Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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DISPOSABLE ATTACHMENT FOR
PORTABLE HAIR DRYERS FOR DRYING
DELICATE ITEMS OF WEARING APPAREL
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to
attachments for por~able hair dryers for drying other
than hair, and specifically to a flexible, inflatable
attachment into which can be placed delicate items of
apparel, which can then be attached to a portable hair
dryer for directing heated air through and around these
apparel items for the purpose of drying them ln a short
time.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Travelers, especially women, who spend extend0d
periods staying in hotels and motels that seldom have
laundry facilities, nevertheless find it desirable each
evening to wash delicate items o clothing such as
stoakings~ pantyhose, lingerie and the like. The main
concern of such travelers is that these garments be dry
when travel is resum~d. Since there are seldom drying
facilities available, various subterfuges are resorted
to, such as blowin~ the hot air from a hair dryer onto
and through the garments as they are stretched out on
the shower rod, blotking up most of the unwanted
moisture between Turkish towels, hanging the garments
in a doorway or in front of a window, or the like
eforts. ~s anyone knows who has traveled extensively,
; ` 30 none of these ef~orts is completely satisfactory.
Although no one has apparently invented such a
de~ice prior to the present invention, various efforts
have been made to~evelop~satisfactory drying devices
for~other purposes~, using~the heated air ~rom personal
hair dryers or the~like. Waters et al, U.S. Patent
3,727,321 discloses an appliance with its own enclosed
heater~and blower,~for~drying~wet hair. It includes a
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flexible manifold containing the blower and dryer for
circulating heated air through ducts in the manifold
which direct the air onto and through the hair.
Baslow U.S. Patent 4,094,076 discloses a fixture
to be attached to a portable hair dryer for directing
heated air therefrom for the purpose of drying towels
and other fabric articles draped over a perforated rod,
through which the heated air is forced and from which
the heated air passes through the fabric articles.
~ibino et al U.S. Patent 4,151,658 discloses a
portable air heater and blower which is connected to an
inflatable but porous bag which is placed between damp
bed linens, for the purpose of drying said linens.
Sweetland U.S. Patent 2,122,964 discloses a dryer
for blowing heated air over a medical cas~ newly molded
onto a broken or otherwise injured body member.
Finally, Yamac U.S. Patent 4,524,263 discloses a
trave]. iron which is heated by the hot air from a hair
dryer temporarily attached thereto.
None of the foregoing disclosures reveals or
suggests a perforated inflatable collapsible pouch
attached to an air heater and blower, into which pouch
or bay is placed delicate .items of wearing apparel, for
the purpose o.~ drying said items by the heated air from
the blower.
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BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
The present invention is an apparatus and method
fo.r drying damp items of apparel which includes a novel
inflatable bag or pouch having a closed end into which
are placed damp items of delicate wearing apparel such
as stockings, pantyhose, lingerie and he like. The
bag has an open end or mouth that is placed over the
nozzle o~ an air heater and blower, such as a personal ~ -
hair dryer or~the electric hand dryers sometimes found
in public restrooms, and in hotel and motel rooms,
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whereupon a s~ream of heated air inflates ~he pouch and
is forced into and through the damp apparel, drying i~.
The bag ha~ a plurality of perforations in the clo~ed
end portion to permit heated air to pass through the
damp apparel, ra~her than ju~t blow over the surface.
Optionally, it can have a clo able opening in the end
distant from the blower nozzle. The opening size of
the open end can be adjustable, to con~rol the amo~nt
of air flowing over and through the damp apparel. In
the preferxed embodiment o the invention, a portion of
~he circumference o ~he mouth of the pouch 1s cemented
or adhered to a portion o~ the external surface d the
nozzle of the hair dryer. The material of the bag i5
fabricated preferably of a heat resistant material
which will inflate when the air from the dryer i~
forced through it. It can be of plastic or a ~ynthetic
or natural mash or any other sultable material, such a~
a heat-resistant MYL ~ film.
B~I~F DESCRIP~ION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 iq an isometric view of the invention in
use, placed over the nozzle of a personal hair dryer.
FIG. 2 iq an isometric view of the inflatable
pouch o~ the inve~tion.
FIG. 3 is an enlaxged view of one method of
; attaching the invention to a representative hair dryer.
FIG~ 4 i9 an enlarged v~ew of the preferred method
of attaching the embodiment of the invention to a
represen~ative hair dryer.
FIG. S i8 an improved versio~ of the embodiment of
Fig. 4.
FIG. 6 is cross-sectional view of the bag mouth
and nozzle taken along lines 6-6 in FIG. 5.
FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the bag of FIG. 5.
FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the end
portion taken along lines 8-8 in FIG. 7.
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
FIG. 1 discloses one embodiment of the invention
10, including an inflatable bag 12, with loops 14
attached to the mouth 24 thereof for fastening the bag
temporarily to a nozzle of a personal hair dryer or
~ other source of heated blown air 16. Damp items of
; delicate apparel 18 are inserted into an end portion of
the bag 12 remote from the mouth 24, where heated air
from the dryer 16 is forced therethrough and over them,
evaporating the moisture therefrom and expelling it
through opening 20, small openings or perfora~ions 22,
and mouth opening 24. The opening 20 can have an
adjustment means 26, e.g., rubber bands of different
appropriate sizes or diameters, or an adjustable O-
ring, to vary the size of the opening 20, so that
adjustment can be made to accommodate for the relative
sizes of the bag mouth 24 and the blower nozzle, and
for different aapacity blowers. Openings 22 are small
relative to the size o the clothing and are uniformly
spaced around the end portion of the bag so that air
can pass through as well as around the clothes. The
number, size and spacing of openings 22 is determined
by the volume of air to be passed therethrough, which
in turn is determined b~ the size of the bag 12 and the
~uantity of items to be dried therein. The ratio of
the size of the mouth 24 of the bag to the size of ~he
blower nozzle will determine how much air escapes
through the opening 24. This also can be compensated
for by adjustment means 26.
The ties 14 can be long enough~to accommodate
diferent sizes an;d configurations of personal hair
dryers. Another mode of use would be to fasten the bag
; 12 over the nozzle of the hot air blowers to be found
in many public washrooms and in some hotel and motel
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rooms. Thus, travelers who did not happen to have a
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personal hair dryer with them could stlll make use of
the present invention in some circumstances.
The material o the pouch could be the
aforementioned MY~AR~or other flexible film material
that i8 perforated to form openings 22, or a me~h bag
of ~uitable materialO ~he primary con~ideration i8
that it not be flammable or deformable from the
temperature of the heated air from the blower.
The fa~tening means 14 could simply be flexible
ties which can be tied around the handle or other
convenient part of the ~ryer a~ shown, or they could
have plastic or metal snaps in the ends thereof.
In the pr~ferred embodiment shown in FIGS. 4-8,
the ties 14 are replaced by an adhesive material 31
applied to a portion o~ the circumference of the mouth
24 of the pouch 12, which would stick to a portion 30
of the outside of the mouth of the nozzle of the source
16 of heated air. This adhesive material 31 can be
covered by a peel-o~f covering 32 to prevent it from
adhering to inappropriate sur~aces until it is desired
to use the pouch 12 in acaordance with the disalosure
~ herein. The adhesive material should be of a type
; which does not become permanent with heat, or change
siyni~icantly during the time it is u~ed for the
purposes described.
As shown in FIGS~ 5-8, the preferred form of bag
lOA is tubular, formed by a narrow elongate sheet of
polymeric film folded about~midway between lt~ end~ and
interconnected along two ~used edge seams 36J The ends
remain unconnect~ed to foxm the mou~h opening 24 of t~e
bag and ~he fold forms the closed end. As 3hown ~n
FI~S. 5 and 7,~ the ends of the polymerlc strip are
slightly offset lengthwise SQ that the mouth of the bag
includes a tab 34 formed in~one half of the bag and
~ 35 thereby extending halfway around the circumference of
-` the bag. The adhesive~strip i~ applied widthwi~ o~
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this tab and covered with a peel-off covering strip as
described above. The end portion of the bag opposite
the mouth is perforated by 3/8 to 3/4 inch slits
oriented lengthwise and arranged in regular widthwise
rows to form openings 22. As shown in FIG. 8, one row
of slits extend across the closed end of the bag.
Optionally, the slits can be formed in the polymeric
strip before forming the bag.
The invention as shown and described would be
extremely economical to fahricate and manufacture, so
much so that it would make a very attractive give-away
item for hotels, motels, and other organizations
involvecl in the travel industry. Small packages of
them could be sold at low cost in stores for the
convenience of travelers.
The terms ancl expressions which have been employed
in the foregoing specifications are used therein as
terms of description, and not as terms of limitation,
and there is no intention, in the use of such terms and
expressions, of excluding equivalents of the features
shown and described, or portions thereof, it being
reaognized that the scope of the invention is defined
and limited only by the claims which follow.
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