Safety cooking device and method
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Solution Overview
Problem
Cooktops lack a built-in mechanism to automatically shut off energy after a preset time, leading to risks of unattended cooking, especially among older individuals, who are more prone to kitchen fires due to distractions or medical issues, with current monitoring solutions requiring additional sensors and modifications to the cooktop.
Innovation Solution
A low-power, low-cost cooking safety device that uses a thermal sensor to generate infrared images of the cooktop, detecting unattended cooking by comparing thermal images over time and alerting users via sound and security networks, without modifying the cooktop, and can be installed on a ceiling or wall.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple sensors and modifications are added to the cooktop to enable monitoring, then the monitoring capability is improved, but the device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The monitoring functionality is extracted from the cooktop itself and placed in a separate wearable device worn by the user. This allows the cooktop to remain simple while the monitoring capabilities reside in the external device that tracks user presence and cooktop state independently.
Solution Approach 2:
A wearable device acts as an intermediary between the user and the cooktop monitoring system. It collects data about user presence and activity, then communicates with the cooktop or monitoring system to enable supervision without requiring complex modifications to the cooktop itself.
2Measurement precision
If multiple sensors are integrated into the cooktop for monitoring, then the detection accuracy is improved, but the manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The sensing and detection components are extracted from the cooktop and relocated to the wearable device. This allows the use of appropriate sensors in the wearable device without increasing cooktop manufacturing complexity or cost, while still achieving accurate monitoring of cooking conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The wearable device serves multiple functions: monitoring user presence, detecting user activity levels, tracking time, and communicating with the cooktop system. This multi-functionality consolidates what would otherwise require multiple separate components into a single device, reducing overall system cost.
3Reliability
If the cooktop includes built-in automatic shut-off mechanism, then the safety is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The automatic shut-off control logic is extracted from the cooktop and placed in the wearable device or external monitoring system. The cooktop simply responds to commands from the wearable device, maintaining its simplicity while achieving automatic shut-off safety functionality through the external device.
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
Effectively monitors and alerts for unattended cooking, reducing the risk of kitchen fires by sending alarm signals and potentially shutting off the cooktop, enhancing safety without requiring changes to the cooktop itself.
Implementation Method 1
The thermal sensor is a non-contact device that detects heat in the form of infrared (IR) energy. The thermal sensor converts the detected IR energy into an electronic signal, and then processes the signal to produce a thermal image.
Data Source
AI summary
A Safety Cooking Device includes a thermal sensor that detects infrared radiation (IR) to generate thermal images of a cooktop over time, and a controller. The controller uses the thermal images to determine whether the cooktop is unattended. Both wired and wireless embodiments of the cooking safety device are disclosed. In one implementation, the cooking safety device is in communication with and reports to a security panel of a security system.