Energy efficient automated kitchen ventilation system

Abstract

The present invention relates to an automated residential, commercial or professional kitchen ventilation system designed to optimize energy consumption, noise and kitchen air quality by intelligently regulating extraction and pulsion motors based on real-time thermal data. One or more thermal cameras (4) are employed to detect hotspots within the kitchen environment, analyzing their temperature, size, quantity, and thermal patterns. This information serves as input for a centralized controller, which dynamically adjusts the operation of extraction (2) and pulsion (3) systems to match the specific ventilation requirements. The system integrates seamlessly with both new or existing kitchen setups, and by using multiple thermal cameras (4), it accommodates various kitchen layouts and cooking activities. By controlling ventilation components in response to detected thermal conditions, the system minimizes unnecessary energy consumption while ensuring effective ventilation. The innovative approach offers significant energy savings, kitchen personnel wellbeing and enhances overall kitchen operational efficiency.

Description

[0001] Energy efficient automated kitchen ventilation system

[0002] Background:

[0003] Residential, commercial and professional kitchens are critical environments where efficient ventilation is essential for maintaining air quality, removing heat, and preventing the buildup of pollutants such as grease and smoke. Traditional kitchen ventilation systems often operate at fixed speeds or manually adjusted settings, leading to energy inefficiencies as they may run at higher capacities than necessary for actual current conditions.

[0004] Efforts to optimize energy consumption in residential, commercial and professional kitchen environments have been limited by the lack of monitoring capabilities and adaptive control mechanisms. Existing systems typically rely on fixed speeds or manual adjustments, which do not account for variations in cooking activities or evolving kitchen layouts.

[0005] Recent advancements in thermal imaging technology have substantially improved temperature monitoring capabilities. These advancements, combined with the processing capabilities of microcontrollers, enable precise real-time monitoring of temperature distributions. The output from the thermal cameras not only facilitates the detection and quantification of hotspots but also allows for the measurement of their size, temperature, location and thermal pattern / movement. This comprehensive data provides valuable insights for optimizing kitchen ventilation and ensuring efficient operation.

[0006] The integration of thermal imaging with intelligent control systems presents an opportunity to revolutionize residential, commercial and professional kitchen ventilation. By harnessing thermal data to dynamically adjust ventilation settings, it becomes possible to optimize energy usage while maintaining effective ventilation levels tailored to current cooking activities and environmental conditions maintaining wellbeing of kitchen personnel.

[0007] The proposed automated residential, commercial or professional kitchen ventilation system builds upon these advancements by utilizing thermal imaging technology to inform the control strategy of extraction (extracting the polluted air) and / or pulsion (compensating the extracted air) motors. Through continuous monitoring and analysis of thermal data, the system intelligently regulates ventilation operations to match the specific heat load and airflow requirements of the kitchen space.

[0008] By addressing the limitations of traditional ventilation systems and incorporating adaptive control mechanisms driven by real-time thermal data, the proposed system offers the potential to significantly reduce energy consumption, noise while enhancing overall kitchen performance and sustainability. By addressing the limitations of traditional ventilation systems and incorporating adaptive control mechanisms driven by real-time thermal data, the proposed system offers the potential to significantly reduce energy consumption, noise while enhancing overall kitchen performance and sustainability.

[0009] Summary:

[0010] The present invention discloses an energy-efficient automated kitchen ventilation system designed for residential, commercial or professional applications. Conventional ventilation systems suffer from inefficiencies stemming from fixed-speed operation or manual control. This innovation leverages real-time thermal data monitoring by thermal cameras to optimize ventilation, thereby reducing noise and energy consumption while maintaining air quality.

[0011] Key Features:

[0012] 1 . Real-time Thermal Monitoring: The system utilizes thermal imaging technology to detect and analyze hotspots in terms of their size, quantity, location, and temperature. Furthermore, it discerns patterns within and / or movement of hotspots to distinguish cooking spots from those generated by retained heat.

[0013] 2. Dynamic Control Mechanism: A centralized controller processes the thermal data from the thermal cameras and dynamically adjusts extraction and pulsion motors to match ventilation requirements based on cooking activities and environmental conditions.

[0014] 3. Seamless Integration: Engineered for seamless integration with new and existing kitchen ventilation setups, the system accommodates various layouts and cooking activities by utilizing one or more thermal cameras.

[0015] 4. Retrofittability: Integration of the system into pre-existing kitchen ventilation configurations is seamless, provided that the motor drivers are equipped with an input for motor speed regulation.

[0016] 5. Scalability: This system offers high scalability, capable of adapting to evolving kitchen layouts by detecting the entire surface beneath the hood. Additional thermal cameras can be added later to expand the monitored area even further.

[0017] 6. Noise Reduction: Adjusting hood speed to match cooking demands minimizes noise disturbance for people inside the kitchen and nearby areas adjacent to the motor sites.

[0018] 7. Energy Efficiency: By controlling ventilation components in response to detected thermal conditions, the system minimizes unnecessary energy consumption while ensuring effective ventilation, leading to significant energy savings.

[0019] Detailed description:

[0020] The ensuing segment will provide a detailed explanation of the system, based upon the previously presented drawings and pictures. Throughout the following explanation, references to these drawings and images will be made using their respective numbers.

[0021] Commencing with FIG. 1 and 2

[0022] The following section explains how data flows through the system.

[0023] The disclosed automated kitchen ventilation system comprises an individual hood (1), equipped with one (FIG. 1 ) or more (FIG. 2) thermal cameras (4) strategically positioned along the length of the cooking surface (6), depending on the hood (1 )'s dimensions and the surface (6) that has to be monitored. Thermal cameras (4) with different fields of view (FOV) can be used to make everything underneath the hood (1 )'s surface (6) detectable. It is crucial to emphasize that the entire surface (6) beneath the hood (1) is being monitored continuously, including areas where no fixed heat sources are present. This characteristic enhances the system's flexibility to accommodate changes in the kitchen layout. For instance, this flexibility encompasses evolving kitchen layouts like the addition of a new stove top, the repositioning of existing stove tops, or the introduction of mobile frying pans, among other possibilities, without the need for recalibrating the system.

[0024] The thermal cameras (4) transmit captured thermal data (8) to a controller (5), which analyzes it as a comprehensive cooking surface (6) view (8) to determine necessary motor speeds. Subsequently, the controller (5) transmits the calculated speeds to the motor drivers which changes the speed of the motor(s).

[0025] Each hood (1) is equipped with an extraction motor responsible for expelling steam, smoke, fat, and other cooking impurities through extraction ducts, while a pulsion (3) motor supplies outside air into the kitchen through pulsion (3) air ducts to compensate for the negative kitchen pressure created by the extraction airflow.

[0026] Continuing with FIG. 3 and 4.

[0027] The following section explains how the data is being processed.

[0028] First of all, the thermal camera(s) (4) transmit the captured thermal data (8) of the current situation beneath the hood (1) to the hood controller (5). The controller (5) then analyzes the received data (FIG. 4) as a comprehensive view of the whole cooking surface (6) to detect hotspots. Upon identifying hotspots, their size, temperature, and location are recorded. The recorded data is cross-referenced with previous records to identify thermal patterns, including movement, changes in size, or temperature over a specific period. This helps distinguish whether hotspots (7) stem from residual heat or ongoing cooking activity. If a hotspot (7) has moved and its former location is experiencing a decrease in temperature, it indicates that the previous location is not a genuine hotspot (7) but rather a result of retained heat. Such a hotspot (7) exerts less influence on the calculation of the motor speed. If the temperature falls below a certain threshold, it can even be ignored completely.

[0029] When the number of actual cooking hotspots (7) is determined along with their temperatures, the controller (5) calculates the demand of the hood (1). Subsequently, the controller (5) checks whether this demand has changed. If the demand remains unchanged, the controller (5) maintains the existing signal to the motor driver. However, if the demand has been in the Idle state, indicating a preparation for cooking activity or the extraction (2) of retained heat after cooking, for a predetermined period, the hood (1) will be shut off. In the event that the demand has changed, the controller (5) transmits a new signal corresponding to the new level of demand to the motor driver. Once this process is completed, the loop restarts.

[0030] All of these steps occur within a loop of under 3 seconds. This means that the system is capable of responding to changes in cooking activity beneath the hood (1) within 3 seconds. However, it is important to note that the motor speed may not reach its desired level within this timeframe, as it depends on the specific motor ramp-up time.

[0031] To illustrate, consider Example 1 : If the thermal camera (4) detects two hotspots (7) with temperatures of 60°C and 80°C (illustrative example), with a size of 15 and 20 pixels (illustrative example) respectively, the controller (5) calculates the required ventilation intensity. In this scenario, the controller (5) determines that operating the extraction and pulsion (3) motors at 30% (illustrative example) of their capacity is sufficient to effectively remove the detected impurities and maintain desired air quality levels.

[0032] Similarly, in Example 2, if one of the hotspots (7) decreases in temperature and size, the controller (5) dynamically adjusts the ventilation settings accordingly. In this case, the controller (5) prioritizes the remaining hotspot (7) with higher temperature and larger size, reducing the speed of the extraction and pulsion (3) motors to 10% (illustrative example) of their capacity to address the dominant heat source effectively.

[0033] By continuously analyzing thermal data (8) and adjusting ventilation operations accordingly, the disclosed system optimizes noise and energy consumption, while ensuring efficient removal of cooking impurities and maintenance of indoor air quality for the people present in the kitchen. The integration of thermal imaging technology and intelligent control mechanisms enhances the effectiveness and adaptability of kitchen ventilation systems, resulting in improved operational performance and environmental sustainability.

Claims

Claims:1 . A kitchen ventilation system comprising: a. An installed controller utilizes the outputs from one or more thermal cameras to monitor the temperature of hotspots within the kitchen environment. b. An installed controller regulating the speed of an extraction motor and / or a pulsion motor based on the temperature of hotspots within the kitchen environment.

2. A kitchen ventilation system comprising: a. An installed controller utilizes the outputs from one or more thermal cameras to monitor the size of hotspots within the kitchen environment. b. An installed controller regulating the speed of an extraction motor and / or a pulsion motor based on the size of hotspots within the kitchen environment.

3. A kitchen ventilation system comprising: a. An installed controller utilizes the outputs from one or more thermal cameras to monitor the location of hotspots within the kitchen environment. b. An installed controller regulating the speed of an extraction motor and / or a pulsion motor based on the location of hotspots within the kitchen environment.

4. A kitchen ventilation system comprising: a. An installed controller utilizes historic data from one or more thermal cameras to monitor thermal patterns, including changes in temperature, size, or location of hotspots within the kitchen environment. b. An installed controller regulates the speed of an extraction motor and / or a pulsion motor based on thermal patterns, such as changes in temperature, size, or location of hotspots within the kitchen environment.

5. A kitchen ventilation system as claimed in any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the installed controller regulates the speed of the extraction and pulsion motors based on the temperature, size, or movement of hotspots individually or in combination.

6. A system adaptable for incorporation into both new and existing manually operated kitchen ventilation setups, comprising: a. Installation of one or more thermal cameras to measure temperature, size, and movement of hotspots within the kitchen environment. b. Integration of an installed controller to regulate the speed of an extraction motor and a pulsion motor based on measurements from the thermal camera(s). c. Adaptation of existing ventilation components to accommodate the automated control system described in claims 1 to 5.

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