At the SmarterWorld RF Energy Summit that took place in Erding, Germany on October 17, 2017, HUBER+SUHNER highlighted its latest solid state RF Energy technology developments.
At the Summit, Hannes Grubinger, Market Manager at HUBER+SUHNER, gave a presentation titled “RF-connectivity for RF energy applications providing reliable matching, allowing for mechanical freedom coping with large tolerances, and supporting competitive mass production”. Stressing the idea that using solid-state generated and amplified RF-power brings a completely new user experience to applications such as cooking, Grubinger emphasized during his presentation that connectors and cables used in the communications industry are often not the best solution for energy appliances, since the losses and cost of coaxial assemblies is not appropriate for the short distances in the kitchen.
According to Grubinger, threaded connectors which require a defined torque would not support the requirements of energy applications. The appliance assembly process needs to be simple, fast and reliable when using solid-state generated and amplified RF-power. He added that, having more than two amplifiers and antennas per appliance connected to a probe by a PCB-transition which is mechanically fixed to the cavity imposes significant mechanical stress between the used building blocks. Therefore, to gain key features such as mechanical freedom and low losses, a launcher structure is beneficial. By realizing this with injection molded metalized parts and moving towards alternative structures, this will lead to a very cost-effective implementation.
HUBER+SUHNER’s latest solution allows for a reliable and robust connection between the amplifier and cooking cavity while also eliminating mechanical stress. Although Grubinger focused predominantly on cooking applications, he notes that similar solutions can be easily adapted for other applications such as lighting, microwave ablation or ignition.
This event was the first of its kind for the RF energy market, and was a chance to meet the companies and research institutes that are developing solid state RF energy systems, as well as learn about current RF energy market trends. Attendees had the opportunity to interact with the leading solid state RF energy companies with the opportunity to become part of the community, driving the new technology’s adoption.
Also presenting at the summit was Dr. Klaus Werner, Executive Director, RF Energy Alliance, who talked about ‘Status of the Standardization and Roadmap: What can we Expect from a Technology and Economic Point of View for the Next Two Years?’
The RF Energy Alliance is a non-profit technical association comprised of companies aiming to realizing solid state RF energy’s potential as a clean, efficient and controllable heat and power source.
The conference was be moderated by respected journalist Heinz Arnold, other speakers included representatives from Ampleon, E-REON, FH Aachen, Fricke und Mallah Mikrowave Technology, MACOM, Multek, NovionX, NXP Semiconductors, pinkRF, and Richardson Electronics.
Click here to know more about SmarterWorld RF Energy Summit.
Click here to know more about HUBER+SUHNER’s RF Energy initiatives.
Click here to see the interview everything RF conducted with Dr. Klaus Werner.
