Patents by Inventor Klaus Hoefer

Klaus Hoefer has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 6035563
    Abstract: An electric iron has a soleplate with a front tip and at least one passage for a liquid stored in a liquid tank system for wetting an article to be ironed. The passage is arranged in the area of the front tip symmetrically to a central line which starting from the front tip divides the soleplate in the middle. The liquid exits the passage in the form of liquid droplets generated by a piezoelectrically driven sprayer arranged above the soleplate. The electric iron is characterized in that the sprayer (12, 13, 14, 29) has at least one piezoelectrically driven thin membrane plate (12) with a plurality of spraying holes (24) associated with the respective passage (11) of the soleplate (6) and having a mean clear width from 30 to 100 .mu.m. The number of spraying holes (24) is selected to ensure that the amount of liquid dispensed through the soleplate (6) does not exceed about 8 g/minute. The passages (11) are maximum 10 mm wide, whatever their length.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 23, 1999
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2000
    Assignee: Rowenta-Werke GmbH
    Inventors: Klaus Hoefer, Andreas Walther