Cooking utensil confirmation for a cooktop appliance

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11415323-B2
Application number	US-202016951359-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 18, 2020
Priority date	Nov 18, 2020
Publication date	Aug 16, 2022
Grant date	Aug 16, 2022

Abstract

A cooktop appliance includes a gas burner for receiving a cooking utensil and a fuel regulating device for regulating a flow of fuel to the gas burner. A controller receives a command to start a closed loop cooking process and confirms the cooking utensil by obtaining a first utensil identifier from the user and a second utensil identifier from the cooking utensil. If the first utensil identifier and the second utensil identifier match, the cooking process may commence. By contrast, if the first utensil identifier and the second utensil identifier do not match, the controller may stop the cooking process and notify the user.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A cooktop appliance comprising:
a gas burner for receiving a cooking utensil;
a fuel regulating device operably coupled to the gas burner for regulating a flow of fuel to the gas burner; and
a controller operably coupled to the fuel regulating device, the controller being configured to:
receive a command to start a cooking process using the gas burner and the cooking utensil;
obtain a first utensil identifier of the cooking utensil from a user of the cooktop appliance;
obtain a second utensil identifier from the cooking utensil, wherein the second utensil identifier identifies the cooking utensil positioned on the gas burner;
determine that the first utensil identifier is different than the second utensil identifier; and
implement a responsive action in response to determining that the first utensil identifier is different than the second utensil identifier.

2. The cooktop appliance of claim 1 , further comprising:
a user interface panel configured to receive the command to start the cooking process from the user.

3. The cooktop appliance of claim 2 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
request the first utensil identifier from the user using the user interface panel; and
receive the first utensil identifier from the user through the user interface panel.

4. The cooktop appliance of claim 1 , wherein the controller is communicatively coupled to a remote device for receiving the first utensil identifier.

5. The cooktop appliance of claim 1 , further comprising:
a wireless communication module mounted to the cooking utensil, wherein the second utensil identifier is received from the wireless communication module.

6. The cooktop appliance of claim 5 , wherein the wireless communication module is a Bluetooth module mounted to an end of a handle of the cooking utensil.

7. The cooktop appliance of claim 5 , wherein the second utensil identifier is communicated to the controller when the user taps or activates the wireless communication module.

8. The cooktop appliance of claim 1 , wherein implementing the responsive action comprises:
terminating the cooking process in response to determining that the first utensil identifier is different than the second utensil identifier.

9. The cooktop appliance of claim 1 , wherein implementing the responsive action comprises:
providing a user with troubleshooting instructions in response to determining that the first utensil identifier is different than the second utensil identifier.

10. The cooktop appliance of claim 1 , wherein implementing the responsive action comprises:
providing the user with a notification that the first utensil identifier is different than the second utensil identifier.

11. The cooktop appliance of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
determine that the first utensil identifier is identical to the second utensil identifier; and
commence the cooking process.

12. The cooktop appliance of claim 11 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
determine, based on the first utensil identifier or the second utensil identifier, a diameter of the cooking utensil; and
limit a flame size of the gas burner to the diameter using the fuel regulating device.

13. The cooktop appliance of claim 11 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
obtain a target temperature of the cooking utensil; and
operate the fuel regulating device to adjust a utensil temperature to the target temperature.

14. A method of operating a cooktop appliance, the cooktop appliance comprising a gas burner and a fuel regulating device for providing a flow of fuel to the gas burner to heat a cooking utensil, the method comprising:
receiving a command to start a cooking process using the gas burner and the cooking utensil;
obtaining a first utensil identifier of the cooking utensil from a user of the cooktop appliance;
obtaining a second utensil identifier from the cooking utensil, wherein the second utensil identifier identifies the cooking utensil positioned on the gas burner;
determining that the first utensil identifier is different than the second utensil identifier; and
implementing a responsive action in response to determining that the first utensil identifier is different than the second utensil identifier.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the cooktop appliance further comprises a user interface panel configured to receive the command to start the cooking process from the user, the method further comprising:
requesting the first utensil identifier from the user using the user interface panel; and
receiving the first utensil identifier from the user through the user interface panel.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the cooktop appliance further comprises a wireless communication module mounted to the cooking utensil, wherein the second utensil identifier is received from the wireless communication module.

17. The method of claim 14 , wherein implementing the responsive action comprises:
terminating the cooking process in response to determining that the first utensil identifier is different than the second utensil identifier.

18. The method of claim 14 , wherein implementing the responsive action comprises:
providing a user with troubleshooting instructions in response to determining that the first utensil identifier is different than the second utensil identifier.

19. The method of claim 14 , wherein implementing the responsive action comprises:
providing the user with a notification that the first utensil identifier is different than the second utensil identifier.

20. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
determining that the first utensil identifier is identical to the second utensil identifier; and
commencing the cooking process.

Assignees

• Haier Us Appliance Solutions Inc

Inventors

• Billman David William
• Cuasay Isabella Mari

Classifications

• F24C3/126 Primary

  on ranges · CPC title

• F24C3/124 Primary

  Control panels · CPC title

• F24C3/027

  Ranges · CPC title