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US 5,642,579 AGranted
Steam iron having a fabric temperature sensor for controlling steam production
AssigneeU.S. Philips Corporation
InventorsAdriaan Netten, Hong W. C. Tse
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AssigneeU.S. Philips Corporation
InventorsAdriaan Netten, Hong W. C. Tse
Estimating the term…
Steam iron having an electrically heated soleplate (2), a steam generator (6) comprising a water tank (8), a water pump (10) and a steam chamber (12) for supplying steam via steam vents (20) in the soleplate (2). The steam production is made dependent on the temperature of the fabric a fabric temperature sensor (24) embedded in the soleplate (2). A cool fabric triggers the production of steam. The production is stopped as soon as the fabric temperature reaches the condensing temperature of steam. Since no more steam is absorbed in the fabric when the condensing temperature is reached, any more steam production is waste of water and power. In this way any further steam production is prevented and waste of water and power is avoided. After steaming has stopped the fabric temperature sensor (24) can be advantageously used to control the drying power of the soleplate (2) to avoid scorching of the fabric and to avoid waste of power.
A steam iron comprising a soleplate (2) provided with steam vents (20) for passing steam to a fabric to be ironed and a steam generator (6) comprising a water tank and a steam chamber (12) for supplying an adjustable amount of steam to the steam vents (20), wherein the steam iron further comprises a fabric temperature sensor (24) for detecting the temperature of the fabric to be ironed and control means (16) responsive to a signal (FTS) from the fabric temperature sensor (24) for controlling the amount of steam generated in the steam generator and passing to the steam vents (20).
A steam iron as claimed in any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the steam iron further comprises a heating element (4) for heating the soleplate (2) and second control means (16) responsive to the signal (FTS) from the fabric temperature sensor (24) for controlling the amount of heat produced by the soleplate (2).
A steam iron comprising a soleplate provided with steam vents for passing steam to a fabric to be ironed and a steam generator for supplying an adjustable amount of steam to the steam vents,
A steam iron comprising a soleplate provided with steam vents for passing steam to a fabric to be ironed and a steam generator for supplying an adjustable amount of steam to the steam vents,
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.