JPH0542297A - Ironing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To ensure the tank of an ironing body for straightening the wrinkles of clothes or the like to be filled with the prescribed full amount of water. CONSTITUTION:A water amount detected with a pair of electrodes 22 of different length fitted to the tank 17 of an iron body is transmitted to a water amount detection means 23, thereby controlling a water supply device. Also, the electrode 22a of larger length is grounded, while the electrode 22b of smaller length is connected to the impedance converter 24 of the water amount detection means 23. As a result, even when stray impedance Z4 appears due to capacitance between a heater 14 and the tank 17 with only the longer electrode 22a immersed in water in the tank 17, the water supply device can be controlled to ensure the proper feed of the prescribed full amount of water, while preventing erroneous detection, without causing the impedance converter 24 to generate abnormal voltage.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ironing device for flattening clothes such as wrinkles.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, this type of ironing device has a structure as shown in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58-29498, and has a concrete structure as shown in FIG. .. That is, by providing the water tank 2 and the placing portion 3 on the stand 1 and placing the iron body 4 on the placing portion 3 described above, water is supplied into the iron body 4.

[0003]

However, in such a structure, since the iron body 4 and the water tank 2 are communicated with each other, the water head pressure of the water tank 2 is used to supply water to the iron body. There is a problem that the time for supplying a predetermined amount of water to the iron body 4 is not constant. That is, the water head pressure changes as the water level in the water tank 2 changes, and as a result, the water supply speed also changes.

As a means for solving such a problem, a method of forcibly supplying water by using a water supply device such as a pump device can be considered. However, when the tank of the iron body 4 becomes full, There is a problem that water leaks from the connection part between the water injection port and the water supply port projected on the mounting portion 3 of the stand 1.

Therefore, in order to solve such a problem, a method of controlling the water supply device by detecting the amount of water in the tank with a pair of electrodes and detecting the fullness of the water by a change in the impedance between the electrodes can be considered. In other words, if one of the electrodes is not submerged in water, the impedance between the electrodes is so high that a high voltage is generated between the electrodes when a current is applied. Since the impedance of is low, the fact that a low voltage is generated when a current is applied is used to detect the fullness of water.

However, when full water is detected using such a pair of electrodes having different lengths, when full water is detected by detecting the potential of the longer electrode, only the longer electrode is immersed in water. During operation, the commercial frequency is induced in the water in the tank due to the influence of the electrostatic capacitance between the heater wire and the tank, and an abnormal voltage is detected at the longer electrode, and water is supplied to the shorter electrode. There was a problem that the water was not supplied to the correct full water position by mistakenly determining that the water was full.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an ironing device capable of reliably supplying water in a tank of an iron body to a full water position.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, an ironing device of the present invention comprises a water supply device for supplying water in a water storage tank to a tank of an iron body, and an amount of water in the tank of the iron body. And a pair of electrodes having different lengths attached to the tank, the amount of water in the tank detected by the electrodes is output to the water amount detecting means to control the water supply device. ,
One long electrode is connected to the ground, and the other short electrode is connected to the impedance converter of the water amount detecting means.

[0009]

With the above-described structure, the ironing device of the present invention detects the full water state even when the tank is not filled with water to the full water position, that is, when only the longer electrode is submerged in water. The voltage of the shorter electrode that determines the driving of the is not affected by the capacitance between the heater wire and the tank.

Therefore, erroneous detection of full water when the water is not supplied to the full water position is eliminated, and the water supply device can be reliably controlled to the correct full water position.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 to 3, 10 is an iron body, which is a base 13 having a vaporization chamber 12 covered with a lid 11, a heater 14 for heating the base 13, a temperature of a thermistor for detecting the temperature of the base 13 and the like. Detection means 1
5, a tank 17 connected to the vaporization chamber 12 via a water conduit 16, and an inlet 1 for supplying water to the tank 17.
8, a valve device 19 for opening and closing the inlet 18, a signal signal composed of a plurality of electronic parts for outputting a temperature signal from the temperature detecting means 15 and a water amount signal of the tank 17 to a signal terminal (not shown) It has a circuit 20 and a power supply pin 21 connected to the heater 14.

Reference numeral 22 denotes a pair of electrodes for detecting the amount of water in the tank 15, which is attached so as to project downward from the top surface of the tank 17 toward the bottom, and one electrode 22a is formed longer than the other electrode 22b. However, when water is supplied, it is arranged so as to be immersed in water before the other electrode 22b.

Reference numeral 23 is a water amount detecting means connected to the pair of electrodes 22, and has a concrete construction as shown in FIG. That is, for the voltage V2 input to the impedance converter 24, the voltage V1 generated from the oscillation circuit 25 of 20 kHz · 12V is used as the impedance Z1 of the resistor,
The voltage is divided by the impedance Z2 of the capacitor and the impedance Z3 between the electrodes 22, and V2 = V1 ×
It is represented by the formula (Z2 + Z3) ÷ (Z1 + Z2 + Z3).

Here, Z1 is set to an intermediate value between when there is water between the electrodes 22 and when there is no water, and the oscillation circuit 25 is set to 20 k.
When Z2 at Hz is set to a value sufficiently smaller than Z1 and Z3, the voltage V2 input to the impedance converter 24 is small if there is water between the electrodes 22 due to the impedance Z3 between the electrodes 22, and between the electrodes 22. If there is no water, the voltage becomes large and it can be detected whether or not the water in the tank 17 is full.

Further, the impedance Z of this capacitor
Since 2 is 1 / (2 × π × f × C), the commercial power supply 26
The impedance is very large for 50 Hz and 60 Hz of 20 kHz used in the water amount detecting means 23.
Since it is lower than z, even if a person touches the electrode 22 or water, the person can be protected from electric shock.

Reference numeral 27 denotes a stand on which the iron main body 10 is placed, which is a signal terminal of the iron main body 10 and a power supply pin 21.
A plurality of power supply terminals 28 connected to the iron body 1
0 for supplying a water supply valve device 29 connected to the valve device 19, a water storage tank 30 for storing water, and a water amount signal from the signal processing means 20 for supplying water stored in the water storage tank 30 to the tank 17. Water supply device 3 composed of a pump, etc.
Have one.

The stand 27 receives a temperature signal from the signal processing circuit 20 and controls the power supply to the heater 14 by controlling a plurality of electronic parts 32, and the base 13 to an arbitrary temperature. Has a temperature setting means 33 for setting the temperature, a set temperature display means 34 for displaying the state of the set temperature with an LED or the like, and a mounting portion 35 for mounting the iron main body 10 below the base 13 in an inclined manner. ing.

Next, the operation of the configuration of this embodiment will be described. First, when ironing, the iron body 10 is placed on the placing portion 35 of the stand 27, the power is turned on, and the temperature setting means 33 of the stand 27 is operated to set the base 13 to an arbitrary temperature. Then, the signal processing means 20 outputs a temperature signal to the control means 32 via the signal terminal according to the output of the temperature detection means 15. In accordance with this temperature signal, the heater 14 is energized via the power feeding pin 21 and the power feeding terminal 28, and the base 13 is heated to the set temperature.

On the other hand, if there is no water in the tank 17 when the power is turned on, the impedance Z3 between the electrodes is very large. Therefore, the voltage V2 input to the impedance converter 24 is increased.
Is approximately the same as the output voltage V1 of the 20 kHz oscillation circuit 25, and it is determined that the tank 17 in the iron body 10 is not filled up to the correct full water position, that is, the position where the short electrode 22b is submerged in water, and the water supply device 31 Is driven, and the water in the water storage tank 30 is supplied with the water supply valve device 29 and the valve device 1.
9. It is sent to the tank 17 through the inlet 18.

When water is supplied to the tank 17 to the correct full water position and both electrodes 22a and 22b are immersed in the water, the impedance Z3 between the electrodes 22 becomes small, so that the voltage V2 input to the impedance converter 24 becomes When the voltage becomes low and it is determined that water has been supplied to the correct full water position, the water supply device 31 stops.

Next, when the iron main body 10 is removed from the mounting portion 35 and ironed, the water in the tank 17 is sent to the vaporization chamber 12 through the water conduit 16 and vaporized in the vaporization chamber 12 as steam. It is ejected from the bottom surface of the base 13. Further, even if the iron body 10 is removed from the mounting portion 35 while the water supply device 31 is in a driving state, the control means 32 detects that the iron body 10 is removed from the mounting portion 35, and the water supply device is detected. Since the driving of 31 is stopped, water does not flow out from the water supply valve device 29. ..

Further, when the iron body 10 is placed on the inclined mounting portion 35 again to prepare clothes for the next ironing, the signal terminal, the power supply pin 21, the power supply terminal 28, the valve device 19, and the water supply. The valve devices 29 are respectively connected, the heater 14 is energized as described above, and the tank 17 of the iron body 10 is replenished with water until it is full. That is, each time the iron body 10 is placed, the iron body 10 is filled with water, so that stable steam is always obtained during ironing.

The longer electrode 22a is connected to the ground, and the shorter electrode 22b is connected to the impedance converter 24.
Therefore, even if the stray impedance Z4 is generated by the capacitance between the heater 14 and the tank 17 in a state where only the longer electrode 22a is immersed in the water in the tank 17, the shorter electrode 22a is connected to the shorter electrode 22a. Since 22b is not soaked in water yet, the voltage V2 input to the impedance converter 24 does not generate an abnormal voltage, and it is possible to prevent a malfunction that water is not supplied to the correct full water position.

[0024]

As described above, the ironing device of the present invention is
The amount of water in the tank detected by a pair of electrodes with different lengths attached to the tank is output to the water amount detecting means to control the water supply device, and one long electrode is connected to the ground and the other short electrode is connected. Is connected to the impedance converter of the water amount detection means, the voltage of the shorter electrode that detects the full water state and determines the drive of the water supply device is affected by the capacitance between the heater wire and the tank. Therefore, it is possible to prevent erroneous detection and reliably control the water supply device to the full water position.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an essential part of an ironing device showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the ironing device.

FIG. 3 is an operation explanatory view of a water amount detecting means of the ironing device.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a main part of a conventional ironing device.

[Explanation of Codes] 10 Iron Main Body 12 Vaporization Chamber 13 Base 14 Heater 17 Tank 22 Electrode 23 Water Volume Detection Means 24 Impedance Converter 30 Water Storage Tank 31 Water Supply Device

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Noriaki Akai 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An iron body having a base heated by a heater, a vaporization chamber formed in the base, a tank connected to the vaporization chamber, a water storage tank for storing water to be supplied to the tank, and a water storage tank in the water storage tank. A water supply device for supplying water to the tank of the iron body, a water amount detection means for detecting the water amount of the tank of the iron body, and a pair of electrodes attached to the tank and having different lengths are provided, and the electrodes are used for detection. The ironing device in which the water amount in the tank is output to the water amount detecting means to control the water supply device, one long electrode is connected to the ground, and the other short electrode is connected to the impedance converter of the water amount detecting means. ..