Energy harvesting burner for cooktop

Abstract

A gas burner appliance for recycling wasted heat from a heating process and for distributing heat evenly to a vessel or product. A housing and a plate supported by the housing are provided for directly collecting wasted heat. A burner arm is also supported by the housing and disposed above the plate for receiving and combusting premixed fuel for uniformly distributing heat to the plate. An electric motor or a Stirling engine is supported by the housing and a gearless direct drive mechanism or chain and sprocket connect the motor to the burner arm. A thermal electric generator generates electricity directly from heat of the plate and can provide at least some of the generated electricity to the motor. A cutoff mechanism is operatively connected to the motor and to the thermal electric generator for detecting when no electricity is generated and for cutting off gas flow upon sensing that condition.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.