Clothes dryer for use with forced air heating system

A portable clothes dryer comprises a bag having minute passages for outflow of air, preferably such that the bag assumes an inflated condition when hot air is introduced to the bag, a hot intake duct having an end connectable to a hot air register and another end connected to the bag for introduction of pressurized hot air into the bag, the bag being closable so that air outflow is substantially through the minute passages. The minute passages are defined by side walls formed of porous woven fabric with slightly spaced threads, or by minute passages about zipper structure and seams, the structure including horizontally spaced bars within the bag provide for suspending the bag in upright position. The hot air duct may have a length at least as great as the height of the bag, thus to be connectable to registers at a variety of locations. External uprights connected to the horizontal bars may be utilized for suspending the bag. The hot air duct may have a tubular frame with a transverse mounting plate engagable with an external face of a hot air register.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to a portable clothes dryer comprising an upright 
garment bag having a hot air duct connectable to a warm air register 
(outlet) of a room heating system, whereby heated air flows around 
clothing within the bag to remove moisture from the clothing fabric. 
The invention is viewed as an improvement on devices shown in Williams, 
U.S. Pat. No. 1,590,143, Weber U.S. Pat. No. 2,975,529, Sullivan, U.S. 
Pat. No. 4,429,928, and Jordan, U.S. Pat. No. 4,572,364. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The invention contemplates an upright bag having means therein for hanging 
a number of garments (e.g. six or more garments) within the bag interior 
space; a duct delivers pressurized warm air from a room register into the 
bag to warm the interior space. The walls of the bag may be formed of an 
essentially non-porous material, such as vinyl, and have means for the 
limited outflow of air from the bag such as zipper structures, seams, etc. 
The walls of the bag may preferably be formed of a porous woven fabric 
that provides thousands of minute air passages through the bag walls. 
Heated air contained vaporized moisture passes from the bag outwardly 
through the minute passages. 
The fabric air passages via zipper seams, etc. or via a porous woven fabric 
are sufficiently small as to restrict flow to exert a back pressure on the 
pressurized air, whereby the bag walls are caused to balloon outwardly. 
Heated air is in a pressurized semi-trapped state within the bag, such 
that the air uniformly contacts all surfaces of the clothing, including 
interior clothing surfaces that would otherwise not be contacted by a 
fast-moving air stream following only a low resistance path along outer 
surfaces of the clothing. 
An important object of my invention is to provide a portable clothes dryer 
which effectively uses low pressure heated air from a warm air register. A 
related object is to provide a dryer wherein the heated air is caused to 
contact substantially all major surface areas of the clothing being dried.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring more particularly to FIGS. 1 through 4, there is shown an upright 
fabric bag 10 suspended from a rigid stand 12 (FIG. 2). A flexible fabric 
air duct 14 extends from bag 10 for connection to a hot air register 16. 
In use of the apparatus, hot air flows from register 16 through duct 14 
into the upper interior space within bag 10. An opening 15 is formed in 
the bag wall to pass the air from duct 14 into the bag. Heated air flows 
outwardly from the bag through minute passages formed through fabric walls 
(by the porosity of the fabric materials), or through outflow means, such 
as zippers and seams, in bags of non-porous material. 
FIG. 1 illustrates three alternate locations for register 16, namely on the 
room floor, high on a room wall, or in the ceilling. Flexible duct 14 is 
somewhat longer than the vertical dimension of bag 10, to permit the duct 
to reach any of the three register locations. 
Bag 10 is an all-fabric structure, without rigidifying components that 
would interfere with fold-up into a storageable package form. The bag 
comprises a flat top wall 18, four side walls 20 depending from edge areas 
of wall 18, and a flat bottom wall 22. Zipper structures 24 and 26 are 
provided for insertion (or removal) of clothing to (or from) the bag 
interior. During clothes-drying periods the zippers are closed. 
Rigid stand 12 comprises a number of rigid plastic pipes (tubes) detachably 
connected together by means of four similar couplers 27. The stand 
includes two uprights (pipes) 29 connected at their upper ends to two 
spaced horizontal bars 31. Upper end areas of uprights 29 extend through 
small slit-type clearance openings 33 in the bag side wall before making 
connections with the bars 31. Bars 31 extend within bag 10 along external 
edge areas of the bag top wall 18. The ends of bars 31 fit into corner 
areas of the bag to maintain the bag shape. 
In preferred practice of the invention, a rectangular moisture-absorbent 
pad 34 is removably disposed within the lower end of bag 10. The pad is a 
semi-rigid component having a planar configuration and size-mated to the 
bag horizontal cross section, such that it is enabled to intercept 
(capture) any water droplets that might drain from clothing hanging within 
the bag, i.e. from clothes rod 35. 
The intake end of duct 14 is attached to a "picture frame" plate or flange 
37 that can engage the outer surface of hot air register 16. Flange 37 can 
be sealably connected to the register surface by any suitable mechanism, 
e.g. contact adhesive on the flange surface, permanent magnets carried on 
the flange, or miniature interlocking hook fabrics (trademarked Velcro) on 
the confronting surfaces. Numeral 39 generically references the connection 
mechanism. 
FIGS. 3 and 4 show an optional air filtration pad structure 41 positionable 
in duct 14 to remote airborne particulates from the hot (warm) air stream 
being supplied to bag 10. End areas of the pad may be turned into end ones 
of the louvered openings in the register (for pad mounting purposes). 
FIG. 5 illustrates a second form of the invention designed specifically for 
temporary attachment to a warm air register located at an elevated point 
on room wall 43 (FIG. 7). the illustrated clothes dryer includes a bag 10 
that is substantially identical to bag 10 of FIG. 1. The hot air supply 
duct is, however, constructed somewhat differently than duct 14 shown in 
FIG. 1. 
In the arrangment of FIGS. 5 through 8 the hot air supply duct comprises a 
rigid tubular frame 44 (metal or rigid plastic) of rectangular cross 
section. This frame includes a transverse mounting plate 45 at its 
upstream end designed to facially engage the external face of register 16 
(in a manner similar to flange 37 in the previously-mentioned embodiment). 
Connection mechanisms similar to mechanism 39 (FIG. 4) may be carried on 
the upstream face of plate 45. Additionally, two manually-moveable clamp 
members 46 may be connected to frame 44. Each clamp member consists of an 
elongated rod having a knob 51 at one of its ends; the other end of each 
rod is turned (bent) as at 52. Each knob 51 can be manually grasped to 
push or pull to associated rod in the arrow 54 direction (FIG. 7). 
A push force knob 51 causes the rod to advance toward the vertical 
centerline of the register; bent end 52 of the rod moves into a louver 
space to engage the upstream (concealed) face of a louver. The rod is 
wedged into the louver opening. The two rods cooperatively act to prevent 
frame 44 from pulling away from the warm air register. A manual pulling 
force on both knobs 52 can be used to disconnect frame 44 from the 
register. 
The embodiment of FIGS. 5 through 8 includes a rectangular air filter 
element 55. This rectangular element fits into frame 44 below a transverse 
channel 56 that is welded to the roof area of the frame. A flat vertical 
strip 57 is welded to the upstream face channel 56 to provide a seating 
surface for the filter element. The filter element is manually pushed into 
frame 44 to abut against the face of strip 57. Edge areas of the filter 
panel frictionally engage inner surface areas of frame 44 to prevent 
dislodgement of the filter panel. 
A clothes hanger rod 59 extends from frame 44 into bag 10. Rod 59 includes 
a horizontal rod section and an upwardly angling rod section 61. The 
terminal ends of the rod sections may be bent to lock into openings formed 
in channel 56 and the lower wall of frame 44. In the free state the rod 
section diverge to a greater extend than the spacing between channel 56 
and the frame lower wall. To install the clothes hanger rod the rod 
sections are manually compressed toward each other before inserting the 
rod ends into the mount openings. The clothes hanger rod extends along the 
vertical centerline of frame 44 and bag 10. The rod ends obstruct filter 
panel 55 against dislodgement away from strip 57. 
Bag 10 is suspended from frame 44 via two horizontal bars 63 that extend 
from frame 44 in cantilever fashion. Bars 63 can be hingedly connected to 
channel 56 for fold-up purposes. Alternately the bars can be detachably 
connected to the channel by insertion into sockets (tubes) that extend 
through web areas of the channel. Bars 63 extend within bag 10 along 
internal edge areas of the bag top wall 18. 
Bag 10 is connected to frame 44 by means of a short frabric duct section 
64. This short duct section extends right angularly from one side wall 20 
of bag 10 so as to fit over (around) frame 44. Mating snap fasteners 
elements 65 and 66 are carried on frame 44 and fabric duct section 64 to 
secure the duct section against pull-off from the frame. 
In service, the embodiment of FIGS. 5 through 8 functions similarly to the 
embodiment of FIGS. 1 through 4. Heated air flows from register 16, 
through frame 45, and into the upper interior space within bag 10. 
Moisture-laden air exits from the bag primarilly through the minute air 
passages in the porous fabric bag walls 20, or the air exits via the 
limited outflow means such as zippers amd seams, in bags o non-porous 
material. The bag may be equipped with a moisture-absorbent pad 22 (FIG. 
1) to capture draining water droplets. 
Bag 10 preferably has side walls 10 formed of a porous woven fabric; the 
fabric threads are slightly spaced from one another by a few-thousandths 
of an inch to define minute passages for outflow of air from the bag. The 
bag side walls can be formed of cotton, rayon, nylon, or other thread 
materials commonly used to make industrial dust collection bags or liquid 
strainer media. 
In service the minute air passages offer sufficient air flow resistance 
that the bag assumes an inflated condition; the bag side walls balloon 
outwardly from their flat at-rest conditions. 
Velocity pressure of the air flowing through register 16 is converted to 
static pressure, such that the bag is slightly pressurized with heated 
air. The heated air penetrates into the clothing within the bag so as to 
contact interior surfaces of the clothing, e.g. within sleeves, pants 
pockets, etc. A diffusion of moisture into and throughout the heated air 
mass takes place. 
The described action is believed to differ from the action that occurs with 
known prior art arrangements that rely on a fast-moving stream of heated 
air to remove moisture. In such arrangements the air stream takes the the 
path of least resistance from the bag inlet to the bag outlet. Clothing 
surfaces not directly in the air stream tend not to be heated as 
thoroughly as surfaces in direct contact with the streams. 
In my improved arrangment heated moisture-laden air exits from bag 10 via 
the minute air passages in the porous fabric side walls 20; some minor 
flow may take place through clearance openings 33 (FIG. 1). The heated air 
has a long residence time within the bag so that it has an increased 
moisture-absorption capability (compared to other known arrangements). 
Thus there has been shown and described a novel clothes dryer which 
fulfills all the objects and advantages sought therefor. Many changes, 
modifications, variations and other uses and applications of the subject 
invention will however, become apparent to those skilled in the art after 
considering this specification together with the accompanying drawings and 
claims. All such changes, modifications, variations and other uses and 
applications which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the 
invention are deemed to be covered by the invention which is limited only 
by the claims which follow.