Patent Publication Number: US-2021161324-A1

Title: Cooking device for food

Description:
FIELD 
     The disclosure relates to a cooking device for food. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Steaming or boiling is a simple cooking method for food, which can quickly heat the food to be fully cooked for eating. However, for food of different characteristics, only corresponding preferred heating and cooking methods can present unique tastes and flavors of the food. 
     For example, as common food in daily life, eggs have very high nutritional value. For a general catering market, a large number of boiled eggs need to be cooked every day to cater for customers. Therefore, there is a conventional egg boiling device on the market, which can produce a large number of eggs in batches to meet market demand. However, in a process of using the conventional egg boiling device to cook a large number of eggs, because many eggs are processed in a batch, the eggs are easily squeezed against each other and cracked, which easily causes a loss to the owner. In addition, it is difficult to effectively control the quality of the boiled eggs in the cooking process. For example, the yolk is eccentric or the boiled egg may not be cooked evenly during cooking. Moreover, the conventional egg boiling device has a large overall volume and easily occupies too much space of the workshop; therefore, it is inconvenient to use the device. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure, a cooking device for food includes a base, a power unit and a multi-stage cooking unit. The base has an inlet end and an outlet end, and an accommodating space is formed between the inlet end and the outlet end. A transmission direction is defined between the inlet end and the outlet end, a direction from the inlet end to the outlet end is defined as a first transmission direction, and a direction from the outlet end to the inlet end is defined as a second transmission direction. The power unit is connected to the base. The power unit has a first driving member and a second driving member, the first driving member and the second driving member each have a plurality of rotation shafts, a plurality of sprockets, and a plurality of chains. The rotation shafts rotatably are connected to the base and located in the accommodating space, the sprockets are connected to the rotation shafts respectively, and the chains are mounted around the sprockets. A first vertical height exists between one of the rotation shafts that is near the inlet end and a bottom portion of the base, and a second vertical height exists between another rotation shaft that is near the outlet end and the bottom portion of the base, the first vertical height is less than the second vertical height. The multi-stage cooking unit is divided into an upper layer and a lower layer. The multi-stage cooking unit has a plurality of stoppers and at least one guideway. The stoppers pivotally are connected to the second driving members of the power unit. The stoppers of the upper layer are driven by the second driving member to move towards the second transmission direction, the stoppers of the lower layer are driven by the second driving member to move towards the first transmission direction. The at least one guideway is connected to the base, wherein the stoppers pivotally move to form a carrying spacing or a blanking spacing, and near the outlet end the stoppers pivotally move to output the cooked food. 
     Therefore, in the process that the cooking device uses the multi-stage cooking unit to cook food, the food may be arranged at intervals, to effectively prevent each of the food from being cracked due to squeeze. In addition, because the multi-stage cooking unit can be divided into the upper layer and the lower layer by using the hierarchical design, an overall length of the cooking device for food is reduced to avoid occupying too much space of the workshop. Further, the cooking device for food of the invention can be used to cook a large quantity of food, and can steadily drive food to keep moving, so that the food has enough time to be fully cooked evenly, to improve the cooking quality of the food. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Aspects of the present disclosure are understood from the following detailed description when read with the accompanying figures. It is emphasized that, in accordance with the standard practice in the industry, various features are not drawn to scale. In fact, the dimensions of the various features may be arbitrarily increased or reduced for clarity of discussion. 
         FIG. 1  is a three-dimensional appearance diagram of a cooking device for food according to the invention. 
         FIG. 2 a    is a local side cross-sectional view of an upper section of the cooking device for food according to the invention. 
         FIG. 2 b    is a local side cross-sectional view of a lower section of the cooking device for food according to the invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a local three-dimensional appearance diagram of a pre-processing unit of a cooking device for food according to the invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a local three-dimensional appearance diagram of a multi-stage cooking unit of a cooking device for food according to the invention. 
         FIG. 5  is a local three-dimensional appearance diagram of a part near an inlet end of a base of a cooking device for food according to the invention. 
         FIG. 6  is a local three-dimensional appearance diagram of a part near an outlet end of a base of a cooking device for food according to the invention. 
         FIG. 7  is schematic diagram of a usage state of the cooking device for food according to the invention when food is put into the pre-processing unit. 
         FIG. 8  is schematic diagram of a usage state of the cooking device for food according to the invention when food to be processed drop on an upper layer of the multi-stage cooking unit. 
         FIG. 9  is schematic diagram of a usage state of the cooking device for food according to the invention when food to be processed drop on a lower layer of the multi-stage cooking unit. 
         FIG. 10  is schematic diagram of a usage state of the cooking device for food according to the invention when stoppers of the multi-stage cooking unit veer. 
         FIG. 11  is schematic diagram of a usage state of the cooking device for food according to the invention when food to be processed finishes cooking and is output. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     It is to be understood that the following disclosure provides many different embodiments or examples, for implementing different features of various embodiments. Specific examples of components and arrangements are described below to simplify the present disclosure. The present disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this description will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the present disclosure to those of ordinary skill in the art. It will be apparent, however, that one or more embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. 
     In addition, the present disclosure may repeat reference numerals and/or letters in the various examples. This repetition is for the purpose of simplicity and clarity and does not in itself dictate a relationship between the various embodiments and/or configurations discussed. 
     It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being “on” another element, it can be directly on the other element or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly on” another element, there are no intervening elements present. 
     It will be understood that singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. 
     Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms; such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and the present disclosure, and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein. 
       FIG. 1  is a three-dimensional appearance diagram of a cooking device for food according to the invention.  FIG. 2 a    is a local side cross-sectional view of an upper section of the cooking device for food according to the invention.  FIG. 2 b    is a local side cross-sectional view of a lower section of the cooking device for food according to the invention. Referring to  FIG. 1 ,  FIG. 2 a    and  FIG. 2 b   , in an embodiment, according to the invention the cooking device  1  for food includes a base  10 , a power unit  20 , a pre-processing unit  30 , and a multi-stage cooking unit  40 . The cooking device  1  can be used for cooking food such as a chicken egg, a duck egg, a goose egg, or the like, but is not limited thereto. 
     The base  10  has an inlet end  11  and an outlet end  12 , and an accommodating space  13  is formed between the inlet end  11  and the outlet end  12 . In addition, a transmission direction D is defined between the inlet end  11  and the outlet end  12 . A direction from the inlet end  11  to the outlet end  12  is defined as a first transmission direction D 1 , and a direction from the outlet end  12  to the inlet end  11  is defined as a second transmission direction D 2 . In an embodiment, the base  10  may include two opposite side portions  14  and a bottom portion  15 . A distance exists between the two side portions  14 , and the bottom portion  15  is located between the two side portions  14 . The two side portions  14 , together with the bottom portion  15 , enclose the accommodating space  13 , to connect with the power unit  20  and accommodate the pre-processing unit  30  and the multi-stage cooking unit  40 . 
     The power unit  20  is connected to the base  10  and is located in the accommodating space  13 . The power unit  20  includes a plurality of driving members  21 , configured to drive the pre-processing unit  30  and the multi-stage cooking unit  40  to move forward in the transmission direction D, so that food can be transmitted from the inlet end  11  of the base  10  to the outlet end  12  of the base  10 . 
     In an embodiment, the driving members  21  of the power unit  20  include a first driving member  21   a  and a second driving member  21   b . The first driving member  21   a  and the second driving member  21   b  each include a plurality of rotation shafts  211 , a plurality of sprockets  212 , and a plurality of chains  213 . The rotation shafts  211  are rotatably connected to the base  10  and are located in the accommodating space  13 . When the base  10  includes the two side portions  14 , the rotation shafts  211  are connected to the two side portions  14  of the base  10 , and the rotation shafts  211  can be driven to rotate by a power source such as a motor. The sprockets  212  are connected to the rotation shafts  211  respectively, and the chains  213  are set around the sprockets  212 . When the rotation shafts  211  are driven by the power source and synchronously drive the sprockets  212  to rotate, the chains  213  can be driven by the sprockets  212  to move around circularly in a clockwise direction or in an anticlockwise direction. Quantity selection and location setting of the rotation shafts  211 , the sprockets  212 , and the chains  213  of the driving members  21  are based on a principle that the pre-processing unit  30  and the multi-stage cooking unit  40  can be successfully driven to move forward along the transmission direction D, and are not limited by the embodiment disclosed above. 
       FIG. 3  is a local three-dimensional appearance diagram of a pre-processing unit of a cooking device for food according to the invention. Referring to  FIG. 2 a   ,  FIG. 2 b    and  FIG. 3 , the pre-processing unit  30  includes a plurality of rollers  31  and at least one track  32 . The rollers  31  are pivotally connected to the driving members  21  of the power unit  20 , a locating spacing d 1  exists between adjacent rollers  31 , and each of the rollers  31  has a central axis L. An extension direction of the central axis L may be perpendicular to the transmission direction D. The at least one track  32  is connected to the base  10  and is located in the accommodating space  13 , and the at least one track  32  may be in contact with a peripheral surface of the rollers  31 . 
     In an embodiment, two opposite ends of the rollers  31  can be pivotally connected to the chains  213  of the first driving member  21   a . A plurality of tracks  32  is provided, and the tracks  32  are respectively connected to the two side portions  14  of the base  10 . Therefore, when the chains  213  of the first driving member  21   a  move circularly around the sprockets  212 , the rollers  31  can correspondingly move towards the first transmission direction D 1  or the second transmission direction D 2 . In addition, in the moving process, if the rollers  31  are in contact with the tracks  32 , a frictional resistance between the rollers  31  and the tracks  32  enables the rollers  31  to rotate correspondingly. 
       FIG. 4  is a local three-dimensional appearance diagram of a multi-stage cooking unit of a cooking device for food according to the invention. Referring to  FIG. 2 a   ,  FIG. 2 b    and  FIG. 4 , the multi-stage cooking unit  40  is disposed between the bottom portion  15  of the base  10  and the pre-processing unit  30 , and the multi-stage cooking unit  40  may be divided into an upper layer  40   a  and a lower layer  40   b . The upper layer  40   a  and the lower layer  40   b  of the multi-stage cooking unit  40  each include a plurality of stoppers  41  and at least one guideway  42 . The stoppers  41  are pivotally connected to the driving members  21  of the power unit  20 , and the at least one guideway  42  is connected to the base  10  and is located in the accommodating space  13 . Therefore, when the driving members  21  drive the stoppers  41  to move forward, the at least one guideway  42  may be in contact with the stoppers  41 , so that the stoppers  41  pivotally move to form a carrying spacing d 2 ; or when the at least one guideway  42  is not in contact with the stoppers  41 , the stoppers  41  pivotally move to form a blanking spacing d 3 . 
     In an embodiment, each of the stoppers  41  includes at least one fixing plate  411 , a pivot joint rod  412 , and at least one locating rod  413 , where the quantity of the fixing plates  411  and the quantity of the locating rods  413  may be selected as one or more than two (included) as required. The fixing plate  411  is configured to fix the pivot joint rod  412  and the locating rod  413 , so that the pivot joint rod  412  and the locating rod  413  are parallel to each other at intervals. Two opposite ends of the pivot joint rod  412  can be pivotally connected to the chains  213  of the second driving member  21   b , and each of the pivot joint rods  412  has a central axis L, where an extension direction of the central axis L may be perpendicular to the transmission direction D. The at least one guideway  42  is jointed with the side portion  14  of the base  10 . Therefore, when the chains  213  of the second driving member  21   b  move circularly around the sprockets  212 , the stoppers  41  can correspondingly move towards the first transmission direction D 1  or the second transmission direction D 2 . In addition, in the moving process of the stoppers  41 , the at least one guideway  42  can be in contact with a peripheral surface of the at least one locating rod  413  of the stoppers  41 . 
       FIG. 5  is a local three-dimensional appearance diagram of a part near an inlet end of a base of a cooking device for food according to the invention. In  FIG. 5 , the chains  213  and the stoppers  41  are not shown. Referring to  FIG. 2 a   ,  FIG. 2 b    and  FIG. 5 , in an embodiment, the inlet end  11  of the base  10  is provided with a feeding plate  16 , where the feeding plate  16  can carry food, to import the food to a location of the pre-processing unit  30 . In addition, in the second driving member  21   b  of the power unit  20 , one of the rotation shafts  211  that is near the inlet end  11  may be provided with a driving wheel  50 , and the driving wheel  50  is configured to guide the stoppers  41  of the multi-stage cooking unit  40  to veer without interference and then move towards the first transmission direction D 1 . 
       FIG. 6  is a local three-dimensional appearance diagram of a part near an outlet end of a base of a cooking device for food according to the invention. In  FIG. 6 , the chains  213  and the stoppers  41  are not shown. Referring to  FIG. 2 a   ,  FIG. 2 b    and  FIG. 6 , in an embodiment, the outlet end  12  of the base  10  is provided with a horizontal prism  60 , where the horizontal prism  60  is jointed with a plurality of guiding plates  61 . The location of the guiding plates  61  is set on the premise of not interfering with rotation of the rotation shafts  211 . Therefore, the guiding plates  61  are configured to guide the stoppers  41  of the multi-stage cooking unit  40  to veer without interference and then move towards the second transmission direction D 2 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 a    and  FIG. 2 b   , in the second driving member  21   b  of the power unit  20 , a first vertical height H 1  exists between one of the rotation shafts  211  that is near the inlet end  11  and the bottom portion  15  of the base  10 , a second vertical height H 2  exists between another rotation shaft  211  that is near the outlet end  12  and the bottom portion  15  of the base  10 , where the first vertical height H 1  is less than the second vertical height H 2 . Therefore, with the bottom portion  15  of the base  10  as a reference, in the multi-stage cooking unit  40 , the stoppers  41  near the outlet end  12  can be higher than the stoppers  41  near the inlet end  11 , so that the food can be successfully output after being delivered to the outlet end  12 . 
     When the cooking device  1  for food according to the invention is used for cooking food, heating may be achieved with water, vapor or hot blast in combination with methods such as heating from cold water, heating with boiled water or steam pressurizing, so that the food can be quickly cooked to be finished. The food being eggs is used as an example for description below. 
       FIG. 7  is schematic diagram of a usage state of the cooking device for food according to the invention when food is put into the pre-processing unit. Referring to  FIG. 2 a   ,  FIG. 2 b    and  FIG. 7 , in an embodiment, a plurality of eggs  70  can be put into the feeding plate  16 , and the feeding plate  16  can import the eggs  70  to the location of the pre-processing unit  30 . The locating spacing d 1  is set slightly less than an outer diameter of the egg  70 , so that the eggs  70  can drop between the rollers  31  to be positioned at initial locations. The first driving member  21   a  of the power unit  20  can be driven, to control the chains  213  of the first driving member  21   a  to move circularly in an anticlockwise direction according to the direction shown in the figure. Therefore, the rollers  31 , in cooperation with the first driving member  21   a , can drive the eggs  70  to move towards the first transmission direction D 1 . In the moving process of the rollers  31 , when the rollers  31  are in contact with the tracks  32  and rotate, the eggs  70  also correspondingly rotate synchronously between the rollers  31 . In this case, if boiled water is used to heat the eggs  70 , the boiled water is poured into the accommodating space  13  of the base  10 , and a water surface  71  of the boiled water can be controlled at a central position of the eggs  70 , so that the eggs  70  can be initially heated to be soft-boiled while continuously rolling and moving forward, and it is ensured that an internal yolk position is not easily eccentric. Further, the pre-processing unit  30  is applicable to initial heating processing of food such as eggs  70 , to improve the quality of the food after being cooked. However, according to different characteristics of food to be processed, the assembly may also be omitted, that is, the food may be directed imported to the multi-stage cooking unit  40  for cooking. 
       FIG. 8  is schematic diagram of a usage state of the cooking device for food according to the invention when food to be processed drop on an upper layer of the multi-stage cooking unit. Referring to  FIG. 2 a   ,  FIG. 2 b    and  FIG. 8 , in an embodiment, when the rollers  31  drive the eggs  70  to keep moving towards the first transmission direction D 1  to an end, the egg  70  that has been cooked for a while can drop in flow with water to the upper layer  40   a  of the multi-stage cooking unit  40 . The second driving member  21   b  of the power unit  20  can be driven, to control the chains  213  of the second driving member  21   b  to move circularly in a clockwise direction according to the direction shown in the figure. Therefore, the stoppers  41  of the upper layer  40   a , in cooperation with the second driving member  21   b , can drive the eggs  70  to move towards the second transmission direction D 2 . In the moving process of the stoppers  41 , when in contact with the guideways  42 , the stoppers  41  are pivotally inclined, so that the carrying spacing d 2  is formed between the stoppers  41 . The carrying spacing d 2  may be set slightly less than the outer diameter of the egg  70 , to ensure that the eggs  70  are positioned between the stoppers  41 , thereby being steadily and continuously cooked in the water and moving towards the second transmission direction D 2 . To describe and clearly present the position where the egg  70  is placed, in  FIG. 8 , only one egg  70  presented between the stoppers  41 . In an embodiment, several eggs  70  are stacked between the stoppers  41 . 
       FIG. 9  is schematic diagram of a usage state of the cooking device for food according to the invention when food to be processed drop on a lower layer of the multi-stage cooking unit. Referring to  FIG. 2 a   ,  FIG. 2 b    and  FIG. 9 , in an embodiment, the stoppers  41  drive the eggs  70  to keep moving towards the second transmission direction D 2  to an end, and when the stoppers  41  are out of contact with the guideways  42 , the stoppers  41  are pivotally vertical, so that the blanking spacing d 3  is formed between the stoppers  41 , and the blanking spacing d 3  is set greater than the outer diameter of the egg  70 . That is, in a set distance in front of the driving wheel  50 , the guideways  42  are not provided, so that in the set distance where the guideways  42  are not provided, the stoppers  41  are pivotally vertical, thereby forming the blanking spacing d 3  between the stoppers  41 . Therefore, the egg  70  that has been cooked for a while can drop in flow with water to the lower layer  40   b  of the multi-stage cooking unit  40 . Therefore, the stoppers  41  of the lower layer  40   b , in cooperation with the second driving member  21   b , can continuously drive the eggs  70  to move towards the first transmission direction D 1 . In the moving process of the stoppers  41 , when in contact with the guideways  42  or the bottom portion  15  of the base  10 , the stoppers  41  are also pivotally inclined, so that the carrying spacing d 2  is formed between the stoppers  41 , to ensure that the eggs  70  are positioned between the stoppers  41 , thereby being steadily and continuously cooked in the water and moving towards the first transmission direction D 1 . 
       FIG. 10  is schematic diagram of a usage state of the cooking device for food according to the invention when stoppers of the multi-stage cooking unit veer. Referring to  FIG. 10 , the driving wheel  50  can guide the stoppers  41  of the upper layer  40   a  of the multi-stage cooking unit  40  to veer towards the lower layer  40   b  of the multi-stage cooking unit  40  without interference, and then continuously move towards the first transmission direction D 1 . Therefore, the cooking device  1  for food can be ensured to operate more smoothly, to improve working stability. 
       FIG. 11  is schematic diagram of a usage state of the cooking device for food according to the invention when food to be processed finishes cooking and is output. Referring to  FIG. 11 , in an embodiment, the stoppers  41  can drive the eggs  70  that have been cooked for a while to keep moving towards the first transmission direction D 1  to the outlet end  12 . When moving to a position near the outlet end  12  of the multi-stage cooking unit  40 , the eggs  70  can be directly output through the outlet end  12  and drop on a scheduled collection position, to complete cooking of the eggs  70 . In addition, the guiding plate  61  is provided, and the guiding plate  61  can guide the stoppers  41  of the lower layer  40   b  of the multi-stage cooking unit  40  to veer towards the upper layer  40   a  of the multi-stage cooking unit  40  without interference. Therefore, it is ensured that the pre-processing unit  30  and the multi-stage cooking unit  40  of the cooking device  1  for food continuously move circularly, to repeatedly perform the foregoing cooking steps, so that a large quantity of food can be cooked to improve cooking efficiency. 
     As described above, in the foregoing embodiments, in the process that the cooking device  1  for food of the invention uses the pre-processing unit  30  and the multi-stage cooking unit  40  to cook food, the food, for example, food that is easily cracked like eggs, may be arranged at intervals, to effectively prevent each of the eggs from being cracked due to squeeze. In addition, because the multi-stage cooking unit  40  can be divided into the stoppers  41  of the upper layer  40   a  and the stoppers  41  of the lower layer  40   b , by using the hierarchical design, an overall length of the cooking device  1  for food is reduced to avoid occupying too much space of the workshop, thereby improving use convenience. Further, the cooking device  1  for food of the invention can be used to cook a large quantity of food, to supply a huge market demand of the catering industry and reduce a waste of human resources, thereby saving working time. Further, the multi-stage cooking unit  40  can steadily drive food to keep moving, so that the food has enough time to be fully cooked evenly, to improve the cooking quality of the food. 
     Moreover, the scope of the present application is not intended to be limited to the particular embodiments of the process, machine, manufacture, and composition of matter, means, methods and steps described in the specification. As those skilled in the art will readily appreciate form the present disclosure, processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps, presently existing or later to be developed, that perform substantially the same function or achieve substantially the same result as the corresponding embodiments described herein may be utilized in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. 
     Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to include within their scope such processes, machines, manufacture, and compositions of matter, means, methods or steps. In addition, each claim constitutes a separate embodiment, and the combination of various claims and embodiments are within the scope of the invention.