Patent GB-651986-A (GB)
Title: Improvement in electric steam iron
IPC: D06F75/14
Filed: 1948-03-01
Abstract: 651,986. Hand irons. SCHREYER, E. P. March 1, 1948, No. 6396. Convention date, Jan. 27, 1948. [Class 138 (ii)] An electric steam iron comprises a boiler B, a sole plate 11 with an incorporated electric heater 18, a funnel-shaped filling well 54 in the top of the boiler, a shield plate S movably mounted upon the boiler, a closure member 59 carried by and under the shield plate and longitudinally displaceable thereon for self-centering in the well as the shield plate is moved to closed position and means for releasably latching the shield plate to the boiler. Preferably the shield plate extends the length of the boiler, is hinged to the rear thereof at 62, mounts the handle H of the iron and is releasably latched to the boiler at its forward end. In this latched position the closure member seals the filling aperture but by virtue of a resilient mounting the closure member serves as a safety valve to release excess pressure, the shield plate protecting the user against scalding. The closure member comprises a button 74 of gasket material mounted on a pin 65 and urged downwardly by a coil spring 70. The pin 65 has an enlarged head 66 and is displaceably and removably mounted in a longitudinally slotted part 78 of a hinge plate 61 to which the shield plate S is secured. Openings 57 and louvres 58 in the wall of the funnel 54 allow the escape of steam during filling and obviate danger of scalding. The latching means (Figs. 1 and 8), for holding the shield plate &c. in place comprises a knob 143 positioned in an arcuate cavity in the handle and affixed to a pin 136 having a rectangular rounded latch head 139 coacting with a hollow boss 52 on the boiler having a corresponding opening therein. The head 139 is urged downwardly by a spring 141 pressing against a washer 142, and knob 143 has a thumb piece for rotation thereof. This rotation is limited by means of an upstanding finger 125<SP>1</SP> which coacts with an arcuate slot in a flange 143<SP>1</SP> on the knob. The boiler B is filled with steel wool 80 to prevent sloshing of the water therein and steam is fed from the boiler through a pipe 85 to a steam chamber 16 where it is superheated by contact with the sole plate 11 before discharging through small openings 17 in the forward part of the sole plate. A steam dome 44 is accommodated in a depression 126 in the handle H and has an outwardly inclined rear wall forming a gutter down which the condensed steam may flow back into the boiler when the iron is tilted to its rest position. This prevents accumulation of water in the dome and ensures that when in use the iron may be moved from rest to ironing without danger of discharging boiling water from the steam discharge openings 17. The floor plate 99 of the boiler (Fig. 5) contains depressions 40 and a raised portion 40<SP>1</SP> which allow for sudden contraction when cold water is poured in onto the hot floor plate and thereby relieve the stress against the welded seam between the rims 42<SP>1</SP> and 86 of the boiler floor plate and upper shell respectively. This seam is concealed by an upstanding rim 12<SP>1</SP> on the sole plate. The sole plate may be of aluminium and the boiler of stainless steel, the difference in expansion being accommodated by flexible mounting strips connecting the rear of the boiler to the sole plate (Fig. 13, not shown). The iron may contain a thermostat 26, the adjusting knob 122 for which is accommodated by a bay 127 in the rear of the handle when the latter is tilted so that its rear portion 129 rests on a cover portion 112 which conceals the electrical connections (Figs. 2 and 13, not shown). Specification 628,085 is referred to.