Patent Application
20240076826
Examples of the present disclosure generally relate to clothing steam irons and, more particularly, to handheld steam irons with fluid pumps and removable fluid reservoirs.
Wrinkled clothing is a problem that any consumer has spent a great deal of time remediating. To alleviate the ever-persistent problem, consumers generally choose between two common wrinkle-removing implements: the iron or the steamer. The iron is a long-used but somewhat cumbersome artifact; for example, a user wishing to iron a garment must retrieve not only the large appliance, but must also retrieve an ironing board or, alternatively, find a flat heat-resistant surface when an ironing board is unavailable. Also, the user must find the appropriate space to store both the iron and corresponding ironing board.
The steamer is another oft-cumbersome appliance that requires a significant amount of storage space. Although the steamer has the advantage of not requiring a solid surface to remove wrinkles, it does generally require a water source, which is not always readily available. Steamers can often make the garment wet instead of merely removing wrinkles in the fabric. Therefore, neither of the most popular wrinkle-removing platforms are optimal when considering the additional resources required, the storage space required, and the inevitable drawbacks of the designs. These problems are only exacerbated for consumers wishing to travel with their wrinkle-removing implement.
One portable option currently available is a portable pressing appliance as discussed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 11,168,439 to Toll et al. (the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety). Toll et al.'s appliance has a “clamshell” or “alligator clip”-style design in which two elongate arms are pivotally attached at one end. Heating plates are attached at the free ends of the arms and face each other. A garment or other item to be pressed is positioned between the heating plates, which are then brought together (for example, by squeezing the arms with one hand) to press the item on both sides.
Improvements may be desirable to provide users with an appliance with enhanced capabilities.
As a first aspect, embodiments of the invention are directed to a handheld pressing and steaming appliance. The appliance comprises: an upper arm; a lower arm attached at one end to an end of the upper arm; a steam generation unit mounted on the upper arm; a water reservoir located in the upper arm and/or the lower arm; a water pump fluidly connected to the water reservoir and to the steam generation unit; a heating plate mounted near a free end of the upper arm, the heating plate including a plurality of first exhaust holes that are in fluid communication with the steam generation unit; and a bearing plate mounted on the lower arm at a free end thereof, the bearing plate including a plurality of second exhaust holes. The appliance is movable between an open position, in which the heating plate and the bearing plate are separated from each other, and a closed position, in which the heating plate and the bearing plate are closely adjacent to and confront each other. In the closed position at least one of the second exhaust holes is substantially aligned with a respective one of the first exhaust holes, such that steam exhausted from the respective one of the first exhaust holes also passes through the at least one second exhaust hole.
As a second aspect, embodiments of the invention are directed to a handheld pressing and steaming appliance comprising: an upper arm; a lower arm attached at one end to an end of the upper arm; a steam generation unit mounted on the upper arm; a water reservoir located in the upper arm and/or the lower arm; a water pump fluidly connected to the water reservoir and to the steam generation unit; a heating plate mounted near a free end of the upper arm, the heating plate including a plurality of first exhaust holes that are in fluid communication with the steam generation unit; and a bearing plate mounted on the lower arm at a free end thereof. The appliance is movable between an open position, in which the heating plate and the bearing plate are separated from each other, and a closed position, in which the heating plate and the bearing plate are closely adjacent to and confront each other. The appliance further comprises a locking mechanism attached to at least one of the upper and lower arms, the locking mechanism configured to releasably lock the appliance in the closed position.
As a third aspect, embodiments of the invention are directed to a method of steaming an item. The method comprises: (a) providing a handheld appliance comprising: an upper arm; a lower arm attached at one end to an end of the upper arm; a steam generation unit mounted on the upper arm; a water reservoir located in the upper arm and/or the lower arm; a water pump fluidly connected to the water reservoir and to the steam generation unit; a heating plate mounted near a free end of the upper arm, the heating plate including a plurality of first exhaust holes that are in fluid communication with the steam generation unit; and a bearing plate mounted on the lower arm at a free end thereof, the bearing plate including a plurality of second exhaust holes; (b) generating steam with the steam generation unit; (c) moving the upper arm toward the lower arm to bring the heating plate closely adjacent to the bearing plate; and (d) passing steam from the steam generation unit through the first holes and through at least one of the second plurality of holes and onto an item to be steamed.
The present invention is described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, 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 be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.
Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. In the figures, the thickness of certain lines, layers, components, elements or features may be exaggerated for clarity.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the specification and relevant art and should not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein. Well-known functions or constructions may not be described in detail for brevity and/or clarity.
As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. As used herein, phrases such as “between X and Y” and “between about X and Y” should be interpreted to include X and Y. As used herein, phrases such as “between about X and Y” mean “between about X and about Y.” As used herein, phrases such as “from about X to Y” mean “from about X to about Y.”
It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being “on”, “attached” to, “connected” to, “coupled” with, “contacting”, etc., another element, it can be directly on, attached to, connected to, coupled with or contacting the other element or intervening elements may also be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being, for example, “directly on”, “directly attached” to, “directly connected” to, “directly coupled” with or “directly contacting” another element, there are no intervening elements present. It will also be appreciated by those of skill in the art that references to a structure or feature that is disposed “adjacent” another feature may have portions that overlap or underlie the adjacent feature.
Spatially relative terms, such as “under”, “below”, “lower”, “over”, “upper”, “lateral”, “left”, “right” and the like, may be used herein for ease of description to describe one element or feature's relationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. It will be understood that the spatially relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in the figures is inverted, elements described as “under” or “beneath” other elements or features would then be oriented “over” the other elements or features. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the descriptors of relative spatial relationships used herein interpreted accordingly.
It will also be understood that, as used herein, the terms “example,” “exemplary,” and derivatives thereof are intended to refer to non-limiting examples and/or variants embodiments discussed herein and are not intended to indicate preference for one or more embodiments discussed herein compared to one or more other embodiments.
Referring now to the drawings, a handheld pressing and steaming appliance, designated broadly at 10, is shown in
Referring now to
Referring to
Referring still to
As can be seen in
A steam generation unit 60 is positioned forwardly of the divider 48. The steam generation unit 60 includes a heating element 62 (which is typically controlled by a thermostat or other temperature control device) and is fluidly attached to the pump 50 via a hose 58. At its lower end, the steam generation unit 60 has an exhaust manifold 64 that feeds onto a heating plate 66 mounted within the front floor 30. The lower surface of the heating plate 66 is exposed to the atmosphere. Exhaust holes 68 are present in the heating plate 66 and are separated from each other by baffles 70 in the exhaust manifold 64. Thus, steam produced by the steam generation unit 60 can be expelled through the exhaust manifold 64 and the exhaust holes 68 in the heating plate 66 (see
The lower arm 14 includes a lower housing 70 and a cover 72 that overlies the lower housing 70. A bearing plate 74 is mounted into the forward portion of the cover 72 above a window 76 in the lower housing 70. The bearing plate 74 includes exhaust holes 78 that, in the illustrated embodiment, are slightly larger than the exhaust holes 68 of the heating plate 66. The exhaust holes 78 are positioned so that, when the appliance 10 is in its closed position, the exhaust holes 78 substantially align with the exhaust holes 68 (see
A vertical wall 80 extends upwardly from a rear region of the cover 72. The vertical wall 80 is located to extend into a notch in the rear floor 30 of the upper arm 12 when the appliance 10 is in the closed position. A switch 82 is mounted to a printed circuit board (PCB) 84 that is mounted below the cover 72 rearwardly of the vertical wall 80; the switch 82 extends upwardly through a window 86 in the cover 72. The switch 82 is operationally connected with the water pump 50 and the steam generation unit 60. The switch 82 and/or the PCB may be configured so that, when the switch 82 is activated, the water pump 50 and steam generation unit 60 are immediately activated, or one or the other of the water pump 50 and steam generation unit 60 may be time-delayed slightly before activating.
A power cord 90 is mounted in the rear end wall 24 of the upper housing 20. The power cord 90 is operationally connected with the switch 82, the water pump 50, and the steam generating unit 60.
As discussed above, the appliance 10 has the capability of being operated as a handheld garment pressing device. Prior to use a user fills the water reservoir 38 with water. The user then activates the appliance 10 (either by simply plugging the power cord 90 into an electrical socket, or by actuating an “on-off” mechanism, such as a button, toggle switch, or the like) to initiate operation. In some embodiments this action may activate the heating element 62 to begin to heat up, while in other embodiments heating of the heating element 62 is activated by the switch 82 as described below. As the heating element 62 heats up, it causes the temperature of the heating plate 66 to rise.
With the appliance 10 turned on and the water reservoir 38 filled, the user then places the item to be pressed between the upper and lower heating plates 66, 74, then squeezes the upper and lower arms 12, 14 together to press the upper and lower heating plates 66, 74 against the item. When the upper and lower arms 12, 14 are drawn together, the lower surface of the rear floor contacts the switch 82 and forces it downwardly. If the heating element is not already heating due to initial activation, this action activates the heating element 62 of the steam generation unit 60. In either event, the heat from the heating plate 66 and the pressure exerted on the item from the heating plate 66 and the bearing plate 74 can remove wrinkles from the item. In many instances, the user may wish to slide the item between the heating and bearing plates 66, 74 as they are pressed against the item, which can mimic the pressing action of a conventional iron.
In addition, compression of the upper and lower arms 12, 14 to activate the switch 82 also induces the steam generation unit 60 to provide steam to the item. Upon activation of the switch 82, the water pump 50 is activated, such that the water from the reservoir 38 is pumped via the water pump 50 through the hose 42, the pump 50, and the hose 58 into the steam generation unit 60. Inside the steam generation unit 60, the water is converted to steam by the heating element 62. Steam is then expelled from the steam generation unit 60 through the exhaust holes 68 and onto the item as the item is held between the heating and bearing plates 66, 74.
If, alternatively, the user wishes to operate the appliance 10 as a handheld steamer, the user can compress the upper and lower arms 12, 14 together in the manner described above, which activates the steam generation unit 60. Because of the presence of the exhaust holes 78 in the bearing plate 74, when steam is generated with the appliance 10 in the closed position described above without an item between the heating and bearing plates 66, 74, steam passes through both the exhaust holes 68 in the heating plate 66 and the exhaust holes 78 in the bearing plate 74. Thus, by holding the appliance 10 with the bearing plate 74 facing an item to be steamed, a user can use the appliance 10 to steam wrinkles from the item.
It can therefore be seen that the appliance 10 can provide both handheld ironing and handheld steaming capability in a single device. The dual-function nature of the device can provide convenience to the user. As one example, some garments (e.g., a man's dress shirt or woman's dress) are large enough that regions in the center of the garment cannot be reached by the upper and lower arms 12, 14. For such garments, wrinkles may be removed from the center of the garment by steaming Thus, the user can remove wrinkles from the entire garment with a single device.
Those of skill in this art will appreciate that the appliance 10 may take other forms. For example, in some embodiments the bearing plate 74 in the lower arm 14 may be heated, in order to provide two heated surfaces for pressing.
In some embodiments, the appliance 10 may include a separate switch, button or other activation device to activate the water pump 50, such that the heating element 62 may provide heat to the heating plate 68 without steam when desired by the user. As another option, the steam generation unit 60 may not be operatively connected with the switch 82, such that simply activating the appliance 10 (by plugging it into an electrical outlet or turning on an on-off switch) activates the heating element 62 to begin producing heat. As a further option, the appliance 10 may be powered via replaceable or rechargeable batteries rather than via the power cord 90.
Also, there may be more or fewer exhaust holes 68 than exhaust holes 78, and/or some of the exhaust holes 68 may not be substantially aligned with a respective exhaust hole 78. For example, the exhaust holes 68 may be arranged in a pattern that is beneficial for steam ironing, whereas a different pattern for the exhaust holes 78 may be beneficial for steaming. In such instances, the beating plate 74 may include channels or slots that enable steam exiting the exhaust holes 68 to reach any exhaust holes 78 that are not substantially aligned with a respective exhaust hole 68. The exhaust holes 68, 78 are shown as being round, but may be of any shape, including oval, elliptical, square, slotted, or the like.
As another variation, in some embodiments the upper arm 12 may not be pivotally attached to the lower arm 14, but may be attached in some other manner that enables the heating plate 66 to be moved from a position in which the heating plate 66 is separated from the bearing plate 74 (i.e., an open position) to a position in which the heating plate 66 is closely adjacent to and confronts the bearing plate 74 (i.e., a closed position). For example, the upper arm 12 may be attached to the lower arm 14 via a telescoping mechanism, an “accordion” mechanism, or the like that allows the upper arm 12 to come together with and separate from the lower arm 14.
In still another variation, the water reservoir 38 may be located in the lower arm 14 rather than the upper arm 12 or may be located in both the upper arm 12 and the lower arm 14.
In a further variation, the appliance 10 may include a locking device (such as a pivoting clip, a flexible latch, or the like) that maintains the appliance in the closed position. One such locking mechanism 100 is shown in
When the locking mechanism is in the locked condition of
Some embodiments of the present invention are exemplarily described above in combination with the accompanying drawings. Those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention belongs should understand that specific structures shown in the above embodiments are merely exemplary, rather than limiting. Moreover, those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention belongs can combine a variety of technical features shown above according to a variety of possible manners to constitute new technical solutions or make other modifications, and these new technical solutions are encompassed within the scope of the present invention.
