Movable cooking appliance

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10054316-B2
Application number	US-201815874320-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 18, 2018
Priority date	Apr 9, 2010
Publication date	Aug 21, 2018
Grant date	Aug 21, 2018

Abstract

A movable cooking appliance comprises a structure which is adapted to be placed on a kitchen worktop appliance or inside a cooking oven appliance and includes a heating element and releasable connector assembly for making electrical connection with power supply connectors. The heating element is an induction heating element and an electronic driving unit is mounted on the appliance. The releasable connector assembly comprising a plug connector having a plurality of terminals designed in order to provide a disconnection signal to the electronic unit before the power supply connectors are fully extracted.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method of controlling a cooking appliance including a cooking unit having an electronic driving unit, an induction tray configured to be removably attached to the cooking unit and having an induction heating element, and a connector assembly interconnecting the induction tray to the cooking unit to provide power to and control the induction tray, wherein the connector assembly includes a female connector assembly, including a plurality of female terminals, attached to one of the induction tray or the cooking unit and a male connector assembly, including a plurality of male terminals, attached to another one of the induction tray or the cooking unit, said method comprising:
when detaching the induction tray from the cooking unit by removing the plurality of male terminals from respective ones of the plurality of female terminals, causing a power source to be disconnected from the induction tray through the male and female connector assemblies before the plurality of male terminals are fully removed from the plurality of female terminals, with at least one male terminal of the plurality of male terminals being a temperature sensor terminal electrically connected to a temperature sensor of the induction heating element, with the at least one male terminal being different in length than other ones of the plurality of male terminals such that the at least one male terminal is removed from at least one female terminal of the plurality of female terminals to provide a disconnection signal to the electronic driving unit before all of the plurality of male terminals are fully removed from their respective plurality of female terminals, and with one of the plurality of male terminals acting on a switch to provide a disconnection signal to the electronic driving unit before all of the plurality of male terminals are fully removed from their respective plurality of female terminals.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein various ones of the plurality of male terminals vary in length so as to be removed from respective ones of the plurality of female terminals at varying times to provide the disconnection signal to the electronic driving unit before all of the plurality of male terminals are fully removed from their respective plurality of female terminals.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the plurality of male terminals includes at least three sets of terminals with distinct lengths so as to be removed from respective ones of the plurality of female terminals at three different times to provide the disconnection signal to the electronic driving unit before all of the plurality of male terminals are fully removed from their respective plurality of female terminals.

4. A method of controlling a cooking appliance including a cooking unit having an electronic driving unit, an induction tray configured to be removably attached to the cooking unit and having an induction heating element, and a connector assembly interconnecting the induction tray to the cooking unit to provide power to and control the induction tray, wherein the connector assembly includes a female connector assembly, including a plurality of female terminals, attached to one of the induction tray or the cooking unit and a male connector assembly, including a plurality of male terminals, attached to another one of the induction tray or the cooking unit, said method comprising:
when detaching the induction tray from the cooking unit by removing the plurality of male terminals from respective ones of the plurality of female terminals, causing a power source to be disconnected from the induction tray through the male and female connector assemblies before the plurality of male terminals are fully removed from the plurality of female terminals, with at least one male terminal of the plurality of male terminals being a temperature sensor terminal electrically connected to a temperature sensor of the induction heating element, and with the at least one male terminal being different in length than other ones of the plurality of male terminals such that the at least one male terminal is removed from at least one female terminal of the plurality of female terminals to provide a disconnection signal to the electronic driving unit before all of the plurality of male terminals are fully removed from their respective plurality of female terminals.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the at least one male terminal is shorter in length than the other ones of the plurality of male terminals such that removing the at least one male terminal from at least one female terminal of the plurality of female terminals provides the disconnection signal to the electronic driving unit before all of the plurality of male terminals are fully removed from their respective plurality of female terminals.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein various ones of the plurality of male terminals vary in length so as to be removed from respective ones of the plurality of female terminals at varying times to provide the disconnection signal to the electronic driving unit before all of the plurality of male terminals are fully removed from their respective plurality of female terminals.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the plurality of male terminals includes at least three sets of terminals with distinct lengths so as to be removed from respective ones of the plurality of female terminals at three different times to provide the disconnection signal to the electronic driving unit before all of the plurality of male terminals are fully removed from their respective plurality of female terminals.

8. The method of claim 4 , further comprising: when attaching the induction tray to the cooking unit, inserting another male terminal of the plurality of male terminals into at least one female terminal of the plurality of female terminals to establish a ground connection for a sensor circuit, the sensor circuit including the temperature sensor of the induction heating element.

9. The method of claim 4 , further comprising: when attaching the induction tray to the cooking unit, inserting first and second sensor terminals, first and second power terminals and a ground terminal of the plurality of male terminals into respective ones of the plurality of female terminals.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the first and second sensor terminals are shorter in length than the first and second power terminals, and the first and second power terminals are shorter in length than the ground terminal such that, when attaching the induction tray to the cooking unit, the ground terminal is inserted into the female connector assembly before the first and second power terminals, and the first and second power terminals are inserted into the female connector before the first and second sensor terminals.

11. A method of controlling a cooking appliance including a cooking unit having an electronic driving unit, an induction tray configured to be removably attached to the cooking unit and having an induction heating element, and a connector assembly interconnecting the induction tray to the cooking unit to provide power to and control the induction tray, wherein the connector assembly includes a female connector assembly, including a plurality of female terminals, attached to one of the induction tray or the cooking unit and a male connector assembly, including a plurality of male terminals, attached to another one of the induction tray or the cooking unit, said method comprising:
when detaching the induction tray from the cooking unit by removing the plurality of male terminals from respective ones of the plurality of female terminals, causing a power source to be disconnected from the induction tray through the male

Assignees

• Whirlpool Co

Inventors

• Gutierrez Diego Neftali
• Santacatterina Gianpiero
• Farachi Francesco

Classifications

• F24C15/166 Primary

  with integrated heating means · CPC title

• H01R13/7037

  making use of a magnetically operated switch · CPC title

• F24C15/16

  Shelves, racks or trays inside ovens; Supports therefor · CPC title

• H01R13/7032

  making use of a separate bridging element directly cooperating with the terminals · CPC title