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US 12,446,118 B2Granted
Induction warmer station
AssigneeThe Vollrath Company, L.L.C.
InventorsJeremiah Kopiness, Andrew Amrhein
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An induction warmer station includes a housing, a cooktop coupled to the housing, an induction coil positioned in the housing adjacent the cooktop, and a controller configured to adjust the frequency of a current input to the induction coil based on an indication of a response of an output current from the induction coil to a change in surface area of load material placed on the cooktop.
Claims21
An induction warmer station, comprising:
- a housing;
- a cooktop coupled to the housing;
- an induction coil positioned in the housing adjacent the cooktop;
- and
- a controller configured to maintain a target power-to-surface-area ratio by adjusting the frequency of a current input to the induction coil based on an indication of a response of an output current from the induction coil to a change in surface area of load material placed on the cooktop.
2 more elements
A method of operating an induction warmer station, comprising:
- generating a current through an induction coil;
- obtaining an indication of a change in an amount of load material placed on a cool cooktop proximate the induction coil;
- heating the load material at a ratio of power to the amount of load material by controlling operation of the induction coil based on the indication;
- and
- maintaining the ratio by automatically adjusting a characteristic of the current to the induction coil in response the indication.
2 more elements
An induction warmer station configured to warm foil-wrapped food items, the induction warmer station comprising:
- a housing;
- a cooktop coupled to the housing;
- and
- an induction coil positioned in the housing adjacent the cooktop, the induction coil comprising a plurality of loops electrically connected in series, wherein the plurality of loops are physically arranged in a first order and electrically connected in a second order.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.