WO2011148255A2

WO2011148255A2 - Iron and relative ironing method

Info

Publication number: WO2011148255A2
Application number: PCT/IB2011/001128
Authority: WO
Inventors: Giuseppe De' Longhi
Original assignee: De' Longhi Appliances Srl Con Unico Socio
Priority date: 2010-05-27
Filing date: 2011-05-26
Publication date: 2011-12-01
Also published as: WO2011148255A3; CN103025948B; ES2477322T3; EP2576891A2; ITUD20100100A1; CN103025948A; EP2576891B1; IT1400336B1

Abstract

Iron comprising at least an ironing plate (12) and having a lower surface (15) to contact, during use, a fabric (30) to be ironed, and a main body (1 1) to which the ironing plate (12) is attached. The lower surface (15) of the ironing plate (12) is subdivided into at least two zones (16,17), respectively, a first front damping zone (16) comprising holes and/or openings (21) connected to delivery means (20) to deliver a jet of water to be sprayed directly onto the fabric (30), and a second heating zone (17), adjacent to the first zone (16), and associated with instantaneous heating means (22) of the irradiation type.

Description

"IRON AND RELATIVE IRONING METHOD"

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention concerns an iron used for ironing clothes or fabrics in general. The invention also concerns the related method that uses the iron. In particular, the iron according to the present invention comprises an ironing plate having a plurality of operating zones, which each performs a specific function on the fabrics, so as to render the ironing operations more simple, more effective, and more energy saving, without requiring the heating temperature of the ironing plate to be adapted according to the type of fabric to be ironed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Irons are known, both of the electric type or steam, used for ironing fabrics and provided with an ironing plate, which is made and conformed so as to try to optimize the sliding of the iron on the fabric to be ironed.

In any case, the ironing plate is heated by an electric resistance and, in the case of steam irons, provides a plurality of holes from which a desired quantity of steam is selectively delivered.

Depending on the type of iron, the steam is generated in a boiler disposed inside the iron or in a distinct unit connected to the iron.

The known combination of heating the plate and delivering the steam has been generally accepted as an effective solution giving satisfactory ironing results.

However, a first disadvantage of such irons is that in order to obtain a high quality ironing on fabrics of different types, for example cotton, wool, acrylic, mixed or others, it is necessary to vary on each occasion, depending on the fabric, the heating temperature of the plate.

This necessity not only complicates the ironing operations for the user but also causes a high energy consumption for heating the plate, and also over-sized electric resistances have to be provided in order to allow to select a wide range of temperatures.

Moreover, the production of steam in itself has a rather low heat yield, since the energy used to take the water to evaporation is considerably more than the energy that can be used from the steam produced.

This thermodynamic aspect entails the need to provide high capacity boilers. with consequent high energy absorption and therefore high energy consumption.

Another disadvantage is that a large fraction of the steam, once it has been delivered under pressure onto the fabric through the plate, tends to pass through the fabric and deposit water condensation on the ironing board or structure below, and is also distributed laterally to the plate, without hitting the fabric and hence without having any effect on the ironing.

Therefore, it is always necessary to produce and deliver a quantity of steam much higher than what is actually needed for ironing, with consequent increases in energy consumption and lower performance.

Furthermore, in designing traditional irons a dedicated step of designing and producing the components for the boiler, the hydraulic connections and the relative water sealing systems is required.

There are also risks of burning, problems in the topping up step and the emptying of the boiler, problems of limescale etc.

All these disadvantages lead to an increase in the overall costs of making the iron, and also a poor ratio between the overall cost of the ironing system given the same operativity and efficiency of the results.

One purpose of the present invention is to achieve an iron, and the relative method, which is simple and economical to make, and which guarantees an effective and simple ironing of fabrics without needing to change the temperature of the plate depending on the type of fabric.

Another purpose of the present invention is to achieve an iron that has limited energy consumption compared with traditional steam irons.

Another purpose of the invention is to increase the practicality⁷ and simplicity of use, reducing to a minimum any operations for regulating or setting required bv the user.

The Applicant has devised, tested and embodied the present invention to overcome the shortcomings of the state of the art and to obtain these and other purposes and advantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is set forth and characterized in the independent claims, while the dependent claims describe other characteristics of the invention or variants to the main inventive idea. In accordance with the above purposes, an iron according to the present invention comprises at least an ironing plate, advantageously but not necessarily pointed at the front part, and having a lower surface, and a main body to which the ironing plate is attached comprising at least a gripping mean to allow the user to slide the ironing plate over the fabric to be ironed.

By front part, here and hereafter in the description, we mean that part which first meets the fabric in the normal movement of the iron on the fabric.

According to a characteristic feature of the present invention, the lower surface of the ironing plate is divided into two zones, respectively a first damping zone and a second heating zone, which are disposed in succession and are operatively distinct from each other.

In particular, the first damping zone is in proximity to the pointed front part of the ironing plate, and has a plurality (at least two or more) of holes and/or apertures, connected to water delivery means, for example a nebulizer, disposed inside the main body.

The delivery means are able to spray a desired and/or adjustable quantity of water from the lower surface of the ironing plate, exclusively in correspondence with the first zone, and hence onto a corresponding and limited area of fabric below.

In this way, the fibers of the fabric are suitably dampened by means of the direct delivery of a certain quantity of water, which hits the corresponding portion of fabric below, directly and without any possibility of dispersion.

The water molecules that penetrate among the fibers of the fabric, due to the effect of the damping, make the fibers more flexible, soft and suitable for effective ironing.

The second zone is in proximity to the central part of the ironing plate, and is connected to an instantaneous heating device with localized irradiation, such as for example with technology using direct infrared radiations or other, disposed inside the main body and able to irradiate a high quantity of heat at a predetermined temperature through the second zone.

The area of the fabric, previously dampened, is then heated instantaneously and through irradiation through the second zone, in sequence immediately after the water is delivered, so that the fibers, made flexible by the molecules of water that have penetrated inside, are spread and ironed with great ease.

This combination of effects of damping and instantaneous heating made immediately afterward allows to make substantially any type of fiber very flexible, from synthetics to cotton, without needing to vary the temperature of the heating means.

Indeed, the damping of the fabric and the consequent flexibility of the fibers treated allow to reduce the temperature in the second zone of the ironing plate, irrespective of the type of fibers treated,

This allows to level the different temperatures to relatively low values, thus allowing to identify a single temperature for the effective ironing of any type of fiber.

Applicant has found that by delivering the water directly onto the fabric through spraying from the first zone of the ironing plate, the average absorption of humidity of a fabric is more than about 8- 10%, unlike the average absorption of steam which is on average less than about 5%.

This absorption is therefore substantially doubled with respect to the state-of- the-art irons, thus improving the flexibility of the fibers and facilitating the subsequent ironing operating. For this reason, it is not necessary to heat the plate very much, as it is possible to iron any fabric at a temperature of about 100°C.

In this way, the energy consumption needed for heating the second zone of the ironing plate is substantially made uniform, and the design and production of the heating device can be optimized, depending on the actual temperature to be reached.

This advantageous feature of the present invention allows to optimize the production costs of the iron.

Furthermore, the damping and subsequent instantaneous heating do not require the use of steam in order to increase the flexibility of the fibers.

Therefore, the iron according to the present invention achieves considerably lower costs of production and management compared with traditional irons, since it is no longer necessary to provide the boiler and the relative pipes and washers.

Moreover there are no energy oversizings due to the high heat dispersion and the small quantity of steam that hits the fabric, compared with the totality of water in the solution according to the present invention. According to a variant, the ironing plate also comprises a third zone, which is in proximity to the rear part of the ironing plate, meaning in the direction indicated for the front part (that is, the last zone acting on the fabric in the direction of movement of the iron).

The third zone of the ironing plate is connected to drying/ventilation means, which are disposed inside the main body and are able to emit a stream of air onto the fabric.

The fabric, previously dampened and then immediately heated, is subjected through the third zone to an immediate ventilation step that causes or completes the drying of the fabric, so as to induce a discharge of the residual humidity among the fibers, and to consolidate the orientation of the fibers as imparted by the ironing plate.

According to a variant, the third zone provides a first circuit to deliver a first stream of air able to discharge the humidity, and a second circuit to deliver a second stream of air with cooling characteristics.

In particular, in the first circuit, part of the air emitted by the drying means is heated, thus defining the first stream of air.

In the second circuit instead, the second stream of air emitted is only the stream of cool air generated by the drying means.

According to another variant, the ironing plate has a segment with a reduced thickness in correspondence with at least a segment of the third zone, so as not to contact the fabric and to allow the free discharge of the humidity.

According to another variant, the drying means comprise at least a ventilator member fluidically connected to an emission aperture made through in the ironing plate, in correspondence with the third zone. The ventilator member is conformed to draw in air from the external environment and to convey it under pressure toward the emission aperture.

Advantageously, the same ventilator member conveys the air under pressure both toward the first circuit and also toward the second circuit.

According to another variant, the drying means comprise one or more heating members, for example halogen lamps, disposed in cooperation with the first circuit and suitable to heat at least partly the first stream of air before it exits from the emission aperture. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS These and other characteristics of the present invention will become apparent ^' from the following description of a preferential form of embodiment, given as a non-restrictive example with reference to the attached drawings wherein:

- fig. 1 shows schematically a lateral and partly sectioned view of an iron according to the present invention;

- fig. 2 shows schematically a view from below of the device according to the present invention;

- fig. 3 shows a schematic sequence of the effects of the iron in fig. 1 on a fiber of a fabric;

- fig. 4 shows a graph of temperature-humidity, showing the flexibility curves of three types of fiber.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERENTIAL FORM OF

EMBODIMENT

With reference to the attached drawings, an iron 10 according to the present invention, for ironing a fabric 30, comprises a main body 1 1 which can be for example made of plastic, or metal, or mixed, and provided with a handle 13 for the user.

Under the main body 1 1 an ironing plate 12 is attached, in a substantially known manner.

The ironing plate 12 is substantially triangular in shape or in any case pointed toward its front part, and is provided with a lower ironing surface 15, substantially fiat.

The ironing plate 12 is advantageously made of material with a vitreous base, such as for example glass-ceramic, borosilicate, molten silicon or other suitable transparent materials known in the field of ironing systems.

By transparent material we mean a material through which light radiations can pass through the whole of its thickness.

The lower surface 15 of the ironing plate 12 comprises a first damping zone 16, provided in proximity to the pointed front part of the ironing plate 12; a second heating zone 17, provided in a substantially central part of the ironing plate 12; and, in this case, also a third drying zone 19 provided in a rear part of the ironing plate 12. In particular, in correspondence with the first zone 16, inside the main body 1 1 , a plurality of nozzles 20 for delivering the water are housed.

The first zone 16 comprises a plurality of delivery holes 21 , with which the delivery nozzles 20 are aligned, made through in the thickness of the ironing plate 12, in order to effect a localized spray deliveiy of a desired quantity of water onto the fabric 30 to be ironed.

The water is delivered onto the fabric 30 to be ironed exclusively through the delivery holes 21 of the first zone 16, and advantageously with the ironing plate 12 in contact with, or slightly raised with respect to, the fabric 30, so that there is no dispersion and all the water delivered hits the relative part of the fabric 30 below both locally and directly.

Advantageously, the delivery nozzles 20 are conformed so as to deliver a nebulized spray of water, so as to allow an effective and deep penetration of the water into the fibers of the fabric 30 to be ironed. This penetration of the humidity, with the present invention, is more than about 10%.

The second zone 17 follows, again in the direction of movement of the iron 10 during ironing, and is operatively distinct from the first zone 16.

In correspondence with the second zone 17, inside the main body 1 1 , a plurality of heating lamps 22 are housed, in this case five.

Advantageously, the heating lamps 22 are the halogen type with infrared radiation, so as to heat instantaneously that particular area of the fabric 30 that is in correspondence with the second zone 17 and that has just been subjected to damping after passing through the first zone 16.

The heating lamps 22, irrespective of the type of fabric, emit a determinate quantity of heat at a determinate temperature of constant heating, for example about 100°C, functional to the ironing of the fabric 30.

In the graph shown in fig. 4, three curves of flexibility are shown, relating respectively to a synthetic fiber "S", a woolen fiber "W" and a cellulose fiber "C'\ such as cotton, linen or others.

It should be noted that with the fibers absorbing more than about 10% of humidity, it is possible to maintain a temperature near to 100°C in order to come within, or even surpass, said flexibility curves.

Therefore, with the present invention, a temperature near to about 100°C is suitable for ironing substantially any type of fiber, whether it is synthetic S, wool W or cellulose C.

The third zone 19 follows and is operatively distinct from the second zone 17, with respect to the normal direction of ironing.

In correspondence with the third zone 19, the main body 1 1 houses a ventilator member 23 and in the example shown here, a plurality of heating lamps 25, which advantageously have a lower radiating capacity than the heating lamps 22 of the second zone 17.

The third zone 19 comprises a first circuit 26, made in proximity to the heating lamps 25, and a second circuit 27, distanced from the heating lamps 25.

Both the circuits 26 and 27 converge at exit from the ironing plate 12 through an aperture 29 of the third zone 19.

Furthermore, in correspondence with the third zone 19 the ironing plate 12 has a substantially reduced thickness, so as to create, during use, a distance with respect to the fabric 30.

The ventilator member 23 is a substantially traditional type and is connected both to the first circuit 26 and to the second circuit 27.

The ventilator member 23 has a front facing toward the outside of the main body 1 1 , so as to collect the air in the environment and convey it under pressure inside the two circuits 26 and 27, and from them toward the aperture 29.

In this way, the air taken by the ventilator member 23 travels through the two circuits 26 and 27 until it exits under pressure onto the fabric 30 through the aperture 29.

The air that travels through the first circuit 26 is at least partly heated by the heating lamps 25 so that, in correspondence with the fabric 30 at exit from the two circuits 26 and 27, the air that exits is air at ambient temperature mixed with heated air.

In this way a first stream is defined in which the air delivered, being at least partly heated, facilitates the discharge of the humidity from the fabric 30.

The air that travels through the second circuit 27 is not heated at all by the heating lamps 25, and therefore has a cooling effect on the ironed fabric 30.

In this way a second stream is defined in which the air delivered cools the fabric 30, possibly blowing away the residual surface humidity. The iron 10 according to the present invention functions as follows during the ironing step.

The user slides the ironing plate 12 over the fabric 30 and determines the passage of the three zones 16, 17 and 19 in quick succession over the same portion of the fabric 30, in order to iron the fibers of the fabric 30, generically indicated by the letter "F" in the schematized view in fig. 3.

Initially, the fiber F is creased and the first zone 16 of the ironing plate 12 is passed over it so that, through the delivery nozzles 20, a desired quantity of water is delivered onto the fabric 30, so as to dampen the fiber F and make it flexible. Advancing the ironing plate 12 on the fabric, the second zone 17 is taken into correspondence with the fiber F dampened by the previous delivery of water.

In this operating condition the dampened fiber F is heated instantaneously by the heating lamps 22.

The instantaneous heating of the fiber F, in combination with the previous damping, causes the fiber F to be ironed.

In fact, the flexibility obtained by damping the fabric F with direct jets of water allows the heating zone 17 of the ironing plate 12 to spread the fibers F more easily, and therefore to facilitate and improve the ironing of the fabric.

As it continues to advance, the ironing plate 12 not only spreads the fibers F but also moves with its third zone 19 above the fiber F.

In particular, due to the effect of the movement of the ironing plate 12 on the fabric, the first and the second ventilation stream are delivered in sequence onto the fiber F.

The first stream of air, a mixture of heated and cool, emitted through the aperture 29, has the effect of discharging the humidity from the fiber F, substantially consolidating the positioning assumed due to the effect of the heating action made in the central zone 17 of the ironing plate 12.

The thinner conformation of the ironing plate 12 in correspondence with the third zone 19 promotes the discharge of humidity from the fabric 30.

Immediately after the humidity has been discharged, the fiber F is subjected to the second stream of cool air arriving from the second aperture 29.

The second stream of cool air reduces the temperature of the fabric, further stabilizing the positioning of the fibers F, and promoting the discharge of possible residual humidity still present among the fibers F of the fabric 30.

With this sequence of operating steps performed in close temporal continuity, the fibers F of the fabric 30 are ironed in conditions of maximum efficiency, reducing energy consumption to a minimum, and adapting the operativeness of the iron to the natural behavior of the fibers F themselves, irrespective of the type of fabric and the temperatures used.

It is clear that modifications and/or additions of parts may be made to the iron as described heretofore, without departing from the field and scope of the present invention.

It is also clear that, although the present invention has been described with reference to some specific examples, a person of skill in the art shall certainly be able to achieve many other equivalent forms of iron and relative ironing method, having the characteristics as set forth in the claims and hence all coming within the field of protection defined thereby.

Claims

1 . Iron comprising at least an ironing plate ( 12) and having a lower surface ( 1 5) able to contact, during use, a fabric (30) to be ironed, and a main body ( 1 1 ) to which said ironing plate ( 12) is attached, characterized in that said lower surface ( 15) of said ironing plate ( 12) is subdivided into at least two zones, respectively, a first front damping zone ( 16) comprising holes and/or openings

(21 ) connected to delivery means (20) to deliver a jet of water to be sprayed directly onto said fabric (30), and a second heating zone ( 17), adjacent to the first zone ( 16), and associated with instantaneous heating means (22) of the irradiation type.

2. Iron as in claim 1 , characterized in that the ironing plate ( 12) also comprises a third zone ( 19), adjacent to the second zone ( 17), disposed in the rear part of said ironing plate ( 12), and connected to drying means (23, 25).

3. Iron as in claim 1 , characterized in that said means to deliver a jet of water comprise at least a nebulizer nozzle (21 ).

4. Iron as in claim 1 , characterized in that said instantaneous heating means

(22) comprise lamps of the halogen type with infrared radiation.

5. Iron as in claim 2, characterized in that the third zone ( 19) comprises a first circuit (26) for the delivery of a first stream of at least partly heated air, a second circuit (27) for the delivery of a second stream of air substantially at room temperature, and an emission opening (29) made on the ironing plate ( 12) and connecting said first circuit (26) and said second circuit (27) with the outside of said iron ( 10).

6. Iron as in claim 2, characterized in that the ironing plate ( 12) comprises a reduced thickness in correspondence with at least a segment of the third zone

( 19), in order to allow the free discharge of the humidity of the fabric (30).

7. Iron as in claims 2 and 5, characterized in that the drying means comprise at least a ventilator member (23) fluidically connected to the emission opening (29) in correspondence with the third zone ( 19), and able to take air from the external environment and convey it under pressure toward said emission opening (29).

8. Iron as in claim 7, characterized in that the ventilator member (23) is fluidically connected both to the first circuit (26) and also to the second circuit (27).

9. Ironing method using an iron as in any claim hereinbefore, characterized in that it comprises a first step in which jets of water are sprayed directly on a fabric (30) through openings and/or holes (21 ) made in the front part of the ironing plate ( 12), and a second step, immediately after the first, in which heat is delivered by irradiation during the passage of the central part of the ironing plate ( 12) on the zone of the fabric (30) which has been previously dampened.

10. Method as in claim 9, characterized in that it provides a third step in which the zone of fabric (30), after heating, is subjected to ventilation/drying by means of the emission of at least a jet of possibly heated air.

1 1 . Method as in claim 9 or 10, characterized in that the heating temperature is substantially constant for all types of fabrics (30) and is around about 100°C.