Patent GB-761593-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to laundering irons
Inventor: WOOD ARCHIBALD CUTHILL
IPC: D06F75/32
Filed: 1954-03-27
Abstract: 761,593. Hand irons. SANSOM, A. E. March 15, 1955 [March 27, 1954; July 16, 1954; Aug. 23, 1954; Jan. 24, 1955], Nos. 9029/54, 20772/54, 24426/54 and 2055/55. Class 138 (2). A steam forming and distributing attachment, for a laundering iron, comprises a base having an upper plate 7 adapted to form a seating for the usual sole-plate 13 of the iron, an apertured lower plate 5 for contacting the material to be ironed, a cavity 17 being formed between the upper and lower plates, a water supply container mounted on the base, passage means between the container and the cavity, and a manually operable control valve 4 arranged in the passage means for controlling the flow of water to the cavity for the generation of steam therein. The water container may be in the form of a hollow nose portion 1 connected to the cavity 17 by a capillary tube 3, the front end of which is formed as a conical valve seating to coact with the valve 4 which is threaded through the upper wall of the nose portion 1. The water container may include two tubes 11 mounted on and connected to the nose portion 1, the arrangement being such that when the attachment is stood on its rear end the water level in the container falls below the level of the capillary tube 3 thereby automatically cutting off the supply of water. The iron may be secured to the attachment by means of releasable springs 15, 15a, the nose of the iron being retained in an undercut V-shaped recess in the rear wall of the nose portion 1. The steam openings 18 may be formed in domed areas 19 of the base-plate 5 which serve to support the upper plate 7, as shown in Fig. 5. Two screws 9 threaded through the rear portion 8 of a peripheral flange on the base-plate 5 bear on and retain the upper plate 7 in position, a peripheral washer 6 of heat-resisting resilient material being held between the two plates 5 and 7. The front ends of the plate 7 and washer 6 are engaged in a recess 10 in the nose portion 1 which has a screw-threaded filler cap 2. The tubes 11 may be made of transparent material. Figs. 7 to 9 (not shown) illustrate a modification in which the water valve is arranged in front of the filler cap, and the rearwardly-extending water tubes (11) are horizontal instead of slightly inclined as in Fig. 1. Provisional Specification 9029/54 also describes a construction in which a thin metal tube having downwardly-directed steam holes is fastened around the edge of a normal hand iron, the tube being heated by the edge of the base of the iron and supplied with a controlled flow of water. Provisional Specification 20772/54 describes a construction in which steam generated in a cavity in the attachment is fed to a tube fastened around the edge of the base-plate, this tube being provided with a series of holes or slots in its underside. Provisional Specification 24426/54 describes the provision in the cavity of an absorbent material, or a very fine wire mesh or finely perforated metal plate. It also describes the provision of a water container separate from the attachment and connected thereto by means of a flexible tube. Provisional Specification 2055/55 describes a construction in which the water is boiled in the container and a controlled supply of steam fed to the cavity. It also describes the use of flat springs pressing inwardly and downwardly on the edge of the base of the iron, in place of the coil springs 15, 15a.