System and method for thermal limiting of the temperature of a cooktop without using a temperature sensor

摘要

A system and method for limiting the temperature of a burner for a cooking appliance without the use of a temperature sensor. The method includes the step of sensing the conduction state of a thermal switch and feeding back the sensed signal to control the duty-cycle (and thus "on" time) of bang-bang thermal limiting control. The power to the burner is reduced until the sensed duty-cycle (near 100%) cycling is reduced (lower frequency and amplitude) resulting in smoother power and temperature control. Preferably, the control system and method is implemented for controlling power applied to a burner for a glass-ceramic cooktop.