U.S. patent number 3,811,198 [Application Number 05/255,832] was granted by the patent office on 1974-05-21 for method and drying closet for drying laundry and the like.
Invention is credited to Hans Baltes.
United States Patent |
3,811,198 |
Baltes |
May 21, 1974 |
METHOD AND DRYING CLOSET FOR DRYING LAUNDRY AND THE LIKE
Abstract
A method and apparatus for drying laundry or the like is
provided with a cross flow of heated air issuing generally parallel
to the laundry from a first vertical wall in planes generally
parallel to the hanger rods for the laundry. A plurality of
vertically spaced hanger rods are provided with the heated air
being discharged from the plurality of air discharge means located
vertically at the level of the respective hanger rods to direct the
air substantially parallel across the tops of the rods with the air
outlet means being at the lower end of the opposite vertical wall
for moving air from the enclosed interior of the closet. In the
preferred embodiment of the invention, the air is discharged from a
back wall and the air is collected at the bottom of the front wall
and then the collected air flows upwardly through a door of the
closet to discharge at the top of the door. The hanger rods are
preferably in the form of hanger grids which may be pivoted
downwardly and which may be removed in order to provide space for
large pieces of laundry hanging down from the uppermost hanger
rods. Because of the large air throughput with the cross flow
principle, the humidity of the exhausting air is kept sufficiently
low to avoid annoyance to the environment surrounding the
closet.
Inventors: |
Baltes; Hans (5841 Holzen,
DT) |
Family
ID: |
25761166 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/255,832 |
Filed: |
May 22, 1972 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
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May 21, 1971 [DT] |
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2125369 |
Oct 6, 1971 [DT] |
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2149875 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
34/466; 34/233;
34/487 |
Current CPC
Class: |
D06F
58/10 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
D06F
58/10 (20060101); F23b 003/50 () |
Field of
Search: |
;34/23,24,34,233,240 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Dority, Jr.; Carroll B.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Fitch, Even, Tabin &
Luedeka
Claims
What we claim is:
1. An apparatus for drying laundry or the like comprising closet
means having at least a first pair of opposite parallel, vertically
extending walls co-operating with another pair of side walls to
define a hollow closet interior in which laundry may be hung, a
plurality of rod means attached to one of said walls and projecting
therefrom at vertically spaced levels and in substantially
horizontal planes toward an opposite vertical wall, means providing
an air intake opening for said closet means, filter means for
filtering the air flowing through said air intake opening, means
for heating said air, fan means for moving said heated air, hollow
duct means for conveying said heated air moved by said fan means
along a path upwardly along one of said pair of vertical walls, a
plurality of air discharge means for deflecting and discharging the
entire flow of heated air from said duct means in directions
laterally across the tops of said rod means toward the opposite one
of said vertical walls, each of said air discharge means being
located vertically at the level of one of said rod means for
directing the air substantially parallel to each of said rod means
for movement across the top of the laundry thereon, and air outlet
means at the lower end of said opposite vertical wall means for
removing said air from said closet interior after the same has
flowed laterally and then downwardly to said air outlet means.
2. An apparatus in accordance with claim 1 in which each said rod
means comprises a plurality of parallel rods constituting a hanger
grid, means for pivoting said hanger grids for downward movement of
the same and for allowing removal thereof from said closet means to
permit longer laundry to hang in said closet.
3. An apparatus in accordance with claim 1 in which said duct means
is in a rear wall of said closet means and in which said opposite
wall is a front wall of said closet means.
4. An apparatus in accordance with claim 2 in which said front wall
includes a door, said air outlet means located at the lower end of
said door, an upwardly extending air passageway is provided in said
door for conveying said discharging air upwardly to discharge the
air adjacent the top of said door.
5. An apparatus in accordance with claim 1 in which a bottom wall
means is provided for said closet and has a drain opening therein,
and a drip tray is provided beneath said bottom wall for receiving
liquid through said drain opening.
6. An apparatus in accordance with claim 1 in which clamping means
are provided on said another pair of side walls, each of said
clamping means comprising an upper bar having a slot of a
predetermined width therein and a lower bar spaced from said upper
bar, said rod means including a plurality of parallel rods and a
pair of transversely extending members joined to said parallel
rods, said transversely extending members being insertable through
said slots and pivotal into interlocking relationship with said
clamping means.
7. An apparatus in accordance with claim 1 in which means are
provided on said side walls for mounting said rod means for sliding
movement outwardly of said closet interior for loading or unloading
with laundry.
8. An apparatus in accordance with claim 7 in which said rod means
includes rods having bolts at rear ends thereof, in which said
slide means includes means having elongated apertures in which said
bolts may slide.
9. A method for drying laundry or the like within a drying closet
comprising the steps of taking ambient air into the apparatus
through an inlet opening, filtering said air, compressing said air,
and heating said air, directing said heated and compressed air
vertically along a first one of the vertical walls of the closet
through a vertically extending duct means, discharging the entire
flow of air from said duct means at vertically spaced levels of
said vertical walls from a plurality of vertically spaced discharge
openings each being adjacent one of a plurality of horizontally
extending rods for holding the laundry, directing the discharging
heated air in parallel flow patterns in directions parallel to the
hanging laundry and rods across the top of the laundry and said
rods and toward the opposite vertical wall, causing the air to flow
downwardly adjacent the opposite vertical wall toward the lower end
thereof, exhausting the air from said closet at the lower end of
said opposite vertical wall, and then injecting the exhausted air
into the room in a manner to reduce discomfiture to persons in the
room.
Description
The present invention relates to a method of drying laundry and the
like within a drying closet (drier), and a drying closet for
carrying out such method, said closet including an inlet opening, a
blower of fan and a heater for the drying air.
Drying closets of the above type are particularly useful for drying
laundry of all kind; however, they may also be used for drying or
aerating films, periwigs, clothes, suits and other articles, such
as sausage and meat products.
There are already known drying closets wherein the drying air to
major part is conducted in a circulating motion so that it flows
from the lower portion to the upper portion, or vice versa, through
the articles hung into the drying closet. However, these drying
closets are subject to the disadvantage that the laundry is
non-uniformly dried therein and becomes hard and stiff, while the
drying time is of excessive length, and the driers are complicated
and expensive.
Furthermore, in these known drying closets the laundry does not
assume the desired fresh smell.
Although other drying closets do not cause the drying air to
circulate, they likewise, in disadvantageous manner, cause the air
to flow in vertical direction only.
Accordingly, it is the object of the present invention to provide a
method and a drying closet for drying laundry and other goods,
wherein the disadvantages of the prior art are no longer present,
wherein, in particular, the laundry assumes the fresh and natural
smell of laundry dried outdoors thereby avoiding damages by solar
radiation, which render possible a uniform and fast drying of the
laundry, which have low energy consumption, and which do not
require a connection to a water supply conduit or to an exhaust air
chinmey, and which do not affect the environment by the emission of
too much humidity.
Moreover, the drying closet according to the invention should be
constructed in simple and economical manner and be safe in
operation. Preferably, it should be adaptable in its capacity or
performance to the desired type of drying, and it should be capable
of drying laundry or articles of various lengths and kinds.
In the method according to the invention, this object is solved in
that the air is taken in from the outside, filtered, compressed and
heated, whereupon it flows through the closet and the laundry
disposed therein in cross-current and from above in order to be
exhausted thereafter.
Advantageously, the air thereby enters the inner space of the
closet in uniform distribution through a closet wall, while it
exits from said inner space through the lower portion of the
opposite wall.
In order that the user of the closet is not annoyed by the
exhausting air, and to improve the heat economy, expediently the
air flows in the abovementioned opposite wall in upward direction
to exit therefrom in inclined upward direction.
In the apparatus according to the invention, the object of the
invention is solved in that the drying closet as specified at the
beginning comprises air conducting means for uniformly discharging
the air from the rear closet wall into the interior of the closet,
and an outlet opening for the drying air from the inner space of
the closet into the closet door and positioned in the lower portion
thereof.
In order to permit adjustment of the drying capacity, the drying
closet according to the invention may include a multi-stage heater
element comprising selectively activatable stages and associated
control lamps, whereby, advantageously, the heater elements of each
stage extend over the full cross-section of the air flow.
In order to permit easy adaptation of the drying closet for various
kinds and lengths of laundry preferably such closet is provided
with pivotable and removable hanger grids for the laundry.
It is the particular merit of the invention that it provides with
simplest means a particularly favorable drying closet wherein, in a
manner surprising to the expert, a natural smell of the laundry is
obtained in addition to a particularly uniform and fast drying
operation.
It is another object of the invention to provide a drying closet
which is of simple construction and, primarily, of extraordinarily
small volume and of compact size, and wherein the laundry may be
filled in most comfortable manner.
According to the invention, this object is solved in that the air
flows through the inner space of the closet in cross-current
fashion from above the planes parallel to the hanger rods for the
laundry.
More particularly, preferably the air may enter the interior of the
closet in uniform distribution from one closet wall and exit from
the interior of the closet at the bottom in front of the opposite
closet wall.
The drying closet according to the invention is preferably
characterized in that it comprises air conducting means for
uniformly discharging the air from one of the closet walls having
chimney-like configuration, into the interior of the closet, and
one or more outlet openings for the exhaust air from the interior
of the closet which openings are positioned at the bottom or at a
more elevated point in the opposite closet wall, and further
comprises rods for hanging up the laundry, which rods are disposed
under right angles to the closet walls conducting the air.
In the following, exemplary embodiments of the invention are
explained in greater detail in connection with the drawings,
wherein:
FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of the drying closet according
to the invention;
FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the closet according to FIG.
1, shown in sectional view;
FIG. 3 is a plan view of the closet according to FIG. 1 as seen
from above, in sectional view taken along the level of a hanger
grid;
FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3, the section being taken at the
level of the heating means and of the fans;
FIG. 5 is a view of a clamp including the cross-rods of the hanger
grid with the hanger grid placed into the chamber;
FIG. 6 is a view of the clamp according to FIG. 5 with pivoted
hanger grid;
FIG. 7 is a front elevational view of a drying closet according to
the invention in compact construction;
FIG. 8 is a view of the drying closet according to FIG. 7 with the
front door removed;
FIG. 9 is a sectional view through the drying closet according to
FIG. 7;
FIG. 10 is a horizontal sectional view of a drying closet according
to FIG. 7 with the door opened and the hanger device pulled
out;
FIG. 11 is a view of another example of the drying closet according
to FIG. 7 with a hanger device adapted to be pivoted to the
outside;
FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a hanger device pivoted to the
outside and including a series of hinged down rods; and
FIG. 13 shows an example for the installation of the drying closet
according to the invention.
Table 1 is a graphic representation indicating the amount of water
being removed from the laundry for two specific examples as related
to drying time and the relationship thereto to the percent of
residual humidity of the exhausting drying air.
Table 2 illustrates a specific example of water removal from a room
having a window partially opened as related to the minutes of
drying time and percent of relative humidity at given temperatures
shown thereon.
Table 3 is similar to that of Table 2 except that a different
example of laundry drying is used.
Table 4 discloses a Mollier diagram with an outlet air and
theoretical space air curves thereon for a given example.
Table 5 is similar to Table 4 and comprises a Mollier diagram with
curves thereon.
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 6, the drying closet according to the
invention has rectangular configuration, whereby the inner wall
panel 9 of the rear wall, a trunk door 7 as the closet's front wall
and two closet side walls 4 define the interior 21 of the closet
which is closed from above and below by horizontal closures. The
bottom of the drying closet is subdivided into several segments by
means of corrugations or beads, which segments merge at a lowermost
point where a drain opening for water dripping down from the
laundry is provided. A drip tray 20 adapted to be emptied is
provided beneath the drain opening for receiving the water.
Underneath the lower closure, there are provided in a frame an
intake opening 6 for taking in the drying air, two fans 11 for
compressing and pumping the drying air, as well as heater elements
12 for heating the drying air. A filter 5 is arranged upstream of
the fans 11. The fans 11 proper are cross-current fans or blowers;
however, fans operating in a different manner may be employed,
too.
Downstream of the fans in the direction of flow, there is
positioned a heater element 12 having two discrete heating stages
which in the form of a wire helix extend over the full flow
cross-section and the operation of which may be indicated through
control lamps 2 installed into the upper portion of the door.
In order to obtain increased throughput efficiency and uniform
aeration, preferably there are arranged beneath the bottom of the
drying closet a pair of fans 11 in side-by-side arrangement with an
intermediately disposed drive motor 23, and the heating stages are
each inserted with half of their lengths into the cross-section of
the air outlet of each fan. The wattage of the heating stages is,
e.g., 2,000 watts and 1,300 watts, respectively. By selectively
adding the stages, there may be adjusted a capacity of both 1,300
or 2,000 watts and 3,300 watts. The connected load of the drying
closet, including the motor, then will always be less than 16
amperes.
The fans 11 are designed to provide in the free running state an
air throughput of 1,000 cubic meters per hour. In normal operation,
they provide a pressure head of from 5 to 6 millimeters of water
column.
The rear wall 8, 9 and the door 7 are of double-wall construction
and they serve to conduct the drying air in its flow through the
drying closet. The upper side of the door carries at a readily
visible place the operating switches with the integrated control
lamps 2 and a time regulator 3 adapted to be selectively set to a
period of up to three hours, in order to set the period of time to
lapse until the drying closet is switched off.
A baffle 10 is installed between the rear wall 8 and the inner wall
9, which baffle conducts the air exiting from the fans 11 into a
pair of channels, whereby the front channel assumes about 40
percent of the fan outlet area and guides the air into the lower
portion of the drying closet, while the rear channel occupies about
60 percent of the fan outlet area and passes the air into the upper
portion of the drying closet.
The volumes of the upper and lower portions of the drying closet
are related to each other in a ratio of 2 to 1. The drying air
enters the interior 21 of the drying closet through transversely
extending outlet slots 13 in the inner wall 9, whereby the lower
portion of the closet has a transversely extending air outlet or
exhaust slot 13 in the central part thereof and another slot at its
upper end. The upper closet portion includes a pair of slots 13 one
of which is disposed in the central part and the other one in the
upper section thereof.
In the door of the drying closet, there are provided an outlet
opening 18 for the drying air at the lower and inner portion, and a
blowout opening 1 at the outer and upper portion. The drying air
enters through the inner outlet opening 18 from the interior of the
closet into the trunk door 7 constructed in the manner of a
chimney, and leaves said door through said blowout opening 1.
Baffles 19 in front of the blowout opening 1 conduct the exhausting
drying air obliquely upwardly.
In the region of the transverse slots 13, the two side walls each
carry a pair of oppositely disposed bars 15 and 16 each forming a
clamp, which bars are bent from a rectangular rod. These clamps
have inserted thereinto hanger grids 14 adapted to be removed and
pivoted downwardly and on which the laundry may be hung up.
Now, the flow of the drying air extends parallel to the pieces of
laundry from the rear wall 9 towards the door 7, and in addition to
this cross-current has a flow component directed from above to
below.
Surprisingly, this conduction of the drying air provides a uniform
and highly efficient drying operation, even in the case of a high
throughput of air.
The hanger grids 14 comprise individual rods 30 extending from the
rear wall towards the door. The rods have an upright rectangular
profile and having their rear ends passed through transversely by a
pair of round, spaced rods 24, 25. The spacing between rods 24 and
25 is from about 3 to 4 centimeters.
Thus the rods 30 are each secured at one end to the pair of
transversely extending rods 24 and 25 to define the hanger grid 14
which when held by the clamps formed by the bars 15 and 16 projects
substantially at right angles to the rear wall 9 and laterally
across the closet toward the opposite vertical wall of the closet.
The individual rods 30 and the three hanger grids 14 shown in FIG.
2 thus are parellel to one another at vertically spaced locations
and are generally horizontally disposed. As the clamps formed by
the bars 15 and 16 are located adjacent and at the level of the
respective vertically spaced air outlets slots 13, the discharging
heated air travels and is directed generally parallel to the rods
30 and across the top of the laundry thereon toward the front wall
of the closet.
The upper clamp bar 15 is provided with an opening 17 the width of
which is slightly in excess of the thickness of the rods 24, 25 and
which has a greater spacing from the rear end of the clamp and a
smaller spacing from the front end of the clamp, than the spacing
between the rods 24, 25.
The bars are disposed with a spacing from each other which is
slightly greater than the thickness of the rods 24, 25.
In their normal position (FIG. 5), the rods 24, 25 are situated in
the rear portion of the clamp bars 15, 16 and are supported by the
lower or upper bar, respectively. For pivoting, the hanger grid 14
is pulled forwardly, and the rear rod 24 may rotate upwardly
through the opening 17, as shown in FIG. 6.
In this position, the hanger grid 14 may be easily removed in order
to clear in its lower positions the space for larger pieces of
laundry hanging down from the uppermost hanger grid.
It has found to be of particular importance that the hanger grids
14 are arranged at the level of the air discharging from the
transverse slots 13.
Because of the large air throughput and because of the design of
the air path, the humidity of the exhausting air is sufficiently
low during the drying operation to avoid annoyance of the
environment.
Thermo switches deactivate the heater elements individually if
excessive temperatures are reached, such as in the case of failure
of the fans. The switches have disposed therein control lamps 2
which light when the respective device controlled by the associated
switch is in operation.
Tables 1 to 3 graphically illustrate the water removal of the
laundry dried in the above described drying closet as related to
drying time for several specific examples. The figures shown at the
measuring points in first line indicate the temperature in degrees
Centigrade of the taken in air, secondly the temperature in degrees
Centigrade of the exhausted air, and thirdly the water contents of
the exhausted air in percent of relative humidity. Apparently, a
drying time of 180 minutes is not exceeded even if 5 kilograms of
water are to be removed; in the case of lesser water removal, such
as by means of a preceding centrifuging step, the drying time is
still further decreased to substantial degree. This applies even
for the extremely low room temperature of 12.degree.C.
As shown by the figures for the air exhaust temperature in the mid
position, the air exhaust temperatures during the full period of
drying never become uncomfortably high; as shown by the figures for
the air inlet temperature, the room temperature increases only
insignificantly, and the relative humidity always stays below 80
percent.
Further, Tables 4 and 5 show the Mollier diagrams of the outlet air
(curve a) and of the theoretical space air (curve b). Apparently
and in a manner surprising to the expert, the curve for the outlet
air at the beginning passes in optimum manner along the dew point
curve and then, at the end of the drying operation, shows very low
humidities such as are necessary for complete drying of
laundry.
The theoretical space air temperature curve shows substantial
increases of temperatures up to about 40.degree.C. Thus, an even
rough calculation would deter every expert from installing a drying
closet according to the invention without a drain or an exhaust air
chimney. In fact, however, and in a manner absolutely surprising to
the expert, it has been found that there do not arise any troubles
as can be best understood when viewing the results graphically
illustrated in Tables 2 and 3.
In detail, curves a reflect the variation of condition or state of
the drying air exiting from the drier. Surprisingly after a
starting period of about 15 minutes which most probably is
necessary to heat the drier contents, a constant water discharge of
about 20 to 22 grams per kilogram of drying air occurs.
Curves b would result in accordance with the proportioning rule if
the drying operation were performed in an enclosure having
heat-impermeable walls with complete air encapsulation toward the
outside and uniform temperature and moisture distribution, and if
the drying closet did not re-introduce substantial amounts of
moisture along with the air taken in.
In fact, in the test rooms there is present a certain exchange of
air through open windows or doors, and heat is transmitted to the
outside through the walls. This explains the fact that, according
to rough estimation, theoretically the space condition should be
within the fog range, whereas this does not hold true in
practice.
Among other factors, the drying efficiency depends on the ambient
temperature and on the relative humidity, as it is shown by
diagrams A + B at equal loads.
Diagram A shows a drying operation wherein the room temperature
increased only from 21.degree. to 22.degree.C over the whole drying
period of 135 minutes. The air exiting from the drying closet (as
measured directly at the outlet) raised its temperature from
+21.degree.C to a maximum of 47.5.degree.C, whereas the relative
humidity (also measured directly at the outlet) increased from 62
to 74 percent and decreased again to 65 percent after a period of
30 minutes while it was 32 percent at the termination of the drying
period.
In diagram B, the drying step started at a temperature of as low as
12.degree.C; after 180 minutes, at the end of the drying step, a
room temperature of 15.5.degree.C was measured. The exhausted air
was heated to a maximum of 46.5.degree.C while the humidity
increased from 75 to 82 percent and decreased to 76 percent again
after a period of 30 minutes, and 30 percent of relative humidity
were indicated at the end of the drying operation.
In both cases, the drying results were obtained in a room of 28
cubic meters, with only a tiltable window being open in said room.
In spite of critical observation, no vapor formation could be noted
in the room environments. Obviously, the drying closet does not
require an exhaust air duct for removing the moisture. A slightly
open window or door will suffice in any case.
As shown in FIGS. 7 to 12, it is possible to construct a
particularly small sized and compact embodiment of the drying
closet according to the invention by employing the cross-current
principle. The cross-current principle may be realized both from
front to the rear, from the rear to the front, and from the left to
the right and vice versa. Hereby, it is essential that the air in
either case flows parallel to the hanger rods for the laundry.
For easier filling with laundry, the drying closet according to
FIG. 7 includes grids adapted to be pulled out in forward
direction, which grids, if necessary, may be pivoted additionally
when the grid is in its extreme outwardly drawn position. It has
been found, in a manner surprising to the expert, that the full
load of a washing machine can be readily dried within the interior
of a narrow closet having a depth of, e.g., 320 millimeters of the
interior space and an overall depth of 350 millimeters with a
height of 1,150 millimeters and a width of 600 millimeters. When
drying bedlinen or bed sheets, not only the 5 to 6 kilograms of
laundry of a normal load of a washing machine, but approximately
twice that weight, i.e., 10 to 12 kilograms, can be dried rapidly
and uniformly.
It is of particular advantage that the laundry drying closet
according to the invention because of its small depth and its ideal
installation dimensions may be installed in modular kitchens or,
e.g., in bathrooms at a place above the tub, whereby the depth,
height and width dimensions correspond to the standard dimensions
of modular components. It is of special advantage that the grids of
the drying closet, with the door open, may be drawn out so that the
pieces of laundry then may be placed onto the individual bars. The
interior of the closet includes, for example, 10 rods arranged in
tandem and in two levels, thus amounting to 20 rods for hanging up
the laundry. The center spacing between the rods is, e.g., 33
millimeters.
According to FIG. 7, the small drying closet comprises a pair of
side walls each including an inner sheet metal plate 24a and a door
8a. In the interior space of the closet, there are provided a pair
of hanger grids 23a each comprising individual rods 25a which
extend from one side wall 2a to the opposite side wall 2a. The side
walls 2a, 24 are of trunk-like construction; they serve as air
paths for the inlet and exhaust air. Baffles 11a in combination
with the air exhaust or outlet slots 13a and small baffles 12a
provide for uniform outflow of the drying air from the one side
wall 2a in connection with the inner sheet metal plates 24a.
The drying air is taken in through the filter 9a, compressed by the
fan or blower 15a, and heated by the heater 10a. Then, the air
flows between the two wall positions 2a and 24a through the
ventilating slots for the interior space so as to flow with uniform
distribution through the interior space, whereupon it flows through
the latter in cross-current to exit from the interior space via the
air outlet opening which is provided preferably at the bottom of
the opposite closet wall 24a or of the inner wall 2a. However, the
air outlet may be positioned at a higher point as well. Thereafter,
the drying air flows in a chimney-like path within the side wall
2a, 24a in upward direction and then through the outlet opening 16a
into the room in which the drying closet is installed.
A timing switch 19a and switches 20a for ventilation and heating
means permit to selectively adjust the drying air, the temperature
and the drying time.
It has proved to be particularly expedient and current economizing
if the temperature of the drying air is controlled downstream of
the heater, and to switch off the heater when it exceeds a set or
predetermined temperature, until the air temperature has reached a
lower limit again. It is only in this way that a sufficiently
uniform drying temperature can be ensured fully independently of
the air being taken in at ambient temperature.
According to FIG. 12, the grids 23a comprise separate, horizontally
extending rods 25a adapted to be swung downwardly. To this end, the
rods have in their rear ends an elongated hole 34a wherein the
suspension bolt 30a is slidingly movable. The bolt 30a is mounted
in U-profile sections 31a, and in their rearwardly pushed condition
the rods 25a are held at their rear ends in horizontal position by
the U-profile sections 31a. When drawing forwardly, the horizontal
contact with the U-profile sections 31a is lost so that the rods
will swing downwardly to be suspended from their suspension bolts
30a. The depending rods facilitate filling of the closet because,
expediently, each individual rod is swung upwardly not before
laundry is to be hung up thereon. FIG. 12 shows an arrangement with
U-profile sections placed underneath, whereby the rod ends are
retained in horizontal position by the transverse rod 26a. Further,
lowering of the rods is important when laundry pieces of greater
length are to be hung up, whereby the lower grid 23a would be in
the way.
Rod 26a is a U-section which is slipped over a rod 27a which,
again, is secured to the inner wall 24a of the closet. The box-type
profile 27a includes an elongated aperture 29a in its upper and
lower sides wherein a bolt 28a passing through the U-profile of the
rod 26a is slidably mounted. The bolt 28a has both sides thereof
secured to the U-profile of the rod 26a, and when the rod 26a is
drawn out, the bolt slides within the elongated aperture 29a to the
end thereof. Now, in this position the rod 26a may be pivoted about
the bolt 28a, whereby the webs of the U-profile in combination with
the box-type section prevent downward inclination of the grid. Ball
bearings should be installed in order to facilitate inward and
outward movement of the rod 26a.
In another modification of the invention, pivoting of the drawn out
grid 23a may be eliminated. In this embodiment as shown in FIG. 10,
the rearmost one of the rods 25b slides on another rod at the
opposite wall of the closet. When the front rods 25b are lowered,
it is not necessary to pull out the last one of the rods 25b from
the closet.
Apparently, with the disclosed possibility of drawing out the grid,
the individual rods may be easily hung with laundry in spite of the
arrangement of the rods which extend transversely from one side
wall to the other.
In a manner surprising to the expert, the invention succeeded in
providing a closet of minimum volume of only 250 liters without
thereby affecting operation of the closet or drying of the laundry.
Further, it is surprising that the air path according to the
invention in spite of the small spacing between the rods (33
millimeters) nevertheless renders possible an outstanding drying
efficiency.
In this connection, the following has to be noted: All of the
conventional drying closets having a capacity of from 5 to 6
kilograms of dry laundry, depending on the design, require a space
volume of at least 570 to 950 liters and, thus, a specific volumn
of at least 112 to 158 liters per kilogram of laundry, whereas the
present drying closet according to FIGS. 7 to 12 with maximum load
requires a specific space volume of only 21 liters per kilogram of
laundry. This means savings of more than 80 percent in space volume
or a space requirement of less than 20 percent of the previously
known drying closet, based on 1 kilogram of dry laundry each.
In another embodiment of the invention, by retaining the above
described principles of construction, the drying air may enter the
closet in uniform distribution through the closet door and may exit
at the bottom of the rear wall of the closet, whereby the heating
and ventilating elements are arranged in the lower part of the
closet door.
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