Press for ironing

Abstract

 A press for ironing comprising a frame (1) provided with an upright (2), a lower pressing member (3a) and an upper pressing member (3b), which are substantially flat, said lower pressing member (3a) being fixed to the frame (1) in a substantially horizontal position and said upper pressing member (3b) being provided with a handle (4) and a transverse arm (5) that is constrained to the upright (2) of the frame (1) by means of a hinge (6) having a fixed pin (6a) substantially horizontal, which press for ironing further comprises means (7, 8) for blocking the position of the upper pressing member (3b) and means (11, 12) for manually releasing the block, said blocking means (7, 8) comprising a gear wheel (7) which is arranged coaxially to the pin (6a) of said hinge (6) and a detent (8), which is arranged in proximity to said gear wheel (7) and is normally urged towards the gear wheel (7), wherein said means (11, 12) for manually releasing the block are mechanically connected to said detent (8) in order to allow the release of the gear wheel (7) and the rotation of the upper pressing member (3b).

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a press for ironing and particularly to a manually driven press for ironing.

[0002] Ironing presses generally comprise a frame and a pair of substantially flat upper and lower pressing members, wherein the lower pressing member is fixed to the frame in a substantially horizontal position, whereas the upper pressing member is provided with a transverse arm, pivoted to the frame, which allows the opening and closing of the press during an ironing operation by acting upon a suitable handle. One or both the pressing members are generally heated electrically and/or by means of vapor.

[0003] Ironing presses of a lower size, e.g. intended for a home-use, usually have a manual drive of the upper pressing member, which is rotated by the user in open or closed position with one hand. In order to allow the insertion of a garment to be ironed in the press, the upper pressing member must be brought to an end stroke open position, e.g. substantially vertical.

[0004] Whenever it is necessary to modify the position of the garment to be ironed, the user must completely open the press, or may keep the upper pressing member in an intermediate position with one hand, while moving the garment with the other hand. In the first case the manoeuvre of the upper pressing member is rather difficult and time-consuming, in the second case the partial opening of the press may be dangerous as the hand of the user moving the garment is subject to the risk of crushing and/or bums, since there is no intermediate blocking position.

[0005] Moreover, in the known manually driven presses, the ironing pressure is manually exerted by the user by pressing the upper pressing member on the lower one and must be kept substantially constant over time, which is often hard and leads to not always excellent ironing results.

[0006] It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a press for ironing, which is free from said disadvantages. Said object is achieved with a press for ironing, whose main features are disclosed in the first claim, while other features are disclosed in the remaining claims.

[0007] The press for ironing according to the present invention comprises blocking means allowing to keep the upper pressing member still in any position comprised between the horizontal press-closed position and an end-stroke open position, and means for manually releasing the block, which allow to release the upper pressing member in order to carry out a new adjustment of the position.

[0008] The main advantage of the press for ironing of the invention is that during the ironing operations the upper pressing member may assume and maintain a plurality of intermediate positions without requiring any prolonged effort from the user, thus facilitating the numerous moving operations of a garment without the need for completely opening the press every time and eliminating the risk of crushing and/or burning the hands.

[0009] In addition, the blocking of the position of the upper pressing member even with the press completely closed allows to keep the ironing pressure constant without requiring a prolonged effort over time from the user.

[0010] Another advantage provided by the invention is that the drive releasing the block of the upper pressing member is integrated in the handle normally driven by the user, thus allowing to handle the press in the most ergonomic way.

[0011] Still another advantage of the press according to the present invention is that the blocking means are achieved in a simple and inexpensive way, thus minimally affecting the costs of the press and making it competitive also compared to machines of a larger size.

[0012] Further advantages and features of the press for ironing according to the present invention will become clear to those skilled in the art from the following detailed and non-limiting description of an embodiment thereof with reference to the attached drawings, wherein:

• figure 1 shows a schematic perspective view of the press for ironing;
• figure 2 shows a partially sectional lateral view of the press for ironing of figure 1; and
• figure 3 shows detail III of figure 2.

[0013] Referring to figure 1, it is seen that the press for ironing according to the present invention comprises in a known way a frame 1 provided with an upright 2, a lower pressing member 3a and an upper pressing member 3b, which are substantially flat. Lower pressing member 3a is fixed to frame 1 in a substantially horizontal position. Upper pressing member 3b is provided with a handle 4 and with a transverse arm 5 that is constrained to upright 2 of frame 1 by means of a hinge 6 having a substantially horizontal fixed pin 6a (schematized in the figure by means of a dashed line). Hinge 6 allows the rotation of upper pressing member 3b through transverse arm 5 in order to obtain an opening or closing movement of the press during an ironing operation.

[0014] As shown in figure 2 and in the detail of figure 3, the press according to the present invention is provided with means for blocking the position of upper pressing member 3b and with means for manually releasing the block. The blocking means comprise a gear wheel 7 coaxially fixed to pin 6a of hinge 6, and therefore does not rotate with respect to upright 2 of frame 1. A detent 8 having a profile complementary to the teeth of gear wheel 7 is arranged in proximity to gear wheel 7 in a suitable seat 9 formed in transverse arm 5. Detent 8 may be e.g. pivoted in seat 9 and it is normally urged towards gear wheel 7 by spring means 10 such as, for example, a helical spring, thus resulting in a block of the rotation of upper pressing member 3b. In an alternative embodiment, gear wheel 7 may be fixed to transverse arm 5 coaxially to hinge 6, in order to rotate together with upper pressing member 3b. In this case, the seat for detent 8 may be made in upright 2 of frame 1.

[0015] The means for manually releasing the block comprise a tie rod 11, e.g. a metal wire constrained to detent 8 at one end, and a button 12 arranged at the opposite end of tie rod 11. The driving of button 12 determines a movement of detent 8 towards spring means 10 through tie rod 11, thus moving detent 8 away from gear wheel 7, so as to allow the release of gear wheel 7 and the rotation of upper pressing member 3b.

[0016] Preferably, gear wheel 7 is arranged on a side 2a of upright 2, and transverse arm 5 is made up of two side members 5a, 5b, being symmetrical with respect to a transverse mid-plane of the press for ironing and connected to hinge 6 at the two sides 2a, 2b of upright 2, respectively.

[0017] Seat 9, which houses detent 8, is formed in side member 5a of transverse arm 5 adjacent to side 2a of upright 2. Side member 5a af transverse arm 5 further preferably comprises a cylindrical seat 13, which accommodates gear wheel 7 and communicates with seat 9 for detent 8 in order to allow the blocking and the release of the rotation of upper pressing member 3b. Consequently, also tie rod 11 and button 12 are arranged in side member 5a of transverse arm 5.

[0018] Preferably, handle 4 is connected to transverse arm 5 at the opposite end with respect to hinge 6. Thus, the opening/closing force of the press acts symmetrically with respect to hinge 6, thus facilitating the manoeuvre of upper pressing member 3b.

[0019] Moreover, still in order to facilitate the manoeuvre of upper pressing member 3b, button 12 of the means for manually releasing the block is preferably arranged in correspondence to handle 4, thus being drivable, in the most ergonomic way, with the thumb of the same hand maneuvering the press.

[0020] Possible modifications and/or additions may be made by those skilled in the art to the hereinabove disclosed and illustrated embodiment while remaining within the scope of the following claims.

Claims

1. A press for ironing comprising a frame (1) provided with an upright (2), a lower pressing member (3a) and an upper pressing member (3b), which are substantially flat, said lower pressing member (3a) being fixed to the frame (1) in a substantially horizontal position and said upper pressing member (3b) being provided with a handle (4) and a transverse arm (5) that is constrained to the upright (2) of the frame (1) by means of a hinge (6) having a substantially horizontal fixed pin (6a), characterized by further comprising means (7, 8) for blocking the position of the upper pressing member (3b) and means (11, 12) for manually releasing the block, said blocking means (7, 8) comprising a gear wheel (7) which is arranged coaxially to the pin (6a) of said hinge (6) and a detent (8), which is arranged in proximity to said gear wheel (7) and is normally urged towards the gear wheel (7), and said means (11, 12) for manually releasing the block being mechanically connected to said detent (8) in order to allow the release of the gear wheel (7) and the rotation of the upper pressing member (3b).

2. A press for ironing according to the previous claim, characterized in that said means (11, 12) for manually releasing the block comprise a tie rod (11) constrained to the detent (8) at one of its ends and a button (12) arranged at the opposite end of said tie rod (11), the driving of the button (12) determining, through the tie rod (11), a movement of the detent (8) away from the gear wheel (7).

3. A press for ironing according to one of the previous claims, characterized in that the gear wheel (7) is coaxially fixed to the hinge (6) and that the detent (8) is arranged in a seat (9) made in the transverse arm (5).

4. A press for ironing according to one of the previous claims, characterized in that the tie rod (11) is arranged in the transverse arm (5).

5. A press for ironing according to one of the previous claims, characterized in that said gear wheel (7) is arranged on one side (2a) of the upright (2) and in that the transverse arm (5) is made up of two side members (5a, 5b) symmetrical with respect to a transverse mid-plane of the press for ironing and connected to the hinge (6) at the two sides (2a, 2b) of the upright (2), respectively, the side member (5a) of the transverse arm (5) adjacent to the side (2a) of the upright (2) on which the gear wheel (7) is arranged comprising said seat (9) and housing said detent (8) and means (11, 12) for manually releasing the block.

6. A press for ironing according to the previous claim, characterized in that said side member (5a) adjacent to the side (2a) of the upright (2) on which the gear wheel (7) is arranged further comprises a cylindrical seat (13) suitable for housing the gear wheel (7), said cylindrical seat (13) communicating with the seat (9) for the detent (8).

7. A press for ironing according to one of the previous claims, characterized in that said detent (8) is pivoted in said seat (9) made in the transverse arm (5),

8. A press for ironing according to one of the previous claims, characterized in that said tie rod (11) is a metal wire.

9. A press for ironing according to one of the previous claims, characterized in that said handle (4) is connected to the transverse arm (5) at the opposite end with respect to the hinge (6).

10. A press for ironing according to the previous claim, characterized in that said button (12) is arranged in correspondence to the handle (4).

11. A press for ironing according to one of the previous claims, characterized in that said lower and/or upper pressing members (3a, 3b) are heated electrically and/or by means of vapor.

Drawing