STOVE WITH AUTOMATED FLAME CONTROL FUNCTION

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a stove, more particularly a stove with an automated flame control function.

2. Description of the Related Art

Humans relies on food as an essential of life, and most food needs to be cooked. A finely cooked dish elevates food into a cuisine, providing enjoyment and fulfilment of life. However, whether a food is able to be cooked and prepared into a cuisine, is completely dependent on a chef, and not everyone is an experienced chef.

For example, in order to finely cook food, a current gas stove requires a person to control a flame size by turning a knob of a gas burner regulator. However, for a novice person who is far from being an experienced chef, the novice person would struggle to precisely control the knob of the gas burner regulator to produce an adequate flame size at the right time and for the right duration for cooking the food. As a result, the novice person would easily over-cook or under-cook the food, thus preventing the food from becoming a fine cuisine, and wasting both the food and the time spent cooking.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a stove with an automated flame control function. The automated flame control function of the stove is able to precisely control when a burner should produce flame, how long the flame should last, and how adequate a flame size should be for cooking food. Such a stove ensures the food is well-cooked into a high-quality cuisine, prevents the food from being wasted with inadequate control of flame, and saves time for cooking the food.

The stove with the automated flame control function of the present invention, comprises:

• • a gas stove, having a stove pipeline and an electronic gas igniter;
  • an electronic valve regulator, connecting the stove pipeline, and configured to connect to a gas source; wherein the electronic valve regulator controls a flux of a gas entering from the gas source into the stove pipeline according to a degree of opening;
  • a control circuit, electrically connected to the electronic valve regulator; wherein the control circuit executes a control script to control the degree of opening of the electronic valve regulator and to control an ignition status of the electronic gas igniter according to the control script.

In other words, by executing the control script, the control circuit of the present invention is able to control a flame status of a flame produced by the gas stove according to the control script.

For example, when the control circuit executes the control script and accordingly controls the degree of opening of the electronic valve regulator to be greater and controls the ignition status of the electronic gas igniter to produce sparks, the control circuit thus controls the gas stove to produce the flame of a greater size. When the control circuit executes the control script and accordingly controls the degree of opening of the electronic valve regulator to be less and controls the ignition status of the electronic gas igniter to produce sparks, the control circuit thus controls the gas stove to produce the flame of a less size.

When the control circuit executes the control script and accordingly controls the degree of opening of the electronic valve regulator to be completely closed off and controls the ignition status of the electronic gas igniter to refrain from producing sparks, the control circuit thus controls the gas stove to extinguish the flame. As such, the control script has already programmed how the gas stove ought to produce an adequate flame size at the right time and for the right duration. The control circuit executes the control script to initiate the automated flame control function for the stove of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a stove with an automated flame control function of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the stove with the automated flame control function of the present invention being integrated with a table.

FIG. 3 is another perspective view of the stove with the automated flame control function of the present invention being integrated with the table.

FIG. 4 is another perspective view of the stove with the automated flame control function of the present invention being integrated with the table.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference to FIG. 1, the present invention provides a stove 1 with the automated flame control function. The stove 1 includes a control circuit 10, a gas stove 20, and an electronic valve regulator 30.

The gas stove 20 includes a stove pipeline 21 and an electronic gas igniter 22, and the control circuit 10 respectively electrically connects to the electronic gas igniter 22 and the electronic valve regulator 30. The electronic valve regulator 30 is connected to the stove pipeline 21 of the gas stove 20, and the electronic valve regulator 30 is configured to connect to a gas source 2. This allows the electronic valve regulator 30 to control a flux of a gas entering from the gas source 2 into the stove pipeline 21 according to a degree of opening of the electronic valve regulator 30. When the degree of opening is fully open, the electronic valve regulator 30 maximizes the flux of the gas, and when the degree of opening is fully closed, the electronic valve regulator 30 zeros the flux of the gas.

The control circuit 10 of the present invention executes a control script to control the degree of opening of the electronic valve regulator 30 and to control an ignition status of the electronic gas igniter 22 according to the control script.

For example, in an embodiment, the degree of opening of the electronic valve regulator 30 may correspond to a closed status, a small flame status, and a big flame status. The ignition status of the electronic gas igniter 22 corresponds to either a discharge status of producing sparks or a discharge-free status without producing sparks. In terms of the electronic gas igniter 22, producing sparks means to discharge electricity over high voltage differences between a first electrode E1 and a second electrode E2, thus creating an electric arc between the first electrode E1 and the second electrode E2 of the electronic gas igniter 22.

When the degree of opening of the electronic valve regulator 30 corresponds to the closed status, and the ignition status of the electronic gas igniter 22 corresponds to the without discharge status, the gas stove 20 stops the flow of gas and refrains from producing flame.

When the degree of opening of the electronic valve regulator 30 corresponds to the small flame status, and the ignition status of the electronic gas igniter 22 corresponds to the discharge status, the gas stove 20 is sparked by the electronic gas igniter 22 to produce a small flame.

When the degree of opening of the electronic valve regulator 30 corresponds to the big flame status, the gas stove 20 produces a big flame.

In another embodiment, the degree of opening of the electronic valve regulator 30 may further correspond to additional different statuses. For example, between the small flame status and the big flame status, the degree of opening of the electronic valve regulator 30 may correspond to a middle flame status.

Following the aforementioned logic, when the degree of opening of the electronic valve regulator 30 corresponds to the middle flame status, the gas stove 20 produces a middle flame.

The main point of the present invention is that since the control script May be pre-programmed to encode how to produce a flame 40 of the gas stove 20 with an adequate flame size (such as having no flame, small flame, or big flame) and to encode for how long a time duration the flame 40 should be produced, when the control circuit 10 executes the control script, the control circuit 10 is able to be automated to control the flame 40 according to the control script, and thus assisting a user of the present invention to adequately and precisely cook food into a delicious cuisine.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the control script includes a small flame configuration, a big flame configuration, a flame-off configuration, and at least one scheduler. When the control circuit 10 controls the degree of opening of the electronic valve regulator 30 and controls the ignition status of the electronic gas igniter 22 according to the control script, the control circuit 10 determines when to adopt the small flame configuration, the big flame configuration, or the flame-off configuration according to each of the at least one scheduler.

For example, in an embodiment, the control script includes a fried rice scheduler and a fried egg scheduler. The user may pre-program the control script, encode the control script to first run the fried rice scheduler or the fried egg scheduler, or only run one of the two. In other words, the user may freely and innovatively encode the control script for culinary purposes of adequately cooking food with precise control over the flame 40. For example, the fried egg scheduler may resemble Table 1:

The control script of the present invention is free to be programmed in any way possible to run the at least one scheduler. In this example, the control circuit 10 counts a time starting from zero. When the time falls between zero and five seconds, the control circuit 10 adopts the big flame configuration for controlling the degree of opening of the electronic valve regulator 30 and the ignition status of the electronic gas igniter 22, and thus starts frying eggs with the big flame. When the time falls between five and twenty seconds, the control circuit 10 adopts the small flame configuration for controlling the degree of opening of the electronic valve regulator 30 and the ignition status of the electronic gas igniter 22, and thus slowly frying eggs with the small flame. When the time is exactly at twenty seconds, the control circuit 10 adopts the flame-off configuration for controlling the degree of opening of the electronic valve regulator 30 and the ignition status of the electronic gas igniter 22, and thus extinguish the flame 40 of the gas stove 20.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 1, in an embodiment, the stove 1 further includes a communication device 50, a ventilation fan 60, a camera 70, a stop button 80, and an adapter 90. The control circuit 10 respectively electrically connects the communication device 50, the ventilation fan 60, the camera 70, the stop button 80, and the adapter 90.

The communication device 50 is configured to connect to an external control device 3 that is in collaboration with the stove 1. The control circuit 10 receives and executes the control script provided by the external control device 3 through the communication device 50. More particularly, the communication device 50 may be a wired or wireless network module. For example, in an embodiment, the communication device 50 is a multi-channel universal Input/Output (I/O) module of model ADAM-6024. The communication device 50 is connected to a network, and through the network the communication device 50 further connects to the external control device 3. The communication device 50 is able to receive a remote control signal outputted by the external control device 3. When the control circuit 10 receives the remote control signal outputted by the external control device 3 through the communication device 50, the control circuit 10 controls the degree of opening of the electronic valve regulator 30 and the ignition status of the electronic gas igniter 22 according to the remote control signal. In the present embodiment, when the control circuit 10 receives the remote control signal while executing the control script, the control circuit 10 stops executing the control script and prioritizes on executing controls in accordance with the remote control signal.

The ventilation fan 60 of the present invention is free to be any kind of model and installation position, as long as the ventilation fan 60 is pointed towards the gas stove 20 for effectively venting out oil vapors during food cooking. When the control circuit 10 controls the stove 20 to produce the flame 40 according to the control script, logically a cooking process has begun, and thus the control circuit 10 also starts controlling the ventilation fan 60 to operate and vent out the oil vapors.

The adapter 90 of the present invention is configured to connect to a power source 4. The adapter 90 converts an alternating current (AC) high voltage received from the power source 4 into a direct current (DC) low voltage, and the adapter 90 supplies the DC low voltage to the control circuit 10. In the present embodiment, the AC high voltage is a 220-volts (220 VAC) utility power, and the DC low voltage is a 12-volts direct current (12 VDC). As such, the adapter 90 converts the 220 VAC into 12 VDC.

With reference to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, in the current embodiment, the stove 1 of the present invention is integrated with a table 5. A control box 6 is mounted on a side surface of the table 5. The control box 6 contains the control circuit 10, the communication device 50, and the adapter 90. The stop button 80 is mounted on the control box 6, and thus the stop button 80 is provided to the user to press for stopping the gas stove 20 from producing the flame 40 in an emergency situation. When the stop button 80 is pressed, the stop button 80 sends a stop signal to the control circuit 10. When the control circuit 10 receives the stop signal, the control circuit 10 immediately controls the degree of opening of the electronic valve regulator 30 to be fully closed and controls the ignition status of the electronic gas igniter 22 to refrain from producing sparks. More particularly, when the control circuit 10 receives the stop signal, regardless of the control circuit 10 executing the control script or receiving the remote control signal, the control circuit 10 would prioritize closing the electronic valve regulator 30 and refraining from discharging the electronic gas igniter 22 according to the stop signal, ensuring safety in the most immediate manner by extinguishing the flame 40.

In the present embodiment, a stand 71 is mounted on the table 5, and the camera 70 is mounted on the stand 71 above the table 5. The camera 70 faces and films the gas stove 20 to generate a footage signal, and the camera 70 outputs the footage signal to the control circuit 10. The control circuit 10 receives the footage signal from the camera 70, and the control circuit 10 outputs the footage signal to the external control device 3 through the communication device 50. As such, the external control device 3 is able to receive the footage signal that is streaming for monitoring the gas stove 20 in real time. The external control device 3 can also remotely manipulate the gas stove 20 when it becomes necessary to interfere to control the gas stove 20.

Furthermore, a pipeline connects the gas source 2 and the gas stove 20 through the electronic valve regulator 30. The electronic valve regulator 30 and the pipeline are mounted on another side surface of the table 5. In the present embodiment, the electronic valve regulator 30 is a compact motorized rotary actuator that regulates the degree of opening in accordance with a control signal outputted from the control circuit 10. The control circuit 10 outputs the control signal according to the control script.

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 4, the gas stove 20 further includes a flame detector 23. The flame detector 23 is electrically connected to the control circuit 10, and the flame detector 23 generates and outputs a flame detection signal to the control circuit 10. When the control circuit 10 is controlling the gas stove 20 to produce the flame 40 according to the control script or according to the remote control signal, but simultaneously, the control circuit 10 determines that the gas stove 20 does not successfully produce the flame 40 according to the flame detection signal, and the control circuit 10 thus controls the electronic gas igniter 22 to produce sparks for assisting the gas stove 20 to produce the flame 40.

For example, when the flame 40 is extinguished unexpectedly during the cooking process due to an external or environmental factor, such as due to a gust of wind, the flame detector 23 would detect that the flame 40 is gone and inform the control circuit 10 via the flame detection signal. When the control circuit 10 is informed about the extinguished flame, since the electronic valve regulator 30 is still open and the gas is still flowing to the gas stove 20, the control circuit 10 understands that the cooking process should still continue in accordance with the control script, and therefore the control circuit 10 controls the electronic gas igniter 22 to produce sparks for assisting the gas stove 20 to produce the flame 40, thus continuing the cooking process. On the other hand, when the control circuit 10 determines that the flame 40 is being successfully produced by the gas stove 20 according to the flame detection signal, or when the control circuit 10 determines that the flame 40 is extinguished according to the flame detection signal but also the flame 40 should indeed stay extinguished, the control circuit 10 thus refrains from controlling the electronic gas igniter 22 to produce sparks.

A model of the flame detector 23 is free to be of any kind. In the current embodiment, the flame detector 23 includes a third electrode E3. The third electrode E3 along with the first electrode E1 and the second electrode E2 of the electronic gas igniter 22 are all positioned above the stove pipeline 21 of the gas stove 20. In an embodiment, the control circuit 10 includes a control chip. The control chip electrically connects the third electrode E3 of the flame detector 23 as well as the first electrode E1 and the second electrode E2 of the electronic gas igniter 22. Among the first electrode E1 and the second electrode E2, one is grounded and the other one is configured to be a high voltage discharger. The third electrode E3 is configured to directly output the flame detection signal to the control chip. When the control chip determines that the flame 40 is burning according to the flame detection signal, the control chip outputs a burning flame status signal. When the control chip determines that the flame 40 should be burning but is in fact extinguished according to the flame detection signal, the control chip outputs an abnormality status signal. A user of the present invention thus can be notified about a status of the flame 40 via the burning flame status signal or the abnormality status signal.