DK201300154U3 - Electronically controlled mixer for liquids - Google Patents

Abstract

Electronically controlled mixer for liquids, including drinking water, which is controlled by a microprocessor and various sensors. This mixer battery does not use traditional mechanical thermostats or any manual valves to control the temperature or flow of fluids in the mixer. Since this mixer battery is electronically controlled, it will be possible to select a desired temperature and flow of liquids through the mixer battery and it will subsequently keep these parameters constant for as long as desired. This is controlled by the user's parameters which can define all aspects of the use of the blend battery. This mixer battery can be controlled in many ways, including a control panel that can be designed at the user's or remote's convenience, including using a traditional remote, Internet, a "Smartphone" or "Tablet" computer and associated software.

Description

Title

Electronically Controlled Liquid Mixing Battery The scope of manufacture

The invention relates to an electrically controlled mixing battery for liquids including drinking water.

Liquid mixing batteries, including drinking water, are used both privately and commercially for, among other things, wash basins, bathrooms and all other applications where one wishes to be able to control the generation of liquid, especially in connection with the choice of temperature and liquid quantity.

Prior art

In the well-known and conventional liquid mixer batteries, usually used for kitchen or bathing purposes, the mixer battery is mounted at the point of use and is used to determine the mixing ratio of hot and cold liquids to produce a desired liquid temperature and liquid passage in the mixer battery.

Manual ball valves are usually used to control the passage of the mixed fluid through the mixing battery. These ball valves can be combined in certain traditional designs, allowing you to control temperature and fluid flow with one hand.

In addition, in certain mixing batteries, a mechanical thermostat is built in to assist in maintaining a desired temperature. This thermostat can be adjusted by the user to select the temperature the thermostat must try to maintain.

Traditional blend batteries are found in many physical editions, but have virtually not changed, purely technically, over the last 40 years. Only the physical design has changed to the taste and pleasures of society.

See Appendix 3 for a picture of a traditional mixer battery.

The technical problem

The reason for using a mixer battery is that you want to achieve a certain temperature and a certain amount of liquid through the mixer battery, but it is not always possible to keep constant control of the liquid temperature or quantity.

This may be due to pressure differences in the supply of liquids to the mixing battery, or alternatively the temperature change of the liquids supplying the mixing battery.

When using a traditional mixer battery, you must regulate the mixing ratio between hot and cold water and control fluid flow through the mixer with one or more manual ball valves. This provides inaccurate and callous control.

There are also traditional mixing batteries which use a mechanical thermostat to assist in controlling and maintaining the mixing ratio between hot and cold water and, in addition, a manual valve to control the flow of the liquid.

However, mechanical thermostats are extremely slow to respond to rapid temperature changes, so this solution is neither accurate nor particularly advanced.

The new technique

What is new about this generation is that it does not use mechanical thermostats or any manual valves to control the temperature or flow of liquids in the mixing battery.

What is new about this generation is that the mixer battery is controlled completely electronically and this generation can both handle very precise temperature control and regulate the flow of the liquids completely automatically using an electronic "closed-loop" circuit with a microprocessor with associated temperature and "flow" sensors (fluid quantity sensors) which control one or more electro-mechanical actuators replacing the traditional manual ball valves.

What is new about this generation is that the mixer battery does not need to be mounted directly at the point of use as it is manufactured as a separate unit and can be stored away, e.g. in a cabinet or the like where an existing piping had to be found and only the control panel would be visible to the user. This allows for easier piping, since only one pipe has to be fed to a faucet.

What is new about this generation is that the mixer battery can also protect against accidental use, e.g. outside a certain permissible time frame as well as keeping track of water consumption and the like, as all functions can be defined and read by the user.

The new feature of this generation is that the mixer battery can automatically clean itself by activating its electromechanical actuators regularly so that stagnant water, including, for example, lime or rust, does not clog the mixer battery.

The new feature of this creation is that control panels can be manufactured as desired, which can be designed to facilitate the everyday life of e.g. disabled or elderly people. This can only be done with this new generation, using microprocessor controlled electromechanical actuators and not manual valves.

The new feature of this creation is that all functions can be operated either with a control panel or can be controlled remotely with a traditional remote control, via the Internet, "Smartphone" or a "Tablet" computer and associated software.

The technical impact

With this generation, one can very accurately control many parameters of the mixer battery, including temperature, review of liquids in the mixer battery and control of when the mixer battery should be used and how.

As the mechanical structure of the mixer battery is electronically controlled, this new generation also allows remote control with either a simple remote control, which can be wireless, via the Internet or a "Smartphone" or Tablet "computer and associated software.

This remote control option offers completely new possibilities for user comfort, as using the bathtub mixer and the like, you can prepare a bath before arriving home or replenish fluid without having to physically operate the mixer battery that you will need using traditional blend batteries.

Using this new generation, the desired user parameters are used to control one or more electromechanical actuators using a central microprocessor and with several types of sensors in the mixer battery including temperature sensors and "flow" sensors ).

With a so-called digital "closed loop", the central microprocessor keeps track of the desired user parameters when reading temperature and "Flow" sensors (fluid quantity sensors) and then regulates one or more electromechanical actuators to obtain and maintain the desired parameters.

In addition to controlling temperature and fluid quantity, the mixer battery also incorporates a safety in the form of a spring-actuated electromechanical valve which stops the flow of liquid into the mixer battery upon loss of supply voltage.

Since the mixer battery is dependent on a supply of electricity, it is possible to use a safety valve to protect property against uncontrolled quantities of water, the supply voltage should drop during use.

Since this new generation uses electronic control, it is also possible to safeguard against damage to humans or animals by preventing unwanted high temperatures of the liquid supplied by the mixing battery. This can be done by the user setting various parameters, including the maximum permissible temperature and the maximum liquid flow that the mixing battery must supply.

> Chart of figures

Appendix 1 shows the mechanical block diagram of a two-actuator mixer battery for the new generation.

Appendix 2 shows the electronic block diagram for the new generation.

Appendix 3 shows a traditional mixer battery

Appendix 4 shows a typical installation of the new generation.

Claims (5)

1. Electronically controlled mixing battery for liquids, including drinking water, which is new in that it does not use manual mechanical valves or thermostats to control temperature (mixing ratio of cold and hot liquids) and liquid quantity, but uses electromechanical actuators that are controlled of a microprocessor, where the user with a control panel or remote control can control the flow of liquid through the mixing battery, including, among other things, temperature and liquid quantity. Please see Appendix 4 for a typical installation. An electronically controlled mixer battery according to claim 1, which is new by using a "closed loop" control with built-in temperature and flow sensors (liquid amount sensors) in the mixer battery, which gives a microprocessor temperature and liquid amount data which passing through the mixing battery and microprocessor can thus control one or more electromechanical actuators to produce and maintain the precise temperature, liquid amount and other parameters desired by the user. An electronically controlled mixing battery according to claim 2, which is new by using electro-mechanical actuators, to control both temperature (mixing of cold and hot liquids) as well as liquid quantity. These actuators may be in the form of a valve mounted on an electric motor of varying types and designs, configured as a valve with a mounted solenoid of varying type and design or a Pneumatic actuator, to obtain a rapid correction of the moving fluids. through the mixer battery. An electronically controlled mixer battery according to claim 1, which is new in that it can be remotely controlled in the form of a traditional remote control, via the Internet, "Smartphone" or "Tablet" computer and associated software. An electronically controlled mixing battery according to claim 1, which is new in that the mixing battery itself is controlled by a microprocessor, and thus control panels can be designed according to the user's wishes, including touch screens and control panels suitable for e.g. disabled people as these may require special design. Please see Appendix 4 for a typical installation.