famous creation - the electric iron

7/30/2019 FAMOUS CREATION - THE ELECTRIC IRON

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FAMOUS CREATION OF THE DAYTHE ELECTRIC IRON

This device enabled folks to express the way they felt on the inside; confidence

with loads of elegance and pizzazz thrown in. And I dont

care how sexy you feel or look; without the electric iron,

you would still come across as sloppy .

DESCRIPTION: The electric iron is a handheld domestic

appliance that consists of a flat triangular base which when heated and pressed on

clothes , removes creases and wrinkles

HOW IT WORKS:The basic parts that make up an electric iron are:-

1) Sole plate2) Pressure plate3) Heating element4) Cover plate5) Pilot lamp6) Handle7)Thermostat8) Capacitor

The sole plate forms the base of the electric iron and it is often coated

heavily with chromium to prevent rusting. The pressure plate follows the sole plateand this adds the extra pressure required in removing the creases; it is usually made


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of heavy cast iron or a thin sheet of steel, 0.25cm thick. In between the sole plate

and the pressure plate is the heating element made up of a nichrome wire wound

around a sheet of mica; the nichrome wire is connected to a pair of

contact strips which in turn, are connected to the terminals of the electric iron. The

mica sheet is used as the insulating material because of its ability to withstand

tremendous heat and an asbestos sheet is used to separate and insulate the top

plate from the heating element. The thermostat acts as the temperature regulator

and is made up of two metals soldered together, each having different expansion

coefficients. When the temperature of the electric iron rises significantly,

each of the metal in the thermostat expands but to different degrees; the strip then

curves upwards towards the metal with the lower expansion coefficient and this

pushes the contact spring up, thus stopping electric supply and ensuring

that the temperature is controlled within certain limits. The cover plate encases all

the internal parts of the iron and the handle is attached to it. The pilot lamp

is located on the cover plate and it is connected at both ends to the

electric supply and the heating element; it signals when the electric supply has been

cut off by the thermostat.

All together, current is supplied to the heating element and this heats it up. It

transfers this heat to the sole plate by means of conduction. As both heat and

pressure are applied to the creased fabric, the bonds between the long chains

of molecules that exist in the fabric are loosened and the fabric retains

this new structure even when cool.

INVENTOR(S) OF THE ELECTRIC IRON: Since time past, generations

have found several ingenious means by which to straighten their clothes. In the


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first century BC, Chinese used metal pans filled with hot water as a

means of ironing. In the 14th

century, thick slabs of cast iron shaped into deltaform with metal handles, were heated in the fire and used as irons; they were called

flatirons. Another design created during that period was an iron box

which was filled with charcoal but it had to be blown with air from time to time to

keep the charcoal from burning out. In 1870, an American housewife by the name

of Mary Potts , made significant changes to the flatiron model and made

ironing that much easier for customers. Her model consisted of a detachable

wooden handle and a cast hollow metallic body filled with Plaster of Paris. The

wooden handle protected the customers hands from burning and the Plaster of

Paris, being a poor conductor of heat, retained heat for longer. In 1880, the first

electric iron was invented in France and it was heated by means of a carbon arc;

this proved too dangerous to be used domestically as temperatures could rise to

about 3500C.In 1882, the first electric iron to work on the principle of electrical

resistivity was invented by Henry W. Seeley from New York. His

invention proved impractical as it lost heat too quickly and required constant

reheating. In 1903, Earl H. Richardson from Ontario, California, created

a small, lightweight iron heated by a glowing wire wound around a brass core. His

invention proved very successful as the iron produced heat all the way to the tip,

making it easier to smoothen buttonholes and collars; thus he named it the

Hotpoint.


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EVOLUTION OF THE IRON:In 1920, automatic heat control, made of pure

silver , was invented by Joseph Myers and the Silex Company picked it up to

produce the first automatic iron in 1927. In 1926, the Eldec Company introduced

the first steam iron that could straighten dry-stiff clothes like linen with

ease. More changes to the iron were made over the years but the most significant

took place in the 90s when non-stick coating was added to the sole plate.

BEST TEMPERATURES TO IRON DIFFERENT FABRICS:

1) Cotton: 2000C2) Linen: 2250C3)Wool: 1650C4) Silk: 1550C5) Polyester: 1500C

Showcaseyourcreation.blogspot.com

ONLINE SOURCES

1) Bright Hub Engineering: The Invention of the Electric Iron2) Info.com: Who invented the Electric Iron?3) MadeHow.com: How Clothes Iron is made4)Wikipedia: Clothes Iron5) Pressing Iron and Trivet Collectors: Mrs Potts Sad Irons6) Bellevue Memorial Park: Featured Burials; Earl Holmes Richardson

famous creation - the electric iron

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