Patent Abstract:
A wall mounted ironing board cabinet has a door on two-way sliders enabling cabinet “opened-to-the-right,” “closed” and “opened-to-the-left” conditions. The sliding door and ironing board hardware afford a cabinet which maximizes the number of possible locations of the cabinet in a room, minimizes the depth of the protrusion of the closed cabinet into the room and renders the door outer surface adaptable to uses unrelated to the storage and support of an ironing board. The ironing board hardware also allows user selection of the ironing board surface level from multiple available intervals.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates generally to ironing board cabinets and more particularly relates to wall mounted cabinets for concealing ironing boards in a vertical “storage” orientation and supporting them in a horizontal “use” orientation. 
     Earlier ironing boards had leg supports that could be folded. If sufficient space were available, a board might, for convenience sake, be left free-standing in an ironing area. More commonly, for space and/or aesthetic reasons, the legs would be folded after each use and the board leaned against a wall or stored in a closet. For older folks or for folks with physical debilitations, folding and carrying the boards can be problematic. 
     For some time now, ironing boards have been marketed which are self-contained in wall mounted cabinets with hinged doors. The doors conceal their presence when stored and the cabinets support them while they are in use. Wall mounted cabinets, which may be either surface mounted on or recessed in the wall with the cabinet door and surrounding finish trim overlapping the wall exterior surface, have become particularly popular in applications such as small apartments with limited living and storage space. 
     Whether they are surface mounted or recessed, wall mounted ironing board cabinets are typically at least as deep as a standard wall stud in order to accommodate the hardware and other structural components necessary to the folding out and support of the ironing board. The door, of course, extends forward of the cabinet in either case. 
     Use of these presently known ironing board cabinets is limited for a variety of reasons. For one, it is sometimes difficult in limited space conditions, especially if windows, entry doors, wall contours and wall decorations intrude on much of the existing wall space, to find a location suited to both swinging the cabinet door to the side and swinging the ironing board down to its “use” condition. For another, despite efforts to design cabinets as shallow as possible, the depth necessitated by the designs of known operating components of the cabinets still appears, in some applications, to be obtrusive and aesthetically unpleasant. Furthermore, because the doors of known ironing board cabinets swing, they may not make sufficient use of the valuable space they do occupy. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In accordance with the invention, a wall mounted ironing board cabinet is provided which has orthogonal top, bottom, side and back walls. 
     Mirror-image channels are routed in the lower inside surfaces of the side walls. The channels each have vertical passages spaced from the back wall and a vertical array of lateral passages which extend forwardly and upwardly from their respective vertical passage. 
     A door covers the open front of the cabinet. The door is attached to the cabinet by two-way sliders which permit the door to slide into and out of “cabinet opened to the right,” “cabinet closed” and “cabinet opened to the left” conditions. 
     Pivot pins aligned on a common axis protrude laterally from the rear end of the ironing board. The pins are in sliding engagement in respective channels so that they can be moved into and out of any of the opposed lateral passages of the channels. 
     A linkage is pivotally connected at one end to the cabinet and at the other end to the underside of the ironing board. Preferably, the linkage has a rod pivotally connected at one of its ends to the cabinet and a cross rod fixed on its other end in a T-configuration. Opposed mirror image channels on the underside of the ironing board have a main passage parallel to the board and an array of transverse passages extending upwardly from the main passage toward the deck of the ironing board. The number of upwardly extending transverse passages on the board corresponds to the number of lateral passages on the cabinet. The cross rod of the linkage has its ends engaged to slide in the opposed channels on the ironing board and the transverse passages are spaced at intervals, the spacing of the transverse passages being coordinated with the spacing of respective lateral passages in which the pins are engaged so that, when the pins and rod are fully engaged in corresponding lateral and transverse passages, the board is maintained in a horizontal plane at the level of the engaged lateral passage. 
     When the ironing board has been rotated about the axis of the pins to its vertical “storage” orientation in the cabinet, the door can slide out of the “cabinet opened to the right” or “cabinet opened to the left” conditions into the “cabinet closed” condition for storage of the ironing board. When the door is slid into either the “cabinet opened to the right” or “cabinet opened to the left” conditions, the ironing board can be rotated about the axis of the pins into its horizontal “use” orientation at an elevation which will be determined by the level of that pair of the opposed lateral passages of the mirror-image channels in which the pins are engaged. 
     Because of the configuration of the cabinet, the door and the ironing board hardware, the number of possible locations of the cabinet in a room is maximized, the depth of the protrusion of the closed cabinet into the room is minimized and the door outer surface is adaptable to uses unrelated to the storage and support of an ironing board. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a front elevation view of the wall mounted ironing board cabinet with the cabinet door removed; 
         FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view taken along the line  2 - 2  of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view taken along the line  3 - 3  of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a front elevation view with parts broken away of the wall mounted ironing board cabinet with a mirrored surface cabinet door in its “opened to the left” condition and the ironing board in its vertical “storage” orientation; 
         FIG. 5  is a front elevation view of the wall mounted ironing board cabinet with a half white board/half cork board surface cabinet door in the “opened to the right” condition and the ironing board in its vertical “storage” orientation; 
         FIG. 6  is a side elevation view illustrating a rail mount assembly ready for mounting the ironing board cabinet on the wall; 
         FIG. 7  is a side elevation view illustrating the rail mount assembly of  FIG. 6  with the ironing board cabinet mounted on the wall; 
         FIG. 8  is an exploded perspective view of the rails of the rail mount assembly in position for engagement with each other; 
         FIG. 9  is an exploded perspective view of the rails of the rail mount assembly engaged with each other; and 
         FIG. 10  is a cross-sectional view illustrating the transition of the ironing board between its vertical “storage” orientation and four selectable horizontal “use” orientations. 
     
    
    
     While the invention will be described in connection with a preferred embodiment thereof, it will be understood that it is not intended to limit the invention to that embodiment or to the details of the construction or arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Turning first to  FIGS. 1-4 , a shallow, wall mounted ironing board cabinet  10  is illustrated. The cabinet  10  has orthogonal top  11 , bottom  13 , side  15  and  17  and back  19  walls and a door  21  covering the open front of the cabinet  10 . 
     As seen in  FIGS. 2 ,  3  and  10 , a pair of mirror-image channels  23  are routed in the opposed lower inside surfaces of their respective cabinet side walls  15  and  17 . Each of the channels  23  has a vertical passage  25  spaced from the cabinet back wall  19  with an array of lateral passages  27   a ,  27   b ,  27   c  and  27   d  which extend forwardly and upwardly from their respective vertical passage  25 . Preferably, the walls of the vertical  25  and lateral  27  passages of each channel  23  will be protected by a thin plastic insert  29 . 
     Looking at  FIGS. 1 and 3 , the door  21  is attached to the front faces of the top  11  and bottom  13  walls of the cabinet  10  by upper  31  and lower  33  two-way sliders. The sliders  31  and  33  permit the door  21  to slide laterally across the front of the cabinet  10  from a “cabinet-closed” condition into a “cabinet-opened-to-the-left” condition seen in  FIG. 4  or a “cabinet-opened-to-the-right” condition seen in  FIG. 5 . 
     As seen in  FIGS. 1 ,  4  and  5 , the ironing board  35  is formed with a metal tube perimeter  37  reinforced by widthwise  39  and lengthwise  41  metal tubes and is covered by a metal grid or wire deck  43 . The board  35  has a rectangular ironing surface at its back end  45  and a tapered ironing surface at its front end  47 . As best seen in  FIG. 1 , the entire top surface of the deck  43  may be covered by an ironing board cover  49  which wraps around and under the side and front tube portions of the perimeter  37  of the board  35 . 
     Looking at  FIGS. 1-5  and  10 , a pair of pivot pins  51  and  53  aligned on a common axis extend laterally outwardly from the back end  45  of the ironing board  35 . The pins  51  and  53  have a diameter such as to permit sliding engagement of the pins  51  and  53  within the channels  23 . 
     Continuing to look at  FIGS. 1 ,  3 - 5  and  10 , a linkage  55  is pivotally connected between the ironing board  35  and the cabinet  10 . The linkage  55  includes an elongated rod  57  ending at shorter cross rods  59  and  61 . One cross rod  59  is pivotally attached at one end to a bracket  63  mounted on the cabinet  10  near the joint of the bottom  13  and back  19  walls of the cabinet  10 , as shown to a bracing member  65  provided for this purpose. The other cross rod  61  is engaged to slide in opposed mirror-image channels  67  in a bracket  69  fixed to the underside of the central portion of the ironing board  35 . As best seen in  FIGS. 3 and 10 , the channels  67  have a main passage  71  parallel to the board  35  and an array of transverse passages  73   a ,  73   b ,  73   e  and  73   d  extending upwardly from the main passage  71  toward the ironing board deck  43 . The number of transverse passages  73  in the ironing board channels  67  corresponds to the number of lateral passages  27  in the cabinet side walls  15  and  17 , as shown, four, but at least one and as many as four or more. Preferably, the lateral passages  27  are equally vertically spaced, perhaps on 2″ centers, and the transverse passages  73  are displaced at corresponding intervals in terms of board orientation, as hereinafter explained. 
     As seen in FIGS.  1 , 4  and  5 , in operation, when the ironing board  35  is rotated about the axis of the pins  51  and  53  to its vertical “storage” orientation in the cabinet  10 , a latch  75  on the upper inside portion of one of the cabinet side walls  15  can be rotated to secure the ironing board  35  in its vertical “storage” orientation. The door  21  can then be slid out of the “cabinet-opened-to-the-left” condition shown in  FIG. 4  or the “cabinet-opened-to-the-right” condition shown in  FIG. 5  into the “cabinet-closed” condition. 
     Turning to  FIG. 10 , when the door  21  is slid into either the “cabinet-opened-to-the-left” or “cabinet-opened-to-the-right” condition, the ironing board  35  can be rotated about the axis of the pins  51  and  53  into its horizontal “use” orientation. The elevation of the board  35  in its horizontal “use” orientation is determined by the level of the pair of opposed lateral passages  27  of the cabinet  10  into which the pins  51  and  53  on the back end  45  of the board  35  are slid. The intervals between the transverse passages  73  at the central portion of the underside of the board  35  are coordinated with the spacing of the lateral passages  27  on the cabinet  10  so that, when the board side cross rod  61  of the linkage  55  is engaged in the transverse passage  73  which corresponds to the lateral passage  27  in which the pins  51  and  53  are engaged, the board  35  is maintained in its horizontal “use” orientation. As shown, the pins  51  and  53  are engaged in the uppermost lateral passages  27   a  of the cabinet side walls  15  and  17  and the board  21  is at its highest horizontal level when the cross rod  61  is engaged in the proximal transverse passage  73 , of the board bracket  69 . Corresponding cooperation of lateral passages  27   b ,  27   c  and  27   d  with transverse passages  73   b ,  73   c  and  73   d , respectively, will result in sequentially lower horizontal levels of the ironing board  21 . 
     In returning the board  21  to its vertical “storage” orientation, the board  21  is lifted to disengage the cross rod  61  from the transverse passages  73   a  and allow the cross rod  61  to be seated at the proximal end of the main passage  71 . As the board  35  is further lifted, the pins  51  and  53  will disengage from the lateral passages  27   a  and slide to the bottom of the vertical passages  25 , at which point the board  35  will have been returned to the vertical “storage” orientation. 
     As an alternative to the above described fixed length linkage  55 , a telescoping linkage (not shown) may be used in which the exposed end of a rod extending from a tube is pivotally attached to a bracket recessed in the central underside portion of the ironing board  35  and the opposite end of the tube is pivotally attached to a bracket mounted on the cabinet  10  near the joint of the bottom  13  and back  19  walls of the cabinet  10 . With the pins  51  and  53  on the board  35  engaged in opposite lateral passages, the board  35  is rotated to its horizontal “use” orientation, the linkage telescoping accordingly. Once the board  35  is horizontal, a set screw or the like can be tightened to fix the length of the linkage and secure the board  35  in the horizontal “use” orientation. To return the board  35  to the “storage” orientation, the set screw is loosened and, as the board  35  is lifted, the pins  51  and  53  slide out of the lateral passages  73  into their respective vertical passages  25 . When the pins  51  and  53  reach the bottom of their vertical passages, the board  35  is in the vertical “storage” orientation. 
     Looking at  FIG. 1 , the total depth of the cabinet  10  is only slightly more than the thicknesses of the back wall  19 , the ironing board  35  and linkage bracket  69  and the door  21 . As seen in  FIGS. 6-9 , the cabinet  10  can preferably be mounted on the wall  80  by a pair of horizontal rails  81  and  83 , the lower rail  81  being fastened to the wall  80  by screws  85  and the upper rail  83  being fastened to the cabinet  10  by screws  87 . The rails  81  and  83  have complementary tongues  89  and  91 , respectively, so that, as the upper rail  83  slides down the surface of the wall  80 , the upper rail tongue  91  engages between the lower tongue  89  and the wall as the lower rail tongue  89  engages between the upper tongue  91  and the cabinet back wall  19 . The heads of the screws  83  and  85  are seated in recesses  93  and  95  in the lower and upper rails  81  and  83 , respectively. 
     The outer surface of the sliding door  21  can be laminated with a mirror  77 , as shown in full length in  FIG. 4 , a sheet of cork-board  79  or white board  97 , as shown half and half in  FIG. 5 , or simply be solid, as shown in  FIG. 3 . Since the door  21  slides rather than rotates, the surface of the mirror  77  and any messaging  99  on the cork board  79  or white board  97  will always be visible and/or functional regardless of the whether the door  21  is in an opened or closed condition. 
     Thus, it is apparent that there has been provided, in accordance with the invention, a wall mounted ironing board cabinet that fully satisfies the objects, aims and advantages set forth above. While the invention has been described in conjunction with a specific embodiment thereof, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the foregoing description. Accordingly, it is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variations as fall within the spirit of the appended claims.

Technology Classification (CPC): 3