GB2025767A

GB2025767A - Extendible Clothes Hanging Device

Info

Publication number: GB2025767A
Application number: GB7903958A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Leifheit International Guenter Leifheit GmbH; Leifheit International GmbH
Current assignee: Leifheit International GmbH
Priority date: 1978-07-19
Filing date: 1979-02-05
Publication date: 1980-01-30
Also published as: IT7921574A0; FR2431565A1; DE2831667A1; ES480347A1; NL173869C; NL7810022A; FR2431565B1; ATA171579A; GB2025767B; IT1111571B; CH636917A5; NL173869B; DE2831667C2; AT368557B

Abstract

An extendible clothes hanging device comprises a housing (10) for mounting on a wall, a tubular clothes line rewinding roller (16) with an integral handle (21) at one end and rotatably mounted in the housing (10) with a spring (32) biassing it for rotation wherein for assembly the other end of the roller (16) is axially inserted into the housing through and to be mounted in first (19) and second (20) bearings located adjacent the ends of the housing, the spring (32) being secured at one of its ends to the roller (16) and at the other to the housing (10), resilient stop means (27) on the roller (16) with a ramp face (29), the ramp face (29) pressing the stop means (27) into the roller on insertion and allowing limited axial movement of the roller in the housing after insertion and gear teeth (30, 31) to lock the roller against undesired rotation in the housing. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Extendible Clothes Hanging Device The invention relates to an extendible clothes hanging device with a housing and tubular clothes line rewinding roller rotatably mounted therein and biased in one direction of rotation by a torsion spring disposed therein, the line rewinding roller being provided at one end with a handle and being mounted on two bearings located adjacent the ends of the housing.

A previously prepared clothes hanging device of this kind has the handle of the line rewinding roller manufactured separately and secured to the line rewinding roller. Furthermore, the actuating handle has on its inner side a slotted axle-journal for the one end of a spring. Difficulties are encountered during mounting of the coil spring through the entire length of the line rewinding roller onto the axle-jounral. In addition, a large number of individual parts are required, which must be assembled during mounting, especially since the housing also comprises a U-shaped member with end caps provided at its ends.

Furthermore, the bearing bushes for the line rewinding roller must be secured to the wall or similar support means with special metal clips.

According to the invention there is provided an extendible clothes hanging device comprising a housing for mounting on a wall or similar support, a tubular clothes line rewinding roller rotatably mounted in the housing on first and second bearings adjacent respective ends of the housing, biased in one direction of rotation by a torsion spring disposed therein and having a handle integrally moulded as an axial prolongation at one of its ends, the housing and roller being so formed that they can be assembled by inserting a second of the ends of the roller axially into the housing to pass through said first bearing and until said one end of the roller engages in said second bearing with the torsion spring disposed in the roller secured at one of its ends to the roller and at the other of its ends to the housing and with the handle projecting out of the adjacent said one end of the housing, the roller being thereafter retained in the housing by stop means on the roller, which stop means slopes inwardly in the direction of insertion, is pressed resiliently into the roller during insertion of the roller and, after insertion, engages beyond said second bearing but permits limited axial displacement of the roller and, at said second end of the roller, gear teeth on the roller to co-operate with further gear teeth on the housing adjacent the second bearing to prevent undesired rotation of the roller in the housing.

Such a clothes hanging device can be formed by only a few separate parts and, for mounting, the line rewinding roller merely has to be axially inserted into the bearings of the housing. Removal of the line rewinding roller from the housing is then prevented by the stop means provided on the line rewinding roller. The limited amount by which the line rewinding roller can be displaced axially of the housing provides that in one end position the gear teeth adjacent the second bearing and the teeth of the line rewinding roller mesh with one another so that the line rewinding roller is locked against rotation. In the other end position of the line rewinding roller the gear teeth are out of mesh and the line rewinding roller can be freely rotated.

The stop means is preferably formed by a resilient tongue extending in the direction of insertion and having a portion projecting out of the surface of the line rewinding with a ramp face thereon. The resilient tongue can be easily moulded in an injection moulding process during manufacture of the line rewinding roller and bear against the first bearing of the housing by way of its ramp face during insertion, whereby the resilient tongue is bent inwards until the stop means is free of the first bearing and occupies its original position once more.

Two resilient tongues may be distributed around the periphery of the roller. The line rewinding roller can thus be secured simply and reliably inside the housing.

The line rewinding roller may bulge slightly in its regions which engage in the bearings and may have circulating grooves for lubricants in the bulging regions. These lubricant grooves can provide a reliable mounting of the roller in the housing, even when both the roller and the housing are both manufactured from polystyrene.

The gear teeth provided at the second end of the roller and further teeth on the housing adjacent the second bearing can have parallel sides extending to the direction of insertion and be rounded off at their foremost ends. Thus, the gear teeth can be engaged with one another in a simple manner, the parallel sides avoiding thereby force components in the direction of disengagement.

The torsion spring disposed in the line rewinding roller is preferably a coil spring secured at one of its ends to a holder and can be inserted into the second end of the tubular roller with said holder foremost, the holder being secured against rotation by way of a non-circular flange in the correspondingly shaped interior of the line rewinding roller. Thus simple mounting is made possible since on the first instance the holder can be attached to said one end of the coil spring and the coil spring is then inserted with the holder foremost into the interior of the line rewinding roller, until the holder rests against the inner side of the handle. The holder attached to the coil spring is thus secured against rotation as it is passed the entire length of the line rewinding roller.

A tubular projection, which tapers conically towards its free end can provide a receiving surface for the coil spring and be disposed on the non-circular flange of the holder, the projection having a slot extending from its free end to receive a hooked end of the spring. This makes possible a simple mounting operation', since only the tubular projection of the holder must be inserted into said one end of the coil spring to engage the hooked end of the spring in the slot.

The hooked end of the spring wire lies expediently between the end of a core of the spring and the flange in order to prevent the two plastics members coming into contact.

Inside the tubular projection a resilient tongue extending from the flange end may be provided with a nose-shaped projection which projects behind the hooked end of the spring. When the tubular projection is inserted into said one end of the spring, the hooked end of the spring wire strikes the nose-shaped projection and thereby forces the resilient tongue sideways until the nose-shaped projection snaps behind the hooked end of the spring. In this way the end of the coil spring pushed onto the tubular projection is secured in a simple way against undesirable removal.

The flange is preferably generally circular but with a chord-shaped flattened portion, the flattened portion co-operating with an internal working surface of the roller, which is formed by two longitudinal, angular shoulders of the roller.

Thus the holder provided at the one end of the coil spring can be secured against rotation in the interior of the roller in a particularly simple manner.

The two shoulders may simultaneously form a longitudinal rib, in which apertures are provided for attaching the ends of the clothes line to the roller. In this way attachment members are provided directly for the ends of the lines on the roller in a simple manner.

The first and second bearings may be formed by two bearing bushes integral with respective intermediate walls adjacent end walls of the hoksing.

That one of the bearing bushes forming the second bearing and receiving said second end of the roller may have a tubular projection which tapers conically towards its free end to receive the coil spring and in the respective intermediate walls a slot may be provided with a provisional mounting for an offset hooked end of the spring.

Thus the securing of the second end of the coil spring to the housing is made possible in a simple manner.

The provisional mounting for the offset hooked end of the spring inserted into the slot may be formed by a nose-shaped projection which projects into the path of movement of the end to be inserted and engages in the hooked end and which is provided at the inner end of a bush which acts as a receiving means for a fixing screw. Thus, during mounting of the clothes hanging device the offset, circular rolled end of the spring wire is first provisionally held in the position inserted into the slot by a nose-shaped projection.

The screw for securing the housing to a wall or similar support means may engage through the hooked end of the spring. Through the attachment of the clothes hanging device to a wall or similar support the end of the spring is thus secured reliably to the housing by means of the fixing screw, which engages through the hooked end of the spring wire.

The tubular projections provided on the holder and adjacent the second bearing bush may serve to mount a tubular core inserted into the coil spring to prevent it sagging.

The invention is diagrammatically illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a front view of an extendible clothes hanging device according to the invention; Figure 2 shows a section taken on line Il-Il of Figure 1; Figure 3 shows a section taken on line Ill-Ill of Figure 3, with the middle region of the clothes hanging device broken away; and Figure 4 shows a section taken on line lV-lV of Figure 3.

The clothes hanging device illustrated in the drawings has a housing 10, which is closed on all sides except the rear side. The housing 10 thus has a front wall 11, a wall 12 on the underside, a wall 13 on the upper side and right and left side walls 14 and 15, which side walls 14 and 15 form the end faces of the housing 10. A line rewinding roller 16 is mounted in the housing 10.

Intermediate walls 17 and 18 are moulded in the housing 10 for the mounting of the line rewinding roller 16 in such a way that there is a small distance between each intermediate wall 1 7, 1 8 and the respective side wall 14 or 15. Inwardly directed bearing bushes 19 and 20 are moulded onto the intermediate walls 1 7 and 18.

The line rewinding roller 16 is tubular with one end open and with the other second end closed by a handle 21, which handle 21 forms an axial prolongation of the line rewinding roller 1 6. The roller 16 is mounted by inserting its open end axially into the housing 10 through the side wall 14, the side wall 14 having an aperture 22 therein to permit this, the roller passing through the bearing bush 19 in the intermediate wall 17 adjacent the side wall 14 and engaging in the bearing bush 20. The bearing bush 20 is closed at its outer end by a middle portion 23 of the intermediate wall 18. The bearing bush 20 has a diameter slightly smaller that that of the bearing bush 19 so that the roller 16 can be axially inserted into the housing 10 in a simple manner.

The regions of the roller 16 which; in the inserted position of the roller 1 6, co-operate with the bearing bushes 19 and 20, are provided as bulging portions 24 and 25. Circular lubricating grooves 26 are provided in the bulging portions 24 and 25 so that an easily movable mounting of the roller 16 in the housing 10 is achieved. Both the roller 16 and the housing 10 are preferably manufactured from polystyrene by an injection moulding process. The roller 16 inserted into the housing 10 projects out of the side wall 14 of the housing 10 by way of the handle 21 so that the roller 16 can be rotated by the handle 21.

The roller 16 has two resilient stop members 27, which resilient stop members have ramp faces which cause them to be pressed radially inwardly into the roller 16 during insertion and spring out again after they have passed through the first bearing 1 9 of the housing 10 which is adjacent the handle 21. The two stop members 27 are arranged at diametrically opposite positions on the roller 16 and are so disposed in the axial direction with respect to the bearing bush 19 that limited relative axial displacement of the roller 16 in the housing 10 is possible. As can be seen from Figure 3 in particular, each stop member 27 is formed by a resilient tongue 28 extending in the direction of insertion, with a web 29, forming the ramp face, projecting out of the casing surface of the roller 1 6.When the roller 1 6 is inserted, the inclined ramp face of the web 29 bears against the bearing bush 19 so that the tongue 28 is forced inwards. After passing through the bearing bush 19 the tongues 28 resume their original position so that the trailing end of the web 29, which end extends radially outwardly of the roller 1 6, co-operates with the inner end face of the bearing bush 1 9 as a stop member.

As previously mentioned, the roller 16 is mounted. in the bearing bushes 19 and 20 for limited axial displacement. The roller is shown in Figure 3 in its nght-hand end position, while in Figure 4 the roller 16 is shown in its left-hand end position. Gear teeth 30 are provided at the front end of the roller 16, the teeth 30 projecting axially from the free end face of the roller 1 6 and engaging a portion of the housing, the teeth 30 having side faces extending parallel to the longitudinal axis of the roller 16 and being rounded off at their front end. The gear teeth 30 co-operate with gear teeth 31 provided on the middle portion 23 of the intermediate wall 18 and on the bearing bush 20.In Figure 3 the gear teeth 30 of the roller 16 are shown meshed with the teeth 31, since the roller 16 is in its right-hand end position, and the roller 16 is thus secured against rotation. In Figure 4 the roller 16 is shown in its left-hand end position, in which position the gear teeth 30 of the roller 16 are disengaged from the gear teeth 31 and do not prevent the roller 1 6 from being rotated. The roller 16 can be displaced from one end position to the other end position by means of the handle 21.

The roller 16 is acted upon by a coiled torsion spring 32 disposed in the hollow roller 16 and occupying the entire length of the roller so that a long spring elongation is achieved. The coil spring 32 has one of its ends secured to the roller 16 and the other of its ends secured to the housing 10. A holder 33 is provided for attaching one said end of the spring to the roller 1 6. The holder 33 has a generally circular flange 34 with a chordshaped flattened portion 35. A tubular projection 36 which tapers conically inwardly towards its free end is provided on the flange 34 to receive the coil spring 32, which projection 36 has a slot 38 extending from its free end to receive a hooked end 37 of the spring 32.Inside the tubular projection 36 a resilient cam 39 extending from the flange 34 is provided with a nose-shaped projection 40 sloping away behind the hooked end 37 of the spring 32. When the tubular projection 36 of the holder 33 is inserted into the end of the coil spring 32 the hooked end 37 of the spring wire bears against the nose-shaped projection 40 of the resilient tongue 39 and forces this sideways until the nose-shaped projection 40 snaps behind the hooked end 37 of the spring. There can thus be no risk of the holder 33 being undesirably detached from the end of the coil spring 32.

The end of the coil spring 32 provided with the holder 33 is inserted into the hollow interior of the roller 16. The flattened portion 35 provided on the flange 34 co-operates here with an interior working surface 41 of the roller, which is formed by two shoulder portions 42 of the roller 16. The two shoulder portions 42 define between them a longitudinal rib 43, in which several apertures 44 are provided. The apertures 44 are used to secure the ends of clothes lines 45 inside the housing, which lines 45 can be wound up onto the roller 1 6. The other ends of the lines 45 are secured to a bar 46, which can be secured to a wall which is opposite to a wall on which the housing 10 is mounted. When the clothes hanging device is required for use the bar 46 is pulled away from the housing 10 and secured to the opposite wall.

In doing so the lines 45 are unreeled from the roller 16 and to allow this the roller 16 must be in its left-hand, unlocked free position. When the bar 46 has been attached to the wall, the roller 16 should be rotated backwards manually by means of the handle 21 until the lines 45 are taut. The roller 16 is then moved axially into its locked position by the handle 21 and wet clothes can then be hung up on the lines 45. When drying is completed and the clothes removed, the roller 16 can be moved over into the unlocked position to permit the coil spring 32 provided in the roller 16 to rotate the roller back into its original position, to rewind the lines 45 onto the roller 16, until the bar 46 rests against the front wall 11 of the housing 10. Apertures 47 are provided for the lines 45 in the front wall 11 of the housing 10.

As previously explained, the flattened portion 35 of the holder 33 co-operates with an interior working surface 41 of the roller 1 6 so that when the coil spring 32 is inserted into the roller 16 with the holder 33 foremost, the holder 33 is held secured against rotation over the entire length of the roller 16. The coil spring 32 with the holder 33 is pushed into the hollow roller 16 far enough until the flange 34 of the holder 33 rests against the inner side of the handle 21.

Within the second bearing bush 20 which receives the open end of the roller 16, a tubular projection 48 extends from the middle portion 23 of the intermediate wall 18, the tubular projection 48 tapering inwardly at its free front end to receive the coil spring 32. Beside the tubular projection 48 a slot 49 is provided in the middle portion 23, which slot 49 receives a hooked offset end 50 of the spring 32. The hooked offset end 50 of the spring inserted through the slot 49 is secured provisionally by a nose-shaped projection 51. The nose-shaped projection is provided here at the inner end of a bush 53 which receives a fixing screw 52. After insertion of the hooked offset end 50 the nose-shaped projection 51 engages through the slot 49 into the interior of the hooked end 50.When the housing 10 is secured to the wall or similar support means, the fixing screw 52 engages through the hooked offset end 50 of the spring thereby to secure the second end of the coil spring 32. The tubular projections 36 and 48 provided on the holder 33 and on the middle portion 23 respectively serve to mount a tubular core 54 inserted in the coil spring 32, which core 54 thus prevents the coil spring 32 from sagging.

The clothes hanging device described which comprises only a few separate parts can be assembled in a particularly easy manner. During assembly the holder 33 is first secured to said one end of the coil spring 32 and then the rod 54 is disposed in the coil spring 32. The end of the coil spring 32 provided with the holder 33 is then inserted into the line rewinding roller 16. The roller 16 is then inserted into the housing 10 but not completely at first since the second end of the coil spring must first be engaged on the axial projection 48 and the hooked offset end 50 of the coil spring 32 must be pushed through the slot 49. The hooked offset end 50 of the coil spring 32 is provisionally held by the nose-shaped projection 51. The roller 16 is then introduced completely into the housing 16. Now only the coil spring 32 has to be tightened and the lines 45 to be attached to the roller 16 and the bar 46.

It should also be pointed out that when the clothes hanging device is in use, the holder 33 rotates with the flange 34, while the rod 54 rests fixedly on the middle portion 23 of the intermediate flange 18 of the housing. So as to be free to select any materials, from which the flange 34 and the rod 54 can be made, the hooked end 37 of the spring wire is disposed between these two members. Thus there is only a small amount of friction so that there is practically no temperature rise. This is particularly advantageous when plastics material is used to manufacture both members.

Claims

Claims

An extendible clothes hanging device comprising a housing for mounting on a wall or similar support, a tubular clothes line rewinding roller rotatably mounted in the housing on first and second bearings adjacent respective ends of the housing, biassed in one direction of rotation by a torsion spring disposed therein and having a handle integrally moulded as an axial prolongation at one of its ends, the housing and roller being so formed that they can be assembled by inserting a second of the ends of the roller axially into the housing to pass through said first bearing and until said one end of the roller engages in said second bearing with the torsion spring disposed in the roller secured at one of its ends to the roller and at the other of its ends to the housing and with the handle projecting out of the adjacent said one end of the housing, the roller being thereafter retained in the housing by stop means on the roller, which stop means slopes inwardly in the direction of insertion, is pressed resiliently into the roller during insertion of the roller and, after insertion, engages beyond said second bearing but permits limited axial displacement of the roller and, at said second end of the roller, gear teeth on the roller to co-operate with further gear teeth on the housing adjacent the second bearing to prevent undesired rotation of the roller in the housing.
2. An extendible clothes hanging device according to claim 1, in which the stop means is formed by a resilient tongue extending in the direction of insertion and having a portion projecting out of the surface of the roller with a ramp face thereon.
3. An extendible clothes hanging device according to claim 2, in which a plurality of resilient tongues are distributed around the periphery of the roller.
4. An extendible clothes hanging device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, in which the roller bulges slightly in its regions which after insertion are engaged in the two bearing bushes and has circumferentially extending lubricant grooves in the bulging region.
5. An extendible clothes hanging device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, in which the gear teeth and further gear teeth provided at said second end of the roller and on the housing adjacent the second bearing respectively have parallel sides extending in the direction of insertion and are rounded off at their front ends.
6. An extendible clothes hanging device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, in which the torsion spring disposed in the roller is a coil spring secured at one of its ends to a holder and can be inserted, with said holder foremost, into said second end of the tubular roller, the holder being secured against rotation in the correspondingly shaped interior of the roller by means of a non-circular flange.
7. An extendible clothes hanging device according to claim 6, in which the holder comprises the non-circular flange and a tubular projection thereon, which projection tapers conically towards its free end to receive the coil spring, the projection having a slot extending from its free end to receive a hooked end of the coil spring.
8. An extendible clothes hanging device according to claim 7, in which the hooked end of the coil spring lies between the end of a core of the spring and the flange.
9. An extendible clothes hanging device according to claim 7 or claim 8, in which inside the tubular projection a resilient tongue extending from the end of the flange is provided with a nose-shaped projection which slopes away behind the hooked end of the coil spring.
10. An extendible clothes hanging device according to any one of claims 6 to 9, in which the holder has a generally circular round flange with a chord-shaped flattened portion and the flattened portion cooperates with an internal working surface of the roller, which surface is formed by two longitudinal, angular shoulders of the roller.
11. An extendible clothes hanging device according to claim 10, in which the two longitudinal, angular shoulders form a longitudinal rib, in which apertures are provided for attaching the clothes lines.
12. An extendible clothes hanging device according to any one of claims 1 to 11, in which first and second bearings are formed by two bearing bushes moulded integral with respective intermediate walls disposed adjacent end walls of the housing.
13. An extendible clothes hanging device according to claim 12, in which that one of the bearing bushes forming the second bearing and said other end of the roller has a tubular projection tapering conically towards its free front end to receive the coil spring and, in the respective intermediate wall a slot with a provisional mounting for an offset hooked end of the spring.
14. An extendible clothes hanging device according to claim 13, in which the provisional mounting for the offset hooked end of the spring inserted into the slot is formed by a nose-shaped projection which projects into the path of movement of the spring end and engages in the offset hooked end thereof, said nose-shaped projection being provided at the inner end of a bush forming receiving means for a fixing screw for mounting said housing.
15. An extendible clothes hanging device according to claim 14, in which the fixing screw for mounting said housing to a wall or similar support means engages through the offset hooked end of the spring.
16. An extendible clothes hanging device according to claim 13 when appendant to claim 7, in which tubular projections mount a tubular core of the coil spring.
17. An extendible clothes hanging device substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings.