Steam-Cleaning Appliance

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 steam produced in the boiler for cleaning purposes. These devices are generally designed 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 this type of household appliance is undoubtedly very efficient at dissolving dirt by means of the steam, it has 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.

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 is completely safe.

The object of the present invention is, therefore, a steam-cleaning appliance comprising a boiler fitted with heating means, steam dispensing means which are connected to the said boiler, and a cleaning tool comprising a head and a handle element, characterized in that the said boiler and the said steam dispensing means are located in the said head.

The said dispensing means comprise a manifold with a plurality of holes which is connected to the said boiler by means of a conduit connected at one end to the said manifold, the free end of the said conduit communicating with the dome of the said boiler.

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 non-limiting example, with reference to the appended drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of the steam-cleaning appliance according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal cross-sectional view of the appliance on the plane II--II in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view on the plane III--III in FIG. 2.

FIG. 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 comprises 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.

FIG. 2 illustrates the head of the cleaning appliance according to the invention in a cross-section on II--II in FIG. 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 the 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; the half-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 halfshell and is fitted with a thermostat 103 and an electrical lead 203.

FIG. 3 illustrates the head 1 of the cleaning appliance according to the invention in cross-section on the plane III--III in FIG. 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 30 will dissolve with the help of the said steam and can then 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 a 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.