GB2140680A

GB2140680A - Rotatable clothesline

Info

Publication number: GB2140680A
Application number: GB08414047A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Gerard William Cullina
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1983-06-03
Filing date: 1984-06-01
Publication date: 1984-12-05
Also published as: IE831323L; GB8414047D0

Abstract

A rotatable clothesline comprising a central vertical support member 11 secured at its bottom end into the ground and provided at its upper end with a plurality of spaced apart radially divergent arms 14 rotatable about the central support member 11, the arms 14 supporting between them by means of brackets lines upon which in use clothes may be hung. The divergent arms 14 are mounted on a rotor hub 12 which is in use releasably mounted for rotation on the central support member 11. The rotor hub 12 has spaced apart locating and supporting struts 13 which releasably locate and support the arms 14. The arms 14 also have secured between said arms 14 and the rotor hub support rods 18. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Rotatable clothesline The present invention relates to rotatable clotheslines and in particular to rotatable clotheslines of the type comprising a central vertical support member secured at its bottom end into the ground and provided at its upper end with a plurality of spaced apart radially divergent arms, rotatable about the central support member, the said arms supporting between them lines upon which, in use, clothes may be hung. Such a clothesline will hereinafter be referred to as a clothesline of the type stated.

A clothesline of the type stated when not in use may be removed from its location and stored until required for further use. The divergent arms of the known construction of rotatable clothesline are not detachable from the central support member and the rotatable clothesline is therefore cumbersome in size and physically difficult to move from its in use location to a stored location, especially for an elderly or handicapped person.

An object of the present invention is to provide a rotatable clothesline, in which the divergent line supporting arms are readily detachable from the central support member, thereby facilitating the assembly of the clothesline when it is required for use and dismantling of the clothesline for storage.

A second object of the invention is to provide a clothesline of the type referred to which can be converted to a play pole for children by detachment of the divergent arms from the central support member and thereafter attaching a suitable cap member to the central support member to provide for example a maypole.

According to the invention there is provided a rotatable clothesline of the type stated in which the plurality of divergent arms are mounted on a rotor hub which rotor hub in use is releasably mounted for rotation on the central support member.

The divergent arms are preferably detachably mounted on suitable locating and supporting struts fixed on the rotor hub and preferably the plurality of divergent arms are each further supported by one or more support rods which are themselves detachably mounted on the rotor hub.

The central support member is preferably a cylindrical pole which may be fixedly mounted in the ground and extends substantially vertically therefrom to a height of 5 feet. The rotor hub is preferably mounted for rotation on the cylindrical pole by means of a conventional bearing assembly.

The invention will be understood from the following description of an embodiment thereof given by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a schematic elevation of a rotatable clothesline according to the invention showing the clothesline in the in use position.

Figure 2 is a schematic partly sectioned vertical elevation of the rotor hub and arms of the clothesline of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a plan view of the clothesline of Figure 1 showing a number of lines, extending between the arms.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings, there is shown a rotatable clothesline generally indicated at 10, comprising a hollow cylindrical pole 11 on which is rotatably mounted a rotor hub 12, the rotor hub 12 having four spaced apart locating and support struts 13 (Figure 2) for locating and supporting hollow divergent arms 14 which readily slide onto the said struts 13. The rotor hub 12 has a top plate 15 having holes 16 into each of which is attached one end 17 of support rods 1 8. The other end 1 9 of each support rod 18 is attached to an arm 14 by means of a conventional bracket (not shown). The support rods 18 provide support for the divergent arms 14 in addition to that provided by the struts 13. A bearing 20 is located in the top end 21 of the pole 11 in conventional manner so that the rotor hub 12 may readily rotate on the pole 11.The arms 14 have a plurality of brackets 22 through which are threaded a series of lines 23 from which clothes may be suspended for drying purposes. The bottom end 24 of the pole 1 1 is rigidly fixed in a concrete base 25 in the ground 26.

In use the rotatable clothesline may be quickly assembled or dismantled as will be made clear from the following description. The pole 1 1 is fixed permanently in a suitable position in a garden. The rotor hub 12 is placed on the pole 11 and the arms 14 are positioned on the struts 13. One end 1 9 of each of the support rods 1 8 is attached to a bracket (not shown) on an arm 14 and the other end 17 of each rod 1 8 is attached into a hole 16 in the top plate 15. The arms 14 and the support rods 18 may alternatively be assembled on the rotor hub 12 when the latter is on the ground and the complete assembly may then be positioned on to the pole 11. A handle may be mounted on the rotor hub 1 2 or the top plate 1 5 to facilitate lifting the complete assembly.

It will be understood that at least three divergent arms 14 are required on the rotor hub 12 so that the latter will rotate when the wind blows. If for example only two arms 14 are placed on the rotor hub 12 then the latter will cease to rotate when it reaches a position offering least resistance to the wind.

If the rotor hub 12 is removed from the pole 1 1 it is clear that a suitable cap member (not shown) may be placed on the pole, to convert it to a toy for children. An example of such a toy is a cap member with streamers attached to it which children may use as a maypole. In another embodiment of the invention, the rotor hub 12 is mounted on the pole 1 1 as described above and a child's chair, (not shown) may be suspended from each of the divergent arms 14, or combinations 6f the divergent arms, to provide an arrangement of rotatable chairs as a toy for children, the arrangement being commonly known as a "chairo-plane". It will be understood that the bottom end 24 of the pole 11 may in another embodiment of the invention be placed in a suitable metal or plastics casing (not shown) in the ground so that the pole 11 can be removed and stored when not in use, to improve the aesthetic appearance of a garden.

Claims

1. A rotatable clothesline of the type stated in which the plurality of divergent arms are mounted on a rotor hub, which rotor hub, in use, is releasably mounted for rotation on the central support member.

2. A rotatable clothesline as claimed in claim 1 in which the plurality of divergent arms are detachably mounted on locating and supporting struts fixed on the rotor hub.

3. A rotatable clothesline as claimed in claim 2 in which each one of the plurality of divergent arms is supported by a support rod detachably mounted on the rotor hub.

4. A rotatable clothesline as claimed in claim 3 in which the centre support member is a cylindrical pole.

5. A rotatable clothesline as claimed in claim 4 in which the rotor hub is mounted for rotation on the cylindrical pole by means of a bearing assembly.

6. A rotatable clothesline substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.