Hand irons
AssigneeMorphy Richards Limited
InventorsGeorge Ralph Adkins, Michael James, Jamie Michael Sellors
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An electric hand iron comprises an electrically heated sole plate and an electrically operated water nozzle. The water nozzle is arranged to produce a water mist which produces a substantially uniform density moisture pattern, in response to a user activated control.
Claims30
An electric hand iron comprising:
- an electrically heated sole plate;
- and
- a water nozzle,
- characterised in that
- said water nozzle is arranged to produce a water mist having a substantially uniform distribution of water droplets.
The iron as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said nozzle produces a water mist having a droplet size such that said droplets settle on top of a fabric to be ironed, without soaking into said fabric.
The iron as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said nozzle produces a mist having an average droplet diameter in the range 58 μm to 100 μm in free space.
The iron as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said water nozzle has an outlet aperture of maximum dimension in the range 0.6 mm to 0.8 mm.
The iron as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, further comprising an electrically operated pump which supplies water to said water nozzle.
The iron as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, comprising an in-line filter having a mesh aperture size having dimensions in the range:
- Width:
- 65 μm to 85 μm;
- Length:
- 110 nm to 200 μm.
The iron as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said mist forms a substantially elliptical spray pattern on a flat surface parallel with an underside of said sole plate, said substantially elliptical pattern being positioned in front of a tip of said sole plate.
The iron as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said nozzle is positioned to form said mist of water in front of a sole plate of said iron.
The iron as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said nozzle is positioned substantially over a tip of said sole plate.
The iron as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said nozzle is positioned above a tip of said sole plate, and a mid point of the said nozzle is positioned a distance of between 5 mm and 15 mm in front of a foremost point of said sole plate.
The iron as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said nozzle is positioned above a tip of said sole plate at a height in the range 75 mm to 80 mm.
The iron as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, comprising a valve which opens when an inlet water pressure rises above a pre-determined level, and which shuts when said water pressure drops below said pre-determined level.
The iron as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, further comprising a reservoir, wherein said water reservoir is situated in a body of said iron.
The iron as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, further comprising a water reservoir which is a separate unit from said hand iron and wherein water is supplied from said separate water reservoir to said hand iron via a flexible pipe or tube.
The iron as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said nozzle operates at a flow rate in the range 25 millilitres to 30 millilitres per minute.
The iron as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said nozzle operates at a pressure within the range 4 bar to 7 bar.
The iron as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, further comprising a pressure regulator for regulating a pressure of water supplied to said nozzle.
The iron as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, further comprising an electrically operated illumination means positioned so as to shine a light spot or pattern in front of said sole plate at a position coincident with a position of said mist pattern.
An electric hand iron comprising:
- an electrically heated sole plate;
- and
- a water nozzle, said water nozzle capable of producing a mist pattern in front of said sole plate;
- characterised by
- an illumination means positioned to shine a beam of light in a region in front of the iron, which corresponds with a region occupied by said mist produced by said nozzle.
An electric hand iron comprising:
- an electrically heated sole plate;
- and
- at least one water nozzle;
- characterised in that
- said sole plate comprises a chamber extending between first and second sides of said sole plate;
- said at least one said nozzle is positioned within said chamber;
- and
- said at least one nozzle is arranged to generate a water mist within said chamber.
The electric iron as claimed in any one of clams 26 to 28, comprising a plurality of water nozzles positioned in a single said chamber.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.