EP0086759A2

EP0086759A2 - Device for operating the thermostat and indicating the temperature in electric and steam irons

Info

Publication number: EP0086759A2
Application number: EP83830035A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Santo Bettini
Original assignee: ANTONIO BETTINI di Santo Bettini
Current assignee: ANTONIO BETTINI di Santo Bettini
Priority date: 1982-02-17
Filing date: 1983-02-14
Publication date: 1983-08-24
Also published as: IT1149766B; IT8219698A0; EP0086759A3

Abstract

The electric and steam iron according to this invention is provided with a knob for operating the thermostat, which extends substantially vertically between the iron body and the handle handgrip, partially or fully inserted in the handle and operatively connected to the thermostat directly or through gearing means. The knob is preferably made of a transparent material and is provided with at least a temperature indicating element visible substantially from the outer surfaces of the handle. This temperature indicating elementis lightened directly through the knob, or indirectly by a lamp acting as a warning lamp indicating that the iron is operative and located either in the inside of the knob or in the handle handgrip at the indicating element. In the former case this indicating element is located directly above the handle or on its one side wall, whereas in the latter case it is located on a slider in the handgrip and moved by the knob, said slider supporting the lamp so that this lamp will lighten and make well visible from the top the temperature indicating element.

Description

This invention relates generally to electric and steam irons and, more particularly, to an electric or stean iron improved as to the operating arrangement of the thermostat and the indication of the controlled temperatures.
The most electric and steam irons at present available make use of a knob as an operating element of the thermostat connected to the heating resistor, which knob generally is located below the handgrip of the handle and is provided with reference indexes for setting and indicating the irouing desired temperature.
This arrangement of the thermostat operating element, while being the simplest one from the constructive standpoint, has however the drawback of providing the reference indexes of this operating element located in a position which is not directly well visible and accessible during the ironing operation. In order to be able to watch the set ironing temperature it is therefore necessary to handle the iron, possibly by lifting and/or inclining it, and to employ both the hands to operate the thermostat operating element.
Since the nowaday trend is to rationalize any operation to be carried out on apparatus generally, it is apparent that such an arrangement of the thermostat operating element and the temperature reference indexes does not lend itself to give a direct observation thereof, even in the more favourable conditions.
It is therefore the main object of the present invention or to provide an electrie steam iron having a thermostat operating and temperature indicating element which permits the above mentioned drawbacks to be obviated and which allows therefor a direct visibility of the thermostat setting also during th ironing operation.
It is another object of the present invention to prov: an electric or steam iron of the above-mentioned kind, which permits also the temperature indicator to be lightened by resorting to the usual warning lamp equipping the iron in order to make the temperature reading still more apparent.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an electric or steam iron which permits the temperature indicator to be observed even if the user hand or hand are gripping the handle to carry-out the ironing operation.
These and other objects of the invention, which will b more apparent from the following description, are attained by a means of a device for operating the thermostat and indicating the temperature in electric or steam irons, which is characterized in that it comprises a transparent knob operati. vely connected to the thermostat and having at least an indicating element visible substantially from the outer surfaces of the handle, said knob extending substantially vertically from the upper surface of the iron plate up to the handgrip, said knob being fully or partially inserted in the rear porti( of the handle connected to the iron body , said indicating element being lightened by means of a lamp located therebehind so that it will be visible from the outside by trasparency or through other means known per se.
It is advantageous if the indicating means is located a the top of the knob and is lightened by the warning I amp locat in a through hole of the knob, there being provided an opening in the upper surface of the handgrip located in a position in register with the through hole of the knob in order to permit the reading of the temperature which is set or to be set.
In this case the temperature reading occurs through a single transparent cover secured to the upper surface of the handgrip in a rear position corresponding to the through hole of the knob.
Alternatively, the indicating element is located on a slider operatively connected to the knob and slidable within side guides provided in the upper portion of the handgrip and intended to transfer the temperature reading to the front portion of said handgrip, said lamp being secured to the slider in order to move therewith along the handgrip and to lighten reference indexes of the temperature.
In this case the temperature reading occurs through a transparent cover secured to the upper surface of the handgrip in a front position thereof.
Preferably the driving means of the knob are in the form of meshed gears, or rack and pinion drives or belt and pinion drives.
Alternatively, the indicating element is located on the side wall of the knob and can be viewed from the outside through a slit provided on the rear portion of the handle or else o.; at least one of its side walls.
In this case the temperature reading occurs through this rear or side slit and the indicating element is lightened by the lamp located in the transparent knob.
The invention will be now described in more detail in connection with the accompanying drawings showing several embodiments of the electric or steam iron according to the invention, given by way of example only and therefore not intended in a limiting sense, and in which:

Fig.] shows the device according to a first embodiment of the invention in side elevation view, with the iron shown in phantom;
Fig.2 shows the device of Fig. 1 in a longitudinal section view;
Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the device shown in Fig.1
Fig. 4 is a top plan view of a second embodiment of tl device according to the invention;
Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the device taken along the line V-V of Fig. 4;
Fig. 6 in a side elevation view of the iron provided with a third embodiment of the device, with portions broken away;
Fig.7 is a rear view of the iron shown in Fig. 6, and
Fig. 8 is a partial side elevational view of the iron provided with a fourth embodiment of the device according tc this invention, with portions broken away.

Referring now to the drawings and particularly to Figs.1-3, the thermostat operating and temperature indicatin device is shown in connection with an electrical iron 1 havi a handle 2 secured thereto. The handle 2 includes a handgrip 3 and a housing 4 containing an electrical socket 5 and secu to the iron by means of a plate 6. The plate 6 acts as a support for a knob 7 having a frustoconical shape, which is parti-ally enclosed in the housing ₄ and provided with a th hole 8. On its lower portion the knob 7 is provided with a p 9, secured thereto in such a manner that the hole of the pill 9 is in register with the through hole 8. The pinion 9 is ro tably mounted on a supporting tubular number 10, fastened to plate 6 and havirg, a longitudinal slot 11 extending frorn the top to the level of the upper surface of the plate 6. This slot serves to receive the lead-in wires 12 of a lamp 13, enclosed in a transparent tube 14 intended to be inserted in the supporting tubular member 10. The plate 6 supports also a pinion 15 fastened to a hollow hub 16 by means of a set screw 17. The hollow hub 16 is rotatably mounted in the plate 6 through a collar 18 and is intended to receive and secure the shaft of a thermostat 5 for setting the ironing temperature of the electric iron.
The upper portion of the knob 7 has a hub portion 19, which is designed to be inserted on a hole 20 in the handgrip 3 so as to hold the knob in a substantially vertical position between the handgrip 3 and the plate 6 in turn fastened to the iron. All the knob 7 is made preferably of transparent materia: and is held secured to the iron, partially enclosed in the housing 4 of the handle 2 and is substantially visible from the outside so as to act as a warning lamp indicating that the electric iron is operative, i.e. during the times in which the heating resistor of the iron is supplied with electrical 21 power. Above the hub portion 19 an index is secured, which is visible from the top through the hole 20 of the handgrip 3, opening in a recessed portion 22 containing the temperature indexes and covered by a transparent cover (not shown).
The operation of the above described device is very simple. By rotating the knob 7 the thermostat shaft 7 is rotated and therefore the ironing temperature can be set, which will be indicated by the index 21, visible from the top through the transparent cover. As the heating resistor is supplied with electrical power the lamp 13 is lightened, which will lighten the knob 7, thereby acting as a warning Lamp for the electric iron and at the same time also the index ₂ though the through hole 8 of the knob will be lightened, thereby making it still more visible from the top. Therefor the aser can observe the set temperature also during the ironing operation and, in order to change this setting, it will be sufficient to rotate the knob 7, which for this purpose has a rough-ened lateral surface.
Figs. 5 and 6 show a second embodiment of the iron, in which the ironing temperature set or to be set can be observed from the top on the front portion of the hand gri Similar portions are indicated in the several Figures with the same reference numerals. In this case to the hub portior 19 of the knob 7 a pinion 30 is keyed, which is intended to mesh in a rack 32 provided in a window of a slider 31, slidably mounted on the upper surface of the handgrip 3, for example, within side guides 33. The slider 31, at its right end in Fig. 4, has an index 21 lightened by a lamp 1 fastene to the slider. This index 21 can be brought into register with indexes 36 presented by a plate housed in a window 34 of the handgrip 3 and covered by a transparent cover 35. Otherwise this device is the same as that of figs.1-3.
By rotating the knob 7, the thermostat shaft T is rotated in order to set the ironing temperature and at the same time the slider 31 is moved so as to shift the indicate 21 in register with one of the indexes 36 corresponding to desired temperature and which is well visible from the top d the ironing operation because it is lightened by the lamp 13
Figs. 6 and 7 show a third embodiment of the device according to the invention in which the transparent frustoco knob 7 is located against the rear wall of the housing 4, which is provided with a vertical slit 42 through which the knob 7 bearing the indicating element(s) on its lateral surface, can be viewed. In this case the indicating elements are formed by vertical written words. Since the knob is lightened from the inside as above described, these indicating elements can be easily read from the outside. Furthermore a knurled roller 41 or the like is provided on the hub portiou 19 of the knob, which is intended to rotate the knob 7, in order to bring the desired indication in register with the slit 42. The knob rotation is transmitted from the pinion 9 to the pinion 15 driving the thermostat by means of a toothed belt 40.
Conversely, in Fig.8 the slit 42 is located in a side wall of the housing 4 and the motion transmission occurs, for example, as illustrated in Fig.l.
From the foregoing the advantages of the device according to this invention can be easily understood. In fact, the user has always under his control the set ironing temperature and, by rotating the knob 7 acting at the same time as a warning lamp, he can readily change said temperature. The location of the temperature indicator on the top surface of the handgrip or on the rear and side walls of the handle housing is such that the user hand cannot interfere/with the temperature reading.
It should be also understood that, while the invention has been illustrated and described in connection with four preferred embodiments only, various changes and modifications can be made thereto by a person skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention. In particulars, the knob 7 instead of being formed fully in a transparent material, could have a transparent region only at the location of the lamp 13. Also the employed materials are not limitative to the invention, since all the materials suitable for this purpose can be used.

Claims

1. Device for operating the thermostat and indicating the temperature in electric or steam irons, characterized in that it comprises a transparent knob operatively connected to the thermostat and having at least an indicating element visible substantially from outer surfaces of the handle, said knob extending substantially vertically from the upper surface of the iron plate up to the handgrip, said knob being fully or partially inserted in the rear portion of the handle connected to the iron body , said indicating element being lightened by means of a lamp located therebehind so that it will be visible from the outside by trasparency or through other means known per se.

2. Device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said at least indicating means is located at the top of said knob and is lightened by the warning lamp located in a througl hole of the knob, there being provided an opening in the upper surface of said handgrip located in a position in register with said through hole of the knob in order to permit the reading of the temperature which is set or to be set.

3. Device as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that said indicating element is located on a slider operatively connected to said knob and slidable within side guides provide in the upper portion of said handgrip and intended to transfe the temperature reading to the front portion of said handgrin said lamp being secured to said slider in order to move there along said handgrip and to lighten reference indexes of the temperature

4. Device as claimed in claim 1 , characterized in that said indicating element (s) are located on the side wale of said knob and can be viewed from the outside through a slit provided on the rear portion of the handle or else on at least one of its side wales.

5. Device as claimed in anyone of the preceding claims, characterized in that said transparent knob is made of a transparent or translucid plastic material,

6. Device as claimed in claim 1 to 4, characterized in that said knob is provided with a transparent section located at the position of the lamp.

7. Device as claimed in anyone of the preceding claims, characterized in that the operative connection of said knob to the thermostat comprises a pinion fastened at the lower portion to the through hole of the knob and in direct mesh with another pinion keyed to the thermostat shaft or through a toothed belt.

S. Device as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that the operative connection of said knob to said thermostat comprises a pinion fastened to the upper portion of the knob and meshing in a rack provided in the slider.

9. Device as claimed in anyone of the preceding claims, characterized in that said knob rotates about a tubular member intended to receive said lamp and provided with a longitudinal slot for the passage of the lead-in wires of the lamp.

10. Device as claimed in claim 9, characterized in that the tubular member acting as a pin for the rotation of the knob is secured to a supporting plate provided with a collar for securing said pinion-keyed to the thermostat shaft.