GB2064956A - A towel rack - Google Patents

Abstract

The towel rack comprises a round bar 1 serving as guide means for individual towels 6 and a receptacle 7 for clean towels stacked one on top of the other. The round bar 1 has an oval form the portions of which lying parallel with each other are arranged practically in a vertical position. The round bar 1 having two ends 1a, 1b passes through the receptacle 7. Both the ends of the round bar 1 are engaged by a safety lock 2. It is advantageous when the towels are provided with eyelets 11 in one of their corners so that they can glide over the round bar. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A towel rack The invention relates to a towel rack comprising a round bar with two ends, said round bar serving as a guide means for the towels, and further comprising a receptacle in which clean towels are stacked, said round bar passing through said receptacle.

There are known towel racks consisting of smaller or bigger hooks or of ledges with hooks secured to them on which the towels having loops attached to their corners or to their rims are hanged up.

The towels hanged up on such a rack cannot however fulfill the hygienical requirements put on them and they are in no way secured against a theft.

There are further known towel racks which do not require any loops or any hanging means secured to the towels for hanging up the same on the rack. Such towel racks comprise according to the Swiss Patent 572724 at least two capsules connected with each other, the side walls of which facing each other comprise aligned notches. There is provided in each ofthe notches a spring loaded clamping piece a portion of which protrudes from the notch whereby the opposite clamping pieces touch each other As the pressure from two opposite sides on the cloth tip introduced between both the clamping pieces is exerted, the cloth will be clamped and seized between the clamping pieces.

Even in this case are, however, the towels in no way securely hanged up against the theft.

The US Patent No. 2 244833 describes a towel cabinet wherein individual towels may be supplied to successive users. Clean towels are compactly stacked in a horizontal plane, by folding each towel upon itself. A pair of guide means for the towels is fixedly secured at the base of the cabinet and extends through the cabinet upward. The upper portion of this guide means is bent outwardly and downwardly below the base and terminates in an end portion of the cabinet. The interior guide portion passes through the towel ends which are provided with eyelets. The guides serve as guide means for the clean towels as well as for the suspension of the used towels. The lower portion of the guide means is engaged buy a lock which prevents the outward movement of the towel guide means.

In the locked position the removal of the towels from the guide means of this towel rack is prevented.

However, the construction of such a towel cabinet is technically complicated, because there are required bars separate from the guide means which are inserted on one side into the guide means and are engaged on the other side by the lock. Besides, there is provided a cabinet on the wall of which the lock is secured.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a towel rack to be used in lavatories of restaurants, hotels of higher class, schools etc., whereby each towel is to used only once, the construction and the operation of which is very simple and wherein the towels are securely locked. Such a towel rack should be effortless operated by the employees of the entreprise itself. The removal of the used towels and the introduction of the clean towel packet into the receptacle should be carried out in a simple way. The towels to be used should be accessible from all the sides.

Another object of the invention is to reduce the costs of production of such a towel rack and to give to it such a form which is economic in space requirement.

The above mentioned objects are solved by a towel rack which is characterized in that both the ends of the round bar are lockably engaged in one safety locking means.

It is advantageous when the round bar has the form of an oval closed upon itself. There is secured to each opposite side of the safety locking means a guide bushing to receive the respective end of the round bar, said guide pushings being coaxial with each other.

It is further of advantage when the round bar is movably mounted with its ends in the guide bushings as well as in the safety locking means.

The invention becomes more fully apparant from the ensuing description, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 shows an elevation of the towel rack without towels, Figure 2 shows a perspective view of the safety locking means of the towel rack in detail and Figure 3 shows a perspective view of the towel rack with the receptacle and individual towels.

The towel rack according to the figures is meant for restaurants, hotels of higher class, shopping centers, hospitals, schools and other public buildings. According to Figure 3 the towel rack comprises a round bar 1 which serves as guide means for individual towels 6 and a receptacle 7 for clean towels stacked by folding one upon other. The round bar 1 has an oval form closed upon itself; the portions of the round bar running to each other parallel are arranged practically in a vertical position.

The round bar 1 is preferably made of chromium steel and comprises two ends 1 a, 1 b which lie approximately in the middle of the one of the parallel running portions of the oval. There is provided on each end 1a, 1 b of the round bar 1 an annular groove 8. The oval-shaped round bar 1 passes through a receptacle 7 of clean towels.

As it can be seen from Figure 1, both the ends 1a, 1b of the round bar 1 are lockably engaged by a safety lock 2. The safety lock 2 is secured to the outer surface of the bottom of the receptacle 7. It is provided with two guide bushings 3, 4 which are coaxial with each other and are secured to the opposite sides of the cabinet of the safety lock 2. The one 3 of these guide bushes passes through the bottom of the receptacle 7 and projects beyond the receptacle 7. This guide bushing 3 passing through the bottom of the receptacle 7 is longer than the other guide bushing 4.

As it further can be seen from Figure 1, the revolving cylindrical body 10 of the safety lock 2, which body is engageable by means of a key 5, is provided with two opposite tongues 9 engaging the annular grooves 8 at both the ends 1a, lbofthe round bar 1 when the safety lock is in its locked position. In this way, both the ends 1 a, 1 b of the round bar 1 are held together. By operating the cylindrical body 10 by means of the key 5 (by turning it in 90 ) the tongues 9 disengage the annular grooves 8 so that the ends la, lboftheround bar 1 can be brought from each other (compare the detail in Figure 1).

As it is apparent from Figure 3 the guide bushing 3 passing through the bottom of the receptacle 7 is arranged in one of the corners of the rectangular receptacle 7. In case that the receptacle and accord ingly the towels have anotherform, e.g. an oval form, the guide bushing 3 passing through the bottom of the receptacle 7 has to be arranged in the proximity of the wall of the receptacle. Each towel 6 is provided with an eyelet 11 which is positioned in one of the corners or at the rim of the towel which depends from the shape of the towel. The diameter of the eyelet 11 is such as to allow the eyelet to glide along the guide bushing 3 passing through the bottom of the receptacle 7 and along the round bar 1 as far as the lower bend of the same.

When the towels are to be used, they have to be taken individually from the receptacle 7, drawn across the upper bend of the round bar 1 and brought into the required height on one of the vertical portions ofthe round bar running parallel with each other. After drying his hands the user lets the used towel fall along the round bar 1 till it glides onto the lower bend of the same where approximately 100 towels can be assembled in a hanged-up position.

Should a new packet of clean towels stacked one upon the other be introduced into the receptacle 7, the key 5 in the safety lock has to be operated to unlock the ends of the round bar 1, the lower end portion of the round bar 1 has to be retracted from the guide bushing 4 having a length of approximately 5 cm, whereafter the upper end portion of the round bar 1 has to be taken from the upper guide bushing 3 having a length of approximately 25 cm.

The towels assembled on the lower bend of the round bar 1 in the hanged-up position will be slipped from the round bar 1 and brought into the laundry.

Then the receptacle 7 will be refilled with a new towel packet and the round bar 1 will be introduced in reverse succession as described above into the guide bushings 3,4 and into the safety lock 2, whereafter the ends 1a, 1b of the round bar 1 will be locked by engaging the key 5.

By means of the safety lock both the ends of the oval round bar 1 are engaged securely against the theft. The round bar having the oval form serves for collecting the used towels which are perforated in one of their corners and provided with eyelets, and for saving the space. The towels which will be only once used remain to be hanged up on the round bar and cannot be stolen. The use of the individual towels is hygienical.

The used towels could be easily removed from the round bar by the employees of the enterprise itself and washed in the laundry and the clean towels can be introduced into the receptacle effortlessly.

Although the bar for carrying the towels has been referred to herein as being round it should be understood that the bar can be of any suitable cross-sectional shape and any suitable lengthwise configuration so long as the arrangement is such that the towels are able to run smoothly along it.

Claims (10)

1. A towel rack comprising a round barwithtwo ends, said round bar serving as guide means for the towels, and further comprising a receptacle in which clean towels are stacked, said round bar passing through said receptacle, characterized in that both the ends of the round bar are lockably engaged in one safety locking means.

2. The towel rack according to claim 1, characterized in that the round bar the ends of which are engaged by the safety locking means has the form of an oval closed upon itself.

3. The towel rack according to claim 1, characterized in that there is secured to each opposite side of the safety locking means a guide bushing to receive the respective end of the round bar, said guide bushings being coaxial with each other.

4. The towel rack according to claim 1, characterized in that the round bar is movably mounted with its ends in the guide bushings as well as the safety locking means.

5. The towel rack according to claim 3, characterized in that one of said guide bushings passes through the bottom of the receptacle and projects beyond the receptacle.

6. The towel rack according to claim 5, characterized in that the guide bushing passing through the receptacle is longer than the other guide bushing.

7. The towel rack according to claim 5, characterized in that the guide bushing passing through the receptacle is placed in one of the corners of said receptacle.

8. The towel rack according to claim 1, characterized in that the safety locking means is a cylindrical lock having a turnable cylindrical body the tongues of which engage the annular grooves on both the ends of the round bar when they are in the locked position.

9. The towel rack according to claim 1, characterized in that the round bar is made of chromium steel.

10. A towel rack substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

10. A towel rack substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

New claims or amendments to claims filed on 12 Nov. 1980 Superseded claims New or amended claims:

1. Atowel rack comprising a curved bar with two ends, said curved bar serving as guide means for the towels, and further comprising a receptacle in which clean towels are stacked, said curved bar passing through said receptacle, characterised in that both the ends of the curved bar are lockably engaged in one safety locking means.

2. The two rack according to claim 1, characterised in that the curved bar the ends of which are engaged by the safety locking means has the form of an oval closed upon itself.

3. The towel rack according to claim 1, characterised in that there is secured to each opposite side of the safety locking means a guide bushing to receive the respective end of the curved bar, said guide bushings being coaxial with each other.

4. The towel rack according to claim 1, characterised in that the curved bar is movably mounted with its ends in the guide bushings as well as the safety locking means.

5. The towel rack according to claim 3, characterised in that one of said guide bushings passes through the bottom of the receptacle and projects beyond the receptacle.

6. The towel rack according to claim 5, characterised in that the guide bushing passing through the receptacle is longer than the other guide bushing.

7. The towel rack according to claim 5, characterised in that the guide bushing passing through the receptacle is placed in one of the corners of said receptacle.

8. The towel rack according to claim 1, characterised in that the safety locking means is a cylindrical lock having a turnable cylindrical body the tongues of which engage the annular grooves on both the ends of the curved bar when they are in the locked position.

9. The towel rack according to claim 1, characterised in that the curved bar is made of chromium steel.