US3729778A

US3729778A - Iron guard

Info

Publication number: US3729778A
Application number: US00221588A
Authority: US
Inventors: R Mcgrath
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1972-01-28
Filing date: 1972-01-28
Publication date: 1973-05-01
Anticipated expiration: 1990-05-01

Abstract

An improved iron guard is provided which includes a spaced pair of holding means such as clamps to releasably engage the sides of an ironing board, a flexible connecting means interconnecting the holding means and adapted to releasably engage the handle of an iron, resilient means such as a spring associated with the connecting means and holding means to tension the former and to releasably secure a heel bracket in tight engagement with the heel of an iron to hold the same securely in an upright position without danger of tipping over the iron. The bracket is secured to the connecting means, which may be a chain, cord or the like. The bracket is of special configuration to quickly and adequately engage the heel of an iron.

Description

United States Patent [191 McGrath IRON GUARD [76] Inventor: llgyrnond McGrath, "/30 3 Win netka Avenue, cano ga l ark, can; 9 l 306 [22] Filed: Jan. 28, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 221,588

[ 51 May 1, 1973 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 313,528 5/1918 Germany ..248/36l A Primary Examiner-Donald A. Griffin Attorney-John .1. Posta, Jr.

[57] ABSTRACT An improved iron guard is provided which includes a spaced pair of holding means such as clamps to releasably engage the sides of an ironing board, a flexible connecting means interconnecting the holding means and adapted to releasably engage the handle of an iron, resilient means such as a spring associated with the connecting means and holding means to tension the former and to releasably secure a heel bracket in tight engagement with the heel of an iron to hold the same securely in an upright position without danger of tipping over the iron. The bracket is secured to the connecting means, which may be a chain, cord or the like. The bracket is of special configuration to quickly and adequately engage the heel of an iron.

9 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures IRON GUARD BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION l. Field of the Invention The present invention generally relates to guard means and more particularly relates to iron guard means to prevent mishaps with electric and similar types of clothes irons.

2. Description of Prior Art Existing types of guards for electric irons and the like generally are either of complicated and expensive construction or do not provide for positive locking of an iron in place on an ironing board so that it cannot be tipped or dropped off the ironing board, even when the latter is bumped. Moreover, most ironing board iron guards orient the iron so that the irons ironing surface faces one of the sides of the ironing board. Thus, this exposes the hot surface of the iron to anyone approaching the ironing board from the appropriate side. In those devices which incorporate a rest, the hot iron surface may be in contact with the rest surface so that the iron surface may pick up unwanted and transferrable material, such as lint, dirt or the like, which can be transferred to the surface of the cloth, which is later ironed with the iron. Moreover, if the iron surface is sufficiently hot when placed on the rest and if the iron is soon thereafter removed from the rest, the rest surface may have become and remain sufficiently hot to be a safety hazard. Such a hazard may easily result in a burn when ironing is resumed.

Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an improved type of simple inexpensive ironing board iron guard which would be capable of assuring that an iron left unattended could not be knocked off the board or tipped on the board (with consequent scorching of the ironing board cover, etc.). Such a guard preferably should not in and of itself provide a safety hazard in use. Thus, it should be designed so that it does not become heated by the iron. Moreover, it should be easily connectable and disengageable and be adapted to fit a variety of ironing boards and irons.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An improved ironing board iron guard having the previously described desirable features is obtained in accordance with the present invention. In this regard, an improved iron guard substantially as described in the Abstract above is provided. The iron guard can be easily and quickly installed on an ironing board, takes little room and in no way interferes with the ironing process. The improved guard releasably locks the iron in place on the ironing board with the iron in the heel down" position so that the hot ironing surface of the iron does not contact the board. Nor does it contact the iron guard. Moreover, the iron is oriented on the board so that the hot iron surface faces down the length of the ironing board and thus is not exposed to anyone approaching the ironing board from the side. This provides an additional safety factor in the iron guard.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the ironing guard of the invention; and,

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the iron guard of FIG. 1 in place on an ironing board.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As shown in perspective view in FIGS. 1 and 2, an improved ironing board iron guard 10 is provided. Guard 10 in the embodiment includes a pair of ironing board holding means in the form of

clamps

12 and 14, an elongated flexible connecting means interconnecting the pair of holding means, resilient biasing means for biasing the holding means toward each other when the connecting means is under tension, and bracket means adapted to releasably lock over and hold the heel of an iron. The connecting means may be, for example, a cord, chain or rope 16 or, alternatively, both a flexible and resilient cord or the like, for example of rubber, so as to serve both as the connecting means and the biasing means. The bracket means is indicated in the drawings as heel bracket 18. The resilient biasing means is shown in the drawings in the form of a spring 20 disposed around the shaft 22 of a bolt 24 passing through an aperture 26 in clamp 12. On the opposite threaded end of bolt 24 is disposed a threaded fitting 28 secured to one end of chain 16.

Both clamp 12 and clamp 14 are generally U-shaped so as to provide channels therein. Thus,

clamps

12 and 14 each include a long portion 30 and a short portion 32 interconnected by a bottom transverse portion 34 to provide a channel 36 therebetween. In clamp 12 bolt 24 extends through the upper end of portion 30. In both

clamp

12 and 14, wing nuts 38 extend through apertures 40 in portion 32 thereof to provide positive clamping action. The upper end of portion 30 of clamp 14 is provided with a cutaway portion 42 extending from one edge of portion 30 thereof to about the centerline of portion 30.

The end of chain 16 adjacent clamp 14 is connected to a threaded fitting 44 received over the threaded shank 46 of a bolt 48 having an enlarged head 50. Shank 46 is disposed in portion 42 while head 50 is on the opposite side of portion 30 of calmp 14 from fitting 44, thereby releasably securing chain 16 to clamp 14.

Heel bracket 18 is dimensioned and shaped to fit over the heel of an iron 52, as shown in FIG. 2, while the iron is disposed in the upright position on an ironing board 54 (also shown in FIG. 2). Thus, bracket 18 may be of steel wire or the like and include an elongated iron-heel engaging portion 56, a pair of rearwardly extending arms 58 connected to opposite ends of portion 56 and a pair of connecting means engaging portions in the form of hooks 60 disposed adjacent the rearward ends of arms 58. Bracket 16 may be in one piece, if desired, and may also be provided with an integral outwardly extending tab 62, which can be gripped with the fingers and which facilitates installing bracket 16 over the heel of iron 52 as shown in FIG. 2.

Device 10 is easily installed in an iron-supporting position on ironing board 54 by applying clamp 12 to the bottom edge of board 54 adjacent the rear end thereof, utilizing wing nut 38, if necessary, to aid in the clamping procedure. Bolt 48 is disengaged from clamp 14 and passed through the handle of iron 52 and then inserted through slot 42 in clamp 14. Bracket 16 is then 'secured around the heel of iron 52 by means of tab 62 after which clamp 14 is secured in place by slight downward pressure to hook it to the opposite side of board 54. Spring 20 applies enough biasing force on bracket 16 to hold iron 52 securely in place while still permitting the engagement of clamp 14 with the side of board 54. Guard can easily be released by sliding bolt 48 through slot 42 in clamp 14 to release chain 16 and then passing chain 16 and bolt 48 back through the handle of iron 52. While guard 10 is in place, as shown in FIG. 2, iron 52 cannot be knocked over and its ironing surface safely faces down the length of ironing board 54 rather than toward one or the other side thereof. Accordingly, an improved, simple, inexpensive iron guard is provided.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. An improved iron guard assembly, including, in combination:

a pair of spaced holding means adapted to releasably and adjustably engage the sides of an ironing board;

attachment means for securing and maintaining an iron in a substantially fixed upright position with respect to the surface of said ironing board,

said attachment means including an elongated flexible connecting means interconnecting said pair of holding means,

resilient means for biasing said pair of holding means against the sides of an ironing board, and,

a heel bracket connected to said connecting means between said pair of holding means and adapted to releasably engage the heel of an iron in said substantially fixed upright position.

2. The improved iron guard of claim 1 wherein said heel bracket includes means releasably engaging said connecting means and wherein said holding means includes means for adjusting the effective length of said connecting means.

3. The improved iron guard of claim 1 wherein said bracket includes:

an elongated iron heel-engaging portion,

a pair of rearwardly extending arms connected to opposite ends of said elongated portion, and

a pair of connecting means-engaging portions disposed adjacent the rearward ends of said arms.

4. The improved iron guard of claim 3 wherein said bracket comprises a continuous wire and wherein said bracket includes an outwardly extending tab portion connected to one of said arms to facilitate engagement of an iron heel with said bracket.

5. The improved iron guard of claim 4 wherein said connecting means-engaging portions of said bracket comprise a pair of hooks and wherein said bracket is fabricated of steel wire.

6. The improved iron guard of claim 1 wherein said resilient means comprises a spring interconnecting one of said holding means to said connecting means, wherein said connecting means comprises a chain and wherein said holding means each comprises an adjusta' ble clamp.

7. The improved iron guard of claim 6 wherein said bracket includes:

an elongated iron heel-engaging portion,

a pair of connecting means-engaging portions disposed adjacent the rearward ends of said arms. 8. The improved IlOl'l guard of claim 7 wherein each of said holding means includes a bolt secured to said bracket and wherein said spring is disposed over one of said bolts and wherein each said bolt is secured at one end.thereof to said chain.

9. The improved iron guard of claim 8 wherein at least one of said clamps includes a channeled portion and wherein a wing nut is disposed transversely through said channeled portion to adjust the clamping function of said clamp.

* 1' l i i

Claims

1. An improved iron guard assembly, including, in combination: a pair of spaced holding means adapted to releasably and adjustably engage the sides of an ironing board; attachment means for securing and maintaining an iron in a substantially fixed upright position with respect to the surface of said ironing board, said attachment means including an elongated flexible connecting means interconnecting said pair of holding means, resilient means for biasing said pair of holding means against the sides of an ironing board, and, a heel bracket connected to said connecting means between said pair of holding means and adapted to releasably engage the heel of an iron in said substantially fixed upright position.

3. The improved iron guard of claim 1 wherein said bracket includes: an elongated iron heel-engaging portion, a pair of rearwardly extending arms connected to opposite ends of said elongated portion, and a pair of connecting means-engaging portions disposed adjacent the rearward ends of said arms.

6. The improved iron guard of claim 1 wherein said resilient means comprises a spring interconnecting one of said holding means to said connecting means, wherein said connecting means comprises a chain and wherein said holding means each comprises an adjustable clamp.

7. The improved iron guard of claim 6 wherein said bracket includes: an elongated iron heel-engaging portion, a pair of rearwardly extending arms connected to opposite ends of said elongated portion, and a pair of connecting means-engaging portions disposed adjacent the rearward ends of said arms.

8. The improved iron guard of claim 7 wherein each of said holding means includes a bolt secured to said bracket and wherein said spring is disposed over one of said bolts and wherein each said bolt is secured at one end thereof to said chain.