Patent ID: 8371285

Claim:
A conveyor oven for cooking food product wherein the conveyor oven has a cooking mode and an energy saving mode, the conveyor oven comprising: an oven chamber in which food product is cooked; a conveyor for moving food product through the oven chamber; a heating element operable to generate heat to be provided to the oven chamber; a fan operable to move air in the oven chamber, at least one controller that controls components of the conveyor oven; one or more sensors to detect (i) temperature within the oven chamber and (ii) at least one of the presence and absence of food product in the oven chamber; wherein in the energy saving mode (i) the fan moves air in the oven chamber at a reduced speed from the cooking mode in response to a first signal associated with the absence of food product from the oven chamber and (ii) responsive to the controller the output of the heating element is reduced in response to a change in the temperature of the oven chamber detected by the one or more sensors to maintain the oven chamber substantially at a steady state temperature, wherein the change in temperature of the oven chamber is due at least in part to the absence of food product from the oven chamber; and at least one input device operatively associated with the oven by which a second signal indicating the presence of food product to be cooked is transmitted and operation of the fan is changed from the energy saving mode to the cooking mode in response to the second signal.