JPH0513680B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a steam iron for removing wrinkles from clothing.

BACKGROUND ART Conventionally, this type of steam iron has had a structure as shown in FIG. That is, a base 2 having a vaporization chamber 1 and a water tank 3 installed above the base 2 are communicated with each other through a drip nozzle 4 made of metal or ceramic material, etc.
The above-mentioned dripping nozzle 4 has a first packing 5 and a second packing 6 made of an elastic material such as rubber disposed in its upper and lower parts, and is compressed by the upper surface of the vaporization chamber 1 and the lower surface of the water tank 3 to form a watertight seal. This prevents water from leaking from the joint. And the water tank 3
Water is supplied from the water tank 3 to the vaporization chamber 1 by using an opening/closing rod 7 made of a metal member that forms a steam control device.
The steam control button 8 protruding upwardly allows manual operation and control.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, if the lower end of the opening/closing rod 7 is pressed against the drip nozzle 4 to cut off the water supply, both parts are made of a highly hard material. In order to reliably cut off the water supply, it is necessary to press the opening/closing rod 7 against the nozzle 4 with a strong force, which inevitably increases the operating load on the steam control button 8 and deteriorates the operability. In order to watertightly seal the vaporization chamber 1 and the water tank 3, a plurality of packings are necessary, and the workability during assembly is also poor.

One way to solve this problem is to fix an elastic member such as packing to the bottom end of the opening/closing rod, which will reliably cut off the water supply to the vaporization chamber. Multiple packings are still required to watertightly seal the chamber and water tank, and workability during assembly is not improved. Another method is to configure the dripping nozzle with packing, thereby eliminating multiple packings in order to reliably cut off the water supply to the vaporization chamber and seal watertightly with the water tank of the vaporization chamber. I can do it.

However, with such a configuration, the following new technical problems arise. In other words,
By instantaneously evaporating the water supplied to the vaporization chamber, the amount of water supplied to the vaporization chamber is limited by a drip nozzle to prevent boiling water from spewing out along with steam. are microscopic, about 0.5 mm, and are precisely machined. When the dripping nozzle, which is made up of packing with such highly precisely formed holes, is pressed with the opening/closing rod, the hole in the dripping nozzle deforms and the amount of water supplied to the vaporization chamber changes, making it impossible to supply the specified amount of water. As a result, not only does the amount of steam ejected become unstable, but also there is a problem in that hot water that is not vaporized due to excessive water supply is ejected along with the steam.

Therefore, the present invention solves these conventional problems, makes it possible to reliably cut off the water supply to the vaporization chamber by the opening/closing rod, improves the operability of the steam control button, and simplifies the configuration. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a steam iron that can improve assembly workability and emit stable steam over a long period of time.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has the following features:
A base whose upper surface side is covered with a vaporization chamber to form a vaporization chamber; a water tank installed above the base with a gap; a drip nozzle having a small hole communicating the vaporization chamber and the water tank; comprising an opening/closing rod whose lower end faces the dripping nozzle and a drip control device having an operation button for operating the opening/closing rod up and down, the dripping nozzle being made of a flexible material having elasticity such as rubber; A flange portion is formed on the outer circumferential portion of the flange portion, which is sandwiched between the vaporization chamber lid and the outer bottom portion of the water tank, and has a concave groove portion recessed from the inner lower end portion.

Effect With the above configuration, the deformation of the flange that occurs when the flange of the dripping nozzle is pressurized by the vaporization chamber cover and the outer bottom of the water tank and the two are connected with a watertight seal via the dripping nozzle is prevented. This can be absorbed by the concave groove provided on the inside, and the dimensions of the small hole, which is formed with high precision, will not change.

Therefore, by sufficiently pressurizing the dripping nozzle made of flexible material placed between the water tank and the vaporization chamber,
Not only can a watertight sealing connection between the two be ensured, but also a limited amount of water can be stably supplied to the vaporization chamber.

Embodiment Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the accompanying drawings. In FIGS. 2 to 4, 11 is a base having a vaporization chamber 12 and a steam outlet 13, and a heater 14 is embedded therein. The vaporization chamber 12
is covered with a vaporization chamber lid 15. 16 is base 1
A base cover consisting of a heat insulating plate covering the top side of 1.
17 is the water tank 1 together with this base cover 16
8 with a water tank 18 in front of it.
A water inlet 19 is provided. 20 is water tank 18
This is a dropping nozzle provided with a small hole 20a that communicates with the vaporizing chamber 12, and is made of a flexible material such as silicone rubber. Reference numeral 21 denotes a flange portion provided on the outer periphery of the dripping nozzle 20, and this portion is compressed by the lower surface of the water tank 18 and the vaporizing chamber lid 15 forming the upper surface of the vaporizing chamber 12 to form a watertight seal.
22 is a concave groove recessed from the inner lower end of the flange portion 21, and even if the flange portion 21 is compressed and deformed, the inner diameter of the small hole 20a of the dripping nozzle 20 does not change. Further, the dripping nozzle 20 is formed with a small hole 20a and a cylindrical water guide portion 20b that projects upward from the upper surface of the flange portion 21, and this water guide portion 20b is fitted into the bottom of the water tank 18. . Reference numeral 23 denotes an opening/closing rod made of metal or the like and forming a part of the drip control device 24, which is connected to the water guide section 20.
The opening/closing rod 23 is moved up and down by manual operation of the operation button 25 to control the generation of steam.

Next, the operation of the configuration of this embodiment will be explained. When generating steam during ironing work, when the operation button 25 is manually raised, the lower end of the opening/closing rod 23 moves upward from the state where it is in contact with the water guide part 20b of the dripping nozzle 20.
The water tank 18 and the vaporization chamber 12 are communicated with each other. Therefore, the water in the water tank 18 is limited to a predetermined amount by the small hole 20a and is supplied to the vaporization chamber 12 to generate steam. When the operation button 25 is manually pushed down, it can be pressed and fitted to the upper end of the water guide part 20b of the dripping nozzle 20 made of a flexible material, and the water supply to the vaporization chamber 12 can be reliably stopped. can be done.

By constructing the drip nozzle 20 from a flexible material in this way, the water supply to the vaporization chamber 12 can be reliably stopped with a light pressing force of the opening/closing rod 23, and the operating load of the operation button 25 can be reduced. A steam iron with excellent operability and ease of use is obtained. Furthermore, by constructing the dripping nozzle 20 from a flexible material, the vaporization chamber 12 and the water tank 18 can be sealed together in a watertight manner without adding multiple sealing members such as packing, which simplifies the configuration. became cheaper and cheaper,
Moreover, work efficiency during assembly can also be improved.

Then, the flange portion 21 of the dripping nozzle 20 is pressurized by the vaporization chamber lid 15 and the outer bottom of the water tank 18,
The deformation of the flange portion 21 that occurs when the two are watertightly sealed together via the drip nozzle 20 can be absorbed by the concave groove portion 22 provided inside the flange portion 21, so that it can be formed with high precision. There is no need to change the dimensions of the small hole 20a.

Therefore, the dripping nozzle 20 made of a flexible material disposed between the water tank 18 and the vaporization chamber 12 can be sufficiently pressurized to ensure a watertight sealing connection between the two, and at the same time, it is possible to A predetermined amount of water can be stably supplied to the vaporization chamber 12.

In the embodiment of the present invention, a cylindrical water guide part 20b is formed above the small hole 20a provided in the dripping nozzle 20, and this water guide part 20b is fitted into the bottom of the water tank 18, and the water guide part 20b is inserted into the bottom of the water tank 18. By bringing the lower end of the opening/closing rod 23 into contact with the upper end, it is possible to prevent contact pressing force from acting on the small hole 20a due to the pressing of the opening/closing rod 23 against the dripping nozzle 20, so that it can be used for a long period of time. Even with repeated opening and closing operations, the size of the small hole 20a is maintained and a predetermined amount of water can be maintained.

Further, when the water guide portion 20b is pressed by the lower end of the opening/closing rod 23, the water guide portion 20b bulges outward, thereby further enhancing the sealing effect with the water tank 18.

Effects of the Invention As described above, the steam iron of the present invention has
The dripping nozzle is made of a flexible material with elasticity such as rubber, and the outer periphery of the dripping nozzle is sandwiched between the vaporizing chamber cover and the outer bottom of the water tank, and a groove is formed from the inner lower end. By forming the flange part, the change in the flange part that occurs when the flange part of the dripping nozzle is pressurized by the vaporizing chamber cover and the outer bottom of the water tank can be prevented by the concave groove part provided inside the flange part. It can be attached to small holes that are formed with high precision without changing the dimensions.

Therefore, by sufficiently pressurizing the drip nozzle made of flexible material placed between the water tank and the vaporization chamber,
It is possible to ensure a watertight sealing connection between the two, and also to supply a limited amount of water to the vaporization chamber.

In addition, since the dripping nozzle can be made of a flexible material, it is possible to reduce heat conduction from the base, which is heated to a high temperature. This makes it possible to suppress the rise in temperature of the water tank to a low level, making it possible to construct the water tank from inexpensive materials, and also keeping the temperature of the dripping nozzle itself low.

Therefore, the surface temperature of the dripping nozzle that comes into contact with water can be lowered, which prevents bubbles from forming and adhering to the surface of the dripping nozzle, and the flow of water is no longer obstructed by these bubbles. Therefore, it is possible to smoothly supply water to the vaporizing chamber and to emit stable steam over a long period of time.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the main part of a conventional steam iron, Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the main part of a steam iron showing an embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 3 is a main part showing the same dripping nozzle in a closed state. FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of a main part showing a state in which the drip nozzle is opened. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11... Base, 12... Vaporization chamber, 15... Vaporization chamber lid, 18... Water tank, 20... Dripping nozzle, 20a... Small hole, 21... Flange part, 22
...Groove portion, 23...Opening/closing rod, 24...Dripping control device, 25...Operation button.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A base whose upper surface side is covered with a vaporization chamber lid to form a vaporization chamber, a water tank installed above the base with a gap, and a dripping nozzle having a small hole communicating the vaporization chamber and the water tank. , a dripping control device having an opening/closing rod whose lower end faces the dripping nozzle and an operation button for vertically moving the opening/closing rod, the dripping nozzle being made of a flexible material having elasticity such as rubber. At the same time, the steam iron has a flange formed on its outer periphery, which is sandwiched between the vaporization chamber lid and the outer bottom of the water tank, and has a groove recessed from the inner lower end.