FORM 2
THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 of 1970)
As amended by the Patents (Amendment) Act, 2005
AND
The Patents Rules, 2003
As amended by the Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2005
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See section 10 and rule 13)
TITLE OF THE INVENTION
An intelligent iron
APPLICANTS:
Crompton Greaves Limited, CG House, Dr Annie Besant Road, Worli, Mumbai 400 030, Maharashtra, India, an Indian Company.
INVENTOR (S):
Samsul Ekram and Nirody Jai Shankar, both of Crompton Greaves Limited,
Electronic Design Centre (EDC), Aryabhatta Building, CG Global R&D
Centre, Kanjurmarg (East), Mumbai - 400042, Maharashtra, India; Siddiquee,
Qutbuddin and Sawarkar Arvind, both of Crompton Greaves Limited,
Technology Information Centre (TIC), Aryabhatta Building, CG Global R &
D Centre, Kanjurmarg (East), Mumbai - 400042, Maharashtra, India; and
Nadkarni Mayur of Crompton Greaves Limited, Appliances
Division, Kanjurmarg (East), Mumbai - 400042, Maharashtra, India; all Indian Nationals.
PREAMBLE TO THE DESCRIPTION:
The following specification particularly describes the nature of this invention and the manner in which it is to be performed:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION:
This invention relates to the field of electrical and electronic appliances.
Particularly, this invention relates to a clothes iron.
More particularly, this invention relates to an intelligent iron to prevent burn-out.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION:
A clothes iron is a home appliance used to remove wrinkles from a fabric or a cloth. It is a heated appliance which works on electric power. Ironing works by loosening the ties between the long chains of molecules that exist in polymer fibre materials.
When the iron is turned on, the consumer moves it over an item of clothing on an ironing board. The combination of heat and pressure removes wrinkles. The evolution of irons began from the use of a flat plate of metal with coal as the heating medium. The electric iron was invented in the 1880s when electricity became widely available in home.
In 1903, irons with electric cords directly attached to the iron were being sold.
In the 1920s, the iron was improved by adding an automatic heat control made of pure silver. Thermostats soon became a standard feature.
Contemporary irons have nonstick coating on the sole plate, an innovation that was introduced in 1995. Most featured bodies are made of plastic and have more holes on the sole plate to allow steam to come through.

Despite the use of thermostats, an often source of trouble or hazard is when a user inadvertently leaves the iron in its operative horizontal working position with the heated sole plate in contact with the fabric below for a prolonged period of time. This may happen in situations when there is an interruption and the user does not follow the standard protocol of either switching off the supply to the iron or does not turn it to its vertical position such that the sole plate is exposed to air and away from the fabric or just forgets to switch off the iron while it is kept on the fabric.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION:
An object of the invention is to provide a safer iron.
Another object of the invention is to provide a smart or an intelligent iron which can sense the position of iron once it is being used.
Another object of the invention is to provide a smart or an intelligent iron which can sense working condition of the iron once it is being used.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide an iron which does not harm the fabric which is being ironed even after prolonged exposure to the fabric in an inadvertent situation.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a hazard-proof iron.
Still another object of the invention is to provide an iron which does not burn a fabric if left on it for a prolonged period of time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION:
For the purposes of this invention, the term, 'burn' refers to a condition wherein an iron burns or damages a fabric while being left in a switched-on position without any movement for a prolonged period of time.
For the purposes of this invention, the term, 'burn-out' refers to the damaged condition of a fabric caused due to prolonged exposure of the sole plate over the fabric in an unmonitored environment.
According to this invention, there is provided an intelligent iron to prevent burn¬out, said iron having a sole plate adapted to be heated and adapted to be in contact with a fabric to be ironed, characterized in that, said sole plate includes:
a. at least one sensor adapted to sense burn-out condition;
b. control logic adapted to receive input from said at least one sensor in order to
determine burn-out condition and further adapted to provide a first set of
control signals to prevent burn-out and still further adapted to provide a second
set of control signals; and
c. lifting mechanism adapted to engage protruding bosses / studs, upon receipt of
said first set of control signals, to lift said soleplate (and iron, thereby) away
from its contact with said fabric such that there is a substantial air gap between
said sole plate and said fabric, and further adapted to retract said protruding
bosses / studs, upon receipt of said second set of control signals, to maintain
contact between said sole plate and said fabric.

Typically, said sensor is a sensor selected from a group of sensors consisting of proximity sensors, motion sensors, temperature sensors, and their combination.
Typically, said control logic includes a timer adapted to be set in accordance with pre-defined durations of time in order to activate generation of said first set of control signals and said second set of control signals.
Typically, said control logic includes proximity sensor input means adapted to receive proximity sensor input in order to determine proximity of said sole plate to said fabric over a defined period of time in order to determine burn-out condition.
Typically, said control logic includes motion sensor input means adapted to receive motion sensor input in order to determine motion of said sole plate over said fabric over a defined period of time in order to determine burn-out condition.
Typically, said control logic includes temperature sensor input means adapted to receive temperature sensor input in order to determine temperature of said sole plate over said fabric over a defined period of time in order to determine burn-out condition.
Typically, said lifting mechanism includes solenoids adapted to engage said bosses / studs.
Typically, said sole plate includes recesses to locate said bosses / studs in their inoperative condition.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS:
The invention will now be described in relation to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 illustrates various views of an iron with the sensor and lifting mechanism; and
Figure 2 illustrates various embodiments of the lifting mechanism on an iron.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS:
According to this invention, there is provided an intelligent iron to prevent burn-out.
Figure 1 illustrates various views of an iron with the sensor and lifting mechanism. Figure 2 illustrates various embodiments of the lifting mechanism on an iron.
The iron (100) has a sole plate (12) which is the heated plate which comes in contact with the fabric.
In accordance with an embodiment of this invention, there is provided a plurality of sensors on or near to the sole plate of said iron.
In one embodiment, the sensor (14) is a motion sensor adapted to sense motion. There is control logic which is pre-defined to receive motion sensor inputs and to govern temperature control of the iron. The control logic may be defined to

deactivate temperature rise upon not sensing motion of the sole plate (and iron, thereby) over a given period of time.
In another embodiment, the sensor (14) is a proximity sensor or a light sensor which senses the proximity of the sole plate with respect to the fabric or any material underneath it. There is control logic which is pre-defined to receive light sensor inputs and to govern temperature control of the iron. The control logic may be defined to deactivate temperature rise upon sensing proximity of the sole plate (and iron, thereby) over a given period of time.
The proximity sensor may not work stand-alone and works best in tandem with the motion sensor. Thus, if there is no motion as detected by the motion sensor, and there is sensed proximity over a defined time duration, the control logic is adapted to deactivate temperature rise.
In yet another embodiment, the sensor (14) is a temperature sensor adapted to sense temperature rise.
The proximity sensor may work well with a motion sensor and a temperature sensor in correlation with time.
In accordance with another embodiment of this invention, there is provided a lifting mechanism (16) adapted to engage protruding bosses / studs to lift the soleplate (and iron, thereby) away from its contact with the fabric such that there is a substantial air gap between the sole plate and the fabric or any matter underneath.

The sensors sense that the threshold of safety has been breached and engage the control logic to signal activation of the lifting mechanism. The engagement / disengagement of the lifting mechanism may be via solenoid valves.
Further, as the sensor inputs are reversed, the action of the lifting mechanism is deactivated by the control logic, thereby retracting the bosses / studs in order to allow contact of the sole plate to the fabric of material underneath.
While this detailed description has disclosed certain specific embodiments of the present invention for illustrative purposes, various modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art which do not constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims, and it is to be distinctly understood that the foregoing descriptive matter is to be interpreted merely as illustrative of the invention and not as a limitation.

We claim,
1. An intelligent iron to prevent burn-out, said iron having a sole plate adapted to
be heated and adapted to be in contact with a fabric to be ironed, characterized
in that, said sole plate includes:
a. at least one sensor adapted to sense burn-out condition;
b. control logic adapted to receive input from said at least one sensor in order
to determine burn-out condition and further adapted to provide a first set of
control signals to prevent burn-out and still further adapted to provide a
second set of control signals; and
c. lifting mechanism adapted to engage protruding bosses / studs, upon receipt
of said first set of control signals, to lift said soleplate (and iron, thereby)
away from its contact with said fabric such that there is a substantial air gap
between said sole plate and said fabric, and further adapted to retract said
protruding bosses / studs, upon receipt of said second set of control signals,
to maintain contact between said sole plate and said fabric.
2. An iron as claimed in claim 1 wherein, said sensor is a sensor selected from a group of sensors consisting of proximity sensors, motion sensors, temperature sensors, and their combination.
3. An iron as claimed in claim 1 wherein, said control logic includes a timer adapted to be set in accordance with pre-defined durations of time in order to activate generation of said first set of control signals and said second set of control signals.

4. An iron as claimed in claim 1 wherein, said control logic includes proximity sensor input means adapted to receive proximity sensor input in order to determine proximity of said sole plate to said fabric over a defined period of time in order to determine burn-out condition.
5. An iron as claimed in claim 1 wherein, said control logic includes motion sensor input means adapted to receive motion sensor input in order to determine motion of said sole plate over said fabric over a defined period of time in order to determine burn-out condition.
6. An iron as claimed in claim 1 wherein, said control logic includes temperature sensor input means adapted to receive temperature sensor input in order to determine temperature of said sole plate over said fabric over a defined period of time in order to determine burn-out condition.
7. An iron as claimed in claim 1 wherein, said lifting mechanism includes solenoids adapted to engage said bosses / studs.
8. An iron as claimed in claim 1 wherein, said sole plate includes recesses to locate said bosses / studs in their inoperative condition.