TW201608192A - Oven element controller - Google Patents

Abstract

A controller for controlling heating elements within a chamber is disclosed. A variable energy controller associate with each heating element is provided. Each variable energy controller receives a setting of an amount of energy to be supplied to the associated heating element, and controls the amount of energy supplied to the associated heating element based upon the setting. A temperature sensor is provided within the chamber. A temperature controller switches the energy supplied by the variable energy controllers based upon the temperature within the chamber and a temperature setting. Thus, the temperature within the chamber is controlled by the temperature controller, and the amount of heat emitted by respective heating elements while the temperature within the chamber is below the temperature setting is controlled by the respective variable energy controllers.

Description

Oven component controller

The present invention generally relates to a controller for controlling heat emitted by a heating element, and more particularly to a controller for controlling heat emitted by a plurality of heating elements within a thermal insulation chamber, such as an oven.

Ovens are appliances used to heat, bake or dry substances and are most commonly used for cooking meals. Since the first introduction of large-scale introductions in the first half of the 20th century, cooking in electronic ovens has been a way of life.

Typically the oven has a closed cooking chamber and heating elements contained therein. A heating element is typically provided to heat the lower portion of the oven from below. This lower heating element is often used for baking and baking. The oven may also be provided with a top heating element for heating from the top, which is typically used for grilling. In order to provide faster, more uniform cooking, a heating element with a fan can also be provided. The fan circulates heat energy in the cooking chamber.

The heating element is typically controlled by a temperature controlled switch and a selector switch known as thermostats. The selector switch selects the type of cooking that indicates which heating element is to be used. The temperature regulator controls the heating element in an attempt to maintain a preset temperature. In an electronic oven, when the temperature in the chamber increases beyond a preset temperature, the power to the heating element is cut off. The temperature gradually decreases to a point lower than the preset temperature, and when the power to the heating element is restored, the temperature is again raised again.

In the prior art, the user's control was limited to setting a preset temperature and selecting to supply power to one component or a plurality of components. There is a need for an alternative arrangement to control the heating element.

According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a controller for controlling a plurality of heating elements within a chamber, comprising: a variable energy controller associated with each of the plurality of heating elements, each variable energy source The controller has user input means for controlling the amount of energy applied to the associated heating element based on the setting, the user input means for receiving a setting of the amount of energy to be applied to the associated heating element; a temperature sensor for sensing the temperature inside the chamber; a temperature controller having other user input means for receiving the temperature setting, the temperature controller is controlled by the variable energy based on the temperature and temperature setting in the chamber The energy applied by the switch, so the temperature in the chamber is controlled by the temperature controller, and when the temperature in the chamber is lower than the temperature setting, the heat generated by the respective heating elements is controlled by the respective variable energy controllers.

Other aspects of the invention are also disclosed.

1 is a schematic representation of a cooking chamber 200, and heating elements 210, 220, and 230 within the cooking chamber 200. The cooking chamber 200 includes a top heating element 210, a bottom heating element 230, and a heating element 240 having a fan coupled thereto.

A controller 250 for controlling the heating elements 210, 220, and 230 is also provided. More specifically, controller 250 controls the power provided to heating elements 210, 220, and 230 from alternating current (AC) power source 240 in the manner described in detail below.

Controller 250 includes potentiometers 212, 222, and 232 associated with heating elements 210, 220, and 230, respectively. More specifically, each of the potentiometers 212, 222, and 232 has associated variable power circuits 211, 221, and 231 that control the amount of power supplied to the associated heating elements 210, 220, and 230. A potentiometer 245 associated with the temperature control circuit 241 is further provided.

Fig. 2 shows the control panel 100 of the controller 250 shown in Fig. 1. The control panel 100 has component control buttons 110, 120, and 130 (Fig. 1) for adjusting the potentiometers 212, 222, and 223, respectively, and a temperature control button 140 (Fig. 1) for adjusting the potentiometer 245.

The potentiometer 245 controls the temperature control circuit 241 to turn on the temperature of the associated relay 242, thereby disconnecting the AC power source 240 from the heating elements 210, 220, and 230. The temperature is sensed using a temperature sensor (not shown) disposed within the chamber 200. When the temperature gradually decreases below the temperature set using the potentiometer 245, the control circuit 241 again turns off the relay 242, thereby restoring the power to the heating elements 210, 220, and 230, again raising the temperature. Therefore, potentiometer 245 is used to control the temperature within cooking chamber 200. Temperature control circuits are well known in the art and are therefore not described to circuit levels.

Each of the variable power circuits 211, 221, and 231 controls the amount of power supplied to the associated heating elements 210, 220, and 230. Variable power circuits are well known in the art and are therefore not described to circuit levels. Each of the variable power circuits 211, 221, and 231 is included with a diac switch current across its own triac and diac settings (not shown) after it reaches a particular voltage difference, and a particular potentiometer can be used for a particular voltage difference. 212, 222 and 232 controls. Thus, diac is electrically conductive when the AC voltage is maintained below a certain voltage level and becomes non-conductive once the AC voltage crosses the voltage level. When diac is electrically conductive, the triac in series with the respective heating elements 210, 220 and 230 are also electrically conductive. Similarly, triac interrupts power to heating elements 210, 220, and 230 when diac is non-conductive. Only for the conduction of the triac of a particular section of the input AC voltage curve, resulting in a voltage output from the respective variable power circuits 211, 221 and 231 for the AC voltage, being cut into smaller sections, thus reducing The root mean square (RMS) of the power delivered to the respective heating elements 210, 220, and 230.

Therefore, when the temperature inside the cooking chamber 200 is lower than the preset temperature adjusted using the temperature control knob 140, its temperature control circuit 241 supplies only power to the variable power circuits 211, 221, and 231, and when in the cooking chamber When the temperature inside the chamber 200 is higher than the preset temperature, the electric power supplied to the variable power circuits 211, 221, and 231 is cut off. When power is supplied to the variable power circuits 211, 221, and 231, each of the variable power circuits 211, 221, and 231 is supplied with its associated power using the amount of power set by the component control buttons 110, 120, and 130, respectively. The amount of electricity of the heating elements 210, 220, and 230. Therefore, the user can independently control the heat emitted from the respective heating elements 210, 220, and 230 by adjusting the respective component control buttons 110, 120, and 130 while the temperature in the cooking chamber 200 is used. The temperature control button 140 is set.

The above description is only illustrative of some embodiments of the present invention, and modifications and/or changes may be made thereto without departing from the scope of the invention, the scope of the described embodiments.

100‧‧‧Control panel
110, 120, 130‧‧‧ component control buttons
140‧‧‧temperature control button
200‧‧‧ cooking chamber
210, 220, 230, 240‧‧‧ heating elements
211, 221, 231‧‧‧Variable power circuits
212, 222, 232, 245‧‧‧ potentiometer
241‧‧‧ Temperature Control Circuit
242‧‧‧ Relay circuit
250‧‧‧ Controller

At least one embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings in which:

1 is a schematic diagram of a cooking chamber, a heating element within a cooking chamber, and a controller for controlling a heating element in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 2 shows the control panel for the controller shown in Figure 1.

200‧‧‧ cooking chamber

210, 220, 230, 240‧‧‧ heating elements

211, 221, 231‧‧‧Variable power circuits

212, 222, 232, 245‧‧‧ potentiometer

241‧‧‧ Temperature Control Circuit

242‧‧‧ Relay circuit

250‧‧‧ Controller

Claims (3)

A controller for controlling a plurality of heating elements in a chamber, the controller comprising: a variable energy controller associated with each of the plurality of heating elements, each of the variable energy controllers having a user input device for accepting a setting of an amount of energy to be applied to the associated heating element, and for controlling an amount of energy applied to the associated heating element based on the setting; a temperature sensor, a chamber for sensing a temperature in a chamber; a temperature controller having a further user input device for receiving a temperature setting, the temperature controller being based on the temperature of the chamber and the temperature setting, by the variable The energy controller switches the applied energy so that the temperature in the chamber is controlled by the temperature controller, and when the temperature in the chamber is lower than the temperature setting, the respective variable energy controller controls each individual The heat emitted by the heating element. The controller of claim 1, wherein the heating element is resistive and the energy source is electrical energy from an alternating current source. A method of controlling a plurality of heating elements in a chamber, the method comprising the steps of: receiving a setting of an amount of energy to be applied to each of the plurality of heating elements; receiving a temperature setting; sensing a cavity Indoor temperature; controlling the amount of energy applied to each of the heating elements based on the setting of the amount of energy applied to the respective heating elements; and based on the temperature in the chamber and the temperature setting, the switch is applied by the heating element Energy, so the temperature of the chamber is controlled by the energy applied to the heating element by the switch, and when the temperature in the chamber is lower than the temperature setting, the heat generated by the respective heating element is based on the heat to be applied to each This setting of the energy amount of the other heating element is controlled.