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(11) | EP 1 371 772 A1 |
| (12) | EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION |
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| (54) | Laundry holding apparatus |
| (57) The present application refers to a laundry holding apparatus comprising a holding
body (2) and at least a support member (5,6), the holding body (2) being provided
with hook-on means (4) adapted to enable said body (2) to be hung on said support
member (5,6). |
[0002] Usually, soiled clothes intended for washing are collected in containers of various kinds, and are kept there up to the moment in which they are washed. In most cases, these containers consists of simple baskets made in a wide variety of forms and of a wide variety of materials, and provided with opening and closing means, such for example lids or the like, and possibly even handles or grips for transporting them. Some of these baskets include trestles, or similar stands, generally consisting of folding legs adapted to be coupled in a removable manner to the lower or bottom side of the basket, to ensure adequate support of the baskets themselves during laundry loading and unloading operations.
[0003] A main object of the present invention is to provide a laundry holding apparatus which is more convenient in use and takes up less space as compared with apparatuses of the same kind of the above-cited prior art.
[0004] Within the above-cited general object, it therefore is a purpose of the present invention to provide a laundry-holding apparatus which is more versatile and convenient to use.
[0005] Another purpose of the present invention is to provide an apparatus of the above-cited kind, which is simple to manufacture at clearly competitive costs.
[0006] According to the present invention, these aims, along with further ones that will be apparent in the following description, are reached in a laundry-holding apparatus incorporating the characteristics as recited in the appended Claim 1.
[0007] Further features and advantages of the present invention will be more readily understood from the description of the laundry-holding apparatus of the invention that is given below by way of non-limiting example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a laundry-holding apparatus according to the present invention, which is shown in a condition in which it is being hung on a fixed support;
- Figure 2 is a perspective view of the laundry-holding apparatus according to the present invention, which is shown in a condition in which it is hung on the fixed support;
- Figure 3 is a perspective view of a laundry-holding apparatus according to the present invention, which is shown in a condition in which it is being hung on a movable support;
- Figure 4 is a perspective rear view of the laundry-holding apparatus according to the present invention, which is shown in a condition in which it is hung on the movable support;
- Figure 5 is a perspective front view of a laundry-holding apparatus according to the present invention, showing the slip-through loop engaging the movable support.
[0008] With reference to the above-mentioned Figures, the reference numeral 1 is used there to generally indicate the laundry-holding apparatus according to the present invention, which can be noticed to comprise a holding body 2 with a closing/opening flap 3.
[0009] According to the invention, the apparatus 1 defines hook-on means 4 that enable the holding body 2 thereof to be attached to fixed supports 5 and movable supports 6, as this shall be described in greater detail further on.
[0010] The holding body 2 is constituted by a sort of bag provided with rigid sides 7, capable of collecting and holding the laundry that is going to be washed at a later time. The lap 3 enables access to be gained into the holding body 2 whenever this is required or needed, as well as the same holding body 2 to be closed again, thanks to the provision of fastening means consisting of Velcro® strips, not shown in the Figure.
[0011] Most advantageously, the holding body 2 features a free border 8, which is provided substantially on an extension of the rear portion of the flap 3, in correspondence of the zone along which said flap 3 joins with the holding body 2. Said free border 8 is such as to overlap an outer upper portion 9 of said holding body 2.
[0012] The hook-on means 4 comprise said free border 8, as well as fastening means 10, which are applied on said upper portion 9 of the holding body 2 and said free border 8, respectively, so as illustrated in Figure 1.
[0013] Said fastening means, which may for example be of the nipple-type, enable the free border 8 to be mutually and reversibly associated with the upper portion 9 of the holding body 2, so as to substantially form a kind of loop. Such a loop is adapted to hook on a support member 5, which may for example be constituted by a bracket attached horizontally on to a wall, of the type that is usually employed as a towel-hanger, as this is best illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, in such a manner as to secure the apparatus 1 in a laterally stable suspended condition on to the support member 5. Thus, in order to release the holding body 2 from the support member 5, all it takes is to disengage the free border 8 from the upper portion 9 by correspondingly acting on the related fastening means 10.
[0014] In an advantageous manner, on the flap 3 there is provided a gripping member 11, which is a handgrip in the example being described, enabling the fastening and releasing operations to be carried out conveniently.
[0015] The apparatus according to the present invention may be hooked on to movable support members 6, such as the ones that are shown in Figures 3, 4 and 5. These kinds of support members are formed by a first profile section 12 and a second profile section 13, the latter being smaller in height than the first one. Both profile sections are associated vertically to a base member 14 in a mutually facing position, much in the same way as for similar members largely used as towel-horse stands. Each one of said two profile sections 12 and 13 defines two substantially vertical rods and a horizontal cross-bar on top. The rods of the two profile sections 12, 13 are arcuated outwardly so as to define, between said two profile sections, a zone in which to accommodate the holding body 2 as the latter is inserted therein from above by the user, as illustrated in Figure 5. The apparatus 1 is capable of being hooked on reversibly to such a movable support 6. This hooking on is carried out by inserting the holding body 2 from above between the two profile sections 12 and 13, in such a manner as to ensure that the upper portion of the first profile section 12 gets inserted, and thereby engaged, between the free border 8 and the upper portion 9 of the holding body, which will have been associated to each other with the help of the afore-mentioned fastening means 10.
[0016] The first profile section 12 in fact has, in correspondence of the upper portion thereof, such a horizontal dimension as to be able to freely slide between said fastening means 10 when the holding body 2 is being hooked on thereto.
[0017] The holding body 2 is provided, on the lower portion thereof, and on the opposite side with respect to the side on which there are provided the hook-on means 4, with a slip-through loop 15 which, when the holding body 2 is being hooked on, enables the upper portion of the second profile section 13 to slip therethrough, so as illustrated in Figure 3, in such a manner as to limit the ability of the holding body 2 to displace laterally when it is so suspended on the first profile section 12, as well as to make it more convenient for the dirty clothes to be filled into the holding apparatus 1.
[0018] Fully apparent from the above description is therefore the ability of the invention to effectively reach the afore-cited aims and advantages by providing an extremely convenient, practical and versatile laundry holding apparatus.
[0019] It will be appreciated that the materials used to manufacture the apparatus of the present invention, as well as the shapes and the sizing of the individual component parts thereof, may each time be selected so as to more appropriately meet the particular requirements or suit the particular application.
1. Laundry holding apparatus (1) comprising a holding body (2) and at least a support
member (5, 6), characterized in that said holding body (2) is provided with hook-on means (4) adapted to enable said body
(2) to be attached in a suspended condition on said at least a support member (5,
6).
2. Laundry holding apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that said holding body (2) comprises a free border (8), which is provided on an extension
of a flap (3) for opening and closing said holding body (2), in correspondence of
the zone along which said flap (3) joins with said holding body (2), said free border
(8) being such as to overlap an outer upper portion (9) of said holding body (2).
3. Laundry holding apparatus (1) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said hook-on means (4) comprise said free border (8), as well as fastening means
(10) provided on said upper portion (9) of said holding body (2) and said free border
(8), respectively.
4. Laundry holding apparatus (1) according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said fastening means (10) enable said free border (8) to be mutually and reversibly
associated with said upper portion (9) of said holding body (2), so as to substantially
form a loop, said loop being adapted to hook on said at least a support member (5)
attached to the wall, in such a manner as to secure said apparatus (1) in a laterally
stable suspended condition on to said support member (5).
5. Laundry holding apparatus (1) according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said holding body (2) comprises a gripping member (11) adapted to enable said apparatus
(1) to be carried about.
6. Laundry holding apparatus (1) according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is able to be hooked on movable support members (6) formed by at least two profile
sections (12, 13) that are associated vertically to a base member (14) in a mutually
facing position, in such a manner as to define, between said profile sections (12,
13), a zone in which to accommodate said holding body (2) as it is inserted by a user
from above.
7. Laundry holding apparatus (1) according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that, in said phase when the holding body (2) is inserted from above between said two
profile sections (12 and 13), an upper portion of one of said two profile sections
(12, 13) gets inserted, and thereby engaged, between said free border (8) and said
upper portion (9) that are mutually associated with the help of said fastening means
(10), thereby ensuring the attachment of said holding body in a suspended condition.
8. Laundry holding apparatus (1) according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said holding body (2) is provided with a slip-through loop (15) which, when the holding
body (2) is being hooked on, enables the upper portion of the other of said two profile
sections (12, 13) to slip therethrough, so as to limit the ability of the holding
body (2) to displace laterally when it is so suspended on said one of said two profile
sections (12, 13).
9. Laundry holding apparatus (1), substantially as described and/or illustrated with
reference to the accompanying drawings.