JPH02286200A - Steam generator and its manufacture - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] Industrial applications The present invention cares for clothing by blowing steam.

Conventional technology Conventional steam generators used in brushing steamers and steam irons that spray steam to care for clothing have a water inlet inside the vaporization chamber, and the water dripped from there is sent to the outer wall of the vaporization chamber. It was designed to generate steam by heating and evaporating it with a heater. At this time, in order to smoothly generate steam, steel wool treated with a surface treatment agent (for example, the trade name Snowtex) was rolled up and placed in the vaporization chamber.

The above configuration improves the wettability between water and the vaporization chamber, and allows smooth steam generation. In other words, when the vaporization chamber becomes high temperature and shifts from nucleate boiling to film boiling,
Even if the dropped water was heated by the heater, it would just run around inside the vaporization chamber and not be vaporized, and if the amount of water dropped was large, it would sometimes come out as water droplets. To prevent this, a ball of steel wool or the like coated with a surface treatment agent to improve the wettability between water and the vaporization chamber was attached to the vaporization chamber.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention In the above-mentioned conventional technology, it takes time and effort to install steel wool into the vaporization chamber, and since steel wool is not moldable, its effectiveness depends on filling it. However, it is difficult to say that the dispersion effect was effectively utilized. Also, the generation of steam was not very stable. That is, if the amount of water dropped to generate steam is increased, water droplets may be ejected, which has been a major problem.

The present invention solves these conventional problems,
The first purpose is to provide a steam generator that can be easily installed and can generate stable steam, and the second purpose is to provide a method for manufacturing such a steam generator. That is.

Means for Solving the Problems The first means for achieving the above-mentioned first objective is to provide a steam system having a heater on the outer wall of the vaporization chamber and a hydrophilically treated open silicone rubber foam installed inside the vaporization chamber. This is a generator.

The second means for achieving the second objective is to have a heater on the outer wall of the vaporization chamber, install a continuous silicone rubber foam inside the vaporization chamber, and then heat the vaporization chamber to a high temperature using the heater to make it hydrophilic. The present invention provides a method for manufacturing a steam generator in which a chemical agent is injected into a vaporizing chamber in which the open silicone rubber foam is installed.

The first means of action works as follows. If the open silicone rubber foam is molded into the required shape and used, it will not take much time to install it in the vaporization chamber. Moreover, since the open silicone rubber foam, which is originally hydrophobic, has been treated with hydrophilic treatment, the water dripped from the water inlet is sufficiently dispersed by capillary action, and the water drips into the interior of the vaporization chamber where evaporation occurs at high temperatures. Pressed down by capillary pressure. Therefore, the evaporation effect is uniformly performed inside the vaporization chamber, and even if the amount of steam generated increases, it is less likely that water droplets will be ejected, and the steam generation will also be stable.

In the second method, the continuous silicone rubber foam is placed in the vaporization chamber without being hydrophilized in advance, and then the continuous silicone rubber foam is heated to a high temperature to evaporate the liquid containing the hydrophilic agent on its surface. This is a manufacturing method for making a silicone rubber continuous foam hydrophilic, and it is possible to achieve the same effect as the first method very easily. The reason for the high temperature here is that most of the liquids containing normal hydrophilic agents are aqueous solutions, and open silicone rubber foam is hydrophobic, so if it remains at a low temperature, it will repel the liquid containing the hydrophilic agent and This is because it is difficult to fully demonstrate the effect.

Therefore, this is not the case if the hydrophilizing agent is a solvent type.

EXAMPLE An example of the first means will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. 1 and 2 show a steam iron, in which a vaporizing chamber 4 is formed in a part of a base 1 via a wall 3 in which a heater 2 is embedded. Vaporization chamber 4
The room is divided into three rooms 7, 8, and 9 by two partition plates 5 and 6. 10 is a water inlet provided on the top wall of the vaporization chamber 4;
11 and 12 are steam holes formed in the partition plates 5 and 6,
Reference numeral 13 denotes a steam outlet formed in the base 1, and the water inlet 10, the steam holes 11 and 12, and the steam outlet 13 are in a non-opposing relationship. Reference numerals 14 and 15 indicate gaskets, and 16 is an open silicone rubber foam, which is the essence of the present invention, and has been previously subjected to hydrophilic treatment, and in this embodiment has been previously molded into the required shape. This open silicone rubber foam 16 is attached to the chamber 7 constituting the vaporization chamber 4. The hydrophilic treatment was carried out, for example, by impregnating the continuous silicone rubber foam 16 into a treatment agent 5HC-301 made by Amagi oil and fat diluted with alcohol to an appropriate concentration and drying the diluted treatment agent 5HC-301.

The operation of this embodiment will be explained below. Water injected from the water inlet 10 is injected into the chamber 7 constituting the vaporization chamber 4, and is dispersed by the capillary action of the hydrophilically treated open silicone rubber foam 16. If the temperature in the vaporization chamber 4 has reached the temperature required for steam generation, the water dispersed by the capillary action of the hydrophilically treated open silicone rubber foam 16 will be vaporized when it reaches the wall 3 of the chamber 7. . The steam generated in the chamber 7 flows into the chambers 8 and 9, and is finally stably ejected from the steam ejection hole 13 of the base 1.

At this time, if the continuous silicone rubber foam 16 is not present, the inflowing water will undergo film boiling due to the high temperature, will not be sufficiently steamed, and will drip from the steam outlet 13 in the form of high-temperature water.

Next, an embodiment of the second means will be described. The configuration of the steam iron is the same as in the first embodiment, and will therefore be omitted. However, in this example, 16 is an open silicone rubber foam molded into a required shape, and is not subjected to hydrophilic treatment.

This embodiment is a manufacturing method in which the steam iron having the above structure is subjected to hydrophilic treatment during the manufacturing process of the steam iron. That is, it is manufactured by the following procedure.

First, the heater 2 is used to sufficiently raise the temperature of the vaporization chamber 4 in which the open silicone rubber foam 16 is mounted. Next, in this state, a hydrophilizing agent in the form of an aqueous solution, such as Snowtex UP manufactured by Yasan Kagaku, diluted appropriately with water, is injected from the water inlet 10 of the steam iron. In this way, the injected hydrophilic agent, which is an aqueous solution, penetrates into the continuous silicone rubber foam 16, and the continuous silicone rubber foam 16 is subjected to hydrophilic treatment. Note that the operation is the same as that of the first embodiment, and the explanation will be omitted.

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the first means, since the structure uses a silicone rubber open foam that has been molded in advance into the required shape, it can be easily installed in the vaporization chamber and is stable. A steam generator capable of generating steam can be provided.

Moreover, according to the second means, it is possible to provide a method of manufacturing a steam generator that can extremely easily realize the configuration of the first means described above.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a front sectional view showing an embodiment of the steam generator of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of the same. 4... Vaporization chamber, 16... Silicone rubber open foam. Name of agent: Patent attorney Shigetaka Awano and 1 other person - A - Ichiki I 6 Sumire 1 Figure 27

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A steam generator that has a heater on the outer wall of the vaporization chamber and a hydrophilically treated continuous silicone rubber foam installed inside the vaporization chamber. (2) A heater is provided on the outer wall of the vaporization chamber, and after the silicone rubber continuous foam is installed inside the vaporization chamber, the hydrophilic agent is applied to the vaporization chamber while the vaporization chamber is heated to a high temperature by the heater, and the silicone rubber continuous foam is installed. A method for manufacturing a steam generator that injects steam into a vaporizing chamber.