Iron comprising a type-of-fabric detector

An iron comprising a heating element, heating-control means for the heating element and a control thermostat characterized in that the iron comprises:

• a fabric detector for detecting a type of fabric to be ironed, said fabric selector being selected from the group consisting of electrostatic and optical fabric detectors, said fabric detector being adapted to supply a signal (SF) to distinguish a delicate fabric (SF=1) from a non-delicate fabric (SF=0),
• means for storing a maximum temperature limit (T.sub.s) corresponding to delicate fabrics, and
• comparison means for comparing the maximum temperature limit (T.sub.s) with a temperature (T.sub.a) programmed by means of the thermostat,
• when said signal (SF) indicates a non-delicate fabric (SF=0), the detector activating a control means to provide heating to the temperature (T.sub.a), and,
• when said signal (SF) indicates a delicate fabric (SF=1), the detector validating the comparison means to act upon the control means either so as to activate an alarm when the programmed temperature is at least equal to the maximum temperature limit (T.sub.a .gtoreq.T.sub.s) and to inactivate the heating element or to allow heating only to a temperature not greater than the maximum temperature limit (T.sub.s), or so as to enable heating to the programmed temperature (T.sub.a) where the programmed temperature (T.sub.s) is below the maximum temperature limit (T.sub.a <T.sub.s).