US2277920A - Curtain drier - Google Patents

Description

March 1942- F. B. LOUSTALET CUR'TAIN DRIER.

fiQCCGCCOGQO uOONOOOCCOOO Filed Nov. 18, 1940 INVENTOR Patented Mar. 31, 1%42 one CURTAIN DRIER This invention relates to devices for drying wet sheet material such as fabrics or curtains.

It is an object or" the invention to provide an improved rack or stretcher for holding curtains or other fabrics.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a drier rack which may be quickly and easily adjusted to accommodate sheet material or ourtains of difierent sizes.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide novel means for preventing bowing of edges of the sheet material or curtain after it is mounted on th rack or stretcher.

The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage which, together with the foregoing, will be specifically brought out in the detailed description of the preferred embodiment of the invention hereunto annexed. It is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the specific form thereof herein shown and described as various other embodiments thereof may be employed within the scope of the appended claim.

Referring to the drawing:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the drier rack or stretcher. Portions of the View are broken away so as to condense the view.

Figure 2 is a bottom plan view of the structure shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an end elevational view of the structure shown in Figure 1.

Figure 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of a portion of the rack or stretcher. Th plane in which the view is taken is indicated by the line 4-4 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken on the line 55 of Figure 1. I

The rack or stretcher, shown in detail in Figures 1 through 5, comprises a rectangular wooden frame having side posts I1, a top rail I 8 and a base rail l9. Sheet metal corner brackets 2| are secured by rivets 22 to the ends of the top rail l8 and the upper ends of the side posts I! and an angle bar 23 extends along one side of the base rail l9 and is secured thereto and to the lower ends of the side posts [1. by rivets 24. A metal strip 26 secured by screws, or otherwise, to the upper surface of the top rail l8, has a portion thereof extending beyond the side of the top rail, as shown best in Figure 4, to form a flange 21 and the horizontal flange 28 of the angle bar 23 extends similarly beyond the side of the base rail l9. Floor-engaging wheels 29, positioned within spaced openings 3| formed in the base rail l9 and journaled 0n bolts 32 passing transversely through the base rail, are provided so that the stretcher may be readily moved over the surface of the floor or ground.

Means is provided which permits attachment of sheets of material, such as curtains, to the stretcher frame and means is also provided for adjusting the attachment means so as to accommodate sheets of various sizes. Each of the side posts I? and the top rail l8 are provided with a marginal rabbet 33, Figure 3, in which is secured, by screws 34 or otherwise, a channel-shaped sheet metal mounting plate 36 having marginal flanges 3'5 which are rolled to positions overlying a strip 38 of carding cloth having wire bristles 3i projecting from one surface thereof. Positioned within the frame and extending longitudinally of the space between the side posts ll thereof is an adjustable rail 4| having an edge rabbet in which an additional mounting plate 36 is secured provided with a carding cloth strip carrying bristles 39. Extension bars 42, which are secured to the ends of the adjustable rail 4| by rivets or bolts 43 project from the rail 4! to positions overlying opposite sides of the side posts I"! and bolts 44 fitted with wing nuts 46 are provided at the ends of the extension bars for clamping the latter to the side posts. It will he therefore seen that the rail 4|, after the wing nuts 46 have been loosened, may be raised or lowered to any position desired to suit the width of the sheet material to be mounted on the stretcher and that the rail 4i may be then secured in this selected position by again tightening the wing nuts 46. Provided in the flanges 21 and 28, of the strip 26 and the angle bar 23 respectively, are spaced apertures 4! in which the opposite shank ends 48 of an anchor rod 49 are adapted to be detachably secured. A sheet metal end rail 5! is secured to the anchor rod 49 having a marginal portion 52 rolled to encircle the rod and provided on the opposite edge with an upwardly turned flange 53. A sheet metal mounting plate 36, carrying carding cloth provided with wire bristles 39, is mounted on the end rail 5|. The end rail assembly may be adjustab-ly positioned longitudinally of the stretcher frame by lifting upwardly on the end rail so as to raise the shorter lower shank end 48 out of the aperture 41 of the angle bar flange 28, drawing the lower end of the end rail outwardly so as to clear the angle bar, and then lowering the end rail so that the upper shank end 48 may be withdrawn from the aperture of the strip 26. The end rail 5| may then be moved along the frame to any position desired and re-attached to the frame in any opposed pair of the apertures 41 by reversing the above described process of detachment.

It will be seen, in Figure 1, that the bristlebearing portions of the top rail l8, the left-hand side post H, the adjustable rail 4| and the end rail 5| define a rectangle of adjustably flexible dimensions for receiving the sheet material or curtains to be dried, the latter being applied by laying marginal portions thereof over the bristle border of the frame and pressing the fabric into engagement with the ends of the bristles so as to embed the bristles in the fabric. The fabric must, of course, be stretched taut as it is being attached to the frame so that it will dry out without the formation of wrinkles and without shrinkage of the material.

In the drying of curtains, or other sheets of fabric provided with a tubular hem, it is desirable to run a member through the hem, to hold one side of the fabric on the stretcher, in lieu of attaching the fabric to the bristles of the end rail 5| for the reason that the hem will then dry out perfectly straight and will be devoid of waves or other unevenness which could be caused by a careless application of the fabric to the bristles. To accomplish this method of attachment, I provide a hanger rod 54, similar in construction to the rod 49 and having similar shank ends 55 which may be seated in opposed pairs of the apertures 41. The hanger rod 54 is run through the hem of the curtain or fabric and is secured in a selected pair of the apertures after the curtain or fabric has been suitably tensioned. When the hanger rod 54 is used, the end rail 5| is not used except in the capacity described hereinafter. When the rod 54 is attached to very wide fabric and the latter is tensioned when applied to the stretcher, there will be a tendency for the rod 54 to bow in the direction of the applied tension. To help counteract this bowing of the rod 54 I provide the latter with a sheet metal link 51 having at one end a portion rolled to form an eye 58, through which the rod 54 may be slidably passed, and having at the other end thereof a downwardly turned lip 59 which may engage in back of the flange 53 of the end rail 5|, the latter being attached to the frame within reach of the link 51. A collar 6|, adjustably secured to the rod 54 by a thumb screw 62, is provided below the link 51 so as to maintain the latter at the desired elevation on the rod 54. The link 51 secures the rather flexible rod 54 to the relatively rigid end rail 5| so that the above-mentioned bowing of the rod is lessened to the point where it is not objectionable and will not cause excess warping of the fabric when the latter is dried.

In commercial laundries or large plants devoted to the cleaning of curtains or other like fabrics, it is imperative that the fabrics be handled as rapidly as possible if a satisfactory output of work is to be maintained. This means that the stretchers or frames upon which the fabrics are hung to dry must be rapidly adjustable to accommodate curtains or sheets of various sizes, must be capable of rapid transportation into and out of the drying chamber, and, above all, must permit the sheet material to be securely attached to the stretcher or frame in the shortest possible time. The stretcher above described satisfies all of the above conditions. Adjustment is accomplished by manipulating the two wing nuts 46 and raising and lowering the rail 4| together with moving the end rail 5! or the rod 54 from one position longitudinally of the frame to another. These operations may be performed very rapidly. The wheels 29 permit the usually heavy and unwieldy frame to be transported very easily by a single person into and out of the drier cabinet. The carding cloth attachment means 39 permits the fabrics to be attached to the frame in but a fraction of the time required to secure them to the spaced pins heretofore generally used in curtain stretchers.

Having thus described my invention in detail, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A drier comprising a rectangular frame having joined top and bottom rails and side posts, a horizontal adjustable rail mounted for vertical movement in said frame and extending between the side posts thereof, extension bars secured to the respective ends of said adjustable rail and overlying opposite sides of said side posts, bolts connecting said extension bars for bringing the latter together to clamp said side posts therebetween, a strip of material, secured to and extending longitudinally of said top rail, having spaced apertures therein, an angle bar secured to and extending longitudinally of said bottom rail in parallel relation to said top rail strip, said angle bar having therein spaced apertures 1 vertically axially alined with the apertures of said top rail strip, a vertically extending end rail having, at the respective ends thereof, studs entering apertures of the top rail strip and the angle bar and provided with a flange extending longitudinally along an edge thereof, a rod paralleling and spaced from said end rail and p131: vided at the respective ends thereof with studs engaged in apertures of the top rail strip and the angle bar, and a link carried by and extending radially from said rod and releasably engageable with the flange of said vertically extending end rail.

FRANK B. LQUSTALET.

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