Handheld Appliance For Pressing and Steaming Garments And Other Items

The present application claims priority from and the benefit of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/237,988, filed Aug. 25, 2023, which in turns claims priority from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/901,246, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,959,223, filed Sep. 1, 2022, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in full.

Examples of the present disclosure generally relate to clothing steam irons and, more particularly, to handheld steam irons with fluid pumps and removable fluid reservoirs.

Wrinkled clothing is a problem that any consumer has spent a great deal of time remediating. To alleviate the ever-persistent problem, consumers generally choose between two common wrinkle-removing implements: the iron or the steamer. The iron is a long-used but somewhat cumbersome artifact; for example, a user wishing to iron a garment must retrieve not only the large appliance, but must also retrieve an ironing board or, alternatively, find a flat heat-resistant surface when an ironing board is unavailable. Also, the user must find the appropriate space to store both the iron and corresponding ironing board.

The steamer is another oft-cumbersome appliance that requires a significant amount of storage space. Although the steamer has the advantage of not requiring a solid surface to remove wrinkles, it does generally require a water source, which is not always readily available. Steamers can often make the garment wet instead of merely removing wrinkles in the fabric. Therefore, neither of the most popular wrinkle-removing platforms are optimal when considering the additional resources required, the storage space required, and the inevitable drawbacks of the designs. These problems are only exacerbated for consumers wishing to travel with their wrinkle-removing implement.

One portable option currently available is a portable pressing appliance as discussed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 11,168,439 to Toll et al. (the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety), has a “clamshell” or “alligator clip”-style design, in which two elongate arms are pivotally attached at one end. Heating plates are attached at the free ends of the arms and face each other. A garment or other item to be pressed is positioned between the heating plates, which are then brought together (for example, by squeezing the arms with one hand) to press the item on both sides. Some embodiments may include the capability for forcing steam onto the item as it is pressed between the plates.

It may be desirable to provide a method of using a steam appliance that includes enhanced capabilities, ease of use, or the like.

As a first aspect, embodiments of the invention are directed to a method of steaming an item. The method comprises: (a) providing a handheld appliance comprising: an upper arm; a lower arm attached at one end to an end of the upper arm; a steam generation unit mounted on the upper arm; a water reservoir located in the upper arm and/or the lower arm; a water pump fluidly connected to the water reservoir and to the steam generation unit; a heating plate mounted near a free end of the upper arm, the heating plate including a plurality of first exhaust holes that are in fluid communication with the steam generation unit; and a bearing plate mounted on the lower arm at a free end thereof, the bearing plate including a plurality of second exhaust holes; (b) generating steam with the steam generation unit; (c) moving the upper arm toward the lower arm to bring the heating plate closely adjacent to the bearing plate; and (d) passing steam from the steam generation unit through the first holes and through at least one of the second plurality of holes and onto an item to be steamed.

The present invention is described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.

Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. In the figures, the thickness of certain lines, layers, components, elements or features may be exaggerated for clarity.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the specification and relevant art and should not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein. Well-known functions or constructions may not be described in detail for brevity and/or clarity.

As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. As used herein, phrases such as “between X and Y” and “between about X and Y” should be interpreted to include X and Y. As used herein, phrases such as “between about X and Y” mean “between about X and about Y.” As used herein, phrases such as “from about X to Y” mean “from about X to about Y.”

It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being “on”, “attached” to, “connected” to, “coupled” with, “contacting”, etc., another element, it can be directly on, attached to, connected to, coupled with or contacting the other element or intervening elements may also be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being, for example, “directly on”, “directly attached” to, “directly connected” to, “directly coupled” with or “directly contacting” another element, there are no intervening elements present. It will also be appreciated by those of skill in the art that references to a structure or feature that is disposed “adjacent” another feature may have portions that overlap or underlie the adjacent feature.

Spatially relative terms, such as “under”, “below”, “lower”, “over”, “upper”, “lateral”, “left”, “right” and the like, may be used herein for ease of description to describe one element or feature's relationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. It will be understood that the spatially relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in the figures is inverted, elements described as “under” or “beneath” other elements or features would then be oriented “over” the other elements or features. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the descriptors of relative spatial relationships used herein interpreted accordingly.

It will also be understood that, as used herein, the terms “example,” “exemplary,” and derivatives thereof are intended to refer to non-limiting examples and/or variants embodiments discussed herein, and are not intended to indicate preference for one or more embodiments discussed herein compared to one or more other embodiments.

Referring now to the drawings, a handheld pressing and steaming appliance, designated broadly at, is shown in. The applianceincludes an upper armand a lower armthat is pivotally attached to the upper arm at a pivot defined by a pin. The upper and lower arms,are free to pivot relative to each other about an axis A defined by the pinbetween an open position (shown in) and a closed position (shown in). In the open position of, the applianceis free to receive a garment or other item to be pressed between heating plates in the arms,(described below). In the closed position of, the appliancecan be used to press wrinkles from a garment or other item residing between the heating plates, or may be employed as a handheld steamer. The components and operation of the appliance are described in greater detail below.

Referring now to, the upper armincludes an upper housinghaving a side walls, end walls, and a ceiling. The upper armalso has front and rear floors,. Together, the upper housingand the front and rear floors,form an overall housingof the upper arm.

Referring to, the rear floorextends forwardly to a dividerthat extends downwardly from an intermediate location on the upper housing. The divider, the rear portion of the upper housing, and the rear floordefine a water reservoir. An inlet openingis located in the upper housingjust rearward of the divider. A short hoseextends from the reservoirthrough a holein the dividerto provide water for steam generation.

Referring still to, a helical springis coiled around the pin. One end of the springengages the underside of the upper housingwithin the reservoir. The opposite end of the springengages the lower arm. The springis configured to bias the upper and lower arms,toward the open position ofand to resist movement toward the closed position of. Those skilled in this art will appreciate that other biasing components, such as a spring of a different configuration, repelling magnets, or the like, may be employed to bias the appliancetoward the open position.

As can be seen in, the front floorincludes a vertical divider. A water pumpis located rearwardly of the dividerand is fluidly connected with the reservoirvia the hose. The water pumpcan be of standard construction and need not be described in detail herein. A bossis positioned just rearwardly of the dividerand receives a postthat depends from the upper housing.

A steam generation unitis positioned forwardly of the divider. The steam generation unitincludes a heating element(which is typically controlled by a thermostat or other temperature control device) and is fluidly attached to the pumpvia a hose. At its lower end, the steam generation unithas an exhaust manifoldthat feeds onto a heating platemounted within the front floor. The lower surface of the heating plateis exposed to the atmosphere. Exhaust holesare present in the heating plateand are separated from each other by bafflesin the exhaust manifold. Thus, steam produced by the steam generation unitcan be expelled through the exhaust manifoldand the exhaust holesin the heating plate(see).

The lower armincludes a lower housingand a coverthat overlies the lower housing. A bearing plateis mounted into the forward portion of the coverabove a windowin the lower housing. The bearing plateincludes exhaust holesthat, in the illustrated embodiment, are slightly larger than the exhaust holesof the heating plate. The exhaust holesare positioned so that, when the applianceis in its closed position, the exhaust holessubstantially align with the exhaust holes(see); i.e., the exhaust holesat least partially overlap the exhaust holesalong an axis normal to the bearing plate. In some embodiment, the number of exhaust holesmatches the number of exhaust holes.

A vertical wallextends upwardly from a rear region of the cover. The vertical wallis located to extend into a notch in the rear floorof the upper armwhen the applianceis in the closed position. A switchis mounted to a printed circuit board (PCB)that is mounted below the coverrearwardly of the vertical wall; the switchextends upwardly through a windowin the cover. The switchis operationally connected with the water pumpand the steam generation unit. The switchand/or the PCB may be configured so that, when the switchis activated, the water pumpand steam generation unitare immediately activated, or one or the other of the water pumpand steam generation unitmay be time-delayed slightly before activating.

A power cordis mounted in the rear end wallof the upper housing. The power cordis operationally connected with the switch, the water pump, and the steam generating unit.

As discussed above, the appliancehas the capability of being operated as a handheld garment pressing device. Prior to use a user fills the water reservoirwith water. The user then activates the appliance(either by simply plugging the power cordinto an electrical socket, or by actuating an “on-off” mechanism, such as a button, toggle switch, or the like) to initiate operation. In some embodiments this action may activate the heating elementto begin to heat up, while in other embodiments heating of the heating elementis activated by the switchas described below. As the heating elementheats up, it causes the temperature of the heating plateto rise.

With the applianceturned on and the water reservoirfilled, the user then places the item to be pressed between the upper and lower heating plates,, then squeezes the upper and lower arms,together to press the upper and lower heating plates,against the item. When the upper and lower arms,are drawn together, the lower surface of the rear floor contacts the switchand forces it downwardly. If the heating element is not already heating due to initial activation, this action activates the heating elementof the steam generation unit. In either event, the heat from the heating plateand the pressure exerted on the item from the heating plateand the bearing platecan remove wrinkles from the item. In many instances, the user may wish to slide the item between the heating and bearing plates,as they are pressed against the item, which can mimic the pressing action of a conventional iron.

In addition, compression of the upper and lower arms,to activate the switchalso induces the steam generation unitto provide steam to the item. Upon activation of the switch, the water pumpis activated, such that the water from the reservoiris pumped via the water pumpthrough the hose, the pump, and the hoseinto the steam generation unit. Inside the steam generation unit, the water is converted to steam by the heating element. Steam is then expelled from the steam generation unitthrough the exhaust holesand onto the item as the item is held between the heating and bearing plates,.

If, alternatively, the user wishes to operate the applianceas a handheld steamer, the user can compress the upper and lower arms,together in the manner described above, which activates the steam generation unit. Because of the presence of the exhaust holesin the bearing plate, when steam is generated with the appliancein the closed position described above without an item between the heating and bearing plates,, steam passes through both the exhaust holesin the heating plateand the exhaust holesin the bearing plate. Thus, by holding the appliancewith the bearing platefacing an item to be steamed, a user can use the applianceto steam wrinkles from the item.

It can therefore be seen that the appliancecan provide both handheld ironing and handheld steaming capability in a single device. The dual-function nature of the device can provide convenience to the user. As one example, some garments (e.g., a man's dress shirt or woman's dress) are large enough that regions in the center of the garment cannot be reached by the upper and lower arms,. For such garments, wrinkles may be removed from the center of the garment by steaming. Thus, the user can remove wrinkles from the entire garment with a single device.

Those of skill in this art will appreciate that the appliancemay take other forms. For example, in some embodiments the bearing platein the lower armmay be heated, in order to provide two heated surfaces for pressing.

In some embodiments, the appliancemay include a separate switch, button or other activation device to activate the water pump, such that the heating elementmay provide heat to the heating platewithout steam when desired by the user. As another option, the steam generation unitmay not be operatively connected with the switch, such that simply activating the appliance(by plugging it into an electrical outlet or turning on an on-off switch) activates the heating elementto begin producing heat. As a further option, the appliancemay be powered via replaceable or rechargeable batteries rather than via the power cord.

Also, there may be more or fewer exhaust holesthan exhaust holes, and/or some of the exhaust holesmay not be substantially aligned with a respective exhaust hole. For example, the exhaust holesmay be arranged in a pattern that is beneficial for steam ironing, whereas a different pattern for the exhaust holesmay be beneficial for steaming. In such instances, the beating platemay include channels or slots that enable steam exiting the exhaust holesto reach any exhaust holesthat are not substantially aligned with a respective exhaust hole. The exhaust holes,are shown as being round, but may be of any shape, including oval, elliptical, square, slotted, or the like.

As another variation, in some embodiments the upper armmay not be pivotally attached to the lower arm, but may be attached in some other manner that enables the heating plateto be moved from a position in which the heating plateis separated from the bearing plate(i.e., an open position) to a position in which the heating plateis closely adjacent to and confronts the bearing plate(i.e., a closed position). For example, the upper armmay be attached to the lower armvia a telescoping mechanism, an “accordion” mechanism, or the like that allows the upper armto come together with and separate from the lower arm.

In still another variation, the water reservoirmay be located in the lower armrather than the upper arm, or may be located in both the upper armand the lower arm.

In a further variation, the appliancemay include a locking device (such as a pivoting clip, a flexible latch, or the like) that maintains the appliance in the closed position. One such locking mechanismis shown in. The locking mechanismincludes a sliding switchthat is slidably mounted in an aperturein the lower arm. The switchis attached via a vertical panelto a fingerthat can extend through or retract from a slotin the rear end of the lower arm. When the switchis in the forward end of the aperture(as in), the fingeris retracted within the slot, thereby allowing the upper armto pivot relative to the lower arm. When the switchis moved to the rearward end of the aperture(as in), the fingerextends through the slotand is positioned below the lower edge of the upper arm; in this position, engagement of the fingerwith the upper armprevents pivotal movement of the upper armrelative to the lower arm.

When the locking mechanism is in the locked condition of, the appliancemay be operated as a steamer without the user having to continue to hold the appliancein the closed position during steaming. This freedom may permit easier or more comfortable steaming.

Another exemplary embodiment of a handheld pressing and steaming appliance is shown inand designated broadly therein at. Similar to the appliance, the applianceincludes an upper armand a lower armthat is pivotally attached to the upper arm. The upper and lower arms,are free to pivot relative to each other about a pivotbetween an open position (shown in) and a closed position (shown in). In the open position of, the applianceis free to receive a garment or other item to be pressed between heating and bearing plates,in the arms,. In the closed position of, the appliancecan be used to press wrinkles from a garment or other item residing between the heating and bearing plates,, or may be employed as a handheld steamer. Some of the differences between the applianceand the applianceare described in greater detail below.

Referring to, it can be seen that the upper and lower arms,are configured so that a vacant spaceis present between the upper and lower arms,when the applianceis in the closed position. The presence of this vacant spacecan enable a user to grasp the appliancewith his fingers and thumb extending into the vacant spacefrom opposite sides and his palm on the upper surface of the upper arm. This grasping position may facilitate positioning and repositioning of the applianceduring use.

Referring now to, the applianceincludes a water reservoirthat is a separate, removable component (see, which illustrates the water reservoirremoved from the appliance). The water reservoirincludes an elongated tankthat fits within the lower arm. A coverfits over and seals the open (rear) end of the tank. As shown in, the water reservoiris held in place by two snap-fit latchesmounted on the sides of the lower armthat engage the cover.

The water reservoiris fluidly connected to an inlet of a pumpthat is mounted in the upper armvia a line(shown schematically in). An outlet of the pumpis then fluidly connected via a line(shown schematically in) with a steam generation unitsimilar to the steam generation unitdescribed above. The steam generation unitprovides steam for both ironing and steaming as described above.

Referring now to, the applianceis configured to be capable of being locked in the closed position offor steaming, or operated in an unlocked condition in which the user can freely and easily move the appliancebetween the open position ofand the closed position ofduring operation. A closing mechanismis included in the applianceto induce pivoting of the upper armrelative to the lower armabout a pivotto move the applianceto the closed position. Also, a selection leverserves as a locking mechanism to maintain the appliancein the locked position. The closing mechanismand the selection leverare discussed below.

As shown in, the closing mechanismincludes an elongate locking memberthat extends rearwardly from a central area within the upper arm. A push buttonis attached adjacent the front end of the locking memberand extends through the housingof the upper arm. Near its rear end, the locking memberis attached to a foundation memberat a pivot. The foundation memberis fixed relative to the housingof the upper arm. At its rear end, the locking memberincludes a downwardly-extending finger. A bearing panelextends upwardly from the upper surface of the rear end of the lower armjust rearwardly of the finger. The pivotbetween the upper and lower arms,is located forwardly and downwardly from the bearing panel.

The selection leveris mounted on the rear end portion of the upper arm(see). The selection leverincludes a handlethat is positioned laterally of the upper arm. An axleextends transversely from the handlethrough the upper arm. As can be seen in, the axleis mostly circular in profile, but includes a nubthat extends radially outwardly from the surface of the axle.

As noted above, the closing mechanismcan be employed to temporarily move the upper and lower arms,to the closed position for ironing or steaming; when moved to the closed position, with the closing mechanism, the appliancecan easily be returned to the open position by simply releasing the closing mechanism. Alternatively, the selection leveris employed to lock the upper and lower arms,of the appliancein the closed position. In the open position ofand, the forward end of the upper armis separated from the forward end of the lower arm, with the result that the heating plateand the bearing plateare separated. The selection leveris rotated so that the handle extends forwardly from the axle, with the result that the nubfaces downwardly. The locking memberis pivoted such that the fingereither does not engage the bearing panelor applies virtually no rearward force against the bearing panel. In this arrangement, the upper armis free to pivot relative to the lower arm, such that the user can open and close the heating plateand the bearing plate(for example, to insert a garment to be ironed between the plates,).

If the user wishes to lock the applianceinto the closed position (for example, to use the applianceas a steamer), the user moves the handleof the selection leverso that it points downwardly (). This movement rotates the axleof the selection leverso that the nubengages the forward surface of the fingerof the locking member. Engagement of the fingerby the nubforces the fingerrearwardly, which in turn forces the locking memberto pivot (counterclockwise from the vantage point of) about the pivot. The rearward movement of the fingerforces the bearing panelrearwardly. The rearward movement of the bearing panelrotates the lower armrelative to the upper armabout the pivotto force the heating plateagainst the bearing plate. The contact position and angle of the nubon the bearing panelmaintain (i.e., lock) the appliancein the closed position. The user can then operate the applianceas a steamer without having to further manipulate the applianceto maintain the appliancein the closed position.

The appliancecan be released from the locked position by simply rotating the handleof the selection lever to its original position (see). A spring (not shown) that acts on the pivotbiases the upper and lower arms,toward the open position. As such, once the selection levermoves to the unlocked position, the appliancereturns to the open position.

As noted above, the closing mechanismcan be used to move the appliancefrom the open position to the closed position without locking the appliancein the closed position. This capability may be desirable if the user wishes to both iron and steam a garment intermittently.

The user can employ the closing mechanismby pushing the push buttondownwardly. This movement rotates the locking memberrelative to the foundation memberabout the pivot(counterclockwise from the vantage point of). This action forces the fingerof the locking memberinto the bearing paneland drives it rearwardly. The rearward movement of the bearing panel rotates the lower armrelative to the upper armabout the pivot, thereby drawing the heating plateand the bearing platetogether. In this position the appliance can be used for brief steaming, or can be used to iron a garment that is positioned between the heating and bearing plates,.

Release of the push buttoncan allow the closing mechanismto reverse and allow the applianceto take the open position. A spring (not shown) associated with the pivotcan urge the locking member, and therefore the push button, to their original positions. The aforementioned spring associated with the pivoturges the upper and lower arms,to separate.

As with the appliancediscussed above, the appliancemay be configured so that the pumpautomatically activates (via a switch or the like) when the appliance is moved to the closed position (whether via the selector leveror the closing mechanism), which can allow the user to always have steam available for either steaming or ironing. Activation of the pumpcauses water to be conveyed from the reservoirthrough the pumpand to the steam generation unit. Inside the steam generation unit, the water is converted to steam, which is then expelled from the steam generation unitthrough the exhaust holes of the heating plate(and during steaming through the holes in the and bearing plate) in the manner described above in connection with the appliance.

In some embodiments, the appliancemay be configured so that, once the pumpis activated and steam is produced, the pumpremains activated for at least a minimum duration (e.g., 30 seconds) even if the applianceis moved back to the open position. This can enable a user to briefly release the push button, then re-engage it, without the generation of steam being interrupted.