Saturday, January 11, 2020

Oh, patents! SmartyPans @ CES 2020

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

SmartyPans Inc., a brother-sister, engineer-nutritionist team, is the recipient of a CES 2020 Innovation Award. The company produced the first smart cooking pan appliances, connected via Bluetooth® to your mobile devices and computer. 

What can a SmartyPan do for you that no other kitchen pots or pans can do?

The short answer is “lots”! Indeed, once connected to the SmartyPans app, the SmartyPan has weight sensors that measure the weight of each ingredient added to the pan. This way measuring cups and scales are no longer needed to carry out the recipe. The SmartyPan also has a temperature sensor, measuring the ambient temperature of the cooking environment, which together with the weight sensors, provide accurate nutrition calorie information, in real-time. 

The SmartyPan records recipe steps as you go, using the weight, temperature and cooking time information it collects inside the pan. This way, if you usually feel your way through a recipe, or are watching someone cook without measurements, the Smartypan will quantify the weight, temperature and cooking time of the ingredients.  In turn, you will also be able to share with friends, or store, the recorded recipe information, including a photo, without ever committing any of it to a file or recipe card. 

Conversely, the SmartyPan gives you step-by-step instructions for recipes via the SmartyPans app, a bit like a cooking GPS. In other words, the SmartyPan is also designed to interactively teach you how to cook. Alternatively, it is designed to keep you company with its instructions and connectivity, so that you are no longer cooking alone. Finally, the SmartyPan app syncs seamlessly, via its Bluetooth® technology, with fitness trackers, so you can stick to nutrition/calorie goals.   

The pan includes a ceramic, non-stick, cooking insert, and a rechargeable base, wired through the handle, which houses the electronic passembly and antenna.  The SmartyPan measures 10-inches in diameter, and is compatible with gas, electric and induction top ranges.  It is made of medical-grade aluminum, and extreme high-temperature-resistant plastic (on the handle). It is available in vibrant orange, red, and black colors. SmartyPans retail for $229.

The SmartyPans invention is recited in the US patent application US20160066744A1, titled Cooking device and system having a pre-cook mode and a cook mode operable to facilitate recipe-based food preparation. The patent recites both the SmartyPan hardware with its functionalities, and the app that controls the SmartyPan hardware, before, during, and after cooking. For example, the app is designed to generate an estimated cooking end-time for the recipe data received, that adjusts, depending on information sensed in the cooking environment. Likewise, the app is able to determine, using the sensed data received from the pan, whether the ingredient requirements of the recipe are satisfied, as each ingredient is added incrementally on the cooking surface of the pan. The app is also designed, for example, to generate an alert during cooking of the meal, when conditions sensed within the cooking environment do not fulfill the requirements of the recipe.


The Abstract of this invention is included below, together with the patent Figure 3, showing an exploded view of the SmartyPan, and the patent Figure 18, showing an interface of the SmartyPans app. An image of a marketed SmartyPan embodiment of the invention is also included above.

The exploded Fig. 3 view of the SmartyPan shows the pan body (12), forming a cavity, into which the cooking container (20) fits; a sensor assembly (39) at the base (18) of the pan body (12), and pan body couplers (71) and (73) used for coupling the pan handle (14) to the side of the pan body (12).

Fig.18 displays, on a graphical interface (79) of the SmartyPans app, the progress indicator bar (82) for onion ingredient deposit, on the cooking surface. The bar indicates incremental progress (84), towards fulfilling the amount of the ingredient that is required for the recipe. In this case, only 0.84 oz of the required 12 oz have been added to the pan. 
A cooking device includes, in one embodiment, a body and a cooking surface. The body defines a cavity. One or more sensors are located within the cavity. The cooking device also includes a processor operable to receive recipe requirements, determine whether an ingredient which has been deposited onto the cooking Surface satisfies the recipe requirements, and generate an alert during the cooking of the meal. The alert prompts a change in a cooking environment to satisfy the recipe requirements. 
[Abstract US20160066744A1]

References
CES2020
SmartyPans  Inc. (Website)
SmartyPans Inc. (Blog)

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