JPH02252419A - Microcomputer controlled electric hot-water pot - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make hot-water available whenever someone wants without a waiting time by providing an automatic re-boiling mode switch which designates a time interval and sets an automatic re-boiling mode, and a controller which performs timer-control to control heating in re-boiling water at set regular time intervals. CONSTITUTION:An electric hot-water pot is provided with a re-boiling switch 12 which issues re-boiling instructions, an automatic re-boiling switch 13a, and a controller. The automatic re-boiling switch 13a designates a time interval and sets an automatic re-boiling mode. The controller performs the hot-keeping control usually, and the timer-control in the automatic re-boiling mode so as to control the power supply to a heater which gives heat in re-boiling water at regular time intervals. A heater conduction control unit 19 controls the pulse width to be applied to a conduction controller of a Triac, etc., according to output signals from a microcomputer 15 to control the heating power supply to the heater. A clock unit 20 gives basic clock signals and time signals for a timer to the microcomputer 15.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a microcomputer-controlled electric kettle.

[Conventional technology]

Traditionally, hot water at the appropriate temperature was always available at hand.
An electric kettle that combines an electric water heater for boiling water and a thermos pot has been developed. This kind of electric pot has a heater,
Equipped with a temperature sensor and a microcomputer, the temperature sensor measures the temperature of the water in the container, and the microcomputer controls the energization of the heater to ensure that the temperature of the water is always maintained at a predetermined temperature. ing.

From the perspective of energy conservation, the container that holds hot water has a sealed structure with good insulation in order to keep it warm. Sudden heating can increase the internal pressure of the container, creating a dangerous situation, so do not turn the heater on. The energization control is controlled by a microcomputer so that the temperature rises appropriately.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In such an electric kettle that is a combination of an electric water heater and a heat-retaining pot, energization of the heater is controlled so that the water is kept warm after it is boiled by the electric water heater. The energization control of such heaters is performed by a microcomputer, and in order to control the energization of the heaters to achieve an appropriate temperature rise and prevent dry cooking, it detects the temperature of the water in the container and It is necessary to detect the amount of water inside.

In addition, for electric kettles whose inner container cannot be seen through, if the amount of water inside the container can be displayed externally, it will be easier to judge when to refill the electric kettle. The amount can be displayed externally. This makes the electric kettle more convenient to use.

The way hot water from an electric kettle is used varies depending on the person and the purpose. Normally, hot water that is kept warm is used; however, for example, when using hot water to pour into cup noodles or hot water for drip coffee, it is desirable to use hot water that has just been boiled and is at a high temperature. Ru. For this reason, electric kettles are equipped with a reboiling switch, and by pressing the reboiling switch, the water in the electric kettle is reboiled, allowing the hot water to be used immediately after boiling. In particular, when the remaining amount is low and the water is refilled in the electric kettle, and the heating temperature drops extremely, the electric kettle will detect this and automatically re-boil even if you do not press the re-boiling switch. It is designed to do this. This makes the electric kettle even more convenient to use.

By the way, electric kettles have become easier to use due to microcomputer control, but the reboiling function based on instructions from the reboiling switch does not allow the user to use hot water immediately after it has boiled. This function allows you to re-boil the water in the electric kettle and use the hot water immediately after boiling by pressing the re-boil switch when desired.

By the way, in daily life, we often use hot water from an electric kettle at a certain time every day.

For example, this is often at a certain time in the daily rhythm of -day, such as during breakfast, lunch, or during a break at 3 p.m., and the reboil switch is often pressed at such a predetermined time.

In this case, the time from when you press the reboil switch until the boiling water becomes available depends on the amount of water in the electric kettle, but it is the time it takes for the water to boil again from the warm temperature, which is several minutes. It will take a while. Therefore, users cannot immediately use boiled water when they want to use it without waiting.

An object of the present invention is to provide an electric water bottle that allows you to use boiled water immediately when you want to use it without waiting.

The above and other objects and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the description of this specification and the accompanying drawings.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a container containing water, a heater that heats the container, a temperature sensor provided near the container, and a microcontroller that controls energization of the heater based on the output of the temperature sensor. In a microcomputer-controlled electric kettle equipped with a computer, there is a reboiling switch that issues a reboiling instruction, a timer mechanism that issues a reboiling instruction at set predetermined time intervals, and a timer mechanism that issues a reboiling instruction at predetermined time intervals. The present invention is characterized by comprising a heating control means for controlling energization of a heater that performs heating control for reboiling.

Also, a container to hold water, a heater to heat the container,
In a microcomputer-controlled electric kettle equipped with a temperature sensor provided near the container and a microcomputer that controls energization of a heater based on the output of the temperature sensor, an automatic reboiling mode is set by specifying a time interval. A mode switch, a reboiling switch that issues a reboiling instruction, and a heater that normally performs heat retention control, but in automatic reboiling mode, performs timer control to control reboiling heating every set predetermined time. The present invention is characterized by comprising a control means for controlling energization.

[Effect]

According to the above-mentioned means, a microcomputer-controlled electric kettle equipped with a microcomputer is provided with a reboiling switch for issuing a reboiling instruction, a timer mechanism, and a heating control means. The timer mechanism issues a reboiling instruction at predetermined time intervals, and the heating control means 1 normally performs heat retention control at a predetermined temperature, and energizes a heater that performs reboiling heating control according to the reboiling instruction. Take control.

By setting the time interval to issue a reboiling instruction shortly before using the hot water, users can wait for each predetermined time interval they wish to use, such as during lunch or during a break at 3 p.m. You can use boiling water immediately. Also,
This electric kettle reboils the water at preset intervals.

- Since re-boiling will be performed many times a day, it can also be expected to be effective in reducing the chlorine content of hot water, such as when using tap water as hot water.

Further, this microcomputer-controlled electric kettle is equipped with a reboiling switch that issues a reboiling instruction, an automatic reboiling mode switch, and a control means. The automatic reboiling mode switch sets the automatic reboiling mode by specifying a time interval.

The control means 1 normally performs heat retention control, and in automatic reboiling mode performs timer control to control energization of a heater that performs reboiling heating control at set predetermined time intervals.

As a result, if you set the electric kettle to automatic reboiling mode, the electric kettle will reboil at specified time intervals, allowing you to use the hot water at specified times such as during lunch or breaks. Boiled water can be used immediately without waiting every interval, and convenience and ease of use are further improved.

By the way, microcomputer-controlled electric pots have
It is equipped with a container to hold water, a heater to heat the container, a temperature sensor installed near the container, and a microcomputer that controls the heater's energization based on the output of the temperature sensor. The installation does not require special hardware, and can be realized by adding a processing step for timer control to a microcomputer that controls energization of the heater, and does not result in high costs.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be specifically described using the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway side view of a microcomputer-controlled electric kettle according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1 is an electric kettle main body, 2 is a water boiling container for storing water, and 3 is an exterior case that houses the water boiling container 2 and the like.

Further, 4 is a heater, for example, a sheathed heater, a mica heater, or the like is used, and is disposed at the bottom of the water boiling container 2. Reference numeral 5 denotes a temperature sensor composed of a thermistor or the like provided in contact with the bottom of the water boiling container. 6 is a control unit incorporating a microcomputer, etc., and 7 is a front panel section provided on the front of the electric kettle. The front panel section 7 is provided with a reboiling switch, a water amount display section, a light emitting diode for displaying boiling operation, a light emitting diode for displaying heat retention operation, and the like.

The reboiling switch provided on the front panel is a switch that is pressed when you want to bring the boiler to a boil again, such as when you are in a warm state or when you add water. When the reboil switch is pressed, the electric kettle enters the reboil operation.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a front panel portion of a microcomputer-controlled electric kettle according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2, 7 is a front panel section. Reference numeral 9 denotes a water quantity display section, which is a display device having a structure in which light emitting diodes are arranged in a straight line in the vertical direction. The water amount display section 9 displays the amount of hot water in the container of the electric kettle in the form of a bar graph. 1
0 is a light emitting diode for indicating a heat retention operation, and 11 is a light emitting diode for indicating a boiling operation. Further, 12 is a reboiling switch, 13a is an automatic reboiling mode switch, and 13b is a reboiling time setting switch (sleep timer setting switch). 14a is an automatic reboiling time display section, and 14b is a reboiling timer display section (sleep timer display section). Automatic reboiling time display section 14a and reboiling timer display section 1
4b is each composed of a plurality of light emitting diode groups, and each displays the set reboiling time interval and reboiling time (timer time).

FIG. 3 is a block circuit diagram showing the configuration of main parts of a control unit using a microcomputer. In FIG. 3, 9a is a water quantity display unit that drives the water quantity indicator 9, 10 is a light emitting diode for indicating heat retention operation, 11 is a light emitting diode for indicating boiling operation, 12 is a reboiling switch,
13a is an automatic reboiling mode switch, 13b is a reboiling time setting switch, 14a is an automatic reboiling time display section, 14
b is the reboiling timer display section, and these are the second
This corresponds to that provided on the front panel section 7 shown in the figure.

Further, 15 is a microcomputer, which internally includes a processing device CPU, memory RAM, program memory ROM,
It has a built-in input port with an analog/digital conversion function, multiple input ports that accept key switch input, and an output port that outputs control output signals. 16 is a temperature sensor unit, 17 is a water amount detection unit, 18 is a buzzer for notifying an abnormal state such as an empty cooking state, and 19 is a heater energization control unit. The heater energization control unit 19 controls the pulse width applied to the energization control means, such as a triac, based on the output signal output from the microphone computer, thereby controlling the heating power of the heater. Further, 20 is a clock mechanism. The clock mechanism 20 provides a basic clock signal for the operation of the microcomputer 15, and also provides the microcomputer 15 with a time signal for a timer mechanism that measures time. Note that this clock mechanism 20 is driven by an independent power source and has its own timer mechanism. This timer mechanism has a timer reservation mechanism that outputs an electrical signal at a set time, and also has a timer mechanism that outputs a signal at each set time interval.

Next, the operation of the microcomputer-controlled electric kettle configured as described above will be explained.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the automatic reboiling mode processing, which is a main part of the control processing of the microcomputer. This will be explained with reference to FIG.

When the automatic reboiling mode switch 13a is not operated and the automatic reboiling mode switch 13a is in the normal mode, the microcomputer in the electric kettle performs a known microcomputer-controlled electric kettle control operation. That is, when water is put into an electric kettle, the temperature and amount of water are detected, the heater is energized, and when the water reaches a boiling state, the boiling is maintained for a predetermined period of time.

For example, heat retention control is performed at 93°C. During this time, the detected amount of water is displayed, and the lighting of the light emitting diode is also controlled to display the operating status of the electric kettle. In such a state, when the automatic reboiling mode switch 13a is operated and the automatic reboiling mode is entered, processing is performed according to the control flow shown in FIG. 4. When setting the automatic reboiling mode, as is clear from the display screen of the automatic reboiling time display section 14a (Fig. 2) on the front panel, multiple automatic reboiling time intervals are determined in advance. , the user selects a desired time interval from these multiple time intervals and sets the time interval for automatic reboiling. This selection is made by pressing the automatic reboil mode switch 13a. When the automatic reboiling mode switch 13a is pressed, first, a preset time interval of 2 hours is selected, the light emitting diode indicating 2 hours is lit, and the automatic reboiling mode is entered. Furthermore, when the automatic reboil mode switch 13a is pressed, the light emitting diodes turn on at 2.
The time is sequentially changed from 4 hours to 6 hours, and each time the automatic reboiling mode switch 13a is pressed, the selected time interval is changed to enter the automatic reboiling mode. When the automatic reboiling mode switch 13a is further pressed after the selection of 6 hours, the automatic reboiling mode is canceled and the light emitting diode is turned off. Furthermore, automatic reboiling mode switch 1
When 3a is pressed, 2 hours is selected again. in this way.

When the automatic reboiling mode switch 13a is operated, the automatic reboiling mode is set or canceled, and correspondingly, one of the light emitting diodes of the automatic reboiling time display section 14a is lit or turned off. , the selected time interval is displayed and the automatic reboil mode is displayed.

Furthermore, for the [sleep timer function] that reboils at a predetermined time, the timer time can be set by performing similar setting switch operations using the reboiling time setting switch 13b and the reboiling timer display section 14b. be exposed. That is, each time the reboiling time setting switch 13b is pressed, the display state of the light emitting diode of the reboiling timer display section 14b changes from "3 hours → 6 hours → 9 hours → cancel (lights out) →
3 hours'' is repeated, and a reboiling timer is set for each time.

When the automatic reboiling mode control process begins, first, in step 21, the LED (light emitting diode) for the selected set time is lit. Next, in step 22, the selected set time is set in the timer of the internal register. Next, the process proceeds to step 23, where the timer is counted up, and in the first step 24, the heat retention process is controlled. Next, in step 25, it is determined whether the automatic reboiling mode switch 13a has been pressed and the automatic reboiling time has been changed. If the time interval to be selected is changed, the process returns to step 21, the changed time interval is reset as the set time, and the process from step 21 is performed again. In addition,
At this time, the automatic reboiling mode switch 13a is pressed,
When automatic reboiling mode is canceled, 1 returns to normal mode. If the automatic reboiling time has not been changed, in the next step 26 it is determined whether the reboiling switch 12 has been turned on. When the reboiling switch 12 is turned on, the process proceeds to step 30, which will be described later, in order to immediately start the boiling operation. If the reboil switch 12 is not turned on, the process proceeds to the next step 27 to determine whether or not the timer has timed up, and until the timer has timed up, the process returns to step 23 and the processing from step 23 continues Repeat. That is, until the set time interval is reached, the heat retention process control in step 24 and step 2 are performed.
Judgment of automatic reboiling time change by reboiling time setting switch 13a in step 5 and reboiling switch 1 in step 26
The on-determination in step 2 is repeated and the timer waits until the time is up. In step 27, if time-up is determined, the process first proceeds to step 28. In step 28, the water amount data is read from the water amount detection unit, and in the next step 29, it is determined whether the amount of hot water in the electric kettle is below the water supply value. If the amount of hot water is less than the water supply value, there is no usable amount of hot water even if re-boiling is performed, so the automatic boiling mode is exited and the process moves to the water supply notification processing routine.

On the other hand, if it is determined in the determination process of step 29 that the amount of hot water is not below the water supply value, the next step 3 is performed.
0 and enters reboiling operation. This reboiling operation is performed by turning on the main heater in step 30 and repeatedly determining whether or not the boiling determination has been completed in step 31. For example, the boiling determination process is performed based on whether the boiling temperature has continued for a predetermined period of time. Note that during this time (while the main heater is on), the light emitting diode 11 for indicating the reboiling operation is lit.

In step 31, when it is determined that the boiling determination has been completed, the process proceeds to the next step 32, where the main heater is turned off, the reboiling operation is completed, and the next step 33, which is a heat retention process control process, is performed. Then, return to step 21 again,
The process from step 21 is repeated.

In the automatic reboiling mode, by performing such processing, the reboiling operation is repeated at every set time interval.

FIG. 5 is a temperature change curve diagram showing an example of the temperature change of hot water in the electric kettle of this embodiment. FIG. 5 shows the time t
The temperature change curve is shown when the automatic reboiling mode is set and operating at a 5-hour interval T1 in the factory.

As is clear from FIG. 1, according to the electric kettle of this embodiment, at every set predetermined time interval T1,
The reboiling operation is automatically repeated without pressing the reboil switch. This time interval T1 may be configured to be able to set an arbitrary time, but in this embodiment, a plurality of set times are set in advance so that the user can easily select one by a simple switch operation. The structure is as follows. This makes it easy to set the automatic reboiling mode and improves usability.

In the above description of the embodiment, the control unit of the microphone computer is provided with a processing program for automatic reboil mode, but an independent timer mechanism that outputs a signal at predetermined time intervals is provided, and with this timer structure, Even if the reboiling operation is performed by making the signals generated at predetermined time intervals similar to the signals from the reboiling switch, the problem is unpleasant.

The present invention has been specifically explained above based on examples, but
It goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and can be modified in various ways without departing from the spirit thereof.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, the electric kettle automatically reboils at the set time without pressing the reboil switch, so hot water users can use the hot water when they want to use it, such as during lunch. Boiled water can be used immediately without waiting time, which improves convenience and ease of use.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a partially cutaway side view of a microcomputer-controlled electric kettle according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 2 is a diagram showing a front panel portion of the microcomputer-controlled electric kettle according to an embodiment of the present invention. , FIG. 3 is a block circuit diagram showing the configuration of main parts of a control unit using a microcomputer. Fig. 4 is a flowchart showing the automatic reboiling mode processing of the main part of the control processing of the microcomputer, and Fig. 5 is a temperature change curve diagram showing an example of the temperature change of hot water in the electric kettle of this embodiment. . In the figure, 1... Electric pot body, 2... Water boiling container,
3...Exterior case, 4...Heater, 5...Temperature sensor, 6...Control unit, F...Front panel section,
9... Water amount display section, 10... Light emitting diode for indicating heat retention operation, 11... Light emitting diode for indicating boiling operation, 12... Reboiling switch, 13a... Automatic reboiling mode switch. 13b... Reboiling time setting switch, 14a... Automatic reboiling time display section, 14b... Reboiling timer display section, 15... Microcomputer, 16... Temperature sensor unit, 17... Water amount detection unit, 18...
・Buzzer, 19...Heater energization control unit, 20・
・Clock mechanism.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A container to hold water, a heater to heat the container,
A microcomputer-controlled electric kettle including a temperature sensor provided near the container and a microcomputer that controls energization of the heater based on the output of the temperature sensor, a reboiling switch that issues a reboiling instruction, and a reboiling switch that issues a reboiling instruction at predetermined time intervals. a timer mechanism that issues a reboiling instruction; and a heating control means that normally performs heat retention control at a predetermined temperature and controls energization of a heater that performs reboiling heating control based on the reboiling instruction. Computer controlled electric kettle. (2) a container to hold water and a heater to heat the container;
In a microcomputer-controlled electric kettle equipped with a temperature sensor provided near the container and a microcomputer that controls energization of a heater based on the output of the temperature sensor, an automatic reboiling mode is set by specifying a time interval. The mode switch, the reboiling switch that issues a reboiling instruction, and the energization of the heater that normally performs heat retention control and, in automatic reboiling mode, performs timer control to perform reboiling heating control at set predetermined time intervals. A microcomputer-controlled electric pot characterized by comprising a control means for performing control.