Ironing board with steam recovery system

Abstract: Ironing board comprising an iron (6) connected with a steam boiler (3, 22) and an ironing plank (2) provided with a pierced upper surface (201) and with a lower tank (202) gathering the condensation water of said steam; said ironing board comprises means (7, 23) for recovering the condensation water which is present in the tank (202) and means (10, 14, 15) for re-circulating water from said recovery means (7, 23) to said steam boiler (3, 22).

Description: The present invention relates to ironing boards, and in particular to a system for recovering in said ironing boards the condensation water of the steam given out by steam irons used in combination with said ironing boards and usually provided with a steam boiler endowed with a water supply reservoir and connected with said iron by means of a steam supply duct. Ironing boards known at the latest state of the art comprise a suitable support stand on which a pierced plank is located (usually a metal plank) on which a suitable steam-permeable felt is applied, onto which the item to be ironed is laid and onto which the steam iron is glided by the user. In a first type of known ironing boards the water steam given out by the iron during the ironing operation goes through the pad felt and gets out through the plank holes dispersing in the atmosphere. The main disadvantage of said known ironing boards consists in that the water used to generate the steam given out by the iron is dispersed in the atmosphere, thus making it necessary to fill the boiler reservoir with fresh water quite frequently. Since said filling operation is normally carried out using drinking water, rich in limestone, the latter little by little sediments in the tank and causes dangerous encrustations. It is also known about a second type of ironing boards, in which the holes in the ironing plank do not communicate with the outside atmosphere but with a hollow space located under the ironing plank, said hollow space being connected in its turn with a steam boiler by means of an additional duct, so as to supply steam countercurrent from below to the ironing plane, and being also endowed with an air suction fan in order to keep the items to be ironed still when actuated by the user. However, said second known type of ironing boards has, beyond the disadvantage described above which is common to all ironing boards, a further disadvantage due to the presence of condensed water on the lower side of the plank hollow space. Said water sinks the temperature of the steam aupplied countercurrent to the table, since said steam, before reaching the ironing plane, should lick up the condensed water and exchange heat with it. US-A-5 433 034 discloses an ironing board according to the preamble of claim 1. The aim of the present invention is to avoid the disadvantages of known ironing boards as previously mentioned. Such aim is reached by the present invention by means of an ironing board comprising an iron connected with a steam boiler and an ironing plank provided with a pierced upper surface and with a lower tank gathering the condensation water of said steam; said ironing board is provided with means for recovering the condensation water which is present in the tank and with means for re-circulating water from said recovery means to said steam boiler. Further aims and advantages of the present invention will be better understood thanks to the following description, considered as a mere non limiting example and referring to the enclosed drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of an ironing board according to the present invention; Fig. 2 is a schematic lateral view, partially sectioned, showing the working of the ironing board of Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a schematic lateral view, partially sectioned, showing an execution variant of the ironing board according to the present invention. Fig. 1 shows a ironing board according to the present invention, consisting of an ironing plank 2 supported by a stand 8 standing on the ground and provided with a pierced flat upper surface 201 and with a lower tank 202 with an inclined bottom. A suitable steam-permeable felt layer 24 (a small section of which is shown in the figure) is applied onto said upper surface 201, onto said layer the item to be ironed being laid and a steam iron 6 being glided by the user. A pressure boiler 3 is fastened beside said lower tank 202, said boiler being endowed with a safety plug 4 and a support base 5 for said iron 6 being located on it. A reservoir 7 containing the supply water for said boiler 3 is fastened onto the lower portion of the pressure boiler 3. Said reservoir 7 is provided on the top with a filling plug 9 and on the bottom with a drain cock 10. The pressure boiler 3 therefore receives water from the reservoir 7, turns it into steam and supplies the iron 6 with said steam through a duct 11 and the plank 2 through a duct 12. Fig. 2 schematically show the ironing board of Fig. 1. The bottom of the tank 202 is inclined so that the condensation water gathers towards a lower area provided with the connection of the end of a duct 13 supplying the reservoir 7 with such condensation water. A seat 19 housing a steam suction fan 20 driven by a motor 21 is further provided on said bottom. Said fan 20 should suck up air when required by the user, so as to keep the items to be ironed still. The condensation water, gathered within the reservoir 7 through the duct 13, can be discharged into an outer vessel 14 by means of the cock 10 and re-introduced in a demineralized state into the pressure boiler 3 through the plug 14. Instead of said outer vessel 14, the reservoir 7 can be provided inside with a pump 15 (indicated with a hatched line) sending directly the water recovered from the plank 2 from said reservoir 7 to the boiler 3 through a duct 18. Said pump 15 could obviously also be located outside said reservoir 7. The delivery of pressure steam from the boiler 3 is controlled by a pair of electrovalves 16 and 17, located within the duct 11 for supplying the iron 6 with steam and within the duct 12 for supplying the plank 2 with steam, respectively. An execution variant of the present ironing board is shown in Fig. 3 and provides for the application of a low pressure steam boiler 22 receiving directly water recovered from a reservoir 23 thanks to a pump 15 which can also be placed within said reservoir 15 (therefore immersed in the recovered water). If compared with the solution providing for the pressure boiler 3, the steam boiler 22 can immediately vaporize the water received from the reservoir 23 without waiting for a certain amount of water to be gathered, and can therefore be carried out with a smaller size with respect to the aforesaid boiler 3. When the person using the iron 6 requires steam, the pump 15 is operated so as to transfer the water recovered from the reservoir 23 to the low pressure steam boiler 22 and from here to the iron 6 or to the plank 2.

Claims: Ironing board, comprising an iron (6) connected with a steam boiler (3, 22) and an ironing plank (2) provided with a pierced upper surface (201) and with a lower tank (202) gathering the condensation water of said steam, characterized in that it comprises means (7, 23) for recovering the condensation water which is present in the tank (202) and means (10, 14, 15) for re-circulating water from said recovery means (7, 23) to said steam boiler (3, 22). Ironing board according to claim 1, characterized in that the lower tank (202) for gathering condensation water comprises a bottom with a suitable inclination and connected near its lower area with said recovery means (7, 23). Ironing board according to claim 1, characterized in that the condensation water coming from the tank (202) is gathered within at least one intermediate reservoir (7, 23) and transferred to said steam boiler through said re-circulation means (10, 14, 15). Ironing board according to claim 3, characterized in that it comprises a pump (15) for re-circulating water from said intermediate reservoir (7, 23) to the steam boiler (3, 22), said pump (15) being placed inside or outside said reservoir (7, 23). Ironing board according to claim 3, characterized in that it comprises a pressure boiler (3) into which water is manually introduced by means of a vessel (14), said intermediate reservoir (7) being provided with a cock (10) for discharging condensation water into said vessel (14). Ironing board according to claims 4 and 5, characterized in that the condensation water which has been recovered is introduced into said boiler (3) through a duct (18) connected to said re-circulation pump (15) provided inside or outside the intermediate reservoir (7). Ironing board according to claim 5, characterized in that said boiler (3) supplies the iron (6) and the plank (2) with steam through two ducts (11, 12), each of which comprises at least an electrovalve (16, 18) controlling steam supply. Ironing board according to claim 3, characterized in that it comprises a low pressure steam boiler (22), said boiler (22) immediately generating steam starting from the condensation water taken from the intermediate reservoir (23) through said pump (15) and transferring said steam to the iron (6) and to the plank (2) by means of two ducts (11, 12). Ironing board according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises means (20) for sucking up steam from the tank (202) of the ironing plank (2). Ironing board according to claim 9, characterized in that said means comprise a suction fan (20) housed in a seat (19) obtained on the bottom of the tank (202) and driven by a motor (21).

Inventors: ROSA CARLO, ROSA, CARLO
Applicants: ARIETE SPA, ARIETE S.P.A.
Application year: 2001
Main classification: D06F81
IPC codes: D06F81