Fully-Automatic Food Preparation Device, Machine Readable Data On Food Bearing Pouch And Initiation Of Food Preparation Via Mobile Device Reservation
The system and method for providing dynamic and static information on a label relating to a sealed package for cooking. The dynamic information can include data about the contents of the package which can include spoiling events or thawing which can impact the further processing of the contents, wherein the contents of the label can be used by itself and or with a user selected ready time to control the cooking of the sealed package.
This application claims priority to provisional patent application No. 61/962,047, filed on Oct. 30, 2013.
FIELD OF INVENTIONThe present invention relates to residential or commercial cooking appliances, in specific sous vide cooking (cooking in a relatively low-temperature water bath) and/or more conventional yet under-technologized cooking methods such as microwave cooking. More specifically, the present invention relates to an automated, controlled cooking process with a sealed container including static and dynamic information for the scanning and cooking of the contents therein.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThe technique of cooking meat, fish or vegetables in an evacuated, sealed pouch with herbs, seasonings, oils and/or other flavorants placed in a bath of relatively low-temperature circulating water at a precise temperature; a process identified as “Sous Vide” has been growing in popularity owing to the nutritional and gastronomic benefits since its inception in the 1970's. Such processes would entail, for example, cooking a steak at its “Rare” temperature (e.g., 134° F.), but no higher. While it would take substantially longer than quickly grilling it, the process would result in no “gray areas” and the steak would be uniformly rare and succulent from outside to the core, even if cooked substantially longer than food safety would dictate. More importantly, this technique affords tenderness with even the toughest cuts of meat, given that prolonged low-temperature cooking breaks-down tough connective tissue in often flavorful but chewy cuts. Such a steak could be “finished” by high heat searing simply to add grill marks, etc. This process compares favorably with traditional high-heat methods which are notorious for inadvertent overcooking with unpleasant results such as “rubber chickens”.
One of the benefits of cooking slowly in an evacuated pouch (without oxidation) is that even very tough cuts of meat are slowly broken-down leaving rich flavor and little of the unpleasant toughness that is associated with fast, high-temperature cooking. The other desirable aspect of Sous Vide cooking is that flavors are enhanced, concentrated and complexity is developed over time, not degraded by oxidation. Indeed, many who have eaten at a high-end restaurant have likely have enjoyed Sous Vide cooking without even knowing it.
Unfortunately, the adoption of this low temperature technique has been limited to professional chefs and food aficionados because of the technical challenges required for the technique to reliably eliminate food-borne pathogens. Presently, users of this equipment must understand (or at least appreciate and over compensate for) the intricacies of obtaining the required logarithmic reduction in pathogens that any cooking process, especially low temperature cooking processes such as Sous Vide are governed by. Food aficionados and professional chefs can obtain reasonable results by making some mathematical calculations (e.g., regarding cross-section of food and core temperature targets for a given protein) and more often than not cooking longer than required to make sure. However, the general consumer population cannot be expected to do so and indeed, danger to the persons attempting to employ Sous Vide techniques would certainly ensue.
Thus, the present state of the art reflects a need for a system and method which provides a flexible tool supporting sous vide and other cooking processes which could benefit from the modulation of cooking energy.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ARTThose of skill in the art are aware a variety of tools for assisting the sous vide cooking process. For instance, WIPO Patent Application WO2104019018 A1 entitled “Sous Vide Device” relates to domestic cooking appliances, and more particularly to a domestic sous vide device. This device discloses the use of an RFID tag or the like extending from a corner of the sous vide bag for identification. This disclosure further teaches the use of a special device including a controller which may be used with such bags, wherein the device displays a suggested cooking time and temperature. This reference, however, teaches the use of a probe or the like to obtain temperature information of the contents of a package, including a reusable probe that extends through the packaging into the contents. A seal around such a probe is an unworkable arrangement due to the differential coefficients of thermal expansion of a probe and a pouch. Moreover, nothing in this reference teaches or suggesting controlling the cooking process with information specific to the package, operating in a variety of cooking devices, or providing information about the package subsequent to being sealed (e.g., spoiling information) but prior to being cooked (i.e.: the food safety history from packer to kitchen).
In sum, none of the known prior art approaches permit a package to control the cooking based upon the specific contents of the package while providing information to prevent the accidental cooking of food that may already be spoiled.
What is needed is a non-invasive method for providing a mechanism for controlling the process, cooking as well as dynamic information specific to the package.
DEFINITION OF TERMSThe following terms are used in the claims of the patent as filed and are intended to have their broadest plain and ordinary meaning consistent with the requirements of the law.
The following terms are used in the claims of the patent as filed and are intended to have their broadest plain and ordinary meaning consistent with the requirements of the law.
An “automated, controlled cooking process” means a cooking device that includes, interfaces with, or is connected with an automated reader (e.g., a bar code scanner, rfid pinger or the like) which operates with information on a food package being read to provide controls (e.g., cooking time and/or temperature) for cooking the food package being read.
A “thermally conductive layer” is a layer forming at least part of the food package through which heat from inside the container may permeate therethrough so as to provide reasonably accurate thermal information to the dynamic region of the label.
A “static region” refers to data about the content inside the sealed container which does not change after the food is sealed inside of the container (e.g., the type or size of the food sealed inside the container, the cross-sectional dimensions, thickness or its protein type and even permissible cooking time/temperature ranges for that specific protein).
A “dynamic region” refers to data about the content inside the sealed container which can change after the food is sealed inside of the container (e.g., the current temperature of the contents of the package, or the occurrence of spoilage temperatures inside the container).
“Thermal information” refers to temperature related parameters or events which may influence the cooking process or the suitability of the sealed container for use in the cooking process.
Where alternative meanings are possible, the broadest meaning is intended. All words used in the claims set forth below are intended to be used in the normal, customary usage of grammar and the English language.
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention proposes a solution to the depressed (or sluggish) adoption rate for this Sous Vide cooking technique and also to benefit other cooking techniques as well (such as microwave cooking), to the mutual benefit of the consumer and protein packing interests as well. Indeed, low-temperature cooking via Sous Vide techniques (circulating, temperature-controlled water bath) is not the only way to achieve slow-cooking. Equipment such as Crock-pots and Microwave Ovens could benefit from modulating their application of energy according to the present invention.
The system of the present invention includes a number principle components. First, the system involves a machine-readable label (1D or 2D barcode, QR code or even a passive RFID Tag) on the food-bearing pouch. This label includes the “food metadata” (food type, cross section dimensions, “done” time and temperature choices, etc.) of the contents of the package bearing the label. For example, one type of data label represented by the above type of commonly used QR Code can contain up to 4,296 Alphanumeric or 2,953 binary bytes of information (more than sufficient quantities of information to sustain a machine-driven cooking profile, even if food information, heating ramp-up and cooling ramp-down profiles are explicitly included in the coded portion of the label). The label, however, is an improvement upon prior approaches in that it includes regions of Active Data in addition to the Passive Data. For example such a mixed Passive/Active Data Label could include a defined region that contains one or more temperature-indicating fields, via say liquid-crystal printing inks. These defined regions could therefore each be responsive to a certain range of temperatures, changing visual state and indicative of the thermal status of the food-bearing pouch.
These non-static, thermally-responsive regions fall into two broad categories: continuously-responsive regions that always represent current thermal conditions and “peak-hold” regions that “trip” when a certain, predefined thermal limit has been exceeded.
A system employing the active data/passive data pouch of the present invention could use such a pouch with a Sous Vide or other Cooking Apparatus containing a microprocessor that includes as internal or external components: 1) an Arithmetic operations unit capable of making time-based calculations based-upon the present time, the desired serving time and the time required for a determined log reduction in food pathogens (cooking time), 2) a pouch label querying means such as an adapted 1D, 2D or QR code reader or an RFID pinger; and 3) a communications unit that includes logical, media connection means and protocol stacks sufficient to receive instructions from an authorized Internet-connected or cellular-connected mobile device, as well as a device address that can be engaged remotely e.g., in order to permit a consumer to remotely program a desired start time.
The microprocessor and program would therefore obtain cooking (time-temperature profiles) instructions from the food-bearing pouch, desired serving time instructions from the consumer (which could include remote communications) and the present time. It would operate on these variables in a manner that would result in fully-cooked meal at the requested time.
The immediate application of a present invention will be seen in the field of Sous Vide cooking, though those of skill will see that the present invention could be applied to other cooking appliances (e.g., crockpots and microwave ovens) for which a controlled, reliable method of cooking can be obtained based upon information in the cooking package.
Thus can be seen that one object of the present invention is to provide a mechanism for using active and passive data in providing information which controls a sous vide or similar slow cooking process.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a method enabling a home user to begin a sous vide or similar slow cooking process from a remote location for a desired completion time without having knowledge of the required cooking instructions to be used.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a method and system to enable a sous vide or similar slow cooking process in which the cooking process is modifying by dynamic information processed and transmitted by the package label.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a sous vide system which can be operated by a person lacking cooking experience.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a system and method for providing for the quick and easy set up for the sous vide or other slow cooking process.
It should be noted that not every embodiment of the claimed invention will accomplish each of the objects of the invention set forth above. In addition, further objects of the invention will become apparent based on the summary of the invention, the detailed description of preferred embodiments, and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Such objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent in light of the following detailed description of a best mode embodiment thereof, and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Set forth below is a description of what is currently believed to be the preferred embodiment or best examples of the invention claimed. Future and present alternatives and modifications to this preferred embodiment are contemplated. Any alternatives or modifications which make insubstantial changes in function, in purpose, in structure or in result are intended to be covered by the claims in this patent.
A further variant or alternative embodiment label 200 is shown in
As shown in
As shown in
Still a further alternative embodiment for data cells for recording and transmitting dynamic region information in accordance with the presence information is shown in
The cell 600 contents consist of thermo-morphologically bi-stable conductive material such as what is generally known as a phase-change material with a defined transition temperature that is at temperatures of interest to the materials contained in the pouch.
In the case of foodstuffs, several Transition Temperatures could be important: 0° C. and 4° C. (32° F. and 38° F. respectively) the Freezing Temperature of Water and the High Limit of the range of Safe Food Storage Temperatures. There are other temperatures as well, depending on what is contained in the pouch.
In the case of an optically queried label in the practice of the present invention: this phase changing material can be thought of as the morphological definition of the optical “bit” representing the Transition Temperature, with the actual indication being provided by pigment particles dispersed within the phase change material. When the transition temperature has been exceeded, the matrix (formed by the phase change material and dispersed pigments) loses its morphological definition by transiting from solid to liquid and the now principally fluid matrix is adsorbed by the materials surrounding the cell, making the optical character of the cell change accordingly, e.g., from black to white.
In the case of an RFID or other electronically queried embodiment of the present invention this phase change material can be thought of as the morphological definition of the conduction path between the pads, with the actual conduction provided by conductive particles dispersed within the phase change material. This embodiment's matrix, therefore, consists of one substance that defines the morphological integrity and another substance, dispersed within the first that defines the conduction integrity.
When the transition temperature has been exceeded: the matrix, formed by the phase change material and dispersed conductive particles, loses its morphological definition by transiting from solid to liquid and the now principally fluid matrix is adsorbed by the materials surrounding the cell 600, greatly reducing the conduction between the circuit pads.
It is important to note that in the case of the electronically queried embodiment of the present invention that the circuit connected to the cell is not required to be operational continuously, but only when queried, as with passive RFID “tags”. Because of the nature of the thermo-morphologically bi-stable conductive material, this link's status with regard to the defined Transition Temperature(s) can be read out once the circuit is queried.
Given that there are a plurality of temperatures of interest with regard to food and likely more than one temperature of interest to non-food, thermally-processed materials: a complete solution of one embodiment of the present invention might include a plurality of latching cells 600, each containing a different melt-point matrix, as shown in
The above description is not intended to limit the meaning of the words used in the following claims that define the invention. Rather, it is contemplated that future modifications in structure, function or result will exist that are not substantial changes and that all such insubstantial changes in what is claimed are intended to be covered by the claims. For instance, the application of the dynamic/static label information of the present invention could be used with other cooking appliances (e.g., microwave ovens). Likewise, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes, additions, omissions, and modifications can be made to the illustrated embodiments without departing from the spirit of the present invention. All such modifications and changes are intended to be covered by the following claims.
Claims
1. A package for providing an automated, controlled cooking process, the package including:
- a) a sealed container including a thermally conductive layer;
- b) a multicomponent label for scanning, the label including; i) a static region including information about the content inside the sealed thermally conductive layer; ii) a dynamic region, including thermal information which may be used in the cooking process of the package.
2. The package of claim 1, wherein the static region and dynamic regions of the multicomponent label are separate.
3. The package of claim 1, wherein the thermal information includes the current temperature of the package.
4. The package of claim 1, wherein the thermal information includes information corresponding to a spoilage event.
5. The package of claim 1, wherein the static information includes information corresponding to a predetermined cooking time for the package.
6. The package of claim 1, wherein the static information includes information corresponding to a predetermined cooking temperature for the package.
7. The package of claim 1, wherein the static information includes information corresponding to a portion size contained within the package.
8. The package of claim 1, wherein the static information includes information corresponding to a protein type contained within the package.
9. The package of claim 1, wherein the container is made substantially entirely of the thermally conductive layer.
Type: Application
Filed: Oct 29, 2014
Publication Date: Apr 30, 2015
Inventor: Walter Raczynski (Arlington Heights, IL)
Application Number: 14/527,588
International Classification: B65D 81/34 (20060101); B65D 25/20 (20060101);