RU2655597C2 - Ironing apparatus containing a steam generating base and an iron, connected to each other by a steam pipe - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: textile and paper.

SUBSTANCE: ironing apparatus comprising steam generating base (100) and iron (1) connected to each other by steam pipe (4), while iron (1) includes ironing sole (3) having at least one laundry wetting zone (30) with steam outlets (31) and at least one drying zone (32) without steam outlets, wherein the steam is supplied in steam outlets (31) from distribution chamber (50) provided in the non-heating housing that covers sole (3) at the location of laundry wetting zone (30), and drying zone (32) is in thermal contact with heating body (6), characterized in that there is heating element (40) in steam pipe (4), and the steam in distribution chamber (50) flows directly from steam pipe (4) without passing through heating body (6).

EFFECT: ironing apparatus comprising a steam generating base and an iron connected to each other by a steam pipe is provided.

13 cl, 6 dwg

Description

The present invention relates to an ironing apparatus comprising a steam generator base and an iron connected to each other by a channel for transporting steam. Said iron includes an ironing sole having at least one laundry wetting area with steam outlet openings and at least one drying zone without steam outlet openings. Steam is supplied to the steam outlet from the distribution chamber provided in the non-heating case covering the sole at the location of the laundry wetting zone, and the drying zone is in thermal contact with the heating case.

From patent application FR 1354961, filed on behalf of the same applicant as in the present application, an ironing apparatus is known comprising a steam generator base and an iron connected to each other by a channel for transporting steam. Said iron includes a sole having a front part with steam outlet openings and a back part without steam outlet openings. The steam is supplied to the steam outlet openings of the sole from the distribution chamber provided in the non-heating enclosure covering the front of the sole, and the rear is in thermal contact with the heating enclosure.

An advantage of an ironer with such an iron is that it has a sole equipped with a laundry humidification zone by releasing steam that is separate from the hot laundry drying zone, and the sole does not have a heating body next to the laundry humidification zone, which allows for better condensation of steam on linen and higher efficiency of the ironing process.

In this apparatus, steam is supplied through a special steam distribution circuit to a heating casing mounted above the back of the sole, in order to evaporate the condensates generated in the connecting hose.

However, in cases where the temperature of the heating body is insufficient, it may turn out that the apparatus will push out condensates through the outlet openings in the sole. Conversely, at an excessively high temperature of the heating body, the steam approaches the steam outlet openings of the sole, having a temperature that is too high to ensure reliable condensation of the steam immediately after it comes in contact with the fabric.

Thus, one of the objectives of the present invention is to develop an ironing machine in which these disadvantages would be eliminated. Another objective of the invention is the development of an apparatus that would be simple and economical to operate.

To solve these problems, an ironing apparatus is proposed comprising a steam generator base and an iron connected to each other by a steam line, the iron including an ironing sole having at least one laundry wetting area with steam outlet openings and at least one drying zone without steam outlet openings, in this case, steam is supplied to the steam outlet from the distribution chamber provided in the non-heating case covering the sole at the location of the laundry wetting zone, and and drying is in thermal contact with the heating body, characterized in that the steam line has a heating element and a steam distribution chamber is supplied directly from the steam pipe without passing through the heating body.

As a result, it is possible to obtain a steam stream whose temperature and relative humidity are optimized in such a way as to provide effective wetting of the laundry while reducing the risk of soiling the laundry with steam condensate.

This is possible due to the fact that the heating element in the steam line allows you to maintain a temperature in the steam line that is high enough to prevent or minimize the formation of condensates. In addition, due to the absence of a heating element in the housing in which the steam distribution chamber is enclosed, it is possible to simplify the design of the iron and at the same time avoid the need for steam overheating to produce wet steam.

In accordance with another feature of the invention, the power and power of the heating element are selected so that the temperature of the steam at the outlet of the steam line is in the range from 100 ° C to 110 ° C.

In accordance with another feature of the invention, the distribution chamber is configured to reduce the temperature of the steam leaving the steam line and bring it to a value of about 100 ° C in the area of the steam outlet openings of the sole.

This measure allows you to get wet steam, providing improved ironing characteristics.

In accordance with the following feature of the invention, the heating element of the steam line has a power ranging from 100 watts to 400 watts.

According to a further feature of the invention, the heating case is provided with a flat heating element applied by screen printing.

Such a heating element has the advantage that it is characterized by low thermal inertia, thereby allowing to achieve rapid changes in the temperature of the sole, in particular, at the cooling stages.

In accordance with the following feature of the invention, the surface of the bottom of the humidification zone, covered by the distribution chamber, occupies from 30% to 50% of the total surface of the sole.

Thanks to this, it is possible to obtain the optimum ratio of the surfaces of the wetting and drying zones.

In accordance with the following feature of the invention, the steam line is made of a non-conductive elastomeric material EPDM (ethylene propylene diene monomer) or silicone.

The advantage of such materials lies in their high resistance to steam and pressure.

In accordance with another feature of the invention, the heating element includes at least one heating wire braiding the steam line, said heating wire partially covering the steam line.

According to a further feature of the invention, the heating element is formed of stainless steel wire with a diameter of less than 1 mm, preferably having a coating of PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene).

According to a further feature of the invention, the steam line is provided with reinforcing wires, preferably made of para-aramid fiber, which braid the steam line, the reinforcing wires providing only a partial coating of the steam line.

In accordance with the following feature of the invention, the steam line is provided with an outer braid covering the entire assembly, consisting of a steam line, heating wire and, if any, reinforcing wires.

Thanks to this measure, it becomes possible to provide thermal insulation of the steam pipe and heating wires from the external environment.

According to a further feature of the invention, the outer braid is formed by a mixture of meta-aramid fibers and glass fibers.

Finally, in accordance with another feature of the invention, a laundry wetting area is provided at the front of the sole, and a drying area is made at the rear of the sole.

The objectives, features and advantages of the present invention will become more clear from the following description of a separate variant of its implementation, which is given only as an example, not restrictive, with reference to the attached drawings, where:

- FIG. 1 is a side view of an ironing apparatus according to one specific embodiment of the invention;

- FIG. 2 is a bottom perspective view illustrating an assembly consisting of a sole, a distribution chamber, and a heating body included in the iron of the ironing apparatus of FIG. 1, where the sole is shown separated from the heating body and the steam distribution chamber;

- FIG. 3 is a top perspective view illustrating the assembly of FIG. 2 assembly;

- FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating the assembly of FIG. 2;

- FIG. 5 is a view of a section of a steam line embedded in a connecting cord that connects the steam generator base to an iron, where said connecting cord is shown without an outer braid;

- FIG. 6 is a view of a section of the steam line of FIG. 5 with an outer braid.

The drawings depict only those components, the consideration of which is necessary to understand the essence of the invention. To facilitate reading of the drawings, the same components are indicated in different drawings by the same numeric positions.

In FIG. 1 shows an ironing apparatus comprising a steam generator base 100 and an iron 1 connected to each other by a connecting cord 2. Iron 1 has, as in all conventional systems, an ironing sole 3, preferably made of stainless steel or in the form of an aluminum sheet with enamel coating, on which a plastic case is installed, made, as usual, in one piece with a gripping handle.

The base 100 has an inclined plane on which to put the iron 1 in non-working periods. It is made, as usual, a tank for generating steam under pressure of about 4-6 bar. Water is supplied to the tank 101 from the tank 102 by a pump 103. In this tank, a steam outlet is made, equipped with an electrovalve 104, the opening of which is controlled by a button 10 located on the handle of the iron 1, and the solenoid valve 104 is connected to a steam line 4 embedded in a connecting cord 2.

The base 100 is connected to the household electrical network by an electric wire 105, with which both the power supply of the heating means of the tank 101 and the power supply of the iron 1 are provided via several electric wires (not shown in the drawings) inserted into the connecting cord 2.

As shown in FIG. 2, in front of the sole of the iron 3 there is a laundry humidification zone 30 with steam outlet openings 21, over which a non-heating case 5 is located, and in the rear part of this sole there is a drying zone 32 without steam outlet openings, over which the heating case 6 is located, wherein the humidification zone 30 linen preferably occupies from 30 to 50% of the total surface of the sole 3.

In accordance with one of the preferred technical solutions, the heating case 6 is formed by a metal plate on which a flat heating element 60 with a power of 200-500 W is applied by screen printing, which is in contact with the back of the drying zone 32 of the sole 3. The power supply to this flat heating element 60 is carried out from the electronic board, which includes a thermal relay, which provides temperature control of the drying zone 32 of the sole 3 to the greater and smaller side of the set value, set user-defined, preferably in the range of 115 ° C to 200 ° C.

The non-heating case covering the laundry wetting zone 30 is formed by a cover 5, which defines a chamber 50 for dispersing steam over the steam outlet openings 31 of the sole 3. It is advisable to make this cover 5 by molding from a plastic material or in the form of an aluminum cast.

As can be seen in FIG. 2-4, the steam distribution chamber 50 is formed by a cavity, the lower surface of which is limited by the front part of the sole 3 and the upper and peripheral walls of which are limited by the cover 5. The cover 5 has protruding walls extending inside the distribution chamber 50 with the formation of a circular distribution channel 51, which is provided side slots 51A, providing a uniform distribution of steam over the front of the sole 3.

As shown in FIG. 4, the steam is supplied to the steam distribution chamber 50 through an inlet 52 made on the cover 5, which enters the distribution channel 51 and is connected directly to the steam pipe 4 embedded in the connecting cord 2 connecting the iron 1 to the steam generator base 100.

More specifically, in accordance with the invention, the steam line 4 is provided with a heating element 40, which serves to reduce cooling of the steam in the steam line 4, which helps prevent the formation of condensates.

With this in mind, it is advisable that the steam line 4 was made of some type of EPDM elastomeric material (ethylene propylene diene monomer), which would be preferably non-conductive, and that the heating element consisted of one or more electric heating wires 40 that are braided on the steam line 4, as schematically shown in FIG. 5.

As an example, we indicate that the heating wires 40 are formed of stainless steel wires with a diameter of less than 1 mm coated with PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) having an electrical resistance of the order of 13 Ohm / m. These heating wires can be powered by an alternating voltage of 220 V from an electronic board mounted on a steam generator base 100. In this case, the power supply to the heating wires 40 can be controlled using a thermal relay or continuously or periodically, with alternating phases of power supply and power off.

Depending on the length of the connecting cord 2, the total power released by the heating wires 40 included in the steam line 4 is preferably in the range from 100 W to 400 W.

A fuse (not shown) is also provided, which is preferably applied to the steam line 4 to turn off the supply current to the heating wires 40 in those cases where the temperature of the steam line 4 exceeds a predetermined threshold value, for example, about 130 ° C, to avoid a possible failure of the heating wire power system 40.

As seen in FIG. 5, to ensure a more reliable retention of electric heating wires 40 on the steam line, it is advisable to provide a braid of reinforcing wires 41, which are laid across the heating wires 40 with their partial overlap. These reinforcing wires 41 are preferably synthetic para-aramid wires of the type obtained from Twaron® fibers manufactured by Teijin or from Kevlar® fibers manufactured by Du Pont de Nemours.

The entire assembly thus obtained, consisting of a steam line 4, heating wires 40 and reinforcing wires 41, is coated with an outer braid 42 (see FIG. 6), designed to protect and heat the heating wires 40 from environmental influences. This outer braid 42 is preferably made from a mixture of meta-aramid synthetic wires and glass fibers that cover the entire cord 4. As an example, it can be pointed out that for meta-aramid synthetic wires, Nomex® fibers manufactured by Du Pont de Nemours are used.

The following is a description of the operation of such an ironing machine.

When the apparatus is turned on, the tank 101 is heated by means specially provided for this with bringing the water in it to a boil. In this case, the heating wires 40 of the steam line receive power immediately after applying voltage to the apparatus, so that the temperature inside the steam line 4 reaches at least 100 ° C, and more preferably, values in the range from 100 ° C to 110 ° C.

When the water in the tank 101 begins to boil, the light comes on, notifying the user that the machine is ready for use and the user can begin the steam ironing session by pressing button 10 on the iron 1 so that the solenoid valve 104 opens and steam can pass through steam line 4.

In this case, the steam is supplied to the iron 1, passing through the steam line 4, heated to a temperature of more than or equal to 100 ° C, as a result of which this steam enters the iron 1, not cooled to such an extent that condensation may appear.

More specifically, the temperature of the steam contained in the steam line 4 is maintained at a level above 100 ° C even at those ironing stages during which the steam stagnates in the steam line 4, that is, when the user does not press the button 10.

After the steam has entered the iron 1, it penetrates directly into the steam distribution chamber 50 through the inlet 52 made in the cover 5, which covers the humidification zone 30 in the sole 3. The transition of the steam flow into the distribution chamber 50 is accompanied by a drop in its temperature due to the absence of a heating element in the cover 5, while the temperature of the steam drops until a value of about 100 ° C is reached at the location of the steam outlet openings 31 of the sole. The consequence of this decrease in steam temperature is an increase in the relative humidity of the steam, which leads to an increase in the number of small drops of water contained in the steam stream (with a diameter of less than 10 microns).

By scattering this wet steam stream, extremely good ironing performance can be guaranteed. In particular, the sole humidification zone 30, closed by the distribution chamber 50, has the advantage that it is heated only by transferring heat from the heating back through the thickness of the sole 3, so that the sole has a rather low temperature in the area of the steam outlet openings 31, preferably less 110 ° C, which contributes to a very effective condensation of steam in the ironed laundry.

Thus, the ironing apparatus, made as described above, has a sole 3, in the unheated front of which there are steam outlet openings 31, thereby ensuring exceptional effective wetting of the laundry, while the back of the sole 32, which heats up and in which there are no steam outlets; it allows the rapid evaporation of all moisture in the laundry when the iron 1 is moved forward.

In addition, by using the flat screen heating element 60 applied by the screen printing method to heat the corresponding zone of the sole 3, it is possible to achieve an extremely powerful reaction of the drying zone to changes in the set temperature of the thermal relay due to the very small thermal inertia of the specified flat screen heating element 60 applied by the screen printing method.

Finally, the advantage of an iron made in this way is that it has less weight and can be less bulky, given that it does not have a casting, which is usually necessary for heating steam at the outlet of the steam line. As a result, it is possible to obtain a more convenient iron to handle, so that the ironing process becomes less tiring.

It is obvious that the invention is in no way limited to the embodiment described above and illustrated in the drawings, which was presented here by way of example only. A wide variety of modifications are possible, relating, in particular, to the composition of various components or to their replacement with technical equivalents, provided that they do not go beyond the declared scope of protection.

So, for example, in accordance with one of the modifications (it is not illustrated here), the sole may have a humidification zone equipped with steam outlet openings, which will be located in the middle of the sole, and a drying zone without vapor outlet openings, which will be located on the periphery of this sole, while the drying zone will cover the humidification zone.

In accordance with another modification, the steam line can be made of silicone or any other non-conductive material, which should, however, be resistant to pressure.

In accordance with the following modification, the steam line can be made of a conductive material EPDM, while the heating wires must be coated with an insulating material, for which they can be greased, for example, with silicone.

Finally, in accordance with another modification (it is also not illustrated), the heating case may be a cast in which a shielded resistor will be placed.

Claims (14)

1. An ironing apparatus comprising a steam generator base (100) and an iron (1) connected to each other by a steam line (4), wherein the iron (1) includes an ironing sole (3) having at least one wetting zone (30) laundry with steam outlet openings (31) and at least one drying zone (32) without steam outlet openings, wherein steam is supplied to the steam outlet openings (31) from the distribution chamber (50) provided in the non-heating case covering the sole (3) in the location of the laundry wetting zone (30), and the zone (32) with The pulley is in thermal contact with the heating case (6), characterized in that there is a heating element (40) in the steam line (4), and the steam enters the distribution chamber (50) directly from the steam line (4) without passing through the heating case ( 6). 2. Ironing apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the power and power of the heating element (40) are selected so that the temperature of the steam at the outlet of the steam pipe is in the range from 100 ° C to 110 ° C. 3. Ironing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the distribution chamber (50) is configured to reduce the temperature of the steam leaving the steam line (4) and bring it to a value of about 100 ° C in the area of the steam outlet openings (31) ) soles. 4. Ironing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the heating element (40) of the steam line has a power ranging from 100 W to 400 W. 5. Ironing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said heating body (6) comprises a flat heating element (60) applied by screen printing. 6. Ironing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the surface of the humidification zone (30) in the sole (3) closed by the distribution chamber (50) occupies from 30% to 50% of the total sole surface (3). 7. Ironing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the steam line (4) is made of a non-conductive elastomeric material of ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) or silicone. 8. Ironing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the heating element comprises at least one heating wire (40) braiding around the steam line (4), said heating wire (40) partially covering the steam line (4). 9. Ironing apparatus according to claim 8, characterized in that the heating element (40) is formed by stainless steel wire with a diameter of less than 1 mm, preferably having a coating of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). 10. Ironing machine according to any one of paragraphs. 1, 2 or 9, characterized in that the steam line (4) is provided with reinforcing wires (41), preferably made of para-aramid fiber, which braid the steam line (4), said reinforcing wires (41) partially covering the steam line (4). 11. Ironing apparatus according to claim 8, characterized in that the steam line (4) is provided with an outer braid (42) covering the entire assembly containing steam line (4), heating wires (40) and, if any, reinforcing wires (41). 12. Ironing apparatus according to claim 11, characterized in that the outer braid (42) contains a mixture of meta-aramid fibers and glass fibers. 13. Ironing machine according to any one of paragraphs. 1, 2, 9, 11 or 12, characterized in that the area (30) for wetting the laundry is made in the front of the sole (3), and the drying zone (32) is made in the back of the sole (3).

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