Flexible Induction Cooktop Coil Scheduling for Accurate Load Curves
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Solution Overview
Problem
Flexible induction cooktops face challenges in controlling power delivery due to excessive interactions between numerous coils, leading to increased memory requirements and acquisition time for load curves, making it difficult to adapt quickly to changes in cookware position and material properties during cooking.
Innovation Solution
The method involves identifying groups of coils underlying cookware items and selectively providing power to coils while preventing adjacent coils from being activated simultaneously, based on predetermined distance thresholds, to reduce electromagnetic and electrical interactions and limit the number of load curves needed.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If power is provided to multiple adjacent coils simultaneously to increase heating coverage, then the heating efficiency is improved, but electromagnetic interaction between coils increases causing control inaccuracy
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements periodic scanning of load curves for individual coils in a sequential manner rather than simultaneously measuring all coils. The controller activates coils one at a time or in non-overlapping groups, periodically cycling through the coil array to build complete power delivery maps. This periodic activation eliminates electromagnetic interaction between active coils during measurement, ensuring accurate load curve acquisition while maintaining the ability to control multiple coils during actual operation.
2Manufacturing precision
If load curves for all possible coil combinations are acquired to improve power control accuracy, then the manufacturing precision is improved, but the device complexity and memory requirements increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and eliminates the unnecessary requirement to acquire load curves for all possible coil combinations. By recognizing that electromagnetic interaction between adjacent coils degrades measurement accuracy anyway, the invention selectively acquires load curves only for individual coils or non-adjacent coil pairs. This extraction of the problematic full-combination approach reduces memory requirements from exponential growth to linear or quadratic scaling, while maintaining sufficient control accuracy through the use of individual coil load curves in sequential activation modes.
3Productivity
If all coils are activated simultaneously to heat large cookware items, then the productivity is improved, but the acquisition time for load curves increases making it difficult to adapt to changes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary acquisition of individual coil load curves during manufacturing or initial setup, storing these baseline characteristics in memory. During operation, when cookware is detected on the cooktop, the controller retrieves pre-acquired load curves for individual coils and applies them immediately without requiring time-consuming real-time measurement of all coil combinations. This preliminary action enables instant adaptation to different cookware configurations, maintaining high productivity while eliminating acquisition time delays.
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
This approach reduces memory occupation and curve acquisition time, allowing for more accurate power control and faster adaptation to changes, ensuring efficient cooking performance without the need to track all possible coil combinations.
Implementation Method 1
induction cooktop having a plurality of coils that are arranged adjacent to one another
Implementation Method 2
providing power to at least one coil of the group of coils underlying one or more cookware items
Data Source
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AI summary
A method is provided for controlling average power delivered to coils of a flexible induction cooktop (10) having a plurality of coils (201,1-20n,m) that are arranged adjacent to one another in a non-overlapping manner to form an array. The method includes: a) identifying a group of the plurality of coils (201,1-20n,m) that are underlying one or more cookware items (30); b) providing power to at least one coil of the group of coils underlying one or more cookware items; and c) restricting the coils that can be activated at the same time to be coils whose distance between each pair of the group of coils is larger than a predetermined threshold.