Embroidered Cooktop Support Structure for Heat-Stable Antenna Integration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing induction cooktops face challenges in operating and controlling wireless energy transmission safely and conveniently, particularly in ensuring high operating safety and convenience for electrical loads.
Innovation Solution
A support structure with a planar, flexible woven fabric and embedded antennas/sensors secured by embroidering, providing thermal stability up to 200°C, and using induction heating coils for inductive heating and wireless energy transmission, along with NFC antennas for communication and FOD sensors for foreign object detection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If a rigid support structure is used for mounting antennas and sensors, then structural stability is improved, but thermal stability above 200°C deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a flexible printed circuit board (FPC) as the support structure instead of rigid materials. The FPC can withstand temperatures above 200°C while maintaining flexibility, allowing it to be mounted on the curved or flat surfaces of induction cooktops without cracking or deforming. This resolves the contradiction by providing both structural stability and thermal resistance through the inherent properties of the flexible circuit board material.
Solution Approach 2:
The support structure is constructed using composite materials that combine the advantages of flexibility and high-temperature resistance. The FPC incorporates specialized substrates and conductive traces designed to maintain mechanical integrity and electrical conductivity at temperatures exceeding 200°C, thus achieving both structural stability and thermal stability simultaneously.
2Reliability
If feed lines are electrically insulated from one another, then electrical safety is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible printed circuit board inherently provides electrical insulation between adjacent feed lines through its layered construction. The insulating substrate material prevents electrical breakdown even when lines are in close proximity, ensuring electrical safety without requiring additional insulation layers or complex routing. This resolves the contradiction by integrating insulation functionality into the base structure itself.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the insulation function from a separate component and integrates it directly into the FPC substrate. By designing the circuit board with built-in electrical insulation properties, the need for additional insulation measures is eliminated, simplifying the manufacturing process while maintaining high electrical safety standards.
3Device complexity
If antennas and sensors are mounted on the same surface as feed lines, then device integration is improved, but signal interference increases
Solution Approach 1:
The FPC design incorporates local quality variations through strategic placement of ground traces, shielding structures, and impedance-controlled signal paths. Areas with high-frequency signals receive enhanced shielding and grounding, while antenna regions are designed with specific trace patterns to minimize coupling. This localized optimization reduces signal interference while maintaining high device integration on the same flexible substrate.
Solution Approach 2:
The flexible circuit board itself acts as an intermediary structure that physically separates and electrically isolates different functional elements. By routing feed lines, antennas, and sensors on different layers or regions of the FPC with appropriate spacing and shielding, the board mediates between closely spaced components to prevent harmful electromagnetic coupling while maintaining compact integration.
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 safe and convenient operation of induction cooktops with enhanced thermal stability, efficient energy transmission, and reliable foreign object detection, ensuring high operating safety and convenience.
Implementation Method 1
an induction heating coil (17) arranged below the support structure (22) for inductively heating a cooking vessel (15) placed on the cooktop plate (12)
Implementation Method 2
a device for wirelessly transmitting energy toward an electrical load (35) on the induction cooktop by means of inductive coupling
Data Source
AI summary
An induction cooktop comprising a cooktop plate and a planar and flat support structure has a flexible woven fabric as a support on which antennas and/or sensors are mounted as lines by means of embroidering processes. The antennas and/or sensors have feed lines, which are mounted and/or secured on the support by means of embroidering processes and cross one another and other lines on the same surface of the support, wherein they are electrically insulated from one another. The support structure has a thermal stability of ≥200° C. It is arranged on a planar and flat retainer and, together with antennas and/or sensors, is pressed against an underside of the cooktop plate by said retainer.