JP7183333B2 - Portable active temperature controller - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to temperature control devices, and in particular to readily portable devices capable of active heating or insulation.

Various types of portable insulated containers are currently available. However, these insulated containers are inefficient. According to a report by Choice Magazine (https://echoice.consumer.org.hk/article/531-thermal-food-flasks) published by the Hong Kong Consumer Commission on 14 January 2021, safe storage of hot food The temperature should be above 60 degrees Celsius. An external alternating current (AC) power supply is usually required for power insulation when the insulated container is required to be maintained at a safe storage temperature of 60° C. or higher for an extended period of time. This type of portable insulated container consumes power and is limited to use in situations where an AC power outlet is available. Therefore, currently available insulated containers are not practically readily portable.

To address such shortcomings, one of the objectives of the present invention is to provide a non-AC driven active temperature control device with low power consumption, environmental friendliness, high safety and thermal insulation. It is to be.

According to one embodiment of the invention, a portable active temperature control device includes an insulating housing, a vacuum insulation layer, a reservoir, a top cover, and a heating module. A main control unit is provided in the insulating housing. The main control unit supplies high frequency AC. The vacuum insulation layer is made of metal and is disposed within the insulation housing. A reservoir is disposed within the insulating housing. A top cover covers the insulating housing. The heating module is electrically connected to the main control unit. A heating module includes a conductive coil and a thermocouple. A conductive coil receives high frequency AC from the main control unit and continuously produces an alternating magnetic field. A thermocouple is connected to the conduction coil and said main control unit and is used to feed back the temperature to the main control unit and adjust the operating voltage to change the high frequency AC. The alternating magnetic field produced by the conductive coils allows the metal of the vacuum insulation layer to generate heat and carry out heat exchange with the storage vessel.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the portable active temperature control device further includes an inner insulating housing, the heating module being located between the inner insulating housing and the vacuum insulation layer.

In one aspect of the invention, the insulating housing, the main control unit, the vacuum insulation layer, the inner insulating housing, and the heating module are arranged in a closed system space.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the conductive coil shape design includes a two-dimensional planar circular shape design.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the shape design of the conductive coil includes a three-dimensional symmetrical shape design.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the conductive coil further includes a body portion and a plurality of projecting portions connected to and standing on the body portion, the projecting portions comprising: , are arranged symmetrically about the central axis of the portable active temperature control device.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the shape of the body portion comprises a circular shape.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the shape of the protruding portion includes rhombic shape, circular shape, hourglass shape or quadrilateral shape.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the main control unit is connected to a power source, the main control unit comprises a high frequency AC/direct current (DC) conversion circuit, the high frequency AC/DC conversion circuit to high frequency AC.

In one aspect of the invention, the power source includes a mobile power source, a USB power source, or a battery embedded in a portable active temperature control device.

As described above, in the portable active temperature control device according to the embodiment of the present invention, an alternating magnetic field is generated between the metal in the vacuum insulation layer and the conductive coil to generate heat by electromagnetic induction, and the metal and the storage are generated. It exchanges heat with the container to heat or insulate the contents within the storage container. Thermocouples provide temperature feedback to regulate heat output and improve operational safety. In addition, if the shape design of the conductive coil is a three-dimensional symmetrical shape design, the heating uniformity of the heat generating area can be effectively improved. The main control unit is also provided with a high frequency AC/DC conversion circuit for converting DC to high frequency AC. Therefore, the portable active temperature control device according to embodiments of the present invention need not be limited to use in situations where AC can be supplied, but rather allows the user to adapt to a variety of heating or sustained insulation demand situations. Accordingly, the device can be conveniently carried, and a portable active temperature control device with low power consumption and high safety can be realized.

Regarding the contribution of the invention related to the present invention, a portable insulated container has been proposed in the prior art technical means, but the cooling/heating components/systems of the portable insulated container are It does not have a specific application and configuration provided. For example, for at least some of the technical features provided in this patent application: "A heating module electrically connected to a main control unit, the heating module receiving a high frequency AC from the main control unit and an alternating magnetic field a thermocouple connected to the conduction coil and the main control unit and used to feed back the temperature to the main control unit and adjust the operating voltage to vary the high frequency AC and; the alternating magnetic field generated by the conductive coil enables the metal of the vacuum insulation layer to generate heat and carry out heat exchange with the storage vessel. The technical effect is that "the alternating magnetic field produced by the conductive coil allows the metal of the vacuum insulation layer to generate heat and carry out heat exchange with the storage vessel." However, instead of induction heating in the present invention, prior art technical solutions usually use a thermoelectric system including a heating filament, a resistance heater, or one or more Peltier elements. Structurally, in the present patent application, induction heating is performed across an internal insulating housing or vacuum insulation layer, whereas in the prior art, the cooling/heating components/systems themselves are heated/cooled and heat is removed from the parts. Energy is emitted or absorbed. Therefore, compared with the conventional technical means, according to the present patent application, it is possible to reduce the power consumption and improve the safety of the portable active temperature control device.

Aspects of the present invention will be better understood with reference to the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings. Various features may not be drawn to scale. In fact, the sizes of various features may be arbitrarily increased or decreased for ease of illustration.

Embodiments of the invention are described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is an exploded view of a portable active temperature control device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention; FIG.

FIG. 2 is a partial schematic structural diagram of a portable active temperature control device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a two-dimensional conductive coil manufactured in an enveloping manner according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a temperature change graph under heating conditions of a portable active temperature control device according to a comparative embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a temperature change graph of Embodiment 1 of the present invention under the same heating conditions as the comparative embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a temperature distribution diagram of the vacuum heat insulating layer measured using an infrared thermometer in Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an exploded view of a portable active temperature control device according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic exploded view of a different embodiment of a three-dimensional conducting coil according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a temperature distribution diagram of the vacuum heat insulating layer measured using an infrared thermometer in Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a temperature distribution diagram of a vacuum heat insulating layer measured using an infrared thermometer after heating using a conventional resistance heating method.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail. However, it should be appreciated that many of the applicable concepts provided by the present invention can be implemented in a number of specific environments. The specific embodiments described are exemplary only and do not limit the scope of the invention.

In the spatial description, "up", "down", "above", "left side", "right side", "below", "top", "bottom", "vertical", "horizontal", "side", "relatively high", "relatively low Terms such as "relatively low", "upper", "on", "under" are defined by a plane of components or groups formed by multiple components. be. The orientation of a component may be indicated on the drawing corresponding to the component. It should be understood that the spatial descriptions used herein are used for descriptive purposes only and, in fact, that the structural manifestations described can be arranged in space in any orientation or manner.

In the following description, some preferred examples are used to describe the portable active temperature control device. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that modifications, including additions and/or substitutions, can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Certain details may be omitted for the sake of clarity. However, embodiments of the present invention will enable those skilled in the art to implement the teachings of the embodiments of the present invention without undue experimentation.

1 and 2, in a first embodiment of the present invention, a portable active temperature control device 100 comprises an insulating housing 10, a vacuum insulation layer 20, an inner insulating housing 30, a reservoir 40, a top It includes a cover 50 and a heating module 60 .

A main control unit 12 is provided in the insulating housing 10 . The main control unit 12 is connected to a power supply (not shown). A power supply is used, for example, to supply DC. The main control unit 12 includes high frequency AC/DC conversion circuitry and is suitable for receiving DC from a power supply. A high frequency AC/DC conversion circuit converts DC to high frequency AC. In some embodiments, the power source can be, for example, an external power source or an internal power source. The external power source is, for example, an external mobile power source or USB power source, and the internal power source is, for example, a battery embedded in the portable active temperature control device 100 . However, the invention is not so limited. The material of the insulating housing 10 is, for example, an insulating material.

A vacuum insulation layer 20 is made of metal and is disposed within the insulation housing 10 .

An inner insulating housing 30 is positioned within the vacuum insulation layer 20 . The material of the inner insulating housing 30 is, for example, an insulating material. The inner insulating housing 30 primarily covers the conductive coils of the heating module 60 and is not one of the primary heating or insulation structures.

A reservoir 40 is disposed within the inner insulating housing 30, and the reservoir 40 is used to contain the contents (not shown). The contents can be liquids, solid foods, or other different substances to be contained. The invention is not so limited.

A top cover 50 covers the insulating housing 10 and is used to isolate the contents within the reservoir 40 from the outside.

The heating module 60 is located between the internal insulation housing 30 and the vacuum insulation layer 20 (see FIG. 1) and is electrically connected to the main control unit 12 (see FIG. 2). Heating module 60 includes a conductive coil 62 and a thermocouple 64 . 1 and 3, in Embodiment 1 of the present invention, the shape design of the conductive coil 62 includes a two-dimensional planar circular shape design. Specifically, the conductive coil 62 is formed by conductive wire in a concentric surrounding manner. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, after calculating the diameter, wire diameter, and number of turns of the conduction coil 62 (set in the main control unit 12), the conduction coil 62 receives high frequency AC from the main control unit 12, A constantly changing alternating magnetic field is continuously generated. The alternating magnetic field allows the metal of the vacuum insulation layer 20 to generate heat.

Alternatively, the thermocouple 64 is connected to the conduction coil 62 and the main control unit 12 to provide temperature feedback to the main control unit 12 to adjust the operating voltage and alter the high frequency AC in the conduction coil. , is used to provide temperature control. In some embodiments, the operating voltage of main control unit 12 is in the range of 3 volts to 12 volts. High frequency AC is in the range of 1 amp to 3.5 amps. The overall output power consumption of the main control unit 12 can be controlled within less than 30 watts.

Conductive coil 62 is disposed between vacuum insulation layer 20 , thermocouple 64 , and internal insulation housing 30 , so that according to the principle of electromagnetic induction heating, the metal of vacuum insulation layer 20 is generated by conduction coil 62 . It can interact with alternating magnetic fields to generate thermal energy. With this thermal energy, heat exchange with the storage container 40 can be effectively performed, and the contents in the storage container 40 can be heated and heat insulation can be improved. , low power consumption, low voltage, low current, high safety temperature control can be realized.

Moreover, the insulating housing 10, the main control unit 12, the vacuum insulation layer 20, the internal insulating housing 30 and the heating module 60 can also be arranged in a closed system space to achieve a waterproof function.

In order to more clearly describe the technical effect of Embodiment 1 of the present invention, a comparative embodiment is provided here. The portable active temperature control device of the comparative example is substantially the same as the portable active temperature control device 100 of FIG. 1, but the major difference is that the vacuum insulation layer 20 shown in FIG. 1 is not provided.

As shown in FIG. 4, when the comparative example is an 8 watt power supply environment, it usually takes 3 hours to reach the thermal equilibrium temperature (for example, about 50 degrees). In the embodiment of FIG. 5, in the same environment with an 8 watt power supply, the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 typically takes 1-2 hours to reach thermal equilibrium temperature (eg, about 90 degrees). It can be seen from this that under the same heating conditions the heating rate of the comparative embodiment is not high and cannot reach high temperatures. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the relatively small degree of heat loss allows for rapid heating rates and a relatively hot environment to be maintained.

FIG. 6 is a temperature distribution diagram of the vacuum heat insulating layer measured using an infrared thermometer in Embodiment 1 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 6, the temperature difference between the lower part and slightly upper part of the vacuum insulation layer is relatively large, indicating that the heating is not very uniform.

7 and 8, FIG. 7 is an exploded view of a portable active temperature control device according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a schematic exploded view of a different embodiment of a three-dimensional conducting coil according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention;

As shown in FIG. 7, in a second embodiment of the present invention, portable active temperature control device 100' is substantially similar to portable active temperature control device 100 shown in FIG. The main difference is that the portable active temperature control device 100' consists of an insulating housing 10, a vacuum insulation layer 20, a storage vessel 40, a top cover 50, a heating module 60', and a conductive coil 62 in the design of Figure 8(a). ' is included. Conductive coil 62' is used in place of inner insulating housing 30 and conductive coil 62 (60) in FIG. Additionally, the exterior design of conductive coil 62' is different than the exterior design of conductive coil 62 of FIGS.

Specifically, the shape design of the conductive coil 62' includes a three-dimensional symmetrical shape design. Referring to FIG. 7, conductive coil 62' includes a body portion 62a' and a plurality of protruding portions 62b'. These protruding portions 62b' are connected to stand on the body portion 62a' (see FIG. 7). These protruding portions 62b' are symmetrically arranged with respect to the central axis I of the portable active temperature control device 100'. The body portion 62a' is located at the bottom of the vacuum insulation layer 20 and is of two-dimensional planar circular shape design. These protruding portions 62b' are arranged along the inner surface of the vacuum heat insulating layer 20. As shown in FIG. In this configuration, the electromagnetic induction heating regions are distributed more widely on the vacuum heat insulating layer 20 .

Further, in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 7 and 8(a), the shape of the protruding portion 62b' is rhomboidal. In another embodiment, the shape of the protruding portion 62b' of the conducting coil 62' of Figure 7 is a circular shape as shown in Figure 8(b). In one embodiment, the shape of the protruding portion 62b' of the conductive coil 62' of Figure 7 is an hourglass shape as shown in Figure 8(c). In yet another embodiment, the shape of the protruding portion 62b' of the conducting coil 62' of Figure 7 is a quadrilateral shape as shown in Figure 8(d), for example a trapezoidal shape. The invention is not so limited. In other embodiments not shown, the projecting portion 62b' can be of other different shape designs. The invention is not so limited. Conductive coil 62 ′, which has a three-dimensional symmetrical shape design, is not limited to the shape of vacuum insulation layer 20 . The different shapes of the protruding portions 62b' can be used to control the heat generation area around the protruding portions 62b' so that the conductive coils 62' can further perform temperature distribution to different regions of the vacuum insulation layer 20 for heating. The effect can be further optimized. The invention is not so limited.

FIG. 9 is a temperature distribution diagram of the vacuum heat insulating layer in Embodiment 2 of the present invention. An infrared thermometer was used to detect the temperature at different locations of the metal within the vacuum insulation layer 20 of FIG. 7 in an environment with an 8 watt power supply. As shown in Figure 9, the temperature difference between the bottom, middle and upper layers is within 12 degrees Celsius. In the vacuum insulation layer 20 of Embodiment 1 of the present invention of FIG. 6, the temperature difference between the bottom, middle and upper layers is about 20 degrees Celsius. The conductive coil 62' of the portable active temperature control device 100 adopts a three-dimensional symmetrical shape design, which effectively improves the heat balance generated by the conductive coil 62' against the metal of the vacuum insulation layer 20. and approximately constant temperatures can be achieved in the bottom, middle and upper layers.

Additionally, the conductive coil 62' has been changed from the two-dimensional planar circular shape design shown in FIG. 3 to a three-dimensional symmetrical design as shown in FIG. Such designs have not been previously reported. It should be noted that if the conductive coil 62 were to change from a two-dimensional planar circular design to a three-dimensional circular design, the power consumption required would be very high and could exceed the 12 Watt range. In another aspect, when a design such as that shown in FIG. 3 is changed to a three-dimensional circular design, the consumption of conductive wire material can increase by more than 30% compared to a design such as that shown in FIG. have a nature. Further, in the designs shown in FIGS. 8(a) and 7, the conductive wire material begins at the inlet wound around and near the metal bottom of the vacuum insulation layer 20 and extends in the same plane (as shown by the dashed lines in FIG. 7). It can be separated from the position, reduces the space for hiding wiring, and facilitates connection with the main control unit 12. - 特許庁

In order to show that the electromagnetic induction heating of the present invention is superior to the conventional resistance heating method, FIG. 10 shows the temperature of the vacuum insulation layer measured using an infrared thermometer after using the conventional resistance heating method. It is a distribution map. After measurement, FIG. 10 shows that the heat generated by the metal of the vacuum insulation layer 20 is not uniform, and the temperature difference of the metal of the vacuum insulation layer 20 exceeds 30°C. In other words, the vacuum insulation layer has a very uneven heating temperature at different positions, and the required power consumption is also relatively high. 9, compared to the resistive heating method of FIG. 10, the vacuum insulation layer is uniformly heated and consumes relatively low power in the embodiment of FIG.

In summary, in an embodiment of the present invention, a portable active temperature control device supplies a high frequency AC applied to a conductive coil to enable the conductive coil to generate an alternating magnetic field, which is also vacuum insulated. It interacts with the metal of the layer to produce thermal energy, and the heat exchange of thermal energy can be effectively performed with the storage vessel to perform heating or insulation of the contents within the storage vessel. Additionally, thermocouples provide temperature feedback, allowing the main control unit to adjust the magnitude of the current to further regulate the heating power. In embodiments of the present invention, a three-dimensional symmetric conduction coil design is further proposed to further optimize heat generation uniformity. In addition, since the main control unit is equipped with a high frequency AC/DC conversion circuit, DC can be converted into high frequency AC. Thus, the present invention need not be limited to use in situations where AC can be supplied, allowing the user to conveniently transport the device for a variety of heating or sustained insulation requirements. As a result, it is possible to realize a portable active temperature control device with low power consumption and high safety.

The above selected and described embodiments are used to clearly explain the principles and practical applications of the embodiments of the present invention. Those skilled in the art will appreciate various embodiments of the embodiments of the present invention and various modifications suitable for particular purposes.

The above-described embodiments of the invention are intended to be illustrative of the principles and concepts of the invention and are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the details set forth herein. not intended. Those skilled in the art should understand that various modifications and substitutions with equivalents are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. The accompanying drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. Due to manufacturing processes and tolerance factors, there may be differences between the processes presented in the embodiments of the present invention and actual devices. Other implementations of embodiments of the invention may not be described in detail here. The description and accompanying drawings in this specification are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. With respect to a particular situation, material, composition of matter, method or process, modifications may be made to adapt the objective, spirit and scope of the present invention. All of these modifications are within the scope of the claims appended hereto. The methods disclosed herein are described by performing certain operations in a certain order. However, it should be understood that these operations may be combined, subdivided, or rearranged to form equivalent methods without departing from the teachings of the present invention. Therefore, the order and grouping of these operations are not restricted unless otherwise stated.

Claims (7)

an insulating housing with a main control unit, said main control unit supplying a high frequency AC;
a vacuum insulation layer composed of metal and disposed within said insulating housing ;
a reservoir disposed within said insulating housing;
a top cover covering the insulating housing;
A heating module electrically connected to the main control unit, the heating module comprising:
a conductive coil that receives the high frequency AC from the main control unit and continuously generates an alternating magnetic field;
a thermocouple connected to the conduction coil and the main control unit and used to feed back temperature to the main control unit and adjust operating voltage to vary the high frequency AC;
a heating module comprising;
and
the alternating magnetic field generated by the conductive coil enables the metal of the vacuum insulation layer to generate heat and carry out heat exchange with the storage vessel ;
The shape design of the conductive coil includes a three-dimensional symmetrical shape design,
The conductive coil is
a body portion;
a plurality of protrusions connected to and standing on the body portion, wherein the plurality of protrusions are symmetrically arranged with respect to a central axis of the portable active temperature control device; , a plurality of protrusions;
further comprising
Portable active temperature controller. 2. The portable active temperature control device of claim 1, further comprising an inner insulating housing, wherein said heating module is positioned between said inner insulating housing and said vacuum insulation layer. 3. The portable active temperature control device of claim 2, wherein the insulating housing, the main control unit, the vacuum insulation layer, the inner insulating housing, and the heating module are arranged in a closed system space. 2. The portable active temperature control device of Claim 1 , wherein the shape of said body portion comprises a circular shape. 2. The portable active temperature control device of claim 1 , wherein the shape of the protruding portion includes a diamond shape, a circular shape, an hourglass shape, or a quadrilateral shape. The main control unit is connected to a power source, the main control unit includes a high frequency AC/DC conversion circuit, and the high frequency AC/DC conversion circuit converts DC from the power source into the high frequency AC. The portable active temperature control device of claim 1, used for 7. The portable active temperature control device of claim 6 , wherein the power source comprises mobile power, USB power, or a battery embedded in the portable active temperature control device.

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