Patent Application
20230100045
The present disclosure generally relates to the field of a drying device. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a portable clothes drying device.
Drying device is one of the most important household appliances in the modern society. It is essential to relatively humid climate and environment, and for some high altitude areas with snow in the winter, such device is also highly demanded. For example, in snowing regions, people often require to wear heavy clothes, gloves and snow boots, etc. during outdoor activities; however, snow can be easily attached to clothes during such activities, or before driving, snow accumulation in front of the car windshield is also required to be removed, such that some clothes tend to become wet after going outdoor. To prevent loss of insulation function of clothes due to moisture or wetness, or to prevent growth of bacteria or mold, such wet clothes need to be dried repetitively. However, most known drying devices are not portable, and their structures are not facilitated for the drying of clothes with complicated shapes, such as gloves or snow boots.
In this field, there are numerous types of known drying devices, including some improved products. For instance, Chinese Invention Patent No. CN111426164A discloses a deodorant drying device, comprising a stand and a plurality of supporting rods distributed on the stand, such that it is able to achieve the objective of drying a plurality of boxing gloves simultaneously. However, the aforementioned deodorant drying device is applicable to limited types of clothes only, and it is inconvenient for carrying.
The purpose of the summary of the invention is to provide a brief summary of the disclosure in order to allow readers to have basic understanding of the present invention. The summary of invention does not refer to the complete and detailed description of the present invention, and its purpose is not to illustrate the important or essential elements of embodiments of the present invention or to define the scope of the present invention.
In view of the aforementioned requirements and limitations, an objective of the present invention is to provide a drying device that is convenient for carrying and is applicable to various types of clothes. The drying device of the present invention is applicable various types of cup holders and is also to prevent air intake passages from being shielded by the walls of the cup holder. In addition to car use, the drying device of the present invention is also convenient for carrying and use in various locations (such as: offices, camp sites, various home spaces). Furthermore, when the drying device is placed stationarity for use, it is able to prevent tipping over due to the weight of the clothes. The drying device can further comprise a disinfection unit in order to prevent the possibility of breeding of bacteria on the clothes under humid environment.
Accordingly, one aspect of the present invention relates to a portable clothes drying device, comprising a base unit, which comprises: an air inlet provided at a bottom of the base unit; a plurality of feet provided on the bottom of the base unit around the air inlet, wherein the plurality of feet extend from a surface of the bottom of the base unit; a heating part provided inside the base unit; and an exhaust part provided inside the base unit. The portable clothes drying device also comprises an air outlet unit connected to the base unit, wherein a surface of the air outlet unit is provided with an air outlet hole. The exhaust part draws in an external air through the air inlet and sends it into the air outlet unit, and then the air is sent to an outside through the air outlet hole.
In an embodiment of the portable clothes drying device, the plurality of feet have a bottom surface parallel to the surface of the bottom of the base unit, and the bottom surface of the plurality of feet and the surface of the bottom of the base unit are not the same plane.
In an embodiment of the portable clothes drying device, each of the plurality of feet is further provided with a supporting element, which is pivotally connected to one end of each of the plurality of feet.
In an embodiment of the portable clothes drying device, the supporting element is a supporting piece, and a spring structure is provided between the supporting element and each of the plurality of feet to provide an elastic restoring force to open the supporting element and each of the plurality of feet.
In an embodiment of the portable clothes drying device, the base unit is further provided with a battery module and a power input part, the power input part is used for electrically connecting with an external power source, and a power source of the base unit is provided by the battery module or the power input part.
In an embodiment of the portable clothes drying device, the base unit further comprises a heat insulation layer provided on an outer surface of the base unit.
In an embodiment of the portable clothes drying device, the base unit further comprises a disinfection part provided inside the base unit or inside the air outlet unit.
In an embodiment of the portable clothes drying device, the air outlet unit further comprises a plurality of extending parts respectively extending in a direction away from the base unit, and each of the plurality of extending parts has a surface provided with the air outlet hole.
In an embodiment of the portable clothes drying device, each of the plurality of extending parts is provided with a plurality of extending ends, the plurality of extending ends are arranged at intervals, and at least one of the plurality of extending ends is provided with an joint element so as to adjust the interval of the plurality of extending ends.
In an embodiment of the portable clothes drying device, each of the plurality of extending parts and/or each of the plurality of extending ends is provided with a telescoping element so as to adjust the length.
In an embodiment of the portable clothes drying device, the base unit can be placed in a cup holder for a car.
The portable clothes drying device provided by the present invention has the advantages of: with the use of special foot structural characteristics, the portable clothes drying device can be stably placed in any type of space while ensuring that the air intake passage is not shielded by the device. Furthermore, the portable clothes drying device can also be used to provide the functions of heating, drying and disinfection simultaneously. Moreover, the extension portion of the portable clothes drying device is equipped with a spacing adjustment element or expendable element such that it can be adjusted for different types of clothes.
According to the usual working methods, the various features and components in the figures are not drawn according to the actual scale. The drawings present the specific features and components related to the present invention in the best way. In addition, between different drawings, the same or similar element symbols refer to similar elements and components.
In this section, the contents of the present invention will be described in detail through the following examples. These examples are for illustration only, and those skilled in the art can easily think of various modifications and changes. Various embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below. In this specification and the appended patent applications, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, “a” and “the” can also be interpreted as plural. In addition, in this specification and the scope of the attached patent application, unless otherwise stated in the context, “middle” and “inner” include “located in”; and unless otherwise stated in the context, the direction of the tip of the projectile was defined as “upper” or “lower”. Furthermore, titles and subtitles may be attached to the description for easy reading, but these titles do not affect the scope of the present invention.
In a preferred embodiment, the base unit 100 is a hollow column housing, and the bottom of the base unit 100 is provided with a plurality of feet 110. Preferably, the plurality of feet 110 are arranged around the bottom surface of the base unit 100 at intervals from each other with an equal distance. In addition, one end of each one of the plurality of feet 110 is pivotally attached to each one of a plurality of supporting elements 112, and a spring structure 114 is arranged between the two. The side surface of the base unit 100 is further provided with a power input part 120, and it further includes a power switch 130 and at least one indicator light 140 on a surface adjacent to the air outlet unit 200.
The air outlet unit 200 further comprises at least one extending part 210. The extending part 210 is connected to the connecting part 300, and its surface is provided with at least one air outlet hole 212. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the air outlet unit 200 comprises a plurality of the extending parts 210, and the surface of the plurality of extending parts 210 further comprises a plurality of air outlet holes 212 respectively.
According to the aforementioned content, the base unit 100 can be a hollow column housing. The upper end of the base unit 100 includes a connection opening 160A fluidly connected to and attached with the connecting part 300. The lower end of the base unit 100 includes an air inlet 160B, and air is able to enter from the external via the air inlet 160B in order to enter into the internal space of the base unit. The internal space of the base unit 100 includes a heating part 152, an exhaust part 154 and a disinfection part 156. Preferably, the heating part 152, the exhaust part 154 and the disinfection part 156 between the connection opening 160A and the air inlet 160B are arranged sequentially in a top-down manner, such that the exhaust part 154 is able to draw air from the external to pass through the air inlet 160B in order to enter into the internal space of the base unit 100, and to sequentially pass through the disinfection part 156 and the heating portion 152, which then enters the connecting part 300 via the connection opening 160A and further to the air outlet unit 200. To be more specific, the heating part 152 comprises at least one known heating element capable of converting electricity into thermal energy in order to heat the air. The known heating element may include but not limited to a heating coil. The exhaust part 154 comprises at least one known fan such that by rotating the fan, air passage can be driven to pass through such part. In an embodiment of the present invention, the disinfection part 156 comprises at least one ultraviolet light source and/or negative ion disinfectant (not shown in the drawings). To be more specific, the projection direction of the ultraviolet light source is toward the connection opening 160A, an the negative disinfectant can exist in the liquid or gas form, and it is able to transmit to the air outlet unit 200 via the air flow of the disinfection part 156 In another embodiment, the disinfection part can also be arranged at the internal (not shown in the drawings) of the air outlet unit. For example: the disinfection part is an ultraviolet light source, and the air outlet unit can be a light transmissive type (such as: transparent, perforation or mesh, etc.) in order to allow the clothes arranged at the external of the air outlet unit to receive heated air and to also undergo ultraviolet disinfection at the same type.
The base unit 100 is provided with a battery 158 and a power input part 120 electrically connected to the heating part 152, the exhaust part 154 and the disinfection part 156, and the power input part 120 is used to obtain electricity from an external power source in order to further supply electricity to the heating part 152, the exhaust part 154 and the disinfection part 156. Preferably, the base unit 100 can be further provided with a control part (not shown in the drawings) depending upon the needs, and it is used to connect the power source 130 to the heating part 152, the exhaust part 154 and the disinfection part 156 respectively, thereby allowing the user to control the switch of corresponding elements according to the functional needs. In another preferred embodiment, the base unit is provided with a battery module (such as: battery 158). The battery module can be rechargeable type, and the power source of the base unit can be independently provided by the battery module in order to facilitate the user during the portable use of the device.
The outer surface of the base unit 100 further comprises a heat insulation layer 150. The heat insulation layer 150 comprises a known heat insulation material such that when the user holds the base unit, it is able to isolate the heat dissipated from the heating part 152. In addition, to allow the present invention to be used in conventional transportation means, preferably, the base unit 100 is designed to be suitable for placing inside a receiving space of conventional transportation means, such as placing inside a cup holder of a car. The base unit 100 can be in a cylindrical-shape. Preferably, the bottom surface of the base unit 100 is defined with a radius R for a length between 3 cm and 6 cm. Preferably, the length of the radius R is between 4 cm and 5 cm. More preferably, the length of the radius R is between 4 cm and 4.5 cm. A person skilled in the art in this field can change the shape and size of the base unit 100 depending upon the needs.
According to the aforementioned content, the extending part 210 further comprises a plurality of extending ends 218. The plurality of extending ends 218 are arranged at intervals from each other. Preferably, the plurality of extending ends 218 are arranged at intervals in a geometric shape corresponding to a specific clothing. For example: if the specific clothing refers to gloves, the plurality of extending ends 218 arranged at intervals have a shape corresponding to a palm. If the specific clothing refers to socks, sows or boots, then the plurality extending ends 218 arranged at intervals have a shape corresponding to a foot (not shown in the drawings). Furthermore, at least one of the plurality of extending ends 218 can be selectively provided with a joint element 216 depending upon the needs in order to adjust the interval of the plurality of extending ends 218. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the joint element 216 is arranged at one end of the extending end 218 adjacent to the connecting part 300. Preferably, the joint element 216 can be a rotating axle in order to allow the extending end 218 to partially disengage from the extending part 210 in order to rotate, thereby adjusting the interval distance of the plurality of extending ends 218.
The portable clothes drying device of the present invention is convenient for carrying to various locations for use. As shown in
In view of the above, the portable clothes drying device provided by the present invention can be placed firmly inside various types of receiving spaces and can also stand stably on a flat surface, such that its portability is enhanced. Furthermore, the portable clothes drying device provided by the present invention can be used for various types of clothe of different geometric shapes, and is able to provide the functions of heating, drying, disinfection and cleaning, etc.
