WO2000065967A1

WO2000065967A1 - Liquid container

Info

Publication number: WO2000065967A1
Application number: PCT/GB2000/001583
Authority: WO
Inventors: Stephen John David Davies
Original assignee: Stephen John David Davies
Priority date: 1999-05-04
Filing date: 2000-05-04
Publication date: 2000-11-09
Also published as: GB9910184D0; GB2365975B; AU4584600A; GB2365975A; GB0126027D0

Abstract

The present invention relates to a liquid container, in particular a container in which a liquid is heated, such as a kettle. There is described a liquid container comprising a reservoir (11) at least a portion of which is transparent allowing a user of the container to view the level of liquid in the reservoir. In particular, the container further comprises illuminating means (21, 43, 44, 45) positioned with respect to the reservoir such that, in use, liquid in the reservoir is illuminated by the illuminating means. Preferably, the illuminating means are positioned so as to produce internal reflections at the liquid/air interface (24). Preferably, the illuminating means comprises a series of differently coloured and individually actuatable illuminators (43, 44, 45). Typically, the illuminators are bulbs (21) or light emitting diodes. Preferably, the illuminators are actuated by means of a circuit which includes means which sense the temperature of a liquid in the reservoir and actuate the illuminators sequentially to indicate the temperature of the liquid.

Description

LIQUID CONTAINER

The present invention relates to a liquid container, in particular a container in which a liquid is heated, such as a kettle.

Typically, it is difficult to judge the level of a liquid in a container such as water in a kettle, even though water level gauges are incorporated into most modern designs of kettle. Furthermore, it is largely impossible to judge the temperature of the liquid inside the kettle without touching the kettle itself and this can lead to scalding.

The present invention seeks to address these problems.

In its broadest sense, the present invention provides a liquid container comprising a reservoir at least a portion of which is transparent allowing a user of the container to view the level of liquid in the reservoir; characterised in that the container further comprises illuminating means positioned with respect to the reservoir such that, in use, liquid in the reservoir is illuminated by the illuminating means.

Preferably, the illuminating means are positioned so as to produce internal reflections at the liquid/air interface.

Preferably, the illuminating means comprises a series of differently coloured and individually actuatable illuminators.

Typically, the illuminators are bulbs or light emitting diodes.

Preferably, the illuminators are actuated by means of a circuit which includes means which sense the temperature of a liquid in the reservoir and actuate the illuminators sequentially to indicate the temperature of the liquid.

The above and other aspects of the present invention will now be described in further detail, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a schematic side cross-sectional view of a first embodiment of a liquid container in accordance with the present invention and Figure la is a schematic part front cross-sectional view thereof;

Figure 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a second embodiment of a liquid container in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a third embodiment of a liquid container in accordance with the present invention.

With reference to Figure 1, there is illustrated a first embodiment of a liquid container in accordance with the present invention in the form of a water heater 10. The heater comprises a transparent or translucent reservoir 11 into which water 15 is supplied by means of a pipe 12 connected to a water supply 13 and actuated by means of a valve 14.

Below the reservoir 11 in a housing 20 which acts as a reflector, are mounted a series of light bulbs 21 in electrical connection with a power supply 22. As shown, operation of valve 14 actuates an electrical switch 23 thereby supplying electrical power to the bulbs 21. Thus whilst water flows into the reservoir 11, the bulbs 21 illuminate the water. The vertical arrows illustrate that the light emitted by the bulbs 21 is caused to be reflected upwards towards the meniscus 24 of the water where internal reflections and refraction cause at least a portion of the light to pass outwardly through the transparent or translucent walls of the reservoir 11. Thus the meniscus 24 and thus the water level within the reservoir is highlighted for the user and thus more readily visible.

An alternative embodiment is illustrated in Figure 2. In the embodiment of Figure 1, the light bulbs 21 are actuated only during the filling operation. In the embodiment of Figure 2, the light bulbs 21 are powered throughout a heating operation. This embodiment also comprises a transparent or translucent reservoir 11. In the base of the reservoir 11 is provided a heating element 30. Power is supplied to the heating element 30 from a power supply 22 by means of a switch 31. Switch 31 is shown as being of the push-on/push-off type, but could equally be automatically switched off in a conventional manner in response to a sensor (not shown) monitoring the water 15 boiling. The switch 31 actuates a control circuit 32 which also controls a series of light bulbs 21 mounted in a reflector 20 below the reservoir 11. Light is reflected upwardly by the reflector 20 and reflected and refracted by the meniscus 24 as described above. As the water becomes heated, and particularly as it approaches its boiling point, bubbles 33 of previously dissolved air form in the water. These bubbles

33 additionally reflect and refract light from the bulbs 21 as shown by arrows A, providing an additional indication of the temperature of the water 15 in the reservoir 11.

A modification of this arrangement is illustrated in Figure 3 and constitutes a preferred embodiment of the present invention. In contrast to the arrangement of Figure 2, in this preferred embodiment, three bulbs 43,44,45 are individually actuatable by a control circuit 42, which also controls the heating of heating element 30 and includes a temperature sensor to monitor the temperature of water 15 in the reservoir 11. The temperature sensor may be within the reservoir itself or may sense the temperature in an indirect manner. Each bulb 43,44,45 is differently coloured. By way of example only, bulb 43 may be blue, bulb 44 may be yellow or orange and bulb 45 may be red. When the apparatus is in use, that is to say, the switch 31 has been actuated, and the sensed temperature of the water is less than a first preset temperature level, the control circuit 42 causes first bulb 43 to be illuminated. When the temperature of the water rises above the first preset temperature, the control circuit 42 switches off first bulb 43 and illuminates second bulb 44. When the temperature rises further to above a second preset temperature level, the control circuit 42 switches off second bulb 44 and illuminates third bulb 45. The first and second preset temperature levels may be set at any level but typically, the first temperature level will be set at a temperature above which the temperature of the water is likely to cause scalding of the user if they come into contact with it. Accordingly, the first temperature level is typically set at around 35-40°C. Typically, the second temperature level is set at around 70-80°C. Different temperature levels may be required by different users. For example, users with children in the house or the elderly may prefer the first temperature level to be set at a lower level. Similarly, the second or upper temperature level may be set depending upon the use to which the heater is intended. For example, if the water heater is for use in boiling water for brewing tea, the second temperature level could be set at 100°C. If the heater is intended to maintain a constant supply of water for brewing coffee, the second temperature level would be set lower. The temperature levels may be made user-adjustable by means of variable resistor controls mounted within the housing of the apparatus.

As described above, bulbs are used as the source of illumination. Light emitting diodes are equally suitable and already well known in the design of kettles.

The present invention has been described and illustrated with reference to generally schematic drawings. Those skilled in the art will be readily able to adapt the apparatus described to form complete kettles, water heaters or other liquid heaters. Similarly, the control mechanisms described are readily within the non-inventive capabilities of those skilled in the art and require no further explanation.

Claims

CLAIMS.

1. A liquid container comprising a reservoir, at least a portion of which is transparent allowing a user of the container to view the level of a liquid in the reservoir; characterised in that the container further comprises illuminating means positioned with respect to the reservoir such that, in use, liquid in the reservoir is illuminated by the illuminating means.

2. A liquid container as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the illuminating means are positioned so as to produce internal reflections at the liquid/air interface.

3. A liquid container as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein the illuminating means comprises a series of differently coloured and individually actuatable illuminators.

4. A liquid container as claimed in Claim 3 wherein the illuminators are bulbs or light emitting diodes.

5. A liquid container as claimed in Claim 3 or Claim 4 wherein the illuminators are actuated by means of a circuit which includes means which sense the temperature of a liquid in the reservoir and actuate a respective illuminator indicative of the temperature of the liquid.

6. A liquid container as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5 further comprising a heating element for raising the temperature of a liquid placed within the reservoir.

7. A kettle incorporating a liquid container as claimed in any one of claims 1 to

6.