GB2460962A - Foldable Clothes Horse with Two Halves - Google Patents

Abstract

Clothes horse having a rectangular frame consisting of two halves 11 joined by hinges 2, strings or threads 10 for hanging clothes, X shaped pairs of legs 3a, 3b joined to each half the frame respectively and movable in two guides provided with a locking stop (13, 14, figure 5), the legs being joined by a protrusion on one leg which is housed in a groove on the other leg (figure 7), the horse being foldable so that the legs and the two halves of the frame are superimposed on top of one another. The horse may have tubular side extensions (4, figure 1). The locking stops may be a plastic recess or notch in a side of the rectangular frame. The legs 3 may be hollow and tubular with L shaped bottom end 31 and at the other end a rod with a terminal stop at the top end to be housed in the guide. A hook 5 may be provided to retain or lock the horse in its opened and closed positions. The two extensions may be linked by a flexible element (figure 10) so that they are actuated simultaneously.

Description

DESCRIPTION

FOLDABLE CLOTHES HORSE.

Aim of the invention This invention relates to a foldable clothes horse of the self-supporting type provided with legs, these clothes horses being collapsible to facilitate their transport and storage.

Background to the invention

A large variety of foldable clothes horses are on the market, which consist essentially of a rectangular shaped tubular frame, with spars and tie beams, between ----which there are some strings or threads where the-clothes-to be dried are -hung, said frame having, on the bottom thereof, foldable legs and optionally collapsible extensions on both sides to increase its capacity. Since these clothes horses are bulky when opened up, they are provided with means for reducing their size when they are not in use, by folding said legs and the collapsible extensions on the main frame.

For example, in a common embodiment these foldable legs consist of two "U" shaped tubular parts, joined together in an X-shape by a central joint, and at their free ends to both spars of the frame, with one of said U-shaped legs having on its top half a hinge, which allows the ensemble to easily collapse on the frame. Nevertheless, the clothes horse still in its folded format is bulky, because the size of the main frame does not reduce. Also, once extended, the use of said legs in an X-shape is not completely stable, particularly when wet clothes are laid at one end to dry.

There are clothes horses which consist of pillars and horizontal tie beams, joined like a draught-screen, such as the one described in United Kingdom patent application GB19093868. This clothes horse comprises sets of pillars and horizontal tie beams, the horizontal tie beams being divided into two and linked by joints that allow them to collapse since the structure collapses, with an assembly safety catch also being provided for these tie beams, consisting of a strip with a hook groove to prevent the horizontal tie beams from collapsing involuntarily and to ensure that the structure remains stable while in use.

A similar solution is that described in United Kingdom patent GB354483 wherein a clothes horse is also described of the type made up of vertical pillars joined by horizontal tie beams, said tie beams being divided into two and linked by joints that allow the structure to collapse in a similar way when not in use by collapsing said horizontal tie beams, without the need for safety catches, but nevertheless allowing that when the clothes horse is in its working position, the extended tie beam provides appropriate robustness by means of its head to head arrangement.

United Kingdom patent GB117531 describes a clothes horse of the same type as those above, which can fold to reduce its size thanks to some elongated grooves on one of the vertical pillars, whereby the tie beams are articulated in the other pillar and their adjacent end is housed in a longitudinal groove in the pillar. To fold the clothes horse, first the safety catch that supports the tie beam is removed and its end is run downwards through the groove.

In turn, United Kingdom patent GB597655 describes a clothes horse of the same style of pillars and tie beams, the pillars and tie beams being linked by joints, so that when folding away the clothes horse, this structure deforms like a parallelogram, reducing its bulk to an elongated structure that is laterally more compact, although longer, which can make it more cumbersome to transport.

These clothes horses described above are not particularly appropriate for being arranged vertically in a self-supporting fashion, and their shape is more suitable to being made from wood that modern materials such as plastic and metallic hollow tubing which are lighter and easier to handle.

The problem to be overcome is that foldable clothes horses are still difficult to set up and they are very bulky when folded. Also some conventional clothes horses have stability problems when in use because of the arrangement of their doubly articulated bottom legs.

Description of the invention

The foldable clothes horse, which is the object of this invention, has a series of technical characteristics aimed at optimising the reduced volume of said clothes horse between its working and non-working position so that it is easier to fold away or store, and therefore easier to set up for use, and also very stable and robust.

This clothes horse comprises a frame consisting of two halves joined by hinges, which allow said frame to collapse longitudinally between a working position with the two halves in a coplanar arrangement, and a non-working position where the two halves are superimposed.

Both halves are joined to respective independent pairs of legs that are moveable in two opposed longitudinal guides. Along one point of their length, these guides have a locking stop for the top end of said legs in their assembly position. These legs are joined to one another, by means of a lug protruding from one of said legs and which is housed in a longitudinal groove in the other leg, where said lug can move in the longitudinal direction, but cannot be removed from the front, in said longitudinal groove so that when the legs collapse on the frame, the top ends of each leg, unlocked from the stops, can reach the opposite end of the guide with respect to said locking stops.

This way it is possible to arrange the legs so that when the clothes horse is unfolded for use, it is very stable, because the bottom ends of the legs, when in contact with the ground, are separated considerably from one another; whereas when the clothes horse is folded away the legs collapse completely onto the frame, without protruding sideways therefrom. The top end of the longitudinal grooves on the legs acts as a stop against the lug advancing in the working position of the clothes horse, and therefore stabilising it in this position.

Each frame guide consists of a strip parallel to the bottom surface of the corresponding frame spar, and joined at both ends to said spar. At their top end the legs have a side rod housed in the guide and which terminates in a thickened stop that prevents said side rod from coming out of the guide. This way the top end of the legs can move easily between the free end of the guide or the end in which the locking stop is provided to lock it in its working position.

This locking stop on the guide consists of an inlet at a defined angle in the frame, whereby it is possible to effectively block the top end of the leg in the working position, simply with the load of the clothes horse.

ifl a preferable embodiment, the stop consists of a piece of plastic housed in a notch in the frame, with the angled inlet comprising a retention clip for the top end of the leg, thereby preventing it from coming out accidentally.

The legs are made up of a hollow, tubular body, with the attachment lug consisting of a threaded rod intended for coupling a nut housed in the opposite leg. The leg affected by the longitudinal groove has an orifice, opposite said longitudinal groove, for introducing the nut and anchoring part onto the threaded rod. This ensures fast assembly, using low cost manufacturing elements.

At both ends the. frame comprises some retention means for the two halves in the open and closed positions. Said retention means consists of at least one flat strip with a groove like a side hook, which hinges in one of the halves of the frame, and two fixed lugs arranged on the other half of the frame. Since it is the same strip, the element can block the two halves of the main frame in the end positions, and its handling is very intuitive for the user and also prevents the clothes horse from folding involuntarily when in its working position, and from unfolding in an uncontrolled manner when in its non-working position, therefore making it easier to keep and store.

In order to complete the folding and unfolding operation of the frame consisting of two halves, the legs joined to each half of the frame are independent and have their bottom end toggled inwards in an L-shape. This allows said two halves of the frame to collapse, without the legs forming any obstruction or impediment.

As the main frame consists of two collapsible halves, each side extension is made up of two U-shaped tubular structures, which are parallel and joined by a flexible element in the proximity of their distal ends to allow them to collapse simultaneously on each half of the frame during folding: So, by collapsing one of the wings or extensions into the folding or unfolding position, the adjacent wing collapses simultaneously in the same movement, thereby preventing the assembly or disassembly from being more cumbersome.

Each articulation hinge of the two frame halves consists of a set of two parts with opposite passages wherein a pin shaft is assembled and a U-shaped side profile which surrounds the inner spar of the corresponding frame half and which has some protruding separating elements on the rear thereof. These protruding separating elements define an end opening position with the two halves of the frame completely

coplanar and stable.

Description of the figures

In order to complement this description and to facilitate the understanding of the characteristics of the invention, a set of drawings is attached to this specification in which the following has been illustrated in an illustrative, non-limiting manner: -Figure 1 is an elevation view of the clothes horse in its working position.

-Figure 2 is a view of the profile of the clothes horse in the previous figure.

-Figure 3 is a plan view of the clothes horse in the previous figures.

-Figure 4 is a perspective view of the clothes horse folded according to its minimum volume.

-Figure 5 is an elevation detail of the movement of the top end of the leg in the corresponding guide.

-Figure 6 is a perspective view of the legs joined in an X-shape.

-Figure 7 is a detail of the attachment lug in the groove that joins both legs.

-Figure 8 is a detail of the inlet hole of the screw that fixes the attachment lug for both legs.

-Figure 9 is a detail of a cross section of the two halves of the frames during the assembly of the hinges.

-Figure 10 is a detail of the flexible joining element of the two tubular structures forming extensions.

Preferred embodiment of the invention In the embodiment shown in the attached figures, the clothes horse consists of a rectangular frame (1) with a tubular structure shaped in two halves (11) joined by intermediate hinges (2) which allow them to collapse between a superimposed position and a coplanar position, frame (1) being provided with two sets of Jegs (3a, 3b), joined in an X-shape and supported by outside spars (12) on both halves (11) of the frame.

On the smaller sides of each frame half (11) there are clothes horse extensions (4), consisting of U-shaped tubular structures (41) that are joined respectively to one of the halves (11). The two frame halves (11) and the extensions (4) are provided on the inside with longitudinal and/or transverse strings (10) or threads for laying out the clothes.

On the bottom surface of the outside spar each half (11) of the main frame has two noticeably aligned grooves (13), defined by strips parallel to said spar and joined, at their ends, to said spar. Guides (13) are provided, in the proximity of the inner end of guide (13), with a locking stop (14) for the corresponding leg in the working position, said stop consisting of a piece of plastic with an angled inlet (15), housed in a spar notch (12).

The clothes horse comprises two sets of hollow, tubular legs (3a, 3b), joined in an X-shape. Each leg (3a, 3b) is shaped with the bottom end (31) folded in a L-shape and has a rod (33) on its top end (32), which is housed in guide (13) and has a terminal stop to prevent it from coming out of guide (13). In the working position of the clothes horse, said rod (33) is fixed in locking stop (14) and is retained by a retention clip (16) at the bottom of inlet (15), which stabilises its position.

Leg (3b) in each set of legs (3a, 3b) has a side lug (34) which is housed in a sliding manner in a longitudinal groove (35) on the other leg (3a). This lug (34) consists of a welded rod, with a threaded end, and an attachment nut (36) arranged on the inside of leg (3a) affected by longitudinal groove (35), thereby allowing it to move in the longitudinal direction, but preventing it from being removed from the front. To facilitate the arrangement of attachment or locking nut (36) on the threaded end of lug (34), along one point of its length, and opposite said longitudinal groove (35) leg (3a) has an orifice (37) for introducing and assembling nut (36) in the corresponding lug (34).

Hinges (2) that join the two halves (11) of the main frame (1) are arranged on the inner spars thereof. Each hinge (2) consists of two parts joined by a pin shaft (21) through a passage (22), said parts having a U-shaped profile (23), which surrounds the profile of the inner spar of the corresponding frame half (11) and, in the rear part of said U-shaped profile (23), protruding separating elements (24) for resting on the other frame half (11) when the clothes horse is in its extended, or working position.

At the smaller ends of each frame half (11) retention means for both halves (11) are provided in the open and closed positions. These retention means consist of a flat strip (5) with a groove (51), like a hook, articulated in one frame half (11) for its movement on the other frame half (11). In said second frame half (11) two fixed lugs (52a, 52b) are provided for locking strip (5), adequately arranged to lock the relative movement of both frame halves (11), in both the open position with halves (11) in a coplanar arrangement, and in their closed position with halves (11) superimposed.

Figure 10 shows a flexible joining element (42) for the two tubular structures (41) that define a clothes horse side extension (4), and which causes the simultaneous collapse of the two tubular structures when either of the two is activated manually.

After sufficiently describing the nature of the invention, as well as a preferred embodiment, it is noted that, for the relevant effects, the materials, shape, size and arrangement of the elements described can be modified, providing this does not mean altering the essential characteristics of the invention claimed below.