GB2475556A

GB2475556A - Drying device comprising an inflatable chamber

Info

Publication number: GB2475556A
Application number: GB0920525A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Michael James Smyth
Original assignee: TRANSEAL PRODUCTS
Current assignee: TRANSEAL PRODUCTS
Priority date: 2009-11-24
Filing date: 2009-11-24
Publication date: 2011-05-25
Anticipated expiration: 2029-11-24
Also published as: GB2475556B; GB0920525D0

Abstract

A drying device comprises an inflatable chamber 3 formed of a flexible material having an inlet 5 for connection to an air blower. The chamber has upper and lower surfaces 3a, 3b with the lower surface having a plurality of holes formed over part 9 of its surface area to allow air to pass from the chamber interior to an underlying surface. The device further comprises at least one non-inflatable skirt portion 7 extending from, or in the region of, a peripheral edge between the upper and lower surfaces. The skirt is formed of a flexible material and arranged, in use, to extend the flow of air directed over the underlying surface as it escapes from the underside of the inflatable chamber. In a further aspect, a drying device comprising two inflatable arm portions laterally separated either side of an interior recess with a non-inflatable skirt portion extending at least partly into the interior recess is disclosed. In another aspect, a drying device comprising a cylindrical inflatable chamber is disclosed. Preferably, the drying device is designed for use in the accelerated drying-out of walls, floors, carpets and other exposed room or contained void surfaces that have been damaged by water.

Description

A Drying Device This invention relates to a drying device, particularly, though not exclusively a drying device for use in the accelerated drying out of walls, floors, carpets and other exposed room or contained void surfaces that have been damaged by water or that may have been treated using a wet process application.

Methods for drying out walls, floors and carpets are well known and generally comprise heaters and air blowers, often used in conjunction with dehumidifiers. Such air blowers generally circulate air in one direction which means it can take an extended period of time to dry out a whole room and either requires the blower to be repositioned within the room or the use of multiple units for treating a larger enclosed space. Attachment devices for use with these blowers are also known to help contain air movement over a defined surface area; such devices are not unlike conventional inflatable mattresses in that they comprise opposed sheets of flexible material that expand upon input of air from a blower. The lower sheet of material comprises a plurality of holes which allow the air to exit onto the underlying surface to be treated.

A disadvantage with such drying devices is that the area to be treated is limited to the area directly beneath the inflatable portion; thus a device that is suited to drying over a defined floor dimension will either have to be repositioned or physically joined together with additional adjacent devices if a larger surface area is to be dried. In addition, the device, when expanded, cannot easily accommodate any protrusions into the room dimension nor be adjusted to suit individual room measurements.

It is an aim of the present invention to provide an improved drying device.

According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a drying device comprising opposed sheets of flexible material connected along peripheral edge portions thereof defining an interior space into which air can be blown through an inlet, one of the sheets having a plurality of holes formed over part of its surface area to allow air to pass from the interior space to an underlying surface, the device further comprising at least one non-inflatable flexible skirt portion extending from, or in the region of, a peripheral edge.

The flexible skirt portion advantageously serves to increase the area of the underlying surface over which air is blown as it exits the holes of the device; rather than the air dissipating as it reaches the edge of the main inflatable portion, the skirt contains the airflow over adjacent areas. Additionally, the skirt, by virtue of it being non-inflatable and flexible, allows complex areas to be treated, for example areas of carpet around room protrusions or simply folded back if the device is larger than the room dimensions required.

The term non-inflatable' is intended to define that the skirt does not comprise an internal chamber that expands due to air received from the inlet.

The at least one skirt portion may be formed of a single piece of material.

The at least one skirt portion may comprise a separate piece of material joined to the peripheral edge or in the region thereof.

Alternatively, the at least one skirt portion may comprise part of the upper or lower sheet.

The material of the skirt portion is preferably more flexible than the material of the opposed inflated sheet portion.

The material of the skirt portion may be a synthetic proofed lightweight material, for example rip-stop nylon.

The opposed sheets may he arranged such that, in use, the device inflates to a substantially cylindrical shape when air is blown through the inlet. In this case, a single skirt portion may extend from, or in the region of, a peripheral edge. The single skirt portion may be arranged, in use, to be wrapped around part of the cylindrical shape so as to direct air in a particular direction as it exits through the holes, for example to direct air against a solid vertical surface.

The opposed sheets may be substantially rectangular in shape and wherein two skirt portions may be provided at, or in the region of, two opposed lateral edges only.

The invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a top plan view of first embodiment drying apparatus; Figure 2 is a bottom plan view of the drying apparatus shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is an end view of the drying apparatus shown in Figure 1 situated on an underlying surface requiring drying; Figure 4 is an end view of the drying apparatus shown in Figure 3 when inflated; Figure 5 is a perspective view of the drying apparatus shown in Figure 4; Figure 6 is a perspective view of a second embodiment drying apparatus; Figure 7 shows an end view of the drying apparatus shown in Figure 6 in first and second modes of use; Figure 8 is a top plan view of a third embodiment drying apparatus; Figure 9 is a bottom plan view of the drying apparatus shown in Figure 8; Figure 10 is a bottom plan view of the drying apparatus shown in Figure 8 when used to dry an underlying surface which includes an obstruction, such as a plinth; and Figure 11 is a top plan view of the third embodiment which is useful for understanding the relative dimensions of the various parts.

Referring to Figure 1, in a first embodiment, a drying apparatus 1 is provided for use in drying an underlying surface, for example a carpet or other floor covering that has become damaged by water ingress or which has been cleaned or treated using a wet process application.

The drying apparatus 1 comprises an inflatable portion 3 formed by upper and lower sheets 3a, 3b of a flexible synthetic waterproof material, rectangular in plan view. The material may be, for example, lightweight proofed rip-stop nylon. The sheets 3a, 3b are co-joined along the four peripheral side edges to define an interior chamber that, in use, is inflated by means of an air blower (not shown) which blows air into the chamber through an inlet 5.

Referring to Figure 2, the lower sheet 3 is provided with a plurality of holes in the form of a mesh region 9 thereby allowing air to exit the chamber onto an underlying surface to promote drying of said surface. Although the interior chamber is, therefore, not airtight, the term inflatable is nevertheless applicable since the portion 3 initially expands due to the feed of air from the air blower; as air begins exiting into the enclosed space, the continuous feed of air maintains the expanded shape.

At lateral edges of the inflatable portion 3 are provided respective single-layer skirts 7. The skirts 7 are non-inflatable and can comprise a single piece of flexible material, again possibly lightweight proofed rip-stop nylon. The skirts may be formed separately from the upper and lower sheets 3a, 3b and connected thereto by stitching or any other demountable attachment method.

Alternatively, the skirts may be extensions of either the upper or lower sheet 3a, 3b. Instead of providing two opposing skirts, any number between one and four can be used given that there are four peripheral sides. The skirts provide certain advantages as will become clear below.

Referring to Figures 3 and 4, the drying apparatus 1 is shown when placed on the underlying surface 11. In use, warm air discharged into the inlet 5 exits the inflatable portion 3 through the mesh 9 to commence drying. This air inevitably moves outwards towards the peripheral edges of the inflatable portion 3. Rather than this air escaping upwards at this point, the skirts 7 direct the air outwards beyond the area covered by the inflatable portion 3, extending the overall surface area being treated in a very cost effective way.

Additionally, said skirt portions 7 allow the drying apparatus 1 to treat complex room layouts, e.g. where the footprint of the underlying surface is not bounded by straight walls or includes obstructions. In practice, a room will include obstructions and features such as radiators or heaters which are fixed close to the floor. In such cases, conventional inflatable dryers, in their expanded state, will not be able to cover adjacent carpet regions and damp patches will remain. In the present embodiment, since the skirts 7 are non-inflated and flexible pieces of material, they may easily be located around such structures to maximise the area covered and to direct warm air over these difficult-to-reach surfaces. Figure 5 shows a simplified application involving an obstruction 10.

A second embodiment will now be described with reference to Figures 6 and 7. In this case, a relatively narrow, longitudinal drying apparatus 20 is provided and arranged such that, when air is blown through inlet 23, the inflatable portion 21 expands to a substantially cylindrical or tubular shape, as shown in the Figures.

This embodiment is particularly suited to narrow void areas or around the perimeter edges of a room. As with the first embodiment, the inflatable portion 21 is formed of upper and lower sheets of flexible material 21a, 21b connected together.

Alternatively, a single sheet of material can be used to form the inflatable portion 21. A number of mesh portions (not shown) are provided extending substantially around the circumference of the device to allow air to exit the chamber in the same way as for the first embodiment, particularly at defined points or intervals along the length of the inflated device.

A single layer skirt 25 is attached along the length of the inflatable portion 21, at one side, and thereby provides the same advantages mentioned previously, namely the ability to extend the surface area over which warm air is blown and to allow this treatment area to extend around objects and obstructions as may occur in a room.

In addition, by providing a skirt having sufficient width, i.e. in the direction extending away from the longitudinal axis of the inflatable portion 21, additional benefits can be achieved by means of wrapping the skirt over or under the body of the inflatable portion 21, as indicated in Figure 7. For example, wrapping the skirt under the inflatable portion 21 (and over the mesh portion) allows the warm ar to be directed in a more focussed way, for example to either side of the device and upwards. This may be useful if a vertical surface, such as a wall, requires treatment.

The user may attach the side of the skirt 25 to part of the wall by using heavy duty adhesive tape to help direct the air to a particular part of the wall. Alternatively, wrapping the skirt over the top of the inflatable portion provides a way of trapping warm air in a particular area, for example the lower corner of a room.

This may be useful if such an area is proving particularly difficult to effectively dry out. Again, the user may attach the end of the skirt 25 to part of the wall or floor to create a contained space.

Due to the use of lightweight flexible material, the length of the inflatable device can be adjusted to suit actual room dimensions either by forming the device around corners of the room or by physically tying a knot in the cylindrical device to limit its useful surface area.

The width of the skirt material s preferably sufficient to extend around the entire circumference of the cylinder, when inflated.

Typically, it may be 1500 mm in width, or perhaps greater.

A third embodiment will now be described with reference to Figures 8 to 11.

As with previous embodiments, this drying apparatus 30 comprises a flexible material, substantially rectangular in shape. Reference numerals 32a and 32b are used to indicate the upper and lower sides, respectively. It likewise has an air inlet 33 for attachment to an air blower. The material can be any flexible waterproof material, for example lightweight proofed rip-stop nylon. As Figure 9 shows, a mesh region 43 allows air blown into the inlet 33 to exit onto the underlying surface to be treated.

The inflatable portion 31 is comprised by sealing upper and lower sheets to form a substantially U-shaped chamber, as indicated by the dotted lines in Figure 8. The ends 41 of the U-shaped chamber, which are transverse to the lengthwise axis, terminate and are sealed either side of a slot 39 that extends partly along the lengthwise axis, opposite the air inlet 33 side. The purpose of the slot 39 will be explained further below.

The remaining parts of the material provide non-inflatable skirts 35, 37 formed of single layer fabric. More particularly, the first pair of skirts 35 (hereafter referred to as peripheral skirts) are provided at opposed lateral sides of the inflatable portion 31 and act is the same way as the skirts 7, 25 in previous embodiments. A second skirt portion 37 (hereafter referred to as the internal skirt) comprises the web of material internal to the inflatable portion 31. The web is split along part of its length by the above-mentioned slot 39.

The third embodiment finds particular use in treating surfaces which have objects projecting upwardly therefrom, for example the plinth of a toilet (W.C.) or wash basin. It is common for domestic bathrooms and toilet areas to suffer from water leakage and the region of the floor construction or carpet immediately surrounding plinths is difficult to treat with standard drying apparatus. The drying apparatus 30 described here achieves efficient drying around such structures by virtue of its split U-shaped structure.

Referring to Figure 10, in use, the user simply opens the slit 39 by separating the ends 41 and passes them around the back of a plinth

S

such that the plinth is located in the part 42 substantially surrounded by the internal skirt. The ends 41 can be fastened together by Velcro'TM or similar hook and loop tape fastening means 46 (see Figure 9) At this time, the air blower (not shown) is activated and the warm air inflates the inflatable portion 31 such that it expands and begins directing air through the mesh region 43 to the underlying surface. In this case, rather than escaping at the edge regions (internal and peripheral) of the inflatable portion 31, the peripheral and internal skirts 35, 37 act to extend the surface area over which the warm air passes. In the particular case of the internal skirt 37, the slot 39 allows the skirt to conform substantially to the outer shape of the plinth 45 with a snug fit that minimises the amount of warm air that would otherwise be lost around the edges of the plinth were the skirt not present.

Referring to Figure 11, the following dimensions are employed for the particular embodiment: a = 2000 mm, b = 1850 mm, c = 375 mm, d = 320 mm, e = 460 mm, f = 200 mm and g = 600 mm. It will be appreciated, however, that different dimensions may be employed without departing from the scope of the invention.

The width of the skirt portion for all embodiments described is no less than 100 mm. In many cases, it will be greater; for example 600 -750 mm provides a particularly useful coverage and a width of up to 1524 mm is being considered.

The above-described embodiments are particularly-suited for the drying out of water damaged building elements. However, the use of said devices for the accelerated drying out of concrete or screed in construction related activities.

Manufacturing a drying device in accordance with the above embodiments generally comprises connecting at peripheral edges upper and lower sheets of flexible material to provide an inflatable chamber; providing in the lower sheet a plurality of holes to allow air to pass from the chamber interior to an external location; and attaching at, or in the region of one or more of the peripheral edges, a non-inflatable skirt portion, the skirt preferably being a single layer of material.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A drying device comprising an inflatable chamber formed of a flexible material having an inlet for connection to an air blower, in which the chamber has upper and lower surfaces with the lower surface having a plurality of holes formed over part of its surface area to allow air to pass from the chamber interior to an underlying surface, the device further comprising at least one non-inflatable skirt portion extending from, or in the region of, a peripheral edge between the upper and lower surfaces, the skirt being formed of a flexible material and arranged, in use, to extend the flow of air directed over the underlying surface as it escapes from the underside of the inflatable chamber.
2. A drying device comprising an inflatable chamber formed of a flexible material having an inlet for connection to an air blower, in which the chamber has upper and lower surfaces with the lower surface having a plurality of holes formed over part of its surface area to allow air to pass from the chamber interior to an underlying external surface, wherein the inflatable chamber includes two inflatable arm portions laterally separated either side of an interior recess, the device further comprising a non-inflatable skirt portion extending at least partly into said interior recess.
3. A drying device according to claim 2, wherein the non-inflatable skirt portion occupies, substantially, the entire interior recess and includes a split extending from a peripheral edge thereof to allow an object to be received into the recess.
4. A drying device according to claim 2 or claim 3, wherein the arm portions are arranged such that, when inflated, the free ends project inwardly so as to substantially meet.
S. A drying device according to claim 4, further comprising temporary fastening means provided at one or more of the free ends.
6. A drying device according to any one of claims 2 to 5, further comprising a further non-inflatable skirt portion extending from, or in the region of, an outer peripheral edge between the upper and lower surfaces.
7. A device according to any preceding claim, in which the at least one skirt portion is formed of a single piece of material,
8. A device according to any preceding claim, in which the at least one skirt portion comprises a separate piece of material joined to the peripheral edge or in the region thereof.
9. A device according to any preceding claim, in which the material of the skirt portion is a synthetic waterproof material, for example ripstop nylon.
10. A device according to any preceding claim, in which the skirt portion has a width of no less than 100 mm.
11. A device according to any one of claims 1 to 10, in which the skirt portion has a width of no less than 600 mm.
12. A device according to claim 1 or any claim dependent thereon, in which the opposed sheets are arranged such that they inflate to a substantially cylindrical shape when air is blown through the inlet.
13. A device according to claim 12, in which a skirt portion extends from, or in the region of, a single peripheral edge between upper and lower surfaces.
14. A device according to claim 12 or claim 13, in which said skirt portion is arranged, in use, to be wrapped around part of the cylindrical shape so as to direct air in a particular direction as it exits through the holes.
15. A drying device comprising an inflatable chamber formed of a flexible material having an inlet for connection to an air blower, in which the chamber is arranged to inflate to a substantially cylindrical shape when air is blown through its inlet and in which one or more portions of the material include a plurality of holes to allow air to pass from the chamber interior to the exterior.
16. A drying device according to claim 15, in which the plurality of holes are formed in sections of the material extending substantially around the circumference of the inflated cylinder.
17. A drying device according to claim 16, further comprising at least one non-inflatable skirt portion extending along at least part of the longitudinal wall of the cylinder.
18. A method of manufacturing a drying device comprising: connecting at peripheral edges upper and lower sheets of flexible material to provide an inflatable chamber; providing in the lower sheet a plurality of holes to allow air to pass from the chamber interior to an external location; and attaching at, or in the region of one or more of the peripheral edges, a non-inflatable skirt portion.
19. A drying device constructed and arranged substantially as hereinbefore shown and described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
20. A method of manufacturing a drying device substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.