JPS6272399A - Electric 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 the Invention) The present invention relates to an electric iron, and more particularly to an electric iron that is easier to use.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems]

As we all know, when ironing various fabrics,
In order not to damage the cloth, it is necessary to carry out the process at a temperature appropriate to the material of which the cloth is made. For this reason, conventional electric irons are generally provided with a set temperature switch for switching the temperature of the iron base to a plurality of levels depending on the target cloth.

However, the conventional electric iron configured as above 2 has the following problems.

In other words, with conventional electric irons, you have to hold the handle of the iron with one hand while ironing to change the temperature setting, or you have to iron the iron when there is a sudden need such as when you are on the phone while ironing. When sipping is interrupted, it is necessary to operate the set temperature switch using the hand opposite to the hand holding the handle of the iron, resulting in a problem of lack of operability.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to allow the switching of the set temperature and the operation of stopping power supply to the heater to be performed with one hand, that is, with the hand holding the handle of the iron. To provide an electric iron which can be used alone and whose usability can be greatly improved.

[Summary of the invention]

According to the present invention, the iron base, the heater that heats the iron base, the handle body fixed to the iron base, and the grip part of the handle body can be operated with the fingers of the gripping hand while being held. a press-operated automatic return type set temperature switch provided in the handle; a power supply control means incorporated in the handle body for switching power supply conditions to the heater according to the output of the set concentration switch; and a power supply control means for switching the set temperature. An electric iron is provided that includes forced stop means for forcibly stopping power supply to the heater when the on time of the switch is longer than a predetermined time.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, the pressure-operated automatic return type set temperature changeover switch provided on the handle body and the power supply control means are combined in the above-mentioned relationship.

While holding the handle, you can freely change the temperature setting using just your hand.

Further, since a forced stop means that operates under the above-mentioned conditions is provided, power supply to the heater can be stopped simply by an operation of the hand holding the handle. Therefore, all operations can be performed with only one hand, greatly improving usability.

(Example of the invention) An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway side view of an electric iron to which the present invention is applied.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 indicates an iron base formed of a relatively thick metal material. A steam outlet 2a is provided on the bottom surface of the iron base 1.

2b is formed, and this steam discharge port 2a.

2b communicates with a vaporization chamber 3 formed within the iron base 1. Further, an electric heater 4 and a negative characteristic thermistor 5 as an element for detecting the temperature of the iron base 1 are embedded in the iron base 1.

A water tank 7 and a handle body 8 are fixed to the upper surface of the iron base 1 via a heat insulating material 6. The water tank 7 is arranged near the front of the iron base 1, and a nozzle 9 communicating with the vaporizing chamber 3 is provided on the lower wall thereof. Above this nozzle 9 is a needle valve 10 that opens and closes the nozzle.
are arranged so that they can be raised and lowered. And needle valve 10
1 is a dry/steam selector switch 1 which is exposed in front of the grip part 12 of the handle body 8 via an operating rod 11 which is provided by penetrating the earthen wall of the water tank 7 in a liquid-tight manner.
It is connected to the operation section No. 3.

The handle body 8 is disposed on the upper surface of the iron base 1 in a rear band, and is formed hollow inside. The grip portion 12 is provided in the central portion. A set temperature changeover switch 14 and a display 15 are disposed in front of the grip portion 12 of the handle body 8.

The set temperature changeover switch 14 is of a push operation automatic return type, and is provided with only the operation button exposed at a position where it can be operated with the thumb of the hand that grips the grip portion 12. In addition, the 2 display 15 is connected to the moisture setting switch 1 as shown in FIG.
4, eight LEDs 6a to 16h are arranged around the LED.

A "off" display is provided near the LED 16a, and a "Chemical 1" display indicating a low temperature among chemical fibers is provided near the LED 16b.
Near 16c, there is a display indicating the second lowest temperature among chemical fibers, and in the same way, each LED
The display shown in FIG. 2 is provided near each of them. and.

These LEDI 6a to 16h, set temperature switch 14. The dry/steam selector switch 13, the electric heater 4 and the negative characteristic thermistor 5 are connected to a control circuit 7 shown in FIG.

The control circuit 17 is housed in a cavity within the handle body 8, and its main part is constituted by a microprocessor. That is, this control circuit 17 can be broadly divided into:
The output switching circuit 18 and on-time detection circuit 19 introduce the output of the set temperature switching switch 14 as an input signal, and each LED of the display 15 is controlled by the output of the output switching circuit 18 and the output of the dry/steam switching switch 13.
16a to 16h, and a display control circuit 20 that controls lighting of the electric heaters 4 and 16a to 16h; It is composed of a power control circuit 22 that controls on/off of a relay switch 21 inserted therein.

The output switching circuit 18 switches the power control circuit 22 to turn off every time the set temperature selection switch 14 is turned on.
It outputs an instruction signal of "1-pah", "2-pah...Pama", and also gives a power supply stop signal to the power control circuit 22 when a signal is given from the on-time detection circuit 19. It is configured as follows. These signals are also given to the display control circuit 20 as display control signals. The on-time detection circuit 19 is configured to operate and provide an output signal to the output switching circuit 18 when the output of the set temperature switching switch 14 is output for a predetermined time or more. On the other hand, when the power control circuit 22 receives an instruction signal from the output switching circuit 18, for example, an instruction signal of 1'', the power control circuit 22 monitors the temperature of the iron base 1 from the signal obtained via the negative characteristic thermistor 5. The relay switch 21 is controlled on and off so that the temperature of the iron base 1 corresponds to the temperature corresponding to "1", and when a power supply stop instruction signal is given from the output switching circuit 18, the relay switch 21 is forcibly turned on. It is configured to turn off.

In FIG. 3, 23 indicates a voltage dividing resistor, 24 indicates a temperature fuse, and 25 indicates a commercial AC power source connected via a plug.

Next, the operation of the electric iron configured as described above will be explained.

First, when the plug is connected to a commercial AC power source, the "off" LED 6a on the display 15 lights up. At this time, the relay switch 21 of the power control circuit 22 is kept in the off state. When the set temperature switching switch 14 is pressed, the output switching circuit 18 outputs an instruction signal of "C1".As a result, the power control circuit 2
2 controls the relay switch 21 to turn on and off so that the temperature of the iron base 1 becomes a temperature corresponding to "chemical formula 1'". At this time, the LED I 6b of the display 15 is turned on. Next, when the set temperature changeover switch 14 is pressed again, the output changeover circuit 18 outputs the instruction signal 2''. For this reason.

The power control circuit 22 is configured so that the temperature of the iron base 1 is "2".
The relay switch 21 is controlled on and off so that the temperature corresponds to
EDI 6c lights up. In this way, each time the set temperature switching switch 14 is pressed, the instruction signal is output from the output switching circuit 18 in the following order:
→・・・・・・・・・°°hemp″→゛cut″→゛1゛°・
..., and thereby the control mode of the power control circuit 22 is switched and the temperature of the iron base 1 is maintained at the specified temperature. Therefore, the density of the iron base 1 can be set as desired simply by pressing the set temperature changeover switch 14. This setting can be performed simply by operating the thumb of the hand that is gripping the grip portion 12. At this time, the following is displayed on the display 15. That is, when the dry/steam selector switch 13 is on the dry side.

LED 16a-indicating ``off'' + LED 16a-indicating ``off''
16b → LED 16c indicating ``2'' LED lights up in the order of ``Converting 1'', and when the switch 13 is on the steam side, LED 6a indicating ``OFF'' → ``LED 16h indicating steam'' → ``Converting 1''. LED 16b indicating ``→LEDI 6h indicating steam→... is lit in the following order.

However, if the set temperature switching switch 14 is pressed for longer than the time set in the on-time detection circuit 19,
An output is sent from the on-time detection circuit 19. When the output is sent from the on-time detection circuit 19 in this way,
A forced stop signal is output from the output switching circuit 18, and as a result, i! The force control circuit 22 forcibly controls the relay switch 21 to turn off. At this time, the 9 display 15 indicates "OFF".
EDI 6a is turned on.

As can be seen from the above-mentioned operation, the grip portion 12 of the handle body 8
By simply pressing the set temperature switching switch 14, which can be operated with the thumb of the hand holding the heater, you can not only change the set temperature but also stop the power supply to the electric heater 4 with just one hand. You can do it freely. In particular, when stopping the power supply to the electric heater 4, it is only necessary to press and hold the set temperature changeover switch 14 for a slightly longer period of time, which makes the operation simple and extremely easy to use.

The above-mentioned effects can be achieved.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above. That is, in the embodiment described above, the LED of the display is turned on, but it may be made to blink.

Further, a semiconductor switch may be used instead of the relay switch.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a partially cutaway side view of an electric iron according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a partial top view of the handle of the iron, and Fig. 3 is a control circuit diagram of the iron. It is. 1... Iron base, 4... Electric heater, 5...
-Negative characteristic thermistor, 7...Water tank, 8...Handle body, 12...Grip portion, 14...Switch for setting temperature change, 15...Display device, 17...Control circuit. 18... Output switching circuit, 19... On-time detection circuit. 20...Display control circuit, 21...Relay switch. 22...Power control circuit.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) An iron base, a heater that heats the iron base, a handle fixed to the iron base, and a handle that can be operated with the fingers of the gripping hand while the grip is being held. a press-operated automatic return type setting temperature switching switch; a power supply control means incorporated in the handle body for switching power supply conditions to the heater according to the output of the setting temperature switching switch; and a power supply control means for switching the setting temperature. An electric iron characterized in that it comprises a forced stop means for forcibly stopping power supply to the heater when the on time of the switch is longer than a predetermined time. (2) The electric power according to claim 1, characterized in that the handle body is attached with a display device that displays at least the power supply conditions of the power supply control means and the state in which power supply to the heater is stopped. iron.