Dictionary

soleplate en · NOUN

Etymology

From sole + plate.

Meanings

1. The flat metal plate forming the underside of an iron (for ironing laundry).
   • On a flat iron three areas with different surface temperatures, different risks of burning and different possibilities of the application of protective measures can be distinguished: the soleplate, the handle and the intermediate area. 2022, Isak Karabegović, Ahmed Kovačević, Sadko Mandžuka, New Technologies, Development and Application, page 279:
   • For example, a nonstick soleplate or a control for a burst of steam adds about $2 to an iron's retail price. 1973, Electric Irons:
   • Thus, we need to change several product characteristics in our new design, such as weight of the iron, size of the soleplate, thickness of the soleplate, material used for the soleplate, number of holes, time required to heat up, and time required to cool down. 2019, Roberta S. Russell, Bernard W. Taylor, Operations and Supply Chain Management, page 178:
   • To clean the soleplate of an iron with a nonstick finish (such as Teflon), spray Shout stain remover on a damp, soft cloth and wipe the bottom of the cool, unplugged iron. 2010, Joey Green, Joey Green's Cleaning Magic, page 175:
2. A sole (timber).
3. The base timber in the framing for a wall, to which the studs or posts are attached and on which they rest.
   • Studs sit on the soleplate, generally every 16 inches on center. 2017, David Toht, 40 Projects for Building Your Backyard Homestead:
   • As Figure 5-1 illustrates, the T shore consists of a header to collect the load, a soleplate to distribute the load, wedges to adjust the post tightness, a post to absorb the load from the header and transfer it to the soleplate, two gusset plates to lock the header and post together and stop any shifting from occurring, and a 2 × 4 cleat anchored at the base to keep the wedges in position and lock the post into the soleplate. 2012, John O'Connell, Collapse Operations for First Responders, page 90:
   • For a longer wall, secure the soleplate in three places: at least 4 inches and at most 12 inches from each end and in the middle. Using a 1⁄2-inch drill bit, drill through the soleplate. 2012, Jeff Cox, Cellaring Wine:
4. The back wall of a bucket on a water wheel (which is omitted in certain designs).
   • As the water enters, the air in the bucket passes out through the opening in the soleplate, as shown by the arrows a, b, and as the bucket rises from the back-water, the air re-enters and prevents the water from rising with it, or, as the millwrights term it, prevents the bucket from sucking. 1869, Oliver Byrne, Ernest Spon, Spons' dictionary of engineering, page 2564:
   • The principle of the consruction of the buckets is more clearly shown on an enlarged scale in fig. 3, Plate III., the soleplate being abandoned and the bucket plates bent round and prolonged upwards so as to overlap one another, leaving an opening indicated by the arrows for the escape of the inclosed air. 1861, Sir William Fairbairn, Treatise on Mills and Mill Work, page 136:
   • Poncelet's water-wheel has buckets of a curvilinear form, open at the back, without a soleplate, to secure ventilation. 1888, Robert Hunter, The Encyclopædic Dictionary, page 301:
5. Any baseplate on which machinery rests, especially one to which things are bolted.
   • The amount of concrete removed should be such that the final baseplate or soleplate elevation allows for one to two inches of grout between the surface of the foundation and the lower baseplate flange or the underside of the soleplates. 1997, Heinz P. Bloch, Fred K. Geitner, Major Process Equipment Maintenance and Repair, page 10:
   • The keys or dowels that guide the frame are carefully positioned radially at each soleplate to align with the direction of thermally expanding frame while preventing any sideways motion from torque. 2020, Glenn Mottershead, Stefano Bomben, Isidor Kerszenbaum, Handbook of Large Hydro Generators: Operation and Maintenance, page 339:
   • They lined each cylinder on its soleplate section. They took it for granted that the rigid soleplate was as true as the keel beneath it. But the soleplate was not rigid and the keel was not true. 2022, Richard McKenna, The Sand Pebbles:
   • The various parts of the engine are secured to a casting called the soleplate, which rests on the engine foundation and is securely bolted thereto. 1907, John Duncan, Steam and Other Engines, page 11:
   • The foundation for the engine usually consists of long logs laid fore and aft, two on each side of the soleplate. 1917, John William Major Sothern, "Verbal" Notes and Sketches for Marine Engineers:
   • Alstom will install the Atlas 3 ETCS system which incorporates a new digital driver's dashboard, doppler radar and ETCS antennae beneath the soleplate, a new AWS/TPWS system, a European Vital Computer, onboard ETCS software, and software for a new train control monitoring system. 2022 November 2, Paul Stephen, “First '387/1' at Worksop for fitting of in-cab signalling”, in RAIL, number 969, page 11:
6. A flat surface on which the sole of the foot rests.
   • One binding, the Besser soleplate binding, has developed a system that actually can improve skiing performance under the stress of hard skiing. 1973 November, “Who Says a Ski Binding Can't Improve your Skiing.”, in Skiing, volume 26, number 3, page 129:
   • A clinical evaluation was conducted with a supracondylar socket with a Pe-Lite liner, mated to a hollow calf and a keel bonded to the flexible soleplate of an Otto Bock IS19 foot. 1983, Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development, page 10:
   • The user's feet are constrained on the soleplate by the toe band (h). The ankle spring (g) between the soleplate and the link is used for assisting ankle torque. 2010, Doina Pisla, Marco Ceccarelli, Manfred Husty, New Trends in Mechanism Science: Analysis and Design, page 321:

Forms