GB2168603A

GB2168603A - Waterproof cover for rotary clothes-lines

Info

Publication number: GB2168603A
Application number: GB08432591A
Authority: GB
Inventors: June Carr
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1984-12-22
Filing date: 1984-12-22
Publication date: 1986-06-25
Also published as: GB8432591D0

Abstract

A removable cover for a rotary clothes-drying unit comprises a top sheet 14, sized and shaped to overlie the opened-out arms 12 and lines 13 of the unit in use, a plurality of side sheets 15, each depending, in use, from a respective edge region of the top sheet 14; there being provided means T to secure the top sheet to the clothes-drying unit in a readily releasable manner; with further means T to secure the depending side sheets 15 to one another along their respective adjacent hanging edges in a readily releasable manner; all the sheets 14, 15 exhibiting a water repellant outer surface in use; at least the side sheets 15 being made of an inherently readily flexible material; and with a ventilation aperture 16 formed in the central region of the top sheet 14. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Waterproof cover for rotary washing lines Field of the Invention The invention relates to a waterproof cover which is sized -and shaped to fit over a conventional rotary domestic clothes-drying washing line and which is intended to be readily useable and removable, easily stored when not in use, and relatively cheap to manufacture- and sell.

Review of Art known to the Applicant Three-armed or four-armed rotary clothesdrying domestic washing lines are well known and have become an increasingly common feature in recent years, very often largely replacing the more traditional single clothes-drying line strung between one wall of a building and a post rising from the ground. Conventionally such rotary clothes-drying lines comprise a single central post, rising from the ground (in use) and with three or four arms radiating (usually) upwardly and outwardly from the central post. A series of plasticscovered lines-is strung between the three or four arms of such a unit, and the lines conventionally run parallel to one another.Such units enable a relatively large amount of clothing or other domestic washing to be carried, the arms rotate in use about the central post under the action of any wind which happens to be present, and when not in use the arms can invarlably be collapsed against the central post so that the unit occupies the minimum of space in the back garden or other point of use.

A drawback with such units, as with all outside clothes-drying apparatus, is their susceptibility to changes in the weather. If it rains, the washing carried on the unit is unprotected and will get wet.

It is known to provide for use with such a unit; a cover in the form of an umbrella or parasol whose stem fits into the top of the central post of the clothes-drying unit, the envelope of the umbrella or parasol being sufficiently large to overlie the clothes-drying arms and lines. This however functions primarily as a shade. It may give a certain amount of protection against rain, but it does nothing to protect rain blown onto the washing from the sides.

Summary of the Invention In accordance with the invention, a removable cover for a rotary clothes-drying unit comprises a top sheet, sized and shaped to overlie the opened-out arms and lines of the unit in use; a plurality of side sheets each depending, in use, from a respective edge region of the top sheet; there being provided means to secure the edge regions of the top sheet to the arms and/or lines of the clothes-drying unit in use in a readily releasable manner; with further means to secure the depending side sheets to one another along their respective adjacent hanging edges in a readily releasable manner; all the sheets exhibiting a water-repellent outer surface in use; at least the side sheets being made of an inherently readily flexible material; and with a ventilation aperture formed in the central region of the top.

sheet.

Such a cover, in use, protects the clothes or other washing hanging on the lines of the unit. Whilst it is not intended'to be fixed to the unit throughout the whole of the time the clothes are drying, because it will of course invariably restrict the air circulation and hence the drying efficiency, it does provide a readily used and equally readily removed means of protecting the contents of the unit temporarily whilst, for example, a housewife wishes to leave the unit unattended and go shopping without having to bring the washing indoors.

The provision of the ventilation aperture ensures that the well known tendency for condensation to form on the inside surfaces of, for example, waterproof clear plastics sheeting, is minimised. Without the ventilation aperture, condensation would easily form and the cover might well do more harm than good.

Because the side sheets are initially not secured to one another along respectively adjacent edges, the cover can easily be folded and stored. A cover which was wholly preshaped into a generally cylindrical funnel, open at one end, could more quickly be slipped over the clothes-drying unit but would be more difficult to fold and store as well as being more difficult to carry indoors and out of doors when being used.

Preferably, in practical embodiments, the top sheet as well as the side sheets is made from a readily flexible waterproof sheeting. One suitable sheeting would be that sold under the trade mark POLYTHENE as a clear or tinted plastics sheeting. Such sheeting is readily available, its properties are well known, and the sheets can easily be heat-seamed or otherwise joined together to give a lightweight but effective cover.

Preferably the side sheets are of sufficiently heavy grade material to require substantially no reinforcement. They could for example comprise scrim-reinforced plastics sheeting, so that any tearing in the sheet would be contained within the boundary defined by the adjacent textile scrim threads and could be easily patched or otherwise repaired. A relatively heavy weight of sheeting will also tend to hang straight and, if blown by the wind, will tend not to be blown into the washing which it surrounds. This will maintain an airflow between the cover and the washing and will assist in the drying function.

The readily removable means securing the sheet edges to one another and/or securing them to the arms or lines of the unit in use, may comprise tapes. These are cheap, easily used by everyone, and durable.

Alternatively or additionally such means may comprise clips already secured to the sheeting. These have the advantage that the user need not reach under the sheeting to tie them but can simply press-fit the clips into place from outside the sheeting.

Brief Description of the Drawings The accompanying drawings show embodiments of the invention.

These are only examples of forms which the invention might take within its broadest aspect, but they are currently the best ways known to the applicant of putting the invention into practice. In these drawings: Figures 1 and 2 show respective embodiments of the invention in perspective; and Figure 3 shows the embodiment of Figure 1 viewed in plan and in an opened-out condition prior to use or storage, Description of the Preferred Embodiments In Figure 1 a conventional rotary clothesdrying multiple-line unit comprises a vertical post 11 rising from the ground and with three arms 12 radiating upwardly and outwardly from the top of the post 11. A succession of flexible plasticscovered washing lines 13 is strung between the arms of the unit in known manner. For clarity, the lines 1-3 are indicated only diagrammatically in the drawings.

A waterproof cover comprises a top sheet 14 with respective side sheets 15 hanging from it, The top sheet 14 is triangular when viewed In plan and it has three sheets hanging from it, one heat-welded along each of the three sides of the triangular top sheet 14. All the sheets are made of a relatively heavygrade but nevertheless inherently readily flexible plastics material which can be clear or tinted and which may be scrim-reinforced in certain embodiments.

In use, as shown. in Figure 1, the top sheet 14 is thrown over the top of the rotary clothes-drying unit 11, 12, 13 and is so sized and shaped that it overlies the unit and fits closely, but not too closely, over the outermost ones of the arms 13. The side sheets 15 then hang vertically down. As shown, the side sheets 15 reach a good way down towards the ground from which the post 11 rises, but they do not reach all the way down to the ground in use.

Tapes 'T' are stitched or otherwise secured in succession at points along the inner side edges of the top sheet 14 and along the edges of the side sheets. 15 which, in use, hang vertically. The tapes along the inside edges of top sheet 14 are tied loosely around the outermost lines 13 of the rotary clothesdrying unit to secure the top sheet, and hence the cover as a whole, to the unit and to stop it from blowing off the unit if the wind rises.

The tapes along the vertically hanging edges of side sheets 15 are tied to one another to hold the side sheets together.

There is a circular aperture 16 of relatively substantial size formed in the central region of the top sheet 14. This maintains a throughflow of air around the clothing or other items of washing which are drying on the lines 13.

It also acts as a drain for rainwater from the top sheet 14. The rim of the aperture, 16 may be seamed or lipped, preferably with the lip pointing inwards (i.e. towards the ground).

To remove the cover of Figure 1 from the rotary unit, the tapes 'T' are all unfastened and the cover can then be opened out as illustrated in Figure 3 and either left, for any condensation to dry off, or alternatively folded for easy storage until next used.

In Figure 2 another embodiment is illustrated, for use with a four-armed drier whose arms radiate outwardly but downwardly from the central post 11 of the unit. This second embodiment is numbered correspondingly to the reference numbers used when describing the embodiment of Figures 1 and 3. It is used in the same way as the Figures 1 and 3 embodiment.

Instead of being tied together by tapes, the adjacent edges of sheets 15 could be pressstudded together. U-shaped snap-fitting plastics clips, heat-welded or otherwise secured to the inside edges of top sheet 14, could replace tapes 'T' in either of the illustrated embodiments but particularly in the Figure 2 embodiment where four individual top sheets 14 are secured to the arms 12 rather than to the lines 13 of the rotary clothes-drying unit.

To assist them in hanging straight, and not blowing into the washing, in use, the side sheets may be seamed so as to run two or more thicknesses of material along their respective bottom edges. The weight of the extra material will then pull the sheets straight as they hang.

Alternatively or additionally, the side sheet bottom edges may incorporate weighting, for example a succession of lead or heavy plastics discs sewn along the bottom edge of each sheet, or a continuous lead or heavy plastics strip carried inside a seam running along the sheet bottom edge.

Claims

1. A removable cover for a rotary clothesdrying unit comprising a top sheet, sized and shaped to overlie the opened-out arms and lines of the unit in use; a plurality of side sheets, each depending in use, from a respective edge region of the top sheet; there being means provided to secure the top sheet to the clothes drying unit in a readily releasable manner; with further means to secure the depending side sheets to one another along# their respective adjacent hanging edges in a readily releasable manner; all the sheets exhibiting a water-repellant outer surface in use; at least the side sheets being made of an inherently readily flexible material; and with a ventilation opening formed in the central region of the top sheet.

2. A cover according to Claim 1, in which the top sheet is made of an inherently readily flexible material.

3. A cover according to Claim 2, in which the means to secure the top sheet to the clothes-drying unit comprises means to secure the edge regions of the top sheet to the arms and/or lines of the clothes-drying unit in use.

4. A cover according to any one of the preceding Claims, which is made of a heat seamable material.

5. A cover according to any one of the preceding Claims, in which, the side sheets are of sufficiently heavy grade material to require substantially no reinforcement.

6. A cover according to any one of the preceding Claims in which the side sheets are seamed to as to run two or more thicknesses of material along their respective bottom edges.

7..-- A cover according to any one oi the preceding Claims, in which the bottom edges of the side sheets incorporate weighting.

8. A cover according to any one of the preceding Claims in which the means to secure the top sheet to the clothes drying unit in a readily releasable manner comprise clips already secured to the sheet.

9. A removable cover for a rotary clothesdrying unit arranged substantially as herein described with reference to Figures 1 and 3 of the drawings.

10. A removable cover for a rotary clothesdrying unit arranged substantially as herein described with reference to Figures 1 and 3, when modified in accordance with Figure 2 of the drawings.

CLAIMS New claims or amendments to claims filed on 15 April 1985 Superseded claims 1 New or amended claims:

1. A- removable cover for a rotary clothesdrying unit comprising a top sheet, sized and shaped to overlie the opened-out arms and lines of the unit in use; a plurality of side sheets, each depending in use, from a respective edge region of the top sheet, the length of each side sheet being at least 60% of the length of the adjacent side of the top sheet; there being means provided to secure the top sheet to the clothes drying unit in a readily releasable manner; with tapes or studs at one or more points between the top and the bottom of the side sheets to secure the depending side sheets to one another along their respective adjacent hanging edges in a readily releasable manner; all the sheets exhibiting a water-repellant outer surface in use; at least the side sheets being made of an inherently readily flexible material; and with a ventilation opening formed in the central region of the top sheet.