US3457389A - Heater for towels - Google Patents

Description

y 1969 J. G. KNAPP HEATER FOR TOWELS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 17 1967 J52 Z/ 72 [0 71' (Id 77225 Gordon (la 7m July 22, 1969 J. G. KNAPP HEATER FOR TOWELS 2 Sheets-Sheei 2 Filed March 17, 1967 for.

3,457,389 HEATER FOR TOWELS James G. Knapp, West Chicago, Ill., assignor to Knapp Design Associates, Inc. Filed Mar. 17, 1967, Ser. No. 623,942 Int. Cl. F2711 11/02 US. Cl. 219448 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A heater for towels having a series of parallel, spaced electrically heated plates adjustably mounted on a vertical support member. A towel is heated by placing it between adjacent pairs of plates. Alternatively, the' electrically heated, spaced plates take the form of shelves in a cart or stand. The temperature of the electrically heated plates is preferably controlled by a rheostat or bimetallic strip thermostat.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The business of lodging and serving the traveling public is keenly competitive, and to attract travelers to their establishments, various hotels and motels offer and advertise luxury items or services not found in the average home. Often a service or item which is considered and advertised as a luxury is so well received that it soon is found in almost every home, for example, air conditionin-g. Recently, many lodging places have installed sunlamps in the bathrooms for their guests. The lamps give a healthful suntan and also promote drying and warmth of the body after a shower.

While a sunlamp has proven to help do away with some of the chilliness commonly experienced when stepping from a warm shower, a warm towel which makes direct contact with the body is more satisfactory and offers greater comfort.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In a principal aspect, the present invention comprises a heater for towels constructed from a plurality of electrically heated, horizontal, parallel, rectangularly shaped plates. The plates are separated by approximately the thickness of a single folded towel. The plates may be mounted cantilever fashion on a single vertical support member or they may comprise the shelves in a table unit.

Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved heating unit for towels.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved heating unit for towels which may be mounted on a wall or may be incorporated into a table unit.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improved heater for towels which may be adjusted to accommodate towels of varying thicknesses.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a temperature controlled heater for towels.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a compact, inexpensive heating unit for towels.

These and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be more easily understood by reference to the drawings and detailed description which follow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a heating unit for towels mounted on a single vertical member;

FIGURE 2 is a cross-sectional view of a heating plate taken substantially along the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional view of the heating unit taken substantially along the line 33 of FIGURE 2;

3,457,389 Patented July 22, 1969 DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIGURE 1 shows the folded towels 10, 11 and 12 positioned between adjacent pairs of horizontal, parallel, rectangularly shaped and electrically heated plates 14 through 17. The plates 14 through 17 are attached, as will be more fully described later, to the vertical structural support means 20. Electrical resistance heating units within the plates 14 through 17 are connected to an external electrical power source. Preferably, an on-off switch 24 and a rheostat 26 are utilized to turn on and control the power input to the heating units. An indicator light 28 is illuminated when the heater is being operated.

The plate 14 having the electrical resistance heating rod or unit 30 is of a typical construction. The plate 14 is comprised of an upper panel '32 and a lower panel 34 which are stamped in a generally rectangular shape from a highly conductive metal such as aluminum. The edges of the upper panel 32 and the lower panel 34 are crimped downwardly and upwardly respectively so that when the panels 32 and 34 are joined they define the plate 14 having a hollow space 13. The circular shape of the heating rod 31) in combination with the rectangular plate 14 permits heat to radiate outwardly from the periphery of the rod so that a temperature gradient is established with the outer edge of the rectangular plate 14. Thus, the edge of the plate 14 is sufiiciently cool even during higher operating temperatures of the heating unit 30 so that one may touch the outer edge of the plate 14 without being burned. Furthermore, the circular shape of the heating rod 30 establishes an even temperature having very little gradient within the interior of the circle defined by the heating rod 30. Thus the temperature within the circumference of the heating rod 30 is substantially constant and warm enough to heat the towel 10; whereas, the temperature gradient around the periphery of the heating rod 30 to the edge of the plate 14 allows the edge of the plate 14 to be sufficiently cool and not cause discomfort upon contact.

As an alternative means to further assure that there will be no uncomfortable contact with the plate 14, the peripheral bar or boundary protecting means 36 extends from the vertical structure 20 about the circumference of the plate 14. Plate 17 has a similar circumferential bar 3 8 which is supported by a plastic clamp member 40 attached to the front edge of the plate 17. As another alternative, a plastic insulating strip 42 is attached directly to the edge of the plate 15 to prevent discomfort upon touching the edge of the plate 15.

FIGURE 2 illustrates the positioning of the heating rod 30 in the hollow space 13 defined by the upper panel support end 48 of the heating rod 30 and coacts with fastener means on the opposite side of the vertical support member 20 to firmly hold the heating rod 38 and its supported plate 14 in position.

A cylindrical well 50 is drilled in the rear of the vertical support member 20 in order that a fastener 52 may be suitably positioned to mate with the end 48 of the rod 30. The end 48 of the rod 30 is threaded so that the fastener or nut 52 may be screwed onto the end 48 of the rod 30 thereby securely positioning the rod 30 in place on the vertical support 20.

In the alternate construction of the plate support and conducting means, the plate 15 has the heating rod 22 contained completely within the interior space 60 within the plate 15. The upper panel 62 of the plate 15 has its rear edge 64 extended downwardly and is attached by fastening means 66 to the support member 20. An electrical conducting wire 68 connect the heating rod 22 to the power source.

FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the attachment of the heating plate 14 showing the rod 30 having its ends 48 and 49 inserted through the openings 44 and 45 in the vertical member 20 and fastened in position by means of the nuts 52 and 53 screwed on the ends 48 and 49 respectively of the rod 30. The vertical support member 20 has a pair of channels or grooves 54 and -5 on its rear side. Electrical terminals 56 and 57 connect .to the ends 48 and 49 of the the heating rod 30 and connecting wires 58 and 59 pass through the grooves 54 and 55 to the external electric power source. The grooves 54 and 55 are vertically aligned to interconnect the ends 48 and 49 of heating rods with the ends of other plates with electrical connecting terminals which are inserted through the vertical support member 20.

FIGURE 5 illustrates the attachment of the plate to the vertical support member 20. The rod 22 is positioned entirely within the plate 15 and is connected by electrical wire leads 68 which pass through the opening 69 in the member to an external power source. The bolt 66 is attached to the downwardly extending edge 64 of the top panel 62 of the plate 15 attaches the plate 15 to the vertical member 20.

Also illustrated in FIGURE 5 is a bimetallic strip 70 which, when heated above a predetermined temperature, depending upon the characteristics of the strip 70, will separate the contacts 72 and 74 thereby breaking the circuit and shutting off the power to the heating rod 22. Having a bimetallic temperature control in each plate insures uniformity of temperature in .all the plates. This is important since, for example, the plate 15 and 16 and towel 11 in FIGURE 1 on the interior of the towel heater will retain heat better than the exterior plates 14 and 17 and exterior towels 10 and 12. Thus, utilizing a bimetallic strip control will cause the power to be off in the plates 15 and 16, but still be on in the plates 14 and 17 thereby insuring a constant temperature on both sides of all of the towels 10 through 12 and saving power costs by turning off the overheated plates 15 and 16.

Alternatively the components of the heater for towels may be matched so that more delicate control means such as the bimetallic temperature switch are unnecessary. For example, in a four plate unit of the type shown in FIG- URE 1 having support and connection means of the type shown in FIGURE 4 with the plates being approximately 9 /2 inches by 7 /2 inches, 1.96 watts of power should be supplied to the heating rod in each plate for approximately five minutes to heat a towel from room temperature (70 F.) to 130 F. In such a construction the heating rods are connected in series and will maintain the temperature of the towels between 120 to 150 F.

FIGURE 6 illustrates an alternative embodiment of a wall unit. The heating rod 76 with its permanently attached washer 78 is slidably mounted in a slot 80 in the vertical support member 82. The threaded end 84 of tthe heating unit 76 has a lock washer 86 and a nut 88 securely tightened to hold the heating unit 76 in position firmly against the vertical support member 82. The distance between the plates and 92 may be adjusted by loosening the nut 88, sliding the heating unit 90 in the slot '80 to the desired position and retightening the nut 88.

FIGURE 7 illustrates the recessed grooves 88 and 89 which house the rear or threaded ends 84 and 85 of the heating rod 76. The permanent washers 7'8 and 79 which coact with the lock washers 86 and 87 and the nuts 88 and 89 to hold the heating rod 76 in a non-slidable, substantially fixed position are also shown. The recessed grooves 94 and 95 are advantageous in this construction since they allow the vertical support member '82 to be mounted flush against a wall without interference from the wires 83.

FIGURE 8 illustrates another embodiment of the present invention. The trays 96 through 99 each contain heating rod-s (not shown) which are electrically activated to heat the towels 181 and 102. The trays 96 through 99 are supported and separated from one another by the legs 104 through 107. The support member-109 serves as the electrical conduit means through which electric wires are run to connect with the heating elements (not shown in the trays 96 through 99). A plug-in electrical wire 111 connects the external electrical source to heating unit lead wires in the vertical member 109. Wheels 113 increase the mobility of the cart shown in FIGURE 8.

Advantageously, the heater for towels of the present invention may be utilized as a storage area for towels when not being used to heat the towels. Likewise, the mobility that may be achieved through the wheeled cart embodiment makes the invention ideally suited for use in hotels, restaurants and athletic clubs. Further, the eco nomic and simple construction of the invention suggests domestic applications that previously were not available.

While in the foregoing there has been described a preferred embodiment of the present invention, it is to be understood thatg those embodiments obvious to those skilled in the art are to be included within the scope of the claimed invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A heater for towels comprising, in combination, a single vertical structural member for attachment to a vertical wall, at least two rectangularly shaped, horizontal, parallel, spaced plates, each of said plates comprising an upper and a lower panel of a heat conductive material fitted together to define a hollow space therebetween,

each of said plates having a substantially circular elec-- trical resistance heating unit therein, support means for attaching each of said plates one above the other to said vertical structural member, each adjacent pair of said plates being spaced a vertical distance from one another whereby a folded towel may be inserted therebetween, a circumferential protective boundary material around each of said plates to prevent contact with the edge of each plate, and electrical conducting means for connecting said heating unit to an external electrical power source, said conducting means including means for controlling power input to said heating units and also including temperature responsive means for disconnecting said heating unit from said power source.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said conducting and support means comprise integral electrical conducting and support extensions from each of said plates, said extensions passing through and fastened securely to said vertical structural means such that said extensions support said plates and conduct electrical power to said heating unit within said plates, said conducting means also including lead wire means from said extensions to said external electric power source.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said support means is adapted to provide adjustable spacing between adjacent pairs of said plates.

4. The combination of claim 1 including a resilient bar movably responsive to temperature internal each of said plates for actuating contact means to open and close the electrical power circuit to each of said heating units.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 3,245,337 4/1966 White et a1. 219-442 3/1957 Burger 219541 2/1937 Des Jardins et a1. 219-510 6 FOREIGN PATENTS 838,042 5/ 1952 Germany. 477,751 5/ 1936 Great Britain. 237,882 6/ 1925 Great Britain.

Images