The present disclosure relates to drying apparel and particularly apparel worn during sporting activities generating external or perspiration moisture on the apparel. Upon the wearer completing the sporting activities and removing the personal apparel, it is commonplace to store the apparel and associated equipment in a locker cabinet. The storage of this wetted apparel and equipment in a locker normally will not result in the apparel or garments drying sufficiently within an acceptable period of time to enable reuse. Heretofore, in order to provide the desired drying of the apparel after such sporting activity use, a separate dryer has been required for the apparel, before storage in a locker, with the associated sporting equipment, of necessity, being stored separately. This arrangement has not been deemed desirable and can result in lost apparel and equipment. Accordingly, it has been desired to provide a way or means of securely storing sporting apparel for drying after use along with the associated equipment in a secure facility and to simultaneously provide rapid drying of the wetted apparel.
The present disclosure provides a forced air drying cabinet of the type commonly referred to as a locker for drying and storage of wetted sporting apparel after use and includes provision for also storing equipment associated with the sporting activity such as, for example, skis or snowboards. The locker of the present disclosure is particularly suitable for drying boots, gloves, helmets, and coats associated with the sporting activity.
The combination forced air drying cabinet and storage unit of the present disclosure has a cabinet disposed over and supported on a plenum chamber containing a blower which, upon energization, provides forced air through apertures in the floor of the cabinet; and, a discharge vent is provided in the uppermost portion of the closure or locker door. The air discharge ports in the floor of the locker cabinet are provided with supports for such items as boots, gloves, and helmets, and in the illustrated version, the supports comprise tubes disposed over a plurality of discharge orifices. The closure for the cabinet includes a latching and locking mechanism; and, the vent in the closure is provided with a plurality of louvers. In the illustrated version, the floor of the locker cabinet is provided with a well which extends downwardly into the plenum chamber below the floor, the well is configured to be suitable for having an end of items such as skis or skateboards disposed therein for maintaining such items in the desired position within the locker to facilitate and not interfere with rapid drying of the garments disposed therein and to maximize space for garments. The plenum has a blower disposed therein with a blower air inlet provided through the wall of the plenum such that, upon energization, the blower forces air, which may be warmed by a heater, upwardly through the support tubes and into the interior of the cabinet, flowing upwards to discharge through the vent in the upper region of the closure. The drying cabinet of the present disclosure thus provides for rapid drying of wetted apparel and garments disposed therein and for storage of associated sporting equipment in a manner which combines the drying function with secure storage.
Referring to
The floor 16 includes a panel 24 attached to the side panels 12, 14 and back panel 22 as shown in
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It will be understood that if desired, the blower 58 may include a heating element (not shown) to warm the air discharged upwardly through the tubes 35, 36, 38, 40. The door or closure 18 has an aperture 15 provided therein adjacent the margin thereof into which may be conveniently mounted suitable latching and locking mechanism 19.
In operation, the blower 58 creates a sufficient pressure within the interior of the plenum 46 so as to cause air to be discharged upwardly through the tubes into the interior of the cabinet. Moistened air flows outwardly through the louvered vents 28, thereby effecting rapid drying of wetted garments disposed in the interior of the locker cabinet. The well 34 provides a suitable locator for positioning associated sporting items such as skis along with the wetted garments during drying to conveniently combine the two functions.
The exemplary embodiment has been described and illustrated with reference to the drawings. Obviously, modifications and alterations will occur to others upon reading and understanding the preceding detailed description. It is intended that the exemplary embodiment be construed as including all such modifications and alterations insofar as they come within the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.