JPH039408B2 - - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Industrial Field of Application) The present invention has a counter electrode that electrically connects and disconnects depending on the amount of liquid in the medium container, and this electrical connection and disconnection causes the flow of water in the medium container to be controlled. This invention relates to a liquid container that detects the amount of liquid.

(Prior Art) All of the counter electrodes that obtain electrical connection/disconnection changes depending on the liquid level in the medium container must be located in the liquid level detection area in the medium container. Conventionally, these electrodes are generally inserted into the inner container through its mouth.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) This energization detection method using electrical connection/disconnection is simple and reliable in detecting the liquid amount. However, if this insertion electrode is provided in a fixed manner, it is unsightly in use, obstructs the cleaning of the inside of the container, and there is a risk of injury if it gets caught. In addition, if the insertion electrode is used as a liquid pumping tube of a liquid dispensing device that is detachably inserted into the medium container, or is provided thereon, the insertion electrode can be attached and removed together with the liquid pumping tube, and it can be inserted into the medium container at all times. Although it will not be unsightly in use, or will not get in the way or pose a danger during cleaning, an electrical connection must be provided to enable the above-mentioned attachment and detachment, and there must be an electrical connection between the electrode inside the inner container and the electrode outside the inner container. The connection to the electrical parts is made by bypassing the mouth of the inner container, which further complicates and increases the length of the electrical connection due to the location of the electrical connection. Moreover, when the insertion electrode is removed together with the liquid pumping tube, the electrical connection part and the insertion electrode are exposed both to the liquid container side and to the side from which it is removed, causing unnecessary tension and anxiety to housewives when handling the liquid. In addition to this, there is also the inconvenience of damage during handling such as cleaning.

Therefore, the present invention makes it possible to detect the liquid level in the liquid level detection area of the metal medium container by making the electrode substantially or simulatively face the outside of the medium container without passing through the mouth of the medium container. The object is to provide a liquid container that does not have the above-mentioned drawbacks.

(Means for solving the problem) A liquid having a counter electrode that electrically connects and disconnects depending on the amount of liquid in the medium container, and detects the amount of liquid in the medium container by this electrical connection and disconnection. In the container, the inner container is a wide mouth container made of metal, one electrode of the counter electrode is made of the metal inner container, and the other electrode is connected to the inner container so as to maintain the same liquid level as in the inner container. The device is characterized in that a passage portion outside the inner container is provided that extends outward from the container, and the passage portion side is electrically insulated from the inner container side.

(Function) One of the counter electrodes, which are electrically connected and disconnected depending on the liquid volume, is a metal inner container and is in direct contact with the content liquid, and the other of each counter electrode is connected to the inner container and is the same as the inside of the inner container. The other electrode is installed in the passage outside the middle container that extends outward from the middle container so as to maintain the liquid level, and is electrically insulated from the middle container side. only while it is above the height of
It is in contact with the liquid in the middle container through the passageway outside the middle container in which it is installed, and is electrically insulated between the middle container and the middle container, which is in an electrically insulated state due to the liquid in the middle container. If the liquid level in the middle container falls below the other electrode, the electrical connection between the two electrodes will be broken, and the liquid level in the middle container will be electrically disconnected via the liquid content of both electrodes. It can be detected by contacting the inner container without electrodes inside the inner container, and since the inner container has a wide mouth, it is easy to put the hand in and out of the inner container. Disturbances can be avoided.

(Example) Each embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

In the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a metal inner container 1 is connected to a first electrode, and a metal inner container 1 is installed in communicating protrusions 61 formed at a plurality of locations in the longitudinal direction of the inner container 1 and projecting to the outside. Other electrodes 62 ₁ , 62 ₂ , 62 ₃ , 6
2 ₄ is a second electrode facing the first electrode so as to be electrically connected or disconnected depending on the amount of liquid in the inner container 1, and electrodes 62 ₁ , . . . 6
The liquid amount is detected depending on which one of 2 _{to 4} is electrically connected, and it is displayed on an external liquid amount display section 34.

The metal inner container 1 is housed in a metal outer case 5, and the mouth portion 1a is received via a seal packing 12 in a bottom opening 6a of a synthetic resin dish-shaped shoulder member 6 attached to the upper end of the outer case 5. The bottom portion 1b is separably connected to a lid plate 7a applied from below to a synthetic resin bottom ring 7 attached to the lower end of the outer case 5 by means of metal fittings and screws (not shown). As a result, the liquid container body 8 is formed into a double-walled structure, and a synthetic resin pipe cover 9 is attached to the upper front surface of the liquid container body 8, and a mouth portion 1a of the middle container 1 is formed.
A synthetic resin stopper 11 having a metal inner cover 10 is seated on the inner cover 10 to be opened and closed.

A lid body 13 is provided on the shoulder member 6 of the container body 8, and this lid body 13 is connected to the bellows pump 1 for pressurizing and dispensing the content liquid.
4 is built-in, and is pivoted to the rear of the shoulder member 6 by a shaft 15 so as to be openable and closable. The pump 14 is
Pressurized air is fed into the inner container 1 through the air supply path 16 provided in the stopper 11, and the content liquid is pushed out of the container 8 through the liquid injection path 17 provided in the stopper 11 by pressurization. The discharge port 19 opened in the bellows bottom plate 18 forming the lower surface of the lid 13 is sealed against the air supply path 16 of the stopper 11 by the seal packing 20 to prevent air leakage. They are crimped and connected so that they can be freely connected and separated.

A bellows pressing plate 2 facing the top surface of the lid body 13
1 is provided, and the bellows pump 14 is pressed against a restoring spring 24 through an intake valve 23 provided at an intake port 22 of the bellows pump 14, so that the air inside the pump 14 is forcefully fed into the inner container 1. has been done. A stopper 26 is provided at the front of the lid 13 to elastically engage with a locking portion 25 on the container body 8 side to lock the lid 13 in the closed state. The liquid injection passage 17 includes a liquid pumping pipe 17a that is suspended from the stopper 11 into the medium container 1.
and a spouting pipe 17b extending from the stopper 11 toward the front of the upper end of the container body 1 along the beak-like protrusion 6b of the shoulder member 6, which are communicated by an internal passage 27 of the stopper 11.

The pipe cover 9 has an upper end fitted into the lower part of the beak-like protrusion 6b, and serves as a liquid injection pipe 2 for receiving the liquid content poured out from the spouting pipe 17b and guiding it downward.
8 is held vertically. The liquid injection tube 28 has an upper end formed by engagement of helicoidal protrusions with each other so that it can be attached to and removed from an opening 29 formed at the tip of the beak-shaped protrusion 6b facing the spout 17c at the tip of the spout tube 17b. It is an extensible tube consisting of a stationary tube 28a that is fixed at 30, and a sliding tube 28b that is combined so as to be able to slide freely on the stationary tube 28 and the pipe cover 9. The height of 28c can be adjusted. 31 is the sliding pipe 28
A stopper 31 is shown which elastically engages with b to lock it in any height adjustment position, and this stopper 31 allows the sliding tube 28b to be removed by manual pulling back.

A pedestal 9a extending downward and one side of the pipe cover 9 is integrally formed at the mounting base of the pipe cover 9 to the vessel body 1, and the lower end of the pedestal 9a has a heating
Heat retention status display section 32 and power switch operation section 3
3 is provided, and a liquid amount display section 34 is provided next to the pipe cover 9. A heat retaining heater 35 and a kettle heater 36 are attached to the lower outer periphery of the inner container 1, and a magnetic connection port 37 for connecting a power cord is provided at the rear lower end of the container body 8.

As shown in FIG. 3, the liquid level display section 63 has light emitting diodes 64 corresponding to each electrode 62 ₁ ,..., 62 ₄ .
₁ ,..., ₆₄₄ are provided. Each light emitting diode 6
Switching transistors Tr ₃ , . . . , Tr ₆ are connected to 4 ₁ , . . . , 64 ₄ as in the previous embodiment.

A pulsed voltage signal is applied at approximately 4-second intervals from a frequency divider/oscillator 66 to the clock terminal CL of the inner container 1 which also serves as an electrode and the latch 65, and the liquid level is detected in very short intervals at 4-second intervals. Let's do it.

As a result, among the electrodes 62 ₁ , ..., 62 ₄ , those whose liquid level is lower than those and whose electrical connection with the inner container 1 is cut off become in a high-level voltage state. , the corresponding latch circuit 65
₁ ,..., ₆₅₄ , each latch circuit 6
A high level signal is applied from the output terminal Q of the D terminal of 5 ₁ , ..., 65 ₄ to the base of the corresponding transistor Tr ₃ , ..., Tr ₆ to make it conductive, and each light emitting diode 64 ₁ ,
..., 64 ₄ , the one corresponding to the electrode in the high level voltage state is emitted to display the liquid amount. Therefore, the liquid level display in this case is a light-emitting display indicating that the liquid level is decreasing, and when all the light emitting diodes 64 ₁ , ..., 64 ₄ emit light, it is determined that the minimum liquid level has been reached. is displayed,
There is an advantage that users are most likely to notice. However,
In order to display the remaining amount of the content liquid by emitting light, for example, the signals from the respective output terminals _Q of the latch circuits _{65 1} , _. This can easily be done by giving the transistors Tr ₃ , . . . , Tr ₆ a characteristic that turns on when low level voltage is applied to the base.

In the heater circuit, a heat retention heater 35, a water boiling heater 36, and a thermosensitive control element SCR for heat preservation are connected in series to an AC power supply, and a series circuit of the heat preservation heater 35 and temperature sensitive control element SCR is connected to a series circuit for water boiling control. A series circuit of a relay contact Ry _-1 which is energized at the same time as the thermostat 52 and the light emitting diode ₆₄₁ corresponding to the lowest liquid level is connected in parallel. As a result, the thermostat 52
and relay contact Ry _-1 are both on,
The heat-retaining heater 35 and the temperature-sensitive control element SCR are short-circuited, and the water-boiling heater 36 starts boiling water. When the thermostat 52 reaches a predetermined water boiling temperature, the thermostat 52 turns off, canceling the short circuit and turning on the heater 3.
5 and 36 are connected in series. At that time, due to the decrease in the current flowing due to the increase in resistance, the heaters 35, 3
6 is in a low heat generation state and is kept warm under the control of the temperature sensitive control element SCR.

The relay Ry is turned on when the light emitting diode ₆₄₁ is energized at the lowest liquid level, turning on the relay contact Ry _-1 , and turning on the heater circuit to the thermostat 52.
Regardless of the temperature, the water is kept in the heat-retaining state to prevent the remaining liquid from quickly evaporating and dissipating due to boiling water when the amount of liquid is at its minimum, and thereby preventing overheating.

Light emitting diode 64 ₁ ,..., 64 ₄ and relay Ry
Since the energization is only for a very short time every 4 seconds, the light emitting diodes 64 ₁ , . . . , 64 ₄ blink and the relay Ry repeats on and off. Turning relay Ry on and off requires frequent switching of the heater circuit, so if this is inconvenient, it can be overcome by providing a self-holding contact, which is normally used.

In the second embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 4, electrodes 62 ₁ , . . . , 62 ₄ are provided in a communication path 2 provided on one side of the inner container 1 so as to communicate with the upper and lower sides thereof. . The communication path 2 is formed by a metal communication pipe 3 that is electrically insulated from the inner container 1.

In each of the first and second embodiments, 67 is a cap that holds each electrode 62 ₁ , . . . , 62 ₄ electrically insulated from the inner container 1, and is made of heat-resistant resin or rubber. The electrical insulation structure between each electrode 62 ₁ , ..., 62 ₄ and the inner container 1 may be formed in any way, but for example, the communicating protrusion 61 may be made of a resin material with low wettability with the content liquid. At the same time as the above-mentioned insulation is achieved, the liquid content that has entered into the communication protrusion 61 remains between the protrusion communication parts forever even though the liquid level in the inner container 1 has decreased, and each This makes it easier to eliminate the inconvenience that the electrical connection between the electrodes 62 ₁ , . . . , 62 ₄ and the inner container 1 continues.

(Effect of the invention) One of the counter electrodes, which electrically connect and disconnect depending on the liquid volume, is a metal inner container and directly contacts the liquid inside, and the other of each counter electrode is connected to the inner container and connected to the inside of the inner container. The other electrode is electrically insulated from the inner container side and installed in a passage outside the inner container that extends outward from the inner container so as to maintain the same liquid level as the inner container. Only while it is above its own height, it comes into contact with the liquid in the middle container through the passageway outside the middle container in which it is installed, and is structurally in an electrically insulated state between the middle container and the middle container. They are electrically connected by the liquid in the container, and when the liquid level in the middle container falls below the other electrode, the electrical connection between the two electrodes due to this liquid is broken, and the liquid level in the middle container becomes lower than the other electrode. Detection is possible by electrical connection/disconnection via the liquid inside the electrode, and without the need for an electrode inside the inner container.The wide mouth of the inner container makes it easy to put your hand in and out of the inner container, and the electrode Since interference with work inside the medium container is avoided, the inside of the medium container can be cleaned safely and easily. In addition, since the counter electrode can be placed outside the inner container as it is, the wiring route and structure for connecting it to other electrical components outside the inner container can be simplified, and it can be installed at any position in the circumferential direction of the inner container. Therefore, it can be freely set at the most suitable position in terms of connection and arrangement with other electrical components.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional side view of the main parts of the first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view of the main parts, FIG. 3 is an electric circuit diagram, and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the main parts of the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a second embodiment. 1... Middle container, 62 ₁ ,..., 62 ₄ ... Electrode, 2
...Communication path, 61...Communication protrusion, 67...Insulating cap.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A liquid container having a counter electrode that electrically connects and disconnects depending on the amount of liquid in the medium container, and detects the amount of liquid in the medium container by this electrical connection and disconnection. , the inner container is a wide mouth container made of metal, one electrode of the counter electrode is made of the metal inner container, and the other electrode is connected to the inner container to maintain the same liquid level as the inside of the inner container. A liquid container characterized in that a passage portion outside the inner container extending outward is provided, and the passage portion side is electrically insulated from the inner container side.