JPH09141220A - Steam cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To effectively dry a cleaned material in the steam cleaner for cleaning the floor, window, etc., by shortening the waiting time from the time when a power source is turned on until the cleaner becomes ready to use and preventing steam from being injected from a cleaning nozzle at a high pressure. SOLUTION: The cleaning water 12 in a water tank 13 is atomized by the ultrasonic atomization means consisting of an ultrasonic vibrator 14 and a vibrating circuit 15, then heated by a heating means 20, vaporized and delivered from a cleaning nozzle 22 by a blower 17. Accordingly, the waiting time from the time when a power source is turned on until the cleaner becomes ready to use is shortened, and the spontaneous injection of high-pressure steam from the nozzle 22 is eliminated.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a steam cleaner for cleaning floors, windows and the like using steam.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional steam cleaner, as shown in FIG. 5, water 3 in a boiler 2 provided in a main body 1 is heated by a heating means 4 to generate steam, which is passed through a hose 5. Steam 7 is ejected from a cleaning nozzle 6 attached to the tip of the nozzle to clean floor surfaces such as tiles and carpets, window glass, furniture and the like. Since this type of steam cleaner raises the pressure in the boiler 2 and spouts steam at this pressure, an opening / closing valve 8 for controlling spouting / stopping of steam and a safety valve 9 that operates at abnormally high pressure are provided. It is usually done.

[0003]

However, the conventional steam cleaner described above has the following problems. That is, since it is necessary to heat and evaporate the entire water 3 in the boiler 2 so that the inside of the boiler 2 has a predetermined pressure or more, there is a long waiting time from the activation of the heating means 4 until the water is actually usable. . Further, since the inside of the boiler 2 has a high pressure, a pressure regulator and a safety valve 9 are required, and the steam 7 may be ejected from the cleaning nozzle 6 at an excessively high pressure. Also,
Since the object to be cleaned after cleaning gets wet with steam, it is necessary to wipe off the water with a rag, but when cleaning something that easily absorbs water, such as carpet or sofa,
Wiping alone was not enough to remove water, and post-treatment was troublesome.

Further, since there is an amount of steam suitable for cleaning the object to be cleaned, the valve 8 can be used even in the conventional steam cleaner.
However, if the amount of steam is reduced, the jet output from the cleaning nozzle 6 will decrease and the cleaning power will also decrease, making it difficult to make adjustments that are really suitable for cleaning. It was

Further, since it is necessary for the hose 5 to pass high-temperature, high-pressure steam, there is a limit to reducing the hose diameter in terms of pressure resistance and heat insulation (because it does not burn even if the outer surface is touched). Yes, thick hose 5 that is not convenient to use
I had no choice but to use.

The present invention solves the problems of the above-mentioned conventional configuration, and the waiting time from turning on the power to becoming usable is short, and the steam is not ejected from the cleaning nozzle at high pressure. An object of the present invention is to provide a steam cleaner that can also dry an object to be cleaned after cleaning.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention has a water tank for storing cleaning water, an ultrasonic vibrator and an ultrasonic wave for atomizing the cleaning water. An atomizing means, a heating means for heating the atomized cleaning water, and a blower for delivering the heated atomized cleaning water from a cleaning nozzle, and a relay of the oscillation circuit and the heating means. The switches are separately provided.

[0008] Further, the apparatus is provided with an atomization amount varying means for varying the atomization amount of the washing water and a pump for transporting the water, if necessary.

[0009]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the washing water atomized by the ultrasonic atomizing means is heated and vaporized by the heating means and is sent from the washing nozzle by the blower. There is a short waiting time from turning on until it is ready for use, and there is no sudden high-pressure vapor emission from the cleaning nozzle, and there is a switch that turns on and off the power supply for the oscillation circuit and the heating means separately. Only the operation is possible and the object to be cleaned can be dried.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the atomization amount changing means can change the atomization amount of the cleaning water, and only the water amount can be changed without changing the jetting output from the cleaning nozzle. The amount of water suitable for cleaning can be adjusted according to the above.

According to the third aspect of the invention, since the hose connecting the water tank part and the nozzle part need only be supplied with washing water, it is not necessary for the hose to have high pressure resistance and heat insulation properties. It can be used and its usability is improved.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings (Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 shows an overall configuration of a first embodiment of the present invention. Is provided with a water tank 13 for storing the cleaning water 12, and an ultrasonic vibrator 14 is attached to the bottom of the water tank 13 and is connected to an oscillating circuit 15 to constitute ultrasonic atomizing means. The ultrasonic transducer 14 according to the present embodiment is made of piezoelectric ceramic, and an oscillator circuit 15
It vibrates at a frequency of ~ 2 MHz. A wind tunnel portion 16 is formed in the upper part of the water tank 13, and the outside air 18 taken in by the blower 17 passes through a heating means 20 composed of a heater and heat transfer fins and communicates with a hose 21 led out from the main body 11,
It is designed to be delivered from a cleaning nozzle 22 attached to the tip of the hose 21. An operation unit 23 is provided on the cleaning nozzle 22.

Three switches are attached to the operation unit 23, and their electrical connections are shown in FIG. SW1 is a power switch for turning on / off the power supply 24, and the motor 25 of the blower 17 is always turned on when it is turned on. SW2 is an oscillating switch for turning on / off the power of the oscillation circuit 15, and SW3 is a heating switch for turning on / off the power of the heater which is the heating means 20, which can be turned on / off separately. Reference numeral 26 is a variable resistor provided in the oscillating circuit 15, and the output of the oscillating circuit 15 is changed by operating the variable resistor, which constitutes an atomizing amount varying means of the cleaning water 12.

The operation of this embodiment will be described below. For example, when cleaning the floor of carpets,
Tap water is used as washing water 12 in the water tank 13 and the power source 2
4 is connected to turn on the power switch SW1, the oscillation switch SW2, and the heating switch SW3 of the operation unit 23. When the power switch SW1 is turned on, the blower 17 operates and the outside air 18 is sent to the wind tunnel section 16. On the other hand, when the oscillation switch SW2 is turned on, the ultrasonic transducer 14 vibrates,
The atomized water 27 is continuously generated from the water surface 12a above the cleaning water 12. This is because water on the water surface 12a is vibrated by ultrasonic waves and is ejected as mist-like water droplets.
By vibrating at MHz, atomization with a particle size of 10 μm or less becomes possible. When the heating switch SW3 is turned on, the heater generates heat and the fins in the ventilation passage of the heating means 20 generate heat. In this state, when the blower 17 mixes the outside air 18 with the atomized water 27 in the wind tunnel portion 16 and sends the mixture into the ventilation passage of the heating means 20, the mixture becomes 100 ° C. or higher while passing through the heating means 20. It is heated and becomes steam, which passes through the inside of the hose 21 and is ejected from the tip of the cleaning nozzle 22 as cleaning steam 28. Since the above operation process is performed in a few seconds, it is not necessary to wait 10 or 20 minutes after turning on the power as in the conventional case, and the user holds the tip of the cleaning nozzle 22 toward the carpet. If the operating section 23 is operated in this manner, the cleaning can be immediately started by the cleaning steam 28.
Further, since the blowout of the cleaning steam 28 is performed by the blower 17, high-pressure steam is not suddenly blown out and the water tank 13 does not become excessively high in temperature and pressure, which is excellent in safety.

When stopping the cleaning, the power switch SW
When 1 is turned off, all power is turned off and the spouting of the cleaning steam 28 is stopped. When the cleaning is started again, if the power switch SW1 is turned on again, the cleaning steam 28 is immediately jetted. In this way, even if the cleaning is temporarily stopped, turning off all the power does not hinder usability, so power is consumed to maintain high temperature and high pressure inside the boiler during the temporary stop as in the past. It does not need to be done and is economically superior.

Next, the drying after cleaning will be described. When a carpet or the like is washed, it becomes damp due to its high hygroscopicity, and it does not dry easily when left alone. In the steam cleaner of the present embodiment, when only the oscillation switch SW2 is turned off and the power switch SW1 is maintained in the on state after cleaning, the outside air 18 passes through the wind tunnel 16 by the blower 17 and the ventilation path of the heating means 20. When it is sent to the inside of the hose 21, it becomes hot dry air while passing through the heating means 20 and is jetted from the tip of the washing nozzle 22 through the hose 21. It can be dried. If you want to dry with cold air instead of hot air, turn off the heating switch SW3 as well.
It is also possible to eject cool air from the tip of the cleaning nozzle 22.

FIG. 3 shows the relationship between the operating modes of cleaning, hot air drying, and cold air drying described above and the states of the switches.

Although not shown here, when only the heating switch SW3 is turned OFF and the power switch SW1 and the oscillation switch SW2 are turned ON, the outside air 18 is blown out.
7 is mixed with the atomized water 27 in the wind tunnel portion 16 and is ejected from the tip of the cleaning nozzle 22 through the hose 21 as it is as room-temperature moist air. It can also be used for watering purposes.

Next, the operation of the atomization amount varying means will be described. This is because the output of the oscillation circuit 15 is changed by operating the knob of the variable resistor 26 during cleaning, and the amount of atomized water 27 generated from the water surface 12a of the cleaning water 12 can be adjusted. Then, the atomization amount per minute is variable within the range of several CCs to several tens of CCs. With normal cleaning,
The cleaning steam 28 may be adjusted to almost the maximum amount and used, but when cleaning windows, walls, etc., there is a case where the cleaning steam 28 is condensed and drips, and in such a case, the atomization amount is reduced. Even in this case, the jetting force of the washing steam 28 does not change, so that the washing force does not decrease due to the reduction of the jetting force as in the conventional case.

(Second Embodiment) Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. As shown in FIG. 4, in the present embodiment, the main body 31 is provided with the water tank 33 for storing the cleaning water 32 and the oscillation circuit 34, and independently of this, the atomization chamber 36 of the cleaning nozzle 35 is provided. Ultrasonic transducer 37 on the bottom
Is provided. The washing water 32 in the water tank 33 is pumped by the pump 38.
Is sent to the atomization chamber 36 via the hose 39. The oscillation circuit 34 is connected to the ultrasonic transducer 37 via an electric cord 40. Further, the cleaning nozzle 35 has a blower 41, and heating means 42 including a heater and heat transfer fins.
And the operation part 43 is provided. The electrical connection is the same as in the first embodiment, but the pump 38 operates in conjunction with the oscillation circuit 34.

According to the above construction, since the washing water 32 needs to be supplied to the hose 39 for several tens of CCs per minute, the inner diameter is about several mm, and high pressure resistance and heat insulation are not required.
A hose having a smaller diameter than the hose of the first embodiment or the conventional steam cleaner can be used.

The basic operation and operating method are almost the same as those in the first embodiment, and therefore will not be described in detail, but the case of performing cleaning will be described. Wash water 32 in the water tank 33
Then, the power switch SW1, the oscillation switch SW2, and the heating switch SW3 of the operation unit 43 are all turned on. When the power switch SW1 is turned on, the blower 41 operates and the outside air 44 is sent to the atomization chamber 36. When the oscillation switch SW2 is turned on, the pump 38 operates and the washing water 32 is sent to the upper surface of the ultrasonic vibrator 37 of the atomization chamber 36 through the hose 39 and the ultrasonic vibrator 37 vibrates continuously. The atomized water 45 is generated. When the heating switch SW3 is turned on, the heater generates heat and the fins in the ventilation passage of the heating means 42 generate heat. In this state, when the outside air 44 is mixed with the atomized water 45 in the atomization chamber 36 by the blower 41 and sent into the ventilation passage of the heating means 42, the air-fuel mixture passes through the heating means 20 at 100 ° C. or more. Is heated to become steam and is jetted from the tip of the cleaning nozzle 35 as cleaning steam 46.

In the present embodiment, the ultrasonic vibrator 37 and the heating means 42 are provided in the cleaning nozzle 35, and the heavy water tank 33 and the oscillation circuit 34 are provided in the main body 31 so as to be independent of each other. The outer diameter of the hose 39 can be reduced and the usability can be improved while minimizing the weight, and abnormal overheating of the hose 39 can be prevented.

[0024]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the cleaning water atomized by the ultrasonic atomizing means is
Since it is heated and vaporized by the heating means and sent out from the cleaning nozzle by the blower, the waiting time from turning on the power until it becomes usable is short, and there is no sudden ejection of steam at high pressure from the cleaning nozzle. Also, since it has a switch that turns on and off the power source of the oscillation circuit and the power source of the heating means separately, it is possible to operate only by blowing air, and it is possible to effectively dry the object to be cleaned. A vacuum cleaner can be realized.

Further, according to the second aspect of the present invention, the atomization amount changing means can change the atomization amount of the wash water, and only the water amount can be changed without changing the jetting output from the washing nozzle. Thus, it is possible to realize a steam cleaner capable of adjusting the amount of water suitable for cleaning according to the object to be cleaned.

Further, according to the third aspect of the invention, since the hose connecting the water tank part and the nozzle part need only be supplied with washing water, the high pressure resistance and heat insulation of the hose are not required, A small-sized hose can be used, and a steam cleaner with excellent usability can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a steam cleaner showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

[Fig. 2] The circuit diagram of the steam cleaner

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing an operation mode of the steam cleaner.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a steam cleaner showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a conventional steam cleaner.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 Main body 12 Wash water 13 Water tank 14 Ultrasonic vibrator 15 Oscillation circuit 17 Blower 20 Heating means 22 Cleaning nozzle 23 Operation part

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A water tank for storing cleaning water, an ultrasonic atomizer having an ultrasonic oscillator and an oscillation circuit for atomizing the cleaning water, and heating the atomized cleaning water. A steam cleaner comprising: a heating unit; and a blower for sending the heated atomized cleaning water from a cleaning nozzle, and a switch for relaying the oscillation circuit and the heating unit. 2. The steam cleaner according to claim 1, further comprising atomization amount varying means for varying the atomization amount of the cleaning water. 3. The steam cleaner according to claim 1, further comprising a pump for transporting water, wherein the cleaning water in the water tank is transported to the vicinity of the ultrasonic vibrator via the pump.