Alfred Henninger, who oversees research and development and manufacturing for small cooking appliance producer Rommelsbacher Hausgeräte GmbH, believes in clever technical solutions and attention to detail. This dedication has earned the OEM several design awards for its innovative products in recent years.
Henninger points to the new Rommelsbacher double hot plate design as an example of “details that make the difference.” The hot plate, a tabletop dual-plate cooker, features a stylish design with an exclusive enamel finish. It also provides increased safety and convenience through the use of a newly designed control with the “on/off” switch integrated with a bimetal
thermostat.
“This ingenious component solved several headaches all at once,” Henninger says. “The positive-off position of the control rules out unintentional switching, thereby ensuring increased safety.”
The new control is sourced from Thermostat- und Schaltgerätebau (TSB), a leading German thermostat manufacturer and part of the Inter Control Group. “The engineers at TSB spend many hours investigating appliances on the market in order to create innovative solutions for user-friendly controls,” Henninger says.
The control supplier explains that a 3-mm contact gap in the integrated switch allows the appliance to remain connected to the power outlet without the need for a separate “on/off” switch. Switching the cooker on and setting the temperature is achieved by turning the single control knob.
The control uses a bimetal strip as a sensing element. In a typical appliance application, the thermostat is mounted directly onto the heating surface, giving it the ability to quickly react to temperature changes. As soon as the preset temperature is reached, the snap action contact opens the circuit; when the temperature drops by the differential the contact automatically closes the circuit again.
The combined control reduces the number of parts needed, and the supplier says it can be used to control appliances such of deep fat fryers, mini ovens, baby bottle warmers, and water heaters.