STEP IN DRYER DEVICE

Abstract

A step-in dryer device including a housing, at least one blower unit, an actuator mechanism, a pair of air inlets, a pair of air inlet covers, a vent, a vent cover and a top cover. The at least one blower is encased in the housing for generating heated air. The actuator mechanism for activating and deactivating the blower unit. The pair of air inlets are integrated into the housing and positioned on opposite sides of the blower unit. The pair of air inlet covers are each attached to a respective air inlet. The vent is integrated into the housing and positioned in a perpendicular manner relative to the top cover. The vent receives the heated air generated from the at least one blower unit. The vent cover is attached to a front surface of the vent and includes a plurality of narrow openings for outputting the generated heated air and to prevent an object from getting into the blower unit. The top cover is integrated in the housing and is positioned in between the pair of air inlets. The top cover is configured to receive to an object or a user's feet.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/360,946 filed on Nov. 15, 2021, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments described herein generally relate to dryer devices, and more particularly to a step-in dryer device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Drying your feet, ankles and lower legs can be difficult for some individuals. In some instances, individuals are not able to bend over to manually dry their feet with a towel or cloth. In this instance, the individual either has to wait for their feet to air dry or proceed with wet feet. Moreover, there are times when an individual may want to dry their shoes, for example, rain boots, after coming in from the rain. This is another example where the individual's choices are to let the shoes air dry or try to dry the shoes in a dryer. Many shoes are made of materials which are not suitable for use in a dryer. Hence, an efficient way of drying an individual's feet/lower leg region and shoes is desirable.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The various advantages of the embodiments of the present disclosure will become apparent to one skilled in the art by reading the following specification and appended claims, and by referencing the following drawing(s), in which:

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary view of a step-in dryer device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Exemplary embodiments disclosed herein describe a step-in dryer device. The device includes a housing, at least one blower unit, an actuator mechanism, a pair of air inlets, a pair of air inlet covers, a vent, a vent cover and a top cover. The at least one blower is encased in the housing for generating heated air. The actuator mechanism for activating and deactivating the blower unit. The pair of air inlets are integrated into the housing and positioned on opposite sides of the blower unit. The pair of air inlet covers are each attached to a respective air inlet. The vent is integrated into the housing and positioned in a perpendicular manner relative to the top cover. The vent receives the heated air generated from the at least one blower unit. The vent cover is attached to a front surface of the vent and includes a plurality of narrow openings for outputting the generated heated air and to prevent an object from getting into the blower unit. The top cover is integrated in the housing and is positioned in between the pair of air inlets. The top cover is configured to receive an object or a user's feet.

In some exemplary embodiments, the device includes a pad which overlays the top cover.

In some exemplary embodiments, the pad is removable.

In some exemplary embodiments, the at least one blower unit includes at least one motor driven fan.

In some exemplary embodiments, the at least one blower unit includes a heating element.

In some exemplary embodiments, each air inlet cover includes a plurality of openings to inlet airflow through the air inlets the at least one blower unit.

In some exemplary embodiments, the actuator mechanism includes a sensor.

In some exemplary embodiments, the sensor is positioned underneath the top cover to detect the presence of a user's feet or an object.

In some exemplary embodiments, the actuator mechanism includes a switch.

In some exemplary embodiments, the device includes an air flow control mechanism.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure relates to a step-in dryer device. A user may step onto the device to dry the user's feet, ankles, and lower legs. Alternatively, a user may step on the device wearing shoes or the user may place an object (e.g., shoes) on the device to dry the shoes or the object. The device may automatically blast out heated air upon the detection of a user's feet/shoes or other object atop the device. The device allows a user to dry their feet, ankles and lower legs without having to bend over. Moreover, the device allows a user to dry wet shoes, such as, rain boots, either while wearing the boots or without wearing the boots. The device includes a control mechanism to control the airflow rate of the air blasted from the device.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the device 10 includes a housing 12, at least one blower unit 14, an actuator mechanism 18, a pair of air inlets 23, a pair of air inlets covers 27, a vent 30, a vent cover 32, a top cover 36, and a power receptacle/cord and/or a power source. The at least one blower unit, actuator mechanism, pair of air inlets, pair of air inlet covers, vent, vent cover and top cover are all integrated with the housing to form the step-in dryer device. The housing may be configured in any suitable shape, and in a preferred embodiment, the housing is configured in a rectangular shape. The housing may be made from any suitable rigid and durable material, and in a preferred embodiment, the housing unit is made from plastic.

The at least one blower unit 14 generates heated air and is encased in the housing 12. The blower unit may include at least one heating element and at least one motor driven fan to generate the heated air by forced convection. As air enters the device 10 through the pair of air inlets 23 the at least one motor driven fan generates airflow over the at least one heating element which thereby causes heated air to blast from the blower unit through the vent 30. The heating element may be constructed from a coiled wired. In some aspects, the at least one blower unit may include a plurality of motor driven fans and/or a plurality of heating element.

The actuator mechanism 18 activates and deactivates the blower unit 14. The actuator mechanism may include a switch 20 which is connected to a power source and the at least one blower unit 14. When the switch is turned on a closed circuit is formed between the switch, power source and the blower unit and current supplied from the power source is allowed to flow to the blower unit which activates the motion and operation of the blower unit. When the switch 20 is turned off, the circuit is no longer closed (i.e., an open circuit is formed) and current is no longer able to flow to the blower unit, thereby deactivating the blower unit.

In some aspects, the switch 20 is connected to a user-activated off/on toggle switch which is integrated on an external surface of the device. In this instance, the switch 20 is closed (i.e., turned on) when the toggle switch is set to on and the switch is open (i.e., turned off) when the toggle switch is set to off. In another aspect, the actuator mechanism includes a sensor 19 (e.g., pressure sensor or weight sensor) which is positioned under the top cover 36 of the device. The sensor detects when an object or a user's feet (i.e., when a user is standing on the top cover) is resting on the top cover 36. When the sensor detects the presence of the object or the user's feet, the sensors send a signal to the switch causing the switch to turn on. When the object is no longer present on the top cover, the signal is no longer sent to the switch thereby causing the switch to turn off.

The pair of air inlets 23 are integrated into the housing 12 and are each positioned on an opposite side of the at least one blower unit 14 in a perpendicular manner relative to the blower unit. Each air inlet has a cavity 26 through which air flows. Each air inlet has an air inlet cover 27 attached to it at a distal end 24. The proximate end 25 of the air inlet 23 is attached to the blower unit 14. Each air inlet cover 27 includes a plurality of narrow openings 28 to inlet airflow through the air inlets to the blower unit. The openings are narrow so as to prevent an object from entering the device that could damage the blower unit or any other components of the device.

The vent 30 is integrated into the housing at a position perpendicular to the top cover 36. The vent receives the heated air generated from the at least one blower unit and the heated air flows through a vent cover 32 to the region surrounding the top cover. The vent cover 32 is attached to the front surface of the vent 30. The vent cover includes a plurality of narrow openings 33 to outlet the heated air from the blower unit. The openings are narrow so as to prevent an object from entering the device that could damage the blower unit or any other components of the device.

In some aspects, the device 10 may include a plurality of blower units, vents, and vent covers which are positioned along the side of the device in a parallel manner relative to the pair of air inlets respectively so as to blast out heated air from along the sides of the device.

The top cover 36 is integrated in the housing in between the pair of air inlets 23. The top cover is configured to receive a resting object for drying. Alternatively, a user may stand on the top cover to dry the user's feet, ankles, lower legs or shoes. The top cover includes a removable pad 38 which overlays the top surface of the top cover. The pad may be constructed from a water absorbent material, such as, for example, terry cloth. The pad may also be constructed from a machine washable material.

In some aspects, the device 10 may include an air flow control mechanism (e.g., switch, sensor) to control the rate (e.g., low or high) at which the air flows from the vent 30.

Moreover, it should be understood that when an element is referred to as being “connected” or “coupled” to another element, it can be directly connected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly connected” or “directly coupled” to another element, there are no intervening elements present. Other words used to describe the relationship between elements should be interpreted in a like fashion (e.g., “between” versus “directly between,” “adjacent” versus “directly adjacent,” etc.)

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes” and/or “including,” when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components and/or groups thereof.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which example embodiments belong. It will be further understood that terms, e.g., those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art. However, should the present disclosure give a specific meaning to a term deviating from a meaning commonly understood by one of ordinary skill, this meaning is to be taken into account in the specific context this definition is given herein.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate from the foregoing description that the broad techniques of the embodiments of the present invention may be implemented in a variety of forms. Therefore, while the embodiments of this invention have been described in connection with particular examples thereof, the true scope of the embodiments of the invention should not be so limited since other modifications will become apparent to the skilled practitioner upon a study of the drawings, specification, and following claims.

Claims

1. A step-in dryer device comprising:

a housing;

at least one blower unit encased in the housing for generating heated air;

an actuator mechanism for activating and deactivating the blower unit;

a pair of air inlets integrated into the housing and positioned on opposite sides of the blower unit;

a pair of air inlet covers for attachment to a respective air inlet.

a vent integrated into the housing and positioned in a perpendicular manner relative to the top cover, the vent receives the heated air generated from the at least one blower unit;

a vent cover attached to a front surface of the vent, the vent cover including a plurality of narrow openings for outputting the generated heated air and to prevent an object from getting into the blower unit; and

a top cover integrated in the housing and positioned in between the pair of air inlets, the top cover is configured to receive an object or a user's feet.

2. The device of claim 1, further comprising a pad which overlays the top cover.

3. The device of claim 2, wherein the pad is removable.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one blower unit includes at least one motor driven fan.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one blower unit includes a heating element.

6. The device of claim 1, wherein each air inlet covers includes a plurality of openings to inlet airflow through the air inlets to the blower unit.

7. The device of claim 1, wherein the actuator mechanism includes a sensor.

8. The device of claim 7, wherein the sensor is positioned underneath the top cover to detect the presence of a user's feet or an object.

9. The device of claim 1, wherein the actuator mechanism includes a switch.

10. The device of claim 1, further comprising an air flow control mechanism.