Patent Application
20120137534
The present invention relates generally to an apparatus for drying clothes. The invention has been developed primarily for drying domestic laundry and will be described predominantly in that context. It should be appreciated, however, that the invention is not limited to this particular operating environment. In particular, it is applicable to other textiles, materials or products and may be adaptable to other fields of use.
The following discussion of the prior art is provided in order to place the invention in an appropriate technical context and allow the advantages of it to be more fully appreciated by those skilled in the art. However, it should be understood that any reference to prior art in this specification is not an express or implied admission that such art is widely known or forms part of common general knowledge in the field.
The primary purpose of clothes dryers is to remove moisture, either partially or completely, from clothing or other textiles. One well-known form of clothes dryer is the electric tumble dryer. While these dryers are relatively compact and effective in most weather conditions, they are notoriously inefficient and are characterised by high energy consumption—using up to 15 times the energy of an electric washing machine per cycle. This energy consumption gives rise to significant operating costs in the form of increased electric power bills, as well as adverse environmental impacts flowing from the cumulative impact of excessive energy consumption over sizeable urbanised populations. It is well known, for example, that energy consumption in the residential sector is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in most developed countries. It is also well known that this form of drying can adversely affect the appearance and significantly shorten the life of clothes, due to shrinkage of, and general wear and tear on, the constituent fabrics.
Line drying of clothes is also known, in both indoor and outdoor environments. For example, the rotary clothes line is a common feature of backyards of many suburban environments. These outdoor clotheslines consume no power and are therefore useful in reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. They are also less damaging to clothes over the long term. However, they suffer from a number of inherent disadvantages. Firstly, they require a substantial amount of outdoor space in order to operate effectively, which this is not available in many environments. This is particularly so in densely populated cities, for example, where land is either unavailable or prohibitively expensive, and apartment living is prevalent. This mode of drying is also heavily weather dependent, being ineffective in conditions of rain or snow, and only partially effective in high humidity.
In order to ameliorate some of these limitations, indoor clothes drying racks and lines have also been developed in a wide variety of shapes and configurations, often foldable to facilitate flat storage when not in use. Again, however, they suffer from a number of significant disadvantages. They are typically awkward to handle, especially while juggling wet laundry in one hand and the clothes rack in another. They are also often unstable, particularly when loaded with wet laundry or when positioned in windy locations. Furthermore, they are typically unattractive aesthetically, relatively inefficient in terms of space utilisation, and are often prone to a short effective life due to inferior design, construction or material selection. They are also somewhat dependent upon climatic conditions, being relatively slow to dry clothes, in conditions of low temperature and/or high humidity.
Moreover, many of these problems are likely to become increasingly significant in the future as energy costs rise, population densities increase, land becomes less available, residential space becomes more expensive and sensitivities to environmental impacts are heightened.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome or ameliorate one or more of the disadvantages of the prior art, or at least to provide a useful alternative.
Accordingly, in a first aspect, the invention provides a clothes drying apparatus including:
a base adapted for engagement with a lower support surface;
a lower housing;
a height adjustable extension element having an upper end adapted for engagement with an upper support surface;
a selectively releasable locking mechanism adapted to secure the extension element in adjusted positions such that the apparatus in use extends in a generally vertical orientation between the lower and upper support surfaces; and
a plurality of support arms extending generally outwardly to support clothes for drying.
In one preferred embodiment, the lower support surface is a floor and the upper support surface is a ceiling of a room in which the apparatus is intended to be used.
In one embodiment, the support arms are detachable, each preferably incorporating a locating formation adapted for releasable engagement with complementary formations on the extension element.
In one embodiment, the lower housing incorporates the base and preferably also includes a heater adapted to facilitate drying of clothes on the support arms.
In one embodiment, the apparatus further includes an upper housing disposed immediately above and connected to the lower housing. In one embodiment, the upper housing is adapted telescopically to support the extension element, thereby to provide the height adjustment mechanism.
In one embodiment, the locking mechanism includes a plurality of circumferentially spaced apart, axially extending tapered locking fingers surrounding the extension element, and a threaded locking ring. The locking ring is preferably adapted upon rotation to progressively urge the tapered locking fingers into locking frictional engagement with the extension element, thereby to secure the extension element in the adjusted position.
In one embodiment, the apparatus further includes a support frame releasably connected to or adjacent the base. Preferably, the support frame includes four support legs disposed uniformly around the base, and a support ring disposed coaxially around the lower housing. In one embodiment, each support leg includes a support foot adapted for non-slip engagement with the floor, a lower connecting formation adapted for releasable engagement with the lower housing, and an upper connecting formation adapted for releasable engagement with the upper housing.
In one embodiment, the heater includes a heating cartridge comprising an electrical heating element, a fan, a heat deflecting cone, and a perforated outer casing. The heating cartridge is preferably arranged such that air heated by the heating element is directed outwardly through the perforated casing under the combined action of the fan in the deflecting cone, such that the hot air emanating from the heating cartridge rises upwardly under convection to dry the clothes on the support arms extending radially outwardly from the extension element. In one embodiment, the apparatus also includes a filter unit adapted to filter air drawn into the heating cartridge.
In some embodiments, additional support arms may also be positioned on the upper housing and/or the lower housing. In some embodiments, multiple heating cartridges, and/or multiple extension elements may also be provided.
In one embodiment, two or more clothes drying apparatus maybe provided together with intermediate drying lines, drying arms or drying rods extending between them, to accommodate additional clothes.
In one embodiment, the apparatus includes a biasing mechanism operable to provide positive compressive engagement between the upper end of the extension element and the upper support surface. The biasing mechanism may take a number of forms including a spring, a selectively operable camming mechanism, an over-centring mechanism or the like, configured to apply a residual compressive engagement force on the upper and lower support surfaces after the locking mechanism has been activated, to help stabilise the apparatus in situ.
In some embodiments, complementary locating formations may be additionally or alternatively be provided on the upper and/or lower support surfaces for enhanced stability and security.
In some embodiments, a control system is provided to deactivate the heater after a predetermined (and optionally user-adjustable) period of time has elapsed and/or when a predetermined (and optionally user-adjustable) ambient or internal threshold temperature has been reached.
In some embodiments, the control system optionally also includes safety cut-out switches adapted for automatic deactivation of the heater in the event of smoke, fire, excessive temperature, excessive operation time, electrical short-circuit or other predetermined safety criteria.
According to a second aspect, the invention provides a clothes drying apparatus including:
a base adapted for engagement with a lower support surface;
a lower housing;
a height adjustable extension element;
a selectively releasable locking mechanism adapted to secure the extension element in adjusted positions such that the apparatus in use extends in a generally vertical orientation; and
a plurality of support arms extending generally outwardly to support clothes for drying.
Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
Referring to the drawings, the invention provides a clothes drying apparatus 1 particularly suited for drying domestic laundry 2 in relatively confined spaces. The apparatus 1 will be described hereinafter with reference to its use in an interior room of a residential dwelling such as a house or apartment. However, it will be appreciated that the apparatus is not limited to this specific application and could readily be used in a wide variety of other textile drying applications, including commercial applications, and could also be adapted for use in external environments.
As shown in
The apparatus 1 includes a base 3 adapted for engagement with the floor of the room. As most clearly shown in
The base 3 is preferably formed as an injection moulded polypropylene component, the underside of which incorporates a receiving formation such as a cavity 6, adapted to press-fittingly receive and locate the support pad 5. The support pad 5 is preferably a compression moulded ethylene-vinyl acetate component.
A lower housing 7 in the form of an aluminium tube having a lower, internally threaded portion 8 is threadedly connected to the base 3 so as to extend upwardly therefrom. As will be described in greater detail below, the threaded engagement between the base 3 and lower housing 7 advantageously allows the base 3 to be readily detached to enable access to, and cleaning of, components housed within the lower housing.
As most clearly shown in
A height adjustable extension element in the form of an elongate aluminium pole 10 is supported within the upper housing 9. The extension element 10 is adapted for telescopic inter-engagement with the upper housing 9 to provide a height adjustment mechanism for the apparatus.
With reference to
To secure the extension element 10 in adjusted positions, a selectively releasable locking mechanism 13 is connected to the upper end of the upper housing 9. As most clearly shown in
As best seen in
In the illustrated embodiment, as most clearly shown in
Each support leg 18 is formed from a metal rod, preferably formed from steel or aluminium but other materials such as plastic, fibreglass or carbon fibre may alternatively be used. Each leg has a lower end 19 adapted for engagement with the lower housing 7 and an upper end 20 adapted for engagement with the upper housing 9. The lower and upper housings (7, 9) respectively have four circumferentially spaced sockets 21 for releasably receiving the lower and upper ends (19, 20) of the legs 18. To improve the structural integrity of the support frame, the ends (19, 20) of each leg 18 are preferably fitted with a magnetic plug-type element. An oppositely poled magnet is associated with each socket 21 to hold the respective support leg in place. As most clearly shown in
As best seen in
In the illustrated embodiment, the lower housing 7 contains several electrical components including a heater adapted to facilitate drying of clothes hung on the support arms. With reference to
The heating cartridge 8 is arranged such that air heated by the heating element 25 is directed upwardly and outwardly through the perforated casing 28 under the combined action of the fan 10 and the deflecting cone 27. The hot air emanating from the heating cartridge 24 then rises upwardly under convection and disperses so as to dry the clothes 2 on the support arms 16 extending radially outwardly from the extension pole 10.
The lower housing 7 also incorporates an air intake opening 28 and an associated air intake filter unit 29, as best seen in
The invention in various embodiments thus overcomes a number of problems. Because of its generally upright orientation, it is highly space-efficient, requiring only a small “footprint” and is therefore suitable for even highly confined internal spaces. The adjustment mechanism makes it not only readily adaptable for use in rooms of different heights, but also able to optimally utilise all of the available height for drying. In conditions amenable to natural drying, the heater need not be activated, in which case no power at all is required. Even when the heater is activated to accelerate the drying process, the relatively high efficiency inherent in the overall design, relying heavily on natural convection for air circulation, results in minimal power consumption. By firmly engaging both the floor and the ceiling of the room, the apparatus is inherently stable and secure even when fully loaded with laundry, notwithstanding its compact footprint. By removing the lower support frame and the drying arms, the apparatus can be stored in a highly compact configuration when not in use, and then very quickly reassembled when required. It is ergonomic to use and aesthetically pleasing. In these and other respects, at least in its preferred embodiments, the invention thus represents a practical and commercially significant improvement over the prior art.
Although the invention has been described with reference to specific examples, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the invention may be embodied in many other forms.
