JPH084675B2 - Steam iron - Google Patents

Description

Description: FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a steam iron with a power shot mechanism for general household use.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a steam iron of this kind is generally shown in FIG.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 is an iron base, in which a heater 2 is embedded, a vaporization chamber 3 for instantaneously evaporating water is formed, and a fumarole 4 for ejecting steam is provided. Reference numeral 5 denotes a water tank, which can be freely attached to and detached from the iron body 6. Reference numeral 7 denotes a faucet provided at a lower portion of the water tank 5, which is configured to be pushed up when the water tank 5 is mounted on the main body 6 to allow the water inside to flow out. Reference numeral 8 denotes a water guide case, which connects the faucet 7 and a nozzle 9 provided on the upper portion of the vaporization chamber 3 and has a role of a water flow path for guiding the water in the water tank 5 to the vaporization chamber 3 in the base 1. There is. Reference numeral 10 is a bimetal type waterway switch provided in a part of the water guiding case 8. When the heater 2 is energized and the temperature of the bimetal 11 mounted on the base 1 rises, the shaft moves upward due to the reversing operation. It is configured to be pushed up and open the running water path. Reference numeral 12 is a flow rate adjusting ball, which can freely move in a space formed between the ball urging spring 13 on the upper side in a state shown in the figure during a steam operation. Reference numeral 14 denotes a pump shaft for pumping water, which is linked to a steam button 15 mounted on the upper part.

The operation of the above configuration will be described. When the base 1 is heated by energizing the heater 2 and reaches a predetermined temperature or higher, the bimetal 11 is inverted, and the bimetal-type water channel switch is opened.
10 is released. At this time, if the steam button 15 is in the state (team state) as shown in FIG. The water flows into the water guiding case 8, pushes up the flow rate adjusting ball 12 and passes through the open portion of the bimetal type waterway switch 10, and drops into the vaporization chamber 3 through the nozzle 9 as droplets. Then, the dropped water evaporates instantaneously in the vaporization chamber 3, and is spouted as steam from the blast holes 4.

Further, when the steam button 15 is pushed in this state, the water flow rate adjusting ball 12 is pressed downward by the ball urging spring 13, the water supply from the water tank 5 is cut off, and the nozzle 9 The water accumulated up to is pushed out all at once from the nozzle 9 by the pumping action of the pump shaft 14, and a larger amount of water than usual is blown at once in the vaporization chamber 3
Since it flows into the inside, explosive evaporation occurs and steam stronger than usual is ejected from the fumarole 4. This is a power shot.

Further, when the steam button 15 is pushed to the bottom and latched by the latch mechanism (not shown), the water flow rate adjusting ball 12 remains pressed downward by the ball biasing spring 13, and the water supply from the water tank 5 is prevented. Completely shut off,
A steam-free state is created. This state is a dry state.

As described above, the conventional steam iron is capable of producing three states of steam, power shot, and dry, and further lowers the temperature of the base 1 to cause vaporization chamber 3
When the evaporation of water inside becomes difficult to occur, the bimetal type waterway switch 10 is operated by the action of the bimetal 11 to close the flowing waterway and prevent the inflow of water into the vaporization chamber 3.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention In such a conventional configuration, in order to switch between the three states of steam, power shot, and dry, the user must push the steam button deeply with the finger each time, and especially the power shot. In order to increase the pumping effect, it is necessary to push it in vigorously, and since only one power shot can be generated with one push, power shots can be repeated as many times as under normal use conditions. When you use, you will have to push the steam button many times each time, and you will need considerable finger force when using it, which will be quite hard work for a weak housewife and extremely inconvenient. It was a thing.

Furthermore, the bimetal used to open and close the water channel to prevent water leakage at low temperatures must be attached to the upper part of the base due to its structure, which complicates the structure of the base, and inverts the bimetal. There is considerable variation in the temperature, and the opening and closing mechanism must be set to operate at a considerably high temperature by design.Therefore, there are problems such as that steam does not come out even though the base temperature is still high enough. Was.

The present invention solves such a problem, in which the switching operation of steam, power shot, and dry is replaced from the conventional manual switching operation to the electrical switching operation using the first solenoid, and running water using bimetal is further used. By replacing the opening / closing operation of the road with the opening / closing operation by the second solenoid, the steam iron with extremely good usability is provided.

Means for Solving the Problem In order to solve this problem, the present invention relates to a base having a built-in heater and forming a vaporization chamber, a water tank provided above the base, and a faucet at the bottom of the water tank. From the above to the nozzle in the upper part of the vaporization chamber, and, in the middle thereof, a water flow rate controller for controlling the flow rate of water and a water guide case having a water channel switch for opening and closing the water channel are provided, and the water flow rate controller, It consists of a cylindrical container with a water supply hole at the base and a vertical drainage hole on the side wall, and a cylindrical shaft slidably inserted along the inner surface of the cylindrical container. The opening area of the drain hole of the side wall of the cylindrical container can be changed by interlocking with the plunger of the first solenoid provided in the main body, and the water channel switch is provided in the separately provided second solenoid. Open and close by operation It is a steam iron with a configuration that allows it.

Action With this configuration, switching between steam, power shot, and dry in three stages is changed to electrical switching by a solenoid, so the switching operation itself is merely a switch switching operation (for example, a touch switch).
Therefore, the burden on the housewife who is the user is greatly reduced, and if the power shot repeat operation is set once, it can be automatically generated repeatedly every few seconds. . In addition, since the flowing water channel is also opened and closed by a solenoid to prevent water leakage, it is not necessary to use a bimetal with large variations in temperature detection of the base, and a highly accurate thermistor can be used. The temperature condition range in which steam can be generated can be expanded.

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. The same parts as those in FIG. 3 are designated by the same reference numerals, detailed description thereof will be omitted, and different points will be mainly described. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 16 is a flow rate controller, which is a cylindrical container 19 having a water supply hole 17 at the base and a vertical slit-shaped drainage hole 18 at the side wall,
It consists of a cylindrical shaft 20 that slides along its inner surface,
The opening area of the drain hole 18 on the side wall of the cylindrical container 19 changes depending on the position of the cylindrical shaft 20. That is, when the cylindrical shaft 20 reaches the uppermost point, the drain hole 18 has a maximum opening area as shown in FIG. Further, as shown in FIG. 7B, when the cylindrical shaft 20 reaches the lowest point, the opening of the drainage hole 18 is restricted by the cylindrical shaft 20 to have the minimum opening area and the flowing water amount is also reduced to the minimum. To be Reference numeral 21 is a first solenoid that operates the cylindrical shaft 20. 22 is a waterway switch, the second
When the solenoid 23 moves up and down and is pulled up by the second solenoid 23, the water channel is open and pushed down as shown in FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b). At times, the water channel is closed as shown in FIG. First and second solenoids 21,2
In all three cases, the plunger is urged downward by the spring force, and in the non-energized state, the water flow rate regulator 16 and the water channel switch 22 are in the state as shown in FIG. 2 (c).

The cylindrical shaft 20 and the shaft of the waterway switch 22 are the first
Also, it may be shared with the plungers of the second solenoids 21 and 23.

The operation of each part when the three states of steam, power shot, and dry are realized by the above configuration will be described.

That is, the steam is in the state shown in FIG. 2B, the first solenoid 21 is OFF, and the second solenoid 23 is
Keep it on. In this state, the water passage switch 22 is opened to secure the flowing water path, and the opening area of the flowing water amount regulator 16 is narrowed to the minimum. Therefore, the amount of water dropped through the nozzle 9 into the vaporization chamber 3 is small, Normal steam is ejected from the fumarole 4.

Next, the power shot is the first and second in the state of Fig. 2 (a).
Both solenoids 21 and 23 are ON. in this case,
The waterway switch 22 is opened, and the cylindrical shaft 20 of the water flow rate regulator 16 is pulled up to the highest point to maximize the opening area of the waterway. Therefore, a large amount of water flows out from the nozzle 9 into the vaporization chamber 3, and steam is ejected from the fumarole 4 more powerfully than usual and in a power shot state.

Finally, when both the first and second solenoids 21 and 23 are turned off, the urging force of the spring brings about the state shown in FIG. 2 (c), and the water channel is completely closed to realize a dry state. can do.

Further, when the temperature of the base 1 is lowered and steam cannot be generated, this is detected by a thermistor (not shown) provided separately, and the first and second solenoids 2
Both 1,23 should be turned off and the above dry condition should be forced.

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION As described above, according to the present invention, the method of controlling the amount of flowing water and the opening and closing of the water channel are changed to the driving method using the solenoid, so that the user (mainly a housewife) can apply force with his / her fingertip as in the conventional case. You can easily perform steam, power shot,
It becomes possible to switch between the three states of dry, and it becomes possible to freely use the power shot repeatedly by setting, and it is possible to provide a steam iron that is extremely easy to use. In addition, in terms of preventing water leakage, it is not necessary to use bimetal as in the past, the structure is simple and there are great advantages in terms of manufacturing, and it is also possible to accurately detect the temperature at which steam can occur. It is very practical.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a steam iron according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing details of a water flow rate regulator and a water channel switch, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional example. 1 ... Base, 2 ... Heater, 3 ... Vaporization chamber, 5 ... Water tank, 6 ... Main body, 7 ... Faucet, 8 ... Water transfer case, 9 ... Nozzle, 16 ... Flow rate adjustment Vessel, 17 …… Water supply hole, 18 …… Drain hole, 19
...... Cylindrical container, 20 …… Cylindrical shaft, 21 …… First solenoid, 22 …… Water channel switch, 23 …… Second solenoid.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A base having a built-in heater and forming a vaporization chamber, a water tank provided above the base, a water tap at the bottom of the water tank, and a nozzle above the vaporization chamber, which communicate with each other. Along the way, a water flow controller for controlling the flow rate of water and a water guide case having a water channel switch for opening and closing the water channel are provided, and the water flow controller has a water supply hole at the base and a vertical slit-shaped drainage at the side wall. It consists of a cylindrical container with a hole and a cylindrical shaft slidably inserted along the inner surface of the cylindrical container, and this shaft is interlocked with the plunger of the first solenoid provided in the body of the iron. The steam iron is configured so that the opening area of the drainage hole on the side wall of the cylindrical container can be changed, and the waterway switch can be opened and closed by the operation of a second solenoid provided separately.