A VESSEL FOR PREPARATION OR COOKING OF E.G. FOODSTUFFS AND BEVERAGES BY HEATING, AND AN IDENTIFICATION CARRIER FOR USE WITH SUCH VESSELS

Abstract: A method to control a heating procedure in an oven by using an optically readable information carrier with or on the heating object, said object having an identification marking that cooperates with a reading device within the oven which permits function of the oven only by meeting one or more identification requisites. The oven may be provided with an optical reading device for touchless reading of the information carrier prior to and/or during the heating procedure. By providing the information carrier with one or more fields that exhibit color shifts at preselectable temperatures a feedback control of the heating procedure while using simple technical solution is made possible.

Description: A vessel for preparation or cooking of e.g. food->stuffs and beverages by heating, and an identification carrier for use with such vessels. The present invention relates to a vessel, particularly to a vessel having walls of a material which permits heating of the content of the vesssel by radiation, in particular micro-wave radiation. Such vessels, and the term vessel is used here to include also packages and containers of different kinds which normal¬ ly, at least partially, have walls of a material which depends on the actual kind of heating. If the heating takes place by heat radiation of the type infrared heat radiation from e.g. a cooking plate, the material may be metal, at least in the bottom. If the heating takes places by means of the nowadays very common heating type using micro-vawes, then the material may be cardboard or plastics or the like. Below, to facilita¬ te, such vessels, along with the instant content in each case, will sometimes be referred to as "object". Common to all types of heating is the problem of accura¬ tely controlling the temperature, e.g. to prevent that the temperature is insufficient for the application in question or to prevent that the vessel as used bursts up and starts lea¬ king due to too a high internal pressure within the vessel, which may happen if the temperature has unintentionally become too high. This problem has been solved, to essential propor¬ tions, by the invention that constitutes the subject matter of the patent .... (Swedish patent application number 95 01942, filed 1995-05-24) . According to the just mentioned patent a solution of the recited problem has been achieved in that the vessel is pro¬ vided with an information carrier having one or more optically readable control information fields which information carrier is adapted to be used in order to indicate the temperature of the object as the object is heated in an oven. Here, it is conceivable, for instance, to watch visually how the informa¬ tion carrier shifts color as the desired temperature has been reached, so that the heating procedure may be stopped then. However, the information carrier is preferably adapted to cooperate with an optical reading device of the oven and a control device to control the heating procedure at least par¬ tially in dependence of the read temperature information. According to the invention it is preferred that the in¬ formation carrier is arranged directly on the heating object, e.g. as a disposable label or, alternatively, as a device for repeated use, which device is applied on the object, its ves¬ sel, package or container, e.g. as the heating is performed. According to the said patent it is preferred that the label or device comprises a field of temperature sensitive color which exhibits a color shift at the desired end tempera¬ ture of the object, preferably the ready-temperature of a food-stuff or a beverage. It is conceivable, according to the invention, that the information carrier has the shape of a label or a device for use in an oven having a lighting within the oven cavity, in which case the information carrier preferably is characterized in that the field with temperature sensitive color is composed of two layers, viz. an uppermost layer, which shifts from transparent into non-transparent, or vice versa, at a color shift, and a lowermost layer, which exhibits fluorescense at activation by the oven cavity lighting. In the patent it has been stated that the invention gene¬ rally is based on the concept that it is possible to utilize optical reading for the provision of a control system for an oven, which is partially associated with the oven itself, and the technical establishment thereof, and which is partially associated with the object or the food-stuff which should be subjected to heating/preparation, and, further, the realiza¬ tion that such a system, particularly the case with feed-back control, which in known ovens is solely associated with the technical establishment of the oven, may achieve considerable simplifications in the design of the control system of the oven and the general operation of the oven, and that this may be achieved while utilizing cost efficient technical solutions that are known per se by those skilled in the art. There ex¬ ists no principal limit for how much control information may be taken from the information carrier. Just as well as the information carrier may hold information for choice of a pre¬ set program with the control unit of the oven, the information carrier itself may comprise the control program, which is then read into the control unit at the actual use. In the present case the term optical reading is used, e.g. reading while using light vawelengts within the optical range, but also other vawelengths may be possible. Thus, the information car¬ rier may comprise fields with chrystalline or similar substan¬ ces which at activation by scanning radiation my be cauesd to emit their information by discrete vawelengths or within defi¬ ned vawelength-ranges. A feedback control may be achieved in that these substances are adapted to emit radiation of a tem¬ perature dependent vawelength. According to a further development of the invention the vessel may be provided with a further characterizing feature in the shape of an additional, temperature non-sensitive color marking which is disposed in such a manner that it can be detected by a further detecting device, adapted to control the start of the heating procedure. Only vessels having a marking that controls the stop of the heating are provided with the additional color marking, which results in that if a vessel that lacks both kinds of markings is inserted into e.g. a microvawe oven having an indicator for stopping of the heating then no heating can be started. In this way it is prevented that a heating is started that cannot be automatically in¬ terrupted at the desired temperature. In view of the fact that many manufacturers are able to provide information cariers and various kinds of color marks which may be useful for the above recited purposes it would be conceivable that vessels provided with information carriers or separate information carriers for application to vessels and intended to function in the above described ways would be produced and sold by unauthorized persons. Of course, this means a serious disadvantage, e.g. in that an authorized manu¬ facture of vessels might be accused and declared guilty for faults and deficiencies of vessels that have been unauthorized manufactured and sold. The present invention has for its object to remedy the just mentioned disadvantage and to provide a vessel which permits authorized use only. To the just mentoned end the vssel according to the pre¬ sent invention is characterized essentially in that it is provided with an identification marking which is adapted to cooperate with a detecting means, preferably disposed within the oven, which means is adapted to actuate a control device which permits function of the oven only if one or more prede¬ termined identification requisites are met. Preferably, the identification marking comprises one or more holograms which may be designed in comparatively compli¬ cated patterns or combinations thereof and thus may be nearly impossible to counterfeit. Further, they may be either vi¬ sible, in which case they may fullfill decorative purposes, or hidden for the eyes, in which case the security against unaut¬ horized use of vessels of the above recited kind is further enhanced. The invention is disclosed in more details below with reference had to the accompanying drawing which schematically shows various exaples of vessels according to the invention and wherein figure 1 is a perspective view of a vessel accor¬ ding to a first embodiment, used as an example, figure 2 is a side elevation of a vessel according to a second example, disposed in a micro-vawe oven, figure 3 is a side elevation of a vessel according to a third embodiment disposed on a heating plate, figure 4 is a perspective view of a vessel acording to a further embodiment, and figure 5 is view of a chart of color markings and a partial view of a vessel having a marking for disposition of color marks. Figure 1 shows a container or vessel of conventional type, containing water and a capsule with instant coffee pow¬ der (not shown). The content of the capsule should be heated up to 93 °C in order for the capsule to open, and, thus, in order for the coffee so produced to have the correct serving temperature. Therefore, the container is provided with a tem¬ perature sensitive color marking 2 which shifts color at a temperature of the outer surface of the vessel that corre¬ sponds to a temperature of 93 °C of the coffee within the ves¬ sel with a ordinary performed cooking, which has to be deter¬ mined from case to case. On an adjacent side the container is provided with another temperature-sensitive color marking 3 which shifts its color at a temperature of 80 C C of the con¬ tent of the container. Further, the continer 1 is provided with two reference color marks 4 which denote that the contai¬ ner is intended to be used for heating in a micro-vawe oven having automatic means for control of the heating up to the desired temperature. Such an oven 5 is shown schematically in figure 2. A container 1 of the kind as shown in figure 1, although made from a transparent material and having a color marking 9 dis¬ posed internally of the container, is placed in the oven in a guide 6 for the lowermost part of the container with the color marking 9 facing a sensing device 7. Simultaneously, one of the reference color marks 4 is positioned opposite a second sensing device 8. When the oven is switched on the sensing device 8 senses the existence of the color mark 4 and activa¬ tes a relay or the like so that the oven starts the heating. Within a few minutes the content of the container has reached the desired 93 ° and the color mark 9 shifts color which is sensed by the sensing device 7 which interrupts the heating through a relay or the like (not shown). In case a heating to only 80 °C had been desired then the container should have been placed in the oven with the color mark 9 ' facing the sen¬ sing device 7. The design of the oven 5 and of the devices 7 and 8 do not form a part of the invention, and therefore they are not described in more details here. As an alternative, the heating may take place on a hea¬ ting plate, fig. 3. A vessel 1 placed on such a heating plate has preferably a color marking 2 placed on the uppermost por- tion of the vessel in order that it should not be affected too much by disturbing heat on the our side of the vessel from the heating plate 10. Figure 4 illustrates and alternative embodiment of the color marks 2 and 3, viz. in the shape of color tapes 12 and 13, corresponding to the color marks 3 and 4 in fig. 1. The color tapes run around the periphery of the vessel and, thus, the vessel must not be turned in any special direction as it is placed into an oven of the kind ask shown in fig. 2. Some¬ times, particularly with containers that may be opened and re- sealed, it is desirable to determine the heating temperature from case to case. It is then possible to use self-adhering color markings that are applied to the container in question. Such color markings on a carrier 21 of self-adhering plastics are shown in figure 5 and are denoted 22, 23 and 24 for the temperatures 60 °C, 80 °C and 93 °C, respectively, and are af¬ fixed to a chart 25. To facilitate detaching the carriers 21 are provided with a flap, that is non-adhering and on which the temperature values are preferably printed. One such color marking is adapted to be affixed to a container which is pro¬ vided with a an indication 30 where the color marks 22, 23 och 24 are to be placed in order to get a correct position within the micro-vawe oven. If desired, the color markings may be detached from the container 1 after use, and again affixed to the chart 25 for repeated use a number of times. According to the invention the vessels are provided with an identification marking 14 which is adapted to cooperate with a reading device 15, preferably disposed within the oven and adapted to actuate a control device 16 which permits func¬ tion of the oven only by meeting one or more predeterminded identification requisites. The identification marking preferably comprises one or more holograms shich may be given rather complicated patterns or pattern combinations. Further, they may be either visible, in which case the may serve decorative purposes, or hidden for the eye, in which case the security against unauthorized use of vessels of the above recited kind is furhter enhanced. In figure 1 it is shown that the vessel is preferably provided with a pouring spout 17 having a lid 18. In the ex¬ ample an idenfication marking 19 is disposed in such a manner that it is normally hidden by the lid 18, at least partially. In this way one is compelled to open the lid at least partial¬ ly to permit heating. In this way the risk for unallowed over¬ pressures within the vessel during heating is eliminated.

Claims: C L A I S. l.A vessel for preparation of e.g. food-stuff and bever¬ ages by heating, and provided with an information carrier ha¬ ving one or more optically readable control information fields which information carrier is adapted to be used in order to indicate the temperature of the object as the object is heated in an oven characterized in that the vessel is provided with an identification marking (14) which is adapted to cooperate with a detecting means (15), preferably disposed within the oven, which means is adapted to actuate a control device (16) which permits function of the oven only if one or more prede¬ termined identification requisites are met. 2. A vessel as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the identification marking (14) comprises one or more holo¬ grams. 3. A vessel as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, characteri¬ zed in that the identification marking is visible from the outer side of the vessel . 4. A vessel as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that the identification marking (14) is putwardly hidden. 5. A vessel as claimed in one of claims 1 - 4, charac¬ terized in that identification marking (14) is combined with or incorporated into a marking or information carrier on the vessel for control of the start or termination of the heating procedure. 6. A vessel as claimed in one of claims 1 - 5, charac¬ terized in that the information carrier is adapted to coopera¬ te with an optical reading device of the oven and a control device to control the heating procedure at least partially in dependence of the temperature information being read. 7. A vessel as claimed in one of claims 1 - 6, charac¬ terized in that the identification marking and/or the informa¬ tion carrier is arranged directly on the heating object. 8 A vessel as claimed in one or more of claims 1 - 7 characterized in that the vessel is provided with a further characterizing feature in the shape of an additional, tempera¬ ture non-sensitive color marking which is disposed in such a manner that it can be detected by a further detecting device, adapted to control the start of the heating procedure. 9. A vessel as claimed in one or more of claims 1 - 8 characterized in that the identification mark and/or the in¬ formation carrier are disposed on an inner surface of a vessel made at least partially from a translucent material, so that they are visible from outside. 10. An information carrier having one or more optically readable control information fields and adapted to be used with or on a heating object, a vessel therefore, a package or a container during heating of the object in an oven, said oven having an optical reading device for touchless reading of an information carrier and a control unit for control of a a heating process in dependence of the information being read, charecterized in that the identification marking is formed directly on the heating object. 11. A vessel or container according to one or more of claims 1 - 10 for food-stuffs and beverages having different ready temperatures to be chosen as desired, characterized in that control information fields for the different temperatures are disposed at different places of or at different sides of the vessel or container to be able to cooperate with the rea¬ ding device. 12. A vessel according to one or more of claims 1 - 11, having a pouring spout with a lid, characterized in that the identification marking is disposed in such a manner that it is normally at least partially hidden by the lid. 13. The use of an idenfication marking together with a reading device for the same and a control unit, controlled by the reading device and adapted to control the function of an oven or a similar heating device only by meeting one or more predetermined identification requisites for heating of an ob¬ ject which has an information carrier with one or more control information fields and adapted to be present or be disposed with or on a food-stuff or beverage, a preparation vessel therefore, a package, container or the like in order to con¬ trol a heating/preparation process in an oven having a reading device for touchless reading of the information carrier, pre¬ ferably in a micro-vawe oven for heating of a beverage or food-stuff, particularly a liquid food-stuff, in its package and provided with an oven cavity, the shape of which is adap¬ ted to the shape of the package, on the outer surface of which there is disposed one or more fields which form the said in¬ formation carrier.

Inventors: AAKERLIND JAN, AAKERLIND, JAN
Applicants: AAKERLIND JAN, C D CATERING DEV AB, AAKERLIND, JAN, C-D CATERING DEVELOPMENT AB
Application year: 1996
Main classification: G01K11
IPC codes: F24C7, G01K11, H05B6