Patent Publication Number: US-2019174953-A1

Title: Autonomous apparatus for cooking food, and corresponding method

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention concerns an autonomous apparatus for cooking food, comprising a support body, a lid and a container for the food that can be removed/inserted with respect to the support body. 
     The autonomous apparatus also comprises at least one heating device and at least one element to generate a flow of air to the food. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     In the domestic environment, autonomous apparatuses for cooking food are known, comprising a support body and an internal container, selectively extractable, open at the top, and defining a cooking compartment. 
     The apparatus is also provided with a lid, possibly part of or associable with the support body, which can be closed on the internal container to create a cooking compartment having a controlled atmosphere suitable for the cooking to be carried out. 
     Furthermore, at least one heat energy producing device is normally present, disposed at the bottom and/or top of the internal container, which usually cooperates with one or more elements suitable to generate a flow of heated air to the container, so as to provide the desired contribution of heat energy to the food. 
     When the heating devices are disposed at the top of the internal container, they are normally associated with an aperture for sending the flow of air, localized in a portion of the lid, for example in proximity to the hinging position of the lid to the support body. 
     For the purposes of obtaining a proper and homogenous cooking of the food, it is important that the flow of hot air takes a certain path; that is, from the sending aperture, the flow of air must be distributed uniformly inside the container and between the food and then be removed through a return exit. 
     However, it often happens that, due to the conformation of the return exit and/or due to the position where it is installed, the flow of air is not taken to follow a path that passes through the food and that distributes the heat inside the cooking compartment homogeneously. 
     It also happens that the internal container acts as a barrier, preventing the flow of hot air from affecting the deepest layer of the food as well, and thus constraining the path made by the flow of air. 
     This leads to a very dis-homogeneous cooking of the food, with excessively cooked parts near the outlet of the flow of air, and uncooked parts away from it, as well as a disproportionate energy consumption compared to needs. 
     Document CN 202 341 751 describes an autonomous apparatus for cooking food comprising a support body, an openable lid, a container removable from/insertable into the support body and open at the top, at least one heating device and at least one element to generate a flow of air. 
     The air flow generator element is connected to a return exit located on an internal wall of the cooking chamber. The autonomous apparatus does not have any through holes in the internal container of the food, indeed the latter is not holed at any point. Therefore, the hot air entering into the cooking chamber affects the food only on the surface, since it is recalled by the return exit disposed in the upper part of the cooking chamber. 
     Document CN 203 314 797 describes an autonomous apparatus for cooking food having a container for the food that can be rotated from a substantially horizontal open position used for filling to a substantially vertical closed position used for heating and cooking. In the closed position, a gear system couples with holes present in the lateral wall of the container to make it rotate during cooking/heating. The autonomous apparatus comprises at least one heating device and at least one element to generate a flow of air which, with the container in the closed position, are disposed facing the front aperture of the container. 
     The container is provided with a second lid having through holes which, in two distinct portions of the second lid, allow the flow of air to enter into and exit from the container. The flow of air enters and exits substantially from the front portion of the container, and hence does not guarantee a homogeneous distribution over the whole internal volume of the container. 
     One purpose of the present invention is to obtain an autonomous apparatus for cooking food that allows to distribute the heat homogeneously inside the cooking compartment so as to make the heat contribution uniform to all the foods contained in the compartment itself. 
     Another purpose of the present invention is to obtain an autonomous apparatus for cooking food that optimizes the heat exchange, determining energy savings and allowing the optimum cooking of the food. 
     The Applicant has devised, tested and embodied the present invention to overcome the shortcomings of the state of the art and to obtain these and other purposes and advantages. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is set forth and characterized in the independent claims, while the dependent claims describe other characteristics of the invention or variants to the main inventive idea. 
     In accordance with the above purposes, the present invention concerns an autonomous apparatus for cooking food comprising a support body, an openable lid which can be hinged to the support body, an internal container which can be extracted/inserted with respect to the support body and open at the top, at least one heating device and at least one element to generate a flow of air toward the inside of the internal container. The air flow generator element is connected to a return exit having a suction mouth made in correspondence with an internal wall of the support body. 
     According to one aspect of the present invention, the suction mouth cooperates with a plurality of through holes made on at least one portion of the lateral wall of the internal container. The through holes are present at least partly on the lateral wall, in particular on a band near a peripheral edge disposed at the top of the lateral wall of the container. 
     According to one embodiment, the band with the through holes extends starting from the peripheral edge for 70%, advantageously 60%, of the height of the lateral wall. 
     According to a variant embodiment, the through holes are made, or are also made, on at least one portion of the base wall of the internal container. 
     Advantageously, the cooperation between the suction mouth and the through holes, present in at least part of the lateral wall and/or the base wall of the internal container and comparable to forced circulation channels, allows the flow of hot air to pass through the food inside the container in a substantially complete manner, and to pass through the container itself, determining a continuity in the closed circuit for the recirculation of the flow of air. 
     Advantageously, in one solution of the invention, the through holes are made on a substantial part of the height of the internal container, and are distributed in overlapping and/or vertically aligned rows, parallel or staggered with respect to each other. 
     All the through holes can be the same size as each other, in a first solution, or the holes can be different in size from each other, for example, but not necessarily, smaller in the upper rows of the internal container and bigger in the lower rows, or vice versa. 
     The present invention also concerns a method to return a flow of heat conditioned air inside an autonomous apparatus for cooking food, which uses a return exit with a plurality of through holes made in a lateral and/or base internal portion of the internal container. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       These and other characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of some embodiments, given as a non-restrictive example with reference to the attached drawings wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an autonomous apparatus for cooking food; 
         FIG. 2  is a section view of the autonomous apparatus as in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is another section view of the autonomous apparatus in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a section view of a detail of the autonomous apparatus in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a section view of the autonomous apparatus in one embodiment. 
     
    
    
     To facilitate comprehension, the same reference numbers have been used, where possible, to identify identical common elements in the drawings. It is understood that elements and characteristics of one embodiment can conveniently be incorporated into other embodiments without further clarifications. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SOME EMBODIMENTS 
     Embodiments described here in  FIGS. 1-5  refer to an autonomous apparatus  10  for cooking foods, able to perform various cooking modes, such as stewing, brazing, boiling, roasting, frying, simple heating, sautéing, browning, slow cooking, or quick cooking in general. 
     The autonomous apparatus  10  comprises a support body  12 , with which is associated an openable lid  14 , an extractable/insertable internal container  16 , open at the top and defining a cooking compartment  26  for food, at least one heating device  18  and at least one air flow generator element  20 . 
     The support body  12  has an external wall  12   a  and an internal wall  12   b , adjacent during use to the container  16 . 
     Between the external wall  12   a  and the internal wall  12   b  there is an interspace  15  which can function as a technical compartment. 
     The support body  12  has an upper edge  13  which cooperates at least partly with a lower edge of the lid  14  when the latter is closed to cover the container  16 . 
     The presence of the lid  14  is functional to create a controlled environment and conditions necessary for cooking the food. 
     The lid  14  can be made of the same material as the support body  12 , or of a different material. 
     Advantageously, at least the lid  14  can be made of at least partly transparent material, to allow the user to view and thus control the cooking. 
     For example, the lid  14  can be made of a polymer or glass material. 
     The container  16  is defined by a base wall  22 , which in this non-restrictive case is substantially circular, and by a lateral wall  24  connected to the base wall  22  and having a peripheral edge  24   a.    
     The container  16  is configured to allow the association of one or more grips to allow to handle the container  16 . 
     The base wall  22  can have a surface made with a plurality of configurations, for example conical, or hump-backed, more or less accentuated. 
     In a preferred embodiment, to which reference will be made hereafter, the base wall  22  has a substantially flat configuration. 
     The container  16  is open at the top to introduce food inside it and to allow the circulation of the flow of air from the heating device  18  to the food. 
     The generator element  20  of the flow of air is connected to a return exit  28  having a suction mouth  30  made in correspondence with the internal wall  12   a.    
     The suction mouth  30  can be, for example, a through hole, or a grid. 
     The suction mouth  30  can be disposed at any point whatsoever of the internal wall  12   b  provided that it allows to determine a closed circuit of the flow of air. 
     According to a preferred formulation, the suction mouth  30  is positioned in correspondence with the air flow generator element  20 . 
     The generator element  20  can be installed at any point whatsoever inside the interspace  15  provided that it allows to recirculate the flow of air. 
     The generator element  20  can be, for example, an axial, centrifugal or mixed axial/centrifugal fan, made to rotate by a drive member  44 . 
     The return exit  28 , when the lid  14  is closed on the container  16 , cooperates with a plurality of through holes  32  made on at least one portion of the lateral wall  24  of the container  16 . 
     According to one aspect of the invention, the through holes  32  are present at least partly on the lateral wall  24 , in particular on a band near the peripheral edge  24   a , so as to allow to accommodate liquid or fluid foods. 
     In particular, the band with the through holes  32  extends starting from the peripheral edge  24   a  for 70%, advantageously 60%, of the height of the lateral wall  24 . 
     In the embodiment shown in the drawings, the through holes  32  are substantially uniform, and disposed in substantially parallel vertical files, on a substantial part of the height of the lateral wall of the internal container  16 . 
     This creates a substantially uniform flow of air from the inside to the outside of the container  16 , which hits and therefore uniformly heats the food contained inside the container  16 . 
     In some variants, not shown, through holes  32  can also be present on at least one portion of the base wall  22 . 
     The through holes  32  can be in vertically aligned rows, as in the solution shown, or in horizontally aligned rows, or else have a random disposition covering a desired part of the lateral wall  24  or base wall  22  of the container  16 . 
     It is advantageous to provide that the through holes  32 , if present in the lateral wall  24 , cover a substantial part of the height of the container  16 , so that the flow of air is forcedly induced to hit, in a substantially uniform manner, all or at least a large part of the food in the container  16 . 
     According to a preferred formulation of the present invention, the autonomous apparatus  10  can comprise a sending aperture  34  to send the flow of air, installed on the lid  14 . 
     According to one embodiment of the present invention, shown by way of example in  FIGS. 1-3 , the sending aperture  34  can have a substantially hollow toroidal form which cooperates, when the lid  14  is closed on the container  16 , with the peripheral edge  24   a  of the container  16 . 
     The sending aperture  34  can have a circumferential slit  36  that allows the flow of air circulating in the toroidal cavity to escape from it, to be directed, when the lid  14  is at least partly closed, toward the inside of the container  16 . 
     According to another embodiment, the sending aperture  34  can have a limited development and in proximity to the heating device  18 . 
     The autonomous apparatus  10  comprises a recirculation pipe  46  which determines the connection between the generator element  20  and the heating device  18 , in practice connecting the return exit  28  to the sending aperture  34 . 
     According to embodiments described here, in the case where there is the sending aperture  34  with a toroidal or substantially circular development, it develops on a circumference with a smaller diameter than the peripheral edge  24   a , in correspondence with the circumferential slit  36 , to then increase and abut, with the lid  14  closed, in correspondence with the peripheral edge  24   a.    
     In this way, the sending aperture  34 , abutting against the circumferential edge  24   a , creates a hermetic cooking compartment  26 , constraining the flow of air to pass through the through holes  32 . 
     According to one embodiment, shown by way of example in  FIG. 5 , the autonomous apparatus  10  can comprise an additional auxiliary heating device  47 , or alternative to the heating device  18 , for example installed in proximity to the base wall  22 . 
     According to embodiments described here, the container  16  can be rotated around an axis of rotation, preferably in relation to the center of the base wall  22 , by means of a drive member  44 . 
     According to other embodiments described here, the autonomous apparatus  10  can comprise a mixing device  48  which is provided with at least one mixing blade, rotating with respect to the container  16  ( FIG. 5 ). 
     It is clear that modifications and/or additions of parts may be made to the autonomous apparatus  10  and corresponding method as described heretofore, without departing from the field and scope of the present invention. 
     It is also clear that, although the present invention has been described with reference to some specific examples, a person of skill in the art shall certainly be able to achieve many other equivalent forms of autonomous apparatus  10  and corresponding method, having the characteristics as set forth in the claims and hence all coming within the field of protection defined thereby.