KR102478518B1 - Towel dryer - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a towel drying device capable of entirely drying a towel without moving the towel. The towel drying device includes: a housing including a hole and an air outlet arranged along a side wall of the hole; a towel hanger arranged on the lower side of the hole and fixed to the housing; a fan arranged in the housing and supplying air to the air outlet; and a heater arranged in the housing, and heating the air supplied to the air outlet by being arranged between the air outlet and the fan. The housing includes a plate including a first airflow path arranged along the circumference of the hole and arranged between the heater and the air outlet. The plate includes a first surface forming a second airflow path connected to the air outlet with an inner wall of the housing. The first surface is arranged to be inclined so that the cross-section of the second airflow path becomes smaller toward the air outlet.

Description

Towel dryer {Towel dryer}

The present invention relates to a towel drying apparatus, and relates to a towel drying apparatus capable of rapidly drying towels while being hung in a bathroom or toilet.

In the bathroom or toilet, towels are hung in an unfolded state on hooks fixed to the wall. A general towel hanger does not have a configuration that artificially dries the towel, so the towel is dried naturally. However, in the case of a bathroom or toilet, towels are always stored in a damp state because it is difficult to dry because of high humidity.

If the towel is hung in a damp state in a humid environment, there is a problem in that the towel has an increased number of bacteria and fungi, which intensifies the odor. In order to dry these towels, there is a limit to natural drying, and a separate drying device must be provided.

Republic of Korea Patent Registration No. 10-0938007 (2010.01.13. Announcement, hereinafter referred to as this document) discloses a towel drying device in which a heating unit for drying a tower is disposed. The towel drying device in this document is characterized by including a heating unit that radiates radiant heat toward the mounted towels.

In the case of this document including the heating unit, the towel can be dried, but there is a local problem in the drying area of the towel. In the case of this document, in order to solve this problem, a configuration of rotating the setting roller is provided, but this is a configuration in which the towel moves, and there is a problem in that the installation of the towel is unstable and the configuration is complicated. In addition, in the case of radiant heat directly irradiated to the towel, there is a risk of damaging the towel.

Korean Registered Patent No. 10-0938007 (2010.01.13. Notice)

An object of the present invention is to provide a towel drying apparatus capable of completely drying a towel without moving the towel.

The problem to be solved by the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned problems, and other problems not mentioned herein will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

In the embodiment, a housing including a hole and an air outlet disposed along a sidewall of the hole, a towel rack disposed below the hole and fixed to the housing, and a towel rack disposed inside the housing to supply air to the air outlet A fan, a heater disposed inside the housing, disposed between the air outlet and the fan to heat the air supplied to the air outlet, and the housing are disposed between the heater and the air outlet and extend around the hole. and a plate including a first air passage disposed along the housing, the plate including a first surface forming a second air passage leading to the air outlet along with an inner wall of the housing, and the first surface includes the first air passage. A towel drying device may be provided in which the cross section of the second air flow path is inclined so that it becomes smaller toward the air outlet.

The housing includes an upper housing and a lower housing, the hole includes a first hole disposed in the upper housing and a second hole disposed in the lower housing, and an outlet of the first hole is larger than an inlet of the second hole. It is formed small to form the air outlet.

An inlet of the first hole may be larger than an outlet of the first hole, and an inlet of the second hole may be larger than an outlet of the first hole.

The plate may include a second surface, and the second surface may contact an upper surface of a sidewall of the lower housing forming the second hole.

The plate includes a first mounting portion to which the fan is mounted, and a second mounting portion disposed between the second air flow path and the first mounting portion in a front-back direction and to which the heater is mounted, wherein the first mounting portion and the second mounting portion are disposed. The mounting portion may be arranged stepwise.

The hole may have a length in a left-right direction longer than a length in a front-back direction, and an axial direction of the fan may be arranged along a left-right direction.

The upper housing may include a first barrier rib disposed in front of the heater and overlapping the heater in a front-back direction, and the first barrier rib may include a hole corresponding to a position of the heater.

The first barrier rib includes a guide protruding rearward, and the guide is disposed between the plurality of heaters in a left-right direction to guide air supplied from the fan into the hole.

The lower housing may include an air inlet disposed on a lower surface of the lower housing, and the air inlet may be disposed to correspond to the fan.

A control unit controlling operation of the fan, and the lower housing further includes a sensor disposed on a lower surface of the lower housing to detect state information of a towel hung on a towel rack, and the control unit detects information from the sensor Driving of the fan may be controlled based on the condition information of the towel.

In the embodiment, by drying the towel even in a humid environment, it is possible to prevent germs from propagating on the towel or bad smell due to mold.

The embodiment has an advantage in that the towel can be dried as a whole by inducing a flow of air for drying around the towel through air sprayed through the air outlet.

In this embodiment, air outlets are formed along the inner wall of the elongated hole to evenly distribute air for drying the towel.

The embodiment has an advantage of evenly guiding air supplied from the fan to the first flow path of the plate through a guide disposed on an inner wall of the upper housing.

The embodiment has an advantage in that towels can be quickly dried as a whole by inducing natural wind toward the towel rack from the inside of the hole through a fast air flow through the air outlet.

1 is a view showing a towel drying apparatus according to an embodiment;
Figure 2 is an exploded view of the towel drying apparatus shown in Figure 1;
Figure 3 is a bottom view of the towel drying apparatus shown in Figure 1;
4 is a view showing the back of the towel drying apparatus shown in FIG. 1;
5 is a view showing the inside of the towel drying apparatus shown in FIG. 1;
6 is a perspective view of the plate;
Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view of the plate based on AA of Figure 6;
8 is a side cross-sectional view of the towel drying apparatus shown in FIG. 1;
9 is a view showing the flow of air flowing through the towel rack;
10 is a view showing a first partition wall and a second partition wall of the upper housing;
FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a flow of air guided by a guide disposed on the first partition wall shown in FIG. 10 .

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

However, the technical idea of the present invention is not limited to some of the described embodiments, but may be implemented in a variety of different forms, and if it is within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention, one or more of the components among the embodiments can be selectively implemented. can be used by combining and substituting.

In addition, terms (including technical and scientific terms) used in the embodiments of the present invention, unless explicitly specifically defined and described, can be generally understood by those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention belongs. It can be interpreted as meaning, and commonly used terms, such as terms defined in a dictionary, can be interpreted in consideration of contextual meanings of related technologies.

Also, terms used in the embodiments of the present invention are for describing the embodiments and are not intended to limit the present invention.

In this specification, the singular form may also include the plural form unless otherwise specified in the phrase, and when described as “at least one (or more than one) of A and (and) B and C”, A, B, and C are combined. may include one or more of all possible combinations.

Also, terms such as first, second, A, B, (a), and (b) may be used to describe components of an embodiment of the present invention.

These terms are only used to distinguish the component from other components, and the term is not limited to the nature, order, or order of the corresponding component.

In addition, when a component is described as being 'connected', 'coupled' or 'connected' to another component, the component is not only directly connected to, combined with, or connected to the other component, but also with the component. It may also include the case of being 'connected', 'combined', or 'connected' due to another component between the other components.

In addition, when it is described as being formed or disposed on “above (above) or below (below)” of each component, “upper (above)” or “lower (below)” is not only a case where two components are in direct contact with each other, but also one A case in which another component above is formed or disposed between two components is also included. In addition, when expressed as “up (up) or down (down)”, it may include the meaning of not only the upward direction but also the downward direction based on one component.

FIG. 1 is a view showing a towel drying apparatus according to an embodiment, FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the towel drying apparatus shown in FIG. 1 , and FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the towel drying apparatus shown in FIG. 1 . FIG. 4 is a view showing the rear side of the towel drying apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

1 to 3 , the towel drying apparatus according to the embodiment may include a housing 100, a towel rack 200, a fan 300, and a heater 400. below. The x-axis direction in the figure represents the front and rear direction of the towel drying apparatus, the y-axis direction in the figure represents the left-right direction of the towel drying apparatus, and the z-axis in the figure represents the vertical direction of the towel drying apparatus. In describing the embodiment, 'front' and 'rear' are based on the forward and backward directions, and 'upper' and 'lower' are based on the vertical direction.

The housing 100 may include a hole 110 .

The hole 110 is formed through the housing 100 from the upper side to the lower side, and is a place where natural wind for drying the towel is formed. The hole 110 is disposed above the towel rack 200 . The towel rack 200 is fixed to the housing 100 . Corresponding to the shape of the towel rack 200, the housing 100 may be formed as a member longer in the left-right direction (y) than the length in the front-back direction (x). Inside the housing 100, a fan 300, a heater 400, and a controller 500 are accommodated.

The housing 100 may be divided into an upper housing 100A and a lower housing 100B. The upper housing 100A and the lower housing 100B may be detachably coupled to each other. On the upper side of the upper housing 100A, the display unit 600 and the manipulation unit 700 may be exposed and disposed. The towel rack 200 is fixed to the lower housing 100B.

The towel rack 200 is disposed along the left-right direction y and is fixed to the lower housing 100B. The towel rack 200 is disposed adjacent to the lower side of the hole 110 .

The fan 300 is disposed inside the housing 100 and serves to supply air to an air outlet ( 120 in FIG. 8 ) of the housing 100 . The fan 300 is disposed so that the axial direction is the left-right direction (y). When the fan 300 rotates, air is blown forward.

The heater 400 is disposed in front of the fan 300 and serves to heat air supplied from the fan 300 and guide it to an air outlet (120 in FIG. 8 ). A plurality of heaters 400 may be disposed at regular intervals in the left-right direction (y). However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and a single heater 400 may be disposed long along the left-right direction (y). there is.

The plate 130 is disposed inside the housing 100 and serves to evenly guide the air heated by the heater 400 to the periphery of the hole 110 . In addition, the plate 130 provides a mounting space for the fan 300 and the heater 400 .

Referring to FIG. 3 , an air inlet 150 for sucking external air and supplying it to the fan 300 is disposed on the lower side of the housing 100 . The air inlet 150 is disposed to correspond to the fan 300 . A filter is mounted on the air inlet 150 to purify air introduced into the housing 100 .

In addition, a sensor S1 may be disposed on a lower surface around the hole 110 of the housing 100 . The sensor S1 senses state information of the towel hanging on the towel rack 200 . In addition, an ultraviolet irradiation unit S2 may be disposed on a lower surface around the hole 110 of the housing 100 . The ultraviolet rays irradiated by the ultraviolet irradiator S2 may sterilize the towel hanging on the towel rack 200 .

Referring to FIG. 4 , holes 170 for hanging brackets may be disposed on the rear surface of the housing 100 .

FIG. 5 is a view showing the inside of the towel drying apparatus shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the plate 130, and FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the plate 130 based on line A-A of FIG.

5 to 7, the plate 130 has a hole 110 formed so that a part of the lower housing 100B forming the second hole 112 is located inside, and the plate 130 is formed around the hole 110. 1 Air flow path is arranged. The first air flow path may have a “U” shape in cross section and may be formed along the periphery of the hole 110 .

The plate 130 may include sidewalls forming the first air passage 131 . The sidewall may include a first surface 132 and a second surface 133 at the top. The first surface 132 is an inclined surface forming the second air passage u. The second surface 133 is a surface in contact with the lower housing 100B. Due to the first side 132 and the second side 133. An upper end of the side wall may have a hook shape in cross section.

And the plate 130 may include a first mounting portion 134 and a second mounting portion. The first mounting part 134 is disposed behind the first air flow path 131 and provides a space in which the heater 400 is mounted. The first mounting part 134 may be concavely disposed on the upper surface of the plate 130 . A plurality of first mounting parts 134 are arranged at regular intervals along the right-left direction.

The second mounting portion is disposed behind the first mounting portion 134 to provide a space in which the fan 300 is mounted. The second mounting unit may be disposed lower than the first mounting unit 134 and may be disposed with a step difference from the first mounting unit 134 .

8 is a side cross-sectional view of the towel drying apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

Referring to FIG. 8 , the first surface 132 and the inner wall of the upper housing 100A form a second air flow path u. The second air passage u communicates with the first air passage 131 and extends to the air outlet 120 . Since the first surface 132 is inclined, the second air passage u may be formed smaller as its cross section goes toward the air outlet 120 . The second air passage u is disposed along the circumference of the hole 110 of the housing 100 and may be inclined downward toward the air outlet 120 .

The air outlet 120 and the second air passage u rapidly guide the flow of air supplied from the fan 300 toward the second hole 112 .

The plate 130 may include a second surface 133 . The second surface 133 corresponds to a surface in contact with the upper surface of the side wall of the lower housing 100B forming the second hole 112 .

9 is a diagram illustrating the flow of air flowing through the towel rack 200.

Referring to FIGS. 8 and 9 , the configuration of the hole 110 for inducing the flow of air flowing to the towel rack 200 is as follows.

The hole 110 may be divided into a first hole 111 and a second hole 112 . The first hole 111 is disposed in the upper housing 100A, and the second hole 112 is disposed in the lower housing 100B. The second hole 112 is disposed below the first hole 111 . The football of the first hole 111 is smaller than the entrance of the second hole 112, and the air outlet 120 is formed in the gap between the first hole 111 and the second hole 112.

The inlet of the first hole 111 is formed to be larger than the outlet of the first hole 111, so that air can be introduced into the upper side of the upper housing 100A. The inlet of the second hole 112 is larger than the outlet of the first hole 111 .

As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 , when the fan 300 operates, air is supplied to the front where the heater 400 is located. The air heated by the heater 400 is dispersed around the long hole 110 through the first air passage 131 and is ejected through the second air passage u and the air outlet 120 .

As the air supplied from the fan 300 is sprayed at high speed through the air outlet 120, a natural wind flow in which the air located on the upper side of the upper housing 100A flows into the first hole 111 is induced. The air flowing into the first hole 111 is introduced into the second hole 112 together with the air blown from the air outlet 120, and the towel rack 200 disposed below the second hole 112 is removed. blown towards

In this way, not only the air from the air outlet 120 but also the air around the towel drying device are supplied to the towel rack 200, so there is an advantage in that a sufficient air flow rate for drying towels can be supplied around the towel rack 200. .

Air is evenly sprayed along the periphery of the towel rack 200, and since the flow of air flows from the top to the bottom of the towel rack 200, the evenly sprayed air contacts the entire towel spread on the towel rack 200, The drying effect of the towel can be maximized and the drying time can be greatly reduced.

10 is a view showing the first partition wall 140 and the second partition wall 160 of the upper housing 100A, and FIG. 11 is guided by a guide disposed on the first partition wall 140 shown in FIG. It is a diagram showing the flow of air.

Referring to FIGS. 10 and 11 , the upper housing 100A may include a first partition wall 140 and a second partition wall 160 .

The first barrier rib 140 may protrude downward from the inner surface of the upper housing 100A. Also, the first barrier rib 140 is disposed in front of the heater 400 and overlaps with the heater 400 in the front-back direction (x). Also, the first barrier rib 140 is disposed above the first air passage 131 . The first partition wall 140 includes a third hole 141 corresponding to the position of the heater 400 . The size of the third hole 141 may correspond to the size of the heater 400 . Air passing through the heater 400 may flow through the first partition 140 through the third hole 141 .

The second partition wall 160 may protrude downward from the inner surface of the upper housing 100A. And the second partition wall 160 is disposed in front of the first partition wall 140 . Also, the second barrier rib 160 is disposed above the first air passage 131 . Air passing through the first partition wall 140 through the third hole 141 may collide with the second partition wall 160 and flow downward into the first air passage 131 .

Meanwhile, the second barrier rib 160 may include a fourth hole 161 . Some of the air that has passed through the first partition wall 140 through the third hole 141 passes through the fourth hole 161, does not flow into the first air passage 131, and passes through the second air passage u. And it can be directly injected through the air outlet 120.

The first barrier rib 140 may include a guide 412 . The guide 412 may protrude rearward from the rear surface of the first partition wall 140 . In addition, air supplied from the fan 300 may be guided to the third hole 141 by being disposed between the heaters 400 based on the left-right direction (y). In this way, the guide 412 guides the air supplied between the heater 400 and the heater 400 to the third hole 141 and the fourth hole 161 in the left and right direction (y), so that the first air flow path ( 131) has an advantage of inducing air to be evenly distributed around the towel rack 200.

Meanwhile, the controller 500 controls driving of the fan 300 . In this case, the operation of the fan 300 may be controlled based on the towel state information sensed by the sensor S1.

The controller 500 may control driving of the fan 300 based on ambient temperature information detected by a separate temperature sensor disposed in the housing 100 and condition information of the towel. For example, the towel state information may be information on whether or not a towel is hung on the towel rack 200, and the control unit 500 controls the driving time of the fan 300 or the temperature of the heater 400 according to the ambient temperature information. can be adjusted.

When a towel is caught on the towel rack 200, the controller 500 may drive the fan 300 and operate the ultraviolet irradiation unit S2 after a preset or set period of time.

The control unit 500 is a preset driving condition value, for example, a setting value in which various driving condition values such as a specific temperature of the heater 400, a driving time of the fan 300, and an operating time of the ultraviolet irradiation unit S2 are set. are sequentially selected, or setting values are presented to the user through the display unit 600, and when a specific setting value is selected through the control unit 700, the heater 400 and the fan 300 are driven condition values of the setting value. ), it is possible to control the UV irradiation unit S2 to be driven.

The control unit 700 may be provided through an app of a smart phone capable of wireless communication with the control unit 500 or a separate wireless terminal.

In the above, the towel drying apparatus according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention has been examined in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

One embodiment of the present invention described above should be understood as illustrative in all respects and not limiting, and the scope of the present invention will be indicated by the claims to be described later rather than the detailed description above. And it should be construed that all changes or transformable forms derived from the meaning and scope of the claims as well as their equivalent concepts are included in the scope of the present invention.

100: housing
100A: upper housing
100B: lower housing
110: hall
111: first hole
112: second hall
120: air outlet
130: plate
131: first euro
140: first bulkhead
150: air inlet
160: second bulkhead
200: towel rack
300: fan
400: heater
500: control unit
600: display unit
700: control panel

Claims (10)

a housing including a hole and an air outlet disposed along a sidewall of the hole;
a towel rack disposed below the hole and fixed to the housing;
a fan disposed inside the housing to supply air to the air outlet;
A heater disposed inside the housing and disposed between the air outlet and the fan to heat air supplied to the air outlet; and
The housing includes a plate disposed between the heater and the air outlet and including a first air flow path disposed along a circumference of the hole,
The plate includes a first surface forming a second air flow path leading to the air outlet with an inner wall of the housing,
The towel drying device of claim 1 , wherein the first surface is inclined so that a cross section of the second air passage becomes smaller toward the air outlet. According to claim 1,
The housing includes an upper housing and a lower housing,
The hole includes a first hole disposed in the upper housing and a second hole disposed in the lower housing,
The towel drying device wherein the outlet of the first hole is smaller than the inlet of the second hole to form the air outlet. According to claim 2,
The entrance of the first hole is formed larger than the exit of the first hole,
An inlet of the second hole is formed larger than an outlet of the first hole. According to claim 2,
the plate comprises a second face;
The second surface contacts the upper surface of the side wall of the lower housing forming the second hole. According to claim 4,
The plate includes a first mounting portion to which the fan is mounted, and a second mounting portion disposed between the second air flow path and the first mounting portion in a front-back direction and to which the heater is mounted;
A towel drying apparatus in which the first mounting portion and the second mounting portion are disposed stepwise. According to claim 5,
The towel drying apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the length of the hole in the left-right direction is longer than the length in the front-back direction, and the axial direction of the fan is disposed along the left-right direction. According to claim 6,
The upper housing includes a first partition wall disposed in front of the heater and overlapped with the heater in the front-back direction;
The first barrier rib includes a hole corresponding to a position of the heater. According to claim 7,
The first partition wall includes a guide protruding rearward,
The towel drying apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the guide is disposed between the plurality of heaters in a left-right direction and guides air supplied from the fan into the hole. According to claim 6,
The lower housing includes an air inlet disposed on a lower surface of the lower housing, and the air inlet is disposed to correspond to the fan. According to claim 9,
Further comprising a control unit for controlling the driving of the fan,
The lower housing further includes a sensor disposed on a lower surface of the lower housing to detect state information of a towel hung on a towel rack,
The control unit controls driving of the fan based on the state information of the towel detected by the sensor.

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