WO2000039383A1

WO2000039383A1 - Improvement in a household front-loading tumbler dryer

Info

Publication number: WO2000039383A1
Application number: PCT/EP1999/008342
Authority: WO
Inventors: Lucio Valent
Original assignee: Electrolux Zanussi Elettrodomestici SpA; Electrolux Zanussi SpA
Current assignee: Electrolux Zanussi Elettrodomestici SpA; Electrolux Zanussi SpA
Priority date: 1998-12-23
Filing date: 1999-10-30
Publication date: 2000-07-06
Anticipated expiration: 2001-06-23
Also published as: IT245336Y1; ITPN980058U1; ITPN980058V0

Abstract

Household tumbler dryer with a rotating drum (2) and a front-loading door (4), characterized in that it comprises an auxiliary means (100) which is at least partially fixed rigidly to the door (4) and on which items are capable of being placed that are kept inside the drum, but spaced from the inner surface thereof. Said auxiliary means (100) is integrated in the appliance. The items placed on said auxiliary means (100) remain stationary during the drying process.

Description

IMPROVEMENT IN A HOUSEHOLD

FRONT-LOADING TUMBLE DRYER

DESCRIPTION

The piesent invention refers to household clothes tumble dryers, le clothes dryers of the lotahng drum type, with particular reference to those of the so-called front-loading type, wherein it shall be appreciated that, as used here, the term clothes dryer is to be understood as including also similar appliances, such as for instance combined clothes washing and drying machines.

These appliances are designed to diy, by means of a foiced flow of heated an , clothes items that are loaded m a jumble in the drum thereof, where they are repeatedly agitated, le. tumbled, by the lotations of said drum. Investigations carried out m the fileld, howevei , tend to indicate that there is an increasing need of the consumers foi said appliances to be used to also diy items of a completely different nature, such as for instance certain types of footwear (eg. tennis shoes) or garments (eg. woollen sweaters) that must not be agitated dunng drying.

Clothes drying appliances of the current type, howevei , are not designed to cope with such particular requnements, so that many users therefore tend to resort to so-to-say home-made expedients which, if somehow effective in enabling even such items to be more or less adequately dried, do not fail to feature a certain extent of cnticalness. For instance, shoes are introduced and enclosed in a net bag with the result that the drum is submitted to a strongly unbalanced dynamic load, while a certainly considerable noise is on the other hand generated by the shoes repeatedly impinging against the inner surface of the rotating drum.

On the other hand, some manufacturers have developed and designed dryers of the front-loadmg type with an apphcahon scope that extends beyond the actual clothes items being loaded freely in the rotating drum

A clothes dryei is disclosed in GB-A-1 491 852, m which the user is capable of introducing, thiough the circulai loading aperture thereof, a rectangular rack having a support gudgeon that is coupled to the bearing of the drum Items can be arranged on that rack which aie so able to remain stationary while the drum of the dryer rotates about its substantially horizontal axis The drawbacks connected with such a solution may be identified m the need foi the usei to have adequate room at his/her disposal at home to store the lack when it is not used m the machine, as well as the rathei awkwaid introduction and lemoval of the same rack through the loading aperture

In the solution disclosed m US-A-4 091 548, the items to be kept stationary during drying are placed m a pivoting basket, similar to a lectangular tray, that is associated to the innei dooi of the diyei by means of a lemovable bracket It can be easily appieciated that the pioblems connected with the stoiage of the rack outside the machine, le when it is not used, are even worse than m the afore considered case

The solution disclosed in US-A-4 109 397 piovides foi the use of a lectangular basket, having a height adjustable covei which is mounted on to the innei surface of the dmm so that the items placed m it are able to lotate, although they do not tumble, thereby geneiatmg an annoying noise if they aie shoes or similar items

The use of magnetic means to lemovably fasten to the inner surface of the drum the shoes to be dned is finally known fiom US-A-4 702 016 It therefore is a main purpose of the present invention to provide an apparatus designed to dry in an effective manner wasload items that must neither rotate nor be tumbled m the drum, which does not cause the user to face any of the afore discussed drawbacks

A dryer charactenzed by the piesence of auxiliary means which are at least partly attached rigidly to the dooi , and are furthei adapted to support items that must remain stationary during drying, enables this and further aims to be reached, as this is illustrated by way of non-limitmg example by the following description and the accompanying di awings , in which

- Figuie 1 is a partial three-dimensional view of a clothes dryer with its loading door opened and a first embodiment of said auxiliary means accoiding to the present invention, attached to the inner door and in a lestmg position,

- Figuie 2 is a similai view as the one in Figure 1 , showing howevei the same auxiliary means in a working position thereof,

- Figuie 3 lllustiates a woollen sweatei placed on the same auxiliary means,

- Figure 4 is a similai view as the one in Figuie 2, showing howevei a second embodiment of said auxiliary means accoiding to the piesent invention,

- Figuie 5 lllustiates a pan of tennis shoes placed on the auxiliary means of Figure 4

In a well-known mannei a household-type clothes dryei compnses an outei casing 1 (which is shown only maigmally m the di awings, since it is not dnectly affected by the piesent invention), an innei dium 2 lotating about a more or less hoiizontal axis, and a dooi 4 hinged to the fiont wall of the casing 1 The door 4 compnses a piotmding innei dooi 5 having a shape that coi responds to the one of the loading apertuie 3 of the dium 2, which is substantially circular Drying takes place by creating and sustaining inside the drum a forced flow of heated an , with an open-loop or closed-loop pattern according to the type of dryer involved Of the genei ally pei se known means that ensure such a flow of air, only a plurality of perfoiations 6, provided in the fiont surface of the inner door 5, and the aperture m the shape of an arc of a circle 7, provided between the front wall of the casing 1 and the drum 3, are shown in the Figures

Accoiding to the present invention, the dryer is integrally provided with an auxiliary means, geneially indicated at 100, which is adapted to support articles that have to lemain stationary dunng drying The auxiliary means 100 substantially consists of a first portion 10, which is ligidly attached to the door 4, and a second portion that can be provided in any of two alernative shapes, which aie shown m Figuies 1 , 3 and 4, wheie they are indicated at 20 and lespectively the Figures 5 and 6, wheie they aie indicated at 25 These two portions of the auxiliary means 100 may be made of metal oi a plastic matenal, in a single-piece construction or separately In this lattei case, said two constiuction foims of said second portion may also be mtei changeable

Said fust portion 10 has an appioximately trapezoidal shape with two horizontal sides 1 1 12 and two sides 13 14 that have an aicuate shape so as to be able to follow the shape of the lecess 30 (which is cleaily visible m Figures 2 to 5) provided m the fiont suiface of the inner dooi 5 in oidei to accomodate the entire auxiliary means 100 when the lattei is in its lestmg position When the auxiliary means 100 is made out of two sepaiate portions, the sides 13, 14 extend upwaids beyond the hoiizontal side 12 so as to lemovably joining to the second portion with a tongue-and-groove joint

The fust embodiment 20 of the second portion of the auxiliary means 100, le the one shown m Figuies 1 2 and 3, substantially consists of a piece m the shape of an inverted U, with two sides 21 and 22 that continue the shape of the sides 13 and 14 of the fiist portion 10 When the auxiliaiy means 100 is provided m the foim of two sepaiate portions the fiee ends of the sides 21 , 22 aie hollow so as to be able to lemovably engage the afoie mentioned extensions of the same sides 13, 14 of the already described first portion 10. The third side 23 is horizontal, ie. parallel to the sides 11 , 12 of the first portion 10 of the auxiliary means.

In turn, the second embodiment 25 of said second portion of the auxiliary means 100, ie. the one shown in Figures 4 and 5, has roughly the shape of a "M", with two portions 26, 27 protruding upwards and provided with a plurality of perforations 28, which are substantially similar to the perforations 6 of the inner door 5, and with two free ends 29, 30 for joining to the already described first portion 10.

Two brackets 8, which are capable of sliding in appropriate slots provided in the front surface of the inner door 5, are provided with terminal hinges 9 for joining to the lower zone of the first portion 10 of the auxiliary means 100, which therefore is totally (if the two portions are made in a single-piece construction) or partly (if said two portions are made separately from and removably joinable to each other) attached rigidly to the door 4 of the dryer.

The displacement from the resting position (shown in Figure 1) to the working one is carried out, obviously with the door 4 open, by pulling the auxiliary means 100 in the direction of the arrow FI and rotating it forwards by an angle of approx. 20° in the direction of the arrow F2 (see Figures 2 and 4). The first operation enables the opposing force of retaining springs (not shown) to be overcome until a detent (not shown, either) eventually intervenes to hold the brackets 8 in place, whereas the second operation enables the hinges 9 to be locked in place by means of a ratchet gear.

When the auxiliary means 100 is out in its working position, articles can be places thereupon which are able to remain stationary during diying owing to them being held inside the drum 2, but at a distance from the surface thereof. Figures 3 and 5 show two of such articles, ie. a woollen sweater M, for which the first embodiment 20 of the second portion of the auxiliary means 100 appears to be particularly suited thanks to its horizontal sides 11 , 12, 23 (see Figure 4), and a pair of tennis shoes S with which the second embodiment 25 of said second portion of the auxiliary means is used (see Figure 6) . Following advantages of the present invention clearly emerge from the above description:

- the auxiliary means 100 is at least partly unremovable, ie. is not to be removed from the dryer, so that it does not create any storage problem to the user when it is not used;

- when moved back to its resting position (see Figure 1), the auxiliary means 100 does not reduce the useful volume of the drum 2 since it is accomodated in the recess 30 provided in the front surface of the inner door 5;

- the operations that the user is requiied to carry out in order to move the auxiliary means 100 from the resting position to the working one can actually be performed by anyone without any difficulty;

- the presence of the perforations 28 in at least an embodiment of the auxiliary means 100 is effective m promoting drying since it facilitates the flow of air also inside the shoes S.

Although the above description has been given with leference to two currently piefeired embodiments of the present invention, it shall be leadily appreciated that this patent extends to covei also all possible variants that may be subsequently developed by those skilled m the art based on the teachings thereof.

Claims

1 Domestic clothes dryei oi similai appaiatus comprising an outer casing (1), a door (4) hinged on to the front surface of the casing (1) for closing the loading aperture (3) of an internal rotating drum (2), characterized in that it further comprises an auxiliary means (100) which is at least partly attached ngidly to the door (4) and on which articles are capable of being placed that are kept inside the drum, but at a distance fiom the inner suiface thereof, and theiefoie stationary, during the drying piocess

2 Diyer accoiding to claim 1 , characterized in that said auxiliaiy means (100) is reveisibly displaceable fiom a lestmg position, in which it is substantially accomodated in a recess (30) of the innei dooi (5), to a woikmg position that is angulaily spaced theiefiom

3 Dryei according to claim 1 oi 2 characterized in that said auxiliary means (100) consists substantially of two portions, the first one (10) of which is supported by at least a bi acket (8) adapted to slide m the innei door (5)

4 Dryer accoiding to claim 3, characterized m that the first portion (10) of the auxiliaiy means (100) is attached with adjustable hmge-like means to the sliding bracket (8)

5. Dryer according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the two portions (10, 20; 25) of the auxiliary means (100) are made in a single-piece construction of metal and/or plastic material.

6. Dryer according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the two portions (10, 20;25) of the auxiliary means (100) are made in two pieces of metal and/or plastic material that are removably fixed to each other.

7. Dryer according to any of the preceding claims 3 to 6, characterized in that the first portion (10) of the auxiliaiy means (100) is substantially in the shape of a trapezium with two horizontal, mutually spaced sides (11 , 1 ) and two sides (13, 14) that follow the shape of the inner door (5).

8. Dryer according to any of the preceding claims 3 to 7, characterized in that the second portion (20) of the auxiliaiy means (100) is substantially in the shape of an inverted U with the central side (23) extending horizontally and two sides (21 , 22) continuing the shape of two sides (13, 14) of the fiist portion (10).

9. Di ei according to any of the preceding claims 3 to 7, characterized in that the second portion (25) of the auxiliary means (100) is substantially in the shape of a

M with two parts (26, 27) piotmding upwards and provided with a plurality of perforations (28) that aie not different from the peiforations (6) of the inner door (5).