EP1632600A1 - Iron with a handle having a tank filling opening - Google Patents

Abstract

The iron, comprising a heated sole (1), a body with a water reservoir, and a handle with a broad top forming a thrust surface for the palm of the hand, has the reservoir filling hole (7) at the bottom of a funnel-shaped cavity (322) in the handle, which is fitted with a stopper (81) on a hinged cap (8). The diameter of the filling hole is at least 1.5 cm, and the cap forms part of the handle's upper surface when closed.

Description

The present invention relates to an iron equipped with a reservoir with a filling orifice and more particularly to an iron in which the handle forms a protuberance on the body of the iron.

Most steam irons have an elongate handle cylindrical in shape extending along the longitudinal axis of the iron and allowing gripping of the iron by grasping a grip "hammer" of the handle. Such steam irons are generally provided with a reservoir whose filling orifice is disposed on the front part of the iron upstream of the handle. However, the filling orifice then has the disadvantage of having a reduced diameter, because of the fineness of the iron body at this location, which complicates the filling operation of the tank.

The object of the invention is to overcome these disadvantages by providing an iron with a handle of particular shape for the integration of a filling hole of large diameter and easily accessible.

For this purpose, the subject of the invention is an iron with a heating soleplate surmounted by a body and a handle forming a protuberance on the body of the iron, the body of the iron enclosing a reservoir, characterized in that the handle comprises an upper surface forming a bearing surface for the palm of the hand having, at least locally, a width greater than or equal to 4 cm and side walls extending from the upper surface of the handle to the body of the hand. iron for receiving the end of the fingers of the hand and in that the handle incorporates a tank filling opening opening on a surface of the handle.

Such a feature has the advantage of allowing to obtain an iron with a relatively large handle on which the palm of the hand can rest in a relaxed position during ironing and in which can be arranged an easily accessible filling port and large diameter.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the filling orifice is arranged at the bottom of a cavity forming a funnel converging towards the filling orifice.

Such a characteristic makes it possible to increase the ease of filling the tank.

According to yet another characteristic of the invention, the filling orifice has a diameter greater than or equal to 1.5 cm.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the filling orifice opens out towards the upper surface of the handle and is masked by a movable hatch defining at least a part of the upper surface of the handle.

Such a feature has the advantage of allowing a perfect integration of the filling orifice in the body of the handle while maintaining a smooth upper surface for the support of the palm of the hand.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the hatch is pivotally mounted on a hinge.

According to yet another characteristic of the invention, the reservoir comprises a filler neck coming in the extension of the filling orifice and extending inside the body of the handle, an annular control knob being arranged around the filler neck, the periphery of the control knob protruding laterally on at least one of the side walls of the handle.

Such a feature allows the use of a large diameter control button whose angular displacement can be performed very precisely by the user, thus allowing a very precise adjustment of the body controlled by the control button.

• la goulotte de remplissage participe au guidage en rotation du bouton de commande ;
• le bouton de commande comporte une partie crantée coopérant avec un pignon pour commander un thermostat de réglage de la température de la semelle ;
• la surface supérieure de la poignée comporte une fenêtre transparente en regard d'une partie du bouton de commande ;
• la surface supérieure de la poignée comporte un bouton de vapeur à proximité de l'extrémité avant de la poignée.

According to other particular embodiments, the iron according to the invention may comprise one or more combinations in isolation or in any technically possible combination:

• the filler neck participates in the rotational guidance of the control knob;
• the control knob has a notched portion cooperating with a pinion to control a thermostat for adjusting the temperature of the sole;
• the upper surface of the handle has a transparent window facing a portion of the control button;
• the upper surface of the handle has a steam button near the front end of the handle.

• la figure 1 est une vue en perspective d'un fer à repasser selon un mode particulier de réalisation de l'invention, la trappe de fermeture de l'orifice de remplissage étant en position fermée ;
• la figure 2 est une vue en coupe longitudinale du fer de la figure 1;
• La figure 3 est une vue en perspective éclatée du fer de la figure 1;
• la figure 4 est une autre vue en perspective du fer de la figure 1 lorsque la trappe de l'orifice de remplissage est en position ouverte ;
• la figure 5 est une vue agrandie du système de thermostat de la semelle et de son bouton de réglage représentés seuls.

The aims, aspects and advantages of the present invention will be better understood from the description given below of a particular embodiment of the invention presented by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in FIG. which :

• Figure 1 is a perspective view of an iron according to a particular embodiment of the invention, the closure door of the filling port being in the closed position;
• Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the iron of Figure 1;
• Figure 3 is an exploded perspective view of the iron of Figure 1;
• Figure 4 is another perspective view of the iron of Figure 1 when the hatch of the filling port is in the open position;
• Figure 5 is an enlarged view of the thermostat system of the sole and its adjustment knob shown alone.

Figures 1 to 4 show a steam iron having a sole 1 heated, surmounted by a body 2 having the shape of a dome whose base is adjusted to the contour of the sole 1 and whose top has a flared portion supporting a handle 3 disposed substantially above the center of the sole 1, the handle 3 forming a protuberance on the body 2 of the iron.

The handle 3 has a generally one-piece shape, similar to a roller, usually parallelepiped with rounded edges, and has a convex surface slightly inclined towards the front of the iron following the natural curvature of the palm and the fingers of the hand when the latter is in a relaxed position.

The width of the handle 3 at its base is smaller than the width of the flared top of the body 2 of the iron so that on either side of the handle results a flange 4. This flange 4 serves as a stop for the fingers of the hand when the palm rests on the handle 3 and thus constitutes a protective guard preventing the fingers from accidentally touching the hot walls of the body 2 of the iron.

Advantageously, the width of the upper surface of the handle 3 is between 4 and 9 cm, and is preferably of the order of 7 cm, and its length is greater than 10 cm and preferably of the order of 13 cm.

The handle 3 has side walls advantageously extending over a height of about 4 cm and the rear of the handle comprises a wire guide 5 for the passage of the electric power supply cables of the iron, not shown in the figures .

According to FIGS. 2 and 3, the body 2 of the iron consists essentially of a front element 21 comprising a water reservoir 210 and a rear element 22 which conceals the electrical supply members of the heating soleplate 1 and including an electromechanical thermostat 6 of the sole, the latter being of conventional design. The water tank 210 feeds a vaporization chamber integrated into the sole 1 through a drip plug 11.

The front element 21 and the rear element 22 of the body 2 are surmounted by a lower element 31 which extends the body 2 of the iron and defines the side walls of the handle 3, the lower element 31 being covered with an element upper 32 defining the upper surface of the handle 3.

More particularly according to the invention, the lower element 31 of the handle 3 surrounds a filler neck 211 of the tank 210 carried by the front element 21 of the body 2. The chute 211 extends vertically in the direction of the upper surface of the handle 3 and opens through an opening 310 of the lower element 31 of the handle to come opposite a filling orifice 7 present on the upper element 32 of the handle, Figure 4. Advantageously, this filling orifice 7 has a diameter greater than or equal to 15 mm to ensure a large flow rate facilitating the filling of the reservoir 210 under a tap.

The upper element 32 of the handle comprises a pivoting door 8 articulated around a hinge 321, the door 8 extending over substantially the entire width of the handle 3 and can occupy a closed position, shown in FIG. the hatch 8 covers the filling orifice 7. In this position, the hatch 8 is flush with the rest of the upper surface of the handle 3 and the filling orifice 7 is closed by a plug 81 carried by the hatch 8 .

The hatch 8 can also occupy stably an open position, shown in Figure 4, in which it releases the access to the filling port 7 and around this orifice 7, the latter having the shape of a cavity 322, converging towards the filling orifice 7, acting as a funnel during the filling of the tank 210, the cavity 322 preferably extending over substantially the entire width of the handle 3. An indentation 323 is advantageously provided on the upper element 32 of the handle 3 at the edge of the hatch 8 to facilitate the lifting of the latter.

The iron also comprises an adjustment knob 9 of the thermostat 6 which is interposed between the lower element 31 and the upper element 32 of the handle 3. This adjustment knob 9 has the shape of a ring and comprises a central sleeve 91 it engages around the cylindrical end of the filler neck 211 of the reservoir, the latter ensuring the rotational guidance of the adjusting knob 9 and having a slightly reduced outer diameter so that a shoulder is formed on which comes s 'support the lower end of the central sleeve 91.

The outer diameter of the crown forming the adjustment knob 9 of the thermostat is preferably slightly greater than the width of the handle 3 at the filling orifice 7 so that a portion of the adjustment knob 9 protrudes laterally from the handle 3, through openings 311 provided on the side walls of the handle 3, allowing thus the manipulation of the adjustment knob 9 by the user.

According to FIG. 5, the outer surface of the central sleeve 91 of the adjusting knob is notched so as to form a toothed wheel 92 cooperating with a pinion 61 of smaller diameter, integral with the thermostat adjustment shaft of the soleplate 1 disposed on the rear of the front element 21, thus allowing a very precise adjustment of the thermostat.

Advantageously, the upper element 32 of the handle 3 is provided with a transparent window 324, shown in dotted line in FIG. 1, disposed upstream of the hatch 8 and facing the upper face of the adjustment knob 9, the latter having a large surface that can be covered with pictograms illustrating the thermostat setting temperature.

The upper element 32 of the handle also has an opening for the passage of a bistable steam button 10 located near the front end of the upper surface of the handle 3, this button 10 can occupy a first stable position in which the drip plug 11 is closed, for dry ironing, and a second stable position in which the plug 11 passes water in the direction of the steam chamber to perform a steam ironing.

The steam iron thus produced, in which the filling orifice of the reservoir is disposed at the upper surface of a multidirectional handle of large width has the advantage of allowing easy filling of the reservoir, the filling orifice being very accessible and may have a large diameter.

In addition, such an arrangement allows the establishment of a thermostat control knob of the large diameter sole around the filling port, which allows for a high accuracy in the setting of the thermostat and offer a great readability of the pictograms present on the setting knob given the large surface available on the button.

Of course, the invention is not limited to the embodiment described and illustrated which has been given by way of example. Modifications are possible, particularly from the point of view of the constitution of the various elements or by substitution of technical equivalents, without departing from the scope of the invention.

Thus, in an embodiment variant not shown, the filling orifice may open directly to the upper surface of the handle and not be masked by a cover.

In another variant embodiment of the invention, the filling orifice may open onto the lateral surfaces of the handle.

Claims (5)

Iron having a sole (1) heated surmounted by a body (2) and a handle (3) forming a protuberance on the body (2) of the iron, said body (2) enclosing a reservoir (210), the handle (3) having an upper surface forming a bearing surface for the palm of the hand having, at least locally, a width greater than or equal to 4 cm and side walls extending from the upper surface of the handle ( 3) to the body (2) of the iron for receiving the end of the fingers, the handle (3) incorporating a filling orifice (7) of the reservoir (210) opening on a surface of the handle (3), characterized in that the reservoir (210) has a filler neck (211) extending from the filler opening (7) and extending inside the body of the handle (3) and in that an annular control knob (9) is arranged around the filler neck (211), the periphery of said control button (9) protruding laterally on at least one of the side walls of the handle (3). Iron according to claim 1, characterized in that the filler neck (211) participates in the rotational guiding of the control knob (9). Iron according to any one of claims 1 to 2, characterized in that the control knob (9) has a notched portion (91) cooperating with a pinion (6.1) for controlling a thermostat (6) for adjusting the sole temperature (1). Iron according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the upper surface of the handle comprises a transparent window (324) facing a portion of the control button (9). Iron according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the upper surface of the handle (3) comprises a steam button (10) near the front end of the handle (3).

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