Gas ignition system for a gas cooking appliance

Abstract

A gas ignition system for a gas cooking appliance is provided. The gas ignition system includes an ignition component configured to provide a feedback signal indicative of a temperature of the ignition component. The gas ignition system further includes a gas valve configured to provide gas to the ignition component based at least in part on an enable signal and one or more redundancy signals. The gas ignition system further includes an ignition controller operably coupled to the ignition component and the gas valve. The ignition controller includes an enable circuit configured to provide the enable signal based at least in part on the feedback signal. The ignition controller further includes one or more redundancy circuits configured to provide one or more redundancy signals based at least in part on the feedback signal.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A gas ignition system for a gas cooking appliance, comprising: 
 an ignition component configured to provide a feedback signal indicative of a temperature of the ignition component;   a gas valve configured to provide gas to the ignition component based at least in part on an enable signal and one or more redundancy signals; and   an ignition controller operably coupled to the ignition component and the gas valve, the ignition controller comprising: 
 an enable circuit configured to provide the enable signal based at least in part on the feedback signal; and 
 one or more redundancy circuits configured to provide one or more redundancy signals based at least in part on the feedback signal. 
   
     
     
         2 . The gas ignition system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more redundancy circuits comprises: 
 a first redundancy circuit configured to provide a first redundancy signal based at least in part on the feedback signal; and   a second redundancy circuit configured to provide a second redundancy signal based at least in part on the feedback signal.   
     
     
         3 . The gas ignition system of  claim 2 , wherein the enable circuit, the first redundancy circuit, and the second redundancy circuit are independent electrical pathways of the ignition controller. 
     
     
         4 . The gas ignition system of  claim 1 , wherein the enable signal and the one or more redundancy signals are provided based at least in part on a comparison of the feedback signal to a threshold indicative of an ignition temperature of the ignition component. 
     
     
         5 . The gas ignition system of  claim 4 , wherein the enable signal and the one or more redundancy signals are provided when the feedback signal is greater than the threshold for an ignition time period. 
     
     
         6 . The gas ignition system of  claim 1 , wherein the enable signal is a pulse width modulated (PWM) signal. 
     
     
         7 . The gas ignition system of  claim 1 , wherein the enable signal and the one or more redundancy signals are provided based at least in part on a call for heat signal, the call for heat signal indicating that the gas valve corresponds to the ignition component. 
     
     
         8 . The gas ignition system of  claim 1 , wherein the ignition component comprises: 
  a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) HSI operable to ignite the gas at an ignition temperature,   wherein the feedback signal is indicative of a temperature of the positive temperature coefficient (PTC) HSI.   
     
     
         9 . The gas ignition system of  claim 1 , wherein the enable circuit and the one or more redundancy circuits are positioned within a controller package of the ignition controller. 
     
     
         10 . A method for providing gas to an ignition component of a gas cooking appliance, comprising: 
 receiving, from the ignition component, a feedback signal indicative of a temperature of the ignition component;   determining, by an enable circuit of an ignition controller, an enable signal based at least in part on the feedback signal;   determining, by one or more redundancy circuits of the ignition controller, one or more redundancy signals based at least in part on the feedback signal; and   providing gas to the ignition component based at least in part on the enable signal and the one or more redundancy signals.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the one or more redundancy signals comprises: 
 a first redundancy signal provided by a first redundancy circuit, the first redundancy signal being based at least in part on the feedback signal; and   a second redundancy signal provided by a second redundancy circuit, the second redundancy signal being based at least in part on the feedback signal.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the enable circuit, the first redundancy circuit, and the second redundancy circuit are independent electrical pathways of the ignition controller. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the enable signal and the one or more redundancy signals are determined based at least in part on a comparison of the feedback signal to a threshold indicative of an ignition temperature of the ignition component. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the enable signal and the one or more redundancy signals are provided when the feedback signal is greater than the threshold for an ignition time period. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the enable signal and the one or more redundancy signals are provided based at least in part on a call for heat signal, the call for heat signal indicating that a gas valve providing the gas to the ignition component corresponds to the ignition component. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the enable circuit and the one or more redundancy circuits are positioned within a controller package of the ignition controller. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the enable signal is a pulse width modulated (PWM) signal. 
     
     
         18 . A gas cooking appliance, comprising: 
 one or more ignition components configured to provide one or more feedback signals indicative of a temperature of the one or more ignition components;   one or more gas valves configured to provide gas to the one or more ignition components based at least in part on an enable signal and one or more redundancy signals; and   an ignition controller operably coupled to the one or more ignition components and the one or more gas valves, the ignition controller comprising: 
 an enable circuit configured to provide the enable signal based at least in part on a feedback signal of the one or more feedback signals; and 
 one or more redundancy circuits configured to provide the one or more redundancy signals based at least in part on the feedback signal of the one or more feedback signals. 
   
     
     
         19 . The gas cooking appliance of  claim 18 , wherein the enable signal and the one or more redundancy signals are provided based at least in part on a call for heat signal, the call for heat signal indicating that a gas valve of the one or more gas valves corresponds to an ignition component of the one or more ignition components that provided the feedback signal. 
     
     
         20 . The gas cooking appliance of  claim 18 , wherein the one or more redundancy circuits comprises: 
 a first redundancy circuit configured to provide a first redundancy signal based at least in part on the feedback signal; and   a second redundancy circuit configured to provide a second redundancy signal based at least in part on the feedback signal.