The invention relates to a hand held iron that has opposing matching heating plates that can be compressed onto clothing and remove wrinkles. The portable iron incorporates heating elements disposed distal to the hinge capable of being clamped together. The heating elements remove wrinkles from clothing such as shirts and pants without the need of an ironing board. The heating elements can be extended or retracted to accommodate different clothing designs and sizes.
Portable irons have been in existence for many years. As traveling for business becomes more prevalent, even in the age of teleconferencing, there is a need for better portable irons for use without ironing boards.
However, the drawbacks to the currently available irons are that they take a long time to heat up, current irons are awkward, current irons cannot reach creases in dress clothes, and generally are not useful for removing creases from slacks without ironing boards.
Several portable irons are known as exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 7,121,024 to Clevenberg, U.S. Pat. No. Davidson 3,577,859, U.S. Pat. No. Johnston 3,068,598, U.S. Pat. No. Wehrwein 6,857,209 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,998,360 to Lee. These and all other referenced patents are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Furthermore, where a definition or use of a term in a reference, which is an incorporated reference here, is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided herein applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply.
Although various improvements are known to the art, all, or almost all of them suffer from one or more than one disadvantage. Therefore, there is a need to provide an improved portable iron.
The present invention is directed to a portable iron that can be held in one hand, the iron comprising a hinged handle with two heating elements opposing each other. The hinged handle may have a Panini press design to accommodate fabric of various thickness and/or have a spring to influence the heating elements relative distance from each other.
It is an object of the invention to be light weight.
It is further an object of the invention to have ergonomic features such as rounded edges.
It is further an object of the invention to have rapidly warming heating elements.
It is further an object of the invention to be cordless and re-chargeable.
It is to be understood that the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not to be viewed as being restrictive of the present invention, as claimed. Further advantages of this invention will be apparent after a review of the following detailed description of the disclosed embodiments and in the appended claims.
In the drawings:
The present invention is directed to a portable iron that can be held in one hand, the iron comprising a hinged handle comprising a spring mechanism 2 and hand grips 1 for controlling two heating elements 3 that oppose each other. The hinged handle may have a Panini press design to accommodate fabric of various thickness and/or have a spring to influence the heating elements relative distance from each other.
In a preferred embodiment the extending arms 4 are connected to an adjustable spring mechanism 2 at the extending arms 4 proximal ends,
In a preferred embodiment the heating elements 3 can be attached to the extending arms 4 with a screw or rod that allows the heating element to rotate three-hundred sixty (360) degrees. The extending arms 4 could have grooves that mate with grooves on the non-heating surface of the heating elements 3 at fixed intervals so that when a user rotates the heating elements 3, the heating elements 3 will remain fixed in that position. Depending on the shape of the fabric, a user may want to turn the heating elements 3 one-hundred eighty (180) degrees relative to the extending arms 4 so that the user can pull or drag the portable iron across fabric. In some situations, rotating the heating elements 3 will allow the user to increase efficiency by covering greater fabric surface area per stroke with the portable iron.
The heating elements 3 could be made of metal or preferably from a ceramic material that heats and cools rapidly. Ceramic materials are known to be light weight and durable as well. The heating elements 3 are designed to mate each other in a complementary manner. In a preferred embodiment the heating elements 3 could be flat for the least resistance when drawn, pulled or stroked over fabric. Additionally, the heating elements 3 could be coated with a friction reducing material such as Teflon® or Mylar®, see
In an alternative embodiment the spring mechanism 2 could be designed similar to a Panini press joint. The extending arms 4 are attached at the proximal end with links that allow the heating elements 3 to mate over any thickness of material. Typical range of thickness for fabric is 1-2 millimeters for dress shirts and up to 1-2 centimeters for cotton towels. In another alternative embodiment, the spring mechanism 2 could be designed as a flexible handle that operates like tongs, see
In a preferred embodiment the extending arms 4 are in an extended state which allows the heating elements 3 to extend distal from the spring mechanism 2 to reach difficult fabric design positions, for example the under arm of a shirt or blouse. Alternatively, the extending arms 4 can be fixed in a retracted position which allows for easy handling of square or rectangular fabric. Also, when the extending arms 4 are in the retracted position, the portable iron is compact and easily stored or transported.
In a preferred embodiment the hand grips 1 are simply soft rubber affixed to the surface of the extending arms 4 near the proximal end,
Steam is well known in the industry to aid in wrinkle removal. In another preferred embodiment the portable iron has a water storage tank (internal to the extending arms 4) with a fluid path that delivers water directly to the heating elements 3 to create steam.
The foregoing description is, at present, considered to be the preferred embodiments of the present discovery. However, it is contemplated that various changes and modifications apparent to those skilled in the art, may be made without departing from the present discovery. Therefore, the foregoing description is intended to cover all such changes and modifications encompassed within the spirit and scope of the present discovery, including all equivalent aspects.
U.S. provisional application number 61/331,336 dated May 4, 2010 the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61331336 | May 2010 | US |