Patent Grant
6881055
A related application (hereafter, the Munsterhuis application) is entitled “Diaphragm-Operated Fluid Flow Control Valve Providing a Plurality of Flow Levels”, is filed on the same date as this application by Wim Munsterhuis, and has a common assignee with this application.
The gas grill is a well-known home appliance. A gas grill typically includes an enclosure having a base portion mounted on a support frame. A cooking grate for supporting food to be cooked is mounted near the top of the base portion. Burner elements are mounted beneath the grate. A clamshell cover is hinged along the back edge of the base portion and designed to mate with the base portion, so that the cover can be lowered to define and enclose a cooking space and lifted to allow access to food cooking on the grate.
If the grill uses LP gas for fuel, a support frame fixed to the grill holds the common LP (propane) gas tank. The support frame has a bracket for holding the gas tank in a fixed position and that allows detaching an empty tank from and attaching a fill replacement to a gas supply hose. Grills having gas tanks typically include wheels to allow for easily moving the grill about. Other types of gas grills have a permanent natural gas connection for fuel, and this invention can be used in them also.
Regardless of the type of fuel source, these grills include a pressure regulator immediately connected to the gas supply hose to receive fuel from the fuel source. The pressure regulator reduces the fuel source pressure to a level suitable for grill operation. A set of manually operated valves receives fuel from the regulator. The manually operated valves provide for adjusting cooking temperature by controlling flow rate of fuel to the burner elements from the regulator. Usually, an igniter is provided to start the initial flame. All this is of course well known to most grill users.
Gas grills are primarily used for cooking food such as meats and vegetables. The gas grill is less well suited however, to cook or bake other types of foods such as breads, pizza, casseroles, and pastries because temperature control is imprecise. Most grills have a thermometer so one can get a rough idea of the cooking space temperature. But many things affect cooking space temperature. Of course, the cook will open the cover occasionally to check on the progress of the cooking process. Wind and precipitation can affect the cooking space temperature.
At the present time, the chef manually adjusts the fuel valves to approximate settings to create the temperature needed for the particular food to be cooked. If conscientious, she or he will periodically check the grill thermometer and further adjust the fuel valves to more closely hold the desired temperature setting. This is a bother, and provides poor temperature control as well. Not only that, but every time the top is opened to check on the food or to turn it, the enclosure temperature falls dramatically. Substantial time may pass before the cooking space temperature returns to the desired level.
This state of affairs has limited the usage of gas grills and has resulted on occasion in undesirable cooking results when using gas grills.
We have developed a temperature control system for gas grills and other types of fuel burners. When used with gas grills, the system provides quite accurate control of the grill enclosure temperature while the cover is closed.
Such a control system for a fluid fuel burner supplying heat to an enclosure includes a temperature sensor mounted within the enclosure for sensing the temperature within the enclosure and providing a temperature signal encoding the temperature within the enclosure. An electrically controlled fuel valve is interposed in the fuel line for controlling flow of fuel from the fitting to the fuel burner. The fuel valve has at least first and second preselected fuel flow rates responsive respectively to corresponding at least first and second states of a fuel rate signal. The second fuel flow rate is higher than the first fuel flow rate.
A controller receives the temperature sensor signal and a set point temperature signal encoding a set point temperature value, and provides the fuel rate signal as a function of the temperature encoded in the temperature sensor signal and the set point temperature value.
Lastly, a manually operable temperature entry device accepts human input specifying a set point temperature and provides the set point temperature signal encoding the specified set point temperature to the controller.
In one version of this invention the controller and gas valve cooperate to cycle the fuel flow rates during consecutive fixed time length intervals. I prefer to cycle fuel flow rates between high and low levels so that a flame is always present rather than between a high flow rate and zero flow. This avoids the need for an igniter or pilot light to re-ignite the flame, which may take more operating power and be less reliable as well. In the gas grill application, the constant presence of flame from a main burner is also an advantage for many foods.
In another embodiment the grill has a standing pilot burner and the low fuel flow rate is zero.
A further embodiment has a thermopile mounted to receive heat from at least one of the burner and the pilot light if present. The thermopile output is used to power the controller and the fuel valve. Using either a thermopile power source or batteries along with a LP gas tank holding the fuel allows more portability for the gas grill.
A frame comprising a deck 56 and four legs 77 (only two being shown in
Referring to both
Manual fuel valves 51, 52, 53 are shown as mounted on a surface of deck 56. In some installations, this surface is vertical as shown but can also be slanted or horizontal. For ease of disclosure, the valves 51, 52, 53 are shown mounted on the side of grill 10, a location that would likely be inconvenient for a consumer version. In
Burners 21 and 23 are connected to manual valves 51 and 53 by burner lines 71 and 73 respectively. The amount of fuel flowing to burners 21 and 23 is adjusted by changing the setting of valves 51 and 53. As valves 51 and 53 are closed further, the pressure drop through them increases and less heat is produced by the reduced fuel flow through them to the burners 21 and 23.
To this point, the described gas grill structure is commonplace.
Referring to
A housing 41 shown in outline in
The physical structure of the invention is shown in the block diagram of
In one arrangement, I use a single one of the burners, burner 22, for temperature control. I find that for some grill designs, a properly modulated burner 22 is by itself fully adequate to provide sufficient heat to hold enclosure 15 within the 100° to 500° F. range providing for baking, cooking and warming. Valve 52 should be set to a standard position or setting indicated on the valve scale when grill 10 is to operate in controlled temperature mode. The other valves 51 and 53 should be closed.
In fact, when applying this invention to an existing gas grill design, the problem is often too much heat output from a single burner 22 for maintaining lower baking temperatures. One solution to this problem is to open cover 12 slightly during controlled temperature operation. Because of the wasted fuel however, I prefer a burner 22 whose heat output can with cover 12 closed, be reduced to reliably sustain a flame maintaining an enclosure 15 temperature as low as 100-200° F. in all conditions to allow for warming and slow cooking usage of various types.
Fuel flows from tank 43 through a manual safety valve 67 to a coupling 57. Coupling 57 is used to attach and detach tank 43 from a main fuel hose 64. Hose 64 connects coupling 57 to a pressure regulator 65. Regulator 65 is a standard component that reduces the high-pressure fuel in tank 43 to a low pressure suitable for directly applying to the valves 51, 52, 53. Regulator 65 supplies low pressure fuel to main fuel line 58, from which fuel is distributed to each of the manual fuel valves 51, 52, 53.
From manual fuel valve 52, branch line 50 carries fuel to a flow control valve 85 forming a part of controller 40. Burner line 72 carries fuel from flow control valve 85 to burner 22. I prefer that valve 85 has a regulator mechanism active while the first preselected fuel flow rate exists.
Flow control valve 85 operates to further reduce pressure and rate of fuel flow to burner 22. A valve control element 82 responds to a fuel rate signal provided at an output port 87 of microprocessor 80 and power for operating control valve 85 on conductor 69 to provide a valve operating voltage on conductor 93 to control the pressure drop and flow rate of fuel through control valve 85. In one embodiment, control valve 85 has two states, one providing little change in flow rate responsive to a first voltage on conductor 93, and another substantially reducing the flow rate of fuel through valve 85 when a second voltage on conductor 93.
The Munsterhuis design mentioned earlier is suitable for flow control valve 85. The Munsterhuis design has an internal valve element that can assume either of two different spacings from the cooperating valve seat. The two valve 85 element spacings allow either a first, lower preselected fuel flow rate responsive to a first value of a valve operating voltage carried on path 93, or a second fuel flow rate higher than the first preselected fuel flow rate responsive to a second value of a valve operating voltage on path 93.
For efficient power use, the second valve operating voltage may be 0 v., requiring valve 85 to draw power only while in the low fuel flow state. The reason for this is that a typical grill 10 may often operate without the temperature control mode of this invention active, during which time valve 85 should default to the high fuel flow state. Thus, valve 85 will draw power only when in the temperature control mode, and then only when in the low flow state.
Valve 85 receives operating power from a low voltage power source 90 that may comprise no more than three series-connected 1.5 v. DC dry cells to avoid the need for line power to operate the control system. Using batteries for operating power means that flow control valve 85 must be designed to operate on a small amount of power.
I prefer that microprocessor 80 be able to operate reliably when sharing the low voltage power source 90 with valve 85. This simplifies the power requirements of the entire temperature control system.
A temperature sensor 31 is located in space 15 as shown in FIG. 1 and provides a temperature signal indicating a temperature within enclosure 15. A cable 34 carries the temperature signal from sensor 31 to a sensor port 89 connected to microprocessor 80. Sensor 31 may be any of a variety of devices, such as a thermocouple or thermistor.
One type of temperature sensor 31 may be mounted on a wall defining space 15 as shown in
In one version of this invention, either of these two different types of sensor 31 can be plugged into sensor port 89 mounted in housing 41. Each of the different types of sensor 31 has a jack connected to cable 34 for plugging into port 89. Each type of sensor 31 should have a cable 34 sufficiently long to allow the sensor to reach the desired sensing location. Cable 34 should in any case be constructed to resist the temperature and mechanical stresses arising from normal usage in the grill environment.
The keyboard or touchpad 48 of controller 40 shown in
The display unit 45 in
As mentioned, for accurate temperature control, manual valves 51-53 should be set to preselected positions. In one arrangement, this position is with valve 52 wide open and valves 51 and 53 closed. In
Turning to
Turning again to
Microprocessor 80 has a number of I/O ports for communicating with the temperature sensor 31, keyboard 48, display 45, and valve control element 82. Any of the small, low power drain microprocessors available from a number of different vendors will be suitable for the purpose. The processing and memory requirements are relatively low, so power requirements and ruggedness are probably the more important considerations in choosing a suitable microprocessor design.
When operating in temperature control mode, an input port 86 of microprocessor 80 receives a set point temperature signal from keyboard 48 and a temperature signal from temperature sensor 31. The temperature signal from sensor 31 will most likely be an analog value requiring conversion to digital format, which is a common function available in hardware, software, or a combination of the two implemented in microprocessor 80. As described above, microprocessor 80 provides signals to display unit 45 to display the various operating parameters mentioned above. Those familiar with microprocessor programming can easily devise suitable software to implement these various functions.
Microprocessor 80 also receives the voltage switched by switch 92 at an input port 88. Microprocessor 80 frequently senses the status of switch 92 and operates in temperature control mode operation only when an operating voltage is sensed at port 88.
Microprocessor 80 implements the various functions of the temperature control mode (although microprocessor 80 in this embodiment cannot shut off grill 10). Generally, microprocessor 80 alternates valve 85 between the low and high fuel flow states to hold the temperature sensed by sensor 31 close to the set point value.
An alternative design is shown by dotted line fuel line 95 spliced into manifold fuel line 58. Fuel line 95 provides power to a pilot burner 94. When safety valve 67 is opened and burner 22 ignited, pilot burner 94 ignites as well. In this variation, valve 85 can change between open and closed states, since pilot burner 94 sustains flame during times when valve 85 is closed. However, pilot flame reignition may not be as reliable as modulating from a low flow to a high flow state for valve 85. That is, for one reason or another, pilot burner 94 may not sustain flame or may otherwise fail to ignite burner 22. Since the intention is for system 40 to operate untended for periods of time, use of a pilot burner 94 may require continuous flame sensing for safety. Flame sensing adds additional power requirements and cost to system 40, so pilot ignition may be less desirable than modulated flow for valve 85.
Microprocessor 80 needs a suitable temperature control algorithm for providing the fuel rate signal at terminal 87. Many temperature control algorithms are available. There are a number of factors to consider when selecting one of these many algorithms for controlling grill temperature. Since it is likely the available power for operating valve 85 is low, the algorithm should minimize the power drawn by valve 85. Efficient fuel use and fast recovery when cover 12 is lifted are other factors to use in selecting a suitable algorithm. Temperature control accuracy of 5-10° F. should usually be adequate for the purposes of the invention.
To date, no specific algorithm appears to be a strong favorite over all others. The pseudocode listing in the Appendix defines one algorithm I believe is suitable.
Generally, microprocessor 80 in executing object code defined by the pseudocode listing defines successive 30 sec. control intervals. By controlling the length of time valve 85 is in the high fuel flow rate state during a control interval relative to the (remaining) length of time in the interval during which valve 85 is in the low fuel flow rate, the sensed temperature can be changed to match the set point temperature.
In explaining the Appendix pseudocode listing, I should point out that no universally accepted pseudocode syntax exists. I am not aware of compilers for translating pseudocode directly to object code. However, pseudocode is widely accepted as a way to accurately describe software programs of many types. Pseudocode is intuitive and so close to many compiler languages that those with even average skill in the art can easily translate a pseudocode listing into a source code syntax suitable for compiling into object code.
This object code can be loaded into program memory of microprocessor 80. When microprocessor 80 executes this object code, the microprocessor briefly becomes functional hardware elements performing the function defined by the pseudocode statement. In this way, the pseudocode can accurately be considered to define a group of hardware elements that sequentially come into existence as the object code is executed.
The functional hardware elements created by the executing object code also generate electrical data signals. One example of such signals is the fuel rate signal on output port 87, but the microprocessor 80 generates many other internal and external signals as a consequence of executing the object code.
Pseudocode listings comprise a series of action statements, each specifying a particular computer activity. Each action statement in the Appendix listing may be preceded with text explaining on one or more lines the purpose of the action statement. Each explanatory text line starts with a “‘”symbol.
Most action statements include one or more variables. These may be defined simply by their initial usage or as in the listing, by a variables list. For purposes of this particular pseudocode listing, variables may be considered to be short (8 or 16 bit for example) signed integral values. Variable values defined by arithmetic operations may be rounded if necessary to fit within the memory elements involved. The need to scale variables is well known and need not be discussed.
The listing has several different types of action statements. A command is one or more in-sequence microprocessor instructions that perform the specified function. A routine is one or more in-sequence microprocessor instructions that perform the specified function, and is designed for access by a call command. The use of routines allows a particular function to be performed by a single set of instructions, and reduces the amount of instruction memory required by the program.
Equation commands include an equal sign indicating that the variable beginning the statement is to be set to the value specified by the operation or variable value following the equal sign. Of course, the various arithmetic operators have their normal meanings.
An ‘if’ command performs the indicated test of the specified values and if the test is satisfied, performs the action(s) specified by the ‘then’ operator. If the test is not satisfied, execution continues with the next command in the listing.
A ‘call’ command specifies execution of the named routine, and then return of execution to the command immediately following the call command. Listing the individual commands in these called routines is not shown when the function of the routine is explained by the name and the function is well known or easy to program. A call command may include one or more parenthetically listed operators that indicate input values provided to the called routine or variables whose values are to set by the called routine. The following routines are the subject of call commands in the pseudocode listing.
The ‘limit’ routine operates to limit the value of the first named variable to the range established by the second and third named variables. If the first named variable value is smaller than the second named variable value the first named variable value is set to the second named variable value. If the first named variable value is larger than the third named variable value the first named variable value is set to the third named variable value. Otherwise the first named variable value is left unchanged.
The ‘read’ routine accesses the first-named input port to read the current data value at the port and store the data value in the second-named variable. The read routine requires A/D conversion of the value at the port. The data resolution provided by port 89 should be at least 10 bits, since the sensed temperature range is approximately 400° F. and 0.5° F. resolution is desirable. Data resolution for voltage at port 88 may be 6-8 bits, since only a few tenths of a volt need be resolved.
The ‘set’ routine is similar to the read routine, and provides the specified data (second parenthetical value) to the output port specified as the first parenthetical value.
With these explanations, one of average skill in microprocessor programming should be easily able to understand the functions by which the pseudocode algorithm controls the setting of valve 85.
The microprocessor 80 is designed to start executing the main_loop instructions when power is first applied. For convenient reference, each line of pseudocode is numbered.
Lines 1-16 preset the specified variables to preferred values. These values show that the run_control_algorithm executes every 30 sec., the run_cycler routine every 300 ms., and the check_inputs routine runs every 100 ms. Obviously, these values can be changed to suit the product requirements, speed of microprocessor 80, etc.
Lines 17-34 call the software routines run_control_algorithm, run_cycler, and check_inputs. The timing of this section is controlled by the Delay1Ms routine. This function can be implemented using timer hardware in the microprocessor or it can be a simple software delay loop. If it is a simple software delay loop the execution times of the other tasks must be considered to obtain acceptable timing accuracy.
The run_control algorithm task defined by lines 35-43 executes in a few milliseconds. The line 35 command reads the temperature sensed by sensor 31, converts the value to digital format, and stores the digital value in the grill_temperature variable.
The line 37 command calculates the error. The user controls the ‘setting’ value with up/down switches 47, see line 53. The lines 38-39 commands calculate an integral control value. The lines 40-41 commands calculate a proportional control value. The line 42 command calculates a duty_cycle value based on the integral and proportional control values. If the control interval, control_dt=30 sec. and cycler_resolution=100, the duty_cycle value is the number of 300 ms. intervals that valve 85 will have the low flow state. The cycler_resolution=100 means that each unit value of the duty_cycle is 1% of the total control interval.
The run_cycler task operates every 300 ms. and controls the flow level of valve 85. The lines 47-48 commands set valve 85 to low or high flow depending the value of the ‘counter’ and duty_cycle variables. The run_cycler task is executed every 300 ms., at which time the line 34 command increments the ‘counter’ value. When the ‘counter’ value becomes larger that the duty_cycle value, then line 47 causes microprocessor 80 changes the setting of port 87, which changes the setting of valve 85 from high flow to low flow.
The check_inputs task reads the various inputs needed to implement temperature control. Line 53 handles the user input that change the ‘setting’ value. Line 54 reads the sensor 31 output stored in the grill_temperature variable. Line 55 actually displays the current grill temperature on display unit 45.
As mentioned, proper and safe operation requires valve 52 to be set to a preselected position. Lines 56 and 57 sense the position of the knob 54 that controls valve 52, and if not proper, prompts user to set the grill knob. Also, line 44 and 45 forces valve 85 to high flow, to prevent the possibility of a flameout caused by too low pressure when the grill knob 54 is not in the proper position.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
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| 20040202975 A1 | Oct 2004 | US |
