Patent Application
20130086811
The present disclosure relates to forced air dryers of the type employed for drying skates, boots and gloves, or other relatively small articles of apparel where it is required to dry multiple pairs of such articles of apparel on site where the articles are being worn by the user. In particular, it has been desired to provide a portable dryer which can be readily carried by one person and utilized on site as, for example, hockey or ski teams travelling progressively to different locations on an overnight itinerary.
Heretofore, portable dryers available for skates, boots and gloves and the like have been of the type designed for drying an individual pair of such items and, thus, a multiple number of dryers was required to dry a number of such items; or, if only a single dryer was available, for the items to be dried serially.
Thus, it has been desired to provide a convenient, lightweight and readily transportable forced air dryer for drying a multiple number of pairs of articles such as skates, boots and gloves which can be readily transported by one person.
The present disclosure describes a portable forced air dryer which is capable of drying multiple pairs of articles such as skates, boots or gloves and the like on a pair of oppositely directed air discharge manifolds, each with a plurality of spaced air discharge ports and having an article support member associated with each air discharge port. One of the manifolds is assembled to a blower discharge plenum with a quick-release connection that is operable to maintain the manifold inlet port in connection with discharge ports on the plenum.
The disclosed and illustrated version shows the releasable manifold attached to the plenum by brackets having open slots permitting assembly without tools for engaging lugs on the plenum. Inclined or cam surfaces are provided in the slots for causing the weight of the manifolds to urge the manifold into contact with the plenum for communication of the manifold inlet with the plenum discharge ports.
In preparation for transport, the one plenum may be quickly released by the user without any tools and may be inverted and assembled over the opposite manifold to minimize the volume of the dryer for bagging or placement in a transport enclosure to permit portability by one person to locations for drying multiple pairs of articles in situ by the users. The removal and inverted stacking of the one manifold onto the other manifold substantially reduces the volume of the blower to enable transport by a single person.
Referring to
If desired, the plenum housing 16 may contain a heating element 19 (see
Referring to
Referring to
The distal ends of the manifolds 24, 26 are closed and secured, such as by weldment, to a support bracket 36.
Adjacent each of the manifold discharge ports 28, 30 is a support member denoted respectfully 38, 40 for supporting articles to be dried such as shoes, boots or gloves, one of which is shown in dashed outline in
It will be understood that the proximal side of the plenum housing 16 in
Referring to
Each of the discharge ports 48, 50 has disposed therewith and adjacent thereto an upstanding support member 52, 54 respectively. In the present practice, the support members 52, 54 comprise a generally U-shaped rod or bar with the open ends thereof attached to the respective manifolds 42, 44 by any suitable expedient, as, for example, weldment.
The ends of the manifolds 42, 44 disposed for connection to the plenum housing 16 are secured to a generally U-shaped bracket 56. In the present practice, it has been found satisfactory to secure the manifolds to the bracket 56 by weldment.
With reference to
The opposite sides or legs of the bracket 56 each have, respectively, a slot 60, 62 formed therein which slots are configured to openly slide over an attachment lug 64, 66 provided respectively on opposite sides of the plenum housing 16.
Each of the slots 60, 62 in bracket 56 has a camming or inclined surface denoted respectively 68, 70 which camming surface, upon entry of the lug into the slot, is operative by virtue of the weight of the manifolds and bracket acting on the lugs 64, 66 to urge the apertures, such as aperture 58, into contact with the surface of the plenum housing 16 and to thereby secure the apertures, such as aperture 58, into contact with the plenum discharge ports 22. Thus, the user may connect the manifolds 42, 44 to the plenum housings simply by sliding the open ends of the slots 60, 62 over the lugs 64, 66 and lowering the brackets until the camming surfaces 68, 70 engage the lugs 64, 66. Upon releasing the manifold 42, 44, the manifolds are secured in position against the plenum housing to receive plenum discharge air.
Referring to
The present disclosure describes a portable dryer for multiple articles such as pairs of skates, boots or gloves and the like which is readily carried by one person. The dryer of the present disclosure has a lower end plenum have extending from opposite sides thereof in opposite directions pairs of manifolds with spaced discharge ports and vertical support members associated with each of the discharge ports for drying articles received on the support members. One pair of the manifolds is connected to the plenum in a quick-release manner which enables the user to remove the manifold without any tools, invert the manifold and place it upon the other manifold to significantly reduce the volume of the dryer to enable placement in a carry bag or closure for transport by one person.
The exemplary embodiment has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments. 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.
