IRONING DEVICE

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present patent document claims the benefit of priority to patent application No. 202521113295.3, filed May 30, 2025, and entitled “IRONING DEVICE,” the entire contents of each of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to the technical field of household appliances, and particularly relates to an ironing device.

2. Background Information

A burst-type steam ironing device generates a large amount of steam and has long spray distance and strong penetration, which is suitable for ironing stubborn wrinkles and thicker clothing.

At present, a pressurized ironing device on the market poses great safety risks: whether during use or in a powered-off state, a pressurized pipeline has always been open; when a pressurized button is pressed, water will be sent into an evaporator continuously, causing water accumulation inside the evaporator, which will lead to water spraying. Additionally, when the device is used again after power off, the evaporator will be heated rapidly, and the hot water inside the evaporator will be heated up, thus to eject scalding water droplets quickly, which poses great safety hazards to users.

BRIEF SUMMARY

To overcome the shortcomings of the existing technology, the present invention provides an ironing device capable of solving the issue of water accumulation inside an evaporator.

The technical solution adopted by the present invention to solve its technical problems is as follow.

An ironing device comprises:

• • a water tank;
  • an evaporator, which is configured to evaporate liquid supplied by the water tank, wherein the evaporator is provided with a temperature sensor, which is configured to detect a temperature of the evaporator;
  • a control valve, which is communicated with a water outlet of the water tank, wherein the control valve is provided with a signal receiver that communicates with the temperature sensor; when the temperature of the evaporator is larger than or equal to a threshold value T, the signal receiver receives a temperature signal fed back by the temperature sensor, so as to connect or disconnect a pipeline A between the water tank and the evaporator; and
  • a booster pump, which is arranged on a pipeline a between the control valve and the evaporator, and is configured to supply the liquid from the water tank to the evaporator.

The ironing device as described above further comprises:

• • a pipeline B, whose one end is communicated with the water tank and the other end is communicated with the evaporator; and
  • a low-pressure pump, which is arranged on the pipeline B, and is configured to supply the liquid from the water tank to the evaporator,
  • wherein an output pressure of the low-pressure pump is less than that of the booster pump.

The ironing device as described above, the evaporator is provided with at least an atomization hole A communicated with the pipeline A and at least an atomization hole B communicated with the pipeline B.

The ironing device as described above, the atomization holes B are provided in plurality and arranged around the atomization hole A.

The ironing device as described above, the atomization holes B are symmetrically arranged on a periphery of the atomization hole A along a central axis of the atomization hole A.

The ironing device as described above, an aperture of the atomization hole A is larger than that of the atomization hole B.

The ironing device as described above, the evaporator includes a front cover and a middle layer, the atomization holes B are arranged on the front cover, the middle layer is provided with a guide flow channel, which is communicated with both the pipeline B and the atomization holes B.

The ironing device as described above, the guide flow channel is serpentine, covering the area of the atomization holes B.

The ironing device as described above, the control valve is a solenoid valve.

The ironing device as described above, the ironing device further comprises a housing sleeved outside the control valve and the booster pump, a through hole is provided on the housing, the through hole is covered with a button connected to a valve of the control valve, and the button is configured to move axially along the through hole, so as to open and close the valve of the control valve. The present invention has the following beneficial effects.

The present invention provides an ironing device, when a temperature sensor detects that a temperature of the evaporator is larger than or equal to a threshold value T, a signal receiver receives the temperature signal fed back by the temperature sensor, the control valve opens, the booster pump starts to supply water from the water tank to the evaporator through a pipeline A, and the evaporator evaporates the liquid supplied by the water tank and sprays steam to iron clothing. When the temperature sensor detects that the temperature of the evaporator is less than the threshold value T, the control valve shuts off the water supply from the water tank, the booster pump continues operating to supply the remaining water in a pipeline a to the evaporator, and then residual heat of the evaporator evaporates the remaining water in the pipeline a, thus to prevent the water from accumulating inside the evaporator. When the device is used again after power off, if the temperature of the evaporator has not reached the threshold value T, no water will be sprayed from the evaporator, thereby improving safety performance of the ironing device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is further illustrated below in combination with the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional structural view of an ironing device according to this embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the ironing device in FIG. 1 wherein a housing is omitted.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the ironing device in FIG. 1.

The reference numerals are as follows:

• • water tank 1, water outlet 11, evaporator 2, front cover 21, middle layer 22, guide flow channel 221, temperature sensor 23, control valve 3, signal receiver 31, booster pump 4, low-pressure pump 5, pipeline A, pipeline a, pipeline B, atomization hole A, atomization hole B, housing 6, through hole 61, button 62.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS AND THE PRESENTLY PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The conception, specific structure, and technical effects of the present invention will be clearly and completely illustrated below in conjunction with embodiments and accompanying drawings, so as to fully understand the objectives, features, and advantages of the present invention. Apparently, the described embodiments are merely a part of the embodiments of the present invention, but not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without exerting creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention. Additionally, all connection or coupling relationships involved in the patent do not mean that components are directly connected, but that a better connection structure can be formed by adding or reducing the connection accessories according to the specific embodiments. Each technical feature in the creation of the present invention can be combined interactively without conflicting with each other.

Please refer to FIGS. 1 to 3, an ironing device comprises: a water tank 1, an evaporator 2, a control valve 3 and a booster pump 4. The evaporator 2 is configured to evaporate the liquid supplied from the water tank 1. The evaporator 2 is provided with a temperature sensor 23, which is configured to detect a temperature of the evaporator 2. The control valve 3 is communicated with a water outlet 11 of the water tank 1 and is provided with a signal receiver 31 that communicates with the temperature sensor 23. When the temperature of the evaporator 2 is larger than or equal to a threshold value T, the signal receiver 31 receives the temperature fed back by the temperature sensor 23, so as to connect or disconnect a pipeline A between the water tank 1 and the evaporator 2. The booster pump 4 is arranged on a pipeline a between the control valve 3 and the evaporator 2 to supply the liquid from the water tank 1 to the evaporator 2.

An example is given to illustrate and understand the technical solution of this embodiment. When the temperature sensor 23 detects that the temperature of evaporator 2 is larger than or equal to 160° (threshold value T), the signal receiver 31 receives the temperature signal fed back by the temperature sensor 23, the control valve 3 opens, the booster pump 4 starts to supply water from the water tank 1 to the evaporator 2 through the pipeline A, and the evaporator 2 sprays steam to iron clothing. When the temperature sensor 23 detects that the temperature of the evaporator is less than 160°, the control valve 3 shuts off the water supply from the water tank 1, the booster pump 4 continues operating to supply the remaining water in the pipeline a to the evaporator 2, and then residual heat of the evaporator 2 evaporates the remaining water in the pipeline a, thus to prevent the water from accumulating inside the evaporator 2. When the device is used again after power off, if the temperature of the evaporator has not reached 160°, no water will be sprayed from the evaporator 2, thereby improving safety performance of the ironing device.

The burst steam has high pressure and large jet volume, which can deeply penetrate into the deep layer of clothing fibers, soften the fibers at the stubborn wrinkles, and effectively smooth the deep wrinkles that are difficult to be treated by the regular steam. The regular steam can evenly moisten and heats the clothing as a whole, improving overall smoothness and loosening the fibers initially, which lays a foundation for the in-depth treatment of the burst steam. The combination of the two can make the clothing smoother and crisper, and improve the ironing quality.

Preferably, the ironing device in this embodiment is a garment steamer.

In one embodiment, the ironing device further comprises: a pipeline B, whose one end is communicated with the water tank 1 and the other end is communicated with the evaporator 2; and a low-pressure pump 5, which is arranged on the pipeline B and used to supply the liquid from the water tank 1 to the evaporator 2. An output pressure of the low-pressure pump 5 is lower than that of the booster pump 4. The pipeline B is configured to supply regular steam to the evaporator 2, the pipeline A is configured to supply burst steam to the evaporator 2, and thus the evaporator 2 can eject the regular steam and the burst steam at the same time, thereby enhancing the use experience and improving ironing efficiency.

It should be understood that, the term “low pressure” in the low-pressure pump 5 according to this embodiment means that an output pressure thereof is lower than that of the booster pump 4, rather than limiting a specific output pressure value of the low-pressure pump 5.

In one embodiment, the evaporator 2 is provided with an atomization hole A communicated with the pipeline A and an atomization hole B communicated with the pipeline B. The atomization hole A is configured to supply burst steam, and the atomization holes B are configured to supply regular steam. The pipelines for the regular steam and the burst steam are independently separated and do not interfere with each other, and can work at the same time, thereby further improving the use experience.

In one embodiment, the atomization holes B are provided in plurality and arranged around the atomization hole A. The burst steam ejected from the atomization hole A is cooperated with the regular steam ejected from the surrounding atomization holes B, so as to achieve uniform steam distribution. After being ejected from the center area, the burst steam complements and mixes with the steam ejected from atomization holes B, avoiding the situation that the local concentration of the steam is too high or too low, which is conducive to the stable operation of the entire evaporation process.

In one embodiment, the atomization holes B are symmetrically arranged on a periphery of the atomization hole A along a central axis of the atomization hole A, further enhancing the uniform mixing of the burst steam and the regular steam, thereby improving the ironing quality.

In one embodiment, an aperture of the atomization hole A is larger than that of the atomization hole B, so that a single atomization hole can eject a large volume of burst steam, which can effectively smooth out wrinkles in the clothing.

In one embodiment, the evaporator 2 includes a front cover 21 and a middle layer 22. The atomization holes B are arranged on the front cover 21, the middle layer 22 is provided with a guide flow channel 221, the guide flow channel 221 is communicated with the pipeline B, and the guide flow channel 221 is communicated with the atomization holes B.

It can be understood that, the pipeline B is communicated with multiple atomization holes B through the guide flow channel 221, and the guide flow channel 221 is configured to guide the water in pipeline B to flow through each atomization hole B, so as to form a stable flow near the atomization holes B, thereby improving the uniformity and consistency of the steam ejected from each atomization hole B. Therefore, the ironing effect is excellent.

In one embodiment, the guide flow channel 221 is configured in a serpentine pattern, covering the area where the atomization holes B are distributed. If the guide flow channel 221 is not provided, when the low-pressure pump 5 stops operating, excessive amount of water will accumulate between the front cover 21 and the middle layer 22, which could lead to water droplet ejection upon restart, potentially wetting the clothing. However, the serpentine structure of the guide flow channel 221 within the middle layer 22 can meet the water consumption of the atomization holes B and prevent excessive water from accumulating between the front cover 21 and middle layer 22, and thus the ironing effect is excellent.

In one embodiment, the control valve 3 can be configured as a solenoid valve. The solenoid valve can be quickly energized and de-energized, enabling rapid opening and closing of the pipeline A, thereby precisely adjusting the flow rate of the liquid within the pipeline A.

In one embodiment, the ironing device further comprises a housing 6 sleeved outside the control valve 3 and the booster pump 4. A through hole 61 is provided on the housing 6, and the through hole 61 is covered with a button 62 connected to a valve of the control valve 3. The button 62 can move axially along the through hole 61, so as to open or close the valve of the control valve 3.

The button 62 is configured to be pressed by a user for freely controlling the ejection and closing of the burst steam. Moreover, when the temperature of the evaporator has not reached the threshold value T, even if the user presses the button 62, there is no water supply in the pipeline A for transportation, thereby reducing the ejection of water droplets from the evaporator 2, satisfying the user demand for freely controlling the time of the burst steam ejection, and ensuring the safety performance of the ironing device at the same time.

The above are specific descriptions of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to the embodiments. Those skilled in the art may make various equivalent modifications or substitutions without departing from the spirits of the present invention, and all such equivalent modifications or substitutions shall fall within the scope defined by the claims of the present invention.