GB1572672A - Clothes driers - Google Patents

Description

(54) IMPROVEMENTS TO CLOTHES DRIERS (71) 1. BASIL JOHN SAUNDERS BELCHER, a British subject, of 215 Grays Road. Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, do hereby declare the invention, for which I pray that a patent may be granted to me and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: This invention relates to domestic clothes driers of the type comprising a central pillar with arms fixed to it to carry lines for hanging clothes upon. It is well known to hinge the arms of the drier to a sliding central sleeve bv various types of hinge attachment which may be integral with the central sleeve or separately attached, but in all cases thev provide for the arm to be opened and closed against the central pilllar for convenience of removal and storage.

Integral plastic hinges are also known to have been employed to give the advantage of simplicity and elimination of corrosion.

The integral plastic hinge depends upon the unique properties of thin narrow webs of polypropylene which will accept a narrow fold line permitting the hinge to operate continuouslv if necessary. Such hinges, while providing accurate location, rely upon the attached arm moving in an arc in the same plane as the centre pillar, in the same way as a mechanical hinge. In practice the arms of the drier are frequently displaced and the tearing stress thus placed upon the hinge together with the stresses caused by accidental mis-use may result in failure of the hinge. Attempts to increase the strength of the hinge by thickening the web are not practical as the nature of the material will only accept a fold line at a narrow reduced neck.

According to the present invention the line-supporting arms of a domestic clothes drier are secured to a sleeve sliding on the central pillar by means of straps of flexible plastics material such as to flex over a finite length to permit swinging movement of the arms in respective planes which include the central pillar. Accordingly, instead of hingeing about an axis defined by a fold line as in the constructions referred to above, the straps flex over a finite length to form an arc of flexure over this length and, as a result are very much stronger and are not susceptible to failure as the result of tearing action.

Although the straps are desiged primarily to permit swinging movement of each arm in the plane which includes the central pillar, they nevertheless permit movement of the arms in any plane likely to arise in normal use, thus preventing stresses caused by miswalignment. The length and thickness of the straps may vary according to the size and loading of the drier, but the length must be sufficient to permit the flexing or bending action referred to above as compared to the hingeing or folding action of previous constructions. In practice it is convenient for each strap to be capable of flexing over a length of not less than one quarter of an inch which is of reduced thickness in relation to adjacent parts with which it is integral.

Stiffness of the straps arising from their thickness is not important in use because of the substantial mechanical advantage provided by the length of the drier arms.

Consequently, it is possible to make the straps extremely strong without their stiffness being a disadvantage.

The arms of a drier of this type are commonly braced by struts secured to a bracket at the top of the pillar and these struts may be secured to the bracket by means of similar straps. The connecting straps may conveniently be moulded integrally with the sleeve supporting the arms or the bracket supporting the struts. Although integral moulding offers economies in manufacture, it is not essential and the struts may be separately attached to the arms and to the central bracket by any type of fixing which permits the necessary free swinging movement.

An example of a construction in accordance with the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. in which: Figure I is an elevation of the top part of the drier with portions shown in section; Figltres 2 and 3 are detailed sectional views to an enlarged scale of the portions correspondingly indicated in Figure 1: Figure 4 is a plnn view corresponding to Figure 3: and Figure 5 is a detailed view to a further enlarged scale illustrating the flexing of a supporting strap.

Turning first to Figure 1. the drier illustrated is of a normal type having a central pillar 1 of which the lower end is supported by a ground socket and which supports four radially extending arms 2 which carry clothes lines 3 which are looped over hooks 4 on the respective arms. The arms 2 are secured to a sleeve 6 capable of sliding on the pillar 1 and are braced by struts 7 secured to a top bracket 8. When the sleeve 6 is slid downwardlv along the pillar 1 from the position shown in Figure 1, the arms 2 are folded flat against the pillar 1 for convenience of removal and storage. As so far described, this represents a very well known form of domestic clothes drier.

The novelty of the construction lies in the manner in which the arms 2 are secured to the sleeve 6 as illustrated in Figure 3 and the struts 7 are secured to the bracket 8 as shown in Figure 2. Turning next to Figure 3.

each arm 2 is received in a socket member 11 which is connected to the sleeve 6 bv a flexible strap 12. In the example shown the socket members 11. the strap 12 and the sleeve 6 are moulded integrally from a plastics material such as nylon or other material having similar mechanical properties. As best seen from Figure 4. the sleeve 6 itself is of circular configuration with a square projecting portion 14 which is appreciably thicker than the four straps 12 and forms the root portion of each strap. A similarly thickened portion 15 connects the other end of each strap 12 to the respective socket member 11.

As best seen in Figure 5, each strap 12 is formed as a portion of reduced thickness between the parts 14 and 15 and the flexing action which permits the necessary swinging of the arms 2 for folding purposes occurs substantiallv uniformlv along the length of the strap without concentration at any specific hinge-or fold-line. Generally speaking, the length of each reduced thickness portion defining each strap 12 needs to be at least one quarter of an inch in order to provide adequate distribution of the flexing along the length.

A similar construction is used for the connection between the struts 7 and the top bracket 8 as illustrated in Figure 2. Here the struts 7 are shown as received in socket members 18 formed with projecting portions 19 which are connected to corresponding projections 20 on the bracket 8 by way of reduced thickness straps 21. Again the assembly is shown as integrally moulded and the same considerations apply to the length of the straps 21 as already described in relation to the straps 12.

WHAT I CLAIM IS: 1. A domestic clothes drier having a central pillar, a sleeve which is slidable on the pillar and line-supporting arms secured to the sleeve by means of straps of flexible plastics material such as to flex over a finite length to permit swinging movement of the arms in respective planes which include the central pillar.

2. A domestic clothes drier according to claim 1 in which the arms are braced by struts secured to a bracket at the top of the pillar by means of similar straps.

3. A domestic clothes drier according to claim 1 or claim 2, in which the straps are moulded integrally with the sleeve or bracket respectively.

4. A domestic clothes drier according to any one of the preceding claims in which each strap is capable of flexing over a length of not less than one quarter of a inch. which is of reduced thickness in relation to adjacent parts with which it is integral.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims (4)

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. of fixing which permits the necessary free swinging movement. An example of a construction in accordance with the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. in which: Figure I is an elevation of the top part of the drier with portions shown in section; Figltres 2 and 3 are detailed sectional views to an enlarged scale of the portions correspondingly indicated in Figure 1: Figure 4 is a plnn view corresponding to Figure 3: and Figure 5 is a detailed view to a further enlarged scale illustrating the flexing of a supporting strap. Turning first to Figure 1. the drier illustrated is of a normal type having a central pillar 1 of which the lower end is supported by a ground socket and which supports four radially extending arms 2 which carry clothes lines 3 which are looped over hooks 4 on the respective arms. The arms 2 are secured to a sleeve 6 capable of sliding on the pillar 1 and are braced by struts 7 secured to a top bracket 8. When the sleeve 6 is slid downwardlv along the pillar 1 from the position shown in Figure 1, the arms 2 are folded flat against the pillar 1 for convenience of removal and storage. As so far described, this represents a very well known form of domestic clothes drier. The novelty of the construction lies in the manner in which the arms 2 are secured to the sleeve 6 as illustrated in Figure 3 and the struts 7 are secured to the bracket 8 as shown in Figure 2. Turning next to Figure 3. each arm 2 is received in a socket member 11 which is connected to the sleeve 6 bv a flexible strap 12. In the example shown the socket members 11. the strap 12 and the sleeve 6 are moulded integrally from a plastics material such as nylon or other material having similar mechanical properties. As best seen from Figure 4. the sleeve 6 itself is of circular configuration with a square projecting portion 14 which is appreciably thicker than the four straps 12 and forms the root portion of each strap. A similarly thickened portion 15 connects the other end of each strap 12 to the respective socket member 11. As best seen in Figure 5, each strap 12 is formed as a portion of reduced thickness between the parts 14 and 15 and the flexing action which permits the necessary swinging of the arms 2 for folding purposes occurs substantiallv uniformlv along the length of the strap without concentration at any specific hinge-or fold-line. Generally speaking, the length of each reduced thickness portion defining each strap 12 needs to be at least one quarter of an inch in order to provide adequate distribution of the flexing along the length. A similar construction is used for the connection between the struts 7 and the top bracket 8 as illustrated in Figure 2. Here the struts 7 are shown as received in socket members 18 formed with projecting portions 19 which are connected to corresponding projections 20 on the bracket 8 by way of reduced thickness straps 21. Again the assembly is shown as integrally moulded and the same considerations apply to the length of the straps 21 as already described in relation to the straps 12. WHAT I CLAIM IS:

1. A domestic clothes drier having a central pillar, a sleeve which is slidable on the pillar and line-supporting arms secured to the sleeve by means of straps of flexible plastics material such as to flex over a finite length to permit swinging movement of the arms in respective planes which include the central pillar.

2. A domestic clothes drier according to claim 1 in which the arms are braced by struts secured to a bracket at the top of the pillar by means of similar straps.

3. A domestic clothes drier according to claim 1 or claim 2, in which the straps are moulded integrally with the sleeve or bracket respectively.

4. A domestic clothes drier according to any one of the preceding claims in which each strap is capable of flexing over a length of not less than one quarter of a inch. which is of reduced thickness in relation to adjacent parts with which it is integral.