EP0342161B1

EP0342161B1 - Apparatus to deliver hot air

Info

Publication number: EP0342161B1
Application number: EP89830030A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Carlo Bertani
Original assignee: Mo El SRL
Current assignee: Mo El SRL
Priority date: 1988-05-04
Filing date: 1989-01-27
Publication date: 1992-04-15
Anticipated expiration: 2009-01-27
Also published as: EP0342161A3; IT8821188V0; GR3004376T3; IT213974Z2; ES2030590T3; EP0342161A2; ATE74719T1; DE68901212D1

Abstract

The apparatus comprises a protection casing (2) having a base portion (6) fixable to a wall (3), an upper portion (8), and two side portions (9) extending downwardly from the upper portion. An air delivery unit (4) is contained between the upper portion (8) and side portions (9) and is slidably engaged relative to the casing (2) to be displaced from a non-use position to an operating position. When in its operating position, said air delivery unit (4) is actuated by a pushbutton (5) housed in the casing (2) and operated by the delivery unit itself. A return spring (16; 17) and/or a magnet (18) act between the casing (2) and the delivery unit (4) so as to dispose the latter in its operating position when a flexible hose (15) associated with the delivery unit is manually lifted by a user.

Description

The present invention relates to an apparatus to deliver hot air, of the type comprising a protection casing to be fixed to a wall, an air delivery unit electrically operated and housed in the protection casing and at least a pushbutton to actuate the delivery unit.
In greater detail, the apparatus in question is particularly adapted to be used as hair or hand drier in public and private use utility premises, such as dressing rooms and showers in gymnasiums, swimming pools, saunas and/or premises where sports are generally practised, as well as in bathrooms in hotels, restaurants and the like. It is known that in premises of the above type there often is the installation of apparatuses designed to produce a hot air flow so that a user may dry his hair or hands quickly and hygienically.
Apparatuses of this kind substantially comprise a protection casing to be fixed to a wall and a hot air delivery unit accommodated within the protection casing. Housed in the delivery unit is an electric motor operable by means of a pushbutton projecting outwardly from the protection casing, and operated by the electric motor is an impeller drawing air in through an inlet formed in the delivery unit and sending it to one or more resistors disposed close to an outlet formed on the opposite side to the inlet. The air sent to the resistors is then heated and delivered to the surrounding atmosphere through said outlet.
Although these apparatuses are quite adapted to perform the functions they have been constructed for, it has been found that they still have some problems as regards their safety in use, taking into account the fact that they are almost always installed in places having a high umidity rate and/or in the presence of water. In these places said apparatuses are particularly ex:posed to water splashings or jets as well as to the formation of condensate on the surfaces of the various component elements.
Under this situation short-circuits may often occur, which involves damages to the apparatus component parts. In addition, it can be easily foreseen that the most important drawback: of the above described apparatus resides in the possibility that a user may undergo electric shocks should he actuate the delivery unit acting on the pushbutton with wet hands, which often happens.
A previous attempt made by the same applicant of the present invention in order to solve the above drawbacks has been described in the co-pending application now published under No. 0326760 on August 9, 1989. In said copending application it is described a structure of an apparatus to deliver hot air in a humidity-saturated environment comprising a protection casing to be fixed to a wall and housing an air delivery unit provided with flexible hose and which is oscillatably pivoted within said protection casing. An appropriate switch accommodated in the protection casing is indirectly actuated by the apparatus user when he gets hold of the flexible hose to dry his hair. This movement produces the pivoting of the air delivery unit about its pivot moving it closer to said switch so as to actuate it.
The main object of the present invention is to solve the drawbacks of the known art by providing an apparatus exhibiting construction contrivances adapted to prevent the water which may be accidentally dropped onto the protection casing from reaching the electric components of the apparatus, while protecting at the same time the user against the possibility of electric shocks when be operates the pushbutton.
The foregoing and further objects which will be more apparent in the course of the following description, are substantially attained by an apparatus to deliver hot air comprising a protection casing having a base portion, an upper and two side portions; an air delivery unit electrically operated and movably engaged with respect to said protection casing; and at least a pushbutton to actuate said air delivery unit mounted on said protection casing and operated by the movement of said air delivery unit, as disclosed in GB-A-2 136 680 characterized in that the protection casing has the upper portion extending forward from the top of base portion to be fixed to a wall, the front portion extending downward from said upper portion between the side portions, and the lower opening being defined between said side portions and said front portion to allow an air outlet of the air delivery unit to project from said protection casing; and that said air delivery unit is slidably engaged in said protection casing by two side projections guided within respective vertical through-slots formed in two flaps integral to said protection casing; positioning means being provided into said protection casing to selectively retain said air delivery unit in its non-use position and operating position, respectively; and said pushbutton being located near said upper portion between said base portion and said air delivery unit to be acted upon by slightly rising movement of said air delivery unit from the non-use position to the operating position.
Further features and advantages will best be understood from the detailed description of a preferred embodiment on an apparatus to deliver hot air in accordance with the present invention, given hereinafter by way of non-limiting example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a view of the apparatus of the invention, partially seen in section;
Fig. 2 is a broken away sectional view of a detail of a further embodiment of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1.

With reference to the drawings, 1 globally denotes an apparatus to deliver hot air in accordance with the present invention.
Apparatus 1 comprises a protection casing 2 to be fastened to a wall 3 and accommodating a hot air delivery unit 4 operable by means of a pushbutton 5.
The protection casing 2, made of an electrically insulating material, has a base portion 6 fixable to wall 3 by means of expansion nogs 7 or the like. Extending forward from the top of the base portion 6 is an upper portion 8 to which a downwardly extending front portion 8a is connected. Two side portions 9 extend from the opposite sides of the upper 8, front 8a and base 6 portions, an opening 2a being formed between the above mentioned portions, at the lower part thereof.
Advantageously two flaps 10 are housed at the inside of the protection casing 2; they are integral to the base portion 6 and have each a through slot 11 disposed in a substantially vertical direction.
As seen in Fig. 1, the delivery unit 4 is comprised of a housing 12, made of plastic material, at the opposite ends of which an air inlet 12a and an air outlet 12b are respectively defined. Located inside the housing 12 is an electric motor connected to an impeller disposed close to the air inlet 12a and one or more resistors housed in the vicinity of the air outlet 12b.
The electric motor, impeller and resistors are not shown and will not be further described as known per se and conventional and, in addition, unimportant to the ends of the invention.
The housing 12 is provided on its outer opposite sides, with two projections 13 each vertically guided within the through-slot 11 of one of the two flaps mentioned above. Advantageously the delivery unit 4 is oriented in a vertical direction the air inlet 12a being disposed upwardly, and is in communication with the surrounding atmosphere through the opening 2a provided at the lower part of the protection casing 2.
In an original manner the pushbutton 5 to operate the delivery unit 4 is disposed within the protection casing 2 so as to be acted upon by the delivery unit itself when the latter moves, while slightly rising, from a non-use position to an operating position. In greater detail, the housing 12 is provided with a drive lug, referenced by 14 in fig. 1, located to such a position as to cooperate with the pushbutton 5 to close the contacts thereof when the delivery unit 4 moves to its operating position.
In accordance with the invention, apparatus 1 is also provided with positioning means to selectively retain the delivery unit 4 in its non-use position and operating position.
In the embodiment shown in fig. 1 said positioning means consists of the combination of at least a return spring and a flexible hose 15 shown in dotted line, the weight of the latter being higher than the lifting force of the return spring.
The return spring may for example be a helical spring 16 one end of which is engaged with the upper portion 8 of the protection casing 2, the opposite end being engaged with the housing 12 of the delivery unit 4.
In addition to or in place of the helical spring 16, provision may be made for an elastic bearing, identified by 17 in Fig. 1, supported by a fastening portion 17a integral to the base portion 6 of the protection casing 2. The elastic bearing 17 incorporates a seat 17b inside which a projecting portion 4a of the delivery unit 4 engages. The elastic bearing 17 is made of rubber or another elastomeric material.
In place of the helical spring 16 and/or the elastic bearing 17 it is also possible to provide for the presence of a magnet 18 fastened underneath the upper portion 8 and cooperating with a ferromagnetic element 19 integral to the delivery unit 4.
Operation of the apparatus in question described above mainly as regards structure is very simple.
The non-use position of the delivery unit 4 is held as far as the weight of the flexible hose 15 connected to the delivery unit 4 has a higher value than the lifting force of the helical spring 16 and/or elastic bearing 17 and/or magnet 18. In this position the drive lug 14 provided on housing 12 does not come in contact with the pushbutton 5.
When the user lifts the flexible hose 15 the weight of the latter acting on the delivery unit 4 decreases, which enables the helical spring 16 and/or elastic bearing 17 and/or magnet 18 to bring said delivery unit to its operating position.
Simultaneously with this displacement the drive lug 14 closes the contacts of the pushbutton 5 thus operating the delivery unit 4. At the end of use of apparatus 1 the user must only put the flexibile hose 15 back to its original position in order to reset the inizial conditions and automatically cause the deactivation of the delivery unit 4.
The apparatus of the invention can also be arranged so as to be used as a hand drier. In this case the flexible hose 15 is not necessary and the positioning means essentially comprises a bistable spring, referenced by 20 in Fig. 2, one end of which is engaged in a seat 20a incorporated in the base portion 6, the other end being engaged in a further seat 20b incorporated in the housing 12.
Advantageously the bistable spring 20 retains the delivery unit 4 in its non-use and operating positions respectively. The displacement of the delivery unit 4 from the operating position to the non-use position and vice versa is achieved by a mere manual action directly carried out on the housing 12.
The present invention attains the intended purposes.
In fact, due to the particular shape of the protection casing 2, the delivery unit 4, pushbutton 5 and all electric components present in apparatus 1 are protected against possible water splashings and/or jets which may accidentally fall and impinge on the apparatus itself.
Futhermore, since it is not necessary to act directly on pushbotton 5 when the delivery unit is to be operated, the user will not be subjected to undergo electric shocks should he carry out this operation with wet hands.

Claims

1. An apparatus to deliver hot air comprising:

- a protection casing (2) having a base portion (6) to be permanently fixed to a wall (3), an upper portion (8), two side portions (9).

- an air delivery unit (4) comprising a housing (12) electrically operated and movably engaged with respect to said protection casing (2); and

- at least a pushbutton (5) to actuate said air delivery unit (4) mounted on said protection casing (2) and operated by the movement of said air delivery unit (4), characterized in that the protection casing (2) has said upper portion (8) extending forward from the top of said base portion (6), the side portions (9) extend from the opposite sides of the upper portion (8), a front portion (8a) extending downward from said upper portion (8) between said side portions (9), a lower opening (2a) being defined between said side portions (9) and said front portion (8a) to allow an air outlet (12b) of the air delivery unit (4) to project from said protection casing (2); and that said air delivery unit (4) is slidably engaged in said protection casing (2) by two side projections (13) on the housing (12) guided within respective vertical through-slots (11) formed in two flaps (10) which are integral to said base portion (6); positioning means (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20) being provided into said protection casing (2) to selectively retain said air delivery unit (4) in its non-use position and operating position, respectively; and said pushbutton (5) being located near said upper portion (8) between said base portion (6) and said air delivery unit (4) to be acted upon by slightly rising movement of said air delivery unit (4) from the non-use position to the operating position.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that said positioning means consists of the combination of at least the return spring (16), which is acting between said protection casing (2) and the air delivery unit (4), and the flexible hose (15), the weight of the latter being higher than the lifting force of said return spring (16) so that when the user lifts said flexible hose (15) said return spring (16) brings said air delivery unit (4) to its operating position.

3. An apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that said return spring is a helical spring (16) one end of which is engaged to the upper portion (8) of said protection casing (2), the opposite end being engaged with the housing (12) of said delivery unit (4).

4. An apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that said positioning means consists of the combination of an elastic bearing (17), in addition to or in place of the return spring (16), and the flexible hose (15), the weight of the latter being higher than the lifting force of said elastic bearing (17); the latter being supported by a fastening portion (17a) integral to the base portion (6), and incorporating a seat (17b) engaged with a projecting portion (4a) of said air delivery unit (4) so that when the user lifts said flexible hose (15) said elastic bearing (17) brings said air delivery unit (4) to its operating position.

5. An apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that said positioning means further comprises the combination of at least the magnet (18, 19) which is acting underneath the upper portion (8) of said protection casing (2) and the air delivery unit (4), and the flexible hose (15), the weight of the latter being higher than the lifting force of said magnet (18, 19) so that when the user lifts said flexible hose (15) said magnet (18, 19) brings said air delivery unit (4) to its operating position.

6. An apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that said positioning means comprises at least the bistable spring (20) one end of which is engaged with a seat (20a) incorporated in the base portion (6) of the protection casing (2), and the opposite end being engaged with a seat (20b) on the housing (12) of said air delivery unit (4).