CN114381920A

CN114381920A - Portable ironing device with additive diffusing means

Info

Publication number: CN114381920A
Application number: CN202111182758.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 马蒂尔德·西贝奥; 维克多·佩贝特
Original assignee: SEB SA
Current assignee: SEB SA
Priority date: 2020-10-16
Filing date: 2021-10-11
Publication date: 2022-04-22
Also published as: EP3985167A1; EP3985167C0; FR3115299A1; FR3115299B1; EP3985167B1

Abstract

Ironing device comprising a handle (2) and a steam discharge head (3) connected to the handle (2), the steam discharge head (3) comprises a treatment surface (30) provided with at least one steam outlet opening (33), the treatment surface is intended to be vertically opposite the garment to be ironed, the steam discharge head (3) further comprises additive diffusing means (7) and a heating body (6) comprising a flash chamber (63), -the steam generated by the flash chamber (63) escapes through a steam distribution circuit (66) towards the at least one steam outlet aperture (33), characterized in that the steam distribution circuit (66) comprises a deflection circuit (67), said deflection circuit comprising said additive diffusion means (7) for extracting a portion of the steam flow generated by said flash chamber (63), so as to incorporate the additive therein before the steam flow is discharged through said at least one steam outlet opening (33).

Description

Portable ironing device with additive diffusing means

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of portable ironing devices comprising a handle and a steam discharge head connected to the handle, wherein the steam discharge head comprises a treatment surface provided with at least one steam outlet hole, the treatment surface being intended to be vertically opposite a garment to be ironed. The invention relates more particularly to an ironing apparatus comprising an additive diffusing device and a heating body comprising a flash chamber.

Background

From document CN207277040U a portable ironing device is known, comprising a handle and a steam discharge head connected to the handle, the steam discharge head comprising a treatment surface provided with steam outlet holes and a cavity containing an absorbent material impregnated with a fragrance.

However, such devices do not allow a good diffusion of the additive, which is closely linked to the contact of the treated surface with the garment to be treated.

From document CN205420870U, a portable ironing device is also known, which comprises a treatment surface provided with steam outlet holes, wherein the treatment surface may be covered with a cloth strip for diffusing an additive, so that the additive diffuses with the steam flow.

However, this structure does not allow the additive to diffuse uniformly and constantly over time, since the diffusion of the additive is gradually reduced as the steam passes through the cloth strip.

Disclosure of Invention

The aim of the present invention is to remedy this drawback by proposing a portable ironing device in which the amount of additive that diffuses with the steam can be better controlled. In particular, the object of the present invention is to propose a device which is able to diffuse the additive in small amounts and in a controlled manner.

To this end, the subject of the present invention is an ironing apparatus comprising a handle and a steam discharge head connected to the handle, said steam discharge head comprising a treatment surface provided with at least one steam outlet hole, said treatment surface being intended to be vertically opposite a garment to be ironed, said steam discharge head further comprising additive diffusing means and a heating body comprising a flash chamber through which the steam generated by the flash chamber escapes towards said at least one steam outlet hole, characterized in that the steam distribution circuit comprises a deflection circuit comprising said additive diffusing means, said deflection circuit being intended to take a portion of the steam flow generated by the flash chamber in order to incorporate an additive therein before the steam flow exits through said at least one steam outlet hole.

This feature allows a better control of the amount of additive discharged with the steam, this amount being directly related to the size of the deflection circuit. In particular, extracting only a portion of the steam generated by the flash chamber for mixing with the additive allows better control of the maximum amount of additive that can diffuse with the steam, thereby avoiding excessive diffusion of the additive.

The devices may also have one or more of the following features, alone or in combination.

According to an advantageous feature of the invention, the deflecting circuit comprises steam flow control means.

This feature further improves the control of additive diffusion by allowing control of the steam flow through the deflection circuit.

According to an advantageous feature of the invention, the steam flow control means comprise means for adjusting the steam passage cross-section in the deflecting circuit.

According to an advantageous feature of the invention, the steam flow control means is a valve comprising a valve body extending through the deflection circuit.

This construction has the advantage of being simple and economical to implement.

According to an advantageous feature of the invention, the additive diffusing means comprises a reservoir for receiving a liquid additive, such as an essential oil.

The advantage of using such essential oil type additives is that they are readily available and provide a very broad range of perfume options.

According to an advantageous feature of the invention, the volume of the reservoir is less than 200mm³。

This feature has the advantage of limiting the amount of additive that can be introduced into the device to a few drops, thus avoiding the diffusion of excessive amounts of additive.

According to an advantageous feature of the invention, the reservoir is formed by a cup disposed in a pocket comprising a filling opening closed by a plug, said cup being mounted so as to be movable in translation between a filling position and an operating position, the cup being returned to the filling position by a return spring in the absence of the plug, the cup being returned to the operating position by the plug.

According to an advantageous feature of the invention, in the filling position, the cup prevents the steam flowing in the deflection circuit from escaping through the filling opening.

This feature reduces the risk of the user burning the user by steam escaping through the filling opening when he operates the device and forgets to replace the plug in the filling hole.

According to an advantageous feature of the invention, the stopper comprises a pushing element which pushes the cup towards the operating position when the stopper closes the filling opening, the pushing element taking the form of a grid resting on the upper edge of the cup.

The advantage of such a grid is that it is simple and economical to manufacture and allows steam to circulate over the top of the cup.

Drawings

The objects, aspects and advantages of the invention will be best understood from the following description of a specific embodiment of the invention, presented as a non-limiting example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an apparatus according to certain embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the heating body and of the treatment surface with which the apparatus of FIG. 1 is equipped;

fig. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a heating body with which the apparatus of fig. 1 is equipped;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a treatment surface provided with the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal section of the heating body and of the treatment surface with which the apparatus of FIG. 1 is equipped;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VI-VI of FIG. 2 with the plug in the closed position and the valve in the open position;

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6, without the closure plug;

fig. 8 is a detail view of the closure plug.

Detailed Description

Only the elements necessary for understanding the invention are shown in the figures. To facilitate reading of the figures, identical reference numerals have been used, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common to the figures.

It is noted that in this document, the terms "horizontal", "vertical", "lower", "upper", "top", "bottom", "front", "rear", "longitudinal", "transverse" used to describe the device refer to the device when it is laid flat on its base.

Figure 1 shows an ironing appliance comprising a portable casing of plastic material comprising a base 1, on which base 1 a handle 2 and a head 3 are arranged, the base 1 comprising a flat lower surface on which the ironing appliance can rest stably in a substantially vertical position.

The base 1 of the ironing device comprises a power cord 10 allowing it to be connected to the household electric network, the back of the steam discharge head 3 being provided with a button (not visible in the figures) allowing the ironing device to be powered on.

The base 1 contains an electric pump 4, shown in dotted lines in fig. 1, the operation of which is controlled by a trigger 5 provided on the top of the handle 2, the trigger 5 activating, in a per se known manner, a switch (not shown in the figures) connected to an electronic control board of the pump 4. The pump 4 is supplied with liquid from a reservoir 11 arranged in the base 1, which reservoir 11 is advantageously detachable from the ironing apparatus to facilitate filling of the reservoir 11.

The steam discharge head 3 has an elongated shape extending transversely to the longitudinal direction of the handle 2 and comprises a longitudinal end provided with a treatment surface 30, which treatment surface 30 is intended to be vertically opposite a garment to be ironed.

Preferably, the treatment surface 30 comprises a rectangular metal heating plate 31 in its centre, the heating plate 31 being surrounded by a non-heated peripheral surface 32 covered with fabric. The treatment surface 30 also has a steam outlet hole 33 formed by a groove extending around the entire heating plate 31, the groove being provided between the heating plate 31 and the peripheral surface 32.

More specifically, as shown in fig. 2, the steam discharge head 3 encloses a heating body 6 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, the heating body 6 comprising a casting of, for example, aluminum and a resistive heating element 60, for example, a resistor, the resistive heating element 60 being bent in a U-shape and integrated into the casting.

The heating body 6 comprises a front face in thermal contact with the heating plate 31, the heating plate 31 being fastened to two contact studs 62 protruding from the front face of the heating body 6, as shown in fig. 4. In this way, the heating plate 31 is heated by heat conduction through the two contact pins 62 of the heating body 6.

The heating body 6 also comprises a cover 61 resting in a sealed manner on the casting, and a flash chamber 63 delimited by the casting and the cover 61. The casting more particularly comprises a peripheral wall on which the cover 61 rests, which laterally delimits the flash chamber 63.

Advantageously, the power supply of the resistive heating element 60 is regulated by the thermostat 9 (visible in fig. 2) to around a set temperature, for example between 110 ℃ and 150 ℃, measured in the centre of the flash chamber 63.

The cover 61 includes an inlet chamber 68, the inlet chamber 68 including two water injection holes 68A opening into the flash chamber 63 near the forward end of the flash chamber 63, the inlet chamber being connected to the pump 4 by a fluid transfer conduit (not shown).

The flash chamber 63 includes a bottom wall 64 forming an evaporation surface on which liquid injected into the flash chamber 63 through two water injection holes 68A is evaporated.

The evaporation chamber comprises channels 65 for steam output arranged on the peripheral wall, the channels 65 being arranged in the rear part of the flash chamber 63 arranged opposite the treatment surface 30.

The ironing apparatus further comprises a plurality of deflecting walls 69 extending into the flash chamber 63, the deflecting walls 69 being located between the area where water is injected on the bottom wall 64 and the channel 65 for steam output. These deflecting walls 69 form a baffle configured to deflect the steam flow generated in the flash chamber 63 and retain any water droplets that may be carried by the steam flow.

The heating body 6 also comprises a vapour distribution circuit 66 in which the vapour flow coming from the flash chamber 63 will flow. According to the embodiment shown in the figures, a vapor distribution circuit 66 is provided around the flash chamber 63.

The vapour distribution circuit 66 is fluidly connected, on the one hand, to the flash chamber 63 via a vapour output channel 65 and, on the other hand, to the vapour outlet hole 33 via a straight-slot shaped orifice 34 provided at the front side of the heating body 6. The steam distribution circuit 66 is thus configured to supply steam to the steam outlet holes 33. Specifically, vapor exiting flash chamber 63 through channel 65 may flow into vapor distribution circuits 66 on either side of flash chamber 63 for subsequent diffusion through vapor outlet apertures 33.

According to fig. 6, the steam distribution circuit 66 also comprises a deflection circuit 67, into which a portion of the steam flow generated by the evaporation chamber can be diverted in order to inject therein a liquid additive, preferably an essential oil, the steam flow extracted from the deflection circuit 67 being reinjected into the steam distribution circuit 66 upstream of the steam outlet holes 33.

For this purpose, the deflecting circuit 67 comprises an additive diffusing device 7 comprising an essential oil reservoir 70 closed by a removable plug 72, the reservoir 70 being accessible on the casing of the apparatus.

The reservoir 70 advantageously has the form of a cup mounted so as to be movable in translation in a recess 71, the recess 71 extending transversely to the duct of the deflecting circuit 67, the recess 71 having an opening 73 at its upper end, the opening 73 being closed by a removable plug 72. A return spring 74 is provided to return the cup 70 to the filling position, as shown in fig. 6, in which the cup 70 abuts against a flange provided at the edge of the opening 73 and prevents the steam circulating in the duct of the deflecting circuit 67 from escaping through the opening 73.

In this filling position, the cup 70 has a cavity 75 located directly below the opening 73 so that the user can deposit a drop of essential oil therein. Preferably, the volume of the cavity 75 of the cup 70 is limited to less than 0.2cm³So that the amount of essential oil that can be placed in the device is limited to a few drops. In the illustrated example, the cavity 75 has a circular peripheral wall with a diameter of 9mm and a height of 3 mm.

According to fig. 8, the lower end of the closure 72 is provided with a pushing element 76, the pushing element 76 pushing the cup 70 towards the operating position, as shown in fig. 6, when the plug 72 closes the opening 73. The pushing element 76 is advantageously formed by a grille 76, the grille 76 having an opening 76A allowing circulation of the steam through the grille 76.

In this operating position, the steam circulating in the duct of the deflecting circuit 67 passes through the openings 76A of the grille 76 and sweeps over the essential oil present in the cup 70, as indicated by the arrows in fig. 6, carrying with it droplets of essential oil. These droplets are then injected into the steam distribution circuit 66 through a pipe 67A passing through the front face of the heating body 6, the pipe 67A leading to the distribution chamber 35 arranged behind the heating plate 31, upstream of the steam outlet holes 33, as shown in fig. 4.

Preferably, the holes of grid 76 are disposed in a central region of grid 76 such that a solid ring is formed at the periphery of grid 76. The ring rests on the upper edge of the cup 70 and has a smaller diameter with respect to the diameter of the circular cavity 75, so that it protrudes from the peripheral wall of the cavity 75 and forms a lip which prevents the backflow of the essential oil into the duct of the deflecting circuit 67 when the device is tilted.

In the particular embodiment shown in the figures, the deflecting circuit 67 also comprises a steam flow control device constituted by a valve 8, the valve 8 allowing to adjust the steam passage cross-section 65 in the deflecting circuit 67 in order to adjust the steam flow circulating in the deflecting circuit and thus to adjust the amount of additive injected into the steam flow discharged through the steam outlet aperture 33.

The valve 8 comprises a valve body 80 which can be in a closed position, wherein the valve body 80 closes off the deflection conduit and prevents steam circulation. The valve body 80 may also be in various open positions, one of which is shown by way of example in fig. 6, wherein the valve body 80 allows steam flow into the deflector circuit 67.

The operation of the device thus implemented will now be described.

When the user wishes to use the device to dispense the additive mixed with steam on the clothes, he simply fills the water tank of the device with water, opens the plug 72, places a few drops of essential oil in the cup 70, and then the cup 70 is in the filling position shown in fig. 6.

He then replaces the plug 72 so that the grid 76 pushes the cup 70 towards the operating position shown in figure 6.

The user then operates the trigger 5 on the device which activates the pump 4 and delivers water into the inlet chamber on the cover 61. The water then flows through both injection ports and is sprayed onto the bottom wall 64 where it immediately evaporates. The generated steam then escapes through the steam distribution circuit 66 towards the steam outlet holes 33.

If the valve body 80 of the valve 8 is not in the closed position, a portion of the steam generated by the flash chamber 63 escapes through the deflecting circuit 67, in which deflecting circuit 67 the steam sweeps the essential oil present in the cup 70 by passing through the grille 76. The steam is then loaded with fine oil droplets and is sent to the distribution chamber 35 where it mixes with the main steam flow that has passed through the orifice 34, without passing through the deflecting circuit 67.

If the user wishes to adjust the amount of essential oil present in the steam exiting from the steam outlet opening 33, this can be achieved simply by: the setting of valve 8 is changed to increase or decrease the amount of steam passing through the deflection circuit 67, thereby increasing or decreasing the percentage of steam loaded with additive.

The device thus realised also has the advantage of avoiding the user from being burnt by steam expelled from the filling opening 73 of the cup 70 by mistake without replacing the plug 72 when using the device. In fact, in the absence of the plug 72, the return spring 74 automatically returns the cup 70 to the filling position, in which it closes the opening 73, so that no steam can escape through this opening 73, or only a very small amount of steam escapes through this opening 73.

Of course, the invention is in no way limited to the embodiments described and illustrated above, which are given as examples only. Modifications are possible, particularly in respect of the construction of the various elements or by substitution of equivalent techniques, without thereby departing from the scope of protection of the invention.

In a variant embodiment, which is not shown, the heating plate can therefore have its own resistance element, independently of the heating resistance of the heating body surrounding the evaporation chamber.

Claims

1. Ironing apparatus comprising a handle (2) and a steam discharge head (3) connected to the handle (2), the steam discharge head (3) comprising a treatment face (30) provided with at least one steam outlet hole (33) for being vertically opposite a garment to be ironed, the steam discharge head (3) further comprising additive diffusing means (7) and a heating body (6) comprising a flash chamber (63), steam generated by the flash chamber (63) escaping through a steam distribution circuit (66) towards the at least one steam outlet hole (33), characterized in that the steam distribution circuit (66) comprises a deflection circuit (67) comprising the additive diffusing means (7) which can be used to extract a portion of the steam flow generated by the flash chamber (63) in order to incorporate an additive therein before the steam flow exits through the at least one steam outlet hole (33).

2. Ironing apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that said deflecting circuit comprises steam flow control means (8).

3. Ironing apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that said steam flow control means (8) comprise means for adjusting the steam passage cross-section (65) in said deflection circuit (67).

4. Ironing apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 3, characterized in that said steam flow control means is a valve (8) comprising a valve body (80) extending through said deflecting circuit (67).

5. Ironing device according to any of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that said additive diffusing means (7) comprise a reservoir (70) for receiving a liquid additive, such as essential oil.

6. Ironing device according to claim 5, characterised in that the volume of the reservoir is less than 200mm³。

7. Ironing apparatus according to any one of claims 5 to 6, characterized in that said reservoir is formed by a cup (70) arranged in a pocket (71) comprising a filling opening (73) closed by a plug (72), said cup (70) being mounted so as to be movable in translation between a filling position, in which it is returned by a return spring (74), and an operating position, in which it is returned by said plug (72), in the absence of said plug (72).

8. Ironing apparatus according to claim 7, characterized in that in the filling position, said cup (70) prevents the steam circulating in said deflector circuit (67) from escaping through said filling opening (73).

9. Ironing apparatus according to any one of claims 6 to 8, characterized in that said plug (72) comprises a pushing element (76), said pushing element (76) pushing said cup (70) towards said operating position when said plug (72) closes said filling opening (73), and said pushing element (76) being in the form of a grid (76) supported on an upper edge of said cup (70).