Microwave Appliance Thermal Imaging Heating Pattern Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for operating household microwave appliances require precise tracking of temperature distributions to ensure effective energy absorption by food, which can be impractical if temperature measurements are inaccurate or unavailable, and are often complex in implementation.
Innovation Solution
A method that involves an initial scan using thermal imaging to determine heating patterns before the food reaches a saturation state, allowing for controlled microwave influence without continuous temperature measurement, enabling uniform or non-uniform heating even when temperature distribution is not expedient for energy absorption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If temperature distribution tracking is implemented to ensure effective energy absorption, then heating effectiveness is improved, but measurement precision and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs an initial scan during the warming-up phase to capture temperature distributions and derive heating patterns before the food reaches saturation state. These pre-acquired heating patterns are stored and reused during saturation phase when temperature measurements become unreliable, eliminating the need for continuous temperature tracking while maintaining heating effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a copy of the heating pattern information acquired during the warming-up phase and uses this copied data to control microwave irradiation during the saturation phase. This allows the system to operate effectively without real-time temperature measurements, as the pre-captured heating patterns serve as a reliable proxy for controlling energy distribution.
2Manufacturing precision
If continuous temperature measurement is performed to monitor heating process, then control precision is improved, but device complexity and measurement difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs an initial scan during the warming-up phase to capture temperature distributions and derive heating patterns before the food reaches saturation state. These pre-acquired heating patterns are stored and reused during saturation phase when temperature measurements become unreliable, eliminating the need for continuous temperature tracking while maintaining heating effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses the heating patterns acquired during the warming-up phase as feedback to control microwave irradiation during the saturation phase. By comparing the desired heating outcome with the pre-acquired heating patterns, the system adjusts microwave power distribution without requiring continuous temperature measurements, thus reducing system complexity while maintaining control precision.
3Ease of operation
If microwave energy is introduced during saturation phase without temperature measurement, then ease of operation is improved, but temperature uniformity may deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a copy of the heating pattern information acquired during the warming-up phase and uses this copied data to control microwave irradiation during the saturation phase. This allows the system to operate effectively without real-time temperature measurements, as the pre-captured heating patterns serve as a reliable proxy for controlling energy distribution.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical/physical temperature measurement system with a computational approach using pre-acquired heating patterns. Instead of relying on physical temperature sensors during saturation phase, the system uses the stored heating pattern data to control microwave irradiation, substituting direct measurement with indirect pattern-based control that maintains temperature uniformity while simplifying operation.
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 allows for accurate control of microwave treatment to achieve desired surface characteristics of food, including defrosting and cooking, with high tolerance to process interruptions and adaptability, reducing computational complexity and reliance on precise temperature measurements.
Implementation Method 1
at least one thermal imaging sensor, which is oriented into the cooking compartment, for determining temperature distributions <T> on a surface of the food to be cooked
Implementation Method 2
a microwave generator for generating microwaves by means of which it is possible to influence the food to be cooked
Implementation Method 3
a microwave generator for generating microwaves by means of which it is possible to influence the food to be cooked
Data Source
AI summary
A household microwave appliance operates with multiple parameter configurations to treat food to be cooked in a locally differing manner. The microwave appliance determines in an initial scan with a thermal imaging sensor directed into the cooking chamber a temperature distributions on a surface of the food to be cooked. Change patterns are obtained from differences between different temperature distributions. An evaluation value is calculated for a best heating pattern that brings the current temperature distribution closest to a target temperature distribution determined based on a normalized target state and a current temperature distribution, whereafter microwave power is applied to the food to be cooked with the parameter configuration associated with the best heating pattern.