Patent Application
20130228540
The present invention relates to a laundry hanger, and more particularly, to a laundry hanger having a stand that may be drawn out forward in a sliding manner between legs of the laundry hanger or may be detached from the legs of the laundry hanger so as to put a laundry basket on the stand or to further hang out additional laundry on the stand.
Recently, laundry drying is achieved by using a hanger placed indoors or on a balcony. As shown in
The hanger members 12 have hanging elements 14 arranged at an interval to substantially dry the laundry.
Further, the pair of hanger members 12 are pivoted upward or downward with respect to the supporting members 11. Here, to control the pivot angles of the hanger members 12, upper ends of distance-adjusting members 15 hingedly connected to the supporting members 11 are positioned at the hanging elements 14.
However, since the size of the hanger members 12 is constantly fixed and the interval or length of the hanging elements 14 is also constantly fixed in the existing laundry hanger 10 configured as described above, there are problems in that it is not possible to effectively cope with changes in the kind, size or amount of the laundry, and the amount of the laundry that may be accommodated on the laundry hanger is relatively small in comparison with the external size of the laundry hanger.
Moreover, such a laundry hanger 10 and a washing machine (or a washing place) are generally provided at separate spaces, and the laundry that has been washed is put in a laundry basket to be carried to a space in which the laundry hanger 10 has been placed, and is then hung out on the laundry hanger 10. During this procedure, in order to hang out the laundry, which has been put in the laundry basket placed on the floor, on the laundry hanger 10, the action for bending and stretching one's back should be repeated, thereby inducing back pains and discomfort.
In addition, when the laundry is hung out on the laundry hanger, a load leans too much on an upper portion of the laundry hanger, causing a problem in that the laundry hanger may be easily fallen down due to an external force (wind pressure or touch).
Accordingly, the present invention is to solve the aforementioned problems. To this end, an object of the present invention is to provide a laundry hanger in which a stand capable of allowing laundry to be hung out thereon can be slid or detached depending on the kind or amount of laundry, thereby drying more laundry.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a laundry hanger in which a laundry basket can be put thereon.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a laundry hanger in which the distance between supporting points that are in contact with a floor can be extended as desired, thereby preventing the laundry hanger from being fallen down.
The laundry hanger of the present invention includes a supporting means, a hanging means, an angle-adjusting means, a stand means, and a fastening means. The supporting means has a pair of legs and can be collapsed. The hanging means allows laundry to be hung out thereon and has a pair of hanger members pivotably coupled to the supporting means. The angle-adjusting means can adjust pivot angles of the hanger members with respect to the supporting means while supporting the hanger members. The stand means has a rest, which is to be positioned between the pair of legs and allows laundry to be hung out thereon, and a stand leg for supporting the rest. The fastening means fastens the rest to the pair of legs such that the rest can be slid between the legs.
Further, in the laundry hanger, the supporting means preferably further includes a pair of pivot brackets spaced apart at a predetermined interval, wherein the pair of legs and the pair of hanger members are pivotably coupled to the pair of pivot brackets. In this case, each of the legs has a pair of supporting frames spaced apart at a predetermined interval with ends of the supporting frames pivotably coupled to the respective pivot brackets, and a fastening bar for connecting the supporting frames such that the fastening means can be fastened to the fastening bar. Each of the hanger members has a wing frame with both ends thereof pivotably connected to the respective pivot brackets, and hanging elements connected to the wing frame so as to allow laundry to be hung out on the hanging elements.
Further, in the laundry hanger, the fastening means preferably has a plurality of engagement brackets, wherein each of the engagement brackets has one side pivotably coupled to the fastening bar and the other side coupled to the rest, and at least one of the one side and the other side is coupled in a detachable manner.
Further, in the laundry hanger, it is preferable that the rest is foldably hinge-coupled.
Alternatively, in the laundry hanger, it is possible that the fastening means has a plurality of engagement brackets, wherein each of the engagement brackets has one side pivotably coupled to the fastening bar and the other side coupled to the rest so as to couple the rest to the fastening bar such that the stand can be slid along the fastening bar.
Further, in the laundry hanger, it is preferable that the rest is foldably formed so that it can be folded when the supporting means is collapsed.
Alternatively, in the laundry hanger, the fastening means may include a first engagement bracket, and a second engagement bracket. In this case, the first engagement bracket has one side pivotably coupled to the fastening bar and the other side coupled to one side of the rest so as to couple the rest to the fastening bar such that the rest can be slid along the fastening bar. The second engagement bracket has one side engaged with the fastening bar and the other side engaged with the other side of the rest, in order to support the rest such that the rest can be detached from the fastening bar when the rest is pivoted.
Further, in the laundry hanger, the angle-adjusting means includes a catching member and a supporting member. The catching member has a plurality of catching grooves formed along the length thereof, wherein the catching member is installed at an upper section of each of the legs. The supporting member may have ends pivotably coupled to the respective hanger member, and the supporting member may have one side seated in the catching grooves to support the hanger member.
Alternatively, in the laundry hanger, the angle-adjusting means may include a base member, a pivot member, and a control member. The base member is formed in each of the pivot brackets. The pivot member is coupled to an end of the wing frame and installed to be pivoted with respect to the base member. The control member controls a pivot angle of the pivot member with respect to the base member.
In this case, in the laundry hanger, it is preferable that a first fastening hole in the shape of a cylinder is formed in one side surface of the base member, and first protrusions extending along an axial direction of the first fastening hole are formed along an inner peripheral surface of the first fastening hole such that first coupling grooves are formed at a predetermined interval circumferentially on the inner peripheral surface of the first fastening hole. At this time, a second fastening hole in the form of a cylinder is formed in the pivot member, and second coupling grooves are formed in a circumferential direction of the second fastening hole such second protrusions are formed at the same predetermined interval as the first protrusions along an inner peripheral surface of the second fastening hole. Moreover, the control member includes a cylindrical button having third protrusions formed along an outer peripheral surface of the button such that the third protrusions can be slidably inserted into the first coupling grooves and the second coupling grooves, and an elastic spring for restoring the sliding of the button. Thus, the angle-adjusting means allows the pivot member to be pivoted when the button is slid so that the third protrusions are inserted only into the first coupling grooves or the second coupling grooves.
Further, in the laundry hanger, it is preferable that the base member of the angle-adjusting means is provided at each of the pair of pivot brackets, and the pivot member and the control member are provided respectively at both ends of the wing frame. At this time, the angle-adjusting means further includes a connection bar for connecting the respective buttons provided at the ends of the wing frame to each other.
In addition, in the laundry hanger, the stand means preferably further includes a wheel at a lower portion of each of the stand legs.
According to the present invention, there is provided a laundry hanger having a stand that may be slid between or detached from legs of a supporting means, so that the stand may protrude outside as desired.
This allows a laundry basket to be put on the stand. In this case, a user may pick up the laundry from the laundry basket and hangs out the laundry on the laundry hanger without bending his/her back.
Further, in this case, stand legs provided at a lower portion of the stand extend the distance between supporting points that are in contact with a floor, thereby preventing the laundry hanger from being fallen down.
The supporting means 100 has a pair of legs 101 and a pair of pivot brackets 105. The pair of pivot brackets 105 are arranged to be spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance. That is, a first pivot bracket 105a and a second pivot bracket 105b are arranged to be spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance back and forth. The pair of legs 101 are arranged on right and left sides of the pivot brackets 105, respectively, and pivotably coupled to the pivot brackets 105. That is, a first leg 101a is arranged on the left side of the pivot brackets 105 and pivotably coupled to the pivot brackets 105, and the second leg 101b is arranged on the right side of the pivot brackets 105 and pivotably coupled to the pivot brackets 105.
To this end, each of the legs 101 has a pair of supporting frames 102 and a fastening bar 103. The pair of supporting frames 102 are formed to be spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance, and ends of the supporting frames 102 are pivotably coupled to the pivot brackets 105, respectively. That is, one end of a first supporting frame 102a is pivotably coupled to the first pivot bracket 105a, and one end of a second supporting frame 102b is pivotably coupled to the second pivot bracket 105b. In this embodiment, the other end of the first supporting frame 102a and the other end of the second supporting frame 102b are connected to each other. Therefore, in this embodiment, the first supporting frame 102a and the second supporting frame 102b are connected to each other such that each of the legs is “U”-shaped. The fastening bar 103 serves to mount a rest 131 of the stand means 130. To this end, the fastening bar 103 connects the pair of supporting frames 102 to each other. That is, one end of the fastening bar 103 is connected to one side of the first supporting frame 102a, and the other end of the fastening bar 103 is connected to one side of the second supporting frame 102b.
The hanging means 110 serves to allow laundry to be hung out thereon in order to dry the laundry. To this end, the hanging means 110 has a pair of hanger members 111. The pair of hanger members 111 are arranged on right and left sides of the pivot brackets 105 and pivotably coupled to the pivot brackets 105. That is, a first hanger member 111a is arranged on the left side of the pivot brackets 105 and pivotably coupled to the pivot brackets 105, and a second hanger member 111b is arranged on the right side of the pivot brackets 105 and pivotably coupled to the pivot brackets 105. To this end, each of the hanger members 111 has a wing frame 113, an auxiliary bar 114, and a hanging element 115.
Both ends of the wing frame 113 are pivotably coupled to the pivot brackets 105, respectively. The wing frame 113 is in the form of “U” so that one end of the wing frame 113 is pivotably coupled to the first pivot bracket 105a, and the other end of the wing frame 113 is pivotably coupled to the second pivot bracket 105b. The auxiliary bar 114 is installed between the first pivot bracket 105a and the second pivot bracket 105b. That is, one end of the auxiliary bar 114 is connected to the first pivot bracket 105a, and the other end of the auxiliary bar 114 is connected to the second pivot bracket 105b. For the hanging element 115, a plurality of hanging elements are installed in the hanger member 111. In this embodiment, each of the hanging elements 115 is installed in the hanger member 111 to run right and left, so that one end of the hanging element 115 is connected to the wing frame 113 and the other end of the hanging element 115 is connected to the auxiliary bar 114. However, depending on embodiments, each of the hanging elements 115 may be installed back and forth as in a conventional laundry hanger. In this case, the hanging elements 115 are connected to the wing frame 113 so that the auxiliary bar 114 may be omitted.
The angle-adjusting means 120 serves to adjust the pivot angles of the hanger members 111. To this end, the angle-adjusting means 120 has catching members 121 and supporting members 122.
A plurality of catching grooves 121a are formed along the length of each of the catching members 121 that is installed at upper section of the supporting frame 102. Both ends of each of the supporting members 122 are pivotably coupled to the respective wing frame 113, and one side of the supporting member 122 can be seated in one of the catching grooves 121a. Accordingly, when the hanger member 111 is pivoted through a certain angle on upper ends of the supporting frames 102 and the supporting member 122 is then pivoted and fitted into the catching groove 121a, the hanger member 111 is spread and supported by the supporting member 122.
The stand means 130 has the rest 131 and stand legs 133. The rest 131 is positioned between the pair of legs 101, so that laundry can be hung out on the rest 131 and a laundry basket can also be put on the rest 131. The rest 131 has connections by means of hinges 131a at middle portions of the rest 131 so as to be folded simultaneously when the supporting means 100 is collapsed. In order to hang out laundry, hanging elements 131b may be installed in the rest 131. Alternatively, the rest 131 may be formed of a grid panel 131c that can be folded about a central portion thereof, as shown in
The stand legs 133 are installed at the bottom of the rest 131 to support the rest 131. Each of the stand legs 133 is configured to be in the form of “X” and to be collapsed when the rest 131 is folded while being pivoted on the hinges 131a. Furthermore, although not shown in this embodiment, the stand means 130 may further have wheels attached to lower ends of the stand legs. Then, the stand means 130 may be easily slid upon back-and-forth movement thereof.
The fastening means 140 allows one side of the rest 131 to be detachably coupled to the first leg 101a and also allows the other side of the rest 131 to be detachably coupled to the second leg 101b. To this end, the fastening means 140 has a plurality of engagement brackets 141. In this embodiment, the fastening means 140 has four engagement brackets 141. One side of each of the engagement brackets 141 is pivotably coupled to the fastening bar 103 of its corresponding leg 101 and the other side of the engagement bracket 141 is detachably coupled to the rest 131. Thus, the stand means 130 may be slid along the engagement brackets 141 and also detached from the engagement brackets 141. If the rest 131 is detached from the engagement brackets 141, the stand means 130 may be used as an additional separate laundry hanger. In this case, additional laundry may be hung out on the rest 131, or a laundry basket may be put on the rest 131. If the laundry basket is put on the rest 131, a user may pick up the laundry from the laundry basket and hangs out the laundry on the hanger members 111 without bending his/her back. Although the one side of the engagement bracket 141 is pivotably coupled to the fastening bar 103 and the other side of the engagement bracket 141 is detachably coupled to the rest 131 in this embodiment, the one side of the engagement bracket 141 may be pivotably coupled to the rest 131 and the other side of the engagement bracket 141 may be detachably coupled to the fastening bar 103.
In this embodiment, the stand means 130 can be detached by means of the fastening means 140. This enables the stand means 130 to be used as an additional hanger and also allows a laundry basket to be put on the stand means 130 so that a user may hang out laundry on the laundry hanger without bending his/her back.
In case of the embodiment shown in
However, the stand means 130 is not necessarily detached from the legs 101, and a laundry basket may be put on the stand means 130 even if the stand means 130 may be slid only. In this case, the fastening means 140 may be formed as shown in
The fastening means 140 shown in
One side of each of the second engagement brackets 144 is engaged with the fastening bar 103 and the other side thereof is engaged with the rest 131, in order to support the rest 131 while coupling the rest 131 to the fastening bar 103 such that the rest 131 may be detached from the fastening bar 103 when the rest 131 is pivoted as indicated by the arrow 150. To this end, in this embodiment, the second engagement brackets 144 consist of a front second engagement bracket 144a and a rear second engagement bracket 144b that are formed to be different from each other. The front second engagement bracket 144a is fixedly coupled to one side of the fastening bar 103 and connected to the rest 131 such that the rest 131 may be slid. Thus, the front second engagement bracket 144a supports the rest 131 to enable the rest 131 to be detached when the rest 131 is pivoted in the direction of the arrow 150. That is, one side of the front second engagement bracket 144a is fixedly coupled to the bottom of the fastening bar 103 and the other side thereof supports the bottom of the rest 131. The rear second engagement bracket 144b is fixedly coupled to the rest 131 and supported by and slidably engaged with the fastening bar. That is, one side of the rear second engagement bracket 144b is fixedly coupled to a top portion of the rest 131 and the other side of the rear second engagement bracket 144b is put on an upper portion of the fastening bar 103 and supported by the fastening bar 103.
Then, the rest 131 may be slid back and forth along the fastening bars 103. Further, when the rest 131 is pivoted as indicated by the arrow 150, the supporting means 100 can be collapsed.
Meanwhile, in this case, the stand leg 133 is configured to be in the form of “X” with a pin coupling at the intersection and to be connected to the rest 131 such that one side 133a of the stand leg 133 in the form of “X” can be slid along the rest 131. Thus, as shown in
In the embodiment shown in
The base member 123 is integrally formed in the first pivot bracket 105a, and consists of a first fastening hole 123a, first coupling grooves 123b, and first protrusions 123c. The first fastening hole 123a is formed in the shape of a cylinder in the first pivot bracket 105a. The first protrusions 123c are embossed along an axial direction of the first fastening hole 123a so as to be formed along an inner peripheral surface of the first fastening hole 123a such that the first coupling grooves 123b are formed at a certain interval circumferentially on the inner peripheral surface of the first fastening hole 123a.
The pivot member 125 is formed at an end of the wing frame 113 of the hanger member 111, and a second fastening hole 125a in the shape of a cylinder is formed in the pivot member 125. Further, second coupling grooves 125b, which are formed to have a predetermined length along an axial direction of the second fastening hole 125a such that second protrusions 125c are formed at the same interval as the first protrusions 123c on an inner peripheral surface of the second fastening hole 125a, are engraved circumferentially in the second fastening hole 125a. Thus, the sizes of the second coupling grooves 125b and second protrusions 125c of the pivot member 125 in a circumferential direction are identical to those of the first coupling grooves 123b and first protrusions 123c of the base member 123. Here, the second coupling grooves 125b are formed to have only the predetermined length along the axial direction of and partially over the depth of the second fastening hole 125a of the pivot member 125. Thus, as shown in
The control member 127 serves to rotate or fix the pivot member 125 with respect to the base member 123. To this end, the control member 127 has a cylindrical button 128 and an elastic spring 129. The button 128 is inserted to be slid into the first fastening hole 123a and the second fastening hole 125a. At this time, an outer peripheral surface of the button 128 is formed circumferentially with third protrusions 128a that can be inserted into the first coupling grooves 123b of the first fastening hole 123a and the second coupling grooves 125b of the second fastening hole 125a. The elastic spring 129 is inserted into the first fastening hole 123a of the base member 123 so as to support the button 128.
Accordingly, referring to
When the pivot member 125 is pivoted and then the button 128 is not pressed down, the button 128 is raised by the elastic spring 129 and returned to the position shown in
The pivot member 125 is fixed to an end of the wing frame 113 of the hanger member 111. Thus, when the button 128 of the angle-adjusting means 120 is pressed down, the hanger member 111 can be pivoted. When the button 128 is not pressed down, the hanger member 111 can be fixed.
Meanwhile,
The angle-adjusting means 120 shown in
Each of the base members 123 is formed with a first fastening hole 123a, first coupling grooves 123b, and first protrusions 123c. Although the first coupling grooves 123b and the first protrusions 123c in the embodiment shown in
Each of the pivot members 125 is formed with a second fastening hole 125a, second coupling grooves 125b, and second protrusions 125c. Although the second fastening hole 125a in the embodiment shown in
The control member 127 has a pair of buttons 128, and a pair of elastic springs 129. A first button 128_1 of the pair of buttons 128 is inserted into the first base member 123_1 and the first pivot member 125_1, and a second button 128_2 is inserted into the second base member 123_2 and the second pivot member 125_2. A first elastic spring 129_1 of the pair of elastic springs 129 is inserted into the first pivot member 125_1 to support the first button 128_1, and a second elastic spring elastic spring 129_2 is inserted into the second pivot member 125_2 to support the second button 128_2.
The connection bar 126 is inserted into the auxiliary bar 114 and installed between the first pivot bracket 105a and the second pivot bracket 105b. At this time, the connection bar 126 connects the first button 128_1 and the second button 128_2. That is, one end of the connection bar 126 is connected to the first button 128_1, and the other end of thereof is connected to the second button 128_2. Since the connection bar 126 is inserted into the auxiliary bar 114, the connection bar 126 is not exposed outside. However, when the hanging elements 115 are installed back and forth and thus the auxiliary bar 114 is not required, the connection bar 126 is exposed outside.
In this embodiment, since the first pivot member 125_1 is formed at one end of the wing frame 113 of the hanger member 111 and the second pivot member 125_2 is formed at the other end of the wing frame 113, both ends of the hanger member 111 are supported by the angle-adjusting means 120.
When no load is applied to the button 128 as shown in
When the load for pressing the first button 128_1 is removed, the button 128 is returned to the state shown in
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2010-0096807 | Oct 2010 | KR | national |
| 10-2011-0074412 | Jul 2011 | KR | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/KR2011/007318 | 10/4/2011 | WO | 00 | 5/15/2013 |
