EP2938236A1

EP2938236A1 - A water heater receptacle having a fluid outlet device

Info

Publication number: EP2938236A1
Application number: EP12813035.8A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Omer Burak Coban; Ismail GERZELI; Ali Levent Hasanreisoglu
Original assignee: Arcelik AS
Current assignee: Arcelik AS
Priority date: 2012-12-26
Filing date: 2012-12-26
Publication date: 2015-11-04
Also published as: WO2014101938A1; CN104994770B; CN104994770A

Abstract

The present invention pertains to a water heater receptacle (1) in the form of a containment means for heating (10) and boiling water, said receptacle defining an inner volume where water to be heated is preserved, the base (8) of said inner volume being in fluid communication with a transfer means or a flow control means directly or through a transfer conduit, such that the outlet device (2) of said inner volume comprises a fluid outlet opening (7) the plane of which lies flush with said base (8).

Description

A WATER HEATER RECEPTACLE HAVING A FLUID OUTLET DEVICE

The present invention pertains to a water heater receptacle in the form of a containment means for heating and boiling water, said receptacle defining an inner volume where water to be heated is preserved, the base of said inner volume being in fluid communication with a transfer means or a flow control means directly or through a transfer conduit.
A problem to be associated with a heater receptacle, the latter in connection with a separate receptacle in the manner to provide thereto heated or boiled water, for instance for effecting brewing of herbal beverages, is that transfer of heated or boiled water should be undertaken by an appropriately limited number of mechanical components, i.e. conduit parts. The mechanical complexity of the fluid outlet opening on the base of said receptacle may add unnecessary manufacturing steps. Therefore, it is always desirable to obtain a fluid outlet opening for a transfer conduit in a water heater receptacle, which is structurally simple to manufacture in terms of the number of the components. Further, this also has implications over usability of the water heater as users generally have a more comfortable cleaning experience with a fluid outlet opening designed such as to be in conformity with the remaining surface of the receptacle base. Regular need for cleaning the receptacle base is not uncommon in areas where water hardness is found to be outside the standards, to the extent that residue build up can occur.
In the prior art, the international publication WO 00/65968 discloses a liquid heating unit comprising a reservoir for holding a quantity of liquid and means for heating the liquid in the chamber. An aperture in the internal base of the reservoir is in fluid communication with a nozzle through a flow control device. The fluid outlet opening of the disclosure referred to therein is disadvantageous considering the structural complexity it adds to the internal base of said reservoir.
Primary object of the present invention is to provide a water heater receptacle for conveniently heating water, such receptacle’s internal base being easily cleanable.
The present invention proposes a water heater receptacle having an electrical heating means, namely ohmic resistances involving active power dissipation. This provides that water preserved within the inner volume of said receptacle is boiled. Said electrical resistances are thermally in communication with the internal base of said receptacle. A heat distribution base provides that heat energy is evenly distributed over the internal base.
Said water heater receptacle further comprises a fluid outlet device as an intermediary medium in between said receptacle and a further receptacle. Said fluid outlet device can be connected to a fluid transfer means or a flow control means with additional conduit parts thereinbetween.
Said fluid outlet device comprises a fluid outlet opening having a plane along its opening in the manner that its open portion is in a flush relationship with the remaining solid surface of the internal base in said receptacle. Said fluid outlet device further comprises a fluid outlet device adaptor with an open end in the direction of said fluid outlet opening. Said open end of said fluid outlet device adaptor and said fluid outlet opening are juxtaposed such that fluid passing through said fluid outlet opening directly advances into said fluid outlet device adaptor.
Said fluid outlet device adaptor has a second open end in the reverse direction of said fluid outlet opening. This second opening leads to a fluid transfer means or a flow control means. Said second opening can also be first connected to a conduit and then to said fluid transfer means or said flow control means through said conduit.
Said internal base of said heater receptacle consisting of two separate parts, namely a central base portion and a base elevated edge portion therefore provides that said central base portion can be removed to clean said heat distribution base. The central base portion is mounted on said base elevated edge portion such that the two form an equal level plain surface.
Further, an opening filter is provided to cover said fluid outlet opening for filtering down particles to a certain size in the water. Said opening filter may either be in the form of a separate element or be designed integrally with a base elevated edge portion. Each case has its particular advantage with respect to cleaning functionality; namely while said opening filter is individually removable, it is possible to reach the open end of said fluid outlet device adaptor or to remove the same and while said opening filter is integrally formed with said base elevated edge portion, first said edge portion is removed and then other components are within reach.
Accompanying drawings are given solely for the purpose of exemplifying a water heater receptacle whose advantages over prior art were outlined above and will be explained in brief hereinafter. The drawings are not meant to delimit the scope of protection as identified in the claims nor should they be referred to alone in an effort to interpret the scope identified in said claims without recourse to the technical disclosure in the description of the present invention.
Fig. 1 demonstrates a general cross-sectional side view of the water heater receptacle according to the present invention.
Fig. 2a and 2b respectively demonstrate general cross-sectional side views of a prior art fluid outlet device and a fluid outlet device according to the present invention.
Fig. 3 demonstrates an exploded cross-sectional side view of the water heater receptacle according to the present invention.
Fig. 4 demonstrates a perspective view of the fluid outlet device components according to the present invention.
Fig. 5a and 5b respectively demonstrate cross-sectional side views of the fluid outlet device according to the present invention in exploded and assembled forms.
Fig. 6 demonstrates another perspective view of the fluid outlet device components according to the present invention.
Referring now to the figures outlined above, the present invention proposes a water heater receptacle in which water is heated and boiled to be transferred to a further separate receptacle by means of a flow control or transfer device.
The following numerals are assigned to different parts demonstrated in the drawings:
(1) Water heater receptacle
(2) Fluid outlet device
(3) Conduit
(4) Adaptor
(5) Opening filter
(6) Base elevated edge portion
(7) Fluid outlet opening
(8) Internal base
(9) Heat distribution base
(10) Electrical heating means
(11) Central base portion
The water heater receptacle (1) of the present invention features an electrical heating means (10) for heating water preserved within an inner volume of said receptacle (1). Heated water can then be transferred to a further receptacle for effecting brewing of certain herbal ingredients such as tea leaves by infusing in hot water.
Said electrical heating means (10) is in thermal communication with an internal base (8) of said receptacle (1). Electrical power is transferred to said electrical heating means (10) from the mains whereby water is boiled. Boiling of water can then be interrupted or continued at a lower wattage to enable keep-warm function.
Said water heater receptacle (1) further comprises a fluid outlet device (2) for receiving heated water preserved within said inner volume of said receptacle (1) and transferring the same to a separate receptacle. Said fluid outlet device (2) therefore constitutes a medium for establishing fluid communication in between a fluid transfer means such as a pump or a flow control means such as a valve and said water heater receptacle (1).
Said fluid outlet device (2) further comprises a fluid outlet opening (7) the plane of which lies flush with said internal base (8) of said water heater receptacle (1). This provides that cleaning and/or rubbing of said internal base is made easier as no physical obstacle in relation with said fluid outlet device (2) is present on the internal surface (8) of the receptacle (1), i.e. the internal base (8) surface is a plain surface.
Said fluid outlet device (2) of the present invention comprises an adaptor (4), which serves to the purpose of adapting said fluid outlet opening (7) structurally to a conduit (3) portion, said conduit leading to a fluid transfer means or a flow control means.
Said adaptor (4) has an open end being in juxtaposition with said fluid outlet opening (7), which therefore provides that water passing through said fluid outlet opening (7) is being received in full into said fluid outlet adaptor (4). Saidadaptor (4) has a further end, which can be connected in fluid communication with a fluid transfer means or a flow control means. Said further open end is connectible directly to a conduit (3) as well, said conduit (3), which in turn can be in fluid communication with said fluid transfer means or said flow control means. Said adaptor (4) therefore ensures that said fluid outlet device (2) is either connectible to said conduit (4) portion or to said fluid transfer means or said flow control means.
Said fluid outlet device (2) further comprises an opening filter (5) covering said fluid outlet opening (7). This ensures that any particle present in the heated water and having a size greater than that of said filter’s holes allows will be trapped.
According to the present invention, said internal base (6) of said heater receptacle (1) consists of two separate base components, namely a central base portion (11) and a base elevated edge portion (6). To that end, said opening filter (5) is either integral with said base elevated edge portion (6) of said internal base (8) or is separately fittable onto said open end of said adaptor (4). Therefore, it is possible that said opening filter (5) is individually removed for cleaning purposes or the base elevated edge portion (6) itself is removed to reach said fluid outlet opening (7). While in the earlier case, cleaning of said adaptor (4) is made a lot quicker by removing it, in the latter case, it can be removed out to reach said conduit (3) for cleaning the same. These two cases may be respectively seen in Fig. 6 and in Fig. 4.
The fluid outlet device (2) of the present invention consists of an appropriately limited number of mechanical components such as theadaptor (4) and conduit (3) parts.
Said central base portion (11) is fittable onto said base elevated edge portion (6) to provide an equal level surface internal base (8). This provides that a heat distribution base (9), which lies along the base of the receptacle (1) to promote thermal efficiency, can also be reached by removing out said central base portion (11), also for cleaning purposes.

Claims

A water heater receptacle (1) comprising an electrical heating means (10) for heating water preserved within an inner volume of said receptacle (1), said electrical heating means (10) being in thermal communication with internal base (8) of said receptacle, said water heater receptacle (1) further comprising a fluid outlet device (2) for receiving heated water preserved within said inner volume of said receptacle (1) and transferring the same to a separate receptacle characterized in that;

said fluid outlet device (2) comprises a fluid outlet opening (7) the plane of which lies flush with said internal base (8).
A water heater receptacle (1) as set forth in Claim 1 wherein said fluid outlet device (2) comprises an adaptor (4) having an open end being in juxtaposition with said fluid outlet opening (7).
A water heater receptacle (1) as set forth in Claim 2 wherein said adaptor (4) has a further open end in fluid communication with a fluid transfer means or a flow control means.
A water heater receptacle (1) as set forth in Claim 3 wherein said adaptor’s (4) further open end is connectible to a conduit (3), said conduit (3) being in fluid communication with said fluid transfer means or said flow control means.
A water heater receptacle (1) as set forth in Claim 1 wherein said fluid outlet device (2) comprises an opening filter (5) covering said fluid outlet opening (7).
A water heater receptacle (1) as set forth in Claim 1 wherein said internal base (6) of said heater receptacle (1) consists of a central base portion (11) and a base elevated edge portion (6).
A water heater receptacle (1) as set forth in Claim 5 and 6 wherein said opening filter (5) is integral with said base elevated edge portion (6) of said internal base (8).
A water heater receptacle (1) as set forth in Claim 6 wherein said central base portion (11) is fittable onto said base elevated edge portion (6) to provide an equal level surface internal base (8).
A water heater receptacle (1) as set forth in Claim 2 and 5 wherein said opening filter (5) is fittable onto said open end of said fluid adaptor (4).