Combination Retaining Member for an Electric Appliance

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to electric appliances and, more particularly, to a retaining member that provides multiple retaining functions.

2. Prior Art

U.S. Pat. No. 4,357,519 discloses an electric steam iron with a handle and a rear cover that pivotably captures an electric cord bushing. The conductors are retained with a strain relief and a bolt attached against the housing. U.S. Pat. No. 5,367,799 discloses a cord grommet pivotably attached to a rear cover at cradles. U.S. Pat. No. 4,651,453 discloses an iron having a resistor assembly attached to a housing.

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention a retaining member for an electric iron is provided comprising three sections. A first section is for attachment to a housing of the iron. The first section has a strain relief section for contacting an electric cord. A second section extends from the first section and has a curved portion that forms part of a pivotable connection point of a general ball shaped end of a bushing for the electric cord into the housing. A third section extends from the first section for holding an electronic component between the third section and the housing.

In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention in an electric appliance having a housing, an electronic module, and an electric cord extending into the housing, the improvement comprises a one-piece retaining member connected to the housing. The retaining member has a cantilevered arm holding the electronic module against the housing and a section that holds a portion of the electric cord in a sandwiched position between the housing and the retaining member to function as a strain relief connection for the portion of the electric cord.

In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention in an electric appliance having a housing and an electric cord extending into the housing through an electric cord bushing pivotably connected to the housing, the improvement comprises a mounting member connected to the housing and forming a portion of an electric cord strain relief and a portion of the electric cord bushing mount. The mounting member comprises a first section that presses a portion of the electric cord against the housing to thereby stationarily connect the portion to the housing and a second section with a curved portion. The curved portion captures a ball shaped end of the bushing against the housing such that the bushing can pivot at the curved portion but is otherwise fixedly attached to the housing.

In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention in an electric appliance having a housing, an electronic module, and an electric cord extending into the housing through an electric cord bushing pivotably mounted to the housing, the improvement comprises a mounting member connected to the housing having a section that holds the electronic module in a stationary position against the housing and a curved portion that captures a ball shaped end of the electric cord bushing against the housing to thereby pivotably mount the bushing to the housing.

The foregoing aspects and other features of the invention are explained in the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an electric steam iron incorporating features of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the iron shown in FIG. 1 taken along line 2--2;

FIG. 3 is a top, rear and side perspective view of the retaining member shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a partial schematic cross-sectional view of the iron shown in FIG. 2 taken along line 4--4; and

FIG. 5 is a partial schematic cross-sectional view of the iron shown in FIG. 4 taken along line 5--5.

Referring to FIG. 1 there is shown a perspective view of an electric steam iron 10 incorporating features of the present invention. Although the present invention will be described with reference to the single embodiment shown in the drawings, it should be understood that features of the present invention can be embodied in many alternative forms of alternate embodiments. In addition, any suitable size, shape, or type of elements or materials could be used.

The iron 10 generally comprises a soleplate 12, a housing 14 with a rear cover 16, a control knob 18, a steam button 19, a surge button 20, a reset button 22, an electric cord bushing 24 and an electric cord 26. However, features of the present invention could be incorporated into other types of irons and other types of electrical appliances. Referring also to FIG. 2, the rear cover 16 has the reset button 22 attached to it. The rear cover 16 houses an electronic module 28 and a retaining member 30. In the embodiment shown, the module 28 is an auto-OFF module that has circuitry adapted to automatically turn the iron 10 OFF after a predetermined period of time, such as one hour. The reset button 22 is adapted to be moved by a user to depress an actuator 32 of the module 28 to reset the module. However, in alternate embodiments, any suitable type of electronic module or circuitry could be used.

The retaining member 30, in the embodiment shown, is a onepiece plastic or polymer member that is attached to the rear cover 16 by a screw 35. However, in alternate embodiments, other types of fasteners or attachment means could be used. Referring also to FIG. 3, the retaining member 30 has a first middle section 36, a second top section 38 and a third bottom section 40. References to top and bottom are made for description purposes only. The first section 36 includes two lateral holes 42, locating ribs 44, a center hole 46, and strain relief rib 48. The second section 38 extends from the top of the first section 36 and includes two top cantilevered arms 50. The top arms 50 each have a stabilizing section 52. A curved section 54 extends between the two arms 50 and forms an upward and rearward facing seating surface 55. An open space or gap 56 is provided between the two top arms 50. The third section 40 extends at a compound angle (see angles A and B in FIGS. 2 and 4) from one side of the bottom of the first section 36. The third section 40 has an offset step 62 (see FIG. 4) at the first section 36.

Referring also to FIGS. 2 and 4, two screws 34 pass through the screw bosses 64 (only one of which is shown) of the rear cover 16. The locating ribs 44 help guide the retaining member 30 onto the bosses 64 such that the holes 42 are aligned with screw holes in the bosses 64. The handle 21 has two bosses 65 (only one of which is shown) with holes that are aligned with the holes 42. The screws 34 are screwed into the bosses 65 to thereby sandwich the middle section 36 between the two pairs of bosses 64, 65. The center hole 46 is provided to allow a fastener 35 (see FIG. 2) to attach the member 30 to the rear cover 16 before the rear cover 16 and handle 21 are attached to each other. However, this need not be provided. The rear end of the stabilizing sections 52 of the top arms 50 rest against the rear cover 16. The bottom section 40 captures or sandwiches the electronic module 28 between the bottom section 40 and the rear cover 16 to thereby physically attach the module 28 to the rear cover 16. In a preferred embodiment the bottom section 40 is deflectable and is spring loaded against the module 28. Ribs 17 of the cover 16 help to keep the module 28 stationarily locked in place.

Referring also to FIG. 5, the bushing 24 includes a center channel 66 and a general ball shaped end 68. The electric cord 26 passes through the center channel 66 into the housing 14. The rear cover 16 has ribs 80 which the ball shaped end 68 is placed against. The curved section 54 of the top section 38 is located opposite the ribs 80 to pivotably support the bottom of the ball shaped end 68, but which nonetheless allows an open area at the bottom of the bushing 24 for the electric cord 26 to exit the bushing. The top of the rear cover 16 and the top rear of the handle 21 have open areas to form a hole 82 (see FIG. 4). The hole 82 is smaller than the ball shaped end 68, but is large enough for the ball shaped end 68 to pivotably rotate in the hole 82. The ball shaped end 68 is thus rotatably captured between the rear cover 16 and handle 21 at the hole 82 and the ribs 80 and the curved section 54. In alternate embodiments, the hole 82 could be solely in the rear cover or the handle.

As seen in FIG. 2, when the electric cord 26 exits the bottom of the bushing 24, it can branch into two sections 26a, 26b on opposite sides of the center hole 46 and between the retaining member 30 and the rear cover 16. The retaining member 30 presses the cord section 26b against the cover 16. In addition, the strain relief rib 48 on the retaining member 30 is positioned to press the cord section 26a against the cover 16. This forms a fixed attachment of the cord section 26a to the rear cover 16 and, thus, forms a strain relief for the cord 26. The rib 48 is adapted to be snapped off of the retaining member 30 when the cord 26 is a 220 volt electrical cord. However, the rib 48 is retained for use with a thinner 110 volt electrical cord.

The retaining member 30, in cooperation with the rear cover 16, is able to provide three different retaining functions. It is able to retain the module 28 with the rear cover 16. It is able to pivotably retain the electric cord bushing 24 with the cover 16. It is able to provide strain relief retainment of the electric cord 26 with the rear cover 16. These three functions are provided by only three parts; the rear cover 16, the retaining member 30 and the screw 35. This reduces the number of parts in the iron that would otherwise be needed. The method of assembly merely comprises properly positioning the components and attaching the screw 35 to the rear cover 16. Alternatively, if the screw 35 is not used, the two screws 34 attach the member 30 to the rear cover and handle.

It should be understood that the foregoing description is only illustrative of the invention. Various alternatives and modifications can be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the present invention is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variances which fall within the scope of the appended claims.