WO1993017601A1

WO1993017601A1 - Movable piece of furniture provided with an ironing board

Info

Publication number: WO1993017601A1
Application number: PCT/FI1993/000075
Authority: WO
Inventors: Eero Saarinen
Original assignee: Stala Oy
Priority date: 1992-03-05
Filing date: 1993-03-04
Publication date: 1993-09-16
Also published as: FI920977A0; FI920977A

Abstract

The invention relates to a movable piece of furniture (1) for domestic use, preferably fitting in a permanent fixture and provided with a storage space (2). The piece of furniture (1) is provided with an ironing board (5) mounted above the storage space (2).

Description

Movable piece of furniture provided with an ironing board.

The present invention relates to a movable piece of furni¬ ture for domestic use, preferably fitting in a permanent fixture and provided with a storage space and preferably adapted to be compatible with fixtures primarily used in housekeeping facilities.

The housekeeping facilities are generally used at home for servicing clothes, doing laundry, drying, ironing etc. The fixtures of housekeeping facilities generally include cabinets, provided with various storage drawers and often also provided with a fixture including a foldable ironing board. In many cases, however, the housekeeping facility is not very spacious and such facility is not always the best possible place for ironing laundry, for example. On the other hand, in households which include no housekeeping facilities and which are probably the most common at least in Finland, the servicing of clothes and ironing of clean laundry require special arrangements every time.

The present invention provides a solution for this problem by introducing a unit of furniture, which is adapted to include storage spaces, worktops and an ironing board and which unit can be handily carried to a place best suitable for working.

A piece of furniture of the invention is characterized in that above a storage space included in the piece of furni- ture is mounted an ironing board. The board is preferably foldable and fitted in a space which is provided with a removable lid and located above the storage space.

The ironing board can preferably be raised from its basic position in a space in the top section of the piece of furniture to an operating position, which is flush with or somewhat above the lid that has been pushed aside. In this case, the sideways removed lid serves simultaneously as an assisting worktop.

Furthermore, in a piece of furniture of the invention, the top storage drawer is normally extractable from the front side of the piece of furniture and it can also be extracted from the rear side of the piece of furniture, which makes it a handy storage space for clothes before or after handling.

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference made to the accompanying drawings, in which

fig. 1 shows a piece of furniture of the invention in an operating position.

fig. 2 shows a housekeeping room fixture provided with a wagon of the invention, and

fig. 3 shows a lifting mechanism for an ironing board.

As shown in figs. 1 and 2 , a piece of furniture of the invention comprises a wagon, movable on whejels 7 and pro¬ vided with three extractable storage drawers 2. Preferably, the size of the fixture wagon matches the normal Finnish dimensional standard for permanent fixtures, i.e. it can be easily fitted in existing fixtures or in connection there¬ with.

Above storage drawers 2 there is a space 3 covered by a sideways removable lid 4. This lid can be made of a material compatible with the fixture material, such as a laminate sheet, stainless steel or a like.

In use, the lid 4 is removed aside and an ironing board 5 is lifted up from space 3 for raising the board to an operating position. When the folded board 5 is unfolded to an opened position, its extreme part juts clearly out of the fixture for easier ironing of clothes. In the uplifted position, the ironing board 5 is roughly level with lid 4, which thus serves as an auxiliary worktop.

In figs. 1 and 2, a furniture wagon of the invention is provided with three extractable drawers 2. It is obvious that the number of drawers may vary or, alternatively, it is possible to employ an array of shelves and/or a combination thereof.

In the case of figs. 1 and 2, the work can be made easier by having the top drawer 2 extractable also from the rear side of the wagon. This provides laying-down space also in the rear section of the wagon or it can also be used as a storage for clothes to be ironed.

Fig. 2 illustrates one embodiment for a wagon of the invention as part of a fixture located in a housekeeping facility. In fig. 2, a wagon of the invention has been extracted from its storage space in a set of bottom cabinets 8 in the fixture which further includes a set of. top cabinets 9.

Fig. 3 illustrates a lifting mechanism for an ironing board used in an assembly of the invention, comprising a base plate 11 and a link mechanism 6 secured thereto and operable by means of an operating lever 10. The downward pressing of operating lever 10 causes the forward movement of an arched lever section attached to the shaft of the operating lever to pull said linkage 6 forward. The forward point of linkage 6 is fixed and the rearward point is movable. The movement produced by opera'ting lever 10 lifts a support plate 12 upwards. An ironing board of the invention is mounted on this support plate 12. In the solution shown in fig. 3, an ironing board 5 is hoisted by pushing said operating lever 10 downwards. As far as the invention is concerned, it is of course possible to employ any other type of mechanism at all, for example the operating lever 10 can be combined with the movement of lid 4 in a manner that, as lid 4 is pushed aside, the ironing board 5 rises upwards.

A wagon of the invention provides an entire unit for the ironing of clothes. A piece of furniture of the invention includes storage spaces 2 for clothes as well as a handily exposable ironing board to provide a unitary assembly. In addition, this unitary assembly is readily movable to a suitable working place.

Claims

1. A movable piece of furniture (1) for domestic use, preferably fitting in a permanent fixture and provided with a storage space (2), c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that said piece of furniture (1) is provided with an ironing board (5) mounted above said storage space (2).

2. A piece of furniture as set forth in claim 1, c h a r - a c t e r i z e d in that said ironing board (5) is foldable and fitted in a space (3) provided with a remov¬ able lid (4) and located above the storage space (2).

3. A piece of furniture as set forth in claim 1 or 2, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that said ironing board (5) can be lifted from its basic position in space (3) to an operating position at least to the level of lid (4) which has been pushed aside.

4. A piece of furniture as set forth in any of the preced¬ ing claims, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that at least the top storage drawer (2) is extractable both -from the front and the rear side of said piece of furniture (1)