JPH0611360B2 - Steam iron - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an improvement of a steam iron.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems] Conventionally, when a steam iron is kept in a state in which a steam switch is turned on, when the iron is not used, for example, when ironing is finished and until the next clothes are ironed. When the iron is kept in a self-supporting state, there is a problem that steam is spouted from the spout even if the iron is self-supporting, extra energy is consumed and it is extremely dangerous.

[Object of the Invention] The present invention has been made in order to solve such a problem, and provides a steam iron which can prevent wasteful consumption of steam and wasteful energy and can improve safety. With the goal.

[Summary of the Invention] The present invention includes a heater, a vaporization chamber, and an iron base provided with a steam ejection port for ejecting steam generated in the vaporization chamber, and a water tank provided on the iron base.
An electric device for supplying water from the water tank to the vaporization chamber, a state detection means for detecting the horizontal state and the independent state of the iron, and a steam switch are provided, and the operation output of the steam switch and the horizontal state detection output by the state detection means are provided. The logical product output drives the electric device, and even if the steam switch is turned on, the generation of steam is automatically stopped when the iron is set to the self-supporting state.

[Embodiment of the Invention] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, 1 is an iron base, 2 is an iron body placed on the rear of the iron base 1, and 3 is detachable from the iron base 1 and the iron body 2 at the front of the iron base 1. It is a water tank provided.

A heater 4 is embedded in the iron base 1, and a vaporization chamber 5 is formed above the heater 4. A steam jet 6 is provided on the lower surface of the iron base 1, and the jet 6 communicates with the vaporization chamber 5.

An electromagnetic pump 7 is housed in the iron body 2 as an electric device, and the electromagnetic pump 7 supplies the water in the water tank 3 to the vaporization chamber 5. Further, a handle 8 is formed on the upper part of the iron main body 2, and an operation button 9 for a steam switch is provided at the tip of the handle 8, and further as a state detecting means for detecting the horizontal state and the self-standing state of the iron in the rear portion. The mercury switch 10 is stored.

As shown in FIG. 2, the heater 4 is connected to an AC power source 11 via a thermo switch 12, and the steam switch 13 and the mercury switch 10 that are turned on and off by pressing the operation button 9 are connected in series. The electromagnetic pump 7 is connected via the.

As shown in FIG. 3, the mercury switch 10 has a case 10a in which a mercury 10b is housed in a conductive case 10a.
An electrode 10c connected to the case 10a is projected on one side, and an electrode 10d insulated from the case 10a is projected on the other side of the case 10a. And the mercury switch 10 is the iron body 2
It is stored in the rear part in the direction as shown in FIG. That is, as shown in FIG. 4 (a), when the iron is placed horizontally, the electrode 10c is on the upper side and the electrode 10d is on the lower side, and the mercury 10b is in contact with both the case 10a and the electrode 10d so that the switch is turned on. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4 (b), when the iron is self-supporting, the electrode 10d becomes
At a position diagonally above c, the mercury 10b is separated from the electrode 10d and is switched off.

In the embodiment of the present invention having such a structure, the iron base 1 is heated by the heater 4, and its temperature is controlled by the thermoswitch 13. Now, with the operation button 9 being operated and the steam switch 13 being turned on,
When an iron is used, that is, when the iron is leveled for ironing, the mercury switch 10 is in the state shown in FIG. Then, the electromagnetic pump 7 is connected to the power source 11 and starts to operate, whereby the water in the water tank 3 is supplied to the vaporization chamber 5, and steam is jetted from the jet port 6. When the iron is stopped in this state and the iron is made to stand by itself, the mercury switch 10 is turned on as shown in FIG. 4 (b).
The state becomes the off state. Then, the energization of the electromagnetic pump 7 is stopped, the supply of water to the vaporization chamber 5 is stopped, and the generation of steam is stopped.

Thus, even if the steam switch 13 is in the ON state, the generation of steam is automatically stopped when the iron is stopped and the iron is made independent, so that the steam is wasted or energy is wasted. There is no fear of it. Further, since steam does not occur in the iron independent state, there is no risk of causing an accident such as a burn even if the hand or the like is brought near the steam spout 6 without knowing it while the iron is independent. The safety can be improved. In addition, each time the iron is made independent, the operation button 9
There is no need to operate to turn off the steam switch 13, which is convenient.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
The same parts as those in the above embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 5, a touch switch 20 is provided on the handle 8 instead of the mercury switch of the above embodiment. Then, as shown in FIG. 6, one electrode 20a of the touch switch 20 is connected to the positive electrode terminal of the DC power supply 21, and the other electrode 20b is connected to the negative electrode terminal of the DC power supply 21 via the resistor 22. . The connection point between the electrode 20b and the resistor 22 is connected to one input terminal of a 2-input NAND gate 23, and the positive terminal of the DC power source 21 is connected to the resistor 2
4 to the other input terminal of the NAND gate 23. A relay 26 is connected to the DC power source 21 via a PNP type transistor 25, and the base of the transistor 25 is connected to the output terminal of the NAND gate 23 via a resistor 27. A diode 28 for absorbing surge is connected in parallel to the relay 26. The normally open contact of the relay 26 is inserted in the circuit instead of the contact of the mercury switch described above.

In this case, when the handle 8 is grasped by hand because the iron is used, the electrodes 20a and 20b of the touch switch 20 are respectively held.
Are short-circuited, the output of the NAND gate 23 becomes low level, the transistor 25 is turned on, the relay 26 is operated, and its normally open contact is closed. Then, if the steam switch 13 is in the ON state, the electromagnetic pump 7 operates to generate steam. Also, when the iron is used and the iron is made to stand by and the hand is released from the handle 8, the touch switch 2
0 is turned off, the output of the NAND gate 23 becomes high level, and the transistor 25 is turned off. Then,
The operation of the relay 26 is stopped, its normally open contact is opened, the operation of the electromagnetic pump 7 is stopped, and the generation of steam is stopped.

In this way, also in this embodiment, the same effect as in the above embodiment can be obtained.

[Advantages of the Invention] As described in detail above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a steam iron which can prevent wasteful consumption of steam and wasteful energy and further improve safety.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 to 4 show an embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view with a partial cross section, FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the structure of the mercury switch, FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the mercury switch when the iron is in the horizontal state and when the iron is self-supporting, and FIGS. FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional view partially in section, and FIG. 6 is a contact control circuit diagram by a touch switch. 1 ... Iron base, 2 ... Iron body, 3 ... Water tank, 4 ... Heater, 5 ... Vaporization chamber, 6 ... Steam jet port, 7 ... Electromagnetic pump, 8 ... Handle, 9 ... Operation buttons, 10 ... mercury switch, 13 ... steam switch, 20 ... touch switch.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An iron base provided with a heater, a vaporization chamber, and a steam ejection port for ejecting steam generated in the vaporization chamber, a water tank provided on the iron base, and the water tank to the vaporization chamber. An electric device for supplying water, a state detecting means for detecting the horizontal state and the self-standing state of the iron, and a steam switch are provided, and by the logical product output of the operation output of the steam switch and the horizontal state detecting output by the state detecting means. A steam iron that drives the electric device.