Three dimensionally clothing drying machine and button crack prevention tool used therefor

Abstract

To prevent buttons from being broken or damaged by hitting against an inner wall surface of a passage when clothing is oscillated by hot air and the like during a drying and finishing operation by a three dimensionally clothing drying machine.SOLUTION: The invention is a three dimensionally clothing drying machine 1 to dry and finish clothing 2 as laundry with a hot air by hanging the clothing 2 on a hanger 3 and transporting the clothing in a tunnel-like passage 1a. A button crack prevention tool for preventing a button 2a from being broken by hitting against an inner wall surface of the passage 1a due to the hot air is provided at a section of the passage 1a corresponding to a step for drying and finishing the clothing 2 by hot air.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a three-dimensional clothes dryer in which laundry is hung on hangers and transported through a tunnel-shaped passageway to finish drying with hot air, and more particularly to a three-dimensional clothes dryer designed to prevent buttons on clothes from being damaged or broken by hitting the inner wall of the passageway, and a button crack prevention device used therein. [Background technology]

[0002] A known conventional three-dimensional clothes dryer is described, for example, in Patent Document 1. In this conventional machine, clothes are hung on hangers, and the hangers are hung on a chain conveyor while passing through a tunnel-like passage, and steam is blown onto the clothes as the hangers move through the passage, so that after the clothes are steamed by the steam, hot air is blown onto them to finish drying them.

[0003] When hot air is blown onto the clothes in this type of three-dimensional clothes dryer, the clothes hang up and sway back and forth in a large wave-like motion. Therefore, in this type of dryer, the clothes are transported while being strongly hit against the inner wall of the tunnel-shaped passage.

[0004] As a result, in the past, when clothes with buttons were dried in this type of dryer, there was a problem that the buttons were likely to be damaged or broken by hitting the inner wall surface of the tunnel-shaped passage. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 6-75395 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] The present invention has been proposed in view of the above problems in the prior art. Therefore, the technical problem to be solved by this invention is to provide a three-dimensional clothes dryer and a button crack prevention tool for use therewith which are designed to prevent buttons from being damaged or broken when the clothes are shaken by hot air or the like and hit the inner wall surface of the passage hard when finishing drying clothes in the three-dimensional clothes dryer, and which are designed to eliminate the time, effort and expense required for replacing buttons. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention employs the following technical means. That is, as shown in FIG. 1 etc., the present invention relates to a three-dimensional clothes dryer 1 in which laundry items (clothes 2) are hung on hangers 3 and transported through a tunnel-shaped passage 1a to finish drying with hot air, and is characterized in that a button crack prevention device 4 is provided at the location of passage 1a corresponding to the process of finishing drying the clothes 2 with hot air, for preventing the clothes 2 from hitting the inner wall surface of passage 1a due to the hot air and damaging the buttons 2a.

[0008] In this case, it is preferable that the present invention provides mounting points 5 for the button cracking prevention device 4 on the entrance and exit sides of the passage 1a, and that mounting means 4a for mounting the button cracking prevention device 4 to these mounting points 5 are provided on both sides of the button cracking prevention device 4.

[0009] This is because, according to this, the operation of attaching the button cracking prevention device 4 to the garment 2 in the narrow passage 1a can be performed from the entrance side and the exit side of the passage 1a, and the button cracking prevention device 4 can be attached, removed, and replaced easily and quickly.

[0010] In the present invention, it is preferable that the button crack prevention device 4 is formed of a flexible sheet material and is stretched along the inner wall surface of the passage 1a.

[0011] This is because in this case, it is possible to simplify the structure and attachment of the button crack prevention device 4 and reduce the cost. Examples of the soft sheet material include felt and rubber sheets.

[0012] The button crack prevention device 4 used in the three-dimensional clothes dryer 1 of the present invention may have attachment means 4a on both sides for attaching the button crack prevention device 4 to the attachment points 5. In this case, it is preferable that the button crack prevention device 4 is formed from a flexible sheet material. Effect of the Invention

[0013] The present invention is a three-dimensional clothes dryer in which laundry clothes are hung on hangers and transported through a tunnel-shaped passageway to finish drying with hot air, and a button crack prevention device is provided at the location of the passageway corresponding to the process of finishing drying the clothes with hot air to prevent the buttons from being damaged when the clothes hit the inner wall of the passageway due to the hot air.

[0014] Therefore, in the present invention, when clothes hung on hangers are transported, even if the clothes are shaken by hot air or the like and hit the inner wall surface of the passageway hard, the shock can be absorbed by the button cracking prevention device.

[0015] As a result, use of the present invention can prevent buttons from breaking or being damaged, thus eliminating the time and expense of replacing buttons, as well as the hassle of cleaning up broken buttons. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0016] [Figure 1] FIG. 1A is a perspective view showing a preferred embodiment of a three-dimensional clothes dryer of the present invention, and FIG. [Diagram 2] 2 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of the three-dimensional clothes dryer taken along line II-II of FIG. 1B. [Diagram 3] 3 is a cross-sectional view of a main part taken along line III-III in FIG. 2. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a front view of the button crack prevention device of the present invention as seen in the state of FIG. 1B. [Diagram 5] FIG. 11 is a front view of a main portion showing another embodiment of the attachment means. [Figure 6] 6 is a perspective view of a main part of the attachment means shown in FIG. 5 in a use state. [Figure 7] 6 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of the attachment means shown in FIG. 5 when in use; FIG. [Figure 8] FIG. 13 is a front view of a main portion showing still another embodiment of the attachment means. [Figure 9] 9A is a sectional view of the essential parts of the attachment means shown in FIG. 8 in a used state as seen from above, and B is a side view of the essential parts of the attachment portion taken along line B-B of A. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0017] A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the three-dimensional clothes dryer 1 of the present invention is a device in which laundry items (clothes 2) are hung on hangers 3, transported through a tunnel-like passage 1a, and dried with hot air.

[0018] Specifically, three-dimensional clothes dryer 1 is a device in which hangers 3 on which clothes 2 are hung are hung from chain conveyor 1b and passed through tunnel-shaped passage 1a, and while the clothes 2 are transported through passage 1a, steam is blown onto them in steam chamber 1c to steam them, and then hot air is blown onto the clothes 2 in drying chamber 1d to finish drying. Steam chamber 1c is provided at the entrance of passage 1a, followed by drying chamber 1d which are provided in series along the direction in which the clothes 2 are transported.

[0019] The three-dimensional clothes dryer 1 of the present invention is provided with a button crack prevention device 4 at the passage 1a corresponding to the process of drying and finishing the clothes 2 with hot air, in order to prevent the buttons 2a from being damaged when the clothes 2 hit the inner wall surface of the passage 1a due to the hot air.

[0020] Here, the portion of the passage 1a corresponding to the process of drying and finishing the garments 2 with hot air specifically means the portion of the passage 1a corresponding to the drying chamber 1d. In this embodiment, as shown in Fig. 1B etc., attachment points 5 for the button crack prevention device 4 are provided on the entrance and exit sides of the passage 1a. In this embodiment, these attachment points 5 are provided in the form of hooks at the top and bottom positions of the outer wall 1e on the entrance side of the passage 1a and at the top and bottom positions of the outer wall 1f on the exit side.

[0021] In this embodiment, the button crack prevention tool 4 is formed of a flexible sheet material. Specifically, a rectangular piece of felt is covered with a cloth cover to form a sheet, which is stretched horizontally.

[0022] The button crack prevention device 4 is provided with attachment means 4a for attaching the button crack prevention device 4 to the above-mentioned attachment location 5. In this embodiment, the attachment means 4a is a string. The base ends of the string serving as the attachment means 4a are sewn to the top and bottom positions on both sides of the button crack prevention device 4, and the tip ends are open.

[0023] The button crack prevention device 4 is stretched like a curtain on the inner wall surface of the passage 1a by fastening or looping the string as the attachment means 4a to the above-mentioned attachment point 5. In this case, the string fastened to the attachment point 5 on the outer wall 1e on the entrance side of the passage 1a is formed longer than the string fastened to the attachment point 5 on the outer wall 1f on the exit side because the drying chamber 1d is away from the entrance side.

[0024] In this embodiment, the button crack prevention devices 4 are attached to both sides of the inner wall surface of the passage 1a. This allows for flexible response to the orientation of the buttons 2a on the front body and the buttons 2a on the sleeves, preventing the buttons 2a from being broken or damaged. This also allows workers to suspend the garments 2 on the chain conveyor 1b quickly and easily without paying attention to the orientation of the buttons 2a.

[0025] Next, the operation of the present invention according to this embodiment will be described. In the three-dimensional clothes dryer 1 of the present invention, when the chain conveyor 1b starts, the clothes 2 hung on the hangers 3 are passed through the tunnel-shaped passage 1a.

[0026] The clothes 2 are first steamed in the steam chamber 1c, then the clothes 2 are dried in the drying chamber 1d where hot air is blown onto them from above.

[0027] In the three-dimensional clothes dryer 1 of the present invention, a button cracking prevention device 4 is attached to face the clothes 2 at the passage 1a during the process of drying and finishing the clothes 2 with hot air, in other words, at the passage 1a of the drying chamber 1d. Therefore, in the case of the present invention, even if the garment 2 is waving due to hot air or vibration, the button 2a will not hit the inner wall surface of the passage 1a hard due to the button crack prevention device 4. As a result, damage or breakage of the button 2a can be prevented.

[0028] The button crack prevention device 4 of the present invention is formed to be detachable. Therefore, when it becomes dirty, the string serving as the attachment means 4a can be untied to remove it from the passage 1a and it can be replaced with a cleaned one or a new one.

[0029] In the above, in the case of the present invention, the above-mentioned button crack prevention device 4 is not limited to felt as in the above example, so long as it is formed from a soft sheet-like material, and its thickness, design, etc. are also optional.

[0030] If the button crack prevention tool 4 is made of a soft material such as cloth, net, or vinyl sheet, rather than soft materials such as felt or rubber sheet, the present invention can be realized by attaching it a little away from the inner wall surface of the passage 1a. Therefore, in the case of the present invention, the button crack prevention tool 4 is not limited to being attached directly to the inner wall surface of the passage 1a. In this way, the present invention can prevent the buttons 2a from hitting the inner wall surface of the passage 1a hard even with a planar material such as cloth or net, and can prevent damage to the buttons 2a.

[0031] In the present invention, the attachment means 4a is not limited to a linear member such as a string. That is, as shown in Fig. 5, a male surface fastener 6 and a female surface fastener 7 may be provided on one end of a strip serving as the attachment means 4a, and this one end may be passed through an opening 5a of an attachment portion 5 that is U-shaped in side view and hooked, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7.

[0032] The attachment means 4a may also be realized by an eggplant ring as shown in Fig. 8. In this case, as shown in Fig. 9, the attachment portion 5 is formed of a metal ring fitting corresponding to the eggplant ring as the attachment means 4a, and thus attachment and detachment can be achieved with a single touch through the opening 5a.

[0033] 5 or 8, it is preferable that the attachment means 4a be formed so that it can be fixed to the attachment location 5 via an elastic member such as a rubber band so that the button crack prevention device 4 can be tensioned. In these cases, it is also preferable that the attachment means 4a be formed so that it can be removed from the button crack prevention device 4 when the button crack prevention device 4 is washed. [Explanation of symbols]

[0034] 1 Clothes dryer 1a aisle 2 Clothes 2a Button 3 Hanger 4. Button crack prevention tools

Claims

1. This three-dimensional clothes dryer hangs laundry on hangers, transports the laundry through a tunnel-shaped passage, and finishes drying the laundry with hot air, and is characterized in that a button crack prevention device is provided at a portion of the passage corresponding to the step of finishing drying the laundry with hot air, for preventing the buttons from being damaged when the clothes hit the inner wall of the passage with the hot air.

2. 2. A three-dimensional clothes dryer as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that mounting points for the button crack prevention device are provided at the entrance and exit sides of the passage, and mounting means for mounting the button crack prevention device to the mounting points are provided on both sides of the button crack prevention device.

3. 3. The three-dimensional clothes dryer according to claim 2, wherein the button crack prevention device is made of a flexible sheet material and is stretched along the inner wall surface of the passage.

4. 3. A button crack prevention device for use in a three-dimensional clothes dryer as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that the button crack prevention device has attachment means on both sides for attaching to attachment points on the entrance and exit sides of the passage.

5. 5. A button crack prevention device for use in a three-dimensional clothes dryer according to claim 4, which is made of a soft sheet-like material.

Images