, in which the wire mesh heater or wire mesh heater(s) has a wire spacing of less than 5 times the radius of the wire. 38. The radiant oven of claim 1, in which the wire mesh heater or wire mesh heater(s) has a ramp up time to heat of less than 5 seconds. 39. The radiant oven of claim 1, in which the wire mesh heater or wire mesh heater(s) has a radiative black body area of at least 2 times the outer bounded area of the mesh. 40. The radiant oven of claim 1, wherein the wire mesh comprises nichrome. 41. The radiant oven of claim 1, wherein the one or more wire mesh heating elements are capable of reaching about 1400° Kelvin. 42. A cooking method, comprising the steps of: providing a radiant oven, comprising: a cooking cavity configured for receiving a cooking load;a circuit configured to carry current supplied by one or more stored energy devices configured to apply voltage to a circuit and a main heater comprising one or more wire mesh heating elements; anddischarging current from the one or more stored energy devices through the one or more wire mesh heaters and cooking the food within the radiant oven at accelerated times;wherein the one or more stored energy devices power the one or more wire mesh heating elements comprising parallel wire elements via the circuit, with the one or more wire mesh heating elements being sized and positioned for heating the cooking load at accelerated times,wherein a ratio of a resistance of the of the one or more wire mesh heating elements to a radiative black body area of the one or more wire mesh heating elements is less than 2 ohms/m2. 43. The cooking method of claim 42, in which the one or more stored energy devices comprise one or more rechargeable batteries. 44. The cooking method of claim 42, wherein the one or more wire mesh heating elements are capable of reaching about 1400° Kelvin. 45. A radiant oven comprising: a cooking cavity configured for receiving a cooking load;a circuit configured to carry current supplied by one or more stored energy devices; anda main heater comprising one or more wire mesh heating elements comprising parallel wire elements, wherein the one or more stored energy devices power the one or more wire mesh heating elements via the circuit, with the one or more wire mesh heating elements being sized and positioned for heating the cooking load,wherein the one or more wire mesh heating elements are capable of reaching about 1400° Kelvin from room temperature in less than 10.3 seconds. 46. The radiant oven of claim 45 wherein each of the one or more wire mesh heating elements comprises wires having a radius less than or equal to 0.5 mm. 47. The radiant oven of claim 45 wherein the one or more wire mesh heating elements comprise wires having a radius less than or equal to 0.3 mm. 48. The radiant oven of claim 45 wherein the one or more wire mesh heating elements comprise a 0.3 mm×0.3 mm wire mesh. 49. The radiant oven of claim 45 wherein the one or more wire mesh heating elements are capable of reaching about 1400° Kelvin from room temperature in less than 5 seconds. 50. The radiant oven of claim 45 wherein the one or more wire mesh heating elements comprise a wire mesh cloth.