Electromagnetic cooking device with automatic boiling detection and method of controlling cooking in the electromagnetic cooking device
AssigneesWhirlpool Corporation, Panasonic Holdings Corporation
InventorsDavide Guatta, Valeria Nocella
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Abstract
An electromagnetic cooking device and method of controlling the same is provided herein. The cooking device includes a cavity in which a liquid is placed and a plurality of RF feeds configured to introduce electromagnetic radiation into the cavity for heating the liquid. A controller is provided and is configured to analyze forward and backward power at the plurality of RF feeds to calculate efficiency; determine and monitor a coefficient of variation of the efficiency; detect a heating state in the liquid based on changes in the coefficient of variation; and adjust a power level of the electromagnetic radiation in response to detection of the heating state.
Claims17
An electromagnetic cooking device comprising:
- a cavity in which a liquid is placed;
- a plurality of RF feeds configured to introduce electromagnetic radiation into the cavity for heating the liquid;
- and
- a controller configured to:
- analyze forward and backward power at the plurality of RF feeds to calculate efficiency;
- determine and monitor a coefficient of variation of the efficiency;
- detect a heating state in the liquid based on changes in the coefficient of variation;
- and
- adjust a power level of the electromagnetic radiation in response to detection of the heating state.
A method of controlling cooking in an electromagnetic cooking device, the electromagnetic cooking device having a cavity in which a liquid is placed and a plurality of RF feeds configured to introduce electromagnetic radiation into the cavity to heat the liquid, the method comprising the steps of:
- analyzing forward and backward power at the plurality of RF feeds to calculate efficiency;
- determining a coefficient of variation of the efficiency;
- detecting a heating state in the liquid based on changes in the coefficient of variation;
- and
- adjusting a power level of the electromagnetic radiation in response to detection of the heating state.
An electromagnetic cooking device comprising:
- a cavity in which a liquid is placed;
- a plurality of RF feeds configured to introduce electromagnetic radiation into the cavity to heat the liquid;
- a user interface with which to specify a heating process for the liquid;
- and
- a controller configured to:
- analyze forward and backward power at the plurality of RF feeds to calculate efficiency;
- determine and monitor a coefficient of variation of the efficiency, the coefficient of variation being proportional to a boiling level of the liquid;
- detect a heating state in the liquid based on changes in the coefficient of variation, the heating state being determined by the heating process specified via the user interface;
- adjust a power level of the electromagnetic radiation in response to detection of the heating state.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.