The Middleby Corporation

Theodore James Chmiola

William S Schjerven, Sr

Richard H Van Camp

John H Wiker

Mohan K Panicker

Magdy A Albert

Mark A Sieron

Frank Carbonara

Gregory J Tomko

Michael R Matthews, Jr

Brent James Carlson

Robert Edward Jacob

William S Schjerven Sr

William S Schjerven

William S Sr

A gas manifold for a convection conveyor oven includes an elongated housing having a wall that at least partially encloses an interior volume; a gas inlet in fluid communication with the interior volume and extending through the wall; a plurality of gas outlets in fluid communication with the interior volume and extending through the wall; a plurality of seat inserts removably coupled with a plurality of gas outlets; a plurality of valve openings formed in the wall and aligned opposite the plurality of gas outlets; and at least one valve removably coupled to the wall and aligned with a first valve opening, wherein the valve is aligned with a first gas outlet and has a first position in which a first seat insert is not in fluid communication with the gas inlet.

Convection conveyor oven manifold and damper system

A conveyor oven for cooking food and having an oven chamber in which food is cooked; a conveyor moveable to convey food within the oven chamber; a burner assembly operable to emit a flame to heat air for cooking food moving within the oven chamber on the conveyor; a burner tube extending into a compartment and positioned to receive at least a portion of the flame emitted by the burner assembly; and one or more passive tubes in the compartment positioned opposite the burner tube, wherein elongated baffles are located between adjacent passive tubes, wherein a baffle plate is located between the burner and passive tubes to restrict airflow from the burner tube to the passive tube, and/or wherein shelf assemblies in the oven enable movement (and in some cases removal) of a shelf with a corresponding fan and/or motor without disturbing other shelves and their corresponding fans and/or motors.

Conveyor oven air system

Conveyor ovens for cooking food according to various embodiments include one or more passive tubes in a plenum positioned opposite one or more burner tubes, wherein the passive tubes have outer walls with apertures therethrough. In some cases, a burner assembly for a conveyor oven includes at least one burner tube extending into a plenum and positioned to receive at least a portion of a flame emitted by the burner assembly, wherein a rifling plate extends through the burner tube and is slidingly positioned within the burner tube. Also, in some cases a baffle in a plenum of the oven is positioned opposite the burner tube and defines a fluid conduit having an entrance into which air heated from the burner tube is received and an exit separate from the entrance and through which air is discharged.

Conveyor oven heat delivery system

An oven with a sensor positioned to detect an event that will cause a decrease in the internal temperature of a tunnel. The oven includes a controller configured to increase the thermal output of a heating element in anticipation of the upcoming decrease in the internal temperature. In some embodiments, the oven is a conveyor over and the sensor is positioned to detect a food item approach the tunnel on a conveyor. In some embodiments, the amount of current provided to an electric heating element is increased by increasing the target temperature. In some embodiments, the amount of current provided to the electric heating element is increased by a predetermined offset.

Conveyor oven apparatus and method

A method and arrangement is provided for setting a peak operating power level for an oven having an oven compartment, a user interface, and a controller having a memory with a maximum peak operating power level stored therein. The method includes the steps of displaying an oven set-up user interface window on the user interface during an initial start-up of the oven; in response to an input for selecting a maximum output for the oven, displaying a maximum output user interface window on the user interface. Further, after input of a peak operating power level, the method stores the peak operating power level in the memory and selectively provides a power control signal to generate heat that corresponds to the peak operating power level. The oven is either an electric oven or gas oven. In operation, the oven heats at the peak operating power level, which is less than the maximum peak operating power level.

Cooking oven power modulation system and method

A conveyor oven includes a controller configured to change the operation of a first set of burners and a second set of burners from a cooking mode to an energy saving mode based at least in part upon detection of the absence of food in the oven chamber. The first set of burners operating at a first intensity during the cooking mode and are off during the energy saving mode. The second set of burners operating at a first intensity during the cooking mode and being adjustable to a different intensity during the energy saving mode, where the second set of burners produce heat during the different intensity.

Apparatus and method for controlling a conveyor oven

A control system for a control-compartment cooling fan of an oven. In one embodiment, the control system includes a sensor for sensing an operating condition of a motor of the cooling fan. The operating condition is selected from the group of a motor current and a motor RPM. A controller is communicatively connected to the sensor and is configured to receive the operating condition from the sensor, compare the operating condition to one or more predetermined tolerances and, when the operating condition exceed at least one of the one or more predetermined tolerances, generate an interrupt command. A heating control element is communicatively connected to the controller and configured to interrupt operation of a heating element in response to receiving the interrupt command. The control system may also include a user interface communicatively connected to the controller.

Control of cooking appliance in response to control-compartment, cooling fan failure

A conveyor oven having a first mode of operation and a second mode of operation is provided. The conveyor oven generally includes an oven chamber in which food is cooked, a conveyor movable to convey the food through the oven chamber, a burner to generate heat for the oven chamber, at least one blower to circulate air within the oven chamber, and a controller. The burner has a combustion airflow rate, and operates at a first output during the first mode of operation and at a second output that is greater than the first output during the second mode of operation. The blower operates at a first speed during the first mode of operation and at a second speed that is faster than the first speed during the second mode of operation. The controller is responsive to at least one of a burner output and an internal temperature of the oven chamber, and increases the speed of the blower from the first speed during the first mode of operation to the second speed during the second mode of operation responsive to at least one of an increase of the burner output and an increase of the internal temperature of the oven chamber.

Self-cleaning oven

A conveyor oven having a first mode of operation and a second mode of operation is provided. The conveyor oven generally includes an oven chamber in which food is cooked, a conveyor moveable to convey the food through the oven chamber, a burner to generate heat for the oven chamber, the burner having a combustion airflow rate, at least one blower to circulate air within the oven chamber, and a controller. The blower operates at a first speed during the first mode of operation and at a second speed that is faster than the first speed during the second mode of operation. The controller is responsive to at least one of a burner output and an internal temperature of the oven chamber, and adjusts the combustion airflow rate based in part on at least one of the burner output and the internal temperature of the oven chamber.

A convection oven system. The convection oven system including a cooking chamber, a heat source for generating heated air to be provided to the cooking chamber, a centrifugal blower in airflow communication with the heat source, an air distribution housing in airflow communication with the centrifugal blower, the air distribution housing having a plurality of outlets, and at least one heat distribution finger in airflow communication with the plurality of outlets of the air distribution housing. The heated air generated by the heat source is forced by the centrifugal blower through the outlets of the air distribution housing into the at least one finger for distribution into the cooking chamber.

Growing community of inventors

Roscoe, IL, United States of America

Theodore James Chmiola