Energy-saving electric heating element and cooking utensil having said element

Abstract

An energy-saving electric heating element and a cooking utensil having the element are provided. [Solution] The energy-saving electric heating element includes a body 1 for transmitting heat, a heating assembly 4 sintered to the rear of the body, the heating assembly including at least one group of heating elements, each group of heating elements consisting of two heating elements, and a main control module 5 supplies electrical energy to the heating assembly to control the temperature rise, fall, or stop the supply of electrical energy to the heating elements. The energy-saving electric heating element uses electrical energy for heating, which not only has the advantages of higher heating efficiency and higher heat utilization rate, but also can automatically adjust the temperature according to actual demand, which has the effects of energy saving and safety.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of electric heating, and more particularly to an energy-saving electric heating element and a cooking utensil having the same. [Background technology]

[0002] There are many types of grilling, including grill pans, griddles, iron grates, and long hobs, but charcoal is the most common. Grill pans currently on the market are charcoal grills, steamers (which are direct-fire grills and carry a certain risk of carbon monoxide poisoning and fire), heating tube grill pans, and induction cooker grill pans (these products have drawbacks: they heat up slowly, have a low heat utilization rate of less than 65%, and their power output is generally uneven, ranging from 1500W to 3500W, which can cause the surface to redden and pose a risk of fire). Furthermore, these products emit a certain amount of electromagnetic radiation, which poses a certain risk to infant development. When cooking outdoors using an outdoor power source, 1 kilowatt can only be used for 20 to 40 minutes.

[0003] In addition, grill pan products currently on the market have low heat utilization rates and short battery life, and the surface of the grill pan is generally sprayed with Teflon paint ("Teflon" is a registered trademark), which is prone to falling off, making conventional grill pans inconvenient to remove and carry.

[0004] Therefore, the present applicant has invented a portable grill pan using silver paste heating, specifically, please refer to the patent publication text of application number CN202322199366.3, which includes a tray body, a grill pan body fixed to the top of the tray body, a heating silver paste sintered layer fixed to the bottom of the grill pan body, uniformly distributed stripe-shaped protrusions fixed to the top of the grill pan body, a pot lid provided on the top of the grill pan body, a support stand provided on the left side of the bottom of the tray body, an electric control stand provided on the right side of the bottom of the tray body, and the electric control switch A control joint penetrates and is fixedly connected to the front of the stand, an NTC temperature control assembly is fixedly connected to the bottom right side of the grill pan body, and the NTC temperature control assembly penetrates the tray body and the electric control stand, a second one-touch joint penetrates and is fixedly connected to the center of the bottom of the NTC temperature control assembly, magnetic attraction blocks are fixedly connected to all four corners of the bottom of the tray body, and the magnetic attraction blocks on the left and right sides penetrate the support stand and the electric control stand respectively, and heat dissipation holes are provided on both the front and rear of the bottom of the electric control stand.

[0005] Such grill pans have the advantage of higher heat generation efficiency and higher heat utilization rate due to the high resistance heat-generating silver paste sintered layer provided on the grill pan body made of tungsten steel material. However, since the entire grill pan is heated as a whole, food may be placed only in a certain area when grilling. In this case, if power is still supplied to the entire grill pan to supply heat energy, it is not energy-efficient. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] The purpose of this invention is to provide an energy-saving electric heating element, which uses electrical energy for heating, and has the advantages of higher heat generation efficiency and higher heat utilization rate, and can automatically adjust the temperature according to actual demand, which is energy-saving and safe. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] An energy-saving electric heating element comprising a body for transmitting heat, a heat-generating assembly sintered and connected to a rear surface of the body, the heat-generating assembly being electrically connected to a power source and a main control module for controlling the temperature of the heat-generating assembly, the heat-generating assembly comprising at least one group of heat-generating elements, each group being formed by sintering two or more even number of heat-generating bodies, the main control module supplying electric energy to the heat-generating assembly to control the temperature rise and fall of the heat-generating bodies or to stop the supply of electric energy to the heat-generating bodies; If any heating element is above a specified temperature and / or if any heating element does not change temperature in a specified time, the master control module reduces or stops power to that sintered layer; and / or If the temperature drop of any heating element in a group of heating elements is greater than that of another heating element, the main control module will reduce or stop power supply to the heating element with the smaller temperature drop, and continue to supply electrical energy to the other heating elements with the larger temperature drop to raise their temperature.

[0008] Preferably, the heating element is made by sintering silver paste, and the main body is made of titanium alloy ceramics or a thermally conductive metal.

[0009] Preferably, the main control module includes an MCU control block, a power regulation block, a temperature detection block, and a protection unit; The MCU control block is provided with a touch detection block for adjusting the initial heating power; The power regulation block is electrically connected to the MCU control block, and a relay control branch circuit used for stepwise control and a thyristor power regulation branch circuit used for stepless regulation are provided opposite to the heat-generating assembly; The temperature detection block is connected to the heat generating assembly and is electrically connected to the signal input terminal of the MCU control block; The protection unit includes an overcurrent sampling unit and an overvoltage protection unit, which are arranged opposite to the MCU control block.

[0010] Preferably, there are at least two relay control branch circuits, each of which corresponds to one heating element, and each of which is connected to one control end of the MCU control block.

[0011] Preferably, the thyristor power regulating branch circuit includes a bidirectional thyristor unit and an optical coupling isolator provided at an end of the bidirectional thyristor unit remote from the heat-generating assembly, the input end of the optical coupling isolator is electrically connected to the output signal end of the MCU control block, and the output end of the optical coupling isolator triggers the conduction angle of the thyristor unit according to the signal received at the input end.

[0012] Preferably, the temperature detection block includes a voltage divider circuit and a zero-cross detection circuit; The voltage divider circuit has an input terminal connected to the heat-generating assembly, and an output terminal corresponding to the signal input terminal of the MCU control block, and outputs a divided voltage signal; the voltage divider circuit is provided with at least one NTC element, and each NTC element corresponds to a group of heat-generating elements; The zero-cross detection circuit has a voltage dividing resistor provided opposite the power adjustment block for extracting a zero-cross signal and inputting it to the MCU control block.

[0013] Preferably, the touch detection block includes a plurality of capacitive touch springs, each of the touch springs is provided with a current-limiting resistor, the MCU control block is provided with a touch detection pin corresponding to each touch spring, and the touch detection pin is electrically connected to the current-limiting resistor; The MCU control block is provided with one status indication unit corresponding to each touch spring.

[0014] The technical solution of the present invention is to use a main control module to control the heating assembly, so that the main body of the energy-saving electric heating element can achieve high-efficiency and stable heating and have a relatively good energy-saving effect. The heating assembly includes a heating element having at least one group of two heating elements, and the heating elements are heating temperature zones. When the main body performs initialization, the main control module supplies power evenly to the two heating temperature zones to ensure balanced heating of the two heating temperature zones. When the heating temperature zones reach the set temperature, the main control module can adjust the power supply to keep the main body temperature within the set range.

[0015] Under the action of the main control module, if the temperature of the heating element is higher than the preset temperature, the output power exceeds the preset power, and / or the heating element does not experience a relatively high temperature / power change for a long time, and if the two heating elements or one of the two heating elements is not in a working state, the main control module can reduce the power and maintain the temperature on the non-working heating element of the main body in a balanced state and control it within the set temperature range, or stop the power supply to ensure the safety of the heating assembly when used and achieve a relatively good energy-saving effect.

[0016] In a group of heating elements, when the temperature drop of any one heating element is much greater than that of the other heating elements, and one of the heating elements is working while the other heating elements are not working and are in a standby state, or are in a stable working state, or are about to finish working, the main control module can maximize the power of the heating element when it is working, ensure the stability of the power at the beginning of operation, and improve the heating effect; the main control module can maintain the temperature of the other heating elements within a set equilibrium temperature range for a certain period of time, ensure the working temperature of the main body, and easily complete heating; and control power outage and shutdown after a certain period of time, avoiding the other heating elements being in a non-working state and continuous waste of electrical energy; the above structure can effectively improve the energy saving effect of the electric heating element.

[0017] The present invention further provides a cooking utensil, which includes a utensil body, the utensil body having a utensil base, and the utensil body having any of the above-mentioned energy-saving electric heating elements.

[0018] Preferably, the appliance body includes a grill pan top and a grill pan bottom interconnected by laser welding, the grill pan top being a body having a heat generating assembly sintered to its rear surface, the heat generating assembly being sealed within a mounting cavity formed between the grill pan top and the grill pan bottom.

[0019] Preferably, the appliance base includes a support base and an electric control main base, a main control module is provided in the electric control main base, and both the support base and the electric control main base are provided with magnetic connecting members facing the grill base plate for detachably connecting to the grill base plate.

[0020] Take a grill pan as an example. When the grill pan is heating, the two heating elements in a group of heating elements heat up simultaneously in a balanced manner. Once the set temperature is reached, the two heating elements simultaneously reduce power, stabilizing the temperature loss and maintaining the grill pan within the set temperature range. When the grill pan is not full of food, the heating elements corresponding to the area without food experience a small temperature loss (low temperature drop value). In this case, the electronic control reduces or cuts off the power supply to maintain the area without food within the set temperature range. When the grill pan is full of food, the electronic control maximizes the power until the food is cooked through. Once the temperature of the grill pan is balanced within the set temperature range and the power remains stable for a certain period of time (e.g., 5 minutes, 10 minutes, half an hour, 1 hour, etc.) without significant fluctuations, the grill pan will automatically shut down, further realizing energy conservation for the grill pan. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0021] In order to more clearly explain the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the following briefly introduces drawings that need to be used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention, and those skilled in the art can obtain other drawings based on the structures shown in these drawings without any creative efforts. [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram showing the structure of the main body of the energy-saving electric heating element of the present invention; [Figure 2] 2 is a diagram showing the structure of the MCU control block of the energy-saving electric heating element of the present invention; [Figure 3] 1 is a diagram showing the structure of the cooking utensil of the present invention; [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the cooking utensil of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0022] The present invention will be further described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. [Example]

[0023] The energy-saving electric heating element includes a body 1 for transmitting heat, a heat-generating assembly 4 sintered to the rear surface of the body 1, and a main control module 5 electrically connected to the heat-generating assembly 4 and electrically connected to a power source for controlling the temperature of the heat-generating assembly 4, the heat-generating assembly 4 including at least one group of heat-generating elements, each group consisting of N (N≧2, N is an even number) heat-generating elements. Note that if there are two groups of heat-generating assemblies 4, the total number of heat-generating elements is 2N, and if there are three groups of heat-generating assemblies 4, the total number of heat-generating elements is 3N. In this way, since N is always an even number greater than 0, there is always an even number of heat-generating elements.

[0024] The main control module 5 supplies electrical energy to the heating assembly 4 to control the temperature rise, fall, or stop the supply of electrical energy to the heating element.

[0025] If any heating element is higher than the designated temperature (the designated temperature here is preset by programming, e.g., 300°C, 500°C), the main control module 5 will reduce the power to that sintered layer to stabilize the temperature within the required temperature range, or stop powering the heating element.

[0026] If any heating element does not change temperature within a specified time (the specified time here is preset by programming, e.g., 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 30 minutes, 60 minutes), the main control module 5 will reduce the power to that sintered layer to stabilize the temperature within the required temperature range, or stop powering the heating element.

[0027] If the temperature drop of any heating element in a group of heating elements is greater than that of another heating element, the main control module 5 reduces or stops power supply to the heating element whose temperature drop is relatively small, and continues to supply electrical energy to the other heating elements whose temperature drop is relatively large to raise their temperature.

[0028] By presetting different situations that require power reduction or power supply to be stopped, when the specified condition is triggered, the power will be reduced or power supply will be stopped, thereby making the present electric heating element fully energy-saving.

[0029] The heating element is made by sintering silver paste, specifically, it is sintered onto the rear surface of the main body 1, and can be sintered into a rectangular, square, circular, elongated or any other shape.

[0030] The body 1 is made of titanium alloy ceramics or heat-conductive metal, and is preferably integrally molded, and is preferably made of food-grade material.

[0031] Conventional electric heating elements, for example, use a heating wire for heating, and there is a certain gap between the heating element and the main body 1, so their thermal conductivity is generally only 40% to 60%. However, if a material with good thermal conductivity is used to directly sinter the heating element onto the back of the main body 1, the thermal conductivity of the main body 1 can reach 90% or more. In addition, the main body 1 is made of food-grade material, and this energy-saving electric heating element can be applied to various household appliances such as ovens, grill pans, and electric kettles.

[0032] The main control module 5 is It includes an MCU control block 6, a power regulation block 7, a temperature detection block 8, and a protection unit 9. The MCU control block 6 is provided with a touch detection block 61 for adjusting the initial heating power, which allows the user to quickly adjust the desired temperature of the main body 1, ensuring a good user experience. The power regulation block 7 is used to enable the main control module to automatically regulate the temperature on the main body 1 for the purpose of energy saving, for this purpose the power regulation block 7 is electrically connected to the MCU control block 6, and a relay control branch circuit 71 used for stepwise control and a thyristor power regulation branch circuit 72 used for stepless regulation are provided opposite to the heating assembly 4; The temperature detection block 8 is connected to the heat generating assembly 4 and is electrically connected to the signal input terminal of the MCU control block 6. The protection unit 9 includes an overcurrent sampling unit and an overvoltage protection unit 9, which are provided opposite the MCU control block 6.

[0033] Here, at least two relay control branch circuits 71 are provided, each branch circuit drives a relay coil using an NPN transistor, the relay contacts are connected in series with the heating element, each relay control branch circuit 71 corresponds to one heating element, and both relay control branch circuits 71 are respectively connected to one control end of the MCU control block 6.

[0034] The thyristor power regulation branch circuit 72 includes a bidirectional thyristor unit 73 and an optical coupling isolator 74 provided at the end of the bidirectional thyristor unit 73 away from the heat-generating assembly 4, the input end of the optical coupling isolator 74 is electrically connected to the output signal end of the MCU control block 6, and the output end of the optical coupling isolator 74 triggers the conduction angle of the thyristor unit according to the signal received at the input end.

[0035] The temperature detection block 8 includes the following: a voltage divider circuit 81 is formed by an NTC element (negative temperature coefficient thermistor) and a precision resistor, and the voltage divider signal is input to the AD-B pin of the MCU control block 6. The NTC element allows the main control module 5 to accurately know the temperature at the location of the heating assembly 4, allowing the circuit to accurately adjust the output power, and further improving the heating effect and energy saving effect. The voltage divider circuit 81 has one NTC element corresponding to each heating element, and one NTC element corresponds to every N heating elements, maximizing the utilization efficiency of the NTC elements.

[0036] The zero-cross detection circuit 82 has a voltage dividing resistor provided opposite the power adjustment block 7 for extracting a zero-cross signal and inputting it to the MCU control block 6 .

[0037] The protection unit 9 further includes a milliohm-level sampling resistor connected in series with the heating circuit, the voltage of which is input to the MCU control block 6 and used for overcurrent protection; a varistor connected in parallel with the AC input terminal to absorb surge voltage; and the MCU control block 6 disconnects the relay and turns off the thyristor trigger signal when it detects overcurrent or overheating.

[0038] The touch detection block 61 includes a plurality of capacitive touch springs, each of which is provided with a current-limiting resistor. The MCU control block 6 has a touch detection pin corresponding to each touch spring, which is electrically connected to the current-limiting resistor. The MCU control block 6 has a status indication unit corresponding to each touch spring. The MCU control block 6 has a built-in capacitive sensing algorithm that detects changes in the touch state and allows the user to directly adjust the temperature of the energy-saving electric heating element. The status indication unit can inform the user of the current adjustment state, effectively improving the user's user experience.

[0039] The technical solution of the present invention is to use the main control module to control the heating assembly 4, which enables the main body 1 of the energy-saving electric heating element to achieve efficient and stable heating and has a relatively good energy-saving effect. The heating assembly 4 includes at least one group of heating elements with two heating elements, and the heating elements are heating temperature zones. When the main body 1 performs initialization, the main control module supplies power evenly to the two heating temperature zones to ensure balanced heating of the two heating temperature zones. When the heating temperature zones reach the set temperature, the main control module can adjust the power supply to keep the temperature of the main body 1 within the set range.

[0040] Under the action of the main control module, if the temperature of the heating element is higher than the preset temperature, the output power exceeds the preset power, and / or the heating element does not experience a relatively high temperature / power change for a long time, and if the two heating elements or one of the two heating elements is not in a working state, the main control module will reduce the power and maintain the temperature on the non-working heating element of the main body 1 in balance and control it within the set temperature range, or stop the power supply to ensure the safety of the use of the heating assembly 4 and achieve a relatively good energy-saving effect.

[0041] In a group of heating elements, when the temperature drop of any one of the heating elements is much greater than that of the other heating elements, and when one of the heating elements is working while the other heating elements are not working and are in a standby state, or are in a stable working state, or are about to finish working, the main control module can maximize the power of the heating element when it is working, ensure the stability of the power at the beginning of operation, and improve the heating effect; the main control module can maintain the temperature of the other heating elements within a set equilibrium temperature range for a certain period of time, ensure the working temperature of the main body 1, and easily complete heating; and control power outage and shutdown after a certain period of time, so that the other heating elements are not working and the continuous waste of electrical energy is avoided; the above structure can effectively improve the energy saving effect of the electric heating element. [Example]

[0042] The cooking utensil includes a main body 2 having a base 3, and the energy-saving electric heating element is fixedly attached to the main body 2. The main body 2 is a grill pan, and the main body 1 is a tray body. Structurally, the main body 2 includes a top surface 21 of the grill pan and a bottom surface of the grill pan, which are connected to each other by laser welding. The bottom surface of the top surface 21 of the grill pan is sintered to connect the main body 1 of the heat-generating assembly 4. The heat-generating assembly 4 is sealed in a mounting cavity formed between the top surface 21 and the bottom surface of the grill pan, and the grill base plate 22 seals and protects the heat-generating assembly 4. Laser welding further improves the waterproof and oil-proof properties of the entire grill pan, allowing the grill pan to be directly washed with water after use, greatly improving maintenance and cleaning efficiency.

[0043] The appliance base 3 includes a support base 31 and an electric control main base 32, in which a main control module is installed. Both the support base 31 and the electric control main base 32 are provided with magnetic connectors facing the grill base 22 for detachable connection to the grill base 22. Because the base welded to the bottom of the appliance body 2 is made of metal, the support base 31 and the electric control main base 32 can be detachably connected to the base with the magnetic connectors. This makes it easy to separate the appliance body 2 and the appliance base 3 for storage and transportation, greatly improving the portability of the device and providing a certain strength to the assembled device, making it more stable when in use. The appliance body 2 may also be a household electrical appliance such as a pancake oven, a double boiler grill, or a mixing pot.

[0044] When the grill pan is heating, the two heating elements in a group of heating elements heat simultaneously in a balanced manner. Once the set temperature is reached, the two heating elements simultaneously reduce power, stabilizing the temperature loss and maintaining the grill pan within the set temperature range. If the grill pan is not full of food, the heating elements corresponding to the area without food will experience a small temperature loss (low temperature drop value). In this case, the electronic control will reduce or cut off power to maintain the area without food within the set temperature range. If the grill pan is full of food, the electronic control will maximize power until the food is cooked through. Once the temperature of the grill pan is balanced within the set temperature range and has been operating for a certain period of time (e.g., 5 minutes, 10 minutes, half an hour, 1 hour, etc.) without significant power fluctuations, the grill pan will automatically shut down, further saving energy.

[0045] Furthermore, the grill pan manufactured using this technical solution is sufficiently portable, being about the size of a small or medium-sized laptop, and the surface of the grill pan is easy to clean. The main controller and the appliance body 2 are magnetically attached and detached for easy storage and cleaning.

[0046] The above embodiments are merely preferred embodiments of the present invention and do not limit the scope of protection of the present invention. Any insubstantial modifications and substitutions made by those skilled in the art based on the present invention fall within the scope of protection claimed by the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0047] 1...Main body, 2...Apparatus main body, 21...Grill pan top, 22...Grill base, 3...Apparatus base, 31...Support base, 32...Electrical control main base, 4...Heater assembly, 5...Main control module, 6...MCU control block, 61...Touch detection block, 7...Power adjustment block, 71...Relay control branch circuit, 72...Thyristor power adjustment branch circuit, 73...Bidirectional thyristor unit, 74...Optocoupled isolator, 8...Temperature detection block, 81...Voltage divider circuit, 82...Zero cross detection circuit, 9...Protection unit

Claims

1. An energy-saving electric heating element comprising a body for transmitting heat, a heat-generating assembly sintered and connected to a rear surface of the body, the heat-generating assembly being electrically connected to a power source and a main control module for controlling the temperature of the heat-generating assembly, the heat-generating assembly comprising at least one group of heat-generating elements, each group being formed by sintering two or more even number of heat-generating bodies, the main control module supplying electric energy to the heat-generating assembly to control the temperature rise and fall of the heat-generating bodies or stopping the supply of electric energy to the heat-generating bodies; If any heating element is above a specified temperature and / or if any heating element does not change temperature in a specified time, the master control module reduces or stops power to that sintered layer; and / or When the temperature drop of any heating element in a group of heating elements is greater than that of another heating element, the main control module reduces or stops the power supply to the heating element whose temperature drop is relatively small, and continues to supply electrical energy to the other heating elements whose temperature drop is relatively large to raise their temperature.

2. 2. The energy-saving electric heating element according to claim 1, wherein the heating element is made by sintering silver paste, and the main body is made of titanium alloy ceramics or thermally conductive metal.

3. The main control module an MCU control block provided with a touch detection block for adjusting the initial heating power; a power regulation block electrically connected to the MCU control block, the power regulation block including a relay control branch circuit used for stepwise control and a thyristor power regulation branch circuit used for stepless regulation, the power regulation block being provided opposite the heat generating assembly; a temperature detection block connected to the heat generating assembly and electrically connected to a signal input terminal of the MCU control block; 2. The energy-saving electric heating element as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: a protection unit, wherein an overcurrent sampling unit and an overvoltage protection unit are disposed opposite to the MCU control block.

4. The energy-saving electric heating element according to claim 3, characterized in that there are at least two relay control branch circuits, each of which corresponds to one heating element, and each of which is connected to one control end of the MCU control block.

5. 4. The energy-saving electric heating element of claim 3, wherein the thyristor power regulating branch circuit includes a bidirectional thyristor unit and an optical coupling isolator disposed at an end of the bidirectional thyristor unit remote from the heat-generating assembly, the input end of the optical coupling isolator is electrically connected to the output signal end of the MCU control block, and the output end of the optical coupling isolator triggers the conduction angle of the thyristor unit according to the signal received at the input end.

6. The temperature detection block is a voltage divider circuit, the input terminal of which is connected to the heating assembly, and the output terminal of which outputs a divided voltage signal corresponding to the signal input terminal of the MCU control block, the voltage divider circuit being provided with at least one NTC element, each NTC element corresponding to a group of heating elements; 4. The energy-saving electric heating element according to claim 3, further comprising: a zero-cross detection circuit, in which a voltage dividing resistor is provided opposite the power adjustment block to extract a zero-cross signal and input it to the MCU control block.

7. The touch detection block includes a plurality of capacitive touch springs, each of which is provided with a current-limiting resistor; the MCU control block has a touch detection pin corresponding to each of the touch springs, and the touch detection pin is electrically connected to the current-limiting resistor; 4. The energy-saving electric heating element as claimed in claim 3, wherein the MCU control block is provided with one status indicating unit corresponding to each touch spring.

8. A cooking utensil comprising an utensil body having an utensil base, the utensil body comprising the energy-saving electric heating element of claim 1.

9. 9. The cooking utensil of claim 8, wherein the utensil body includes a grill pan top and a grill pan bottom interconnected by laser welding, the grill pan top being a body having a heat generating assembly sintered and connected to a back surface thereof, the heat generating assembly being sealed within a mounting cavity formed between the grill pan top and the grill pan bottom.

10. 10. The cooking appliance of claim 9, wherein the appliance base includes a support base and an electric control main base, the electric control main base is provided with a main control module, and the support base and the electric control main base are both provided with magnetic connecting members facing the grill base for detachably connecting to the grill base.

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