EP2937460A1 - Household ironing appliance comprising a tank and a pump connected to the tank - Google Patents

Abstract

Domestic ironing appliance comprising a reservoir (5) and a pump (6) supplied with liquid by said reservoir (5), said pump (6) being connected by a conduit (61) to a suction orifice (30) formed in a wall of the tank (5), characterized in that said suction port (30) comprises a filter strainer (32) molded directly with the wall of the tank (5).

Description

The present invention relates to a household ironing appliance comprising a reservoir and a pump supplied with liquid by the reservoir, the pump being connected by a conduit to a suction port formed in a wall of the tank.

It is known from the patent application FR2785975 filed by the applicant, a steam generator comprising a tank for producing pressurized steam supplied with water from a tank by means of a pump. In this document, the reservoir is provided with a cartridge containing granules of a demineralising resin ensuring both the filtration and the treatment of the water before its suction by the pump.

Such a device, however, has the disadvantage of being relatively expensive to manufacture.

It is also known from the prior art to replace the cartridge with a simple filter to provide a less expensive system that avoids sending scale deposits, or any unwanted body, through the pump to guarantee reliable operation over time.

However, such a solution always has the disadvantage of generating an additional cost in the manufacture of the apparatus, the mounting of the filter and its connection to the pump supply circuit being a relatively complex operation to be performed manually. In addition, the risk exists of a bad mounting of the filter that can lead to a malfunction of the device.

Also, an object of the present invention is to overcome these disadvantages by providing an ironing apparatus comprising means for filtering the water sent to the pump and for which the assembly operations of the apparatus are simplified.

To this end, the subject of the invention is an ironing appliance comprising a reservoir and a pump supplied with liquid by the reservoir, the pump being connected by a conduit to an aspiration orifice formed in a tank wall, characterized in that the suction port comprises a filter strainer molded directly with the wall of the tank.

Such a feature allows the integration of a filter device at the suction port directly during the molding of the wall of the tank and thus avoids the need for a manual operation of mounting the device. filtration. In addition, such integration of the filtration device during molding of the part forming the tank wall simplifies the mounting process of the device and eliminate the risk of improper mounting of the filter device.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the tank wall is constituted by a piece of plastic material, advantageously transparent.

Such a characteristic has the advantage of allowing the realization of the reservoir at low cost.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the strainer has a frustoconical shaped body comprising slots.

Such a form has the advantage of being easy to make by molding and to ensure good filtration.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the slots have a width of less than 1 mm and preferably of the order of 0.5 mm.

Such a characteristic makes it possible to obtain a sufficiently fine filtration to retain the particles that can damage the pump.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the slots extend over a height of the order of 7 mm.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the strainer comprises eight slots distributed at 45 ° from each other.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the suction orifice has a circular passage section, the diameter of the passage section being between 3 and 10 mm and preferably of the order of 5 mm.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the strainer is disposed on the side of the wall inside the reservoir, the suction orifice being the other side of the tank wall, surrounded by a cylindrical connecting tube, the connecting tube being obtained directly from the molding with the tank wall.

According to yet another characteristic of the invention, the connecting tube has a beveled end.

Such a feature makes it easier to force fit a flexible conduit on the connecting tube.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the apparatus comprises a vessel for the generation of steam under pressure, the pump comprising a discharge pipe connected to the vessel for the generation of steam under pressure.

Such a device has the advantage of ensuring very good ironing performance.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the apparatus comprises an iron connected by a cord to the tank for the generation of steam under pressure.

• la figure 1 est une vue en perspective d'un appareil de repassage selon un mode particulier de réalisation de l'invention ;
• la figure 2 est une vue en coupe longitudinal du boîtier de l'appareil de repassage de la figure 1 selon un plan vertical passant par l'orifice d'aspiration de la pompe ;
• la figure 2A est une vue de détail, agrandie, de l'orifice d'aspiration de la pompe illustré sur la figure 2 ;
• la figure 3 est une vue en perspective éclatée du sous ensemble réservoir, pompe et cuve pour la génération de vapeur équipant l'appareil de repassage de la figure 1.
• la figure 4 est une vue en perspective, partiellement arrachée, du boîtier générateur de vapeur de l'appareil de repassage de la figure 1 ;
• la figure 4A est une vue de détail, agrandie, de l'orifice d'aspiration de la pompe illustré sur la figure 3 ;
• la figure 5 est une vue de détail du tube de connexion équipant l'orifice d'aspiration ;
• la figure 6 est une vue de détail de la crépine équipant l'orifice d'aspiration.

The aims, aspects and advantages of the present invention will be better understood from the following description of a particular embodiment of the invention, presented by way of nonlimiting example, with reference to the appended drawings. wherein :

• the figure 1 is a perspective view of an ironing apparatus according to a particular embodiment of the invention;
• the figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the housing of the ironing apparatus of the figure 1 in a vertical plane passing through the suction port of the pump;
• the Figure 2A is an enlarged detail view of the suction port of the pump shown in FIG. figure 2 ;
• the figure 3 is an exploded perspective view of the sub-assembly tank, pump and tank for the steam generation equipping the ironing apparatus of the figure 1 .
• the figure 4 is a perspective view, partially broken away, of the housing steam generator of the ironing apparatus of the figure 1 ;
• the Figure 4A is an enlarged detail view of the suction port of the pump shown in FIG. figure 3 ;
• the figure 5 is a detail view of the connecting tube fitted to the suction port;
• the figure 6 is a detailed view of the strainer equipping the suction port.

Only the elements necessary for the understanding of the invention have been represented. To facilitate the reading of the drawings, the same elements bear the same references from one figure to another.

The figure 1 represents an ironing apparatus comprising a casing 1 connected by a cord 100 to an iron 101 comprising a heating soleplate 102 and a gripping handle 103, the casing 1 comprising an upper surface forming an inclined iron rest on which the iron Iron 101 can be placed for storage.

In accordance with figures 2 and 3 , the housing 1 encloses, under the iron rest 10, a vessel 2 for steam generation equipped with controlled heating means 20 for producing steam at a pressure greater than 4 bar and preferably of the order of 5 to 6 bars.

The tank 2 comprises, in a manner known per se, a steam outlet orifice 21 disposed in the upper part of the tank 2, this steam outlet orifice 21 being equipped with a solenoid valve 22 connected to the iron by a conduit integrated steam in the cord 100, the solenoid valve 22 being controlled at the opening by a button 104 disposed under the handle 103 of the iron.

As can be seen on the figure 3 , the casing 1 comprises an external part 3, advantageously made of transparent plastic, defining the external appearance of the casing 1 and an internal part 4, advantageously an opaque plastic material, coming into engagement with the volume of the outer piece 3, the inner 3 and outer 4 parts being obtained by a molding process.

The inner and outer parts 3 and 4 are assembled one on the other by gluing or welding, and comprise complementary forms between them a space defining a sealed tank 5, visible on the figure 2 , extending along the periphery of the casing 1, this reservoir 5 comprising a filling orifice masked by a pivoting flap 50.

The tank 2 is disposed in a cavity 40 formed on the underside of the inner part 4, the tank 2 comprising a lateral opening communicating with a rigid conduit 23 having an axial end provided with a drain hole closed by a plug, no shown in the figures. The rigid conduit 23 also comprises a connector 23A intended to be connected to a discharge pipe 60 of a high pressure pump 6, advantageously constituted by an electromagnetic pump providing a pressure of the order of 15 bar, the pump 6 being arranged horizontally in a housing formed at the front of the housing 1 under a control panel 11, visible on the figure 4 , the pump 6 being advantageously fixed in the housing 1 by means of elastic silicone supports, not visible in the figures.

In accordance with Figures 2 to 4 the pump 6 comprises an intake duct 61 which is connected to a suction orifice 30 of the reservoir 5 formed in a wall of the external part 3, the suction orifice 30 being surrounded by a connecting tube 31, visible on the figure 5 , protruding on the upper face of the outer piece 3.

Preferably, the connecting tube 31 has a circular passage section and has a beveled upper end for facilitating the fitting of the intake duct 61 on the connecting tube 31 during assembly of the device.

More particularly according to the invention, the suction orifice 30 is provided with a strainer 32 of filtration molded directly with the wall of the outer part 3 during the molding process of the latter, the strainer 32 extending over the face of the wall opposite to the face comprising the connecting tube 31.

As can be seen on the Figures 2A, 4A and 6 the strainer 32 dips into the reservoir 5 and advantageously has a frustoconical body extending in the axis of the suction orifice 30, the frustoconical body comprising a peripheral wall provided with longitudinal slots 32A of constant width and a lower end closed by a circular partition 32B, such a shape allowing to obtain both efficient filtration and an external part 3 easy to unmold.

For example, the suction port 30 has a diameter of about 5 mm and the strainer 32 extends from the edge of the suction port 30 to a height of about 7 mm, the slots 32A extending substantially over the entire height of the strainer 32.

Preferably, the suction orifice 30 is disposed in an area where the outer piece 3 extends horizontally under the pump 6, the strainer 32 extending on the underside of the outer piece 3 and having a lower end. reaching a recess 51 corresponding to the lowest point of the tank 5.

The apparatus thus produced has the advantage of ensuring very good filtration of the water sent to the pump, any deposits present in the tank being retained at the inlet of the strainer. In addition, such an apparatus has the advantage of a simplified assembly, more economical and more reliable, the production of the filter strainer directly at the suction port of the tank wall during the molding of the latter to avoid having to use a manual assembly operation, eliminating the risk of incorrect assembly and the extra cost that this entails.

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 protection of the invention.

Thus, in an alternative embodiment not shown, the strainer may have a hemispherical shape with circular openings.

Claims (11)

Domestic ironing appliance comprising a reservoir (5) and a pump (6) supplied with liquid by said reservoir (5), said pump (6) being connected by a conduit (61) to a suction orifice (30) formed in a wall of the tank (5), characterized in that said suction port (30) comprises a filter strainer (32) molded directly with the wall of the tank (5). Domestic ironing appliance according to claim 1, characterized in that the wall of the tank (5) is constituted by a piece (3) of plastic material. Domestic ironing appliance according to claim 2, characterized in that the strainer (32) has a frustoconical shaped body comprising slots (32A). Domestic ironing appliance according to claim 3, characterized in that the slots (32A) have a width of less than 1 mm and preferably of the order of 0.5 mm. Domestic ironing appliance according to claim 4, characterized in that the slots (32A) extend over a height of about 7 mm. Domestic ironing appliance according to any one of claims 2 to 5, characterized in that the strainer (32) comprises eight slots (32A) distributed at 45 ° from each other. Domestic ironing appliance according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the suction orifice (30) has a circular passage section, the diameter of said passage section being between 3 and 10 mm and preferably of the order of 5 mm. Domestic ironing appliance according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the strainer (32) is disposed on the side of the wall inside the reservoir (5) and in that the orifice suction (30) is, on the other side of the tank wall (5), surrounded by a cylindrical connecting tube (31), said connecting tube (31) being obtained directly from molding with the wall of the tank (5). Domestic ironing appliance according to claim 8, characterized in that the connecting tube (31) has a tapered end. Domestic ironing appliance according to one of Claims 1 to 9, characterized in that it comprises a vessel (2) for the generation of pressurized steam and in that the pump (6) comprises a discharge pipe (60 ) connected to the tank (2) for generating steam under pressure. Domestic ironing appliance according to claim 10, characterized in that it comprises an iron (101) connected by a cord (100) to said tank (2) for the generation of steam under pressure.

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