Ironing board cover

Abstract

An ironing board cover comprising a layer of fabric and a layer of heat resistant padding adhesively bonded thereto. The fabric extends beyond the borders of the padding to define a skirt which can be turned underneath the ironing board to secure the cover thereto. The padding is bonded to the fabric by use of heat and minimal pressure.

Parent Case Text

This application is a C.I.P. of my copending application Ser. No. 322,657 entitled Ironing Board Cover and filed Jan. 4, 1973, now abandoned.

Description

This invention relates to ironing board covers and more particularly to an ironing board cover of the type which has padding integrally formed therewith and a method of making the same.

It is known to make ironing board covers from various combinations of fabric material and padding. Typical of ironing board covers of the type comprising two materials is that shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,691,661 or No. 3,414,995. Typically, the padding has been coextensive with the fabric layers to which they are bonded. Thus, when the cover is secured to the ironing board, the padding is tucked underneath the board.

A number of disadvantages result from having the padding coextensive with the fabric layer. Thus, because the padding is coextensive with the fabric layer, it is difficult to tighten the ironing board cover because of the resistance offered by the attached underpadding as it is drawn together and turned on itself. Further, the additional cost of providing that portion of the padding which is turned underneath the ironing board is incurred, although that portion of the padding is totally unnecessary for any ironing function whatsoever.

Accordingly, in recognition of the foregoing problems, the invention relates generally to an ironing board cover which comprises a layer of fabric and padding in the form of a layer of heat resistant foam material bonded thereto. The padding may be a layer of polyurethane or other suitable heat resistant foam material. The padding is bonded to the layer of fabric by a thermo-plastic adhesive. The bonding is accomplished by the application of high heat and minimal pressure. However, the finished ironing board cover is capable of withstanding the temperatures and pressures applied during ironing.

The padding is substantially the same size as the ironing board to be covered. The layer of fabric is larger than the padding so that a marginal integral skirt is defined between the edge of the padding and the edge of the layer of fabric. The skirt is an integral part of the ironing board cover and is formed without the necessity of a separate sewing operation.

The thermoplastic adhesive is applied to one face of the padding. Alternatively, the adhesive could be applied to the fabric over an area corresponding to the area defined by the padding. The padding is placed upon a tray or other suitable surface with the adhesively coated face exposed. The fabric is placed over the padding and is positioned so that there is a uniform width marginal skirt defined between the outer peripheral edge of the padding and the outer peripheral edge of the fabric. The outer face of the fabric which will provide the outer surface of the ironing board cover will be contacted by the heated platen.

The tray or surface is reciprocated into a press. The top platen of the press is heated to a temperature of approximately between 300.degree. to 450.degree.F. Minimal pressure is applied when the platen is brought into contact with the outer face of the fabric. It is important that pressure be minimal in order to avoid substantial compression of the foam padding. Only the top 1/16 inch to 1/8 inch of the padding should be compressed so that the desired thickness of the padding will be maintained. I have found that too much pressure will result in crushing of the foam padding during the bonding and curing steps with the adhesive being forced through the foam padding and preventing the foam from recovering its original shape thereby resulting in an unacceptable ironing board cover.

The top platen is held in place from approximately 3-8 seconds while the adhesive is cured. The optimum operating temperature of the platen is 425.degree.F although other temperatures can be used as noted above. No heat is applied through the bottom of the padding since such heat would adversely affect the foam padding during bonding.

The preferred adhesive will soften at approximately 200.degree.F to 250.degree.F although I have found that softening of the adhesive does not cause delamination, rather, the quality of the bond is increased. Most ironing is done with an iron heated to approximately 150.degree.F to 300.degree.F although higher iron temperatures are employed for special fabrics.

Accordingly, upon ironing, the adhesive may soften thereby permitting any initial wrinkles to be ironed out of the cover and a wrinkle free cover to be maintained. I have observed that there is no deleterious effect upon the ironing board cover as the result of the use of a hot iron and the application of localized pressure during ironing. I surmise that this is due to the fact that the iron is not kept in one location for an inordinate length of time and that the adhesive does not become highly fluid as a result of the localized heat applied by the iron.

For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there is shown in the drawings a form which is presently preferred; it being understood, however, that this invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown and wherein:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the ironing board cover and an ironing board.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the underside of an ironing board with the cover secured thereto.

FIG. 3 is a broken away portion of the underside of an ironing board cover.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 2.

Now referring to the drawing for a detailed description of the invention, an ironing board cover 10 is shown generally in FIG. 1. Cover 10 comprises a layer of fabric 12 which has the general outline of a typical ironing board 11, but its edges extend past the edges 15 of the ironing board 11. Preferably, the layer of fabric 12 is made from a suitable material which will resist the heat and pressure normally applied during ironing. Such fabrics are well known in the art and are readily available commercially. Thus, they will not be described in detail.

The edges 14 of the layer of fabric 12 may have binding or welting 16 through which a drawstring 18 is run. As best seen in FIG. 3, the binding or welting 16 comprises a strip of material 20 which is doubled over on itself and stitched over the edge of the layer of fabric 12 to provide a conduit for housing the drawstring 18.

Padding 24, having generally the same shape as the layer of fabric 12, is provided. Padding 24 is preferably a layer of foam polymeric material such as foam polyurethane and is approximately 1/4 inch thick. The layer of padding 24 is substantially thicker than the layer of fabric 12. However, the edges of the padding 24 are coextensive with and uniformly spaced from the edges 15 of the ironing board 11 to form the cover on which the ironing is effected.

The padding 24 is secured to the layer of fabric by an adhesive as described hereinafter. The preferred adhesive is a thermoplastic polymer material with heat reactive cross linking groups such as NACRYLIC X-4260 (trademark) which is a self-reactive acrylic copolymer latex. Such adhesive has a clarity of water white, a solids content of 51 percent, pH of 3.5, average particle size of 0.18 microns, anionic particle charge, excellent stability density of 8.8 lbs/gal., and excellent water and solvent resistance.

Due to the adhesive bonding between padding 24 and layer of fabric 12, the laminate is wrinkleproof. The laminate has increased tensile strength, and abrasion resistance, and is permanently locked on the fabric 12. During ironing any handling or packaging wrinkles are ironed perfectly smooth by the automatic softening and rehardening of the adhesive used.

When installed on an ironing board, the padding 24 as shown in FIG. 4 is coextensive with the edges 15 of the ironing board 11. The marginal skirt 30 can be turned down and under the board 11. As seen in FIG. 4 when the drawstring 18 is tightened, the welting 16 is snuggly held on the under surface of the ironing board 11.

Significantly, the absence of the padding 24 from the marginal skirt 30 enables the cover 10 to be securely tightened on the ironing board 11. Further, there is no bunching or gathering of the padding 24 at the corners 32 and 34, nor at the tip 36, or at any point of the perimeter of the ironing board 11. It is apparent that if the padding 24 were coextensive with the layer of fabric 12, such bunching would result and the attendant disadvantages described above would be present. It should be noted that the present construction avoids all of those disadvantages without regard for the thickness of the padding 24.

Referring to FIG. 4, the padding 24 may be characterized as having first and second major surfaces 40 and 42. If desired, at least one of these surfaces may be nonplanar. One of the surfaces of the padding 24 may be convex or concave as desired. Such a variation from a planar surface may be advantageous in certain ironing problems.

Still further, a number of other advantages result from the arrangement described herein. A layer of heat reflective material 26, comprising pure aluminum flakes, inert mineral insulating material, teflon or silicone, and other materials dispersed in acrylic resin binders, may be bonded between the fabric layer 12 and the padding 24. Such an arrangement would have the advantage of further increasing the effectiveness of the iron since heat loss through the layer of fabric 12 and the padding 24 would be reduced. In the alternative, the layer of fabric 12 may be formed from heat reflective material.

Additionally, an iron support may be formed integrally with the cover. As seen in FIG. 1, an aperture 44 is formed in the layer of fabric 12. A heat resistant element 46 such as a piece of metal or the like may be disposed within the aperture 44 and bonded to the padding 24. The necessity for a separate iron support would be obviated.

Still further, the layer of fabric 12 may be provided with a plurality of apertures 48 spaced relatively close to each other. The apertures 48 have the effect of roughening the surface on which items to be ironed are placed thereby increasing the frictional force thereon. This results in a lessening of the tendency of the iron to push the items off of the ironing board 11.

The preferred method of making the ironing board cover involves the use of a thermoplastic adhesive applied to one face of padding 24 by conventional applicator rollers or the like. The padding 24 may be placed upon any suitable surface adapted to be reciprocated into a press.

The fabric 12 is placed over the padding 24 and is positioned so that the uniform width marginal skirt 30 is defined between the outer peripheral edge of the padding 24 and the outer peripheral edge of the fabric 12.

The tray or surface is reciprocated into a conventional press. The top platen of the press (not shown) is heated to a temperature of approximately between 300.degree.F to 450.degree.F with the preferred temperature being 425.degree.F. Minimal pressure is applied when the platen is brought into contact with the outer face of the fabric 12. It is important that pressure be minimal in order to avoid substantial compression of the foam padding 24. Only the top 1/16 inch to 1/8 inch of the padding should be compressed so that the desired thickness of the padding 24 will be maintained. The exact pressure applied depends upon the foam padding 24 used and may be easily visually determined by noting the pressure required to effect the desired minimum compression of the padding 24. Excessive pressure will result in crushing of the foam padding 24 during the bonding and curing steps with the adhesive being forced through the foam padding 24 and preventing the foam from recovering its original shape thereby resulting in an unacceptable ironing board cover 10.

The top platen is held in place from approximately 3-8 seconds while the adhesive is cured with the optimum curing time being 5 seconds. No heat is applied through the bottom of the padding 24 since such heat would adversely affect the foam padding 24 during bonding. The preferred adhesive will soften at approximately 200.degree.F to 250.degree.F although I have found that softening of the adhesive does not cause delamination, rather, the quality of the bond is increased. Most ironing is done with an iron heated to approximately 150.degree.F to 300.degree.F although higher iron temperatures are employed for certain fabrics. Wrinkles in the cover 10 may be easily ironed out of the cover and a wrinkle free cover 10 can be maintained. I have observed that there is no deleterious effect upon the ironing board cover 10 as a result of the use of a hot iron and the application of localized pressure during ironing. I surmise that this is due to the fact that the iron is not kept in one location for an inordinate length of time and that the adhesive does not become highly fluid as a result of the localized heat applied by the iron.

While the invention has been described with reference to certain forms and embodiments thereof, it is apparent that many other forms and embodiments will be obvious to those skilled in the art in view of the foregoing description. Thus, the scope of the invention should not be limited by the foregoing description but, rather, only by the scope of the claims appended hereto.

Claims

I claim:

1. A wrinkle free ironing board cover comprising a layer of heat resistant fabric, a layer of heat resistant padding which is substantially thicker than said layer of fabric, said padding including two major surfaces of substantially the same size and shape of the surface of the ironing board to be covered, said layer of fabric being adhesively bonded to substantially the entire area of one of the major surfaces of said layer of padding by a thermoplastic adhesive, such that during ironing, softening of said adhesive occurs at about 200.degree.-250.degree. F., allowing the cover to be maintained in a wrinkle free condition, said layer of fabric having the same shape but being larger in size than the layer of padding, the portion of said layer of fabric between said padding and the edges of said layer of fabric defining a marginal skirt, said skirt being integral with said layer of fabric, and means for securing said cover to an ironing board.

2. An ironing board cover as defined in claim 1 wherein said skirt is of sufficient width to enable the edges of said fabric to underlie the ironing board when said cover is secured thereon by said securing means.

3. An ironing board cover as defined in claim 1 including a layer of heat reflective material between said one major surface of said padding and the adjacent surface of said fabric.

4. An ironing board cover as defined in claim 1 including an aperture in said layer of fabric and integral iron support means for resting an iron thereon being disposed in said aperture and being bonded to said padding.

5. An ironing board cover as defined in claim 1 wherein said layer of fabric has a plurality of apertures therein, said apertures being operative to increase the frictional force applied to an item to be ironed.

6. An ironing board cover as defined in claim 1 wherein said thermoplastic adhesive is a self-reactive acrylic copolymer latex with heat reactive cross-linking groups.