Patent Publication Number: US-2022230532-A1

Title: Candle warmer having mobile communication and external interface function

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present disclosure relates to a candle warmer having mobile communication and external interface functions, and more specifically, to a candle warmer having mobile communication and external interface functions, which is capable of preventing malfunction thereof in advance by setting operation information thereof in advance, is monitorable through a smart device to implement an operation selected by a user, and has a remote controller interface function to improve user convenience. 
     BACKGROUND ART 
     In general, a candle warmer is a scent-emitting device that emits light to a fragrant candle containing a fragrant substance, such as an aroma, using a light source generating high-temperature heat, e.g., a halogen lamp, and melts the fragrant candle using heat generated from the emitted light to diffuse the fragrant substance into the air. 
     Although a fragrant candle may be burnt to emit a scent, carcinogenic chemicals such as formaldehyde may be generated, and thus, recently, a method of melting a candle using a candle warmer has been widely used to prevent in advance an oxygen deficit, generation of hazardous compounds when a candle is burnt, a headache due to carbon monoxide, etc. 
     In general, a candle warmer includes a main body configured to place a candle on a side thereof, a lamp provided at a position corresponding to an upper part of the candle to emit light with heat, a socket which supplies power to the lamp, a lampshade provided to surround the lamp and the socket to concentrate light and heat emitted from the lamp, a supporter configured to fasten the socket into the lampshade, and an extension tube extending from another side of the main body such that the supporter is located at a certain height. 
     The candle warmer heats an entire upper surface of a fragrant candle to vaporize the fragrant candle, thereby emitting a scent. However, when the upper surface of the fragrant candle is heated, a strong scent is emitted but gradually fades because perfume contained in the upper surface becomes consumed as time goes by. 
     Furthermore, when the height of the fragrant candle gradually reduces due to the vaporization of the fragrant candle, the distance between the fragrant candle and the lamp increases and thus the amount of heat applied to the fragrant candle reduces, thus greatly reducing the effect of emitting a scent, and as heat is continuously applied to the fragrant candle, the fragrant candle is chemically deformed by heat, thus causing melting or deforming of a container of the fragrant candle. 
     In addition, when a user is asleep, the candle warmer cannot be safely used because the candle warmer is continuously heated while the fragrant candle is heated to emit the scent. 
     PRIOR ART LITERATURE 
     [Patent Document] 
     (Patent Document 1) Korean patent application No. 10-2016-0096841 (filed on Jul. 29, 2016, entitled “Candle Warmer Having Function of Wireless Communication and Internet of Things”) 
     DISCLOSURE 
     Technical Problem 
     To address the above problems, the present disclosure is directed to providing a candle warmer having mobile communication and external interface functions, in which a remote control is provided to remotely control the candle warmer by a user of the candle warmer and a user terminal belonging to the user and having an external communication function, thereby providing convenience of use and managing usage information. 
     The present disclosure is also directed to providing a candle warmer having mobile communication and external interface functions, in which an operational state and operation information may be easily collected and managed by a temperature sensor for detecting temperature information and transmitting collected temperature information to a candle controller and a power sensor for detecting whether an external power source is applied. 
     The present disclosure is also directed to providing a candle warmer having mobile communication and external interface functions, in which an accident due to overheating may be prevented by management through a user terminal processor configured to communicate with a user terminal and collect temperature information collected by a temperature sensor and power information collected by a power sensor by requesting the candle controller to provide the temperature information and the power information. 
     The present disclosure is also directed to providing a candle warmer having mobile communication and external interface functions, in which operation information is monitored by storing, in a database, a threshold operation time of the candle warmer, a threshold temperature, the temperature information collected by the candle controller, heating lamp operation start date and time, heating lamp operation end date and time, and power supply information. 
     The present disclosure is also directed to providing a candle warmer having mobile communication and external interface functions, in which setting information additionally includes information about various types of operation modes, including an away mode, a morning mode, an afternoon mode, an evening mode, and a sleep mode, and thus, a heating time of a heating lamp and a heating time may be controlled on the basis of the various types of operation mode information. 
     The present disclosure is also directed to providing a candle warmer having mobile communication and external interface functions, in which a remote control includes a remote control inputter, a remote control signal converter and a remote control signal transmitter, and thus, information input to the remote control inputter is converted into a transmission signal by the remote control signal converter and the transmission signal is transmitted through the remote control signal transmitter and received by a remote control receiver, thereby increasing user convenience and operation stability. 
     Technical aspects of the present disclosure are not limited thereto, and other aspects that are not mentioned herein will be clearly understood by those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present disclosure pertains from the following description. 
     Technical Solution 
     According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a candle warmer having mobile communication and external interface functions includes a user terminal ( 100 ) belonging to a user of the candle warmer and capable of communicating with external devices. 
     Here, the candle warmer may include a remote control ( 200 ) configured to interface with the candle warmer to allow the user to operate the candle warmer. 
     The candle warmer may include a candle controller ( 300 ) including a communicator ( 310 ) configured to connect to the user terminal ( 100 ), a remote control receiver ( 320 ) configured to interface with the remote control ( 200 ), and an internal timer ( 330 ). 
     In this case, the candle warmer may include a temperature sensor ( 400 ) configured to detect temperature information and transmit collected temperature information to the candle controller ( 300 ). 
     The candle warmer may include a power sensor ( 500 ) configured to be connected to the candle controller ( 300 ) so as to detect whether an external power source is applied. 
     Here, the candle warmer may include a user terminal processor ( 600 ) configured to communicate with the user terminal ( 100 ) and request the candle controller ( 300 ) to transmit temperature information collected by the temperature sensor ( 400 ) and power information collected by the power sensor ( 500 ) so as to collect the temperature information and the power information. 
     In this case, the user terminal processor ( 600 ) may include: a database ( 610 ) storing operation information ( 610   a ), including at least a candle warmer operation threshold time, a threshold temperature, the temperature information collected by the candle controller ( 300 ), heating lamp operation start date and time, heating lamp operation end date and time, and power supply information; a display ( 620 ); and an input means ( 630 ). 
     Here, the user terminal processor ( 600 ) may display details of operating the candle warmer (W) on the display ( 620 ) on the basis of the operation information ( 610   a ) stored in the database ( 610 ) and according to a condition input by a user through the input means ( 630 ). 
     In addition, the user terminal processor ( 600 ) may receive setting information ( 631 ) through the input means ( 630 ) and store the setting information ( 631 ) in the database ( 610 ) so as to control a lamp operation time according to the temperature information collected by the temperature sensor ( 400 ), transmit the setting information ( 631 ) to the candle controller ( 300 ) to be stored in the memory ( 340 ), and synchronize the database ( 610 ) and the memory ( 340 ) with each other at a certain time interval. 
     The setting information ( 631 ) may further include information about operation modes, including at least an away mode ( 631   a ), a morning mode ( 631   b ), an afternoon mode ( 631   c ), an evening mode ( 631   d ), and a sleep mode ( 631   e ), and the candle controller ( 330 ) may control a heating time of a heating lamp and a heating time on the basis of time information collected by the internal timer ( 330 ) and the information about the operation modes stored in the memory ( 340 ). 
     Here, the remote control ( 200 ) may further include a remote control inputter ( 210 ), a remote control signal converter ( 220 ), and a remote control signal transmitter ( 230 ), and information input to the remote control inputter ( 210 ) may be converted into a transmission signal by the remote control signal converter ( 220 ), and the transmission signal may be transmitted through the remote control signal transmitter ( 230 ) and received by the remote control receiver ( 320 ). 
     In this case, the remote control inputter ( 210 ) may include an input button on a front surface of a casing of the remote control ( 200 ), and the input button may include at least a power button ( 210   a ), an illumination button ( 210   b ) and a time button ( 210   c ). When the input button is pressed, the remote control signal converter ( 220 ) may form a digital signal corresponding to the remote control inputter ( 210 ), and the remote control signal transmitter ( 230 ) may transmit the digital signal. When the digital signal is received by the remote control receiver ( 320 ), the candle controller ( 330 ) may ignore the setting information ( 631 ) and preferentially control the digital signal. 
     The candle controller ( 300 ) may turn off a power source immediately when a temperature collected by the temperature sensor ( 400 ) is greater than or equal to a threshold temperature stored in the memory ( 340 ) and a state detected by the power sensor ( 500 ) is a power supply state, and transmit the temperature and the threshold temperature to the user terminal processor ( 600 ) through the communicator ( 310 ), and the user terminal processor ( 600 ) may display the temperature and the threshold temperature transmitted thereto on the display ( 620 ). 
     The candle controller ( 300 ) may store operation time in the memory ( 340 ) using the internal timer ( 330 ) immediately after the candle warmer W is turned on, compare the operation time stored in the memory ( 340 ) with a set threshold time at certain time intervals, control a power source to be turned off immediately when a total operation time exceeds the threshold time, and transmit information about collected temperatures, the threshold temperature, and the threshold time to the user terminal processor ( 600 ) through the communicator ( 310 ) when the power source is turned off, and the user terminal processor ( 600 ) may display the received information on the display ( 620 ). 
     In this case, the user terminal processor ( 600 ) may receive information about a lamp lifespan, for exchanging heating lamps, through the input means ( 630 ), store the information about the lamp lifespan in the database ( 610 ), and display a lamp exchange message and a total lamp operation time on the display ( 620 ) when the lamp lifespan is over. 
     In addition, the user terminal processor ( 600 ) may store information about output sound corresponding to the operation information ( 610   a ) in the database ( 610 ) and output the information about the output sound on the basis of the operation information ( 610   a ) received from the candle controller ( 300 ), when the information about the output sound is input to the user terminal processor ( 600 ) or is selected through the input means ( 630 ), and the output sound may be stored in the user terminal ( 100 ) or provided to interface with an external system or an external server. 
     Advantageous Effects 
     Accordingly, the present disclosure provides a candle warmer having mobile communication and external interface functions to achieve the following effects. 
     First, the candle warmer is provided with a remote control to remotely control the candle warmer by a user of the candle warmer and a user terminal belonging to the user and having an external communication function, thereby providing convenience of use and managing usage information. 
     Second, a temperature sensor configured to detect temperature information and transmit collected temperature information to a candle controller and a power sensor configured to detect whether an external power source is applied are used to provide convenience in collecting and managing an operational state and operation information. 
     Third, a user terminal processor is used to communicate with the user terminal and collect temperature information collected by a temperature sensor and power information collected by a power sensor by requesting a candle controller to provide the temperature information and the power information, thereby preventing an accident due to excessive heating. 
     Fourth, operation information can be monitored by storing, in a database, a threshold operation time of the candle warmer, a threshold temperature, the temperature information collected by the candle controller, heating lamp operation start date and time, heating lamp operation end date and time, and power supply information. 
     Fifth, setting information additionally includes information about various types of operation modes, including an away mode, a morning mode, an afternoon mode, an evening mode, and a sleep mode, and thus, a heating time of a heating lamp and a heating time can be conveniently controlled on the basis of the various types of operation mode information. 
     Sixth, the remote control includes a remote control inputter, a remote control signal converter, and a remote control signal transmitter, and thus, information input to the remote control inputter is converted into a transmission signal by the remote control signal converter and the transmission signal is transmitted through the remote control signal transmitter and received by a remote control receiver, thereby increasing user convenience and operation stability. 
     Effects of the present disclosure are not limited thereto, and other effects that are not mentioned herein will be clearly understood by those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present disclosure pertains from the following description. 
    
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
       The following drawings appended herein illustrate examples of an embodiment of the present disclosure and are provided to help understand the technical idea of the present disclosure together with the detailed description and thus the present disclosure should not be interpreted as being limited thereto. 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a candle warmer having mobile communication and external interface functions according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIGS. 2 and 3  are a system configuration diagram and a system flow conceptual diagram for describing interfacing of a candle warmer having mobile communication and external interface functions according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIGS. 4 and 5  are a system configuration diagram and a system flow conceptual diagram for describing interfacing between an external server and a candle warmer having mobile communication and external interface functions according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 6  is a block diagram of a candle controller of a candle warmer having mobile communication and external interface functions according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIGS. 7 and 8  are a block diagram and a conceptual diagram of a remote control of a candle warmer having mobile communication and external interface functions according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIGS. 9 to 11  are a conceptual diagram and diagrams for describing a user terminal processor of a candle warmer having mobile communication and external interface functions according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     MODES OF THE INVENTION 
     A description of specific structures or functions of embodiments according to the concept of the present disclosure set forth herein is provided merely to describe the embodiments according to the concept of the present disclosure and thus embodiments according to the concept of the present disclosure may be implemented in various forms and are not limited the embodiments described herein. 
     Various modifications may be made in embodiments according to the concept of the present disclosure and these embodiments may be implemented in various forms and thus embodiments are illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the present specification. However, embodiments according to the concept of the present disclosure are not limited to specific forms and should be understood to include all modifications, equivalents, or alternatives included in the spirit and technical scope of the present disclosure. 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a candle warmer having mobile communication and external interface functions according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.  FIGS. 2 and 3  are a system configuration diagram and a system flow conceptual diagram for describing interfacing of a candle warmer having mobile communication and external interface functions according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.  FIGS. 4 and 5  are a system configuration diagram and a system flow conceptual diagram for describing interfacing between an external server and a candle warmer having mobile communication and external interface functions according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.  FIG. 6  is a block diagram of a candle controller of a candle warmer having mobile communication and external interface functions according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.  FIGS. 7 and 8  are a block diagram and a conceptual diagram of a remote control of a candle warmer having mobile communication and external interface functions according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.  FIGS. 9 to 11  are a conceptual diagram and diagrams for describing a user terminal processor of a candle warmer having mobile communication and external interface functions according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 1 , a candle warmer W having mobile communication and external interface functions according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a heating lamp L and a candle mounting part C which is provided immediately below the heating lamp L and on which a candle containing a fragrant material is placed. 
     Here, a user terminal  100  belonging to a user of the candle warmer W and having an external communication function is provided. 
     That is, as shown in  FIG. 2 , the candle warmer W and the user terminal  100  each include a communication module therein and thus may be connected to each other through wireless communication. 
     A remote control  200  is configured to interface with the candle warmer W to allow the user to operate the candle warmer W. 
     Here, as shown in  FIG. 3 , the candle warmer W may interface with or be communicatively connected to the remote control  200  and the user terminal  100  using a candle controller  300  included or mounted in the candle warmer W. 
     That is, the candle warmer W is operated using a remote control signal S 1  transmitted from the remote control  200  and a user signal S 2  transmitted from the user terminal  100 . 
     In this case, the candle controller  300  includes a communicator  310  configured to connect to the user terminal  100 , a remote control receiver  320  configured to interface with the remote control  200 , and an internal timer  330 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 4 to 5 , the user terminal  100  may be connected to an external server  700  to transmit information to the external server  700  and receive data from the external server  700  and transmit the data to the candle warmer W to control an operation of the candle warmer W. 
     The candle warmer W includes a temperature sensor  400  to detect temperature information and transmit collected temperature information to the candle controller  300 . 
     The candle warmer W further includes a power sensor  500  to be connected to the candle controller  300  so as to detect whether an external power is applied and transmit a detection result to the user terminal  100  or the external server  700  through the candle controller  300  as illustrated in  FIG. 6 . 
     Here, as illustrated in  FIG. 9 , a user terminal processor  600  is provided to communicate with the user terminal  100  and request the candle controller  300  to transmit temperature information collected by the temperature sensor  400  and power information collected by the power sensor  500  so as to collect the temperature information and the power information. 
     In this case, as shown in  FIG. 10 , the user terminal processor  600  includes: a database  610  storing operation information  610   a  including at least a candle warmer operation threshold time, a threshold temperature, temperature information collected by the candle controller  300 , heating lamp operation start date and time, heating lamp operation end date and time, and power supply information; a display  620 ; and an input means  630 . 
     Here, the user terminal processor  600  displays details of operating the candle warmer W on the display  620  on the basis of the operation information  610   a  stored in the database  610  and according to a result of searching for a condition input by a user through the input means  630 . 
     In this case, at least an image, a moving image, and text is displayed on the display  620 . 
     The user terminal processor  600  may receive setting information  631  through the input means  630  to be stored in the database  610  so as to control a lamp operation time according to the temperature information collected by the temperature sensor  400 , the setting information  631  may be transmitted to the candle controller ( 300 ) to be stored in the memory ( 340 ), and the database ( 610 ) and the memory ( 340 ) may be synchronized with each other at a certain time interval. 
     Here, the setting information  631  may further include information about operation modes, including at least an away mode  631   a , a morning mode  631   b , an afternoon mode  631   c , an evening mode  631   d , and a sleep mode  631   e , as illustrated in  FIG. 11 . The candle controller  330  may control a heating time of a heating lamp and a heating time on the basis of time information collected by the internal timer  330  and the information about the operations modes stored in the memory  340 . The setting information  631  may be distributed to the candle warmer W via the user terminal  100  through the external server  700 . 
     As illustrated in  FIGS. 7 and 8 , the remote control  200  may include a remote control inputter  210 , a remote control signal converter  220 , and a remote control signal transmitter  230 , and information input to the remote control inputter  210  may be converted into a transmission signal by the remote control signal converter  220  and the transmission signal may be transmitted through the remote control signal transmitter  230  and received by the remote control receiver  320 . 
     In this case, the remote control signal converter  220  may map an output signal corresponding to the input information by storing the output signal in advance in a memory or may generate the output signal through a remote control circuit. 
     In this case, the remote control inputter  210  may include an input button on a front surface of a casing of the remote control  200 . The input button may include at least a power button  210   a , an illumination button  210   b  and a time button  210   c . When the input button is pressed, the remote control signal converter  220  may form a digital signal corresponding to the remote control inputter  210  and the remote control signal transmitter  230  may transmit the digital signal. When the digital signal is received by the remote control receiver  320 , the candle controller  330  may ignore the setting information  631  and preferentially control the digital signal. 
     Here, the candle controller  300  may turn off a power source immediately when a temperature collected by the temperature sensor  400  is greater than or equal to a threshold temperature stored in the memory  340  and a state detected by the power sensor  500  is a power supply state, and transmit the temperature and the threshold temperature to the user terminal processor  600  through the communicator  310 , and the user terminal processor  600  may display the temperature and the threshold temperature transmitted thereto on the display  620  as illustrated in  FIG. 10 . 
     The candle controller  300  may store operation time in the memory  340  using the internal timer  330  immediately after the candle warmer W is turned on, compare the operation time stored in the memory  340  with a set threshold time at certain time intervals, control a power source to be turned off immediately when a total operation time exceeds the threshold time, and transmit information about collected temperatures, the threshold temperature, and the threshold time to the user terminal processor  600  through the communicator  310  when the power source is turned off, and the user terminal processor  600  may display the received information on the display  620 . 
     The user terminal processor  600  may receive information about a lamp lifespan, for exchanging heating lamps, through the input means  630 , store the information about the lamp lifespan in the database  610 , and display a lamp exchange message and a total lamp operation time on the display  620  when the lamp lifespan is over. 
     The user terminal processor  600  may store information about output sound corresponding to the operation information  610   a  in the database  610  and output the information about the output sound on the basis of the operation information  610   a  received from the candle controller  300 , when the information about the output sound is input to the user terminal processor  600  or is selected through the input means  630 , and the output sound may be stored in the user terminal  100  or provided to interface with an external system or an external server. 
     Through a candle warmer having mobile communication and external interface functions according to an embodiment of the present disclosure as described above, a user can be provided with a remote control configured to remotely control the candle warmer by the user and a user terminal belonging to the user of the candle warmer and having an external communication function, thereby providing convenience of use and managing usage information; an operational state and operation information can be collected and managed conveniently by a temperature sensor configured to detect temperature information and transmit collected temperature information to a candle controller and a power sensor configured to detect whether an external power source is applied; an accident due to excessive heating can be prevented using a user terminal processor configured to communicate with the user terminal and collect temperature information collected by a temperature sensor and power information collected by a power sensor by requesting a candle controller to provide the temperature information and the power information; operation information can be monitored by storing, in a database, a threshold operation time of the candle warmer, a threshold temperature, the temperature information collected by the candle controller, heating lamp operation start date and time, heating lamp operation end date and time, and power supply information; setting information additionally includes information about various types of operation modes, including an away mode, a morning mode, an afternoon mode, an evening mode, and a sleep mode, and thus, a heating time of a heating lamp and a heating time can be conveniently controlled on the basis of the various types of operation mode information; and the remote control includes a remote control inputter, a remote control signal converter and a remote control signal transmitter, and thus, information input to the remote control inputter is converted into a transmission signal by the remote control signal converter and the transmission signal is transmitted through the remote control signal transmitter and received by a remote control receiver, thereby increasing user convenience and operation stability. 
     While the present disclosure has been described above with respect to embodiments thereof, these embodiments are merely intended to describe examples of the technical idea of the present disclosure and it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various modifications may be made without departing from the technical idea of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the scope of the present disclosure should be interpreted based on the matters described in the claims rather than specific embodiments, and all technical ideas falling within the scope of the present disclosure should be construed as being included in the scope of the present disclosure. 
     REFERENCE NUMERALS 
     
         
           100  . . . user terminal 
           200  . . . remote control 
           210  . . . remote control inputter 
           210   a  . . . power button 
           210   b  . . . illumination button 
           201   c  . . . time button 
           220  . . . remote control signal converter 
           230  . . . remote control signal transmitter 
           300  . . . candle controller 
           310  . . . communicator 
           320  . . . remote control receiver 
           330  . . . internal timer 
           340  . . . memory 
           400  . . . temperature sensor 
           500  . . . power sensor 
           600  . . . user terminal processor 
           610  . . . database 
           610   a  . . . operation information 
           620  . . . display 
           630  . . . input means 
           631  . . . setting information 
           631   a  . . . away mode 
           631   b  . . . morning mode 
           631   c  . . . afternoon mode 
           631   d  . . . evening mode 
           631   e  . . . sleep mode 
           700  . . . external server 
         W . . . candle warmer 
         C . . . candle seating part 
         L . . . heating lamp 
         S 1  . . . remote control signal 
         S 2  . . . user signal