Patent ID: 7423244

Claim:
A heating device in the form of a hob comprising: a glass ceramic surface having a bottom side and a top side, wherein said top side is capable of supporting a cooking vessel; a plurality of heating modules located juxtaposed relative to each other and positioned adjacent to said bottom side of said glass ceramic surface to form a heatable surface, wherein each heating module comprises an induction heating element, a converter operatively connected to said induction heating element, a converter controller controlling only said converter, said converter controller configured to communicate over a control bus, and a power connector for conveying electrical power to said converter; a power bus, wherein each power connector of each one of the plurality of heating modules is connected to said power bus, said power bus providing power to each of said plurality of heating modules; and a microcontroller connected to said control bus, said microcontroller configured to communicate with each converter controller of said plurality of heating modules to control said respective heating module.