GB2160229A

GB2160229A - Domestic iron

Info

Publication number: GB2160229A
Application number: GB08509708A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Michael Nicholas Komar
Original assignee: TI Russell Hobbs Ltd
Current assignee: TI Russell Hobbs Ltd
Priority date: 1984-04-16
Filing date: 1985-04-16
Publication date: 1985-12-18
Also published as: GB8509708D0; GB2160229B

Abstract

A domestic iron (Figs. 1 to 6) has a handgrip (6) which is inclined at a substantial angle to the plane of the sole plate (3) so that the user's hand adopts a more natural, and therefore less tiring, position than with a conventional iron. The handgrip (6) may, for example, be inclined at an angle within the range of from 25 DEG to 55 DEG to the plane of the sole plate, and is preferably inclined at an angle of 30 DEG . A stable rest position for the iron is provided by a stand (Figs. 8 to 12) on which the iron is placed, on its sole plate (3), when not in use. The stand provides an inclined rest position for the iron, typically at an angle of 20 DEG to the horizontal, the inclination being sufficient to ensure the cessation of the supply of steam from a steam iron. The iron may be filled with water while standing in this inclined position. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Domestic iron The present invention relates to domestic irons.

Conventional domestic irons, both steam and dry irons, have a handgrip which extends parallel to the plane of the sole plate of the iron or is, at most, inclined at a very small angle thereto. Consequently, in use, the user's hand is required to adopt a substantially horizontal gripping position which becomes uncomfortable and therefore tiring if the iron is used for any length of time.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an iron which, by overcoming this disadvantage, is more convenient to use.

The present invention accordingly provides an iron having a handgrip which is so positioned that, in use, the user's hand is required to adopt a more natural position than with a conventional iron. To this end, the handgrip is inclined at a substantial angle to the plane of the sole plate, for example, an angle within the range of from 25' to 55 . Preferably the handgrip is inclined at an angle within the range of from 25 to 35 , and most suitably at an angle of 30 , to the plane of the sole plate.The handgrip may be part of a handle extending continuously from the back to the front of the iron: the handle may have two portions inclined at 105 to each other, of which the rear portion constitutes the handgrip In the case of steam irons, further disadvantages arise from the location of the water inlet which, conventionally, is at the front of the iron with the intention that the iron should be filled while standing on its heel in a vertical position. One disadvantage is that the iron is then in its most unstable position and can easily be knocked over and another is that any water that spills over runs down to the rear of the iron where the electrical connections are located.

To enable these disadvantages to be overcome, a steam iron in accordance with the present invention advantageously has a water inlet which is so located that the iron can be filled while in a substantially non-vertical position. The iron may have a nonvertical storage position and the water inlet may be arranged so that the iron can be filled in this position.

The iron may, for example, be arranged to be stored while standing, on its sole plate, on an inclined stand or even in a horizontal position.

The present invention further provides a stand for an iron, the stand being arranged to provide an inclined rest position for an iron. A stand in accordance with the invention may be used in combination with an iron as defined above or, when appropriate, with another form of iron. When intended for use in combination with a steam iron, the inclination of the rest position is sufficient to ensure the cessation of the supply of steam from a steam iron. The surface may, for example be inclined to the horizontal at an angle within the range of from 15 to 45 , and is preferably inclined to the horizontal at an angle of the order of 20 .

By way of example, irons and a stand constructed in accordance with the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a side view of an iron; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the iron; Fig. 3 is a front view of the iron; Fig. 4. is a rear view of the iron; Fig. 5 is a view of the iron from below; Fig. 6 is an isometric view of the iron; Fig. 7 is a side view of an alternative form of iron; Fig. 8 is a side view of a stand suitable for the iron shown in Figs. 1 to 6; Fig. 9 is a front end view of the stand; Figs. 10 and 11 are, respectively, views of the stand from below and above, and Fig. 12 is a rear view of the stand.

The iron shown in Figures 1 to 6 of the drawings is a steam iron and has a handle 1 formed in the upper part of the body 2 of the iron and an electrically-heated sole plate 3 at the bottom of the body. The body 2 of the iron contains a reservoir 10 for water from which the steam is produced and the sole plate 3 (Fig. 5) has a pattern of apertures 4 and grooves 5 through which the steam issues.

The handle extends upwardly from the back of the iron at an angle of 30 to the plane of the sole plate and then, at its mid-point, turns through an angle of 105' to re-join the iron at the front of the body, at an angle of 45 to the plane of the sole plate.

The rear portion of the handle 1 constitutes a handgrip 6 while the front portion 7 contains a water inlet 8 through which the reservoir 10 in the body 2 can be filled for steam ironing. The front portion 7 of the handle also contains a spray nozzle 13 and its operating knob 9, enabling a fine spray of water to be provided from the reservoir for use when ironing very dry articles.

The upper surface of the body 2, underneath the handle 1, has two distinct portions 2a, 2b lying at approximately 90 to each other. The portion 2a, lying towards the back of the iron, extends parallel to the front portion 7 of the handle while the portion 2b, lying towards the front of the iron, extends generally parallel, but at a slight inclination, to the handgrip portion 6 of the handle. The reservoir 10 is located on the front surface portion 2b and the upper surface of the reservoir, which lies generally parallel to the surface portion 2b carries the temperature control dial 11 of the iron. An additional control feature, indicated at 14, is located on the front portion 2b adjacent to the reservoir 10, to enable the iron to be switched over from steam to dry ironing as required.

The exit point for the electricity supply cable of the iron is surrounded by a flexible guard 12 and is located adjacent the junction of handle 1 with the back 15 of the body 2.

The inclination of the handgrip 6 at an angle of 30 to the sole plate 3 means that the user's hand adopts a relaxed and therefore less tiring position for ironing, although the controls 9 and 14 are still readily accessible.

The iron shown in Figures 1-6 is designed to rest on an inclined stand (shown in Figs 8 to 12 and described below), the shaping of the water inlet 8 enabling the reservoir 10 to be filled while the iron is in this inclined position. This is a particularly stable position for the iron and the possibility of it being knocked over while being filled is reduced.

Figure 7 shows an alternative form of iron which has a smaller back 16 and in which the handgrip portion 6 of the handle extends from the back at an angle of 45 to the plane of the sole plate so that it lies parallel to the surface 2b of the body portion of the iron.

The exit of the electricity supply cable 12 in this embodiment is located well towards the base of the iron so that, when the iron is in use, the cable is kept well away from the user's hand and is less subject to distortion.

The water inlet 8 of the iron shown in Fig.

7 is so arranged that the reservoir 10 can be filled while the iron is in a horizontal position.

To this end, the housing 8a of the water inlet 8 is formed with a face 8b which is substantially horizontal when the iron is standing on its sole plate as shown and it is in this horizontal face that the inlet 8 is located. By filling the reservoir 10 while the iron is in a horizontal position the possibility of the iron being knocked over is very substantially reduced and, in this embodiment also, any water that does spill over from the inlet 8 will be kept well away from the electrical connections of the back of the iron. If desired, the iron can be arranged to be stored in a horizontal position, it being necessary only to provide some mechanism for eflsuring that the supply of steam is switched off to prevent leakage from the iron when not in use.

Various modifications to the irons shown in the drawings are possible while maintaining some or all of its advantageous features. For example, the handle 1 need not extend continuously from the back to the front of the body of the iron but could comprise only the handgrip portion 6 with the front portion 7 being omitted. The angle of inclination of the handgrip 6 to the sole plate 3 could lie anywhere within the range of from 25 to 55 although it is preferably within the range of from 25 to 35 .

If required, the back end of the iron could be modified while retaining the inclination of the handgrip 6. For example, the cable exit point could be repositioned, and the iron could then be provided with the conventional heel: the iron would then have a vertical rest position, although, in this case, some repositioning and/or re-shaping of the water inlet 8 may be required to enable the iron to be filled while standing on its heel.

It was mentioned above that the iron shown in Figs. 1 to 6 is intended to rest on an inclined stand shown in Figs. 8 to 12: that stand will now be described.

The stand is generally wedge-shaped with a cutaway front end 20. The inclined upper surface 21 of the stand terminates in a generally-horizontal portion 22 at its lower end (ie.

towards the back end of the stand). The iron rests on three studs 23 on the inclined upper surface 21 with the back 15 of the iron at the lower end of the stand and the inclination of the surface 21 is sufficient to ensure that, when the iron is placed on the stand, the supply of steam from the iron will cease: in the stand shown in the drawings, the surface 21 is inclined at an angle of about 20 to the horizontal.

The main body 24 of the stand is formed of a thermoplastics material and the upper surface 21 is metal while the studs 23 are silicon rubber.

The stand is also intended to be used for storage of the iron and, to this end, a storage space 31 (Fig. 10) for the electricity supply cable of the iron is provided within the stand.

Cable access points to and from this storage space are indicated at 28 in Figs. 9 and 12.

At the front end 20 of the stand, a storage socket 29 is provided, in which the plug at the end of the cable can be located.

The stand is provided, for storage purposes, with clips 25, 26 at its front and back ends, which engage the iron to hold it in position on the stand and prevent it from being accidentally dislodged. The front clip 25 can be pivoted forwards, as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 8, to allow the iron to be placed on the stand with the hook-shaped clip 26 at the back end of the stand engaging the back of the iron. The front clip 25 is then returned to the position shown in Fig. 8 and a slot 27 in the clip (see Fig. 12) engages the front of the iron. When the iron is in use, the front clip 25 is left in the forwards position.

If required, the stand, (together with the iron) may be hung on a wall for storage and, to this end, the base of the stand (Fig. 10) is provided with a pair of apertures 30 engageable with suitable fixtures on the wall.

The base of the stand also provides storage space 32 for a container (not shown) which, when the iron is in use, is employed to fill the reservoir 10 of the iron with water. A clip 33 on the base of the stand holds the container 32 in its storage position in the stand.

The inclination of the upper surface 21 of the stand can be varied, if required, provided that it offers a stable rest position for the iron and is sufficient to ensure that the supply of steam from the iron will cease when the iron is placed on the stand. In the stand shown in the drawings, the angle of inclination could, for example, lie anywhere within the range of from 15 to 45 to the horizontal.

It will be appreciated that, although the stand shown in Figs. 8 to 12 is intended for use with the iron shown in Figs. 1 to 6, it could also be used (subject to modification as necessary) with other irons including conventional irons. When used with other forms of steam iron, the inclination of the upper surface of the stand should be chosen to ensure that the supply of steam from the iron will cease when the iron is placed on the stand.

Claims

1. An iron having a handgrip which is so positioned that, in use, the user's hand is required to adopt a more natural position than with a conventional iron.

2. An iron as claimed in claim 1, in which the handgrip is inclined at a substantial angle to the plane of the sole plate of the iron.

3. An iron as claimed in claim 2, in which the handgrip is inclined to the plane of the sole plate at an angle within the range of from 25 to 55'.

4. An iron as claimed in claim 3, in which the handgrip is inclined to the plane of the sole plate at an angle within the range of from 25 to 35 .

5. An iron as claimed in claim 4, in which the handgrip is inclined to the plane of the sole plate at an angle of about 30 .

6. An iron as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the handgrip is part of a handle extending continuously from the back to the front of the iron.

7. An iron as claimed in claim 6, in which the handle has a front portion and a rear portion inclined at 105 to each other, the rear portion providing the handgrip.

8. An iron as claimed in claim 7, in which at least one control is located on the said front portion of the handle.

9. A steam iron as claimed in claim 7 or claim 8, in which the upper surface of the water reservoir extends generally parallel to the said rear portion of the handle.

10. An iron as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the exit point of the electricity supply cable is located towards the base of the iron.

11. A steam iron as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the water inlet is so located that the iron can be filled while in a substantially nonvertical position.

12. A steam iron as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the iron has a substantially nonvertical storage position and the water inlet is so located that the iron can be filled while in its storage position.

13. A steam iron as claimed in claim 11 or claim 12 when appendant to claim 7, in which the water inlet is located in the said front portion of the handle of the iron.

14. A steam iron substantially as described herein with reference to, and as shown in Figs 1 to 6 of the accompanying drawings.

15. A steam iron substantially as described herein with reference to, and as shown in Fig.

7 of the accompanying drawings.

16. A stand for an iron, the stand being arranged to provide an inclined rest position for an iron.

17. A stand as claimed in claim 16, in which the inclination of the rest position is sufficient to ensure the cessation of the supply of steam from a steam iron.

18. A stand as claimed in claim 16 or claim 17, having an inclined surface shaped to receive an iron.

19. A stand as claimed in claim 18, in which the surface is inclined to the horizontal at an angle within the range of from 15 to 45".

20. A stand as claimed in claim 18, in which the surface is inclined to the horizontal at an angle of the order of 20 .

21. A stand as claimed in any one of claims 18 to 20, in which the inclined surface includes upstanding portions on which the iron rests.

22. A stand as claimed in any one of claims 16 to 21, including means engageable with an iron to maintain the iron in position on the stand.

23. A stand as claimed in claim 22, in which the said means are engageable with the front and back of the iron.

24. A stand as claimed in claim 23, in which one at least of the said means is movable out of a-position in which it is engageable with the iron.

25. A stand as claimed in any one of claims 16 to 24, including storage space for an electricity supply cable of an iron.

26. A stand as claimed in any one of claims 16 to 25, including a storage socket for receiving an electric plug of an iron.

27. A stand as claimed in any one of claims 16 to 26, including a container which is removable from the stand for use in filling the reservoir of a steam iron.

28. A stand as claimed in any one of claims 16 to 27, including means for mounting the stand on a vertical surface.

29. A stand for an iron, substantially as described herein with reference to, and as shown in, Figs. 8 to 12 of the accompanying drawings.

30. An iron as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 15 in combination with a stand as claimed in any one of claims 16 to 29.