CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application claims priority of Chinese Patent Application No. 201610083737.3, filed on Feb. 6, 2016.
FIELD
The disclosure relates to an iron, and more particularly to a steam iron.
BACKGROUND
A conventional steam iron emits steam for softening fabrics so as to facilitate removal of creases formed on the fabrics, and includes a temperature adjusting mechanism and a steam adjusting mechanism. The temperature adjusting mechanism is operable to adjust temperature of a soleplate of the conventional steam iron. The steam adjusting mechanism is operable to adjust steam emission rate of the conventional steam iron. When using the conventional steam iron, a user needs to separately operate the temperature adjusting mechanism and the steam adjusting mechanism for various demands. Such operation is inconvenient.
SUMMARY
Therefore, an object of the disclosure is to provide a synchronous adjustment mechanism for a steam iron that can alleviate the drawback of the prior art.
According to the disclosure, the synchronous adjustment mechanism is for use in a steam iron that includes a soleplate, and includes an active module and a passive module. The active module is operable to adjust steam emission rate of the steam iron. The passive module is operable to adjust temperature of the soleplate. The active module and the passive module are cooperatively associated with each other, so that when the active module is operated to adjust the steam emission rate of the steam iron, the passive module is driven by the active module to synchronously adjust the temperature of the soleplate.
Another object of the disclosure is to provide a steam iron that includes a synchronous adjustment mechanism and that can alleviate the drawback of the prior art.
According to the disclosure, the steam iron includes a main body including a soleplate, and a synchronous adjustment mechanism disposed on the main body. The synchronous adjustment mechanism includes an active module and a passive module. The active module is operable to adjust steam emission rate of the steam iron. The passive module is operable to adjust temperature of the soleplate. The active module and the passive module are cooperatively associated with each other, so that when the active module is operated to adjust the steam emission rate of the steam iron, the passive module is driven by the active module to synchronously adjust the temperature of the soleplate.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Other features and advantages of the disclosure will become apparent in the following detailed description of the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a first embodiment of the steam iron according to the disclosure;
FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating the first embodiment;
FIG. 3 is another fragmentary perspective view illustrating the first embodiment;
FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view illustrating an adjusting rod of the first embodiment;
FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view illustrating a rotary switch of the first embodiment at a middle position and the adjusting rod at a low flow rate position;
FIG. 6 is another schematic perspective view illustrating the rotary switch at a right position and the adjusting rod at a high flow rate position;
FIG. 7 is still another schematic perspective view illustrating the rotary switch at a left position and the adjusting rod at a seal position;
FIG. 8 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating a second embodiment of the steam iron according to the disclosure;
FIG. 9 is another fragmentary perspective view illustrating an adjusting rod unit of the second embodiment;
FIG. 10 is still another fragmentary perspective view illustrating the adjusting rod unit;
FIG. 11 is a schematic fragmentary sectional view illustrating an adjusting rod of the adjusting rod unit at a low flow rate position;
FIG. 12 is another schematic fragmentary sectional view illustrating the adjusting rod at a high flow rate position; and
FIG. 13 is still another schematic fragmentary sectional view illustrating the adjusting rod at a seal position.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Before the disclosure is described in greater detail, it should be noted that where considered appropriate, reference numerals or terminal portions of reference numerals have been repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements, which may optionally have similar characteristics.
Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4, the first embodiment of the steam iron 2 according to the disclosure includes a main body 3, and a synchronous adjustment mechanism 5 disposed on the main body 3. It should noted that, in the following paragraphs, a tapered end of the main body 3 (see FIG. 1) is defined as the front side of the main body 3, and the left and right sides of the main body 3 are defined accordingly.
The main body 3 includes a casing 31, and a soleplate 32 that is mounted to a bottom side of the casing 31 and that permits steam to emit therethrough. The casing 31 cooperates with the soleplate 32 to define a steam chamber 33 (see FIG. 4) therebetween. The steam chamber 33 accommodates water that is to be evaporated, and has an inlet hole 331 (see FIG. 4) that is in fluid communication with a water chamber 35 (see FIG. 4).
The main body 3 of the steam iron 2 is widely known in the art, and will not be described in greater detail in the following paragraphs.
Referring to FIGS. 3 to 5, the synchronous adjustment mechanism 5 includes a passive module 700 that is operable to adjust temperature of the soleplate 32, and an active module 800 that is operable to adjust steam emission rate of the steam iron 2. The active module 800 and the passive module 700 are cooperatively associated with each other, so that when the active module 800 is operated to adjust the steam emission rate of the steam iron 2, the passive module 700 is driven by the active module 800 to synchronously adjust the temperature of the soleplate 32.
The passive module 700 includes a temperature adjuster 51 for being rotated to adjust the temperature of the soleplate 32, and a transmission arm unit 52 that is disposed in the casing 31 and that is horizontally movable for rotating the temperature adjuster 51. The active module 800 includes a rotary switch 53 that is rotatably mounted to the casing 31 and that is partially exposed from the casing 31 for manual operation, and an adjusting rod unit 54 that is uprightly mounted in the casing 31, that is pivoted to the rotary switch 53, and that is movable relative to the casing 31 for driving movement of the transmission arm unit 52. The adjusting rod unit 54 includes an adjusting rod 55 that is mounted in a front portion of the casing 31 and that is moved relative to the casing 31 by the rotary switch 53 in an upright direction.
The temperature adjuster 51 has a pinion portion 511 meshing with the transmission arm unit 52, so that movement of the transmission arm unit 52 rotates the temperature adjuster 51 to adjust the temperature of the soleplate 32.
The transmission arm unit 52 includes a transmission arm 521 that is horizontally movable relative to the casing 31 in a front-rear direction, and two arm resilient members 520 each of which has two opposite ends respectively abutting against the transmission arm 521 and the casing 31 (see FIG. 3). The transmission arm 521 has an arm portion 522 that extends in the front-rear direction, a driven portion 523 that is fixedly connected to a front end of the arm portion 522 and that protrudes forwardly, and a rack portion 528 that is connected to a lateral side of a rear end of the arm portion 522, that extends in the front-rear direction, and that meshes with the pinion portion 511 of the temperature adjuster 51. The rack portion 528 is moved by the arm portion 522 in the front-rear direction to rotate the pinion portion 511 of the temperature adjuster 51.
The transmission arm 521 further has a plurality of guiding grooves 529 each of which is formed through top and bottom surfaces of the transmission arm 521 and extends in the front-rear direction. The casing 31 has a plurality of limiting portions 312 each of which movably engages a respective one of the guiding grooves 529, so that the transmission arm 521 is only permitted to move relative to the casing 31 in the front-rear direction.
The driven portion 523 of the transmission arm 521 tapers toward the adjusting rod 55, and has an upper driven surface 524 that is inclined downwardly toward the adjusting rod 55, a lower driven surface 524′ that is inclined upwardly toward the adjusting rod 55, and a driven tapered end 525 that is located between the upper and lower driven surfaces 524, 524′. Each of the upper driven surface 524, the lower driven surface 524′ and the driven tapered end 525 is contactable with the adjusting rod unit 54. Each of the arm resilient members 520 extends in the front-rear direction, is spaced apart from the other one of the arm resilient members 520 in a left-right direction, and has two opposite ends respectively abutting against the transmission arm 521 and the casing 31 for resiliently biasing the transmission arm 521 to abut against the adjusting rod 55. In this embodiment, each of the arm resilient members 520 is configured as a compression spring. In a variation, each of the arm resilient members 520 may be configured as an elastic rubber, a V-shaped resilient plate, a torsion spring or the like.
Referring to FIGS. 5 to 7, the rotary switch 53 is rotatable relative the casing 31. A rotating axis about which the rotary switch 53 is rotatable extends in the front-rear direction, and is orthogonal to a longitudinal axis of the adjusting rod 55. The rotary switch 53 has an oblong engaging groove 530 (see FIG. 2) that is located at the left side the rotating axis and that substantially extend in a lateral direction. The engaging groove 530 is engaged with the adjusting rod unit 54 such that rotation of the rotary switch 53 moves the adjusting rod unit 54 relative to the casing 31 in the upright direction. The rotary switch 53 is manually operable to rotate among a right position (a first limit position, see FIG. 6) where the rotary switch 53 is rotated rightward to be stopped by the casing 31, a left position (a second limit position, see FIG. 7) where the rotary switch 53 is rotated leftward to be stopped by the casing 31, and a middle position (see FIGS. 4 and 5) that is located between the right and left positions.
Referring to FIGS. 3 to 5, the adjusting rod 55 of the adjusting rod unit 54 is moved by the rotary switch 53 in the upright direction, and includes a rod portion 56 that is movably inserted into the inlet hole 331 for adjusting flow rate of the water flowing into the steam chamber 33, a pivot portion 57 that is disposed on a top end of the rod portion 56 and that engages pivotally the rotary switch 53, and a driving portion 58 that protrudes from the rod portion 56 toward the transmission arm 521 and that is substantially triangle-shaped.
The rod portion 56 of the adjusting rod 55 has a fluid-tight section 561 that is operable to fluid-tightly seal the inlet hole 331, a low flow rate section 562 that extends downwardly from a lower end of the fluid-tight section 561, and a high flow rate section 564 that extends downwardly from a lower end of the low flow rate section 562. The low flow rate section 562 has two low flow rate grooves 563 (only one is visible in FIGS. 4 and 5) each of which is formed in an outer surrounding surface thereof and extends downwardly. The high flow rate section 564 has two high flow rate grooves 565 (only one is visible in FIGS. 4 and 5) each of which is formed in an outer surrounding surface thereof, is in fluid communication with a respective one of the low flow rate grooves 563, and extends downwardly through a lower portion of the high flow rate section 564. Each of the high flow rate grooves 565 has a volume greater than that of each of the low flow rate grooves 563. The adjusting rod 55 is moved by the rotary switch 53 among a high flow rate position where the high flow rate section 564 corresponds in position to the inlet hole 331 so that the water in the water chamber 35 flows into the steam chamber 33 via the high flow rate grooves 565 at a relatively high flow rate, a low flow rate position where the low flow rate section 562 corresponds in position to the inlet hole 331 so that the water in the water chamber 35 flows into the steam chamber 33 via the low flow rate grooves 563 at a relatively low flow rate, and a seal position where the fluid-tight section 561 corresponds in position to and seals the inlet hole 331 so that the water in the water chamber 35 is prevented from flowing into the steam chamber 33.
Referring to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, the pivot portion 57 of the adjusting rod 55 has a pivot rod 571 that is spaced apart from the longitudinal axis of the adjusting rod 55, and that engages pivotally and movably the engaging grove 530 of the rotary switch 53 (see FIG. 2). When the rotary switch 53 is rotated, the pivot rod 571 moves along the engaging groove 530, and is moved by the rotary switch 53 so as to move the rod portion 56 and the driving portion 58 of the adjusting rod 55 in the upright direction. The pivot portion 57 further has three positioning grooves 572 that are formed in a rear surface thereof and that are spaced apart from each other in the upright direction. The main body 3 further includes a positioning resilient plate 34 that is mounted to the casing 31 and that resiliently and removably engages an alternative one of the positioning grooves 572 for positioning the adjusting rod 55 relative to the casing 31 at a corresponding one of the high flow rate position, the low flow rate position and the seal position.
The driving portion 58 of the adjusting rod 55 has an upper driving surface 581 that is inclined downwardly toward the transmission arm 521, a lower driving surface 581′ that is inclined upwardly toward the transmission arm 521, and a driving tapered end 582 that is located between the upper and lower driving surfaces 581, 581′. The upper and lower driving surfaces 581, 581′ of the driving portion 58 are respectively contactable with the lower and upper driven surfaces 524′ 524 of the driven portion 523 of the transmission arm 521. The driving tapered end 582 of the driving portion 58 is contactable with the driven tapered end 525 of the driven portion 523 of the transmission arm 521.
In this embodiment, when the rotary switch 53 is at the right position (see FIG. 6), the adjusting rod 55 is at the high flow rate position so that the water flows into the steam chamber 33 at a relatively high flow rate, and the lower driving surface 581′ of the driving portion 58 is in contact with the upper driven surface 524 of the driven portion 523 of the transmission arm 521.
When the rotary switch 53 is rotated from the right position to the middle position (see FIGS. 4 and 5), the adjusting rod 55 is moved downwardly by the rotary switch 53 from the high flow rate position to the low flow rate position, so that the water flows into the steam chamber 33 at a relatively low flow rate to thereby lower the steam emission rate of the steam iron 2. During the movement of the adjusting rod 55 from the high flow rate position to the low flow rate position, the lower driving surface 581′ of the driving portion 58 pushes the upper driven surface 524 of the driven portion 523 of the transmission arm 521 to move the transmission arm 521 rearwardly against the biasing action of the arm resilient members 520, so as to rotate the temperature adjuster 51 until the lower driving surface 581′ and the upper driven surface 524 are separated from each other and the driving tapered end 582 is in contact with the driven tapered end 525. In this embodiment, the rearward movement of the transmission arm 521 rotates the temperature adjuster 51 to lower the temperature of the soleplate 32.
When the rotary switch 53 is rotated from the middle position to the left position (see FIG. 7), the adjusting rod 55 is moved downwardly by the rotary switch 53 from the low flow rate position to the seal position, so that the water is prevented from flowing into the steam chamber 33 and that the steam iron 2 would not emit steam. During the movement of the adjusting rod 55 from the low flow rate position to the seal position, the driving tapered end 582 and the driven tapered end 525 are first moved to be separated from each other. Then, in response to further downward movement of the adjusting rod 55, the arm resilient members 520 bias the transmission arm 521 to move forwardly, so that the lower driven surface 524′ of the driven portion 523 is pushed against the upper driving surface 581 of the driving portion 58 and that the temperature adjuster 51 is rotated by the transmission arm 521 to raise the temperature of the soleplate 32.
The steam iron 2 of this disclosure provides high steam emission rate mode, low steam emission rate mode and dry iron mode for different needs. Referring to FIG. 6, when the high steam emission rate mode is in demand, the rotary switch 53 is rotated to the right position so that the adjusting rod 55 is moved to the high flow rate position, and the temperature adjuster 51 is thereby rotated by the transmission rod 521 to raise the temperature of the soleplate 32. At this time, the water in the water chamber 35 flows into the steam chamber 33 at a relatively high flow rate to be evaporated by the soleplate 32 that is at relatively high temperature.
Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, when the low steam emission rate mode is in demand, the rotary switch 53 is rotated to the middle position so that the adjusting rod 55 is moved to the low flow rate position, and the temperature adjuster 51 is thereby rotated by the transmission rod 521 to lower the temperature of the soleplate 32. At this time, the water in the water chamber 35 flows into the steam chamber 33 at a relatively low flow rate to be evaporated by the soleplate 32 that is at relatively low temperature.
Referring to FIGS. 2, 3 and 7, when the dry iron mode is in demand, the rotary switch 53 is rotated to the left position so that the adjusting rod 55 is moved to the seal position, and the temperature adjuster 51 is thereby rotated by the transmission rod 521 to raise the temperature of the soleplate 32. At this time, the water in the water chamber 35 is prevented from flowing into the steam chamber 33, and the soleplate 32 is at relatively high temperature for dry ironing.
Referring to FIGS. 8, 9 and 11, the second embodiment of the steam iron 2 according to the disclosure is different from the first embodiment in the configuration of the synchronous adjustment mechanism 5. For the sake of brevity, only the differences between the first and second embodiments are described in the following paragraphs.
In the second embodiment, the active module 800 further includes a sleeve member 502 that is connected fixedly to the main body 3 and that permits the rod portion 56 of the adjusting rod 55 to extend therethrough. The sleeve member 502 has an oblong limiting through hole 503 formed in a rear side thereof. The sleeve member 502 further has an upper limiting surface 504 that defines an upper edge of the limiting through hole 503 and that is inclined upwardly toward the adjusting rod 55, and a lower limiting surface 505 that defines a lower edge of the limiting through hole 503 and that is inclined downwardly toward the adjusting rod 55.
Referring to FIGS. 9 to 11, the adjusting rod 55 of the second embodiment is formed with an installation groove 567 that faces toward the limiting through hole 503. The adjusting rod unit 54 further includes a driving block 59 that is movably mounted to the installation groove 567 of the adjusting rod 55, and a rod resilient member 501 that has two opposite ends respectively abutting against the driving block 59 and the adjusting rod 55.
The driving block 59 is movable relative to the adjusting rod 55 in the front-rear direction, and extends rearwardly through the limiting through hole 503. In this embodiment, the driving block 59 is substantially triangle-shaped and tapers rearwardly. A height of the driving block 59 is greater than that of a rear opening of the installation groove 567 so that the driving block is prevented from being separated from the installation groove 567. The driving block 59 has an upper driving surface 591 that is inclined downwardly toward the transmission arm 521, a lower driving surface 591′ that is inclined upwardly toward the transmission arm 521, and a driving tapered end 592 that is located between the upper and lower driving surfaces 591, 591′. The upper and lower driving surfaces 591, 591′ are respectively contactable with the upper and lower limiting surfaces 504, 505 of the sleeve member 502.
The driven portion 523 of the transmission arm 521 of this embodiment has an upright driven surface 526 that faces toward the adjusting rod 55 and that is contactable with the driving tapered end 592 of the driving block 59.
The rod resilient member 501 is disposed in the installation groove 567 of the adjusting rod 55, and resiliently biases the driving block 59 toward the transmission arm 521 away from the adjusting rod 55. In this embodiment, the rod resilient member 501 is configured as a compression spring, and exerts a force greater than that exerted by the arm resilient members 520.
The rotary switch 53 is rotatable among the right, middle and left positions to adjust the steam emission rate of the second embodiment.
Referring to FIG. 11, when the rotary switch 53 is rotated to the middle position, the adjusting rod is at the low flow rate position, and the driving block 59 protrudes out of the sleeve member 502 by a maximum extent with the upper and lower driving surfaces 591, 591′ thereof being respectively in contact with the upper and lower limiting surfaces 504, 505 of the sleeve member 502. Since the rod resilient member 501 exerts a force greater than that exerted by the arm resilient members 520, the driving block 59 pushes the transmission arm 521 against the biasing action of the arm resilient members 520 to rotate the temperature adjuster 51 to lower the temperature of the soleplate 32 (see FIG. 8). At this time, the steam iron 2 is in the low steam emission rate mode.
Referring to FIG. 12, when the rotary switch 53 is rotated from the middle position to the right position, the adjusting rod 55 is moved upwardly relative to the sleeve member 502 to the high flow rate position. During the movement of the adjusting rod 55 from the low flow rate position to the high flow rate position, the upper limiting surface 504 of the sleeve member 502 pushes the upper driving surface 591 of the driving block 59 to move the driving block 59 away from the transmission arm 521, so that the transmission arm 521 is biased by the arm resilient members 520 to move forwardly to abut against the driving block 59 and that the temperature adjuster 51 is rotated by the transmission arm 521 to raise the temperature of the soleplate 32. At this time, the steam iron 2 is in the high steam emission rate mode.
Referring to FIG. 13, when the rotary switch 53 is rotated from the middle position to the left position, the adjusting rod 55 is moved downwardly relative to the sleeve member 502 to the seal position. During the movement of the adjusting rod 55 from the low flow rate position to the seal position, the lower limiting surface 505 of the sleeve member 502 pushes the lower driving surface 591′ of the driving block 59 to move the driving block 59 away from the transmission arm 521, so that the transmission arm 521 is biased by the arm resilient members 520 to move forwardly to abut against the driving block 59 and that the temperature adjuster 51 is rotated by the transmission arm 521 to raise the temperature of the soleplate 32. At this time, the steam iron 2 is in the dry iron mode.
In summary, by virtue of the synchronous adjustment mechanism 5, when the steam emission rate of the steam iron 2 is adjusted by manual operation of the rotary switch 53, the temperature of the sole plate 32 is adjusted synchronously and accordingly. The operation to switch the steam iron 2 of this disclosure among the different modes is relatively convenient.
In the description above, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details have been set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that one or more other embodiments may be practiced without some of these specific details. It should also be appreciated that reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” an embodiment with an indication of an ordinal number and so forth means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic may be included in the practice of the disclosure. It should be further appreciated that in the description, various features are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of various inventive aspects.
While the disclosure has been described in connection with what are considered the exemplary embodiments, it is understood that this disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.
Patent Application
20170226686
