STEAM IRON HAVING IMPROVED FEED VALVE

FER A REPASSER A LA VAPEUR AVEC CLAPET D'ALIMENTATION AMELIORE

English Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A steam iron is provided with a feed valve to
supply water to a vaporising chamber. The feed valve
comprises a valve member of metal which is encased in
a plastics part, both the valve member and plastics part
having a through flow aperture which supplies water to
the vaporisation chamber in response to operation of a
valve stem. The said plastics part is so shaped and
arranged that it extends into the vaporisation chamber.
In this way deposits of lime on the outer surface of the
plastics part is avoided and movement of the valve stem
in the aperture prevents lime deposits on the stem or
in the aperture.

Claims

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE PROPERTY
OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. A steam iron having a water supply container and
a vaporisation chamber communicating with each other
through a feed valve which comprises a metal valve
member encased in a plastics part which extends into the
vaporisation chamber an aperture for water flow being
provided through said metal valve member and said
plastics part and a valve stem for regulating the flow
of water through said aperture into said vaporisation
chamber.


2. A steam iron as claimed in claim 1 wherein said
plastics part and said valve member are connected together.


3. A steam iron as claimed in claim 1 wherein said
valve member has an annular groove in its surface in
which said plastics part is retained.


4. A feed valve for a steam iron comprising a metal
valve member having a throughflow aperture, said valve
member being encased by a plastics part which is arranged
in use to extend into the vaporisation chamber of a
steam iron, the throughflow aperture of the valve member
extending through the plastics part into the vaporisation
chamber.


5. A feed valve as claimed in claim 4 wherein said
valve member and said plastics part are connected together.


6. A feed valve as claimed in claim 4 wherein said
valve member has an annular groove in its surface in which
said plastics part is retained.

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Description

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This invention concerns steam irons and more
particularly a feed valve for automatic steam irons
which valve consists of a valve stem and valve member,
In automatic steam irons the qu.antity of water
required for the steaming process is conveyed dropwise
from a water tank into an electrically heated vaporisation
chamber, The required metering is effected via a feed
valve, Automatic steam irons are already known which
use a valve member made of metal or a heat-resistant
silicone rubber for the feed valve,
The valves have the disadvantage that valve
members made of metal have a very great tendency to
calcify on their outer surfaces and in the course of
time the lime deposits take on such dimensions that the
- lS throughflow aperture becomes incrusted in a drop shape
and can no longer be kept open even by the valve stem
extending therethrough, Valve members made of silicone
rubber h~ve the disadvantage that in the course of time
lime deposits on the valve stem enlarge the cross-
section of the hole in the valve member when the feed
valve is actuated and thus the quantity of water flowing
~ through becomes so great that the heat capacity of the


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heater is no longer sufficlent to vaporise the water
present in the steam chamber and unvaporised drops of
water emerge from the sole plate of the iron,
It is an object of thîs invention to provide a
feed valve for a steam iron the ~ndividual parts of
which present no surfaces for incrustation by lime
precipitated upon vaporisation,
: Accordingly the invention provid~sfor a steam iron
; a metal valve member provided with a throughflow aperture
which valve member is encased by a plastics par-t arranged
to extend into the vaporisation chamber of a steam iron,
According to another aspect of the invention there
is provided a steam iron having a water supply ~ontainer ~,
` and a vaporisation chamber communicating with each other
, 15 through a feed valve which comprises a metal valve member
encased in a plastics part, which extends into the
vaporisation chamber, an aperture for water flow being
provided through said metal valve member and said plastics
part and a valve stem for regulating the flow of water
through said aperture into said vaporisation chamber,
. Preferably the plastics part and the v~lve ~:
member are connected to each other, and in one preferr,ed

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embodiment of the invention, the valve member has
an annular groove in which the plastics part ls retained~
In this way it is ensured that, by using a metal
valve member which is encased by a heat-resistant, water-
repellent plastics part of constant shape, the deposit of
lime on the outer surface is avoided and a constant
throughflQw quantity is maintained On the other hand,
lime deposits on the valve stem and in the throughflow
aperture are prevented by the movement of the valve stem
in the metal valve member, The quantlty of water Elowing
through the valve ls not reduced b~ any incrustation
resulting from lime deposit On the other hand,
vaporisa~on residues have no opportunity of being deposited
on the surface of the valve member facing the~vaporisation
chamber Even over a long period of use, a valve
according to the invention ensures that a constant quantity
of steam is produced per unit of time
One embodiment by way of example of the invention
is s~own in the accompanying drawings which show part
of an automatic steam iron in cross-section~ The drawing
. shows the valve region of the steam iron which has a sole
plate 1, a vaporisation chamber 2 and a heater 3 The-




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vaporisation chamber 2 is sealed of:E at the top by a
cover portion 4, in the usual way, Above the vaporisatlon
chamber 2 is mounted a water supply container 5 which is
connected to the vaporisation chamber 2 via a feed valve
- 5 6, The feed valve 6 has a metal valve member 7 which is
: encased by a plastics part 8 which extends into the
vaporisation chamber 2, The plastics part 8 is retained
in an annular groove 9 in the valve member 7, The valve
member 7 and the plastics part 8 are provided with a
through aperture 10~ The feed valve 6 is screwed to the
water supply container 5, A valve stem 11 serves to open
and close the throughflow aperture 10, Water inlet
apertures 12 are provided in the valve member 7 inside
the container 5, Between the water supply container 5
and the cover portion 4 the feed valve 6 is surrounded
by an elastically deformable sleeve 13,
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