Electric pressing iron with user interface

Abstract

An interface for an iron has a graphic display indicating the current temperature selection, user controls for adjusting the current temperature selection, and a ready indicator adapted to indicate when the iron is at the currently selected temperature.

1 . A user interface for an iron, comprising: 
 an electronic graphic display indicating a current temperature selection;    user controls for adjusting the current temperature selection; and    a ready indicator adapted to indicate when the iron is at the currently selected temperature.    
   
   
       2 . The user interface of  claim 1  wherein the graphic display is a liquid crystal display.  
   
   
       3 . An iron, comprising: 
 a soleplate heated by a heating element;    a temperature sensor disposed to measure the temperature of the soleplate;    an electronic graphic display indicating a current temperature selection;    user controls for adjusting the current temperature selection; and    a ready indicator adapted to indicate when the soleplate is at the currently selected temperature.    
   
   
       4 . The apparatus of  claim 3  wherein the graphic display is a liquid crystal display.  
   
   
       5 . The apparatus of  claim 3 , further comprising: 
 a motion sensor; and    a power indicator adapted to indicate that power to the heating element has been shut off after the motion detector detects no movement of the iron for a preselected period of time.    
   
   
       6 . The apparatus of  claim 3 , further comprising: 
 a microcontroller in electronic communication with the temperature sensor, the graphic display, the user controls and the ready indicator; and    wherein the microcontroller is programmed to control the ready indicator to indicate when the soleplate is at the currently selected temperature.    
   
   
       7 . The apparatus of  claim 6  wherein the graphic display is a liquid crystal display.  
   
   
       8 . The apparatus of  claim 6 , further comprising: 
 a motion detector in electronic communication with the microcontroller; and    wherein the microcontroller is programmed to shut off the heating element after the motion detector detects no movement of the iron for a preselected period of time.    
   
   
       9 . The apparatus of  claim 6  further comprising a power indicator in electronic communication with the microcontroller and wherein the microcontroller is programmed to indicate with the power indicator that the heating element is shut off after the motion detector detects no movement of the iron for a preselected period of time.  
   
   
       10 . The apparatus of  claim 6  wherein two or more components in electronic communication with the microcontroller are multiplexed.  
   
   
       11 . The apparatus of  claim 3  wherein the ready indicator is a dual-color light emitting diode and is adapted to also indicate when the soleplate is or is not at the currently selected temperature.  
   
   
       12 . The apparatus of  claim 6  wherein the ready indicator is a dual-color light emitting diode (LED) and wherein the microcontroller is programmed to control the ready indicator to indicate when the soleplate is in a first state of being at the currently selected temperature or in a second state of not being at the currently selected temperature by controlling the dual-color LED to emit at different colors for the fist state and the second state.  
   
   
       13 . An iron, comprising: 
 a soleplate heated by a heating element;    a temperature sensor disposed to measure the temperature of the soleplate;    user controls for adjusting the current temperature selection to any of a quantized set of temperature settings; and    a ready indicator adapted to indicate when the soleplate is at the currently selected temperature.    
   
   
       14 . The iron of  claim 13  further comprising a display showing the currently selected temperature.  
   
   
       15 . The iron of  claim 14  wherein the display shows to the user the names of a quantized set of fabric materials, each material corresponding to a temperature setting.  
   
   
       16 . The iron of  claim 15  wherein the quantized set of fabric materials is synthetic, silk, wool, cotton, and linen.  
   
   
       17 . A user interface for an iron, comprising: 
 user controls for selecting an ironing temperature; and    a ready indicator for indicating when an iron has reached said ironing temperature, said indicator comprising a color changing lamp.    
   
   
       18 . The interface of  claim 17 , wherein said color changing lamp comprises a light emitting diode.  
   
   
       19 . An iron, comprising: 
 a handle having a grip portion; and    a user interface mounted on the handle forwardly of the grip portion.    
   
   
       20 . The iron of  claim 19 , wherein the user interface comprises a graphic display.  
   
   
       21 . The iron of  claim 20 , further comprising a spray push button located forwardly of the handle, and forwardly of the graphic display.  
   
   
       22 . The iron of  claim 20 , wherein the graphic display corresponds to a temparature selected by a user.  
   
   
       23 . A user interface for an iron, comprising: 
 an electronic graphic display indicating a current temperature selection; and    user controls for adjusting the current temperature selection, said user controls comprising a first selector for scrolling upwardly through a list of temperature selections and a second selector for scrolling downwardly through said list of temperature selections.    
   
   
       24 . The user interface of  claim 23 , wherein said temperature selections are identified as a list of fabrics corresponding to said list of temperature selections.