Temperature sensor and induction heating cooker having the same

• US 20120024840A1
• Filed: 07/13/2011
• Published: 02/02/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 07/28/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Lee, Sung Ho, Shon, Jong Chull, Kim, Ha Na
• Granted Patent: US 9,848,462 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 219/622
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 2213/04 Heating plates with overheat protection means
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 2213/07 Heating plates with temperature control means
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 6/062 for cooking plates or the like

Abstract

An induction heating cooker including a temperature sensor disposed between a plurality of working coils which are uniformly disposed below a cooking table and a heat transfer member to transfer heat from the working coils adjacent to the temperature sensor to the temperature sensor, thereby improving productivity and space utilization.

Claims

1. An induction heating cooker comprising:

a cooking table on which an object to be heated is placed;

at least one working coil and at least one temperature sensor disposed below the cooking table; and

at least one heat transfer member to transfer heat from the at least one working coil to the at least one temperature sensor.

2. The induction heating cooker according to claim 1, wherein the at least one heat transfer member partially contacts the at least one working coil so as to transfer heat to the at least one working coil.

3. The induction heating cooker according to claim 1, wherein the at least one heat transfer member is made of a nonmagnetic material exhibiting high thermal conductivity.

4. The induction heating cooker according to claim 3, wherein the at least one heat transfer member is made of any one of copper, aluminum, or stainless steel.

5. The induction heating cooker according to claim 1, wherein the at least one heat transfer member comprises a heat pipe including a hermetically sealed pipe filled with a predetermined amount of an operating fluid phase.

6. The induction heating cooker according to claim 1, wherein the at least one temperature sensor comprises any one of a contact temperature sensor or a non-contact temperature sensor.

7. The induction heating cooker according to claim 1, wherein the at least one working coil comprises a plurality of working coils disposed in a form of a grid or a honeycomb.

8. The induction heating cooker according to claim 1, wherein the at least one working coil comprises a plurality of working coils disposed below the cooking table,

the at least one temperature sensor is disposed between the working coils, and

the at least one heat transfer member extends from the at least one temperature sensor to the working coils.

9. The induction heating cooker according to claim 8, wherein the at least one heat transfer member is disposed to transfer heat to each of the working coils adjacent to the at least one temperature sensor.

10. The induction heating cooker according to claim 8, wherein the at least one heat transfer member is disposed to transfer heat to two or more of the working coils disposed around the at least one temperature sensor.

11. The induction heating cooker according to claim 1, wherein the at least one temperature sensor includes a sensing unit to cover a sensor element, and

the at least one heat transfer member extends from one side of the sensing unit such that the at least one heat transfer member is integrated with the sensing unit.

12. The induction heating cooker according to claim 11, wherein the sensing unit comprises a plurality of sensing zones divided by heat insulation walls and sensor elements provided in the respective sensing zones, and

the at least one heat transfer member extends from one side of each of the sensing zones.

25. The induction heating cooker according to claim 5, wherein the operating fluid of the hermetically sealed pipe is selected from the group consisting of methanol, ethanol, acetone, ammonia, and freon.

26. The induction heating cooker according to claim 6, wherein the non-contact temperature sensor is an infrared temperature sensor.

27. The induction heating cooker according to claim 10, wherein only one of the at least one heat transfer member is disposed to transfer heat to only one of the working coils disposed around the at least one temperature sensor.

13. A temperature sensor of an induction heating cooker comprising a cooking table on which an object to be heated is placed and a plurality of working coils disposed below the cooking table, the temperature sensor being disposed between the working coils to measure temperature of the object, wherein the temperature sensor comprises a sensing unit to cover a sensor element and one or more heat transfer members extending from one side of the sensing unit.

14. The temperature sensor according to claim 13, wherein the one or more heat transfer members are made of a nonmagnetic material exhibiting high thermal conductivity.

15. The temperature sensor according to claim 13, wherein the one or more heat transfer members are disposed around the sensing unit radially.

16. The temperature sensor according to claim 13, wherein each of the one or more heat transfer members comprises a heat pipe.

17. The temperature sensor according to claim 13, wherein the temperature sensor comprises any one of a platinum resistance temperature sensor, a thermocouple, a thermistor, or an IC temperature sensor.

18. The temperature sensor according to claim 13, wherein

the sensing unit comprises a plurality of sensing zones, divided by heat insulation walls, each of the sensing zones including a sensor element provided therein, and

each of the one or more heat transfer members extends from one side of each of the sensing zones.

19. An induction heating cooker comprising:

a main body;

a cooking table disposed at a top of the main body such that an object to be heated is placed on the cooking table;

a plurality of working coils disposed below the cooking table to heat the object;

an inverter unit to supply high-frequency current to the working coils;

a drive unit to turn a switching element of the inverter unit on/off;

a controller to control the drive unit;

at least one temperature sensor disposed between the working coils to measure temperature of the object; and

one or more heat transfer members disposed around the at least one temperature sensor radially to transfer heat generated from the object heated by the working coils disposed adjacent to the at least one temperature sensor to the at least one temperature sensor.

20. The induction heating cooker according to claim 19, wherein the controller detects an output signal based on the at least one temperature measured by the at least one temperature sensor and stops an operation of the inverter unit when the temperature of the object is abnormally increased.

21. The induction heating cooker according to claim 19, further comprising:

a signal cutoff unit to turn a signal transmitted from the controller to the drive unit on/off based on the output signal of the at least one temperature sensor, wherein the signal cutoff unit cuts off the signal transmitted from the controller to the drive unit when the temperature of the object is equal to or greater than a predetermined temperature.

22. An induction heating cooker comprising:

a cooking table comprising one or more predetermined zones;

at least one working coil and at least one temperature sensor disposed below each of the one or more predetermined zones; and

at least one heat transfer member to transfer heat from the at least one working coil to the at least one temperature sensor.

23. The induction heating cooker according to claim 22, wherein

the at least one working coil comprises a plurality of working coils below each of the one or more predetermined zones such that the working coils are adjacent to each other, and

the at least one heat transfer member comprises a plurality of heat transfer members, a number of which corresponds to a number of the working coils below each of the one or more predetermined zones, the heat transfer members extending from the at least one temperature sensor to the respective working coils.

24. The induction heating cooker according to claim 22, wherein the one or more predetermined zones comprise a plurality of predetermined zones disposed below the cooking table, the at least one working coil comprises a plurality of working coils disposed below the cooking table, the at least one temperature sensor comprises a plurality of temperature sensors disposed below the cooking table, and the at least one heat transfer member comprises a plurality of heat transfer members disposed below the cooking table.