Continuous Cooking Surface with Cooling-Isolated Heating Zones
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional grills with a continuous cooking surface struggle to maintain different temperature zones effectively due to heat conduction between regions, making it difficult to cook foods at varying temperatures simultaneously.
Innovation Solution
A grill with individually controllable heating zones separated by isolation zones that incorporate cooling features, such as cooling fluid channels, to reduce heat transfer between zones, allowing for independent temperature control of each zone.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If a continuous cooking surface is used with heating elements positioned beneath it, then the cooking surface can be heated, but heat conduction between regions causes difficulty in maintaining different temperature zones
Solution Approach 1:
The continuous cooking surface is segmented into multiple heating zones by introducing isolation zones with cooling fluid channels. These channels divide the cooking surface into distinct thermal regions, allowing independent temperature control of each zone while preventing heat conduction between adjacent heating elements.
Solution Approach 2:
Cooling fluid channels are introduced as intermediary elements between adjacent heating zones. These channels carry cooling fluid that absorbs heat from the isolation zones, acting as a thermal barrier that prevents direct heat conduction between neighboring heating elements while maintaining the structural integrity of the continuous cooking surface.
2Measurement precision
If cooling fluid channels are introduced to separate heating zones, then temperature control precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling fluid channels are merged directly into the cooking surface structure itself, rather than being separate components. This integration allows the cooking surface to serve dual functions: as the heating platform and as the structural element containing the cooling channels, thereby reducing overall device complexity while maintaining precise temperature control capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooking surface is designed with multi-functionality, serving both as the cooking platform and as the structural housing for the cooling fluid channels. This universal design eliminates the need for separate isolation structures, reducing component count and simplifying the overall system while enabling precise temperature zone control.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables precise temperature control of different cooking areas, facilitating the simultaneous cooking of foods at various temperatures without significant heat transfer issues, enhancing cooking flexibility and efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
heat transfer between zones
Implementation Method 2
cooling fluid circulation system configured to control a flow of a cooling fluid through the cooling fluid channel
Data Source
AI summary
Examples are disclosed herein that relate to a grill with a continuous cooking surface having individually controllable heating zones separated by one or more isolation zones. One example provides a grill, comprising a grill plate defining a continuous cooking surface comprising a plurality of individually controllable heating zones separated by one or more isolation zones, each heating zone comprising one or more heating elements positioned beneath the grill plate, and each isolation zone comprising a cooling fluid channel, and a cooling fluid circulation system configured to control a flow of a cooling fluid through the cooling fluid channel for each isolation zone.