Abstract:
The present invention comprises an improved device and method for automated cooking foods with a liquid such as water. In a preferred embodiment, the system comprises a cooking chamber ( 46 ); a controller ( 20 ); a residential home gateway server ( 10 ) comprising a memory and a communications interface operatively connected to the controller ( 20 ) and to the Internet ( 104 ); a hopper ( 42 ) for containing food; a stopper ( 44 ) in communication with the cooking chamber ( 46 ) and the hopper ( 42 ), the stopper ( 44 ) operatively connected to and selectively controllable by the controller ( 20 ) to provide a predetermined portion of the food from the hopper ( 42 ) into the cooking chamber ( 46 ); the stopper having at least one position in which it is sealingly engaged against the cooking chamber ( 46 ) and the hopper ( 42 ) to prevent steam generated by the cooking process from entering into the hopper ( 42 ) during cooking; a conduit ( 30 ) in communication with the cooking chamber ( 46 ) for providing liquid into the cooking chamber ( 46 ); and a valve ( 32 ) disposed intermediate the conduit ( 30 ) and the cooking chamber ( 46 ) and operatively connected to and selectively controllable by the controller ( 20 ). The method comprises receiving data from a remote source, the data comprising a desired amount of servings of the food and a starting time for preparation of the food; determining the cooking characteristics of the food, comprising liquid needs for the food and cooking time; providing food into the cooking chamber ( 46 ) from the hopper ( 42 ) in a quantity sufficient to satisfy the desired servings; providing liquid into the compartment from the conduit ( 30 ) sufficient to satisfy liquid requirements of the food for the number of serving requirements; and engaging a cooking element accessible to the cooking chamber ( 46 ) sufficient to satisfy cooking time requirements for the desired number of servings.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to the field of cooking appliances. More specifically, the present invention, in an exemplary embodiment, relates to a cooking appliance for cooking a material requiring a liquid such as water, the appliance comprising a hopper for containing the material and a source of the liquid where cooking the material is automated under the control of a controller. More specifically still, the present invention, in an exemplary embodiment, relates to a cooking appliance such as a rice cooker where cooking the rice is automated under the control of a controller that may be remotely programmed such as by using an Internet browser. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     It has been speculated, in the prior art, that in the future homes will contain automation and intelligent appliances. Such home automation systems may allow people to engage their house as an active partner such as by using automated house components under the control of one or more controllers. These controllers may be linked together in many ways as will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the computer arts, by way of example and not limitation using semi-autonomous processors, central controllers, and the like. A controller may receive signals from controlling input devices and use those signals to control relevant appliances and systems in the house. 
     Controlled devices in a prior art home automation system are typically assigned distinct addresses so that when a signal is sent such as through power lines, only those switches and receptacles with the designated address will respond while others will ignore it. One such method uses X-10 protocols, which are protocols that may be used in power line communication technology. X-10 protocols may be used to communicate a range of controls, namely ON, OFF, DIM, BRIGHT, ALL LIGHTS ON and ALL UNITS OFF. More complex operations often require a plurality of X-10 controllers. 
     The simplest X-10 transmitter is a control box with buttons, not unlike a typical prior art remote control. When pressed, the X-10 controller&#39;s buttons provide for signaling a specific unit to be controlled and additionally indicate which control function is to be communicated. The X-10 controller may comprise clock timers, preset to transmit at specific times or triggered under special, recognizable circumstances such as sunrise or sunset, or movement. The simplest X-10 receiver is a small module with an electric plug that is hooked on to a standard wall outlet to create a “smart receptacle” that provides controlled power to any device that is connected to it. 
     Additionally, alternative products such as the CEBus manufactured by GE-Smart, a joint venture of GE Industrial Systems of Fairfield, Conn. and SMART of Las Cruces, N. Mex. (http://www.ge-smart.com) and LonWorks manufactured by Echelon Corporation of Sunnyvale, Calif. (http://www.ecehlon.com) provide additional protocol support that can be used with or as an alternative to X-10 technology. Numerous appliance vendors such as Philips Electronics have also contributed to a standard that will allow to link all of a home&#39;s electrical appliances into a single network. The standard may allow appliances such as computers, televisions, stereos and other electrical appliances to communicate with one another, such as by using TCP/IP protocols to provide appliances with an “Internet address.” 
     By way of example and not limitation, U.S. Ser. No. 09/715,364, filed Nov. 17, 2000 for Pieter van der Meulen (“van der Meulen &#39;064”)), for an INTELLIGENT APPLIANCE HOME NETWORK, fully incorporated by reference herein, describes a set of consumer devices that can be used in automated home systems. Systems comprising automated and intelligent appliances may incorporate alarm systems as well as status monitors and controllers for lights, motors, or appliances. Intelligent appliances may further provide mechanisms for bi-directional communications including the ability to receive commands and transmit status alerts. 
     Some manufacturers have begun marketing intelligent appliances such as Ariston Digital appliances manufactured by Merloni Electtrodomestisci of Italy. One such appliance by Merloni Electtrodomestisci is an “intelligent oven” comprising remote-control cooking programs and built-in Internet access for recipes. 
     Additionally, various systems and methods are known for automating some of the cooking process. U.S. Pat. No. 5,421,713 to Backus et al. for a “Pasta, Pastry, Cookie and Hors D&#39;oeuvre Maker” teaches a device having an automatic measuring cup that can mix and extrude various ingredients including pastas and the like. U.S. Pat. No. 5,967,023 to Acknin et al. for a “Mechanized Food Manufacturing Process” teaches a device for manufacturing foods using food materials held in specific sachets. Some patents teach the use of dry food ingredients contained in a bag for further processing, such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,550,653 to Hedenberg, U.S. Pat. No. 5,146,840 to Hedenberg, U.S. Pat. No. 4,803,086 to Hedenberg, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,196,113 to Yung. 
     Additionally, some publications also teach use of data communications such as over a telephone connection to initialize an appliance. U.S. Pat. No. 5,600,711 to Yuen is illustrative. 
     None of the publications teaches or suggests an appliance that has access to cooking materials, such as rice or pasta as well as a liquid such as water, under the control of, e.g., a residential home gateway server, to automatically deliver user-selected portions of the food material and liquid to a cooking area. None of the publications teaches or suggests an appliance that has access to a residential home gateway server where the residential home gateway server is in communication with a remote device for entering information comprising servings requested and time of day to start preparation. None of the publications teaches or suggests an automatic cooking device capable of automatically retrieving and preparing food on a per serving basis. None of the publications teaches or suggests an automatic cooking device capable of automatically retrieving and preparing food on a per serving basis after receiving instructions to do so from a remote device such as a remote controller, a computer, or via the Internet. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic of an exemplary system configuration of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic of an exemplary configuration of an adaptation of the present system of the present invention for a legacy cooking device; 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic of an alternative exemplary system configuration of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 4  is an exemplary representation of a user interface for remotely accessing the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     In general, throughout this description, if an item is described as implemented in software, it can equally well be implemented as hardware. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 1 , an exemplary configuration of the present invention is shown at  40 . Hopper  42  is a container for food material to be prepared using a liquid such as water, by way of example and not limitation including rice, cereal grains, pasta, coffee, dried foods such as soups, and the like. Stopper  44  is controllable to allow the food material in hopper  42  to selectively pass into cooking chamber  46 . In a first position, stopper  44  maintains a seal between hopper  42  and cooking chamber  46 . In a second position, stopper  44  allows a predetermined amount of the food material to pass between hopper  42  and cooking chamber  46 . 
     In a preferred embodiment, the food material is placed into hopper  42  in bulk. In a currently envisioned embodiment, as illustrated by legacy add-on  41 , stopper  44  comprises receiver  45  which comprises a chamber interior to stopper  44  adapted to receive a predetermined amount of the food material from hopper  42 . In this embodiment, stopper  44  is a rotatable member that receives a predetermined amount of the food as receiver  45  comes into communication with hopper  42 . As stopper  44  continues to rotate, receiver  45  fills up with the food material. As stopper  44  continues to rotate, food material is trapped in receiver  45  while a non-receiving portion of stopper  44  seals against hopper  42  and blocks further receipt of the food material from hopper  42 . As stopper  44  continues to rotate, receiver  45  comes into communication with cooking chamber  46  and the food material is released from receiver  45  into cooking chamber  46 . As stopper  44  rotates farther, stopper  44  additionally seals against cooking chamber  46 . In a preferred embodiment, when cooking begins, stopper  44  remains sealing engaged against hopper  42  and cooking chamber  46  so that steam generated from the cooking process is prevented from entering into hopper  42 . 
     In alternative currently envisioned embodiments, stopper  44  may be timed to allow the predetermined amount of food material to pass based on the time stopper  44  remains in its open second position. In a further embodiment, food material in hopper  42  may already be in predetermined portion sizes such as by packaging. In a further embodiment, stopper  44  may be of a corkscrew type feeding device as is known in the prior art. 
     Conduit  30  extends from a source of liquid (not shown in the figures) such as a water lines or water bottle or the like into cooking chamber  46 . Valve  32  is disposed intermediate conduit  30  and cooking chamber  46  and is selectively controllable to allow liquid to pass from the source of liquid into cooking chamber  46 . In an additionally contemplated embodiment, conduit  30  may be positioned so as to flush food material from stopper  44  after stopper  44  has provided food material to cooking chamber  46 . 
     In currently envisioned embodiments, the present invention may further comprise support  48  to provide support for hopper  42  when it contains food material of such weight that hopper  42  might lose balance. 
     Residential home gateway server  10  may be situated intermediate a local residential home network and the Internet  104  and be operatively in communication with one or more controllers  20 . In the preferred embodiment, residential home gateway server  10  is also operatively in communication with the Internet  104  and comprises a unique universal resource locator (“URL”) or internet protocol (“IP”) address. In a preferred embodiment, residential home gateway server  10  is a personal computer but can be a dedicated processor or any equivalent as will be readily familiar to those of ordinary skill in the computer and appliance control arts. Residential home gateway server  10  may accept commands submitted to it through the Internet  104  such as via an Internet browser. Additionally, residential home gateway server  10  may also be able to send commands to control controller  20 . 
     In the preferred embodiment, a security software module executable within residential home gateway server  10  handles authorization and authentication. After accepting the commands sent by a user with proper authorization, residential home gateway server  10  stores information about start and stop times for cooking, numbers of servings of the food material desired, and the like to enable control of controllers  20  that can be controlled by residential home gateway server  10 . The user can therefore remotely program cooking appliances  40 , 41  by submitting commands to residential home gateway server  10  by using an Internet browser that can reside in such as a computer, a personal digital assistant (“PDA”) or a Wireless Access Protocol (“WAP”) mobile phone with Internet access capability, or a cell phone to interact with a pre-programmed menu for the appliance through key selection at the phone&#39;s keypad, etc. 
     Controller  20  may control stopper  44 , valve  32 , and cooking chamber  46  by means well known to those in the control arts, by way of example and not limitation including stepper motors, X10 modules, and timers. In additional embodiments, controller  20  may comprise a plurality of controllers  20 , including controllers  20  embedded in cooking device  40  or cooking add-on  41 . In the preferred embodiment, X10 modules are used for the communications between residential home gateway server  10  and controllers  20 . 
     By way of example and not limitation, an X10 interface module may be attached to controller  20 . A controller  20  such as an X10 CM11A two-way controller may serve as the communication message relay between residential home gateway server  10  and other X10 modules. By way of example and not limitation, an X10 universal module in momentary mode may be attached to controller  20 . In momentary mode, the X10 universal module provides contact closure switching, e.g. the contacts may close for two seconds when an ON signal is received. The contact closure switching will provide the triggering signal to controllers  20  as will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skills in the control arts. Software executing in residential home gateway server  10  translates the number of servings of the food desired into an appropriate number of ON commands that will be sent to the X10 universal module. For example, if the number of food servings is four, residential home gateway server  10  sends out consecutively four ON commands following the X10 protocol format to the attached X10CM11A interface. The X10 CM11A interface then relays the commands via power lines to the X10 universal module that is attached to the appropriate controller  20 . Each time the X10 universal module in momentary mode receives the ON command, it will trigger controller  20  to rotate stopper  44  for a full cycle. In this manner, one serving of the food material is fetched from hopper  42  and put into cooking chamber  46  per cycle. 
     Residential home gateway server  10  receives instructions from a user inputting instructions either at residential home gateway server  10  or from a remote input device. In a currently preferred embodiment, residential home gateway server  10  is operatively connected to the Internet  104  and may receive instructions from remote input devices such as from a remote user using a computer such as at  110  or a remote user using a hand-held device such as a Palm™ manufactured by Palm Inc., a wireless internet device, or a WAP mobile phone, a cell phone, etc., shown at  120 . Additionally, other remote devices may be used such as television remote controls as described in van der Meulen &#39;064 or in U.S. Ser. No. 09/427,821(attorney docket PHA 23,786, filed Oct. 27, 1999 for Joost Kemink and Rik Sagar) for a PDA HAS WIRELESS MODEM FOR REMOTE CONTROL VIA THE INTERNET, fully incorporated by reference herein. Communication such as between residential home gateway server  10  and remote devices or residential home gateway server  10  and controller  20  may be accomplished by communications methods that will be readily familiar to those of ordinary skill in the computer communications arts, by way of example and not limitation including local area networks, wide area networks, wireless networks, wired networks, and the like, or any combination thereof. The communication interface between residential home gateway  10  and the Internet  104  can be by any of numerous methods as will be readily familiar to those of ordinary skill in the data communications arts, by way of example and not limitation including phone line dial up modems, cable modem, ATM interfaces, ISDN lines, and xDSL interfaces. As will also be readily familiar to those of ordinary skill in the data communications arts, the communication interface for the local home network can be wired such as by power line, phone line, USB cable, or Ethernet cables or can be wireless such as by radio frequency such as BLUETOOTH™ or infrared. 
     As is described in van der Meulen &#39;064, residential home gateway server  10  may receive feedback information regarding the present invention. By way of example and not limitation, in a currently preferred embodiment, feedback may be provided via the measurements of physical characteristics such as fluid pressure in conduit  30 , humidity in cooking chamber  46 , or the weight of the food material in hopper  42 , e.g. if there is no water then controller  20  will be signaled to immediately stop the cooking process. By way of further example and not limitation, when the cooking is done or if a problem occurs, controller  20  can send the user pertinent information such as in the form of an HTML page to the user&#39;s web browser, an e-mail message to the user&#39;s e-mail box, a short numerical message to the user&#39;s pager or mobile phone, a short vocal message to the user&#39;s phone message box or mobile phone, or the like, or a combination thereof. 
     In the currently preferred embodiment, cooking device  40  is an integrated unit comprising hopper  42 , stopper  44 , cooking chamber  46 , conduit  30 , and valve  32 . Cooking chamber comprises a cooking element, by way of example and not limitation comprising heating elements. Referring now to  FIG. 2 , in a currently envisioned alternative embodiment the present invention may be adapted for use with an existing cooking device, e.g.  46 , such as by way of example and not limitation being adapted to replace a lid or cover for the existing cooking device. In this embodiment, cooking chamber  46  is used from existing cooking device  41  and hopper  42 , stopper  44 , conduit  30 , and valve  32  are adapted for use with the existing cooking chamber  46 . A supporting structure  48  may be used to prevent hopper  42  from losing its balance. 
     As shown more clearly in  FIG. 2 , stopper  44  may be a rotary valve  44  having receiver  45  as is well known in the prior art. Further, stopper  44  may comprise internally compartmentalized wheels, corkscrews, sliding doors, and the like. 
     By way of further example and not limitation, referring now to  FIG. 3 , in a currently envisioned alternative embodiment the cooking device of the present invention may be connected to the user&#39;s phone line and thus be directly controlled by the user via a telephone without the need for residential home gateway server  10 . In this embodiment, the user may use a touch tone telephone or cellular phone or the like and dial a phone number to gain access to the cooking device, controlling the cooking device such as via dual tone multi-frequency (“DTMF”) signals, which will be readily understood to those of ordinary skills in the telephone control arts. 
     Referring back to  FIG. 1 , by way of further example and not limitation, cooking device  40 , 41  and its attached controllers  20  can have its own HTTP server implementation using HTTP server  112 . HTTP server  112  will have a unique URL or IP address. In one exemplary implementation, HTTP server  112  may reside within controller  20 . In alternative implementations, HTTP server  112  may be remote from cooking devices  40 , 41  and be accessed via the Internet  104 . From a web browser such as at computer  110 , the user can communicate with cooking device  40 , 41  directly via HTML pages, as will be readily understood to those of ordinary skill in the computer arts. 
     In the operation of an exemplary embodiment, referring now to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 4 , a user may remotely program cooking device  40  such as by accessing an interface such as  200  through an Internet browser as that term will be readily familiar to those of ordinary skill in the computer arts. It is presumed for this illustrative example that hopper  44  already contains food material to be prepared. Alternatively, the user may access interface  200  through alternative means such as by way of a television remote to an television adapted to receive appliance programming, a hand held device such as a personal digital assistant having a wireless communications module, or the like. 
     Using interface  200 , the user may select from one or more foods such as by menu  201  and instruct cooking device  40 ,  41  to prepare a number of servings of the selected food such as by entering data into  202 . Further, the user can also instruct cooking device  40 , 41  to begin preparation immediately such as at  204  or specify a time in the future such as at  206 ,  207 . When the user is satisfied that the cooking instructions are correct, the user may commence the instructions by submitting them, such as at  210 . Cooking device  40 , 41  may automatically vary the start time by maintaining a database of cooking characteristics for each food of which it is aware. These cooking characteristics may further comprise amounts of liquids required for a given food to be prepared, amounts of liquids required per serving portion of that food, and heat ranges for cooking the food. 
     By way of further example and not limitation, a user may wish to have four servings of rice awaiting the user when the user arrives home. The user knows that the rice will take a certain amount of time to cook and the cooking device  40 , 41 , via residential home gateway server  10 , knows the cooking requirements for rice including time, heat, and liquid requirements. The user retrieves interface  200 , selects “rice” from menu  201 , fills in  202  with “4,” and fills in box  207  with the time when the user wants the cooking to be started. The user additionally specifies the URL or the IP address of residential home gateway server  10  in menu item  209 . These instructions are transmitted to an http server  112  accessible to residential home gateway server  10 . In a preferred embodiment, the http server  112  may reside within the home gateway server  10 . Further, in the currently preferred embodiment, the user may first establish a secure and private communication session, such as a secured http session, with residential home gateway server  10 . The establishment of the secured session may be accomplished using an authorization and authentication module within residential home gateway server  10 . 
     The user then transmits the required information to residential home gateway server  10 , e.g. food selected, cooking times, and serving amounts. At the selected time, residential home gateway server  10  instructs controller  20  to feed the appropriate amount of food material, e.g. dry rice, from hopper  42  into cooking chamber  46 , accomplished using stopper  44 , as well as an appropriate amount of water from conduit  30  connected to a water source such as a home water line. When the rice and water are present in appropriate amounts in cooking chamber  46 , controller  20  closes stopper  44 , such as by bringing stopper  44  into a first, closed position that seals against both hopper  42  and cooking chamber  46 , and closes conduit  30  using valve  32 . When hopper  44  and conduit  30  are closed, controller  20  enables cooking chamber  46 , e.g. turns on a heating element, for a time appropriate for the servings present in cooking chamber  46 . At the end of that time interval, controller  20  disables cooking chamber  46 , e.g. turns off the heating element. It is understood that certain embodiments of cooking chamber  46  may exist that have additional, automated controls such as humidity controls, content weight controls, or timers and that controller  20  may be adapted for use with such other additional, automated controls. It is understood that by using the information provided by the user, e.g., the content for the cooking and the number of servings, residential home gateway server  10  may be able to automatically calculate the adequate cooking time and the amount of liquid, e.g. water, needed and control the cooking device accordingly. Additionally, residential home gateway server  10  may be updated over the Internet  104  as to cooking characteristics of foods. 
     In a further contemplated alternative embodiment, a user may inform residential home gateway server  10  of a time at which the servings are expected to be cooked and residential home gateway server  10 , through its stored data concerning cooking details such as cooking time, may independently derive a start time for cooking. 
     In addition to general utility, the present invention may be useful for the elderly or others with limited mobility as well as for individuals who wish to have foods prepared by the time they return home. Additionally, the present invention may be useful in industrial situations such as fast food establishments to allow customers to use the Internet  104 , cellular telephony, or the like to call ahead for a specific order which can be processed automatically and be ready for that customer. By way of example and not limitation, in an industrial situation, e.g. a restaurant or a fast food store, the present invention may be used with a number of available cooking devices. When a customer places an order at the counter, the data entry terminal or register could link into the residential home gateway server  10  and instruct one of a plurality of idle cooking devices to prepare the requested number of servings. The residential home gateway server  10  could also have intelligence about the expected demand for food in an upcoming timeframe, i.e., lunch time, etc., and automatically start cooking food at various times of day based on experience of recent days. 
     It will be understood that various changes in the details, materials, and arrangements of the parts which have been described and illustrated above in order to explain the nature of this invention may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the principle and scope of the invention as recited in the following claims.