USER INTERFACE FOR A COOKING HOB

Abstract

 The present invention relates to a user interface (14) including at least one touch slide element (16, 18), wherein the touch slide element (16, 18) is adapted for adjusting the power level distribution on the cooking area (12) and a corresponding cooking hob. The present invention also relates to a method for controlling a cooking hob (10) comprising at least one cooking area (12) with a plurality of separately adjustable heating elements, wherein the or a power level distribution on the cooking area (12) is adjusted by at least one touch slide element (16, 18).

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a user interface for a cooking hob. Further, the present invention relates to a cooking hob. Moreover, present invention relates to a method for controlling a cooking hob.

[0002] A cooking area of a cooking hob comprises mostly several cooking zones. Said cooking zones have to be activated at individual different power levels. This requires a relative complex user interface. Usually, at least one separate adjusting element is necessary for each cooking zone.

[0003] It is an object of the present invention to provide a user interface for a cooking hob, which allows an easy handling by low complexity.

[0004] The object of the present invention is achieved by the user interface according to claim 1 and the method according to claim 11. Particular embodiments of the present invention are described in the dependent claims, in the description and in the figures.

[0005] According to the present invention, a user interface for a cooking hob is provided, wherein:

• the user interface includes at least one touch slide element and
• the touch slide element is adapted for adjusting the or a power level distribution on the cooking area.

[0006] The present invention allows representing and adjusting the power level distribution on the cooking area in an easy way. The power level distribution on the cooking area may provide one or more cooking zones with different power levels.

[0007] In particular,

• the user interface includes at least one display unit and/or
• the cooking area is mapped by a display unit (20) of a user interface and/or
• the display unit is a mapping of a cooking area of the cooking hob and/or
• the display unit is adapted for representing a power level distribution on the cooking area and/or
• the user interface includes at least one elongated touch slide element and/or
• the touch slide element is arranged and aligned in a position relating to the display unit and/or
• the direction of the touch slide element corresponds with the direction of a spatial parameter of the power level distribution on the cooking area.

[0008] The display unit can provide a clear representation of the power level distribution on the cooking area, while said power level distribution is adjustable by the at least one touch slide element.

[0009] Preferably, the touch slide element includes a plurality of touch switch elements arranged in series.

[0010] In particular, the touch switch elements of the touch slide element are separately activatable and deactivatable by a user.

[0011] For example, the touch slide element is parallel to an edge of the display unit.

[0012] Further, the touch slide element may be arranged besides the display unit.

[0013] Preferably, the user interface includes two touch slide element arranged perpendicular to each other.

[0014] Moreover, different power levels may be represented by different colours and/or by different patterns on the display unit.

[0015] For example, the user interface is a TFT display.

[0016] Further, the present invention relates to a cooking hob comprising at least one cooking area with a plurality of separately adjustable heating elements, wherein said cooking hob comprises at least one user interface mentioned above.

[0017] In particular, the cooking hob can be an induction cooking hob.

[0018] Further, the present invention relates to a method for controlling a cooking hob comprising at least one cooking area with a plurality of separately adjustable heating elements, wherein:

• the or a power level distribution on the cooking area is adjusted by at least one touch slide element.

[0019] In particular,

• the cooking area is mapped by a display unit of a user interface and/or
• the power level distribution on the cooking area is represented by the display unit and/or
• the power level distribution on the cooking area is adjusted by at least one, especially elongated, touch slide element arranged and aligned in a position relating to the display unit and/or
• the direction of the touch slide element corresponds with the direction of a spatial parameter of the power level distribution on the cooking area.

[0020] In particular, the different power levels are represented by different colours and/or by different patterns on the display unit.

[0021] Novel and inventive features of the present invention are set forth in the appended claims.

[0022] The present invention will be described in further detail with reference to the drawings, in which

FIG 1

illustrates a schematic top view of a cooking hob according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention,

FIG 2

illustrates a schematic top view of four adjustments of a user interface for the cooking hob according to a first embodiment of the present invention,

FIG 3

illustrates a schematic top view of three adjustments of the user interface for the cooking hob according to a second embodiment of the present invention, and

FIG 4

illustrates a schematic top view of three adjustments of the user interface for the cooking hob according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

[0023] FIG 1 illustrates a schematic top view of a cooking hob 10 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The cooking hob 10 comprises a cooking area 12 and a user interface 14. The cooking area 12 comprises a plurality of heating elements. Said heating elements are separately adjustable, so that different power level distributions within the cooking area 12 are possible. For example, the heating elements are induction coils arranged as a matrix.

[0024] The cooking hob 10 is or can be an induction cooking hob. An induction cooking hob comprises induction coils as heating elements, wherein the induction coils are energized by at least one electrical circuit generating an output voltage and output current with a high frequency, in particular with a frequency of more than 10kHz. The electrical circuit generating the output voltage and output current for the induction coils can comprise at least one IGBT (insulated-gate bipolar transistor). The power for the electrical circuit generating the output voltage and output current for the induction coils is provided by an alternating input current which is rectified by a rectifying circuit, for example a bridge rectifier.

[0025] In this example, the user interface 14 is arranged in a corner of the cooking hob 10 and besides the cooking area 12. In general, the user interface 14 may be arranged in an arbitrary place inside or outside of the cooking hob 10. The cooking area 12 extends substantially over the residual area of the cooking hob 10.

[0026] The user interface 14 includes a first touch slide element 16, a second touch slide element 18 and a display unit 20. The first touch slide element 16 and the second touch slide element 18 are elongated. The display unit 20 is rectangular or squared. The first touch slide element 16 is arranged in front of the display unit 20, while the second touch slide element 18 is arranged besides said display unit 20. In this example, the second touch slide element 18 is arranged to the left of the display unit 20. The first touch slide element 16 is arranged parallel to the front edge of the display unit 20, while the second touch slide element 18 is arranged parallel to the left edge of said display unit 20.

[0027] The first touch slide element 16 is provided for adjusting a power level distribution on the cooking area 12 along a transverse direction. In a similar way, the second touch slide element 18 is provided for adjusting the power level distribution on the cooking area 12 along a longitudinal direction. The display unit 20 represents the cooking area 10. The display unit 20 is provided for illustrating the power level distribution on the cooking area 12.

[0028] The first touch slide element 16 includes a plurality of touch switch elements arranged in series along the transverse direction. In a similar way, the second touch slide element 18 includes a plurality of touch switch elements arranged in series along the longitudinal direction. Said touch switch elements are separately activatable and deactivatable by the user.

[0029] FIG 2 illustrates a schematic top view of four adjustments of the user interface 14 for the cooking hob 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

[0030] The user interface 14 of the first embodiment includes the first touch slide element 16 and the second touch slide element 18. The first touch slide element 16 is provided for adjusting the power level distribution along the transverse direction of the cooking area 12, the second touch slide element 18 is provided for adjusting the power level distribution along the longitudinal direction of the cooking area 12. The touch switch elements of the first touch slide element 16 correspond with the zones of the display unit 20 and the cooking area 12 of the same longitudinal direction. In contrast, the touch switch elements of the second touch slide element 18 correspond with the zones of the display unit 20 and the cooking area 12 of the same transversal direction.

[0031] In FIG 2 the display unit 20 illustrates four different power level distributions on the cooking area 12. Each power level distribution includes zones with a first power level 22, a second power level 24, a third power level 26 and a fourth power level 28. The first power level 22 corresponds with the lowest power on the cooking area 12, while the fourth power level 28 corresponds with the highest power on the cooking area 12.

[0032] In the first adjustment on the left hand side of FIG 2 the zones with the fourth power level 28 occur in the four corners of the cooking area 12, while the zone with the first power level 22 occurs in the centre of said cooking area 12. The zone with the second power level 24 encloses the zone with the first power level 22. In turn, the zone with the third power level 26 encloses the zone with the second power level 24. The lateral touch switch elements of the first touch slide element 16 and second touch slide element 18 are activated, while the central touch switch elements of the first touch slide element 16 and second touch slide element 18 are deactivated.

[0033] In the second adjustment of FIG 2 the zones with the fourth power level 28 occur in the both corners on the left hand side of the cooking area 12, while the zone with the first power level 22 occurs on the central right hand side of said cooking area 12. The zones with the second power level 24 and the third power level 26 extend between the zones with the first power level 22 and fourth power level 28. The touch switch elements in the left portion of the first touch slide element 16 are activated, while the touch switch elements in right portion of the first touch slide element 16 are deactivated. The lateral touch switch elements of the second touch slide element 18 are activated, while the central touch switch elements of the second touch slide element 18 are deactivated.

[0034] In the third adjustment of FIG 2 the zone with the fourth power level 28 occurs in the front corner on the left hand side of the cooking area 12, while the zone with the first power level 22 occurs in the rear corner on the right hand side of said cooking area 12. The zones with the second power level 24 and the third power level 26 extend between the zones with the first power level 22 and fourth power level 28. The touch switch elements in the left portion of the first touch slide element 16 are activated, while the touch switch elements in right portion of the first touch slide element 16 are deactivated. The touch switch elements in the front portion of the second touch slide element 18 are activated, while the touch switch elements in the rear portion of the second touch slide element 18 are deactivated.

[0035] In the fourth adjustment on the right hand side of FIG 2 the zone with the fourth power level 28 occurs in the centre of the cooking area 12, while the zones with the first power level 22 occur in the four corners of said cooking area 12. The zone with the third power level 26 encloses the zone with the fourth power level 28. In turn, the zone with the second power level 24 encloses the zone with the third power level 26. The lateral touch switch elements of the first touch slide element 16 and second touch slide element 18 are deactivated, while the central touch switch elements of the first touch slide element 16 and second touch slide element 18 are activated.

[0036] Preferably, the power levels 22, 24, 26 and 28 are represented by different colours. For example, the highest power level 28 is represented by a red colour, while the lowest power level 22 is represented by a green colour. The intermediate power levels 24 and 26 may be represented by yellow and orange colours, respectively.

[0037] FIG 3 illustrates a schematic top view of three of adjustments of the user interface 14 for the cooking hob 10 according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[0038] The user interface 14 of the second embodiment includes one touch slide element 16 and the display unit 20. Said touch slide element 16 is provided for adjusting the power level distribution on the cooking area 12 along the transverse direction. The display unit 20 represents the cooking area 10. The display unit 20 is provided for illustrating the power level distribution on the cooking area 12.

[0039] The touch slide element 16 includes the plurality of touch switch elements arranged in series along the transverse direction. Said touch switch elements are separately activatable and deactivatable by the user.

[0040] In FIG 3 the display unit 20 illustrates three different power level distributions on the cooking area 12. In the first adjustment on the left hand side of FIG 3 the power level distribution includes zones with the first power level 22, the second power level 24, the third power level 26, the fourth power level 28 and a fifth power level 30. The first power level 22 corresponds with the lowest power on the cooking area 12, while the fifth power level 30 corresponds with the highest power on the cooking area 12.

[0041] In the first adjustment on the left hand side of FIG 3 five zones with the different power levels 22, 24, 26, 28 and 30 are arranged side-by-side, wherein the power levels decrease from left to right. A smaller portion of touch switch elements on the left hand side of the touch slide element 16 is activated, while a bigger portion of touch switch elements on the right hand side of the touch slide element 16 is deactivated.

[0042] In the second adjustment in the centre of FIG 3 three zones with the different power levels 24, 26 and 28 are arranged side-by-side, wherein the power levels 22, 24, 26, 28 and 30 decrease from left to right. A bigger portion of touch switch elements on the left hand side of the touch slide element 16 is activated, while a smaller portion of touch switch elements on the right hand side of the touch slide element 16 is deactivated.

[0043] In the third adjustment on the right hand side of FIG 3 three zones with the different power levels 26, 28 and 30 are arranged side-by-side, wherein the power levels decrease from left to right. All touch switch elements of the touch slide element 16 are activated.

[0044] FIG 4 illustrates a schematic top view of three of adjustments of the user interface 14 for the cooking hob 10 according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

[0045] The user interface 14 of the third embodiment includes one touch slide element 16 and the display unit 20. Said touch slide element 16 is provided for adjusting the power level distribution on the cooking area 12 along the longitudinal direction. The display unit 20 represents the cooking area 10. The display unit 20 is provided for illustrating the power level distribution on the cooking area 12.

[0046] The touch slide element 16 includes the plurality of touch switch elements arranged in series along the longitudinal direction. Said touch switch elements are separately activatable and deactivatable by the user.

[0047] In FIG 4 the display unit 20 illustrates three different power level distributions on the cooking area 12. In the first adjustment on the left hand side of FIG 4 the power level distribution includes five zones with the first power level 22, the second power level 24, the third power level 26, the fourth power level 28 and the fifth power level 30. The first power level 22 corresponds with the lowest power on the cooking area 12, while the fifth power level 30 corresponds with the highest power on the cooking area 12.

[0048] In the first adjustment on the left hand side of FIG 4 the five zones with the different power levels 22, 24, 26, 28 and 30 are arranged successively, wherein the power levels 22, 24, 26, 28 and 30 increases rearwards. A smaller rear portion of touch switch elements of the touch slide element 16 is activated, while a bigger front portion of touch switch elements of the touch slide element 16 is deactivated.

[0049] In the second adjustment in the centre of FIG 4 three zones with the different power levels 24, 26 and 28 are arranged successively, wherein the power levels increase rearwards. A bigger rear portion of touch switch elements of the touch slide element 16 is activated, while a smaller front portion of touch switch elements of the touch slide element 16 is deactivated.

[0050] In the third adjustment on the right hand side of FIG 4 three zones with the different power levels 26, 28 and 30 are arranged successively, wherein the power levels increase rearwards. All touch switch elements of the touch slide element 16 are activated.

[0051] The present invention allows adjusting a one-dimensional power level distribution of the cooking area 12 by one touch slide element 16 as shown in FIG 3 and FIG 4. In particular, the present invention allows adjusting a two-dimensional power level distribution of the cooking area 12 by two touch slide elements 16 and 18 as shown in FIG 2. The user recognises the zones of the different power levels 22, 24, 26, 28 and 30 on the cooking area 12 by watching the display unit 20 and can place the one or more cooking vessels on the suitable zone or zones, respectively.

[0052] Although illustrative embodiments of the present invention have been described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to those precise embodiments, and that various other changes and modifications may be affected therein by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. All such changes and modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

List of reference numerals

[0053] 

10

cooking hob

12

cooking area

14

user interface

16

first touch slide element

18

second touch slide element

20

display unit

22

first power level

24

second power level

26

third power level

28

forth power level

30

fifth power level

Claims

1. A user interface (14) for a cooking hob (10), wherein:

- the user interface (14) includes at least one touch slide element (16, 18) and

- the touch slide element (16, 18) is adapted for adjusting a power level distribution on the cooking area (12).

2. The cooking hob according to claim 1,
characterised in that it comprises at least one or more of the following features:

- the user interface (14) includes at least one display unit (20),

- the cooking area (12) is mapped by a display unit (20) of a user interface (14),

- the display unit (20) is a mapping of a cooking area (12) of the cooking hob (10),

- the display unit (20) is adapted for representing a power level distribution on the cooking area (12),

- the user interface (14) includes at least one elongated touch slide element (16, 18),

- the at least one touch slide element (16, 18) is adapted for adjusting the power level distribution on the cooking area (12),

- the touch slide element (16, 18) is arranged and aligned in a position relating to the display unit (20),

- the direction of the touch slide element (16, 18) corresponds with the direction of a spatial parameter of the power level distribution on the cooking area (12).

3. The user interface according to claim 1 or 2,
characterised in that
the touch slide element (16, 18) includes a plurality of touch switch elements arranged in series.

4. The user interface according to claim 2,
characterised in that
the touch switch elements of the touch slide element (16, 18) are separately activatable and deactivatable by a user.

5. The user interface according to any one of the preceding claims,
characterised in that
the touch slide element (16, 18) is parallel to an edge of the display unit (20)
and/or
the touch slide element (16, 18) is arranged besides the display unit (20).

6. The user interface according to any one of the preceding claims,
characterised in that
the user interface (14) includes two touch slide elements (16, 18) arranged perpendicular to each other.

7. The user interface according to any one of the preceding claims,
characterised in that
different power levels (22, 24, 26, 28, 30) are represented by different colours and/or by different patterns on the display unit (20).

8. The user interface according to any one of the preceding claims,
characterised in that
the user interface (14) is a TFT display.

9. A cooking hob (10) comprising at least one cooking area (12) with a plurality of separately adjustable heating elements, characterised in that
the cooking hob (10) comprises at least one user interface (14) according to any one of the preceding claims,

10. A cooking hob (10) according to claim 9, wherein the cooking hob (10) is an induction cooking hob.

11. A method for controlling a cooking hob (10) comprising at least one cooking area (12) with a plurality of separately adjustable heating elements, wherein:

- a power level distribution on the cooking area (12) is adjusted by at least one touch slide element (16, 18).

12. The method according to claim 11,
characterised in that the method comprises at least one or more of the following features:

- the cooking area (12) is mapped by a display unit (20) of a user interface (14) and/or

- the power level distribution on the cooking area (12) is represented by the display unit (20) and/or

- the power level distribution on the cooking area (12) is adjusted by at least one, especially elongated, touch slide element (16, 18) arranged and aligned in a position relating to the display unit (20) and/or

- the direction of the touch slide element (16, 18) corresponds with the direction of a spatial parameter of the power level distribution on the cooking area (12).

13. The method according to claim 11 or 12,
characterised in that
the different power levels (22, 24, 26, 28, 30) are represented by different colours and/or by different patterns on the display unit (20).

Drawing