JPH0442960B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] Industrial Application Field The present invention relates to a steam iron that can apply a large amount of steam to strong wrinkles in clothing or thick fabrics, and can vary the amount of steam depending on the degree of wrinkles. It is.

BACKGROUND ART Conventionally, a steam iron in which the amount of steam can be varied by manual operation has been constructed as shown in FIG. That is, 1 is a base having a vaporizing chamber 2, 3 is a water tank mounted above the base 1, a water channel 5 provided in a cover 4, a drip nozzle 6 to keep the amount of water dripped constant, and a ball valve chamber 7. , and communicates with the vaporization chamber 2 via a waterway 8. 9 is base 1
A steam ejection hole 10 formed in the hanging surface is a ball valve loosely fitted in the ball valve chamber 7, and the drip nozzle 6 is opened and closed by vertical movement of the connecting rod 12 by operating the steam button 11. 13 is a manual pump,
It is composed of a cylinder part 14 and a piston part 15 that form a pump chamber, and when the steam button 11 is operated, the piston part 15 reciprocates together with the connecting rod 12 to perform a pumping action. A guide pipe 14a of the connecting rod 12 is connected below the cylinder part 14, and can hold water at the same level as the water level of the water tank 3. A spring 16 urges the piston portion 15 upward.

When ironing is performed by ejecting steam, the dripping nozzle 6 is opened by pulling the steam button 11 upward to free the ball valve 10, and a certain amount of water drips into the vaporization chamber 2, causing air to flow. It can be turned on and emit steam.

In addition, when spouting a large amount of steam, the manual pump 13 is operated by repeatedly moving the steam button 11 up and down, and the water in the guide tube 14a is supplied to the vaporization chamber 2 by the reciprocating movement of the piston part 15. do. That is, the amount of water supplied to the vaporization chamber 2 can be adjusted according to the operation of the steam button 11.

However, when the amount of water supplied is arbitrarily adjusted by manual operation by an operator, there is a problem in that it is not possible to stably eject an amount of steam appropriate for the condition of the clothes.

Therefore, a water supply device using an electric pump has been considered, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-177100. The electric pump is an electromagnetic pump that reciprocates a piston or a pump that uses a motor, and is installed on a stand on which the iron body is placed.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, although it is possible to stably obtain a desired amount of steam using such an electric pump, it is difficult to install an electric pump and a control circuit to control the electric pump in the iron body. The iron needs to be smaller and lighter so as not to impair the usability of the iron, and it also has the technical problem of ensuring that the electric pump is reliably controlled by a control circuit. It is.

In other words, in the case of electric pumps that use a motor, sparks generated between the brush and the motor when it rotates may cause noise and cause the control circuit to malfunction, and since the motor is driven by current, In order to avoid adversely affecting the power supply circuit of the control circuit, the power supply for driving the motor must be provided separately from the power supply that operates the control circuit.
There was a problem that the structure was also complicated.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a steam iron that can stably eject any required amount of steam and that can be controlled reliably.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has the following features:
a piezoelectric pump that supplies water from the water tank to the vaporization chamber;
a setting section for setting the amount of water supplied by the piezoelectric pump; a first oscillation section for emitting a signal with a time duty varying according to the signal from the setting section; A second oscillating section that oscillates and is controlled by the output of the first oscillating section, and a switching section that turns on and off the piezoelectric pump according to the output of the second oscillating section. It is.

Operation According to the above configuration, the water in the water tank can be forcibly supplied to the vaporization chamber by the piezoelectric pump, and the amount of water supplied to the vaporization chamber can be freely varied by controlling the duty of the piezoelectric pump. You will be able to do this. Further, it becomes possible to eliminate noise generation during operation, and it is possible to reliably control water supply to the vaporization chamber.

Embodiment Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the accompanying drawings. In FIG. 1, 17 is a base having a vaporization chamber, and 18 is a water tank mounted above the base 17, which contains water to be supplied to the vaporization chamber via a piezoelectric pump 19. Reference numeral 20 denotes a control device housed in a hollow portion formed in the grip portion of the handle 21, and has a function of duty-controlling the operation of the piezoelectric pump. 22 is a power cord.

Next, the configuration of the control device 20 will be explained with reference to FIG. 2. Reference numeral 23 designates a setting unit composed of a variable resistor or switch, which sets the amount of water supplied from the water tank 18 to the vaporization chamber by the piezoelectric pump 19;
A signal according to this setting value is output. 24 is an oscillation unit that takes the output of the setting unit 23 as an input signal, changes the duty of the on/off time of the piezoelectric pump 19 according to this input signal, and outputs the signal;
It is composed of a first oscillator and a second oscillator.
The first oscillator sends a signal of a predetermined duty to the second oscillator in response to high and low voltages caused by opening and closing of the setting section 23. Further, the second oscillator oscillates at the resonance frequency of the piezoelectric element 26 constituting the piezoelectric pump 19, and is operated by the duty signal sent from the first oscillator. 25 is a switching section that turns on and off the piezoelectric pump 19 according to the output of the oscillation section 24, and E is a power source.

Next, a specific circuit example of the control device 20 will be explained with reference to FIG. The setting section 23 is composed of setting switches S1, S2, S3 for setting the amount of steam, that is, the amount of water supplied to the vaporization chamber, and resistors R1, R2, R3 connected in series with the setting switches S1, S2, S3. The connection point between S3 and resistors R1, R2, and R3 is connected to the microcomputer, which is the oscillation unit 24.
Connected to the input ports l1, l2, l3 of the IC,
One ends of the resistors R1, R2, and R3 are each connected to a DC power source E, and one ends of the setting switches S1, S2, and S3 are connected to a common ground. As a result, when setting switches S1, S2, and S3 are open, a high level voltage is applied to the microcomputer.
It is applied to the input ports l1, l2, l3 of the IC.
When any setting switch is closed, a low level voltage is applied to the input port of the microcomputer IC connected to that circuit, the microcomputer IC determines that the setting switch is closed, and sets the pre-memorized duty. Outputs the signal. The switching section 25 includes a transistor Q
, a resistor R4 connected to this base, and a resistor R5 connected to the connection point thereof, and the resistor R
4 is connected to the output port O1 of the microcomputer IC, the collector of the transistor Q is connected to the piezoelectric element 26 of the piezoelectric pump 19, and the emitter and one end of the resistor R5 are connected to a common ground. As a result, the duty output signal of the microcomputer IC is applied to the base of the transistor Q, and the transistor Q repeatedly turns on and off at the resonance frequency of the piezoelectric element 26 during time t1 or t3 to drive the piezoelectric pump 19. It is turned off during time t2 or t4. Therefore, when a large amount of water is supplied to the vaporization chamber, the time during which the piezoelectric element 26 is driven is long (t1), and when the amount of water supplied to the vaporization chamber is small, the time during which the piezoelectric element 26 is driven is shortened (t1). t3)
It is set.

When using the steam iron of the present invention configured as described above without blowing out steam, if all setting switches are left open, a high level voltage is input to the microcomputer IC. Since the IC does not output a duty signal and therefore the piezoelectric pump 19 does not operate, water is not supplied to the vaporizing chamber and it can be used as a dry iron.

When normal steam is to be ejected and used, a setting switch S1 is set (temporarily S1 is a switch for generating normal steam, and S2 and S3 are switches for generating a larger amount of steam than normal steam).
When the microcomputer IC is closed, the voltage at the input port l1 of the microcomputer IC becomes low level, and a pre-stored duty signal is output to the switching section 25. As shown in FIG. 3d, for example, the piezoelectric pump 19 is operated by repeatedly turning on and off at the resonance frequency of the piezoelectric element 26 for a time t3, and the water in the water tank is sent to the vaporization chamber, and for a time t4.
will stop supplying. In this way, the cycle of times t3 and t4 is repeated to eject normal steam.

If you wish to eject a large amount of steam to strongly wrinkled or thick fabrics, set the setting switch S2.
Or close S3. For such strongly wrinkled or thick fabrics, about three times the amount of steam is required as usual, and setting switches S2 and S3 are set so that the amount of steam can be increased in stages to obtain the required amount of steam. It has been done. Setting switch S2 or S
3 is closed, a low level voltage is applied to the input port l2 or l3 of the microcomputer IC, and a pre-stored duty signal is output to the switching unit 25. As shown in FIG. 3B, for example, this duty operates the piezoelectric pump 19 by repeatedly turning on and off at the resonance frequency of the piezoelectric element 26 for a time t1, and stops supplying the piezoelectric pump 19 for a time t2. In this way, the period of time t1 and t2 is repeated to supply water from the water tank to the vaporization chamber for a longer time than usual, and therefore the amount of steam generated can also be increased compared to normal.

Note that setting switches S1, S2, and S3 may be configured with variable resistors and inputted to a microcomputer through an A/D converter. In this case,
The amount of steam generated can now be varied linearly, further enhancing the finishing effect.

Effects of the Invention As described above, the steam iron of the present invention has
a piezoelectric pump that supplies water from the water tank to the vaporization chamber;
a setting section for setting the amount of water supplied by the piezoelectric pump; a first oscillation section for emitting a signal with a time duty varying according to the signal from the setting section; A second oscillation section that oscillates and is controlled by the output of the first oscillation section, and a switching section that turns on and off the piezoelectric pump according to the output of the second oscillation section. This allows the water in the water tank to be forcibly supplied to the vaporization chamber using the piezoelectric pump, allowing stable steam to be ejected, and by controlling the duty of the piezoelectric pump, the amount of water supplied to the vaporization chamber can be freely adjusted. A good finishing effect can be obtained with an appropriate amount of steam depending on the condition of the clothing.

In addition, the piezoelectric pump eliminates the generation of noise during operation, which eliminates malfunctions of the control device, making it possible to reliably control the water supply to the vaporization chamber.

Furthermore, the pump can be operated by a voltage drive element, reducing fluctuations in the power supply voltage due to on/off operation of the pump, which eliminates the need to provide a power supply for driving the pump separately from the control device, simplifying the configuration. , the pump itself has been made smaller and lighter, allowing it to be installed in a small space.
A steam iron equipped with an easy-to-use steam amount adjustment function can be realized.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a sectional view of the main parts of a steam iron showing an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a block diagram of the control device, Fig. 3 is an output voltage waveform diagram of the oscillation section, and Fig. 4 is a diagram of the output voltage waveform of the oscillation section.
The figure is a circuit diagram of the control device, and FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the main parts of a conventional steam iron. 17...Base, 18...Water tank, 19...
Piezoelectric pump, 20...control device, 23...setting section, 24...oscillation section, 25...switching section.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A base having a vaporization chamber, a water tank containing water to be supplied to the vaporization chamber, a piezoelectric pump that supplies water from this water tank to the vaporization chamber, and setting the amount of water supplied by the piezoelectric pump. a first oscillation unit that oscillates at a frequency that operates the piezoelectric pump;
A steam iron comprising: a second oscillation section controlled by the output of the first oscillation section; and a switching section that turns on and off the piezoelectric pump according to the output of the second oscillation section.