Electronic power control for cooktop heaters
AssigneeElectrolux Home Products, Inc.
InventorsSanjay Shukla, James E. Pryor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An electronic cook top control system has a cooktop including a heating element. An electronic controller is operatively connected to the cooktop. A rotary position input is operatively connected to the electronic controller. The electronic controller controls a heating level of the cooktop in a first manner in response to rotation of the rotary position input in a first direction. The electronic controller controls the heating level of the cooktop in a second manner in response to rotation of the rotary position input in a second direction.
Claims7
An electronic cooktop control system comprising:
- a cooktop including a first heating element;
- an electronic controller operatively connected to the cooktop;
- and
- a rotary position input operatively connected to the electronic controller;
- wherein the electronic controller controls a heating level of the cooktop in a first manner in response to rotation of the rotary position input in a first direction, and
- wherein the electronic controller controls the heating level of the cooktop in a second manner in response to rotation of the rotary position input in a second direction, and
- wherein the first direction and the second direction are different directions.
A power control system for controlling a plurality of heating elements including a first heating element and a second heating element, the control system comprising:
- a digital communication bus;
- an electronic controller including an input and an output;
- a rotary position input operatively connected to the input of the controller;
- and
- a power unit operatively connected to the electronic controller, the power unit having a first power output that supplies powering electrical energy to the first heating element, and a second power output that supplies powering electrical energy to the second heating element, wherein rotation of the rotary position input in a clockwise manner controls a level of the first power output and rotation of the rotary position input in a counter clockwise manner controls a level of the second power output, and
- wherein the electronic controller and the power unit communicate bidirectionally over the digital communication bus.
An electronic cooktop control system comprising:
- an electronic controller that controls a heating level of a heating element in response to rotation of a rotary position input, wherein the electronic controller determines whether the rotation is clockwise or counter-clockwise and determines an angular position of the rotary position input;
- wherein the electronic controller controls the heating level of the heating element with a first degree of precision using a first relationship between heating level and a range of angular positions of the rotary position input in response to and based on rotation in the clockwise direction from a starting point, and with a second degree of precision using a second relationship between heating level and another range of angular positions of the rotary position input in response to and based on rotation in the counter-clockwise direction from the starting point,
- wherein the first relationship is different than the second relationship and wherein the first degree of precision provides control of the heating level with a different precision than the second degree of precision.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.