An overheat protection circuit able to detect and control the temperature of a electric heater includes a detecting unit, a controlling unit, and a electronic switch. The electronic switch is coupled between the electric heater and a first power supply and cuts off the power supply when overheating is electronically detected.

A heating appliance includes a heating structure having a lower surface and a flat upper surface for supporting and imparting heat into an object, such a pot or pan used to cook food. The heating structure includes an array of heating elements arranged on the lower surface of the heating structure in an mn array having m columns and n rows. Each element is thermally coupled to a region of the structure for heating its respective region of the structure independently of other regions of the structure associated with the other heating elements.

A cooktop appliance includes an electric heating element positioned below a ceramic plate. A temperature sensor is positioned proximate a bottom surface of the ceramic plate. The temperature sensor may be offset from a center of the electric heating element. A controller is configured to receive a plurality of temperature measurements from the temperature sensor, determine a change between the plurality of temperature measurements over time, calculate a value of a control criterion with the change between the plurality of temperature measurements over time, and open a relay in response to the value of the control criterion passing a threshold value. A related method for operating a cooktop appliance is also provided.

A surface heater including a substrate, an insulating layer positioned on the substrate, and a heater layer positioned on the insulating layer, wherein the insulating layer and the heating layer are co-fired.

A cooktop for a fixed or mobile cooking appliance, including a base plate, at least a part, or all, of a peripheral outer edge of a window being in the plane of a peripheral outer edge of the base plate, at least one end plate which is made of different material than that of a seal and is disposed above or on the seal, at least a part of an outer surface of the seal which is located between an outer surface of the base plate and an outer surface of the window being covered by the end plate.

A cooktop for a cooking appliance includes at least one heating element and at least one temperature sensor detecting the temperature of the heating element and/or an area of the cooktop. At least one indicator light conveys the detected temperature. A controller is configured to receive a temperature signal from the temperature sensor and output a control signal to the indicator light, which provides a visual representation of the detected temperature through a continuous change of the color and/or the intensity of the indicator light.

The invention relates to a hob comprising a transparent or semi-transparent hob plate (2) and multiple heating elements (3) arranged below said hob plate (2), the hob further comprising illumination means arranged below said hob plate (2) for providing light markings (4) at the upper side (2.1) of the hob plate (2), said light markings (4) indicating heating zones (5) associated with the heating elements (3), wherein the illumination means comprise a light box (10) with at least a bottom wall portion (11) and a pair of side wall portions (12), said light box (10) including one or more lighting elements (13) for illuminating an interior space (14) of the light box (10), wherein the light box (10) further comprises an upper portion (15) being adapted to emit light towards the hob plate (2) in order to provide said light marking (4) at the upper side of the hob plate (2).

A cooking device safety system and smart system method embodiments are described herein. The system includes cooking device, at least one first sensor to detect the presence of an object on or adjacent to a stovetop burner, at least one second sensor to detect a condition of the stovetop burner, at least one third sensor to detect weight of the object on the burner and/or temperature of the burner, a microcontroller to detect a date and time of use of the cooking device, wherein the system collects and stores data related to the inputs from the first sensor, second sensor and/or third sensor(s) to determine a cooking pattern of a user. The system further includes wherein based on the cooking pattern of the user, the system provides an output to the user via a signal output device, and at least one transceiver to send a signal from the first, second and/or third sensor(s) to a remote device.

An oven appliance and methods of operating the appliance, the appliance including a cooktop and one or more heating elements wherein the heating elements have no onboard sensors. The oven appliance also includes a resistance sensor for remotely sensing the resistance of the one or more heating elements to indirectly determine whether the cooktop is relatively cool before deactivating an associated hot surface indicator light.

A heating device for a cooking point in a hob has three independent and separate long heating elements which are arranged on a support of the heating device along concentric circles. The support has a central region around the center point, an outer region adjoining an outer edge, and an intermediate region between the central region and outer region. A rod-type thermostat engages over the heating device for the purpose of temperature detection. The first and the third heating element are connected to an energy supply over the rod-type thermostat. A second heating element is connected to an energy supply without interconnection of the rod-type thermostat, wherein the second heating element is arranged on the support in the central region, in the intermediate region and in the outer region.