GB720654A - Tumbler clothes drier - Google Patents

Abstract

720,654. Tumbler driers. LOVELL MANUFACTURING CO. Feb. 2, 1953 [Feb. 6, 1952], No. 2877/53. Class 34 (2). A tumbler clothes drier has a horizontal rotary drum 4 with an imperforate peripheral wall and an open front or rear wall, a stationary heater 10 supplying radiant heat to the drum and a cabinet 1 surrounding the drum and heater the arrangement being such that the falling of successive articles of clothing from the top of the drum as it rotates causes air to circulate into and out of the drum. The clothes are loaded and unloaded through a door 3 carrying a lint screen 18, air being expelled through the lower part of the screen, as shown by arrows 19, in a series of puffs, replacement air entering at the top as shown by arrows 20. In a modification the heater is located over the upper half of the drum and.the heater and drum are enclosed by an airtight shell of reflective metal. In another modification (Fig. 6) the airtight wrap around sheet 21a has a duct connected to a fan 23 mounted on the shaft of a motor 24 which drives the drum and warm air from the cabinet is discharged into the space between drum and sheet 21a and thence into the drum through an annular opening 31 between a collar 32 fixed to the sheet 21a and a flange 33 on the drum. To keep lint out of the cabinet a collar 34 on the cabinet is sealed to collar 32. A screen 35a across the throat of collar 34 collects lint and serves as a door for loading and unloading. In a further modification (Fig. 9) the drum 4a has peripheral grooves 46 receiving driving rollers 47 and a groove 51 receiving an idler roller 52. At the back of the drum a housing 53 contains a fan 54 and has its discharge end coaxial with the drum and sealed thereto by a flexible lip 56 on the drum. A screened closure 57 serves both as a lint trap and a door and a collar 58 seals against a lip 59 on the drum. In all embodiments the drum outer surface is lacquered and roughened to present a dull surface to the radiant heat and increase absorption. The electric radiant heater may be replaced by a gas radiant heater or a non-radiant heater, the drum surface in the latter case being chosen for its absorption by conduction or convection.