Kettle

Abstract

The kettle comprises a kettle body and a kettle cover, a PCB used for detecting the liquid level is arranged outside the side wall of the kettle body, the PCB comprises a base plate and a plurality of electrode plates installed on the base plate, the electrode plates are electrically connected to a main control module, the electrode plates are arranged on the base plate at intervals to form a water level detection area, and the water level detection area is connected with the water level detection area. The water level detection area comprises a low water level detection area located at the bottom of the base plate, a plurality of first electrode plates and second electrode plates arranged on one sides of the first electrode plates are arranged in the low water level detection area, and the detection height of the second electrode plates is larger than that of the first electrode plates. The water level detection area comprises the low water level detection area and is used for meeting different low water level detection requirements under various working conditions, and meanwhile real-time water level signals are calibrated through self-capacitance and mutual capacitance detection of the first electrode plate and the second electrode plate in the low water level detection area. The precision of water level detection is improved.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The utility model relates to drinking water technical field, especially a kettle. BACKGROUND

[0002] In the existing electric kettle product, the water level detection process is generally completed through resistance type water level electrode, float ball liquid level detection or ultrasonic detection and the like. Among them, the resistance type water level electrode needs to be arranged on the inner wall of the electric kettle, which may release harmful substances such as heavy metals when working in boiling water, and long-term use may be harmful to human body; the float ball liquid level detection has the problems of low precision, being easily affected by liquid properties, and being easy to accumulate dirt; the ultrasonic liquid level detector is relatively expensive, and when applied to the kettle, the overall cost is high, which is difficult for users to accept. In addition, if the electric kettle is used for heating tap water for a long time, the surface of the liquid level detection device will be easy to scale, resulting in the problem that the liquid level detection device is easy to have precision decline or even failure.

[0003] Based on the above problems, the prior art discloses a capacitive water level and water volume detection device, a boiling kettle and a detection method, which specifically discloses that the capacitive water level and water volume detection device comprises a liquid storage container and a base which are electrically connected to each other through a coupler, the liquid storage container is provided with a conductive part, the inner bottom surface of the liquid storage container is provided with a conductive column body covered with an insulating material, the conductive part and the conductive column body covered with the insulating material jointly form a capacitor structure, the base is provided with a control circuit, and the conductive column body is electrically connected to the control circuit through the coupler. Among them, the conductive column body is arranged in the kettle, which needs to be disassembled during cleaning, thereby increasing the workload of the user, and the insulating material may release some harmful substances to human body when working in a high temperature environment for a long time, thereby existing a health risk.

[0004] Meanwhile, the prior art also discloses an electric kettle, wherein the capacitive liquid level detection structure comprises a liquid storage container, a water level scale is arranged on the liquid storage container, a sensing electrode sheet which does not contact liquid is arranged on the liquid storage container, the sensing electrode sheet is located at different height positions to constitute the water level scale, there is a spacing L between the sensing electrode sheet and the inner wall of the liquid storage container, the spacing L is appropriate for the sensing electrode sheet to generate a capacitance value when liquid reaches the corresponding height position, the capacitive liquid level detection structure further comprises a chip module, a running chip is arranged on the chip module, and the running chip is connected to more than one sensing electrode sheet. The structure has the characteristics of reliable liquid level detection performance, guaranteeing user's drinking water health, being convenient to clean, good safety and the like.

[0005] However, the capacitive liquid level detection structure in the above scheme is still susceptible to external environment, water temperature and other factors, for example, the capacitance value of the sensing electrode sheet will increase when the water temperature is too high, resulting in the problem that the water level signal is disordered, and when one of the electrode sheets fails, the detection process will have data discontinuity, thereby affecting the overall water level detection process.

[0006] Therefore, there is an urgent need for a technical solution that can achieve non-contact, high precision and is not easily affected by other factors. SUMMARY

[0007] In order to solve the above problems, the utility model provides a kettle for solving the low precision, difficult to clean, detection data is easy to be affected and the health hidden danger etc.

[0008] The technical scheme of the utility model is as follows:

[0009] A kind of kettle, including kettle body and kettle cover, the outer side wall of kettle body is equipped with PCB board for detecting liquid level, PCB board includes substrate and several electrode sheets mounted on substrate, the electrode sheet is electrically connected to main control module, the electrode sheet is arranged on the substrate and forms water level detection area, water level detection area includes low water level detection area at the bottom of substrate, the low water level detection area is equipped with multiple first electrode sheets and second electrode sheet on the side of first electrode sheet, the detection height of second electrode sheet is higher than the detection height of first electrode sheet.

[0010] As a preferred embodiment of the utility model, the low water level detection area is equipped with multiple first electrode sheets arranged in upper and lower intervals, the first electrode sheet is provided with at least two pieces, and the first gap for representing low water level scale is formed between adjacent first electrode sheets.

[0011] As a preferred embodiment of the utility model, the first electrode sheet is provided with three pieces, and the low water level scale corresponding to the first gap includes first low water level and second low water level responding to different functions, and the second low water level is arranged above the first low water level.

[0012] As a preferred embodiment of the utility model, the first electrode sheet includes water replenishment detection electrode arranged below the first low water level, and the bottom end of the water replenishment detection electrode is flush with the bottom end of the second electrode sheet.

[0013] As a preferred embodiment of the utility model, multiple third electrode sheets are arranged in the upper part of the low water level detection area, and the second gap is formed between adjacent third electrode sheets, and the top of the water level detection area is provided with anti-overflow detection electrode.

[0014] As a preferred embodiment of the utility model, the low water level detection area is provided with intermediate water level detection area above, and the detection electrode column is formed by arranging the electrode sheets staggered in the intermediate water level detection area, and the detection electrode column includes first detection column arranged above the first electrode sheet and second detection column adjacent to the first detection column.

[0015] As the preferred embodiment of the utility model, a plurality of fourth electrode pieces are arranged in the first detection column, a plurality of fifth electrode pieces are arranged in the second detection column, and the second gap for representing the middle water level scale is formed between adjacent fourth electrode pieces and / or adjacent fifth electrode pieces.

[0016] As the preferred embodiment of the utility model, the fourth electrode piece and one or more adjacent fifth electrode pieces form an electrode combination for assisting in detecting the middle water level scale, and different electrode combinations correspond to different middle water level scales.

[0017] As the preferred embodiment of the utility model, the high water level detection area is further arranged above the middle water level detection area, the high water level detection area comprises an anti-overflow detection electrode arranged at the top of the water level detection area, and the third gap for representing the high water level scale is formed between the anti-overflow detection electrode and the middle water level detection area.

[0018] As the preferred embodiment of the utility model, the electrode piece is attached to the front surface of the substrate and faces the side wall of the kettle, and the main control module is arranged on the rear surface of the substrate and is located below the water level detection area.

[0019] The technical effects of the utility model are as follows:

[0020] In the utility model, the PCB detection plate is arranged outside the side wall of the kettle, the electrode pieces for corresponding different water level scales are distributed on the PCB detection plate to form the water level detection area, the water level detection area comprises the low water level detection area for meeting the detection requirements of different low water levels under various working conditions, the electrode pieces are divided into at least two columns, one column is provided with the first electrode piece, and the other column is provided with the second electrode piece with relatively higher detection height, the real-time water level signal is calibrated through the self-capacitance detection of the first electrode piece and the mutual-capacitance detection of the first electrode piece and the second electrode piece to improve the precision of water level detection, and the process of mutual-capacitance detection is not affected by factors such as temperature, thereby solving the problem of inaccurate data collection.

[0021] The first electrode piece further comprises a water supplement detection electrode arranged below the first low water level, the water supplement detection electrode is arranged flush with the bottom end of the second electrode piece, the second electrode piece can be used for detecting the water shortage signal, the water supplement detection electrode can perform secondary calibration on the water shortage signal of the second electrode piece, and the detection precision is further improved.

[0022] The low water level detection area is provided with an intermediate water level detection area above it, the intermediate water level detection area is provided with detection electrode columns formed by the staggered distribution of electrode pieces, and the second gap between adjacent electrode pieces in the same column corresponds to different intermediate water level scales, that is, the staggered distribution of the detection columns realizes the continuous detection of the intermediate water level of the kettle body, and prevents the problem of incomplete detection of the water level caused by signal discontinuity. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0023] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical scheme in the embodiments of the present application or the prior art, the drawings required by the embodiments will be briefly introduced as follows. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present application, and other drawings can be obtained by those skilled in the art without creative labor on the basis of these drawings.

[0024] Figure 1 Part structure of the kettle in the embodiment;

[0025] Figure 2 Structure diagram of the low water level area of the PCB;

[0026] Figure 3 Structure diagram of the low water level area of the PCB containing the water replenishment detection electrode;

[0027] Figure 4 Structure diagram of the intermediate water level area of the PCB;

[0028] Figure 5 Structure diagram of the intermediate water level area of the PCB in another embodiment;

[0029] Figure 6 Structure diagram of the high water level area of the PCB;

[0030] Corresponding relationship between the reference signs and the parts:

[0031] 1, kettle body; 2, base plate; 3, electrode piece; 31, first electrode piece; 311, water replenishment detection electrode; 32, second electrode piece; 33, fourth electrode piece; 34, fifth electrode piece; 35, third electrode piece; 36, anti-overflow detection electrode; 4, water level detection area; 41, low water level detection area; 42, intermediate water level detection area; 43, high water level detection area; 5, first gap; 6, second gap; 7, third gap. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] Clearly, the described embodiments are merely a part of the embodiments of the present application, but not all the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present application, all the other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative labor fall within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0033] The utility model provides a kind of kettle, including kettle body and kettle cover, the outer portion of the side wall of kettle body is equipped with PCB board for detecting liquid level, PCB board includes substrate and several electrode sheet mounted on substrate, the electrode sheet is electrically connected to main control module, the electrode sheet is arranged on the substrate and forms water level detection area, water level detection area includes low water level detection area located at the bottom of substrate, the low water level detection area is equipped with multiple first electrode sheet and second electrode sheet arranged at the side of first electrode sheet, the detection height of second electrode sheet is higher than the detection height of first electrode sheet.

[0034] In detail, by setting PCB board for detecting liquid level on the outer portion of the side wall of kettle, non-contact liquid level detection of kettle is realized, the problems of releasing harmful substances such as heavy metals, difficult to clean scale and high cost in the prior art are solved, the low water level detection area composed of multiple first electrode sheet and second electrode sheet arranged at the side of first electrode sheet is formed on PCB board, and accurate detection of water level of kettle is realized by combining self-capacitance detection and mutual capacitance detection, the influence of other factors on detection data is avoided, and detection accuracy is further improved.

[0035] Wherein self-capacitance detection includes capacitance value sampling on single electrode sheet and determination process of capacitance change, baseline delay following form can be used to remove the influence of temperature and other factors on determination process, wherein self-capacitance change process equivalent water as capacitance connected in series between first electrode sheet or second electrode sheet and ground section; Mutual capacitance detection is mutual capacitance value of second electrode sheet and each first electrode sheet, and the specific position of current water level is determined by improving the change rule of mutual capacitance value, wherein the change rule of mutual capacitance value is equivalent water as capacitance connected in parallel between second electrode sheet and first electrode sheet.

[0036] Specifically, the utility model discloses a kind of kettle, refer to Figure 1 And Figure 2, including a kettle body 1 and a kettle cover, the outer side wall of the kettle body 1 is provided with a PCB board for detecting the liquid level, the PCB board includes a substrate 2 and a plurality of electrode sheets 3 mounted on the substrate 2, the electrode sheets 3 are electrically connected to a master control module, the electrode sheets 3 are arranged on the substrate 2 to form a water level detection area 4, the water level detection area 4 includes a low water level detection area 41 located at the bottom of the substrate 2, wherein a plurality of first electrode sheets 31 and a second electrode sheet 32 located on one side of the first electrode sheet 31 are arranged in the low water level detection area 41, and the detection height of the second electrode sheet 32 is higher than that of the first electrode sheet 31. In the embodiment, the PCB board for detecting the liquid level is externally provided to realize non-contact liquid level detection of the kettle, and the liquid level detection assembly does not need to be in direct contact with water, thereby avoiding harm to human health. Meanwhile, the first electrode sheet 31 and the second electrode sheet 32 are arranged in the water level detection area 4, and the mutual capacitance detection of the first electrode sheet 31 and the second electrode sheet 32 cooperates with self-capacitance detection to realize accurate detection of the water level. Compared with the existing capacitance detection scheme, the detection accuracy is relatively higher and is not easily affected by external factors.

[0037] In one embodiment of the present embodiment, referring to Figure 2 , the low water level detection area 41 is provided with a plurality of first electrode sheets 31 arranged in an upper and lower interval, wherein the first electrode sheet 31 is provided with at least two pieces, and a first gap 5 for representing a low water level scale is formed between adjacent first electrode sheets 31. In the present embodiment, at least two first electrode sheets 31 arranged at an interval are arranged in the low water level detection area 41 to form a first gap 5 corresponding to at least one low water level scale, so as to realize accurate detection of the low water level scale, and the mutual capacitance detection of the first electrode sheet 31 and the second electrode sheet 32 is combined to perform secondary calibration on a plurality of low water level scales. In detail, referring to Figure 2 , the first electrode sheet 31 is provided with three pieces, wherein the low water level scale corresponding to the first gap 5 includes a first low water level and a second low water level responding to different functions, and the second low water level is arranged above the first low water level. In the present embodiment, two low water level scales responding to different functions are arranged based on the demand of the product, for example, the first low water level corresponding to the water inlet low water level scale and the second low water level corresponding to the tea boiling low water level scale, so that the control logic of the water level detection can meet the water inlet condition under multiple functions, and the versatility of the kettle is improved.

[0038] Specifically, as Figure 3As shown, the first electrode sheet 31 in the above embodiment further comprises a water replenishment detection electrode 311 arranged below the first low water level, wherein the bottom end of the water replenishment detection electrode 311 is flush with the bottom end of the second electrode sheet 32, at this time the second electrode sheet 32 is used to cooperate with the water replenishment electrode 411 sheet to detect the current water level state of the kettle, and the flush arrangement of the bottom end ensures that the water replenishment detection electrode 311 and the second electrode sheet 32 simultaneously detect the change of the capacitance value, and the mutual capacitance detection between the water replenishment detection electrode 311 and the second electrode sheet 32 can more accurately know whether the kettle is currently in a water shortage state, and send a water shortage reminder to the user when a water shortage signal is detected.

[0039] In the embodiment, as shown in the figure, Figure 4 The upper side of the low water level detection area 41 is provided with an intermediate water level detection area 42, and the intermediate water level detection area 7 is provided with an electrode sheet arranged in a staggered manner to form a detection electrode column, which includes a first detection column arranged above the first electrode sheet and a second detection column adjacent to the first detection column. In this embodiment, the staggered electrode sheet is arranged in the intermediate water level detection area to form two detection electrode columns, which can accurately detect the intermediate water level scale, and the staggered arrangement can obtain uninterrupted sampling data in the detection electrode column, preventing incomplete data caused by damage to a certain electrode sheet, avoiding the influence of factors such as dielectric constant of insulator, external environment temperature and electrical parameter on the measurement accuracy, and further improving the accuracy of water level detection by mutual capacitance detection between the first detection column and the second detection column adjacent thereto.

[0040] Specifically, as shown in the figure, Figure 4 The first detection column is provided with a plurality of fourth electrode sheets 33 arranged at intervals, and the second detection column is provided with a plurality of fifth electrode sheets 34 arranged at intervals, and the second gap 6 for representing the intermediate water level scale is formed between adjacent fourth electrode sheets 33 and / or adjacent fifth electrode sheets 34, and the second gap 6 is used to cooperate with the self-capacitance detection process of the plurality of fourth electrode sheets 33 and the plurality of fifth electrode sheets 34 to determine whether the current water level reaches the corresponding intermediate water level scale, in another specific embodiment, the fourth electrode sheet 33 and one or more fifth electrode sheets 34 adjacent thereto form an electrode combination for assisting in detecting the intermediate water level scale, different electrode combinations correspond to different intermediate water level scales, respectively, and the plurality of electrode combinations respectively perform mutual capacitance detection process, which can determine whether the electrode combination is in contact with water by the size of the mutual capacitance value, and determine whether the current water level reaches the corresponding intermediate water level scale according to the change rule of the mutual capacitance value.

[0041] In another embodiment of the present embodiment, referring to Figure 5, the low water level detection area 41 is provided with a plurality of third electrode pieces 35 arranged at intervals above the low water level detection area 41, and the second gap 6 is formed between adjacent third electrode pieces 35, and the current water level position is determined through cooperation of the first gap 5 and the second gap 6, and the anti-overflow detection electrode 36 provided at the top of the water level detection area 4 is used for anti-overflow control of the kettle to prevent the kettle from overflowing and spraying water when boiling water.

[0042] In the embodiment, as shown in the drawings, the high water level detection area 43 is further provided above the middle water level detection area 42, the high water level detection area 43 includes the anti-overflow detection electrode 36 provided at the top of the water level detection area 4, and the third gap 7 for representing the high water level scale is formed between the anti-overflow detection electrode 36 and the middle water level detection area 42. Figure 6 In the embodiment, when the current water level rises to the position of the third gap 7, the anti-overflow control mode is controlled to start to detect the mutual capacitance value of the anti-overflow detection electrode 36 and the fourth electrode piece 33 or the fifth electrode piece 34 adjacent to the anti-overflow detection electrode 36, when the mutual capacitance value exceeds the preset threshold value, the working power of the heating device in the kettle is adjusted based on the preset program, in the embodiment, the precise anti-overflow control is realized through continuous multiple determinations, the risk of overflow is reduced, the heating efficiency of the kettle is taken into account, and the user experience is further improved.

[0043] In the embodiment, the electrode piece 3 is attached to the front surface of the substrate 2 and faces the kettle side wall, the main control module is arranged on the rear surface of the substrate, and the main control module is located below the water level detection area, it should be noted that the PCB board of the embodiment can be used for detection of the water level signal and detection of the anti-overflow signal, the substrate of the PCB detection board is a hard board, and the PCB board is vertically arranged outside the kettle side wall, which can effectively avoid the problem that the arc structure of the kettle causes the capacitive electrode piece to sense the non-required capacitance value, the three copper shielding of the water level detection area on the substrate of the PCB board and the grid copper shielding on the rear surface of the substrate can eliminate the sensing interference of the external capacitive electrode piece, effectively solve the problem that the condensate water or user's hand touch on the side of the assembled PCB board causes the capacitance value to fluctuate abnormally, and cause the detection result to be abnormal, and ensure the reliability and accuracy of the water level detection process.

[0044] The above merely describes the specific implementation of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited to this, any skilled person in the art can easily think of changes or replacements within the technical range disclosed by the present application, which should be covered within the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A kettle comprising a kettle body and a kettle cover, an outer side wall of the kettle body is provided with a PCB board for detecting liquid level, the PCB board comprises a substrate and a plurality of electrode sheets mounted on the substrate, the electrode sheets are electrically connected to a master control module, characterized in that, The electrode pieces are arranged on the substrate to form a water level detection area, and the water level detection area includes a low water level detection area at the bottom of the substrate, wherein a plurality of first electrode pieces and a second electrode piece arranged on one side of the first electrode pieces are arranged in the low water level detection area, and the detection height of the second electrode piece is higher than that of the first electrode piece.

2. A kettle as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that The low water level detection area is provided with a plurality of first electrode pieces arranged in an upper and lower interval, and the first electrode pieces are arranged at least in two pieces, and a first gap for representing a low water level scale is formed between adjacent first electrode pieces.

3. A kettle as claimed in claim 2, wherein The first electrode pieces are arranged in three pieces, and the low water level scale corresponding to the first gap includes a first low water level and a second low water level responding to different functions, and the second low water level is arranged above the first low water level.

4. A kettle as claimed in claim 3, wherein The first electrode pieces include a water replenishment detection electrode arranged below the first low water level, and the bottom end of the water replenishment detection electrode is flush with the bottom end of the second electrode piece.

5. The water kettle of claim 1, wherein, The low water level detection area is provided with a plurality of third electrode pieces arranged in an interval, and a second gap is formed between adjacent third electrode pieces, and a top of the water level detection area is provided with an anti-overflow detection electrode.

6. The water kettle of claim 1, wherein, An intermediate water level detection area is arranged above the low water level detection area, and a detection electrode column is formed by arranging the electrode pieces in the intermediate water level detection area in a staggered manner, and the detection electrode column includes a first detection column arranged above the first electrode piece and a second detection column adjacent to the first detection column.

7. A kettle as claimed in claim 6, wherein The first detection column is provided with a plurality of fourth electrode pieces arranged in an interval, and the second detection column is provided with a plurality of fifth electrode pieces arranged in an interval, and a second gap for representing an intermediate water level scale is formed between adjacent fourth electrode pieces and / or adjacent fifth electrode pieces.

8. A kettle according to claim 7, wherein The fourth electrode piece and one or more adjacent fifth electrode pieces form an electrode combination for assisting in detecting the intermediate water level scale, and different electrode combinations correspond to different intermediate water level scales.

9. The water kettle of claim 6 wherein, The intermediate water level detection area is further provided with a high water level detection area, and the high water level detection area includes an anti-overflow detection electrode arranged at the top of the water level detection area, and a third gap for representing a high water level scale is formed between the anti-overflow detection electrode and the intermediate water level detection area.

10. The water kettle of claim 1, wherein, The electrode pieces are attached to the front surface of the substrate and face the side wall of the kettle, and the main control module is arranged on the rear surface of the substrate, and the main control module is located below the water level detection area.

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