Self-cleaning lint collector

Abstract

A lint collector for a dryer in which clothes are dried by heated air supplied to a rotating drum. The lint collector is made of a frame, a tubular screen rotatably mounted in the frame, a device for rotating the screen in the frame and an element attached to the frame for removing lint from the screen as the screen

1 . A lint collector for a dryer in which clothes are dried by heated air supplied to a rotating drum, the lint collector, comprising:
 a frame;   a tubular screen rotatably mounted in the frame;   a device for rotating the screen in the frame; and   an element attached to the frame for removing lint from the screen as the screen rotates.   
   
   
       2 . The lint collector according to  claim 1 , wherein the device for rotating the screen is a spring-wound mechanism arranged at one end of the screen and having a knob operative to load the spring of the mechanism. 
   
   
       3 . The lint collector according to  claim 1 , wherein the frame forms a chamber for holding lint removed from the screen. 
   
   
       4 . The lint collector according to  claim 1 , wherein the device for rotating the screen is an electric motor. 
   
   
       5 . The lint collector according to  claim 1 , wherein the frame is configured to be removably insertable into a air duct of the dryer in a vicinity of a dryer door. 
   
   
       6 . The lint collector according to  claim 1 , wherein the screen is rotatable about a horizontal axis. 
   
   
       7 . The lint collector according to  claim 1 , wherein the frame has two end plates connected together by an elongate base. 
   
   
       8 . The lint collector according to  claim 7 , wherein the base has two side walls that extend between the end plates. 
   
   
       9 . The lint collector according to  claim 8 , wherein the side walls are spaced from one another so as to form an opening through which lint removed from the screen can pass. 
   
   
       10 . The lint collector according to  claim 8 , wherein the lint removing element extends between the two end plates so as to leave an opening between the element and one of the side walls. 
   
   
       11 . The lint collector according to  claim 1 , wherein the lint removing element is a wiper arranged to separate lint from the screen. 
   
   
       12 . The lint collector according to  claim 1 , wherein the lint removing element is a comb. 
   
   
       13 . The lint collector according to  claim 4 , wherein the electric motor is battery operated. 
   
   
       14 . A clothes dryer comprising a cabinet having a drum therein for tumbling a clothing load and a blower for circulating heated air through the clothes to an airflow passage arranged at an edge of a door opening in the cabinet, and a lint collector having a frame, a tubular screen rotatably mounted in the frame, a device for rotating the screen in the frame, and an element attached to the frame for removing lint from the screen as the screen rotates, the lint collector being removably mounted in the airflow passage in an edge region of the door opening.