U.S. patent application number 09/791451 was filed with the patent office on 2001-08-23 for dryer-ironer with heated ironing cup and heat carrying fluid.
This patent application is currently assigned to Electrolux Systemes de Blanchisserie. Invention is credited to Grandpierre, Cyril Marc Michel.
Application Number | 20010015026 09/791451 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 8847287 |
Filed Date | 2001-08-23 |
United States Patent
Application |
20010015026 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Grandpierre, Cyril Marc
Michel |
August 23, 2001 |
Dryer-ironer with heated ironing cup and heat carrying fluid
Abstract
Dryer-ironer with heated ironing cup and heat-carrying fluid. In
a dryer-ironer with heated cup (10), the cup is built so as to
define a closed chamber (26) containing a heat carrying fluid
between two parallel walls (18, 22). The fluid is set -into motion
through a stirring system integrated with the cup so as to provide
the establishment of a uniform temperature along its entire
length.
Inventors: |
Grandpierre, Cyril Marc Michel;
(Troyes, FR) |
Correspondence
Address: |
PEARNE, GORDON, McCOY & GRANGER
526 Superior Avenue East, Suite 1200
CLEVELAND
OH
44114-1484
US
|
Assignee: |
Electrolux Systemes de
Blanchisserie
|
Family ID: |
8847287 |
Appl. No.: |
09/791451 |
Filed: |
February 22, 2001 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
38/66 |
Current CPC
Class: |
D06F 67/08 20130101;
D06F 65/02 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
38/66 |
International
Class: |
D06F 071/36; D06F
083/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Feb 23, 2000 |
FR |
00 02232 |
Claims
1. Dryer-ironer comprising an ironing cup in the shape of a
cylindrical sector provided with an internal wall able to come into
contact with the laundry to be ironed, and means for heating said
wall, characterized in that the cup further comprises an external
wall which externally lines, at a distance, the internal wall
directly close to the heating means, so as to delimit with said
internal wall a closed chamber filled with a heat carrying fluid
able to transfer to the internal wall heat produced by the heating
means, and stirring means able to generate a circulation of heat
carrying fluid within said chamber.
2. A dryer-ironer according to claim 1, wherein said stirring means
comprise partitions in a staggered configuration in the closed
chamber, in order to delimit between the internal and external
walls, a path for reciprocating motion, substantially parallel to
an axis of said cylindrical sector, and driving means for causing
the heat carrying fluid to circulate along said path.
3. A dryer-ironer according to claim 2, wherein said partitions
have a height substantially equal to the thickness of the closed
chamber, such that they serve as a support for the internal
wall.
4. A dryer-ironer according to claim 1, wherein the heating means
are placed outside the closed chamber.
5. A dryer-ironer according to claim 1, wherein the internal wall
is made of stainless steel and the external wall of ordinary steel.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present invention relates to a dryer-ironer wherein the
laundry is ironed between a heated ironing cup and a rotating
roller.
[0002] The dryer-ironer according to the invention may be used in
all cases where relatively large amounts of laundry must be
frequently ironed. Thus and uniquely as an example, such a machine
may be used in hospital institutions, nursing homes, lodging
houses, hotels, restaurants, etc.
STATE OF THE ART
[0003] In dryers-ironers with a cup, ironing of the laundry is
performed between a metal ironing cup, in the shape of a
cylindrical sector with a generally horizontal axis, and a pressing
roller covered with baize, the axis of which coincides with that of
the cup and the lower portion of which rests on said cup. When the
machine is operating, the pressing roller is driven into rotation
around its axis. Consequently, the pieces of laundry to be ironed,
inserted between the cup and the roller on one side of the machine,
come out on the other side.
[0004] For ironing of laundry to be carried out in the best
possible conditions, the ironing cup is provided with heating
means. Depending on the machines, these heating means may either be
totally integrated into the machine, or else placed outside the
latter.
[0005] When the heating means of the ironing cup are integrated
into the dryer-ironer, they may be of different types, depending on
the machines. Hence, these heating means may notably consist of gas
manifolds, electric resistances, infrared heating devices, etc.
[0006] Machines of this type provide the advantage of being simple
and not very expensive and of having excellent cost
effectiveness.
[0007] On the other hand, they have the drawback that the cup is
uniformly heated on its entire length, regardless of the areas
where the pieces of laundry are inserted during ironing.
Consequently, after ironing a piece of laundry in a given area of
the ironing cup, this area is at a lower temperature than the value
required for the ironing, whereas the other areas of the cup, which
continue to be heated, are on the contrary at a higher temperature
than this value. Consequently, the next piece of laundry will be
badly ironed if it is inserted in the same area as the previous one
or be burnt if it is inserted in a different area. Actually, the
thermal gradient even increases if several pieces of laundry are
successively inserted substantially in the same area.
[0008] Dryers-ironers wherein the ironing cup is heated by means
located outside the machine, use a heat carrying fluid. This heat
carrying fluid is heated in a boiler located outside the machine,
before being fed into the cup by a pump also placed outside the
machine.
[0009] Contrary to dryers-ironers wherein the heating means of the
cup are integrated into the machine, dryers-ironers with a heat
carrying fluid are able to provide good heat diffusion on the
entire length of the cup, regardless of the areas into which are
inserted the pieces of laundry.
[0010] On the other hand, these machines have the drawbacks of
requiring heavy, expensive and complex external facilities.
[0011] When several dryers-ironers are placed in a same building,
these drawbacks sometimes result in that the users feed these
machines with heat carrying fluid simultaneously, from a unique
circuit integrating a single boiler and a single pump. However,
such facilities are only feasible if several dryers-ironers are
used simultaneously and they remain more expensive and more complex
than facilities using machines with integrated heating.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0012] Specifically, the object of the invention is a dryer-ironer
with heated cup, its original design allows it to benefit both from
cost effectiveness and cost advantages specific to machines with
integrated heating and from the advantages provided by uniform
diffusion of heat on the entire length of the cup of machines which
are heated through a heat carrying fluid.
[0013] According to the invention, this result is obtained by means
of a dryer-ironer comprising an ironing cup in the shape of a
cylindrical sector provided with an internal wall, able to come
into contact with the laundry to be ironed, and means for heating
said wall, characterized in that the cup further comprises an
external wall which externally lines, at a distance, the internal
wall, directly close to the heating means, so as to delimit with
said internal wall, a closed chamber filled with a heat carrying
fluid able to transfer heat produced by heating means to the
internal wall, and stirring means able to generate a circulation of
heat carrying fluid within said chamber.
[0014] The machine according to the invention has integrated
heating means. It thus benefits from economical advantages and from
the excellent cost effectiveness both specific to this type of
machine.
[0015] On the other hand, the use of a heat carrying fluid put into
circulation by stirring means also integrated into the machine,
provides effective diffusion of heat over the entire length of the
ironing cup, as in machines using an external boiler.
[0016] In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the stirring
means comprise partitions positioned in a staggered configuration
within the closed chamber, in order to delimit between the internal
and external walls, a path for reciprocating motion, substantially
parallel to an axis of the cylindrical sector formed by the cup.
The stirring means also comprise driving means such as a pump in
order to cause the heat carrying fluid to circulate along this
path.
[0017] The heating means, which may assume any shape as in existing
machines with integrated heating, are advantageously placed outside
the closed chamber.
[0018] Moreover, the internal wall of the cup is advantageously
made of stainless steel and the external wall of ordinary
steel.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0019] A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be
described as a non-limiting example, with reference to the appended
drawings, wherein:
[0020] FIG. 1 is a sectional view which very schematically
illustrates a dryer-ironer according to the invention;
[0021] FIG. 2 is a sectional view, which schematically illustrates
at a larger scale the ironing cup of the machine of FIG. 1 and the
associated heating means; and
[0022] FIG. 3 is a perspective view with partial cutout,
illustrating the ironing cup.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0023] As illustrated in FIG. 1 very schematically, the
dryer-ironer according to the invention primarily comprises an
ironing cup 10 and a roller 12 covered with baize. This type of
machine is well known to one skilled in the art, so that only the
features required for a good understanding of the invention will be
described.
[0024] The ironing cup 10 is mounted on a fixed chassis (not
shown). It is made of a metal such as stainless steel and has,
according to the invention, a particular structure which will be
described later on. Generally, the ironing cup 10 assumes the shape
of a cylindrical sector, the axis of which 14 is substantially
horizontal and the recessed portion of which is turned upwards.
[0025] Roller 12 appears with the shape of a hollow cylinder, the
external peripheral surface of which is covered with baize. Roller
12 is coaxially mounted on cup 10. It is supported by the chassis
of the machine, so that it may rotate around axis 14. A geared
motor (not shown) enables the roller 12 to rotate about axis 14 in
the direction of the arrows in FIG. 1. In addition, elastic means
(not shown) interposed between the chassis and cup 10, apply the
latter against the lower portion of cylinder 12.
[0026] In the dryers-ironers of this type, the pieces of laundry to
be ironed are inserted one after the other on one side of the
machine (on the left in FIG. 1) between cup 10 and roller 12, each
piece of laundry comes out of the machine, ironed, on the opposite
side (on the right in FIG. 1).
[0027] As illustrated schematically in FIG. 1, the dryer-ironer
according to the invention also comprises means 16 for heating the
ironing cup 10, integrated into the machine. These heating means 16
may comprise any heating means usually used on dryers-ironers with
integrated heating cups. Thus, and uniquely as an example, these
may be gas manifolds, electric resistances, infrared devices,
etc.
[0028] As further illustrated in detail in FIG. 2, the ironing cup
10 comprises, according to the invention, two parallel walls, at a
distance from one another so as to delimit between each other a
closed chamber of substantially uniform thickness.
[0029] More specifically, cup 10 comprises an internal wall 18, in
the shape of a cylindrical sector, preferably made of stainless
steel. The internal surface 20 of internal wall 18 is a smooth
surface which comes directly into contact with the laundry to be
ironed. This wall 18 is preferably relatively thin. As an
absolutely non-limiting illustration, internal wall 18 may have a
thickness between 1.5 mm and 2 mm, depending on the size of the
machine.
[0030] The ironing cup 10 also comprises an external wall 22 which
lines the internal wall 18, on the side of its convex lower face,
at a distance from the latter. The substantially uniform distance
separating walls 18 and 22 may for example, be about 5 mm. The
external wall 22 is made of metal such as ordinary steel, it is
substantially thicker than the internal wall 18. Thus, the
thickness of the external wall varies, for example, between 4 mm
and 6 mm, depending on the size on the machine.
[0031] The internal wall 18 is fixed on the upper face of the
external wall 2 through two rectilinear shims 24a positioned along
the longitudinal edges of both walls and of both shims in a
circular arc 24b (FIG. 3) positioned along the curved edges of both
walls. Shims 24a and 24b may notably be welded onto the upper face
of external wall 22, after which, the edges of internal wall 18 are
themselves welded onto shims 24a, 24b.
[0032] A closed chamber 26, sealed relatively to the outside world
is thereby delimited between walls 18 and 22. This chamber 26 is at
least partly filled with a heat carrying fluid. This heat carrying
fluid may comprise any fluid usually used in dryers-ironers, the
cup of which is heated by a heat carrying fluid. This fluid is, for
example and in a non-limiting way, a liquid such as oil. In order
to take into account thermal expansions of the heat carrying fluid
contained in chamber 26, the latter may be connected with an
expansion vessel (not shown) also integrated into the machine.
[0033] As illustrated schematically in FIG. 2, heating means 16 are
placed outside cup 10, below the latter and directly close to wall
22. Therefore, heating means 16 directly heat the thick external
wall 22 of the cup. Heat is then transferred to the internal thin
wall 18 by the heat carrying fluid contained in chamber 26.
[0034] For the heat to uniformly diffuse over the internal face 20
of wall 18, during ironing, the dryer-ironer according to the
invention further comprises stirring means also integrated into the
machine. These stirring means are laid out so as to generate a
circulation of heat carrying fluid within chamber 26, both in
parallel to axis 14 of the cup, in order to homogenize the
temperature, and between walls 22 and 18, in order to transfer heat
released by heating means 16 to the internal wall 18. An embodiment
of stirring means will now be described as an example with
reference to FIG. 3.
[0035] In this figure, it is seen that the stirring means comprise
both partitions positioned in chamber 26 and driving means 30, such
as a pump in order to cause the heat carrying fluid to circulate
along a path delimited by the partitions.
[0036] More specifically, the aforementioned partitions comprise a
partition in a circular arc 28a, which extends close to one of the
shims in a circular arc 24b, parallel to the latter, so as to
delimit with the latter, a channel 32 in a circular arc. This
channel 32 is divided into two portions of the same length by a
partition 28b, with a parallel orientation with respect to the axis
14 of the cylindrical sector formed by the cup. The aforementioned
partitions further comprise a series of rectilinear partitions 28c,
with a parallel orientation one with respect to another, along axis
14 of the cylindrical sector formed by the cup. These rectilinear
partitions 28c are regularly distributed between the two
rectilinear shims 24a, so as to delimit between each other and with
the latter, rectilinear channels 34. One out of two of the
rectilinear partitions 28c is connected to the partition in a
circular arc 28a and is interrupted at a certain distance from the
shim in a circular arc 24b, the furthest one from this partition
28a. The other rectilinear partitions 28c are connected to this
last shim in a circular arc 24b and interrupted at a certain
distance from the partition in a circular arc 28a. In addition,
among the rectilinear partitions 28c connected to the partition in
a circular arc 28a, two partitions 28c are found, the closest to
the rectilinear shims 24a, and the partition in a circular arc 28a
is interrupted between both of these partitions 28c and shims 24a.
Consequently both portions of the channel in a circular arc 32
separated by partition 28b communicate with both rectilinear
channels 34 adjacent to rectilinear shims 24a, respectively.
[0037] A path for reciprocating motion is thus delimited between
walls 18 and 22, with a parallel orientation with respect to axis
14 of the cylindrical sector formed by the cup.
[0038] Pump 30 is connected to each of both portions of channel 32,
on both sides of partition 28b, through suction piping 36 and
discharge piping 38 respectively When pump 30 is actuated,
circulation of the hydraulic fluid is thus generated in chamber 26,
along the path illustrated by arrows in FIG. 3. This path,
delimited by partitions 28a, 28b and 28c, is mainly characterized
by a reciprocating movement of the fluid, parallel to axis 14 of
the cylindrical sector formed by cup 10, virtually over the entire
length of the latter.
[0039] It should be noted that partitions 28a, 28b and 28c
preferably have a height substantially equal to that of shims 24a,
24b, i.e. substantially equal to the thickness of chamber 26. With
this layout, any circulation of the heat carrying fluid other than
the one imposed by the partitions may be prevented. With this
layout, partitions 28a, 28b, and 28c may also serve as a support
for the internal wall 18, which is relatively thin. The cylindrical
geometry of the internal surface 20 of wall 18 is thus maintained
in spite of the relative thin thickness of this wall.
[0040] Thanks to the characteristics which have just been
described, the dryer-ironer according to the invention may
guarantee excellent ironing quality because heat is uniformly
diffused over the entire surface of the cup through the heat
carrying fluid in motion.
[0041] Furthermore, the machine according to the invention is a
simple machine and of a relatively limited cost, because it does
not require the use of an external boiler.
[0042] Of course, the invention is not limited to the embodiment
which has just been described as an example. Hence, the stirring
means with which the cooling fluid may be forced to circulate in
chamber 26, may be different from the described means. The same
applies to the relative thicknesses for connecting these walls one
to another by delimiting a closed chamber between them. Notably it
is conceivable that the partitions are made of an embossed thin
metal sheet, placed between partitions 18 and 22.
* * * * *