Steam-cleaning appliance

Abstract: Steam-cleaning appliance comprising a boiler (2) fitted with heating means (3), steam dispensing means (4, 104) which are connected to the said boiler (2), and a cleaning tool comprising a head (1) and a handle element (10), characterized in that the said boiler (2) and the said steam dispensing means (4, 104) are located in the said head (1).

Description: The present invention relates to household steam-cleaning appliances. Steam-cleaning appliances are available on the market comprising a boiler which is connected, via a flexible tube, to a tool that uses the jet of the steam produced in the boiler for cleaning purposes. One example of this kind of devices is represented by the device disclosed in US-A-4 696 074. In US-A- 3 755 850 another steam cleaning machine is disclosed according to which detergent suds are deposited on a suface to be cleaned and are worked on said surface by a moving brush, and are thereafter bathed in steam. In both the above machines the dirt is removed from the surface by a vacuum. These known devices are generally designated for cleaning large areas and the steam used is usually under pressure so that it can be conveyed from the boiler to the cleaning tool. Although the above mentioned types of household appliances are undoubtedly very efficient at dissolving dirt by means of the steam, they have a number of drawbacks. Firstly, the boiler can be fairly bulky when working in rather small spaces. Furthermore, the use of pressurized steam means that filling the boiler - as well as refilling it as and when necessary - is a fairly complex operation and casts doubts over the overall safety of the device. From DE-A-3031263 a device for raising the depressed pile of a carpet is known, comprising a steam source communicating with a number of steam nozzles formed in the base plate of said device, according to which the depressed pile is firstly treated with steam from said nozzles, and thereafter it is combed by means of doctor blades projecting from the said base plate. In Figure 4 of JP-U-63-83160 a steam cleaning appliance is represented as "conventional" state of the art, comprising a steam producing means fitted with heating means, a steam dispensing manifold connected to said steam producing means and provided with holes, a hand operated cleaning tool comprising a head provided with a base having a surface facing the floor to be cleaned and a cavity therein having an open face toward said floor surrounded by said surface, said steam producing means being located in said head and said manifold being housed in said cavity. The object of the present invention is therefore to provide a steam-cleaning appliance that is very easy to manoeuvre, compact, extremely simple to use and one in which filling the boiler il completely safe. The object of the present invention is, therefore, a household steam cleaning appliance comprising a steam producing means fitted with heating means, steam dispensing manifold connected to said steam producing means and provided with holes, and a hand operated cleaning tool comprising a head provided with a base having a surface facing the floor to be cleaned and a cavity therein having an open face towards said floor surrounded by said surface, said steam producing means being located in said head and said manifold being housed in said cavity, in which said steam producing means is a boiler fitted with heating means and said steam dispensing means are locared in said head; that solely the surface of the base that faces the floor and surrounding the open face of the cavity is provided with a cloth for removing the dirt on the floor, that the appliance is solely supported on the floor by said surface of the base resting on the cloth which rests on the floor and that said cloth being removably attached thereto by means of suitable attachment means. Additional advantages and features of the device according to the present invention will be apparent from the following description of an embodiment of the latter, given by way of nonlimiting example, with reference to the appended. drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a side view of the steam-cleaning appliance according to the present invention; Figure 2 is an enlarged longitudinal cross-sectional view of the appliance on the plane II-II in Figure 1; and Figure 3 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view on the plane III-III in Figure 2. Figure 1 shows the steam-cleaning appliance according to the present invention; the reference numeral 1 denotes the head of the said appliance. The said head 1 comprises a housing 201 and a base 301 is fitted with a handle element 10. The stopper 302 for the boiler and the thermostat indicator light 303, which will both be described in greater detail below, are also located on the housing 201. The handle element 10 is hinged to the portions 101 which project from the said head 1 and comprise two telescopic tubular elements 11 and 12 which can be extended with respect to each other, and a hand grip 13 connected to the element 11. Figure 2 illustrates the head of the cleaning appliance according to the invention in a cross-section on II-II in Figure 1. The head 1 comprises the housing 201, the bottom of which is connected to the base 301, the cloth 401 being secured by means of a strip of velcro 321 to that surface of the base that faces the floor 30. The boiler 2 is located inside the said housing 201. The said boiler 2 comprises two half-shells 102 and 202 which are suitably connected together; ththealf shell 202 has an integral axial sleeve 212 which projects both internally and externally with respect to the wall of the said half-shell 202. The end of the said sleeve 212 that projects externally is inserted into the hole 331 in the base 301 of the said head 1. The half-shell 102, on the other hand, has a feed inlet 122 which passes through the hole 211 in the housing and is fitted with a stopper 302. The dome of the boiler 2 consists of the cupola 112 formed in the half-shell 102. Inserted into the cavity 311 of the base 301 is a tubular manifold 4 with a plurality of holes 104 which is connected, by means of a conduit 204 formed in one piece with the said manifold, to the inside of the boiler via the hole 331 in the base 301 and the sleeve 212 of the boiler 2. The free end of the said conduit 204 actually opens into the cupola 112. The half-shell 202 of the boiler 2 is fitted with the element for heating the water 20 contained therein, in other words with the resistance element 3, which is embedded in the said half-shell and is fitted with a thermostat 103 and an electrical lead 203. Figure 3 illustartes the head 1 of the cleaning appliance according to the invention in cross-section on the plane III-III in Figure 2; the same reference numerals have been used for identical parts. This figure shows more clearly how the conduit 204 fits inside the boiler 2 and how the resistance element 3 is embedded in the half-shell 202 of the said boiler 2. The way in which the device according to the present invention works will be evident from the following description. The stopper 302 is removed and the water 20 needed to produce the steam is poured into the boiler 2 via the inlet 122. Once the boiler has been filled and the inlet 122 closed again by means of the stopper 302, the electrical lead 203 can be plugged into the mains. The resistance element 3 can then heat up the water 20 contained in the boiler, the operation being controlled by the thermostat 103 which is fitted with the indicator light 303. The steam produced rises to the top of the cupola 112 of the half-shell 102 of the boiler 2 and can escape from the latter via the conduit 204 connected to the manifold 4. The steam is then dispensed on to the floor 30 surface via the holes 104 in the manifold 4. The dirt on the floor will dissolve with the help of the said steam and can be removed using the cloth 401 which is attached to the base 301 of the head 1. It is therefore quite clear that the steam produced in the boiler 2 is not under pressure and that the appliance according to the present invention is therefore far safer to use than devices of known type. It is thus possible, should the need arise, to refill the boiler 2 with water without the user being in any danger. Advantageously, the cloth 401 is removably attached to the base 301, for example - and as illustrated in the figures - by means of a strip of velcro 321. The cloth 401 could also be removably secured to the base 301 using other means, for example spring clips. The cleaning appliance designed in this way is therefore extremely compact, easy to use and much safer than similar known appliances - and yet works just as effectively as the latter. Furthermore, this type of embodiment is undoubtedly more economical both in terms of production costs and in terms of operating costs.

Claims: Household steam cleaning appliance comprising a steam producing means (2) fitted with heating means (3), steam dispensing manifold (4, 104) connected to said steam producing means and provided with holes (8), and a hand operated cleaning tool comprising a head (1) provided with a base (301) having a surface facing the floor to be cleaned and a cavity therein having an open face towards said floor surrounded by said surface,said steam producing means being located in said head and said manifold being housed in said cavity, characterised in that said steam producing means is a boiler (2)fitted with heating means and said steam dispensing means (4, 104) are locared in said head (1); that solely the surface of the base that faces the floor and surrounding the open face of the cavity is provided with a cloth (401) for removing the dirt on the floor, that the appliance is solely supported on the floor by said surface of the base resting on the cloth which rests on the floor and that said cloth being removably attached thereto by means of suitable attachment means (321). Household steam cleaning appliance according to claim 1, in which said boiler (2) is provided with a dome (112) and said manifold (4) is connected to said boiler (2) by means of a conduit (204) communicating with tthedome (112) of said boiler (2). Household steam cleaning appliance according to claim 1, in which the said attachment means comprise a strip of velcro (321). Household steam cleaning appliance according to claim 1, in which the said attachment means comprise spring clips.

Inventors: BALDACCI LAPO, BALDACCI, LAPO
Applicants: ARIETE SPA, ARIETE S.P.A.
Application year: 1997
Main classification: A47L11
IPC codes: A47L11, B08B3