U.S. patent application number 15/312101 was filed with the patent office on 2017-08-24 for steam iron device for ironing and removing creases.
The applicant listed for this patent is ECODROP. Invention is credited to Gerard CURIEN.
Application Number | 20170241069 15/312101 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 51205490 |
Filed Date | 2017-08-24 |
United States Patent
Application |
20170241069 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
CURIEN; Gerard |
August 24, 2017 |
STEAM IRON DEVICE FOR IRONING AND REMOVING CREASES
Abstract
A steam iron device for ironing and removing creases, intended
for smoothing operations, in particular vertical, includes a
heating body, a boiler for producing steam, a water tank, and a
metal soleplate pierced with holes to allow the steam to pass. An
outer wall of the soleplate has a partially curved shape and
includes two parts: a flat front part, and a convex curved rear
part. The flat front part is tangent to the convex curved rear
part.
Inventors: |
CURIEN; Gerard; (Housseras,
FR) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
ECODROP |
Chaumoussey |
|
FR |
|
|
Family ID: |
51205490 |
Appl. No.: |
15/312101 |
Filed: |
February 17, 2015 |
PCT Filed: |
February 17, 2015 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/FR2015/050390 |
371 Date: |
November 17, 2016 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
D06F 87/00 20130101;
D06F 75/20 20130101; D06F 75/38 20130101 |
International
Class: |
D06F 87/00 20060101
D06F087/00; D06F 75/38 20060101 D06F075/38; D06F 75/20 20060101
D06F075/20 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Feb 17, 2014 |
FR |
1451218 |
Claims
1. A steam iron device for ironing and removing creases in
smoothing operations, comprises: a heating body, a boiler producing
steam, a water tank, and a metal soleplate pierced with holes, the
steam passing through said holes, wherein said metal soleplate has
an outer wall with a partially curved shape, and wherein said metal
soleplate is comprised of a flat front part, and a convex curved
rear part, said flat front part being tangent to said convex curved
rear part.
2. The iron device,. according to cclaim 1, wherein said heating
body is alongside the soleplate so as to heat the soleplate by
conduction.
3. The iron device, according to claim 1, wherein the soleplate is
further comprised of an inner wall: wherein said inner wall is
comprised of wells protruding from said inner wall, each well
coincided with a respective holes, said wells extending in a
chamber, and wherein the steam is sprayed in said chamber, and
wherein said inner wall is connected to a system for collecting the
residual water, arranged at a base of said chamber, on a back side
of the soleplate, and wherein the system for collecting comprises a
collection line for water from the steam collected at said holes,
toward a reservoir.
4. The iron device, according to claim 3, wherein said chamber
contains an eliminator filter.
5. The iron device according to claim 4, wherein said eliminator
filter is comprised of a buffer, said buffer being comprised of a
jumble of at least one of wires and shavings.
6. The iron device, according to claim 1, further comprising: a
rechargeable battery system to operate wirelessly.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] See Application Data Sheet.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
[0002] Not applicable.
THE NAMES OF PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT
[0003] Not applicable.
INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC
OR AS A TEXT FILE VIA THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM
(EFS-WEB)
[0004] Not applicable.
STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR A JOINT
INVENTOR
[0005] Not applicable.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0006] 1. Field of the Invention
[0007] The present invention relates to a steam iron device for
ironing and removing creases.
[0008] 2. Description of Related Art Including Information
Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98.
[0009] Removing creases with steam consists of spraying steam onto
the piece of fabric to be treated, which can be an item of clothing
or household linens. The sprayed steam makes it possible to expand
the textile fibers, and thus to eliminate the creases. This
requires good control over the quality of the steam, as well as its
temperature and quantity.
[0010] In general, the existing steam devices for removing creases
have the drawback of either poor control over the quality of the
sprayed steam, which results in also spraying drops of water, which
is detrimental to the quality of the smoothing, or cumbersome
equipment that is tedious to use and takes considerable time, such
as smoothing units with a tank and having a long, thick tube that
is inflexible and difficult to move. Such a smoothing unit is for
example described in document EP 2,610,404. To obtain steam, it is
necessary to heat the entire reservoir first.
[0011] Regarding the quality of the steam, the existing fully
portable devices, other than the units, only make it possible to
produce 17 to 20 grams per minute of fairly heavy steam.
[0012] Furthermore, the steam crease removal devices of the unit
type only have one steam spray nozzle, such that it is necessary to
use a pressing operation to obtain an optimal result, which
involves also using a traditional iron.
[0013] To offset these drawbacks, some propose replacing the spray
nozzle with an iron adapted to spray steam for crease removal.
[0014] However, these irons have the drawback of not being suitable
for smoothing operations; indeed, to perform such operations, the
iron, or the spray nozzle, should be moved at the small distance
from, or even in contact with, the fabrics to be treated, yet
frequently in the case of irons, the latter catch on that fabric by
their plate when they come into contact with the fabric, which may
be detrimental to the quality of the ironing. Furthermore, the
ergonomics are not optimal and require a reversal of the wrist that
is difficult to maintain for a significant length of time.
[0015] Furthermore, manipulating an iron for a smoothing operation
quickly becomes unpleasant, in particular due to the weight of the
iron that must be held at the end of the arm.
[0016] No steam iron device exists making it possible to iron and
remove creases, and the present invention aims to resolve this
deficiency and propose such a steam iron device for ironing and
removing creases, making it possible to perform not only ironing
operations, but also quality smoothing operations.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0017] The steam iron device for ironing and removing creases,
intended for smoothing operations, in particular vertical according
to the present invention, includes a heating body, a boiler or the
like for producing steam, a water tank, a metal soleplate pierced
with holes to allow the steam to pass, and is characterized in that
the outer wall of the soleplate has a partially curved shape, i.e.,
includes two parts, a flat front part, and a convex curved rear
part to which said flat part is tangent.
[0018] The flat part makes it possible to iron by pressing the
fabric, while the curved part makes it possible to approach said
fabric in an avoidance movement during a smoothing operation
without any risk of catching on said fabric.
[0019] According to one additional feature of the steam iron device
for ironing and removing creases according to the invention, the
heating body is alongside the soleplate so as to heat the latter by
conduction.
[0020] According to one additional feature of the steam iron device
for ironing and removing creases according to the invention, the
inner wall of the soleplate: [0021] includes wells that protrude
therefrom and each coincide with one of the holes of the soleplate,
said wells extending in a chamber in which the steam is sprayed,
and [0022] is associated with a system for collecting the residual
water, arranged at the base of said chamber, i.e., on the back side
of the soleplate, and comprising a collection line for collecting
water from the steam that does not pass through said holes, toward
the reservoir.
[0023] It will be understood that the steam is sprayed into the
chamber, and that from this chamber, steam is sprayed toward the
outside by passing through the wells. The excess steam, which may
form drops of water, is not sprayed through the holes, but streams
in the form of drops of water on the inner wall of the soleplate
while bypassing said wells, until it reaches the collection system,
advantageously for recycling.
[0024] According to one additional feature of the steam iron device
for ironing and removing creases according to the invention, the
chamber contains an eliminate or filter.
[0025] According to another additional feature of the steam iron
device for ironing and removing creases according to the invention,
the eliminating filter assumes the form of a buffer, made up of a
jumble of wires and/or shavings.
[0026] According to another additional feature of the steam iron
device for ironing and removing creases according to the invention,
it includes a rechargeable battery system to operate
wirelessly.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
[0027] The advantages and features of the steam iron device for
ironing and removing creases according to the invention will emerge
more clearly from the following description relative to the
appended drawing, which shows one non-limiting embodiment
thereof.
[0028] FIG. 1 shows a profile side elevation view of the steam iron
device for ironing and removing creases according to the
invention.
[0029] FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of part of the same
device.
[0030] FIG. 3 shows a partial diagrammatic sectional view of the
same device.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0031] FIG. 1 shows an iron device according to the invention for
ironing. It includes a body 1 comprising a handle 10 and an
activation trigger 11, and a metal soleplate 2.
[0032] Also in reference to FIG. 2, which shows the soleplate 2,
one can see that the latter has contours similar to those of the
soleplate of known iron devices, but that its outer wall 20, i.e.,
that intended to come into contact with fabric to be treated, is
not completely flat; it in fact comprises two parts, a flat front
part 21, and a convex curved rear part 22, the front part 21
extending the rear part 22 while being tangent thereto.
[0033] It will be noted that the terms front and rear are chosen
relative to the movement direction of the iron, knowing that,
traditionally, the iron is used by pushing it, and that its front
part, with the contours giving it a pointed shape, is the part that
comes into contact first with the part of the fabric to be
ironed.
[0034] The soleplate 2, both the flat front part 21 and the curved
rear part 22, includes holes 23 allowing the spraying of steam
created inside.
[0035] From a usage perspective, the flat front part 21 is intended
to be used to iron by exerting pressure, like a traditional iron is
used, while the curved part 22 is intended to be used for removing
creases, essentially vertical, by bringing the soleplate 2 close to
the fabric in order to spray steam. The curved shape makes it
possible to compensate the wrist action by the operator, and to
avoid catching on the fabric.
[0036] The shape of the soleplate 2, in particular of its flat
front part 21, resolves the problems of ironing certain fabrics,
such as linen, which necessarily require stronger contact. The
curved rear part 22 makes it possible to slide over the textile
easily in all vertical portions, and its temperature better softens
the textile, unlike an iron, which can only come into contact with
the textile in a horizontal position.
[0037] In reference to FIG. 3, one can see the inner part of the
iron device according to the invention, behind the soleplate 2,
where a heating body 3 is positioned that transmits the heat
produced by conduction to the soleplate 2.
[0038] The inner wall 24 of the soleplate 2 includes wells 25 that
protrude therefrom and the channels 26 of which each coincide with
a hole 23.
[0039] The wells 25 extend in a chamber 4 in which steam V is
sprayed that is produced by a boiler or the like, not shown.
[0040] Part of the steam V enters the channels 26 to emerge from
the soleplate 2 in jets J. The steam that does not pass through the
channels 26 streams in the form of drops of water over the inner
wall 24 to be collected at the base in a line 27, for
recycling.
[0041] According to the invention, only steam passes through the
lines 25, any drops of water being trapped on the inner wall
24.
[0042] With the aim of optimizing the iron device according to the
invention, it is provided to additionally trap any drops of water
by arranging an eliminator element, not shown, in the chamber 4.
Given the high temperature, it is not possible to use a foam, so
this eliminator element is made from metal, preferably, but
non-limitingly, aluminum, magnesium or stainless steel, made up of
wires or shavings, and having the appearance of a buffer of the
steel wool type.
[0043] This design of the iron makes it possible to produce steam
flow rates of around 30 grams per minute of quality steam, i.e.,
fine, while allowing the iron device to have a reasonable weight
and size for the user, even when it is provided to be wireless,
while being equipped with rechargeable batteries.
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