1. A convection steam cooking device, comprising:
a cooking cavity and a fan operatively communicating with said cooking cavity;
a steam chamber disposed beneath said cooking cavity and having a lower pool area for holding water therein and an upper steam collecting area, said steam chamber operatively connected between said cooking cavity and said fan along a primary recirculation path, said primary recirculation path extending from said main cavity, through said steam collecting area, to said fan, and back to said main cavity;
a baffle disposed between said cooking cavity and said steam chamber.
2. The device of claim 1 wherein said steam chamber includes an inlet disposed away from said fan and an outlet disposed toward said fan.
3. The device of claim 2 wherein said primary recirculation path extends from said main cavity, through inlet to said steam collecting area, substantially across said steam collecting area, through said outlet to said fan, and back to said main cavity.
4. The device of claim 2 further comprising a generally vertically extending duct operatively disposed between said outlet and said fan.
5. The device of claim 4 wherein said primary recirculation path extends from said main cavity, through inlet to said steam collecting area, substantially across said steam collecting area, through said outlet, through said duct to said fan, and back to said main cavity.
6. The device of claim 1 wherein said baffle at least partially defines said inlet and said outlet of said steam chamber.
7. The device of claim 1 wherein said baffle substantially forms a floor for said cooking chamber.
8. The device of claim 1 wherein said baffle comprises a removable baffle that allows access by a user from said cooking cavity to at least a portion of said steam chamber when removed.
9. The device of claim 1 wherein said baffle includes a secondary section remote from said fan and a generally flat section disposed between said secondary section and said fan.
10. The device of claim 9 wherein said secondary section is disposed at an upward angle with respect to said generally flat section.
11. The device of claim 1 further including a secondary recirculation path from said cooking cavity to said fan and back to said cooking cavity, without passing through said steam chamber.
12. The device of claim 1 further comprising an exhaust connecting said cooking cavity to atmosphere, said exhaust comprising an exhaust duct and a cap moveably engaging said exhaust duct, wherein said cap is operative to limit pressures in said cooking chamber to not more than slightly above atmosphere.
13. The device of claim 1 wherein:
said steam collecting area is disposed directly above said pool area and directly below said cooking cavity;
said pool area has a horizontal cross-sectional area; and
wherein said steam collecting area has a horizontal cross-sectional area substantially equal to said horizontal cross-sectional area of said pool area.
14. The device of claim 1 wherein there is substantially unrestricted flow from said pool area to said steam collecting area.
15. The device of claim 1:
wherein said baffle comprises a removable baffle, said baffle at least partially defining an inlet to said steam chamber disposed away from said fan and an outlet from said steam chamber disposed toward said fan; said baffle including a secondary section remote from said fan and a generally flat section disposed between said secondary section and said fan; said secondary section disposed at an upward angle with respect to said generally flat section;
further comprising a generally vertically extending duct operatively disposed between said outlet and said fan; wherein said primary recirculation path extends from said main cavity, through inlet to said steam collecting area, substantially across said steam collecting area, through said outlet, through said duct to said fan, and back to said main cavity;
and wherein:
said steam collecting area is disposed directly above said pool area and directly below said cooking cavity;
said pool area has a first horizontal cross-sectional area; and
said steam collecting area has a horizontal cross-sectional area substantially equal to said first horizontal cross-sectional area of said pool area; and
substantially unrestricted access exists from said pool area to said steam collecting area.
16. The device of claim 11 wherein a ratio of a flow rate along said primary recirculation path to a flow rate along said secondary recirculation path is in the range of about 3:5 to about 2:1.
17. The device of claim 16 wherein said ratio is approximately 5:3.
18. A method of treating food with steam, comprising:
generating steam in a steam chamber disposed beneath a main cooking cavity, said steam chamber having a having a lower pool area for holding water therein and an upper steam collecting area;
routing said steam from said steam collecting area to said main cooking cavity along at least a portion of a primary recirculation path, said primary recirculation path extending from said main cooking cavity, through said steam collecting area, to a fan, and back to said main cavity; and
forcing, by a fan, recirculation of said steam along said primary recirculation path so that gases from said main cooking cavity flow through said steam collecting area to be enhanced therein;
providing a baffle between said main cooking cavity and said steam chamber that helps define a lower boundary of said cooking cavity and an upper portion of said steam chamber.
19. The method of claim 1 wherein said baffle includes a plurality of holes disposed away from said fan, and wherein forcing recirculation of said steam along said primary recirculation path comprises routing gases from said cooking cavity through said holes of said baffle to said steam collecting area, through said steam collecting area, to said fan, and back to said main cavity.
20. The method of claim 18 wherein said baffle comprises a secondary section remote from said fan and a generally flat section disposed between said secondary section and said fan, and further comprising catching drippings from the food in said cooking cavity in said generally flat section.
21. The method of claim 18 wherein said baffle is removable and further comprising removing said baffle to allow access by a user from said cooking cavity to at least a portion of said steam chamber.
22. The method of claim 18 further comprising enhancing said gases from said main cooking cavity in said steam collecting area by adding moisture thereto.
23. The method of claim 18 further comprising enhancing said gases from said main cooking cavity in said steam collecting area by adding heat thereto.
24. The method of claim 23 wherein enhancing said gases from said main cooking cavity in said steam collecting area further comprises adding moisture thereto.
25. The method of claim 18 wherein said generating steam comprises heating water in said pool area and allowing substantially unrestricted flow from said pool area to said steam collecting area.
26. The method of claim 18 wherein said primary recirculation path includes a generally vertically extending duct disposed between said steam chamber and said fan.
27. The method of claim 18 further comprising forcing recirculation along a secondary recirculation path, said secondary recirculation path extending from said cooking cavity to said fan and back to said cooking cavity, without passing through said steam chamber.
28. The method of claim 27 wherein a ratio of a flow rate along said primary recirculation path to a flow rate along said secondary recirculation path is in the range of about 3:5 to about 2:1.
29. The device of claim 28 wherein said ratio is approximately 5:3.
30. A method of treating food with steam, comprising:
generating steam in a steam chamber disposed beneath a main cooking cavity, said steam chamber having a having a lower pool area for holding water therein and an upper steam collecting area, wherein said generating steam comprises heating water in said pool area and allowing substantially unrestricted flow from said pool area to said steam collecting area;
providing a fan in communication with said cooking cavity and said steam chamber;
providing a baffle between said main cooking cavity and said steam chamber that helps define a lower boundary of said cooking cavity and an upper portion of said steam chamber; said baffle including a secondary section remote from said fan, a generally flat section disposed between said secondary section and said fan, and a plurality of holes disposed away from said fan;
routing said steam from said steam collecting area to said main cooking cavity along at least a portion of a primary recirculation path, said primary recirculation path extending from said main cooking cavity, through said holes in said baffle to said steam collecting area, to said fan, and back to said main cavity;
forcing, by said fan, recirculation of said steam along said primary recirculation path so that gases from said main cooking cavity flow through said steam collecting area to be enhanced therein; and
wherein enhancing said gases from said main cooking cavity in said steam collecting area comprises adding at least one of moisture and heat thereto.
31. The method of claim 30 wherein said primary recirculation path includes a generally vertically extending duct disposed between said steam chamber and said fan.
32. The method of claim 30 wherein said baffle is removable and further comprising removing said baffle to allow access by a user from said cooking cavity to at least a portion of said steam chamber.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A computer system for managing electronic transactions, comprising:
a server computer system including:
a processor;
a computer-readable medium connected to the processor;
a network interface device connected to the processor; and
a set of instructions on the computer-readable medium, the set of instructions being executable by the processor and including:
a plurality of merchant accounts stored in the data store, each merchant account having a merchant account identifier;
a merchant account management system receiving a voucher entry over the network interface device from a merchant computer system, the merchant offer being stored in the data store in association with the merchant account having the respective merchant account identifier;
a transaction clearing system that receives a charge advisory over the network interface device, the charge advisory including a second consumer account identifier;
a voucher redemption system matching the second merchant account identifier to one of the first merchant account identifiers to identify a selected one of the voucher entries associated with the merchant account having the first merchant account identifier; and
a settlement system having (i) at least one central account, (ii) a merchant payment management module receiving a notification from a server computer system bank account of settlement from a merchant account payment infrastructure of the discount amount, and updating the at least one central account based on the notification, and (iii) a network payment management module transmitting a settlement instruction for settlement based on the discount amount, and updating, with the processor, the at least one central account based on the settlement instruction.
2. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the merchant payment management module transmits a settlement request to a merchant account payment infrastructure for settlement based on the discount amount, the notification being in response to the settlement request.
3. The computer system of claim 2, wherein an entry of the central account includes a PAN, an amount based on the discount amount and a merchant account ID, the amount based on the discount amount and merchant account ID being transmitted to the merchant account payment infrastructure, the notification including the PAN and the amount based on the discount amount, and the settlement instruction including the discount amount and the PAN.
4. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the network payment management module transmits a credit instruction contemporaneously with the settlement instruction, the credit instruction including an account identifier to be credited by the discount amount.
5. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the charge advisory includes a second consumer account identifier, further comprising:
a plurality of consumer accounts stored in the data store, each consumer account having a first consumer account identifier;
a push module associating the voucher entry with one of the consumer accounts, identifies a selected one of the consumer accounts by associating one of the first consumer account identifiers with the second consumer account identifier;
a voucher availability module determining whether the selected consumer account is the consumer account having the voucher entry associated therewith, wherein the settlement system only transmits the settlement instruction if the selected consumer account has the voucher entry associated therewith; and
a transaction processing system that processes the charge request based on an account detail of the selected consumer account.
6. The computer system of claim 5, wherein the voucher entry in the consumer account is transmitted from over the network interface device to a mobile device based on an identifier in the consumer account having the consumer account identifier.
7. A computer-based method of managing electronic transactions, comprising:
storing, with a processor, a plurality of merchant accounts in a data store, each merchant account having a first merchant account identifier;
receiving, with the processor, a voucher entry over a network interface device from a merchant computer system;
storing, with the processor, the voucher entry having a discount amount in the data store in association with the merchant account having the respective first merchant account identifier;
receiving, with the processor, a charge advisory over the network interface device, the charge advisory including a second consumer account identifier;
matching, with the processor, the second merchant account identifier to one of the first merchant account identifiers to identify a selected one of the voucher entries associated with the merchant account having the first merchant account identifier;
receiving, with the processor, a notification from a server computer system bank account of settlement from a merchant account payment infrastructure of the discount amount;
updating, with the processor, at least one central account based on the notification;
transmitting, with the processor, a settlement instruction for settlement based on the discount amount; and
updating, with the processor, the at least one central account based on the settlement instruction.
8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:
transmitting, with the processor, a settlement request to a merchant account payment infrastructure for settlement based on the discount amount, the notification being in response to the settlement request.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein an entry of the central account includes a PAN, an amount based on the discount amount and a merchant account ID, the amount based on the discount amount and merchant account ID being transmitted to the merchant account payment infrastructure, the notification including the PAN and the amount based on the discount amount, and the settlement instruction including the discount amount and the PAN.
10. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the network payment management module transmits a credit instruction contemporaneously with the settlement instruction, the credit instruction including an account identifier to be credited by the discount amount.
11. The method of claim 7, wherein the charge advisory includes a second consumer account identifier, further comprising:
storing, with a processor, a plurality of consumer accounts in a data store, each consumer account having a first consumer account identifier;
associating, with the processor, the voucher entry with one of the consumer accounts;
identifying, with the processor, a selected one of the consumer accounts by associating one of the first consumer account identifiers with the second consumer account identifier;
determining, with the processor, whether the selected consumer account is the consumer account having the voucher entry associated therewith, wherein the processor only transmits the settlement instruction if the selected consumer account has the voucher entry associated therewith; and
processing, with the processor, the charge request based on an account detail of the selected consumer account.
12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:
transmitting the voucher entry over the network interface device to a mobile device based on an identifier in the consumer account having the consumer account identifier.
13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:
receiving, with the processor, login information from a mobile device over the network interface device, access to the merchant offer only being permitted upon successful login based on the login information.