EP0271453A1 - Clothes drying stand - Google Patents

Abstract

Drier comprises a rack (4) supported by crossed trestles (1) has longitudinal bars (6) which can shift laterally and end flaps with transverse bars which can pivot to hang down (10) or rest on top (9). The rack is pref. enclosed by a cover of fabric or film with holes (18) to allow ventilation, pref. through convection induced by an electrical heater (12) mounted under one end of the rack. Pref. the heater has a chamber to accommodate a block of material to adsorb or compensate for odours associated with pendant laundry.

Description

The object of the present invention is to produce a specific clotheshorse which is provided with a system suitable for installing electrical equipment for the circulation and possibly the heating of the air intended for drying the linen.

The design and practical structure of clotheslines are well known to any technician in the field. Such a device is normally intended for the suspension of leached laundry such as sheets, clothing, underwear or the like after they have been washed.

The drying rack is also used to hang laundry so that it loses the unpleasant characteristic odors that it previously absorbed by the fact of having been carried or of having been stored inside of drawers or the like.

In addition, a clotheshorse is still used for drying washed laundry.

The disadvantages encountered in the latter case are manifold; among these we can cite three as particularly remarkable, namely: 1) if the drying rack is exposed to the sun to be ventilated, it takes a certain time for the drying of the linen; 2) during this time, the linen tends to be covered with atmospheric dust, especially if it is spread in cities or other polluted atmospheres; 3) when the weather is rainy, humid, cold or windless, the laundry fails to dry.

Even in the case where a drying rack is used so that the linen loses its unpleasant odors, there are many disadvantages; among these we will mention the three most notable, namely: 1) it takes a significant time to obtain the desired goal which in any case is never completely achieved; 2) during this time the linen tends to be covered with atmospheric dust; 3) when the atmosphere in which the drying rack is used is polluted, the laundry tends to absorb other unpleasant odors.

• Fig. 1 montre une forme possible de réalisation de l'étendoir sui­ vant l'invention, étant toutefois observé que d'autres formes peuvent être adoptées sans sortir du domaine de l'invention.
• Fig. 2 représente l'étendoir complété par deux constituants indis­pensables à la mise en oeuvre de l'invention, à savoir l'appareillage électrique de ventilation et de chauffage et une enveloppe qui entoure l'étendoir.

The present invention tends to avoid the above-mentioned drawbacks.

• Fig. 1 shows a possible embodiment of the drying rack sui vant the invention, however it is observed that other forms can be adopted without departing from the scope of the invention.
• Fig. 2 shows the drying rack supplemented by two essential components for the implementation of the invention, namely the electrical ventilation and heating equipment and an envelope which surrounds the drying rack.

It should now be specified that the drying rack provided with a device suitable for mounting the electrical ventilation and heating equipment constitutes a claim of the present invention, this in order to rule out possible cases of counterfeiting.

The drying rack shown in fig. 1 essentially comprises two feet 1 and 2 for support on the ground, articulated to each other at 3, which allows the drying rack to be closed so that it occupies a minimum overall volume when it is not is not used.

The linen is hung on suitable threads, or on small tubes, or on profiles. These are fixed by their ends to frames which are in turn attached to the support legs 1 and 2.

These frames are hinged together using hinges or the like to allow the folding of the drying rack at the end of its use, to present the smallest possible footprint.

The frames are three in number, namely a horizontal frame 4 and two frames 5 provided at the ends of said frame 4. The bars 6 which are intended to support the laundry on the horizontal frame 4 are not rigidly fixed by their ends 7 to the latter, but are on the contrary capable of moving horizontally, parallel to one another, which makes it possible to adjust their spacing as a function of real needs and of the dimensions of the linen to be hung.

One of the ends of the two lateral frames 5 is hinged so that said frames can either be positioned as shown in FIG. 1, either be moved angularly according to the arrows 9 to come and fold horizontally above the central frame 4, or still be folded down to take the position illustrated in fig. 2 by rotation according to the arrows 10 in FIG. 1.

In fig. 1, there is indicated in 8 a simplified device for fixing an electrical apparatus for ventilation and heating. This device is positioned between the profiled cross member 8 and the cross member which supports the bars 6. This device has been shown at 12 in FIG. 2.

It should be noted that the device indicated in 8 in fig. 1 for fixing the electrical ventilation and heating equipment has been shown by way of nonlimiting example, in the sense that other embodiments and other systems can be adopted for attaching said equipment on the drying rack, it being recalled that the subject of the present invention is a drying rack suitably arranged to ensure, using hanging systems provided on said drying rack, the mounting of such electrical equipment.

Fig. 2 shows the drying rack or dryer according to fig. 1, whose side frames 5 have been folded vertically downwards. In the snatch of fig. 2, the electrical apparatus 12 has been shown. It comprises a box of parallelepipedal shape in the upper face of which the control and adjustment members 13 are placed, namely a general switch, an adjustment thermostat, a switch for electrical resistance heating and other operating devices.

In the wall of this housing are provided openings or slots 15 through which an interior fan draws in the air passing through the linen, this air, possibly but not necessarily heated by an electrical resistance itself mounted inside the housing , being forced back through the appropriate openings or slots made in the lower part 14 thereof.

The drying rack is equipped with an envelope 16 which surrounds it in its lower part and on its two sides; the surface of the ground thus ensures the closure of the interior volume which is then isolated from the atmosphere. The envelope 16 is suitably perforated on its lateral face 17 which faces the electrical equipment 12.

The openings 18 of the face 17 may have any dimensions or profiles and be positioned in any suitable manner, without departing from the scope of the present invention.

The laundry is placed on the bars 6 of the horizontal frame 4 according to fig. 1; we can see some of these bars 6 through the snatch of fig. 2.

As a result, the laundry is positioned in parallel planes oriented perpendicular to the suction face of the electrical appliance 12. When this appliance is put into operation, it creates an air circulation inside the defined volume. by the envelope 16. This air leaves the apparatus at 14 after having been vacuumed through the face 15, and it performs a substantially elliptical movement, crossing and licking the surface of the laundry.

The holes or openings 18 ensure the balancing of the internal and external pressures of the envelope.

This solution makes it possible to heat the same air almost continuously, so that the process becomes rapid and uniform throughout the internal volume. It follows that the laundry dries itself evenly and quickly, without coming into contact with the outside environment, thereby avoiding any risk of soiling or absorption of bad odors from the environment .

The above-exposed structure makes it possible to mount in the electrical ventilation and heating equipment a tank which has not been shown in FIG. 1 and 2 and which is capable of containing a perfumed or odoriferous substance which mixes with the air thereby giving the possibility of imparting a pleasant odor to the laundry. This adoption, which is obviously not compulsory, can be used both during the drying of leached laundry and for the deodorization of dry laundry; in the latter case, the heating resistor of the apparatus 12 can remain unused.

Claims (7)

1. Clothes line, characterized in that it comprises a system (8) capable of allowing the attachment of electrical equipment (12) for ventilation and possibly air heating. 2. Clothes drying rack according to claim 1, characterized in that it is surrounded by a suitable envelope (16) which covers its upper part and its lateral parts. 3. Clothes line according to any one of claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the envelope (16) is perforated at its side wall which faces the electrical ventilation and heating equipment (12). 4. Clothes line according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is equipped with an electrical ventilation and heating device (12) suitable for drying the laundry, so that said clothes line is capable of operating also as an electric dryer. 5. Clothes dryer forming an electric dryer according to claim 4, characterized in that the apparatus (12) sucks air at its perforated anterior face (15) and discharges it, possibly in the heated state, at level of its perforated underside (14). 6. Clothes rack according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the bars (6) provided in its horizontal frame (4) to form supports for the laundry are capable of moving parallel to each other in view of '' assign adjustable spacings. 7. Clothes drying rack forming an electric dryer according to any one of claims 4 to 6, characterized in that the electrical apparatus (12) is provided with a suitable reservoir intended to contain odoriferous substances for the laundry.

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