JPS61209698A - 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, in a steam iron, water is dripped into a vaporization chamber on the top surface of a base that has a heater, and the steam is ejected from the jet hole on the bottom surface of the base. However, if water is dripped when the base is cold, There are problems in that the water is not fully vaporized and is ejected as water droplets from the ejection hole, or that the water remaining in the vaporization chamber corrodes the material such as aluminum alloy that forms the vaporization chamber.

Therefore, for example, as shown in Japanese Patent Publication No. 60-79, a switch device operated by a reversible bimetal installed near the vaporization chamber was installed in the water passage connecting the water tank and the vaporization chamber. It has been proposed to prevent water from dripping when the base is cold.

[Problems with taunting technology]

The above-mentioned conventional reversible bimetal uses a disk-shaped bimetal squeezed into a hemispherical shape.

By the way, according to experiments, the reversal temperature of the reversible bimetal is about 140 to 160 degrees Celsius, and the return temperature is about 120 to 140 degrees Celsius.
is desirable, and a reversal stroke is even more desirable.

However, as shown in Figure 10, the relationship between the reversing stroke (displacement amount before and after operation), the reversing humidity i, and the return temperature of the reversing bimetal is as follows: As the reversing stroke increases, the reversing temperature rises to the upper However, since the return temperature decreases,
The above conventional disc-shaped inverted bimetal (Fig. 10 @)
However, there is a limit to how much the reverse stroke can be increased.

Therefore, in order to effectively use the small reversal stroke, it is necessary to highly improve the accuracy of the base and movable parts, and in some cases, it is necessary to provide an adjustment mechanism to adjust the positional relationship between the reversible bimetal and the interlocking parts.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention seeks to solve the above-mentioned problems.
It is possible to increase the reversal stroke while keeping the reversal temperature and return temperature of the reversible thermally responsive member within the required conditions.It is possible to increase the reversal stroke while keeping the reversal temperature and return temperature of the reversible thermally responsive member within the required conditions. J that can be provided by:
The purpose is to

[Summary of the invention]

The steam iron of the present invention includes a base that covers a heater and has a vaporizing chamber on the upper surface and an ejection hole communicating with the vaporizing chamber on the lower surface, a water tank provided on the upper part of the base, and a water tank provided in the water tank. a water passage that supplies water to the vaporization chamber, a switching device that opens and closes this water passage, and a reversible thermally responsive member that operates this switching device so as not to supply water when the temperature of the base is below a predetermined temperature. The reversible thermally responsive member has a main body having a substantially rectangular projected shape, and legs extending in the long side direction are provided on the edge portions of the main body.

[Embodiments of the invention]

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5.

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 communicating with the vaporizing chamber 3 is formed on the lower surface of the base 1, and the vaporizing chamber 3 is covered with a steam cover 5. ing.

A cover 6 is provided on the base 1, a heat shield plate 7 is attached to the upper part of the cover 6, and a handle 9 having a handle portion 8 integrally formed thereon is attached to the heat shield plate 7. A cassette-type water tank 10 is removably installed at the front of the handle 9.

An operation piece 11 is attached to the front part of the handle part 8 on the upper part of the handle 9.
the lock button 12 of the water tank 10 by protruding upward.
is provided so as to be movable in the front and rear direction, and this lock button 12
A locking piece 14 is provided at the tip of the water tank 10 to lock into and release from a locking portion 13 provided on the water tank 10. A spring 15 is provided at the rear of the lock button 12, and the lock button 12 is always held by the spring 15. The locking piece 14 locks the water tank 10 by being biased forward and slides the lock button 12 backward (to the right in the figure) against the spring 15.
Water tank 10 is now able to be @ theory apart from 3.

An outflow hole 16 is formed in the lower part of the water tank 10, and a valve device 11 that opens when the water tank 10 is attached to the front part of the handle 9 is provided in the outflow hole 16 at a stage I'j.

Further, an outflow hole 16 of the water tank 10 is provided in the cover 6 part.
A water guide frame 19 having a water passage 18 communicating with the water guide frame 19 is provided,
A drip nozzle 20 facing the vaporization chamber 3 is provided at the rear of the water guide frame 19, and a valve rod 21 is installed to be movable up and down with respect to the drip nozzle 20.
A spring 22 is attached that always biases the valve 1 upward, that is, in the opening direction of the drip nozzle 20, and an operation button 23 is provided at the upper end of the valve lever 21. This operation button 23 is located on the upper surface of the handle 9 in front of the lock button 12. And operation button 23
In this operation, the valve rod 21 is moved up and down to open and close the drip nozzle 20 at its lower end, and the state of "steam" and "dry" is selected.

A reaction rod 24 is provided adjacent to the valve rod 21 so as to be movable up and down, and a spring 25 is attached to the reaction rod 24 to bias the reaction rod 24 downward.
A regulating plate 26 is provided at the upper end of the valve rod 21 and engaged in the middle of the valve rod 21, and a spring 25 of the response rod 24 forces the valve rod 21 to overcome the spring 22 and move downward, that is, in the opening direction of the drip nozzle 20. This forms an opening/closing device 27 that opens and closes the water passage 18 with respect to the vaporization chamber 3.

Further, a recess 28 is formed in the base 1 at a position below the reaction rod 24 and near the vaporization chamber 3, and a reversible bimetal 29 as a reversible thermally responsive member is formed in the recess 28.
is provided. This reversible bimetal 29 is provided with legs 31 extending in the long side direction on both sides of both dagger parts of a main body 30 whose projected shape is approximately rectangular. It is continuous with the curve 32 which is gentle to the curve 32. The main body 30 is arranged such that one long side faces the vaporization chamber 3 side.

Further, a groove 3 is provided adjacent to one side of the groove 28 of the base 1.
A temperature sensing element 34, such as a thermistor, for detecting the temperature of the base 1 is mounted in the groove 33 through a heat-resistant filler to ensure good heat conduction.

A plate-shaped heat transfer member 35 made of a good thermal conductor such as aluminum is arranged over the recess 28 and groove 33 of the base 1 and is fixed with several screws 36.
The warm nail detection element 34 is held, and both ends 37 of the heat transfer member 35 are brought into contact with the heater 2 section. Furthermore, the inner bottom surface of the recess 28 and the heat transfer member 3
The inner upper surface of 5 faces the reversible bimetal 29 and is curved to follow the shape of the reversible bimetal 29 when it is inverted vertically.

The lower end of the response rod 24 is opposed to the upper center of the reversible bimetal 29 by passing through the center of the heat transfer member 35 .

A switch 38 for setting the temperature of the base 1 is provided on the upper surface of the handle 9 in front of the operation button 23, and this switch 38 is lower than the operation button 23.
Moreover, the movement is a minute vertical movement (approximately 0.5 to 3 am
) makes it possible to operate.

A display device 39 is provided in front of and around the switch 38 to display the temperature set by operating the switch 38. In this display device 39, a plurality of light emitting diodes 40 are arranged in a semicircular shape.

A control device 41 is installed at the rear of the handle 9 to which the temperature detection element 34, switch 38, and display device 39 are connected. This control device 41 turns the switch 38 on and off. An output switching circuit whose output state is sequentially switched each time the temperature sensing element 34 and the above) It consists of a power control circuit.

Next, the operation will be explained.

By turning on and off the switch 38 and setting it to a desired temperature, for example, steam temperature (150 to 200°C), the power supply to the heater 2 is controlled, and the temperature of the base 1 rises to the set temperature, and the state is maintained. is maintained.

As the temperature of the base 1 rises, the temperature of the reversible bimetal 29 also rises, reaching a temperature suitable for steam (150
~200°C), it is reversed and has a convex top shape, approaching the curved surface 35a of the heat transfer member 35, and the response rod 2
4 upward against the spring 25. At this time, since the legs 31 are formed on the reversible bimetal 29, as shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. The reversal stroke increases by ((α) in FIG. 4).

By operating the operation button 23 in this state, the valve rod 21 moves upward and the dripping nozzle 20 is opened, and the water in the water tank 10 flows from the outflow hole 16 to the water passage 18 of the water guide frame 19.
The water drips into the vaporization chamber 3 through the vaporization chamber 3, and the dropped water immediately turns into steam and is jetted out from the spout hole 4.

As this steam jetting state continues, the vaporization chamber 3
Although the temperature near the reversible bimetal 29 decreases to the return temperature of the reversible bimetal 29, the reversible bimetal 29 is supplied with heat from the heater 2 by the heat transfer member 35, so that the inverted state can be maintained. In addition, the heat transfer member 35 is an inverted bimetal 2
Since the surface facing the bimetal 9 has a curved shape along the inverted bimetal 29, heat is efficiently transferred between the two. Therefore, the steam does not stop during use.

In this state, operate the operation button 23 again to open the valve lever 21.
When moved downward, the dripping nozzle 20 is closed and dripping stops.

Furthermore, even in the steam state described above, when the power is turned off, the heat is no longer supplied from the heat transfer part 35 to the reversible bimetal 29, so the temperature of the reversible bimetal 29 drops rapidly. Then, the humidity becomes lower than the recovery temperature and the valve returns to its original shape, and the response rod 24 moves downward on the spring 25, pushing down the valve rod 21, closing the dripping nozzle 20, and stopping dripping. do.

Therefore, since the dripping stops when the base 1 has sufficient vaporization ability, the water that has not been vaporized becomes hot water and is ejected from the spout hole 4, and the water remaining in the vaporization chamber 3 corrodes the base 1. I have nothing to do.

Furthermore, since the base of the leg portion 31 of the reversible bimetal 29 is connected to the main body portion 30 by a gentle curve 32,
It does not crack even during repeated operations and has a long lifespan.

In addition, in order to reinforce the leg part 31, the reversible bimetal 29 is used as shown in FIG. +-J: Sea urchin leg 3
1 may be provided with a bead 31a, the leg portion 31 may be provided with a bent portion 31b as shown in FIG. 7, or a separate reinforcing member may be attached to the leg portion 31 (not shown). 3
In addition to being formed integrally with the main body part 30, the leg part 31 may be formed by attaching a separate rigid member by resistance welding or the like as shown in FIG. In addition to being provided on both sides of the short side of 30, it may also be provided in the center of the short side as shown in FIG.

In this embodiment, the reversible thermally responsive member is made of a reversible bimetal, but a shape memory alloy may be used as the thermally responsive member. In addition to the water tank that can be attached and removed with one set of cassettes, it is also possible to use a fixed type.

[Effects of the Invention] ゛According to the present invention, by providing 11 parts in the reversible heat bath Uj member, the reversal humidity and return temperature can be kept within the range required for the characteristics without changing much. While
It becomes possible to increase the number of reversing strokes, and it is possible to provide a low-cost and highly reliable steam iron without increasing component precision or requiring an adjustment mechanism. .

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a partially cutaway side view showing an embodiment of the steam iron of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a plan view of a part thereof, and Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the section ■-■ in Fig. 2. Figure 4 is the IV of Figure 2.
- A sectional view of the IV part, FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the reversible thermally responsive member, FIGS. 6 to 9 are perspective views showing other embodiments of the reversible bimetal, and FIG. 10 is a characteristic diagram. . 1...Base, 2...Heater, 3...Vaporization chamber, 4...Blowout hole, 10...Water tank, 18...Water passage, 27...Switching device, 29...As reversible thermally responsive member Reversible bimetal, 30...Main body, 31...Legs, 31a...
Bead, 31b...Bending portion, 32.Curve. = 14- -Roast'

Claims (5)

[Claims] (1) A base that has a heater and has a vaporization chamber on the top surface and a jet hole that communicates with the vaporization chamber on the bottom surface, a water tank provided on the top of the base, and a water tank that supplies the water in the water tank to the vaporization chamber. a water passageway for supplying water to the base, a switching device for opening and closing the water passageway, and a reversible thermal response member that operates the switching device so as not to supply water when the temperature of the base is below a predetermined temperature; A steam iron characterized in that the response member is provided with legs extending in the long side direction on the short sides of the main body having a substantially rectangular projected shape. (2) The steam iron according to claim 1, wherein the leg portion of the reversible heat-responsive member has a base portion connected to the main body portion in a gentle curve. (3) The steam iron according to claim 1, wherein the legs of the reversible thermally responsive member have reinforcing beads. (4) The steam iron according to claim 1, wherein the leg portion of the reversible thermally responsive member has a bent portion for reinforcement. (5) The steam iron according to claim 1, wherein the legs of the reversible thermally responsive member are formed by attaching separate members to the main body.