Patent Grant
7004433
This disclosure relates generally to clothes irons and, more particularly, to an organizer for a clothes iron and accessories.
Clothes iron organizers are typically designed to provide storage for a cloth iron when not in use. Such organizers may be attached to a support wall where the ironing of clothes is typically done. The support wall may also be a closet door or cabinet door. However, such organizers can be attached to a support wall in only one orientation, and such organizers may not provide any storage provisions for accessories of the clothes iron.
Depending on the space provided in a cabinet or a closet in which the organizer is mounted, or the position of the organizer on a wall on which the organizer is mounted, the organizer may not be easily accessible to all users. For instance, the organizer may be easily accessible to a right handed user, but pose difficulties for a left handed user (or vice versa) because of the organizer's position on a support wall. Furthermore, the organizer may not have provisions for storage of the clothes iron's power cord or accessories, such as an ironing board.
Referring to
One of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate that the base 16 can be constructed in any geometric shape. In the preferred example, however, the base 16 is constructed in a generally elliptical shape, having a minor axis 24 and a major axis 26, to resemble the shape of a typical clothes iron 12. The base is mounted on a wall such that the minor axis is oriented horizontally and the major axis 26 is oriented vertically. The support arm 18 is attached to a lateral side 27 of the base 16. A connecting or first portion 28 of the support arm 18 extends somewhat perpendicularly away from the lateral side 27 of the base 12, and a transverse support or second portion 30 of the support arm 18, which hereinafter is referred to as the support portion 30, extends generally parallel to and spaced from the base inner surface 19. The support portion in this example also extends parallel the minor axis 24 and extends from the connecting portion 28 towards an opposing lateral side 32 of the base 16. The base 16, the connecting portion 28 arm 18, and the support portion 30 together define the pocket 20, in which the iron 12 is inserted through an access opening 36.
Referring to
A cord support 37 is attached to the support portion 30. The cord support 37 can provide storage for a power cord 38 of a clothes iron 12. For instance, the cord support 37 may be a hook 40, on which the cord 38 is hung or wrapped around. However, to preserve the symmetry of the organizer 10 about the minor axis 24, a pair of hooks 40 is provided on the free or distal end of the support portion 30. Thus, in each of the left-handed or right-handed mounting orientations of the organizer 10, a hook 40 is available for supporting the cord 38. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that a pair of hooks 40 is only one structure among many well known examples by which the cord 38 can be supported. For instance, the cord support 37 may be a ring for placing the cord 38 through, a spool to wrap the cord 38 around, or a securable strap carried on the free end of support 30 and configured to wrap around the cord 38.
The base 16 can be mounted on a wall by a wide variety of methods well known to those of ordinary skill in the art. For instance, the base 16 can be mounted on a wall with adhesive. In one example, however, the base 16 can include a number of standard, hex head or recessed or tapered holes 50 for accommodating a corresponding number of tapered head screws 52 as shown. The recess in each recessed hole 50 houses the head of a corresponding screw 52 when tightened properly so that the top of the screws 52 are positioned flush with the inner surface 19 of the base 16. To preserve the symmetry of the organizer about the minor axis 24, the positions of the recessed holes 50 are preferably symmetric about the minor axis 24.
One of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate that the organizer can be constructed with a variety of materials, such as, wood, plastic, metal or combinations thereof. One of ordinary skill in the art will further appreciate that the inner surface 19 of the base 16 can be designed to either contact or be spaced from the heatable surface 17 of a clothes iron 12 when mounted in the organizer. This is because a user may immediately place the iron 12 in the organizer after use while the surface is still hot. Additionally, the material from which the organizer 10 is constructed provides adequate stiffness for mounting the organizer 10 on a wall to support an iron 12 and the iron's accessories.
Accordingly, in one example, the material from which the organizer 10, the base 16, or at least the inner surface 19 of the base 16 is constructed from is a calcium filled polypropylene. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that other materials with stiffness and heat resistance are available for the construction of the organizer 10. For example, the organizer 10 can be constructed from polyester, high heat thermosets, or other plastics. To provide additional heat resistance to the inner surface 19 of the base 16, a number of spacers 60 can be disposed on the inner surface 19, which maintain separation between the inner surface 19 and the surface 17 of an iron 12. As a result, the surface 17 of an iron 12 does not contact the inner surface 19 in such an example, and instead bears against the spacers 60. The spacers 60 may be button shaped and can be constructed with a material having a high heat resistance. In one example, the spacers 60 are constructed from silicon. To preserve the symmetry of the organizer 10, the spacers 60 are disposed on the inner surface 19 in such a manner so as to be symmetric about the minor axis 24 in both quantity and location.
One of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate that a variety of well known methods can be utilized to provide additional heat resistance on the inner surface 19. For instance, a piece of insulative and/or heat resistant material shaped similar to the shape of the base 16 can be attached to the inner surface 19, to thereby contact the heatable surface 17 of the iron 12 and shield the inner surface 19 from heat.
Referring to
When mounted on the wall with the base 16, screw holes 80 of the ironing board support 70 are aligned with the recessed holes 50 of the base 16 in this example, and the screws 52 are used to mount both the base 16 and the ironing board 70. One of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate the flexibility of configuring the organizer 10 and the ironing board support 70 depending on storage space limitations and storage preferences.
Referring to
Although certain apparatuses constructed in accordance with the teachings of the invention have been described herein, the scope of coverage of this patent is not limited thereto. On the contrary, this patent covers all embodiments of the teachings of the invention fairly falling within the scope of the appended claims either literally or under the doctrine of equivalents.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20040075029 A1 | Apr 2004 | US |
