Stovetop Cooking Zone Display for Variable Cookware Positioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing stove tops with large cooking zones struggle to provide intuitive and comprehensive information about the position of cookware, leading to potential misinterpretations and reduced user understanding.
Innovation Solution
A stove top with a display unit featuring a matrix of light-emitting diode lighting devices arranged in a 5×5 matrix, providing separate symbol depictions for each area of the cooking zone, allowing for accurate and energy-efficient representation of cookware position and phase, with a control unit activating only relevant symbol depictions based on cookware presence and position.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a large cooking zone is provided to allow variable positioning of cookware, then the versatility and adaptability of the stove top is improved, but the ability to provide clear and comprehensive position information to the user deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The display unit is divided into multiple separate fixed display regions arranged in a matrix pattern, with each region showing a reduced symbol depiction of the entire cooking zone. This segmentation allows the system to provide comprehensive position information across the large cooking zone while maintaining clarity in each individual display region.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple copies of the reduced symbol depiction are provided in separate display regions, each showing the same symbolic representation of the cooking zone. This allows the system to maintain consistent, clear symbolic information across multiple locations, preventing information loss while supporting variable cookware positioning.
2Loss of information
If a display unit shows detailed information about cookware position, then the information completeness is improved, but the ease of understanding and intuitiveness deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
Lighting devices in the display regions change the optical appearance of the symbol depictions to indicate different states. Specifically, lighting devices illuminate certain areas of the symbolic cooking zone representation to show where cookware is positioned, providing complete information in an intuitive visual format that is easily understood by users.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces complex mechanical or textual display mechanisms with an optical lighting system. Instead of using detailed text descriptions or complex mechanical indicators, the system uses lighting devices to illuminate specific areas of symbolic representations, making the information both complete and intuitively understandable through simple visual cues.
3Measurement precision
If multiple lighting devices are used to illuminate different areas of the symbol depiction, then the measurement precision of cookware position is improved, but the energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of uniformly illuminating the entire symbol depiction, the system applies lighting locally only to the areas corresponding to where cookware is actually positioned on the cooking zone. This local quality approach maintains high measurement precision for position accuracy while minimizing energy consumption by activating only the necessary lighting devices.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses partial action by illuminating only the specific partial areas of the symbol depiction that correspond to cookware positions, rather than illuminating the entire display. This selective illumination provides sufficient position information with reduced energy consumption compared to full-area lighting.
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
Enhances user understanding by providing clear, intuitive, and accurate visual feedback on cookware position and phase, reducing misinterpretations and improving user experience.
Implementation Method 1
Each symbol depiction can be illuminated by one respective lighting device in at least a plurality of partial areas having different surfaces and/or different surface-areas
Data Source
AI summary
A stove top includes a stove top plate having at least one area-connected cooking zone for placement of an item of cookware in variable positions. Formed on the stove top plate is a display unit for displaying information about a position of the item of cookware on the cooking zone. The display unit has a first display field in which a plurality of separate display regions are fixedly arranged adjacent to one another, with each display region displaying a reduced symbol depiction of the entire cooking zone. Lighting devices are assigned to the symbol depictions of the display regions, respectively, to illuminate the symbol depictions in at least a plurality of partial areas having different surfaces and/or different surface-areas.