GB2444329A

GB2444329A - An energy-saving kettle system

Info

Publication number: GB2444329A
Application number: GB0624121A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Gary John Banks
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2006-12-02
Filing date: 2006-12-02
Publication date: 2008-06-04
Anticipated expiration: 2026-12-02
Also published as: GB0624121D0; GB2444329B

Abstract

A kettle system which boils only the correct amount of water employs a water weight detector 8. It comprises a kettle 1, water supply tank 9, pumping mechanism 20 and microprocessor 21. The weight of water in the kettle is detected by plate 8 and the microprocessor 21 allows water to be added to the kettle 1 by mechanism 20 until the required amount is dispensed. The microprocessor instructs the kettle to boil the contents. The user can program the unit to dispense the exact amount required for his own requirements. The system can measure the amount of water required for the user's teacup, mug etc. and store this information for future reference. The water may be filtered by a device 13.

Description

An Energy Saving Kettle System

Field

This invention relates to the prevention of over filling a commercial or domestic kettle thereby saving energy and time

Background of the Invention

A kettle is typically used by individuals to heat a specific amount of water to boiling point for food or beverage preparation. Virtually all private dwellings and the vast majority of commercial premises will use a kettle on a regular basis A high proportion of kettle usage is for the preparation of an individual drink, typically less then 250 ml. However, in most cases, considerably more then 250m1 of water is boiled in order to make the drink. This can be for a number of reasons including convenience, the inability of the user tojudge the amount of water required or plain lack of thought.

The excess water that is boiled generally remains unused and eventually cools to the ambient temperature. Boiling too much water wastes energy, increases the preparation time for the beverage, food etc and increases wear and tear on the kettle itself.

A conservative estimate states there is an average wastage factor of at least 30%. To put this into perspective; this amount of energy saved on UK kettles would be sufficient to power all the Street lighting in the country.

Statements of the invention

According to the present invention, there is provided a container (kettle) with a heating element designed for boiling water The container and element constitute a heating chamber At the base of the unit there is a device which is capable of recognising the weight of the kettle and its contents. By using the information, a microprocessor on the device is able to calculate the amount of water in the kettle. Water is dispensed to the kettle by means of pump or water pressure; the amount of water is governed by a pre-determined weight as specified by the user via the microprocessor. By specifying the exact amount of water required, the user is able to boil the kettle in the speediest and most energy efficient manner.

Detailed Description of the Invention

With reference to Fig I there is shown a kettle (1) with a handle (2) Water is heated by an electric element (3) placed below the floor of the water container (4). Power for the element is provided from the Plate 8 via electrical contacts in the base unit (5) and the bottom of the water container (6). The electric contacts 5 and 6 are arranged in order that the kettle can be placed quickly onto the base unit without having to align the kettle in a particular manner.

The kettle sits on a plate (8), which is a weight-measuring device capable of detecting the total weight of the kettle and its contents.

Water is dispensed from a tank (9) [Fig.21, which can be filled manually or by connecting to a continuous water supply. Water is fed via a tube (10) From the base of the tank (11) to an outlet nozzle (12). It may pass through a filtration device (13) at some point before dispensing into the heating chamber (7) or even when filling the tank (9) This water transfer is afforded by means of a pump (20).

A microprocessor (21) governs the amount of water dispensed into the kettle The microprocessor receives information from the plate (8). The plate (8) gives an indication to the microprocessor as to the combined weight of the kettle and its contents When the microprocessor detects that a predetermined weight has been reached, it sends a signal to the I'1v -+.-.- t..i; _._.__._1.:. -.

P'P LU LU I IlL uuiiiii JJuJLs L.4II LIICI! LIC L4I LVU VId U S1I1dL 110111 LIIC microprocessor (21) to the heating element (3).

The microprocessor is governed by a control panel (22) [Fig 3)]. The panel (22) is given instruction by the user as to how much water is required. A number of options (16) are given on the panel in order to make the operation quick and simple. These options can be various and may include a single cup, a larger mug, favourite 1', favourite 2' and Full' Each option is selected by pressing the adjacent button (13 in the case of a single cup). This selection process sends a signal that a particular weight of water is required. For instance, if a single cup (say 200g) is needed, the microprocessor will receive a signal that 200g of water is required. When the button (13) is pressed once a visual signal (14), which may be electronic, will appear as confirmation that button (13) has been pressed once If a second cup is required, button (13) can be pressed again, which will send a signal to the microprocessor that a further 200g of water needs to be dispensed The visual signal (14) will display that 2 cups have been selected It may be that the user also requires a larger mug (say 250g) at the same time as the two cupfuls of water. By pressing button (23) once, the microprocessor will receive a signal that a further 250g of water is required. The visual display (24) (similar to 14) will confirm that one mug has also been selected.

If, at this point, the user decides that two cups and one mug of water should be boiled, they will press the start' button (17). This action confirms to the microprocessor that the boiling operation should commence. The microprocessor has been instructed that two cups and one mug (total 650g) of water is required. It sends a signal to operate the pump (20), which begins pumping water through the tube (10) into the heating chamber (7). At this time, the measuring plate (8) is instructed by the microprocessor to signal back to the microprocessor, the weight of the kettle and its contents The microprocessor wiii have been programmed with the weight of the kettle x' Any additional weight will be from water contained in the kettle and can be expressed as y' On this occasion, when (x+y)-x 650g [t e when y 650g] the microprocessor will send a signal to the pump to cease. The kettle will then contain 650g of water and the microprocessor can then send a signal for the heating element to operate and boil the water. The kettle can be assumed to have standard kettle functions, which will switch off the element once the water has boiled.

In order to make the boiling of the kettle as speedy as possible, it may be that the microprocessor will operate the element once a critical amount of water (say I OOg) has been deposited into the heating chamber. This will allow the boiling process to start, even before the full requirement (650g in this instance) has been dispensed If, during the selection process of pressing button(s) 13, 23, 25, 27, or 29, the user makes a mistake, pressing the cancel button (31) will clear filling instructions held in the microprocessor.

If a user at-tempts to programme too much water to be dispensed into the heating chamber, the microprocessor will recognise that it is being instructed to overfill and may give a warning in the form of a visual and br audio signal. As a further safety measure, there may be a sensor (15) to detect that the heating chamber is over-full. This will signal to the microprocessor, which will, in turn, instruct the pump to cease.

Not all cups and mugs are the same capacity and, whilst it is possible to have a factory pre-set, it may be necessary to provide information for the microprocessor regarding the capacities of cups, mugs etc in regular use by an individual. This is the learn process'.

A cup in a particular establishment may hold I 80g In order to input the information, the 1 O\ rr'... i t_... __._.1 A* .L... ........._. .L... ....1...... IO\ ....1...... . -- _..-.

IcaIII L)ULLUII i1O) [I 1.)J IIIUSI U ICSSCU. t%L LIUS UIItL LIIC 4LV O) Ldf..t5 4 wigiii 1CdUiII of the kettle and its contents, which we can call w' This weight w' is communicated to the microprocessor which, by virtue of button 18 being pressed, is alerted that the learn process is taking place. The microprocessor stores the information of the weight w' and illuminates a light (33) [diode, bulb or similar], which indicates the microprocessor is in learn' mode. A typical teacup from the establishment is then filled with water and the contents added to the kettle, increasing the amount of water by exactly one cupful z'. The cup' button (13) is then pressed to indicate that the added weight z' represents one cup The plate (8) has a higher reading (w+z), which is communicated to the microprocessor When the cup' button (13) is pressed again, the microprocessor subtracts the initial reading w' from the second reading (w+z), to give z, which, on this occasion, is 1 80g. The microprocessor then reverts to normal' mode and the learn indicator (33) is extinguished This weight information is stored in a non-volatile memory for future reference.

Once in normal' mode, the microprocessor will allow the kettle to be operated as described in the earlier sections. The learn process can be repeated for other options such as mug' or for (favourite) Fav. I or Fav 2 Fav. I or Fav.2 may be programmed for regular operations such as a teapot or regularly used combination, e g, two cups plus two mugs.

When the weight z' is calculated by the microprocessor, a percentage will be added to allow for evaporation If, for instance, the evaporation factor were calculated as say 2%, then the weight calculation for a teacup would he (z x 1.02) = 183.6g Therefore the amount of water dispensed by the microprocessor for one teacup would be (z +2%) = 183 6g. In practice, this level of accuracy would not be required for an individual cup, but it could be taken into account on a cumulative basis.

Occasionally, when the user attempts to operate a kettle, there wiii be some water already present from a previous occasion In this instance, it may be that the user requires just 500g of water when the kettle actually contains 600g. When the selection steps have been completed and the user presses the start button (17) the combined weight of the kettle x' plus residual water r' will he measured. If the user's requirement is y' then the following apply When (x+r)> (x+y) i.e r>y, then no water is added by the microprocessor When (x+r) <(x-Fy) I e. when r<y, then water is added until the requirement y' has been dispensed.

On many occasions, a kettle is boiled, but the water is not dispensed immediately. The user may return to the kettle after some minutes and switch it on in order to bring the water back to boiling point. This kettle system may have a reboil' button (32), which allows the water to be returned to boiling point without the need for re-entering the amount required using buttons (13), (23), (25), (27) or (29). The microprocessor will take a reading from plate (8) when the reboil command is given to ensure that the required amount is still available (i e. evaporation from previous boiling). If a top-up is required, the microprocessor will instruct the pump to dispense the required amount.

Claims

Claims A kettle system which comprises a weight measuring mechanism

that detects the amount of water held in the kettle A microprocessor operates a pump mechanism to allow the exact amount of water, specified by the user, to be deposited in the heating chamber and boiled 2 A kettle system as claimed in claim I that can be programmed to boil specific amounts of water by means of weighing and programming a non-volatile memory unit.

3 A kettle system as claimed in claim 1 or 2 that can be programmed by the user to boil a specific amount of water required via an electronic control panel.

4 A kettle system as claimed in any one of claims I to 3 that can give an electronic representation of the required amount of water to be boiled.

A kettle system as claimed in any preceding claim that is able to recognise the amount of water already in the heating chamber and to take this into account when calculating the requirement 6 A kettle system as claimed in any preceding claim that can be programmed to a required amount, plus evaporation factor 7 A kettle system as claimed in any preceding claim that will recognise that the required amount of water is present in the heating chamber and will send a signal via a microprocessor to a heating element in order to commence the boiling process.

8 A kettle system as claimed in any preceding claim that will anticipate, via a microprocessor, that the filling process has commenced and will send a signal to a heating element to begin the boiling process before the heating chamber has reached its full requirement 9 A kettle system as claimed in any preceding claim that has a programme cancel function to clear the microprocessor of filling instructions.