Year: 1888

page_text: I, JULIUS ALFRED BOURRY, of Zurich, Switzerland, Agent, do hereby declare the
nature of my Invention to be as follows:-
The object of my Invention is to produce a smoothing-iron (also called sad irons,
flat irons and box irons) which can, without any interruption, be heated internally,
which offers no danger of explosion like those working under pressnre, and
which can be handled and regulated at will without any complicated mechanical
contrivences.
The handle is made cylindrical and hollow, to serve as reservoir for spirit or
other liquid fuel with which the iron is to be heated. Near the rear end the said
handle has a fill opening which is closed by a stopper through the centre or axis
of which passes a thin tube the lower part of which has lateral perforations and
extends into the liquid below the stopper. This tube serves to admit air without
spilling any liquid during the process of ironing.
One or both ends of the tubular handle is closed by a Glass plate, which may be
protected by a Cap provided with a vertical slot allowing to observe the level of
the liquid.
Under the tubular handle is situated a regulating valve placed in a valve chest
connected with the handle by a short upright tube. Into the lower part of the valve
chest (or that which lies between the valve and the feed pipe leading to the burner)
terminates a second upright tube extending upward through the hollow handle and
serving as a supplemental-air inlet, which also regulates the pressure produced in the
burner.
From the lower part of the valve chest the liquid is conducted to the burner
through a vertical pipe made of a bad conductor of heat.
The burner is a horizontal cylindrical tube suspended in the middle of the smoothing
iron and provided at its lower part with small holes or nozzles, from which the flames
emerge in iets.

page_text: To obtain a higher degree of heat, the burner may be filled with a bundle of fine
wires surrounded with a jacket of fine wire gauze. At the rear end the burner is
attached to the lower end of a metallic tube which forms the continuation of the feed
pipe, while the front end of the burner is attached to the front edge of the smoothing
iron or box by a metallic rod or pin.
The body or box of the iron forms a metallic skeleton or open frame work, the open
spaces of which are covered with fine wire gauze, to protect the cloth, which is to be
ironed, from catching fire.
The sides and the top of the frame work may be formed of ribs or rods covered with
wire gauze.
The top of the iron or box is provided with a horizontal guard plate fixed at
a short distance above the box and serving to reflect the heat rays downward
instead of allowing them to reach the handle, for which purpose the said guard
plate may be nickel plated and polished on both sides.
The regulating valve mentioned above is preferably operated by a horizontal
spindle and serves to control the quantity of liquid fuel admitted to the feed pipe.
Dated this 5th day of M. 1988
FAIRFAX & WETTER,
433, Strand, London,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: I, JULIUS ALFRED BOURRY, Engineer, of Zurich, Switzerland, do hereby declare
the nature of my invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The object of my invention is to produce a sad- or smoothing iron which can,
without any interruption, be heated internally, which offers no danger of explosion
like those working under pressure, and which can be handled and regulated at
will, without the use of complicated mechanical contrivances.
In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1. is a longitudinal vertical section, Fig. 2.
a rear view, Fig. 3. a plan of an improved smoothing iron without the handle and
screen, and Fig. 4. a section of the heating tube. The cylindrical reservoir a serving
as handle receives the spirit or other suitable liquid fuel, and is filled through the
short tube b, closed by the stopper c, which in order to introduce air into the
reservoir a without spilling the fluid when ironing, is provided with a little hole
covered with cloth d.
The regulating valve e placed under the reservoir a is connected with it by a short
tube el; at its front end it receives a small air-tube ftraversing the reservoir a and
forming the prolongation of the liquid-conducting tube g; its object is to provide an
additional supply of air for the burner h. The liquid is conducted from the valve e by
a tube y enclosed in the handle-stand s, to the burner 1, which latter, in order to
obtain high degrees of heat, is filled with fine wire-rods enveloped in fine wire-gauze
(Fig. 4.) The tube g¹ with the two small side tubes g₁ prevents excessive filling of
the burner with liquid.
The burner placed in the centre of the iron, is fastened at one end to the metallic
tubo 9: and supported at the other by a ring i or in any other convenient way. Its
lower part is perforated with little boles or provided with little blast-pipes (from
3 to 7 in number), from which the flames emerge in jets and flatten themselves on
the bottom of the iron, as shown in Fig. 1 and 2.
The iron m itself composed of rods or ribs, leaving blanks which are covered on
the sides and at the top of the iron with fine wire-gauze, to protect the cloth which
is to be ironed against the flames. The top of the iron is provided with a guard plate
or screen which is polished on both sides for the purpose of increasing the reflecting
power towards the bottom, and reducing the radiation of heat upwards towards the
handle. The rear end of the body m is open and provided with a hinge-door or
cover which has a great number of perforations to admit the air necessary for
combustion.
After having filled the reservoir a with spirit or other suitable fuel, the iron may be
used as follows: The valve e is opened, until some drops fall on the bottom of the
iron, which at that place is provided with a little groove; the valve is then shut and
the liquid which had dropped down, is ignited. The burner 4, which is saturated
with the burning fluid, is thus heated, in a short time the jet-flames are produced, and
the supply of liquid to the burner can now be regulated by more or less opening the
valve e.

page_text: As the contents of the reservoir a can be constantly observed through the
stopper c, the reservoir may be filled up again according to the length of time it has
to remain in use, before the flames extinguish from want of feed, and the filling can
be performed with perfect security and without extinguishing the flames by means of
the valve e; thus not only is the iron kept in constant use, but also each filling cools
the reservoir a and therefore the handle.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my inven-
tion and in what manner the same may be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In a permanently self-heating smoothing or sad-iron, the combination of valve e
with ventilation-tube f, as described.
2. In a permanently self-heating sad-iron, a burner h filled with fine wire-rods
enclosed in wire-gauze and provided with holes or blast-pipes as shown and
described.
3. A permanently self-heating sad-iron m, built up of bars or ribs, in combination
with wire-gauze all round and at the top, as shown and described.