JPH0445170B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an electric hot water storage container, and more particularly to an electric hot water storage container that can automatically provide hot water at a predetermined temperature at a scheduled time.

(Prior art) In this type of conventional electric hot water storage container, a scheduled time is set on a timer, and from the time when the timer turns off, electricity is applied to the heater to heat the content liquid to achieve a boiling state, and then the water reaches a predetermined temperature. It is designed to maintain the temperature (Figure 8).

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) In the conventional method described above, the content liquid is heated and boiled after a set time set by a timer has elapsed, so the time when hot water at a predetermined temperature is obtained. is far behind the scheduled time. This delay can be dealt with by actively shifting the set time from the actual time when hot water at a predetermined temperature is desired, based on experience and correction data. However, it is not possible to simply set the desired time, and the difference between the time required to obtain hot water at a predetermined temperature and the set time remains the same, causing confusion for the user.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an electric hot water storage container that automatically provides hot water at a predetermined temperature at a set time.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above objects, the present invention has the following features:
It is equipped with a heater that heats the liquid content, a control means that controls energization of the heater, a timer that measures time, a time setting means, and a temperature detection means that detects the temperature of the liquid content, and the control means starts the timer. After that, at a predetermined time point before the time set by the time setting means has elapsed, the change characteristics of the temperature of the content liquid are determined based on the temperature change of the content liquid and the heating state at that time, and the change characteristics of the temperature change and the current temperature are determined. Based on the temperature of the liquid in the water, the water boiling conditions are determined such that the liquid in the water reaches a predetermined temperature when the set time has elapsed since the timer started counting, and the energization is controlled based on these specific conditions. This is characterized in that the content liquid is brought to a predetermined temperature.

(Function) According to the above configuration of the present invention, when the time setting means sets the time at which hot water at a predetermined temperature is desired, the control means operates at a predetermined time point before a predetermined time elapses from the timing of the timer. Identify boiling water conditions.

This condition is determined by determining the change characteristics of the content liquid temperature based on the temperature change of the content liquid and the heating state at that time. This method calculates the conditions for the content liquid to reach a predetermined temperature when a set time has elapsed, and specifies the boiling conditions that match the actual temperature rise characteristics, taking into account the amount of content liquid and the effects of room temperature, etc. The control means can ensure that the liquid content reaches the predetermined temperature when the set time has elapsed, simply by executing a control program that controls the energization of the heater under the specified water boiling conditions. .

(Example) A first example of the present invention shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 will be described.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, a heater 1 is attached to the lower surface of the bottom of the inner container 2, and electricity is controlled by a control circuit 91 including a microcomputer (hereinafter referred to as microcomputer) 66 to supply the liquid at a timely manner. It is also heated to an appropriate temperature to keep it warm.

The inner container 2 is housed and held in an outer case 3, and the container body 4
is formed. The mouth portion 2a of the inner container 2 is connected to the upper end of the outer case 3 by a shoulder member 5 made of synthetic resin, and the outer lid 7 can be opened/closed and detached by a shaft 6 on a rear hook-shaped bearing 9 of the shoulder member 5. It is pivoted to.
An inner cover 8 applied to the mouth 2a of the inner container 2 is attached to the lower surface of the outer cover 7, and is opened and closed integrally with the outer cover 7.

A bellows pump 11 is provided inside the outer lid 7 and is operated by a pressing plate 10 on the upper surface of the outer lid 7. Pressurized air is sent into the container 2 to pressurize the liquid inside. The air supply passage 13 is connected to the outer cover 7 through the branch hole 14.
A steam vent passage 15 is provided to escape to the upper surface of the inner container 2, and the steam generated during heat retention and boiling by the heater 1 is released to the outside to prevent abnormal pressure rise in the inner container 2.

The branch hole 14 is switched and closed to the air supply port 16 of the bellows pump bottom plate 12 by a valve 36 that is moved down in conjunction with the pressing operation of the bellows pump 11, and pressurized air is released into steam when the content liquid is pressurized. Extraction passage 15
This prevents steam from escaping to the bellows pump 11 or from entering the bellows pump 11 when hot water is stored.

A lead-out passage 17 for guiding the pressurized content liquid upward to the outside of the inner container 2 is provided with its base end connected to the bottom of the inner container 2, communicating with the inner container 2 at the bottom and having an upper end open to the outside. Inner container 2
The content liquid 42 in the container is designed to constantly flow in and maintain the same level. A synthetic resin elbow 20 is connected to the upper end of the lead-out path 17. This elbow 20
is a beak-shaped portion 5a of the shoulder member 5 that protrudes to one side in a beak-like manner.
It is connected to an inverted U-shaped tube 23 fixed to the back side of the.
The inverted U-shaped tube 23 has a built-in water stop valve 25 immediately above the connection part with the elbow 20, and the downward discharge port 19 at the tip of the inverted U-shaped tube 23 connects the inner container 2 from the lower end to the front side. A slit 26 is formed that reaches above the full water position. Beak-shaped part 5a of vessel body 4
A pipe cover 27 that surrounds the beak-like portion 5a is provided below, and is fitted onto the beak-like portion 5a and the outer case 3 of the vessel body 4. pipe cover 27
A liquid injection guide tube 24 is detachably attached to the bottom of the inverted U-shaped tube 23 to receive the liquid discharged from the discharge port 19 of the inverted U-shaped tube 23 in an open state to the atmosphere and to flow it downward.

The slit 26 is also involved in this open reception to the atmosphere, which reliably prevents siphon splash and the ejection of the contents in the event of rapid dispensing. The liquid injection guide tube 24 is removably fitted into the beak-shaped portion 5a of the shoulder member 5, receives the liquid discharged from the discharge port 19 with a slightly large diameter, and then gently flows downward while squeezing the liquid appropriately. Let it flow down.

A water stop valve 29 is provided in the air supply passage 13.

Note that the steam sensor 3 is attached to a part of the shoulder member 5 from the back side.
7 protrudes to face the inside of the steam vent passage 15, and boiling of the content liquid is detected based on the steam temperature.

The rising portion of the content liquid outlet path 17 serves as a liquid level detection portion 17b, which is made of an insulating material. Specifically, glass may be used, but resin has a better dielectric constant, makes it easier to change capacitance, and can suppress unspecified liquid level level caused by swelling due to surface tension around the liquid level. The liquid level detection section 17b is connected to the bottom of the inner container 2 via a straight connecting pipe 17c made of synthetic resin, a bent pipe 17a made of metal, an elbow 17d made of synthetic resin, and a connecting port 17e made of metal.

Here, an aluminum foil 41 is wrapped around the outer periphery of the liquid level detecting section 17b to serve as a first electrode, and the bent pipe 1 is electrically connected to the liquid inside the liquid level detecting section 17b.
7a is the second electrode, and the content liquid 42 in the liquid level detecting section 17b that communicates with the second electrode 17a of the first electrode 41 faces each other through the insulating peripheral wall of the liquid level detecting section 17b. The size of the area, i.e. the content liquid 42
It is designed so that the capacitance can be obtained according to the liquid level height.

This difference in capacitance depending on the liquid level can be input to the microcomputer 66 by connecting the first and second electrodes 41, 17a to the microcomputer 66 via the water amount detection circuit A as shown in FIG. I try to do that. As a result, the microcomputer 66 determines the liquid level of the content liquid based on the input corresponding to the difference in capacitance, and depending on the determination, a light emitting diode for external display connected to the microcomputer 66 via the display circuit B is activated. 42 _1,4
2 ₂ ... 42 ₆ are driven to display the liquid level externally.

The light emitting diodes 42 ₁ to 42 ₆ are provided in the display window 4 in the resin panel 43 fitted to the front part of the exterior body 1.
4 are illuminated throughout. The lowest light emitting diode 42 ₁ corresponds to the safe minimum water level and displays a prompt to supply water, the highest light emitting diode 42 ₆ displays the full water level, and the other light emitting diodes 42 ₂ to 42 ₅ display intermediate liquid levels.

In addition, some of these light emitting diodes 42 ₁ to 42 ₆ also serve as a time display when setting a desired time to obtain the content liquid at a predetermined temperature in the case of a timer kettle that uses a timer to boil water. It is designed to do so. To set this time, a timer switch 67 is connected to the microcomputer 66 via a switch circuit. Also connected to this switch circuit C is a changeover switch 69 for specifying a desired temperature in the case of timer boiling water. The selector switch 69 is set to the temperature 93, which is about the same temperature as immediately after boiling water.
High temperature setting of ~95℃ and a little lower than that
It is possible to set the temperature to 80℃.

At the bottom of the resin panel 43, there are provided an operation button 45a for operating the reboiling switch 45 of the switch circuit C for boiling the content liquid in a timely manner by the heater 1, and an operation button 67a for the timer switch 67. Each of the light emitting diodes 46, 47, 79 and 80 for indicating heat retention, timer operation, and power on display are connected to the window 49.
It is provided for external display through. The portion where these are provided is covered flush with a transparent resin cover sheet 48, and any necessary indications are printed on the back side of the cover sheet 48. Each of the diodes 46, 47, 79, and 80 is also connected to and controlled by the microcomputer 66 via the display circuit B.

At the center of the lower surface of the bottom of the inner container 2, a temperature-sensitive control element 68 is provided as a temperature detection means for detecting the temperature of the content liquid using a through hole formed in the center of the heater 1. The detected temperature information is input to the microcomputer 66 and used to keep the liquid content at a predetermined temperature.

The microcomputer 66 functions as an energization control means for controlling the energization of the heater 1 and also controls the operation of the signal buzzer 65, etc., but it has a CPU and a ROM, and the timing operation is performed by an internal timer 77. It is installed on the board 167 together with the circuit portion of the control circuit 91, and operates based on the clock signal from the clock generation circuit D. Furthermore, a plug disconnection circuit E for dealing with disconnection of the plug is also connected.

This board 167 is integrally formed with a part of the annular bottom plate 71 attached to the lower end of the outer case 3, and is housed from below in a control box 72 that opens downward, and is secured with screws 70.

A rotary bottom plate 72 is attached to the outer periphery of the bottom plate 71. The rotating bottom plate 72 has an annular shape in which an annular outer wall 73 and an annular inner wall 74 are connected at their lower ends, and rotates between the bottom plate 71 and a locking ring 76 attached to the lower surface thereof via an indicator fitting 75. Possibly held. Note that the support fitting 75 is attached to the bottom plate 71, and the locking ring 76 is attached to the indicator fitting 75, respectively.

Control circuit 9 including circuits on microcomputer board 167
1 is as shown in the block diagram shown in FIG. 3, and is connected to various external electronic parts and operating parts necessary for the microcomputer 66. Note that heater 1 is main heater 1
a and a sub-heater 1b (Fig. 4).

The connection terminal 101 from the control circuit 91 to the first electrode 41 is connected to the Shrink resin film 10 which is applied to the outer surface of the first electrode 41 and covers the liquid level detection part 17b.
2 to firmly maintain contact with the first electrode 41.

Furthermore, from above the Shrink resin film 102, a resin band 10 is further placed at a location corresponding to the base of the terminal 101.
3 to prevent the terminal 101 from coming off.

The connection terminal 104 to the second electrode 17a is connected to the second electrode 17a.
It is connected to a metal piece 105 that is spot welded to the electrode 17a.

The water boiling control by timer operation using the microcomputer 66 will be described below.

The light emitting diodes 42 ₁ to 42 ₆ normally display the amount of the content liquid. However, if you want to obtain the liquid content at a predetermined temperature at a desired time after the current time, for example, if you want hot water at a predetermined temperature at an appropriate time the next morning when you go to bed at night, you will need to set the time until then. Timer switch 67 as time setting means
is manipulated. At this time, the microcomputer 66 receives the ON signal from the timer switch 67, releases the control of each of the light emitting diodes 42 ₁ to 42 ₆ in connection with the water amount detection circuit, and switches to a time display state for timer water boiling. This time display processing is performed, for example, according to a subroutine shown in FIG. Initially, the diode 42 ₆ corresponding to 9 hours is displayed blinking, and as the timer switch 67 continues to be turned on, the diodes 42 ₄ and 3 corresponding to 6 hours are displayed blinking.
It changes sequentially to the diode 42 ₂ corresponding to the time, and this process is repeated. In conjunction with this flashing display, all the things below the diode that is flashed are lit. This makes the time display clear in each state. The specific display state is arbitrary. When the timer switch 67 is turned off in this display state, the diode 42
The display time corresponding to the blinking one of ₆ , 42 ₄ and 42 ₂ is set as the timer setting time T, and the display becomes stable at that time.

Note that the timer setting time T can be displayed in such a way that the remaining time is displayed sequentially as the timer continues to measure time.

Further, when the timer switch 67 is turned on, the temperature corresponding to the side to which the changeover switch 69 is switched is set as the desired temperature in the case of timer kettle heating. If you wish to set a temperature different from this, it is advisable to switch the changeover switch 69 to the other side.

The timer time T is set by the timer switch 67.
is set and a predetermined temperature is set, the microcomputer 66 calculates the boiling start time t ₁ necessary to obtain boiled water at a predetermined temperature, for example, about 80°C, at a time after the set time has elapsed, and calculates the necessary boiling time t1. This is specified as a condition and thereafter controlled as shown in FIG. Specifically, the timer 77 starts counting, and when the count reaches time _t1 , the water boiling heater 1a and the warming heater 1b are turned on to bring the water to a boiling state. At this time, the kettle boiling display diode 46 is blinked to indicate that the kettle is being boiled. When boiling is detected, both heaters 1a and 1b are turned off to allow the temperature to fall naturally. At this time, the boiling display diode 46 is turned off, and the heat retention display diode 47 is blinked to indicate that the temperature is being shifted to a predetermined temperature. When the predetermined temperature is reached due to natural temperature fall, the blinking of the heat retention display diode 47 is switched to lighting to indicate that the predetermined temperature has been reached. This point corresponds to the point at which the set time T has elapsed, and boiling water of about 80° C. is obtained at that point. Thereafter, the insulating heater 1b is turned on and off to maintain the content liquid at a predetermined temperature.

Furthermore, when the predetermined temperature is reached within the set time T, a buzzer sound is sounded to indicate that hot water at the predetermined temperature is obtained within the set time and in conjunction with the lighting display. This allows people who are not in the bath to see it.

Turn on the reboil switch 4 while keeping warm.
When 5 is pressed, the boiling display diode 46 is turned on and the heat retention display diode 47 is turned off. This indicates that the water boiling operation has started.
When the content liquid boils, it shifts to a heat retention state, turning off the boiling indicator diode 46 and lighting the heat retention indicator diode 47. At the same time, the buzzer sounds “beep”.
It will make a beeping sound to indicate that reboiling is complete. Thereafter, after the temperature of the content liquid has decreased to the heat retention temperature, heat retention control is performed by repeatedly turning off and on the heat retention heater 1b.

Once set, the timer boiling state can be canceled by operating the reboiling switch or turning off the power (Figure 5).

In the embodiments described above, it is not possible to confirm whether the content liquid has finished boiling after the set time T has elapsed.
This causes people to worry about whether sterilization and odor release by boiling have been completed. If the fact that boiling has occurred is displayed in the warm state, such concerns can be alleviated. A dedicated display section may be provided for this purpose, but the boiling display diode 46 may be made to blink during boiling and remain lit after boiling.

The time required to boil the content liquid and the time required for the boiled content liquid to cool down to the heat retention temperature are as follows:
It varies greatly depending on the amount of liquid inside. Differences in outside temperature depending on the season and time of day also have an effect. Therefore, these differences cause variations in the temperature of the content liquid at the time when the timer setting time T has elapsed.

To deal with these problems, the necessary information can be detected by a known method and automatically set appropriately, or it can be manually set appropriately. One method is to first detect changes in temperature rise over a certain period of time in the water boiling state shown in Figure 5 and calculate the degree of temperature rise. The temperature increase characteristic UC ₁ including the conditions is known as the change characteristic of the temperature of the content liquid in a specific heating state such as during boiling water. Next, the temperature decrease characteristic DC ₁ is also calculated based on the temperature increase characteristic UC ₁ obtained. In this calculation, correction based on the time after the timer setting time T can be performed as necessary. Then, from these temperature increase characteristics UC ₁ and temperature decrease characteristics DC ₁ , the time to start the water boiling operation required to obtain hot water at a predetermined temperature after the timer setting time T is calculated.
After starting, the heater may be controlled to be energized so that water boiling starts at the water boiling operation start time obtained in this manner.

In this case, the energization control method for the heater 1 can be performed along various temperature rising lines.

It is also effective to simply divide the liquid volume that has the greatest influence into a suitable number of stages and use this as information to determine the timing of the water boiling operation.

Further, as shown by the imaginary line in Fig. 4, trial heating is performed at the initial stage when the timer setting time T is set and counting starts, and the water boiling operation is performed based on the temperature increase characteristic UC ₂ detected at that time or in addition to the temperature decrease characteristic DC ₂ . It is also possible to determine the start time.
In this case, if there is an abnormal temperature rise, a warning may be given as a result of insufficient liquid level or dry cooking.This warning is issued immediately after the timer setting time T is set, when the operator has not yet fallen asleep or gone out. This eliminates the possibility of empty cooking occurring while the operator is sleeping or out of the house.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show another embodiment employing a simpler control method.

In this embodiment, as shown in the figure, the predetermined temperature, e.g.
Boil the contents to 93℃ and keep warm until boiling point. As a result, even if the time required for boiling varies depending on the amount of liquid, etc., the boiling conditions can be specified before boiling, which will not affect the boiling time, which is about 5 minutes at most.

Since it takes a short time for the water to boil from this warm state, when the timer setting time T is reached, the water boiling operation is restarted and the water is heated to boiling.

As a result, a predetermined boiling state can be obtained almost at the time when the timer setting time T has elapsed.

Of course, it is also possible to complete boiling at a predetermined time point before the timer setting time T elapses.

(Effects of the Invention) According to the present invention, when the time setting means sets the time at which hot water at a predetermined temperature is desired, the control means controls the control means at a predetermined time point before a predetermined time elapses from the timing of the timer. The change characteristics of the content liquid temperature are determined based on the temperature change of the content liquid and the heating state at that time, and the time point when the set time has elapsed from the start of timer measurement based on the temperature change characteristics and the current content liquid temperature. , identify the conditions under which the content liquid reaches a specified temperature,
This specifies the water boiling conditions that match the actual temperature rise characteristics, taking into account the influence of the content liquid volume and room temperature, etc., and the control means controls the heater's energization based on the specified water boiling conditions. By simply executing this, the content liquid will be brought to the specified temperature when the set time has elapsed, so it can be used under any usage conditions using a simple and inexpensive device that does not require any special sensors. Even in such a case, the content liquid at the predetermined temperature can be obtained without fail when the set time has elapsed, and the amount of heat consumed can be suppressed to the necessary minimum.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing one embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a front view, Fig. 3 is a main circuit diagram of the control circuit, Fig. 4 is an operational diagram of water boiler control, and Fig. 5 is Flowchart of timer setting/display subroutine, FIG. 6 is an operation diagram of water boiling control showing another embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 7 is a flow chart of water boiling control, and FIG. 8 is water boiling control showing a conventional example. FIG. 1... Heater, 66... Microcomputer, 67... Timer switch, 68... Temperature sensitive control element, 77...
...Internal timer, 91...Control circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Equipped with a heater that heats the liquid content, a control means that controls energization of the heater, a timer that measures time, a time setting means, and a temperature detection means that detects the temperature of the liquid content, and the control means controls the timer's timing. After starting,
At a predetermined time point before the set time elapses by the time setting means, the change characteristics of the content liquid temperature are determined based on the temperature change of the content liquid and the heating state at that time, and the temperature change characteristics and the current content are determined. Based on the liquid temperature, the water boiling conditions are determined such that the liquid content reaches a predetermined temperature at the time when a set time has elapsed from the time when the timer starts counting, and the energization is controlled based on this specific condition.
An electric hot water storage container characterized in that the liquid content reaches a predetermined temperature after a set time has elapsed.