US2235723A - Adjustable indicator for thermostatically controlled flatirons - Google Patents

Description

March 18, 194 1. Y RS 2,235,723

ADJUSTABLE INDICATOR FOR THERMOSTAT ICALLY CONTROLLED FLATIRONS Filed Feb. 1, 1939 Patented Mar. 18, 1941 PATENT OFFICE ADJUSTABLE INDICATOR. FOR THERMO- STATIOALLY CONTROLLED FLATIRONS Joseph W. Myers, Philadelphia, Pa., assignor to Proctor & Schwartz, Incorporated, Philadelphia, Pa., a. corporation of Pennsylvania Application February 1, 1939, Serial No. 254,113

7 Claims.

This invention relates to thermostatically controlled flatirons and, more particularly, to novel means for adjusting such an iron according to the ironing speed of a particular user.

Thermostatically controlled flatirons are generally provided with a fixed indicator dial arranged in cooperative relation with the control knob and having thereon markings or calibrations including legends designating various types of materials, such as linen, cotton, wool, etc. which require different operating temperatures of the iron. However, the proper operating temperature of the iron for any particular type of material is dependent upon the speed with which the user operates the iron and, since different users are naturally inclined to operate an iron at different speeds,- prior irons of this type have not been entirely satisfactory for all users. For example, if the control knob is adjusted so that its pointer is adjacent the legend cotton," so as to adjust the iron for operation at a temperature level for ironing cotton material, it will be'found that the iron will not be adjusted satisfactorily for the ironing oi the cotton material by all users, due to the diiierence between the natural ironing speeds employed by different users.

By the present invention, there is provided a novel device by means of which the user may adjust the calibrated dial at will according to the particular ironing speed at which the said user naturally operates the iron, thus associating the dial calibrations with the proper operating temperatures conforming to that speed. Since it has been'i'ound that users of flatirons generally are divisible into three classes according to their different speeds of operation, the device provided by the invention is preferably adapted to adjust the calibrated dial to any one of three positions, which may be designated high," medium and 10w corresponding respectively to high,.medi-' um and low operating speeds.

The principal object of the invention, therefore, is to providenovel means on a thermostatically controlled flatiron by means of which the iron may be adjusted by the user according to the natural speed of operation employed by that user.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel device or structure on a flatiron of the type above mentioned by means of which the indicator dial calibrations may be adjusted at will with respect to the thermostat-adjusting mechanism, thereby enabling the user to associate the dial calibrations with diilerent temperature lev- 55 els according to such user's speed of operation.

A further object of the invention is to provide a simple device of this nature wherein the said calibration adjustment may be effected by means of the control knob which is employed to adjust the thermostat.

Other objects and features of the invention will appear hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a partial plan view of a flatiron constructed according to the invention, showing the 10 fiatiron in dot-and-dash outline} Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view of the mechanism provided by the invention, also showing the flatiron in dot-and-dash outline;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the indicator dial 15 showing the top thereof with the calibrations or markings thereon.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the cam for adjusting the thermostat;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the cam in in- 20 verted position;

Fig. 6 is-a perspective view of the indicator dial in inverted position; and

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view of the portion of the iron cover plate with which the 25 mechanism is associated.

Referring to the several views of the drawing, there is shown generally a flatiron I having a cover plate 2 to which there is attached the usual handle 3. Within the body of the iron, there is provided an adjustable thermostatic switch (not illustrated) arranged to control the operating temperature of the iron in known manner. The thermostatic switch may take any suitable form, for example, it may be of the type disclosed in Patent #2348514, granted July 21, 1936, in which case, the thermostatic switch may be adjusted by means of a pivoted member 4 whose position is controlled by means of a rotatable cam 40 5. As illustrated in Fig.2, the cam is disposed directly beneath the cover plate 2 and is secured to a rotatable pin or stud 6 extending through an aperture in the cover plate and carrying at its upper end a manually-operable knob I having a 4., pointed end 8. The cover plate has a circular recess at 9 (see Fig. '7) and within the recess there is disposed an indicator dial Ill having markings or calibrations thereon, as illustrated in Fig. 3.

As mentioned above, the dial is preferably proi I vided with suitable legends indicating diiferent types of material to be ironed. In the past, the dial has been fixed in position and, by rotating the knob I to bring the pointed end 8 thereof ad-,

jacent a particular marking or calibration of the v dial, the thermostatic switch may be adjusted to range.

operate at a particular temperature level.

In accordance with the present invention, the dial I is rotatably disposed in the recess 9 and has a limited range of rotary movement defined by a projection II on the. dial and an opening l2 in the cover plate 2 through which projection II extends. It will be seen that the rotary movement of the dial is limited by the abutment of projection H with the radial edges of .the opening l2. Further, there are provided on the dial l0 and the cover plate 2 cooperative indexing and detent means which establish certain positions of the dial within its range of movement, and also serve to retain the dial in any one of the said positions to which it maybe moved. In the specific illustration, there are provided on the cover plate 2 three recesses l3 which are adapted to receive a small projection II on the dial ill. By rotating the dial, the projection I4 may be made to seat in one of the recesses i3, thereby retaining the dial in one of its positions, but the dial may be moved to another of its positions by forcibly moving it so as to remove the projection I4 from the recess in which it is seated and then rotating the dial I0 until the projection seats in another recess. As shown in Fig. 2, the projection it is formed by depressing the disk III at that point, and the depression is visible at the top.of the disk as may be seen from Fig. 3. Further, there are provided on cover plate 2 the markings I3a. corresponding respectively to recesses 13, which together with the depression in the dial I0 serve to indicate the position of the disk. If desired, the legends high, medium and low, may be provided adjacent the markings i3a.' to indicate the respective ironing speeds.

In further accordance with the invention, the cam 5 is provided with an extension or projection I5 (see Fig. 4;) which is adapted to engage the projection H on the dial Ill. With the dial in one of its positions, the cam 5 may be rotated by means of knob 'I in either direction until one or the other of the radial sides of projection l5 abuts against the projection H. Thus, for a given position of dial ID, the cam 5 isrotatable through a certain range (approximately 270) to adjust the thermostatic switch to cause operation at various temperature levels within that Whenever it is desired to adjust the iron for a different operating speed, the knob I is rotated with suflicient force to move the dial from one position to another through the engagement of the cam projection i 5 with the dial projection II. or course, the dial in the device illustrated can only be moved to one or the three positions and it is impossible to move the dial beyond either of its outer positions, since the projection II abuts against one of the radial edges of opening l2 in cover plate 2 whenever the dial is in one of its outer positions.

'The adjustment of the dial from one position to another has the efiect of shifting the operating range of cam 5 which, in effect, shifts the range of operating temperature levels'to which the iron may be adjusted. In other words, the projection H constitutes a movable stop, .the

. position of whichdetermines the range of operating temperature levels to which the iron may be adjusted by rotating the cam 5. The design of the parts is such that the proper range of operating temperature levels is obtained for each operating speed represented by the different positions of dial I0.

It will be seen from the illustration and above description that the invention provides a simple device by means of which a user may easily adjust the ,flatiron according to natural ironing speed of that particular user. As described above, such adjustment is easily and quickly made by means of the same control knob which adjusts the thermostat for operation at different temperature levels within the operating iron, manual means for operating said cam, an

indicator member disposed adjacent said cam and arranged for movement relative to the cam and its operating means, detent means for retaining said indicator member in any one of a plurality of positions to which said member is movable, said indicator memberhaving calibrations or markings thereon each of which represents a particular adjustment of said thermostat when said member is in a particular position, a projection on said cam, and a projection on said indicator member engageable by said first-mentioned projection, the said projections serving as stop elements to limit the movement of the cam, and the indicator member being forcibly movable through said projections from one position to another to thereby associate each said calibration or marking with a different adjustment of said thermostat, whereby the operator may adjust the iron according to 'a certain ironing speed.

2. In an electrically-operated ilatiron having an adjustable thermostat arranged tooperate the [iron at selectable temperature levels, a cover plate for said iron provided with a segmental opening, a rotatable cam below said cover plate and movable through an arc of less than 360 for adjusting said thermostat throughout the complete operating temperature range of the iron, a rotatable knob disposed above said cover plate and connected to said cam through the cover plate to actuate the cam, an indicator dial disposed above said cover plate in cooperative relation with said knobrsaid dial carrying a projection extending through the segmental opening in said cover plate .and the dial being rotatable through an arc determined by the abutment of said projection with the edges of the said opening, cooperative indexing and detent means on said cover plate and said dial for retaining the dial in diflerent positions within its range of movement, and a projection on said cam arranged to engage said first-mentioned projection, the said projections serving to limit the movement of the cam, and the indicator dial being forcibly movable by means said projections to its diflerent positions to thereby change the calibration of the dial with respect to the cam, whereby the operator may adjust the iron according to a certain ironing speed.

3. In an electrically-operated flatiron having an adjustable thermostat for operating the iron at selectable temperature levels, manually operable means angularly adjustable through an arc of less than 360 to adjust said thermostat to operate the iron throughout the complete operating temperature range of the iron, an operating knob for said manually operable means, indexing means on said knob, an indicator member having consecutive indicia thereon arranged cooper- -atively with the indexing means on said knob to member are correlated with different respective positions of said manually operable means, thereby eflectively shifting the operating range of said manually operable means and shifting the operating temperature range of the iron to raise or lower the same according to the ironing speed of the operator.

a. In an electrically-operated flatiron havin an adjustable thermostat for operating the iron at selectable temperature levels,'manually operable means angularly adjustable through an arc of less than 360 to adjust said thermostat to operate the iron throughout the complete operating temperature range of the iron, an operating knob for said manually operable means, indicating means associated with said knob and having thereon consecutive indications of the knob settings for different materials to be ironed, the

consecutive indicia on said indicating means indicating consecutive temperature gradations throughout the complete operating range of the iron, and means for changing at will the angular correlation between said manually operable means and said indicating means, whereby the respective indicia on said indicating means are correlated with different respective'positions of said manually operable means, thereby efiectively shifting the operating range of said manually operable means and shifting the operating temperature range of the iron to raise or lower the same according to the ironing speed of the operator.

5. In an electrically-operated flatiron having arr-adjustable thermostat for operating the iron at selectable temperature levels, manually operable means angularly adjustable through an arc of less than 360 to adjust said thermostat to operate the iron throughout the complete operating temperature range of the iron, an operating knob for said adjustable means, indicating means associated with said knob and having thereon consecutive indicia indicating consecutive temperature gradations throughout the complete operating range of the iron, and means for eflfecting at will at least three diflerent correlative relations between said manually operable means and said indicating means, whereby the respective indicia on said indicating means are correlated with different respective positions of said manually operable means, thereby effectively shifting in a plurality'of steps the operating range of said manually operable means and shifting accordingly the operating temperature range of the iron to raise or lower the same according to the ironing speed of the operator.

6. In an electrically-operated flatiron having an adjustable thermostat for operating the iron at selectable temperature levels, manually-operable means adjustable through a certain range of an arc of less than 360 to adjust said thermo stat to operate the iron throughout the complete operating temperature range of the iron, indicating means for indicating the adjustments of said manually operable means, said indicating means having consecutive indicia indicating con secutive temperature gradations throughout the I complete operating range of the iron, and means operable by said manually operable means at the ends of its movements through said certain range for changing the angular correlation between said manually operable means and said indicating means, whereby the respective indicia on said indicating means are correlated with different respective positions of said manually operable means, thereby effectively shifting the operating range of said manually operable means and shift ing the operating temperature range of the iron to raise or lower the same according to the ironing speed of the operator.

7. In an electrically-operated fiatiron having an adjustable thermostat for operating the iron at selectable temperature levels, a manually operable member angularly adjustable through an arc of less than 360 to adjust said thermostat to operate the iron throughout, the complete operating temperature range of the iron, an operating knob for said manually operable member, indexing means on said knob, an indicatormember having consecutive indicia thereon arranged cooperatively with the indexing means on said knob to indicate various settings of said manually operable member, the consecutive indicia on said indicator member indicating consecutive temperature gradations throughout the complete operating range of the iron, said indicator member being adjustable to different angular positions to change the angular correlation between -said manually operable member and said indient respective positions of said manually operable member, thereby efiectivelyshiftlng the operating temperature range of the iron to raise or lower the same according to theironing speed of the operator.

' JOSEPH W. MYERS.

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