Retractable clothes line

• US 5,392,933 A
• Filed: 09/13/1993
• Issued: 02/28/1995
• Est. Priority Date: 09/13/1993
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Crosbie, Patrick J.
• Original Assignee: Crosbie, Patrick J.
• Inventors: Crosbie, Patrick J.
• Primary Examiner(s): GIBSON, ROBERT W
• Application Number:
  US08/119,752
• Time in Patent Office: 533 Days
• Field of Search: 211/119.05
• US Class Current: 211/119.05
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 53/00 Clothes-lines; Supports therefor drying frames incorporating clothes-lines D06F57/00

Abstract

A retractable clothesline device is mounted on a support outside a window with two pairs of pulleys supporting an endless clothesline formed into two parallel loops by the pulleys. The outer loop may be retracted through the window by a controlling slide wand for safe indoor laundry loading and unloading, by drawing stored clothesline from the inner auxiliary clothesline loop. Pushing the slide wand outwardly reverses the process, diminishing the outer primary clothesline loop and increasing the auxiliary reservoir loop, placing the device in its outdoor drying or not-in-use position, the clothesline being kept uniformly taut at all times.

Claims

1. Retractable clothesline device, comprising, in combination with outside anchoring means for the remote end thereof:

crossbar support means fixedly mounted horizontally across and outside the window of a dwelling;

sleeve support means adjustably mounted on said crossbar support means both for lateral positioning thereon as well as for angular positioning thereon, to align the retractable clothesline device with said outside anchoring means;

slide wand means rectangular in cross-section and slidingly retained in said sleeve support means for horizontal linear reciprocating motion thereof, the inner end of said slide wand to be retracted inside said window and to be extended outside said window manually;

multiple pulley means individually mounted for aligned rotation variously near said inner end of said slide wand, on said outside anchor means, on said sleeve support means and on the outer end of said slide wand; and

a continuous endless clothesline rope extending tautly around said multiple pulley means to form an outer primary loop, on which laundry may be hung, and a parallel inner auxiliary loop, said inner loop serving as a reservoir for a predetermined portion of said continuous clothesline, whereby, when said slide wand is retracted by pulling it through said opened window for safe convenient loading on, or unloading off, said clothesline of laundry, said primary loop being automatically elongated and said auxiliary loop being depleted thereby, whereas, when said slide wand is pushed to its external extended position, the retractable clothesline device is completely outside the window in position for clothes-drying and not-in-use storage, said primary loop is diminished, said predetermined portion thereof having been restored automatically to said auxiliary reservoir loop, said clothesline remaining at substantially the same tension throughout the manipulations of the retractable clothesline device.

2. Retractable clothesline device as defined in claim 1, wherein said outdoor anchoring means is a conventional clothesline pole.

3. Retractable clothesline device as defined in claim 1, wherein said crossbar support means comprises a rigid crossbar member of rectangular cross-section, each end of said crossbar being held fixedly within a sleeve bracket by a set screw, said sleeve brackets having extensions mounted fixedly on an area selected from the group consisting of:

the outer wall of said dwelling and the frame of said dwelling window, at least one of said sleeve brackets having said extension adjustable in length.

4. Retractable clothesline device as defined in claim 3, wherein said mounting of said sleeve support means comprises a collar having an opening therein rectangular in cross-section and dimensioned to accommodate fittingly said crossbar for sliding lateral adjustment thereon of said collar, said collar being suspended fixedly from one end of a support plate, the other end of said support plate being mounted rotatably on pivot means, the base of said pivot means being secured to the top surface of the inner end of, and suspendingly supporting, said sleeve support means as well as said slide wand means held therein, whereby rotation of said lower portion of said pivot means fixed to said sleeve support means may be used to adjust the angular positioning of said sleeve support means and said slide wand means relative to said crossbar support means to align them, and said pulley means mounted for rotation thereon, to point directly to said outdoor anchoring means.

5. Retractable clothesline device as defined in claim 1, wherein said sleeve support means further comprises a nylon bushing covering the interior surface of the rectangular opening in said sleeve support means, said opening accommodating said slide wand, said bushing providing lateral reciprocating movement of said slide wand therein with minimum friction being generated.

6. Retractable clothesline device as defined in claim 1, wherein said slide wand further comprises handle means positioned on its inmost end to facilitate the manually actuated linear reciprocating movement of said slide wand.

7. Retractable clothesline device as defined in claim 1, wherein said multiple pulley means comprises two pairs of nylon pulleys, said pulley mounted on said inner end of, and movable with, said sliding wand and said stationary pulley mounted on said outdoor anchoring means forming said first pair of pulleys and carrying said outer primary loop of said clothesline thereon, said second pair of pulleys comprising said stationary pulley mounted on said sleeve support means and said pulley mounted on said outer end of, and movable with, said slide wand and forming said inner auxiliary loop of said clothesline thereon.