Ironing board assembly magnetically connectable to a household appliance

Abstract

There is provided an ironing board assembly. The assembly includes a planar member having a bottom and a top upon which an item of clothing may be ironed. The assembly includes a pair of spaced-apart, horizontally-extending supports coupled to the bottom of the planar member. The supports are elongate in the longitudinal direction. The supports have bottoms which are spaced-apart from the planar member. The supports function to elevate the planar member to enable the item of clothing to at least partially extend around the planar member. The assembly includes magnets coupled to the bottoms of respective ones of the supports. The magnets enable the ironing board assembly to selectively magnetically connect to a surface made of a ferromagnetic material.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An ironing board assembly comprising:
 a planar member having a bottom and a top upon which items may be ironed;   at least one horizontally-extending support having a bottom and a top coupled to the bottom of the planar member; and   a magnet operatively connected to the bottom of the at least one horizontally-extending support.   
     
     
         2 . The assembly as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the support is substantially a rectangular prism in shape. 
     
     
         3 . The assembly as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the support is u-shaped in top profile. 
     
     
         4 . The assembly as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the magnet is part of a magnetic strip. 
     
     
         5 . The assembly as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the top of the support is arcuate shaped and wherein the bottom of the support is planar. 
     
     
         6 . The assembly as claimed in  claim 1 , the items to be ironed being clothing, and wherein the assembly further includes a second magnet and a second horizontally-extending support having a bottom to which the second magnet couples and a top coupled to the bottom of the planar member, the magnets enabling the ironing board assembly to selectively magnetically connect to a surface made of a ferromagnetic material, the supports being elongate in the longitudinal direction, and the supports functioning to elevate the planar member to enable the clothing to at least partially extend around the planar member. 
     
     
         7 . The assembly as claimed in  claim 6  wherein the magnets are coextensive with the bottoms of the supports. 
     
     
         8 . The assembly as claimed in  claim 6  wherein the planar member comprises a pair of spaced-apart, longitudinally-extending frame members each of which is spaced-apart outwardly from an adjacent one of the supports and wherein the planar member comprises a pair of spaced-apart, laterally-extending frame members which couple to and extend between the longitudinally-extending frame members and the supports. 
     
     
         9 . The assembly as claimed in  claim 6  wherein the planar member includes a rigid peripheral portion which is outwardly spaced-apart from the supports and wherein the planar member includes at least one rigid laterally-extending portion which is coupled to the peripheral portion and which extends between and couples to the supports. 
     
     
         10 . The assembly as claimed in  claim 6  wherein the planar member includes a pair of rigid, spaced-apart, laterally-extending frame members and wherein each of the supports has a pair of spaced-apart recesses extending downwards from a top thereof, the recesses of the supports being shaped to receive respective ones of the laterally-extending frame members. 
     
     
         11 . In combination, an appliance having a top and the ironing board assembly as claimed in  claim 1 , the magnet of the ironing board assembly being configured to selectively magnetically adhere to the top of the appliance, the appliance being one of a dryer machine and a washing machine. 
     
     
         12 . An ironing board assembly comprising:
 a frame assembly having a top and a bottom spaced-apart from the top, and comprising a pair of spaced-apart end members, a pair of spaced-apart longitudinally-extending members coupled to and extending between the end members and a pair of spaced-apart, laterally-extending members interposed between the end members, the laterally-extending members coupling to and extending between the longitudinally-extending members;   a mesh extending along the top of the frame assembly and upon which an item of clothing may be ironed;   a pair of spaced-apart, horizontally-extending supports coupled to the bottom of the frame assembly, the supports having bottoms spaced-apart from the frame assembly; and   at least one magnet coupled to the bottom of a respective one of the supports for magnetically coupling the ironing board assembly to a top of a household appliance.   
     
     
         13 . The assembly as claimed in  claim 12  wherein the supports have tops spaced-apart from the bottoms, wherein the top of the frame assembly aligns with the tops of the supports and wherein the tops of the supports couple to and provide further support to the mesh. 
     
     
         14 . The assembly as claimed in  claim 12  wherein the supports extend longitudinally from near a first one of the end members of the frame assembly to near a second one of the end members of the frame assembly, wherein the supports are spaced-spaced inwardly from the end members of the frame assembly and wherein the supports are spaced-apart inwardly from the longitudinally-extending members of the frame assembly. 
     
     
         15 . The assembly as claimed in  claim 12  wherein at least one of the supports has an aperture extending therethrough, the aperture being shaped to receive an electrical cord therethrough. 
     
     
         16 . The assembly as claimed in  claim 12  further including a receptacle for storing a clothes iron, the receptacle slidably connecting to the supports and being moveable from a retracted position in which the receptacle is substantially disposed between the supports to an extended position in which the receptacle extends substantially away from the supports. 
     
     
         17 . The assembly as claimed in  claim 12  wherein the household appliance is a clothes dryer having a width and wherein the assembly has a length extending between the end members of the frame assembly which is substantially equal to or less than the width of the clothes dryer. 
     
     
         18 . A magnetic mounting accessory for an ironing board assembly, the ironing board assembly including a base, the accessory being elongate, having a recessed portion shaped to receive at least a portion of the base of the ironing board assembly, having an elongate bottom, and including a magnet coupled to said bottom, the magnet enabling the ironing board assembly to selectively magnetically connect to a surface made of a ferromagnetic material. 
     
     
         19 . The accessory as claimed in  claim 18 , wherein the accessory is substantially a rectangular prism in shape and wherein the recessed portion of the accessory is shaped to press fit with said portion of the base of the ironing board assembly. 
     
     
         20 . The accessory as claimed in  claim 18 , wherein the accessory comprises two parts which are extendable about said portion of the base of the ironing board assembly, a first of the parts including a latch and a second of the parts having a recess shaped to receive the latch when the parts of the accessory so extend about the portion of the base of the ironing board assembly.