JP3392685B2 - Electric water heater - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an electric water heater such as an electric pot.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A so-called microcomputer type electric pot is conventionally known in which a microcomputer is mounted for controlling energization of a heating element and a pump of the electric pot.

FIG. 6 shows an example of this. In this electric pot, an inner container 2 is housed in an outer casing 1, and a lid 4 for opening and closing an opening 3 of the inner container 2 is attached to the outer casing 1 by a hinge 5. The thin plate-shaped heating element 6 is attached to the lower surface of the inner container 2, the pump 8 is provided in the middle of the water pipe 7 communicating with the bottom of the inner container 2, and the water pipe 7 is connected to the inner container 2 and the exterior body. It is started up during 1 and is led to the discharge pipe 11 via the safety valve device 9.

A mounting box 12 is attached to the bottom of the exterior body 1.
The control unit 15 for controlling energization of the heating element 6 and the pump 8 is attached to the lower surface of the control unit cover member 13 fitted in the mounting box 12. The control unit 15 includes a printed circuit board 16 and an electronic component 17 such as a microcomputer mounted on the printed circuit board 16.

A heat shield plate 18 is attached to the upper surface of the control unit cover member 13 and the heating element 6 is attached to the heat shield plate 18. The heating element 6 is brought into close contact with the bottom surface of the inner container 2. Further, the temperature sensor 21 attached to the heat shield plate 18 is pressed against the lower surface of the inner container 2 through the opening of the heating element 6.

On the other hand, at the upper part of the outer casing 1, the discharge pipe 1
An operation unit 23 is attached to a beak portion 22 that surrounds one portion. The operation unit 23 includes a printed circuit board 24
And a part 25 such as an operation switch attached to the same. A panel sheet 26 is mounted on the upper surface of these, and the lower surface of the printed board 24 is covered by an operation unit cover member 27. The cover member 27 is attached to the upper wall of the beak portion 22.

The operation unit 23 and the control unit 1 described above
A bundle of lead wires 29 between the outer casing 1 and the inner container 2 is passed through the gap between the outer casing 1 and the inner container 2.

[0008]

In the conventional microcomputer type electric water heater as described above, in order to avoid the heat influence from the heating element 6 on the control unit 15, the distance A between the heating element 6 and the control unit 15 is set as follows. Even if the heat shield plate 18 was used, it was still necessary to secure a heat insulation distance of about 10 to 30 mm or more.

In addition, when water is put in the electric water heater or when cleaning such as cleaning, it is considered that the electric water heater is placed in the kitchen sink, and as a waterproof measure for the control unit 15, the bottom of the outer casing 1 is used. It was necessary to secure a distance B of about 15 mm or more with the control unit 15.

The thickness of the control unit 15 itself is set to C (5
mm) and the thickness of the heating element 6 is D (about 3 mm), the distance E (= from the bottom of the outer package 1 to the bottom of the inner container 2)
A + B + C + D) is required to be 40 to 60 mm or more, and this is one of the reasons that the height of the electric water heater cannot be lowered below a certain level (or the volume of the inner container cannot be increased if the height is fixed). Was becoming.

Further, the gap between the outer casing 1 and the inner container 2 through which the water pipe 7 is passed needs to be larger than the other parts around the inner container 2, and as shown in FIG. It is necessary to provide the bulging portion 28 in the vertical direction on a part of the outer package 1. Since the water pipe 7 also serves as a water level pipe, the bulging portion 28 is provided on the front surface of the exterior body 1 so that the water level can be seen from the outside. To have another bulge 28 ',
As shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 7, the diameter of the exterior pipe 2 in the vicinity of the water pipe 7 is designed to be large, and design considerations have been made so that only the bulging portion 28 is inconspicuous.

However, the bulging portion 28 'and the bulging portion 2 are
The inside of a portion that is exclusively provided from a design point of view, such as the large-diameter portion near 8, is a wasted space, and the existence of such a space impairs the compactness of the entire electric pot. Had been one cause.

In addition, the operation unit 23 to the lead wire 29
Since it was difficult to take an inexpensive waterproofing measure on the extraction portion, the lead wire 29 and the extraction portion thereof were exposed to the outside. Therefore, when water enters the exterior body 1, the water travels along the lead wires 29 and the control unit 15
Also, it easily enters the inside of the operation unit 23, which causes malfunction or failure.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the electric water heater is made compact by devising the arrangement position of the control unit and the pump, and the lead wire between the control unit and the operation unit is provided with waterproofing means to the control unit. Its purpose is to prevent water from entering.

[0015]

In order to achieve the above object of downsizing, the present invention accommodates an inner container in an outer package, and the outer package is provided with a lid for opening and closing the opening of the inner container. In an electric water heater equipped with a heating element mounted on the lower surface of the inner container and having a control unit for controlling energization of the heating element, viewed from the front of the exterior body.
A bulge is provided at the symmetrical position, and inside one of the bulges
The water pipe and the control unit are installed in the other bulge .

[0016]

Further, in order to achieve the purpose of preventing the intrusion of water into the control unit caused by the lead wire, the operation unit installed at the upper end portion of the exterior body is provided with an operation unit from the inside of the exterior body. In addition to covering the operation unit cover member, the control unit cover member also covers the control unit, and the lead wire between the operation unit and the control unit is covered with the lead wire cover member, or the lead wire cover member. It is possible to adopt a configuration in which one or both of the operation unit cover member and the control unit cover member are integrated.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, in the electric pot of the embodiment, an inner container 2 is housed in an outer casing 1 as in the conventional case, and the inner container 2 is placed in the outer casing 1. A lid 4 for opening and closing the opening of is attached by a hinge 5.

A bracket 31 is provided on the bottom surface of the exterior body 1, and the heat shield plate 18 is attached to the bracket 31. The heating element 6 such as a thin mica heater attached to the bracket 31 is brought into close contact with the lower surface of the inner container 2.
Further, the temperature sensor 21 supported by the heat shield plate 18 is pressed against the lower surface of the inner container 2 through the opening in the central portion of the heating element 6.

A discharge short pipe 32 is communicated with the bottom of the inner container 2, and a water pipe 7 also serving as a water level pipe is connected to the discharge short pipe 32 through a joint 33. This water pipe 7 is the exterior body 1.
A screw impeller 35, which is vertically arranged in the gap between the inner container 2 and the lower container, constitutes a part of the pump 34. The lower end of the rotary shaft 36 of the screw impeller 35 is supported by a bearing 37 provided on the water pipe 7. The upper end of the rotary shaft 36 extends to the upper end of the water pipe 7, and is connected to a drive shaft of a motor 38 mounted outside the upper end. The upper end of the water pipe 7 is connected to the discharge pipe 11 via the safety valve device 9.

In place of the pump 34 as described above,
It is possible to employ a configuration in which a normal centrifugal pump or a bellows type pump is installed at the lower end of the water pipe 7 between the outer casing 1 and the inner container 2.

As shown in FIGS. 3, 4, and 5 (a), the storage portion of the water pipe 7 is offset to the right when viewed from the front of the electric pot, and bulges in the exterior body 1 at that portion. Part 28
Is formed, and thereby a space for inserting the water pipe 7 is secured. A water level window 39 is provided on the bulging portion 28.

A bulging portion 28 'having the same shape as the bulging portion 28 is symmetrically provided on the outer casing 1, and the bulging portions 28, 28' are placed in front of each other. The side is continuous with a smooth arc surface, and in the range from both side surfaces to the back surface, it is a cylindrical surface similar to the inner container 2 (Fig. 5).
(See (a)).

A control unit 15 is provided inside the bulging portion 28 ', as shown in FIG. The control unit 15 is composed of a printed circuit board 16 and an electronic component 17 such as a microcomputer mounted on the printed circuit board 16 and is attached to the front surface of the control unit cover member 13 arranged in the vertical direction. The control unit cover member 13 is in the form of a case whose front side is open, and its upper end is fixed to the inside of the beak portion 22 by a screw 41.

An operation unit 23 is attached to the beak portion 22 as in the conventional case. This operation unit 23
Is composed of a printed circuit board 24 and a component 25 such as an operation switch attached to the printed circuit board 24. A panel sheet 26 is mounted on the upper surface of these, and the lower surface of the printed board 24 is covered by an operation unit cover member 27. The cover member 27 is attached to the upper wall of the beak portion 22.

A lead wire cover member 42 extending toward the operation unit cover member 27 is integrally provided at the upper end of the control unit cover member 13 and the tip of the lead wire cover member 42 is led out of the operation unit 23. Touching or approaching your mouth.

The above-mentioned lead wire cover member 42 has a downward U-shaped cross section, and the lead wire 29 to be wired between the operation unit 23 and the control unit 15 therein.
Is stored.

The lead wire cover member 42 is
It may be integrally provided on the operation unit 23 side, or may be integrally provided with both units 15 and 23.

In the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5 (a), bulging portions 28, 28 'are provided at symmetrical positions of the outer casing 1 when viewed from the front of the electric pot, and one bulging portion is provided. The water pipe 7 is installed at 28, and the control unit 15 is installed at the other bulged portion 28 '.
It can be arranged as shown in (g).

That is, in the case of FIGS. 5B and 5C,
The outer casing 1 is eccentric to the front side with respect to the inner container 2, and
In the case of (b), the water pipe 7 is arranged in the center of the front and the control unit 15 is arranged on one side thereof, and in the case of FIG. 5 (c), the both are arranged in symmetrical positions.

In FIG. 5D, the exterior body 1 has a quadrangular shape, and four corner portions 43 thereof are rounded. Then, the water pipe 7 is arranged at one of the two corner portions on the front surface side, and the control unit 15 is arranged at the other.

5 (e) and 5 (f) have two corner portions 43 on both sides of the front surface of the outer package 1, and the latter half portion has respective corner portions 43.
In the case of FIG. 5E, the water pipe 7 is arranged in one corner 43 and the control unit 15 is arranged in the other corner 43. Further, in the case of FIG. 5F, the water pipe 7 is arranged in one corner portion 43, and the control unit 15 is arranged in the front surface. In the case of FIG. 5 (g), the outer container 1
The bulging portion 28a is provided at the plug receiving portion of the above, and the control unit 15 is arranged inside thereof.

As described above, the control unit 15 is installed in the exterior body 1 with a bulging portion of some shape as the space for installing the water passage 7. However, the bulging portion 28 should not be too conspicuous. From design considerations such as
When a design is adopted in which the bulging portion 28 is fused with another bulging portion 28 'or the like to the extent that the presence of the bulging portion 28 is not unnatural, the dead space generated by the other bulging portion 28', 28a or the like is used. To do.

[0034]

As described above, according to the present invention, the outer casing is straightened.
A bulge is provided at the symmetrical position when viewed from the surface, and one of
Install a water pipe in the bulging part and a control unit in the other bulging part.
By arranging it , the gap between the bottom surface of the inner container and the bottom surface of the exterior body can be set smaller than before, and the height of the electric water heater can be lowered. Further, if the height is set as usual, the capacity of the inner container can be increased.

[0035]

[0036]

Furthermore, by providing the control unit to the installation space, the control unit and the operation unit approaches, Ri can be easily name that the lead between the two units put the lead cover member, through the lead wire It is possible to eliminate the risk of water entering the control unit.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially omitted sectional view of an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a partially omitted sectional view of another portion of the above.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the same as seen from diagonally above.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the same as seen from diagonally below.

5A to 5G are conceptual diagrams of the same as above.

FIG. 6 is a partially omitted sectional view of a conventional example.

FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram of the same as above.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 exterior body 2 inner container 3 openings 4 lid 5 hinges 6 heating element 7 water pipe 8 pumps 9 Safety valve device 11 discharge pipe 12 mounting boxes 13 Control unit cover member 15 Control unit 16 printed circuit board 17 Electronic components 18 Heat shield 21 Temperature sensor 22 Beak part 23 Operation unit 24 printed circuit boards 25 parts 26 panel sheet 27 Operation unit cover member 28, 28 'bulge 28a bulge 29 lead wire 30 plug receptacle 31 bracket 32 short discharge pipe 33 joint 34 pumps 35 screw impeller 36 rotation axis 37 Bearing 38 motor 39 Water level window 41 screw 42 Lead wire cover member 43 Corner

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── --- Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-4-90729 (JP, A) JP-A-7-289426 (JP, A) JP-A-61-170417 (JP, A) Actual Kaihei 5- 5027 (JP, U) Actual development 61-126937 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) A47J 27/21 101 A47J 27/00 109

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. An inner container is housed in an outer package, a lid for opening and closing the opening of the inner container is attached to the outer package, and a heating element is attached to the lower surface of the inner container, and In an electric water heater provided with a control unit for controlling energization, in the symmetrical position when viewed from the front of the exterior body.
A bulge is provided, and the water pipe and the other bulge are installed in one of the bulges.
An electric water heater characterized in that the above control unit is installed in the outlet. 2. The operation unit installed on the upper end portion of the exterior body is covered with an operation unit cover member from the inside of the exterior body, and the control unit is also covered with a control unit cover member. electric kettle according to claim 1, characterized in that covered the lead cover member to lead between. 3. A process according to claim 2, characterized in that the lead wire cover member, integral with either or both of the operation unit cover member and the control unit cover member
The electric water heater described in.