Patent Publication Number: US-2017370043-A1

Title: Clothes drying stand

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. The Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a device for drying clothes, more specifically, to a stand to be used to dry clothes and contain dirt. 
     2. State of the Art 
     Muddy and wet clothes and footwear are typical due to a variety of situations, such as work or play in the rain or snow, as well as working around water. It is often inconvenient to dry the clothing. While a clothes dryer may be used, wet clothing is often muddy and it is undesirable to place the article in the dryer, as doing so will risk leaving dirt inside the dryer to later soil clean clothing that is placed in it. Often, the wet clothing or footwear article is simply left in a garage or in a mud room to allow it to dry. Doing so, however, results in the article being unavailable for wear for many hours or even days. It may even result in the article developing mildew and/or mold if it does not fully dry or dries too slowly. 
     One common solution is to place clothing on a drying rack, such as a rack that positions the clothing surfaces, both internal and external, so that they may be dried by air. These types of racks may also be positioned on or near a typical home heating vent to speed up the drying process (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,394,619). However, as the dirty clothing dries, it is common for it to drip dirty water, mud, and/or dried dirt onto the surrounding surfaces. Thus, many drying devices may allow dirt and mud, as it dries, to fall onto the surrounding floor and/or fall into a vent over which the drying stand is placed. 
     Accordingly, there is a need for an improved drying device that allows dirty, wet and/or muddy clothing to be dried while also securely containing any mess that may incur from dirt and/or mud falling off the clothing as it dries. 
     SUMMARY 
     A clothing drying stand is provided which may be used in combination with a conventional floor register, the drying stand comprising a housing having a base and sidewalls, defining a chamber to hold articles to be dried. 
     According to one aspect, the base may be provided with a plurality of openings that are in connection with a source of hot air. The openings may be provided with vertically extending hollow conduits, and the hollow conduits may include caps. In some configurations, a drying stand may be provided with conduits that are varying shapes and sizes which may be configured to support clothing articles and footwear of different shapes and sizes. 
     According to another aspect, the caps on the conduits may direct airflow from the caps outwardly to dry clothing, and the caps may also prevent dirt, mud, etc., from falling through the conduits onto the surrounding floor and/or vent. 
     According to another aspect, the housing is substantially enclosed on the bottom such that air may flow in through the plurality of openings, but dirt, mud, etc. may not fall out of the housing. Thus, substantially all of the dirt, mud, water, etc. may be trapped and contained within the chamber of the housing, preventing messes on the surrounding area and/or vent. 
     According to another aspect, the drying stand may be sized so that it may be placed over a standard floor register cover of a forced hot air heating system. In other configurations, the drying stand may be sized to fit within a duct of a forced hot air heating system when the register is removed. 
     These and other aspects of the present invention are realized in a clothing drying stand and method of use as shown and described in the following figures and related description. It will be appreciated that various configurations of the invention may not include each aspect set forth above and aspects discussed above shall not be read into the claims unless specifically described therein. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Various configurations of the present invention are shown and described in reference to the numbered drawings wherein: 
         FIG. 1  shows a partial cut-away perspective view of one configuration of a clothing drying stand; 
         FIG. 2  shows a side, cut-away view of the clothing drying stand of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  shows a bottom view of the clothing drying stand of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  shows a top view of the clothing drying stand of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 5  shows a side view of a conduit and cap as described herein; 
         FIG. 6  shows a side, cut-away view of a clothing drying stand with articles of clothing placed thereon for drying; 
         FIG. 7  shows an alternate configuration of a drying stand and conduits which may be used in the drying stand; 
         FIG. 8  shows an alternate configuration of a clothing drying stand; 
         FIG. 9  shows an alternate configuration of a clothes drying stand; and 
         FIG. 9A  shows an end view of the cap and a conduit of  FIG. 9 . 
     
    
    
     It will be appreciated that the drawings are illustrative and not limiting of the scope of the invention which is defined by the appended claims. The configurations shown accomplish various aspects and objects of the invention. It is appreciated that it is not possible to clearly show each element and aspect of the invention in a single figure, and as such, multiple figures are presented to separately illustrate the various details of the invention in greater clarity. Similarly, not every configuration need accomplish all advantages of the present invention. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The invention and accompanying drawings will now be discussed in reference to the numerals provided therein so as to enable one skilled in the art to practice the present invention. The skilled artisan will understand, however, that the clothes drying stand, method of manufacture, and method of use described below can be practiced without employing these specific details, or that they can be used for purposes other than those described herein. Indeed, they can be modified and can be used in conjunction with products and techniques known to those of skill in the art in light of the present disclosure. The drawings and descriptions are intended to be exemplary of various aspects of the invention and are not intended to narrow the scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, it will be appreciated that the drawings may show aspects of the invention in isolation and the elements in one figure may be used in conjunction with elements shown in other figures. 
     Reference in the specification to “one configuration” or “a configuration” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the configuration is included in at least one configuration, but is not a requirement that such feature, structure or characteristic be present in any particular configuration unless expressly set forth in the claims as being present. The appearances of the phrase “in one configuration” in various places may not necessarily limit the inclusion of a particular element of the invention to a single configuration, rather the element may be included in other or all configurations discussed herein. 
     Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics of configurations of the invention may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more configurations. In the following description, numerous specific details are provided, such as examples of products or manufacturing techniques that may be used, to provide a thorough understanding of configurations of the clothing drying stand disclosed herein. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however, that configurations of the clothing drying stand may be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or with other methods, components, materials, and so forth. In other instances, well-known structures, materials, or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the invention. 
     Before the present invention is disclosed and described in detail, it should be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to any particular structures, process steps, or materials discussed or disclosed herein, but is extended to include equivalents thereof as would be recognized by those of ordinarily skill in the relevant art. More specifically, the invention is defined by the terms set forth in the claims. It should also be understood that terminology contained herein is used for the purpose of describing particular aspects of the invention only and is not intended to limit the invention to the aspects or configurations shown unless expressly indicated as such. Likewise, the discussion of any particular aspect of the invention is not to be understood as a requirement that such aspect is required to be present apart from an express inclusion of the aspect in the claims. 
     It should also be noted that, as used in this specification and the appended claims, singular forms such as “a,” “an,” and “the” may include the plural unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to “an opening” may include one or more of such opening, and reference to “a layer” may include reference to one or more of such layers. 
     As used herein, the term “substantially” refers to the complete or nearly complete extent or degree of an action, characteristic, property, state, structure, item, or result to function as indicated. For example, an object, such as a cap connected to a conduit, that is connected such that a “substantially” open space is created would mean that the space between the cap and the conduit is either completely open or nearly completely open. The exact allowable degree of deviation from absolute openness may in some cases depend on the specific context. The use of “substantially” is equally applicable when used in a negative connotation to refer to the complete or near complete lack of an action, characteristic, property, state, structure, item, or result. For example, structure which is “substantially free of” any openings for dirt to escape would either completely lack any openings for dirt to escape or so nearly completely lack any openings for dirt to escape that the effect would be effectively the same as if it lacked any holes for dirt to escape. 
     As used herein, the term “about” is used to provide flexibility to a numerical range endpoint by providing that a given value may be “a little above” or “a little below” the endpoint while still accomplishing the function associated with the range. 
     As used herein, a plurality of items, structural elements, compositional elements, and/or materials may be presented in a common list for convenience. However, these lists should be construed as though each member of the list is individually identified as a separate and unique member. 
     Amounts, proportions and other numerical data may be expressed or presented herein in a range format. It is to be understood that such a range format is used merely for convenience and brevity and thus should be interpreted flexibly to include not only the numerical values explicitly recited as the limits of the range, but also to include all the individual numerical values or sub-ranges encompassed within that range as if each numerical value and sub-range is explicitly recited. As an illustration, a numerical range of “about 1 to about 5” should be interpreted to include not only the explicitly recited values of about 1 to about 5, but also include individual values and sub-ranges within the indicated range. Thus, included in this numerical range are individual values such as 2, 3, and 4 and sub-ranges such as from 1-3, from 2-4, and from 3-5, etc., as well as 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, individually. This same principle applies to ranges reciting only one numerical value as a minimum or a maximum. Furthermore, such an interpretation should apply regardless of the breadth of the range or the characteristics being described. 
     Turning now to  FIG. 1 , a partial cut-away perspective view of a clothes drying stand, generally indicated at  10 , is shown. The drying stand  10  may include a housing  13 , formed by a housing outer wall  18  (which is partially cut-away so the base can be viewed) and an interior base  22 , so as to form an upper chamber  25  into which clothing articles, footwear, and the like may be placed to dry. The base  22  may be formed by a wall  23  which includes a plurality of holes or openings  28  (not visible in  FIG. 1 ) A plurality of conduits  30  extend upwardly from the openings to channel heated air into the upper chamber  25  in a manner that will be discussed in additional detail below. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , the conduits  30  have a covered upper end  30   a  so as to prevent water, dirt or the like from falling through the conduits. The upper ends  30   a  may be covered, for example with a cap  34  which deflects falling water or dirt away from the opening(s) in the conduit. 
     The drying stand  10  may be configured to fit over a conventional heating register, such that hot air exiting the register comes up through the plurality of holes  28  in the base  22 , through conduits  30 , and is directed outwardly by the caps  34 , which are described in more detail below. As such the upper chamber  25  is filled with heated air, which dries materials disposed in the upper chamber. Water and mud/dirt falling from the items being dried collects on the wall  23  of the base  22 , but does not enter the conduits because of the height—typically 0.5 inches or taller. 
     The drying stand  10  may be designed to rest over the register of a floor duct that delivers hot air from a forced hot air heating system. In other configurations, the drying stand  10  may be dimensioned to fit within a hot air duct when the register is removed. 
     The conduits  30  as shown in  FIG. 1  may be hollow cylinders. However, the conduits  30  may also be any other suitable shape, and any hollow object that may be used to direct air flow is contemplated herein. The conduit  30  may be open at the top and the bottom, such that air may flow freely through the conduit and be directed thereby. A conduit  30  may direct airflow, and may also provide conduit for articles to be dried. 
     The caps  34  may be attached to the end of each conduit, or may be supported by some other structure, such as legs reaching down to the base wall  23  at the bottom of the upper chamber. The cap  34  may serve to direct air flow outwardly and into articles of clothing and footwear to be dried. (Articles of clothing and footwear may be placed generally within the chamber  25  of the drying device, or a specific article may be placed directly over one or more conduits  30  such that airflow is directed to the inside surface of the article of clothing or footwear—or may simply be placed in the upper chamber on top of the conduits.) The cap  34  may also serve to prevent dirty water, mud, and/or dried dirt from falling through the hollow conduit  30  and onto the ground or into an air duct. 
     While it is anticipated that the drying stand  10  will commonly be used with gloves and shoes/boots, it will be appreciated that it can also be used with a variety of items which may have become wet or muddy. For example, a wet jacket, shirt, pants, scarf or blanket may be simply tossed into the upper chamber  25  where it will be dried by warm air passing through the conduits  30 . 
     Turning now to  FIG. 2 , there is shown a side, cut-away view of the drying stand  10 . As can be seen, the outer wall  18  of the housing  13  may extend below the base  22  so as to form an air gap or lower chamber  37  below the base. In this manner, the lower end of the outer wall  18  may contact the floor  38  around a heat register  39  and direct warm air coming out of the register through the conduits  30 . Thus, if the drying stand  10  is placed over a heat register, the air may flow into the air gap  37 , and then be directed up into the chamber  25  of the housing, through the openings  28  in the base  22  and conduits  30 , and be directed outwardly by caps  34 . As can be seen in  FIG. 2 , the conduits  30  may be of different heights, such as a shorter conduit  30 ′ (e.g. 0.5 inches) and a taller conduit  30 ″ (e.g. 1 inch or 2 inches). It will also be appreciated that drying stands may be sized with taller or shorter conduits based on the likely level of mud or water the user anticipates having. For example a typical home model may only have conduits which are 0.5 or 1 inch high, while a heavy-duty model may have conduits which are 2 inches high. 
     Turning now to  FIG. 3 , there is shown a bottom view of the drying stand  10 . As can be seen in this view, the base  22  of the housing comprises a plurality of openings  28  or holes. Openings  28  may vary in size, number, and placement depending on the desired configuration. By way of example, as shown in  FIG. 3 , the openings  28  may be spaced equally or approximately equally apart. It will be appreciated that smaller openings may constrict air flow more than larger openings. In other configurations, openings of various sizes may be provided, such as some smaller openings and some larger openings, etc. 
     Turning now to  FIG. 4 , there is shown a top view of the drying stand  10 . The top side of the base  22  may include a plurality of conduits  30  (not visible in  FIG. 4 ) connected to the plurality of openings  28 . The conduits  30  may have a cap  34  placed on the end thereof. The cap  34  may be used to direct the hot air from the conduit outwardly. Additionally, the cap  34  may prevent dirty water, mud, dried dirt, etc. from falling through the conduits  30  and openings  28  into a floor vent or onto the floor. In this manner, the caps  34  may keep dirt, mud, etc. trapped substantially in the chamber  25 . The chamber  25  is substantially enclosed such that hot air may enter through the plurality of openings, but mud, dirt, water, etc. may not escape. 
     Turning now to  FIG. 5 , there is shown a side view of a conduit  30  with a cap  34 , the cap  34  shown in dashed lines. As can be seen, the conduit may have two open ends, a first end  30   a  and a second end  30   b ′. The first, upper end  30   a  may be open, and the second, lower end  30   b  that may be connected to or formed integrally with one of the plurality of openings  28  in the base  22 . 
     In  FIG. 5 , the cap is shown as having a flat top and extending downwardly and outwardly, i.e. an inverted frusto-conical shape with an extension or arm attaching the cap to the conduit  30 . The caps  34  may be a variety of other shapes as well shapes. For example, the caps may be an inverted V-shape, with one or both sides attached to the conduit. Likewise, the caps may be mushroom shaped, a flat disk, hemispherical, etc., so that water and mud may either land on directly on the base  22  of the housing  13  and be contained, or it may land on the upper side  34   a  of cap  34  and be directed away from the conduit. Either way, the dirt, mud, etc. may be substantially contained within the chamber  25  of the housing  13 , preventing messes on the surrounding area and/or heating vent. 
     In some configurations, the conduit  30  may also be provided with one or more openings  40 . The openings  40  may be provided in the sides of the conduit  30 , such that air flowing through the conduit  30  may exit the side of the conduit, but debris falling downwardly may not enter the conduit  30 . Thus, for example, as shown in  FIG. 7 , the top of the conduit may be closed. 
       FIG. 5  also shows arrows  44  that may indicate the direction of air flow through the conduits  30 . For example, air may flow up from the openings  28  in the base  22 , up through conduit  30 , outwardly through holes  40  or upwardly through the top end  30   a  of the conduit, strike the underside of cap  34 , and be displaced outwardly. 
     The drying stand  10  may be constructed of any suitable material. In some configurations, the drying stand  10  is constructed of a plastic material, or other material which is generally water-resistant. The drying stand may also be constructed of wood, etc., and may be treated with a water-resistant coating or stain. Similarly, the drying stand  10  may be constructed in several different ways. By way of illustration and not of limitation, some examples of construction will be provided herein. One with skill in the art will appreciate that other methods for constructing the drying stand  10  are possible. According to one example, the drying stand may be constructed of by injection molding. In some constructions, the drying stand may be formed of a single piece of material, such that the housing, base, conduits, and caps are formed integrally. In other constructions, the conduits may be inserted or connected to the plurality of openings in the base, and the caps may be connected to the conduits. 
     In use, a drying stand  10  may first be placed over (or, if the drying stand is configured to be placed within, then within) a heating register or vent. Next, clothing articles, etc, may be placed within the chamber  25  of the housing  13 .  FIG. 6  shows a side view of some footwear  60  and gloves  65  (shown in dashed lines) placed in a chamber  25 . The articles may be placed in any position desired. Placing the articles over conduits  30 , such that conduits  30  extend into the inside of the articles as shown in  FIG. 6 , may provide faster drying times as the heat is directed to the inside of the articles. In other situations, the articles to be dried may simply be placed on top of the conduits and caps  30 / 34  and allowed to dry. Any water or dirt falling from the articles is collected and then dumped out after the articles are dry. 
     One with skill in the art will appreciate that while the drying stand may be used in connection with a heat source, the drying rack may also be used to dry with just air, and a heat source is not necessary to dry the clothing in conjunction with the disclosure herein. 
     Turning now to  FIG. 7 , there is shown an alternate configuration of a drying stand  110 . The basic parts are similar to those discussed with respect to  FIGS. 1-6  and are thus provided the same numbering plus 100. The drying stand  110  has angled sidewalls  118  to provide a larger upper compartment  125 . The base  122  is also molded to form the conduits  130 . For example, the molded material may be pressed into the base  122  and the ends of the upper ends  130   a  of conduits  130  may be closed, and holes formed in the conduits below the upper ends to allow air flow while the closed upper ends prevent mud and water from passing the base  122 . 
     While the entire unit may be drying stand  110  may be formed from a single piece, the base  122  can be formed separately and snapped or friction fit into plate in the sidewall  118 . 
       FIG. 8  shows an alternate configuration of a clothing drying stand. While the drying stand of the present invention may be generally square or rectangular, there is no limit on the shape. Thus, for example, the drying stand  210  may be oval or may have an exterior which gives a decorative look. A cover may also be included so that the stand  210  can be left in place and use for holding items, etc. 
       FIG. 9  shown an alternate configuration of a clothes drying stand. Rather than using conduits with individual caps, the clothes drying stand  310  has a plurality of openings  28  in the base  22  connected to conduits  30  which are in alignment so that a single cap  34  is used to cover the top end  30   a  of multiple conduits. Such a configuration helps to more evenly spread the air and adds additional support to the conduits.  FIG. 9A  shows an end view of a conduit  30  and cap  34 . 
     There is thus disclosed an improved clothing drying stand. It will be appreciated that numerous changes may be made to the present invention without departing from the scope of the claims. The appended claims are intended to cover such modifications.