Compact appliance for making flat edibles
A compact apparatus for automatically making a plurality of flat edibles includes a storage and dispensing unit that makes it unnecessary for a user to pre-measure ingredients. The apparatus also includes a mixing and kneading unit for making dough of optimal consistency. The mixing and kneading unit may be configured to prepare dough. The dough may be prepared by mixing and kneading the ingredients dispensed by the dispensers. The dough prepared may be transferred onto a lower platen from a transfer base by a transfer sweeper. The dough may be flattened in a platen unit. An upper platen and the lower platen of the platen unit may be heated to a pre-programmed temperature for cooking the flat edible. The temperature may also be manually set by the user based on user's preference. The flat may be cooked (e.g., heated, roasted and/or puffed) by the platen unit.
1. A single compact apparatus for making a flat edible material comprising:
a first dispenser configured to dispense a grounded edible material for one flat edible material at a time;
a second dispenser configured to dispense a liquid material;
a kneading unit to combine the grounded material and the liquid material and knead the dough for making a kneaded ingredient using a segmented blade;
a transfer sweeper is used to locate the kneaded ingredient from a transfer base to a flattening unit;
a flattening unit having a upper weight and a lower weight and a spacer to flatten the kneaded ingredient to a flattened kneaded material;
a platen unit having a upper platen, lower platen to cook the flattened kneaded material to a flat edible material; and
a processor module configured to automatically:
a) calculate a quantity of the grounded edible material and a quantity of the liquid material for making the dough for making one serving of the flattened kneaded material;
b) control the first dispenser and the second dispenser for dispensing the grounded edible material and the liquid material respectively;
c) control the pressing unit so as to flatten the kneaded material; and
d) controlling multiple movements of the upper platen up and down differentially from the lower platen for cooking the flattened kneaded material to form the flat edible material.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising
a lower platen wherein the lower platen is heated to cook the dough.
3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the pressing unit comprises an upper platen and the dough is flattened by displacing the upper platen relative to the lower platen.
4. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the upper platen is heated to a temperature higher than a temperature of the lower platen so as to eliminate a need to flip the flat edible material during preparation.
5. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:
the mixing unit and kneading unit having a motor module, and the segmented blade controllable by the motor module for mixing and kneading the grounded edible material and the liquid material so as to form the dough for one serving of the flat edible material, wherein the processor module is configured to control a speed and a duration of rotation of the segmented blade based on at least one of the feedback obtained by the processor: change in an electrical current, and a stored sequence.
6. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the processor is configured to adjust a consistency of the dough for one serving of the flat edible material through at least one of: an automatic adjustment, a pre-configured adjustment and a manual adjustment of an admixture of the liquid material and the grounded edible material surrounding the segmented blade based on an electrical property associated with a rotation of the segmented blade.
7. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the segmented blade includes a first planar surface, a second planar surface and a raised surface to mix and knead the grounded edible material and the liquid material.
8. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the mixing and kneading unit includes a mixing and kneading container, and a transfer base coupled to the mixing and kneading container so as to form the base of the mixing and kneading container.
9. The apparatus of claim 8 , further comprising
a vertical transfer unit having a vertical direction guide structure, wherein the transfer base is configured to move along a vertical axis of the vertical guide structure.
10. The apparatus of claim 8 further comprising
a horizontal transfer unit configured to transfer the dough from the transfer base to the lower platen after formation of dough and to transfer the cooked flat edible material from the lower platen out of the apparatus.
11. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first dispenser includes an opening and a control wheel having a plurality of control segments, each segment configured to hold a predetermined quantity of the grounded edible material; and
a motor coupled to the control wheel so as to rotate the control wheel until a sufficient number of the segments and respective predetermined quantities pass the opening to dispense the predetermined quantity of grounded edible material.
12. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the second dispenser is configured to release a predetermined quantity of liquid for mixing and kneading of the grounded edible material into the dough.
13. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the lower platen has an upper surface, a lower surface, and the spacer coupled to the upper surface of the lower platen, the spacer being configured to control a thickness of the flat edible material.
14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the thickness of the flat edible is adjustable by the user through at least one of a programmable control panel, a preconfigured adjustment and a manual adjustment.
15. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
a programmable control panel to allow a user to configure at least one of: a cook time period, a temperature, a thickness of flat edible, a number of flat edible, an alarm and a status indicator.
16. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor module is configured to control a sequence of steps to make the flat edible.
17. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the pressing and flattening mechanism comprises a rolling pin system.
18. A unified single compact apparatus for making a flat edible material, comprising:
a first dispenser for dispensing a grounded edible material;
a second dispenser for dispensing a liquid material;
a mixing and kneading unit having a motor and a segmented blade that includes
a first planar surface, a second planar surface and a raised surface for mixing and kneading the grounded edible material and the liquid material;
a control unit having a processor module for receiving input, calculating the amounts of the grounded edible material and the liquid material required to make a dough based on the input, and controlling the first dispenser and the second dispenser to dispense the calculated amounts of the grounded edible material and the liquid material
a transfer sweeper is used to locate the kneaded ingredient from a transfer base to a pressing unit;
a pressing unit having a upper weight, a lower weight and a spacer to flatten the kneaded ingredient to a flattened kneaded material; and
a platen unit having a upper platen and a lower platen to cook the flattened kneaded material to a flat edible material.
19. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein during mixing and kneading of the grounded edible material and the liquid material, the processor controls the first dispenser and the second dispenser to dispense compensated amounts of the grounded edible material and the liquid material based on the power consumption of the motor.
20. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein during mixing and kneading of the grounded edible material and the liquid material, the apparatus is adapted to automatically adjust the amounts of the grounded edible material and the liquid material based on an electric property associated with a rotation of the blade.