EP0157706A2 - Steam-generating apparatus for removing creases from textile materials - Google Patents

Abstract

The hollow body of the steam generator apparatus forms a water reservoir enclosing the heating electrodes and carries an electrical socket for the connecting plug of an electric supply cable. The filler hole (20) in the apparatus is blocked by a stopper (22) carrying a tongue (24) mounted so that it can slide over the body (1) of the apparatus. The arrangement is such that the tongue (24) comes to rest against the socket (9) carried by the apparatus when the stopper (22) is not blocking the filler hole. This then prevents the external connecting plug (11) being replaced, it having had to be withdrawn first. <IMAGE>

Description

The present invention relates to steam generator devices for smoothing fabrics.

Apparatuses of this type have a hollow body forming a water reservoir and which has vapor outlet orifices near a brush intended to be passed over the fabric to be smoothed. The water is heated by internal electrodes connected to an electrical outlet carried by the device and intended to receive the plug for the connection of an electric power cable. These devices can take various forms, in particular a similar shape to that of an iron.

These devices are extremely practical. However, they have two significant drawbacks in terms of job security. The first

lies in the danger existing at the time of filling if the heating electrodes are then energized. The second drawback relates to the risk that at the time of filling, the quantity of water introduced is too large or that splashes are projected on some of the internal connections and that these can then cause a short circuit when the device is returned to operation.

To avoid these drawbacks, and in particular the first of them, a certain number of solutions have already been envisaged.

Thus, the French Certificate of Utility 2,462,210 describes an ironing device in which the removable cover of the hollow body can only be removed after prior removal of the plug from the electrical supply conductor. This therefore constitutes a safety measure to prevent the internal heating electrodes from being energized during filling, however nothing would prevent a distracted user reconnecting the plug of the supply conductor while the cover is removed and that the filling is in progress. Consequently, the security sought is not achieved in an absolutely complete manner.

European patent application 13,256 also describes an ironing apparatus designed so that filling can only be carried out after removing the plug from the supply conductor. For this purpose, the plug of the filling orifice is carried by one of the ends of the grip handle of the device, which is removable, and comprises, at its opposite end, an opening arranged opposite the electrical outlet. carried by the device. This arrangement therefore requires, as in the previous case, to remove the connection plug from the supply conductor before being able to open the filling opening. But here again, nothing prevents a distracted user reconnects the plug of the supply conductor as soon as the closure plug is removed and thus performs the filling operation.

In addition in this device there is the risk that too much water is introduced into the device during filling and that under these conditions water is sprayed on certain electrical connections. However, this could cause a short circuit when the device is subsequently put back into service.

This is why the aim of the present invention is to produce an apparatus of the type in question, the design of which is such that both absolute security is obtained at the time of filling and that there is no risk of introduction of too much water or splashing water on certain connections during this operation.

To this end, the apparatus according to the invention is characterized in that the filling orifice of its hollow body is closed by a plug carrying a tongue slidingly mounted on the body of this apparatus, and the arrangement is such that this tongue is placed against the socket carried by it, when the plug is moved away from the filling orifice.

This arrangement therefore has the consequence, not only to oblige to withdraw beforehand the plug of connection of the supplying conductor in order to be able to slide the tab carried by the shutter plug, but also to prohibit then the reinstallation of this plug as long as the plug does not has not itself been brought back to its shutter position. This therefore provides absolute security during filling.

Preferably the present device has a shape similar to that of an iron, so that its hollow body has a working part of flat shape carrying, at its ends, two protuberances between which extends a grip handle and one of which carries the electrical outlet for this device.

According to another characteristic of the present invention, the filling orifice, which is then provided on the protuberance of the opposite end of the hollow body of the device, is arranged so as to open towards the bearing end the electrical outlet, having its axis substantially parallel to the external face of the working part. Under these conditions the filling of the device can only be carried out by holding it vertically and directing upwards its end carrying the electrical outlet. Thus the quantity of water introduced is automatically limited by the very position of the filling orifice and there is no risk in any way of splashing water towards the electrical connection connections, since the corresponding end of the the device is then placed upwards.

• La figure 1 est une vue en perspective d'un appareil selon l'invention ;
• La figure 2 est une vue en coupe longitudinale selon la ligne II-II de la figure 1 ;
• La figure 3 est une vue partielle en coupe selon la ligne III-III de la figure 1 ;
• La figure 4 est une vue partielle en plan de la face de travail du présent appareil ;
• La figure 5 est une vue en perspective de l'une des brosses amovibles équipant cet appareil ;
• La figure 6 est une vue en perspective illustrant l'opération de remplissage du présent appareil.

However, the invention also aims to provide a number of other improvements to the present device. The rest of other features and advantages thereof will appear during the following description of an exemplary embodiment. This description is given with reference to the attached drawing for information only, and in which:

• Figure 1 is a perspective view of an apparatus according to the invention;
• Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view along the line II-II of Figure 1;
• Figure 3 is a partial sectional view along line III-III of Figure 1;
• Figure 4 is a partial plan view of the working face of the present apparatus;
• Figure 5 is a perspective view of one of the removable brushes fitted to this device;
• Figure 6 is a perspective view illustrating the filling operation of this device.

In the example shown, the hollow body 1 of the device according to the invention has a shape similar to that of an iron. Consequently, this hollow body comprises a working part ₂ of flat shape carrying, at its ends, two protuberances 3 and 4 between which extends a grip handle 5. This hollow body is constituted by two parts 6 and 7, molded of material plastic, and which are joined by their edges, as shown in Figure 2. As for the grip 5 it is constituted by a bar, which can also be molded in plastic and whose ends are fixed on top of the protrusions 3 and 4.

The protuberance 4 is closed at its base by an attached partition 8 so as to constitute an insulated compartment with respect to the space of the hollow body serving. water reservoir. Inside the upper part of this compartment is arranged an electrical outlet 9, the pins 10 of which are accessible from the outside in order to adapt the connection outlet 11 of an electrical supply cable 12. The terminals of the internal socket 9 are also connected, by conductors 13, to the two corresponding electrodes 14 provided inside the flat part 2 of the body of the device.

The external wall 15 of this part includes the steam outlet orifices. These consist of a series of openings 16 formed in a plate 17 attached to a recess formed in this wall and at the place where it is a chimney projecting inside the protuberance 3 is provided. At the end, this chimney has an opening 19 allowing the steam to escape in the direction of the outlet orifices 16.

The filling opening of the device consists of an opening 20 formed on the wall 21 of the protuberance 3 which is turned in the direction of the opposite protuberance 4 of the body of the device. This opening, which is located at the upper part of this wall 21, is therefore itself turned in the direction of the protuberance 4, and its joint plane is perpendicular, or almost, to the flat face 15 of the working part 2 of the device. The inclination of the joint plane of this opening with this planar face 15 can be of the order of 60 ° to 90 °, for example 70 °, as in the example shown.

This opening is closed by a plug 22 provided with a seal 23 and which carries a tongue 24 slidably mounted in a slide 25 formed under the bar 5 constituting the grip handle of the device. The tongue 24 carries two crosspieces 26 and 27, one of which has notches 28 on its edges projecting from the corresponding edges of the handle 5 (see FIG. 1). These notches thus make it possible to grasp this crosspiece between two fingers to slide the tongue 24 in the direction of the arrow F in order to move the plug 22 apart from the filling orifice 20 along the axis X-Y.

However, the level of the slide 25 is such that the free end 24a of the tongue 24 then comes to be placed above the pins 10 of the electrical outlet 9. In fact the length of this tongue is also such that in closed position of the plug 22 its rear end clears the space included above the pin 10 of the electrical outlet 9, and in the open position of this same plug, this same end of the tongue completely covers the pins 10.

Under these conditions, in order to be able to remove the plug 22, it is first necessary to remove the plug 11 for connecting the supply conductor 12. However, the removal of the plug 22 brings the end 24a of the tongue 24 to be placed opposite the pins 10 of the socket 9. This therefore prohibits the replacement of the plug 11 for connection until the plug 22 has not been returned to its closed position.

This arrangement therefore provides absolutely complete security. In fact, contrary to what can happen in some previous devices of the same kind, a distracted or unconscious user cannot in any way adapt the connection socket until the plug of the filling orifice has been brought back into its closed position.

However, another important security resides in the fact that the filling can only be carried out in the position shown in FIG. 6, that is to say in a position for which the flat part 2 of the body of the device is arranged vertically, however, its protrusions 3 and 4 are placed respectively downwards and upwards. In fact, taking into account the orientation provided for the filling orifice, it is only in this position that the latter is oriented upwards and that it is thus possible to pour water into the 'interior, for example by means of a measuring cup or even simply by means of the spout 29 of a water tap.

The fact that the device must be held in this position during filling, automatically limits the amount of water that can be introduced inside the hollow body thereof. In fact, this quantity is determined by the level at which the filling orifice 20 is located, therefore its spacing E relative to the end of the protuberance 3. However, the volumes of the different parts of the hollow body of the device are determined so that the quantity of water which can be introduced does not exceed the maximum admissible volume.

Another safety consists in the fact that during filling, there cannot be any splashing of water on certain electrical connections existing inside the device. This also results from the party position special imposed on the body thereof for its filling. In fact, in this position, the protuberance 4, which serves as a housing for the connection members, is then placed upwards away from any projection of water. Furthermore, the end 24a of the tongue 24 then covers the pins 10 of the socket 9 of the device (see FIG. 6).

However, as already indicated, the present invention also relates to a number of additional improvements made to the present apparatus.

One of these improvements resides in the fact that this device is equipped with two brushes 30, in the form of a bar, arranged transversely on either side of the plate 17 comprising the orifices 16 for steam outlet. Each of these brushes is constituted by a strip 31 molded in plastic material carrying a row of brush bristles 32. The opposite edge of this strip is provided with two tabs 33 intended to be engaged in housings 34 formed in the flat wall 15 of the working side of the device.

The arrangement of two transverse brushes, on either side of the steam outlet area, has the effect of preventing the steam from escaping too quickly. This is therefore retained longer in the area to be smoothed out of the fabric, which ensures more effective smoothing.

Furthermore, the existence of two brushes, arranged on either side of the steam outlet zone, makes it possible to use the device indifferently in one direction or the other. Indeed current devices, which have only one transverse brush, can only be used in one direction since this brush must pass over the fabric after the action of steam.

However, due to their mounting method, the two brushes fitted to the present device are removable. Under these conditions it is possible to remove one or the other of them if desired, or even both.

Yet another improvement of the present device lies in the fact that it includes a system for adjusting the size of the section of the steam outlet passages. This system consists of a plate 35 slidingly mounted behind the plate 17 and which comprises an opening 36 of variable width, disposed opposite the outlet orifices 16. Thus by sliding this plate in the direction of the arrow F1 or in the opposite direction, it is possible to close off some of these orifices or to release all of them, which modifies the size of the section of the passages. steam outlet. The maneuver of this plate can be carried out by acting on a button 37 slidingly mounted inside an opening 38 of the plate 17.

The present device is not limited to the embodiment described above to which various variants can be made. Furthermore, the shape of the hollow body of this device can itself vary. Indeed, the device according to the invention is not limited to the case where its hollow body has a shape similar to that of an iron. In this regard, it should also be noted that the position of the filling orifice 20 can be modified provided that the orientation of the latter is preserved and that its closure is always ensured by a plug carrying a tongue mounted movably on the body. of the device and the opposite end of which is capable of being placed opposite the pins of the electrical outlet of the device when this plug is brought into the open position.

The present device can be used advantageously in all cases where it is advisable to proceed to the smoothing of fabrics of all kinds and this, as well as being used horizontally as vertically. In each case, the handling of this device is very easy since it can be easily held in the hand thanks to its grip handle 5.

Claims (6)

1 - Steam generator apparatus intended for smoothing fabrics, and whose hollow body, forming a water tank containing heating electrodes, carries an electrical outlet intended to receive the outlet for connecting an electrical supply cable, and has a filling opening, however means are provided to prevent filling through this opening until the external connection plug has been removed, characterized in that the filling opening (20) is closed by a plug (22) carrying a tongue (24) slidingly mounted on the body (1) of this device and the arrangement is such that this tongue (24) comes to be placed against the socket (9) carried by the latter, when the plug (22) is moved away from the filling orifice, which then prohibits the replacement of the external plug (11) for connection, which had to be removed beforehand. 2 - Apparatus according to claim 1, the hollow body comprises a working part (7) of flat shape carrying, at its ends, two protrusions (3 and 4) between which extends a grip handle (5) and of which one carries the electrical socket (9) of this device, characterized in that the filling orifice (20), which is provided on the protuberance (3) of the opposite end, is arranged so as to open towards the end carrying the electrical outlet, so that filling can only be carried out by holding the device vertically with its opposite end (4) facing upwards. 3 - Apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that the spacing (E) of the filling orifice (20) relative to the neighboring end of the apparatus, and the volumes of the different parts of the hollow body of that these are determined so that the amount of water that can be introduced when the device is arranged vertically its filling position does not exceed the maximum volume to be respected. 4 - Apparatus according to one of claims 2 and 3, characterized in that the tongue (24), carried by the plug (22) shutter, is slidably mounted in a slide (25) provided on the handle (5) gripping and whose position is such that the free end (24a) of this tongue (24) can be placed against the external face of the electrical outlet (9) of the device when the plug (22) is brought into open position, this tongue also having a sufficiently large length. 5 - Apparatus according to claim 4, characterized in that the tongue (24), carried by the plug (22) shutter, is provided with operating members (28) allowing to easily actuate this tongue to make it slide , in one direction or the other, in order to use it as a means of driving the closure plug (22). 6 - Apparatus according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that, on either side of the orifices (16) of steam outlet, it comprises two rectilinear brushes (30), arranged transversely, whose presence prevents the steam to escape too quickly and allows the device to be used in either direction.

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