Electronics Helps Solve the Problem of Running out of Propane While Barbecuing
Princeton, New Jersey (PRWEB) July 16, 2013 -- Using sensors and electronics is a new method of detecting when the BBQ propane is beginning to run low. Product Innovation Ltd has recently introduced this innovative technology to the US by selling the product on Amazon.
Running out of Propane in the middle of grilling on the BBQ is one of those problems that just about everyone who grills using gas know about. And most of them have had the irritating experience of having to stop cooking and go and find a new tank or get the old one refilled. Given that there are around 43 million users of gas grills in the US this must count as a significant problem.
Product Innovation Ltd (A UK based Electronic Sensor Development Company) launched the Propane GasGenie in the US in the spring of this year. Until that point there really had been no adequate solution. The existing non electronic technologies rely on the user to remember to check the gauge either before or just after switching on the gas. This is at the busiest time for the chef doing the grilling and easy to forget. Add to this the fact that one of the most popular approaches, a pressure gauge, can only give a few minutes warning, even if the user does remember to check it, and it is clear that this problem has until now remained essentially unsolved.
Product Innovation decided to take a different approach using temperature sensors and low power electronics. An active warning of LED lights and an audio alarm activate in plenty of time to finish cooking and choose a convenient moment to get the tank refilled.
By monitoring very small changes in the propane tank wall temperature over time they were able to distinguish two key events: First they could detect when the gas was switched on – No one wants an alarm when the grill is not active. And second by using a combination of temperature change over time they were able to detect when the gas level had reached approximately 20% of the tank capacity. When both these conditions are present the alarm of LEDs and sound start to play. The user does not need to check before or during the grilling time. The Propane GasGenie propane gauge actively attracts his attention. And as important, it does this in plenty of time to finish what is cooking on the grill.
Peter Frank, the owner of Product Innovation Ltd, says ‘This is a totally new way of going about detecting a low gas condition. It both actively warns you, and does so in time to avoid the embarrassment of having to stop cooking and go and get a refill. It is similar in effect to the low gas gauge light in your car’.
As well as working in a new way the Propane GasGenie propane gauge also requires no installation: It simply clips magnetically to the tank wall.
The Propane GasGenie can be found on Amazon.
About Product Innovation Limited
Product Innovation Ltd is an established New Product Development consultancy specialising in inventing and developing new products, mostly electronic sensors, for manufacturing companies. The company has been in business for more than 25 years and in that time has been involved in a wide range of new products many of which have worldwide patents. Visit http://www.productinnovation.com for additional information about Product Innovation Limited. More information about Propane GasGenie can be found at the following site: http://www.propanegasgenie.com.
Peter Frank, Product Innovation Limited, http://www.productinnovation.com/, (44) (0) 20 8452 3968, [email protected]
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