Telescopic clothes drying rack

Abstract

 The invention is a clothes drying rack comprising two symmetrical elements (bs, bd), each comprising at least one wire holding shelf (md, ms) assembled on an upright (cd, cs), and wherein one or preferably at least two horizontal rods (ad, as) are fixed at right angles to said upright (cd, cs), each one of said rods (ad, as) being suited to be fixed to the corresponding horizontal rods (as, ad) integral with the other opposing symmetrical element (bs, bd) and, wherein said uprights (cs, cd) are suitable for being inserted in the opposing guides of a roller shutter.

Description

[0001] This patent relates to clothes drying racks, and in particular concerns a new drying rack to be applied on windows to hang clothing.

[0002] There are already numerous drying racks made of various materials that are used to hang clothing or other items to dry.

[0003] These drying racks comprising two arms protruding horizontally, usually constructed of metal or plastic, are attached to rails by means of suitable coupling devices.

[0004] These drying racks are removable and very often have stability problems since they are not always properly secured to the rail.

[0005] In addition, the weight of wet laundry can lead to the breakage or the falling of the drying rack.

[0006] These conventional drying racks also have fixed sizes and are not adjustable.

[0007] Shutters or roller shutters for the protection of windows are well known. These types of fixtures have the purpose of not allowing light to pass through and to prevent rain or wind from damaging the windows in which they are positioned. In addition, these shutters are designed to prevent third parties, such as robbers, from entering people's homes through the windows.

[0008] These shutters are preferably made of wood, metal or PVC.

[0009] There are also special types of so-called roller shutters, consisting of slats and profiles preferably made of metal, such as aluminum alloy, steel, etc., or plastic or wood.

[0010] These roller shutters are raised with a mechanism to roll them up around an upper axis, called a roller, located in a box housed in the wall. The roller shutter, is thus wrapped around said axis to form a cylinder in the box.

[0011] The shutter slats slide up and down on lateral guides, preferably galvanized metal set in the wall or fixed internally to the window jambs.

[0012] These guides, made with a metal profile, are normally set into the wall, but can also be external to the jambs with a frontal tilting mechanism.

[0013] In order to eliminate the instability of the drying rack and prevent it from detaching from or falling off the rail, a new clothes drying rack has been designed preferably made of metal material and applicable on the metal guides opposite the roller shutters of the windows.

[0014] This new drying rack comprises at least two opposite symmetrical elements, each comprising at least one wire holding shelf hinged to a perpendicular "C" shaped seat or support integral with an upright which is suited to be inserted in opposing guides of the roller shutter and wherein two horizontal rods are fixed perpendicular to that upright, each suited to be fixed to the corresponding horizontal telescopic rod integral with the other symmetrical element, which also has a wire holding shelf, "C" shaped support, and upright suited to be inserted in the opposite guide of the roller shutter.

[0015] The telescopic sliding mechanism that is created enables the rack to be adapted to any size window of this type, and is further reinforced by a second telescopic system mounted on the front end of the drying rack so as to prevent the wire holding shelves from folding inward if overloaded with excessively wet and heavy clothes.

[0016] These horizontal shelves are joined to the corresponding uprights by means of the "C" shaped seat or support.

[0017] The single element formed by the upright and "C" shaped support is assembled on the wire holding shelves by means of a threaded pin. The hinge mechanism that is created enables the movement of the two shelves towards the outside that at the end of the 90° rotation causes them to be substantially parallel to and opposite from each other. At the end of the rotation the two shelves will be locked in the working position by a pin that passes through each element two times. The pin can be manually inserted into the holes as soon as the elements are aligned in the working position.

[0018] Moreover, these shelves feature a series of slotted holes through which one or more wires to hang clothes are passed.

[0019] In addition, the two horizontal rods preferably comprise a "double C" telescopic profile so as to be inserted one inside the other. In this way it is possible to adjust, according to the width of the window, the distance between the uprights which are inserted in the guides. These sliding rods can then be secured with a manual locking device.

[0020] This drying rack is then inserted in the window in a stable manner and can remain in position even when the roller shutter is lowered until it touches the uprights.

[0021] In fact, when the roller shutter is lowered it rests on the upper horizontal rod or on the uprights.

[0022] One purpose of the present invention is to use the windows, and thus the space outside the dwelling to hang clothes without taking up useful space inside the house.

[0023] Another purpose of the invention is to create a variable width drying rack that can be used for any type and size of window equipped with a roller shutter or possibly a traditional shutter with the aid of specific accessories.

[0024] Another purpose is to enable the user to lean out the window safely to hang laundry to dry.

[0025] In addition, this drying rack is an additional safety tool for children since the horizontal rods form a barrier against falls by increasing the safety level of the window by 20 cm.

[0026] To properly illustrate the operation of this drying rack the following drawings are attached.

[0027] Figure 1 shows the new drying rack (a) composed of two symmetrical elements one right and one left (bs, bd), each comprising an upright (cd, cs) and a "C" shaped support (ss, sd) on which a wire holding shelf (md, ms) is assembled.

[0028] Figures 2, 3 and 4 show the drying rack in three views, front, side and top.

[0029] Each shelf (md, ms) is integral with an upright (cd, cs) which is suited to be inserted in the corresponding guides of roller shutters.

[0030] Orthogonal to each of these uprights (cd, cs) there is at least one or preferably two fixed horizontal rods (ad, as).

[0031] The horizontal rods (ad, as) of the two opposing symmetrical elements (bd, bs) can be fastened to each other and are mutually slidable in a telescopic manner, in order to vary the distance between the uprights (cd, cs), that is, the overall width of the drying rack, according to the size of the window on which the drying rack itself is to be installed. These rods (ad, as) comprise at least one constraining device (k) to lock the sliding of the rods (ad, as) themselves in the desired position.

[0032] The shelves (md, ms) are equipped with a system of contrasting slotted holes or slots (f) in corresponding positions on the shelves (md, ms), regularly spaced from each other, through which a washable wire is passed (i) to hang laundry. The shelves (md and ms) are equipped with holes for the passage of at least one pin (t) to lock the shelves (md, ms) in the working position with respect to the relative C-shaped support (sd, ss).

[0033] The drying rack is preferably equipped with an additional telescopic rod (h) located on the outer front suited to prevent the deformation of the rack by maintaining the two horizontal shelves (md, ms) parallel and preventing them from collapsing inwards under the pressure of wet laundry.

[0034] Each upright (ms, md) can also have a second thinner upright (zd, zs) attached to it to be inserted in narrower guides.

[0035] When closing the shutter, the user must lower the shutter down to the point that the roller shutter rests on the first rod. In this way the user does not have to remove the clothes rack from the window everyday and can use the drying rack and roller shutter simultaneously.

[0036] The system described enables the clothes rack to be fixed to the window in a stable manner.

[0037] This new drying rack allows clothing to be hung safely because while hanging the laundry the user is protected from a fall by the barrier formed by the horizontal rods.

[0038] The new drying rack may also comprise a flat filling wall at the level of the horizontal rods (ad, as).

[0039] Therefore, with reference to the preceding description and the attached diagrams the following claims are made.

Claims

1. Clothes drying rack, characterized in that it comprises two symmetrical elements (bs, bd), each one comprising at least one wire holding shelf (md, ms) assembled on an upright (cd, cs), and wherein one or preferably at least two horizontal rods (ad, as) are fixed at right angles to said upright (cd, cs), each one of said horizontal rods being suited to be fixed to the corresponding horizontal rods (as, ad) integral with the other opposing symmetrical element (bs, bd), and wherein said uprights (cs, cd) are suited to be inserted in the opposing guides of a roller shutter.

2. Clothes drying rack according to claim 1, characterized in that said shelves (md, ms) are provided with slotted holes or slots (f) for the insertion of one or more washable wires (i) suited to support clothing items.

3. Clothes drying rack according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that each one of said uprights (cd, cs) comprises a C-shaped seat or support (sd, ss) on which said shelf (md, ms) is assembled, and wherein said shelf (md, ms) can be rotated with respect to said uprights (cd, cs) from a closed position, rotated towards the inside, in which it is substantially parallel to said horizontal axes (as, ad), to a working position, substantially rotated 90° towards the outside, in which it is substantially orthogonal to said horizontal rods (ad, as).

4. Clothes drying rack according to the preceding claim, characterized in that each shelf (md, ms) is constrained to the corresponding support (sd, ss) through at least one preferably threaded pin (t) suited to lock said shelf (md, ms) in the desired position.

5. Clothes drying rack according to claims 1 or 2 or 3 or 4, characterized in that said horizontal rods (ad, as), orthogonal to the corresponding upright, comprise at least one hollow profile into which the other opposite profile fits, so as to obtain a telescopic device with a constraining device (k) that is adjustable according to the distance between the guides of the roller shutter.

6. Clothes drying rack according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises a telescopic rod (h) provided with locking devices and placed in proximity to the outer end of the shelves.

7. Clothes drying rack according to the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises a flat filling wall at the level of said horizontal rods (ad, as).

8. Clothes drying rack according to the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises second uprights (zs, zd) that are thinner than said first uprights (ms, md) and suited to be applied to the latter in the presence of narrower guides.

Drawing