Apparatus and Method Determining the Amount of Time until a Desired Temperature is Reached

Abstract

A method and an apparatus capable of providing a predicted completion time for heating and/or cooling of an item based on a manually entered length of time and/or a determination of the amount of time remaining before an item such as food reaches a desired temperature such as a cooking temperature or approximately room temperature. In at least one embodiment, determining the amount of time remaining is based at least on the elapsed time and the percentage of temperature range between a first temperature and the desired temperature completed or remaining to be covered.

1 . A method comprising:
 obtaining a desired temperature,   beginning an elapsed timer,   determining a current temperature of food,   calculating the predicted time for food to reach the desired temperature based at least on the value of the elapsed timer and the current temperature,   adding the predicted time to a current time for a predicted completion time, and   displaying the predicted completion time.   
   
   
       2 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 starting a countdown timer having a value equal to the predicted time, and   displaying the countdown timer.   
   
   
       3 . The method according to  claim 2 , further comprising:
 toggling between the countdown timer and the predicted completion time based on at least one of a user request or at a predetermined frequency.   
   
   
       4 . The method according to  claim 3 , further comprising repeating the determining, calculating, adding, both displaying, starting, and toggling steps. 
   
   
       5 . The method according to  claim 2 , further comprising notifying a user when at least one of the countdown timer reaches zero or the current temperature is within a predetermined range of the desired temperature. 
   
   
       6 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein calculating the predicted time is further based on the percentage of temperature range between a first determined temperature and the desired temperature remaining to be covered. 
   
   
       7 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein calculating the predicted time is further based on the percentage of temperature range between a first temperature and the desired temperature completed. 
   
   
       8 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising repeating the determining and calculating steps after a predetermined amount of temperature change. 
   
   
       9 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising repeating the determining and calculating steps at predetermined intervals. 
   
   
       10 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising repeating the determining and calculating steps continually until the desired temperature is reached. 
   
   
       11 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the predicted time is calculated according to the formula 
     
       
         
           
             
               t 
               R 
             
             = 
             
               
                 t 
                 
                   1 
                   - 
                   
                     ( 
                     
                       
                         
                           T 
                           D 
                         
                         - 
                         
                           T 
                           2 
                         
                       
                       
                         
                           T 
                           D 
                         
                         - 
                         
                           T 
                           1 
                         
                       
                     
                     ) 
                   
                 
               
               × 
               
                 ( 
                 
                   
                     
                       T 
                       D 
                     
                     - 
                     
                       T 
                       2 
                     
                   
                   
                     
                       T 
                       D 
                     
                     - 
                     
                       T 
                       1 
                     
                   
                 
                 ) 
               
             
           
         
       
     
     t R  equals the cooking time to reach the desired temperature, T D  represents the desired temperature, T 1  equals an initial temperature, T 2  equals the current temperature with t representing the value of the elapsed timer. 
   
   
       12 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising providing a notification when the current time equals the predicted completion time. 
   
   
       13 . The method according to  claim 12 , wherein the notification includes an alarm. 
   
   
       14 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising obtaining from an external source the current time originating from an atomic clock. 
   
   
       15 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving an identification of the food; and   wherein obtaining the desired temperature includes retrieving the desired temperature from a database based on the identification of the food.   
   
   
       16 . A system comprising:
 a probe having a temperature sensing component;   a display;   a clock;   temperature means for converting a signal from said temperature sensing component into a temperature;   first predicting means for predicting a time remaining to reach a desired temperature based at least one the temperature generated by said temperature means and the desired temperature;   second predicting means for predicting a predicted completion time based on the predicted time remaining and the current time; and   controlling means for controlling said display to show at least one of the predicted time remaining and the predicted completion time.   
   
   
       17 . The system according to  claim 16 , wherein said display includes a desired temperature area,
 a current temperature area, and   a timer.   
   
   
       18 . The system according to  claim 16 , further comprising an interface couple to said first and second predicting means, said interface includes
 a toggle mechanism between the predicted time remaining and the predicted completion time.   
   
   
       19 . The system according to  claim 16 , wherein said first predicting means and said second predicting means are integral with each other. 
   
   
       20 . A firmware product comprising a computer readable medium containing firmware, wherein the firmware when executed on a chip causes the chip to:
 receive a desired temperature,   begin an elapsed timer,   determine a current temperature of food,   calculate the predicted time for food to reach the desired temperature based at least on the value of the elapsed timer and the current temperature,   add the predicted time to a current time for a predicted completion time, and   display the predicted completion time.