Field of the Invention

The present invention is generally applicable in the field of the electric household appliances and specifically relates to an appliance for drying laundry and for ambient heating.

Background of the Invention

It is known that hand- or machine-washed clothes are wet and need to be dried.

This is typically accomplished by hanging wet clothes on appropriate support means such as lines or racks located in ventilated rooms, or more preferably outdoors. This arrangement utilizes natural convection of air, which is not harmful to textile fibers.

This is not always feasible, especially in Winter or where Public Authority regulations do not allow to do so.

Indoor clothes drying has a number of drawbacks such as generation of additional moisture, long drying times and a considerable space requirement.

Suitable drying machines have been thus conceived, which are either integral with or separate from washing machines.

They typically feature rotating drums in which fabrics are swept by hot air currents as they are tumbled therein.

While this solution provides quick laundry drying, it brings about high purchase and operating costs for the drying machine in addition to those associated to the washing machine and further involves the drawback of early wear of fabric fibers,

especially of synthetic fibres. Furthermore, such prior art apparatuses are bulky and cumbersome.

In an attempt to overcome the above mentioned drawbacks, devices have been designed which effect drying by means of hot air jets. Such prior art devices are affected by the disadvantage of wrinkling fabrics thereby forming principal air paths that whereby fibers will not be uniformly dried.

Summary of the Invention

It is a main object of the present invention to overcome the above mentioned drawbacks by providing a drying appliance which exhibits high efficiency and a relatively simplified structure.

It is a particular object of the invention to provide an appliance which allows quick and uniform laundry drying while preventing any damage to clothes fibres.

In is another object of the invention to provide an appliance which can be easily cleaned and serviced.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a compact appliance that has minimal overall dimensions.

These objects as well as others which will become apparent hereinafter are achieved by an electric household appliance in accordance with claim 1 , which appliance comprises a casing, support means for wet clothes, air blowing means for blowing air currents towards said support means, wherein said casing has at least one stationary portion designed to direct at least one secondary flow towards the wet clothes and at least one portion that can be adjusted relative to the former, for selectively directing at least one primary flow towards the wet clothes, characterised in that said primary and secondary flows are fluidically separated

and have respective main flow directions which are at least partially inclined with respect to each other.

Thanks to this particular arrangement, the appliance according to the invention allows the hung clothes to be impinged with a turbulent flow in such a manner to promote quick and uniform drying.

The above casing portions may be preferably pivotally coupled by means of an elongate connecting portion that defines a connection axis, for mutual rotation about such axis.

The appliance may have adjustable stop means to adjust the relative angle between the two casing portions in a range from about 0° to 180°, and to preferably set them at about 90°.

Brief description of the Drawings

Further features and advantages will become more apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description of several preferred embodiments of the appliance according to the invention, presented by way of non limiting examples in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmented, cross-sectional view of the appliance of the present invention in a deployed position;

FIG. 2 is a fragmented, cross-sectional view of the appliance of the present invention in a retracted position;

FlG. 3 is an axonometric view of the appliance of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the appliance of the present invention;

FIG. 5, 6 and 7 are axonometric views of a particular alternative embodiment of the appliance of the present invention.

Detailed description of a preferred embodiment

Referring to the above mentioned figures, the appliance according to the invention, generally designated by numeral 1 , is essentially comprised of a main casing 2 having support means 3 for supporting and hanging wet clothes 4 to be dried and containing air blowing means 5, which will be hereinafter described in a more detailed manner, for conveying an air current towards the clothes 4 hanging from the support means 3.

The casing 2 comprises a stationary portion 6, which is designed to direct at least one secondary flow F _s having main direction D _s towards the clothes 4, and an adjustable portion 7 that can be adjusted relative to the stationary portion 6 and designed to direct at least one primary flow F _P having a main direction D _p towards the wet clothes to be dried.

The primary flow Fp has the purpose of providing a convective drying flow, whereas the secondary flow Fs is aimed at adding turbulence to the primary flow in such a manner to promote uniform drying of hung clothes 4.

According to the invention, the flows Fs ed F _P are fluidically separated from each other and have at least partially inclined directions D ₃ e D _p .

Thus, the secondary flow F _s will promote the shaking of clothes 4 and will further enhance their dripping-out thereby reducing the drying times.

In order to provide its drying function, the adjustable portion 7 may feature heating means 8 for heating-up flow Fp, preferably comprising two electrical resistors 9. Thus, the air flow F _P will be heated and sweep the clothes 4, thereby enhancing evaporation of their residual moisture.

Furthermore, the combined action of the primary hot flow Fp and of the secondary turbulence adding flow F _s will enhance stretching-up of the fibers of clothes 4 in the vertical direction, thereby achieving a naturally "ironing"-like effect without damaging fibers and fabrics and without deteriorating them.

Advantageously, the casing portions 6 e 7 may be pivotally coupled at an elongate connecting portion 10 which defines a longitudinal pivot axis X.

Thanks to such an arrangement, the two casing portions 6, 7 can be oriented in a plurality of relative angular positions α, from a retracted or closed position Pc with a 0° deployment angle to a preferred deployed position P _A wherein the two portions approximately for a right angle.

In this position, the primary hot flow Fp will sweep the clothes 4 along their vertical hanging plane whereas the flow F _s will sweep the clothes sideways in such a manner as to generate a turbulent condition and a fiber stretching effect. Suitably, in order to lock the portions 6 and 7 in the desired mutual position, selective locking means 11 are provided, for example teeth for snap engagement in complementarily shaped seats of well known type to any skilled person.

With the purpose of taking up air from outside, the connecting portion 10 may have a substantially cylindrical shape and may feature an intake opening 12, preferably equipped with a filter 13.

The stationary portion 6 may be composed of a pair of side walls 14 e 14', which are substantially parallel and reciprocally joined by a removable rear wall 15 and by a fixed front wall 16, substantially mutually facing to define a secondary air manifold 17.

The front wall 16 of the casing portion 6 may feature a first series of air outflow slits 18.

Likewise the adjustable casing portion 7 may comprise two side walls 19 e 19' joined together by an upper wall 20 and by a lower wall 21 , converging towards their free ends 22, so as to define a primary air manifold 23.

The lower wall 21 may have a second series of slits 24 to convey the primary air flow Fp towards the wet clothes 4.

With the purpose of accelerating air outflow, the air blowing means 5 may comprise a pair of tangential fans 25, 25' of substantially cylindrical shape with substantially radial blades 26 fitted on a central rigid drum keyed on the shaft 27 of a motor 28.

Preferably, the tangential fans 25, 25' may be housed within the connecting portion 10 of the casing 2 on opposite sides of the motor 28 that is mounted to the casing by means of connecting lugs 29.

The support means 3 for hung clothes 4 to be dried may comprise a pair of side arms 30, 30' pivotally mounted to the casing 2 for supporting a plurality of lines 31 on which clothes 4 may be hung.

Suitably, the arms 30, 30' may be moved from a first open position P' _A with lines 31 stretched and a second closed position P'c with lines 31 retracted and housed in a suitable receptacle 32.

The appliance 1 as described may be anchored to a vertical wall employing appropriate anchoring means 33 provided in the stationary casing portion 6, with no additional support means, thus occupying a fixed position in the room where it is placed.

In an alternative embodiment, the appliance 1 may be of floor standing type, whereby it can be freely moved on the floor and positioned thereon.

To this end, the stationary portion 6 may have suitable ground support means generally denoted by numeral 34. In this case, the appliance may be provided with a drain container 35 for collecting the dripping water, so as to prevent damaging of the floor on which it stands.

Advantageously, the appliance 1 may be assembled using a limited number of connecting nut-and-screw members so as to facilitate maintenance and cleaning operations. To this end, motor 28 and wall 15 are coupled to the portion 10 and to the portion 6 respectively by means of screws 36.

All other couplings need no external connections such as welding or gluing. To this end, the casing portions 6 and 7 may be coupled solely by snap fit means 37.

Suitably, the casing portions 6 and 7 may have a substantially bulged shape so as to define a pair of shells, which can be closed on each other and have a wing-like shape when in the retracted position.

Such shape is conceived for the assembly to have a highly compact and elegant design, which are of the utmost importance for an appliance suitable to be placed in modern small spaces.

Advantageously, the upper wall 20 of the adjustable portion may feature a series of openings 38 having flaps or doors 39 which can opened and closed by means of a common control member or slider 40.

By operating the slider 40 to close all the flaps 39, the whole air flow will be conveyed along direction D _s , thus bringing the portion 7 in a rotated position relative to the stationary portion 6 when it is only desired to dry clothes. By operating the slider 40 to open all the flaps 39, thus bringing the adjustable portion 7 closed over the stationary portion 6, in such a manner as to draw the whole air flow out, thus employing the appliance 1 essentially as a fan heater for ambient heating, for example as a bathroom heater.

Furthermore, the appliance 1 may be equipped with a control panel generally denoted by numeral 41 , for example located on the upper wall 20 of the adjustable portion 7, possibly having a digital display, to control and adjust power on/off, fun speed, outflow temperature of the primary flow F _P and optionally operating times.

The foregoing clearly proves that the appliance of the invention achieves the intended objects, and particularly affords a quick and homogeneous laundry drying, while preventing any damage to clothes fibers.

Thanks to the combined action of the two air flows Fp ed F _s , a hot turbulent flow can be directed towards hung clothes 4, which can remove residual moisture while stretching the fibres in a natural manner.

The appliance of this invention is susceptible of a number of changes and variants, within the scope of the appended claims. All the details thereof may be replaced by other technically equivalent parts, and the materials may vary depending on different needs, without departure from the scope of the invention.

While the appliance has been described with particular reference to the accompanying figures, the numerals referred to in the disclosure and claims are only used for the sake of a better intelligibility of the invention and shall not be intended to limit the claimed scope in any manner.