The present invention relates to an apparatus configured for drying washed cloth naturally.
Delicate garment are hand washed and air-dried. The prior art is replete with various configurations of laundry hangers and drying racks, which dry clothing naturally in the air or under the sun. Applicant's pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/041,434 discloses a low cost, moisture resist adjustable garment hanger suitable for drying wet garment and better maintaining the garment shape.
Used and soiled clothes are mostly cleaned by dry cleaning or by a water washing process. Dry clean clothing in volume is relatively expensive as compared with washing clothing by water. There are also evidences that the traditional dry cleaning process is causing environmental issues. While most clothes are water washed by washing machine and then dried with a heated dryer, the rotational and spinning motions of a washing machine and cloth dryer contribute to a harsh environment that easily damages delicate clothing. In addition, the elevated temperature of a dryer is also causing shrinkage of clothing made by cotton and many other commonly used fabric materials. Accordingly, hand wash and air-drying is still a popular way to clean delicate clothes.
The present invention is directed to an improved garment drying apparatus configured for significantly reducing deformation of the garment caused by traditional air-drying process.
According to one aspect of the present invention, it is provided a supporting frame made of plastic tube or metallic rods. In an exemplary embodiment, four segments of supporting rods are connected end to end to form a square or rectangular frame. The junctions of the rods are designed for fast attach or release by consumers to transform between a larger size drying mode and a reduced size storage mode. A garment hanger having a medial portion and two supporting arms extending at an obtuse angle from said medial portion is fixedly attached to the central position of the upper rod. Alternately the upper location of the frame is provided a receiving member structured to receive the hook, or the suspension member of a separated garment hanger. This receiving member is positioned around the center location of the upper supporting rod. A sheet of porous material such as a fabric net is stretched and mounted in between the supporting rods. At the bottom of the frame are slip proof pads provided to prevent the frame to skid against the floor. The frame is designed to rest at an acute angle from the supporting floor, within an angular range between 45 degree to 80 degree. In a preferred embodiment, the frame is configured to rest against a wall to provide the resting angle defined. If a supporting wall is not available, other supporting structure is provided behind the supporting frame so that it can rest at an angle from the floor, or a supporting surface.
Washed wet cloth without being squeezed or twisted, is gently hung on a waterproof garment hanger positioned around the upper edge of the frame. Wood hanger is not recommended due to the wet nature of the clothing supported. Metal wire hanger that tends to rust is also not suitable for this application. If the supporting hanger is a separated external hanger, the wet cloth is properly arranged on the hanger before it is attached to the receiving member located at the upper central position of the supporting frame. The next step is to evenly stretch and spread the wet cloth on the surface of the porous supporting sheet. Because of the surface tension provided by the water content of the wet cloth, the wet cloth will adhere firmly to the porous sheet until it is dried. The supporting frame is then rest at an acute angle from a supporting surface, such as a floor or a bathtub. The time required for this natural drying process depends on the relative humidity of the environment, the speed of air movement around and the amount of sunlight available. During the initial period of this natural drying process, water content of the wet cloth starts to cumulate at the bottom portion of the cloth due to gravitational force. When a wet cloth is supported by a regular hanger and air dried as in the traditional drip dry process, the high water content cumulated at the bottom of the cloth creates a high downward pulling force that may damage the fabric of the cloth. This lasting downward pulling force significantly deforms the shape of the cloth after it is dried. When a fixed width garment hanger is used in the traditional drying process, it is impossible for a single hanger to provide a supporting width that always perfectly matches the shoulder dimensions of different clothing sizes. As a result, ugly looking dents caused by the high downward pulling force are found at the shoulder areas of the cloth after it is dried. Accordingly it is another goal of this invention to provide a one stop, deformation free solution for the natural air-drying process.
In order to achieve this goal, a perfect adjustable width garment hanger is provided with the invented drying frame to form a retail package. The garment hanger is preferred to be adjustable from XS size to XXL sizes, so that clothes of all sized can be dried with the retail package provided. The adjustment mechanism is structured to provide the same amount of extension adjustment to both shoulder arms of the hanger. The preferred adjustment mechanism also allows the hanger to be adjusted to any required supporting width, instead of providing different preset steps of adjustment dimensions. Furthermore, the adjustable hanger is preferred to be adjustable while the wet cloth is put on the hanger.
In a preferred embodiment, the adjustable width garment hanger integrally assembled with the dryer frame, or packaged with the retail kit to form a perfect air-drying solution is equipped with an adjustment mechanism located at the medial portion of the hanger. This mechanism translates the movement of a moving hanger arm located at one side of the hanger, to the moving hanger arm located on the other side of the hanger. Alternatively, the adjustment mechanism is also equipped with an adjustment knob located at the medial portion of the hanger. Both moving hanger arms are moved inward or outward by the same amount when the adjustment knob is turned. These types of adjustment mechanisms are defined as a reciprocal adjustment mechanism in this invention. A reciprocal adjustment mechanism controlled by a centralized adjustment knob has a significant advantage that it allows the supporting width of the drying hanger to be adjusted for a perfect fit after the wet cloth is put on the drying hanger. In a preferred embodiment disclosed in applicant's pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/041,434, two flexible tongues having gears facing in opposite directions are connected to each of the movable supporting arms of the hanger. The gear tongues are then coupled to a gear mechanism that translates the motion of one movable arm to another. An adjustable knob located at the medial portion of the hanger is coupled to one of the adjustment gear so that the hanger width can be adjusted by rotating the adjustment knob.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a thin sheet of porous material is pre-assembled at the factory together with at least one the supporting rods. The porous sheet is then wrap around the bundled supporting rods to form a space saving packaging for retail purpose. In yet another embodiment the porous sheet is folded separately at the factory. Releasable Velcro attachments positioned around the edges of the porous sheet can be provided to facilitate the user to assemble the frame for a drying mode or disassemble the unit to form a smaller size storage mode. The porous sheet is defined as a sheet of material that allows air and water to pass through. Typical examples of porous sheet are nylon net or other porous fabric material suitable for manufacturing laundry accessories. A container is provided at the bottom of the drying frame to collect the water flowing downward along the porous sheet.
Following is a disclosure of the working principle of this improved drying apparatus that supports the wet cloth at an angle on a porous sheet. During the earlier stage of the drying process, instead of cumulating water at the bottom portion of the cloth, water content of the cloth is directed to the porous sheet and continues its drain along the porous sheet to the container beneath. The porous sheet provides a continuation downward flowing path for the water content that is driven by gravitation force. Drawing the concentration of water content away from the lower portion of the wet cloth significantly reduce the deformation issue and speed up the air-drying process. Since the wet cloth is properly shaped to stick with the porous sheet behind, it is often found that the cloth is in perfect shape and iron free after drying. The inclined angle of the drying frame is important. If the drying frame is positioned at 90 degree from the horizontal ground, like a picture frame, the process to direct the water content of the wet cloth to the porous sheet is inefficient. If the drying frame is positioned completely horizontal, most of the water content of the wet cloth will spread evenly around at the opposite side of the porous sheet and stay there instead of being directed into the collecting container. Therefore the drying time will take much longer. The optimal angle is to have the frame positioned close to 90 degree from the horizontal level but not exactly vertical. Since the addition of the wet cloth to the front side of the support frame shifted the center of gravity of the frame towards the front side, a selection of angle between 45 degree to 80 degree will provide reasonable satisfactory result.
In yet a further embodiment, multiple drying frames are arranged to be stacked one on top of another so that several clothes can be dried at the same time without occupying too much space. The slip proof bottom pads or the water collection container are shaped to accept multiple drying frames and keep the space therebetween. Properly designed spacer is also required at the upper portion to maintain the space between the frames. In an alternate design, the receiving member that receives the hook of the air-drying hanger is shaped to provide the spacer function.
If the drying apparatus is used outdoor, it is important to have the wet cloth firmed attached to the drying frame so that it will not be blown away by wind. Reliable frame supporting design and/or heavier dummy weight located at the bottom of the drying apparatus are also required to prevent the whole drying frame to be blown away. In a preferred embodiment to serve this purpose, the suspension member, or the hook of the drying hanger is designed to be in a close loop shape. The suspension member of the hanger is then unremovably attached to the receiving member. At the bottom of the frame two clips are provided to secure the bottom portion of the wet cloth. The clips are attached to the lower portion of the frame either being an integral part of the frame or connected by a string. It should be noted that the embodiments described are exemplary to implement the disclosed theory and different alternate designs can be provided according to the spirit of the invention.
From the foregoing, an invention is disclosed to provide a retail kit of universal drying apparatus to perfectly air-dry delicate clothes of different sizes. The novel features of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention will be best understood from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
The garment hanger 321 comprises a triangular frame and two movable arms 322 and 323 located at the two sides of the hanger. Beneath the medial portion 327 of the adjustable hanger 321 is a manual adjustment knob 328 that adjusts the movement of the moving arms 322 and 323. The location of the adjustment knob 328 enables the movable arms 322 and 323 of the hanger to be adjusted even when a wet cloth is placed onto the hanger 321. Attention is now directed to
Attention is now directed to
Attention is now directed to
In order to have a drying area adequate to support most lady size garments, the dimension of the garment drying apparatus is recommended not to be less than 20 inches in width and 30 inches in height. A reasonable dimension chosen for household use is 30 inch by 36 inches for the air-drying apparatus to work with clothes size ranges from XS to XXL sizes. It is another goal of the subject invention to provide an air-drying apparatus that can be easily folded by users to form a smaller size storage mode and expanded by users to provide a larger size drying mode.
From the foregoing it should now be recognized that embodiments of a retail kit of air-drying apparatus have been disclosed herein especially suited for eliminating the common problems encountered by the traditional air-drying process. All essential components required to support clothes of different sizes are provided in this total solution air-drying kit.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20040129659 A1 | Jul 2004 | US |