The novel features which are characteristic of the method of drying clothing are set forth in the appended claims. However, the method of drying clothing, together with further embodiments and attendant advantages, will be best understood by reference to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:
The present invention solves the problems associated with prior art methods of drying clothes and, in particular, drying clothes using a dryer. The present invention solves the problems associated with prior art clothes dryers and coin-operated laundry facilities. A new and novel method for drying clothing enables a user to be billed only for the time that is need to dry the load of laundry. Thus, the user is paying for a dry load of laundry and the time to dry that load not for large blocks of time without regard to whether the load is dry or not.
In accordance with the method for drying clothes, a coin-operating clothes dryer 10 of the type shown in
The method of drying of the present invention employs a typical coin-operated dryer 10 of the type shown in
Still referring to
More specifically, sensor 24 that can detect when a load of clothes are fully dry. This monitors the amount of moisture in the clothes. Many different types of sensors 24 and tracking software can be used. For example, a sensor 24 is used in conjunction with a monitoring algorithm to track “wet hits”. A given threshold can be set to determine when a load is considered “dry” to stop the heat source 20. It is also possible that the user can set how dry or wet they would like their clothes before a drying cycle and heat source 20 is stopped. It is also possible for the threshold be set according to the recommendations of a given clothing manufacturer.
It is envisioned that the user of the pay-dryer the uses the method of the present invention purchases a number of credits which correspond to dry time on the dryer. For example, a 1:1 ratio can be used where a penny ($0.01) corresponds to one minute of drying time. As a result, in this example, 100 minutes of drying time can be purchased for $1.00. In use, a media writer/reader is provided at the laundry site, either as a separate unit or incorporated directly into the dryer, that also accepts coins, dollar bills and/or bank credit and debit cards. The user purchases a desired number of credits that corresponds to a dollar value. Those credits are placed on the media, such as magnetically on a card or electronically on a RFID tag, using methods known in the art. For example, the user inserts payment into a vending machine (not shown) which dispenses a re-chargeable magnetic reader card that has pre-loaded on it a given amount of credits that correspond to an amount of drying time. This card can be re-inserted into the vending machine so that additional credits can be purchased.
Referring now to
Most importantly, in accordance with the present invention, the dryer will continue to dry the clothes at 58 and debit credits 56 until it is sensed by sensor 24 that they are fully dry. Thus, the dryer 10 will continue to incrementally debit the magnetic card via the payment interface 18 of credits as it dries the clothes. Debiting of the card will continue until the clothes are dry at 60 at which time, the dryer is turned off at 62. As a result, the user is charged for providing a dried load of clothes not by time or blocks of time. They are billed exactly for what was needed to dry the clothes, not too much or too little.
If there are not enough funds, such as the debit card runs out of credits during a drying cycle and before the load is fully dry, it is preferred that the dryer 10 stops operation where the user is instructed to purchase more credits for additional time to resume operation. It is also possible that the additional time to be purchased can be automatically charged to a person's credit card, for example. It that connection, it is also possible, in similar fashion to a gasoline pump, that a user use a bank credit card or bank debit card directly at the dryer 10 where only the amount of time used for a dry is charged to the bank card.
In view of the foregoing, a new and novel dryer and method of operating a dryer 10 is provided that provides a dry load of clothes 14 to the user. The user is billed, such as by debiting credits from media or charging to media, only for the time that is used to dry the load 14. There is no need to step the heat down during the drying process to avoid excess use of energy. Over-drying is also avoided because drying stops when the load of laundry 14 is fully dried. Only the amount of time used is automatically charged to the user.
It would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made to the illustrated embodiments without departing from the spirit of the present invention. All such modifications and changes are intended to be covered by the present invention and appended claims.
This application is related to and claims priority from earlier filed provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/822,432, filed Aug. 15, 2006 and incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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60822432 | Aug 2006 | US |