WO2002071906A9

WO2002071906A9 - Drying rack and use thereof

Info

Publication number: WO2002071906A9
Application number: PCT/SE2002/000381
Authority: WO
Inventors: Birger Olsson
Original assignee: Birger Olsson
Priority date: 2001-03-09
Filing date: 2002-03-06
Publication date: 2003-05-22
Also published as: SE518990C2; EP1372451A1; ATE419774T1; SE0100793L; SE0100793D0; EP1372451B1; DE60230729D1; WO2002071906A1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a drying rack comprising a lower and an upper mounting means (14, 24) by means of which said drying rack (1) can be mounted on or attached to a wall (2) or similar. Between said mounting means (14, 24) there is/are provided one or more pipe pieces (8) having each at least one hang-up or suspension pipe (5). Each pipe piece (8) is with its hang-up or suspension pipe (5) pivotable relative to the lower and upper mounting means (14, 24) and pivotable about a vertical centre line (CL).

Description

Drying rack and use thereof .

The present invention relates to a drying rack, comprising a lower mounting means, an upper mounting means and at least one pipe piece provided between said mounting means. The mounting means are adapted to mount or attach the drying rack to a wall or similar. The pipe piece is centered relative to a vertical or substantially vertical centre line. The pipe piece includes a hang-up or suspension pipe for hanging up objects for drying. The pipe piece and the suspension pipe are connected to a hot water system such that hot water can flow therethrough.

From each of DE 295 10 820 Ul , EP 0 695 530 and DE 198 46 941 Al it is already known a drying rack in the form of a hang-up or suspension unit which is connec- table to a hot water system such that hot water can flow through said unit and back to the hot water system.

Prior art drying racks of the abovementioned type have fixed heating pipes, which results in that the drying racks become bulky and that the objects to be dried will hang close to each other, which might result in that it takes a long time for the objects to dry. The object of the present invention has been to eliminate these problems, which is done by providing the drying rack with the characterizing features of prima- rily subsequent claim 1.

By providing the drying rack with pivotable hang-up or suspension pipes, it is possible to set the suspension pipes in different suitable positions relative to the wall or similar on which the drying rack is mounted. It will also be possible to temporarily swing aside the suspension pipes such that they are not in the way e.g. when cleaning the premises in which the drying rack is mounted. A further advantage is that if the drying rack has several suspension pipes located above each other, said suspension pipes may be set, seen from above, in such laterally displaced positions relative to each other that large spaces or gaps arise between them and thus, between the objects, e.g. towels, for drying and hanging down therefrom. Hereby, the objects can be brought to dry quicker .

The invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which figure 1 is a vertical section of a drying rack according to the invention; figure 2 is a top plan view of the drying rack of figure 1; figure 3 is a vertical section of lower parts of the drying rack of figure 1; figure 4 is a section IV-IV through the lower parts of figure 3; and figure 5 is a vertical section of upper parts of the drying rack of figure 1.

The drying rack 1 illustrated in the drawings is adapted for mounting on a wall 2 or similar. The drying rack 1 comprises at least one hang-up or suspension unit 3 for hanging up objects (not shown), e.g. towels, for drying. The hang-up or suspension unit 3 is heated by connection thereof to a hot water system 4, the hot water of which is fed to the suspension unit 3 and through a through-flow channel 3a therein and back to the hot water system 4.

At the embodiment illustrated in the drawings, the drying rack 1 comprises two hang-up or suspension units 3, but it may include another suitable number thereof, e.g. one, three, four and so on. Each hang-up or suspension unit 3 includes at least one hang-up or suspension pipe 5 which is adapted to permit hanging up of the object for drying. The suspension pipe 5 is preferably U-shaped and the shanks 6, 7 thereof are located on a pipe piece 8. The pipe piece 8 has down below an inlet 9 for receiving water from an incoming water conduit 10 of the hot water system 4 and at the top an outlet 11 for admitting water into an outgoing water conduit 12 of the hot water system 4. The suspension pipe 5 is connected to the pipe piece 8 such that water can flow from the inlet 9 of said pipe piece 8, through the suspension pipe 5 and to the outlet 11 of the pipe piece 8. The pipe piece 8 is provided to lead water to flow through the suspension pipe 5 from the inlet 9 thereof to its outlet 11. This feeding or guidance of water can be realized by different means, e.g. by placing a washer 13 or similar in the pipe piece 8 at a location between the two connecting points where the suspension pipe 5 is connected to the pipe piece 8.

At the illustrated embodiment of the drying rack 1, the two hang-up or suspension units 3 are located above each other and their pipe pieces 8 are centered with a vertically directed centre line C . The shanks 6, 7 of the suspension pipes 5 are preferably horizontal or substantially horizontal. Beneath the pipe piece 8 of the lower suspension unit 3 there is provided a lower moun- ting means 14 with holes 15, 16 (see fig. 4) for screws (not shown) or similar mounting members, by means of which said lower mounting means 14 shall be mounted on or attached to the wall 2. The mounting means 14 includes a first through hole 17 with an upper, upwardly open part 18 having a larger diameter than a lower, downwardly open part 19 thereof.

In the upper, upwardly open part 18 of the hole 17, there are provided lower portions of a lower bearing sleeve 20. This bearing sleeve 20 has one or more sea- ling rings 21 for providing a sealing between said sleeve 20 and the lower mounting means 14. The lower bearing sleeve 20 preferably has an exterior collar 22 which engages the upper side of the lower mounting means 14. On upper portions of the lower bearing sleeve 20 there is provided the pipe piece 8 of the suspension unit 3 and said pipe piece may with its lower edge engage the exterior collar 22 of the lower bearing sleeve 20. The upper portions of the lower bearing sleeve 20 may include one or more sealing rings 23 for providing a sealing between said lower bearing sleeve 20 and the pipe piece 8. Said pipe piece 8 is journalled on the lower bearing sleeve 20 and/or is journalled on the lower mounting means 14 such that the lower suspension unit 3 is pivotable about the centre line CL relative to said lower mounting means 14. In the pipe piece 8 of the lower hang-up or suspension unit 3, at the top thereof, there may be provided lower portions of a bearing sleeve 20 which can be identical with or similar to the abovementioned bearing sleeve 20 and which therefore has the same reference numeral as said abovementioned bearing sleeve 20. The bearing sleeve 20 provided at the top in the pipe piece 8 has one or more sealing rings 21, 23 for providing a sealing between said sleeve 20 and said pipe piece 8. The bearing sleeve 20 also has an exterior collar 22 which engages the upper edge of the pipe piece 8.

The pipe piece 8 of the upper hang-up or suspension unit 3 is down below provided on upper portions of said latter bearing sleeve 20 such that its lower edge engages the exterior collar 22 of said sleeve 20. The upper portions of the bearing sleeve 20 have one or more sealing rings 21, 23 for providing a sealing between said sleeve 20 and the lower parts of the pipe piece 8. The pipe piece 8 of the lower and upper hang-up or suspension units 3 and the bearing sleeve are provided relative each other such that the suspension units 3 can be pivoted relative to each other about the centre line CL. The pipe piece 8 of the upper suspension unit 3 has, at the top, a bearing sleeve 20 which can be identical with or similar to said bearing sleeves and which therefore has the same reference numeral . Said latter bearing sleeve 20 has one or more sealing rings 21, 23 for provi- ding a sealing between the bearing sleeve 20 and the pipe piece 8 of the upper suspension unit 3. Furthermore, said latter bearing sleeve 20 has an exterior collar 22 which engage the upper edge of said latter pipe piece 8. An upper mounting means 24 is provided on upper portions of said latter bearing sleeve 20 such that a lower edge of said upper mounting means 24 engages the exterior collar 22. Said upper mounting means 24 is adapted to mount the drying rack 1 on the wall 2 at the top and it includes a pipe member 25 facing the wall and which at a part facing the wall 2 is sealed by a flange 26. Said flange 26 is adapted for engaging the wall 2 and it has one or more holes 27 for mounting screws (not shown) or similar mounting elements for mounting or attaching the flange 26 to the wall 2.

At the pipe member 25 of the upper mounting means 24 there is provided a return conduit 28 which is direc- ted downwards therefrom and which is located between the pipe pieces 8 of the suspension units 3 and the wall 2. The pipe piece 8 of the upper suspension unit 3 communicates through a hole 29 in the upper mounting means 24 with the return conduit 28, such that water which has passed through the suspension units 3 via said upper mounting means 24 and said return conduit 28 can flow into and through a through-flow channel 30 in the lower mounting means 14 and further on to the outgoing water conduit 12 of the hot water system 4. If the inco- ming and outgoing water conduits 10, 12 of the hot water system 4 are provided on a line L running in parallel or substantially in parallel with the wall 2, the through- -flow channel 30 in the lower mounting means 14 is directed outwards from the wall 2 such that the return con- duit 28 can connect to inner portions 30a of said through- -flow channel 30 and the outgoing water conduit 12 to outer portions 30b thereof.

For holding together the lower and upper mounting means 14, 24 and the hang-up or suspension units 3 loca- ted therebetween, there is provided a bar 31 which extends through the pipe pieces 8 and which is attached to the lower and upper mounting means 14, 24. Down be- low, the bar 31 has a hook-shaped part 32 which is hooked onto a transverse pin 33 in the hole 17 of the lower mounting means 14. At the top, the bar 31 engages a hole 34 in a flange 35 and it includes a threaded end portion 36 on which a nut 37 is provided above the flange 35. By screwing the nut 37 onto the threaded end portion 36, it is possible to set the force by means of which the bar 31 holds together the mounting means 14, 24 and the suspension units 3. The upper mounting means 24 may have a ventilating or airing hole 38 for airing the water bearing system of the drying rack 1. The ventilating or airing hole 38 is preferably sealable by means of a tightenable sealing or closing means 39. Except for drying objects, the drying rack 1 can be used as a radiator, particularly if it has two or more hang-up or suspension units 3.

The invention is not limited to the embodiment described above and illustrated in the drawings, but may vary within the scope of the following claims. It should be mentioned that the pipe pieces 8 and the hang-up or suspension pipes 5 may be made of a suitable stainless steel material and that the mounting means 14, 24 and the return conduit 28 may also consist of a suitable stainless steel material. The bearing sleeves 20 may be made of a suitable plastic material and the sealing rings 21, 23 of a suitable rubber material or another sealing material. It is of course possible to design the hang-up or suspension units 3 in other ways and this is true also for the mounting means 14, 24 if they form part of the drying rack 1.

Claims

Claims :

1. Drying rack, comprising a lower mounting means (14), an upper mounting means (24) and at least one pipe piece (8) provided between said mounting means (14, 24), wherein the mounting means (14, 24) are adapted to mount or attach the drying rack (1) to a wall (2) or similar, wherein the pipe piece (8) is centered relative to a vertical or substantially vertical centre line (CL) , wherein the pipe piece (8) includes a hang-up or sus- pension pipe (5) for hanging up objects for drying, and wherein the pipe piece (8) and the suspension pipe (5) are connected to a hot water system (4) such that hot water can flow therethrough, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the pipe piece (8) along with the hang-up or suspension pipe (5) is pivotable about said centre line (CL) relative to the lower and upper mounting means (14, 24).

2. Drying rack according to claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that several pivotable pipe pieces (8) with hang-up or suspension pipes (5) are pivotally mounted about said centre line (CL) relative to the lower and upper mounting means (14, 24) .

3. Drying rack according to claim 2, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that two pipe pieces (8) with hang- -up or suspension pipes (5) located above each other, are pivotally journalled on a bearing sleeve (20) which extends into an outlet (11) for hot water of a lower pipe piece (8) and into an inlet (9) for hot water of an upper pipe piece (8) .

4. Drying rack according to claim 2 or 3 , c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that a bar (31) extends through several pipe pieces (8) located above each other and through the lower and upper mounting means (14, 24), and that the bar (31) holds together said pipe pieces (8) and mounting means (14, 24) .

5. Drying rack according to any preceding claim, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the lower mounting means (14) has a through hole (17) for feeding or guiding hot water from the hot water system (4) to the pipe piece (8) and the hang-up or suspension pipe (5) , and that the upper mounting means (24) has at least one hole (29) for feeding or guiding hot water from the pipe piece (8) and the suspension pipe (5) to the hot water system (4) .

6. Drying rack according to any preceding claim, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the drying rack (1) is connectable to a hot water system (4) including an incoming and an outgoing water conduit (10, 12), said water conduits (10, 12) being provided on a line (L) extending in parallel or substantially in parallel with a wall (2) on which the drying rack (1) is to be mounted, that the drying rack (1) comprises a return conduit (28) which is located between one or more pipe pieces (8) and the wall (2), that the return conduit (28) at the top is connected to the upper mounting means (24) and down below to the lower mounting means (14), said mounting means (24, 14) being adapted for mounting the drying rack (1) on the wall (2), and that a through-flow channel (30) in the lower mounting means (14) is directed outwards from the wall (2), whereby the return conduit (28) is connec- ted to portions (30a) of the through-flow channel (30) situated closest to the wall (2) and the outgoing water conduit (12) of the hot water system (4) to portions (30b) of said through-flow channel (30) situated farthest away from said wall (2) .

7. Drying rack according to any preceding claim, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the upper mounting means (24) has a sealable airing hole (38) for airing the water bearing parts of the drying rack (1) .

8. Use of a drying rack according to any of claims 1-7, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the drying rack (1) is used as a radiator.