MXPA98000283A - Steam plate water tank with air trap and engr assemblies - Google Patents

Abstract

A steam iron that has a water tank with an internal air trap and external gear mounts. The air trap contains a volume of air when the iron is being filled with water, but receives water when the iron moves to a horizontal position to prevent water from spilling from a water filling spout. The plate has gears that connect a temperature control of the iron to a water measuring valve. The gears are mounted stably rotating directly to the water tank on the gear mounts

Description

STEAM IRON TANK TANK WITH STEAM TRAM PA AND MONTAGES OF ENG RAN E DESCRI PCIÓ N OF THE I NVENTIO N The present invention relates to steam irons and, more particularly, to a steam iron, an improved water tank. U.S. Patent 4,688,340 discloses a plate with a water reservoir and a handle. U.S. Patent 5,138,778 discloses a water tank with a large back portion. U.S. Patent 5,138,778 describes an open area in a top half of a water tank. U.S. Patent 4,870,763 discloses a housing with a sliding gear mounting area. U.S. Patent 4,688,340 discloses a knob mounted on a raised ring surface. According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a steam iron comprising an inner plate, means for heating the inner plate and a water tank for maintaining the water that will be supplied in the inner plate. The improvement comprises the water tank having a water filling inlet that is connected to a water fill spout of the slab and wherein a portion of a volume containing water from the water tank is located above a portion. of the water filling spout when the iron is in a horizontal position. The water tank further comprises an air trap that contains a volume of air when the iron is in an upright position and is being filled with water. The air trap receives water when the iron moves to a horizontal position to prevent water from spilling from the filling spout. According to another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a steam iron having an inner plate, means for heating the inner plate, a water tank for containing water that will be supplied to the inner plate, and gears that connect a water control. plate temperature to a water metering valve between the water tank and the inner plate. The improvement comprises the water tank that has integral gear assemblies to rotationally mount the gears in the water tank. According to another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a steam iron comprising an inner plate, means for heating the inner plate, a water tank for containing water that will be supplied to the inner plate and gears for connecting a control of plate temperature to a water metering valve between the water tank and the inner plate.

The improvement includes the water tank that has an air trap and integral gear assemblies. The air trap contains a volume of air when the iron is in an upright position and is being filled with water. The air trap receives water when the iron moves to a horizontal position to prevent water from spilling from a water filling spout. Integral gear assemblies have the gears rotatably mounted on them to stably mount the gears directly in the water tank. The above aspects and other aspects of the invention are explained in the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a plate incorporating aspects of the present invention; Figure 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the front portion of the plate shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a perspective view of the water tank used in the plate shown in Figure 1; Figure 4 is a side elevational view of the water tank shown in Figure 3; Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view of the water tank shown in Figure 3; Referring to Figure 1, a perspective view of a steam iron 10 incorporating aspects of the present invention is shown. Although the present invention will be described with reference to the only embodiment shown in the drawings, it should be understood that the aspects of the present invention can be modalized into several alternative embodiments of steam irons. In addition, any suitable size, shape or type of elements or materials can be used. Plate 10 generally comprises an inner plate 12, a housing 14, a temperature control knob 16, a spray button 18a and a balance button 1 8b. Referring also to Figure 2, a partial cross-sectional view of the front of the plate is shown. The inner plate 12 has an elevated wall 24 in a general triangular shape forming the side walls of the steam chamber 20. A cover 22 is attached to the upper part of the wall 24 to form the upper part of the steam chamber. A thermostat 26 is mounted on the inner plate 12 and connected to the temperature control knob 16 by the arrow 28. The housing 14 includes a water tank 29 which forms a water reservoir 30. A valve 32 is provided between the reservoir 30 and the inner plate 12.

The valve 32 includes a body or valve member 32 and a rod 36. The valve member 34 is mounted on the cover of the steam chamber 22 and forms a valve seat 37. The water measuring valve is described in greater detail. detailed in U.S. Patent Application No. 08 / 716,962, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The upper section of the rod 36 has a ring 58 and a spindle 64. The temperature control arrow 28 is connected to the valve rod 36 by two gears 66, 68. The first gear 66 is connected to the arrow 28 in a manner that the axial rotation of the arrow 28 axially rotates the first gear 66- The second gear 68 is mounted on the upper spindle 64 of the valve stem 36. The two gears 66, 68 have relatively large outer perimeters 70, 72 with the teeth 74, 76, respectively. The teeth 74, 76 are interleaved at the joint 78 of the two gears. The spindle 64 has a key configuration. The lower center of the second gear 68 has a key opening. The spindle 64 is located in the opening so that the axial rotation of the second gear 68 axially rotates the valve rod 36. A spring 60 is provided in a spring cavity. The spring 60 is in contact with the lower part of the collar 58 and urges the valve rod 36 in an upward direction. The lower part of the second gear center abuts against the upper part of the ring 58. Therefore, the second gear 68 is also driven in an upward direction. The upper center of the second gear 68 has a guide projection 82. As best seen in Figures 1 and 2, on the housing 14 there is mounted a user-operated selector 84. The selector 84 is a lever pivotally mounted to the housing 14 on the pivot 86 and movably captured by a portion of the housing 14. On the lower part of the selector 84 is located a cam section 90 projecting through a hole 92 in the housing 14. The action of driving the spring 60 urges the support projection 82 against the lower surface of the cam section 90. The lower surface of the cam section 90 forms a cam surface. A skirt 100 is mounted on the inner plate.

On the upper part of the skirt 100 there is a water tank 29. Referring also to Figure 3, a perspective view of the water tank 29 is shown. The water tank 29 is comprised of two pieces; an upper piece 102 and a lower piece 104. The upper piece 1 02 includes a front end 106 with a water filling inlet 108. The water filling inlet 108 is connected to a filling spout 114 of the housing 14. In the shown, the housing 14 has a pivotable door 116 that covers the entrance to the filling spout 114. The upper part 102 also includes two integral meshing assemblies 1 10 and 1 1 2. The first integral meshing assembly 1 1 0 has an elevated neck ring 33. The second integral gear assembly 1 1 2 has a second raised neck ring 35 and a raised perimeter cover 37. The first neck 33 has the first gear 66 rotatably mounted on the neck. Stable way I rightly put on it. The second gear assembly 1 1 2 dyes the second gear 68 mounted rotatably stably directly thereon. More specifically, the lower center 69 of the second gear 68 projects into the second raised neck 35 and a majority of the lateral perimeter of the second gear 68 is supported by the raised perimeter cover 37. The second gear assembly 1 12 is adapted to allow r the second gear 68 to move up and down longitudinally the second gear assembly 112. Referring also to Figure 4, a side elevation view of the water tank 29 is shown. The rear end 1 1 8 of the water tank 29 has a raised section 120. The raised section 120 has a portion of the reservoir or volume that contains water from the water tank. With the iron in a horizontal position, the raised section 120 is located above, at least partially, of the water filling inlet 108 and the filling spout 114. A portion of the water-containing volume is therefore located above the filling spout 1 14. when the iron is in a horizontal position. In order to prevent water from spilling from the filling nozzle 1 14, after the tank is filled with water and moved to a horizontal position, the water tank 29 has been provided with an air trap that works as a spill absorber. Referring also to Figure 5, a perspective cross-sectional view of the water tank 29 is shown. The front part of the water tank 29 has a thermostat receiving area 122 extending upwardly from its bottom. The front of the tank also has a dividing wall 1 24. Tank 29 therefore forms a water inlet point 126, a left side water inlet flow path 1 28 and a right air trap 130. With the In order to fill the plate with water, the user opens the door 116 and places the filling spout under a water tap in a generally vertical position. The tap water enters the inlet tank 108 at the inlet point 1 26 and below the flow path 1 28. As the water fills the tank 30, it forms an air pocket in the air trap 130. These The air bag prevents water from entering the air trap 130 while the iron is filling with water. After the tank 29 is filled, the user closes the door 116 and can move the iron to a horizontal position for ironing. When the plate moves to a horizontal position, the water in the raised section 120 moves down and is replaced by the air in the air trap 130. The air trap 1 30 therefore receives water to substantially prevent the water is spilled from the filling spout 114. The raised section 120 of the water tank 29 has been provided to increase the water holding capacity of the water tank 29 without increasing the length and width of the tank. To compensate for the possible problem of water spillage out of the plate when the plate moves to a horizontal position, air trap 130 has been provided. Therefore, the water tank may have a volume of water containment located by above the water inlet filling spout of the iron to increase the water holding capacity of the tank without increasing the size of its footprint.

Claims (20)

1. REVIVAL NAME IS 1 . A steam iron having an inner wall and a water tank for holding the water to be supplied in the inner plate, characterized in that: the water tank having a water inlet inlet, the inlet being connected to a plate water filling spout, a portion of a water holding volume of the water tank which is localized above a portion of the water spout jet when the plate is in a horizontal position and the water tank that also comprises an air trap that contains a volume of air when the iron is in an upright position and being filled with water, where the air trap receives water when the iron moves to a horizontal position to avoid that the water spills from the filling spout.
2. 2. The iron, according to claim 1, characterized in that the water filling inlet is at least a first end of the water tank and the portion of the water holding volume located above the filling spout is located in a second opposite end of the water tank.
3. 3. The iron, according to claim 2, characterized in that the air trap is located at the first end of the water tank.
4. 4. The iron, according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the water tank has an area near the first end to receive a portion of a thermostat of the iron and where the air trap is located on a first side of the area that receives the thermostat and a water inlet path from the water filling inlet is located on a second side opposite the area that receives the thermostat.
5. 5. The iron, according to claim 1, characterized in that the water tank also comprises integral gear assemblies for stably mounting gears directly in the water tank.
6. 6. The iron, according to claim 5, characterized in that a first of the gear assemblies comprises a first raised neck for rotatably mounting a first gear directly on the raised neck.
7. 7. The iron, in accordance with the claim 6, characterized in that a second of the gear assemblies comprises a high perimeter cover that surrounds a majority of a lateral perimeter of a second gear.
8. 8. The iron, in accordance with the claim 7, characterized in that the second gear assembly further comprises a second raised gear with the second gear rotatably mounted directly on the second raised neck.
9. 9. A steam iron that has an inner plate, a water tank to hold the water to be supplied on the inner plate and gears that connect a temperature control of the iron to a water metering valve between the water tank and the inner plate, characterized because: the water tank that has integral gear assemblies to rotationally mount the gears on the water tank.
10. 10. The iron, according to claim 9, characterized in that a first of the gear assemblies comprises a first raised neck for rotatably mounting a first gear directly on the raised neck. eleven .
11. The iron, according to claim 10, characterized in that a second of the gear assemblies comprises a high perimeter cover that surrounds a majority of a lateral perimeter of a second gear.
12. 12. The iron, according to claim 11, characterized in that the second gear assembly further comprises a second raised neck with the second gear rotatably mounted directly on the second raised neck.
13. 13. The iron, according to claim 12, characterized in that the second gear is movable longitudinally on the second raised neck and along the raised perimeter cover.
14. 14. The iron, according to claim 13, characterized in that the water tank further comprises an air trap for retaining a volume of air while the water tank is being filled with water.
15. 1 5. A steam iron has an inner plate, a water tank to hold water to be supplied to the inner plate, and gears that connect a temperature control of the iron to a water metering valve between the water tank. water and the inner plate, characterized because: the water tank that has an air trap and integral gear assemblies, where the air trap contains a volume of air when the iron is in a vertical position and is being filled with water , wherein the water trap receives water when the iron is moved to a horizontal position to prevent water from spilling from a water filling spout and where the integral gear assemblies have the gears rotatably mounted thereon to Stably mount the gears directly on the water tank.
16. 16. The iron, according to claim 15, characterized in that the water filling inlet of the water tank is at a first end of the water tank and a portion of a volume containing water from the water tank which is located above. of the water filling spout is located at a second opposite end of the water tank.
17. 17. The iron, according to claim 16, characterized in that the air trap is located at the first end of the water tank.
18. 18. The iron according to claim 17, characterized in that the water tank has an area near the first end to receive a portion of a thermostat of the iron and where the air trap is located on a first side of the area receiving the water. thermostat and a water inlet path of the water filling inlet is located on a second side opposite the area that receives the thermostat.
19. 19. The iron, according to claim 15, characterized in that a first of the gear assemblies comprises a first raised neck to rotatably mount a first gear directly on the raised neck.
20. 20. The iron, according to claim 19, characterized in that a second of the gear assemblies comprises a high perimeter cover that surrounds a majority of a lateral perimeter of a second gear. R ESUMENT OF THE I NVENTIO N A steam iron that has a water tank with an internal air trap and external gear mounts. The air trap contains an air volume when the iron is being filled with water, but receives water when the iron moves to a horizontal position to prevent water from spilling from a water filling spout. The plate has gears that connect a temperature control of the iron to a water measuring valve. The gears are rotatably mounted stably directly to the water tank on the gear mounts.