JPH02191499A - Steam iron - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent water leakage, a damage to a valve stem, and a scratch on a joint port, to which a water nozzle is connected, when a water tank is placed on a floor, by a method wherein the tip of the valve stem is prevented from protruding over the open surface of the water nozzle. CONSTITUTION:When a water tank is dismounted from an iron main body 1, a valve stem 16 moves together with a valve disk 17, however, the tip of the valve stem 16 is kept inside the open face of the water nozzle 13 even when the contact of the tip of the valve stem 16 with an opener 27 is released. As a result, the valve stem 16 does not come into contact with a floor surface causing water leakage even if the water tank is placed on the floor. As the valve stem 16 is always located inside the water nozzle 13 and mechanically protected, a damage to the valve stem 16 is avoided, and an excess force is not exerted on the valve stem 16 when the water nozzle 13 is connected to a joint port 26. Therefore, the water nozzle 13 is securely closed, and in addition, the tip of the valve stem 16 does not make a scratch on the circumference of the joint port 26 when the water nozzle 13 is connected to the joint port 26.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a steam iron that can appropriately jet steam from the lower surface of a base.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems]

This type of iron is equipped with a water tank, and the water stored in the water tank is appropriately dripped into the evaporation chamber of the base to generate steam, and the steam is guided to the lower surface of the base and ejected. Recently, in order to facilitate the work of filling and draining water into the water tank, the water tank a has been constructed separately from the iron body, as shown in Figure 1, and when in use, the water tank a has been constructed separately from the iron body. There has been provided a device which is attached to a water tank a and can be removed from the iron body when pouring water into the water tank a. A water inlet C consisting of a nozzle is provided at the bottom of the water tank a, and a push button type operating body d for opening and closing the water inlet C is provided at the top surface.
With the water tank a attached to the iron body, open the water inlet C by operating the operating body d.
Water in the water tank a can be dripped into the evaporation chamber of the base e through its water inlet C.

However, in such conventional steam irons, if you forget to operate the operating body d again and remove the water tank a from the iron body while the water inlet C remains open, water will leak out from the water inlet C. The problem was that it leaked and contaminated the iron itself and its surroundings.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention has been made with attention to these points, and its purpose is to automatically turn off the water when the water tank is removed from the iron body, regardless of the operation status of the operating body. To provide a steam iron capable of surely preventing water leakage by closing a water port of a tank.

[Summary of the invention]

In order to achieve such an object, the present invention provides an iron body including a base having an evaporation chamber and an ejection hole communicating with the evaporation chamber, and a handle provided on the upper part of the base; A water tank removably provided at the front, a water port provided at the bottom of the water tank, and a valve mechanism that closes the water port when the water tank is removed from the iron body; The valve mechanism includes a water conductor that guides water in the tank into the evaporation chamber through the water inlet, and the valve mechanism includes a valve rod inserted through the water inlet, and a valve rod for opening and closing the water inlet attached to the valve rod. a valve body, the water guide body comes into contact with a valve rod of the valve mechanism according to the attachment of the water tank to the iron body, and presses the valve body to keep the water passage port open; a connection port that is liquid-tightly connected to a water inlet of a water tank to allow water in the water tank to flow into the water conductor, and a drip nozzle that supplies the water that has flowed into the water conductor into the evaporation chamber; The end of the valve rod of the mechanism is arranged so that when the water tank is removed from the iron main body/body, the opening surface of the water inlet is located inward from the opening surface of the water inlet.

[Embodiments of the invention]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. In the figure, 1 is an iron main body, and 2 is a water tank. In FIG. 2, this water tank 2 is detachably attached to the front end of the iron main body 1. The iron main body 1 includes a cover 4 covering the top surface of a base 3, a heat shield plate 5 provided on the top surface of the cover 4, and a handle 6 attached to the top surface of the heat shield plate 5. The handle 6 has a grip part 6a at its upper part, and the iron user grips this grip part 6a with his/her hand to perform ironing work.

A heater 7 is cast into the base 3, and an evaporation chamber 8 is formed on the upper surface, and the inside of this evaporation chamber 8 communicates with a plurality of guide chambers 9. are in communication with the lower surface side of the base 1 via the ejection holes 10, respectively. The top surface of the evaporation chamber 8 and each guide chamber 9... is the lid body 11.
The water guide body 12 is provided above the lid body 11 in an airtight manner.

The water tank 2 is made of synthetic resin, and is provided with a water inlet 13 and a valve mechanism 14 at its bottom. Valve mechanism 14
A disk-shaped valve body 17 is attached to the middle part of a valve rod 16 that is slidably supported by a support body 15, and this valve body 17 is attached via a spring 18 to the side where the water inlet 13 is arranged, that is, the water inlet. 13 is elastically biased in the direction of closing.

Then, one end of the valve rod 16 is inserted into the water inlet 13,
Its end face is always located on the same level as or inward from the opening face of the water inlet 13.

An engaging pawl 19 is integrally protruded from the upper rear surface of the water tank 2, and this engaging pawl 19 is elastically and detachably engaged with an engaging portion 20 provided at the upper front surface of the handle 6. There is. A water inlet 21 is formed at the upper front surface of the water tank 2, and water is injected into the water tank 2 through this inlet 21, and unnecessary water in the water tank 2 is discharged. Note that side wall portions 22 (only one of which is shown in FIG. 3) extend rearward from both sides of the water tank 2, and these side wall portions 22 are connected to the handle 6.
It is designed to overlap with the front end side surface part of.

The water guide body 12 is formed by attaching a backing plate 24 to the upper surface of a mallet-shaped water guide base 23.
A cylindrical connecting portion 25 integrally protrudes from one end of the connecting portion 4, and a connecting port 26 is formed in the end surface of the connecting portion 25. Further, a bottle-shaped open body 27 integrally projects from the inner bottom surface of the water guide base 23, and the tip of this open body 27 faces the center portion of the connection port 26. Then, the connection port 26 comes into contact with the water inlet 13 of the water tank 2 to establish a liquid-tight connection, and the tip of the opening body 27 comes into contact with the valve rod 16 of the valve mechanism 14, so that the valve body 1
7 against the spring 18 to hold the water inlet 13 in an open state, thereby allowing the water in the water tank 2 to flow through the water inlet 1.
3 into the water conductor 12. A drip nozzle 28 is provided at the bottom of the other end of the water guiding base 23, and the tip of the drip nozzle 28 penetrates through the lid 11 to form the base 3.
It faces the inside of the evaporation chamber 8. Reference numeral 29 denotes an opening/closing rod that is provided to be vertically movable, and the tip side of this opening/closing rod 29 passes through the backing plate 24 and faces the inside of the dripping nozzle 28, and its vertical movement opens and closes the nozzle hole 30 of the dripping nozzle 28. It is something.

A support plate 31 is provided at the upper front end of the handle 6, and a cam disk 33 is rotatably supported on the support plate 31 via a support shaft 32. The upper part of this cam disc 33 is covered with a cap 34, and an operating body 35 extends from the cam disc 33, and a knob 36 at the tip thereof faces the front part of the upper end of the handle 6. A setting display plate 37 is attached to the upper surface of the cap 34 in correspondence with the knob 36. On the lower surface of the cam disc 33, first and second cam grooves 38 and 39 are formed in the shape of an arc centered on the support shaft 32. The upper end of the operating rod 29 is inserted into the first cam groove 38 and is brought into contact with the inner bottom surface of the cam groove 38 by the elastic force of the spring 40. 41 is an interlocking rod, and the lower end of this interlocking rod 41 controls the energization of the heater 7 and connects the base 3.
The upper end of the interlocking piece 42 is inserted into the second cam groove 39, and the elastic force of the interlocking piece 42 causes the inner bottom surface to are in contact. The first and second cam grooves 38 and 39 have a height difference in depth from one end to the other end, and as the cam disk 33 rotates, the height difference causes the opening/closing rod 2
9 and the interlocking rod 41 are designed to move up and down.

Next, the effect will be explained. When the cam disk 33 is rotated through the knob 36 of the operating body 35 and the knob 36 is aligned with the "steam" display position on the setting display plate 37, the temperature is adjusted through the interlocking rod 41. The temperature of the base 3 is adjusted by the regulator to a temperature suitable for generating steam, and the opening/closing rod 29 is raised to open the drip nozzle 28. As a result of this opening, the water in the water guide body 12 drips into the evaporation chamber 8 through the drip nozzle 28, and is vaporized by the heat of the base 3 to become steam, and this steam is transmitted to each guide chamber 9...
The water is ejected sequentially from the inside through each of the ejection holes 10 to the lower surface side of the base 3.

Furthermore, when the knob 36 is set to the "dry" position on the setting display plate 37, the opening/closing rod 29 descends and the drip nozzle 2
8 is closed, the dripping of water into the evaporation chamber 8 is stopped, and the ejection of steam is stopped.

On the other hand, when replenishing water in the water tank 2 or discarding unnecessary water in the water tank 2 after completing ironing work, the engaging claw 1 is used as shown in Fig. 3.
9 and the engaging portion 20 are disengaged, and the water tank 2 is removed from the iron main body 1. At this time, since the valve rod 16 and the opening body 27 come out of contact with the removal operation, the valve body 17 is moved by the biasing force of the spring 18, and the water passage port 13 is closed. This operation is performed regardless of whether the knob 36 of the operating body 35 is in the "steam" or "dry" position. Therefore, when the water tank 2 is removed from the iron main body 1, the water inlet 13 is always reliably closed, and water will not inadvertently leak out from inside the water tank 2.

The operating body 35 that performs operations for dripping and stopping water is not provided on the water tank 2 side but on the iron body 1.
Since it is provided on the side, the force during operation will not be applied to the water tank 2, and therefore the water tank 2 will not rattle and the engagement mechanism consisting of the engagement claw 19 and the engagement part 20 water tank 2.
Since there is no rattling, the operating body 35 can be operated easily and smoothly. Furthermore, since the operating body 35 is provided on the iron main body 1 side, this operating body 35 is
It is arranged close to the grip part 6a of the iron handle 6, so that the operating body 35 can be operated with the thumb of the hand gripping the grip part 6a while using the iron, etc., and the usability is further improved.

In addition, since the single operating body 35 can perform both the operation of dropping water and stopping it, and the operation of setting the temperature controller, the overall operation is simplified, and economical efficiency is achieved due to the dual use of parts. This has the advantage of being able to improve performance.

When the water tank 2 is removed from the iron body 1, the valve rod 16 moves together with the valve body 17, but as shown in FIG. Even in the released state, it is located inward from the opening surface of the water inlet 13, and therefore, even if the water tank 2 is placed on the floor, the valve rod 16 comes into contact with the floor surface, causing water leakage. There is no such thing. Since the valve rod 16 is always located inside the water inlet 13 and is mechanically protected, damage to the valve rod 16 is prevented, and when the water inlet 13 and connection port 26 are connected and disconnected, the valve rod 16 is protected mechanically. 16, so that the water inlet 13 can be reliably closed. Furthermore, when connecting the water inlet 13 to the connection port 26, the end of the valve rod 16 can close the connection port 26. This has the advantage of not causing any damage to the parts.

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the present invention, in which the iron main body 1 is provided with a push button type operating body 35a.
The drip nozzle 28 is opened and closed via the opening/closing rod 29.

That is, when the operating body 35a is pushed downward from the illustrated state, the opening/closing rod 29 is lowered and the drip nozzle 28 is closed, and this state is maintained by the engagement between the operating body 35a and the iron main body 1.

Then, when the operating body 35a is pressed again, the above-mentioned engagement is released.
The operating body 35a protrudes upward from the iron main body 1 due to the urging force of the spring 43, and the opening/closing rod 29 is moved by the spring 43.
, and the drip nozzle 28 is opened.

The valve mechanism installed in the water tank can be used as long as the water tank's water inlet is always closed and is held open by the opening body on the iron body side when the water tank is attached to the iron body. The configuration is not limited to the example, and various modifications can be made.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, when the water tank is removed from the iron body, the water inlet of the water tank is automatically closed by that action, so that water in the water tank may inadvertently leak and cause the iron to dry. There is no chance of contaminating the main unit or its surroundings. In addition, the end of the valve stem of the valve mechanism does not always protrude from the opening surface of the water inlet, which prevents water leakage, damage to the valve stem, and water inlet when the water tank is placed on the floor. This has the advantage of preventing damage to the connecting port.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a conventional steam iron, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a steam iron according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the water tank of the steam iron removed from the iron body, and FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing a steam iron according to another embodiment of the present invention. 1... Iron body, 2... Water tank, 3... Base, 6... Handle, 8... Evaporation chamber, 10...
Spout hole, 12... Water guide body, 13... Water inlet, 14.
... Valve mechanism, 16... Valve rod, 17... Valve body, 26.
... Connection port, 27 ... Open body, 28 ... Dripping nozzle.

Claims (1)

[Claims] An iron main body including an evaporation chamber and a base having an ejection hole communicating with the evaporation chamber, and a handle provided on the top of the base; a water tank detachably provided at the front of the iron main body; A water port provided at the bottom of the water tank; a valve mechanism that closes the water port when the water tank is removed from the iron body; and a valve mechanism that closes the water port when the water tank is removed from the iron body, and the water in the water tank is introduced into the evaporation chamber through the water port. The valve mechanism has a valve rod inserted into the water inlet, and a valve body for opening and closing the water inlet attached to the valve rod, and the water guide body guides the water. an opening body that comes into contact with the valve rod of the valve mechanism and presses the valve body to keep the water inlet open when the tank is attached to the iron body; and an opening body that is fluid-tightly connected to the water inlet of the water tank. It has a connection port that allows water in the water tank to flow into the water conductor, and a drip nozzle that supplies the water that has flowed into the water conductor into the evaporation chamber, and the end of the valve rod of the valve mechanism irons the water tank. A steam iron characterized in that, when removed from the main body, the iron is located at the same level as or inward from the opening surface of the water port.