Classifications

• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
  • F24C—DOMESTIC STOVES OR RANGES ; DETAILS OF DOMESTIC STOVES OR RANGES, OF GENERAL APPLICATION
  • F24C15/00—Details
  • F24C15/10—Tops, e.g. hot plates; Rings
  • F24C15/102—Tops, e.g. hot plates; Rings electrically heated
  • F24C15/103—Tops, e.g. hot plates; Rings electrically heated being movable or rotatable
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
  • F24C—DOMESTIC STOVES OR RANGES ; DETAILS OF DOMESTIC STOVES OR RANGES, OF GENERAL APPLICATION
  • F24C7/00—Stoves or ranges heated by electric energy
  • F24C7/08—Arrangement or mounting of control or safety devices
  • F24C7/082—Arrangement or mounting of control or safety devices on ranges, e.g. control panels, illumination

Definitions

• the present invention relates to the field of cooking devices, and in particular to induction cooking tops, wherein heating elements are located underneath a pan support plate.
• the present invention relates to a cooking top according to the preamble of claim 1.
• heating elements e.g. gas burners, magnetic inductors, infrared lamps or electric resistors
• induction cooking tops are known wherein mobile inductors are arranged underneath the cooking top. These cooking tops are equipped with sensors that detect when a pan is laid onto the cooking top and move one or more inductors underneath the pan. Cooking tops of this type are known from ES2319031 Al .
• cooking top solutions include a thick grid of inductors (which are typically small) arranged underneath the whole pan support plate; when a pan is placed on the cooking top, the inductors located underneath the pan are turned on automatically. Cooking tops of this type are known from US2007262072A1.
• One idea at the basis of the present invention is to provide a cooking top with a user interface comprising a plurality of mobile control elements underneath the pan support plate.
• the control elements are positioned automatically in the cooking area, so that a user can intuitively know which controls must be operated in order to control a certain cooking area.
• the mobile elements comprise an optical interface with phototransistors that activate a control when they detect an environmental light variation. In this way, when the user puts a finger on the support plate, the finger darkens a corresponding phototransistor and turns on the associated control.
• this solution offers the advantage that the sliding element of the user interface can be detached from the support plate, thus avoiding any contact friction that might damage it.
• the elements of the user interface are mechanically coupled (e.g. mounted to the same support bracket) to inductors which are mobile as well. In this way, each mobile element of the interface is always aligned with the corresponding inductor without needing electronic control, thus proving more reliable.
• control signals and/or the supply current for the mobile inductor and the user interface are carried by means of spiralled cables wound around a tight cable (in particular a nylon cable).
• a tight cable in particular a nylon cable.
• the cooking top comprises a plurality of mobile inductors which are mounted on a single guide fitted with a rack and which are moved along said rack by respective motors that drive a gear engaged with the rack.
• the cooking top comprises a plurality of mobile inductors mounted on respective guides and moved each by a motor that remains stationary during the motion of the inductor; for example, the motor moves a drive belt that carries the inductor.
• Fig. 1 is an isometric view of a cooking top according to a first embodiment of the present invention
• Fig. la shows a detail of the cooking top of Fig. 1;
• Fig. 2 shows the cooking top of Fig. 1 without the pan support plate
• Fig. 3 is a side view of the cooking top of Fig. 1;
• Fig. 4 is a plan view of the cooking top of Fig. 1;
• Fig. 5 shows a support bracket for a heating element of the cooking top of Fig. 1;
• Fig. 6 shows a table incorporating the cooking top of Fig. 1;
• Fig. 7 shows how the cooking top detects a command issued by the user.
• Fig. 1 shows a first view of a cooking top 1 according to the present invention.
• the cooking top 1 comprises a frame 100 that supports various components of the cooking top, such as the heating elements and a pan support plate 101 , the latter being shown sectioned in Fig. 1 to allow visibility of the underlying items.
• the plate 101 is made of a sufficiently rigid material to withstand the weight of pans and to ensure good energy transfer from the heating element underneath the pans.
• As a function of the heating elements in use it is possible, in a per se known manner, to choose among different materials; for example, glass-ceramic materials are well suited to halogen lamps, magnetic inductors and electric resistors.
• the cooking top will be described with reference to the use of magnetic inductors, which generate a magnetic field that surrounds and heats up the pan.
• inductors 102a, 102b, 102c and 102d there are four inductors 102a, 102b, 102c and 102d, one of which (102d) is not visible in Fig. 1 because it is located underneath the support plate 101, as can be seen in Fig. 2 where the support plate 101 has been removed.
• the cooking top 1 is intended for being integrated into the top of a table around which people can sit down to eat, as shown in Fig. 6, where the cooking top 1 is placed within the table 300, around which there are chairs 301 inserted into a suitable area under the table top.
• the three inductors 102a- 102c are in an idle position, whereas the inductor 102d is in a working position.
• the portion 1010 (not shown in Fig. 1 for clarity) of the support plate 101 above the idle positions of the inductors 102a-102d is a "cold" pan support area under which the inductors always remain off; in this area there is no pan presence detection.
• the support plate 101 may be used entirely for cooking purposes, and therefore the inductors may be on even when they are in the idle position, which in Fig. 1 corresponds to the left-hand end-of-travel position.
• the inductors 102a-102d are mounted on a respective bracket 103 a- 103 d which at the opposite end houses an interface module 104a-104d.
• Fig. 5 shows one embodiment of the bracket 103a.
• the bracket has a support area 1030 for receiving the interface module 104a; at the opposite end there is an area with four screws 1031 to be secured to a slider 113a and two dowel pins 1032, fastened by means of nuts, protruding under the bracket 103a to allow for end-of-travel detection, as will be explained later on.
• the two ends of the bracket are joined by an arm 1033 reinforced by a rib 1034 and provided with a screw 1035 for securing the inductor 102a.
• the boxed tube 1037 has an opening 1038 for the cables carrying the supply current and the control signals to the inductors and to the module 104a of the user interface.
• brackets 103b- 103 d will not be described in detail herein because they are substantially equal to the bracket 103a.
• the inductors slide along the same axis, but are mounted on different guides, as will be further discussed below. This involves small modifications to the bracket shape, which however will still be fitted with means for securing the interface module, the inductor and the slider, as well as with dowel pins for detecting the end-of-travel position and with the boxed tube for housing and routing the cables.
• the modules 104a-104d of the user interface comprise phototransistors shielded by a diaphragm that limits the light inlet cone on the phototransistor itself.
• the selected support plate is made of a material transparent to visible light, so that the phototransistor 1040 can detect a light variation when the user puts a finger over the light cone received by the phototransistor.
• This operation is shown in Fig. 7, wherein the user's finger 200 touches the support plate 101 at the light cone 1041 received by the phototransistor 1040 mounted on the interface module 104a.
• the light variation caused by the user's finger causes the generation of a signal which is transmitted by the interface module 104a to the cooking top control unit 105 through connection cables 106a which, in the example of Figs. 1-4, pass through the openings 1036 and 1038 of the bracket 103a.
• connection cables 106a are of the spiralled type and are wound around a central cable 107a, e.g. a nylon cable, which is kept tight by a spring-type tensioner 108a rotatably mounted around a pin 109a secured to the frame 100.
• a central cable 107a e.g. a nylon cable
• the spiralled cables 106a are connected to the control unit through a section 1060, which must not necessarily be spiralled as well, covering the distance between the spring-type tensioner and the control unit.
• the control unit adjusts the inductors' power and exchanges signals with the interface module for both receiving the user's commands and sending information to signalling means provided on the interface module, such as a display, a buzzer or LEDs, the activation of which allows to supply information to the user about the inductor's operating state.
• the inductor is moved automatically underneath the cooking top by detecting the position of the pans through a strip 110 of phototransistors installed underneath the cooking top.
• the pan position can be detected through magnetic sensors (e.g. Hall effect sensors); this latter solution is to be preferred when the cooking top uses halogen lamps or electric resistors as heating elements.
• control unit 105 controls the inductors' movement.
• each inductor is fitted with its own independent drive system.
• a motor 111a drives a drive belt, in particular a toothed belt, 112a which carries a slider 113a secured to the bracket 103a through the screws 1031 previously mentioned in the description of the bracket 103 a.
• control unit can position the inductor 102a underneath the pan detected by the phototransistors of the strip
• Each inductor's slide guide comprises proximity sensors 114, e.g. magnetic sensors, which detect the presence of the dowel pins 1032 protruding under the brackets 103a- 103d. When the sensor detects the dowel pin of a bracket, it informs the control unit, which then stops or slows down the inductor accordingly.
• proximity sensors 114 e.g. magnetic sensors
• only two proximity sensors 114 are used: one for detecting the right- hand end-of-travel point and one for detecting the left-hand end-of-travel point.
• Fig. 1 uses three proximity sensors; in this case, the right-hand and left-hand sensors signal respective positions where the speed of the inductor must be reduced, so that it can more accurately reach the respective right-hand and left-hand end-of-travel points detected by the central sensor.
• the belts may be replaced with worm screws with a nut secured to the inductor support bracket.
• the motor may drive the worm screw to adjust the position of the nut, and hence of the inductor, underneath the support plate 101.
• each bracket 103 a- 103 d has a gear which engages with the rack and is driven by a motor also mounted on the bracket. Power may be supplied to the motor, for example, through the spiralled cables 106a-106d.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Induction Heating Cooking Devices (AREA)
• Cookers (AREA)
• Baking, Grill, Roasting (AREA)
• Surgical Instruments (AREA)

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Citations (14)

Family Cites Families (1)

• 2010
  • 2010-04-13 IT IT000292A patent/ITTO20100292A1/it unknown
• 2011
  • 2011-04-04 WO PCT/IB2011/051439 patent/WO2011128803A1/en active Application Filing
  • 2011-04-04 EP EP11724455.8A patent/EP2558785B1/de active Active

Patent Citations (16)

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