WO2017076440A1

WO2017076440A1 - A steam iron

Info

Publication number: WO2017076440A1
Application number: PCT/EP2015/075677
Authority: WO
Inventors: Asli Saime Kayihan; Burcu UNAT; Mehmet Marasli
Original assignee: Arcelik Anonim Sirketi
Priority date: 2015-11-04
Filing date: 2015-11-04
Publication date: 2017-05-11
Also published as: EP3371364A1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a steam iron (1) comprising a body (2), a water reservoir (3) placed within the body (2), a soleplate (4) having a flat base (5) aimed to be put in contact with the clothes to smooth them, heating means for heating the soleplate (4), a cover (6) fixed to the body (2) and to the soleplate (4) and defining with the latter a steam chamber (7), at least one inlet (9) arranged on the cover (6) for allowing water from the reservoir (3) to be inputted in the steam chamber (7), at least one steam outlet (10) that is arranged on the soleplate (4) and that enables the discharge of steam generated by water released from the reservoir (3) in the steam chamber (7) upon contact with the heated soleplate (4) and a plurality of barrier elements (11) arranged on the soleplate (4) along the water path from the at least one inlet (9) to the at least one outlets (10) and each extending from the base (5) toward the cover (6) and defining with the latter a steam passage (12).

Description

A STEAM IRON

The present invention relates to a steam iron capable of emitting a continuous and high flow of steam.

Steam irons are well known in the market since many years. With respect to simple irons, steam irons allow to discharge hot steam on the clothes to be dewrinkled, thus allowing to unwind the fibers and to remove wrinkles in less time and in an easier manner.

Steam irons comprise a soleplate generally made of metal aimed to be heated and to be put in contact and pressed on the clothes in order to smooth them. The soleplate is supported by a body, usually made of plastic, having a handle, graspable by a user to move the iron on the clothes with the soleplate in contact with them, and a water reservoir for containing water to be sprayed on the clothes in order to moisten them or to be transformed into steam to be discharged on the clothes. The steam irons further comprise a steam chamber which is defined between the soleplate and a cover extending substantially parallel to the soleplate and attached to the body. When the user desires to discharge steam on the clothes, water is released from the reservoir into the steam chamber where, by getting in contact with the hot soleplate, it turns into steam and it is ejected through outlets provided on the soleplate.

The efficiency in removing wrinkles on the clothes is more affected by the amount of steam discharged as a continuous flow on the clothes than by the temperature reached by the soleplate. In order to increase the amount of steam produced and ejected by the iron, a higher amount of water has to be delivered to the steam chamber and the temperature of the soleplate has to be increase. However, when the soleplate reaches a temperature significantly hotter than the water's boiling point, the water released in the chamber, upon getting in contact with the soleplate, produces an insulating vapor layer that makes the droplet hovers over the soleplate rather than making physical contact with it, due to the Leidenfrost effect, thus preventing the water from evaporating rapidly. As a consequence droplets of water, which did not evaporate completely, are emitted through the outlets of the soleplate together with the steam, wetting the clothes and possibly staining them.

In order to prevent the droplets of unevaporated water from escaping the steam chamber, the soleplate is provided with barrier elements placed along the path of the water in the direction of the outlets, which barrier elements extend toward the cover and define with the latter restricted passages for allowing the steam to pass and to reach the outlets, while hindering the passage of the water droplets. Moreover the barrier elements increase the contact surface of the water with the soleplate, thus favoring its evaporation.

However, the velocity of the steam through the restricted passages increases so that water droplets tend to be dragged by the steam through the restricted passages.

Moreover, when in order to produce a higher amount of steam a higher amount of water is delivered to the steam chamber, the pressure within the steam chamber increases so that water droplets are dragged by the high pressure steam toward the outlets of the soleplate thus escaping the steam chamber. The high pressure within the steam chamber also prevents continuous evaporation of water and emission of steam from the soleplate.

The invention disclosed in the patent application WO 2010131148 A1 attempts to solve this problem by providing the soleplate with barriers arranged around each outlet and having a hydrophobic surface.

The aim of the present invention is therefore to provide a steam iron which allows a high and continuous flow of steam to be discharged on the clothes, while preventing water droplets from being released on the clothes.

A further aim of the present invention is to provide a steam iron having a cover for its soleplate which is easy and economical to be produced and which can be installed in the steam iron without requiring substantial redesigning of the body and of the soleplate of the steam iron.

The steam iron realized in order to attain the aim of the present invention, explicated in the first claim and the respective dependent claims thereof, comprises a soleplate, having a plurality of barrier elements arranged along the water path toward the steam outlets for blocking the water droplets while allowing the passage of steam above the barrier elements, and a cover defining with the soleplate a steam chamber and comprising an embossed area over at least part of the barrier elements for widening the correspondent steam passages. The embossed area reduces hence the steam velocity across the steam passages so that the water droplets are less likely to be dragged by the steam flow toward the steam outlets.

According to an embodiment, the cover comprises an embossed area over each of the barrier elements.

In a further embodiment, the embossed area is a single continuous area that extends over the barrier elements.

In another embodiment the height and the width of the transversal section of the embossed area is selected to reach a desired increase in the steam flow through the steam passages.

In a further embodiment the height of embossed area is comprised between 2 mm and 5 mm.

The steam iron realized in order to attain the aim of the present invention is illustrated in the attached figures, where:

Figure 1 – is a schematic view of a steam iron.

Figure 2 – is a schematic view of a water droplet on a portion of a hot soleplate.

Figure 3 – is a perspective view of a cover mounted on a soleplate of a steam iron.

Figure 4 – is a perspective view only of the cover of a steam iron according to the present invention.

Figure 5 – is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion of the cover of Figure 4 taken from the line V-V.

Figure 6 – is a plan view of a soleplate of a steam iron.

Figure 7 – is a plan view of the cover mounted on a soleplate of a steam iron.

Figure 8 – is a cross-sectional view of the cover mounted on a soleplate of a steam iron of Figure 6 taken from the line VIII-VIII.

The elements illustrated in the figures are numbered as follows:

Steam iron
Body
Water reservoir
Soleplate
Base
Cover
Steam chamber
Rim
Inlet
Steam outlet
Barrier elements
Steam passage
Embossed area
Guiding walls
Handle
Thermostat
Steam discharging button
Continuous steam setting element

The steam iron 1 comprises a body 2, a water reservoir 3 placed within the body 2, a soleplate 4 having a flat base 5 aimed to be put in contact with the clothes to smooth them, heating means (not illustrated) for heating the soleplate 4, a cover 6 fixed to the body 2 and to the soleplate 4 and defining with the latter a steam chamber 7. More in detail, according to an embodiment illustrated in the attached figures, the cover 6 has a flat shape and is fixed to the soleplate 4 substantially parallel to the flat base 5 of the latter. Preferably the soleplate 4 comprises a rim 8 that perimetrally delimits the steam chamber 7.

In particular the body comprises a handle 15, to be grasped for allowing the user to move the steam iron 1 with the base 5 of the soleplate 4 in contact with the clothes, a thermostat 16, for allowing the user to set the desired temperature of the soleplate 4, a steam discharging button 17, for allowing the user to command the sudden discharge of pressurized steam on the clothes, i.e. the release of shock steam, and a continuous steam setting element 18, such as a wheel or a lever, for allowing the user to set the continuous release of steam and to regulate the amount of continuous steam which is desired to be discharged.

The steam iron 1 further comprises one or more inlets 9 arranged on the cover 6 for allowing water from the reservoir 3 to be inputted in the steam chamber 7 and one or more steam outlets 10 that are arranged on the soleplate 3 and that enables the discharge of steam generated by water released from the reservoir 3 in the steam chamber 7 upon contact with the heated soleplate 4. Advantageously, one of the inlets 9, in particular the inlet arranged on the cover 6 on a forward position closer to the tip of the iron 1, is provided for allowing water from the reservoir 3 to be inputted in the steam chamber 7 for the production of shock steam, when the user presses the steam discharging button 17, while another of the inlets 9, in particular the inlet arranged on the cover 6 on a backward position closer to the rear of the iron 1, is provided for allowing water from the reservoir 3 to be inputted in the steam chamber 7 for the production of continuous steam, when the user, by means of the setting element 18, sets the desired amount of steam to be continuously released through the soleplate 4.

According to an embodiment, the steam iron 1 comprises guiding walls 14 extending between the base 5 of the soleplate 4 and the cover 6 for guiding the water, and then the water and steam mixture, toward the outlets 10, so us to provide a sufficiently long path for the water in contact with the heated soleplate 4 before reaching the outlets 10 thus ensuring the proper evaporation of the water before reaching the outlets 10.

The steam iron 1 comprises a plurality of barrier elements 11 arranged on the soleplate 4 along the water (and water and steam mixture) path from the inlet or inlets 9 to the steam outlets 10 and each extending from the base 5 toward the cover 6 and defining with the latter a steam passage 12. Preferably the barrier elements 11 extend each substantially perpendicularly from the base 5. The barrier elements 11 are aimed to hinder the passage of the water droplets D that hovers over a vapor layer L on the base 5 of the soleplate 4, as illustrated in Figure 2, due to the Leidenfrost effect, while allowing the passage of the steam through the steam passages 12 in order to prevent droplets of water to be emitted through the outlets 10 together with the steam, which water droplets could wet and stain the clothes. Moreover the barrier elements 11 increase the contact surface between the heated soleplate 4 and the water, thus favoring the evaporation of the latter.

In an embodiment, the barrier elements 11 have a fin like shape, being arranged substantially transversally to the water and steam mixture path.

Operationally, upon command of the user in particular by pressing the steam button 17 or by acting on the continuous steam setting element 18, water is discharged from the water reservoir 3 to the steam chamber 7 through the inlet or inlets 9 on the cover 6. In particular when it is released in the steam chamber 7 for the production of continuous steam, the water follows in the steam chamber 7 the path defined by the guiding walls 14 (schematically illustrated by arrows in Figure 6) while evaporating due to the contact with the heated soleplate 4. The moving of the water droplets along the path is stopped by the barrier elements 11, while the steam passes through the steam passages 12 between the barrier elements 11 and the cover 6.

The cover 6 of the steam iron 1 according to the present invention comprises an embossed area 13 over at least part of the barrier elements 11 for widening the correspondent steam passages 12. This allows to decrease the velocity of the steam that flows through the steam passages 12, thus avoiding that water droplets could be dragged by the high velocity steam through the steam passages 12 toward the steam outlets 10 and discharged on the clothes together with the steam.

The cover 6 of the steam iron 1 according to the invention, thanks to the presence of the embossed area 13, allows a higher amount of steam, and in particular of continuous steam, to be produced, by heating the soleplate 4 at higher temperatures and by introducing a higher amount of water in the steam chamber 7, without the drawback of water being discharged through the steam outlets 10, as it would be normally happening in steam irons according to the prior art.

Moreover the cover 6 of the steam iron 1 according to the invention, by decreasing the velocity of the steam passing through the steam passages 12, allows the emission of a continuous and high flow of steam through the outlets 10, thus increasing the efficiency of the steam iron 1. In particular the cover 6 of the steam iron 1 according to the present invention is particularly efficient for allowing the release of high amounts of continuous steam on the clothes.

According to an embodiment, the cover 6 comprises an embossed area 13 over each of the barrier elements 11. This allows to widen all the steam passages 12 in the steam chamber 7 and hence to hinder the passage of water droplets together with the steam through each of the steam passages 12.

In an embodiment illustrated in the attached figures, the embossed area 13 of the cover 6 is a single continuous area that extends over the barrier elements 11 and, in a further embodiment, over all the barrier elements 11. This allows to render the production process of the cover 6 easier.

In another embodiment, the height h and the width w of the transversal section of the embossed area 13, as illustrated in Figure 5, is selected to reach a desired increase in the steam flow through the steam passages 12. By considering the number of steam passages 12 that are widened due to the embossed area 13 and the increase in the area of each of the steam passages 12, which corresponds to the area defined by the width w and height h of the transversal section of the embossed area 13, it is in fact possible to evaluate the increase on the steam flow.

For instance a steam flow of 35 gr/min in a steam iron having a traditional cover, i.e. a cover not provided with an embossed area, can be increased of the 35% reaching 47 gr/min by providing the cover 6 with an embossed area 13 having a height of 3 mm and extending over four barrier elements 11.

Therefore the cover 6 of the steam iron 1 according to the present invention can be designed in order to obtain the desired steam flow.

In a further embodiment, the height h of embossed area 13 is comprised between 2 mm and 5 mm. This allows to provide a significant increase of the steam flow, while not requiring any substantial modification of the design of the body 2 of the steam iron 1.

In an embodiment, the width w of embossed area 13 is determined according to the width of the barrier elements 11. This allows to widen the whole correspondent steam passages 12. For instance, the width w of the embossed area 13 can be also variable according to the possible variable width of the barrier elements.

In a further embodiment, the width w of embossed area 13 is substantially the same as the width of the barrier elements 11. This allows to avoid the passage of steam along paths other than the preset path.

The steam iron 1 according to the present invention is therefore characterized by a high efficiency, due to the capability of providing a high and continuous flow of steam, though being still easy and economical to be produced.

Claims

A steam iron (1) comprising a body (2), a water reservoir (3) placed within the body (2), a soleplate (4) having a flat base (5) aimed to be put in contact with the clothes to smooth them, heating means for heating the soleplate (4), a cover (6) fixed to the body (2) and to the soleplate (4) and defining with the latter a steam chamber (7), at least one inlet (9) arranged on the cover (6) for allowing water from the reservoir (3) to be inputted in the steam chamber (7), at least one steam outlet (10) that is arranged on the soleplate (4) and that enables the discharge of steam generated by water released from the reservoir (3) in the steam chamber (7) upon contact with the heated soleplate (4), a plurality of barrier elements (11) arranged on the soleplate (4) along the water path from the at least one inlet (9) to the at least one outlets (10) and each extending from the base (5) toward the cover (6) and defining with the latter a steam passage (12), characterized in that the cover (6) comprises an embossed area (13) over at least part of the barrier elements (11) for widening the correspondent steam passages (12).
A steam iron (1) as in Claim 1, characterized in that the cover (6) comprises an embossed area (13) over each of the barrier elements (11).
A steam iron (1) as in Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the embossed area (13) is a single continuous area that extends over the barrier elements (11).
A steam iron (1) as in any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the height (h) and the width (w) of the transversal section of the embossed area (13) is selected to reach a desired increase in the steam flow through the steam passages (12).
A steam iron (1) as in Claim 4, characterized in that the height (h) of embossed area (13) is comprised between 2 mm and 5 mm.
A steam iron (1) as in Claim 4 or 5, characterized in that the width (w) of embossed area (13) is determined according to the width of the barrier elements (11).
A steam iron (1) as in Claim 6, characterized in that the width (w) of embossed area (13) is substantially the same as the width of the barrier elements (11).