Negative pressure drying apparatus

Abstract

The herein described invention is a Negative Pressure Drying Apparatus. The preferred embodiment of the Negative Pressure Drying Apparatus is designed for drying saturated baseballs; however, the Negative Pressure Drying Apparatus could be used to dry most any article that would fit within the drying receptacle. The Negative Pressure uses mechanical means of moving air, generally an outward blowing fan mounted to a first end of a drying receptacle, which is comprised of a plurality of intake holes at a second end of the drying receptacle. The outward blowing fan creates negative pressure within the drying receptacle due to the output of the fan exceeding the intake of air through the intake holes. The negative pressure within the drying receptacle accelerates drying by drawing moisture out of the saturated articles.

Claims

1. A Negative Pressure Drying Apparatus comprising: a. a receptacle, which receives an article for drying, comprising a first open end, and a second closed end, where said first open end is comprised of a rim with a sealable ridge and said second closed end is comprised of a plurality of supports to suspend said receptacle off of a surface, where said plurality of supports allow air flow between said plurality of supports to a plurality of air intake holes of said second closed end; b. a corresponding cover section of said first open end of said receptacle, comprising a fan mounted within a perimeter of said cover section, where said perimeter further comprises a sealing recess, which engages and disengages from said sealable ridge of said rim of said first open end of said receptacle; c. wherein, said fan blows outward from said receptacle at a rate, which exceeds a rate of air intake through said air intake holes creating a negative pressure within said receptacle.

2. The Negative Pressure Drying Apparatus of claim 1, where said receptacle is comprised of a bucket.

3. The Negative Pressure Drying Apparatus of claim 1, where said receptacle is further comprised of a handle.

4. A Negative Pressure Drying Apparatus comprising: a. an electric fan; b. mounted within a perimeter of a lid corresponding to a first open end of a bucket, wherein said bucket receives an article for drying; c. where the perimeter of said lid is further comprised of a sealing recess, which engages and disengages from a sealable ridge of said first open end of said bucket; d. wherein, when engaged to said bucket, said fan blows outward from said bucket at a rate, which exceeds a rate of air intake of said bucket to create a negative pressure within said bucket.

5. The Negative Pressure Drying Apparatus of claim 4 where said bucket is comprised of a 5-gallon bucket.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is an elevated perspective view of the Negative Pressure Drying Apparatus showing the preferred embodiment of the invention.

(2) FIG. 2 is an elevated perspective view of the Negative Pressure Drying Apparatus demonstrating negative pressure airflow of the preferred embodiment.

(3) FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the closed end/bottom of the Negative Pressure Drying Apparatus demonstrating a plurality of air intake channels and holes of the preferred embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(4) The Negative Pressure Drying Apparatus is comprised of a receptacle 10, which receives the articles 40 to be dried and means of air movement 20 to create negative pressure within said receptacle 10. Said receptacle 10 is further comprised of a first open end 11, through which the articles 40 for drying are loaded into said receptacle 10. Once the articles are loaded, said means of air movement 20 is then secured to the first open end 11 of the receptacle 10. The means of air movement 20 is secured to the first open end 11 by airtight sealable means 14. Said means of air movement 20 may also be comprised of a cover section 21 secured to said means of air movement 20 where said cover section 21 provides the means for securing said means of air movement 20 to said receptacle 10. The airtight sealable means 14 is comprised of a receptacle sealing means 14a and a corresponding cover section sealable means 14b. The receptacle is further comprised of a second closed end 12. Said closed end 12 is further comprised of a means of air intake. Generally, said means of air intake will be comprised of a plurality of air intake holes 13; however, one skilled in the art would recognize that air intake could also be accomplished by vents, slits, pipes, hoses, etc. The means of air movement 20 are secured to the first open end 11 in a manner so that air is forced outward from said first open end 11 as shown in FIG. 2. The rate of output of air created by the means of air movement 20 exceeds the rate of air intake through the intake holes 13, which creates a negative pressure within said receptacle 10.

(5) In a preferred embodiment, said receptacle 10 is comprised of a bucket 30. The first open end 11 of the bucket 30 is further comprised of a rim 31 with a sealable ridge 32, which comprises the receptacle sealing means 14a. The bucket 30 is further comprised of a handle 33, which allows for easy transportation of the articles 40 within the bucket 30. The second closed end 12 of said bucket 30 is comprised of a plurality of supports 34, which suspend the second closed end 12 of the bucket off of the surface the bucket 30 is resting on. The second closed end 12 of the bucket 30 is further comprised of a plurality of air intake channels 35 between the plurality of supports 34, which allow air into the air intake holes 13 through the surface of the second closed end 12. While the preferred embodiment comprises a bucket, one with skill in the art would appreciate that the receptacle 10 could comprise other shapes and sizes depending on the type of articles to be dried.

(6) In the preferred embodiment, said means of air movement 20 is comprised of an electric fan 22, which is mounted within the perimeter of said cover section 21. The perimeter of the cover section 21 is comprised of a sealing recess 23, which comprises the cover section sealable means 14b and corresponds with the sealable ridge 32 of the rim 31 of the bucket 30. In the preferred embodiment the cover section 21 and sealing recess 23 are sized to correspond to the sealable ridge of standard 5-gallon buckets. While the preferred embodiment comprises a cover section to correspond to the circular open end of a bucket, one with skill in the art would appreciate that the cover section could comprise any shape or size to correspond with receptacles of different shapes and sizes. Furthermore, one skilled in the art would appreciate that multiple airtight sealable means 14 could be utilized such as corresponding threads via a threaded receptacle sealing means 14a and corresponding threaded cover section sealable means 14b.

(7) To utilize the preferred embodiment, the user loads the articles 40 to be dried into the bucket 30. Once loaded, the user then secures the cover section 21 with mounted electric fan 22 to the bucket 30 by engaging the sealable ridge 32 of the rim 31 of the bucket 30 with the sealing recess 23 of the cover section 21. Once fully engaged, the sealable ridge 32 and sealing recess 23 will create an airtight seal. The user then simply powers on the electric fan 22. The output of the electric fan 22 exceeds the air intake through the air intake holes 13 of the second closed end 12. As such, a negative pressure is created within the bucket 30, which draws moisture out of the articles 40 being dried. Moisture is exhausted out of the bucket by the air movement of the electric fan 22. Once the articles 40 are dried, the user can disengage the cover section 21 from the bucket 30. The articles can then be easily transported in the bucket by using the handle 33.

(8) An important feature of the preferred embodiment is that the cover section 21 sealing recess 23 is sized to correspond to the sealable ridge of standard sized buckets such as 5-gallon, 6-gallon, etc. As such, the cover section 21 with electric fan 22 could be utilized with a user's pre-owned standard buckets with simple modifications.

(9) It is understood that the foregoing examples are merely illustrative of the present invention. Certain modifications of the articles and/or methods may be made and still achieve the objectives of the invention. Such modifications are contemplated as within the scope of the claimed invention.