This invention relates to cooking devices which sense whether liquid food heated in cookware on the cook top has boiled or not.

In the state of the art, a sensor which is in contact with the bottom of cooking vessel senses whether the liquid food in the said cooking vessel on the cook top has boiled or not, and the sensor as well as the system connected thereto turn down the burner flame down to half and turns off the gas at the end of a period predetermined by the user.

In cooking devices that bear the mentioned feature, said sensors are provided at a fixed position on the cook top. In the published patent application No US5310110, for instance, the sensor is placed at the center of the gas burner. However, use of a sensor on the gas burner requires a special design and also increases costs.

The other examples of the prior art disclose that the sensors are fixed around the gas burner on the working plate as in the published patent application No EP1258683 or they are built in the grid as in the published patent application No GB969096. However, the sensor having a fixed position may not always function in the case that vessels having different diameters are used.

Published patent application No DE102004059159, which is another example of the prior art, discloses a temperature sensor used together with a hot plate. This application teaches that the temperature sensor is placed underneath the hot plate to control the heating element. Therefore, the heater does not directly sense the temperature of the cooking vessel.

The cooking device of the invention comprises at least one heating element, disposed on a working plate, on which a cooking vessel can be placed and at least one sensor which detects, by measuring temperature and / or weight from the bottom surface of the cooking vessel, whether the liquid food in the cooking vessel has boiled or not. Since the position of sensor of the cooking device of the invention is adjustable, temperature and / or weight measurement from the bottom surfaces of cooking vessels which have different dimensions is also possible.

The aim of the invention is to provide a cooking device comprising sensors which sense whether liquid food heated in cookware on the cook top has boiled or not.

Another aim of the invention is to ensure that cooking vessels of different diameters can be used on said cooking device thanks to the movable position of the sensor.

Another aim of the invention is to provide a reliable cooking device which is easy and inexpensive to produce.

An exemplary cooking device of the invention is illustrated in the annexed drawings wherein

• Figure 1 is a side view of the cooking device.
• Figure 2 is a top view of the cooking device.
• Figure 3 is a side view of the cooking device while the sensor is at a position.
• Figure 4 is a side view of the cooking device while the sensor is at another position.
• Figure 5 is a side view of the sensor.

The parts in the drawings are individually enumerated and corresponding meanings of these reference numbers are as follows:

Cooking device

(A)

Cooking vessel

(1)

Heating element

(2)

Track

(3)

Sensor

(4)

Grid

(5)

Body

(6)

Working plate

(7)

Bottom surface

(8)

Figures 1-5 show details of the cooking device which is the subject matter of the invention. Although said cooking device (A) is illustrated as cook top in the figures, the invention is also applicable to the other types of cooking devices (hot plates, for instance).

As shown in Figure 1, the cooking device (A) of the invention comprises at least one heating element (2) (illustrated as a gas burner of a cook top), disposed on a working plate (7), on which a cooking vessel (1) can be placed and at least one sensor (4) which is in contact with the bottom surface (8) of the cooking vessel (1) and which detects, by measuring temperature and / or weight from the bottom surface of the cooking vessel, whether the liquid food in the cooking vessel has boiled or not. (At least one spring (not shown) may be used for boosting the sensor (4) in the device (A)). Depending on the value measured by the sensor (4) (the sensor (4) might be a temperature sensor and / or weight sensor); the device (A) can turn down and / or turn off the heating element (2) of the device (A). It is also possible to notify the users audibly and / or visually by means of the various signaling elements (not shown) with which the device (A) is associated. Thus, boiling over of the liquid in the cooking vessel (1) can be prevented.

Position of the sensor (4) in the device (A) is adjustable. To this end, the body (6) of the sensor (4) is arranged so as to be movable in a track (3) (the track (3) may be straight, curved or zigzagged etc.). The track (3) may be laid only into the working plate (7) as shown in Figure 1 and 5, or into both the working plate (7) and the grid (5) (cook top grid, for instance) on which a cooking vessel (1) can be placed. Alternatively, it is also possible to lay the track (3) into the grid (5) only. The crucial point here is that the body (6) of the sensor (4) is movable within this track (3).

As shown in the example of Figure 2-4, the body (6) of the sensor (4) can be set to a desired position (the user can start the device (A) after setting the device (A) to a position appropriate for the diameter of the vessel (1)) within the tracks (3) which are embedded into the grid (5) and the working plate (7) and can be kept at this position. Thus, it is ensured that the sensor (4) can perform temperature and / or weight measurement from the bottom surfaces (8) of cooking vessels (1) having different diameters.

Figure 5 shows a side view of the track (3) within the working plate (7). The track (3) is in the form of an upside down "T", and the portion of the body (6), which remains in the track (3), is adapted thereto in order to ensure that the body (6) moves only forward and backward in the track (3).

One of the alternative embodiments of the invention is to actuate said sensor (4) by a motor mechanism (not shown). The motor may be actuated in accordance with user preferences (by an on / off button to start the motor) or by another sensor (not shown) which senses the dimensions of a vessel (1) placed on the device (A) and starts the motor accordingly. This sensor can also set the sensor, depending on the values measured, to a desired position by means of the motor mechanism.