CN112442879A

CN112442879A - Iron comprising a removable scale-collecting container

Info

Publication number: CN112442879A
Application number: CN202010842266.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 多米尼克·格吕斯
Original assignee: SEB SA
Current assignee: SEB SA
Priority date: 2019-08-29
Filing date: 2020-08-20
Publication date: 2021-03-05
Also published as: EP3786345C0; EP3786345A1; EP3786345B1; FR3100254B1; FR3100254A1

Abstract

The invention provides an iron (1) comprising an ironing base plate (12), a heating body (3) comprising a vaporisation chamber (33) and a cavity (5) housing a removable scale collection container (4), the vaporisation chamber (33) having a vaporisation surface (33A) onto which water is sprayed to produce steam, the heating body (3) comprising a separation wall (34) laterally bounding the vaporisation chamber (33) and interrupted at an outlet orifice (38) through which steam escapes from the vaporisation chamber (33) towards a steam distribution circuit, characterised in that the scale collection container (4) has a front end which is at a distance of less than 1cm from the outlet orifice (38) or which passes through the outlet orifice (38).

Description

Iron comprising a removable scale-collecting container

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an iron comprising an ironing base plate, a heating body comprising a vaporization chamber and a cavity housing a removable scale collection container.

Background

From patent FR3062857 filed by the applicant, an iron is known which comprises an ironing base plate on which a heating body comprising a vaporisation chamber is placed, the iron comprising a steam distribution circuit comprising a cavity provided at the rear of the iron, the cavity housing a removable scale collection container.

Such a scale collection container has the advantage of allowing the scale particles present in the iron to be discharged by a simple and ergonomic operation. However, such scale collection containers only collect a part of the scale particles present in the iron, as some particles may clog the passage to the scale collection container.

From patent EP0711862 there is also known an iron comprising a steam distribution circuit comprising removable filtering means arranged at the rear of the iron and directly at the outlet of the vaporization chamber. However, such a filter device has the disadvantage of being difficult to clean and not easy to drain scale, as scale particles tend to clog in the filter screen.

Disclosure of Invention

It is an object of the present invention to provide an iron in which the ability to recover scale particles through a scale collection container is improved.

The object of the invention is achieved by an iron comprising an ironing base plate, a heating body containing a vaporization chamber having a vaporization surface onto which water is sprayed to generate steam, and a cavity housing a removable scale collection container, the heating body comprising a separation wall laterally delimiting the vaporization chamber and interrupted at an outlet orifice through which steam escapes from the vaporization chamber towards a steam distribution circuit, characterized in that the scale collection container has a front end at a distance of less than 1cm from the outlet orifice or through the outlet orifice.

This feature allows for an increased recovery of scale particles in the scale collection container by reducing the distance between the evaporation surface where scale forms and the scale collection container. In particular, this feature allows limiting the risk of scale particles being trapped in the passage between the outlet orifice of the vaporization chamber and the scale collection container.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the front end of the scale collection container enters into an extension of the evaporation surface.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the front end of the scale collection container abuts the evaporation surface.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the cavity has a front portion accommodating a front end of the scale collection container, and the vaporizing surface is inclined towards the front portion of the cavity when the iron is lying flat on its ironing base plate.

This feature allows scale particles present on the vaporising surface to be driven by gravity towards the scale collection container, further improving recovery.

According to an advantageous feature of the invention, the front portion of the cavity comprises a bottom wall which is recessed with respect to the vaporisation surface.

This feature allows to ensure that the front part of the scale collection container is guided to the bottom of the heating body. Furthermore, this feature also allows to avoid that the front edge of the scale collection container protrudes with respect to the evaporation surface.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the scale collection container has a spoon shape.

Such a spoon has the advantage of being simple and economical to manufacture.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the heating body comprises a closing plate which rests against the partition wall to close the upper part of the vaporization chamber, the closing plate comprising at least one orifice through which water is sprayed onto the vaporization surface.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the heating body comprises an electrical resistance embedded in an aluminium or magnesium casting.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the scale collection container is removable through an aperture which is closed by a removable plug accessible from outside the iron.

This feature allows to simplify the cleaning operation of the iron.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the device comprises a casing placed on the heating body, a portion of the cavity being provided in a portion of the casing, a portion of the casing being suspended behind the ironing base plate when the iron rests on its ironing base plate.

This feature allows to realize a particularly compact iron with a scale collection container arranged in a relatively cold area.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the steam distribution circuit feeds a steam outlet aperture provided in the ironing base plate.

Drawings

The objects, aspects and advantages of the invention will be better understood from the description of particular embodiments of the invention given below, given as a non-limiting example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

fig. 1 is a perspective view of an iron according to a particular embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a perspective view of a heating body of the iron of fig. 1;

fig. 3 is a perspective view of the heating body without the closing plate;

fig. 4 is a perspective view of the heating body of fig. 3 when the descaling plug is removed;

fig. 5 is a top view of the heating body in fig. 3;

fig. 6 is a sectional view taken along line VI-VI of fig. 5.

Detailed Description

Only the elements necessary for understanding the invention are shown in the figures. To facilitate reading of the figures, identical elements are denoted by the same reference numerals in the different figures.

It is noted that the terms "horizontal", "vertical", "lower", "upper", "front", "rear" used to describe the iron are used with reference to the iron when it is laid flat on its ironing base plate.

Fig. 1 shows an ironing apparatus comprising an iron 1 and a stand 2, on which stand 2 the iron 1 can be placed in a non-ironing phase.

The ironing device also comprises a water tank 20 in the base 2 and which can be removed, for example, and a supply circuit fluidly connected to the water tank. The supply circuit comprises, inter alia, a water duct 21 fluidly connecting the water tank 20 to the iron 1, and a water supply pump (not visible in the figures) integrated in the soleplate 2 and configured to supply water from the water tank 20 to the iron 1.

The iron 1 comprises a housing 10, the housing 10 comprising a gripping handle 11 at its upper end, and an ironing base plate 12, the ironing base plate 12 being provided with a substantially flat ironing surface and a plurality of steam outlet apertures 12A (visible in fig. 6) leading to the ironing surface.

As shown more particularly in fig. 2 to 6, the iron 1 further comprises a heating body 3, the heating body 3 being integrated in the lower part of the casing 10 and being thermally and mechanically bonded to the ironing base plate 12. The heating body 3 is mainly composed of an aluminum casting 30 and an electric heating resistor 31 bent in a U-shape, and the electric heating resistor 31 is mainly integrated in the casting 30.

The heating body 3 also comprises a closing plate 32 (visible in fig. 2) placed on the casting 30, and a vaporization chamber 33 delimited by the casting 3 and the closing plate 32. Casting 30 includes, among other things, a divider wall 34, which divider wall 34 extends upwardly to closure plate 32 while sealingly engaging closure plate 32 and laterally bounding a vaporization chamber 33. Advantageously, the vaporization chamber 33 is at least partially (and for example substantially completely) internally coated with a scald-preventing coating.

The vaporization chamber 33 is of a flash evaporation type and includes a vaporization surface 33A, and water is sprayed on the vaporization surface 33A to generate steam. The vaporization surface 33A has a plurality of tapered contact pieces to increase the heat exchange surface, and the water of the water tank 20 is sprayed into the vaporization chamber 33 through the orifice 32A of the closing plate 32.

The heating body 3 comprises a peripheral wall 35 projecting from the upper surface of the casting 30, the peripheral wall 35 laterally delimiting a space comprising the vaporization chamber 33 and the vapor distribution circuit. A vaporisation chamber 33 is provided in the centre of the upper surface of the heating body 3 and the vapour distribution circuit comprises transverse channels 36 extending on both sides of the vaporisation chamber 33. The transverse channels 36 advantageously merge at the front end of the heating body 3, where an orifice 37 is provided through the heating body 3. The orifice 37 opens at a steam distribution chamber 37A (visible in fig. 6) at the lower side of the heating body 3, generally feeding the steam outlet hole 12A of the ironing base plate 12.

As can be seen in fig. 4 and 5, the partition wall 34 extends continuously along the side and front edges of the vaporization chamber 33, the partition wall 34 terminating at a plane P (visible in fig. 5) while delimiting the rear end of the vaporization chamber 33.

The channel portion provided at the plane P between the two ends of the partition wall 34 forms an outlet orifice 38 of the vaporization chamber 33. Between each end of the partition wall 34 and the peripheral wall 35, through slots 39 are provided, these through slots 39 allowing the steam generated by the vaporization chamber 33 to escape towards the transverse channels 36.

As can be seen from fig. 3 and 6, the iron 1 comprises a removable scale collection container 4 arranged in a cavity 5, the cavity 5 being partially arranged in a collecting main 6 attached to the rear end of the heating body 3. The peripheral wall comprises an opening 35A opposite the outlet orifice 38 of the vaporization chamber 33, the opening 35A communicating with the cavity 5.

The scale collection container 4 is introduced into the cavity 5 in a manner known per se through an orifice 60 provided at the rear end of the collecting main 6, which orifice 60 is closed by a removable plug 7 provided on the rear of the iron housing 10. Advantageously, the scale collection container 4 has the shape of a metal hollow spoon, the rear end of which is fixed to a removable plug 7.

The scale collection container 4 comprises a front end which passes through the opening 35A to the vicinity of the outlet orifice 38 of the vaporization chamber 33 and advantageously passes through this outlet orifice 38.

The front end of the scale collection container 4 is located in the front part of the cavity 5, which front part extends at the bottom of the heating body 3, between the opening 35A of the peripheral wall and the outlet orifice 38 of the evaporation chamber 33, the front part of the cavity 5 advantageously penetrating into the evaporation chamber 33, i.e. extending beyond the plane P delimiting the outlet orifice 38.

Preferably, the front of the cavity 5 comprises a bottom wall 5A arranged concavely with respect to the evaporation surface 33A, so that the front end of the scale collection container 4 is located at or below the level of the rear end of the evaporation surface 33A.

According to the embodiment shown in the figures, the front of the cavity 5 is arranged in the extension of the vaporisation surface 33A and abuts against the vaporisation surface 33A, the vaporisation surface 33A being inclined towards the front of the cavity 5.

Thus, when the scale collection container 4 is present in the cavity 5, its front edge is in the immediate vicinity of the rear end of the vaporisation surface 33A and the scale particles are naturally driven towards the scale collection container 4 by gravity and the steam flow.

The advantage of an iron produced in this way is that it has a scale collection container that is optimized in terms of efficiency in collecting scale particles.

In practice, such a scale collection container is as close as possible to the evaporation surface where scale particles are generated, so that the risk of clogging of scale particles upstream of the scale collection container is greatly reduced.

Furthermore, when the iron is lying flat on its soleplate, the scale collection container is arranged below the evaporation surface, which allows a further improvement of the scale particle recovery performance, since the scale particles are naturally driven towards the scale collection container by gravity and the steam flow.

Of course, the invention is in no way limited to the embodiments described above and shown merely as examples. Modifications are still possible, in particular from the point of view of the constitution of the various elements or by substitution of technical equivalents, without going beyond the scope of protection of the invention.

Thus, in an embodiment variant of the invention, the steam distribution circuit of the iron may comprise, in a manner known per se, a scale particle filtering means arranged downstream of the scale collection vessel. The device may for example consist of a filter or a cyclone and is advantageously arranged such that particles blocked by the filter device naturally fall back into the scale collection container by gravity.

Claims

1. Iron (1) comprising an ironing base plate (12), a heating body (3) containing a vaporisation chamber (33) and a cavity (5) housing a removable scale collection container (4), the vaporisation chamber (33) having a vaporisation surface (33A) onto which water is sprayed to generate steam, the heating body (3) comprising a separation wall (34) laterally bounding the vaporisation chamber (33) and interrupted at an outlet orifice (38) through which outlet orifice (38) steam escapes from the vaporisation chamber (33) towards a steam distribution circuit, the scale collection container (4) having a front end which is at a distance of less than 1cm from the outlet orifice (38) or which passes through the outlet orifice (38), the cavity (5) having a front portion housing the front end of the scale collection container (4), characterized in that, when the iron (1) is laid flat on its ironing base plate (12), the vaporizing surface (33A) is inclined toward the front of the cavity (5), and the front of the cavity (5) includes a bottom wall (5A) provided concavely with respect to the vaporizing surface (33A).

2. An iron (1) as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that a front end of the scale collection container (4) enters into an extension of the steaming surface (33A).

3. Iron (1) according to any of claims 1-2, characterized in that the front end of the scale collection container (4) abuts the evaporation surface (33A).

4. Iron (1) according to any of the claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the scale collection container (4) has the shape of a spoon.

5. Iron (1) according to any of the claims 1 to 4, characterized in that said heating body (3) comprises a closing plate (32), said closing plate (32) resting on said partition wall (34) to close the upper part of said evaporation chamber (33), said closing plate (32) comprising at least one orifice (32A) through which water is sprayed onto said evaporation surface (33A).

6. Iron (1) according to any of the claims from 1 to 5, characterized in that said heating body (3) comprises an electric resistance (31) embedded in an aluminium or magnesium casting.

7. Iron (1) according to any of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the scale collection container (4) is removable through an aperture (60) closed by a removable plug (7) accessible from outside the iron.

8. Iron (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that it comprises a housing (10) placed on said heating body (3) and in that a portion of said cavity (5) is provided in a portion of said housing (10), a portion of the housing (10) being suspended behind said ironing base plate (12) when the iron is resting on its ironing base plate.