Method and heating apparatus for estimating status of heated object

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11759043-B2
Application number	US-201916674707-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 5, 2019
Priority date	Jul 19, 2019
Publication date	Sep 19, 2023
Grant date	Sep 19, 2023

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to an apparatus and a method for estimating a state of an object to be heated based on sound which is generated when the object to be heated is heated, and providing the estimated information to other devices in an Internet of Things (IoT) environment through a 5G communication network. The heating apparatus may include a housing having a receiving space therein, a heating member disposed within the housing, a power supplier for supplying power to the heating member, a top plate disposed on the top of the housing to support the object to be heated, a sound sensor disposed on the bottom of the top plate, and a controller for predicting the state of the object to be heated by using a deep neural network model that has been trained through machine learning based on a sound signal received from the sound sensor.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A heating apparatus, comprising:
a housing having a receiving space therein;
a heating member;
a power supplier configured to supply power to the heating member;
a top plate disposed on a top of the housing to support an object to be heated;
a vibration sensor disposed under the top plate and configured to detect a vibration signal generated when the objected is heated by the heating member;
an apparatus capable of directly measuring a temperature of the object of a pot on the top plate of the heating apparatus;
a sound sensor capable of collecting sound generated from the pot on the top plate of the heating apparatus;
a weight sensor disposed to contact a bottom surface of the top plate and configured to sense a weight of the object to be heated that is supported by the top plate; and
a controller configured to:
obtain recorded data by recording the temperature of the object and the sound generated at the corresponding temperature while changing a type, a weight, and a size of the pot, and a type, the weight, and a size of the object contained in the pot,
make labeled data by labelling the recorded data as the corresponding temperature,
learn a deep neural network model to estimate a state of the object to be heated according to input information,
determine whether the object to be heated is boiling based on the sound using a deep neural network model, and
control the power supplier to adjust the power supplied to the heating member based on the determination of whether the object to be heated is boiling.

2. The heating apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to determine if the object to be heated is boiling by using the deep neural network model that has been trained in advance to determine if the object to be heated is boiling based on the vibration signal detected by the vibration sensor.

3. The heating apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to determine an additional cooking ingredient has been added or removed to the object based on the weight sensed by the weight sensor.

4. The heating apparatus of claim 1 ,
wherein the controller is configured to:
if no additional weight change is sensed after a predetermined time period, reduce power supplied to the heating member,
if an increased weight change is sensed during the predetermined time period, maintain the power supplied to the heating member or increase the power supplied to the heating member,
if a reduced weight change is sensed after the predetermined time period, reduce the power supplied to the heater member including turning off the power and stop detecting the vibration signal,
if a reduced weight between a first weight and a second weight is sensed, reduce the power supplied to the heating member by a first amount, and if a reduced weight between the second weight and a third weight is then sensed, reduce the power supplied to the heating member by a second amount, and
if an increased weight is sensed between the first weight and the second weight, increase the power to the heating member to maintain a boiling state of the object to be heated.

5. The heating apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the heating member is disposed to contact the bottom surface of the top plate,
wherein the heating member includes a coil having a hollow formed in the center thereof, and
wherein the vibration sensor is disposed to contact the bottom surface of the top plate at a position where the hollow is formed.

6. The heating apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
a transceiver configured to communicate with a terminal,
wherein the controller is configured to transmit an alarm signal to the terminal through the transceiver when the controller determines the object to be heated is boiling.

7. The heating apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the transceiver is configured to receive, from the terminal, information on a target time during which boiling is to be maintained, and
wherein the controller is configured to control the power supplier such that a magnitude of a vibration signal of the vibration detected by the vibration sensor is maintained within a certain range during the target time from a time point at which the controller determines the object to be heated is boiling, and to reduce the power supply of the power supplier after the target time has elapsed.

8. The heating apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the vibration sensor is disposed in a center area of the heating member.

Assignees

• Lg Electronics Inc

Inventors

• An Hyo Jin
• Lee Young Min
• Choi Heung Sik

Classifications

• H05B3/76 Primary

  Plates with spirally-wound heating tubes · CPC title

• F24C7/083 Primary

  on tops, hot plates · CPC title

• F24C7/087 Primary

  of electric circuits regulating heat · CPC title

• A47J27/21158 Primary

  Devices to detect overheating or boiling with a single control element or unit · CPC title

• H05B1/0269

  For heating of fluids · CPC title