Abstract:
The present invention relates to a platform assembly and method that expands the surface area of a conventional ironing board. The platform assembly covers a converging end of an ironing board and expands the surface area of the ironing board. The platform assembly of the present invention includes parabolic shaped outer edges that provide a configuration especially useful in the ironing of shirts. A user may easily remove and store the platform assembly in order to convert the ironing board back to its original form.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   The present application is a continuation in part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/161,228, filed Jul. 27, 2005 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,096,613 (entitled “IRONING BOARD EXPANSION PLATFORM”). 

   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates to a device that expands the ironing surface on a conventional ironing board. 
   2. Description of Related Art 
   Ironing boards have been in use over many years in order to facilitate the crisp, fresh, wrinkle-free look to clothing adorned by many. The general purpose of ironing is readily evident. The ironing board allows the user to lay clothing for application of heat via an iron in order to smooth wrinkles to achieve the desired look. The iron board shape has remained consistent over the years where one end includes three sides at about 90 degrees from each other and the other end converging to a curved point. A top view of a conventional ironing board is shown in  FIG. 1A . Ironing board  15  includes a straight edge  17  with side edges  18   a ,  18   b  that extend forward to the converging end  19 . The top surface of board  15  provides an ironing surface for the user. Although the shape of the ironing board  15  apparently has been used quite extensively, the ironing board  15  presents some shortcomings to the user, mainly when ironing articles of clothing, the user may have to reposition clothing on the board several times to complete the task of ironing. 
   Ironing a shirt or a blouse requires multiple positioning during the ironing process. Furthermore, even when the user repositions the clothing, the user may be unable to reach certain areas or occasionally the repositioning may be ineffective in providing the user with the necessary area to complete the ironing task. A conventional shirt or blouse may include a large flat area, typically the back side, in order to iron this area the user must continually reposition the shirt. This repositioning becomes even more tedious around the shoulder and armpit areas. The constant flipping or repositioning of the shirt inevitably causes problems in completing the task of ironing. Furthermore, each reposition of the iron process may necessitate that the user reposition and re-iron certain areas in order to have a completely ironed and wrinkle-free shirt. 
   The prior art contains various variations of the conventional ironing board in order to address some of these problems. One piece of prior art which shows a modification of conventional ironing boards is U.S. Pat. No. 6,151,817 to Eiben (Eiben reference). The Eiben reference relates to an ironing board that possesses two end sections that extend side by side wherein one section provides an area for ironing clothing and a narrow section is provided to iron shirt sleeves where the two sections are separated by a gap. The Eiben reference discusses a modification to the conventional ironing board, however, it does not address the requirement of maneuvering a shirt over the surface in order to complete the ironing process. 
   Another prior art reference that includes modifications to the conventional ironing board is U.S. Pat. No. 5,016,367 to Breen, et al. (Breen reference). The Breen reference relates to an iron board that includes a main board and two swingable board extensions that are retractably attached to the main board. The extensions and main board of the Breen reference provide for the ironing of trouser legs and sleeves on the narrow portions thereof. The Breen reference, again, fails to address each area that a shirt may possess and, thus, still facilitates a process that requires a significant amount of flipping of the article of clothing. 
   U.S. Pat. No. 6,286,237 to Toutounchian relates to a multiple function ironing board which has various periphery attachments to help facilitate the ironing process. The multiple attachments attempt to expand the surface area at one end of the ironing board and to provide for multiple iron resting plates at the opposite end thereof. The drawback of the Toutounchian reference is that it includes multiple attachments and, therefore, makes for a fairly cumbersome ironing board assembly. 
   The prior art lacks any versatility or capability to expand a conventional board as used throughout the consumer market. Accordingly, consumers need an optional attachment that enables the expansion of the iron board surface area that could be easily attached and removed from a conventional ironing board. Such an attachment could easily be implemented into the current consumer market for ironing boards. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention relates to a platform assembly and method that expands the surface area of a conventional ironing board. The platform assembly easily connects to an ironing board through the insertion of the converging end of the ironing board to a cavity on the bottom side of the platform assembly. The platform assembly covers the converging end and expands the surface area of the ironing board. The user may first remove the ironing board&#39;s pad and cover, or the platform assembly may be conveniently secured to the ironing board with pad and cover intact. The platform assembly may be secured to the ironing board by using a strap or cross member. The platform assembly comprises two wing portions and a platform that are assembled to form a platform assembly for use with any conventional application. The platform assembly has parabolic shaped outer edges that provide a configuration especially useful in the ironing of shirts. A user may easily remove and store the platform assembly in order to convert the ironing board back to its original form. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an expansion platform assembly comprising: a first wing portion, where the first portion includes a substantially parabolic upper outer edge and a curved inner edge said; a second wing portion, where said second portion includes a substantially parabolic upper outer edge and a curved inner edge; a platform, said platform having symmetrical substantially parabolic upper outer edges, said platform having a top side and a bottom side, where said first wing portion and second wing portion are affixed to the bottom side of said platform, where said outer edge of said platform aligns with said outer edge of each wing portion; and a cavity, where said cavity lies between the first wing portion, the second wing portion and the bottom side of said platform. 
   It is also an object of the present invention to provide a method for expanding the area of an ironing board surface comprising the steps of: creating a first wing portion, where the first wing portion includes an upper parabolic outer edge; creating a second wing portion, where the first wing portion includes an upper parabolic outer edge; aligning the outer edge of the first wing portion with an outer edge of a platform; aligning the outer edge of the second wing portion with the outer edge of the platform; affixing the first wing portion and the second wing portion to a bottom side of the platform, wherein the step of affixing creates a platform assembly; and securing the platform assembly onto a converging end of a ironing board. 
   It is also an object of the present invention to provide a method for expanding the area of an ironing board surface comprising the steps of: lying a shirt across a flat surface; sketching an outline along the outside edges of said shirt, where said outline creates a template; using the template to create a first wing portion, a second wing portion and a platform; affixing the first wing portion and second wing portion to a bottom side of the platform, where the other edges of the each wing portion aligns with the outer edge of the platform wherein the step of affixing creates a platform assembly; and securing the platform assembly onto a converging end of a ironing board. 
   In accordance with these and other objects which will become apparent hereinafter, the instant invention will now be described with particular reference to the accompanying drawings. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1A  shows a top surface area of a conventional ironing board. 
       FIG. 1B  shows a perspective view of a conventional ironing board. 
       FIG. 2  shows a top surface of a platform assembly according to the present invention. 
       FIG. 3  shows a bottom view of the platform assembly attached to a conventional ironing board. 
       FIG. 4  shows a perspective of the layers that are associated with the platform assembly according to the present invention. 
       FIG. 5A  shows a bottom view of the platform assembly and a cavity thereof. 
       FIG. 5B  shows a bottom view of the platform assembly wherein a connection member is shown across the cavity according to the present invention. 
       FIG. 5C  shows an alternative embodiment of the platform assembly according to the present invention. 
       FIG. 6  shows a top view of the platform assembly on a conventional ironing board. 
       FIG. 7  shows a design template for the platform assembly according to the present invention. 
       FIG. 8  shows a yoke template for the platform assembly. 
       FIG. 9  shows the components of the platform assembly according to the present invention. 
       FIG. 10A  shows another embodiment of the platform assembly according to the present invention. 
       FIG. 10B  shows the wing portions of the embodiment of  FIG. 9A . 
       FIG. 10C  shows the assembly of the components of the embodiment of  FIG. 9A . 
       FIG. 11  shows a perspective view of the platform assembly as attached to the conventional ironing board. 
       FIG. 12  shows the foam padding used in conjunction with the platform assembly according to the present invention. 
       FIG. 12A  shows a cut out section of the foam padding as shown in  FIG. 12 . 
       FIG. 13  shows an alternative embodiment of the platform assembly according to the present invention. 
       FIG. 14  shows a perspective view of the under side of the alternative embodiment of the platform assembly according to the present invention. 
       FIG. 14A  shows an exploded view of the cross member bracket area. 
       FIG. 15  shows the under side plan view of the alternative platform assembly. 
       FIG. 16  shows alternative extension channels for use with the contact extensions. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     FIG. 1A  shows a top view of a conventional ironing board  15 .  FIG. 1B  shows a perspective view of the ironing board  15 . Sides  18   a  and  18   b  extend from a straight edge  17  to converging edge  19 . The conventional ironing board  15  usually is supported upon folding legs  16  that allow for easy storage of ironing board  15 . However, some ironing boards may be stored in a wall or closet and may extend from the wall along with supporting members. Regardless of support means, ironing boards usually have the shape as shown in  1 A and  11 B. 
     FIG. 2  shows the top surface view of a platform assembly according to the present invention. Platform assembly  10  includes a top surface  14 . The underside of the platform assembly  10  is shown in  FIG. 3  as attached to the converging edge  19  of the ironing board  15 . As shown, the underside includes a first wing portion  12   a  and a second wing portion  12   b . The platform assembly  10  includes a cover  20  with cover straps  20   a  and  20   b . Cover straps  20   a  and  20   b  may connect through any conventional fastening device such as velcro, fasteners or a button assembly. Also another embodiment may allow for the simple tying of the cover straps in order to secure the platform assembly along with cover  20  to the conventional ironing board  15 . 
   As shown in  FIG. 3 , the platform assembly engages the converging edge of the conventional ironing board and expands the surface area for use during ironing. The expanded surface area provides a convenient mechanism in order to increase the surface area for the user. The platform assembly is particularly useful in ironing shirts that may fit over the platform assembly. The platform assembly includes the wing portions  12   a  and  12   b  that extend into the sleeve areas of a typical shirt and the top surface area  14  provides for a large, flat surface to provide coverage for a significant portion of any subject shirt. Also, the platform assembly&#39;s shape allows for the user to flip the shirt fewer times than with a conventional board while providing significant coverage of larger portions of the subject shirt. The platform assembly thus reduces the required repositioning of a shirt during the ironing process as opposed to using the conventional board with the converging edge  19 . Consequently, in addition to reducing the repositioning requirements, the platform assembly  10  also reduces the time associated with ironing a shirt. 
     FIG. 4  shows the components of the platform assembly according to the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 3 , the top cover  20  covers a top pad surface  51  and the top surface  14  of the platform assembly  10 . The cover  20  extends over platform assembly  10  and covers not only the platform assembly  10  but also the other portion of the conventional ironing board  15 . 
     FIGS. 5A and 5B  show the component portions of the platform assembly  10 . As shown in both  FIGS. 5A and 5B , wing portions  12   a  and  12   b  are two separate components that are joined to platform  23  of the platform assembly  10 . Both wing portions  12   a ,  12   b  include upper outer edges that have a parabolic shape. The upper outside edges of the platform  23  also have a parabolic shape that aligns with the outer edges of the wing portions  12   a ,  12   b . Once the components  12   a ,  12   b  and  23  are joined, a cavity  22  is created. The cavity  22  provides for the insertion of the converging edge  19  of a conventional ironing board. During use, the converging edge  19  abuts the outer perimeter of cavity  22 . The platform  23  includes a bottom surface  26  which is substantially flat in accordance with the top surface area  14  of the platform assembly. The embodiment of  FIG. 5B  includes cross member  12   c  which provides another mechanism in order to secure the platform assembly to the ironing board  15 . The cross member  12   c  as shown extends across cavity  22  and is adjoined to the inner portions of wing portions  12   a  and  12   b.    
     FIG. 5C  shows another embodiment of the present invention. The platform assembly of  FIG. 5C  is essentially the same configuration of  FIG. 5A , however the platform  23  includes a hinge portion  26   a  that enables the platform  23  to bend and fold as shown. A user may easily fold and store the platform assemble when not in use. 
     FIG. 6  shows a top view of the placement of platform assembly  10  onto a conventional ironing board  15 . This top view merely shows the attachment of the platform assembly  10  without the placement of cover  20  over the assembly and ironing board  15 . Preferably, the platform assembly  10  completely covers the converging edge  19  of the ironing board  15  also the platform assembly abuts to sides  18   a  and  18   b  in order to create a continuous straight edge that extends perpendicular to straight edge  17  of the ironing board  15 . Once cover  20  is placed over the platform assembly  10  and ironing board  15 , a continuous flat surface is provided for the purpose of ironing. The platform assembly ideally includes the wing portions that include parabolic outer edges that curve outwardly and extend back into the side edges  18   a  and  18   b.    
     FIG. 7  shows the template that may be used to create the shape of the platform assembly. As shown, template  25  includes the placement of a shirt  30  where the surrounding edges of the template to extend outwardly and follow the outer edges of the shirt  30 . The template  25  then can be used to cut both the platform  23  and the wing portions  12   a ,  12   b.    
     FIG. 8  shows a foldaway template for use yoke portion of a shirt. Yoke template  27  enables for the customize sizing of the wing portions  12   a ,  12   b  of the platform assembly  10 . By using the yoke template  27 , the wing portions  12   a ,  12   b  may be shaped and configured to fit any size shirt that may conform to the yoke template  27 . The yoke template  27  is essentially configured to closely match the yoke portion of a shirt such as shown in  FIG. 7 , yoke  31 . Yoke template  27  therefore allows the customization of the platform assembly  10  to fit any size shirt. 
     FIG. 9  shows an exploded view of the platform assembly  10  and wing portions  12   a ,  12   b . As shown in  FIG. 8 , these components are joined together to create the complete platform assembly  10 . The materials that may be associated with these various components may include wood, hardened plastic, metal or suitable fiberboard. The components may be connected by way of additional fastening components, such as screws, clamps or other fastening devices. Also, these components may be connected through use of suitable glues that may be available in order to bind these components together for a composite platform assembly  10 . 
     FIGS. 10A ,  10 B and  10 C show another embodiment of the platform assembly  10  according to the present invention. The platform assembly  10  of  FIGS. 9A through 9C  has substantially the same shape as the above described embodiment, however, the wing portions  12   a  and  12   b  are smaller in order to extend into the sleeve area of smaller sized shirts. However, consistent with the prior embodiment, the components may be adjoined as shown in  FIG. 9C , the wing portions  12   a  and  12   b  are joined to the bottom surface  26  of the platform  23  and then the cavity  22  allows for the insertion of the converging edge  19  of the ironing board. 
     FIG. 11  shows a perspective view of the platform assembly onto a conventional ironing board. The broken off section at the straight edge  17  of the ironing board shows the ironing board is covered first with a pad  55  and then cover  20  extends over the pad  55  and extends over the platform assembly to create the composite flat surface for ironing. In order to provide for a smooth surface over the entire ironing surface, padding under cover  20  is shown in  FIGS. 12 and 12A . As shown in  FIG. 11 , surface pad  51  extends over the platform assembly area  10  that abuts to the ironing board  15 . This pad  51  extends the entire surface of the ironing board  15  to straight edge  17 . Below top pad  51  is a bottom pad  53  that extends from the straight edge  17  of the ironing board into and abuts the back straight edge of the platform  23  of the platform assembly  10 . Surface pad  51  provides the padding over the platform assembly  10 . The padding, platform assembly  10  and iron board are all placed within the cover  20  once the platform assembly  10  has been secured to the ironing board  15 . 
     FIG. 13  shows an exploded view of an alternative embodiment of the platform assembly for the present invention. A platform surface  62  attaches over a frame portion  64  which forms a cavity  82  after attachment thereof. The under side of frame portion  64  reveals the cross member  70  attached to a cross member bracket  72 . As further explained below, this embodiment enables the user to adjust the fit of the platform assembly in order to adjust for various sizes of ironing boards. 
     FIG. 14  shows a perspective view of the under side of the frame portion  64  where the platform surface  62  is attached to the upper side of the frame portion  64 . Contact extensions  74   a ,  74   b  and lower contact extensions  76   a ,  76   b  extend inwardly towards cavity  82  and provide an adjustment means to insure a secure fit of the platform assembly  60 . The frame portion  64  is shown as a square tubular construction in order to facilitate the movement of the contact extensions  74   a ,  74   b . Cross member  70  extends under the cavity  82  and provides an additional means to secure the platform assembly  60  to an ironing board. Cross member  70  attaches to cross member bracket  72   a ,  72   b . Cross member bracket  72   a ,  72   b  includes a plurality of holes respectively so as to allow a vertical adjustment means for placement cross member  70 . The vertical adjustment means enables a snug fit onto the ironing board. 
     FIG. 14A  shows a detailed view of the cross member bracket area as shown in  FIG. 14 . One end of cross member  70  is shown extending through the cross member bracket  72   b . The cross member bracket  72   b  attaches to an angle brace  72   d  by inserting and securing both  72   c  through the brace  72   d  and member bracket  72   b . The angle brace  72   d  is securely attached to the under side of platform surface  62 . Also attached to the under side of the platform surface  62  is an upper extension channel  71   b . The contact extension  74   b  attaches to the extension channel  71   b  through a slot (not shown) which enables it to be adjustably maneuvered along the extension channel  71   b . Although the present exemplary embodiment shows the brace  72   d  and channel  71   b  as being welded to platform surface  62 , other means may be in place to securely attach the components, such as riveting, bolting or glue. Furthermore, the channel  71   b  and angle brace  72   d  may be formed as a composite component through molding by using a known technique known in the prior art. 
     FIG. 15  shows a bottom plan view of the platform assembly. The view shows movement capabilities associated with contact extension  74   a ,  74   b  and lower contact extensions  76   a ,  76   b . The movement of the contact extensions  74   a ,  74   b ,  76   a ,  76   b  along the vertical dash lines associated with each respective extension. During use, the contact extensions retract downward until coming into a secure contact with the subject ironing board. Contact extensions are attached to slots  73   a ,  73   b ,  75   a , and  75   b  with a locking pin  78  which locks the contact extensions into place to coincide with the size of the respective ironing board. As shown, the contact extensions travel along paths,  84   a – 84   d  and are positioned to abut the ironing board to provide resilient contact. 
     FIG. 16  shows a detailed view of the extension channel  71  and contact extension  74 . As shown, locking pin  78  inserts into contact extension  74  and the user merely unscrews the locking pin  78  in order to move the contact extension  74  along slot  73 . Once the extension  74  is positioned into a desired position, then the user tightens locking pin  78  to secure the extension  74  into place.  FIG. 16  also shows an alternate extension channel  81  which shows a plurality of holes that enable the placement of contact extension  74 . The plurality of holes  79  may be used in place of the slot  73  as shown above in  FIG. 16 . Accordingly, this alternative channel  81  may be used in lieu of the channel  71  shown in  FIGS. 15 and 16 . 
   The instant invention has been shown and described herein in what is considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment. It is recognized, however, that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the invention and that obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.