GB1582998A - Combined towel holder and warm air drier unit - Google Patents

Description

(54) COMBINED TOWEL HOLDER AND WARM AIR DRIER UNIT (71) I, STEPHEN CHRISTOPHER BREESE, a British Subject of 8, Thorpe Close, Little Sutton Lane, Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, do hereby declare the invention for which I pray that a patent may be granted to me, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following state ment :- This invention relates to a combined towel holder and warm air drier unit.

According to the present invention there is provided a towel holder and warm air drier unit comprising a cabinet for housing a roll of towel material or a stack of towels (which may be inter-leaved), the cabinet having a first opening allowing access to the towel roll or stack to enable the user to withdraw a towel or section of the towel roll from the cabinet, means for discharging warm air from a second opening of the unit, sensing means located in the vicinity of said first opening to detect insertion of the hand into said first opening and to produce a signal in response thereto, and timing means operable, in response to said signal produced by said sensing means, to set said discharging means into operation for a predetermined period of time, said sensing means comprising a source of radiation (e.g.

a light source) arranged to emit a radiation beam which extends across said first opening and impinges on a radiation detector (e.g. a photoelectric cell), the arrangement being such that insertion of the hand through the first opening for the purpose of withdrawing a towel or towel section interrupts said beam and causes the detector to produce a signal which is applied to the timing means.

The first opening may be at the front or at the bottom of the cabinet. In one convenient arrangement, the first and second openings are both located in a front cover of the cabinet with the second opening located above and forwardly of the first opening so that, as the user attempts to withdraw a towel, his hands pass into the air stream emerging from the second opening, which is initiated when the user's hand breaks the light beam. It will be noted that the discharging means is set in operation purely by the presence of the hand and does not depend upon withdrawal of the towel. Thus, if desired, the user can dry his hands by means of the warm air stream without having to withdraw a towel.

The discharging means conveniently comprises a blower fan which discharges air via said second opening and one or more electrical heaters which serve to heat the air before it issues from said second opening.

One heater may be used as a Dre-heater to pre-heat the air within the cabinet so that warm air is immediately available. Thus, this heater may be a low power heater and may be permanently energised or energised periodically to maintain the air within the cabinet at a predetermined temperature.

One of the factors governing the location of the sensing means is the arrangement of the towel stack or towel roll and, in practice, the unit will be so designed as to preclude the possibility of the sensing means being operated by a hanging towel or towel section. Thus, for example, the light beam may be produced in a zone clear of the area where any hanging portions of towel are unlikely to be present in use.

Conveniently, to prevent unintentional retriggering of the photocell for example if the towel is withdrawn slowly or is left in a position in which it interrupts the light beam, the arrangement is such that the light beam must be restored, e.g. remade, before a subsequent working cycle can be initiated.

One embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a hand drying and towel sensing appliance in accordance with the invention; Figure 2 is a front elevation of the appliance with the front cover removed; and Figure 3 is a side view of the appliance with the side cover removed.

As shown, the appliance comprises a cabinet having a front cover 10 formed with a first inset opening 12 by means of which access can be had to the bottom towel in a magazine 14 of interleaved towels removably mounted in the cabinet. A curved guide plate 16 extends from the rear of the magazine 14 to the lower edge of the opening 12. The opening 12 is provided in the base of a recess having inclined top, side and bottom walls 17, 18, 19 and 20. The top wall 17 is provided with an opening 22 which is in registry with the outlet duct 26 of an electric fan 24 and the outlet duct 26 incorporates an electric heating element (not shown) for heating the air flowing towards the opening 22. The fan 24 and duct 26 are housed within the interior of the cabinet.

Operation of the fan 24 and the heating element are controlled by timing and power supply circuitry 28 which, in turn, is controlled by a photoelectric arrangement comprising light source 30 mounted on side wall 19 and photodetector 32 mounted on side wall 18. The light source produces a light beam which extends across the access recess and impinges on the photodetector 32 so that the latter generates an output signal as long as the beam remains uninterrupted. This output signal is applied to the circuitry 28.

It will be seen that the light beam is produced at such a position that it is automatically broken whenever a person's hand enters the recess in order to gain access to the towel via opening 12. In such circumstances, the resulting change in the output signal from the detector 32 is sensed by circuitry 28 which renders the fan 24 and heating element operable and also initiates a timing cycle of predetermined duration, sufficiently long for a user to obtain a towel and dry his hands under the warm air stream produced by the fan heater. When the timing circuitry times out, the fan heater is de-energised until the light beam is once again broken whereupon a fresh timing and warm air cycle is initiated.

It will be observed that the fan heater is rendered operable purely by the presence of the hand and does not depend on towel withdrawal so that, if desired, the appliance may be used to dry the hands even when the towel magazine is exhausted.

WHAT I CLAIM IS: 1. A towel holder and warm air drier unit comprising a cabinet for housing a roll of towel maternal or a stack of towels (which may be interleaved), the cabinet having a first opening allowing access to the towel roll or stack to enable the user to withdraw a towel or section of the towel roll from the cabinet, means for discharging warm air from a second opening of the unit, sensing means located in the vicinity of said first opening to detect insertion of the hand into said first opening and to produce a signal in response thereto, and timing means operable, in response to said signal produced by said sensing means, to set said discharging means into operation for a predetermined period of time, said sensing means comprising a source of radiation (e.g. a light source) arranged to emit a radiation beam which extends across said first opening and impinges on a radiation detector (e.g. a photoelectric cell), the arrangement being such that insertion of the hand through the first opening for the purpose of withdrawing a towel or towel section interrupts said beam and causes the detector to produce a signal which is applied to the timing means.

2. A unit as claimed in Claim 1 in which the first and second openings are both located in a front cover of the cabinet with the second opening located above and forwardly of the first opening so that, as the user withdraws a towel, his hands pass into the warm air stream emerging from the second opening.

3. A unit as claimed in Claim 1 or 2 in which the discharging means comprises a blower fan which discharges air via said second opening and one or more electrical heaters which serve to heat the air before it issues from said second opening.

4. A unit as claimed in Claim 1 in which the cabinet has a wall formed with a recess at the base of which said first opening is provided, the sensing means is arranged to produce a radiation beam extending from one side of said recess to the opposite side, and said second opening is provided in a third side of the recess.

5. A unit as claimed in Claim 4 in which the discharging means is arranged to produce an air flow generally parallel to the base of the recess.

6. A unit as claimed in any one of Claims 1-5 in which, after the timing means is rendered operable by interruption of said beam and has timed out, the timing means cannot be operated again until the light beam has been restored.

7. A unit substantially as herein described with reference to, and as shown in, the accompanying drawings.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims (7)

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. access can be had to the bottom towel in a magazine 14 of interleaved towels removably mounted in the cabinet. A curved guide plate 16 extends from the rear of the magazine 14 to the lower edge of the opening 12. The opening 12 is provided in the base of a recess having inclined top, side and bottom walls 17, 18, 19 and 20. The top wall 17 is provided with an opening 22 which is in registry with the outlet duct 26 of an electric fan 24 and the outlet duct 26 incorporates an electric heating element (not shown) for heating the air flowing towards the opening 22. The fan 24 and duct 26 are housed within the interior of the cabinet. Operation of the fan 24 and the heating element are controlled by timing and power supply circuitry 28 which, in turn, is controlled by a photoelectric arrangement comprising light source 30 mounted on side wall 19 and photodetector 32 mounted on side wall 18. The light source produces a light beam which extends across the access recess and impinges on the photodetector 32 so that the latter generates an output signal as long as the beam remains uninterrupted. This output signal is applied to the circuitry 28. It will be seen that the light beam is produced at such a position that it is automatically broken whenever a person's hand enters the recess in order to gain access to the towel via opening 12. In such circumstances, the resulting change in the output signal from the detector 32 is sensed by circuitry 28 which renders the fan 24 and heating element operable and also initiates a timing cycle of predetermined duration, sufficiently long for a user to obtain a towel and dry his hands under the warm air stream produced by the fan heater. When the timing circuitry times out, the fan heater is de-energised until the light beam is once again broken whereupon a fresh timing and warm air cycle is initiated. It will be observed that the fan heater is rendered operable purely by the presence of the hand and does not depend on towel withdrawal so that, if desired, the appliance may be used to dry the hands even when the towel magazine is exhausted. WHAT I CLAIM IS:

1. A towel holder and warm air drier unit comprising a cabinet for housing a roll of towel maternal or a stack of towels (which may be interleaved), the cabinet having a first opening allowing access to the towel roll or stack to enable the user to withdraw a towel or section of the towel roll from the cabinet, means for discharging warm air from a second opening of the unit, sensing means located in the vicinity of said first opening to detect insertion of the hand into said first opening and to produce a signal in response thereto, and timing means operable, in response to said signal produced by said sensing means, to set said discharging means into operation for a predetermined period of time, said sensing means comprising a source of radiation (e.g. a light source) arranged to emit a radiation beam which extends across said first opening and impinges on a radiation detector (e.g. a photoelectric cell), the arrangement being such that insertion of the hand through the first opening for the purpose of withdrawing a towel or towel section interrupts said beam and causes the detector to produce a signal which is applied to the timing means.

2. A unit as claimed in Claim 1 in which the first and second openings are both located in a front cover of the cabinet with the second opening located above and forwardly of the first opening so that, as the user withdraws a towel, his hands pass into the warm air stream emerging from the second opening.

3. A unit as claimed in Claim 1 or 2 in which the discharging means comprises a blower fan which discharges air via said second opening and one or more electrical heaters which serve to heat the air before it issues from said second opening.

4. A unit as claimed in Claim 1 in which the cabinet has a wall formed with a recess at the base of which said first opening is provided, the sensing means is arranged to produce a radiation beam extending from one side of said recess to the opposite side, and said second opening is provided in a third side of the recess.

5. A unit as claimed in Claim 4 in which the discharging means is arranged to produce an air flow generally parallel to the base of the recess.

6. A unit as claimed in any one of Claims 1-5 in which, after the timing means is rendered operable by interruption of said beam and has timed out, the timing means cannot be operated again until the light beam has been restored.

7. A unit substantially as herein described with reference to, and as shown in, the accompanying drawings.