JPS63309300A - Steam generator - 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 generator used in steamers, steam irons, and the like.

(Prior art) This type of steam generator supplies water dropwise to the inner bottom surface of a metal vaporizer equipped with a heater, and sequentially vaporizes this water using the heat of the vaporizer to produce steam. It is used to remove wrinkles from fabric by ejecting it from a nozzle. The inner bottom surface of the vaporizer is coated with a silicone resin coating for corrosion protection.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, if a silicone resin coating layer is applied to the inner bottom of the vaporizer, when water is dripped onto the inner bottom of the vaporizer, the water becomes fine particles due to the water-repellent action of the coating layer. It condenses into polka dots.

In order to vaporize water efficiently, it is important to spread the water uniformly over a wide area on the inner bottom of the vaporizer, but if the water condenses in the form of droplets, the water and coating layer will be separated. The contact area becomes very small, and the heat from the vaporizer is not effectively transferred to the water, resulting in a decrease in vaporization efficiency. Furthermore, the coating layer itself also inhibits heat conduction from the vaporizer to the water, which further reduces the vaporization efficiency. This invention aims to solve these problems.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve these problems, the present invention supplies water to the inner bottom surface of a vaporizer equipped with a heater, and vaporizes this water using the heat of the vaporizer. In a device for obtaining steam, the inner bottom surface of the vaporizer is coated with a coating layer made of a mixture of a thermoplastic resin with high heat resistance and fine powder of ceramic with good thermal conductivity.

[Effect]

In such a coating layer, the surface roughness becomes rough due to the presence of fine ceramic powder, and as a result, when water is supplied into the vaporizer, water does not condense in the form of droplets as in conventional methods. Instead, it blends into the coating layer, spreads widely and evenly over its surface, and adheres closely to the coating layer, thereby effectively transmitting the heat from the vaporizer to the water. Furthermore, the heat of the vaporizer is better transferred to the water through the ceramic of the coating layer, improving vaporization efficiency.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

A steamer is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, and the structure of this steamer will be described first. In the figure, 1 is the main body of the steamer, and this main body 1 has a main body case 2 and a main body case 2.
It consists of a main body cover 3 coupled to the upper side of the main body cover 3. A carburetor 4 is housed in the main body 1, and this carburetor 4 is made of aluminum alloy or the like, and is connected to the main body case 2 via a mounting bracket 5.
Fixed. A fitting groove 6 having a trapezoidal cross section is formed on the outer bottom surface of the carburetor 4, and a heater 7 is press-fitted into the fitting groove 6. Both side edges of the open portion of the fitting groove 6 are crimped at regular intervals, and the heater 7 is fixed in the fitting groove 6 by the crimped portions 8 . Further, the opening on the top surface of the vaporizer 4 is sealed with a lid plate 8, so that a vaporization chamber 11 is formed inside the vaporizer 4.
is configured.

A thermostat 12 is attached to the lower part of the vaporizer 4 to control the energization of the heater 7 to keep the temperature in the vaporization chamber 11 constant.
is tightly fitted into a recess 14 formed on the lower surface of the carburetor 4. Further, a temperature fuse 15 electrically connected in series to the heater 7 is also attached to the lower part of the vaporizer 4. are maintained at regular intervals. Further, an energization indicator lamp 17 is attached to the main body case 2 and located at the front end of the main body 1, and is electrically connected in parallel to the heater 7.
A lamp window 18 is provided in the main body cover 3 facing the energization indicator lamp 17.

In addition, 19 is a power cord for feeding power to the heater 7,
A steam hole body 22 having a power source blowout hole 21 is fixed to the tip of the power cord 19, and a brush 23 made of nylon bristles or the like is implanted so as to surround this steam hole body 22. . The steam jet hole 21 is connected to a steam passage 24 formed through the lower surface of the vaporizer 4 facing the vaporization chamber 11 via a steam joint 25 made of a flexible resin such as silicone resin. ing. Furthermore, a mica plate 26 for heat insulation and a reflective plate 27 made of aluminum are provided at the inner bottom of the main body case 2.

Further, a heat insulating plate 28 is provided on the main body cover 3 to maintain a gap between the upper surface of the main body force bar 3 and the carburetor 4.
is installed.

31 is a handle, which includes a handle base 32 and this link part 3.
4 is formed. The handle base 32 and the handle cover 33 are made of thermoplastic resin such as polycarbonate resin, and are watertightly joined by welding or the like.

An annular collar-shaped body 35 is provided at the front end of the handle base 32, and this collar-shaped body 3
A disk-shaped spring member 36 is screwed to the lower part of the main body cover 3. is held elastically and slidably. In this way, the handle 31 is mounted on the main body 1 so as to be horizontally rotatable.

Further, a pump cylinder 46 is integrally provided on the handle base 32 and is located near the center of rotation thereof. On the other hand, a button 47 is located above the pump cylinder 46 and is supported through the handle cover 33 so as to be movable up and down, and a piston that slides inside the pump cylinder 46 is attached to the lower end of the button 47. 48 is installed. Further, the button 47 has a spring 49
is constantly biased upward.

Further, a cylindrical portion 50 is integrally vertically provided on the handle base 32 at its rotation center, and the inside of this cylindrical portion 50 communicates with the inside of the pump cylinder 46 through a discharge hole 51. are doing. The discharge hole 51 is openably and closably closed by a ball valve 53 provided in the cylindrical portion 50 and constantly urged upward by a spring 52.

Further, the upper part of a cylindrical connecting body 54 made of a heat-resistant resin such as polyetherimide resin is fitted and fixed to the cylindrical part 50, and the lower part of this cylindrical connecting body 54 has a reduced diameter. . On the other hand, a cylindrical member 55 made of elastic silicone rubber or the like is fixed to the lid plate 8 below the cylindrical connecting body 54.
A water passage hole 56 formed in the lower part of 5 opens into the vaporization chamber 11 . Further, an inwardly bent annular lip portion 57 is formed at the upper portion of the cylindrical member 55, and the lower portion of the cylindrical connecting body 54 is rotatably and watertightly fitted into this annular lip portion 57. ing.

A groove 58 is formed in the inner bottom of the handle base 32 along its longitudinal direction, the upper part of this groove 58 is sealed with a closing plate 58a, and the bottom of this groove 58 constitutes a water passage 61,
This water passage 61 communicates with the inside of the tank section 34 at the tip of the handle 31.

Further, another cylindrical part 59 is located beside the pump cylinder 46 and is integrally provided vertically on the handle base 32, and the inside of this cylindrical part 59 communicates with the inside of the water passage 61 through a water suction hole 60. are doing.

The water suction hole 60 is openably and closably closed by a ball valve 63 provided in the cylindrical portion 59 and constantly urged upward by a spring 62. Further, a cover portion 64 that covers the cylindrical portion 59 is integrally formed with the cylindrical connecting body 54, and the inside of the cover portion 64 communicates with the inside of the pump cylinder 46 through a communication hole 65.

Further, a water inlet 67 is formed at the front end of the handle cover 33 facing the tank portion 34;
This water inlet 67 has a water inlet lid 68 with a backing 69.
It is closed so that it can be opened and closed freely. This water inlet cover 68 is connected to the handle 31 via a strap 70 integrally formed therewith.
is connected to. Note that the inside of the tank portion 34 communicates with the atmosphere via a vent valve (not shown). Further, 38 is a lock button for the handle 31.

When using a steamer configured in this way,
As shown by the solid line in FIG. 4, the handle 31 is left protruding toward the rear of the main body 1.

This state is maintained by the lock button 38 of the main body 1.

Then, the water inlet cover 68 is removed and water is poured into the tank portion 34 of the handle 31. At this time, the water inlet cover 68 is
Since it is connected to the handle 31 at 0, its loss is prevented.

Next, when the power plug is connected to a power source, electricity is started to be supplied to the heater 7, and the thermostat 12 maintains the vaporizer 4 at a temperature suitable for vaporizing water, for example, about 160°C.

By manually moving the button 47 up and down, the piston 48 slides up and down inside the pump cylinder 46.
Through this operation, water is supplied from inside the tank section 34 to the inside of the vaporization chamber 11 of the vaporizer 4.

That is, when the piston 48 moves up, the pressure inside the pump cylinder 46 is reduced, so that the ball valve 63 moves down against the biasing force of the spring 62 and the water suction hole 60 opens.
Water enters the pump cylinder 46 from inside the tank portion 34 via the water passage 61, the water suction hole 60, and the communication hole 65. At this time, the discharge hole 51 is closed. Further, when the piston 48 descends, the pressure inside the pump cylinder 46 increases, so the ball valve 53 descends against the biasing force of the spring 52, opening the discharge hole 51, and the pump cylinder 46
Water enters the vaporization chamber 11 from inside through the discharge hole 51, the cylindrical connector 54, the cylindrical member 55, and its water passage hole 56. At this time, the water absorption hole 60 is closed. Note that as water is supplied to the vaporization chamber 11, air flows into the tank portion 34 via a vent valve (not shown).

The water that has entered the vaporization chamber 11 is vaporized and becomes steam, and this steam passes through the steam passage 24 and the steam joint 25 and is ejected from the steam jet hole 21 to the outside. In this state of steam gushing, when you grip the handle 31 and rub the cloth with the brush 23, steam fills the space surrounded by the cloth and the brush 23, rapidly supplying moisture and heat to the cloth. wrinkles are removed.

After use, the lock button 38 is depressed to unlock the handle 31. In this state, the handle 31 can freely rotate. And this handle 3
1 is rotated 180° in the horizontal direction to the stored state shown by the chain line in FIG. 4, and this state is held by the lock button 38.

A plurality of weir walls 4a are integrally formed on the inner bottom surface of the vaporizer 4 to protrude and allow the water supplied into the vaporization chamber 11 to flow in a meandering manner toward the steam passage 24 side.

As shown in FIG. 1, a coating layer a is uniformly applied to the inner bottom surface of the vaporizer 4, including the inner peripheral surface of the vaporizer 4 and both sides of the weir wall 4a.

The composition of this coating layer a is, for example, polyphenylene sulfide resin (as a thermoplastic resin with high heat resistance).
It is a mixture of PPS resin) and fine powder of alumina (A) 203) as a ceramic with good thermal conductivity.

To describe an example of the process of applying such a coating layer a to the inner surface of the vaporizer 4, a PPS resin solution with a particle size of 35 to 4
Fine alumina powder of about 5 μm is mixed in at a weight ratio of about 10 to 30% with respect to the PPS resin, stirred, and the mixed liquid is uniformly sprayed onto the inner surface of the vaporizer 4 by spraying or the like.
After this, this spraying is done by heating and baking the layer to form the coating layer a.
get.

Another example is to uniformly spray a PPS resin solution onto the inner surface of the vaporizer 4, sprinkle fine alumina powder on the surface of the layer, and then heat and sinter it to obtain the coating layer a. be.

However, in such a coating layer a, the surface roughness becomes rough due to the presence of alumina. The state is shown in FIG. 2, where (a) shows the roughness of the fabric surface of the vaporizer 4, and (b) shows the roughness of the surface when a coating layer of PPS resin net is applied to the inner surface of the vaporizer 4. (C) ~
(e) is the surface roughness of the coating layer a of the present invention having different film thicknesses, and as is clear from the results of this actual measurement, the coating layer a of the present invention is far more rough than the coating layer made only of resin. The roughness of the surface becomes rough. This is particularly noticeable when the film thickness is 30 μm.

In this way, in this invention, the surface roughness of the coating layer a is rough, so that when water is supplied into the vaporizer 4, the coating layer a does not condense in the form of droplets as in the conventional case. It adapts to the coating layer a, spreads widely and uniformly over its surface, and adheres closely to the coating layer a, thus greatly increasing the contact area between the water and the coating layer a, and effectively transmitting the heat from the vaporizer 4 to the water.

Furthermore, the vaporizer 4 is passed through the alumina of the coating layer a.
heat is transferred to the water much better.

For the water supplied into the vaporizer 4 in this way, the vaporizer 4
heat is transferred better, which improves the efficiency of water vaporization,
A sufficient amount of steam can be quickly and continuously obtained.

Since the inner surface of the vaporizer 4 is covered with the coating layer a and water does not come into direct contact with the vaporizer 4, the vaporizer 4
corrosion is reliably prevented.

In addition to polyphenylene sulfide resin, other thermoplastic resins with high heat resistance include polyether sulfone resin, and ceramics with good thermal conductivity include:
In addition to alumina, it is also possible to use steatite and the like.

Furthermore, this invention is not limited to application to steamers;
It can also be applied to a steam iron, and in the case of a steam iron, the iron base also functions as a vaporizer.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, the heat of the vaporizer can be effectively conducted to the water supplied into the vaporizer to improve the vaporization efficiency, so that a sufficient amount of water is always quickly available. This has the effect of being able to continuously obtain steam and preventing corrosion of the vaporizer.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is an enlarged sectional view showing an embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 2 shows the roughness of the fabric surface of the vaporizer, the surface roughness of the coating layer made only of PPS resin, and the surface roughness of the coating layer of the present invention. An explanatory diagram showing the roughness, FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the steamer, and FIG. 4 is a plan view. 4... Vaporizer, a... Coating layer. Applicant's agent Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue Figure 1 (a) (b) Figure 2 (c) (d) (e) Figure 2

Claims (6)

[Claims] (1) In a device that supplies water to the inner bottom surface of a vaporizer equipped with a heater and vaporizes this water with the heat of the vaporizer to obtain steam, the inner bottom surface of the vaporizer is made of a highly heat-resistant thermoplastic resin, A steam generator characterized by being coated with a coating layer made of a mixture of ceramic fine powder with good thermal conductivity. (2) The steam generator according to claim 1, wherein the thermoplastic resin having high heat resistance is polyphenylene sulfide resin. (3) The steam generator according to claim 1, wherein the thermoplastic resin having high heat resistance is polyether sulfone resin. (4) The steam generator according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the ceramic having good thermal conductivity is alumina. (5) The steam generator according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the ceramic having good thermal conductivity is steatite. (6) Claims 1 to 5 characterized in that the mixing ratio of the fine ceramic powder to the thermoplastic resin is 10 to 30% by weight based on the thermoplastic resin.
The steam generator according to any of paragraphs.