Random positioning cooking hob with user interface

• US 6,930,287 B2
• Filed: 07/14/2004
• Issued: 08/16/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 08/04/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
• Original Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
• Inventors: Pastore, Cristiano, Gerola, Davide
• Primary Examiner(s): FUQUA, SHAWNTINA T
• Application Number:
  US10/890,739
• Publication Number:
  US 20050029245A1
• Time in Patent Office: 398 Days
• Field of Search: 219/447.1, 219/518, 219/506, 219/446.1, 219/448.11, 219/448.12, 219/448.13
• US Class Current: 219/447.1
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 2213/03 Heating plates made out of a matrix of heating elements that can define heating areas adapted to cookware randomly placed on the heating plate
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 2213/05 Heating plates with pan detection means
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 3/746 Protection, e.g. overheat cutoff, hot plate indicator

Abstract

A cooking hob with random positioning of pans or the like, comprising a plurality of electrical heating elements disposed within a cooking area and individually powered under the control of a control circuit, the heating elements also being used as position sensors for the pan or pans placed on the cooking area, in which a user interface is present, provided with a touch screen reproducing the cooking area and on which, for each pan placed on the cooking area, there is displayed an activatable region substantially representative of the position of the pan on the cooking area, this position being obtained from data provided by the electrical heating elements in their function as position sensors.

Claims

1. A cooking hob having a plurality of electrical heating elements disposed within a cooking area and individually powered under the control of a control circuit, the heating elements also being used as position sensors for the pan or pans placed on the cooking area, the cooking hob comprising a user interface provided with a touch screen reproducing the cooking area and on which, for each pan placed on the cooking area, there is displayed an activatable region substantially representative of the position of the pan on the cooking area, this position being obtained from data provided by the electrical heating elements in their function as position sensors.

2. A cooking hob as claimed in claim 1, wherein the user interface presents sensor means for setting the cooking parameters, such as heating power, cooking cycle, cooking duration and the like, the cooking parameters being set after activating that activatable region substantially representative of the pan position.

3. A cooking hob as claimed in claim 2, wherein the activatable region is activated by touching or skimming.

4. A cooking hob as claimed in claim 3, wherein the touch screen is divided into a discrete number of activatable regions defined by linear light emitting diodes and including position sensors associated with numerical indicators, each of said activatable regions corresponding, by means of a processing algorithm, to an assigned group of electrical heating elements of the cooking area, the heating elements being assigned to a pan by the control circuit.

5. A cooking hob as claimed in at least one of claim 3, wherein the activatable region reproduces at least approximately the form of the pan on the touch screen.

6. A cooking hob as claimed in claim 5, wherein data relative to the set functional parameters, such as thermal power provided by the resistive heating elements, cooking times and cycles, can visually appear in the interior of the reproduced shape of the pan.