Wall mounted dryer

A wall-mounted dryer of the type for drying a person's hands, face and hair with blowing heated air. The inlet for air into the dryer is formed by a narrow opening around the periphery, except on top, along the surface of the wall for inhibiting the entry of foreign objects, such as by vandals. The narrow opening has inclined louvres for further reducing the size of the openings into the dryer.

This invention relates to a wall mounted dryer of the type that is mounted 
on a wall and dispenses hot air for drying a person's hands, face or hair. 
Wall mounted dryers are frequently used in washrooms, restrooms, locker 
rooms and the like that are used by the public in general, employees of a 
company, or other persons admitted to a public or semi-public facility. 
Such dryers are normally electrically operated both for heating the air 
and operating the fan or blower for circulating the air through the self 
contained dryer unit. Normally an inlet for the air is provided on the 
front or lower surface of the dryer unit through which air is drawn to be 
heated and dispensed through a nozzle or opening on the front of the 
dryer. Since these dryers are commonly used in public areas, they are 
subject to vandalism and pranks, and one of the most common problems is 
the introduction of a foreign object or material into the air intake 
opening. For efficient operation of the dryer the intake opening must be 
relatively large but even the use of a grill with small openings does not 
prevent vandalism or pranks. The damage to the dryer and potential danger 
can be substantial if an object, such as a metal bar or screwdriver is 
inserted into the mechanism and engages a moving part or electrical 
components. 
Moreover, the grill covering the inlet opening of a wall mounted dryer 
tends to become coated with lent, dust and dirt by reason of the air being 
drawn therethrough and therefore becomes unsightly and unsanitary. 
Thus, it is a principle object of this invention to provide a wall mounted 
dryer with a novel form of air inlet which is appropriately sized and 
located to minimize the accidental or intentional introduction of foreign 
objects into the dryer. A still further object of this invention is to 
provide a dryer with such an inlet opening that is somewhat concealed or 
unobvious and attractive, and further does not lose its attractiveness 
after lengthy use.

The wall mounted dryer unit, generally designated 10, of this invention is 
shown as a recessed type wherein a portion of the unit 10 is recessed 
within the wall 11 behind the wall surface 12. However, it is to be 
understood that the invention described herein is equally applicable to a 
surface mounted type dryer unit wherein little or no portion of the unit 
extends into the wall. 
The dryer unit 10 has a housing 13 for supporting the operating components 
(not shown) of the dryer such as the electric heating element, the fan or 
blower, timer control, etc. The housing 13 is comprised of a support frame 
or base plate 14 that may be of any conventional construction but 
preferably is a metal casting. The housing 13 includes a cover 15 that is 
mounted on the frame or base plate 14 and the cover may be of any 
decorative shape and finish that is desired. The cover 15 includes an 
outlet opening 16 to which a diverter 17 may be mounted for directing the 
heated outlet air as shown by arrows 18. 
The cover 15 has a circumferential edge 20 extending around the cover at a 
location closely spaced from the wall surface 12 then the cover 15 is 
mounted on the support frame 14 and the dryer 10 is mounted in the wall 
11. The housing 13 includes an air inlet opening 21 along the bottom and 
both sides of the housing immediately adjacent the wall surface 12 and 
preferably that inlet opening 21 is formed in the support frame 14 
although alternatively it may be formed in the cover 15. Further, the air 
inlet 21 is provided with louvres extending generally perpendicular to the 
wall surface 12 and preferably at an acute angle to the edge 20 of the 
cover 15. The louvres along the sides of the dryer unit 10 are preferably 
inclined at an angle extending downwardly from the inside of the unit as 
shown in FIG. 3. The top portion of the housing 13 does not include the 
air inlet 21, but rather the support frame 14 and cover 15 are in mating 
engagement to close the top as shown in FIG. 2. Thus, the incoming air 
drawn into the dryer unit 10 enters through the narrow peripheral opening 
21 along the sides and bottom as shown by arrows 22. As shown in FIGS. 3 
and 4, a substantial portion of frame 14 of housing 13 extends through an 
opening 23 into the wall 11 for recessing the unit 10, whereby the inlet 
opening 21 with louvres is provided at a substantial distance from the 
base 24 of the support frame 14. In contrast, for a surface mounted dryer 
unit embodying the present invention, the base 24 of the support frame 14 
will be mounted on the wall surface 12 and the air inlet opening 21 with 
louvres will be provided around the periphery of the base 24 at the wall. 
Further, for such surface mounted unit, the cover 15 will extend a greater 
distance to again terminate in an edge 20 closely spaced from the wall 
surface 12. 
By the arrangement of this invention, a very narrow air inlet 21 is 
provided immediately adjacent the wall surface 12 to provide substantial 
difficulty to a person attempting to insert a foreign object of any 
substantial size into the dryer unit 10 through the air inlet 21. Further, 
since the air inlet 21 is immediately adjacent the wall it is not 
immediately apparent to a person bent on vandalism or destruction. The 
closely spaced louvres in the inlet opening 21 and their inclined 
arrangement further inhibit visibility and insertion of a foreign object. 
Although the air inlet opening 21 is very narrow, because it extends 
around three of the four sides of the dryer unit 10, it provides an 
adequate cross-sectional area for relatively unrestricted and low velocity 
air flow into the unit thereby avoiding any reduction in efficiency of the 
dryer unit 10. The closed top edge of the dryer unit prevents pouring 
liquid or dropping small objects into the unit. 
Although the invention has been described in connection with a preferred 
embodiment, namely, a recessed type wallmounted dryer unit, it is to be 
understood and will readily appear to those skilled in the art that the 
invention is equally applicable to numerous types and configurations of 
devices that are within the scope of the appended claims.