An induction heating device includes a casing; a first induction heating module in the casing; a first heat sink located below the first induction heating module; a first heat pipe that passes through the first heat sink, that extends outward from the first induction heating module, and that is configured to discharge heat from the first heat sink out of the first induction heating module; an air-discharge fan located at an inner side of the casing and configured to discharge air from inside of the casing to outside of the casing; and a cooling fan located at the inner side of the casing and configured to blow air to the air-discharge fan. The first heat pipe has an end that protrudes from the first induction heating module and that is located at an air-flow path defined between the cooling fan and the air-discharge fan.

A smart table is disclosed. The smart table includes a plate, an inverter configured to convert direct current (DC) power into alternative current (AC) power and to supply the AC power, a coil unit disposed below the plate and including a plurality of working coils heated by the AC power, a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader configured to recognize an RFID tag of a home appliance placed on the plate and to receive information on the home appliance from the RFID tag, and a processor configured to drive one or more of the plurality of working coils as wireless power transmission coils to perform control to transmit wireless power to the home appliance based on the received information.

The invention relates to an induction hob comprising at least one switching element and at least one induction coil (3), the switching element providing an alternating current flow through said induction coil (3) and cooling means (4) providing an airflow through the induction hob for cooling said switching element and said induction coil (3). The induction coil (3) is arranged at a first side (5.1) of a first plate-shaped support element (5) and the switching element is arranged at a first side (6.1) of a second plate-shaped support element (6), wherein the first support element (5) and the second support element (6) are connected to one another and arranged at a distance (d) in order to form an air channel (7) between the first and second support element (5, 6) and wherein the cooling means (4) are arranged such that an airflow is provided through said air channel (7).

An induction device includes an induction unit including a sensor unit which is arranged above the induction unit in a mounted position and includes a plurality of activity sensor elements arranged in a distributed manner and configured to detect a sensor parameter in the form of an activity parameter of the induction unit. A control unit is provided to analyze the sensor parameter.

A hob device, in particular an induction hob device, includes a variable cooking surface, a user interface and a control unit which in the presence of a heating type divides the cooking surface into a plurality of heating zones in at least one dividing direction, associates heating parameter to each of the heating zones, in a manner dependent on location, for heating at least one cooking pot placed on the heating zone, and forms a cooking zone that is associated with the cooking pot and is heated using the heating parameter. In the event of a request of the heating type for the cooking pot, the control unit is provided to wait for at least one operating action by a user by way of the user interface.

A method for identifying cookware on an induction cooktop having coils, includes the steps: (a) acquire a coverage factor matrix; (b) set a present level at a maximum value of the matrix; (c) count closed iso-level curves corresponding to the present level and save the result; (d) decrease the level by an amount; (e) count closed curves corresponding to the decreased level; (f) when the number of closed curves at the present level is not lower than that from the previous level, update the saved result with the present level; (g) when the number of closed curves at the present level is lower than that from the previous level, keep the previously saved result; (h) repeat steps (d) to (h), until the number decreases; (i) assign coils inside the curve to a distinct cluster; and (j) use the clustering to estimate a position, shape, size, and orientation of the cookware.

A method is provided for identifying cookware items placed on top of an induction cooktop having a plurality of coils. The method includes the following steps: acquire coverage factor information for each coil and collect it into a matrix; identify all local maxima in the matrix; find the coordinates of each of the local maxima as follows: when the local maxima is a single coil, the coordinates are those of the coil center, and when the local maxima is a region of contiguous coils, the coordinates are those of a centroid of the region; calculate distances from each coil to each of the coordinates of the identified local maxima; determine a minimum among the distances; classify the coils in clusters, based on the distances from the local maxima; and use the identified coil clustering to estimate the position, shape, size, and orientation of the cookware items.

A hob apparatus includes a heating region for placement and heating of a cooking container. A dynamic display unit provides an identification of the heating region in an operating mode, and a control unit selects an identifying property of the identification of the heating region in the operating mode, depending on an operating parameter.

Disclosed herein is an induction heating device that provides improved user experience and user interface, the induction heating device including a case, a plurality of working coils provided in the case, a cover plate which is coupled to an upper end of the case and where an object subject to heating heated by at least one of the plurality of working coils is placed on an upper surface thereof, an input interface flatly buried into the upper surface of the cover plate, configured to receive a touch input from a user, and configured to display a specific image, a first control module configured to sense which one of the plurality of working coils has the object subject to heating at an upper side thereof, and a second control module supplied with information on a position of the sensed object subject to heating from the first control module, supplied with the touch input from the input interface, and configured to control the specific image displayed on the input interface on the basis of at least one of the received information on the position of the object subject to heating and the received touch input, wherein, in case the touch input indicates a touch input to a small object subject to heating guide image, the second control module controls the input interface such that an image for guiding an optimal heating position of the small object subject to heating is displayed in one area of the input interface, which does not overlap with the position of the sensed object subject to heating.

Disclosed herein is an induction heating device that provides improved user experience and user interface, the induction heating device including a case, a plurality of working coils provided in the case, a cover plate which is coupled to an upper end of the case and where an object subject to heating heated by at least one of the plurality of working coils is placed on an upper surface thereof, an input interface flatly buried into the upper surface of the cover plate, configured to receive a touch input from a user, and configured to display a specific image, a first control module configured to sense which one of the plurality of working coils has the object subject to heating at an upper side thereof, and a second control module configured to receive information on a position of the sensed object subject to heating from the first control module, and to control the specific image displayed on the input interface on the basis of the received information on the position of the object subject to heating, wherein, in case the object subject to heating includes first and second objects subject to heating placed close to each other, the second control module controls the input interface such that an image for guiding an optimal heating position of any one object subject to heating of the first and second objects subject to heating is displayed on the input interface.