U.S. patent number 3,680,235 [Application Number 05/094,279] was granted by the patent office on 1972-08-01 for legless ironing board.
Invention is credited to Rudolph E. Leemhuis.
United States Patent |
3,680,235 |
Leemhuis |
August 1, 1972 |
LEGLESS IRONING BOARD
Abstract
A compact, legless ironing board suitable for use by travelers
and provided with adjustable means at its heel end detachably
engageable over the shanks of door knobs to hold the heel end of
the board clamped crosswise of the edge of an open door for
emergency ironing and pressing tasks. A chucking device is
insertable beneath the door corner and is effective to wedge the
door against hinging movement in either direction until
released.
Inventors: |
Leemhuis; Rudolph E. (West
Covina, CA) |
Family
ID: |
22244208 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/094,279 |
Filed: |
December 2, 1970 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
38/104;
108/152 |
Current CPC
Class: |
D06F
81/06 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
D06F
81/00 (20060101); D06F 81/06 (20060101); D06f
081/06 () |
Field of
Search: |
;108/135,160,152,161,149
;38/103,104,105,112,141 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Franklin; Jordan
Assistant Examiner: Larkin; G. V.
Claims
I claim:
1. A legless ironing board suitable for transport in hand luggage
comprising: an elongated flat rigid main body having a rounded
pointed toe end and a broad heel end, said heel end being notched
centrally thereof to seat over and embrace the free edge of an open
room door, hook means projecting outwardly from the heel end of
said main body with portions spaced closely adjacent the opposite
sides of said notch and positioned to engage over the shank
portions of a door knob and cooperable therewith to hold the edge
of the door firmly seated in said notch, and bracket means secured
to the underside of said main body in alignment with said notch and
arranged to rest against the edge of the door in the plane of the
door to supplement said hook means in supporting said ironing board
firmly and rigidly in a horizontal position.
2. A legless ironing board as defined in claim 1 characterized in
the provision of hinge means connecting said bracket means to said
main body centrally and lengthwise of the underside thereof.
3. A legless ironing board as defined in claim 2 characterized in
the provision of a U-shaped clip secured to the lower corner
portion of said bracket means and sized and positioned to embrace
the edge of a door at a level below said notch and cooperating with
the latter in stabilizing the support of said board while mounted
on a door.
4. A legless ironing board as defined in claim 3 characterized in
that said U-shaped clip is swivelly connected to the outer vertical
edge of said bracket means and pivotable between an operating
position crosswise of said bracket means in the extended position
of the latter and to a retracted position generally in the plane of
said bracket means at other times.
5. A legless ironing board as defined in claim 4 characterized in
that said notch and said U-shaped clip have resilient
surface-protective means fixed thereto in position to contact the
door and safeguard the same against scratches and surface
damage.
6. A legless ironing board as defined in claim 1 characterized in
that said hook means are generally J-shaped and threaded along the
stem portions thereof, and threaded means carried crosswise of
bores opening through the heel end of said board mateable with said
threaded stems whereby said hook means may be adjusted as necessary
to fit over the shanks of door handles of different sizes and
locations relative to the door edge.
7. A legless ironing board as defined in claim 1 characterized in
the provision of wedge shaped chucking means adapted to be inserted
beneath the lower outer corner of an open door in a direction
generally parallel to the plane of the door and cooperating with
the door and the floor to wedge the door firmly in a desired open
position.
8. A legless ironing board as defined in claim 7 characterized in
that said chucking means comprises a pair of wedge shaped members
held assembled in spaced apart parallel relation by resilient plate
means sloping downwardly toward the narrower ends of said wedge
members, whereby the insertion of said plate means beneath the
lower corner of a door causes the plate to bow downwardly crosswise
of the door.
9. A legless ironing board as defined in claim 8 characterized in
that said wedge shaped members are wedge shaped both crosswise and
lengthwise thereof with their thicker portions along the remote
lateral sides thereof and crosswise of the higher transverse edge
of said sloping plate.
Description
This invention relates to ironing boards and more particularly to a
compact, legless board for use by travelers and occupants of
trailers and detachably mountable outstretched from the edge of an
open door while anchored to the shanks of the door knob.
Travelers and occupants of trailers and Pullman type compact living
quarters have need for a small legless ironing board readily
stowable in a minimum of space and adapted to be carried in hand
luggage. Various proposals for legless ironing boards have been
made heretofore but these designs leave much to be desired and are
unsatisfactory for a number of reasons. Some of these proposals
make use of the knob on any convenient room door. However, all
prior designs of this type are arranged to have the heel end of the
board flush against one face of the door and held in position
thereagainst by various clamping devices engageable with the door
knob. Such designs not only are likely to damage the finish of the
door surface, but impose excessive stresses on the door knob not
infrequently causing damage or failure of the knob. In particular,
such anchoring devices place the door knob and its supporting shank
in tension and result in shearing the set screws used to hold the
knob assembled to the latch operating shank. Furthermore, the
surface contours of door faces vary widely, some being flat and
lying in a common surface and others being designed with panel
inserts of widely varying configurations. Furthermore, the door
casing finishing structure normally projects beyond the surface of
the door and interferes with if it does not prevent proper assembly
of the board to the door knob.
The foregoing and other serious shortcomings of prior legless
ironing board designs are avoided by the present invention. To this
end, the simple legless board herein disclosed is designed for
rigid securement with its notched heel end embracing the edge of an
open door and projecting forwardly in the general plane of the
door. The heel end of the board is equipped with adjustable hook
means lying closely against either side of the notch and these
readily engage over the shank of the door knob at its base ends so
as to place this heavy shank structure in shear and avoid placing
the set screws or other assembly fasteners for the door knob under
stress of any kind. A folding bracket hinged longitudinally of the
lower side of the heel end bears against the edge of the door when
extended and supplements the hook means and notch in supporting the
board firmly in a horizontal operating position. A simple positive
action chucking device is insertable beneath the lower corner of
the door and cooperates with the floor surface in anchoring the
door in any desired open position so long as the board is mounted
thereon.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to
provide a simple lightweight legless ironing board having numerous
novel features.
Another object of the invention is the provision of a compact,
legless ironing board readily attached to and detached from a room
door knob while the door is in open position.
Another object of the invention is the provision of a legless
ironing board adapted to be assembled astride the edge of an open
door and to be held in position thereon by hook means engaging over
the shanks of the door knobs.
Another object of the invention is the provision of a legless
ironing board supportable from the door knob of an open door and
held rigidly in position projecting outwardly from the edge of the
door while the latter is wedged in a selected open position by
chucking means inserted therebeneath.
These and other more specific objects will appear upon reading the
following specification and claims and upon considering in
connection therewith the attached drawing to which they relate.
Referring now to the drawing in which a preferred embodiment of the
invention is illustrated:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a preferred embodiment of the
ironing board assembled to the edge of an open door;
FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view on an enlarged scale from
the heel end of the board before assembly to the door;
FIG. 3 is a fragmentary cross sectional view on an enlarged scale
taken along line 3--3 on FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a fragmentary end view on an enlarged scale taken
crosswise of the heel end of the board and showing by dot and dash
line the position of the bracket when folded for storage;
FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view taken along
line 5--5 on FIG. 2; and
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the chucking device per se.
Referring initially, more particularly to FIG. 1, there is shown an
illustrative embodiment of the invention legless ironing board,
designated generally 10, comprising an elongated flat and rigid
main body 11 having a rounded toe end 12 and a broad heel end 13.
The latter is notched at 14 so as to snugly embrace the edge of a
conventional room door 15. Notch 14 as well as the heel end proper
is preferably covered with a thick resilient guard strip 16
effective to accomodate a reasonable variation in the thickness of
doors while resisting play between the door and the board when in
use.
Adjustably supported in the heel of the board closely adjacent the
opposite edges of notch 14 are a pair of J-shaped hooks 18,18
having threaded stems 19. These stems have a loose fit within wells
20 projecting through the heel end of the board into mating
engagement with threaded anchor means 21 fixed within recesses 22
of the main body of the board. The hooked ends of members 18 are
preferably coated with plastic or elastomer to avoid scarring any
object with which they come in contact and more particularly the
door surface or hardware. The conventional door knobs 25 are held
assembled to the door in the usual manner and have a snug
telescopic fit over the opposite ends of the non-circular latch
operating bar 26.
It is important that the hooks 18 hold the board firmly seated
against the bottom of notch 14. To this end, hooks 18 are readily
rotated in either direction as necessary for their outer ends to
project the requisite distance to have a firm press fit over the
shanks of the door knobs in the manner made clear by FIGS. 3 and 5.
A proper adjustment is readily determined by trial and error and,
once made for a particular door, need not be changed.
Supplementing hooks 18 in anchoring the board to the door edge is a
bracket here shown as generally triangular in form with its longer
horizontal edge hinged to the central underside of the board by a
piano type hinge 31 (FIG. 4). The upright vertical edge 32 of the
bracket is positioned close to the door edge and in the plane of
the bottom of notch 14. The lower corner of bracket 30 is provided
with a pivoting U-shaped clip 35 rotatably mounted on a screw 36.
Clip 35 conforms in shape and size with notch 14 which it underlies
in order to embrace the edge of the door and hold the bracket
firmly in its extended position. Accordingly, it will be apparent
that bracket 30 and clip 35 cooperate with hooks 18 in stabilizing
and holding the board supported in a proper horizontal operating
position. When not in use, clip 35 is rotatable so as to lie
generally in the plane of bracket 30 for compact storage as is
clearly evident in the dotted line showing of the bracket in FIG.
4.
A useful auxiliary accessory comprises a chucking block 40 which is
insertable beneath the lower outer corner of the door to clamp the
door rigidly in a desired open position while the ironing board is
mounted thereon. In a preferred form, chucking device 40 comprises
a pair of double wedge-shaped blocks 41,41 interconnected by a
flexible resilient plate 42. Thus it will be observed that the
upper faces of the wedges 41 slope in two directions, namely toward
their forward ends as well as transversely and toward one another
beneath the connecting plate 42. Prior to insertion the upper faces
of the wedges lie in a common plane with the underside of the
flexible plate 42. However, when forcibly inserted beneath the
outer corner of the door, plate 42 is forcibly bowed downwardly
thereby forcing wedge members 41 into firm gripping relation with
the floor so that they are equally effective in preventing swinging
movement of the door in either direction.
The mode of use and assembly of the board to the door will be
readily apparent from the foregoing detailed description. It is
merely necessary to adjust the projection of hooks 18 from the heel
of the board if this be necessary. Any necessary adjustment having
been made, the operator unfolds bracket 30 and pivots clip 35 to
its proper position as shown in FIG. 2. The board is then placed
astride the edge of the open door while held horizontally and in a
plane above the door knob. With the clip 35 and notch 14 embracing
the door the operator lowers the board until the slightly resilient
hooks 18 are pressed over and firmly engaged with the shanks of the
door knobs. This operation is usually performed after the chucking
device 40 has been inserted under the corner of the door so there
is no risk of the door swinging while the board is being installed.
The operator then proceeds to use the board in the normal
manner.
After the ironing operation is finished, the board is removed by
lifting it bodily upwardly until hooks 18 are disengaged from the
door knob whereupon it is pulled away from the door and the bracket
is folded against the underside of the board for storage until
again needed.
While the particular legless ironing board herein shown and
disclosed in detail is fully capable of attaining the objects and
providing the advantages hereinbefore stated, it is to be
understood that it is merely illustrative of the presently
preferred embodiments of the invention and that no limitations are
intended to the detail of construction or design herein shown other
than as defined in the appended claims.
* * * * *