Patent Publication Number: US-11047087-B2

Title: Apparatus for treatment of laundry including a base equipped with a removable reservoir

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to French Patent Application No. 1855140, filed Jun. 12, 2018, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
     FIELD 
     This invention relates to an apparatus for steam treatment of laundry including a base connected by a conduit to an ironing and/or smoothing tool, and relates more particularly to an apparatus in which the base comprises a removable reservoir and includes a side wall which delimits at least one side of a housing for accommodating the reservoir. 
     BACKGROUND 
     From the Chinese utility model CN2547754U, we know of an ironing apparatus comprising a base, comprising a removable reservoir, connected by a steam conduit to an iron. This apparatus includes a housing for accommodating the reservoir which is provided on the rear of the base and the base includes a side wall which delimits the front part of the housing for accommodating the reservoir. 
     Such an apparatus has a reservoir which is weakly integrated with the base such that a large portion of the perimeter of the reservoir is still visible. However, the side wall of the base which delimits the front part of the housing for accommodating the reservoir has the drawback of concealing the reservoir when the user is positioned in front of the apparatus, such that the user cannot see the water level in the reservoir when he is in this position. 
     SUMMARY 
     Thus, an aspect of this invention is to propose an ironing/smoothing apparatus that corrects this drawback. 
     For this purpose, an aspect of the invention is an apparatus for steam treatment of laundry including a base connected by a conduit to an ironing and/or smoothing tool, the base comprising a removable reservoir and including a side wall which delimits at least one side of a housing for accommodating the reservoir, characterized in that the side wall includes a window allowing visual access to the contents of the reservoir. 
     Window is understood to mean any opening allowing visual access to the interior of the housing. 
     Such a characteristic improves the visibility of the water level in the reservoir by allowing the user to have visual access through the window when he is in a position where the reservoir is normally concealed by the side wall. 
     According to a beneficial characteristic of the invention, the side wall extends over at least two sides of the housing for accommodating the reservoir. 
     Such a characteristic makes it possible to visually integrate the reservoir in the base and to protect the latter on at least two of its sides, thus limiting the risk of impact with the reservoir, which could cause the latter to be damaged or disconnected from the base. 
     According to another beneficial characteristic of the invention, the side wall extends over at least three sides of the housing for accommodating the reservoir. 
     Such a characteristic further enhances the visual integration of the reservoir in this base and its protection. 
     According to another beneficial characteristic of the invention, the side wall extends over the entire perimeter of the housing. 
     Such a characteristic makes it possible to have a reservoir fully integrated in the base. 
     According to another beneficial characteristic of the invention, the reservoir can be inserted into or extracted from the housing through an access opening provided on one side of the base. 
     Such a characteristic makes it possible to obtain a base in which the reservoir does not occupy the upper portion of the base. 
     According to another beneficial characteristic of the invention, the access opening is provided in the side wall. 
     According to another beneficial characteristic of the invention, the window is provided opposite the access opening. 
     Such a characteristic makes it possible to offer visual access to the reservoir on the side of the base opposite the access opening. 
     According to another beneficial characteristic of the invention, the window is an opening through the side wall. 
     Such a characteristic has the benefit of being simple and economical to implement. 
     According to another beneficial characteristic of the invention, the window is equipped with a transparent pane. 
     According to another beneficial characteristic of the invention, the reservoir comprises a transparent or translucent portion positioned opposite the window when the reservoir is arranged in the housing. 
     According to another beneficial characteristic of the invention, the reservoir comprises a handle. 
     Such a characteristic simplifies the handling of the reservoir. 
     According to another beneficial characteristic of the invention, the reservoir includes a transparent or translucent front face and the handle is made in an opaque material which is connected to the front face of the reservoir. 
     According to another beneficial characteristic of the invention, the apparatus includes a device for locking the reservoir into the housing. 
     Such a characteristic makes it possible to secure the reservoir to the base, in particular during transport of the base. 
     According to another beneficial characteristic of the invention, the locking device comprises a latch moved by an elastic return system into a locking position, and an unlocking button allowing the latch to be manually moved into an unlocking position. 
     According to another beneficial characteristic of the invention, the base includes a transport handle so that it can be moved, the transport handle being beneficially provided on the upper side of the base. 
     Such a characteristic has the benefit of ensuring very good ergonomics of use. 
     According to another beneficial characteristic of the invention, the apparatus includes an ironing board mounted such that it can pivot on a pole by means of a hinge device allowing the ironing board to be immobilized in various tilted positions. 
     According to another beneficial characteristic of the invention, the base comprises an electric pump allowing water to be sent from the reservoir toward the smoothing tool, the smoothing tool comprising an instant steaming chamber. 
     Such a characteristic makes it possible to have a base that is compact and very simple to make, the steam being produced directly in the steaming chamber supported by the smoothing tool. 
     According to another beneficial characteristic of the invention, the tool is an iron. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The purposes, aspects, and benefits of this invention will be more fully understood in consideration of the following description of a particular embodiment of the invention presented as a non-restrictive example, by referring to the attached drawings in which: 
         FIGS. 1 and 2  are perspective views of an ironing apparatus according to a particular embodiment of the invention; 
         FIGS. 3 and 4  are perspective views of the base represented alone, with the reservoir taken out of the housing; 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the reservoir equipping the base, 
         FIG. 6  is an exploded perspective view of the reservoir in  FIG. 5 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Only the elements necessary for understanding the invention have been represented. To facilitate reading of the drawings, the same elements bear the same references from one figure to the next. Note that in this document, the terms “horizontal,” “vertical,” “lower,” “upper,” “front” and “back” used to describe the apparatus refer to this apparatus when it is resting flat on its stand as illustrated in  FIG. 1 . 
       FIGS. 1 and 2  represent a steam ironing apparatus including a portable base  1  connected by a flexible conduit  2  to a steam iron  3 , the base  1  being electrically connected to a household network by a cable, not visible in the figures. 
     The base  1  comprises a removable reservoir  10  and a pump which draws water from the reservoir  10  to send it to the iron  3  through a pipe integrated in the conduit. 
     The iron  3  comprises, in a manner known per se, a flat soleplate  30  surmounted by a body which comprises a gripping handle  31  comprising a free rear extremity projecting laterally relative to the body. The body contains, in a manner known per se, a casting which is in thermal contact with the soleplate and comprises a heating resistor, controlled by means of a non-adjustable thermostat, allowing the temperature of the soleplate  30  to be maintained around a setpoint temperature of approximately 135° C. (e.g. +/−5° C.). 
     The casting is beneficial made of aluminum and it includes an instant steaming chamber into which the water coming from the reservoir  10  is injected by the pump, the operation of the pump being controlled by a trigger  32  provided under the front extremity of the gripping handle  31 . The pump and the steaming chamber are beneficially sized to allow the production of a continuous steam flow of approximately 25 g/min (e.g. +/−1 g/min) when the trigger  32  is actuated, the soleplate  30  traditionally comprising holes  30 A for the emission of steam. 
     The apparatus also includes a stand  4  on which the base  1  rests removably, the latter being equipped with a transport handle  11  at its upper extremity to facilitate moving it. The stand  4  beneficially includes a recess  41  following the external contour of the base  1  and in which the lower extremity of the base  1  engages. 
     In an embodiment, the stand  4  comprises two telescopic poles  40  comprising an upper extremity supporting a rigid ironing board  5  comprising a smoothing surface  50 , for example flat, intended to be covered with a slipcover, not represented in the figures, and on which laundry to be smoothed can be placed. 
     The ironing board  5  is mounted such that it can pivot on the extremity of the poles  40  by means of a hinge device  6  to immobilize the ironing board  5  in different tilted positions and beneficially in a vertical position (illustrated in  FIGS. 1 and 2 ), in a horizontal position, and in an intermediate position in which the ironing board  5  beneficially forms an angle of approximately 40° (e.g. +/−5°) with respect to the vertical. 
     This hinge device  6  is, for example, conforming to the one described in greater detail in the patent application filed in France by the applicant under the filing number FR 1756063. 
     Beneficially, one of the telescopic poles  40  supports a cross arm  7  at the extremity of which a support device  8  is provided on which the iron  3  can be placed during inactive ironing/smoothing phases. 
     In accordance with  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the base  1  includes a side wall  14  equipped with an access opening  12  through which the reservoir  10  can be placed into the base  1 . 
     The access opening  12  beneficially has a rectangular general shape and leads to a housing  13  for accommodating the reservoir  10 , which is delimited by the side wall  14  of the base  1 , the latter comprising, opposite the access opening  12 , a window  15  beneficially formed by an opening leading to the housing  13 . 
     In accordance with  FIGS. 5 and 6 , the reservoir  10  includes a front wall  100  which defines the front face of the reservoir  10  and which is tightly connected to a substantially parallelepipedal body  101  engaging in the housing  13  when the reservoir  10  is in an operating position, illustrated in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . The front wall  100  has a shape complementing that of the access opening  12  and is in line with the side wall  14  of the base  1  when the reservoir  10  is in the operating position. 
     The body  101  and the front wall  100  define an enclosure which can be filled with water through an orifice  102  provided at the summit of the body  101 , this orifice  102  being arranged, in an embodiment, at the bottom of a cavity  103  provided on the upper wall of the body  101 , the cavity  103  serving as a funnel. 
     The body  101  and the front wall  100  of the reservoir  10  are made in a transparent or translucent material which allows the user to see the water level in the reservoir  10  by looking at the reservoir  10  through its front face or its rear face. 
     In an embodiment, the rear face of the body  101  has a part  104  opposite the window  15  at the level of which the transparency of the body  101  is reinforced, for example by reducing the thickness of the wall or by making this part in a more transparent material. 
     The front face of the reservoir  10  includes a handle  105  which is beneficially connected to the front wall  100  of the reservoir and can be made in a non-transparent plastic material, such as a colored material. 
     The handle  105  makes it possible to grasp the reservoir when inserting the reservoir  10  into or removing it from the housing  13 , this operation being performed through a translational movement of the reservoir  10  in line with the access opening  12 . 
     In order to ensure fluidic connection of the reservoir  10  with the base  1 , the latter is equipped with a connecting end fitting  106  which is arranged in the lower part of the base  1 , opposite the access opening  12 , this connecting end fitting  106  being fluidically connected to the pump arranged in the base  1 . 
     In accordance with  FIG. 5 , the reservoir  10  includes a ball valve  107  which connects to the connecting end fitting  106  when the reservoir  10  is in the operating position, the valve  106  being situated under the enclosure of the reservoir  10  and preventing liquid from flowing out of the reservoir  10  when the reservoir  10  is disengaged from its housing  13 . 
     In an embodiment, the reservoir  10  is secured in the operating position by means of a locking device which comprises a latch  108  brought into a locking position by a spring, not visible in the figures, and which can be moved into an unlocking position by means of an unlocking button  109  arranged at the summit of the handle  105 . 
     The apparatus thus realized has the benefit of having great ergonomics of use while being very economical to manufacture. 
     In particular, the fact that the reservoir  10  can be removed from the base  1  simplifies the operation of filling the reservoir  10  and limits the risk that water may spill onto the base  1 . 
     In addition, the user can check the water level in the reservoir  10  without having to extract it from the base  1 , since he can access the water level in the reservoir  10  by looking at the base  1  through its front face, thanks to the transparency of the front face  100  of the reservoir, and also by looking at the base  1  through its rear face, thanks to the presence of the window  15  on the rear face of the base  1  and thanks to the transparency of the part  104  of the body defining the rear face of the reservoir  10 . 
     It will be appreciated that the invention is in no way limited to the embodiment described and illustrated, which has been provided only as an example. 
     Modifications are still possible, in particular from the point of view of the composition of the various components or by substitution of equivalent techniques, without departing from the scope of protection of the invention. 
     Thus, in an embodiment variant not represented, the window for visualizing the water level in the reservoir can be closed by a transparent wall instead of being formed by a through opening. 
     Thus, in an embodiment variant not represented, the base may include a window on each of the three lateral faces of the base not comprising the access opening.