Rotary clothes dryer with line tensioner The invention relates to a rotary clothes dryer comprising an upright as well as arms that are arranged around the upright and that can be moved between a closed down position essentially parallel to the upright and an opened out position, between which arms lines extend that in an extreme opened out position of the arms are under tension, a sliding member that can be slid along the upright and to which each arm is connected by means of a joint that is oriented transversely to the upright, as well as supports that are each joined at one end by means of a joint to the upright and that are joined at the other end by means of a joint to an arm at a position between the two ends of said arm Such a rotary clothes dryer is known. By opening out the arms the lines are pretensioned to a certain extent, such that the lines do not sag to too great an extent when washing is hung thereon. In the tensioned state of the lines, the arms are usually locked with respect to the upright, such that the tensioned state can be maintained even with fairly heavy loading.

Tensioning of the lines is usually effected by pushing the sliding member to which the arms are attached upwards as far as possible with one hand whilst holding the upright with the other-hand. Such an operation is awkward, if only because exerting a force directed upwards while in a half crouching position below the arms with lines, already opened out in the meantime, is not easily possible. With other known embodiments tensioning can be applied by means of pulleys.

The aim of the invention is to provide a rotary clothes dryer where the lines can be tensioned in a simple manner and using lower operating forces. Said aim is achieved in that tensioning means are provided to increase the tension in the lines. In particular, for this purpose the sliding member can be provided with a lever that can be made to interact with the upright.

The upright has at least one point of engagement that is located in the region of the upright where the sliding member is located in the opened out position of the arms. As soon as the sliding member has been pushed up to a sufficient extent, the lever starts to interact with the point of engagement on the upright, after which increasing the tension in the lines can be effected by operating the lever. In particular, the upright can have a rack for this purpose. In this context the sliding member can be provided with a first toothed rotary member, such as a toothed sector or a gearwheel, that interacts with the rack when the arms

are in the opened out position. The lever can have a second toothed rotary member, such as a toothed sector or a gearwheel, that is in engagement with the first toothed rotary member.

Locking means can also be provided for locking the lever.

The advantage of the tensioning means according to the invention is furthermore that a possible change in the length of the lines has no influence in this case. In practice it can be that some permanent stretch in the lines occurs in the course of time. This permanent stretch is compensated for by the tensioning means. In this case the tensioning means start to engage on a different tooth on the rack from the one on which they engaged initially. As a result the tensioning range shifts automatically, without the user having to pay attention to this or being aware of this.

The invention will be explained in more detail below with reference to an illustrative embodiment shown in the figures.

Fig. 1 shows a rotary clothes dryer according to the invention in the collapsed and closed down position.

Fig. 2 shows the rotary clothes dryer according to Fig. 1 in the collapsed and half opened out position.

Fig. 3 shows the rotary clothes dryer in the collapsed and fully opened out position.

Fig. 4 shows the rotary clothes dryer in the collapsed and opened out position.

Fig. 5 shows an enlarged view of the locking means for locking the rotary clothes dryer in the extended position.

Fig. 6 shows an axial section through the locking means.

Figure 7 shows a perspective view of the tensioning means for tensioning the arms in the opened out position.

Figure 8 shows an axial section through the tensioning means in the inoperative position.

Figure 9 shows an axial section through the tensioning means in the operative position.

Figure 10 shows a perspective view of the foot of the rotary clothes dryer.

Figure 11 shows an axial section through the foot.

The rotary clothes dryer shown in Figures 1-11 has an upright indicated in its entirety by 1, the bottom end 2 of which is pushed into a substrate 3. The rotary clothes dryer has four arms 4, which are attached to the upright 1.

According to the invention the upright 1 is in two parts and has a fixed upright part 5,

the end 2 of which is pushed into the substrate 3, as well as an upright part 6 that can be slid telescopically with respect thereto. The upright parts 5, 6 can also be turned about their longitudinal axis with respect to one another.

The slidable upright part 6 can be locked relative to the fixed upright part 5 by means of the locking means 7. As shown in Figure 5 and 6, these locking means have a housing 60 joined to the slidable upright part 6. A ratchet 8, which is mounted such that it can pivot about point of rotation 12 and which can be clicked into a number of stops or lock openings 9 in the fixed upright part 5 is accommodated in this housing 60. The ratchet 8 has a detent 10 that springs in and out of the lock openings 9 when moved upwards. During the downward movement the detent 10 latches into one of said lock openings 9. For this purpose the detent 10 is pushed in resiliently by means of the spring 11.

The detent 10 can be unlocked by pressing in the push button 13, in the direction of the upright part 6. This push button 13 is joined to the ratchet 8 by means of the lever 14, which protrudes from the housing 60 via the hole 61, such that the detent 10 is moved out of the lock openings 9 by means of a push on the push button 13. The slidable upright part 6 can then be moved downwards over the fixed upright part 5.

The housing 60 furthermore acts as a rotary joint between the upright parts 5, 6. As a result the latter can be turned relative to one another about their longitudinal axis. For this purpose the housing 60 has an integrated chamber 62, consisting of the cylindrical chamber wall 63 and the flanges 64,65 protruding inwards at the top and bottom thereof, respectively. A sleeve 66 that is able to turn about the longitudinal axis is accommodated in the chamber 62, enclosed between the flanges 64,65. This sleeve is joined to the slidable upright part 6 by means of projections 67 hooked into the holes 68. In use the bottom edge of the sleeve 66, together with the top surface of the bottom flange, forms a rotary bearing for the slidable upright part 6, such that the upper upright part 5 can be turned about the longitudinal axis relative to the lower upright part 6.

Furthermore, a handle 15 is fitted at the bottom of the housing 60, such that the slidable upright part 6 can be gripped and lifted easily even in a low position. The handle can be turned about joint 69, between the lifting position shown in Figure 5 and 6 and a storage position in which it has been flipped down (not shown). In order to prevent the fixed upright part 5 also being lifted when the upright part 6 is slid upwards, a step surface 16 on which the foot can be placed is also provided, as will be explained in more detail below.

The arms 4 are joined by means of supports 17 to the slidable upright part 6. For this purpose these supports 17 are joined via joints 18 to the upright part 6 and via the joints 19 to the arms 4.

The arms 4 are furthermore joined at the end thereof facing the upright 1 to a sliding ring 21 by means of joints 20. By moving the sliding ring 21 upwards over the slidable upright part 6 the arms 4 are spread into the position shown in Fig. 4, the lines (not shown) being tensioned between the arms 4. In this position the sliding ring 21 can be secured with respect to the slidable upright part 6. Because the slidable upright part 6 can be slid upwards first, opening out of the arms 4 can then be carried out much more easily.

The tensioning means indicated in their entirety by 30, see Fig. 8, are provided in connection with simplifying tensioning of the lines and limiting the force needed for this.

These tensioning means 30 comprise a lever 31 as well as a rack 32 on the surface of the slidable upright part 6 as shown in Fig. 4. The lever 31 is mounted such that it can turn in the joint 33 of the housing 34 that is fixed to the sliding ring 21, as shown in Figure 8.

As can be seen in Fig. 8, a gearwheel 35 constructed as a toothed sector, which has a peripheral portion with toothing and a peripheral portion without toothing, is fitted at the location of the joint 33. The normal gearwheel 36, which likewise is mounted in the housing 34 such that it can turn, is located alongside this gearwheel 35, constructed as a toothed sector. The toothed sector 35 is fixed to the lever 31 around the joint 33 in such a way that when the lever 31 is in the flipped up position the non-toothed portion of the toothed sector 35 faces the normal gearwheel 36. These are then not in engagement with one another.

If the sliding ring 21 is now moved upwards in this state, the normal gearwheel 36 can turn freely so that this engages with the rack 32. By then grasping the lever 31 and turning it to the left in Fig. 9, the toothed portion of the gearwheel shaft 33 is made to engage with the normal gearwheel 36 and, as a consequence of the interaction between the gearwheels 35 and 36 that is thus obtained, the sliding ring 21 is driven upwards with respect to the rack 32, such that the arms 4 are pushed further into a horizontal position and the lines are tensioned.

The lever 31 is locked in the final desired position by means of the locking means 37, 39. When closing down the arms, the locking means 37,39 are first unlocked, after which the lever 31 can be moved back, from the position in Figure 9, into the position oriented upwards in accordance with Fig. 8, such that the gearwheel 36 disengages from the rack 32

and the sliding ring 21 can be moved further downwards for closing down the arms 4. The lever is held in the flipped up position by means of the spring 38.

As shown in Figures 1-3, the centre of gravity 8 of the arms 4 is approximately in the middle thereof. The centre of gravity 8 is in any event beyond the joints 19 in the opened out state shown in Figure 2 and 3, which state is therefore stable. It is desirable that as well as having a stable opened out position the arms 4 also have a stable closed down position. For this purpose, as is shown in Figure 1, provision is made that when the arms 4 are in the closed down position the distance 40 between the joints 19 is greater than the distance 11 between the centres of gravity of the arms 8. In the closed down position the arms 4 bear entirely on the joints 19. Because the centre of gravity 8 of the arms 4 is on the side facing the upright with respect to said joints 19, the arms 4 tend to tilt about the joints 19 towards the upright. As soon as they are in contact with the latter, they are in a stable closed down state. By this means it is ensured that both the opened out position and the closed down position of the arms 4 is stable.

As can clearly be seen in Figure 2 the supports 17 each have a portion 42 bent towards the relevant arm 4. By this means it is ensured that the joints 19 are closer to the outside 43 than to the inside 44 of the arms 4. These arms have a U-shaped or V-shaped section in cross-section, with flanges 45,46 as can also be seen in Figure 7,8 and 9, joined by a base 48. As a result the bent portions 42 of the supports 17 are able to extend between the arms 45,46 and engage on the two arms 45,46 by means of respective mounting points.

The foot of the rotary clothes dryer is shown in more detail in Figures 10 and 11. This foot, which is indicated in its entirety by the reference symbol 51, has, as mentioned, a step surface 16 on which the user can place his or her foot. By grasping the handle 15, the slidable upright part 6 can then be slid upwards over the fixed upright part and locked with respect thereto as described above. The foot 51 is provided with the step surface 16 in order to prevent the rotary clothes dryer being pulled out of the hole 52 in the ground during this operation.

The foot 51 can furthermore fulfil a function in locking the upright parts 5,6 with respect to one another in the collapsed state. To this end the foot has a latch 54, that is continuously pushed upwards by a spring 55. The latch 54 can be pushed downwards against the spring force exerted by the spring 55 by pressing the foot on the surface 56 of the latch 54. As a result the snib 57 tilts out of the recess 58 at the bottom of the slidable

part 6, clear of the ridge 47, as a result of which locking of the fixed part 5 to the slidable part 6 is released. As a result, the slidable part 6 can be moved upwards. Conversely, when the slidable part 6 is moved downwards, the latch 54 is pushed away along its sloping surface 59 against the spring force 55, after which the snib 57 hooks into the latch recess 58 and the fixed upright part 5 and the slidable upright part 6 are locked with respect to one another.