Patent Application
20050016381
This invention relates to domestic appliances and, more particularly, to domestic appliances with a reservoir, such as water heating and beverage making apparatus as well as other apparatus such as toasters, blenders, etc. More specifically, although not solely. This invention relates to apparatus in the forms of domestic appliances such as kettles, coffee percolators or other similar items to either heat water for beverage production or further process heated fluids into a completed beverage.
Domestic appliances for heating water or making hot beverages usually come in a form of kettles, coffee percolators or similar apparatus. While such domestic appliances provide useful utility, they can be harmful and potentially dangerous to the user because of the heated fluid they carry. Other potentially harmful appliances to a user exist in the form of toasters, blenders, etc. with a hot exterior which can harm a user if they are unaware of the operative state of the appliance.
On the majority of such appliances, some visual indication is provided for the status of the appliance as to whether the appliance is switched on or off. This is particularly important on apparatus such as coffee percolators where there is a likelihood that the apparatus will not only produce the beverage but also maintain the beverage on a heated plate for use over a period of time.
The usual method for indicating the status of the appliance is to provide some kind of visual indication being either the position of the off-on switch or, on many appliances, an indicating light. However, such indicating lights are generally given by small low-powered lamps provided on one side of the apparatus and may not always be apparent to a user or, sometimes, the lamps are just not conspicuous enough as low-wattage lamps are always preferred to minimize non-critical energy consumption. This increases the likelihood of the apparatus being left onto either damage the apparatus or catch a user unawares, such as a user may find themselves on a heated portion of the apparatus without appreciating that the apparatus was on.
For example, in the case of kettles or similar, it may be desirable to know when the kettle has achieved a desired temperature. Most such appliance which is purely for heating water for making a beverage will have some form of automatic cut-off, generally relying on a steam-operated switch or similar. However, the operation of that switch does not provide much of an indication to a user that the state of the apparatus has changed and that the water has achieved the desired temperature. Unless the user specifically notes the position of the switch or hears a small audible click once the switch activates, there is little other provision of indicators. Again, a small indicating light could be provided although this also depends on the positioning of the light and once the risk of not being particularly apparent to a user at a distance or from a side of the appliance that masks the indicating light itself.
Other domestic appliances such as toasters or blenders may also benefit from a more visible indication of the operative state of the appliance to avoid harm to a user that is unaware the appliance is on.
It may be desirable to provide a further form of indication which, if possible, can also add to the aesthetic appearance of the appliances by providing a new visual effect. Preferably, such an indication carries with it practical utility.
It is an object of the present invention to provide such an apparatus that may overcome some of the disadvantages of the prior art and/or provide a new aesthetic effect to such appliances or at least provide the public with a useful choice. It is a particular object of this invention to provide heated domestic appliances having a reservoir with visible means which overcome at least some of the shortcomings of the appliances known while providing practical utility.
Accordingly, in a first aspect, the invention may broadly be said to consist in a domestic appliance comprising:
Preferably, said light emitter indicates the operative state of the appliance.
Preferably, the fluid contained in said fluid chamber or said fluid chamber itself forms an illuminated display means when illuminated by said light source.
Preferably said light transmissible panel is a transparent or translucent portion of said fluid chamber.
Preferably said light emitter comprises a light bulb directing light into said fluid.
Preferably, said light emitter or light source includes a distributed light source.
Preferably, said distributed light source is ultra-violet light source giving out both visible light and invisible ultra-violet radiation.
Preferably said fluid chamber comprises a fluid chamber for a percolator and said heating means is associated with said fluid chamber to heat fluid passing from at least one first fluid chamber to a second fluid chamber.
Preferably further heating means is provided to maintain heat and said second fluid chamber.
Alternatively said domestic appliance comprises a kettle and said light emitter emits light directly into fluid being heated within said chamber.
Preferably said light emitted into a chamber of said kettle is emitted from a side of the chamber.
Preferably said light emitted from a side of said chamber is emitted from a light emitter positioned in a handle portion of said appliance.
Preferably a further light emitter is provided to emit light in an ultra-violet waveband.
Preferably multiple light emitters are provided to indicate different states of the apparatus or appliance.
Preferably said appliance includes a controller to control the illumination of different lights or varied illumination of a single light emitter in accordance with different operative states of said apparatus.
Further aspects of the invention may become apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention relates upon reading the following description.
Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of examples and with reference to the following drawings, in which:
Referring to the drawings, a domestic appliance 1 is shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 in the form of a kettle or other water heating apparatus. It will be appreciated that the water heating apparatus can be used for heating other beverage fluids and the kettle as shown is merely indicative of the type of apparatus to which the invention may relate.
The domestic appliance 1 in the form of a kettle 2 contains a main fluid-containing chamber 3. The fluid containing chamber 3 should contain at least one portion that is transmissible to visible light. In this particular example, the main generally circumferential sidewalls 4 can be made from a transparent or translucent material such as glass of specific colours or other materials such as plastics or the like. In this particular embodiment, the majority of the outer surface area of the fluid container or chamber 3 is provided in a substantially transparent material. Of course, this could be varied to only provide a specific portion or panel in the fluid container of such a suitable material.
This particular embodiment provides the appliance in the form of a kettle and, as a consequence, provides the heating element 6 to heat the fluid within the container 3. Typically the heating element is provided in a base portion 7 of the apparatus.
A handle portion 8 is provided together with a switch 9 for operating the appliance and a controller 10.
As shown in
When provided in combination with the transparent or translucent or otherwise light transmissible portion of the reservoir or the fluid chamber 3, the lighting emitter 5 is able to provide a significant area of visible light passing through the transmissible portion having been diffused through the fluid within the fluid chamber 3.
The lighting emitter is able to be utilized as an indicator of the operative state of the appliance. For example, the lighting emitter 5 can provide any particular desired colour of light through the fluid and through the transmissible portion to indicate that the appliance is switched on.
In this preferred embodiment as shown in
As shown in
The light emitters 5 and 11 can provide visibly different forms of light through the fluid to indicate different operative conditions of the appliance. For example, the light emitters 5 and 11 may be of different colours or similar with one light as shown in
Upon reaching boiling point, the heating element 6 may be switched off entirely or reduced to simply maintain heat in the water. During this period, an alternative light 11 can be utilized to diffuse a different colour through the water to provide immediate visual indication to a user of the change of operative state.
Of course, it will be apparent that a single light emitter can be utilized to emit different colours upon receiving different inputs. This is particularly the case if solid-state light source are used in the form of light emitting diodes or similar.
In this example, the lights 5, 11 and 12 can be provided in a housing portion 14 adjacent the handle 8. This may be a more desirable solution for a kettle of this form. In providing such lights on a kettle 2, consideration needs to be made to the position of the heating element 6 and the proximity of the lights and associated wiring to that heating element. It may not be desirable to provide the lights particularly close to the heating element 6 nor, in some circumstances, directly above the heating element 6 in an upper portion as shown in the previous figures. If the light emitters are placed in the lid portion of the kettle 2, consideration must be taken to account for steam generation within the fluid chamber 3 that may interfere with the housing, manufacture and operation of the lights.
In addition, as the light emitting arrangement is placed in a generally transparent compartment partly surrounded by the fluid container 3, the emitted light can be more effectively dispersed or diffused into the fluid contained in the fluid container or even to the fluid container to facilitate a “large-screen” display effect.
A further appliance is shown in FIGS. 4 to 6 in the form of a coffee maker or percolator 20. Here it can be seen that the light emitters 21, 22 and a UV emitter 23 are provided in the cold water tank 27 of the appliance. Of course, one or more could be provided to shine or diffuse through the heated chamber 24 also, however, the generally dark nature of coffee may require careful selection of an appropriate source of light to achieve the desired aims.
By providing multiple or variable lights 21 and 22, the coffee maker can indicate different states such as the production of coffee into the chamber 24 and then the maintenance of the heating element 26 to keep the coffee hot.
In general, it will be noted that the lights may be placed anywhere that conveniently provides light to the tank and may even be placed in the lid 28 of the apparatus 20 or in the base of the tank as shown in the previous
The blender 30 in
The toaster 35 provides the chamber in a ring like fashion around the base of the toaster.
A variety of other positions could be utilised to provide a large indicating area for the diffused light. diffused light occurring through water retained in a transparent chamber in the appliance.
When applied to kettles or similar, the water held within the appliance itself as part of its normal operation can be used.
Regardless, a user can identify the state of the appliance from a distance and be wary of heated appliances or those where care should be taken while switched into a particular operative condition. Furthermore, this can be achieved while providing a particular aesthetic appearance to the appliances.
The invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments that are exemplary of the invention although should not be considered limiting to the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. Specific integers referred to throughout the description may be deemed to incorporate known equivalents where appropriate.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01106196.8 | Sep 2001 | HK | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/IB02/03573 | 9/3/2002 | WO |
