Micro-wave ovens

Claim 2

An electronic system for processing a plurality of portions of food in a like plurality of microwave ovens, comprising: means for accepting and storing the time values representing the processing time of respective portions in respective ovens; clock means; means for selecting the longest of the said time values; means for counting down the time remaining in said longest time value, as clocked off by the said clock means; means for comparing, at predetermined intervals, each said time value, one at a time, with the said time remaining, and for turning on a respective oven when its time value is equal to the time remaining; means for turning off all the ovens when the said time remaining has reached zero.

Claim 3

A system as defined in claim 1 wherein said system is embodied in a microprocessor including a clock and input/output ports.

Claim 4

A process for electronically controlling the operation of a plurality of microwave ovens in which a like plurality of portions of food are being processed, comprising: accepting and storing the processing times for the respective portions in the respective ovens; selecting the longest of said processing times; counting down time remaining, as measured by the clock, and comparing said time remaining to the processing times of the individual ovens; turning on each respective oven when the said amount of time remaining is equal to the processing time; turning off all the ovens in the plurality when the said time remaining has reached zero.

Claim 5

A process for electronically controlling the operation of a plurality of microwave ovens in which a like plurality of portions of food are being processed, comprising: accepting and storing the processing times for the respective portions in the respective ovens; selecting the longest of said processing times; counting down time remaining, as measured by the clock, and comparing said time remaining to the processing times of the individual ovens; turning on each respective oven when the said amount of time remaining is equal to the processing time; turning off all the ovens in the plurality when the said time remaining has reached zero.

Claim 6

An electronic system for processing a plurality of portions of food in a like plurality of microwave ovens, comprising: means for accepting and storing, in desired order of execution, a series of codes representing the consecutive power settings and the series of time values representing the processing time for each of the said series of power settings, for each of the respective portions in respective ovens; clock means; means for calculating and storing, for each of the said power settings, the sum of the said time value for that setting and the time values for all subsequent settings, for each of the ovens; means for selecting the greatest of all said sums of time values; means for counting down the time remaining in said greatest sum of time values, as clocked off by the said clock means; means for comparing, at predetermined intervals, each said sum of time values, one at a time, with the said time remaining, and for turning the power to a respective oven to the setting represented by a power setting code when the respective sum of time values is equal to the time remaining; means for turning off all the ovens when the said time remaining has reached zero.

Claim 7

An electronic system for processing a plurality of portions of food in a like plurality of microwave ovens, comprising: means for accepting and storing, in desired order of execution, a series of codes representing the consecutive power settings and the series of time values representing the processing time for each of the said series of power settings, for each of the respective portions in respective ovens; clock means; means for calculating and storing, for each of the said power settings, the sum of the said time value for that setting and the time values for all subsequent settings, for each of the ovens; means for selecting the greatest of all said sums of time values; means for counting down the time remaining in said greatest sum of time values, as clocked off by the said clock means; means for comparing, at predetermined intervals, each said sum of time values, one at a time, with the said time remaining, and for turning the power to a respective oven to the setting represented by a power setting code when the respective sum of time values is equal to the time remaining; means for turning off all the ovens when the said time remaining has reached zero.

Claim 8

A system as defined in claim 4 wherein said system is embodied in a microprocessor including a clock and input/output ports.

Claim 9

A process for electronically controlling the operation of a plurality of microwave ovens in which a like plurality of portions of food are being processed, comprising: accepting and storing, in desired order of execution, a series of codes representing the consecutive power settings and their corresponding processing times, for the respective portions in the respective ovens; calculating and storing, for each of the individual power settings, the sum of its processing time and the processing time of all the subsequent power settings for the same oven; selecting the greatest of all the said sums; counting down time remaining in the said greatest sum, as measured by the clock, and comparing said time remaining to the said sums of the processing times; turning the power to an oven to the setting represented by one of its codes when the corresponding sum of processing times is equal to the time remaining; turning off all the ovens in the plurality when the said time remaining has reached zero.

Claim 10

A process for electronically controlling the operation of a plurality of microwave ovens in which a like plurality of portions of food are being processed, comprising: accepting and storing, in desired order of execution, a series of codes representing the consecutive power settings and their corresponding processing times, for the respective portions in the respective ovens; calculating and storing, for each of the individual power settings, the sum of its processing time and the processing time of all the subsequent power settings for the same oven; selecting the greatest of all the said sums; counting down time remaining in the said greatest sum, as measured by the clock, and comparing said time remaining to the said sums of the processing times; turning the power to an oven to the setting represented by one of its codes when the corresponding sum of processing times is equal to the time remaining; turning off all the ovens in the plurality when the said time remaining has reached zero.

Claim 11

An electronic system as defined in claim 1, 2, 4, or 5, and further comprising: means for storing a record of the subsets or banks into which the ovens have been allocated; means for accepting and storing, until changed, the value of the desired interval of time between completions of processing of the portions of food in one bank of ovens and completion of processing of food in a next bank of ovens; means for ranking the various banks in order of completion so that the total processing time remains the same yet there is an interval of time, as long as possible but no greater than the said desired interval, between completion of the processing for each bank and the completion of the processing for the next bank; the processing for all the ovens in the same bank to be completed at the same time; means for calculating and storing, for each bank of ovens, other than the bank with the longest processing time, a value for the product of the standard interval times one less than the place of the bank in the order of processing; means for adding the product, according to bank, to the time values, or to the sums of processing times, for all of the ovens in all the banks except the bank with the longest processing time, so that the comparisons with the time remaining use these increased time values or sums; means for also comparing, at predetermined intervals, each said product with the time remaining, and for turning off all the ovens in a bank corresponding to that product.

Claim 12

A process, as defined in claim 3 or 6, and further comprising: keeping a fixed record of the banks into which the ovens have been allocated; accepting and storing the value of the desired interval of time between completions of the processing of portions of food in one bank of ovens and the completions or processing of those portions in the next bank; selecting and storing for each bank the longest processing time, or greatest sum of processing times, for any oven in the bank; ranking the banks in descending order of said longest times or greatest sums; and storing that ranking; comparing the product of the said standard interval, multiplied by the number of banks in use less one, with the difference between the said longest time or greatest sum for the bank with the highest such longest time or greatest sum and the said longest time or greatest sum for the bank with the lowest such longest time or greatest sum; if finding that the said product is greater than the said difference, then, ensuring that no bank starts before the bank with the highest said longest time or greatest sum, recalculating the interval so that the said product, now recalculated, is no greater than the said difference; calculating and storing, for each bank in use, the product of the said interval and the bank's place in the said ranking (except for the first ranked bank, i.e. the bank that has the highest said longest time value or greatest sum, in which case the said product is considered to be zero), said product being the time between the bank's completion and final completion (which is the completion of the bank with the said longest time value or greatest sum); adding said product, according to bank, to every one of the time values or sums of processing times; when counting down time remaining and comparing to time values or to sums of processing times, also comparing time remaining to the said products and turning off all the ovens in the respective bank when the two compared values are found equal.

Claim 13

An electronic system as defined in claim 1, 2, 4, or 5, and further comprising: means for storing a record of the subsets or banks into which the ovens have been allocated; means for accepting and storing, until changed, the value of the desired interval of time between completions of processing of the portions of food in one bank of ovens and completion of processing of food in a next bank of ovens; means for ranking the various banks in the fixed sequence of the stored record of the banks where the allocation of ovens is recorded; means for calculating and storing, for each bank of ovens, other than the last bank, a value for the product of the standard interval times the difference between the place of the bank in the order of processing and the place of the last bank in the said order; means for adding the product, according to bank, to the time values, or to the sums of processing times, for all of the ovens in all the banks except the last bank, so that the selection of longest processing time and the comparisons with the time remaining use these increased time values or sums; means for also comparing, at predetermined intervals, each said product with the time remaining, and for turning off all the ovens in a bank corresponding to that product.

Claim 14

A process, as defined in claim 3 or 6, and further comprising: keeping a fixed record of the banks into which the ovens have been allocated; accepting and storing the value of the desired interval of time between completions of the portions of food in one bank of ovens and the completions of those portions in the next bank; ranking the banks in the fixed order in which they have been set up in the stored record of allocation of ovens; calculating and storing, for each bank in use, other then the last bank, the product of the said interval times the difference between the bank's place in the said ranking and the place of the last bank in the said order, said product being the time between the bank's completion and final completion (which is the completion of the last bank); adding said product, according to bank, to every one of the time values or sums of processing times except those for the ovens in the last bank; when counting down time remaining and comparing to time values or to sums of processing times, also comparing time remaining to the said products and turning off all the ovens in the respective bank when the two compared values are found equal.

Claim 15

A system for processing as defined in claim 1, or 4, and further comprising: means to set the correct time of day and to keep track of the correct time of day; means to accept and store a time of day for completion of processing; means to prepare the delayed start of the automatic phase of processing by subtracting the longest time value or greatest sum of processing time from the said stored time of day and to store that starting time of day; means to generate the start of automatic processing by comparing the said starting time of day to the correct time of day, and starting when equality is found.

Claim 16

A process as defined in claim 3 or 6, and comprising the further steps of: accepting and storing a correct time of day; calculating the correct time of day at predetermined intervals; accepting a desired time of day for completion of processing; subtracting from that time of day the longest time value or the greatest sum of processing time to arrive at a starting time of day; comparing, at predetermined intervals, the starting time of day with the correct time of day; starting the automatic phase of the process when the comparison finds the two values equal.

Claim 17

An electronic system as defined in claim 1, 2, 4, or 5, and further comprising: means for storing a record of the subsets or banks into which the ovens have been allocated; means for accepting and storing, until changed, the value of the desired interval of time between completions of processing of the portions of food in one bank of ovens and completion of processing of food in a next bank of ovens; means for ranking the various banks in order of completion so that the total processing time remains the same yet there is an interval of time, as long as possible but no greater than the said desired interval, between completion of the processing for each bank and the completion of the processing for the next bank; the processing for all the ovens in the same bank to be completed at the same time; means for calculating and storing, for each bank of ovens, other than the bank with the longest processing time, a value for the product of the standard interval times one less than the place of the bank in the order of processing; means for adding the product, according to bank, to the time values, or to the sums of processing times, for all of the ovens in all the banks except the bank with the longest processing time, so that the comparisons with the time remaining use these increased time values or sums; means for also comparing, at predetermined intervals, each said product with the time remaining, and for turning off all the ovens in a bank corresponding to that product; and further comprising: means to set the correct time of day and to keep track of the correct time of day; means to accept and store a time of day for completion of processing; means to prepare the delayed start of the automatic phase of processing by subtracting the longest time value or greatest sum of processing time from the said stored time of day and to store that starting time of day; means to generate the start of automatic processing by comparing the said starting time of day to the correct time of day, and starting when equality is found.

Claim 18

A process, as defined in claim 3 or 6, and further comprising: keeping a fixed record of the banks into which the ovens have been allocated; accepting and storing the value of the desired interval of time between completions of the portions of food in one bank of ovens and the completions of those portions in the next bank; ranking the banks in the fixed order in which they have been set up in the stored record of allocation of ovens; calculating and storing, for each bank in use, other than the last bank, the product of the said interval times the difference between the bank's place in the said ranking and the place of the last bank in the said order, said product being the time between the bank's completion and final completion (which is the completion of the last bank); adding said product, according to bank, to every one of the time values or sums of processing times except those for the ovens in the last bank; when counting down time remaining and comparing to time values or to sums of processing times, also comparing time remaining to the said products and turning off all the ovens in the respective bank when the two compared values are found equal; and further comprising: means to set the correct time of day and to keep track of the correct time of day; means to accept and store a time of day for completion of processing; means to prepare the delayed start of the automatic phase of processing by subtracting the longest time value or greatest sum of processing time from the said stored time of day and to store that starting time of day; means to generate the start of automatic processing by comparing the said starting time of day to the correct time of day, and starting when equality is found.