GB2492377A - Rain protector for a clothes dryer - Google Patents

Abstract

A rain protector mounted atop a rotary dryer or like compact outdoor clothes dryer having a substantially upright central pole with radiating arms. The protector comprises at least one transverse beam 3 carrying thereon a substantially waterproof flexible panel 4, the panel 4 being wound or folded at the beam 3 for stowage and unwound or unfolded therefrom on deployment. The protector may also comprise means for automatic deployment, such as a rain detector. Deployment may be by means of a motor, or preferably by gravity, employing falling weights (5a, figure 1) to draw out the panel 4 when a ratchet and pawl mechanism (figure 4) is released.

Description

Rain Protector for a Clothes Dryer

Field of the Invention

The present invention concerns improvements in and relating to rain protectors for covering laundry to protect it from rain when the laundry is hung to dry on a compact outdoor clothes dryer such as, for example, rotary dryer.

Background of the Invention

A rain protector I canopy is a desirable accessory for a rotary clothes dryer, most especially in the UK and countries that suffer the vagaries of a maritime climate with random downpoursl showers throughout the summer even despite otherwise sunny conditions. A canopy that is simple and quick to erect will save the user from having to un-peg and bring indoors drying laundry at every hint of rain. Whereas canopies for rotary clothes dryers are widely available, many are not simple and quick to erect. Indeed, for optimal convenience of the rotary clothes dryer user, a canopy that is designed to be automatically erected can very helpfully further save the user from needing to be on hand to erect the canopy whenever a shower occurs.

Automatically erecting rain protectors for rotary clothes dryers that have a sensor to sense rainfall and a controller and mechanism to respond to the rainfall by deploying a cover assembly are known of and are exemplified in UK patent application GB 2423702, German patent application DE10162098 and European patent application EP2167719. However, such rain protectors rely on awkward articulated spoke deployment systems that are unreliable and prone to failure and which are also liable to be expensive to install and operate and most do not suit retro-frtting to exsUng dryers. In all of these cases the canopy is essentially an umbrella with a spoked frame and in most cases is housed wholly within the pole of the rotary dryer and must first be raised by motor high above the pole. In all cases the spoked mechanism must be articulated to open the spokes to cover the laundry and a substantial motor and power source is required for this.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved rain protector for rotary clothes dryers, and like outdoor laundry dryers, which can be retrofitted and deployed reliably and which is well suited to automated deployment and without requiring substantial power to deploy.

Summary of the Invention

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a rain protector adapted to be mounted atop a rotary dryer or like compact outdoor clothes dryer that has a substantially central upright! pole with radiating drying arms, the protector having a mounting structure to mount to the central upright! pole and a transverse beam thereon carrying at least one substantially waterproof flexible material panel mounted thereon to be deployed as a cover for the dryer, the at least one panel being wound or folded at the beam for stowage and unwound or unfolded therefrom on deployment. The protector particularly preferably further comprises means for automatic deployment (and in some embodiments for stowing of the cover too) which suitably comprise a rainfall sensor and actuating means to actuate the deployment.

In one preferred embodiment the unwinding or unfolding is powered by a gravity-powered arrangement, with the lower in use end of the cover being weighted to drop to be deployed when a latch holding the cover stowed is released. Re-winding! folding may be done manually later, for example by using a crank handle on the roller, or could be motorized. In other embodiments the unwinding or unfolding may be powered by an electric motor. Where one or more electric motors are used it is preferred that the motors are battery-powered! powered by a charge storage means and that recharging of the battery! charge storage means is solar or wind-powered.

A small solar panel of relatively low wattage is sufficient for the apparatus since the cover has no heavy framework arms! spokes to be deployed. The motor drive may be direct drive or indirect, by use of a pulley for example, but suitably is operating by a simple rotary drive and itself suitably has no articulating linkages.

The panel may be deployed simply by unwinding from the roller (or by paying out a folded panel, suitably on a line) without use of any articulating spokes.

The beam of the apparatus suitably extends substantially horizontally! orthogonally to the upright! pole and holds the panel in that configuration to be unwound or unfolded.

The beam particularly preferably comprises an elongate housing bearing at least one roller therewithin from which the at least one panel may be unwound. The construction of the housing. roller and panel is suitably substantially that of a roller blind, but the panel here serves not as a window shade but as a waterproof cover that is supported over the dryer on the pole-top mounted transverse beam. By this simple yet highly effective arrangement the cover may be deployed or stowed in a simple, rapid and reliable unwinding or winding action like a motorized roller blind without use of articulating spokes and linkages and overcoming the problems of the existing automatic rain protectors. The mounting structure that mounts the protector to the dryer may suitably be an extension to the upright! pole that sits in or on the upright! pole and tall enough to raise the top of the canopy to a height above the drying laundry that allows for ventilation of the laundry. It may, for example, be a short length of pole that is of an outside diameter that allows it to slot into a dryer's upright! pole sufficiently far to be stably held in place.

In the roller embodiment of the protector, the roller may have a ratchet wheel at one end and the housing have a pawl, where turning of the roller is regulated by the pawl and the pawl is controlled by a controller in response to a rain detector. The adjustment of the pawl to engage! disengage the ratchet is thus suitably motorized.

In a preferred practical embodiment, the rain protector comprises a pair of substantially mutually parallel rollers each mounted extending along the beam and each having a respective substantially waterproof flexible material panel mounted thereon to be deployed as a cover over a respective part of the dryer. Preferably the pair of rollers are housed alongside each other in a common housing. The elongate housing that comprises the beam may be provided with a top wall and bottom wall and a lateral opening extending substantially the length thereof between the top and bottom wall through which the panel passes out from the housing. In the paired roller configuration there is a respective lateral opening along each side of the housing.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a rotary dryer or like compact outdoor clothes dryer that has a substantially central upright! pole with radiating drying arms, the dryer having a rain protector atop the central upright! pole and the protector having a transverse beam carrying at least one substantially waterproof flexible material panel mounted thereon to be deployed as a cover for the dryer, the at least one panel being wound or folded at the beam for stowage and unwound or unfolded therefrom on deployment. The dryer with protector of this second aspect may further have the protector features outlined in the paragraphs above.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The invention will now be more particularly described, solely by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is an end elevation view of the rain protector installed on the top of a rotary dryer and deployed with the cover extending out over the top of the dryer, the cover here being viewed edge-on; Figure 2 is a front elevation view of the deployed rain protector, the cover here being viewed face-on; Figure 3 is a plan view of the deployed rain protector from above with the central pote and radiating arms of the underlying rotary dyer shown in ghost outline; Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view through the roller housing of the rain protector taken along the line A-A in Figure 3; Figure 5 is a longitudinal sectional view through the end of the roller housing of the rain protector taken aiong the brie B-B in Figure 3; Figure 6 is a transverse sectional view through the roller housing of the rain protector taken along the line E-E in Figure 5 to better show the ratchet and pawl latching mechanism of the roller; Figure 7 is a plan view of a guide extension with pulley for mounting to the end of an arm of the rotary dryer to guide a weight-bearing draw line of the gravity-powered deployment actuator; and Figure 8 is a side elevation of the guide extension.

Description of the Preferred Embodiment

Referring to Figures 1 to 3, the preferred embodiment of the rain protector is shown mounted atop the central pole! upright 1 a of a rotary dryer 1 overlying the radiating drying arms lb of the dryer 1. The protector 2 has a mounting structure 2a comprising a short stem! length of pole 2a that seats into the dryer's central upright! pole la as an extension to the upright! pole la. This mounting stem 2a is tall enough to raise the top of the protector's canopy to a height above drying laundry on the dryer 1 to allow for adequate ongoing ventilation of the laundry even when the canopy is deployed.

The rain protector 2 comprises a transverse beam 2b that extends substantially horizontally! orthogonally to the mounting stem 2a and to the upright! pole la. The transverse beam 2b is an elongate housing 2b that holds therewithin a pair of mutually parallel rollers 3. Each roller 3 is mounted by axle stubs to the housing 2b at each end and carries a substantially rectangular panel 4 of flexible waterproof material, eg waxed canvas or plastics sheet, mounted at one end to it and wound around it when the cover is in its retracted state. The beam 2b1 elongate housing 2b has a top wall and bottom wall and a pair of opposing lateral openings 2c extending substantially the length thereof between the top and bottom wall through which the panels pass out from the housing 2b.

The panel 4 of each roller 3 is large enough when extended to be able to cover approximately one half of the rotary dryer's area, so that between them the dryer 1 is fully covered from above. The beam 2b is so long as to span from one side of the rotary dryer to the other and since it holds the panels 4 in a configuration spanning substantially the length of the beam 2b the panels are held spanning from one side of the rotary dryer 1 to the other too and when simply unwound from the rollers they will provide the full area coverage over the dryer 1.

The panels 4 are configured to be unreeled and thereby deployed to the extended state by the power of gravity. Each panel 4 has a pair of lead weights 5a or similar tied to its outer edge corners by a guide line! plumb-line 5b. Each guide line 5b passes over a guide pulley 6 fitted to the extremity of a respective arm lb of the dryer 1 by a guide extension 6b.

The protector 1 is adapted for automatic deployment and has a rainfall detector and actuating means to actuate the deployment and which includes the gravity drop arrangement described above in addition to a latch and automatic latch release means and control. For this latter, the roller 3 has a ratchet wheel 7 at one end and the adjacent wall of the housing 2b has a pawl 8, where turning of the roller 3 is regulated by the pawl 8 which latches on to the ratchet 7 to stop the roller 3 rotating to unwind the panel 4. The pawl 8 is controlled by the controller in response to the rain detector and can be moved to disengage from the ratchet 7 to release the roller when rain is detected by the detector.

Accordingly, in dry weather conditions the pair of cover panels 2 are held retracted inside the housing 3 by each pawls engagement with the respective ratchets 7 of the rollers 3. If the weather changes and any rain begins to fall the rain detector will detect the rain and transmit a signal to the control unit, which in turn will transmit a signal to an electric motor at the pawls 8 of the actuating system to release the pawls 8 from their latching hold on the ratchet wheels 7.

This will allow the rollers 3 to rotate and the panels 4 to drop under gravity to their extended deployed state. In the illustrated embodiment both panels 4 are pulled out simultaneously to cover the dryer 1 from each opposing side of the beam! housing 2b. Whereas the falling weights 5a draw the panels 4 out to their extended! deployed position, the panels 4 are subsequently retracted back into the housing 2b by a manual drive comprising a crank handle on each roller 3 (or one crank handle coupled to drive both rollers 3).

Although described above with respect to a gravity powered arrangement, other actuating systems may be used in order to deploy or retract the cover and these may include use of electric motors to drive the rollers, directly or via a pulley system. Electricity to any of the electrical motors described can be supplied from a mains electricity connection or preferably from a battery or super-capacitor or other charge storage means. The power required for the deployment is minimal, and very much so where the power is simply needed to release the latching pawl. The charge storage means is preferably rechargeable and preferably is charged from a small solar panel or turbine that is coupled to the battery.

Although the above-described embodiment uses rollers 3 to roll and unroll the panels 4, alternative arrangements may have the panels 4 folded, for example in a concertina manner, to be unfolded for deployment. Such arrangements suitably have guidelines for guiding the folding and unfolding but can share many of the features of the embodiment described in detail above.

Claims (1)

1. <claim-text>Claims 1. A rain protector adapted to be mounted atop a rotary dryer or like compact outdoor clothes dryer of the type that has a substantially central upright! pole with radiating drying arms, the protector has a mounting structure to mount to the central upright! pole and a transverse beam thereon carrying at least one substantially waterproof flexible material panel mounted thereon to be deployed as a cover for the dryer to shield laundry on the dryer from rain, the at least one panel being wound or folded at the beam for stowage and unwound or unfolded therefrom on deployment.</claim-text> <claim-text>2. A rain protector according to claim 1, wherein the protector further comprises means for automatic deployment of the cover and which comprise a rainfall sensor and actuating means to actuate the deployment.</claim-text> <claim-text>3. A rain protector according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the unwinding or unfolding deployment of the cover is powered by a gravity-powered arrangement, with the lower or outer in use end of the cover being weighted to drop to be deployed when a latch holding the cover stowed is released.</claim-text> <claim-text>4. A rain protector according to claim 3, wherein a crank handle is provided for retracting the cover.</claim-text> <claim-text>5. A rain protector according to claim 1, 2, 3 or 4, wherein an electric motor is provided for deployment of the cover.</claim-text> <claim-text>6. A rain protector according to claim 5, wherein the electric motor operates to release a latch for deployment of the cover.</claim-text> <claim-text>7. A rain protector according to claim 6, wherein the latch comprises a pawl that engages with a ratchet at the end of a roller on which the panel is mounted.</claim-text> <claim-text>8. A rain protector according to claim 5, 6 or 7, wherein the electric motor is battery-powered! powered by a rechargeable charge storage means and is linked, for recharging, to a solar or wind-power harvesting means.</claim-text> <claim-text>9. A rain protector according to any preceding claim, wherein the cover is deployed simply by unwinding or unfolding without use of any articulating spokes.</claim-text> <claim-text>10. A rain protector according to any preceding claim, wherein the transverse beam extends substantially horizontally! orthogonally to the upright! pole and holds the panel in that configuration to be unwound or unfolded.</claim-text> <claim-text>11. A rain protector according to any preceding claim, wherein the beam comprises an elongate housing bearing at least one roller therewithin from which the at least one panel may be unwound.</claim-text> <claim-text>12. A rain protector according to any preceding claim, wherein the mounting structure that mounts the protector to the dryer serves as an extension to the upright! pole that sits in or on the upright! pole.</claim-text> <claim-text>13. A rain protector according to claim 11, wherein the roller has a ratchet wheel at one end and the housing has a pawl, where turning of the roller is regulated by the pawl and the pawl is controlled by a controller in response to a rain detector.</claim-text> <claim-text>14. A rain protector according to any preceding claim, wherein the rain protector comprises a pair of substantially mutually parallel rollers each mounted extending along the beam and each having a respective substantially waterproof flexible material panel mounted thereon to be deployed as a cover over a respective part of the dryer.</claim-text> <claim-text>15. A rain protector according to claim 14, wherein the pair of rollers are housed alongside each other in a common housing.</claim-text> <claim-text>16. A rain protector according to claim 11, wherein the elongate housing that comprises the beam is provided with a top wall and bottom waH and a iateral opening extending substantially the length thereof between the top and bottom wall through which the panel passes out from the housing.</claim-text> <claim-text>17. A rotary dryer or like compact outdoor clothes dryer that has a substantially central upright! pole with radiating drying arms, the dryer having a rain protector atop the central upright! pole and the protector having a transverse beam carrying at least one substantially waterproof flexible material panel mounted thereon to be deployed as a cover for the dryer, the at least one panel being wound or folded at the beam for stowage and unwound or unfolded therefrom on deployment. The dryer with protector of this second aspect may further have the protector features outlined in the paragraphs above.</claim-text> <claim-text>18. A rain protector to be mounted atop a rotary dryer or like compact outdoor clothes dryer of the type that has a substantially central upright! pole with radiating drying arms, the protector serving in use to shield laundry on the dryer from rain and being substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.</claim-text>