An induction heating apparatus according to one embodiment comprises a working coil disposed in a position corresponding to a heating zone, an inverter circuit that comprises a plurality of switching elements and supplies current to the working coil, a driving circuit that supplies a switching signal to each of the switching elements included in the inverter circuit, a current sensor that measures a resonance current value, magnitude of resonance current flowing in the working coil, and a controller that supplies a control signal for adjusting a duty ratio and a frequency of the switching signal to the driving circuit, to drive the working coil.

An induction heating device includes a case, working coils, a cover plate, an input interface, a first control module configured to detect one or more of the working coils at a position of an object seated on the cover plate, a second control module configured to receive information on the position of the object and control the input interface to display an image of a heating zone, and light emitting elements disposed below a periphery of each of the plurality of working coils. The second control module is configured to analyze an arrangement form of the one or more of the working coils based on the information on the position of the object, and control driving of at least one of the light emitting elements based on a result of analyzing the arrangement form.

The present invention relates to a cooking appliance with at least one carrying plate (3) adapted to receive cookware placed thereon, in particular a cooking hob (1) with a top plate or with a system comprising a top plate and at least one pan support. At least one sensing means for the detection of vibration is comprised. The vibration is generated when food to be cooked and/or cooking adjuvant inside of the cookware is heated up. The food to be cooked and/or cooking adjuvant may be a cooking liquid. A vibration sensor is attached to the carrying plate (3) by way of fixation means which prevent relative movement between the vibration sensor and the carrying plate (3), in particular in the direction towards and/or away from each other. Further, a method for assembling a vibration sensor to a carrying plate (3) of a cooking appliance, particularly to a top plate of a cooking hob (1), is disclosed. The carrying plate (3) transmits vibration movements from a cookware to the vibration sensor. The assembly comprises the assembling steps: - a first rigid frame part (23) is rigidly connected to the carrying plate (3), preferably in a first assembling step; and - the vibration sensor is connected to the first rigid frame part (23) in a way that prevents relative movement between vibration sensor and carrying plate (3), in particular in the direction towards and/or away from each other, preferably in a second assembling step.

An inductive cooktop includes: at least one cooking zone; at least one heating coil associated with the cooking zone; and a cooktop controller for driving the at least one heating coil in an operating mode of the inductive cooktop to heat a cooktop utensil with a transmitter unit, which cooktop utensil is placed on the cooking zone. The inductive cooktop is operable in a standby mode in which driving of the at least one heating coil is disabled. The inductive cooktop is operable in a ready mode. The inductive cooktop is switchable from the standby mode to the ready mode by a wake-up signal received by a receiver unit of the cooktop controller. In the ready mode, the at least one heating coil is drivable by the cooktop controller such that, on one hand, the cooktop utensil is prevented from being effectively heated for a preparation operation.

A cooking apparatus may comprise: an alarm; a cooking plate including glass and a capacitance sensor panel; and a control unit which determines a reference position corresponding to the position of a cooking vessel on the basis of a capacitance change of the cooking plate, determines a plurality of regions on the cooking plate, to which different weights are provided depending on a distance from the reference position, and controls the alarm to output a warning message when a value of capacitance change of the cooking plate having the weights applied thereto exceeds a predetermined value.

A cooking article detection system for an induction cooktop having a first power-delivery induction coil includes a first detector coil overlying the first power-delivery induction coil and including a first conductive element revolving continuously around a centroid in a first tangential direction to define a shape of the first coil that extends in a first linear direction and a second linear direction along a plane and a second detector coil overlying the first power-delivery coil and including a second conductive element connected with the first detector coils and revolving continuously around a centroid in a second tangential direction, opposite the first tangential direction. The second detector coil is linearly arranged with the first detector coil and is spaced apart therefrom in the second linear direction. A controller drives the first and second detection coils, simultaneously, with a low-voltage, high frequency detection signal, and measures a voltage across the first and second detection coils to identify a cooking article on the induction cooktop.

An induction heating device includes: a working coil, an inverter, a current transformer, a current detecting circuit, a voltage detecting circuit, an AND circuit, and a controller. The induction heating device may detect presence or absence of an object and a material of the object based on a magnitude of resonance current applied to the working coil and a phase difference between the resonance current and a voltage applied to a switching element of the inverter.

Induction hob with boiling detection and induction energy control, method for heating food with an induction hob and computer program product

An induction cooking hob and a method for heating food as well as a computer program product are disclosed. Based on information of a micro-electromechanical system (1500) in combination with a temperature sensor associated to a heating zone, vibrations can be detected and a heating zone associated with the boiling substance can be properly discriminated from one supporting a pot having a non-boiling substance in it. Subsequent simmering of the substance can be automatically effected. An indication will be provided to a user (1680), and an automated function can be started (1610) including boiling and subsequent simmering, respectively indication of a boiling substance on any of the heating zones on an induction hob (1000).

A temperature-regulating unit includes a base, a resonant tank, and a controller. The base is configured to support a pan. The resonant tank includes a coil and a capacitor. The resonant tank has a resonant frequency that is affected by a material of the pan and a temperature of the pan. The controller is configured to receive a temperature setting, monitor the resonant frequency, determine the material of the pan based on the resonant frequency, determine the temperature of the pan based on the resonant frequency, and adaptively control a thermal element based on the temperature of the pan, the material of the pan, and the temperature setting.

In a method for operating a cooktop having a cooktop plate and adjacent heating means arranged thereunder along a straight line, and a pan detection means for detecting a relative coverage of each heating means by cooking vessels placed thereover, it is detected in a preceding step over which of the heating means a cooking vessel has been placed and thus that a relative coverage is present. In a subsequent step, the pan detection means is used to detect how great is the relative coverage of each covered heating means, and from this result and a comparison of these results for each heating means a case analysis is performed into one of several cases. For a 1st case, in which it is detected for the three heating means arranged along the straight line, that the relative coverage of the middle heating means is less than the relative coverage of the other two adjacent heating means, it is determined that no cooking vessel has been placed over the three heating means which contiguously covers all three heating means, but rather that at least two cooking vessels have been placed over the three heating means.