Cooktop assembly with kinesthetic feature
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional cooktops lack effective methods to provide users with clear and intuitive feedback for positioning cooking vessels over heating zones, particularly for visually impaired individuals, relying heavily on visual indicators which can be limiting.
Innovation Solution
The cooktop assembly incorporates a support surface with surface discontinuities or kinesthetic features, such as recessed areas and texture elements, that provide haptic, audible, and visual feedback to help users identify and align cooking vessels with heating zones, correlating the size and strength of the features with the corresponding heating elements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If visual indicators are used to demarcate heating zones, then the information can be clearly conveyed to users, but visually impaired individuals cannot effectively use the cooktop
Solution Approach 1:
The support surface is segmented into different tactile zones: heating zone surfaces with kinesthetic features and surrounding surfaces without such features. This segmentation allows visually impaired users to distinguish heating zones through touch, providing accessible information about heating zone locations while maintaining clear demarcation.
Solution Approach 2:
Kinesthetic features act as an intermediary between the heating elements and the user's sense of touch. These features translate the invisible heating zone boundaries into tangible tactile cues that can be detected by users with visual impairments, bridging the gap between the heating element and user perception.
2Ease of operation
If surface discontinuities are added to provide kinesthetic feedback, then user feedback for positioning vessels is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Kinesthetic features are applied locally only to the heating zone surfaces rather than uniformly across the entire support surface. This localized application provides necessary tactile feedback for vessel positioning while minimizing the overall structural complexity and material requirements of the support surface.
Solution Approach 2:
The kinesthetic features on the support surface automatically provide tactile feedback when users touch or move vessels across the heating zones. The system serves itself by using the natural interaction between users and the surface to convey positioning information, eliminating the need for additional active sensing or feedback mechanisms.
3Measurement precision
If multiple kinesthetic features are provided for different heating zones, then vessel alignment accuracy is improved, but the manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The kinesthetic features are differentiated by parameters such as size, shape, or texture intensity corresponding to different heating zones. This allows users to distinguish between multiple heating zones through tactile variation while using a standardized family of features that can be manufactured using consistent processes, balancing precision with manufacturability.
Data Source
AI summary
A cooktop assembly includes a cooking panel. A heating element is operably coupled to the cooking panel. The heating element forms a heating zone for said cooktop assembly. A support surface extends over the heating element for supporting a cooking vessel thereon. The support surface includes a heating zone surface in the heating zone, a surrounding surface outside the heating zone, and a surface discontinuity defining a kinesthetic feature providing feedback for demarcating the heating zone relative to the surrounding surface and positioning the cooking vessel relative to the heating zone and, consequently, the heating element.