RU132697U1 - ELECTRIC KETTLE - Google Patents

Abstract

An electric kettle, characterized in that it includes a housing with a bottom mounted on a stand, a current lead, a heater, a power supply, a microcontroller, to the output of which a relay is connected, a switching circuit of which is connected between the current lead and the heater, the power button and the heating button connected to the microcontroller inputs , thermostat button, temperature sensor and force sensors, as well as a temperature indicator and a volume indicator connected to the outputs of the microcontroller.

Description

The claimed technical solution relates to household items, more precisely, to kitchen utensils for boiling water, namely, to dummies.

Various types of dummies are known.

Known teapots (SU 1659003, 1991; SU 1797482, 1993; SU 1801044, 1993) contain a water tank (housing) and a handle for carrying and tilting. The kettle also contains a lid, a spout for draining water and a bottom. The body of the kettle is most often made of metal: aluminum, stainless steel or enameled steel. Such a kettle can be installed on a heating element of an electric stove or on a heat source (gas, fire).

Electric kettles are also known (RU 2156103, 2000; RU 2284140, 2006), which contain a heating element. The body of an electric kettle is made of stainless steel, glass, ceramic or plastic. In electric kettles, the housing is most often mounted on a stand made of heat-insulating material, in which the current supply to the heating element is usually located.

One of the significant drawbacks of most electric kettles is that they do not block the inclusion of an empty (without water) kettle and (or) there is no automatic shutdown of the kettle after boiling water. Failure to lock and turn off the kettle may result in damage to the kettle and there is a danger of fire or personal injury. To prevent this, in electric kettles, a thermal relay is installed on the bottom, which, when the bottom is overheated, activates and turns off the heater (RU 2284140, 2006). To turn off the heater after boiling water in electric kettles, a steam line is installed, supplying steam from under the lid of the kettle to the base of the heater thermal relay (RU 2284140, 2006).

In modern electric kettles, to determine the amount of water, the kettle body is made transparent whole, either has a transparent window, or a water meter tube is installed (or vertically attached to the kettle body), which is connected to the main volume of the kettle as communicating vessels (RU 2284140, 2006 ; GB 2337194, 1999; GB 2332522, 1999; FR 2766692, 1999).

In teapots with a water measuring tube (glass), it is possible to determine the amount of water poured, but they have drawbacks. Firstly, the complexity of making a kettle increases significantly, since the metal case has to be cut to install a gauge glass or tube. Secondly, it is difficult to ensure the tightness of the metal teapot at the junction of the body with the gauge glass (tube) due to differences in temperature expansion coefficients of metal and glass (plastic) in the operating temperature range (10-100) ° С.

When making the case of an electric kettle in whole or in part from glass, the latter must be heat-resistant and have a special composition that does not emit substances aromatic or harmful to the human body at high temperature and has high mechanical strength. As a result, glass electric kettles, with the same usable metal volume, have an increased injury hazard, large dimensions and weight.

Dummies are known in which a force sensor is installed to determine the amount of water (RU 2405412, 2010). The advantage of such dummies is the simplicity of design and guaranteed tightness due to the lack of water-measuring glass. In such dummies, a force sensor is installed on the handle or between the handle and the body, and the amount of water is estimated by a mechanical or electronic indicator.

The disadvantage of such dummies with force sensors is that to determine the amount of water, the kettle must be taken by the handle and raised, because in the kettle standing on the stand, the amount of water is not determined.

Known electric kettle with a heater lock in the absence of water (GB 2320672, 1998). This kettle has a metal case with a nose and a lid, in which the heater and one part of the connector (current supply) are located. The case is installed on a stand, which contains the mating part of the connector (current supply), a microcontroller and four thermal relays, three weight sensors, relays, and kettle on and off elements connected to it at the input and output through electronic devices. The kettle also contains a boiling sensor, made in the form of a sound generator located in the nose, and a sound receiver (microphone) located in the base and connected to the input of the microcontroller. The weight sensor is made in the form of two contacts, one of which is mounted on a stand, and the second on the movable part of a flat spring interacting through the thermal relay with the bottom. The contacts close when a predetermined minimum amount of water is poured into the kettle. There is no gauge glass in the kettle, so the total amount of water is not determined.

The disadvantage of this teapot is the laboriousness of manufacturing a teapot that is complex in design and contains a large number of sensors, and above all, a bulky water boiling sensor, the sound generator of which is installed in the teapot spout and the microphone in the base. In addition, three contact sensors of the kettle’s weight are intended only to block the heater from turning on in the absence of water: for any weight less than the minimum, the contacts are open, for any weight more than the minimum, the contacts are closed. In addition, there is no indication of the amount of water in the kettle.

Of the known technical solutions, the closest in purpose and technical essence to the claimed one is an electric kettle (RU 2462975, 2012) containing a base, a body with a bottom mounted on the base, and part of the bottom is made with the possibility of displacement and (or) deflection under the force of gravity of water , current lead, heater, microcontroller, to the output of which a relay is connected, a switching circuit of which is connected between the current lead and the heater, and an on element, boiling sensor and force sensor connected to the input of the microcontroller, whose power-sensing elements are installed with the possibility of interaction with the base and with the bottom.

The disadvantage of this kettle is the complicated design of the bottom (with the possibility of displacement and (or) deflection under the force of gravity of the water) of the kettle.

The problem to which the claimed technical solution is directed is to reduce the complexity of making the kettle (up to using any well-developed types of kettle cases), expand its functionality (temperature indication, indication of the volume of liquid in various desired units (liters, percent of full volume, mnemonic strips, the number of tea cups), the presence of a mode of heating water to a pre-programmed temperature, the presence of a mode of maintaining previously programmed water temperature).

The task is achieved due to the fact that the electric kettle contains a housing with a bottom, a stand, a current lead, a heater, a power supply, a microcontroller, to the output of which a relay is connected, a switching circuit of which is connected between the current lead and the heater, the power button and the heating button connected to the microcontroller inputs , thermostat button, temperature sensor and force sensors, as well as a temperature indicator and a volume indicator connected to the outputs of the microcontroller.

The technical result provided by the given set of features is to reduce the complexity of manufacturing an electric kettle, due to the fact that it can be used in any transparent or opaque material (glass, metal, plastic, ceramics), since the force sensors are not located in the body or bottom , but in the stand.

In addition, according to the claimed technical solution, the functionality of an electric kettle expands, due to the fact that it has a sensor and a temperature indicator, and a liquid volume indicator, which, at the request of the user, displays the amount of water in the kettle in different units: liters (0- 1.5), percent of the total volume (0-100), mnemonic strips, the number of tea cups (0-1-2 ..- 8).

In addition, according to the claimed technical solution, the functionality of the electric kettle is expanded, due to the fact that it has a mode of heating water to a pre-programmed temperature and a mode of maintaining a pre-programmed water temperature (temperature control).

The essence of the proposed technical solution is illustrated by the graphic materials of figure 1, figure 2 and figure 3. Figure 1 shows a longitudinal section of an electric kettle, figure 2 is a view of the control panel and display, and figure 3 shows a structural diagram of a kettle.

Figure 1-3 adopted the following notation:

1 - housing;

2 - bottom;

3 - current supply of the housing;

4 - heating element;

5 - stock of the force sensor;

6 - force sensor;

7 - current supply stand;

8 - relay;

9 - microcontroller;

10 - stand;

11 - rod of the force sensor;

12 - force sensor;

13 - power supply;

14 - temperature sensor;

15 - spring;

16 - water temperature indicator;

17 - button indicator on / off / programming;

18 - button indicator heating / programming;

19 - thermostat / programming indicator button;

20 - indicator of the amount of water.

Figure 1 shows that the electric kettle contains a housing 1 with a bottom 2 and a heating element 4 connected to the current lead 3, which in turn is included in the mating part of the current lead 7 mounted on the stand 10. The heating element 4 can be placed on a metal bottom 2 in different ways: from below, above or above it. On the stand 10 there are three (located around a circle with a mutual shift of 120 °) force sensors 6 (12, ...) interacting with the bottom 2 through rods 5 (11, ...), which are made of heat-insulating material to reduce heat transfer to the force sensors. In addition, a temperature sensor 14 is placed on the stand 10, which is pressed against the bottom 2 by the spring 15 for good contact with the bottom 15. Inside the stand 10 there are also a microcontroller 9, a relay 8 and a power supply 13. The relay 8 can be electromechanical or semiconductor (solid state).

On the stand (figure 2) is a pointer to the temperature of the water 16 and a pointer to the amount of water 20, and they can be made in the form of indicator strips or in the form of a digital indicator LED or liquid crystal type. In addition, there are three buttons on the stand, combined with light indicators: on / off button 17, heating button 18, thermostat button 19, each of which is also used in the programming mode of the kettle.

The diagram of figure 3 shows the connections between the elements of the kettle: the outputs of the temperature sensor 14, force sensors 6 (12, ...) and indicator buttons 17 (on-off), 18 (heating), 19 (thermostatic control) are connected to the inputs of the microcontroller 9. The outputs of the microcontroller 9 are connected to the indicator of the amount of water 20, the temperature indicator 16 and the control input of the relay 8, the switching circuit of which is connected between the collector 7, 3 and the heating element 4.

The operation of the electric kettle is carried out after installing it on the stand and connecting to the electric network through the counterpart of the current lead 7 located on the stand. The power supply 13 provides secondary voltage sensors, indicators, microcontroller and relays.

The operation of the electric kettle is based on the fact that the action of gravity of the water poured into the housing 1 is transmitted through the rods 5 (11, ...) to the force sensors 6 (12, ...) in the entire required range of values and frequencies. Three force sensors will always sense the kettle’s pressure on the stand, regardless of the inaccuracy of installing the kettle on the stand. To do this, the force sensors are located in the stand around the circle with an interval of 120 °.

The force sensors are connected in series with each other and are made in the form of a converter of any magnitude of force from zero to maximum in a given range, which for a teapot is usually 1.5-2.0 kg.

The total signal (current, or voltage, depending on the type of sensor) from the output of the force sensors is fed to the input of the microcontroller 9. The microcontroller 9 contains an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) at this input, if the force sensors are analog, which generates a digital code in accordance with signal strength sensors. In the microcontroller 9, the digital code is averaged and converted, depending on the desired mode of displaying the degree of filling the kettle, the result is sent to the indicator of the amount of water 20. In addition, the ADC code is digitally filtered, which makes it possible to isolate the variable low-frequency component that appears when water boils. If the variable component exceeds the threshold recorded in the microprocessor, a relay command is generated to turn off the heating element.

To turn on the kettle, briefly press the on / off button 17 briefly, while the “On” command is sent to the input of the microcontroller 9, the on / off button is highlighted, signaling the kettle is operating in boiling mode. When you briefly press the on-off button 17 again, the "Shutdown" command is sent to the microcontroller 9, the backlight is removed. By the command "Turning on", the control signal of the heater 4 through the relay 8 is generated in the microcontroller 9 taking into account the code of the force sensors. If the amount of water in the kettle is displayed with a zero code (i.e. the kettle is empty), then the control voltage is not supplied to the control input of relay 8 and the heater 4 does not turn on. Thus, the inclusion of the heater 4 is blocked in the absence of water, i.e. the possibility of damage to the kettle, fire or injury to the user is excluded. If the amount of water in the kettle is displayed by a code other than zero (i.e. there is water in the kettle), then the control voltage is supplied from the output of the microcontroller 9 to relay 8. Relay 8 through the switching circuit connects the heater 4 to the network through the current lead 7, 3 and the water is heated.

When the water in the kettle begins to boil, a signal is sent from the output of the microcontroller 9 to turn off the relay 8 and the heater 4 is disconnected from the network. This happens in the proposed kettle because during boiling out of the water begins an intense exit of gas bubbles. The force sensors, along with the constant force, register a variable component, which is detected in the microcontroller 9 and on the basis of which a signal is sent to turn off the relay 8 and disconnect the heater 4 from the network.

As a result, the proposed kettle provides not only a controlled amount of water, but also automatic shutdown of the heater 4 after boiling water due to the fact that the signals from the force sensors are used to detect the fact of boiling.

If necessary, turn off the kettle manually, you can press the on / off button 17 at any time while heating the water.

The signal from the temperature sensor is fed to the microcontroller, which is used to control the operation of the kettle and to indicate the temperature of the water.

In addition to preventing emergency operation, signals from force sensors are used to display the amount of water in the kettle. Switching the display mode is carried out by simultaneously briefly pressing the heating and thermostating buttons, while on the right side of the liquid quantity indicator the displayed value changes in a circle: “l” (liters), “%” (percent), “h” (number of cups).

The displayed value is calculated using the following formulas:

V _l = (AA ₀ ) ∗ K ₁ ,

V _% = E (100 ∗ (AA ₀ ) ∗ K ₁ / K ₂ ),

V _h = E ((AA ₀ ) ∗ K ₁ / K ₃ ),

where V _l - indication of the amount of water in liters,

V _% - indication of the amount of water as a percentage of the full kettle,

V _h - an indication of the amount of water in the number of cups,

A is a digital code corresponding to the current amount of water (proportional to the signals from the force sensors),

And ₀ is a digital code corresponding to an empty teapot,

K ₁ is a metrological quantity that translates a digital code unit into a volume value (determined by the sensors used, this value is recorded in the microcontroller),

E is the operation of extracting the integer part of a number, for example, E (2,123) = 2,

K ₂ - a digital code corresponding to the maximum amount of water (determined by the sensors used, this value is written to the microcontroller when programming with the on / off indicator button),

K ₃ - a digital code corresponding to the amount of water in one cup (determined by the sensors used, this value is written to the microcontroller when programming with the on / off indicator button).

Programming with the on / off indicator button 17 is as follows. When the indicator of the amount of liquid 20 displays the symbol “L” (liters), a long press on the button 17 (the kettle should be empty) leads to the recording in the microcontroller 9 of the digital code corresponding to the empty kettle (A ₀ ). When the liquid quantity indicator 20 displays the “%” symbol (percent), a long press on button 17 (the kettle must be filled with water to the maximum mark) leads to the recording of a digital code in the micro-controller corresponding to the complete kettle (K ₂ ). When the liquid quantity indicator 20 displays the “h” symbol (number of cups), a long press on button 17 (one cup of water must be poured into the kettle) leads to the recording of a digital code in the microcontroller corresponding to the volume of one cup (K ₃ ).

Programming with the heating indicator button 18 is as follows. A long press on the heating button 18 causes the temperature indicator 16 to flash, and each subsequent short-term pressing of the heating button 18 changes the temperature indicator 16 to 5 ° C (from 20 ° C to 90 ° C, and the next press after 90 ° C leads to transition to 20 ° C). Exit programming mode with the heating indicator button 18 by pressing it for a long time, the temperature indicator 16 flashes.

Programming with a thermostat button indicator 19 is as follows. A long press on the thermostat button 19 causes the temperature indicator 16 to flash, and each subsequent short-term press on the thermostat button 19 changes the readings of the indicator 16 to 5 ° C (from 20 ° C to 90 ° C, and the next press after 90 ° C leads to a transition at 20 ° C). Exit programming mode with the thermostat indicator button 19 by pressing it for a long time, the temperature indicator 16 flashes.

If it is necessary to warm up the water, briefly press the heating indicator button 18, while the temperature indicator 16 displays a pre-recorded temperature value for 5 seconds, to which heating will be performed, and then, if the water temperature is below this value, the heating indicator button lights up 18 and the microcontroller 9 will give a signal to turn on the relay 8 of the heating element 4, which will heat the water, while the current temperature will be displayed on the temperature indicator 16. When the required temperature is reached, the heating element 4 is turned off by the command of the microcontroller 9 and the backlight of the heating indicator button 18 is removed. Prematurely deactivating the reheat mode is done by briefly briefly pressing the reheat button 18.

If it is necessary to maintain the water temperature, it is necessary to briefly temporarily press the thermostat indicator button 19, while the temperature indicator 16 displays the pre-recorded temperature temperature value for 5 seconds, and then, if the temperature is less than this value, the backlight of the heating indicator button 19 and the microcontroller will turn on 9 will give a signal to turn on the relay 8 of the heating element 4, which will heat the water, while the current temperature will be displayed on the temperature indicator 16. When the required temperature is reached, the heating element 4 will turn off at the command of the microcontroller 9 and then turn on if the temperature drops. The temperature control mode is turned off by briefly pressing the thermostat button 19 again.

The technical result consists in the fact that the electric kettle has a simple and technologically advanced case, all the elements that determine the consumer properties of the kettle are located in the stand, and in addition the kettle has enhanced functionality due to the presence of a mode of heating water to a pre-programmed temperature, a mode of maintaining a pre-programmed water temperature, as well as advanced functionality by displaying the volume of water at the request of the user in different units: liter , A percentage of the total volume, including the teacups.

Claims (1)

An electric kettle, characterized in that it includes a housing with a bottom mounted on a stand, a current lead, a heater, a power supply, a microcontroller, to the output of which a relay is connected, a switching circuit of which is connected between the current lead and the heater, the power button and the heating button connected to the microcontroller inputs , thermostat button, temperature sensor and force sensors, as well as a temperature indicator and a volume indicator connected to the outputs of the microcontroller.

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