U.S. patent application number 12/006881 was filed with the patent office on 2008-10-02 for self-cleaning lint collector.
Invention is credited to Michael Epstein.
Application Number | 20080235978 12/006881 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 39791876 |
Filed Date | 2008-10-02 |
United States Patent
Application |
20080235978 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Epstein; Michael |
October 2, 2008 |
Self-cleaning lint collector
Abstract
A lint collector for a dryer in which clothes are dried by
heated air supplied to a rotating drum. The lint collector is made
of a frame, a tubular screen rotatably mounted in the frame, a
device for rotating the screen in the frame and an element attached
to the frame for removing lint from the screen as the screen
Inventors: |
Epstein; Michael; (Wayne,
NJ) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Klaus P. Stoffel;Wolff & Samson PC
One Boland Drive
West Orange
NJ
07052
US
|
Family ID: |
39791876 |
Appl. No.: |
12/006881 |
Filed: |
January 7, 2008 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
60919973 |
Mar 26, 2007 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
34/82 ;
34/595 |
Current CPC
Class: |
D06F 58/22 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
34/82 ;
34/595 |
International
Class: |
D06F 58/22 20060101
D06F058/22 |
Claims
1. A lint collector for a dryer in which clothes are dried by
heated air supplied to a rotating drum, the lint collector,
comprising: a frame; a tubular screen rotatably mounted in the
frame; a device for rotating the screen in the frame; and an
element attached to the frame for removing lint from the screen as
the screen rotates.
2. The lint collector according to claim 1, wherein the device for
rotating the screen is a spring-wound mechanism arranged at one end
of the screen and having a knob operative to load the spring of the
mechanism.
3. The lint collector according to claim 1, wherein the frame forms
a chamber for holding lint removed from the screen.
4. The lint collector according to claim 1, wherein the device for
rotating the screen is an electric motor.
5. The lint collector according to claim 1, wherein the frame is
configured to be removably insertable into a air duct of the dryer
in a vicinity of a dryer door.
6. The lint collector according to claim 1, wherein the screen is
rotatable about a horizontal axis.
7. The lint collector according to claim 1, wherein the frame has
two end plates connected together by an elongate base.
8. The lint collector according to claim 7, wherein the base has
two side walls that extend between the end plates.
9. The lint collector according to claim 8, wherein the side walls
are spaced from one another so as to form an opening through which
lint removed from the screen can pass.
10. The lint collector according to claim 8, wherein the lint
removing element extends between the two end plates so as to leave
an opening between the element and one of the side walls.
11. The lint collector according to claim 1, wherein the lint
removing element is a wiper arranged to separate lint from the
screen.
12. The lint collector according to claim 1, wherein the lint
removing element is a comb.
13. The lint collector according to claim 4, wherein the electric
motor is battery operated.
14. A clothes dryer comprising a cabinet having a drum therein for
tumbling a clothing load and a blower for circulating heated air
through the clothes to an airflow passage arranged at an edge of a
door opening in the cabinet, and a lint collector having a frame, a
tubular screen rotatably mounted in the frame, a device for
rotating the screen in the frame, and an element attached to the
frame for removing lint from the screen as the screen rotates, the
lint collector being removably mounted in the airflow passage in an
edge region of the door opening.
Description
[0001] This application claims the benefit of Provisional
Application 60/919,973 filed Mar. 26, 2007, the entire contents of
which are incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to clothes dryers, and more
particularly lint collectors utilized in such cloths dryers.
[0003] Virtually all clothes dryers have a lint collector provided
to trap lint from clothing so as to prevent the lint from
accumulating in the exhaust duct of the dryer. The lint collectors
are traditionally a screen or mesh material which allows air to
pass through while trapping the lint on one side of the screen or
mesh. The problem with these conventional prior art lint collectors
is that they become blocked and clogged with lint fairly quickly.
Furthermore, it is common for the dryer users to overlook cleaning
the lint collector. This results in making the drying procedure
very inefficient in that the airflow is reduced which necessitates
that the dryer operate for a longer period of time in order to dry
a load of clothing.
[0004] Some examples of prior art lint filters and related
components can be seen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,720,925; 4,638,573;
5,675,908; 3,959,891; and 5,463,820. There are also a number of
prior art systems for detecting when the lint screen is full of
lint. One such patent is U.S. Pat. No. 6,971,186, which uses air
flow sensors for triggering an alarm when the filter is clogged
with lint.
[0005] There are also prior art devices for removing lint from a
lint screen, as for example in U.S. Pat. No. 6,662,464. This device
is completely separate from the dryer and requires the lint screen
to be removed from the dryer and then inserted into a slot which
has components for scraping the lint off of the screen.
[0006] U.S. Pat. No. 4,314,409 discloses an automatic lint screen
cleaner and storage system. It is provided between the exhaust air
outlet and the discharge port in the back of the dryer.
[0007] Another lint screen cleaner is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.
4,462,170.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to
provide a lint collector which addresses the problems of the prior
art, particularly the clogging of the filter and subsequent loss of
drying efficiency.
[0009] Pursuant to this object, and others which will become
apparent hereafter, one aspect of the present invention resides in
a lint collector for a dryer, having a tubular screen mounted in a
frame so as to rotate about an axis. The rotation can take place
intermittently or continuously. Preferably the rotation is carried
out mechanically by a spring-wound mechanism, similar to an egg
timer, for example. However, the rotation can be provided by an
electric motor.
[0010] A comb like scoop or scraper is arranged adjacent to the
screen's surface so that as the screen rotates the lint which has
collected on the surface of the screen is scraped therefrom.
[0011] This rotation of the tubular screen allows a clear screen to
be present in the airflow through the dryer basket which results in
a substantial reduction of drying time which in turns results in
reduced cost and wear on the dryer itself.
[0012] In another embodiment of the invention, the frame forms a
chamber for holding lint removed from the screen. Furthermore, the
frame is configured to be insertable into an air duct in the
vicinity of the dryer door.
[0013] In still another embodiment of an invention, the frame has
two end plates connected together by an elongate base with two side
walls that extend between the end plates. The side walls are spaced
from one another so as to form an opening through which lint
removed from the screen can pass.
[0014] The lint removing element extends between the two end plates
so that there is an opening between the element and one of the side
walls, into which opening the lint can enter once scraped from the
screen.
[0015] Other features and advantages of the present invention will
become apparent from the following description of the
invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0016] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the inventive lint
collector;
[0017] FIG. 2 shows the lint collector being mounted in a cloths
dryer; and
[0018] FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the lint collector.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0019] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the inventive lint collector has
a frame 1 in which a tubular screen 2 is rotatably mounted. At one
end of the frame is a knob 3 connected to a spring mechanism 4.
Rotating the knob 3 loads the spring mechanism 4, which in turn
drives the tubular screen 2. The tubular screen 2 rotates slowly
during dyer operation so that at least a portion of clear screen is
moved into the airflow of the dryer at least periodically during
operation of the dryer. The screen 2 is rotatable about a spindle
11.
[0020] It is beneficial to have a comb or scraper 5 arranged
adjacent to the surface of the tubular screen 4 for removing lint
from the outer surface of the screen as it passes by the scraper 5.
Once the lint is removed from the screen 2 the clean screen section
is once again available for rotation into the airflow of the dryer.
The lint scraped from the screen surface passes through openings 6
between the frame and the scraper 5 can be collected either in the
frame or in a larger receptacle provided beneath the frame.
[0021] FIG. 2 illustrates the mounting of the lint collector in a
clothes dryer 7. The clothes dryer 7 has a door 8 which closes a
door opening 9. In the edge of the opening 9 is an opening 10 for
an air duct via which air passes out of the interior of the clothes
dryer 7. The frame 1 of the inventive lint collector is configured
to mount in the opening 10 so that air passing through the interior
of the clothes dryer must pass through the tubular screen 2 as it
exits into the opening 10 and the subsequent air passage out of the
dryer.
[0022] To operate the illustrated embodiment, one needs to turn the
knob 3 to load the screen mechanism 4. This can be done by removing
the lint collector from the opening 10 or, if appropriately
designed, the knob can be turned while the lint collector is
mounted in the opening 10. In either case, once the spring
mechanism is loaded the screen begins to rotate. At this point, the
door 8 to the clothes dryer 7 is closed and the dryer is turned on
so that hot air circulates through the dryer, the tubular screen
and the outlet duct. As previously mentioned, the spring loaded
mechanism can be replaced with an electric motor tied to the
electrical supply of the dryer itself. In this instance, it is
preferable to have a switch connected in the electrical circuit of
the motor. The switch would be arranged in the door opening 9 so
that when the door 8 is closed, the circuit is also closed and the
motor would turn the tubular screen 2.
[0023] Additionally, instead of a hard-wired motor, it is feasible
to provide a battery operated motor so that the lint collector
could be used to retrofit older dryers that are not wired for
powering a motor in the lint collector.
[0024] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the bottom of the frame
forms a chamber which forms a box 12 for collecting lint removed
from the screen 2. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 3, the bottom of
the frame 1 can be open so that a separate lint collecting element
can be attached to the frame to collect lint removed from the
screen.
[0025] Furthermore, in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, the
frame 1 has end plates 13 that are connected together by side walls
14.
[0026] Although the present invention has been described in
relation to particular embodiments thereof, many other variations
and modifications and other uses will become apparent to those
skilled in the art. It is preferred, therefore, that the present
invention be limited but by the specific disclosure herein, but
only by the appended claims.
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