WO2021094841A1

WO2021094841A1 - Induction or electric plate cooktop equipped with device for measuring and controlling power absorption and relative control method

Info

Publication number: WO2021094841A1
Application number: PCT/IB2020/057382
Authority: WO
Inventors: Diego FIORANZATO
Original assignee: Fioranzato Diego
Priority date: 2019-11-12
Filing date: 2020-08-05
Publication date: 2021-05-20
Also published as: IT201900020937A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a cooktop (P) based on traditional heating plates or induction technology, with one or more cooking zones (P1,...P4), comprising at least one electronic card (S) to control its operation and a power meter (2) for the measurement of the total instantaneous power consumption of the electrical system (U) or a section of it, to which said cooktop (P) is connected. Said value is received and processed by said electronic card (S) which automatically calculates the residual power available with respect to a pre-established maximum value and consequently regulates the power absorption of the cooktop (P), by regulating/tuming off one or more of said cooking zones (P1,...P4).

Description

INDUCTION OR ELECTRIC PLATE COOKTOP EQUIPPED WITH DEVICE FOR MEASURING AND CONTROLLING POWER ABSORPTION AND RELATIVE CONTROL METHOD

DESCRIPTION

The present patent relates to household appliances and in particular concerns a new household appliance for cooking food equipped with a device for measuring and controlling the power absorption. The present patent relates, in particular, to a cooktop based on traditional electric heating elements or induction technology.

The present patent also relates to a method of controlling and regulating the instantaneous power consumption of one or more cooking zones whether heated by induction or heating elements.

It is common for domestic users to have a maximum limit of electric power available at any given time established in the power supply contract or because of the technical characteristics of the user's electric system.

This limit is normally sufficient for domestic users.

The increasingly widespread use of household appliances, however, leads to power absorption that often approaches or exceeds these limits, particularly in the case in which high-absorption household appliances, such as washing machines, dishwashers, hairdryers, etc. are used at the same time.

In this case, when the user's electric meter detects power consumption higher than the limit set for that user, the meter itself causes the opening of one or more switches which completely cut off the power supply to the entire electric system or to one or more sectors of the system.

In the absence of uninterruptible power supply equipment or alternative generators, the power failure causes the shutdown of household appliances as well as of all electrical or electronic devices connected to the power network.

The sudden and unexpected shutdown of an appliance may result in the loss of the appliance's settings, such as the operating program that a washing machine or dishwasher was running, the cooking settings of an electric oven, or more simply, the configuration of the clock.

In fact, some appliances may restart with their factory settings when they are switched on again.

Similarly, the unexpected shutdown of a computer can result in loss of data, sometimes irrecoverable, and, not infrequently, damage to the device itself.

In addition to this, in order to get the power back, it is necessary to turn off the switches of one or more appliances that were in use, in order to cut back the power absorption to below the maximum threshold.

The problems tied to an excess of power absorption are very frequent, given the increase in the use of household devices that use electricity instead of other energy sources, such as methane gas.

In particular, the use of electrical appliances to replace classic gas cooktops and ovens is increasingly widespread, particularly in kitchens.

The use of microwave ovens, electric countertop ovens and/or stoves, or more in general electric ovens and cooktops based on traditional heating elements or induction technology are now widespread in kitchens.

The latter in particular are increasingly appreciated mainly due to their high energy efficiency. In fact, induction cooktops have a much lower heat loss than solutions based on gas burners or electric heating plates.

On the other hand, a single induction cooking zone can absorb up to 3 KW at maximum power. Therefore, considering a cooktop with 4 or 5 cooking zones, often the cooktop alone can absorb more than the contracted power, usually 3 or 6 KW for domestic users.

The prior art includes induction cooktops comprising a device for controlling the absorbed power and in particular said device comprises a power measuring device and an electric circuit connected to the electronic card of the cooktop, configured so that, when consumption near the established threshold is detected, the power delivered to one or more of the cooking zones in use is automatically reduced. As a result, cooking times are extended.

However, this device only measures the power consumption of the induction cooktop. Therefore, not infrequently there is a situation in which, despite having reduced the consumption of the cooktop, the user meter detects excessive consumption attributable to the simultaneous use of other household appliances, thus causing the power shutdown. Patent EP 1403999A2 relates to a system comprising a plurality of loads, including household appliances such as a dishwasher, a washing machine, an oven, equipped with a control system, and where said control system of each household appliance is capable of self-regulating its own energy consumption as a function of the total power consumed by all connected loads. The document also describes the possibility of managing priorities of the different loads, for example by giving priority to the oven over the washing machine or by managing the operation of the various household appliances according to the different operating phases of each household appliance during which the instantaneous energy consumption changes. However, the system described in the document is very complex because the installation of the system involves all relevant appliances and the data related to their absorption and operation must be transmitted between a central metering system and the control units installed on the household appliances.

Patent US2011/148390 A1 describes a system where a central control system consisting of a control unit communicates with all relevant appliances or the like.

Document US2014/158679 A1 describes an induction cooktop with several cooking zones where, in the event of the total consumption by the cooktop exceeding the maximum threshold set, the control system reduces the consumption of one or more of said cooking zones according to a predefined priority scheme. However, the system does not know the total consumption measured by the user's meter, which also includes other appliances and devices, and is not able to control their operation either.

Patent EP 1898292 relates to a power consumption control system which includes a central unit with an electric current sensor, a wireless transmission system for sending a control signal to power outlets, and where each power outlet has a receiver for receiving the aforementioned signal and a switch to turn the power supply of the relevant outlet on and off according to the total power consumption. This patent also describes the system to manage consumption overloads thus preventing the interruption of the electric power supply. Basically, the system does not discriminate if the appliance or device connected to the power outlet is a washing machine or an oven and performs the sole function of turning the power of the relevant outlet on/off, without being able to regulate the operation of the connected appliance in any way.

To eliminate all the aforesaid drawbacks, a new household appliance for cooking food equipped with a device for reading and controlling the power absorption has been designed and constructed. The present patent relates, in particular, to a cooktop based on traditional electric heating elements or induction technology.

The main task of the new household appliance is to manage/limit its own instantaneous consumption according to the total instantaneous consumption at the meter in order to prevent the sudden and unexpected interruption of the electrical power supply whether completely or for a section of the electrical system.

In the particular case of an induction cooktop, for example, one object is to regulate the operation of the cooktop itself according to the total instantaneous consumption. This regulation can take place automatically according to pre-set parameters or manually by the user.

One advantage of the present invention is that it is also possible to establish a hierarchy of cooking zones, that is, establishing that the operation of one of them has priority over the others.

Another advantage of the present invention is that it is able to signal the imminent power reduction or the shutdown of one or more household appliances due to a consumption overload.

The new cooktop facilitates taking advantage of the maximum contracted power in any load scenario.

These and other direct and complementary objects are achieved by the new electric or induction cooktop equipped with a device for measuring and controlling the power absorption, and where said cooktop comprises an electronic card and/or circuit to control the operation of the cooktop itself, that is, to turn on/off and regulate the power absorbed by each of its cooking zones. For this purpose, said cooktop also comprises at least one interface connected to said electronic card which can be used for the normal operation of the cooktop.

Said device for measuring and controlling the power consumption comprises: at least one power measuring device to be installed downstream of the mains power meter of the system supplying the electrical power to said cooktop and one or more electrical power outlets, wherein said meter measures the instantaneous power absorbed by said cooktop and by at least one further power outlet of the system itself, hereinafter called total instantaneous consumption; means for connecting said power measuring device and said electronic control card, for transmitting said total instantaneous consumption data; and wherein said electronic control card or circuit is configured to receive and process the data relating to the total instantaneous power consumption in order to calculate the residual power still available to the system and selectively manage the operation of the cooktop, limiting and/or reducing its power absorption or even turning it off to keep the total instantaneous consumption of the system below the maximum threshold set.

Said power measuring device is suitably configured to measure the total instantaneous consumption of the entire system or the part said cooktop is connected to.

Said maximum threshold value can, for example, be equal to or less than the maximum contracted power delivered by the meter.

The cooktop equipped with an integrated control card can therefore control the total instantaneous consumption of all appliances, reducing or limiting its own instantaneous consumption to prevent exceeding the maximum threshold, thus avoiding the interruption of the power supply that would otherwise affect the entire electrical system.

The cooktop may also comprise one or more warning sounds and/or light indicators suitable for signaling any imminent interruption and/or reduction/limitation of the instantaneous consumption.

In one possible embodiment, said connection means between said power measuring device and said electronic card comprises cables.

In the preferred embodiment, said data connection between said power measuring device and said electronic card is entirely or partially wireless, and in particular comprises: at least one wireless communication unit connected to said at least one power measuring device able to transmit said total instantaneous consumption, and wherein said communication occurs continuously or at predetermined time intervals or on demand; at least one wireless receiving unit, suited to receive the data coming from said at least one wireless communication unit, and wherein said at least one wireless receiving unit is connected to said electronic card.

In one possible embodiment, said electronic card of said cooktop is also connected to one or more switches which are in turn suited to be connected to corresponding power outlets of said electrical system or part of it.

In the preferred embodiment, said household appliance comprises at least one auxiliary wireless communication unit connected to said electronic card and one or more auxiliary wireless receiver units connected to one or more switches in turn connected to one or more corresponding power outlets of said electrical system or part of it. Said switches can simply be of the on/off type.

In this case, said electronic card is configured so as to control said switches of said power outlets, to enable or prevent the absorption of power from the relative power outlet, when said cooktop is working and its instantaneous consumption is close to the established threshold or in any case such as to prevent further significant loads.

In particular, the object of the present patent is an induction cooktop with one or more cooking zones, comprising said measuring and control equipment.

In a possible further embodiment, said cooktop has one or more traditional electric heating plates.

Therefore, the cooktop, whether based on electric elements or induction, comprises: said power measuring device intended to be installed downstream of the mains meter and able to measure the total instantaneous consumption of the electrical system or part of it powering the power outlet of said cooktop and at least one other power outlet; said electronic control card of the induction cooktop; said connection means using cable and/or wireless data communication, between said power measuring device and said electronic card.

This electronic card is configured to operate in the following manner:

1) in the event that the total instantaneous consumption of the user is lower than a preset maximum threshold, said electronic card enables the normal operation of the cooktop according to the settings established by the user;

2) in the event that the total instantaneous consumption is equal to said preset maximum threshold, said electronic card provides for the reduction of the instantaneous consumption of one or more cooking zones of the cooktop so as to lower the total instantaneous consumption below said maximum threshold. Said reduction in instantaneous consumption can, for example, be carried out by means of a series of alternating temporary interruptions of one or more cooking zones in operation.

Said maximum threshold is a value equal to or lower than the maximum instantaneous consumption value the mains meter can supply.

Said reduction in instantaneous consumption is such as to lower the total instantaneous consumption below said maximum threshold by a set value, for example, by at least 10% of the maximum threshold.

Said electronic card may be configured so that a hierarchy can be established for the management of the instantaneous consumption of said one or more cooking zones.

For example:

1) if only one cooking zone is working, said electronic control card controls the reduction of said cooking zone in operation;

2) if two or more cooking zones are in operation, said electronic control card controls an instantaneous consumption reduction distributed equally across all cooking zones in operation, or unequally according to a pre-established hierarchy;

3) if a further reduction in instantaneous consumption is required, said electronic control card causes one or more of the cooking zones in operation to be turned off according to a predetermined hierarchy.

The determination of said hierarchy may be established by the user or preset in the electronic card itself.

Said cooktop may also comprise a control panel with one or more displays and/or warning sound and/or light indicators, wherein said electronic card is preferably but not necessarily configured to power said one or more warning sound and/or light indicators and/or to make an indication flash on said one or more displays, to indicate the occurrence of said reduction in the instantaneous consumption of one or more cooking zones.

In this case said electronic card of the cooktop may be configured so that the user can manually manage the operation of the cooktop itself, in order to select which cooking zone's instantaneous consumption can be lowered or to change their hierarchy.

Said electronic card may also be configured so that, when the cooktop is in operation, it opens or closes one or more switches connected to corresponding sockets of the electrical system or a section of it. This feature enables the electronic card to prevent the operation of other appliances connected to said other sockets if the cooktop consumption is close to the maximum consumption threshold. This will prevent unwanted and unexpected overruns of the total instantaneous consumption.

The method to control and regulate the instantaneous power consumption of an electric cooktop with one or more heating plates or induction cooking zones, said cooktop comprising at least one electronic card that controls its operation, and wherein said cooktop is powered by at least one power outlet of the electrical system or a section of it and has a measuring device for limiting the total instantaneous consumption and one or more further power outlets, comprises the following phases: measurement of the total instantaneous consumption in said electrical system or section of it, which comprises said cooktop and at least one further power outlet connected to at least one load; sending the data relating to said total instantaneous consumption to said electronic card of the cooktop; calculation by said electronic card of the residual power available to said electrical system or section of it; modulation by said electronic card of the consumption of said cooktop so that said total instantaneous consumption does not exceed the established threshold value.

The method can provide for the further function in which said electronic card, before modulating the consumption of said cooktop, turns off one or more switches of said one or more power outlets of the electrical system.

The characteristics of the present invention will be better clarified by the following description with reference to the drawings, attached by way of a non-limiting example. Figure 1 shows a simplified diagram of the operation of an induction cooktop (P) with one or more cooking zones, for example four (PI, P2, P3, P4), with a power absorption measuring and control device (1) to control/regulate the total instantaneous energy consumption of an electrical system (U) or section of it.

The same inventive concept is applicable for a traditional electric cooktop with one or more heating plates.

Said induction cooktop (P) is powered by a power outlet of a domestic electrical system (U) which in turn comprises at least one further power outlet (Ul, U2, U3).

Said electrical system (U) comprises a meter (C) which determines the maximum power value the electrical system in question can absorb.

The induction cooktop (P) which is the object of the present patent comprises a power absorption measuring and control device (1) which in turn comprises a power meter (2) intended to be installed downstream of said meter (C) of the electrical system (U) or a section of it.

Said power meter (2) measures the total instantaneous consumption of said electrical system or section of it, that is, the instantaneous consumption attributable to the operation of said induction cooktop (P) and of at least one further power outlet, and preferably to all the power outlets (UI, U2, U3) of the electric system or section of it, to which one or more loads are connected.

Said measuring and control device (1) also comprises a wireless communication unit (3) connected to said power meter (2) suited to transmit the total instantaneous consumption to a receiving unit (4).

Said measuring and control device (1) also comprises said wireless reception unit (4) suited to receive said total instantaneous consumption value.

Said induction cooktop (P) comprises at least one electronic card (S) for controlling its operation, that is, normally used to turn on/off and regulate the power supplied to each of said cooking zones (PI, ...P4).

Said electronic card (S) is connected to said receiving unit (4).

Said electronic card (S) is also configured and programmed to control the operation of one or more of said cooking zones (PI, P2, P3, P4), and preferably all of them, depending on the data received relating to the total instantaneous consumption of the electrical system (U) or section of it.

In the embodiment in Figure 2, the cooktop (P) also comprises connection means (5) to one or more switches (XI, X2) in turn connected to one or more of said power outlets (Ul, U2, U3) and suited to turn the power to said power outlets on and off, according to the total instantaneous consumption detected by said at least one power meter (2) and the consumption of the cooktop (P). For example, in the event that the cooktop (P) is not in operation or is working but with limited consumption, said electronic card (S) closes said switches (XI, X2), so that said power outlets (Ul, U2) are powered to allow the operation of other appliances, such as hairdryers, washing machines, etc. Conversely, if the cooktop (P) is in operation, with a consumption higher than a certain limit value, for example close to the threshold value, said electronic card (S) opens one or more of said switches (XI, X2) so that the corresponding power outlets (Ul, U2) are not powered and any electrical appliances connected to them are prevented from absorbing energy.

In this way the operation of the cooktop (P) can continue normally.

If the cooktop (P) is in operation and the overall consumption of the electrical system is close to the threshold value, it is also possible to regulate the operation of each of the cooking zones (PI ...P4) to contain the overall consumption.

For example, hierarchies can be established in the operation of said cooking zones (PI ...P4) or power interruptions can be programmed for each of the cooking zones to contain the overall consumption.

Therefore, the new cooktop is able to control its own operation both manually, using said integrated electronic card, or automatically, again using said electronic card, which combines the overall data on consumption of the entire electrical system or part of it to which it belongs, with the preset programs, that takes into account the pre-established hierarchies, possibly also managing the power supply of other loads connected to the same electrical system.

Therefore, with reference to the preceding description and the attached drawings the following claims are made.

Claims

1, Cooktop (P) based on electric heating plates or induction technology with one or more cooking zones (PI, ...P4), suited to be powered by a power outlet of an electrical system (U) or a section of said electrical system (U) in turn comprising at least one further power outlet (Ul, U2, U3) able to supply electric power to at least one load, and where said cooktop (P) comprises: at least one electronic card (S) for controlling its operation; at least one interface connected to said electronic card (S), which can be used by a user for the normal operation of said cooktop (P), that is, to turn on/off and regulate the power absorbed by each of said cooking zones (PI, ...P4) or heating plates; characterized in that said cooktop (P) also comprises at least one power meter (2) suitable for measuring the instantaneous power absorption of said electrical system (U) or section of it, or the overall instantaneous consumption; and wherein said electronic card (S) is also configured to automatically receive and process the data relating to said total instantaneous consumption, in order to calculate the residual power available with respect to a maximum threshold set, and selectively limit and/or reduce the power absorption of said one or more cooking zones (PI, ...P4) or heating plates or to turn off the power supply to one or more of said cooking zones (PI, ...P4) or heating plates, in order to keep the total instantaneous consumption of the electrical system (U) below said maximum threshold value.

2. Cooktop (P), according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises at least one measuring and control device (1) for the energy control/regulation of the total instantaneous consumption, where said measuring and control device (1) in turn comprises: said at least one power meter (2) suitable for measuring the instantaneous power absorbed by said electrical system (U) or a section of it, or the total instantaneous consumption; connecting means between said at least one power meter (2) and said electronic card (S), for the communication of at least the data relating to said total instantaneous consumption, and wherein said connection means are configured for the communication of said data in whole or in part with wireless technology, comprising: at least one wireless communication unit (3) connected to said at least one power meter (2) and suited to transmit the value of said total instantaneous consumption to at least one receiving unit (4); at least one wireless receiving unit (4), suited to receive data from said at least one wireless communication unit (3), and wherein said receiving unit (4) is connected to said electronic card (S).

3. Cooktop (P), according to claim 2, characterized by the fact that said communication unit (3) is configured to communicate said data continuously or at predetermined time intervals or on demand.

4. Cooktop (P), according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said power meter (2) is configured to be installed downstream of a meter (C) which limits the total instantaneous consumption of said electrical system (U), that is, to said household appliance and to said at least one further power outlet (Ul, U2, U3).

5. Cooktop (P), according to claim 4, characterized in that said maximum threshold value is equal to or less than the maximum value of the electric power supplied to the electrical system by said meter (C).

6. Cooktop (P), according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises one or more warning sounds and/or light indicators suitable for signaling any imminent interruption and/or reduction/limitation of the power supplied to one or more of said cooking zones (PI, ...P4) or heating plates;

7. Cooktop (P), according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises one or more switches (XI, X2) suitable to be connected to one or more power outlets (Ul, U2 U3) of said electrical system (U) or a section of it, and in turn connected to said electronic card (S), and where said electronic card (S) is also configured to selectively open and close one or more of said switches (XI, X2) according to the total instantaneous consumption and/or the instantaneous consumption of the appliance alone.

8. Cooktop (P), according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said electronic card (S) is configured so as to operate in the following ways: in the event that the total instantaneous consumption of the electrical system (U) is lower than a preset maximum threshold, said electronic card (S) authorizes or controls the normal operation of said cooking zones (PI, ... P4) or heating plates according to the settings configured by the user; in the event that the total instantaneous consumption is equal to said maximum preset threshold, said electronic card (S) controls the reduction of the instantaneous consumption of one or more of the cooking zones (PI, ..., P4) or heating plates, so as to lower the total instantaneous consumption below said maximum threshold.

9. Cooktop (P) according to claim 8, characterized in that said electronic card (S) is configured so that, when said total instantaneous consumption is equal to said preset maximum threshold: if only one cooking zone (PI) is working, said electronic card (S) controls the reduction of said cooking zone (PI) in operation; if two or more cooking zones (PI) are working, said electronic card (S) reduces the instantaneous consumption of all cooking zones (PI) equally or according to a pre- established hierarchy; if a further reduction of the instantaneous consumption is needed, said electronic control card turns off one or more of the cooking zones in operation according to a pre-established hierarchy.

10. Cooktop (P) according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that said electronic card (S) is configured so that said reduction of the instantaneous consumption of one or more cooking zones (PI, ..., P4) or heating plates is obtained by means of one or more temporary interruptions of said one or more cooking zones (PI, ..., P4) or heating plates.

11. Cooktop (P) according to claim 9, characterized in that it comprises means for the user to set said hierarchy.

12. Cooktop (P), according to one of claims 7 to 11, characterized in that said electronic card (S) is configured so that when said total instantaneous consumption is equal to said preset maximum threshold and one or more of said cooking zones (PI, ..., P4) are in operation, said electronic card (S) opens one or more of said switches (XI, X2) of corresponding power outlets (Ul, U2), in order to interrupt the power supply to the power outlets (Ul, U2), before reducing the consumption and/or turning off one or more of said cooking zones (PI, ...P4).

13. Method of controlling and regulating the instantaneous power consumption of a cooktop (P) based on electric heating plates or induction technology with one or more cooking zones (PI, ...P4), comprising at least one electronic card (S) that controls its operation, and wherein said cooktop (P) is powered by at least one power outlet belonging to an electrical system (U) or a section of it having one or more further power outlets (Ul, U2, U3), characterized in that it comprises the following steps: measurement of the total instantaneous consumption of said electrical system (U) or a section of it comprising at least one further power outlet (Ul) able to power at least one further load;

- transmission of the data relating to said total instantaneous consumption to said electronic card (S); calculation by said electronic card (S) of the residual power available to said electrical system (U) or a section of it with respect to a pre-established maximum threshold value; regulation by said electronic card (S) of the consumption of one or more of said cooking zones (PI, ...P4) or heating plates, so that said total instantaneous consumption does not exceed a defined value, equal to or lower than said pre- established maximum threshold value.

14. Method, according to the preceding claim, characterized in that it comprises a further step in which said electronic card (S), before regulating the consumption of said one or more of said cooking zones (PI, ...P4) or heating plates, opens one or more switches of said one or more power outlets (Ul, U2, U3) of the same electrical system (U) or a section of it.