Appliance Scientific, Inc.

Turbochef Technologies, Inc.

Turbochef Inc.

Spectradyne LLC

Earl R Winkelmann

Philip R McKee

Lee Thomas VanLanen

James K Pool, Iii

Scott Stuart Smith

Robert S Briggs

John David Gidner

Philip R Mckee

David H McFadden

Richard Caron

Kara Louise McKee

An oven which runs on a 20 ampere single phase electrical service includes a cooking chamber comprising a top wall, a bottom wall, a first side wall and a second side wall, at least one microwave generator, at least one set of nozzles, tubes or apertures disposed above a food product disposed within the oven, at least one blower having an RPM in the range between about 3000 to about 4000 at 100 percent velocity, wherein the blower circulates at least a portion of gas from the nozzles, tubes or apertures into the cooking chamber substantially toward the food product and back to the nozzles, tubes or apertures, and a thermal energy source that heats the gas, wherein the heated gas at or near the food product disposed in the cooking chamber exhibits a flow rate of at least about 150 CFM.

Oven circulating heated air

A cooking oven system with a master-slave power assembly therebetween to allow for a single power connection to a 30 ampere single phase electrical outlet includes:

Plurality of accelerated cooking ovens with master-slave power assembly

The present invention is directed to improving the conventional high-speed cooking oven based on a combination of hot air impingement and microwave heating by providing a time-dependent spatial variation in the net air impingement and/or net microwave energy applied to the food product in the oven. This is aimed at optimizing heat transfer and microwave efficiencies in a high-speed cooking oven, thereby enabling the oven to deliver an optimal cooking efficiency in comparison to the conventional high-speed cooking oven. In addition, under the embodiments of the present invention, the cooking efficiency may be further optimized by providing a plenum between each wall of the cooking chamber and the housing of the oven.

High-speed cooking oven with optimized cooking efficiency

An improved heating apparatus is aimed at optimizing heat transfer and delivering an optimal heating efficiency in comparison to conventional heating apparatus. The improved heating apparatus includes tubes that generate plume arrays of a fluid (e.g., a gas, such as air) that is heated in a conduit. The tubes introduce the heated fluid into a chamber of the heating apparatus. The fluid is returned to the conduit through a return opening in the chamber. The path that the fluid travels in the chamber, from the tubes to the return air opening, is provided such that optimized heat transfer and optimal heating efficiency are facilitated.

Apparatus and method for heating or cooling an object using a fluid

The present invention is directed to improving the conventional high-speed cooking oven based on a combination of hot air impingement and microwave heating by providing a time-dependent spatial variation in the net air impingement and/or net microwave energy applied to the food product in the oven. This is aimed at optimizing heat transfer and microwave efficiencies in a high-speed cooking oven, thereby enabling the oven to deliver an optimal cooking efficiency in comparison to the conventional high-speed cooking oven. In addition, under the present invention, the cooking efficiency may be further optimized by dimensioning the nozzles for hot air impingement to tighten impingement plumes, subject to the space constraint of the oven's cooking chamber, and dimensioning the cooking chamber of the oven in integer multiples of the wavelength of the microwave energy to match the microwave load. With the optimized cooking efficiency provided by the present invention, the high speed cooking technology may now be extended to ovens operating on a power supply based on a voltage less than 220 volts, preferably between 110 and 125 volts, with more productive results, so that the high-speed cooking technology may find a wider applicability and customer base.

An improved oven is aimed at optimizing heat transfer and delivering an optimal cooking efficiency in comparison to conventional high-speed cooking ovens. The oven includes tubes that generate plume arrays of a heated gas and introduce them into a cooking chamber of the oven. The tubes may be removably located at the bottom of the cooking chamber of the oven. The tubes are dimensioned for hot air impingement to tighten impingement plume arrays, subject to the space constraints of the oven's cooking chamber. With the optimized cooking efficiency provided by the present invention, high-speed cooking technology may now be extended to ovens operating on a power supply based on a voltage less than 220 volts, preferably between 110 and 125 volts, with more productive results, so that the high-speed cooking technology may find wider applicability and a broader customer base.

An apparatus for supporting foodstuffs in a hybrid oven for cooking by hot air impingement and by microwave energy having a predetermined free-space wavelength, comprising a metal ring having a pre-determined diameter and six primary spoke members formed of a metal and rigidly secured to the ring in substantially equally spaced circumferential intervals. The apparatus also includes a metal annular ring mounted to the primary spoke members. An opening is formed at the center of the apparatus by the inner diameter of the metal annular ring. In addition, the apparatus also includes six secondary spoke members formed of a metal and rigidly secured to the ring in substantially equally spaced circumferential intervals midway between the points at which the primary spoke members are secured thereto to cooperate with the primary spoke members to support the foodstuffs. The six primary spoke members and six secondary spoke members project centrally inwardly on a common plane with the ring and each has a length which is approximately an integral multiple of one-half of the free space wavelength and which is less than one-half of the diameter of the ring. By setting the length of the spoke members to approximately an integral multiple of one-half of the free space wavelength, the apparatus minimizes the disruption of the microwave energy pattern in the hybrid oven. In a second embodiment, the apparatus is mounted in an aperture in a tray formed from a microwave transparent material.

Apparatus for supporting foodstuffs in a microwave oven

An oven for cooking a food product, at least partially by hot gas flow and at least partially by microwave energy, includes a housing defining a cooking chamber for receiving a food product for cooking, and a conduit for providing gaseous communication outside of the cooking chamber, between the chamber bottom and the chamber top, the conduit also serving as a hot gas plenum. Preferably the conduit has a free volume of space less than the free volume of space of the cooking chamber, and the oven has custom cooking and/or custom finishing capabilities.

Compact quick-cooking convectional oven

In a system for rapid air temperature modification in a recycling oven using hot air impingement for cooking, a fraction of the recycling air may be made to selectively bypass the heat exchanger, thereby to rapidly achieve reduced cook chamber temperatures, as desired by the user. The system includes a shell configured and dimensioned to receive a stream of air through an inlet and to discharge a stream of air through an outlet. The shell is further configured to provide independent first and second paths of travel to guide independent streams of air passing between the inlet and outlet of the shell. The first path houses heating means so that all air passing through this first path will be conditioned (heated) by the heating means. The second path has no heating means and merely permits unimpeded passage of the stream of air through the shell. A mixing space or chamber exists just prior to the outlet of the shell, wherein the air leaving the first path is mixed with the air leaving the second path, so that a single, common thermally-uniform stream of air is created prior to this united stream passing through the outlet and into the cooking chamber.

System for rapid air temperature modification in a recycling oven

A recycling cooking oven for cooking food at least in part by hot air flow and providing a substantially closed but vented environment includes a cooking chamber for receiving a stream of hot air from an upstream thermal plenum via a plurality of openings in the cooking chamber, the cooking chamber cooking food therein at least partially with hot air from the plurality of openings and the cooking of such foods adding oxidizable components to the hot air. A blower circulates the stream of hot air in substantially a continuous travel path including the thermal plenum, the plurality of openings and the cooking chamber. A main catalytic converter is disposed in the continuous travel path for flamelessly oxidizing the oxidizable components leaving the cooking chamber. A vent communicating with ambient atmosphere and the main catalytic converter diverts an auxiliary vent stream of hot air from the main catalytic converter into the vent; and an auxiliary catalytic converter is disposed in the vent, downstream of the main catalytic converter, for flamelessly oxidizing oxidizable components in the hot air of the auxiliary vent stream passing through the vent, thereby to further remove oxidizable components from the hot air of the auxiliary vent stream and so release a relatively clean auxiliary vent stream of hot air from the vent into the ambient atmosphere.

Vented recycling oven with separate catalytic converter

A microwave oven excitation system comprising a cylindrical microwave launcher for radiating microwave energy into a heating cavity of a microwave oven which is mounted adjacent to the heating cavity, a quarter-wave matching waveguide secured to the launcher, a rectangular waveguide secured to the quarter-wave matching waveguide, and a source of microwave energy at a predetermined operating frequency secured to the rectangular waveguide remotely from the launcher. In addition, a mode stirrer may be optionally installed within the cylindrical microwave launcher. Also, an iris may be optionally mounted between the cylindrical microwave launcher and the heating cavity.

Growing community of inventors

Garland, TX, United States of America

Earl R Winkelmann