EP3620034A1

EP3620034A1 - Cooking appliance with improved flexibility and energy efficiency

Info

Publication number: EP3620034A1
Application number: EP17725871.2A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Erkan Ozturk; Okan Cicimen; Emrah AKTAS; Cagatay Buyuktopcu
Original assignee: Arcelik AS
Current assignee: Arcelik AS
Priority date: 2017-05-03
Filing date: 2017-05-03
Publication date: 2020-03-11
Anticipated expiration: 2037-05-03
Also published as: TR201801617A2; ES2859475T3; WO2018202293A1; EP3620034B1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a cooking appliance (1) which has a glass cooktop (2).

Description

COOKING APPLIANCE WITH IMPROVED FLEXIBILITY AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY

The present invention relates to a cooking appliance with a glass cooktop. The present invention more particularly relates to a built-in type cooking appliance.
Cooking appliances with glass cooktops are commonly known in the art. In order to allow the user to cook more flexibly, various household manufactures now provide the cooking appliances with glass cooktops on which the cooking utensils can be randomly placed by the user. This type of a cooking appliance has a plurality of resistance heaters which are arranged into a matrix of rows and columns below the glass cooktop for heating the food. During its operation, first the location of the cooking utensil on the glass cooktop is detected, thereafter the resistance heaters under the cooking utensil are determined and energized so as to heat the cooking utensil and cook the food therein.
EP1206164A2 discloses a cooking appliance with a cooktop as specified above. In this prior art cooking appliance the location of the cooking utensil is determined through the electromagnetic coupling which is affected through the presence/absence of the metal cooking utensil.
A problem with the prior art cooking appliance is that the use of a cooking utensil increases the energy consumption and the overall cooking time due to its mass which also stores and radiates the heat. The energy consumption and the cooking time increases even more when the user selects for a comparatively small amount of food such as a small piece of meat, a cooking utensil which covers an unnecessarily large amount of area on the glass cooktop, and thus an increased number of resistance heaters below the glass cooktop are involved in the cooking process. Moreover, the use of a cooking utensil may under the circumstances reduce the flexibility of the cooking appliance.
An objective of the present invention is to provide a cooking appliance which solve the aforementioned problems of the prior art in a cost-effective way and which enables the user to cook more flexibly, more energy efficiently and more quickly.
This objective has been achieved by the cooking appliance as defined in claim 1, and the method of cooking as defined in claim 15. Further achievements have been attained by the subject-matters respectively defined in the dependent claims.
The cooking appliance of the present invention comprises: a glass cooktop on which the food to be cooked can be randomly placed without a cooking utensil by the user; a plurality of resistance heaters which are arranged in rows and columns below the glass cooktop and adapted to cook the food which is randomly placed on the glass cooktop without a cooking utensil by the user; and a control unit which comprises: a first detecting means which is adapted to directly detect the location of the food placed on the glass cooktop without a cooking utensil; a determining means which is adapted to determine based on the detection result of the first detecting means the resistance heaters which are immediately below the food; and a driving means which is adapted to drive based on the determination result of the determining means the resistance heaters which are below the food so as to cook the same.
A major advantageous effect of the present invention is that the flexibility of the cooking appliance has been increased as the user can cook the food, for instance, a piece of meat without a cooking utensil such as a pan or a pot randomly on any location of the glass cooktop. Another major advantageous effect of the present invention is that the energy efficiency of the cooking appliance has been improved since the resistance heaters which would have been otherwise positioned under the cooking utensil but not necessarily under the food can be turned off, and thus the energy consumption can be reduced. Thereby, the food can be cooked more energy efficiently and more quickly as the energy which would have been otherwise consumed by the cooking utensil can be saved.
In a first alternative embodiment, the first detecting means is disposed above the glass cooktop and optically or acoustically detects the location of the food which is randomly placed on the glass cooktop without a cooking utensil by the user. Thereby, the shape of the food such as a piece of meat can be detected, and the resistance heaters which are immediately below the piece of meat can be determined and energized for the cooking process. The detection process can be conducted in parallel to the cooking process, and thus the cooking appliance can be more smoothly operated. This embodiment is particularly advantageous as the optical/acoustical detection is cost effective and reliable.
In a further version of the first alternative embodiment, the cooking appliance further has an input/output device disposed above the glass cooktop for projecting a virtual keyboard onto an area of the glass cooktop and/or onto an area in the vicinity of the glass cooktop. The control unit controls the cooking appliance based on the user inputs made through the virtual keyboard by the user. The first detecting means, as part of the input output device, also detects the user inputs made through the virtual keyboard. This embodiment is particularly advantageous as the input/output device obviates the need for a capacitive touch-button user-interface, and thus the production costs can be saved both in terms of labor and material. Thereby, also the area of the glass cooktop for cooking the food can be more efficiently used.
In a second alternative embodiment, the first detecting means has a plurality of load cells which are arranged in rows and columns below the glass cooktop in spatial one-to one correspondence with the resistance heaters. Thereby, the shape of the food such as a piece of meat can be detected, and the resistance heaters which are immediately below the piece of meat can be determined and energized for the cooking process. The detection process can be similarly conducted in parallel to the cooking process, and thus the cooking appliance can be more smoothly operated. In a further version of the second alternative embodiment, the load cells have spring loaded micro switches. This embodiment is particularly advantageous as the load cells are environment-friendly and reliable.
In a further version of the second alternative embodiment, the cooking appliance further has an input/output device disposed above the glass cooktop for projecting a virtual keyboard onto an area of the glass cooktop and/or onto an area in the vicinity of the glass cooktop. The control unit controls the cooking appliance based on the user inputs made through the virtual keyboard by the user. A second detecting means of the input/output device detects the user inputs made through the virtual keyboard. This embodiment is particularly advantageous as the input/output device obviates the need for the capacitive touch-button user-interface, and thus the production costs can be saved both in terms of labor and material. Thereby, also the area of the glass cooktop for cooking the food can be more efficiently used.
In further versions of the first/second alternative embodiments, the cooking appliance has an extractor hood, wherein the input/output device is disposed onto the extractor hood. These embodiments are particularly advantageous as extractor hood is an ideal support that can center the input/output device above the glass cooktop.
In further versions of the first/second alternative embodiments, the cooking appliance with or without the extractor hood are provided as built-in type appliances. These embodiments are particularly advantageous as the cooking appliance and the extractor hood can be integrated into the kitchen furniture.
In further versions of the first/second alternative embodiments, the resistance heaters overlap the entire lower surface of the glass cooktop. This embodiment is particularly advantageous as the use efficiency of the glass cooktop area can be maximally increased up to the edges thereof.
In further versions of the first/second alternative embodiments, the resistance heaters have comparatively small sizes. For instance, the resistance heater may cover an area which is smaller than 5 square centimeters. The resistance heater may alternatively cover an area which ranges between 5 to 10 square centimeters. These embodiments are particularly advantageous as the energy efficiency and the cooking performance of the cooking appliance can be further improved, and thus a small piece of food can be energy efficiently and uniformly cooked.
Additional features and additional advantageous effects of the cooking appliance of the present invention will become more apparent with the detailed description of the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
Figure 1 – is a schematic partial perspective view of a cooking appliance with an extractor hood according to a first alternative embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 2 – is a schematic partial perspective exploded view of the cooking appliance of Fig. 1;
Figure 3 – is a schematic partial perspective view of a cooking appliance with an extractor hood according to a second alternative embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 4 – is a schematic partial perspective exploded view of the cooking appliance of Fig. 3;
The reference signs appearing on the drawings relate to the following technical features.

Cooking appliance
Glass cooktop
Food
Resistance heater
Control unit
First detecting means
Load cell
Spring
Micro switch
Input/output device
Projecting means
Virtual keyboard
Second detecting means
Extractor hood

R: Row
C: Column
The cooking appliance (1) of the present invention comprises: a glass cooktop (2) on which the food (3) to be cooked can be randomly placed without a cooking utensil by the user; a plurality of resistance heaters (4) which are arranged in rows (R) and columns (C) below the glass cooktop (2) and adapted to cook the food (3) which is randomly placed on the glass cooktop (2) without a cooking utensil by the user; and a control unit (5) which comprises: a first detecting means (6) which is adapted to directly detect the location of the food (3) placed on the glass cooktop (2) without a cooking utensil; a determining means which is adapted to determine, based on the detection result of the first detecting means (6) the resistance heaters (4) which are immediately below the food (3); and a driving means which is adapted to drive, based on the determination result of the determining means the resistance heaters (4) which are below the food (3) so as to cook the same (Fig. 1 to Fig. 4).
In a first alternative embodiment, the first detecting means (6) is disposed above the glass cooktop (2) and is further adapted to optically or acoustically detect the location of the food (3) which is randomly placed on the glass cooktop (2) without a cooking utensil by the user (Fig. 1 and Fig. 2).
In a further version of the first alternative embodiment, the cooking appliance (1) further comprises: an input/output device (10) which is disposed above the glass cooktop (2) and which comprises: a projecting means (11) which is adapted to project a virtual keyboard (12) onto an area of the glass cooktop (2) and/or onto an area in the vicinity of the glass cooktop (2); and the first detecting means (6) which is further adapted to detect the user inputs made through the virtual keyboard (12), wherein the control unit (5) is further adapted to control the cooking appliance (1), in particular the driving means based on the user inputs made through the virtual keyboard (12) by the user (Fig. 1 and Fig. 2).
In a second alternative embodiment, the first detecting means (6) comprises: a plurality of load cells (7) which are arranged in rows (R) and columns (C) below the glass cooktop (2) and adapted to detect the weight of the food (3), wherein the load cells (7) are arranged in spatial one-to one correspondence with the resistance heaters (4) (Fig. 3 and Fig. 4).
In a further version of the second alternative embodiment, the load cells (7) each comprises: a spring (8) which is adapted to be locally compressed by the weight of the food (3); and a micro switch (9) which is arranged below the spring (8) and adapted to be activated through the compression of the springs (8) and to output to the control unit (5) an ON/OFF signal which is indicative of the activation/deactivation thereof (Fig. 3 and Fig. 4)
In a further version of the second alternative embodiment, the cooking appliance (1) further comprises: an input/output device (10) which is disposed above the glass cooktop (2) and which comprises: a projecting means (11) which is adapted to project a virtual keyboard (12) onto an area of the glass cooktop (2) and/or an area in the vicinity of the glass cooktop (2); and a second detecting means (13) which is adapted to detect the user inputs made through the virtual keyboard (12), wherein the control unit (5) is further adapted to control the cooking appliance (1), in particular the driving means based on the user inputs made through the virtual keyboard (12) (Fig. 3 and Fig. 4).
In further versions of the first and the second alternative embodiments, the cooking appliance (1) further comprises: an extractor hood (14) for extracting the fume rising from the food (3) that is cooked on the glass cooktop (2), wherein the input/output device (10) is disposed onto the extractor hood (14) at a position above the glass cooktop (2) (Fig. 1 and Fig. 3)
In further versions of the first and the second alternative embodiments, the extractor hood (14) is provided as built-in type extractor hood (14).
In further versions of the first and the second alternative embodiments, the plurality of resistance heaters (4) overlaps the entire lower surface of the glass cooktop (2).
In further versions of the first and the second alternative embodiments, each resistance heater (4) covers an area which is smaller than 5 square centimeters.
In further versions of the first and the second alternative embodiments, each resistance heaters (4) covers an area which ranges between 5 to 10 square centimeters.
In further versions of the first and the second alternative embodiments, the cooking appliance (1) is provided as a built-in type cooking appliance (1).
The present invention also provides a method of operating the cooking appliance (1) for cooking the food (3) without a cooking utensil such as a pot or a pan or the like. The method comprises a step of randomly placing the food (3) to be cooked without a cooking utensil onto a glass cooktop (2) under which a plurality of resistance heaters (4) are arranged in rows (R) and columns (C) for heating the food (3); a step of directly detecting the location of the food (3) placed on the glass cooktop (2) without a cooking utensil; a step of determining, based on the detection result in the detecting step, the resistance heaters (4) which are immediately below the food (3); and a step of driving, based on the determination result in the determining step, the resistance heaters (4) which are immediately below the food (3).
In the first alternative embodiment, in the detecting step the location of the food (3) which is randomly placed on the glass cooktop (2) without a cooking utensil is optically or acoustically detected by using the first detecting means (6).
In the second alternative embodiment, in the detecting step the weight of the food (3) is detected by the plurality of load cells (7) which are arranged in rows (R) and columns (C) below the glass cooktop (2) and in spatial one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of resistance heaters (4).
A major advantageous effect of the present invention is that the flexibility of the cooking appliance (1) has been increased as the user can cook the food (3), for instance, a piece of meat without a cooking utensil such as a pan or a pot randomly on any location of the glass cooktop (2). Another major advantageous effect of the present invention is that the energy efficiency of the cooking appliance (1) has been improved since the resistance heaters (4) which would have been otherwise positioned under the cooking utensil but not necessarily under the food (3) can be turned off, and thus the energy consumption can be reduced. Thereby, the food (3) can be cooked more energy efficiently and more quickly as the energy which would have been otherwise consumed by the cooking utensil can be saved. Other advantageous effects of the present invention can be taken from the above described embodiments.

Claims

A cooking appliance (1) characterized by comprising:

- a glass cooktop (2) on which the food (3) to be cooked can be randomly placed without a cooking utensil by the user;

- a plurality of resistance heaters (4) which are arranged in rows (R) and columns (C) below the glass cooktop (2) and adapted to cook the food (3) which is randomly placed on the glass cooktop (2) without a cooking utensil by the user; and

a control unit (5) which comprises:

- a first detecting means (6) which is adapted to directly detect the location of the food (3) placed on the glass cooktop (2) without a cooking utensil;

- a determining means which is adapted to determine based on the detection result of the first detecting means (6) the resistance heaters (4) which are immediately below the food (3); and

- a driving means which is adapted to drive based on the determination result of the determining means the resistance heaters (4) which are below the food (3) so as to cook the same.
The cooking appliance (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the first detecting means (6) is disposed above the glass cooktop (2) and further adapted to optically or acoustically detect the location of the food (3) which is randomly placed on the glass cooktop (2) without a cooking utensil by the user.
The cooking appliance (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the first detecting means (6) comprises: a plurality of load cells (7) which are arranged in rows (R) and columns (C) below the glass cooktop (2) and adapted to detect the weight of the food (3), wherein the load cells (7) are arranged in spatial correspondence with the resistance heaters (4).
The cooking appliance (1) according to claim 3, characterized in that one or more load cells (7) each comprises: a spring (8) which is adapted to be locally compressed by the weight of the food (3); and a micro switch (9) which is arranged below the spring (8) and adapted to be activated through the compression of the springs (8) and to output to the control unit (5) an ON/OFF signal which is indicative of the activation and the deactivation thereof.
The cooking appliance (1) according to claim 2, characterized by further comprising: an input/output device (10) which is disposed above the glass cooktop (2) and which comprises: a projecting means (11) which is adapted to project a virtual keyboard (12) onto an area of the glass cooktop (2) and/or onto an area in the vicinity of the glass cooktop (2); and the first detecting means (6) which is further adapted to detect the user inputs made through the virtual keyboard (12), wherein the control unit (5) is further adapted to control the driving means based on the user inputs made through the virtual keyboard (12) by the user.
The cooking appliance (1) according to claim 3 or 4, characterized by further comprising: an input/output device (10) which is disposed above the glass cooktop (2) and which comprises: a projecting means (11) which is adapted to project a virtual keyboard (12) onto an area of the glass cooktop (2) and/or an area in the vicinity of the glass cooktop (2); and a second detecting means (13) which is adapted to detect the user inputs made through the virtual keyboard (12), wherein the control unit (5) is further adapted to control the driving means based on the user inputs made through the virtual keyboard (12).
The cooking appliance (1) according to claim 5 or 6, characterized by further comprising: an extractor hood (14) for extracting the fume rising from the food (3) that is cooked on the glass cooktop (2), wherein the input/output device (10) is disposed onto the extractor hood (14) at a position above the glass cooktop (2).
The cooking appliance (1) according to claim 7, characterized in that the extractor hood (14) is provided as built-in type extractor hood (14).
The cooking appliance (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the plurality of resistance heaters (4) overlap the entire lower surface of the glass cooktop (2).
The cooking appliance (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that each resistance heater (4) covers an area which is smaller than 5 square centimeters.
The cooking appliance (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that each resistance heaters (4) covers an area which ranges between 5 to 10 square centimeters.
The cooking appliance (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized by being provided as a built-in type cooking appliance (1).
A method of cooking food (3), characterized by comprising:

- a step of randomly placing the food (3) to be cooked without a cooking utensil onto a glass cooktop (2) under which a plurality of resistance heaters (4) are arranged in rows (R) and columns (C) for heating the food (3);

- a step of directly detecting the location of the food (3) placed on the glass cooktop (2) without a cooking utensil,

- a step of determining, based on the detection result in the detecting step, the resistance heaters (4) which are immediately below the food (3); and

- a step of driving, based on the determination result in the determining step, the resistance heaters (4) which are immediately below the food (3).
The method according to claim 13, characterized in that in the detecting step the location of the food (3) which is randomly placed on the glass cooktop (2) without a cooking utensil is optically or acoustically detected.
The method according to claim 13, characterized in that in the detecting step the weight of the food (3) is detected by a plurality of load cells (7) which are arranged in rows (R) and columns (C) below the glass cooktop (2) and in spatial correspondence with the plurality of resistance heaters (4).