Patent Abstract:
A clothes drying rack including a free standing frame that supports a plurality of rods from which articles of clothing can be suspended. Specifically, the clothes drying rack includes a plurality of rods wherein each rod has corrugated exterior to facilitate passage of air between the clothing and the rod.

Full Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   This invention relates to a clothing rack that can be used for drying clothes. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   It is common practice to dry clothes by exposing the recently washed clothes to the atmosphere preferably outdoors. Clothes lines of various types have been proposed from which the garments are suspended, usually by use of clothes pegs. There have also been proposals for portable racks from which the clothes can be suspended. Racks have the advantage that they take up less room than a clothes line and can be used in an indoor environment. 
   It is considered that there is a need to improve the versatility of a clothing rack by means of increasing its manoeuvrability, rending the rack easy to assemble and disassemble and ensuring good drying efficiency. The rack should be easy to use and durable, capable of resisting damage due to moisture and exposure to sunlight. 
   It is these issues that have brought about the present invention. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a clothing rack comprising a free standing frame that supports a plurality of rods from which clothing can be suspended, characterised in that each rod has a corrugated exterior to facilitate passage of air between the clothing and the rod. 

   
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     An embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: 
       FIG. 1  is the perspective view of a clothing rack in accordance with the present invention supporting an array of clothing, 
       FIGS. 2A and 2B  are perspective views of the clothing rack in a partially collapsed and collapsed configuration, 
       FIG. 3A  is a perspective view of the clothing rack, 
       FIG. 3B  is an enlarged view of a corrugated rod that forms part of the rack, 
       FIG. 4A  is a side elevation of the rack, 
       FIG. 4B  is a plan view of the rack, 
       FIG. 4C  is an enlarged cross-section view of the area inside circle B of  FIG. 4A , 
       FIG. 5A  is an end elevation of the rack, 
       FIG. 5B  has an enlarged cross-sectional view of the area inside the circle C of  FIG. 5A , 
       FIG. 6A  is an end elevation of the rack, and 
       FIG. 6B  is an enlarged view of the area within the circle D of  FIG. 6A . 
   

   DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   The clothing rack  10  illustrated in the accompanying drawings essentially comprises a series of metal frame members  20 ,  30  &amp;  40  that support nine equally spaced parallel rods  50  from which clothing can be suspended as shown in  FIG. 1 . The frame members include a lower frame member  20 , a pair of vertical columns  30  and two horizontal upper frame members  40  that support the rods  50 . As shown in  FIG. 3B  the rods  50  having longitudinal corrugations  51 . The vertical columns  30  can be detached from the upper and lower frame members  40 ,  20  to allow the clothing rack  10  to assume a disassembled configuration as shown in  FIG. 2B  where the upper frame member  40  and lower frame member  20  are placed in abutting parallel contact with the vertical columns  30  extending horizontally. This allows the assembly to be stored in either a vertical or horizontal configuration. 
   The lower frame member  20  comprises two parallel elongate beams  21 ,  22  that have their ends connected to beams  23 ,  24  that respectively constitute the feet of the rack. The ends of each foot  23 ,  24  have a castor wheel  25  clipped into an aperture on the underside of the beam so that, as shown in the drawings, the whole rack is readily movable about the castor wheels  25  that are free to rotate through 360° about a vertical axis. Each foot  23 ,  24  of the lower frame member  20  has an upstanding lug  26  which is adapted to fit into the end of an open rectangular beam that constitutes the vertical column  30 . 
   The upper frame member  40  has beams  41 ,  42  that form the arms and support for the corrugated rods  50 . As shown in  FIG. 5B  each arm includes a centrally positioned location block  43  that is secured to the underside of the beam  41  or  42  by a pair of spaced rivets  44 ,  45  that extend through the beam. The location block  43  is arranged to be a sliding fit into the upper end of the vertical column  30  and a grub screw  46  extends through the column and into the block to secure the assembly together. 
   As shown in  FIG. 4C  the connection of the corrugated rod  50  onto the beams or side arms  41 ,  42  is by means of an insert  60  that has a corrugated outer periphery  61  so that it is a smooth sliding fit within the internal corrugated surface of the rod  50 . The interface between the corrugations  51  prevents relative axial rotation of the insert  60  in the rods  50 . The projecting cylindrical end  62  of the insert  60  is stepped down to extend through an aperture  63  in the walls of the beam  42  and there is a further stepped down shank  64  that extends through a smaller aperture  66  in the outer wall. The material is then compressed by a riveting technique to provide a riveted head  67  which rests against the outer surface of the beam  42  to prevent removal of the insert  60  from the beams. Thus the location of the corrugated rods  50  on each beam  41 ,  42  effectively fixes the rods in a firm and substantially rigid connection to the beams that constitute the upper frame member  40 . 
     FIG. 3  illustrates the corrugated nature of each rod  50 . The corrugations  51  are elongate and define an air space between the clothing and the rod to improve ventilation and thus the drying function. The air space also ensures against the build up of moisture that might cause corrosion on the exterior surface of the rods  50 . The facility to allow air to be in close vicinity to the contact points to the clothes on the rods improves the drying feature and reduces the likelihood of staining by dampness or corrosion. 
   The component parts of the clothing rack  10  described above are preferably constructed from aluminium. The frame members  20 ,  40  are rectangular cross-sectional aluminium tubing and the corrugated rods  50  would be extruded in aluminium. It is however understood that the components of the clothing rack  10  could be manufactured from other materials such as plastics or steel or even wood. The vertical columns  30  are secured to the upper and lower frames  40 ,  20  by use of grub screws that extend through the wall of the column to threadedly engage the location flange or lug on which the column locates. Thus to disassemble the unit it is a simple matter to simply remove the grub screws and pull the upper and lower frames  40 ,  20  from the vertical columns  30 . Fold down the columns as shown in  FIG. 2   a  and place the upper frame  40  on the lower frame  20  to assume the flattened configuration as shown in  FIG. 2   b.  The absence of welds gives the rack a cleaner image which is considered visually attractive. 
   The corrugation of the rods  50  also increases the overall strength of the rods and provides the clothing rack  10  with increased rigidity.

Technology Classification (CPC): 3