Heating appliance with internal non-volatile memory

Details Heating appliance with internal non-volatile memory Heating appliance with internal non-volatile memory

1986-02-07

1987-08-11

Leung, Philip H.

Electric heating

Heating devices

With power supply and voltage or current regulation or...

219 1055B, 219506, 99325, 364477, H05B 668

Patent

active

046863567

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a heating appliance having a home menu or user program function such that preset heating data comprising combinations of heating time, heat output, heating temperature, etc. are recalled by one touch and further comprising an electrically rewritable nonvolatile memory for storing said heating data.
There is already available a heating appliance having the so-called user program function such that preset heating data comprising combinations of heating time, heat output, heating temperature, etc. are recalled by one touch. The commercial models of this type available today may be classed into the following three major categories.
In a first system including a RAM, for example a 1-chip microcomputer (hereinafter briefly, mycon), as a main control means, heating data are stored in the built-in RAM of the mycon. While this is a simple and inexpensive system, the heating data are destroyed by a current failure.
A second system, developed to overcome the above disadvantage, is provided with a battery for backing up the memory. Although this enables backing up of the memory in a current failure, the useful life and reliability of the battery becomes a problem. Especially in the case of a heating appliance, where the ambient temperature of the mechanical compartment is fairly high, discharge of the battery is accelerated. Moreover, the system is scaled up of necessity due to the provision of a current failure detection circuit, a battery power supply switching circuit, etc., with an inevitable decrease in reliability and, of course, an addition to the manufacturing cost.
In a third system, heating data are not stored in a memory but preset in switches or volumes. Here, the home menu is stored by mechanical means so that the function is not affected by current failures. This system is advantageous from reliability point of view, too.
However, the disadvantage of the last-mentioned system is that it is not easy to operate or manipulate. Thus, there must be provided a switch or volume for each of the different menus so that the control panel is complicated. Moreover, it is procedurally difficult to preset a sequential heating pattern comprising a combination of dissimilar heat outputs or/and heating times.


SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Under the foregoing circumstances, the present invention, provides a heating appliance embodying a highly reliable, simple system wherein presetting of home menus is facilitated by the employment of an electrically rewritable nonvolatile memory as a means for storing heating data.
The heating appliance according to this invention is provided with a nonvolatile memory which permits electrical writing of heating data such as heating time, heat output, heating temperature, etc. and such that the heating data can be read out any time by manipulating memory keys and heating can be started by one touch. The above-mentioned nonvolatile memory is provided with a a memory refreshing procedure which rewrites the contents of the memory in the absence of a key operation within a given time period while the current supply is on, and is resistant to aging. Moreover, this nonvolatile memory is such that a double check is made at reading and a comprarison is made immediately after writing. Therefore, the memory is impervious to noise and faults. Moreover, if an error is detected at the double check or comparison, retries are made up to a predetermined number of attempts so that it features high data reliability and operability. Furthermore, the system has a self-inspection function such that the memory cells of the nonvolatile memory are inspected in accordance with a self test program.


BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exterior perspective view showing a heating appliance embodying the principles of this invention;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged front elevation view showing the operation panel of the same appliance;
FIG. 3 is a system layout of the same appliance;
FIG. 4 is a circuit view showing the control circuit of the same appliance;
FIG

REFERENCES:
patent: 4234920 (1980-11-01), Van Ness et al.
patent: 4275464 (1981-06-01), Schmidt
patent: 4328539 (1984-05-01), Heeger
patent: 4339646 (1982-07-01), Doi et al.
patent: 4345132 (1982-08-01), Takase et al.
patent: 4349715 (1982-09-01), Mariyama
patent: 4394702 (1983-07-01), Boothe
patent: 4409649 (1983-10-01), Heeger
patent: 4437159 (1984-03-01), Waugh
patent: 4464584 (1984-08-01), Hentzschel et al.
Artwick, "Microcomputer Interfacing", pp. 103-120, published by Prentice-Hall .COPYRGT.1980.

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