Electric iron having stacked thermostat assembly with integral

Abstract

An electrically heated appliance, such as a steam iron, is provided with an adjustable stacked thermostat assembly having an integrated overtemperature protection control. In the case of a steam iron, the thermostat assembly is mounted on a boss on the soleplate and includes a pair of contacts carried by spring contact blades and adapted to be actuated by a heat deformable bimetallic blade to make and break the circuit to the electric heating element of the iron. The overtemperature protection control includes an electrically conductive rivet electrically connected to one of the electrical power supply terminals of the iron and a U-shaped electrically conductive spring having a first end electrically connected to a conductive member in circuit with one of the spring contact blades and a second end soldered to the rivet by a solder joint fusible at a selected overtemperature to melt and break the circuit between the rivet and the spring. The spring extends generally perpendicular to the rivet axis and parallel to and adjacent the stacked assembly with the ends of the spring surrounding the rivet and with the second end of the spring electrically insulated therefrom by a shouldered insulator. By integrating the overtemperature protection control with the stacked thermostat assembly, the overtemperature protection control responds to the same heat as the deformable blade for faster and more accurate response.