This disclosure relates to towel drying systems.
Towels that hang on a traditional towel rack after use, but before being washed, begin to grow bacteria, mold and mildew immediately after being hung on the rack. This presents health and safety risk. Further, towels can only be used infrequently as they dry slowly.
Such conventional methods and systems have generally been considered satisfactory for their intended purpose. However, there is still a need in the art for towel drying cabinets. The present disclosure provides a solution for this need.
A towel drying cabinet can include a cabinet structure defining an interior portion. The interior portion can be configured to be enclosed by one or more doors. The cabinet structure can include a first inner sidewall portion and a second inner sidewall portion. The towel drying cabinet can further include a first towel holding structure and a second towel holding structure. The first towel holding structure can be operatively connected to the first inner sidewall and can be configured to move between a stowed position and an extended position. In the stowed position, the first towel holding structure can be within the interior portion. In the extended position, at least a portion of the first towel holding structure can extend from the interior portion, through an opening in the cabinet structure and beyond the cabinet structure. The second towel holding structure can be operatively connected to the second inner sidewall and can be configured to move between the stowed position within the interior portion, through the opening in the cabinet structure, and the extended position beyond the interior portion.
In certain embodiments, the first towel holding structure can be operatively connected to the first sidewall via a first hinge. The second towel holding structure can be operatively connected to the second sidewall via a second hinge. The first hinge and the second hinge can be offset from one another such that the first hinge can be closer to the opening of the cabinet structure than the second hinge. The first towel holding structure and the second towel holding structure can be configured to pivot outwardly 180 degrees from the interior portion moving between the stowed position and the extended position.
In certain embodiments, the towel drying cabinet can further include a receiving structure configured to hold the second towel holding structure in the stowed position. The second towel holding structure can be configured to be received by the receiving structure in the stowed position. The receiving structure can be on or extending from the first hinge. The receiving structure can include a detent configured to receive the second towel holding structure.
In certain embodiments, the first and second towel holding structures can each be configured to hold a towel. The first and second towel holding structures can be spaced apart in the stowed position to prevent towels placed on the first and second towel holding structures from touching each other. The first and second towel holding structures can be U-shaped bars.
In certain embodiments, the receiving structure can be a spring clip. The receiving structure can be configured to be pushed back towards the first sidewall to release the second towel holding structure.
In certain embodiments, the towel drying cabinet can further include a drying box configured to house a heating element and a fan. The drying box can be at a bottom portion of the interior portion. The towel drying cabinet can further include an air inlet at the bottom portion of the interior portion defining an airflow path. The air inlet can be operatively connected and configured to supply air to the interior portion. The drying box and the air inlet can be in fluid communication such that air from outside the cabinet structure enters the drying box.
In certain embodiments, the towel drying cabinet can further include a controller configured to control the drying box to control the fan and heating element. The controller can be positioned at a top portion of the cabinet structure. The controller can be configured to be connected to a power supply via a spine running along a back wall portion of the interior portion. The spine can house a wire which connects the controller to the power supply. The controller can be connected to the drying box via the spine.
In certain embodiments, the controller can further include a first button for drying and a second button for heating. When in a drying mode, the first button can operate the fan and when in a heating mode, the second button can operate the heating element and the fan.
In certain embodiments, the towel drying cabinet can further include an internal humidity sensor operatively connected to the controller. The internal humidity sensor can be configured to detect humidity within the interior portion and communicate humidity information to the controller.
In certain embodiments, the towel drying cabinet can further include an air vent at the top portion of the interior portion for exhaust. The towel drying cabinet can further include a wall mounting mechanism on the back side of an outer portion of the towel drying cabinet. In certain embodiments, the drying box can further include a compartment for a fragrance and/or a cleaning product to be dispersed through the air flow path.
A non-transitory computer readable medium can include computer executable instructions which can be configured to cause a computer to perform a method. The method can include, receiving a drying mode signal from a first switch (e.g., a button), initiating a drying mode in response to receiving the drying mode signal by turning on a drying box, receiving a humidity signal from a humidity sensor, sensing humidity within an interior portion of a towel drying cabinet indicative of dryness of a towel, and turning off the drying mode by turning off the drying box when detection of a predetermined humidity is reached within the interior portion.
In certain embodiments, the method can further include, receiving a heating mode signal from a second switch (e.g., a button) by turning on the drying box, running a heating mode for a preset time, and sending a signal to the controller to turn off the heating mode when the preset time runs out.
These and other features of the embodiments of the subject disclosure will become more readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings.
So that those skilled in the art to which the subject disclosure appertains will readily understand how to make and use the devices and methods of the subject disclosure without undue experimentation, embodiments thereof will be described in detail herein below with reference to certain figures, wherein:
Reference will now be made to the drawings wherein like reference numerals identify similar structural features or aspects of the subject disclosure. For purposes of explanation and illustration, and not limitation, an illustrative view of an embodiment of a towel drying cabinet in accordance with the disclosure is shown in
As shown in
The towel drying cabinet 100 can also include a first towel holding structure 112 and a second towel holding structure 114 (e.g., towel rods). The towel holding structures can be made from a plastic material, for example, but can be any other suitable material, e.g., wood (e.g., for better humidity control), metal (e.g., aluminum), etc. The first and second towel holding structures 112, 114 (e.g., towel rods) can be configured to swing outward, e.g., to provide easy access outside of the cabinet structure 102 to the full available length of the towel holding structures 112, 114 for a user.
The first towel holding structure 112 can be operatively connected to the first inner sidewall 108 and can be configured to move between a stowed position (e.g., as shown in
In certain embodiments as shown in
The first hinge 118 and the second hinge 120 can be offset from one another such that the first hinge 118 can be closer to the opening 116 of the cabinet structure 102 than the second hinge 120 (e.g., as shown in
As shown in
In certain embodiments, the first and second towel holding structures 112, 114 can each be configured to hold a towel. The first and second towel holding structures (e.g., towel rods) can extend partially or completely across the interior portion 104 of the towel drying cabinet from the first inner sidewall 108 to the second inner sidewall 110.
The first and second towel holding structures 112, 114 can be spaced apart in the stowed position (e.g., in a direction from a back wall portion 146 of the cabinet structure 102 to the opening 116 as shown in
In certain embodiments, the first and second towel holding structures 112, 114 can be U-shaped bars. The U-shaped bars can provide strength (e.g., to avoid bending while holding a towel). The U-shaped bars can additionally reduce material and enhance the drying of a towel placed thereon. Other suitable shapes are contemplated herein (e.g., a straight bar, a planar shape, rectangular shape, etc.). The shape of the bars can be any shape suitable for optimally drying a towel placed there on.
In certain embodiments, the receiving structure 122 can be a spring clip. The spring clip can be a spring loaded structure or living hinge structure. The spring clip can include a cut, a slit, and/or a detent for the end of the second towel holding structure 114 to be received within. The spring clip can be configured to capture and hold the towel holding structures 112, 114 in place and can be configured to release the towel holding structures 112, 114 when triggered. The receiving structure 122 can be configured to be pushed back towards the first sidewall 110 to release the second towel holding structure 114.
As shown in
In certain embodiments, the towel drying cabinet 100 can further include a controller 138 configured to control the drying box 126 to control the fan 130 and heating element 128. The controller 138 can be positioned at a top portion 140 of the cabinet structure 102. The controller 138 can be configured to be connected to a power supply 142 (not shown) via a spine 144 running along a back wall portion 146 of the interior portion 104. The power supply 142 can be at the bottom portion 132 of the towel drying cabinet 100 and can be configured to plug into a wall outlet or hardwire. The spine 144 can house a wire which connects the controller 138 to the power supply 142. The controller 138 can be connected to the drying box 126 via the spine 144. In certain embodiments, the spine 144 can run along the back wall portion 146 of the interior portion 104 of the towel drying cabinet 100 from the power supply 142 to the controller 138. A power wire within the spine 144 can be connected to the controller 142. Additionally lines (e.g., wires) connecting the controller 138 to the fans and heaters in the drying box 126 can also be within the spine 144.
In certain embodiments, the controller 138 can further include a first button 148 for drying and a second button 150 for heating. The controller 138 can have two button system (e.g., pre-shower warm up mode and drying mode). When in a drying mode, the first button 148 can operate the fan 130 and when in a heating mode 128, the second button 150 can operate the heating element 128 and the fan 130. A fail safe can be included so that the drying mode turns off after certain amount of time.
In certain embodiments, the towel drying cabinet 100 can further include an internal humidity sensor 152 operatively connected to the controller 138. The internal humidity sensor can be located any place within the internal portion 104 of the cabinet structure 102. The internal humidity sensor 152 can be configured to detect humidity within the interior portion 104 and communicate humidity information to the controller 138. The towel drying cabinet 100 can include a humidity sensor and logic to turn off when humidity of exhaust is sufficiently low. The controller 138 can be operatively connected to the humidity sensor 152 and can be configured to sense humidity in the interior portion 104 of the towel drying cabinet 100, determines percent of humidity within the interior portion 104, and at a set humidity (e.g., approximately 15% humidity) the dry cycle can be configured to turn off.
In certain embodiments, the towel drying cabinet 100 can further include an air vent 154 at the top portion 140 of the interior portion 104 for exhaust. The towel drying cabinet 100 can further include a wall mounting mechanism 115 on the back side 117 of an outer portion of the towel drying cabinet 100. The wall mounting mechanism 115 can be any suitable wall mounting mechanism 115. In certain embodiments, the towel holding structure can include one or more legs 119 or any suitable means to be placed on the ground (e.g., wheels). In certain embodiments, the drying box 126 can further include a compartment 156 for a fragrance and/or a cleaning product to be dispersed through the air flow path 136. The compartment 156 of the drying box 126 can be configured to receive a scent module that releases with flow of hot air. The compartment 156 of the drying box 126 can also be configured to include gaseous cleaning compounds/elements for cleaning the interior portion 104 of the towel drying cabinet 100.
A non-transitory computer readable medium can include computer executable instructions which can be configured to cause a computer to perform a method. The method can include, receiving a drying mode signal from a first switch (e.g., a button), initiating a drying mode in response to receiving the drying mode signal by turning on a drying box, receiving a humidity signal from a humidity sensor, sensing humidity within an interior portion of a towel drying cabinet indicative of dryness of a towel, and turning off the drying mode by turning off the drying box when detection of a predetermined humidity is reached within the interior portion. In certain embodiments, the heating element can be used in the drying mode. In certain embodiments, the heating element is not used in the drying mode.
In certain embodiments, the method can further include, receiving a heating mode signal from a second switch (e.g., a button) by turning on the drying box, running a heating mode for a preset time, and sending a signal to the controller to turn off the heating mode when the preset time runs out.
Embodiments can include any suitable computer hardware and/or software module(s) to perform any suitable function (e.g., as disclosed herein).
As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, aspects of the present disclosure may be embodied as a system, method or computer program product. Accordingly, aspects of this disclosure may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.), or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects, all possibilities of which can be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module,” or “system.” A “circuit,” “module,” or “system” can include one or more portions of one or more separate physical hardware and/or software components that can together perform the disclosed function of the “circuit,” “module,” or “system”, or a “circuit,” “module,” or “system” can be a single self-contained unit (e.g., of hardware and/or software). Furthermore, aspects of this disclosure may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer readable medium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon.
Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may be utilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readable storage medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to, electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. A computer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing.
Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of this disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).
Aspects of this disclosure may be described above with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of this disclosure. It will be understood that each block of any flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in any flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in any flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instructions which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other devices to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes for implementing the functions/acts specified herein.
Those having ordinary skill in the art understand that any numerical values disclosed herein can be exact values or can be values within a range. Further, any terms of approximation (e.g., “about”, “approximately”, “around”) used in this disclosure can mean the stated value within a range. For example, in certain embodiments, the range can be within (plus or minus) 20%, or within 10%, or within 5%, or within 2%, or within any other suitable percentage or number as appreciated by those having ordinary skill in the art (e.g., for known tolerance limits or error ranges).
The articles “a”, “an”, and “the” as used herein and in the appended claims are used herein to refer to one or to more than one (i.e., to at least one) of the grammatical object of the article unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. By way of example, “an element” means one element or more than one element.
The phrase “and/or,” as used herein in the specification and in the claims, should be understood to mean “either or both” of the elements so conjoined, i.e., elements that are conjunctively present in some cases and disjunctively present in other cases. Multiple elements listed with “and/or” should be construed in the same fashion, i.e., “one or more” of the elements so conjoined. Other elements may optionally be present other than the elements specifically identified by the “and/or” clause, whether related or unrelated to those elements specifically identified. Thus, as a non-limiting example, a reference to “A and/or B”, when used in conjunction with open-ended language such as “comprising” can refer, in one embodiment, to A only (optionally including elements other than B); in another embodiment, to B only (optionally including elements other than A); in yet another embodiment, to both A and B (optionally including other elements); etc.
As used herein in the specification and in the claims, “or” should be understood to have the same meaning as “and/or” as defined above. For example, when separating items in a list, “or” or “and/or” shall be interpreted as being inclusive, i.e., the inclusion of at least one, but also including more than one, of a number or list of elements, and, optionally, additional unlisted items. Only terms clearly indicated to the contrary, such as “only one of” or “exactly one of,” or, when used in the claims, “consisting of,” will refer to the inclusion of exactly one element of a number or list of elements. In general, the term “or” as used herein shall only be interpreted as indicating exclusive alternatives (i.e., “one or the other but not both”) when preceded by terms of exclusivity, such as “either,” “one of,” “only one of,” or “exactly one of.”
Any suitable combination(s) of any disclosed embodiments and/or any suitable portion(s) thereof are contemplated herein as appreciated by those having ordinary skill in the art in view of this disclosure.
The embodiments of the present disclosure, as described above and shown in the drawings, provide for improvement in the art to which they pertain. While the subject disclosure includes reference to certain embodiments, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that changes and/or modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the subject disclosure.
This application claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/339,151, filed May 6, 2022, the entire contents of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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63339151 | May 2022 | US |