Football dryer

Claim 1

A football dryer comprising an elongated hollow footballshaped housing defining a central longitudinal cylindrical chamber therein, one end of said housing including an end section shiftable between operative and inoperative positions closing and opening, respectively, the corresponding end of said chamber, said housing including air inlet means for the end of said chamber remote from said end section of said housing, said air inlet means having air pump means and resistance-type heating element means operatively associated therewith for pumping heated air into the end of said chamber remote from said end section of said housing, said end section including air outlet means for venting the adjacent end of said chamber to the ambient atmosphere when said end section is in its operative position closing the adjacent end of said chamber, said chamber having a diameter only slightly greater than the maximum diameter of the football, a wire basket disposed in said chamber opening endwise outwardly of said end thereof adjacent said end section Of said housing, said basket being of a size and shape to snugly receive a football therein and operative to support said football in lengthwise position in said chamber with the maximum diameter surfaces of said football disposed in closely spaced relation relative to the inner surfaces of the walls of said chamber, said basket comprising a plurality of generally U-shaped members disposed in relatively angularly displaced planes intersecting along a line defining the center line of said chamber, said end section being generally conical in shape so as to complete the football shape of said housing when said end section is in its operative position.