Patent Application
20120024015
The invention relates to an iron, and more particularly to, an improved iron that has a two-part soleplate in which a rear portion is detachable.
There is a great need for portable, efficient devices to steam and iron garments. It is well-known to use a steaming iron when ironing clothes and other garments. Non-iron devices called “steamers” have also been used to remove wrinkles and creases from clothes on a hanger or hanging from a rack by jetting steam to the clothes. These steamers do not have an ironing function because they lack the hot pressing plate found on irons. Both steam irons and steamers have been used for applying steam to remove creases and crinkles from hanging garments and other cloth materials. Steam has also been used in the cleaning of a variety of objects such as curtains, couches, furniture covers (e.g., couch covers), etc.
While steamers and steaming irons have been useful steam devices, neither device by itself is versatile enough for various applications which require the use of both devices. For example, a steaming iron can be heavy and bulky to use when steaming curtains and other hanging objects such as a wrinkled suit jacket. The steamer is generally lighter and easier to manipulate for steaming, hanging clothing, and other cloth objects. However, while a steamer may be useful to steam a hanging garment such as a suit jacket, the steamer can not be used to iron out a persistent wrinkle in the hanging garment since the steamer lacks the hot pressing plate found on irons.
Accordingly, there is a need for a device that can both iron and steam garments in a conventional manner on an ironing board and also iron and steam hanging garments where a pressing plate is needed for ironing out wrinkles in the hanging garment and the device is still not too heavy or bulky for steaming the hanging garment.
in an embodiment, there is provided a convertible appliance, including a housing, a first soleplate portion including a first heating element permanently attached to the housing, and a second soleplate portion including a second heating element removably attached to the housing disposed adjacent to the first soleplate portion. In a first configuration the second soleplate portion is attached to the housing, and alternately, in a second configuration the second soleplate portion is removed from the housing.
In an embodiment, there is provided a method of treating a garment, including providing a housing, providing a first soleplate portion including a first heating element permanently attached to the housing, providing a second soleplate portion including a second heating element configured to removably attach to the housing disposed adjacent to the first soleplate portion, and attaching in a first configuration the second soleplate portion to the housing.
A more complete understanding of the present invention, and the attendant advantages and features thereof, will be more readily understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:
A convertible pressing/steaming device that can be converted from a first configuration for conventional pressing/steaming to a second configuration for non-conventional pressing/steaming of hanging garments and fabrics as described below.
Referring now to the awing figures in which like reference designators refer to like elements, there is shown in
The heating means is comprised of a first heating element 14a mounted in a good heat conducting relationship with the first soleplate portion 20a. The heating means is further comprised of a second heating element 14b mounted in a good heat conducting relationship with the first soleplate portion 20a. In the first configuration, the heating elements 14a and 14b heat the entire soleplate 20 for providing maximum heated surface area of the pressing surface 21 for ironing the fabric being ironed.
A skirt 25 (comprised of skirt portions 25a and 25b) is mounted on the soleplate 20, followed by a water tank (not shown) mounted on top of the skirt 25 and secured to the skirt 25 and the soleplate 20 by the use of for example, screws, flanges, or any other conventional means for fastening. A water tank cover (not shown) is interposed between the skirt 25 and the water tank (not shown). The water tank (not shown) is disposed in a housing 50, for example, in surrounding relation to the aforementioned elements. The housing 50 may be made from plastic or any other suitable material. A similar iron having the foregoing water tank disposed in a housing is illustrated and described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,321,472, owned by a common assignee, and incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
The water tank (not shown) includes a cavity (not shown) which may be filled with an aqueous solution such as water. A temperature dial 35 is disposed, for example, beneath a handle 15 formed in an upper portion of the housing 50 and a steam pushbutton 40 is fit, for example, on an upper portion of the housing 50, near the handle portion 15. Water contained in the tank (not shown) may be delivered to the soleplate 20, for example, in response to activation of the steam pushbutton 40 disposed in the handle 15, where it is emitted as steam S from openings 55 (
A power cord (not shown) may be operatively connected to the housing 50 to provide power to the iron 10, and in particular to the heating elements 14a and 14b for heating the soleplate 20 and generating the steam S from water supplied from the water tank (not shown). The temperature dial 35 is used to regulate the amount of electrical power provided from the power cord (not shown) to the first and second heating elements 14a and 14b. The power cord may be provided with a conventional plug which may be connected to a conventional source of ac power.
Referring now to
For example, upon activation of the steam pushbutton 40 disposed in the handle 15, steam S emitted from openings 55 (
The rear portion 20b of the soleplate 20 may include, for example, quick-disconnect electrical connectors 27 that connect electrical power to the second heating element 14b when the rear portion 20b of the soleplate 20 is attached to the housing 50. The first heating element 14a remains intact disposed adjacent to the front portion 20a of the soleplate 20 for heating the front portion 20a in both the first and second configurations. The electrical connectors 27 also allow electrical power provided to the second heating element 14b to be easily disconnected when the rear portion 20b of the soleplate 20 is detached from housing 50. For example, each electrical connector 27 may be a male prong that fits into a complementary female socket 28 disposed on the housing 50. However, the foregoing electrical connector 27 is not meant to be limiting in that any suitable quick-disconnect electrical connector may be used known to one of ordinary skill in the art. In an exemplary embodiment, the number of electrical connectors 27 is two but this is not meant to be limiting.
In an embodiment, the socket 28 may be formed in a post 24 (see also
The rear portion 20b of the soleplate 20 and the rear portion 25b of the skirt 25 may be secured to the housing 50 using any suitable fastening means such as latches, a catch, lock, interference type fit, etc., which allow these elements to be quickly detached and re-attached as desired. For example, in the embodiment shown in
All references cited herein are expressly incorporated by reference in their entirety.
It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to what has been particularly shown and described herein above. In addition, unless mention was made above to the contrary, it should be noted that all of the accompanying drawings are not to scale. A variety of modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention, which is limited only by the following claims.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61369185 | Jul 2010 | US |
