JPS61100300A - Steam iron - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Technical field of invention] The present invention relates to a steam iron.

[Technical background of the invention]

Generally, a steam iron has a heater embedded in the base, a vaporizing chamber and an ejection hole communicating with the vaporizing chamber, and water is dripped into the vaporizing chamber from a water tank through a drip nozzle.

Then, steam is ejected from the ejection hole, and a thermostat installed in the base controls electricity supply to the heater to maintain the base at a set temperature.

[Problems with background technology]

In the steam iron as described above, the amount of steam that can be vaporized in the vaporization chamber of the base is largely influenced by the temperature of the base. In other words, when the base temperature is high, the amount of steam vaporized is large, but when the base temperature is low, the amount of vaporized steam decreases.
If the same amount of water as the base temperature is continued to be supplied to the vaporization chamber, there is a problem that the water that cannot be vaporized becomes water droplets and exits from the ejection hole.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention aims to solve the above-mentioned problems by automatically controlling the steam ffi according to the temperature of the base to prevent water droplets from coming out even when the base temperature is low. This is the purpose.

[Summary of the invention]

The steam iron of the present invention includes a base having a heater and a vaporizing chamber and an ejection hole communicating with the vaporizing chamber via a steam passage, and a water tank that supplies water to the onboard vaporizing chamber through a drip nozzle. characterized by comprising an on-off valve that changes the opening area of the steam passage communicating the vaporization chamber and the ejection hole, and a thermally responsive member that operates the on-off valve, wherein the on-off valve is actuated by the thermally responsive member. , the opening area of the steam passage is changed according to the temperature.

[Embodiments of the invention]

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

1 is a base, and a heater 2 is embedded within this base 1. Further, a vaporizing chamber 3 is formed on the upper surface of the base 1, and an ejection hole 4 is formed on the lower surface of the base 1. 5.6, and the vaporization chamber 3 and each steam passage 5, 6 are covered with a steam cover 7. An auxiliary base plate 1a is attached to the lower surface of the vaporizing chamber 3 of the base 1, and the ejection holes 4 are formed around the auxiliary base plate 1a.

A heat shielding cover 8 is provided on the base 1, and a water tank 9 and a handle 10 are attached to the heat shielding cover 8.

A water inlet 11 is provided at the front upper part of the water tank 9, and a drip nozzle 12 facing above the vaporization chamber 3 is provided at the bottom of the water tank 9. A valve rod 13 is supported vertically movably through the valve rod 9, and the upper end of this valve rod 13 (' is connected to a cam-type operating body 14, and this operating body 14 is connected to its knob 15).
By operating the valve lever 13, the lower end opens and closes the drip nozzle 12 by moving the valve lever 13 up and down, thereby selecting the "steam" or "dry" state.

Further, an on-off valve 16 is provided in the lower part of one of the steam passages 6 so as to be movable up and down, and this on-off valve 16 is connected to a coiled bidirectional shape memory alloy 17 as a thermally responsive member.
The lower end of the shape memory alloy 17 is mounted on the auxiliary base plate 1a.

Further, a thermostat 18 is mounted on the base 1 to control the supply of electricity to the heater 2 to maintain the temperature of the base 1 at a set temperature.

Next, the operation will be explained.

Water is stored in a water tank 9, and the heater 2 is energized to heat the base 1 and the vaporization chamber 3. At this time, when the thermostat 18 is set at a high temperature (for example, about 190° C.), the heater 2 is energized, and the base 1, the auxiliary base plate 1a, the vaporization chamber 3, and the shape memory alloy 17 are heated by heat transfer. The shape memory alloy 17 is heated above the Af point, deforms in the direction of contraction, moves the on-off valve 16 downward, and opens the steam passage 6. In this state, the defense 1
3 to open the drip nozzle 12, the water tank 9
The water inside is dripped from the dripping nozzle 12 into the vaporization chamber 3, becomes steam, passes through each steam passage 5.6, and enters the spout hole 4.
erupts from.

In this case, the steam m1, that is, the water dripping level, is approximately determined by the hole diameter of the dripping nozzle 12, the water pressure of the water tank 9 applied to the dripping nozzle 12, and the steam pressure generated in the vaporization chamber 3. Therefore, the drip nozzle 12
If the pore size and water pressure are constant, if the steam pressure in the vaporization chamber 3 is high, the dripping strength will decrease, and if it is low, it will increase.

Next, when the thermostat 18 is set to a low temperature (for example, about 120° C.) while maintaining the above steam injection state, the temperatures of the base 1, the auxiliary base plate 1a1, the vaporization chamber 3, and the shape memory alloy 17 decrease, and the vaporization chamber The vaporization ability of No. 3 also decreases. Then, the shape memory alloy 17 is cooled to a temperature below 83 points, deforms in the direction of elongation, and the on-off valve 16 moves upward to close the steam passage 6. As a result, the steam pressure within the vaporization chamber 3 increases, and the reverse pressure applied to the drip nozzle 12 increases.

Therefore, the balance between water pressure and steam pressure in the water tank 9 changes, and the amount of dripping decreases.
Steam energy decreases in line with vaporization capacity.

In this way, by varying the opening area of the steam passage 5.6 as a whole, steam roasting can be varied, and therefore, even when the temperature of the base 1 is set to a low state, water droplets will come out from the spout hole 4. It is safe to use.

Note that in the above embodiment, the bidirectional shape memory alloy 17 is used as the thermally responsive member that drives the on-off valve 16;
The on-off valve 16 may be driven by combining a unidirectional shape memory alloy or bimetal with a spring material.

The water tank may be either a fixed type or a removable type.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, by automatically varying the frontage area of the steam passage according to the temperature of the base, the dripping amount can be controlled and the dripping amount can be adjusted according to the vaporization capacity, even when the base temperature is low. It does not release water droplets and is safe to use.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The figure is a longitudinal side view showing an embodiment of the steam iron of the present invention. 1. Base, 2. Heater, 3. Vaporization chamber, 4. Nozzle hole, 5, 6.・・Steam passage, 9・・Water tank, 1
2. Dripping nozzle, 16. Opening/closing valve, 17. Shape memory alloy as a thermally responsive member.

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A base having a heater and having a vaporization chamber and an ejection hole communicating with the vaporization chamber via a steam passage; and a water tank that supplies water to the vaporization chamber through a drip nozzle; A steam iron characterized by being provided with an on-off valve that changes the opening area of a steam passage that communicates with an ejection hole, and a thermally responsive member that operates the on-off valve. (2) The steam iron according to claim 1, wherein the thermally responsive member is thermally connected to the base. (3) The steam iron according to claim 1, wherein the thermally responsive member is made of a shape memory alloy.