| 摘要 |
An improved combined counter and electric cooking unit using induction heating coils for inductively heating metal base cookware. The unit is formed by a housing having a substantially continuous insulating top surface of an attractive appearance covering the top of the housing and a plurality of induction heating coils supported within the housing beneath the insulating surface at particular heating site locations where heating is to be performed. The insulating surface is transparent to magnetic induction fields with little or no losses and includes at particular heating site locations, areas which are transparent to infrared head whereby the temperature of metal base cookware disposed at the heating site locations can be directly viewed for controlling operation of the induction heating coils. The control and power supply circuitry for the high frequency excitation electric current supplied to the respective induction heating coil, may be enclosed within the housing below the insulating surface or at some remote location. The insulating surface preferably is from the class of materials comprising plastics, tile, certain glasses, stoneware, ceramics, Pyrex, pyro-ceramics, marble, slate, natural stone, wood, specially treated wood and the like. The cooking site locations and infrared heat transparent areas may be formed from special materials such as a pyro-ceramic secured within appropriate openings, and the remainder of the smooth top insulating material may be formed from a much cheaper plastic material having the requisite characteristics of good appearance. Otherwise, the entire smooth-top insulating surface must have the capability of withstanding relatively high temperatures of the order of 450 DEG F. The housing may be formed in the manner of a standard countertop which could be then custom used as a table (with legs supplied separately) or as a countertop surface range combination or as a pass through (kitchen-dining room) range surface combination, etc., or may be formed in the manner of a conventional range all of which have continuous, smooth-top surfaces to facilitate cleaning. If desired one of the induction heating units and/or induction coil alone and its overlying insulating surface can be made to be removable to allow for remote location cooking and/or warming. In addition, the unit could be built to have a special electrical jack into which a separate remote and portable induction coil and overlying insulating surface unit can be plugged to provide remote cooking and warming. In this case plugging in the remote unit automatically disconnects the built in counter induction coil. Providing a number of wall plugs allows plugging in the remote unit(s) in different locations.
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