Water drinking apparatus, control method thereof, and computer-readable storage medium

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a water drinking device, a control method thereof, and a computer readable storage medium. The water drinking device comprises a container body, a cooling tank, a heat exchanger, a drinking pump, a cooling pump, a drinking temperature sensing element and a cooling temperature sensing element. The control method comprises: in response to a heat recovery heating instruction, obtaining a target temperature and a heat recovery temperature difference threshold; controlling the cooling pump to operate to drive the cooling liquid to circulate between the cooling tank and a cooling flow channel; controlling the drinking pump to operate in a heat recovery heating mode to drive the drinking liquid to circulate between the container body and a drinking flow channel; obtaining the drinking liquid temperature detected by the drinking temperature sensing element and the cooling liquid temperature detected by the cooling temperature sensing element; determining whether the drinking liquid temperature, the cooling liquid temperature, the heat recovery temperature difference threshold and the target temperature satisfy a preset ending condition; and in the case where the preset ending condition is not satisfied, continuing to perform the steps of controlling the cooling pump and the drinking pump to operate and obtaining the drinking liquid temperature and the cooling liquid temperature until the preset ending condition is satisfied. The present disclosure can save resources.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to the field of cooking technology, and in particular to a drinking water device and its control method, and a computer-readable storage medium. Background Technology

[0002] To meet the drinking habits of Chinese people and provide warm water, some technologies exist that can heat water to boiling, and then use a low-temperature liquid to exchange heat with the boiling water in a heat exchanger to quickly cool the boiling water to a specific temperature and output it.

[0003] However, in existing warm water dispensers, the low-temperature liquid in the cooling tank heats up rapidly during heat exchange, causing the heat exchange efficiency to drop rapidly after a certain amount of heat is dissipated until it loses its cooling capacity. At this point, the liquid in the cooling tank needs to be replaced, resulting in resource waste and hindering sustainable development. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This disclosure provides a drinking water device and its control method, as well as a computer-readable storage medium, to at least solve the problems of how to save resources and promote sustainable development in the related art, or it may not solve any of the above problems.

[0005] According to a first aspect of this disclosure, a control method for a drinking water device is provided. The drinking water device includes a container body, a cooling tank, a heat exchanger, a drinking pump, a cooling pump, a drinking temperature sensor, and a cooling temperature sensor. The container body is used to contain drinking liquid, the cooling tank is used to contain coolant, and the heat exchanger includes a drinking channel and a cooling channel that are not interconnected but can exchange heat. The control method includes: in response to a heat recovery heating command, acquiring a target temperature and a heat recovery temperature difference threshold; controlling the cooling pump to operate to drive coolant to circulate between the cooling tank and the cooling channel; controlling the drinking pump to operate in a heat recovery heating mode to drive drinking liquid to circulate between the container body and the drinking channel; acquiring the drinking liquid temperature detected by the drinking temperature sensor and the coolant temperature detected by the cooling temperature sensor; determining whether the drinking liquid temperature, coolant temperature, heat recovery temperature difference threshold, and target temperature meet a preset termination condition; if the preset termination condition is not met, continuing to execute the steps of controlling the cooling pump to operate, controlling the drinking pump to operate in the heat recovery heating mode, and acquiring the drinking liquid temperature and coolant temperature until the preset termination condition is met; and stopping the heat recovery heating mode operation if the preset termination condition is met.

[0006] The control method for a drinking water device provided according to embodiments of this disclosure is applicable to drinking water devices that utilize coolant to cool high-temperature drinking liquid, thereby providing drinking liquid at the required temperature. By configuring a heat recovery heating mode, the higher-temperature coolant can be used to heat the lower-temperature drinking liquid, thus recovering excess heat from the coolant after it has absorbed heat and increased in temperature. This fully utilizes the residual heat of the coolant, reducing heat energy waste, and allows the coolant temperature to drop quickly, restoring its cooling capacity in a timely manner. This helps to reliably provide warm drinking liquid and ensures the reliable operation of the drinking water device. Simultaneously, this design reduces the frequency of coolant replacement due to temperature rise, improving coolant utilization and simplifying user operation. Furthermore, by configuring a preset termination condition, the heat recovery heating mode continues to run until the preset termination condition is met, intelligently determining the temperature conditions and intelligently entering the heat recovery heating mode when performing the heating function, thus improving the feasibility of heat recovery. This also means that since a one-size-fits-all heat recovery model is not adopted, it can adapt to scenarios with unsuitable temperature conditions. Therefore, there is no need to make significant modifications to the existing drinking water equipment structure to accommodate a one-size-fits-all heat recovery model, such as dividing the container into multiple containers according to the different temperatures of the drinking liquid, and only using the heated drinking liquid to heat the low-temperature drinking liquid in the low-temperature container, thus helping to reduce the implementation cost of the heat recovery solution.

[0007] It should be noted that, due to formatting constraints, the control of the cooling pump and the drinking water pump is arranged in a sequential order. However, in reality, there is no restriction on the order of their execution. The cooling pump can be controlled first, followed by the drinking water pump (meaning the coolant circulation starts first, followed by the drinking water circulation, ensuring a period of simultaneous circulation for heat exchange in the heat exchanger, rather than allowing the coolant to circulate for a period first, then stopping, and finally allowing the drinking water to circulate for a period; the same principle applies below). Alternatively, the drinking water pump can be controlled first, followed by the cooling pump, or both can be controlled simultaneously. This disclosure does not impose any restrictions on this. Similarly, the drinking water temperature and the coolant temperature can be obtained simultaneously or sequentially. Sequential acquisition implies that a reasonable time error is acceptable, but since they belong to the same step, the interval should not be too long to avoid affecting the accurate determination of the preset termination condition. Similarly, although the steps of obtaining the temperature of the drinking liquid and the temperature of the cooling liquid, as well as the step of determining whether the preset termination condition is met, are arranged after the steps of controlling the operation of the cooling pump and the drinking pump, in actual execution, the determination of whether the preset termination condition is met can be made before controlling the operation of the cooling pump and the drinking pump. If the condition is not met, the cooling pump and the drinking pump are controlled to operate; if the preset termination condition is met, the heating device of the drinking water equipment is used directly to heat the drinking liquid in the container. It should be understood that the execution order of other steps in this disclosure is similar; that is, their execution order can be adjusted without contradiction, and the adjusted order still conforms to the inventive concept of this disclosure and therefore falls within the protection scope of this disclosure.

[0008] In some embodiments, optionally, in response to a heat recovery heating command, obtaining a target temperature and a heat recovery temperature difference threshold includes: in response to an immediate heating command, determining the difference between the coolant temperature and the drinking liquid temperature; if the difference is greater than a preset difference, determining a first threshold as a heat recovery temperature difference threshold, and using the immediate heating command as a heat recovery heating command, wherein the first threshold is less than the preset difference; and obtaining a set temperature corresponding to the immediate heating command as the target temperature.

[0009] In these embodiments, when an immediate heating command is received, meaning heating is required immediately, the heating time is tight. By first determining whether the difference between the coolant temperature and the drinking liquid temperature is greater than a preset difference, it's possible to know in advance whether the coolant contains sufficient heat to meet the need for rapid heating. In other words, whether the temperature difference is sufficient to ensure heat exchange efficiency. This allows for resource conservation while meeting the user's need for rapid liquid dispensing, helping to ensure the basic function of the drinking water equipment remains unaffected. By configuring a first threshold value less than the preset difference as the heat recovery temperature difference threshold, it's possible to reduce the temperature difference from an initially large state through heat recovery, thus meeting the heat recovery requirements.

[0010] In some embodiments, optionally, if the difference is greater than a preset difference, determining a first threshold as a heat recovery temperature difference threshold includes: if the difference is greater than a preset difference, outputting a prompt message to prompt the user whether heat recovery is needed; and determining the first threshold as a heat recovery temperature difference threshold in response to a confirmation message input by the user, wherein the confirmation message indicates that heat recovery is confirmed.

[0011] In these embodiments, by outputting prompts, the system can further inquire about the user's intent based on the automatic determination of whether heat recovery is needed based on the temperature difference. This not only helps to meet the personalized needs of different users, but also allows users to more intuitively perceive the heat recovery function.

[0012] In some embodiments, optionally, if the difference is greater than a preset difference, a first threshold is determined as a heat recovery temperature difference threshold, and the method further includes: in response to a denial message input by the user, a second threshold is determined as a heat recovery temperature difference threshold, wherein the denial message indicates that it is confirmed that heat recovery is not required, and the second threshold is greater than the preset difference.

[0013] In these embodiments, by setting a relatively large second threshold as the heat recovery temperature difference threshold even when the user confirms that heat recovery is not needed, and operating the heat recovery heating mode accordingly, it is possible to quickly determine whether there is a risk of the coolant temperature being too high to effectively cool the hot drinking liquid when subsequently judging whether the preset termination condition is met. If this risk exists, the heat recovery heating mode is used to cool the coolant, which helps to restore the cooling capacity of the coolant in a timely manner, thereby reliably providing warm drinking liquid, ensuring the reliable operation of the drinking water equipment, and reducing the frequency of coolant replacement by the user. Since the second threshold is greater than the preset difference, heat recovery can be stopped according to the user's wishes when the temperature difference is between the preset difference and the second threshold, thus balancing the cooling effect of the coolant and the user's needs.

[0014] In some embodiments, optionally, determining whether the drinking liquid temperature, the cooling liquid temperature, the heat recovery temperature difference threshold, and the target temperature meet preset termination conditions includes: determining whether at least one of the following preset termination conditions is met: the temperature difference is less than or equal to the heat recovery temperature difference threshold, and the drinking liquid temperature is greater than or equal to the target temperature, wherein the temperature difference is the difference obtained by subtracting the drinking liquid temperature from the cooling liquid temperature.

[0015] In these embodiments, the combination of drinking liquid temperature, coolant temperature, and heat recovery temperature difference threshold reflects whether the heat of the coolant is sufficient to meet the heating requirements, while the combination of drinking liquid temperature and target temperature reflects whether the heating target has been reached. Therefore, this can be used to determine whether it is appropriate to terminate the heat recovery heating mode. Specifically, the difference between the coolant temperature and the drinking liquid temperature can be determined as the temperature difference value. The corresponding preset termination conditions are set as two parallel conditions: one is that the temperature difference is less than or equal to the heat recovery temperature difference threshold (i.e., the heat of the coolant is insufficient to meet the heating requirements), and the other is that the drinking liquid temperature is greater than or equal to the target temperature (i.e., the heating target has been reached). As long as at least one of the two conditions is met, it indicates that the heat recovery heating mode can be stopped. If neither condition is met, it indicates that the heat recovery heating mode can continue to operate. Thus, from the perspective of temperature, an effective basis for determining whether to stop the heat recovery heating mode is provided.

[0016] In some embodiments, optionally, in response to a heat recovery heating command, obtaining a target temperature and a heat recovery temperature difference threshold includes: in response to a scheduled heating command, determining a third threshold as a heat recovery temperature difference threshold, and using the scheduled heating command as a heat recovery heating command; obtaining a set temperature corresponding to the scheduled heating command as the target temperature.

[0017] In these embodiments, when a pre-heating instruction is received, since there is ample heating time, a smaller third threshold can be configured as the heat recovery temperature difference threshold to make full use of the pre-heating waiting time and the recovered heat to heat the drinking liquid, which helps to increase the recovered heat and reduce heat energy waste.

[0018] In some embodiments, optionally, in response to a heat recovery heating command, obtaining the target temperature and the heat recovery temperature difference threshold further includes: in response to a scheduled heating command, starting a timer to obtain the cumulative running time; determining the heat recovery duration based on the scheduled time corresponding to the scheduled heating command; and determining whether the drinking liquid temperature, coolant temperature, heat recovery temperature difference threshold, and target temperature meet a preset termination condition, including: when the scheduled heating command is used as a heat recovery heating command, determining whether the drinking liquid temperature, coolant temperature, heat recovery temperature difference threshold, target temperature, cumulative running time, and heat recovery duration meet a preset termination condition.

[0019] In these embodiments, when the scheduled heating command is used as the heat recovery heating command, by combining the timing result and the scheduled time, and adding a time limit to the preset end condition, it can be ensured that the operation of the heat recovery heating mode does not affect the normal operation of the scheduled heating, so that the method of this disclosure as a whole can ensure the reliable operation of the drinking water equipment.

[0020] In some embodiments, optionally, determining whether the drinking liquid temperature, coolant temperature, heat recovery temperature difference threshold, target temperature, cumulative running time, and heat recovery duration meet preset termination conditions includes: determining whether at least one of the following preset termination conditions is met: the temperature difference is less than or equal to the heat recovery temperature difference threshold, the drinking liquid temperature is greater than or equal to the target temperature, and the cumulative running time is greater than or equal to the heat recovery duration, wherein the temperature difference is the difference obtained by subtracting the drinking liquid temperature from the coolant temperature.

[0021] In these embodiments, by adding a parallel time-related preset termination condition to the aforementioned two temperature-related preset termination conditions—namely, the cumulative runtime being greater than or equal to the heat recovery duration—it is possible to clearly determine that there is insufficient time left to execute the heat recovery heating mode and that operation must be stopped when this condition is met. By stopping the heat recovery heating mode when at least one of the above three conditions is met, an effective basis for determining whether to stop the heat recovery heating mode can be provided from the perspectives of temperature and time. It should be understood that, depending on practical needs, the above three conditions can also be separated, and only at least one condition can be used in appropriate practice. For example, when entering heat recovery heating mode in response to a scheduled heating command, unlike entering heat recovery heating mode in response to an immediate heating command which requires a temperature difference judgment first, it is unknown whether the heat in the coolant is sufficient. Therefore, a judgment on preset termination conditions can be performed first, using only the temperature-related conditions: the temperature difference is less than or equal to the heat recovery temperature difference threshold, and the drinking liquid temperature is greater than or equal to the target temperature (meeting at least one of these two conditions is considered to satisfy the preset termination conditions). Subsequent judgments then continue to check the three preset termination conditions related to temperature and time. Of course, since the drinking liquid temperature is often insufficient at the beginning, this early judgment can also use only the preset termination condition of the temperature difference being less than or equal to the heat recovery temperature difference threshold. All of the above are implementation methods of this disclosure and fall within the protection scope of this disclosure.

[0022] According to a second aspect of this disclosure, a drinking water device is provided, comprising: a container for containing drinking liquid; a cooling tank for containing coolant; a heat exchanger including a drinking channel and a cooling channel that are not interconnected but can exchange heat; a liquid outlet connected to the drinking channel for discharging drinking liquid; a drinking pump for driving the drinking liquid in the container to be discharged from the liquid outlet through the drinking channel in a dispensing mode, the drinking pump also being used to drive the drinking liquid to circulate between the container and the drinking channel in a heat recovery heating mode; a cooling pump for driving the coolant to circulate between the cooling tank and the cooling channel; a drinking temperature sensor disposed in the container or at any position between the container and the inlet of the drinking channel; a cooling temperature sensor disposed in the cooling tank or at any position between the cooling tank and the inlet of the cooling channel; at least one processor; and at least one memory storing computer-executable instructions, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by at least one processor, cause at least one processor to execute a control method of the drinking water device according to an embodiment of this disclosure, thus possessing all the beneficial technical effects of the control method, which will not be elaborated further here.

[0023] In some embodiments, the drinking device may optionally include an expansion chamber disposed between the drinking channel and the outlet.

[0024] In these embodiments, considering that in existing drinking water equipment, the outlet of the drinking channel is directly connected to the liquid outlet, a reciprocating circulation method is required when operating the heat recovery heating mode. The drinking liquid is first drawn from the container into the drinking channel, heated, and then returned to the container. However, the capacity of the drinking channel is often small, necessitating frequent switching between drawing and returning states, which may result in low heating efficiency. By adding an expansion chamber between the drinking channel and the liquid outlet, the drinking liquid can first flow into the expansion chamber. Since the expansion chamber is connected to the drinking channel, heat is also transferred to the expansion chamber when the drinking liquid in the drinking channel is heated, achieving overall heating. This increases the heating amount per drawing, helps reduce the frequency of the drinking pump's drawing and returning switching, and improves heating efficiency.

[0025] In some embodiments, the drinking water device may optionally include: a return pipe, one end of which is connected between the outlet and the drinking channel, and the other end of which is connected to the container body; and a return valve, which is located at any position on the return pipe.

[0026] In these embodiments, by adding a return pipe and a return valve between the outlet of the drinking channel and the container, the drinking liquid can form a circular circulation between the container and the drinking channel. At this time, the drinking pump can work continuously in the suction state without having to switch repeatedly, and can operate at the maximum flow rate without worrying about excessive suction causing the drinking liquid to overflow from the outlet. Thus, heating efficiency can be greatly improved with a small structural improvement.

[0027] According to a third aspect of this disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium is provided that, when the instructions in the computer-readable storage medium are executed by at least one processor, causes at least one processor to perform a control method for a drinking device according to an embodiment of the disclosure, thus possessing all the beneficial technical effects of the control method, which will not be elaborated further here.

[0028] According to a fourth aspect of this disclosure, a computer program product is provided, the computer program product including computer instructions, which, when executed by at least one processor, cause at least one processor to perform a control method for a drinking water device according to an embodiment of this disclosure, thus possessing all the beneficial technical effects of the control method, which will not be elaborated further here.

[0029] It should be understood that the above general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only, and are not intended to limit this disclosure. Attached Figure Description

[0030] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with this disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of this disclosure, and are not intended to unduly limit this disclosure.

[0031] Figure 1 This is a simplified schematic diagram showing the water circuit structure of a drinking water device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0032] Figure 2 This is a flowchart illustrating a control method for a drinking water device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0033] Figure 3 This is a schematic flowchart illustrating a control method for a drinking water device according to a specific embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0034] Figure 4 This is a simplified schematic diagram illustrating the circuit structure of a drinking water device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0035] Figure 5 This is a simplified schematic diagram showing the water circuit structure of a drinking water device according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0036] Figure 1 and Figure 5 Explanation of icon numbers:

[0037] 11: Container body; 12: Cooling tank; 13: Heat exchanger; 131: Drinking water channel; 132: Cooling water channel; 14: Liquid outlet; 15: Drinking water pump; 16: Cooling pump; 17: Expansion chamber; 18: Return pipe; 19: Three-way valve; 191: Return valve; 192: Closing valve. Detailed Implementation

[0038] To enable those skilled in the art to better understand the technical solutions of this disclosure, the technical solutions in the embodiments of this disclosure will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0039] It should be noted that the terms "first," "second," etc., used in the specification, claims, and accompanying drawings of this disclosure are used to distinguish similar objects and are not necessarily used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that such data can be interchanged where appropriate so that the embodiments of this disclosure described herein can be implemented in orders other than those illustrated or described herein. The embodiments described in the following examples do not represent all embodiments consistent with this disclosure. Rather, they are merely examples of apparatuses and methods consistent with some aspects of this disclosure as detailed in the appended claims.

[0040] It should be noted that the phrase "at least one of several items" in this disclosure refers to three parallel cases: "any one of the several items", "a combination of any number of the several items", and "all of the several items". For example, "including at least one of A and B" includes the following three parallel cases: (1) including A; (2) including B; (3) including A and B. As another example, "performing at least one of step one and step two" indicates the following three parallel cases: (1) performing step one; (2) performing step two; (3) performing both step one and step two.

[0041] The following will combine Figures 1 to 5 This disclosure describes the drinking water equipment and control method thereof, as well as the computer-readable storage medium provided by the embodiments of this disclosure.

[0042] An embodiment of the first aspect of this disclosure provides a method for controlling a drinking water device. For example... Figure 1 As shown, the drinking water equipment includes a container body 11, a cooling tank 12, a heat exchanger 13, a drinking pump 15, a cooling pump 16, a drinking temperature sensor (not shown in the figure), and a cooling temperature sensor (not shown in the figure). The container body 11 is used to contain drinking liquid, the cooling tank 12 is used to contain coolant, the heat exchanger 13 includes a drinking channel 131 and a cooling channel 132 that are not connected to each other but can exchange heat, the drinking pump 15 can be connected between the container body 11 and the drinking channel 131, the cooling pump 16 can be connected between the cooling tank 12 and the cooling channel 132, the drinking temperature sensor can be set at any position inside the container body 11 or between the container body 11 and the inlet of the drinking channel 131, and is used to detect the temperature of the drinking liquid before heat exchange, and the cooling temperature sensor can be set at any position inside the cooling tank 12 or between the cooling tank 12 and the inlet of the cooling channel 132, and is used to detect the temperature of the coolant before heat exchange. It should be noted that, since the focus of this disclosure is to provide a control method capable of recovering heat from coolant, the structure of the drinking water equipment only adopts the following... Figure 1and in the following text Figure 5 The simplified schematic diagrams shown are provided for illustration. These structures are sufficient to meet the heat recovery requirements. Other details in the accompanying drawings not accompanied by textual descriptions do not constitute structural limitations on the drinking water equipment of this disclosure. Furthermore, for ease of reference in understanding the step numbers of the control method according to this disclosure, the structures in the drinking water equipment will not be labeled in the following description of the control method.

[0043] Figure 2 This is a flowchart illustrating a control method for a drinking water device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0044] Reference Figure 2 In step S201, in response to the heat recovery heating command, the target temperature and the heat recovery temperature difference threshold are obtained. The target temperature is specifically the temperature to which the drinking liquid needs to be heated, for example, 100℃ by default, which means heating the drinking liquid to boiling. It can also be the temperature included in the heat recovery heating command. For the latter, the temperature included in the heat recovery heating command may be a higher temperature, or for drinking liquid that has already undergone one boiling heating process, it may only need to be directly heated to the user-set temperature during subsequent dispensing. In this case, the temperature included in the heat recovery heating command is equal to the set temperature. The hot water temperature difference threshold serves as the basis for determining whether to end the heat recovery process, representing the minimum temperature difference required to continue executing the heat recovery process. Furthermore, as an example, to ensure that the coolant has sufficient heat for recovery and reuse, corresponding judgment conditions can be configured. The heat recovery heating command is executed only when the judgment conditions are met to run the heat recovery heating mode. This will be described later and will not be elaborated here.

[0045] In step S202, the cooling pump is controlled to operate to drive the coolant to circulate between the cooling tank and the cooling channel.

[0046] In step S203, the drinking pump is controlled to operate in heat recovery heating mode to drive the drinking liquid to circulate between the container and the drinking channel. It should be understood that the drinking device also includes a liquid outlet, which is connected to the drinking channel. Step S203 ensures that the drinking liquid does not flow out of the outlet, but rather circulates between the container and the drinking channel, thereby utilizing the recovered heat from the coolant to heat the drinking liquid. It should be noted that, due to formatting constraints, steps S202 and S203 are arranged in a specific order. However, there is no actual order restriction for their execution. Step S202 can be executed before step S203 (meaning the coolant circulation starts first, followed by the drinking liquid circulation, ensuring a period of simultaneous circulation for heat exchange within the heat exchanger, rather than allowing the coolant to circulate for a period first, then stopping, and finally allowing the drinking liquid to circulate for a period; the same principle applies below). Alternatively, step S203 can be executed before step S202, or both steps S202 and S203 can be executed simultaneously. This disclosure does not impose any restrictions on this. It should be understood that the execution order of other steps in this disclosure is similar; that is, the execution order can be adjusted as long as there is no contradiction. Furthermore, the adjusted order still conforms to the inventive concept of this disclosure and therefore falls within the protection scope of this disclosure.

[0047] In step S204, the drinking liquid temperature detected by the drinking temperature sensor and the coolant temperature detected by the cooling temperature sensor are acquired. It should be understood that the drinking liquid temperature is the temperature of the drinking liquid before it enters the drinking channel, and the coolant temperature is the temperature of the coolant before it enters the cooling channel. Similar to steps S202 and S203, the drinking liquid temperature and coolant temperature can be acquired simultaneously or sequentially. Sequential acquisition implies that a reasonable time error is permissible, but since they belong to the same step, the interval should not be too long to avoid affecting the accurate determination of the subsequent preset termination condition.

[0048] In step S205, it is determined whether the drinking liquid temperature, coolant temperature, heat recovery temperature difference threshold, and target temperature meet the preset termination conditions. If not, the process returns to step S202 and continues from step S202 to step S205. If yes, the process proceeds to step S206. Specifically, the combination of drinking liquid temperature, coolant temperature, and heat recovery temperature difference threshold reflects whether the heat of the coolant is sufficient to meet the heating requirements. The combination of drinking liquid temperature and target temperature reflects whether the heating target has been achieved. Therefore, these factors can be used to determine whether it is appropriate to terminate the heat recovery heating mode. As an example, the temperature difference between the coolant temperature and the drinking liquid temperature can be determined first. The corresponding preset termination conditions are set as two parallel conditions: one is that the temperature difference is less than or equal to the heat recovery temperature difference threshold (i.e., the heat of the coolant is not enough to meet the heating needs), and the other is that the drinking liquid temperature is greater than or equal to the target temperature (i.e., the heating target has been reached). As long as at least one of the two conditions is met, it indicates that the heat recovery heating mode can be stopped. If neither condition is met, it indicates that the heat recovery heating mode can continue to run. Thus, from the perspective of temperature, an effective judgment is made on whether to stop the heat recovery heating mode. It should be noted that, as mentioned above, the execution order of the various steps in this disclosure can be adjusted without contradiction. Steps S204 and S205 meet this requirement. For example, steps S204 and S205 can be executed before steps S202 and S203. That is, before controlling the operation of the cooling pump and drinking pump, it is first determined whether the preset termination condition is met. If not, the cooling pump and drinking pump are controlled to run. If the preset termination condition is met, the heating device of the drinking water equipment is directly used to heat the drinking liquid in the container. This reduces unnecessary operation of the cooling pump and drinking pump, helps extend the product's service life, and helps save heating time and improve heating efficiency. It should be understood that when using the heating device for heating, the operation of the heating device can be controlled according to the existing preset heating process.

[0049] In step S206, the heat recovery heating mode is stopped. It should be noted that, depending on the actual situation, after stopping the heat recovery heating mode, it may still be necessary to further heat the drinking liquid because its temperature is lower than the target temperature. In this case, the cooling pump and drinking pump can be stopped first, and then the heating device can be controlled to operate according to the target temperature and the drinking liquid temperature to heat the drinking liquid to the target temperature. After heating is complete, if it is necessary to dispense the liquid and cool it down with coolant, the cooling pump can be restarted to drive the coolant to circulate between the cooling tank and the cooling channel, and the drinking pump can be controlled to operate in the dispensing mode to drive the drinking liquid in the container to be dispensed from the outlet through the drinking channel. If, after stopping the heat recovery heating mode, it is not necessary to further heat the drinking liquid with the heating device, the drinking pump can be switched to the above dispensing mode. The cooling pump can be kept running when it is necessary to use coolant to cool the drinking liquid, and stopped when it is not necessary to use coolant.

[0050] The control method for a drinking water device provided according to embodiments of this disclosure is applicable to drinking water devices that utilize coolant to cool high-temperature drinking liquid, thereby providing drinking liquid at the required temperature. By configuring a heat recovery heating mode, the higher-temperature coolant can be used to heat the lower-temperature drinking liquid, thus recovering excess heat from the coolant after it has absorbed heat and increased in temperature. This fully utilizes the residual heat of the coolant, reducing heat energy waste, and allows the coolant temperature to drop quickly, restoring its cooling capacity in a timely manner. This helps to reliably provide warm drinking liquid and ensures the reliable operation of the drinking water device. Simultaneously, this design reduces the frequency of coolant replacement due to temperature rise, improving coolant utilization and simplifying user operation. Furthermore, by configuring a preset termination condition, the heat recovery heating mode continues to run until the preset termination condition is met, intelligently determining the temperature conditions and intelligently entering the heat recovery heating mode when performing the heating function, thus improving the feasibility of heat recovery. This also means that since a one-size-fits-all heat recovery model is not adopted, it can adapt to scenarios with unsuitable temperature conditions. Therefore, there is no need to make significant modifications to the existing drinking water equipment structure to accommodate a one-size-fits-all heat recovery model, such as dividing the container into multiple containers according to the different temperatures of the drinking liquid, and only using the heated drinking liquid to heat the low-temperature drinking liquid in the low-temperature container, thus helping to reduce the implementation cost of the heat recovery solution.

[0051] In some embodiments, step S201 may optionally include: in response to an immediate heating command, determining the difference between the cooling liquid temperature and the drinking liquid temperature; if the difference is greater than a preset difference, determining a first threshold as a heat recovery temperature difference threshold, and using the immediate heating command as a heat recovery heating command, wherein the first threshold is less than the preset difference; and obtaining the set temperature corresponding to the immediate heating command as the target temperature.

[0052] In these embodiments, when an immediate heating command is received, meaning heating is required immediately, the heating time is tight. By first determining whether the difference between the coolant temperature and the drinking liquid temperature is greater than a preset difference, it is possible to know in advance whether the coolant contains sufficient heat to meet the need for rapid heating. In other words, whether the temperature difference is sufficient to ensure heat exchange efficiency, it can meet the user's need for rapid liquid dispensing while conserving resources, helping to ensure that the basic functions of the drinking water equipment are not affected. By configuring a first threshold less than the preset difference as the heat recovery temperature difference threshold, it is possible to reduce the temperature difference from a state with a large initial temperature difference through heat recovery, thus meeting the heat recovery requirement. It should be understood that if the difference is less than or equal to the preset difference, it indicates that the temperature difference between the coolant and the drinking liquid is too small, the heat exchange efficiency is too low, and the heat recovery effect is not obvious. In this case, the heat recovery heating mode will not be run, and the immediate heating command will be executed directly, running the conventional heating mode. As an example, in the case where the immediate heating command is used as the heat recovery heating command, a new command can be generated or the original immediate heating command can be used in practice. This disclosure does not limit this, and similar situations in the following text will be discussed in the same way and will not be repeated. It should also be understood that both the preset difference and the first threshold can be set according to actual needs and can be obtained through theoretical calculation and / or experimental means, and this disclosure does not impose any restrictions on them. As an example, the preset difference ranges from 2℃ to 50℃, such as 8℃, 10℃, and 15℃; the first threshold ranges from 0℃ to 20℃, such as 3℃, 5℃, and 10℃.

[0053] In some embodiments, optionally, the step of determining a first threshold as a heat recovery temperature difference threshold when the difference is greater than a preset difference in step S201 includes: outputting a prompt message when the difference is greater than a preset difference to prompt the user whether heat recovery is needed; and determining the first threshold as a heat recovery temperature difference threshold in response to a confirmation message input by the user, wherein the confirmation message indicates that heat recovery is needed.

[0054] In these embodiments, by outputting prompts, the system can further inquire about the user's intent based on the automatic determination of whether heat recovery is needed according to the temperature difference. This helps to meet the personalized needs of different users and allows users to more intuitively perceive the heat recovery function. Regarding situations where the user does not need heat recovery, for example, the user may want to actively replace the coolant because it has been used for a long time, or the user may need to use domestic water at a certain temperature. The output prompt indicates that the current coolant has a high heat level, which is sufficient to meet the user's domestic water needs, so the user wishes not to recover heat and can remove the coolant for use. Regarding the prompts, as examples, the output prompts can take the form of a voice broadcast, a sound alert, text display, or flashing warning lights; this disclosure does not limit this.

[0055] In some embodiments, optionally, the step of determining a first threshold as a heat recovery temperature difference threshold when the difference is greater than a preset difference in step S201 further includes: determining a second threshold as a heat recovery temperature difference threshold in response to a denial message input by the user, wherein the denial message indicates that it is confirmed that heat recovery is not required, and the second threshold is greater than the preset difference.

[0056] In these embodiments, by setting a relatively large second threshold as the heat recovery temperature difference threshold even when the user confirms that heat recovery is not needed, and operating the heat recovery heating mode accordingly, it is possible to quickly determine whether there is a risk of the coolant temperature being too high to effectively cool the hot drinking liquid when subsequently judging whether the preset termination condition is met. If this risk exists, the heat recovery heating mode is used to cool the coolant, which helps to restore the cooling capacity of the coolant in a timely manner, thereby reliably providing warm drinking liquid, ensuring the reliable operation of the drinking water equipment, and reducing the frequency of coolant replacement by the user. Since the second threshold is greater than the preset difference, heat recovery can be stopped according to the user's wishes when the temperature difference is between the preset difference and the second threshold, thus balancing the cooling effect of the coolant and the user's needs. As an example, the value range of the second threshold is 10℃~40℃, such as 13℃, 15℃, 20℃. For example, if the drinking liquid is at 20°C, while the coolant is already as high as 75°C, the cooling effect of the coolant will be poor. The temperature difference between the two reaches 55°C, which is definitely greater than the second threshold. At this time, the cooling capacity of the coolant can be restored by running the heat recovery heating mode.

[0057] In some embodiments, step S201 may optionally include: in response to a scheduled heating command, determining a third threshold as a heat recovery temperature difference threshold, and using the scheduled heating command as a heat recovery heating command; and obtaining the set temperature corresponding to the scheduled heating command as a target temperature.

[0058] In these embodiments, when a pre-heating instruction is received, since there is ample heating time, a smaller third threshold can be configured as the heat recovery temperature difference threshold to fully utilize the pre-heating waiting time and recovered heat to heat the drinking liquid, which helps to increase the recovered heat and reduce heat energy waste. It should be understood that the third threshold is smaller than the first and second thresholds. As an example, the value range of the third threshold is 0℃ to 20℃, such as 1℃, 2℃, and 5℃.

[0059] In some embodiments, step S201 may optionally include: in response to a scheduled heating command, starting a timer to obtain the cumulative running time; determining the heat recovery duration based on the scheduled time corresponding to the scheduled heating command; correspondingly, step S205 includes: when the scheduled heating command is used as a heat recovery heating command, determining whether the drinking liquid temperature, cooling liquid temperature, heat recovery temperature difference threshold, target temperature, cumulative running time, and heat recovery duration meet the preset termination conditions.

[0060] In these embodiments, when the scheduled heating command is used as the heat recovery heating command, by combining the timing result and the scheduled time, and adding a time limit to the preset termination condition, it can be ensured that the operation of the heat recovery heating mode does not affect the normal operation of the scheduled heating. This ensures that the method of this disclosure, as a whole, can guarantee the reliable operation of the drinking water equipment. As an example, the scheduled time corresponding to the scheduled heating command can be a specific moment or a scheduled duration. In either case, the corresponding scheduled duration can be obtained, and thus the heat recovery duration can be obtained. The hot water recovery duration can be less than or equal to the scheduled duration.

[0061] In some embodiments, optionally, determining whether the drinking liquid temperature, coolant temperature, heat recovery temperature difference threshold, target temperature, cumulative running time, and heat recovery duration meet preset termination conditions includes: determining whether at least one of the following preset termination conditions is met: the temperature difference is less than or equal to the heat recovery temperature difference threshold, the drinking liquid temperature is greater than or equal to the target temperature, and the cumulative running time is greater than or equal to the heat recovery duration, wherein the temperature difference is the difference obtained by subtracting the drinking liquid temperature from the coolant temperature.

[0062] In these embodiments, by adding a parallel time-related preset termination condition to the aforementioned two temperature-related preset termination conditions—namely, the cumulative runtime being greater than or equal to the heat recovery duration—it is possible to clearly determine that there is insufficient time left to execute the heat recovery heating mode and that operation must be stopped when this condition is met. By stopping the heat recovery heating mode when at least one of the above three conditions is met, an effective basis for determining whether to stop the heat recovery heating mode can be provided from the perspectives of temperature and time. It should be understood that, depending on practical needs, the above three conditions can also be separated, and only at least one condition can be used in appropriate practice. For example, when entering heat recovery heating mode in response to a scheduled heating command, unlike entering heat recovery heating mode in response to an immediate heating command which requires a temperature difference judgment first, it is unknown whether the heat in the coolant is sufficient. Therefore, a judgment on preset termination conditions can be performed first, using only the temperature-related conditions: the temperature difference is less than or equal to the heat recovery temperature difference threshold, and the drinking liquid temperature is greater than or equal to the target temperature (meeting at least one of these two conditions is considered to satisfy the preset termination conditions). Subsequent judgments then continue to check the three preset termination conditions related to temperature and time. Of course, since the drinking liquid temperature is often insufficient at the beginning, this early judgment can also use only the preset termination condition of the temperature difference being less than or equal to the heat recovery temperature difference threshold. All of the above are implementation methods of this disclosure and fall within the protection scope of this disclosure.

[0063] Next, refer to Figure 3 The control method of the drinking water equipment disclosed herein will be described with reference to a specific embodiment.

[0064] In this specific embodiment, the drinking liquid needs to be heated to boiling, i.e., the target temperature is 100°C. Therefore, after each operation of the heat recovery heating mode, it is still necessary to continue heating using the heating device.

[0065] like Figure 3 As shown, when a heating command is received, the command type is first determined. If it is an immediate heating command, the coolant temperature T is calculated. C Subtract the drinking liquid temperature T W Does the difference satisfy T? C -T WThe value is greater than ΔT, where ΔT is a preset difference. If not, it indicates that the coolant objectively has insufficient heat, and the heat recovery heating mode is directly terminated. This means that the preset heating process corresponding to this heating command still needs to be executed to control the operation of the heating device. If yes, it indicates that the coolant objectively has sufficient heat, and the heat recovery heating mode can be executed. At this time, a prompt message is output to prompt the user whether heat recovery is needed. If the user confirms that heat recovery is needed, the first threshold T1, which is less than the preset difference ΔT, is used as the heat recovery temperature difference threshold T. D The system recovers heat to heat the drinking liquid. If the user confirms that heat recovery is not needed, a second threshold T2 greater than the preset difference ΔT is used as the heat recovery temperature difference threshold T. D This is to restore the cooling capacity of the coolant. The heat recovery temperature difference threshold T needs to be determined. D The immediate heating command will be used as the heat recovery heating command, and the set temperature corresponding to the immediate heating command (as mentioned above, 100℃) will be used as the target temperature T. T The system operates in heat recovery heating mode. Specifically, it controls the cooling pump and drinking water pump to work in a preset cycle, driving the coolant and drinking water to circulate and exchange heat, achieving heat recovery. During this process, the coolant temperature T is maintained. C and drinking liquid temperature T W Monitoring, if T is met C -T W ≤T D or T W ≥T T If this preset termination condition is met, the heat recovery heating mode will end; otherwise, operation will continue until the termination condition is met.

[0066] If the received heating command is a scheduled heating command, then considering the ample time, the smaller third threshold T3 will be used as the heat recovery temperature difference threshold T. D To increase the amount of heat recovered, the scheduled heating command is used as the heat recovery heating command, and the set temperature corresponding to the scheduled heating command (as mentioned above, 100℃) is used as the target temperature T. T The heat recovery duration t is also determined based on the reservation time corresponding to the reservation heating instruction. B The timer starts, and the cumulative runtime t is obtained. The heat recovery heating mode is then activated. At this point, the preset termination conditions include the temperature termination condition (i.e., T). C -T W ≤T D or T W ≥T T ) and the time termination condition (i.e., t≥t) B Since the temperature difference T had not been previously considered... C -T WThe size of the temperature is used to determine whether the cooling pump and drinking pump meet the temperature termination condition before running them. If they do, the heat recovery heating mode is terminated directly. If they do not meet the condition, the cooling pump and drinking pump are controlled to work in a cycle according to a preset pattern. During this process, the time and temperature are monitored until either the time termination condition or the temperature termination condition is met, at which point the heat recovery heating mode is terminated.

[0067] An embodiment of the second aspect of this disclosure provides a drinking water device, such as... Figure 1 As shown, the drinking water device includes: a container body 11 for holding drinking liquid; a cooling tank 12 for holding coolant; a heat exchanger 13 including a drinking channel 131 and a cooling channel 132 that are not connected but can exchange heat; a liquid outlet 14 connected to the drinking channel 131 for discharging drinking liquid; a drinking pump 15 connected between the container body 11 and the drinking channel 131, the drinking pump 15 being used to drive the drinking liquid in the container body 11 through the drinking channel 131 and out of the liquid outlet 14 in the liquid dispensing mode, and the drinking pump 15 being used to drive the drinking liquid to circulate between the container body 11 and the drinking channel 131 in the heat recovery heating mode; and a cooling pump 16 connected between the cooling tank 12 and the cooling channel 132. Between channels 132, a cooling pump 16 is used to drive the coolant to circulate between the cooling tank 12 and the cooling channels 132; a drinking temperature sensor is disposed within the container body 11 or at any position between the container body 11 and the inlet of the drinking channel 131; a cooling temperature sensor is disposed within the cooling tank 12 or at any position between the cooling tank 12 and the inlet of the cooling channel 132; at least one processor; at least one memory storing computer-executable instructions, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by at least one processor, cause at least one processor to execute the control method of the drinking device according to the embodiments of the present disclosure, thus possessing all the beneficial technical effects of the control method, which will not be repeated here.

[0068] It should be understood that the drinking water equipment also includes a heating device for heating the drinking liquid in the container 11, and also includes pipes for connecting different structures.

[0069] As an example, such as Figure 4 As shown, the logic control module (including at least one processor and at least one memory) is used to perform logic control of the drinking water device, is electrically connected to the cooling temperature sensing element and the drinking temperature sensing element to obtain the detected cooling liquid temperature and drinking liquid temperature, and is electrically connected to the cooling pump 16, the drinking pump 15 and the heating device to control their operation.

[0070] As an example, a processor may include a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a programmable logic device, a dedicated processor system, a microcontroller, or a microprocessor. By way of example, and not limitation, a processor may also include analog processors, digital processors, microprocessors, multi-core processors, processor arrays, network processors, etc.

[0071] The processor can execute instructions or code stored in memory, which can also store data. Instructions and data can also be sent and received over a network via a network interface device, which can employ any known transport protocol.

[0072] Memory can be integrated with the processor; for example, RAM or flash memory can be housed within an integrated circuit microprocessor. Alternatively, memory can comprise a separate device, such as an external disk drive, storage array, or other storage device that can be used by any database system. Memory and processor can be operatively coupled, or can communicate with each other, for example, via I / O ports, network connections, etc., enabling the processor to read files stored in the memory.

[0073] In addition, the drinking water equipment may include a video display (such as an LCD screen) and a user interface (such as a keyboard, mouse, touch input device, etc.). All components of the drinking water equipment can be interconnected via a bus and / or network.

[0074] In some embodiments, such as Figure 1 As shown, optionally, the drinking water device also includes an expansion chamber 17, located between the drinking channel 131 and the liquid outlet 14.

[0075] In these embodiments, considering that in existing drinking water equipment, the outlet of the drinking channel 131 is directly connected to the liquid outlet 14, a reciprocating circulation method is required when operating the heat recovery heating mode. The drinking liquid is first drawn from the container 11 into the drinking channel 131, heated, and then returned to the container 11. However, the capacity of the drinking channel 131 is often small, so it is necessary to switch between the drawing and return states frequently, which may result in low heating efficiency. By adding an expansion chamber 17 between the drinking channel 131 and the liquid outlet 14, the drinking liquid can first flow into the expansion chamber 17. Since the expansion chamber 17 is connected to the drinking channel 131, when the drinking liquid in the drinking channel 131 is heated, the heat is also transferred to the expansion chamber 17, achieving overall heating. This increases the heating amount per drawing, helps reduce the switching frequency of the drinking pump 15 between drawing and returning, and improves heating efficiency. It should be understood that, in these embodiments, when controlling the operation of the drinking pump 15, the drinking pump 15 is specifically controlled to operate periodically. Within one cycle, the drinking pump 15 can be controlled to pump for a period of time (for a variable frequency pump, its voltage or power can be adjusted and the drinking pump 15 can be operated continuously; for a fixed frequency pump, it can be operated according to a certain duty cycle), and then it can be stopped for a period of time to allow the drinking liquid to absorb the heat of the coolant. After that, the drinking pump 15 is controlled to run in reverse to send the drinking liquid back to the container 11, thus completing one cycle.

[0076] In some embodiments, such as Figure 5 As shown, optionally, the drinking water device also includes: a return pipe 18, one end of which is connected between the outlet 14 and the drinking channel 131, and the other end of which is connected to the container body 11; and a return valve 191, which is located at any position on the return pipe 18.

[0077] In these embodiments, by adding a return pipe 18 and a return valve 191 between the outlet of the drinking channel 131 and the container body 11, the drinking liquid can form a circular circulation between the container body 11 and the drinking channel 131. At this time, the drinking pump 15 can continuously operate in a suction state (similar to the previous description, the operating modes of variable frequency pumps and fixed frequency pumps are slightly different, and will not be elaborated here), without the need for repeated switching, and can operate at maximum flow rate without worrying about excessive suction causing the drinking liquid to overflow from the outlet 14. Thus, heating efficiency can be significantly improved with only minor structural modifications. As an example, such as... Figure 5 As shown, a shut-off valve 192 can also be installed at the liquid outlet 14. When operating in heat recovery heating mode, the shut-off valve 192 is closed to prevent the drinking liquid from overflowing from the liquid outlet 14. Further, as an example, such as... Figure 5As shown, the shut-off valve 192 and the outlet valve can be integrated into a three-way valve 19, located at the intersection of the return pipe 18, the outlet 14, and the drinking channel outlet 131. Since the cost of a single valve is essentially the same as that of the three-way valve 19, this helps control costs. It should also be noted that regarding the overflow of drinking liquid from the outlet 14, only a small amount usually overflows. Figure 5 In the simplified diagram, the pipe section of the outlet 14 is directly flush with the drinking channel 131, but in the actual structure, this pipe section is often bent upwards, which can significantly reduce overflow and dripping.

[0078] It should be noted that the above two embodiments describe two different circulation forms for the drinking liquid. Where feasible, other circulation forms can also be used, and these also fall within the scope of this disclosure. Furthermore, for the coolant, the existing circulation form can remain unchanged to reduce structural modifications. Of course, its circulation form can also be changed and combined with any drinking liquid circulation form. In other words, the circulation forms of the drinking liquid and coolant are not necessarily related, and this disclosure does not impose any limitations on them. It should be understood that the operation mode of the cooling pump 16 can be referenced to the operation mode of the drinking pump 15 under the corresponding circulation form, and will not be repeated here. Furthermore, since there is no risk of coolant overflow, the cooling pump 16 can always operate at its maximum flow rate to fully improve heat exchange efficiency.

[0079] Embodiments of a third aspect of this disclosure provide a computer-readable storage medium that, when instructions in the computer-readable storage medium are executed by at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to perform a control method for a drinking device according to embodiments of this disclosure. Examples of computer-readable storage media include: read-only memory (ROM), random access programmable read-only memory (PROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), random access memory (RAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), flash memory, non-volatile memory, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD+R, CD-RW, CD+RW, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD-RAM, BD-ROM, BD-R, BD-R LTH, BD-RE, Blu-ray or optical disc storage, hard disk drive (HDD), solid-state drive (SSD), card storage (such as multimedia cards, secure digital (SD) cards, or ultra-fast digital (XD) cards), magnetic tape, floppy disk, magneto-optical data storage device, optical data storage device, hard disk, solid-state drive, and any other device configured to store a computer program and any associated data, data files, and data structures in a non-transitory manner and to provide the computer program and any associated data, data files, and data structures to a processor or computer so that the processor or computer can execute the computer program. The computer program in the aforementioned computer-readable storage medium can run in an environment deployed in computer devices such as clients, hosts, agent devices, servers, etc. Furthermore, in one example, the computer program and any associated data, data files, and data structures are distributed across a networked computer system, such that the computer program and any associated data, data files, and data structures are stored, accessed, and executed in a distributed manner through one or more processors or computers.

[0080] An embodiment of the fourth aspect of this disclosure provides a computer program product including computer instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform a control method for a drinking water device according to an embodiment of this disclosure.

[0081] Other embodiments of this disclosure will readily occur to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. This application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of this disclosure that follow the general principles of this disclosure and include common knowledge or customary techniques in the art not disclosed herein. The specification and examples are to be considered exemplary only, and the true scope and spirit of this disclosure are indicated by the following claims.

[0082] It should be understood that this disclosure is not limited to the precise structures described above and shown in the accompanying drawings, and various modifications and changes can be made without departing from its scope. The scope of this disclosure is limited only by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A control method for a drinking water device, characterized in that, The drinking water equipment includes a container body, a cooling tank, a heat exchanger, a drinking pump, a cooling pump, a drinking temperature sensor, and a cooling temperature sensor. The container body is used to hold the drinking liquid, the cooling tank is used to hold the coolant, and the heat exchanger includes a drinking channel and a cooling channel that are not interconnected but can exchange heat. The control method includes: In response to the heat recovery heating command, the target temperature and the heat recovery temperature difference threshold are obtained; Control the operation of the cooling pump to drive the coolant to circulate between the cooling tank and the cooling channel; The drinking pump is controlled to operate in a heat recovery heating mode to drive the drinking liquid to circulate between the container and the drinking channel; The drinking liquid temperature detected by the drinking temperature sensor and the coolant temperature detected by the cooling temperature sensor are obtained; Determine whether the drinking liquid temperature, the cooling liquid temperature, the heat recovery temperature difference threshold, and the target temperature meet the preset termination conditions; If the preset termination condition is not met, the steps of controlling the cooling pump to operate, controlling the drinking pump to operate in heat recovery heating mode, and obtaining the drinking liquid temperature and the cooling liquid temperature continue to be executed until the preset termination condition is met. If the preset termination condition is met, the heat recovery heating mode will stop running; The step of obtaining the target temperature and the heat recovery temperature difference threshold in response to the heat recovery heating command includes: In response to an immediate heating command, the difference between the coolant temperature and the drinking liquid temperature is determined; If the difference is greater than a preset difference, a first threshold is determined as the heat recovery temperature difference threshold, and the immediate heating command is used as the heat recovery heating command, wherein the first threshold is less than the preset difference; Obtain the set temperature corresponding to the immediate heating command as the target temperature; In response to the scheduled heating command, a third threshold is determined as the heat recovery temperature difference threshold, and the scheduled heating command is used as the heat recovery heating command, wherein the third threshold is less than the first threshold; Obtain the set temperature corresponding to the scheduled heating command, and use it as the target temperature.

2. The control method as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The step of determining a first threshold as the heat recovery temperature difference threshold when the difference is greater than a preset difference includes: If the difference is greater than the preset difference, a prompt message is output to remind the user whether heat needs to be recovered. In response to confirmation information input by the user, the first threshold is determined as the heat recovery temperature difference threshold, wherein the confirmation information indicates confirmation that heat needs to be recovered.

3. The control method as described in claim 2, characterized in that, The step of determining a first threshold as the heat recovery temperature difference threshold when the difference is greater than a preset difference further includes: In response to a denial message input by the user, a second threshold is determined as the heat recovery temperature difference threshold, wherein the denial message indicates that heat recovery is not required, and the second threshold is greater than the preset difference value.

4. The control method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The step of determining whether the drinking liquid temperature, the cooling liquid temperature, the heat recovery temperature difference threshold, and the target temperature meet the preset termination conditions includes: Determine whether at least one of the following preset termination conditions is met: the temperature difference is less than or equal to the heat recovery temperature difference threshold, and the drinking liquid temperature is greater than or equal to the target temperature, wherein the temperature difference is the difference obtained by subtracting the drinking liquid temperature from the cooling liquid temperature.

5. The control method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The step of responding to a heat recovery heating command and obtaining the target temperature and heat recovery temperature difference threshold further includes: In response to the scheduled heating command, start timing and obtain the cumulative running time; The heat recovery duration is determined based on the reservation time corresponding to the reservation heating instruction. The step of determining whether the drinking liquid temperature, the cooling liquid temperature, the heat recovery temperature difference threshold, and the target temperature meet the preset termination conditions includes: When the scheduled heating instruction is used as the heat recovery heating instruction, it is determined whether the drinking liquid temperature, the cooling liquid temperature, the heat recovery temperature difference threshold, the target temperature, the cumulative running time, and the heat recovery duration meet the preset termination conditions.

6. The control method as described in claim 5, characterized in that, The step of determining whether the drinking liquid temperature, the cooling liquid temperature, the heat recovery temperature difference threshold, the target temperature, the cumulative running time, and the heat recovery duration meet the preset termination conditions includes: Determine whether at least one of the following preset termination conditions is met: the temperature difference is less than or equal to the heat recovery temperature difference threshold, the drinking liquid temperature is greater than or equal to the target temperature, and the cumulative running time is greater than or equal to the heat recovery time, wherein the temperature difference is the difference obtained by subtracting the drinking liquid temperature from the cooling liquid temperature.

7. A drinking water device, characterized in that, The drinking water equipment includes: Container body (11), used to hold drinking liquid; Cooling tank (12) is used to hold coolant; The heat exchanger (13) includes a drinking channel (131) and a cooling channel (132) that are not interconnected and can exchange heat. The liquid outlet (14) is connected to the drinking channel (131) and is used to output drinking liquid; A drinking pump (15) is used to drive the drinking liquid in the container (11) through the drinking channel (131) and output it from the outlet (14) in the liquid dispensing mode. The drinking pump (15) is also used to drive the drinking liquid to circulate between the container (11) and the drinking channel (131) in the heat recovery heating mode. A cooling pump (16) is used to drive the coolant to circulate between the cooling tank (12) and the cooling channel (132); A drinking temperature sensing element is disposed inside the container body (11) or at any position between the container body (11) and the inlet of the drinking channel (131); The cooling temperature sensing element is disposed inside the cooling box (12) or at any position between the cooling box (12) and the inlet of the cooling channel (132); At least one processor; At least one memory that stores computer-executable instructions. The computer-executable instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform the control method of the drinking water device as described in any one of claims 1 to 6.

8. The drinking water equipment as described in claim 7, characterized in that, The drinking water equipment also includes: An expansion chamber (17) is located between the drinking channel (131) and the outlet (14).

9. The drinking water equipment as described in claim 7, characterized in that, The drinking water equipment also includes: A return pipe (18) is provided, one end of which is connected between the outlet (14) and the drinking channel (131), and the other end of which is connected to the container body (11). The return valve (191) is located at any position on the return pipe (18).

10. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, When the instructions in the computer-readable storage medium are executed by at least one processor, the at least one processor causes the at least one processor to perform the control method of the drinking water device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6.

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