There is provided a method of converting a kitchen having one of the slide-in and the drop-in appliance electrically coupled to a range receptacle, to a kitchen having built-in appliances. The method includes removing the one of the slide-in and the drop-in appliance from the range receptacle. The method includes installing at least two kitchen appliances into at least one of preexisting countertops and cabinetry of the kitchen. Each of the kitchen appliances includes a range plug. The method includes providing a power strip apparatus comprising a range plug and a power strip having a plurality of range sockets electrically coupled to the range plug of the power strip apparatus. The method includes inserting the range plug of the power strip apparatus into the range receptacle and inserting the range plugs of the kitchen appliances into respective ones of the range sockets of the power strip.

Substrate temperature control apparatus including groove-routed optical fibers. Substrate temperature control apparatus includes upper and lower members including grooves in one or both, and a plurality of optical fibers routed in the grooves. In one embodiment, the optical fibers are adapted to provide light-based pixelated heating. In another embodiment, embedded optical temperature sensors are adapted to provide temperature measurement. Substrate temperature control systems, electronic device processing systems, and methods including groove-routed optical fiber temperature control and measurement are described, as are numerous other aspects.

The present disclosure relates to an oven and a method for controlling thereof. When performing an air sous vide mode, a convection heater is controlled to turn-on and turn-off in a certain duration of the entire cooking operation based on a hysteresis algorithm. Specifically, a heat stage of the oven includes a first heat stage and a second heat stage, and in each cycle of the second heat stage, the oven may control the turn-on and turn-off of the convection heater based on the hysteresis algorithm from a first time point that arrives after the start time of each cycle. Accordingly, the cooking ingredient may be quickly heated in a sous vide method while temperature deviation of a cooking chamber is reduced.

A vending machine includes a refrigerated enclosure including a housing for storage of an associated pre-packaged food product. The housing has a sidewall with a sidewall opening. A door is mounted to the sidewall for closing and opening the sidewall opening. A drive mechanism is operably connected to the door and adapted to mechanically move the door between a closed position and an opened position. The drive mechanism includes at least one sensing device adapted to determine whether the door is in one of the closed position and the opened position. A door rail is mounted to the sidewall and has a guide track. The door is movably received in the guide track.

The invention relates to a an electric radiator element having multiple heating zones for the production of energy-efficient eco-design applications, radiator heating flanges and radiator heating pipes in the low-voltage range, having integrated radiators which increase the heating output of a heater resistor without the additional consumption of energy.

A convection oven having a vapor collection system; water injection system; easily accessible electrical components; and a variable-speed, reversible blower is disclosed. The vapor collection system collects vapor from the cooking chamber during a cooking event, condenses the vapor, and drains the condensed vapor. The water injection system injects water for impact against a blower wheel for dispersion into the air circulating through the cooking chamber. The electrical components are housed within a housing that in a closed position conceals the components and in a closed position exposes the components for easy access. The rotational speed and direction of the variable-speed, reversible blower is controlled during a cooking event according to predetermined speed curves which may include one or more reversal events to achieve more uniform cooking of food. A main controller is programmable via an operator input (e.g., liquid crystal display touch screen) to control operating parameters of the oven.

A hob and methods for operating such a hob. The hob includes a cooking surface adapted to receive a number of pots. A user interface allows a user to select and adjust at least one parameter of a cooking zone associated to a pot while indicating the number of pots on the selected cooking zone and a pot detection unit to detect the presence and non-presence of pots on the cooking surface. The hob further includes a control unit that cooperates with the pot detection unit and the user interface to control the function of commands received through the user interface. The control unit can cause a selection of a certain cooking zone and provide a corresponding indication that the certain cooking zone is from now on selected, if temporal interruption of a presence of a pot on the certain cooking zone was detected.

A hob and methods for operating such a hob. The hob includes a cooking surface adapted to receive a number of pots. A user interface allows a user to select and adjust at least one parameter of a cooking zone associated to a pot while indicating the number of pots on the selected cooking zone and a pot detection unit to detect the presence and non-presence of pots on the cooking surface. The hob further includes a control unit that cooperates with the pot detection unit and the user interface to control the function of commands received through the user interface. The control unit can cause a selection of a certain cooking zone and provide a corresponding indication that the certain cooking zone is from now on selected, if temporal interruption of a presence of a pot on the certain cooking zone was detected.

A structure covering a connection line, an electric cooking appliance including the same, and a method of assembling a cap of the electric cooking appliance includes a base plate including a through hole in a vertical direction, a cap provided below the base plate and provided with an accommodation space formed therein to accommodate a connection line placed through the through hole from an upper portion of the base plate, a coupling boss extending in a vertical direction in the cap and coupled to bottom of the base plate to couple the cap to the base plate, and a fastener inserted through the base plate from the upper portion of the base plate to couple the base plate to the coupling boss.

A structure covering a connection line, an electric cooking appliance including the same, and a method of assembling a cap of the electric cooking appliance includes a base plate including a through hole in a vertical direction, a cap provided below the base plate and provided with an accommodation space formed therein to accommodate a connection line placed through the through hole from an upper portion of the base plate, a coupling boss extending in a vertical direction in the cap and coupled to bottom of the base plate to couple the cap to the base plate, and a fastener inserted through the base plate from the upper portion of the base plate to couple the base plate to the coupling boss.