Cookware Lid Position Recognition for Intuitive Hob Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cooking utensils with integrated electronics face challenges such as high development and manufacturing costs, space constraints, and the need for moisture protection, limiting their use in cookware without handles and making them less dishwasher-safe.
Innovation Solution
A cooking utensil system with a lid that recognizes multiple positions and angular arrangements, using sensors and display elements to communicate with a hob or mobile device, allowing for intuitive operation and reducing the need for hob controls, with wireless information transmission and visual feedback through LEDs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If electronics are integrated into the handle of cooking utensils, then cooking control and monitoring functions are improved, but device complexity and manufacturing costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the cooking system into two parts: simple cooking utensils without integrated electronics, and a separate control device (smartphone, tablet, or dedicated controller) that provides all the electronic control and monitoring functions. This segmentation eliminates the need for complex electronics in the handle while maintaining full cooking control capabilities through wireless communication.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary control device that acts as a mediator between the user and the cooking utensil. This intermediary device handles all complex electronic functions including temperature monitoring, cooking program control, and user interface operations, allowing the cooking utensil itself to remain simple and electronics-free.
2Loss of information
If electronics are integrated into the handle, then cooking monitoring functions are improved, but space requirements increase and dishwasher safety is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
By separating the monitoring functions into a dedicated control device and removing electronics from the cooking utensil handle, the patent enables the utensil to be fully dishwasher-safe while maintaining continuous cooking monitoring capabilities through the separate control device that receives data via wireless communication.
Solution Approach 2:
The intermediary control device performs all monitoring functions, allowing the cooking utensil to remain simple and dishwasher-safe. The intermediary receives cooking data wirelessly and provides monitoring information to the user, eliminating the need for moisture-sensitive electronics in the utensil itself.
3Ease of operation
If controls are integrated into the cookware, then hob controls can be eliminated, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the control functions into a separate control device that communicates with both the hob and the cooking utensil. This allows hob controls to be eliminated or simplified while avoiding the high manufacturing costs of integrating complex electronics into every cooking utensil, as the control intelligence resides in the separate device.
Solution Approach 2:
The separate control device serves multiple functions: it controls the hob, monitors the cooking utensil, provides user interface operations, and manages cooking programs. This universal control device eliminates the need for separate control systems in each utensil and on the hob, reducing overall system complexity and manufacturing cost.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a cooking vessel system (1, 2) comprising a cooking vessel (1) and a lid (2) for covering the cooking vessel (1). The cooking vessel system (1, 2) is characterized in that the cooking vessel system (1, 2) is designed to recognize at least two different positions, preferably a plurality of positions, of the lid (2) relative to the cooking vessel (1).