Anti-torsion dryer connection

Details Anti-torsion dryer connection Anti-torsion dryer connection

1999-04-01

2001-02-13

Wilson, Pamela (Department: 3749)

Drying and gas or vapor contact with solids

Apparatus

Rotary drums or receptacles

C034S138000, C034S140000, C034S235000, C285S183000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06185837

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a dryer vent exhaust duct system, and, more specifically, to an anti-torsion dryer connection that relieves the torsional forces created during installation.
2. Description of the Related Art
Dryer vent connections are well known and are used to connect the exhaust vent from a typical household clothes dryer to an exterior exhaust vent positioned on the outside of a home or building. A flexible duct is typically used to connect the dryer exhaust vent to the exterior vent. A common type of flexible duct is a corrugated metal duct capable of axial extension. Elbows and/or sleeve couplers are often mounted to the ends of the flexible duct. One disadvantage of using corrugated metal duct is that it becomes loaded with torsional forces as it is extended to meet the normally tortuous path from the clothes dryer to the exterior vent.
One solution to the build-up of torsional forces is to provide the end of the flexible duct with elbow connectors that swivel relative to the duct. Thus, any twisting of the duct imparted by torsional forces due to axial extension is compensated by the rotation of the sleeve relative to the elbow. Depending on the length of the duct run, it has been helpful to provide an elbow with a swivel sleeve connection at both ends of the duct. However, the dual elbow solution is not suitable for every installation. For example, depending on the location of the exterior duct, it may not be possible to mate an elbow to the exterior duct because of space limitations. Additionally, the extra elbow is relatively expensive compared to the total cost of the duct.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention overcomes the disadvantage of the dual elbow swiveled connection by providing an anti-torsion dryer connection having a flexible duct with an inline swivel connection. An elbow is connected to one end of the flexible duct and a sleeve is connected to the other end of the flexible duct. The swivel sleeve is positioned inline with the flexible duct to relieve the build-up of torsional forces on the flexible duct. Preferably, the inline swivel sleeve is placed, relative to the duct, away from the connection between the duct and the end sleeve and the duct and the elbow.


REFERENCES:
patent: 5133579 (1992-07-01), Anderson et al.
patent: 5957506 (1999-09-01), Stepp

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