The invention relates to an apparatus for providing energy to kitchen appliances.

Electrical kitchen appliances are commonly provided with a lead and a plug for connection to an electrical power outlet. Some appliances, such as coffee makers are more or less permanently connected while others may have only occasional use. It has been recognized that winding and unwinding the lead may be impractical, and excess lead prevents the full utilization of the kitchen worktop, as putting bowls or the like on top of the lead is not very conducive to stability. To improve this situation, one type of lead is spiralled so that it will not rest on the table, while other appliances may have a provision for storing the unused part of the lead behind a skirt in the base. Furthermore experience shows that most consumers pull the lead in order to extract the plug which eventually leads to a break in the wires. Electric kettles have lately been provided with a base to which the kettle itself is pluggable. This has the double advantage that lifting the kettle off the base disconnects the power. There is perceived a need to provide wire-less connection to many kitchen appliances, in particular those which are not only hand-held. This would comprise coffee mills, mixers, or minor food processors. The apparatus according to the invention is particular in that it comprises a converter to ELF energy, a transmitting coil in a base and a receiving coil in the appliance, and a converter from ELF energy to the internal drive voltage in the appliance. In this manner, each appliance need only be moved on top of the base containing the transmitting coil, and the power is transmitted by induction. This is a safe distribution

method which will only be active when there is a load on the converter, due to the built-in safety features of the induction heating power supply.

An advantageous embodiment of the invention is particular in that a number of transmitting zones are distributed in the worktop flush with the surface. The zones need not be provided with heat resistant surfaces. The appliances have a base which may be put on the selected zone, and the required power for its running is provided therefrom. Several zones may be active at the same time, provided the total consumption does not exceed the maximum that can be provided from the converter disposed in conjunction with the table top or that the total mains power consumption does not exceed the limit of the mains fuses.

The invention will be described in greater detail in the following with reference to the drawing which shows a kitchen table provided with transmitting zones and power consuming appliances. In the drawing, the table top 1 has a number of transmitting zones 2, 2', 2" containing coils acting as transformer primaries which are each connected to a power converter 3, 3' , 3" obtaining its power from the mains 4. An appliance 5 has a base 6 containing a receiving coil and a top 7 which performs the required function. In the drawing the generic appliance 5 is intended to represent a blender. The converters are of a type which does not provide ELF energy (above 20 kHz but below 100 kHz) when there is no load. The base 6 contains the receiving coil which acts as a secondary of a transformer, and furthermore means for converting the received energy to the voltage required by the appliance, in the present case a motor. There may be economic advantages in providing the appliance with an electric motor used in the automotive industry where 12 V is the standard; such motors are manufactured in bulk. In use, the appliance is simply centered on the

transmitting zone which may be indicated in a contrasting colour in the table top, and it is ready to be switched on. If the appliance is needed in another spot on the table top, it iε simply moved to the zone nearest that spot. Several appliances may be used simultaneously.