Patent Application
20240141580
This application is the U.S. national stage application of International Application PCT/NO2022/050054, filed Mar. 2, 2022, which international application was published on Sep. 9, 2022, as International Publication WO 2022/186697 in the English language. The International Application claims priority of Norwegian Patent Application Nos. 20210284, filed Mar. 3, 2021 and 20210426, filed Apr. 8, 2021. The international application and Norwegian applications are all incorporated herein by reference, in entirety.
The present invention relates to a dryer assembly. More specifically the invention relates to a dryer assembly including a housing with an air inlet and an outlet, the outlet being connectable to an adapter for distributing the air; the drying assembly further including a centrifugal impeller in the housing for generating a flow or air from the inlet to the outlet; and a control unit for controlling the impeller, and optionally a ceramic heating element, based on input from a user.
Efficient drying, storing and sanitizing of shoes, boots, mittens, gloves, etc. is a challenge. Dryers according to the prior art often have short drying cycles, low airflow and insufficient heat to dry shoes, gloves, etc. quickly and efficiently. The main drawback with current dryers is low air pressure, which means that the flow of air from the fan/impeller does not effectively blow into or through the garment, such as shoe or mitten, that it is intended to dry since it stops from the resistance at the intersection between the dryer and the garment. Attempts have been made to increase the airflow and air pressure in dryer apparatuses. This, however, has resulted in unacceptably high is noise levels. Another drawback found in some household dryer apparatuses according to the prior art is that mostly hose-based solutions have been available for bringing air to the garments/items that are to be dried, which is not practical for organizing and storing such items. Although the hose-based solutions may be adequate for shoes or boots, they cannot be used with other garments like moist or wet gloves, mittens, and clothes. Many dryers according to the prior art only offer drying at a fixed temperature with a binary on/off solution not taking into account that different types of garments may need to be dried at different temperatures. As an example, when drying leather gloves or shoes, the temperature should not be more than 37 degrees or sometimes even close to room temperature, while fast efficient drying of other garments may take place at 60 degrees or more. Further, bacteria and odour are a common problem with mittens and shoes, and is also not solved by current dryer systems. Bacteria thrive in moist and wet environments like boots and gloves. Yet another drawback with dryers according to the prior art is that they primarily use coil-based heating elements, which constitute a fire hazard, causing multiple house fires each year. Another drawback with conventional dryers is that un-used outlets still consume air.
CN 212560837 U discloses a dryer apparatus to which a shoe 5 dryer hose is attached.
The invention has for its object to remedy or to reduce at least one of the drawbacks of the prior art, or at least provide a useful alternative to prior art.
The object is achieved through features, which are specified in the description below and in the claims that follow.
The invention is defined by the independent patent claims. The dependent claims define advantageous embodiments of the invention.
The invention relates more specifically to a dryer assembly for drying garments, the dryer assembly comprising:
The dryer assembly may also include a ceramic heating element provided between the inlet and the outlet of the housing so that heated air may flow out from the housing and into the adapter However, in a simple embodiment, the dryer apparatus may simply be operating at room temperature, whereby no additional heating may be needed.
By the control unit being adapted to “regulate”, the control unit may at minimum switch on/off the assembly, either manually, timer-based and/or based on closed loop feedback on parameters such as temperature, pressure, and airflow. In one embodiment, the control unit may be adapted to switch off the dryer assembly if sensing an increased back-pressure in case of a full or partial blocking of one or more outlets. The control unit may also be used to set the heating element to different temperatures.
Conventional dryer assemblies, such as shoe dryers, normally use forwardly curved blades in their impellers, which generally produce higher airflows. Another benefit with these forwardly curved blade impellers is that they may operate at low speeds resulting in a low noise level. As such, using forwardly curved blades have been the obvious choice for such impellers. The present applicant has surprisingly found that once such dryer systems are exposed to pressure resistance, such as a shoe or a mitten placed over an outlet for drying, the performance/air flow drops drastically, significantly reducing the drying effect.
The use of backwardly curved blades in the impeller generates higher output pressures. By carefully optimizing the rotational frequency of the impeller, the present applicant has found that it is possible to deliver high airflows at high pressures while avoiding unacceptable noise levels.
Compared to dryers according to the prior art, the present dryer assembly generates a higher airflow at a higher pressure. With high air pressure the dryer will “push” the air into the fabric/garment of the item being dried and force the humidity out much more efficiently than previously known dryers.
The use of ceramic heating elements generally improves fire-safety by preventing over-heating in general. In addition, electronic power supply and other electronic components may be coated with fire-resistant gel to prevent electric arcs that can cause fires. In one embodiment, the ceramic heating element may be of the PTC (“positive thermal coefficient”) type, whereby a separate temperature controller for individual heating elements may not be needed. Still, as will be discussed below, temperature feedback from the outlet may be used to activate other or additional heating elements to maintain the output temperature at a desired level.
Different types of garments may require different temperature solutions; for example, leather and form-fit foam in ski boots may need a low temperature, ideally 37 degrees Celsius or room temperature during drying. In one embodiment, it may therefore be possible to set, via the control unit, the ceramic heating element to different power outputs, corresponding to different temperatures of the outlet air. Setpoints may e.g. be 37, 45 and/or 60 degrees. In one embodiment, the different setpoints may be reached by providing the dryer assembly with two or more ceramic heating elements arranged in parallel. In one embodiment, the dryer assembly may be provided with two ceramic heating elements arranged side-by-side or on top of each other, where either one or both heating elements may be activated to define three different temperature setpoints. This may include one small/low effect heating element for low temperature, a second high effect heating element for medium temperature and combining the first and second heating elements for a high temperature.
In one embodiment, the dryer assembly may be provided with a timer, e.g. 12 or 24 hours, so users can better customize drying time without restarting the timer.
In one embodiment, the dryer assembly may be provided with an ozonator that help remove both bacteria and odours by generating small quantities of ozone. In addition, or as an alternative, the dryer apparatus may be provided with an UV light source, typically near, but upstream of the outlet as an additional or alternative means for removing bacteria.
As an alternative or addition to an ozonator and/or UV light source, the dryer assembly may be provided with an air ioniser/ionic air cleaner to (further) improve removal of bacteria and other particles from the air. The air ioniser may be provided near, but upstream the outlet as an additional or alternative means for removing bacteria and other particles from the air.
They control unit may be provided with an adjustable timer so that the user can set the dryer time accordingly to the item being dried, such as long drying circles on low heat or shorter drying cycles on high heat. It may also turn the device off automatically when time ends.
The dryer assembly includes the possibility to mount and connect different drying adapters such as racks that can be wall mounted, or hung from a clothing rod, as well as different adapters such as hoses for drying boots, for drying clothes and tree structured racks for drying smaller items such as gloves and shoes.
The dryer may be provided with a control panel that can be rotated so the dryer/housing can be mounted on the top and bottom of the drying rack so the buttons and icons can be read the correct way.
The impeller may be driven by means of a brush-less direct current (BLDC) motor. BLDC motors may be made compact and durable and can run at very high rotational frequencies (RPM), much higher than motors operating directly from AC current. The dryer apparatus may typically then include an electronic power supply to transform and rectify incoming AC current e.g. as disclosed in GB 2357378 B to which reference is made for an in-depth disclosure of such electronic power supplies for centrifugal fans driven by BLDC motors from incoming AC current. The electronic power supply may be provided with fuses to prevent over-heaiting and fires.
As will be explained herein, the adapter may be provided in a variety of different forms implying that one and the same dryer/housing may be used together with different adapters. Some adapters may be intended to be placed on a floor, mounted to a wall, hanging like a coat hanger etc. The one or more outlets on the adapter may be formed in a rigid/stiff part of the adapter or the one or more outlets may be flexible, such as by the outlets being provided as hoses that may be stretched, bended, extended etc. to fit into shoes and boots. The hoses may be retracted to original size for compact storage.
In one embodiment, the adapter may be a tree-like structure, where the trunk of the tree defines an inlet on the adapter that is connected, directly or indirectly, to the outlet on the housing. Branches on the tree may include the one or more outlets where the garments to be dried may be hung on the branches so that they cover the outlets. In one embodiment each branch may be formed as a straight part with extending outwardly from the trunk and with one outlet at its distal end. In another embodiment, one or more branches may be formed with “sub-branches” splitting into several outlets such as by one or more branches being Y-shaped, whereby more garments may be dried and/or whereby individual garments may be dried more efficiently, such as by the thumb of a mitten being placed over one sub-branch. In yet another embodiment, one or more branches may be extendible, such as by being formed as a telescopic rod, whereby large garments may be placed on the extended branch. In one embodiment, one or more branches may be L-shaped to better adapted to the shape of a shoe that is to be dried.
In one embodiment, a central flow path in the adapter may be formed with 3-5 times, preferably around 4 times, the diameter of an outlet part connected to the central flow path. This has been shown to be particularly useful for maintaining a high flow of air through the adapter while maintaining sufficient pressure and avoiding noise effects. In one specific embodiment, where the adapter is a tree-like structure, the trunk may be formed with an internal diameter of 3-5 times, ideally around 4 times, that of the branches. In one specific embodiment, the trunk is formed with an inner diameter of about 40 mm, while the branches are formed with a diameter of about 10 mm. The adapter may be formed with two or more outlets, such as three, four or even more outlets. The tree-like adapter may be formed with 6, 8, 10 or even 12 or more branches including an outlet each, whereby a corresponding number of garments may be dried at the same time.
In one embodiment, the adapter may be provided with a hook in one end, so that it may be hung in at a wall, in a closet or similar. In another embodiment, the adapter may be mounted on a wall. The dryer may be provided at a top or bottom portion of the adapter. When provided at a top portion, this may be useful to avoid small children from reaching the control panel on the dryer/housing.
In one embodiment, the housing may be connected to an adapter in the form of a coat hanger into which air from the dryer apparatus may flow freely for quick and efficient drying of clothes such as shirts, jackets, etc through outlets in the coat hanger. The coat hanger and garment may be covered by a storage/dress bag having openings allowing air to pass through.
In one embodiment, one or more outlets on the adapter may be provided with a closing mechanism, such as a valve, to close it when it is not in use, whereby airflow through remaining/open outlets may be optimized.
In one embodiment, the adapter may be modular in the sense that further outlets parts may be added to or removed from the adapter while still maintaining its functionality. If the adapter is a tree-like structure, trunk portions/adapter units with one or more branches may be added to or removed from an already installed trunk portion to extend or shorten the adapter/tree.
The dryer apparatus according to the invention may be used together with different adapters at different times, whereby one and the same dryer apparatus may e.g. be released from a coat hanger or tree-based solution to dry shoes with flexible hoses.
In the following described examples of preferred embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:
In the following the reference numeral 1 will be used to denote a dryer, whereas reference numeral 10 refers to a dryer assembly according to the invention. The drawings are shown schematic and simplified, and various features therein are not necessarily drawn to scale.
The dryer 1 can act as a stand-alone unit or be attached to a drying adapter 44 so as to define a dryer assembly 10 as claimed herein. The transition piece 12 may be used so that one and the same dryer 1 may be applicable for use with different adapters 44. In
In
In
It should be noted that the above-mentioned embodiments illustrate rather than limit the invention, and that those skilled in the art will be able to design many alternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the appended claims. In the claims, any reference signs placed between parentheses shall not be construed as limiting the claim. Use of the verb “comprise” and its conjugations does not exclude the presence of elements or steps other than those stated in a claim. The article “a” or “an” preceding an element does not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements.
The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20210284 | Mar 2021 | NO | national |
| 20210426 | Apr 2021 | NO | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/NO22/50054 | 3/2/2022 | WO |
