JPH0790096B2 - Steam iron - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a valve device for controlling water supply from a water tank of a steam iron used in general households to a vaporization chamber.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 3, a device of this type has a base 101 having a heater and a vaporization chamber 102 provided in the base 101.
And a removable water tank 103 provided above the base 101, a water passage 104 provided at the lower surface of the water tank 103, and the water passage 104.
Valve 105 provided at the inlet of the nozzle and nozzle provided at the outlet of the water passage 104
A valve device consisting of 106 and a base 10 for controlling the valve body 105.
The thermal response member 107 is configured to be closed when the temperature of 1 is low and to be opened when the temperature reaches an arbitrary temperature, and an opening / closing rod 108 for manually opening / closing the nozzle 106.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, such a structure has the following problems.

The first is that the outlet of the water passage 104 is provided with a nozzle 106 for narrowing the flow rate and the inlet is made wide, but the air in the water passage 104 is not easily replaced from the inlet, and is directly moved to the nozzle 106 side by water pressure. Since the hole diameter of the nozzle 106 was pushed and was as small as about 0.5 mm, the nozzle 106 was clogged there, and there was a problem that water did not drip into the vaporization chamber 102 and steam did not occur when steam was used. In addition, if the iron is left in the energized state for a long time, there is a problem that the temperature in the water passage 104 rises and the water boils and bubbles are generated, and the bubbles block the nozzle 106 and steam is not generated. It was

Secondly, the length of the water passage 104 is long from the valve body 105 corresponding to the heat responsive member 107 to the nozzle 106 at the inlet, and it takes time for the water to reach the vaporization chamber 102 after the valve body 105 is opened. It was very inconvenient to use.

Thirdly, since the water tank 103 is detachable, the joint with the heat responsive member 107 provided on the base 101 becomes unstable, and it is highly likely that a malfunction will occur in opening and closing the valve body 105, and steam will not occur. There was a problem.

Means for Solving the Problems And, in order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a base heated by a heater, a vaporization chamber provided in the base, and a water tank arranged above the base. ,
Operation of a water passage provided between the water tank and the vaporization chamber, a nozzle arranged upstream of the water passage to control the supply of water from the tank, and a heat responsive member installed on the base. And a valve body that opens and closes the water passage in response to
The valve body is provided with a conical portion at the upper end thereof and is arranged immediately below the nozzle, and the water passage is opened by the movement of the nozzle toward the outlet side.

Action The steam iron of the present invention has the above-described configuration, and when the valve body is moved to the outlet side of the nozzle in response to the operation of the heat responsive member to open the water passage, the conical portion provided on the valve body is provided. It becomes possible to position it just below the nozzle, and this cone-shaped portion makes it possible to break the surface tension of the water dripping from the nozzle and guide it smoothly to the water passage.

Example Hereinafter, one example of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In FIGS. 1 to 6, 20 is an iron body and a heater 21.
With a base 22, a temperature detecting means 23 such as a thermistor for detecting the temperature of the base 22, a vaporization chamber 24 provided in the base 22, and water supplied to the vaporization chamber 24 via a water passage 25. A tank 26, an opening / closing device 27 for supplying and shutting off water in the tank 26 to the vaporization chamber 24, and an opening / closing device 27
Steam button 28 for manual operation of the
A thermo-responsive valve device (valve body) 29 that opens and closes according to the temperature of
It has a steam hole 30 through which steam generated in the vaporization chamber 24 is jetted from the hanging surface of the base 22, and a plurality of power supply terminals 31 electrically connected to the heater 21 and the temperature detection means 23. A stand 32 is a stand 33 on which the iron body 20 is placed, and an electrode 34 which is electrically connected to the power supply terminal 31 when the iron body 20 is placed on the stand 33.
And, when the iron body 20 is placed on the placing portion 33, a temperature control including a plurality of electronic components including a microcomputer that receives the output signal of the temperature detecting means 23 and controls the temperature of the base 22. Means 35. Reference numeral 36 is a heat-responsive member such as a reversing type bimetal arranged in a recess 37 provided in the base 22, and a valve shaft 38 of a valve device 29 is provided at one end above it.
Is provided with a movable plate 39, and a bent portion 40 is formed in a part of the movable plate 39 toward the heat responsive member 36.
Is pushed up when is reversed, the valve shaft 38 is raised with the other end pressed downward as a fulcrum. The movable plate 39 is constantly urged toward the heat responsive member 36 side by the spring 41, whereby the valve shaft 38 is also urged downward, and the water channel 25 is formed by the valve packing 43 arranged below the integrally formed conical portion 42. A valve device 29 which can be closed and which is normally closed can be formed in the base 22. 44 is a nozzle provided at the bottom of the tank 26,
It is arranged just above the conical portion 42 and can limit the water in the tank 26 to be supplied to the vaporization chamber 24, and the opening / closing device 27 allows the user to open and close the base 22 regardless of the temperature. .

A case where the iron main body 20 is detached from the stand 32 and ironing is performed using steam in the above configuration will be described.

The temperature control means 35 controls energization of the heater 21 to start heating the base 22 to an arbitrary temperature. Next steam button
The pressure of 28 is released, the opening / closing device 27 is raised, and the opening of the nozzle 44 is released. Base as in the initial stage of energizing the heater 21
When the temperature of 22 is below the set temperature of the heat responsive member 36, the heat responsive member 36 is in the state shown by the solid line in FIG. 2, and the valve device 29 is the water channel.
25 is blocked. Therefore, water does not flow into the water passage 25, and even if the nozzle 44 is opened, it is not supplied into the vaporization chamber 24.

Then, the base 22 is heated by the heater 21 and the heat responsive member
When the set temperature of 36, that is, an appropriate temperature for vaporizing water, is reached, the heat responsive member 36 is inverted as shown by the chain line in FIG. 2 to raise the valve shaft 38 via the movable plate 39, The device 25 releases the water channel 25. In this state, the water in the tank 26 passes through the nozzle 44 and is supplied from the water passage 25 to the vaporization chamber 24.
Then, the steam generated in the vaporization chamber 24 is discharged from the steam holes 30. At this time, the water passage is configured to be the shortest, and since the nozzle 44 that controls the flow rate of water is located on the upstream side of the water passage 25, even if air or bubbles are present in the water passage, the water passage is As soon as it is discharged from the downstream end of
Water flows along the conical portion 42 of the valve shaft 38 immediately below the nozzle 44 to the water channel 25 and the water is supplied to the vaporization chamber 24, so that steam is immediately generated and the steam does not easily come out. There is no. Further, since the movement of the heat responsive member 36 is enlarged and transmitted by the movable plate 39, the operation of the valve shaft 38 can open and close the water passage with the valve packing 43 with a sufficient margin, and the valve device 29 is provided with the base 22. Since it is arranged in the, it is possible to maintain a stable open / closed state.

Next, if the iron is continued to be used, the heat of vaporization is removed when steam is generated and the temperature of the base 22 gradually decreases. Then, the valve shaft 38 goes down, the water channel is closed by the valve packing 43, the supply of water to the vaporization chamber 24 is stopped, the residual heat is used to dry the water in the vaporization chamber 24, and water leaks from the base 22. Can be prevented. Also, the heat responsive member
The valve device 29 which opens and closes the water channel 25 in response to the operation of 36 is provided with a pyramidal portion 42 at its upper end and is arranged immediately below the nozzle 44, and the water channel 25 is opened by moving the nozzle 44 to the outlet side. At this time, since the conical portion 42 is located immediately below the nozzle 44, the conical portion 42 can break the surface tension of the water droplets ejected from the nozzle 44 and cause the water droplets to drop. Can be smoothly guided to the waterway 25. In addition, by installing the valve device on the base side and providing a cantilevered expansion mechanism that expands the movement of the heat responsive member, it is possible to allow a sufficient margin for the movement of the valve body, and the movement of the valve body is stable. The steam can be spouted stably. Although the cordless steam iron has been described in this embodiment, it goes without saying that it can be used for a general steam iron.

Effects of the Invention As described above, the present invention provides a base heated by a heater, a vaporization chamber provided in the base, a water tank arranged above the base, and a space between the water tank and the vaporization chamber. The water passage provided, the nozzle arranged upstream of the water passage to control the supply of water from the tank, and the water passage opened and closed in response to the operation of the heat responsive member installed on the base. A valve body, the valve body is provided with a conical portion at its upper end and is disposed immediately below the nozzle,
Since the water passage is opened by moving the nozzle toward the outlet side, the conical portion of the valve body can be positioned directly below the nozzle when the water passage is opened. The surface tension of the dripping water can be broken and the water can be smoothly guided to the water passage, and stable and stable steam can be jetted.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a cordless iron showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the valve device, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of a conventional valve device. 20 …… Iron main body, 22 …… Base, 24 …… Vaporization chamber, 25
...... Water channel, 29 ...... Valve device, 32 ...... Stand, 36 ...... Thermal responsive member, 38 ...... Valve shaft, 39 ...... Movable plate, 42 ...... Conical section, 43
…… Valve packing, 44 …… Nozzle.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Masao Shimizu 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Yoshinori Kataoka, 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. 56) References

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A base heated by a heater, a vaporization chamber provided in the base, a water tank arranged above the base, and a water passage provided between the water tank and the vaporization chamber. The water passage is provided with a nozzle that is arranged on the upstream side to control the supply of water from the tank, and a valve body that opens and closes the water passage in response to the operation of a heat responsive member installed in the base. The steam iron, wherein the valve body is provided with a conical portion at its upper end and is arranged directly below the nozzle, and the water passage is opened by the movement of the nozzle toward the outlet side.