JPS6116798A - 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 steam iron in which water is supplied to a vaporizing chamber to generate steam, and this steam is ejected from a steam hole in a base.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, it was used as a steam iron that sensed the heat of the base and controlled the supply of water from the tank to the vaporizing chamber.
-1'3998 is known. In this iron, a nozzle is attached to a through hole that communicates the tank and the vaporizing chamber so that it can be adjusted up and down, and a valve body facing the drip hole of this nozzle is attached to a bimetal that senses the temperature of the iron base.
It is configured to change the degree to which the valve body opens and closes the drip hole of the nozzle by the displacement of the bimetal. and,
The bimetal has one end fixed in the vaporizing chamber to sense the heat of the iron base, and the other free end, which is gradually moved up and down by the heat, has a valve rod that opens and closes the drip hole from below. is installed.

[Problems that the invention attempts to solve]

However, in the conventional structure as described above, when the valve rod is pressed against the nozzle side and stress is constantly applied to the bimetal when it is not in use or when the humidity is low, the operating temperature may drop due to deformation of the bimetal. At the same time, as the humidity of the iron base increases, the bimetal gradually curves downward, so the drip hole begins to open at a low temperature before reaching the appropriate temperature for water evaporation.Thus, the drip hole opens. If this occurs, the water supplied to the vaporization chamber will flow out from the steam vent without being vaporized, not only will it wet the fabric, but if it is left in a horizontal position after use, it will drop below the appropriate evaporation temperature that can vaporize water. However, there was a problem that water could not be prevented from flowing out from the tank to the vaporization chamber, causing corrosion of the base.Furthermore, with the conventional structure described above, it was not possible to know when it was time to iron, which was inconvenient. Met.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention provides a heat-responsive opening/closing device that cuts off the flow of water supplied from a tank disposed above the base heated by a heating element to a vaporization chamber provided in the base. The above-mentioned problems of the prior art have been solved by connecting the heat-responsive member with a reversible bimetal member and generating an audible sound when the thermoresponsive member is reversed at the appropriate evaporation temperature.

[Effect]

The steam iron of the present invention adopts a reversible bimetal for the heat-responsive member that operates in response to the heat of the base, so that when the base side reaches the appropriate evaporation temperature that can vaporize water, and when the base side reaches the appropriate evaporation temperature that can vaporize water, Since the thermally responsive member is rapidly reversed when the thermally responsive member is turned over, the reversing stroke obtained by this reversing action is used to operate the opening/closing device connected to the thermally responsive member to open the vaporization chamber from the inside of the tank. It is possible to cut off the water flow to and from the water. Since the heat-responsive member generates an audible reversal sound when it is reversing, the user can tell when ironing is possible by hearing the reversal sound at the beginning of use. It is easy to know.

〔Example〕

In FIGS. 1 and 2, 1 is a base in which, for example, a heating element 2 is embedded, 3 is a base cover that covers the top surface of the base 1, and 4 in FIG. 1 is a handle attached to the top surface of the base cover 3. The base 1 and the base cover 3 form an iron main body, and inside this main body, a tank 5 is provided above the base 1, and a thermostat (not shown) that controls the heat generation of the heating element 2 is provided. is provided. In FIG. 1, 6 indicates a dial for setting the operating temperature of the thermostat, and 7 indicates a power cord.

A vaporization chamber 9 is formed in the base 1 by a concave groove and a lid 8 screwed onto the top surface of the base 1 to close the top opening of the concave groove.
A steam hole 10 with both ends open is formed on the lower surface of the holder. Furthermore, a thermally responsive member 11 that operates by sensing the base temperature is provided on the base 1 side. Note that this embodiment shows a case where the thermally responsive member 11 is disposed within the vaporization chamber 9.

The thermally responsive member 11 is formed of an inverted bimetal. The device shown in this embodiment has a dish shape that forms part of a spherical surface, for example, and is always concave so that the temperature of the base 1 is at a temperature suitable for generating steam (that is, the appropriate evaporation temperature). (For example, in this state, the thermally responsive member 11
is approximately 160°C. ), it elastically inverts and becomes convex, and when the temperature drops below the above-mentioned appropriate evaporation temperature, it elastically inverts and becomes concave. Then, this thermally responsive member 1
No. 1 is used that generates an audible sound in conjunction with the above reversal operation.

The water in the tank 5 is supplied to the vaporization chamber 9, and the flow and interruption of the supplied water are indicated by reference numeral 12.
It is configured to be operated by the switching device shown in . In this embodiment, the opening/closing device 12 includes a valve seat body 13 that is interposed between the tank 5 and the lid 8 and forms a passage that communicates the tank 5 and the vaporization chamber 9, and a valve seat of the valve seat body 13. Valve body 1 that comes into contact with and separates from the
It is formed from 4. The valve body 14 is connected to the thermally responsive member 11, and in this embodiment, a connecting rod 15 protruding from the valve body 14 is connected to a substantially central portion of the thermally responsive member 11. As a result, the valve body 14 is directly moved up and down by the reversing operation of the thermally responsive member 11, and the valve hole of the valve seat body 13 is opened and closed, and the flow and interruption of the water supplied from the inside of the tank 5 to the vaporization chamber 9 is interrupted. This is the configuration that is made.

Further, the valve stem 16 with the valve body 14 attached to the lower end is connected to the tank 5 at the lower end, and is guided to the vertical cylindrical part of the water inlet body 17 which is provided with the upper opening arranged on the front surface of the handle 4. It is provided so as to be able to move up and down, and is always urged downward by a spring 18. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 19 indicates a spring receiver fixed to the valve stem 16, and reference numeral 20 indicates a relief portion when the valve stem 16 rises.

When the steam iron having the above structure is not in use and for a while after being energized, the temperature on the base 1 side is below the appropriate evaporation temperature, so the thermally responsive member 11 assumes a concave posture as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. At the same time, the valve body 14 is pressed against the valve seat portion of the valve seat body 13 by the urging force of the spring 18 via the valve stem 16, and the supply of water from the tank 5 to the vaporization chamber 9 is cut off. has been done. Therefore, corrosion of the metal base 1 and wetting of the iron storage box, cloth, etc., as in the conventional case, are prevented.

Then, when the temperature on the base 1 side rises after electricity is applied and reaches the appropriate evaporation temperature sufficient to generate steam in the vaporization chamber 9, a reversible bimetal type thermal response member that senses the temperature 11 elastically inverts and becomes convex as shown by the solid line in FIG.

Then, the valve body 14 and the valve stem 16 are pushed up against the biasing force of the spring 18 via the linking ring 15 in conjunction with the thermally responsive member 11 reversed as described above, so that the valve body 14 is It separates from the valve seat portion of the valve seat body 13. Therefore, the inside of the tank 5 and the inside of the vaporization chamber 9 are communicated with each other, and water in the tank 5 is circulated and supplied to the vaporization chamber 9.

As water is dripped into the vaporization chamber 9 by the water supply as described above, steam is instantaneously generated within the vaporization chamber 9, and this steam is ejected from the steam hole 10 of the base 1.

In this case, since the reversal sound of the thermally responsive member 11 is generated as an audible sound, the user can easily know when ironing is possible by listening to the sound.

In this embodiment, the member 11 is connected to the vaporizing chamber 9 so that the thermally responsive member 11 receives water dripping into the vaporizing chamber 9.
Since the dripping water is stopped by the thermally responsive member 11 and evaporated there, water scale adheres to the upper surface of the thermally responsive member 11.

When the power is turned off after ironing is completed and the temperature on the side of the base 1 drops below the appropriate evaporation temperature, the thermally responsive member 11 flips elastically as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. It becomes concave. Therefore, the valve body 14 and the valve stem 16 are pushed down by the urging force of the spring 18, and the valve body 14 is pushed down.
comes into close contact with the valve seat portion of the valve seat body 13, and the supply of water from the tank 5 to the vaporization chamber 9 is cut off. Therefore, even if the iron body is placed horizontally after use, the water in the tank 5 is prevented from being supplied to the vaporizing chamber 9, so corrosion of the base 1 can be prevented.

In addition, the thermally responsive member 1 when the temperature drops below the above-mentioned appropriate evaporation temperature.
The water scale adhering to the north face of the member 11 is broken into small pieces and peeled off from the thermally responsive member 11 due to the shock caused by the reversing operation of the heat-responsive member 11. The water scale peeled off in this way can be discharged together with the water to the outside of the vaporization chamber 9 through the steam hole 10 by lifting the valve stem 16 using an operation part (not shown) and supplying the water in the tank 5 to the vaporization chamber 9. .

Further, although the above-mentioned embodiment is configured as described above, in the present invention, the shape of the thermally responsive member 11 is not limited to a dish shape that forms a part of a spherical surface, but may be a short fence shape. 14 is lowered to allow water to flow from the tank 5 to the vaporization chamber 9, the inverted state of the thermally responsive member 11 will be the same as in the above embodiment. may be the opposite.

In carrying out the present invention, the base, heating element, vaporization chamber, tank, switchgear,
The specific structure, shape, position, material, etc. of thermally responsive members, etc.
It goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the one embodiment described above and can be configured and implemented in various ways.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, the gist of which is the structure described in the above claims, the thermally responsive member of the reversible bimetal type rapidly changes when the temperature reaches which water can be vaporized and when the temperature drops below that temperature. Since the opening/closing device is operated in conjunction with the reversing operation, the reversing stroke of the thermally responsive member can reliably shut off and release the water supplied from the tank to the vaporization chamber, and also allow water to be supplied to the vaporization chamber even during use. Since the open state for supplying the water does not change, a certain amount of water can be continuously supplied to the chamber in use, and a stable steam jet can be obtained. In addition, the audible sound produced when the thermally responsive member is reversed makes it easy to know when it is time to iron the iron, making it convenient to use.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show embodiments of the present invention, with FIG. 1 being a partially sectional side view and FIG. 2 being an enlarged sectional view of the main part. 1... Base, 2... Heating element, 5... Tank, 9
. . . Vaporization chamber, 11. Thermal response member, 12. Switching device. Applicant's agent Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue Figure 1 Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] A base heated by a heating element, a vaporization chamber provided on the base, a tank disposed above the base, and a switching device that blocks the flow of water supplied from inside the tank to the vaporization chamber. A steam iron, characterized in that the above-mentioned opening/closing device is provided on the base side and linked to a heat-responsive member made of a reversible bimetal that generates an audible sound when reversing at an appropriate evaporation temperature.