Electric iron capable of quickly cooling

An electric iron capable of quickly cooling comprising: an ironing base and a housing, herein a soleplate is disposed on the bottom of the ironing base, while the housing comprising a shell covered on the upside of the soleplate of the ironing base, and a chamber enclosed by the shell. To improve the safety just after using, the present iron is characterized by that the shell is provided with a plurality of vents, and the soleplate is provided with a plurality of cooling fins which is protruded into the chamber, and a fan is installed in the chamber to emit the hot air to the chamber with the aid of the cooling fins, and discharge the hot air from the vent by the running of the fan, so as to cool quickly and improve the safety of the iron just after using.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an electric iron and, more particularly, to an electric iron capable of quickly cooling just after using.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Conventional electric iron is to mount a ship-shaped ironing base on the bottom of a housing which can be hold, and electric heating coil is provided inside the housing to provide heat to the iron base, thus achieve the object of ironing the cloth, and some electric irons are provided with steam generating device to improve the evenness of the cloth.

No matter the electric irons have steam generating device or not, generally, their iron bases do not have rapid-cooling function. To iron the cloth, the iron bases is generally provided with a temperature between 180˜200° C., when the iron stopped use, the user only can cut off the power, then put the iron to a suitable place for cooling, till the temperature of the iron base decreased to a safety range about 50° C., then the iron can be stored.

Because the conventional irons do not has forced-cooling function, according to experiment, the time of the temperature of the iron decreased from 200° C. to 50° C. needs about 30 minutes. While the iron with high temperature placed in rooms is easily caused unnecessary injury if the person running about the iron contacted to the iron carelessly, therefore, for the sake of safety, it is important to rapidly cool the iron after using.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the primary object of the present invention is to obviate the drawbacks of the conventional irons that they are not safe enough due to the lower heat dissipation speed after using.

this and other objects of the present invention are achieved by providing: an electric iron, based on the electric irons of the prior art, comprising an ironing base, a soleplate is disposed on the bottom of said ironing base; a housing, comprising a shell covered on the upside of said soleplate of said ironing base.

The present invention is characterized in that: a variety of cooling fins are protruded upwardly from the top surface of said soleplate; said shell has at least one first vent. Because the cooling fins are formed on the soleplate, therefore, when the iron is stopped, by the assistant heat dissipation of the cooling fins, the soleplate with high temperature can be cooled rapidly so as to improve the safety of the iron.

The present invention is also characterized in that: the iron further comprises a fan disposed in the chamber of said housing, at least one first vent is arranged in said housing and is communicated with the chamber, and at least one second vent spaced from the first vent, by the rotation of the fan, the air of the outside can be take into the chamber via the second vent and discharged out via the first vent, thereby the soleplate with high temperature also can be cooled rapidly so as to improve the safety of the iron.

It can be seen from the abovementioned description of the present invention that the present invention is to add heat devices to the conventional electric irons, and is to configure at least one vent on the proper position of the housing of the iron, cooperated with cooling fins or fan. Thus the present invention has the following advantages: after using, by the vents in the housing of the iron and the corresponding cooling fins or fan, the ironing base can be cooled rapidly, thus the safety is improved.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The preferred embodiment of the present invention will be best understood by the following detailed description when read in conjunction withFIG. 1toFIG. 4.

Referring toFIG. 1toFIG. 3, the electric iron comprises an ironing base1, a housing2fixed on the ironing base1, and a fan3installed inside the housing2.

The ironing base1comprises a ship-shaped soleplate11made of metal, a periphery wall12configured along the periphery of the soleplate11and protruded upwardly from the top surface111of the soleplate11, a partition wall13protruded vertically from the top surface111and crossly connected between the two side sections121of the periphery wall12, a steam generating area14arranged before the partition wall13, a cooling-fin forming area15arranged back the partition wall13, a steam cover16covered over the steam generating area14, a plurality of cooling fins17protrude upwardly from the cooling-fin forming area15, and a heating member mounted in the steam generating area14to heat the soleplate11. This heating member is well known in the art, so it is not shown in the figures.

Herein the partition wall13has two side extending sections131which are near the two side sections121of the periphery wall12respectively and are extended to the central direction, and two middle extending sections132which are extended to the central direction also and connected with each other, thereby a front extending zone151is formed on the cooling-fin forming area15. The rear ends of the plurality of cooling fins are aligned to each other, while the height of the fins are increasingly from the front end to the rear end. The front portions of the fins are near the partition wall13. Because the partition wall13is extended forwardly and centrally, the arrangement of the plurality of cooling fins are extended along the length direction of the soleplate11and spaced from left to right, and the fin17which is nearest to the side section121of the periphery wall12has the shortest length, while along the partition wall13, the more near the center, the longer the length of the fin17.

The heating member of the present invention not only can heat the soleplate11, but also can heat the water dropping into the steam generating area14to be transformed into steam which then can be sprayed out from the bottom of the soleplate11. This structure is well known in the art and thus is not described herein.

The housing2of the electric iron is mounted on the upside of the ironing base1by several bolts and can be held for moving the iron. The housing2comprises a shell21covered on the outer side and the top of the periphery wall12of the ironing base1, a chamber22enclosed by the shell21and opened downwardly, a fan installing wall23which is extended downwardly from the shell21and by which the chamber22is divided into two parts, a handle25which is mounted on the shell21and defined a through hole24therein, and a fan shell26covered on the rear of the shell21. Herein the shell21opened several first vents211in the lower portion near the front end, the front zone221in the front of the fan installing wall23of the chamber22is corresponding to the steam generating area14and the cooling-fin forming area15of the ironing base1, and the chamber22has a rear zone222which is in the back of the fan installing wall23and protruded out the soleplate11, an air vent231is disposed in the fan installing wall23for communicating the front zone221and rear zone222. The fan shell26fixedly covered on the rear portion of the shell21and closed the rear zone222, a plurality of second vents261are arranged crossly on the fan shell26and they are parallel vertically. In manufacture, the fan shell26also can be formed integrally with the shell21.

In practice, the inside of the front zone221is provided with devices which are needed for the electric iron such as water reservoir, control circuit etc. These devices are not the essence to the present invention, and thus they are not shown in the figures and not described herein.

The fan3is fixed on the fan installing wall23by several bolts30, and rotated to generate an air flow. The air is inhaled into the rear zone222via the second vents261of the fan shell26, and is transported through the front zone221, at last is discharged out via the first vent211of the shell21.

Referring toFIG. 2,FIG. 3andFIG. 4, in use, the heating member of the electric iron is electrified so as to heat the soleplate to be with a high temperature, and the water dropping into the steam generating area14will be heated by the soleplate11also to generate steam, then the steam sprayed out from the bottom of the soleplate. This is the general function of the conventional irons and thus is not described in detail for the sake of brevity. The present invention is characterized in that: after the heating member of the electric iron is cut-off, the fan3mounted in the chamber22will be controlled to move, and the air of the rear of the electric iron is inhaled into the rear zone222via the second vents261, and then enter into the front zone221so that the air can be pass through the cooling fins17and discharged from the first vents211of the housing2.

According to the experiment proceeded by the inventor, when a temperature of the soleplate11is higher to 180˜200° C., the fan3of the present invention only is needed to work 6 minutes to let the temperature of the soleplate11to be decreased to a safety temperature of 50° C. This shortens the time of the conventional irons to be cooled to a safety range greatly, and can effectively improve the storing safety of the electric iron. In the use state in practice, the control way of the fan3can be automatic, or manual, i.e., set a control switch on the housing2so that after the electric iron is used, the fan3can be controlled manually, and when the temperature is decreased to 50° C., the fan3will be stopped automatically by a circuit.

In addition, according to the object of the present invention, it is not necessary to have both the fan3and the cooling fins17to achieve the rapid cooling. In other words, if the ironing base1is provided with cooling fins17and the housing2is provided with at least one vent, or by a design of the heat fan3cooperated with vents, these also can achieve the rapidly cooling effect. According to the requirements of the shape, structure or size etc. of the iron, the structure can be selected from the combination of the cooling fins17, the fan3and the vents211,261, or the combination of the cooling fins17and the vents261, or the combination of the fan3and the vents211,261.

It can be seen from the abovementioned description, the structure of the iron provided with cooling fins17, a fan3and vents211,261is a novel structure to the prior art, and after the electric iron is used, the soleplate11with high temperature can be cooled rapidly by the heat dissipation devices of the afore structure, thereby avoiding injury by carelessly contacting of the iron, thus the safety of the present invention has been improved really.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The electric iron capable of quickly cooling of the present invention is based on the conventional iron and is provided with heat dissipation combination such as combination of the cooling fins and the vents, combination of the cooling fins, the vent and the fan, combination of the vents and the fan, the present invention is skillfully constructed, novel designed, and can be conveniently manufactured.