Patents by Inventor Volker Ennen

Volker Ennen has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20240142107
    Abstract: A method for operating a cooking appliance including at least one treatment chamber with at least one opening for filling the treatment chamber, at least one door for closing the opening of the treatment chamber, at least one control device, and at least one safety device, includes: checking the at least one treatment chamber, by the at least one safety device, for a presence of at least one living being and/or at least one object which could potentially disrupt operation; and if the at least one safety device detects that at least one living being and/or at least one object which could potentially disrupt operation are/is present in the at least one treatment chamber, preventing, by the control device, operation of the cooking appliance and/or limits operation of the cooking appliance to certain operating states.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 21, 2022
    Publication date: May 2, 2024
    Inventors: Niels OHRMANN, Volker ENNEN
  • Publication number: 20240093905
    Abstract: A heating device for heating water, having a container having an inlet channel and an outlet channel, two spaced-apart plates which act as electrodes and each comprise an electrical connection for connection to an electrical voltage source for generating a current flow through the water located between the plates, wherein at least one plate is mounted movably in order to change the distance between the plates and thereby the volume provided between the plates. A water-conducting device such as a washing machine, dishwasher or hot beverage maker, includes a flow conducting system and a heating device arranged therein, as described above.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 30, 2021
    Publication date: March 21, 2024
    Inventors: Daniel EBKE, Werner STROTHOFF, Rainer BICKER, Volker ENNEN
  • Publication number: 20240053059
    Abstract: A heating device for heating water having a container having an inlet and an outlet, two spaced-apart plates which act as electrodes and are each connected to an electrical voltage source for generating a current flow through the water located between the plates, and a control device for activating and deactivating a valve at the inlet and for activating and deactivating the voltage source. A water-conducting device, such as a washing machine, dishwasher or hot beverage maker, includes a flow line system and a heating device arranged therein, as described above.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 30, 2021
    Publication date: February 15, 2024
    Inventors: Daniel EBKE, Werner STROTHOFF, Rainer BICKER, Volker ENNEN
  • Patent number: 11706847
    Abstract: A method for automatically correlating at least one cooktop utensil with at least one cooking zone of an inductive cooktop having a plurality of cooking zones which are inductively heated by at least one respective heating coil, includes: providing the cooktop with a cooktop controller configured to drive the heating coils with a correlation signal; providing the at least one cooktop utensil with an induction coil inductively couplable with the heating coils of the cooktop and a transmitter unit; supplying the transmitter unit with an operation power when a voltage is induced by at least one of the heating coils into the induction coil of the cooktop utensil that is placed on the cooking zone associated with this heating coil; transmitting, by the transmitter unit of the cooktop utensil, by the operating power, a response signal that identifies the cooktop utensil and correlates with the induced correlation signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 14, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2023
    Assignee: MIELE & CIE. KG
    Inventors: Niels Ohrmann, Volker Ennen, Daniel Ebke
  • Publication number: 20230209664
    Abstract: An inductive cooktop includes: at least one cooking zone; at least one heating coil associated with the cooking zone; and a cooktop controller for driving the at least one heating coil in an operating mode of the inductive cooktop to heat a cooktop utensil with a transmitter unit, which cooktop utensil is placed on the cooking zone. The inductive cooktop is operable in a standby mode in which driving of the at least one heating coil is disabled. The inductive cooktop is operable in a ready mode. The inductive cooktop is switchable from the standby mode to the ready mode by a wake-up signal received by a receiver unit of the cooktop controller. In the ready mode, the at least one heating coil is drivable by the cooktop controller such that, on one hand, the cooktop utensil is prevented from being effectively heated for a preparation operation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 6, 2023
    Publication date: June 29, 2023
    Inventors: Niels Ohrmann, Volker Ennen, Daniel Ebke
  • Patent number: 11532304
    Abstract: A method for controlling operation of an appliance by a user through voice control includes at least the steps of: detecting, by the appliance, a control action performed by the user on the appliance; activating a voice control system by the appliance; capturing, by the voice control system, a voice input from the user as a captured voice input; recognizing, by the voice control system, a piece of information and/or an instruction in the captured voice input from the user as a recognized information and/or instruction; and executing, by the voice control system, a user control action on the appliance in accordance with the recognized information and/or instruction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2022
    Assignee: MIELE & CIE. KG
    Inventors: Volker Ennen, Thomas Metz, Daniel Ebke
  • Publication number: 20200411001
    Abstract: A method for controlling operation of an appliance by a user through voice control includes at least the steps of: detecting, by the appliance, a control action performed by the user on the appliance; activating a voice control system by the appliance; capturing, by the voice control system, a voice input from the user as a captured voice input; recognizing, by the voice control system, a piece of information and/or an instruction in the captured voice input from the user as a recognized information and/or instruction; and executing, by the voice control system, a user control action on the appliance in accordance with the recognized information and/or instruction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 23, 2020
    Publication date: December 31, 2020
    Inventors: Volker Ennen, Thomas Metz, Daniel Ebke
  • Publication number: 20200059995
    Abstract: A method for automatically correlating at least one cooktop utensil with at least one cooking zone of an inductive cooktop having a plurality of cooking zones which are inductively heated by at least one respective heating coil, includes: providing the cooktop with a cooktop controller configured to drive the heating coils with a correlation signal; providing the at least one cooktop utensil with an induction coil inductively couplable with the heating coils of the cooktop and a transmitter unit; supplying the transmitter unit with an operation power when a voltage is induced by at least one of the heating coils into the induction coil of the cooktop utensil that is placed on the cooking zone associated with this heating coil; transmitting, by the transmitter unit of the cooktop utensil, by the operating power, a response signal that identifies the cooktop utensil and correlates with the induced correlation signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 14, 2019
    Publication date: February 20, 2020
    Inventors: Niels Ohrmann, Volker Ennen, Daniel Ebke