JPH064163Y2 - Steam generator - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a steam generator used for a steam type hair curl device and the like, and more particularly to a steam generator capable of varying the amount of steam generated per unit time.

[Background Art] In order to make the steam generation amount variable, the heater capacity is generally changed. However, in this case, there is a problem that the responsiveness of the temperature change of the heating element is poor and the steam generation amount does not change rapidly. Further, in the case of supplying water to the heater by means of a pump or the like, water is supplied to the heater by changing the discharge amount of the pump, such as the one disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58-118707. Although the amount is changed, the steam generation mechanism itself is complicated and costly, and the cost is further increased by changing the water supply amount.

[Purpose of the Invention] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and the object thereof is a simple structure, but the amount of steam generated per unit time can be changed with good responsiveness. Providing a steam generator.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a steam generator that generates steam by bringing a water absorber provided in a tank into contact with a heating body, and an internal pressure adjusting valve for adjusting the internal pressure of the tank. The gist of the present invention is to provide an external operator that changes the opening pressure of the internal pressure adjusting valve, and by bringing the water absorbing body into contact with the heating body, the water held by the water absorbing body is evaporated and steam is generated. In addition, it is characterized in that the amount of water retained in the water absorber, that is, the amount of water supplied, can be changed by changing the internal pressure of the tank due to the input from the external operator, thereby changing the amount of steam generated. Is.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on illustrated embodiments. This steam generator is configured by disposing a heater block, a tank 5 for storing water, a pressurizing cylinder 12 and a spring 13 for pressing the tank 5 toward the heater block in a casing 10.

The heater block is a heater case 4 and a heater 1 including a positive temperature coefficient thermistor housed in the heater case 4.
And a hot plate 3 whose outer surface is surrounded by a heater 1 via an insulating plate 2, the hot plate 3 as a heating body having a cavity 30 penetrating in the axial direction thereof, The casing 1 is continuous with the cavity 30
The steam nozzle 31 protruding from one end is provided at the tip, and the rear end is inside the cylindrical portion at the rear end of the heater case 4, and is in contact with the inner surface of the cylindrical portion via the packing 33.

The tank 5 housed in the rear part of the casing 10 is composed of a tank body 50 and a tank lid 51, and has a water absorbing body 6 whose one end faces the front end surface of the tank lid 51 inside. Further, a sealing 53 is provided on the joint surface between the tank body 50 and the tank lid 51, and a seal packing 7 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the tank lid 51 in contact with the inner surface of the cylindrical portion at the rear end of the heater case 4 in the heater block. The spring 13
Presses the bottom surface of the tank 5 via the pressurizing cylinder 12 to bring the front end surface of the water absorber 6 into contact with the rear end surface of the heat plate 3.

An internal pressure adjusting valve 8 is attached to the tank lid 51 of the tank 5, and an external operating element 9 that can be slid is attached to the casing 10. The internal pressure adjusting valve 8 is formed of an elastic member such as rubber, and has a shaft portion 8 penetrating the tank lid 51.
0 and an umbrella-shaped portion 81 located inside the tank lid 51, and the peripheral edge of the umbrella-shaped portion 81 comes into contact with the inner surface of the tank 5 so that the vent hole 55 is formed near the shaft portion 80 in the tank 5. The ventilation between the internal space and the external space of the tank 5 is blocked.

On the other hand, the external operator 9 attached to the casing 10
Is for moving the shaft portion 80 of the internal pressure regulating valve 8 in the axial direction via the lever 85, and the portion located inside the casing 10 has an inclined surface 90. The lever 85 connecting the external operator 9 and the internal pressure adjusting valve 8 has a substantially central portion rotatable with respect to the tank 5 by a shaft 86, and one end thereof has a shaft portion of the internal pressure adjusting valve 8. When the external operation element 9 is moved to the front side, which is the left side in the drawing, when the external operation element 9 is engaged with 80, and the other end is in contact with the inclined surface 90 of the external operation element 9. As shown in FIG. 5, when the peripheral edge of the umbrella-shaped portion 81 of the internal pressure adjusting valve 8 comes into contact with the inner surface of the tank 5 lightly, and when the external operator 9 is moved to the rear side which is the right side in the figure, By pulling the shaft portion 80 of the valve 8, as shown in FIG. 2, not only the peripheral edge of the umbrella-shaped portion 81 but also almost the entire inner surface of the tank 5
Touch the inner surface. When the internal pressure of the tank 5 decreases, the internal pressure adjusting valve 8 opens the ventilation hole 55 to introduce the outside air into the tank 5, but the valve opening pressure can be adjusted.

Next, the operation will be described. When the tank 5 containing water is loaded into the casing 10 and the heater 1 is energized, since the tip surface of the water absorber 6 is in contact with the heated hot plate 3, the water is absorbed by the water absorber 6. Water is heated to evaporate and become steam. The steam is discharged from the steam nozzle 31 through the hot plate 3 because the space between the heater case 4 and the tank 5 is sealed by the seal packing 7.

By generating steam in this way, when the water in the tank 5 decreases, the internal pressure of the tank 5 decreases, but when this internal pressure drops to a certain value, the internal pressure adjusting valve 8 opens. The outside air flows in through the ventilation holes 55. The internal pressure of the tank 5 is maintained at a predetermined value. put it here,
As shown in FIG. 4, as the internal pressure of the tank 5 decreases, the amount of water sucked up by the water absorber 6 decreases, so the amount of steam generated decreases. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the pressure at which the illustrated internal pressure adjusting valve 8 causes the vent hole 55 to open due to the decrease in the internal pressure of the tank 5 is gradually increased to a certain range δ as the pulling margin of the shaft portion 80 is increased. Shows a tendency to reach a peak at a certain tensile margin, and then to become higher if the tensile margin is further increased. Therefore, by setting the pulling margin of the shaft portion 80 via the lever 85 by the external operator 9 within the above range δ, when the pulling margin is small as shown in FIG. Since the pressure is not so low, the amount of steam generated is large at this time. By operating the external operator 9,
If the amount of pulling of the shaft portion 80 of the internal pressure adjusting valve 8 is increased, the internal pressure of the tank 5 does not decrease significantly, and the vent hole 55 does not open. Therefore, the internal pressure of the tank 5 is maintained at a low pressure. As a result, the amount of steam generated is reduced. That is, the steam generation amount per unit time continuously changes according to the operation amount of the external operator 9.

In this steam generator, since the heater 1 is composed of a positive temperature coefficient thermistor,
In order to keep the temperature of the heating plate 3 stable by changing the capacity of the heater 1 according to the change in the amount of water supplied from the tank 5,
Although the amount of water supply is changed to change the amount of steam generated, the stability of performance related to steam generation is high. Further, as the internal pressure adjusting valve 8 capable of adjusting the valve opening pressure, the one formed as an integrally molded product of rubber is shown in the illustrated example, but other internal spring members such as a coil spring may be used. Of course, you can.

[Effect of the Invention] As described above, in the present invention, the internal pressure of the tank is adjusted by changing the valve opening pressure by adjusting the internal pressure adjusting valve by the external operator, and thereby the heating element is supplied to the heating body through the water absorbing body. The amount of steam generated is changed by changing the amount of supplied water, and the amount of steam generated can be changed reliably and with good responsiveness even with a simple structure.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 and 2 are longitudinal sectional views of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a characteristic diagram showing the opening pressure of the internal pressure regulating valve, and FIG. 4 is a characteristic showing the correlation between the tank internal pressure and the steam generation amount. Figure, 1
Is a heater, 3 is a hot plate, 5 is a tank, 6 is a water absorber, 8 is an internal pressure adjusting valve, and 9 is an external operator.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A steam generator for generating steam by bringing a water absorbing body provided in a tank for storing water into contact with a heating body, and an internal pressure adjusting valve for adjusting the internal pressure of the tank and the internal pressure adjusting valve. A steam generator, comprising: an external operator that changes a valve opening pressure.