Volume and Temperature Indicators for Insulated Air Pot

An ordinary air pot can discharge water simply by pressing. However, its pressure conduit, water conduit and water outlet are open and in daily application, the water is not insulated from the environment so that water temperature can not be maintained for a long time. Once hot water is poured in, the water becomes warm after a certain period because of cooling. Furthermore, when water is to be discharged from an air pot, it is not possible to find the temperature and volume of the water therein till pressure is applied and the water is discharged. Hence it may be found that the water is insufficient or the temperature is not high enough for preparing a cup of hot coffee, or milk. There are thus a plurality of inconveniences in application, which are defects of an ordinary air pot.

The invention relates to a new design of air pot, especially one with volume and temperature indicators as well as a thermal insulating device. It comprises a volume indicator, temperature indicator and a ball which closes the discharge pipe except when water is being discharged.

The invention is an improvement of an ordinary thermal bottle in that it will indicate water volume and temperature externally and there is a ball which is placed at a terminal of the water conduit pipe to insulate water from the environment for the purpose of retaining the water temperature.

A major objective of the invention is to overcome defects such as those mentioned above and to provide water volume and temperature indicators. Water volume is indicated by means of a float in the pot and a spiral band which is turned by the float. Water temperature is indicated through an arcuate thermometer.

Another objective of the invention is to provide a ball which is freely placed on a terminal of the water conduit pipe and through selection of the weight of such ball, it will float up when pressure is applied so that water can be discharged through the pipe and as soon as pressure is released, it drops on the pipe terminal as a seal so that water in the pot is insulated from the environment and therefore its temperature is maintained.

Characteristics and structure of the invention are described in detail as follows with reference to the drawings attached. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an air pot according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the air pot of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3A and 3B are sectional views of the water volume indicator of the air pot of FIG. 1, and

FIG. 4 is a part sectional view showing the thermal insulating ball of the air pot of FIG. 1.

FIG. 1 illustrates the appearance of an air pot in accordance with the invention. FIG. 2 illustrates a disassembled structure of the air pot. FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate a water volume indicator. FIG. 4 illustrates the device of the thermal insulating ball. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the air pot comprises a cylindrical pot body (6) the upper end of which is closed by a cap (5). A discharge pipe (3) extends down from an interior body (4) of the pot cap almost to the bottom of the pot. The upper end of the pipe (3) connects with a discharge spout 31. An arcuate volume indicator (1) and arcuate temperature indicator (2) are designed on the top of the pot cap (5) of pot body (6). They show water reserves and the temperature of water in the pot so that one can know them prior to discharge of water. The volume indicator consists of a hollow float (11) made of light material. Such float (11) is connected to a sliding plate (12) which has a hole (121) to receive the water conduit pipe (3) in air pot so that it can move up and down along the conduit pipe (3) as indicated by arrow C. In the plate (12) there is also a rectangular slot (122) with adequate width. Within the slot (122) there is a spiral band (13) and the whole spiral band has only a turn along its whole length. At its bottom end (131) the spiral band (13) is rotatably supported by a bracket (14) on the bottom end of conduit pipe (3) and the upper end (132) of the spiral band (13) is the round hole (41) of pot cap body (4) in which said band can rotate freely received in said round hole (41). The round hole (41) is aligned with a conical body (52) at bottom (51) of pot cap (5). The pot cap (5), as shown in the attached drawing, comprises a pressure part (5)' and a compressible air chamber (5)". The pot cap (5) is connected with the pot body by means of a hinge. In order to allow the conical body (52) which matches with the round hole (41) to be connected with the spiral band (13) whenever the pot is covered, the conical body (52) has two conical parts (521) and (522) with tips (523) and with an oblique space (524) between them, and the whole body (52) is rotatable on the bottom of (51) of pot cap (5). When the pot is covered with pot cap (5), the spiral band (13) can be held in the oblique space (524) so that the spiral band (13) can rotate following the up and down movement of float (11) and thus, conical body (52) is rotated as shown in FIG. 3. The conical body (52) is linked with an indicator (53) on the pot cap. Therefore, the arcuate engraved line (54) of the volume indicator (1) can show water volume remained in the pot and then, one can know the exact quantity of water in the pot by just watching its external.

The temperature indicator (2) comprises a heat conductor (24) and a thermal sensor (25) which are in a sealed state without contacting the environment so that temperature of water can be shown on the pot cap. The heat conductor is made 95 a conduit (21) of good thermal insulative material and the bottom terminal of the conduit (21) has a conical lower opening (22). The lower opening (22) is fixed to the bottom (51) of the cap and it matches with an air hole (42) in the interior body (4) of pot cap (5) so that the air hole (42) is sealed by the conical lower opening (22) and leakage is prevented. Steam travels through lower opening (22), conduit (21) and then upper opening (23). The upper opening (23) is also of conical form. The thermal sensing glass tube (25) of a thermometer (heat conductor (24)) is inserted into the upper opening (23) so that it is heated by the steam. Then, the thermometer (24) indicates the temperature of water in the pot. The scale of the thermometer is of arcuate form in an arcuate groove (55) on the pot cap (5) so that the thermometer (24) can be protected and used as an indicator (2) for water temperature.

For thermal insulation purpose, the invention comprises a ball (7) in the interior body (4) of pot cap (5). An ordinary air pot does not have good thermal insulation properties since when it is pressed for discharging water, the conduit pipe (31) is open to the interior space (43) and water in the pot disperses heat energy to the environment, which is dispersed even when the pot is not being pressed. The invention has a ball (7) which is made of thermal resistant and poisonless material on the upper terminal of water conduit pipe (3). The ball (7) has an appropriate weight and its diameter is slightly bigger than the inner diameter of conduit pipe (3) so that when pressure is applied, the pressure can float the ball (7) and water discharge is possible. When no pressure is applied (i.e. in normal condition), the ball (7) falls on the opening of conduit pipe (3) by its own weight, as shown in FIG. 4. Since it is a spherical structure, thermal energy is insulated thereby and the purpose of thermal insulation is attained.

The water volume and temperature indicators as well as the thermal insulation device are designed for the air pot so that application of the air pot is simple and practical.