An arrangement is provided comprising a vessel (1) for holding a liquid. The arrangement further comprises at least one of a controllable lock (3) to controllably enable a release of said vessel from a support (2) and a controllable lock (4) to controllably enable opening of said vessel (1). The arrangement further comprises a controller (5) to control the at least one controllable lock. The arrangement is provided with a sensor unit (6) including at least one sensor to sense a mechanical interaction occurring when the vessel is gripped and to issue a sense signal (C.sub.6) that is indicative for said mechanical interaction, wherein said controller controls the at least one controllable lock (3, 4) dependent on said sense signal (C.sub.6) and on one or more safety conditions.

Example methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture to detect impurities in flow-through water heaters are disclosed. An example apparatus includes a flow-through water heater having a conduit to conduct a fluid flowing therethrough, a heating element extending around at least a portion of the conduit, and first and second temperature measuring elements to determine respective first and second temperatures at different locations on the conduit; and a computing unit to at least detect an impurity deposit in the conduit based on a difference between the first and second temperatures.

An electric kettle may include: a body receiving water or food therein; a lid configured to shield an open upper side of the body; a base provided at a lower side of the body and configured to support the body; a heating module provided in a side of the body and configured to apply heat to the body such that the content contained in the body is heated; and a handle provided at a side of the body and configured to be held by hand, wherein a control means is provided in the handle, the control means being configured to control power supplied to the heating module or to control a temperature of the content contained in the body. According to such a configuration of the electric kettle, there is an advantage in that the malfunction or failure of the electric kettle is prevented.

A kettle comprising a base and a frame pivotally mounted relative to the base. The frame includes first electrical contacts connectable to a power source and a vessel is receivable in and removable from the frame. The vessel includes an internal element in connection with second electrical contacts and an opening from which liquid can be poured. When the vessel is received in the frame the first electrical contacts make connection with the second electrical contacts such that power is supplied to the internal element to heat water within the vessel. Pivoting of the vessel and frame relative to the base allows pouring of liquid, from the opening.

An article of manufacture includes a wall portion having a wall inner surface and a wall outer surface, a base portion having a base inner surface and a base outer surface, at least a portion of the wall portion and the base portion forming a vessel to retain fluid therein, at least part of the base portion configured to receive heat, and a plurality of shaped portions with at least three sides extending above, each shaped portion of the base inner surface including at least three sides and polygonal shaped tops, each of the plurality of shaped portions capable of supplying heat from the sides to fluid adjacent to the sides, the plurality of shaped portions including the polygonal shaped tops to induce creation of a plurality of hexagonal convection cells in contact with a surface of the fluid which increases heat transfer from a heating source to the fluid.

A liquid heating appliance including a reservoir including a first and second chambers and a heating arrangement is provided. A mode valve is arranged to selectively allow liquid to flow between the first and second chambers. The appliance operates in a first mode in which the mode valve is closed and only liquid in the first chamber is heated and a second mode in which the mode valve is open and liquid in the first and second chambers is heated. A dispense outlet is moveable between a dispensing position and a non-dispensing position. The dispense outlet is mechanically coupled to the mode valve such that when the dispense outlet is moved into the dispense position, the mechanical coupling closes the mode valve and when the dispense outlet is moved into the non-dispensing position, the mechanical coupling opens the valve.

An electric kettle has a kettle body and a power supply unit that is configured to supply power to the kettle body. The power supply unit has a plate part, a power supply base and a mounting unit. The plate part has a first surface and a second surface. The power supply base is arranged on a side of the first surface of the plate part and configured such that the kettle body is placed on top thereof. The power supply base has a power supply connection part that is electrically removably connected to the power receiving connection part. The mounting unit is arranged on a side of the second surface of the plate part and configured such that a battery pack is removably coupled thereto as the external power source for supplying power to the heating part via the power supply connection part and the power receiving connection part.

An electric kettle has a kettle body and a power supply unit that is configured to supply power to the kettle body. The power supply unit has a power supply base, a mounting unit and a first detection part. The power supply base is configured such that the kettle body is placed on top thereof, and has a power supply connection part that is configured to be electrically removably connected to a power receiving connection part. The mounting unit is configured such that a battery pack is removably coupled thereto as an external power source for supplying power to a heating part via the power supply connection part and the power receiving connection part. The first detection part is configured to detect that the power supply unit is on a plane.

A liquid heating appliance includes a liquid vessel and a power base configured to supply electrical power to the liquid vessel when the vessel is arranged thereon. The appliance further includes a user interface, for setting an operational mode of the liquid heating appliance. The user interface includes a rotatable ring which extends 360 degrees around the liquid heating appliance and a detection means configured to detect the position of the rotatable ring. The position of the rotatable ring determines the operational mode of the liquid heating appliance.

An electric kettle includes: a kettle body having a power receiving connection part and a heating part; a power supply unit including a power supply base having a power supply connection part, and a mounting unit; and a detection part. The detection part is configured to detect whether the kettle body is on the power supply base. The electric kettle is configured to supply power to the heating part via the power supply connection part and the power receiving connection part when the detection part detects that the kettle body is on the power supply base, and to stop power supply to the heating part when the detection part detects that the kettle body is not on the power supply base. The power supply connection part and the power receiving connection part are disconnected after the detection part detects that the kettle body is not on the power supply base.