# Patent

## Title
Method of defining the emission coefficient of a surface to be heated

## Abstract

A method of defining the emission coefficient of a surface to be heated by measuring the temperature of a heating surface and the flow of heat from the heating surface to a surface to be heated to derive a pair of values representative thereof and of selecting a previously stored reference emission coefficient from a plurality thereof as a function of the pair of values.

## Background
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention, in general, relates to a method of defining the emission coefficient of a surface to be heated, and, more particularly, to a method of defining the coefficient of heat emission of a cooking surface or of the bottom of a cooking vessel by means of an electric evaluation unit.
2. The Prior Art
German patent specification DE 22 62 737 discloses a method of measuring the surface temperature of a metal object by means of a pyrometer in which the emission coefficient ε2 of a surface A2 to be heated of the metal object is automatically detected for use as a corrective factor for obtaining an improved temperature measurement. For defining the emission coefficient ε2 of the metallic surface A2, the radiated heat reflected from the metal surface A2 proportioned to the radiation energy emitted from the heating surface structured as a radiating heat source.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to provide an improved method of defining the emission coefficient ε2 of a heated surface A2.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the invention, the object is accomplished by a method of defining the emission coefficient ε2 of a heated surface A2 by an evaluation unit including the steps of heating the surface A2 by a radiation heat source provided with a heating surface A1 and an emission coefficient ε1, while simultaneously detecting, by an appropriate device, the flow Q1/2 radiated from the heating surface A1 in the direction of the surface A2 and received by the surface A2, selecting as a function of the pair of values Q1/2-T1 derived as a function of the flow Q1/2 of heat and the heating temperature T1 a reference emission coefficient ε2 from a plurality of reference emission coefficients ε2 stored in the evaluation unit.
Other objects and advantageous features of the invention will appear hereinafter.
The advantages derived from the invention, aside from offering a further method of defining the heat coefficient ε2 of a heated surface, are, more particularly, a simple and robust system for executing the method in accordance with the invention. This, in turn, yields a significant reduction of costs compared to systems for executing the known method.
In an advantageous embodiment of the invention resistance is measured at the radiation heat source by a device for detecting the heating temperature T1. This allows detection of the heating temperature T1 in a simple manner.
The type and arrangement of the device for detecting the flow Q1/2 of heat may be selected from a wide range. For instance, the device for detecting the flow Q1/2 of heat may be equipped with a sensor and, more particularly, a radiation detector.
In an alternative embodiment, the power level selected manually or by automatic controls for the radiation heat source is detected by the device for detecting the flow Q1/2 of heat. In this manner the device for detecting the flow Q1/2 can be realized in a particularly simple and, hence, cost-efficient manner.
The method in accordance with the invention and the emission coefficient ε2 are useful in connection with many applications. A particularly advantageous application of the method in accordance with the invention resides in the area of pyrometric temperature measurement, i.e. where the emission coefficient ε2 is used for detecting the temperature T2 of a heated surface A2 in view of the fact that this kind of temperature measurement depends upon the emission coefficient ε2 of the surface A2 since temperature measurements used for regulating and control purposes are possible only if the emission coefficient ε2 is known with sufficient accuracy. This is particularly true where the pyrometric temperature measurement constitutes a component of, or is used in connection with, the control of a household appliance, such as a stove or a self-contained cooking surface.
In a particularly advantageous embodiment, the method is practiced continuously during the heating of surface A2 since in this manner the accuracy of the result of detecting the emission coefficient ε2 is improved.



DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
The novel features which are considered to be characteristic of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, in respect of its structure, construction and lay-out as well as its manufacturing techniques, together with other advantages and objects thereof, will be best understood from the following description of preferred embodiments when read in connection with the appended drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 schematically depicts a self-contained cooking field to which the method in accordance with the invention has been applied.



DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The only drawing represents a self-contained cooking field. It is provided with a cooking surface 1 at cooking position 2 being formed, for instance, of a ceramic glass compound. Below the cooking position 2, there is provided a radiation heat source 4 constituted by an electric radiation heater. The emission coefficient of the heat source is designated ε1, and the radiation heat source 4 is insulated from its surroundings by a radiator insulation 6 such that only a small amount of the heat generated by the radiation heater 4 is emitted to the surroundings as lost heat. By for the greater amount of the heat generated is radiated from the heating surface A1 of the radiation heater 4 in the direction of the lower surface of the cooking position 2. During a cooking operation the bottom 10 of a cooking vessel or pot 8 is placed upon the cooking position 2. The material 12 to be cooked is placed in the pot 8. The degree of transmission of the cooking surface In the area of the cooking position 2 is very high so that the flow Q1/2 of heat radiated from the radiation heat source 4 at a heating temperature T1 to the lower surface of the cooking position 2 can penetrate the cooking surface in the area of the cooking position 2 without any substantial loss. The flow Q1/2 of heat radiated from the radiation heat source 4 is thus received by the bottom surface 10 of the pot 8, i.e. the surface A2 to be heated, facing the cooking surface.
An apparatus control 14 is connected to a control knob 16 and the radiation heat source 4 such that electric power fed to the radiation heat source 4 may be set by way of the control know 16. In addition, the apparatus control 14 is provided with a device 17 for detecting the heating temperature T1 and a device 18 for detecting the flow Q1/2 of heat. During the entire cooking operation, T1 and Q1/2 are being monitored or detected continuously by way of the device 17 measuring the resistance at the radiation heat source 4 and the device 18 detecting the power level set for the cooking position 2, respectively. Furthermore, the apparatus control 14 is provided with an evaluation unit 18 and a storage or memory 20 storing a plurality of value pairs Q1/2-T1 derived from the flow Q1/2 of heat and the heating temperature T1 and associated with reference emission coefficients ε2.
The method functions in the manner hereinafter set forth with reference to the sole FIGURE and relevant physical equations.
The flow Q1/2 of heat from the electric radiation heat source 4 is derived from:




  Q
  =
  
    P
    =
    
      
        U
        2
      
      R
    
  




wherein Q equals Q1/2, P equals the electric power fed to the radiation heat source 4, U equals the electric voltage at the radiation heat source 4 and R equals the electrical resistance of the radiation heat source 4. The equation substantially ignores any occurring heat loss.

The physical connection between the heating surface A1 and the surface A2 to be heated can be derived from the above equation and the enlarged Stefan-Boltzmann-constant, as follows:




  
    Q
    =
    
      
        
          c
          
            (
            
              1
              ,
              2
            
            )
          
        
        ⁢
        
          A
          ⁡
          
            (
            
              
                
                  (
                  
                    
                      T
                      1
                    
                    +
                    273
                  
                  )
                
                4
              
              +
              
                
                  (
                  
                    
                      T
                      2
                    
                    +
                    273
                  
                  )
                
                4
              
            
            )
          
        
      
      =
      
        
          σ
          
            
              1
              
                ɛ
                1
              
            
            +
            
              1
              
                ɛ
                2
              
            
            -
            1
          
        
        ⁢
        
          A
          ⁡
          
            (
            
              
                
                  (
                  
                    
                      T
                      1
                    
                    +
                    273
                  
                  )
                
                4
              
              -
              
                
                  (
                  
                    
                      T
                      2
                    
                    +
                    273
                  
                  )
                
                4
              
            
            )
          
        
      
    
  
  ,




in which, in addition, to the equation symbols used supra c1,2 is the radiation exchange value, A=A1+A2, T2 the temperature of the surface A2 to be heated and σ is the Stefan-Boltzmann-constant of σ=5.67*10−8 Wm−2K−4. The equation ignores the fact that the surfaces A1 and A2 are not identical in size and that A1 is not a planar surface. It is also assumed that the two surfaces are disposed parallel to each other as is the case in the embodiment described supra.

Since in the present example the heating temperature T1 is much higher than the temperatures T2 to be expected at the bottom surface 10 of the pot 8, and given a known heating temperature T1, a known emission coefficient ε1 of the radiation heat source 4, a known flow Q1,2 of heat from the surface A1 to surface A2 and a known construction of the self-contained cooking surface, the emission coefficient ε2 of the surface to be heated may be defined as follows:
The cooking position 2 is not heated. The cooking pot 8, with the material to be cooked therein, is placed with its bottom 10 onto the cooking position 2. The power level of the cooking position is set by the user by means of the control knob 16, thus feeding electric current to the radiation heat source 4 to dissipate heat. At the same time, the heating temperature T1 is raised. The flow Q1,2 of heat is detected by means of the evaluation unit 19 on the basis of the set power level and the heating temperature T1 is detected by measuring the resistance at the radiation heat source 4.
The relations required for this purpose as well as the plurality relations between value pairs Q1,2-T1 and reference emission coefficients ε2 stored in the storage 20 were previously determined by tests with similarly constructed self-contained cooking units, and stored in the memory 20 of the apparatus control 14. In this manner, the deviations from theoretical physical relations referred to above and unavoidable heat losses were sufficiently compensated.
Once the actual heating temperature T1 and the actual flow Q1,2 of heat are available in the evaluation unit 19, the pair of values Q1,2-T1 derived therefrom is compared by in the evaluation unit 19 with stored value pairs Q1,2-T1. The emission coefficient ε2 associated with the most closely resembling value pair Q1,2-T1 is selected for further use in the apparatus control 14.
In the present embodiment, the method in accordance with the invention is practiced during the entire duration of heating surface A2. As long as the value of the emission coefficient ε2 determined in this manner continues to change significantly, the system referred to above has not established itself. Only after the ε2 value stops changing, or its changes are within a previously established tolerable range, ε2 or a mean value of ε2 derived from the final values by conventional mathematical processes will be used for controlling the radiation heat source 4 and, therefore, the self-contained cooking surface.
In the present embodiment, the detected emission coefficient ε2 is used for pyrometrically measuring the temperature T2 in a manner known per se. Without prior knowledge of the emission coefficient ε2 measuring temperature in this manner would be too imprecise for controlling the radiation heat source 4 of a cooking surface. Because of different materials and different geometries of the bottoms of cooking pots the emission coefficient ε2 varies widely from one pot to another. Since usually a user makes use of different cooking pots 8 which do not have bottoms 10 of uniform emission coefficients ε2, the use of the emission coefficient ε2 corresponding to any given used cooking pot 8 is required for a substantially precise control of the cooking temperature and the temperature of the cooked material 12.
They method may, however, also be practiced discontinuously, i.e. during predetermined points in time or for predetermined durations while the surface A2 is being heated. In such an arrangement the system would have to have stabilized itself. This can be accomplished in ways well known to persons skilled in the art.
Practicing the method of the invention described above is not limited to the described embodiment. For instance, it could be applied to other household appliances such as other cooking implements. The method in accordance with the invention can be used in all situations in which the temperature T2 of a heated surface is to be measure pyrometrically. It is also possible to defined the flow Q1,2 of heat by means of a sensor. Setting of the power level of a cooking position 2 can, in the case, of upscale ovens or cooking appliances may take place by the apparatus control 14 as a function of cooked material selected by way of operating elements or detected by sensors of the apparatus control 14.

## Claims

1. A method of defining the emission coefficient of a surface to be heated by means of an evaluation unit, comprising the steps of:
heating the surface by means of a radiation heat source provided with a heating surface and having an emission coefficient;
simultaneously determining the heating temperature using a device for determining the heating temperature of the heating surface and the flow of heat using a device for determining the flow of heat radiated from the heating surface in the direction of the surface to be heated and received by the surface to be heated; and
selecting as a function of a pair of values derived from the flow of heat and the heating temperature a reference emission coefficient of the surface to be heated from a plurality of reference emission coefficients stored in a memory of the evaluation unit;
wherein the device for determining the flow of heat radiated determines the flow of heat based on a set power level of the radiation heat source.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining the heating temperature comprises measuring the resistance of the radiation heat source.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the flow of heat is determined by a sensor.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of monitoring the set power level set for radiation heat source using the device for determining the flow of heat.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the power level is set manually.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the power level is set automatically by an apparatus control.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is practiced during the entire duration of heating the surface.

8. The method of claim 1, further including the step of utilizing the determined emission coefficient for pyrometrically determining the temperature of the surface to be heated.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein pyrometric determination is practiced in connection with a household appliance.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein pyrometric determination is practiced in connection with a stove.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein pyrometric determination is practiced in connection with a self-contained cooking position.