Cooktop Pan Sensing Using Cross-Heating Thermocouples
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cooktops require additional hardware and increased complexity to detect the presence or absence of a cooking vessel on a burner, which raises costs and complexity.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating temperature sensors adjacent and remote from the burners to monitor cross heating patterns, allowing a cooktop controller to determine the presence or absence of a cooking vessel and automatically adjust the heat output without additional hardware, leveraging existing flame detection capabilities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a switch is installed to detect the presence of a cooking vessel on a burner, then the detection accuracy is improved, but the device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The temperature sensor adjacent to each burner serves dual purposes: detecting the presence of a flame (original function) and detecting the presence or absence of a cooking vessel (new function). By monitoring temperature patterns from burners, the system uses existing hardware to achieve cooking vessel detection without adding switches or other dedicated detection devices, thereby maintaining simplicity while improving measurement capability
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses the thermal energy and temperature signals already present in the cooking environment to detect cooking vessel presence. The temperature sensor leverages the heat generated by the burner itself to infer whether a cooking vessel is present, eliminating the need for separate detection mechanisms and reducing overall system complexity
2Reliability
If additional hardware is added to detect cooking vessel presence, then the detection reliability is improved, but the manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The temperature sensor performs multiple functions including flame detection and cooking vessel detection, eliminating the need for additional dedicated detection hardware. This multi-functional approach reduces component count, simplifies manufacturing, and lowers overall system cost while maintaining reliable detection capability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines the cooking vessel detection function with the existing flame detection system by using the same temperature sensor and control logic to monitor both flame presence and cooking vessel presence through temperature patterns, thereby reducing hardware requirements and manufacturing complexity
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 efficient detection of cooking vessel presence or absence and automatic heat adjustment, reducing energy consumption and maintaining existing hardware configurations, thereby lowering costs and complexity.
Implementation Method 1
A remote temperature sensor adjacent a inactive burner detects cross heating from an active burner to determine whether a cooking vessel is present at the active burner
Implementation Method 2
When a burner is active, the inactive burners will be cross heated by the active burner
Implementation Method 3
When a burner is active, the inactive burners will be cross heated by the active burner
Data Source
AI summary
A cooktop includes a first burner and a second burner. A first temperature sensor is adjacent the first burner, and a second temperature sensor is adjacent the second burner. A cooktop controller is operatively connected to the first temperature sensor to receive a first temperature signal from the first temperature sensor, and operatively connected to the second temperature sensor to receive a second temperature signal from the second temperature sensor. The cooktop controller is configured to determine, from the second temperature signal, an absence of a cooking vessel at the first burner, and to automatically downwardly adjust a heat output of the first burner based on the absence of a cooking vessel at the first burner.