GB2470990A

GB2470990A - Catch for a clothes airer frame

Info

Publication number: GB2470990A
Application number: GB1008635A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Graham Tulett
Original assignee: Addis Housewares Ltd
Current assignee: Addis Housewares Ltd
Priority date: 2009-06-08
Filing date: 2010-05-25
Publication date: 2010-12-15
Anticipated expiration: 2030-05-25
Also published as: GB201008635D0; GB0909797D0; GB2470990B

Abstract

A catch 2 suitable for a clothes airer frame 40, which may be reversibly re-configured between erected and collapsed configurations, is looslt attached to a first frame element 44 and comprises a catch body 4 with a guide slot 6 and a locking member 8. The guide slot 6 receives a guide peg 54 that extends from a second frame element 42. The guide peg 54 is located in a first zone (20, Fig 1) of the slot 6 when the airer 40 is erected, and located in a second zone (22, Fig 1) of the slot 6 when the airer 40 is collapsed. The lock 8 blocks the guide slot 6 so that the peg 54 may be trapped in either the first or second zones (20, 22, Fig 1) of the slot 6. The lock 8 may slide or pivot, and may be biased into a locked position.

Description

Clothes Airers This invention relates to clothes airers and, in particular to clothes airers in the form of a collapsible frame and to the catch or catches that are used to keep such airers in an erect or not collapsed configuration.

Clothes airers comprised of collapsible frames are well known and are generally constructed from one or more pairs of frame elements. The frame elements of each pair are so configured and dimensioned that one element may fit or nest within the other element and the frame elements are pivotally hinged to each other. This allows the frame elements to rotate relative to each other between a position where the frame elements occupy parallel or near parallel planes and positions where the planes of the frame elements are not close to being parallel.

Such a frame is often known as a scissor frame.

Where the airers are comprised of more than one pair of frame elements, each pair of frame elements is pivotally hinged to one or two adjacent pairs of frame elements. The hinges between each pair of frame elements are typically located at positions on each frame element remote from the hinges between the frame elements of each pair of frame elements.

Known clothes airers of the scissor frame variety generally need to be provided with a means to prevent them collapsing from an erect configuration where each frame element is at a reasonably large angle to the other frame elements to which it is hinged and the airer may have clothes hung from it, to a collapsed position where the angle between the planes of the frames is much smaller and the frame elements are substantially adjacent to each other. Such non-collapse means are normally essentially one or more hooks that extend between and attach to the frame elements of at least one pair of frame elements.

According to the present invention there is provided a catch suitable for holding a clothes airer frame which may be reversibly re-configured between erected and collapsed configurations, the catch comprises a catch body which at least partially defines a guide slot, the guide slot is at a location in which the guide slot is adapted to receive a guide peg extending from a second frame element of the airer frame, the guide slot is so configured and orientated that it includes a first zone which would be occupied by the guide peg when the airer is erected and a second zone which would be occupied by the guide peg when the airer is collapsed, and means for loosely attaching the catch to a first frame element of an airer frame, characterised in that the catch body further comprises a lock member which may reversibly be moved from a first open position in which it does not block the guide slot and a second lock position in which it at least partially blocks the guide slot.

A disadvantage of the known use of hooks to retain an airer in the erected position is that if the hook slips either through strain because of overloading or because it has been knocked, for example by a child or pet, then the airer may be expected to undergo a sudden partial or complete collapse. Such a collapse is undesirable because of the risk of injury if someone or something is near the airer when it collapses, damage to the airer, and or the dirtying of any clothes on the airer. The risk of injury is clearly the most concerning risk because the collapsing of the frame, particularly when it is loaded with clothes can cause the frame elements to act as a form of scissors crushing or severing anything, such as a child's fingers, that gets caught between them.

The advantage of a catch according to the present invention is that the at least partial blockage of the guide slot by the lock member prevents the passage of the guide pin along the guide slot without a user of the catch positively moving the lock member to the first open position. This greatly lessens the risk of partial or total sudden collapse of the airer.

In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the lock member is so located relative to the guide slot that when the lock member is in the second position the guide slot is blocked so that a guide peg in the first zone of the slot would be trapped therein.

In a second preferred embodiment of the present invention, the lock member is so located relative to the guide slot that when the lock member is in the second position the guide slot is at least partially blocked so that a guide peg would be prevented from entering or exiting the second zone. This second preferred embodiment has the advantage that when the guide pin is in the second zone the lock member, when in the lock position, will prevent the airer from opening thus ensuring that it is and remains compact for and in storage, and when the guide pin is not in the second position, prevent the airer from completely collapsing.

In a further preferred embodiment of the present invention the catch body at least partially defines a lock slot and the lock member reversibly slides along the lock slot between the first and second positions. The lock member is preferably slid along the lock slot by a user between the first to second positions. The lock member is preferably a sliding fit with the walls of the lock slot with the effect that the lock member stays at the position along the lock slot that it is put by a user. The walls of the lock slot can include means for retaining the lock member within the lock slot, such means including, but not being limited to, longitudinal ridges or grooves with which the lock member engages. The walls of the lock slot may also include registration means, such as notches or raised portions, to allow a user to feel when the lock member reaches the first or second positions.

It is preferred that the lock member is so dimensioned and configured that when the lock member is in the first position its outer surface adjacent the catch body lies substantially flush with the surface contours of the catch body adjacent the lock member.

In an alternative preferred embodiment of the present invention, the lock member is pivotally attached to the catch body so that the lock member may rotate about a pivot between the first and second positions. In this embodiment, the lock member may either be mounted in a cavity in the body of the catch body, the cavity intersecting and mouthing into the guide slot, or on the outer surface of the catch body.

In a particularly preferred embodiment of this embodiment, the lock member is biased into the second position.

An advantage to having the lock member rotatably mounted on the catch body and biased into the second position is that it can be arranged that the guide pin can, when moving from the second zone to the first zone, push the lock member from the second lock position into the first open position and the lock member will return to the second position once the guide pin has passed. This has the effect that the safety catch that is the lock member is automatically applied when the airer is erected.

In a further embodiment of the catch of the present invention, the catch may be provided with two or more lock members, each of which may reversibly be moved from a first position in which it does not block the guide slot and a second position in which it at least partially blocks the guide slot.

One or more catches according to the present invention can be incorporated into a scissor frame type clothes airer. Most preferably two catches will be employed, on opposite sides of the airer from each other.

The catches according to the present invention are most preferably attached to the clothes airer frame via a pin or hinge which allows the catch to rotate about that pin or hinge.

The present invention will be further described and explained by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows an embodiment of a catch according to the present invention with the lock member in the second lock position; Figure 2 shows the catch of figure 1 with the lock member in the first open position; Figure 3 shows a schematic view of a representative clothes airer with two catches of Figure 1 mounted thereon; and Figure 4 shows a partial detail from Figure 3.

With regard to Figures 1 and 2, and with the same parts having the same number throughout the drawings, there is provided a catch 2 comprised of a catch body 4, a guide slot 6, and a lock member 8.

The catch body 4 is a one piece moulding of plastics or metal and is formed from a web 10, surrounded by a flange 12. The flange 12 gives the web 10 rigidity. The web 10 narrows to a neck 14. The neck 14 is so positioned to accommodate elements of an airer frame when the catch is mounted thereon.

On a first side of the neck 14 the web 10 thickens into a flange 16, the inner face of which defines the guide slot 6; again the flange 16 lends rigidity to the catch body 4. On the opposite side of the neck 14 to the guide slot 6, the Web 10 thickens in the region of the web remote from the neck 14 and defines an aperture 18. Aperture 18 is substantially circular and is adapted to engage with a pivot pin 52 (not shown in Figures 1 and 2).

The guide slot 6 is comprised of a longitudinally extending slot with, at the end of the slot nearest the aperture 18, an elbow forming a first zone 20 in the guide slot 6. The end of guide slot 6 remote from the first zone 20 forms a second zone 22.

The lock member 8 is engaged in a lock slot 24 defined by flanges 26 which extend between flange 12 and flange 16. The lock member 8 is in frictional engagement with the inner faces of flanges 16, and may be reversibly slid between the first open position shown in Figure 2 and the second closed position shown in Figure 1. To retain the lock member 8 in the correct lateral position relative to the flanges 26, the faces of flanges 26 that engage with the lock member 8 are provided with a pair or ridges 28 with which lock member 8 engages.

With reference to Figures 3 and 4, a clothes airer 40 is comprised of two pairs of frame elements 42 and 44. Each of frame elements 42 and 44 are substantially "U" shaped (when in use the "U" shapes are inverted) and each pair are joined to each other at a pivot 46. The frame elements 42 and 44 are so dimensioned that the uprights of the "U" of frame element 42 will loosely fit between the equivalent uprights of frame element 44.

The pairs of frame elements 42 and 44 are joined together at pivots 48, with frame element 42 of one pair being joined to frame element 44 of the other pair. This forms a scissor frame. Extending between the uprights of the "U" of frame elements 42 and of frame elements 44 are a plurality of wires, bars or dowels 50 (only representative wires are labelled in Figure 3) . Wires 50 are suitable for hanging clothes on.

Fixed to each of the uprights of the "U" of one of frame elements 44 (the catched element 44) in a symmetrical fashion are a pair of pivot pins 52. When a pair of catches 2 are to be attached to the clothes airer 40, each pivot pin 52 engages with the aperture 18 in a catch 2, and allows that catch 2 to rotate around pivot pin 52. Fixed in a symmetrical fashion to each of the uprights of the "U" of the frame element 42 paired with the catched element 44 is a pair of guide pins 54. Guide pins 54 are adapted to both move freely along the guide slot 6 and be retained in the guide slot 6. Retention of guide pin 54 in the guide slot may be achieved by causing the end of the guide pin 54 remote from the frame 42 to have a larger dimension than the width of the guide slot 6 by any known means.

In use the airer frame 40 is stored in a collapsed state wherein each of the frame elements lie adjacent to each other and the guide pins 54 are resting in the second zone 22 of the guide slot 6. When the airer is to be used a user may place the airer on a floor so that the free ends of the lower pair of frames 42 and 44 are touching or adjacent to the floor, and lift the linking portions 42A and 44A of the "U" of the upper pair of frame elements 42 and 44. The lifting of linking portions 42A and 44A causes the frame elements 42 and 44 to rotate relative to each other around pivots 46 and 48 and guide pin 54 to move along guide slot 6.

When the airer frame 40 is fully erect, the guide pin 54 reaches the first zone 20 and latches into that elbow. The user then urges the lock member 8 towards the guide slot 6 so blocking the guide slot 6 so that even if the guide pin 54 is caused to exit the elbow in first zone 20 and then is urged toward second zone 22 by the effect of gravity acting on the frame, the guide pin is stopped by the lock member 8 and complete collapse of the airer frame 40 is prevented.

To return the airer frame 40 to its collapsed state, the user slides the lock member 8 away from the guide slot 6, unlatches the guide pin 54 from the elbow in the first zone 20 and lowers the linking portions 42A and 44A.

It will be appreciated that embodiment described above is by way of example only and alternative constructions of the catch 2 and/or the airer frame 40 are possible.

Claims

Claims 1. A catch suitable for holding a clothes airer frame which may be reversibly re-configured between erected and collapsed configurations in which the catch comprises a catch body which at least partially defines a guide slot, the guide slot is at a location in which the guide slot is adapted to receive a guide peg extending from a second frame element of the airer frame, the guide slot is so configured and orientated that it includes a first zone which would be occupied by the guide peg when the airer is erected and a second zone which would be occupied by the guide peg when the airer is collapsed, and means for loosely attaching the catch to a first frame element of an airer frame, characterised in that the catch body further comprises a lock member which may reversibly be moved from a first open position in which it does not block the guide slot and a second lock position in which it at least partially blocks the guide slot.
2. A catch according to claim 1 in which the lock member is so located relative to the guide slot that when the lock member is in the second position the guide slot is blocked so that a guide peg in the first zone of the slot would be trapped therein.
3. A catch according to claim 1 in which the lock member is so located relative to the guide slot that when the lock member is in the second position the guide slot is at least partially blocked so that a guide peg would be prevented from entering or exiting the second zone.
4. A catch according to any of claims 1 to 3 in which the catch body at least partially defines a lock slot and the lock member reversibly slides along the lock slot between the first and second positions.
5. A catch according to claim 4 in which an end of the lock slot is open and located at an edge or face of the catch body.
6. A catch according to claim 4 or 5 in which the lock member includes a slide body so dimensioned and configured as to be in at least partial frictional contact with the faces defining the lock slot.
7. A catch according to any of claims 4 to 6 in which the lock member is so dimensioned and configured that when the lock member is in the first position its outer surface adjacent the catch body lies substantially flush with the surface contours of the catch body adjacent the lock member.
8. A catch according to any of claims 1 to 3 in which the lock member is pivotally attached to the catch body so that the lock member may rotate about a pivot between the first and second positions.
9. A catch according to any of claims 1 to 8 in which the lock member is biased into the second position.
10. A catch according to any of claims 1 to 9 in which the catch member further includes at least a second lock member which may reversibly be moved from a first position in which it does not block the guide slot and a second position in which it at least partially blocks the guide slot.
11. A clothes airer comprising a frame including at least first and second frame elements which may be reversibly re-configured between erected and collapsed configurations and at least one catch according to any of claims 1 to 10 in which the catch is movably fixed to the first frame element, the second frame element carries at least one corresponding guide peg, and the first and second frame elements are pivotally fixed to each other so that re-configuration of the airer frame between erected and collapsed configurations causes the first and second frames to rotate relative to each other.

12 A clothes airer according to claim 11 in which the or each catch is pivotally attached to the first frame element.