JPH11123142A - Discharging safety device for liquid container - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To inhibit discharging when a receiving container does not exist by making the detecting signal of a means detecting the existence of the receiving container under a discharging port one of a pump driving condition. SOLUTION: A cup 21 is positioned in a supporting range 22 under the discharging port 4. Then, the cup 21 is brought into contact with a detecting bar 15 to move it back and a magnet 17 approaches a lead switch 18 to turn on the switch 18 by the magnetic force of the magnet 17. Based on a discharging quantity set by a discharging quantity setting button 9, a microcomputer 6 calculates a water level after the discharging and judges the water level to be a prescribed level from a signal from a ultrasonic sensor 8. In addition, on a condition that the switch 18 is in an ON state, the pump 5 is driven to discharge hot water. When the cup 21 is moved back for some reason in the middle of the discharging and the bar 15 is returned to an original state by the force of a spring 16, the switch 18 is turned off to stop the pump 5 to stop the discharge of hot water at the same time.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a discharge safety device for a liquid container such as an electric pot.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, an electric pot houses an inner container inside an outer casing, a discharge port is provided at a tip of a communication pipe provided in the inner container, and a pump is driven by operating a discharge button. The liquid in the inner container is discharged from the discharge port.

In the case of discharging the liquid such as hot water from the inner container in the electric pot as described above, a user supports a receiving container such as a cup below the discharge port with one hand and discharges the container with the other hand. I press the button. The discharge button is a type that keeps discharging while pressing it, and a type that stops discharging automatically when it keeps pressing or once, when it reaches the liquid amount of the preset amount. (Quantitative discharge type).

[0004]

In any of the above types, when the discharge button is pressed, there is a disadvantage that the liquid is discharged regardless of the presence or absence of the receiving container, or even if the receiving container is rejected on the way. In the case of the fixed-quantity discharge type, there is a disadvantage that the discharge is continued until the set amount is reached even when there is no receiving container.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a safety device for a liquid container which does not discharge even if a discharge button is pressed when there is no receiving container.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention accommodates an inner container inside an exterior body and operates a discharge button from a discharge port of a communication pipe provided in the inner container. In the liquid container configured to drive the pump to discharge the liquid therein, a detection unit for detecting the presence of the receiving container below the discharge port is provided. The configuration was one of the driving conditions.

The detection means is constituted by a detection rod attached to the exterior body so as to be swingable, and causes the detection rod to cross a receiving container supporting area supposed below the discharge port. The above-mentioned detection signal can be configured by the operation of the switch that is opened and closed by the operation.

[0008] Further, the detecting means is constituted by a transmission / reception type ultrasonic sensor having the outer body attached thereto, and the ultrasonic wave transmitted from the ultrasonic sensor is supposed to be below the discharge port in a container supporting range. , And the above-described detection signal is obtained by receiving the reflected wave by the ultrasonic sensor.

Further, the detecting means is constituted by an optical sensor comprising a light projecting part and a light receiving part attached to the exterior body, and the light projected from the light projecting part is directed below the discharge port. It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which an assumed level of the receiving container is traversed and a change in the level of the output of the light receiving unit due to the shielding of the light beam is used as the detection signal.

In any of the above cases, the liquid container may be of a fixed-discharge type.

In the discharge safety device having the above structure, the pump is not driven unless the receiving container is below the discharge port, and the driving of the pump is stopped when the receiving container is retreated from the discharge port during discharging. Therefore, it is particularly safe for discharging hot water.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is for an electric pot. The electric pot includes an inner container 2 housed inside an outer casing 1 and a communication pipe 3 provided in the inner container 2.
A discharge port 4 is provided at the end of the communication pipe 3, and a pump 5 is interposed in the communication pipe 3. The pump 5 is a microcomputer 6
Is controlled by

In the case shown in the figure, a fixed-quantity discharge type is provided, and a transmission / reception type water level detecting ultrasonic sensor 8 is attached to the lower surface of a lid 7 of the exterior body 1 and reaches a discharge amount set by a discharge amount setting button 9. Whether or not the operation has been performed is detected by a change in water level using ultrasonic waves, and the pump 5 is stopped when a predetermined water level is reached. In this case, when the ejection button 11 is pressed once, ejection is continued even after the fingertip is released thereafter. Reference numeral 12 denotes a heater attached to the lower surface of the inner container 2.

In the electric pot as described above, the upper end of the detection rod 15 is attached to the inside of the discharge port 4 below the beak portion 13 of the exterior body 1 by a horizontal attachment pin 14 so as to be swingable in the front-rear direction. The detection rod 15 is urged outward by a spring 16 mounted around the mounting pin 14, and in a normal state, is inclined outward as shown.

A magnet 17 is provided inside the detection rod 15.
Are mounted, and a reed switch 18 corresponding to the magnet 17 is attached to the body 19 of the exterior body 1. When the cup 21 as a receiving container is pressed against any part of the detection rod 15, the detection rod 15 is pushed in,
The magnet 17 approaches the reed switch 18, and the reed switch 18 is turned on by the magnetic force of the magnet 17. When the detection rod 15 returns to the original state, the reed switch 18
Becomes OFF.

The length and inclination of the detection rod 15 are as follows.
The cup 21 is set so as to partially cross a position below the discharge port 4 and suitable for receiving hot water, that is, a range (indicated by a dashed line in FIG. 1) assumed as the cup support range 22. Therefore, the cup 21 is moved to its support area 22.
, The cup 21 comes into contact with the detection rod 15 and retreats, and the reed switch 18 is turned on.

FIG. 2 is a control block diagram of the pump 5.
Operation signals of the discharge button 11 and the discharge amount setting button 9 and a signal from the ultrasonic sensor 8 for detecting a water level are input to the microcomputer 6. The microcomputer 6 calculates the water level after the discharge based on the discharge amount set by the discharge amount setting button 9, judges that the predetermined water level has been reached by a signal from the ultrasonic sensor 8, and furthermore, the reed switch 18. Is turned on, and the pump 5 is driven to discharge hot water. When the cup 21 is withdrawn for some reason during the discharge and the detection rod 15 returns to the original state by the force of the spring 16, the reed switch 18 is turned off and the pump 5
Is stopped, and at the same time, the discharge of hot water is stopped.

Next, the electric pot of the second embodiment shown in FIG.
As the detecting means 1, the discharge port 4 below the beak portion 13
The ultrasonic sensor 23 for cup detection is attached inside the inside to transmit ultrasonic waves downward. The ultrasonic sensor 23 is of a transmission / reception type, but the transmission distance is set to about half of the body 19 by lowering the transmission sound pressure level and setting the frequency higher (for example, 100 kHz).

The above-mentioned ultrasonic wave is transmitted so as to cross the cup support area 22 assumed below the discharge port 4 in the vertical direction, and is reflected on the bottom surface or the edge of the cup 21 existing in the area.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the above control, in which the reception of the reflected wave by the ultrasonic sensor 23 for cup detection is one of the driving conditions of the pump 5. The other operations of the ejection button 11, the ejection amount setting button 9, and the ultrasonic sensor 8 for detecting the water level are the same as those of the first embodiment.

The electric pot of the third embodiment shown in FIG. 5 is also of the same type as the above-mentioned fixed-quantity discharge type, and the light emitting section 24 of the optical sensor is mounted obliquely inward inside the discharge port 4 below the beak section 13. The light receiving section 25 of the optical sensor is attached to the body section 19 facing this. Light rays such as infrared rays emitted from the light emitting unit 24 and received by the light receiving unit 25 obliquely cross the cup support range 22 assumed below the discharge port 4 and hold the cup 21 in the support range 22. Then, the above-mentioned light is shielded, so that the output of the light receiving unit 25 becomes low.

In this case, the light receiving section 2 which is always at a high level
The change of the output of the pump 5 to a low level is one of the driving conditions of the pump 5. Others are the same as those of the first and second embodiments.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the above control. The light emitting section 24 and the light receiving section 25 are controlled by the microcomputer 6, and light is emitted from the light emitting section 24 and the light receiving section 25 is emitted as described above.
Is high, the pump 5 is driven by detecting that the output of the light receiving section 25 has changed to low. The other operations of the ejection button 11, the ejection amount setting button 9, and the ultrasonic sensor 8 for detecting the water level are the same as those of the first embodiment.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, the pump is driven by the detecting means such as the detecting rod, the ultrasonic sensor and the optical sensor only when the receiving container is located below the discharge port to perform the discharge. Conversely, if there is no receiving container, it will not be discharged,
Also, if the receiving container is displaced in the middle of the discharge, the discharge is stopped, which is particularly safe for a liquid container that discharges hot water such as an electric pot.

Also, in the case of a liquid container of a fixed discharge type,
Even if the receiving container is displaced before reaching the fixed amount, the discharge is automatically stopped, so it is safe.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a control block diagram of the above.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a second embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a control block diagram of the above.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a third embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a control block diagram of the above.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Outer body 2 Inner container 3 Communication pipe 4 Discharge port 5 Pump 6 Microcomputer 7 Lid 8 Ultrasonic sensor for water level detection 9 Discharge amount setting button 11 Discharge button 12 Heater 13 Beak part 14 Mounting pin 15 Detection rod 16 Spring 17 Magnet 18 Lead Switch 19 Body 21 Cup 22 Cup support range 23 Ultrasonic sensor for cup detection 24 Light emitting unit 25 Light receiving unit

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A liquid container in which an inner container is housed inside an exterior body, and a pump is driven from a discharge port of a communication pipe provided in the inner container by operating a discharge button to discharge the internal liquid. Wherein a detecting means for detecting the presence of a receiving container below the discharge port is provided, and one of the driving conditions of the pump is set based on a detection signal of the receiving container by the detecting means. apparatus. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the detecting means comprises a detecting rod attached to the exterior body so as to swing freely, and the detecting rod crosses a receiving container supporting area supposed below the discharge port. 2. The detection signal according to claim 1, wherein an operation of a switch that is opened and closed by an operation of a rod is used as the detection signal.
3. The discharge safety device for a liquid container according to claim 1. 3. The container support range in which the detection means is constituted by a transmission / reception type ultrasonic sensor having the outer body attached thereto, and the ultrasonic wave transmitted from the ultrasonic sensor is assumed below the discharge port. 2. The liquid container discharge safety device according to claim 1, wherein the detection signal is obtained by receiving the reflected wave by the ultrasonic sensor. 4. The detecting means comprises an optical sensor comprising a light projecting part and a light receiving part attached to the exterior body, and emits a light beam projected from the light projecting part below the discharge port. 2. The liquid container discharge safety device according to claim 1, wherein an assumed receiving container support range is traversed, and a level change of the output of the light receiving unit due to blocking of the light beam is used as the detection signal. 3. 5. The discharge safety device for a liquid container according to claim 1, wherein the liquid container is a fixed-rate discharge type.