General Electric Company

Allan John Connolly

Austars Raymond Schnore, Jr

Harry Kirk Mathews, Jr

Aditya Kumar

Ajith Kuttannair Kumar

Bret Dwayne Worden

Peter Michael Edic

Walter Whipple

Joseph Lucian Smolenski

Suresh Baddam Reddy

Edgar T Balch

Shankar Visvanathan Guru

Jeffrey Louis Diagle

Boil dry conditions are detected in utensils heated on a cooking appliance having at least one energy source disposed under a cooking surface such as a glass-ceramic plate and a controller for controlling the level of power supplied to the energy source. The boil dry detection system includes a temperature sensor for providing a signal representative of the glass-ceramic temperature to the controller. The controller controls the power source in response to the temperature signal so as to prevent the glass-ceramic plate from exceeding a maximum temperature and provides a power signal that is indicative of the level of power being supplied to the energy source. The controller generates an estimate of the first and second derivatives with respect to time of either the temperature signal or the power signal, depending on its operating mode. The controller then produces the cross-correlation of the first and second derivative estimates and provides a boil dry indication when the cross-correlation exceeds a predetermined threshold. In one preferred embodiment, the portion of the controller that generates the derivative estimates is implemented as two Kalman filters.

Boil dry detection in cooking appliances

An apparatus is provided for detecting movement of a vessel positioned on a cooktop surface. The apparatus includes a resonant circuit that has at least an inductive loop positioned proximate to the cooktop surface. A signal conditioner is connected to the resonant circuit for conditioning signals received from the resonant circuit. A processor is connected to the signal conditioner and compares the conditioned signals received from the signal conditioner to a reference signal whereby detecting movement of the vessel.

Apparatus and method for detecting vessel movement on a cooktop surface

In predicting failure of an x-ray tube in a computed tomography (CT) system, reference detector elements normally disposed on each end of the detector, receive x-rays directly from the x-ray tube. In accordance with the invention, the output values of the reference detector elements are utilized by a tube condition prediction algorithm to predict a failure in the x-ray tube of the CT system. The tube condition prediction algorithm utilizes at least one model of the CT system and at least one prediction routine, which typically is a Kalman filter, to generate the prediction. The prediction routine uses the model to analyze the output values of the reference detector elements in order to determine the condition of the x-ray tube and predict future performance of the x-ray tube.

Method and apparatus for predicting x-ray tube failures in computed tomography systems

An apparatus for rapidly heating a cooktop is provided. The apparatus comprises a radiant heating element positioned proximate to the cooktop. A controller is provided and is connected to the radiant heating element. The controller includes a fast heat-up circuit selectively coupled to the radiant heating element. A look-up table is selectively coupled to the fast heat-up circuit. The look-up table comprises a plurality of user power levels. Each of the plurality of user power levels is correlated to a respective user-selected temperature. The apparatus further comprises a user power input device connected to the controller. The user power input device also allows selection of at least a first of the plurality of user power levels wherein the first power level corresponds to a first respective user selected temperature in the look-up table. A temperature sensor is connected to the controller for measuring a temperature of the cooktop.

Method and apparatus for rapid heat-up of a glass-ceramic cooktop

The temperature of a cooktop is controlled such that a maximum temperature of a cooktop reaches about a predetermined maximum temperature. The temperature is controlled by controlling power supplied to a radiant heating element positioned below the cooktop. The radiant heating element heats the cooktop. A user power input device allows a user to select a user power level corresponding to a desired temperature range for heating the cooktop. A temperature sensor is supplied that senses the temperature of the cooktop. A thermal limiter controller is connected to the radiant heating element, the user power input device and the temperature sensor. The thermal limiter controller determines a thermal limiting power level. The thermal limiter controller applies the smaller of the user power level and the thermal limiter power level to the radiant heating element. An anti-wind up controller is connected to the thermal limiter controller and tracks the thermal limiter power level to the user power level whereby a maximum temperature of the cooktop reaches about the predetermined maximum temperature.

Method and apparatus for thermal limiting of the temperature of a glass-ceramic cooktop

An adhesion control system for a locomotive is provided for achieving and maintaining a maximum adhesion value. The adhesion control system includes a means for determining from an appropriate adhesion-creep curve an ideal creep rate that must be achieved and maintained in order to achieve and maintain a maximum adhesion value, a means for estimating an actual creep rate through the measurement or estimation of motor or wheel acceleration and locomotive acceleration, a means for selecting a creep rate set point based on a comparison of the actual creep rate and the ideal creep rate where the creep rate set point is set to a positive value if the actual creep rate is less than the ideal creep rate minus an acceptable differential and is set to a negative value if the actual creep rate is greater than the ideal creep rate plus the acceptable differential, and a means responsive to the creep rate set point for adjusting the operation of the locomotive so that the maximum adhesion value may be realized where the actual creep rate is increased if the creep rate set point is set to the positive value and is decreased if the creep rate set point is set to the negative value.

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Albany, NY, United States of America

Allan John Connolly