Patent ID: 7527072

Claim:
A gas cook top, comprising: a burner; an electronically controlled variable flow gas valve interposed between the burner and an external source of gaseous fuel, the electronically controlled variable flow gas valve comprising: a housing having an inlet port and an outlet port; a fluid flow path between said inlet port and said outlet port; a valve member located in said housing in said fluid flow path, said valve member moveable among a series of indexed positions; said housing having a plurality of apertures arranged such that a varied selection of said apertures is in said fluid flow path according to the indexed position of said valve member, wherein varied selections of said apertures of each indexed position varies the flow volume permitted through the flow path via the selected one or more apertures, with no said apertures in said flow path for at least one said indexed position of said valve member; a stepping motor fixedly connected to said valve member, said stepping motor providing for movement between a plurality of predetermined positions, said indexed positions of said valve member corresponding with the predetermined positions of the stepping motor; and wherein said apertures are provided in an axial array and said stepping motor includes a linear array of magnetic elements operating within a set of axially spaced selectively energized coils; a capacitive touch user interface; and a controller operatively coupled to the electronically controlled variable flow gas valve and to the capacitive touch user interface, the controller being programmed to control a flame height of the burner based on input from the capacitive touch user interface.