Automatic Ironing Machine (AIM)

Abstract

AIM is a design that uses an innovative framework and motorized mechanisms to

effectively iron various clothes by minimizing the difficulties in the task of ironing.

It will be a cheap (maximum Rs.3000-4000), fold-able and portable machine

(maximum 3-3.5 Kg) which is able to iron any cloth (shirt, trousers etc.) within a

time frame of maximum 30-35 seconds without any external help from the user

except feeding the cloth. Here two irons are used to increase the effectiveness and

speed of ironing as well as reduce the overall time taken for one cloth (by ironing it

from both sides i.e. up & down simultaneously). The cloth will be mounted on a

stationary frame between the two irons. The movement of these irons is based

upon chain & sprocket mechanism governed by ONLY two motors (X & Y

direction each). For designer clothes and all other different varieties of clothes

(thousands) that will not be ironed by AIM, a special feature has been given i.e. the

upper iron can be completely detached off from the setup and can be used as our

usual house-hold iron. Provision for long clothes like sarees, bed-sheets etc. is also

provided It will be very beneficial product for hospitals, railways, hotels, housing

societies, textile mills and to the working population around the world.

INTRODUCTION

Today in our modern world we have every new technology like washing machine

for clothes, vacuum cleaners for cleaning, refrigerators for cooling and in some

cases, even cooking machines also finding their way in our home. But from long

time we do not have an Efficient Ironing Machine in our homes. The main reason

why we do not have any ironing machine is the large variety of clothes that are

used around the world. If we consider India only then also we have around

thousands of variety of clothes that are worn from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and

from Gujarat to Assam. The problem gets even bigger when the whole world is

taken into account.

We do have few Ironing Machines that are used in western countries in limited

number of houses:-

But still they are not very popular. The main reason is that they are not cheap,

consume lot of electricity which is not good for a common man, also they are not

light &portable enough so that it could be carried around like our household iron.

So here we are trying to make an Automatic Ironing Machine that will be in the

bounds of a common man in every aspect like- cost, weight, portability, ease of

use, speed, electrical power consumption etc. One of the motives of designing

this machine is to ease out the efforts needed in ironing. Also it will lead us one-

step closer to smart homes, which is going to be the technology of the future.

UNIQUE DESIGN AND FEATURES

The unique setup of AIM is designed with the aim of having adaptability,

portability, efficiency, simplicity and affordability. The constraints kept in mind

while designing the AIM are:

Cost (Maximum Rs-3000-4000)

Weight (Maximum 3-3.5 Kg)

Ease of usage (No training required)

Electric Power Consumption.(write the approximate power)

Space (2.5*2.5)

Can iron different types of clothes used around the world.

Speed: Maximum time taken to iron a cloth is 25-30 sec

All parts should be separable and hence, portable

To achieve these constraints AIM has been developed with unique features and

components. The components used in the AIM are:

Two Irons(both further separable in two)

Board(any material- plastic preferred for its light weight)

Two pillar like structures-Wooden (Hollow)

Two Stepper Motors + 4 DC Motors

Gear assembly for transferring motion to both chains.

Two long hollow rods

Two assemblies of chain & sprockets(2 Chains & 9 Sprockets)

In order to achieve the above mentioned constraints we have made certain

innovative and unique design improvements. These include:

1. HEAFTY UPPER IRON: The weight of upper iron is 1.7Kg (each half 850g) and the lower half only of 150g (each half 75g). The upper iron is

made heavy to get the crease in the cloth.

2. THERMOSTAT: No of Thermostats=1 ONLY (Placed in the upper iron-its main function is to break the circuit by giving ON/OFF control). Upper Iron

acts as the Master iron that will house the Thermostat as well as the

connection cord to the External Power supply.

3. FRAME: The frame is used to taunt the cloth so that it can be easily ironed. The design of the frame is as shown below:

4. SOLEPLATE: In order to achieve efficient and smooth ironing we have to make sure that each area of the cloth receives proper ironing. In order to

achieve such effective ironing a unique and innovative soleplate is

designed. The soleplate is specifically designed to provide wrinkle free and

fast ironing. This is achieved by providing the soleplate a curve on both the

sides unlike the normal soleplate in which the curve is only on one side of

the soleplate as shown below:

Another problem that needed to be solved was ironing of the shirt because of

the array of buttons present in the shirt. This problem was solved by dividing

the press into further two parts (this is discussed in detail in ironing of shirt

section) but with this solution came another problem of ironing the section

just back of the array of buttons. This problem was solved by increasing the

size of the lower plate uniformly more than the upper plate and then using

flapping mechanism in which the upper part opens up just like in mobile

phones. This mechanism is shown below:

5. SENSORS: Sensors are used in the setup in order to sense the cloth that is being ironed. A total of five sensors are used in order to make sure that

the iron plates do not come into contact with each other. . Here we are

using reflecting type Transceivers which continuously produce rays which

are absorbed by the cloth when the iron is above the cloth and are

reflected back by the other iron directly when the cloth gets over , in this

case a signal is send directly to the main controller to stop the motors

movement in that direction.

6. ROLLERS: DC motor operated Rollers are embedded inside each half of the bottom iron to help the movement of any cloth whose length is longer

than that of the board. The location of the roller is as shown-

Location of the DC motor that will drive it as shown-

7. FLEXIBILITY: This is one of the most important features that are added to this AIM. This will help in ironing the various types of designer clothes

and all other different varieties of clothes (thousands) that will not be ironed

by AIM. Here the upper iron can be completely detached off from the setup

and can be used as our usual house-hold iron as in the figure shown-

The main setup will be like-

WORKING:

1. The cloth is placed in the frame as shown in the figure:

2. Now after the cloth is placed as shown, we just need to push the button

to start the ironing the AIM. Adjust the temperature according to the

type of cloth and push the start button. The rest of the work is to be

completed by AIM within 25 to 30 seconds. The general Ironing pattern

of a cloth is as follows-

T-Shirt: The T-Shirt is done in the same way as mentioned above:

SHIRT: The procedure of ironing a shirt is somewhat different than that of a T-Shirt because of the presence of buttons on it. The main problem is

that the machine will not be able to identify whether a button is in front of

it and it will try to go over it just leading to damage to both the cloth and

itself. So for this, the simplest solution is that we can break apart the Iron in

two identical halves about the buttons where each is placed on each side

i.e. left and right side. At this point the effective number of irons becomes

FOUR not TWO (both irons are separated apart-up & down). Then the

ironing strategy that will be followed is as shown in figure-

MAIN TARGET GROUP-

Residential complex

Hospitals

Railways

Military forums- Army/Navy/Air-Force

More effective in places like hotels where clothes are to be ironed in huge

quantity.

Common mans house

MAIN ADVANTAGES-

Saves time.

Reduces human effort and increases efficiency.

Can iron a large number of clothes using minimum time and power.

Portable and easy to use.

REFERENCES:

Electrical Machines and Appliances Theory by Ms A.Sumathi and

Mr.R.Krishnakumar

The History of Irons Sad Iron, U.S. Patent 113, 448, April 4, 1871

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Electrical Machines, Drives and Power Systems by Theodore Wildi

University Physics by Hugh D. Young and Roger A. Freedman

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www.google.com

www.philips.com

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www.howstuffworks.com

www.naomoto.com

www.brighthubengineering.com

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