JPS61162994A - 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 FIELD OF INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION The present invention relates to a household steam iron for removing wrinkles from clothing and the like.

2. Prior Art Conventionally, this type of steam iron is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 69-16, for example.
The configuration was as shown in Japanese Patent No. 8892, and specifically, the configuration was as shown in FIG.

That is, a tank 3 is placed on a base 2 having a vaporizing chamber 1, and the water in this tank 3 drips into the vaporizing chamber 1 from a nozzle section 4 provided at the bottom to generate steam. The nozzle portion 4 is opened and closed via the opening/closing rod 6 by the operation of S. In addition to such normal steam, it is possible to temporarily supply a large amount of steam. Its structure is to increase the amount of steam by temporarily sending a large amount of water to the vaporization chamber 1 using a pump device 9 having a suction channel 7 that opens at the bottom of the tank 3 and a discharge channel 8 that opens into the vaporization chamber 1. In addition to the steam button 6, an increase button 10 that can be operated independently is provided. Therefore, the operation buttons for steam control are lined up on the upper front part of the iron main body, making it difficult to operate and inconvenient to use, as well as having a complicated configuration.

Therefore, we considered reducing the number of control buttons to one by allowing the pump device to generate normal steam as well as increased steam.

In this case, since a pump device is used, a large amount of water is temporarily supplied by repeatedly pressing the operation button, and a water conduit is formed between the tank and the vaporization chamber via the pump device, allowing the inside of the tank to flow. Water flows toward the vaporization chamber due to the water head pressure. By regulating the flow rate at the nozzle part, it becomes possible to drip and supply water that is desirable for normal steam generation.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention With such a configuration, switching between steam and dry mode is performed by opening and closing the water conduit. It is designed to be able to switch from dry to steam, and from dry to steam, all with one tap.

The pump device is operated by pressing the same operation button several times in the same manner to temporarily increase and supply the required amount of water. However, when steam is in use and an increased amount of steam is required, even if the operation button is repeatedly pressed several times, the system switches to dry, making it impossible to distinguish between dry and increased steam.

This is due to the following reasons.

In other words, since it is necessary to maintain the switching state between steam and dry as before, for example, a device using a ratchet spline groove or other locking device is provided, and it locks when a certain stroke is pressed. The configuration is as follows. Therefore, when the operation button is pressed repeatedly to increase the amount of steam, if the button is pressed by more than a certain amount, it will be locked and kept in a dry state.

Means for solving the problems and the technical means of the present invention for solving the above problems are as follows:
In addition to linking the pump device with the water conduit opening/closing device,
A regulating device is provided to regulate the movement of the pump device midway through its movable range.

Effect With this configuration, when the operation button is pressed, the regulating device acts on the way and the pressing resistance increases, so when increasing steam operation, it is possible to repeat the operation by pressing up to this point, and when switching to dry, the pressure is even stronger. It is held in that state by pressing, which enables sorting operations and prevents erroneous operations.

Embodiment FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a main part of a steam iron according to an embodiment of the present invention. Reference numeral 11 denotes a base, and a vaporizing chamber 12 is integrally formed with this base. 13 is a vaporization chamber lid that covers the vaporization chamber 6. 14 is a conduit mounting plate that is attached to the base 1 with screws 16.
It is fixed on 1. A headrace 18 is formed on the headrace mounting plate 14 by overlapping a headrace body 16 and a headrace backing 17 made of heat-resistant rubber, and the sealing surface of the headrace backing 17 with the headrace body 16 is A seal lip 17 & facing the shape of the headrace body of the headrace body is formed, and a headrace seal backing 1 is formed on the base 11 side.
7 is located. Reference numeral 19 denotes a valve device built into the main body of the water conduit, which includes a thermally responsive member 2o and a valve spring 21 built into the base 11.
It moves up and down to open and close the water conduit 18. Reference numeral 22 denotes a lid backing that covers the upper opening of the water conduit body, and is attached to the water conduit body 16 with a mounting fitting 23, and constitutes a part of the water conduit 18. 24 is an elastic connection backing attached around the inlet 12 & of the water conduit 18, and its upper surface is connected to the tank outlet 262L configured at the bottom of the tank 26.
The tank 26 and the water conduit 18 are brought into close contact with the peripheral plane 25b of the tank 26 .

26 is a normally closed valve that normally closes the tank outlet 252L at the bottom of the tank. When the tank 26 is set, the push-up consisting of the water conduit main body 16 and the connection backing 24 is pushed open by the part 27 to guide the water in the tank 26. It is made to flow into the water channel 18. A drip nozzle 28 is provided at the outlet 18b of the water conduit 18, and communicates the water conduit 18 with the vaporization chamber 12 through the opening 13& of the vaporization chamber lid 13. Reference numeral 29 denotes a ball valve, which is a hollow portion 3 that forms a part of the water supply channel 18 of the water supply channel main body 16.
0, and faces the lower end of a spring 32 connected to a pump device 31. Reference numeral 33 denotes an operation button linked to the upper end of the pump device 31, which moves up and down in conjunction with the pump device 31, and can open and close the water conduit 18 using the ball valve 29.

34 is a first spring that urges the pump device 31 upward, and a second spring 36 is connected to the operation button 33 side, and its elastic force can be set to be stronger than that of the first spring. It functions as a regulating device that regulates the operation of the operation button 33 at an arbitrary position. Specifically, the first spring 34 is made weaker than the second spring 36 by adjusting the wire diameter, the number of turns per coil diameter, etc.

First, to explain the flow of water step by step in such a configuration, as shown in FIG.
The water enters 8& and flows along the headrace 18 as shown by arrow C. The liquid flows through the ball valve 29 and the valve device 19 and into the vaporizing chamber 12 from the drip nozzle 28 as shown by arrows E and F.

Next, the operation of the pump device 31 will be explained.

When the operation button 33 is raised as shown in Fig. 1, the spring 3
2 is released, the water in the tank 26 is supplied to the vaporization chamber 12 with its flow rate regulated by the water head pressure to the drip nozzle 28 as described above, and normal steam is generated. do. When switching to dry mode, press the operation button 33 and press down the pump device 31 while compressing the first spring 34. Eventually, when the first spring 34 comes into close contact, its elasticity disappears and the second spring 34 is pressed down. The elasticity of the spring 36 causes the operation button 33
It acts on As a result, the suppression resistance of the operation button 33 increases and acts as a regulating device.

29 to shut off the water conduit 18, and at the same time shut off the operation button 3.
3 can be held in place. Further, when switching to steam mode, the operation button 33 is further pressed to raise the level, and this configuration can be achieved by using a well-known ratchet spline groove, so a detailed explanation thereof will be omitted.

With this configuration, when a large amount of steam is temporarily required during normal steam use.

The operation button 33 is pressed to compress the first spring 34, which is weaker than the second spring 35, until the second spring 36 acts and its elastic force is applied to the operation button 33, increasing the pressing resistance. An arbitrary amount of water can be forcibly supplied by the pump device 31 by moving the operation button 33 up and down between the two positions.

When switching to dry mode, from the state in which the second spring 36 acts due to the depression of the operation button 33, the operation button 33 is further pressed against the elastic force of the second spring 360.
By pushing down the ball valve 29 via the spring 32
This allows the water conduit 18 to be closed and maintained in that state. That is, the second spring 35 acts as a regulating device that restricts the movement of the operating button 33 when the operating button 33 is repeatedly depressed to supply a large amount of water to the vaporization chamber 3.

Next, another embodiment of the regulating device according to the present invention will be described. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 36 denotes a locking device made of a spring member that is protruded inward in the middle of the operating button 33's movable range, and the operating button 33 is pressed down against the spring 37 as in the previous embodiment. The same effect can be obtained by contacting the spring member 36 midway through the process and increasing the resistance. In addition, in each of the examples, the operation button uses a ratchet spline groove, but it goes without saying that the operation button is not limited to this. It is sufficient if the pump device can be operated separately to switch between steam and dry.

Effects of the Invention In the present invention, a regulating device is provided in the middle of the operating button's movable range, so that it is possible to clearly distinguish between steam, dry, and increased steam using the pump device, making it easy to use. In addition to preventing malfunctions inside the iron, the steam iron has a single button for switching between steam and dry and a button for increasing steam, simplifying the configuration and creating an easy-to-use steam iron with excellent operability. It is something that

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an enlarged sectional view of a pump device portion of a steam iron showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a main part of a conventional steam iron. 11... Base, 12... Vaporization chamber, 1
8... Headrace, 25... Tank, 29
... Ball valve, 31 - ... Pump device, 32
...Spring, 33...Operation button, 36...
...Second spring (regulating device). Name of agent: Patent attorney Toshio Nakao and 1 other person No. 1
Figure 18 - Water guide 29 - Ball valve 3331-11 Pump comparison

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A base having a vaporization chamber, a tank disposed on the base, a water conduit that communicates the tank with the vaporization chamber, and a water conduit that communicates with the water conduit and directs water in the tank through the conduit. a pump device that supplies water to the vaporization chamber, and an operation button for the pump device, and a regulating device that links the pump device with an opening/closing device for the water conduit and restricts the movement of the pump device in the middle of the movable range of the pump device. steam iron. (2) The steam iron according to claim 1, wherein the regulating device is configured by varying the load of a spring that urges the pump device outward. (3) The steam iron according to claim 1, wherein the regulating device is constituted by a locking portion that locks the operation button in the middle of its movable range.