US2000628A - Electric steaming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

May 7, 1935. 1.. E. WHITE 2,000,628

ELECTRIC STEAMING APPARATUS Filed July 16, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 F I6. I.

INVENTOR.

LEWIS E. WH l T E ATTORNEY.

y 1935- 1.. E. WHITE 2,000,628

ELECTRI C STEAMING APPARATUS Filed July 16, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 2.

INVENTOR.

' 2 LEWIS E. WHITE BY A TTORNE Y.

Patented May 7, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ELECTRIC STEAMING APPARATUS Lewis E. White, San Francisco, Calif., assignor to Harry L. Worthington, San Francisco, Calif.

Application July 16, 1932, Serial No. 622,875

4 Claims. (Cl. 21940) This invention relates to improvements in e1ec-. the bottom 6, within the flange 4 to form an intric steaming apparatus. tegral water pan. This pan should be formed of One object of the invention is to provide a hat hard rubber or other suitable dielectric composteaming apparatus in which water may be elecsition. It has a concentric bead I at the central 5 trically converted into hot, wet, steam for renoportion to concentrate the water beneath the 5 vating hats. heating element.

Another object is to reduce the size, cost of The transverse strut II, also of dielectric maproductiomand operation of apparatus for steamterial, extends across and is attached to the casing ing hats. by the screws I2-I2. It rests upon the top of the A further object is to produce a hat steamer flange 4 and has a center lug, extending below 10 that is light, portable, simple, safe, easily cleaned this flange into the pan to support the heating and maintained, and that may be operated from element. the ordinary lamp circuits" and without water The heating element is preferably composed of connections. a suitable carbon composition molded and pressed Other objects and advantages will appear as in the form of interlocking grids, see Fig. 2. The 15 the description progresses. heads I3, I l have the parallel grids I5, I6, re-

In this specification and the accompanying spectively, extending therefrom,-in spaced reladrawings the invention is disclosed in a preferred tion. The heads are fixed on the insulating strut form. It is to be understood, however, that it is II, by the bolts Il-II and I8-I8, respective y,

not limited to this form because it may be empassing therethrough and engaging the lock nuts 20 bodied in other forms within the spirit of the inon t ir Opp site ends. The P Of upper bolts vention as defined in the claims following the de- III'I are pulled up by the lock nuts I9-I9. scription. The extended ends of these bolts have the nuts It has been the practice heretofore, in renovat- 20-40 thereon and serve as binding posts for. the mg hats, to utilize steam generated under presterminal wires 2I-2l of the cord 22 of the power 25 sure in boilers or steam generators. Such steam, circuit. This cord has the conventional p u 23 when liberated, is too dry at first, for the purpose thereon W h i l t d Co t engage S and steam is wasted until it becomes sufilciently l Contacts in the Socket 4 Wired through 2I- wet. Such equipment is necessarily permanently 2 to t h s respectively- The PP installed as to water and gas fuel, is subject to site end of the cord 22 has a suitable plug, not rapid deterioration, and must be kept constantly shown, to engage a Socket in the Power linein commission even when used intermittently, The grids are preferably composed of a com- The odors, leakage, heat, and other disadvantages position of carbon and graphite known in the of pressure steam generators are sufiiciently trade as of a hardness of 60, which offers about known. .0011 ohms resistance at 55 amperes on the usual 35 In the accompanying two sheets of drawings: 110 volt circuit of alternating current. For direct Fig. 1 is a. vertical section, taken on the line current a hardness of 50 and .00105 ohms resist- II, Fig. 2, of a hat steamer embodying this inance is preferable for the same voltage and amvention. perage. For A. C. an arrangement of six and five Fig. 2 is a plan view from below of the bottom g id plates |5|5 0n the heads p 40 of the same, with the water pan removed. tively, gives best results. For D. C. a symmetri- In detail the construction illustrated in the cal arrangement of an equal number of grid plates drawings, referring to Fig. 1, comprises the en- I5, I6 on the heads I3, I4, such as five or six closing casing I, open at the top, and having the plates on each head, gives best results. These annular bottom 2 with a central opening 3, surarrangements are merely suggestive and have 45 rounded by the upturned flange 4. The casing been proved in practice, and are not to be undermay be supported upon an ornamental annular stood as in any way limiting this invention, since base or upon the legs 5-5, as shown. they may be varied to meet difierent sizes and The bottom opening is closed by the overlapcapacities desired in adapting this invention to ping pan 6, the margin of which is secured to special uses. 50

the bottom 2 by the screws I, the heads of which These grids I5, I6 may rest upon or only apare soldered to the bottom to prevent leakage of proximately contact with the bead I0 in the water splashed water and to hold the screws while the pan. knurled nuts 8 are screwed on to hold the bottom The flat circular water reservoir 25 is centrally 6. The annular flange 9 extends upward from suspended in the casing I above the heating ele- 55 ment, by the interposed spiders 2626. It has the removable flanged cover 21, having the handle 28. Such a reservoir of about one quart capacity will serve the apparatus for about one day of operation.

The needle valve 29 is sealed in the bottom of the reservoir, and has the stem 30 projecting through the wall of the casing and provided with the dielectric handle 3|. The valve discharges the contents of the reservoir through the neck 32 terminating adjacent, but out of contact with, the lower edge of the head 13 intermediate its length.

This apparatus operates substantially as follows: Assuming the reservoir 25 to contain water, the plug 23 is inserted in the socket 24. The circuit is still open due to the interspacing of the grids l5, H3. The handle 3| is now given several complete turns to open the valve, which is immediately closed again. This feeds about a teaspoon full of water through the neck 32 against the head i3. Capillary attraction leads the water under the head and between the adjacent grids l5, IS. The water closes the circuit and current flowing through the resistant grids rapidly heats them and almost immediately converts the water into wet steam. The rise of the steam pulls the water up between the grids, rendering practically their whole areas active in vaporizing the water. Very little water ever reaches the center of the pan 6. The bead It] has an opening l opposite the neck 32 so that any surplus water will be led within the bead at the center of the pan. The bottom of the pan is slightly conical so that the Water will collect in a ring'adjacent the bead Hi and be distributed to all the grids l 5, IS.

The reservoir 25 acts as a battle in the path of the rising steam, which is diverted to the annular space 33 between the edge of the reservoir and the adjacent casing, flows over the top of the reservoir and fills the upper portion of the casing. The cold water in the reservoir probably has the effect of reducing the temperature and maintaining the saturated quality of the steam.

The hat to be steamed is held crown downward above the top of the casing so that its whole outer surface is subjected to the heat and moisture of the rising steam. The heat softens the sizing in the hat and the moisture affects the nap to facilitate the blocking and refinishing operations. The steaming requires only about five or six seconds of time, after which the operator is free to devote both his hands and all his efforts to the hat. The apparatus needs no attention because the evaporation of the small quantity of water automatically opens the circuit and stops current consumption.

The heating element contains about 3| square inches of heating surface for the present purpose. If a continuous volume of steam is desired the valve 29 can be regulated accordingly.

When desired the whole interior of the apparatus can be scalded clean and inverted to drain. The heating element is easily accessible by re moving the pan 6, and can be cleaned by flowing boiling water therethrough from a faucet. The quality of carbon resistance suggested shows no disposition to disintegrate or accumulate films of deposit from the water. It is advisable to reverse the plug 23 in the soclset 24 on D. C. to reverse the polarity occasionally. In an active hat renovating shop the present apparatus will not consume current in excess of two dollars per month at popular rates.

Another use for this apparatus is to form disinfecting vapors by introducing medicaments into the liquid in the reservoir. The size of the apparatus could be reduced or enlarged accordingly.

Having thus described this invention, what is claimed and desired to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A steaming apparatus including a casing; a dielectric water pan in said casing; a pair of electrodes consisting of a plurality of grids horizontally spaced from each other and in juxtaposition to said water pan; an annular bead on said water pan beneath said electrodes; and means for introducing water into said pan around said bead.

2. A steaming apparatus including a casing; a dielectric water pan in said casing having a slightly conical area thereon surrounded by an annular bead having an opening therein; a pair of electrodes consisting of a plurality of grids horizontally spaced from each other and in juxtaposition to said water pan above said bead; and a water outlet opposite the opening in said bead.

3. A steaming apparatus including a casing: a dielectric water pan in said casing; means for introducing water into said pan; and a pair of electrodes consisting of a plurality of horizontally interspaced grids extending across said water pan and spaced therefrom but sufiiciently close thereto to induce a capillary flow of the water therein.

4. A hat steaming apparatus including a closed casing open at the top end thereof; a dielectric water pan at the bottom of said casing; a pair of horizontally interspaced electrodes mounted above said pan; a water reservoir above said element and spaced from the sides of the casing and located at a distance below the top of said casing to permit the entry of the crown of a hat therein; and means for feeding water from said reservoir to said pan.

LEWIS E. WHITE.

Images