Patent Application
20120324769
Embodiments of the present invention relate to fabric presses configured to press fabrics and materials, and, more particularly, to a fabric press configured to press the collar of a shirt.
Fabrics and woven materials used for decorative purposes, such as when worn as clothing or used as drapery, may tend to wrinkle or retain creases through use. Further, when clothing is washed and dried in a conventional dryer or on a clothes line the clothing may take on additional wrinkles and creases from the washing and drying process. The ironing of fabrics is often used to remove such wrinkles and creases by applying heat, and sometimes moisture, to the fabric while pressing the fabric, between substantially flat surfaces. The heat serves to relax the fabric and the pressing between the flat surfaces flattens the fabric to remove the wrinkles and creases.
Ironing can be achieved through a conventional hand-held iron using a flat surface, such as an ironing board, on which the ironing is performed. The ironing may also be achieved by large presses, which are often found in commercial dry-cleaning and laundering establishments. Commercial presses are often very large pieces of machinery, which require large areas of floor space and use considerable energy. An advantage to the hand-held iron is the flexibility with which the operator can iron or press different portions of any particular garment or article being ironed. The relatively small size of the hand-held iron permits the operator to iron around obstacles such as buttons or seams; however, ironing a garment or other fabric item with a hand-held iron can be tedious and time consuming. Commercial presses, on the other hand, allow fast, high-volume pressing of fabrics despite being less discriminate with regard to contours, details, and obstacles of the fabrics being pressed. Some commercial presses are configured to press items of a particular shape, such as a shirt; however, these presses typically are oversized to accommodate the largest of shirts and may still not provide the finer detail ironing possible with hand-held irons.
It may be desirable to have a press that is small enough to be convenient for household use while offering the speed of a commercial press and allow for detail ironing usually achieved only with a hand-held iron.
Various embodiments of the present invention are directed to fabric presses to press the collar of a shirt. An example apparatus may include a base member with a first press surface, where the base is configured in the shape of a U, and a lid member including a second press surface, where the lid member is configured generally in the shape of a U. The lid member may be hingedly attached to the base member, and the second press surface may be substantially complementary to the first press surface. In an open position, the first press surface may be configured to receive a turnover style collar of shirt and in the closed position, the second press surface is configured to fit over and press the turnover style collar of the shirt. The first press surface may include a ridge extending along the length of the first press surface around the U shape and the first press surface may be configured to receive the fold of a turnover style collar of the shirt along the ridge of the first press surface.
The base member may include a reservoir for holding a liquid and the reservoir may include a heating element configured to heat the liquid. The first press surface may be substantially perforated, and in response to the liquid in the reservoir being heated, vapor may pass through the first press surface via the perforations. The lid member may be hingedly attached to the base portion proximate a curved portion of the U-shape. The base member may have a substantially triangular cross-section. The first press surface may be configured to receive a turnover style collar of a shirt, and a fold of the turndown style collar may be configured to be received along the ridge of the first press surface. The apparatus may also include a removable insert arranged on the first press surface configured to emboss a figure on the collar when the lid member is in the closed position. The apparatus may further include a hanger adapted to hang the apparatus on a door.
Another example embodiment of an apparatus for pressing the collar of a shirt may include a base member with a first press surface and where the base defines a cavity at least partially bounded by the first pressing surface. The apparatus may further include a lid member with a second press surface cooperative with the first press surface to press the collar of the shirt. The apparatus may also include a reservoir containing a fluid and a heating element disposed within the reservoir. The heating element may heat the fluid within the reservoir to generate steam and the steam generated from the fluid may heat the first pressing surface by passing through the cavity. The first pressing surface may include perforations and the steam may exit from the cavity through the perforations to facilitate the pressing of the collar of the shirt. The first press surface may include a removable insert, where the removable insert is configured to be replaced with an embossing insert. The base member may include at least one heat sink disposed within the cavity, the heat sink configured to conduct heat to the first press surface. The base member may be generally U-shaped and at least a portion of the base member may define a substantially triangular cross-section. The base member may include a ridge that extends around the U-shape, where the ridge may be configured to receive the fold of the collar of the shirt. The collar of the shirt may be a turnover collar and the apparatus may be configured to press the collar of the shirt while the turnover collar is folded.
Another example embodiment of the present invention may provide an apparatus for pressing the color of a shirt that includes a base member with a generally U-shaped length, where the base member includes a first press surface with a cross-section that is substantially V-shaped. The apparatus may also include a lid member with a generally U-shaped length, where the lid member includes a second press surface with a cross-section that is substantially V-shaped. The first press surface and the second press surface may be configured to cooperate to press a shirt collar therebetween. A ridge of the V-shaped first press surface may be configured to receive the fold of a turnover collar.
Reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and wherein:
The present invention will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some, but not all embodiments of the inventions are shown. Indeed, these inventions may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicable legal requirements. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. The terms top, bottom, side, up, down, upwards, downwards, vertical, horizontal, and the like as used below do not imply a required limitation in all embodiments of the present invention but rather are used herein to help describe relative direction or orientation in the example embodiments illustrated in the figures.
Various embodiments of the present invention provide a fabric press configured to remove wrinkles from a fabric or woven material when pressed and/or heated by the fabric press.
The pressing or ironing of fabrics, and in particular garments, such as shirts, is a time-consuming process that may be achieved through commercial laundry operations, which may launder and press a shirt, or through conventional household means, such as ironing on an ironing board. Having shirts pressed by a commercial laundry operation may cost a considerable amount of money over the useful life of a shirt and may inconvenience the owner of the shirt who would typically be required to drop-off and pick-up the shirts during the normal business hours of a cleaning business. Further, commercial laundry and pressing operations may use chemicals and temperatures which wear on the fabrics of shirts and may cause premature deterioration of the fabrics and seams of a shirt, thereby shortening its useful life. Notwithstanding, some shirts may not require washing and pressing after every use such that when a clean shirt is simply returned to a cleaner for the shirt to be pressed, the owner must pay for an unnecessary wash in addition to the pressing operation.
Laundering shirts at home or at a self-service laundry may require a shirt's owner to iron the shirt manually using a conventional hand-held iron. Ironing a shirt by hand is time consuming and often the results achieved are not ideal, particularly when ironing certain fabrics that tend to retain creases and wrinkles and when a person has difficulty ironing portions of the shirt that may have a contour (e.g., the cuffs or collar) on a substantially flat surface such as an ironing board.
There are many different collar designs and styles that have been used in clothing for many years; however, the turnover style collar, also known as a folded collar, is one of the most common collar style and is typically found on men's dress shirts, polo shirts, and women's blouses. The turnover style collar has a number of variations including the button-down, spread, straight, tab, and pinned varieties, among others; however, each has similarities which enable virtually any type of turnover style collar to benefit from embodiments of the present invention. An example of a turnover style collar is depicted in
Example embodiments of the present invention may provide a fabric press which enables a user to quickly and easily press the collar of a shirt in an easy, repeatable manner. In particular, embodiments of the present invention may allow a user to press the collar of a shirt in a relatively quick and repeatable manner to produce a properly pressed turnover collar.
As shown in
The first press surface 262 may be sized and shaped to receive the turnover collar 310 of a shirt 300 as illustrated in
A user may apply pressure to the lid member 270 to effect the pressing of the collar 310. In some cases, however, the lid member 270 may include enough weight to apply sufficient pressing force without additional, manually applied pressure. Further, the hinges 220 may include a spring-assist which aids in applying pressure between the lid member 270 and the base member 260. Such a spring-assist may include a cam mechanism to hold the lid member 270 in the open position when the lid member 270 opens beyond a predetermined angle, and the spring-assist may only exert additional closing pressure when the lid member 270 is closed to within a certain degree of the base member 260. Thus, the lid member 270 may be biased in the open position when opened, and biased in the closed position when closed. The lid member 270 or the base member 260 may include a clamping feature (not shown) that secures the lid member 270 to the base member 260 and may also be configured to apply a pressing force in the clamped position. The clamping feature may be configured to apply additional force as the clamp is secured. Such clamps may include a draw-bolt closure (such as may be used on tool boxes), twist latches (such as may be found on utility boxes, cabinets, or cases), or a cam-lock or latch that increases the closure force as the cam is rotated.
Example embodiments of the present invention may further include a mechanism by which the shirt collar may be held in position on the base member 260 without requiring an operator to manually hold the shirt in place.
While the pressure between the lid member 270 and the base member 260 alone may provide a pressing and smoothing effect on the fabric of a collar, heat and/or steam may further aid in the pressing of the shirt collar.
The fluid held in the reservoir may be heated by the heating element to generate steam. Once converted to steam, the steam may flow throughout the base member 260 of the press to conduct heat to the first press surface 262.
Example embodiments of a fabric press according to the present invention may further include an adjustable temperature setting to control the temperature of the press surface(s). The adjustable temperature setting may be configured with temperature settings pre-determined to be appropriate for common fabrics or types of shirts that would be commonly used in a fabric press. Settings may include material types such as “cottons”, “polyester”, “blends”, etc. and other settings may include fabric types such as “broadcloth”, “oxford”, or other fabric types. Settings may also simply include “high”, “medium”, and “low” for example.
An insulation material 440 may be provided within the press base member, below the cavity 410 to promote heat conductivity through the pressing surface 262 and to insulate the bottom of the base member 260, allowing the base to be safely placed on any surface.
As a user may open the lid member and leave the lid open while retrieving a shirt or while being otherwise occupied, it may be undesirable in some situations to allow the fabric press to continue to generate heat and steam while not being used, thereby wasting energy and unnecessarily depleting the fluid in the reservoir. Accordingly, example embodiments of the present invention may include mechanisms by which the press is activated by the closing of the lid member 270 to the base member 260. One method of accomplishing such a mechanism may be to provide a reservoir that is substantially open when the lid member 270 is in the closed (pressing) position and substantially closed when the lid member 270 is in the open position. The heater, which may be on a thermostat or timed cycle, may continue to heat or maintain the fluid at a predetermined temperature when the lid member 270 is open or when the lid member 270 is closed. Upon closing of the lid member 270 to the base member 260, the reservoir may be opened to the cavity 410 beneath the first pressing surface 262 (see
Another example embodiment of activation of the fabric press when the lid member 270 is closed may include a heating element which serves to maintain the reservoir temperature at a first temperature when the lid member 270 is in the open position, and configured to heat the reservoir fluid temperature to a second, higher temperature when the lid member 270 is moved to the closed position. The first temperature may be maintained at a level which generates little steam, whereas the second temperature may be only marginally higher than the first temperature, but may cause the fluid in the reservoir to vaporize quickly, thereby producing a significant amount of steam in a relatively short amount of time, while not wasting energy and fluid when the lid member 270 is disposed in the open position.
A further example embodiment of activation upon closure of the lid member 270 may include a capacitor that is connected to the heating element. The heating element may operate in a conventional manner, maintaining the reservoir at a temperature sufficient to produce steam when the lid member 270 is in the opened or closed position. However, when the lid member 270 is in the open position, the capacitor may be configured to receive and maintain a charge. Upon closure of the lid member 270 to the base member 260, the charge held in the capacitor may be dissipated to the heating element, creating a substantially instantaneous boost to the heat generated by the heating element and resulting in a substantial temperature rise in the reservoir. The temperature rise may produce additional heat and steam required to more quickly press the shirt collar.
The illustrated embodiment of
Many modifications and other embodiments of the inventions set forth herein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which these inventions pertain having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that the inventions are not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.
