EP0610997A1 - Dampfbügeleisen - Google Patents

Dampfbügeleisen Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0610997A1
EP0610997A1 EP94200271A EP94200271A EP0610997A1 EP 0610997 A1 EP0610997 A1 EP 0610997A1 EP 94200271 A EP94200271 A EP 94200271A EP 94200271 A EP94200271 A EP 94200271A EP 0610997 A1 EP0610997 A1 EP 0610997A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
water
phosphonate compound
iron
steam
phosphonate
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Granted
Application number
EP94200271A
Other languages
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP0610997B1 (de
Inventor
Wilhelmus Hm C/O Int. Octrooibureau Bv Bruggink
Johannes C/O Int. Octrooibureau B.V. Marra
Oene C/O Int. Octrooibureau B.V. Van Der Wal
Theodorus Lgm C/O Int. Octrooibureau Bv Thijssen
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Koninklijke Philips NV
Original Assignee
Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV
Philips Electronics NV
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Filing date
Publication date
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Application filed by Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV, Philips Electronics NV filed Critical Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV
Priority to EP19940200271 priority Critical patent/EP0610997B1/de
Publication of EP0610997A1 publication Critical patent/EP0610997A1/de
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0610997B1 publication Critical patent/EP0610997B1/de
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
    • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • D06F—LAUNDERING, DRYING, IRONING, PRESSING OR FOLDING TEXTILE ARTICLES
    • D06F75/00—Hand irons
    • D06F75/08—Hand irons internally heated by electricity
    • D06F75/10—Hand irons internally heated by electricity with means for supplying steam to the article being ironed
    • D06F75/14—Hand irons internally heated by electricity with means for supplying steam to the article being ironed the steam being produced from water in a reservoir carried by the iron

Definitions

  • the invention relates to a steam iron comprising a water reservoir, a steam chamber and a water-supply system for conveying water from the reservoir to the steam chamber, said iron comprising means for reducing the deposition of scale in the water-supply system.
  • Such a steam iron is known per se from United States Patent Specification US 5,063,697. Said Specification more particularly describes a steam iron comprising a detachable cartridge which contains an ion exchanger.
  • the water reservoir is filled with tap water which, dependent on the quality of the local tap water, is hard or not so hard. This water is conveyed from the reservoir via the cartridge to the steam chamber.
  • the ion exchanger By means of the ion exchanger, the tap water is (partially softened, so that the deposition of scale (predominantly calcium carbonate) during operation of the iron is substantially reduced at the location of the water-supply system and the steam chamber.
  • the deposition of scale in the water-supply system constitutes a major problem because it may cause the conduit of the water to be vaporized to become obstructed. Obstruction of the conduit renders the steam iron unserviceable.
  • the drawback of the known steam iron is that the detachable cartridge containing the ion exchanger must be replaced by a "fresh" cartridge after it has been used for a number of hours. This is caused by the fact that the capacity of the customary ion exchangers to soften tap water is relatively small. Partly due to the limited volume of the water reservoir it is impossible, in practice, to provide the steam iron with a quantity of ion exchanger which is sufficient to soften the overall quantity of water used during the entire life of the device. Owing to this limitation, exchangeable cartridges containing ion exchanger are used at present. However, this solution to the problem of scale deposition in the iron is inconvenient. In addition, this solution causes constructional problems due to the exchangeability of the cartridge, which may be subject to leakage.
  • the invention more particularly aims at providing a steam iron having a means for reducing the deposition of scale and hence for reducing obstruction of the water-supply system. Said means for reducing the deposition of scale is to be effective throughout the life of the iron. The invention further aims at solving the problem of scale deposition in the water-supply system in a relatively cheap manner as regards the material used and the construction.
  • a steam iron of the type described in the opening paragraph which is characterized in that the agent used to reduce the deposition of scale is a phosphonate compound.
  • Phosphonates in very small concentrations have a scale-growth inhibiting effect in hard tap water.
  • the deposition of scale in the water-supply system of the iron is very effectively inhibited when so-called "Standard Hard Water” containing 1 ppm of a phosphonate compound is used.
  • "Standard Hard Water” is to be understood to mean herein water having a pH-value of approximately 8, containing 4 mmol/l of NaHCO3, 0.77 mmol/l of MgSO4 ad 2.23 mmol/l of CaCl2. At concentrations below 0.2 ppm of the phosphonate compound no effective scale-growth inhibition is observed.
  • a further favourable property of phosphonates is that they generally exhibit a relatively good thermal stability in aqueous solutions.
  • these compounds do not decompose in the relevant temperature range up to 100°C.
  • a scale-growth inhibitor such as polyphosphate has the disadvantage that it relatively rapidly decomposes to inactive monophosphate at a higher temperature.
  • a suitable embodiment of the steam iron in accordance with the invention is characterized in that the phosphonate compound used is readily soluble in water, and in that the iron comprises a metering system for introducing this phosphonate compound into the water reservoir.
  • a readily soluble phosphonate compound is to be understood to mean herein a compound whose solubility at room temperature in Standard Hard Water exceeds 1000 ppm.
  • small quantities of phosphonate suffice to obtain an active scale-growth inhibiting effect. Consequently, a small quantity of only a few ml of a concentrated solution of a readily water-soluble phosphonate compound in a separate metering system suffices to treat the overall quantity of water used throughout the life of the iron.
  • the user after the water reservoir has been filled by means of a, for example mechanical, metering system, the user must add a very small quantity of phosphonate compound to the water.
  • Another favourable embodiment of the steam iron in accordance with the invention is characterized in that the phosphonate compound used is moderately soluble in water, and in that the iron comprises a metering system for introducing this phosphonate compound into the water reservoir.
  • a moderately soluble phosphonate compound is to be understood to mean herein a compound whose solubility at room temperature in Standard Hard Water ranges between approximately 30 ppm and 1000 ppm.
  • Such a moderately soluble compound can be provided as a solid in a separate metering system. The operation of this metering system is such that prior to the first filing operation of the iron a certain quantity of water is drawn from the water reservoir. After a part of the moderately soluble phosphonate compound has dissolved in this limited quantity of water (typically a few ml), this water is metered into the water reservoir after which a fresh quantity of water is automatically drawn into the separate metering system.
  • this new quantity of phosphonate-saturated water can be metered into the fresh water to be treated. This process is repeated time after time.
  • the volume of the separate metering system, the type of moderately soluble phosphonate compound and the volume of the water reservoir are preferably matched to each other in such a manner that after the phosphonate-saturated water is metered into the water reservoir the concentration of phosphonate compound in said water reservoir is approximately 1-5 ppm.
  • a further favourable embodiment of the steam iron in accordance with the invention is characterized in that the phosphonate compound is poorly soluble in water and is present in the water reservoir as a solid.
  • a poorly soluble phosphonate compound is to be understood to mean herein a compound whose solubility at room temperature in Standard Hard Water is less than 30 ppm.
  • Such poorly soluble phosphonate compounds can be introduced into the water reservoir as solids, so that they directly contact the water. Due to the low solubility of these compounds in water, the maximum concentration of phosphonate compound at room temperature never exceeds maximally approximately 30 ppm. In this embodiment of the invention it is therefore not necessary to adapt the concentration of phosphonate compound in the water reservoir. Consequently, if this class of phosphonate compounds is used no separate metering system is required. Therefore, this embodiment is preferred to the above-described embodiments.
  • the compound can be present in the water reservoir as a coarse-grained powder in a fine-mesh envelope.
  • the fine-mesh envelope allows, on the one hand, a satisfactory interaction between the water and the powder and, on the other hand, precludes that the powder itself can obstruct the water-supply system.
  • the phosphonate compound is provided in the reservoir in the form of a compressed pellet.
  • a loose pellet can be provided in the reservoir, however, it is to be preferred to accommodate such a pellet in an envelope which consists either partly or completely of a fine-mesh material. In this manner, obstruction of the water-supply system is precluded if the pellet were to decompose into smaller parts after a prolonged period of time.
  • Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic sectional view of an embodiment of the steam iron in accordance with the invention.
  • Said steam iron comprises a water reservoir 1 and a steam chamber 2, which are separated by a partition 3.
  • the water reservoir can be filled with hard tap water via the inlet opening 4 which can be closed.
  • this water can be pumped from the water reservoir to the steam chamber.
  • This water then contacts the sole plate 6 of the steam chamber which is heated by means of heating elements (not shown).
  • the water thus introduced is vaporized on the hot sole plate, after which the steam leaves the steam iron via the steam ports 7.
  • the iron also comprises a metering system 8 for introducing a phosphonate compound into the water reservoir.
  • a metering system for a readily soluble phosphonate compound is diagrammatically shown in more detail in Fig. 2-A.
  • a metering system for a moderately soluble phosphonate compound is shown in Fig. 2-B.
  • Fig. 2-A shows a system for metering a readily soluble phosphonate compound.
  • Said metering system comprises a housing 9 having a spring-mounted metering plunger 10 and a chamber 11 having a volume of approximately 4 ml.
  • the chamber contains a concentrated solution of a phosphonate compound which can readily be dissolved in water.
  • the pentasodium salt of aminotri(methylene phosphonate acid) was used.
  • the plunger comprises a spindle 12 in which a groove 13 is formed. In the condition of rest the groove is present in the chamber 12. The spindle of the plunger is maintained in the housing in a leaktight manner via the rubber guide rings 14.
  • a small volume of phosphonate compound is metered into the water reservoir by depressing the plunger once or more than once.
  • a small quantity of phosphonate compound is introduced into groove 13 and passed to the water present in the reservoir.
  • the plunger has to be depressed once or more than once. The final aim is to bring the concentration of the phosphonate compound in the water reservoir to between 1 and 5 ppm.
  • Fig. 2-B shows another metering system which can very suitably be used in an iron in combination with a moderately soluble phosphonate compound.
  • This system comprises a housing 20 having a spring-mounted plunger 21, a supported filter 22 and an outlet 23. The face end portion of the outlet almost reaches the bottom of the water reservoir. Rubber rings 24 are used to preclude leakage of the system.
  • the volume of the enclosed metering space 25 typically amounts to approximately 10 ml.
  • the metering space is partly filled with a moderately soluble phosphonate compound 26.
  • said compound was tri-calcium salt of amino-tri(methylene phosphonate acid) or penta-calcium salt of diethylene-triamine-penta(methylene phosphonate acid).
  • Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic sectional view of another advantageous embodiment of the steam iron in accordance with the invention.
  • a phosphonate compound which is poorly soluble in water is used.
  • This compound is present in a housing 31 which is arranged at the bottom of the water reservoir.
  • the housing comprises walls 32 of synthetic resin material (for example PMNA) and a water-permeable wall 33 in the form of a gauze of synthetic resin (for example polyester). In the present case the mesh size of the gauze was approximately 150 microns.
  • This housing accommodates a compressed pellet 34 of a phosphonate compound which is poorly soluble in water.
  • the phosphonate pellet was manufactured by axially isostatically compressing approximately 2 grams of powder of this compound into a moulded article. After filling the iron in accordance with this embodiment with water, a small portion (up to maximally 30 ppm) of the poorly soluble phosphonate can dissolve via the permeable gauze.
  • a number of specimen of each of the above-described three types of steam irons was subjected to a life test, together with a reference device.
  • Said reference device was a steam iron which did not contain means for reducing the deposition of scale in the water-supply system. In these irons maximally 120 l of Standard Hard Water was vaporized.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Textile Engineering (AREA)
  • Irons (AREA)
EP19940200271 1993-02-08 1994-02-02 Dampfbügeleisen Expired - Lifetime EP0610997B1 (de)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP19940200271 EP0610997B1 (de) 1993-02-08 1994-02-02 Dampfbügeleisen

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP93200338 1993-02-08
EP93200338 1993-02-08
EP19940200271 EP0610997B1 (de) 1993-02-08 1994-02-02 Dampfbügeleisen

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0610997A1 true EP0610997A1 (de) 1994-08-17
EP0610997B1 EP0610997B1 (de) 1997-05-14

Family

ID=26133636

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP19940200271 Expired - Lifetime EP0610997B1 (de) 1993-02-08 1994-02-02 Dampfbügeleisen

Country Status (1)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0610997B1 (de)

Cited By (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR2757364A1 (fr) * 1996-12-20 1998-06-26 Seb Sa Appareil electromenager avec moyen anti-tartre
DE10014815A1 (de) * 2000-03-27 2001-10-11 Rowenta Werke Gmbh Physikochemische Kesselsteinverhütungsvorrichtung mit einem flockenverhindernden Gitter für Dampfbügeleisen
WO2011110979A2 (en) 2010-03-09 2011-09-15 Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. Steam generation device and method for reducing scale in such steam generation device
CN103981684A (zh) * 2014-06-10 2014-08-13 湖州吉昌丝绸有限公司 一种抗垢蒸汽熨斗
FR3019721A1 (fr) * 2014-04-15 2015-10-16 Seb Sa Appareil electromenager avec agent antitartre biodegradable
WO2016102869A2 (fr) 2014-12-23 2016-06-30 Seb S.A. Dispositif avec agent antitartre biodegradable
EP3064640A1 (de) 2015-03-03 2016-09-07 Seb S.A. Elektrohaushaltsgerät zum bügeln, das einen behälter umfasst, der einen wasserenthärter und einen dampfverteilungskreislauf mit einem filter umfasst
WO2018189464A1 (fr) 2017-04-12 2018-10-18 Seb S.A. Appareil electromenager comportant des moyens pour chauffer de l'eau et un dispositif de liberation d'un agent antitartre dans l'eau

Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4680124A (en) * 1987-01-08 1987-07-14 Nalco Chemical Company Polyacrylate scale inhibition
FR2632331A1 (fr) * 1988-06-01 1989-12-08 Seb Sa Appareil electro-menager a vapeur comprenant un reservoir d'eau et un dispositif pour ajouter un compose chimique a l'eau de ce reservoir

Patent Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4680124A (en) * 1987-01-08 1987-07-14 Nalco Chemical Company Polyacrylate scale inhibition
FR2632331A1 (fr) * 1988-06-01 1989-12-08 Seb Sa Appareil electro-menager a vapeur comprenant un reservoir d'eau et un dispositif pour ajouter un compose chimique a l'eau de ce reservoir

Cited By (16)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR2757364A1 (fr) * 1996-12-20 1998-06-26 Seb Sa Appareil electromenager avec moyen anti-tartre
WO1998028485A1 (fr) * 1996-12-20 1998-07-02 Seb S.A. Appareil electromenager et cassette avec moyen antitartre, et procede antitartre dans un appareil electromenager
US6314668B1 (en) 1996-12-20 2001-11-13 Seb S.A. Household appliance and cassette with disincrustant means, and disincrustant method in a household appliance
DE10014815A1 (de) * 2000-03-27 2001-10-11 Rowenta Werke Gmbh Physikochemische Kesselsteinverhütungsvorrichtung mit einem flockenverhindernden Gitter für Dampfbügeleisen
EP1146164A2 (de) * 2000-03-27 2001-10-17 Rowenta Werke GmbH Physikalisch-chemische Vorrichtung zum Verhindern von Kalkablagerungen mit einem Gitter, für Bügeleisen
US6427366B2 (en) 2000-03-27 2002-08-06 Rowenta Werke Gmbh Physical-chemical scale reducing device with flake disintegrating grid for a pressing iron
EP1146164A3 (de) * 2000-03-27 2002-09-18 Rowenta Werke GmbH Physikalisch-chemische Vorrichtung zum Verhindern von Kalkablagerungen mit einem Gitter, für Bügeleisen
WO2011110979A3 (en) * 2010-03-09 2011-12-01 Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. Steam generation device and method for reducing scale in such steam generation device
WO2011110979A2 (en) 2010-03-09 2011-09-15 Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. Steam generation device and method for reducing scale in such steam generation device
FR3019721A1 (fr) * 2014-04-15 2015-10-16 Seb Sa Appareil electromenager avec agent antitartre biodegradable
WO2015158977A1 (fr) 2014-04-15 2015-10-22 Seb S.A. Appareil electromenager avec agent antitartre biodegradable
CN103981684A (zh) * 2014-06-10 2014-08-13 湖州吉昌丝绸有限公司 一种抗垢蒸汽熨斗
CN103981684B (zh) * 2014-06-10 2016-07-06 奉化市骏兴玩具有限公司 一种抗垢蒸汽熨斗
WO2016102869A2 (fr) 2014-12-23 2016-06-30 Seb S.A. Dispositif avec agent antitartre biodegradable
EP3064640A1 (de) 2015-03-03 2016-09-07 Seb S.A. Elektrohaushaltsgerät zum bügeln, das einen behälter umfasst, der einen wasserenthärter und einen dampfverteilungskreislauf mit einem filter umfasst
WO2018189464A1 (fr) 2017-04-12 2018-10-18 Seb S.A. Appareil electromenager comportant des moyens pour chauffer de l'eau et un dispositif de liberation d'un agent antitartre dans l'eau

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