JPH0475034B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a steam iron for general household use.

Conventional structure and problems Conventionally, in this type of steam iron,
As shown in FIG. 1, a valve device 2 is installed at the bottom of the tank 1.
Furthermore, an operating rod 3 for opening and closing this valve device 2 and an operating button 4 for operating this operating rod 3 are provided, and by operating this operating button 4, a large amount of water inside the tank 1 is transferred to the vaporization chamber 5. A mechanism for draining limescale accumulated inside the vaporizing chamber 5 from the steam outlet 6 along with water, and a mechanism for temporarily discharging the limescale accumulated inside the vaporizing chamber 5 from the vaporizing chamber 5 in order to increase the amount of steam to increase the wrinkle smoothing effect of the iron. Generally, a pump device 7 for pumping a certain amount of water was installed separately.

However, with this configuration, the front part of the iron becomes large, making it difficult to see the front part when ironing, and at the same time, the structure becomes complicated and expensive.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION The present invention aims to solve these conventional problems and provide a steam iron that improves usability and streamlines the iron's usability.

Structure of the Invention The steam iron of the present invention includes a base having a heater, a vaporizing chamber provided on the base, a steam outlet connected to the vaporizing chamber, a tank disposed on the base, and an inner bottom portion of the tank. a pump cylinder with a lift pipe opening at the lower end;
A piston that slides up and down in the pump cylinder, a pump device that connects the pump cylinder and the vaporization chamber to supply water in the tank to the vaporization chamber, and a button part that can freely move up and down to drive the pump device. and stroke variable means for regulating the downward displacement of the button portion at a predetermined position to vary the drive stroke of the pump device, and by reducing the operating stroke of the pump device. Instantly increase the amount of steam,
In addition, by increasing the stroke, more water than the vaporizing capacity of the base is fed to the vaporizing chamber, and limescale near the vaporizing chamber and the steam outlet is discharged.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In FIGS. 2 to 5, 8 is a base having a heater 9, and 10 is this base 8.
11 is a steam outlet connected to this vaporization chamber 10, 12 is a tank placed on the base 8, 13 is a pump cylinder integrally molded with the tank 12, and 14 is this pump cylinder 13. 16 is a spring that urges the piston 14 upward; 17 is a steel ball for checking the water introduced into the pump cylinder 13; A pumping pipe provided at the bottom of the pump cylinder 13,
Reference numeral 19 denotes a water conduit pipe that sends water in the pump cylinder to the vaporization chamber 10. The piston 14 has a button portion 21 formed at its upper end protruding from the handle 20 of the iron. Reference numeral 22 indicates a plurality of notches formed in the longitudinal direction from the bottom of the button portion 21, and 23 indicates a columnar protrusion protruding from the outer circumference of the pump cylinder in correspondence with the notches 22. 24 is a check valve interposed in the middle of the water conduit 19;
25 is a nozzle provided at the bottom of the tank 12, 26 is an operating rod for opening and closing the nozzle 25, and 27 is a steam button for operating this operating rod 26.

To explain the operation in the above configuration, when the piston 14 is pushed down by the button 21 and the button 21 is immediately released, the water in the tank 12 is collected in the pump cylinder 13 through the pumping pipe 18. When the button 21 is pressed down again, the pump cylinder 13
The water inside is sent into the vaporization chamber 10 through the water conduit 19. This instantaneous water turns into steam and jets out from the steam jet hole 11. The amount of steam at this time is temporarily larger than usual, improving the wrinkle smoothing effect.
Below the button 21 is the pump cylinder 1.
The stroke is regulated by coming into contact with a columnar protrusion 23 provided on the outer periphery of the cylinder 3. If the button 21 is rotated in the above-mentioned state and positioned so that the notch 22 below it fits into the columnar protrusion 23 provided on the outer periphery of the pump cylinder 13, the stroke of the piston 14 will be increased. Therefore, the amount of water sent to the vaporization chamber 10 exceeds the vaporization capacity of the base 8, and therefore, it is ejected from the steam outlet 11 as water or as hot water, and the inside of the vaporization chamber 10 and the steam outlet. Wash away the limescale accumulated near 11. This can provide a cleaning effect and solve problems such as clogging of the steam outlet 11 and a decrease in the amount of steam, which greatly affect the life of the iron.

6 and 7 show another embodiment of the present invention, in which a stopper 28 is provided on the handle 20 that moves forward and backward relative to the bottom of the button 21, and a knob 29 is provided at the outer end of the stopper 28. . According to this example, the piston 14 is moved forward and backward by the stopper 28.
The stroke can be varied.

In the above embodiment, an example of two-stage switching by an external knob operation is shown, but other means may be used as long as the stroke of the pump device is variable.

Effects of the Invention As is clear from the above embodiments, the steam iron of the present invention can obtain a cleaning effect and increase the amount of steam with just the pump device by varying the stroke of the pump device, with simple operation.
It achieves two functions without increasing the front part of the iron, and at the same time improves reliability by reducing sealing parts, reduces the number of parts, makes it cheaper, and improves usability. be. Furthermore, when the amount of steam is increased, the internal pressure of the vaporization chamber increases. In a system that utilizes the water head in the tank, this increase in internal pressure becomes back pressure, and even if you try to increase the amount of water to the vaporization chamber, you cannot actually obtain the desired amount of water, but in the present invention, it is pumped using a pump device. The desired amount of water can be obtained from the source,
It is possible to reliably generate a larger amount of steam than this.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional steam iron, Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a steam iron showing an embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 3 is an explanatory view of the operation of the pump device. Indicate the case. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the pump device section, and shows the case where the stroke is large. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the notch of the button part and the columnar protrusion provided on the outer periphery of the pump cylinder, and FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the pump device part in another embodiment of the present invention.
The case of small stroke is shown. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the same pump device according to the present invention, and shows the case of a large stroke. 8...base, 9...heater, 10...vaporization chamber, 11...steam outlet, 12...tank,
13, 14, 15... Pump device (pump cylinder, piston, packing).

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A base having a heater, a vaporizing chamber provided on the base, a steam outlet connected to the vaporizing chamber, a tank disposed on the base, and a lower end at the inner bottom of the tank. A pump cylinder having an open pumping pipe, a piston that slides up and down in the pump cylinder, a pump device that connects the pump cylinder and the vaporization chamber to supply water in the tank to the vaporization chamber, and this pump device. A steam iron comprising: a vertically movable button part for driving the pump; and a stroke variable means for regulating the downward displacement of the button part at a predetermined position to vary the drive stroke of the pump device. 2. A notch is formed in the longitudinal direction from the lower end of the cap-shaped button part that fits externally into the pump cylinder, and a protrusion is formed in the pump cylinder, and the button part is freely displaceable in the circumferential direction to provide a stroke variable means. A steam iron according to claim 1. 3. The steam iron according to claim 1, wherein a stopper is provided at the lower end of the button part so as to be movable back and forth in the process of lowering the button part to constitute stroke variable means.