Cooktop having electrically controlled gas flow
AssigneesBSH Home Appliances Corporation, BSH Hausgeräte GmbH
InventorsHumberto Delgado, Brian Silva, Tyson White
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Gas cooktops disclosed herein may include a proportional solenoid valve controlling gas flow to a gas burner, where the proportional solenoid valve has a continuously variable range of positions. A user interface (UI) element associated with the proportional solenoid valve may be utilized to control a linear voltage regulator having a continuously variable output voltage. The output voltage of the linear voltage regulator is coupled to a solenoid of the proportional solenoid valve, such that the gas flow to the gas burner has a linear relationship with the output voltage of the linear voltage regulator.
Claims20
A gas cooktop comprising:
- a gas burner;
- a throttle valve controlling a gas flow to the gas burner from a supply of combustible gas, wherein the throttle valve comprises a proportional solenoid valve having a continuously variable position;
- a linear voltage regulator having a continuously variable output voltage configured to be controllable by a user interface (UI) element;
- and
- an electronic controller having processing logic,
- wherein the output voltage of the linear voltage regulator is coupled to a solenoid of the throttle valve and configured to control the continuously variable position of the throttle valve, such that the gas flow to the gas burner has a linear relationship with the output voltage of the linear voltage regulator, and
- the UI element is configured to provide a continuously variable input to the controller, and the processing logic is configured to provide a continuously variable output signal to the linear voltage regulator, such that the output voltage of the linear voltage regulator is controlled by the output signal of the controller.
A gas cooktop comprising:
- a gas burner;
- a proportional solenoid valve controlling a gas flow to the gas burner from a supply of combustible gas, wherein the proportional solenoid valve has a continuously variable range of positions;
- a user interface (UI) element associated with the proportional solenoid valve;
- a linear voltage regulator having a continuously variable output voltage configured to be controllable by the UI element;
- and
- an electronic controller having processing logic,
- wherein the output voltage of the linear voltage regulator is coupled to a solenoid of the proportional solenoid valve, such that the gas flow to the gas burner has a linear relationship with the output voltage of the linear voltage regulator, and
- the UI element is configured to provide a continuously variable input to the controller, and the processing logic is configured to provide a continuously variable output signal to the linear voltage regulator, such that the output voltage of the linear voltage regulator is controlled by the output signal of the controller.
A method for controlling a burner of a gas cooktop, the method comprising:
- controlling an output voltage of a linear voltage regulator using a continuously variable output from a user interface (UI) element;
- controlling a gas flow to a gas burner from a supply of combustible gas by using the output of the linear voltage regulator to continuously vary a throttling position of a proportional solenoid valve within a range of positions;
- receiving the continuously variable output from the user interface (UI) element at an electronic controller;
- and
- using processing logic of the electronic controller to provide a continuously variable output signal to the linear voltage regulator, such that the output voltage of the linear voltage regulator is controlled by the output signal of the controller,
- wherein the gas flow to the gas burner has a linear relationship with the output voltage of the linear voltage regulator.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.