Gas cooktop fire prevention and alarm system

Abstract

A home cooking appliance includes a gas surface cooking unit and a gas cooktop fire prevention system. The gas surface cooking unit includes a gas burner, a support surface configured to support a cooking vessel above the gas burner, a cooktop floor below the gas burner, and a gas supply line supplying gas to the gas burner. The gas cooktop fire prevention system includes a solenoid valve on the gas supply line and a gas supply cutoff unit configured to detect a temperature of the cooktop floor and close the solenoid valve when the detected temperature of the cooktop floor is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold temperature of the cooktop floor, thereby cutting off a supply of the gas through the gas supply line to the gas burner.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A home cooking appliance, comprising:
 a gas surface cooking unit including:
 a gas burner; 
 a support surface configured to support a cooking vessel above the gas burner; 
 a cooktop floor below the gas burner; and 
 a gas supply line supplying gas to the gas burner; and 
   a gas cooktop fire prevention system including:
 a solenoid valve on the gas supply line; and 
 a gas supply cutoff unit configured to detect a temperature of the cooktop floor and close the solenoid valve when the detected temperature of the cooktop floor is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold temperature of the cooktop floor, thereby cutting off a supply of the gas through the gas supply line to the gas burner. 
   
     
     
         2 . The home cooking appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the gas supply cutoff unit further comprises:
 an alarm unit configured to provide an alert to a user when the temperature of the cooktop floor is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold temperature of the cooktop floor.   
     
     
         3 . The home cooking appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the gas supply cutoff unit includes a high temperature cutout switch (HTC switch) underneath the cooktop floor, the high temperature cutout switch (HTC switch) configured to interrupt a power supply to the solenoid valve when the temperature of the cooktop floor detected by the high temperature cutout switch (HTC switch) is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold temperature of the cooktop floor, thereby closing the solenoid valve and cutting off the supply of the gas through the gas supply line to the gas burner. 
     
     
         4 . The home cooking appliance of  claim 3 , wherein the gas supply cutoff unit further comprises:
 an alarm unit in communication with the high temperature cutout switch (HTC switch),   wherein the alarm unit is configured to provide an alert to a user when the temperature of the cooktop floor detected by the high temperature cutout switch (HTC switch) is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold temperature of the cooktop floor.   
     
     
         5 . The home cooking appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the gas supply cutoff unit includes a positive temperature coefficient thermistor (PTC thermistor) underneath the cooktop floor, the positive temperature coefficient thermistor (PTC thermistor) configured to interrupt a power supply to the solenoid valve when the temperature of the cooktop floor detected by the positive temperature coefficient thermistor (PTC thermistor) is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold temperature of the cooktop floor, thereby closing the solenoid valve and cutting off the supply of the gas through the gas supply line to the gas burner. 
     
     
         6 . The home cooking appliance of  claim 5 , wherein the gas supply cutoff unit further comprises:
 an alarm unit in communication with the positive temperature coefficient thermistor (PTC thermistor),   wherein the alarm unit is configured to provide an alert to a user when the temperature of the cooktop floor detected by the positive temperature coefficient thermistor (PTC thermistor) is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold temperature of the cooktop floor.   
     
     
         7 . The home cooking appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the gas supply cutoff unit comprises a temperature sensor configured to continuously monitor the temperature of the cooktop floor. 
     
     
         8 . The home cooking appliance of  claim 7 , wherein the gas supply cutoff unit further comprises:
 a control circuit in communication with the temperature sensor;   a relay in communication with the control circuit, the relay configured to connect a power supply to the solenoid valve,   wherein the control circuit is configured to control the relay to interrupt the power supply to the solenoid valve when the temperature of the cooktop floor detected by the temperature sensor is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold temperature of the cooktop floor, thereby closing the solenoid valve and cutting off the supply of the gas through the gas supply line to the gas burner.   
     
     
         9 . The home cooking appliance of  claim 8 , wherein the gas supply cutoff unit further comprises:
 an alarm unit in communication with the control circuit,   wherein the control unit activates the alarm unit to provide an alert to a user when the temperature of the cooktop floor is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold temperature of the cooktop floor.   
     
     
         10 . The home cooking appliance of  claim 3 , wherein the high temperature cutout switch (HTC switch) is mounted to an underside surface of the cooktop floor in thermal contact with the underside surface of the cooktop floor. 
     
     
         11 . The home cooking appliance of  claim 5 , wherein the positive temperature coefficient thermistor (PTC thermistor) is mounted to an underside surface of the cooktop floor in thermal contact with the underside surface of the cooktop floor. 
     
     
         12 . The home cooking appliance of  claim 7 , wherein the temperature sensor is mounted to an underside surface of the cooktop floor in thermal contact with the underside surface of the cooktop floor. 
     
     
         13 . The home cooking appliance of  claim 1 , wherein, after the solenoid valve is closed, the gas supply cutoff unit is configured to re-open the solenoid valve when the detected temperature of the cooktop floor is less than the predetermined threshold temperature of the cooktop floor, thereby reconnecting the supply of the gas through the gas supply line to the gas burner. 
     
     
         14 . The home cooking appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the gas supply cutoff unit further comprises a reset switch configured to re-open the solenoid valve upon being actuated by a user. 
     
     
         15 . The home cooking appliance of  claim 3 , wherein, after the solenoid valve is closed, the high temperature cutout switch (HTC switch) reconnects the power supply to the solenoid valve when the temperature of the cooktop floor detected by the high temperature cutout switch (HTC switch) is less than the predetermined threshold temperature of the cooktop floor, thereby re-opening the solenoid valve and reconnecting the supply of the gas through the gas supply line to the gas burner. 
     
     
         16 . The home cooking appliance of  claim 3 , wherein the gas supply cutoff unit further comprises a reset switch configured to re-set the high temperature cutout switch (HTC switch) upon being actuated by a user. 
     
     
         17 . The home cooking appliance of  claim 5 , wherein, after the solenoid valve is closed, the positive temperature coefficient thermistor (PTC thermistor) reconnects the power supply to the solenoid valve when the temperature of the cooktop floor detected by the positive temperature coefficient thermistor (PTC thermistor) is less than the predetermined threshold temperature of the cooktop floor, thereby re-opening the solenoid valve and reconnecting the supply of the gas through the gas supply line to the gas burner. 
     
     
         18 . The home cooking appliance of  claim 5 , wherein the gas supply cutoff unit further comprises a reset switch configured to reset the positive temperature coefficient thermistor (PTC thermistor) upon being actuated by a user. 
     
     
         19 . The home cooking appliance of  claim 8 , wherein, after the solenoid valve is closed, the control circuit is configured to control the relay to at least one of:
 automatically reconnect the power supply to the solenoid valve when the temperature of the cooktop floor detected by the temperature sensor is less than the predetermined threshold temperature of the cooktop floor, and   reconnect the power supply to the solenoid valve when the temperature of the cooktop floor detected by the temperature sensor is less than the predetermined threshold temperature of the cooktop floor and in response to a reset switch being actuated by a user,   thereby re-opening the solenoid valve and reconnecting the supply of the gas through the gas supply line to the gas burner.   
     
     
         20 . The home cooking appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the gas surface cooking unit includes a second gas burner and the cooktop floor extends below the second gas burner, and
 wherein the gas supply cutoff unit includes a first gas supply cutoff sub-unit and a second gas supply cutoff sub-unit, the first gas supply cutoff sub-unit configured to detect the temperature of the cooktop floor at the gas burner and the second gas supply cutoff sub-unit configured to detect the temperature of the cooktop floor at the second gas burner.   
     
     
         21 . The home cooking appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the gas surface cooking unit includes a second gas burner and the cooktop floor extends below the second gas burner, and
 wherein the gas supply cutoff unit is configured to detect the temperature of the cooktop floor at a location between the gas burner and the second gas burner and close the solenoid valve when the detected temperature of the cooktop floor is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold temperature of the cooktop floor.