GB2264120A - Combined laundry washing machine and space heater with kit for drying - Google Patents

Abstract

A front-loading laundry washing machine comprises a washing tub containing a drum, a front opening, an air heating element 2, a fan 3 and suitable conduits (4, figure 2) for passing heated air to the exterior of the machine by way of an orifice 5 which is open at the front of the machine such that the machine can be used as a space heater. The machine also comprises a suitably shaped conduit 6 which is open at its ends 7, 8 and can be removably installed on the front of said laundry washing machine in such a way that its open ends 7, 8 are disposed respectively in front of the opening and in front of said orifice 5 thus ducting hot air into the drum to effect drying. In the preferred embodiment the conduit 6 has openings (15, figure 4) which allow the escape of warm moist air from the drum. <IMAGE>

Description

IMPROVED LAUNDRY WASHING MACHINE WITH KIT FOR DRYING The invention concerns an improved type of frontloading laundry washing machine provided with a particular accessory which makes it possible for it also to be used as a laundry drying machine.

Laundry drying machines are known which are used for drying laundry washed in a separate laundry washing machine.

Those laundry drying machines are machines which are appropriately simple and economical but they do however require the construction of a specific product which is normally of the same standard size as a laundry washing machine. Such clothes drying machines are normally positioned logically near the laundry washing machine and in the majority of cases in the bathroom where the amount of space if fairly limited.

That means that the use of such machines is in fact impeded or limited by the lack of space available in the house.

To remedy that disadvantage, combined frontloading machines have been designed, which are referred to as washer-drier machines, which within the same casing perform both the conventional washing function and the function of drying the laundry contained in the drum.

Such machines are essentially constructed by suitably modifying a conventional laundry washing machine and fitting into same a system for heating and circulating air which is circulated within the drum for drying the laundry.

The moisture which is thus collected by the heated air is then removed in various ways, primarily by discharging that air to the exterior or by causing the moisture contained therein to be condensed by suitable means and systems for condensation thereof and for removal of the condensate which is produced as a result.

Those machines perform that dual function of washing and drying the laundry in a satisfactory manner; however they have a design and structural complexity, which is due to the fact of having to fit into the original laundry washing machine the items of equipment required for the drying operation that in fact makes it necessary to design a machine which is virtually completely new, which involves tolerating substantial additional burdens in regard to design and construction with respect to the original laundry washing machine.

In addition it is often required that the bathroom is heated, especially in the winter season, in a different and better manner than the other rooms, and the great demand for fan heaters for heating the atmosphere, which are particularly designed and. intended for use in the bathroom and with which the incremental amount of heat require is rapidly supplied is known.

It is also entirely normal that the laundry washing machine and the laundry drying machine are installed in the same bathroom; it is therefore found that there is in the bathroom an undesirable and sometimes unacceptable concentration of appliances which are in the way, which require additional space and which give rise to problems in regard to installation.

Such a disadvantage is all the more unacceptable since some of the above-mentioned appliances perform substantially the same function, that is to say they heat and blow out air which is however used for different purposes and at different times.

It would thus be desirable, and this is the aim of the present invention, to provide a laundry washing machine which can also function as a laundry drying machine and which can in addition function independently as a fan heater for heating the atmosphere without the need for virtually total re-design of the machine, keeping down the production costs, without increasing the degree of complexity of the laundry washing machine and without having to use another machine.

According to the present invention, there is provided a front-loading laundry washing machine comprising a washing tub containing a drum, a front opening access to said drum closable by a door, an air heating element, a fan, suitable conduits for passing said heated air to the exterior of the machine by way of an orifice which is open at the front of the machine, and a suitably shaped conduit which is open at its ends, which conduit can be removably installed on the front of said laundry washing machine in such a way that its open ends are disposed respectively in front of the opening and in front of said orifice.

The invention will be better appreciated from the following description given solely by way of non-limiting example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:- Figure 1 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a machine according to the present invention with the drying kit fitted; Figure 2 is a transparent view showing the interior of the machine of Figure 1 with the functional components according to the invention; Figure 3 is a vertical side section of the machine of Figure 1 with the fitting kit assembled; and Figure 4 is a rear view of the conduit for carrying the hot air in accordance with the invention.

The solution conceived fundamentally lies in heating the air which is taken from the interior of the machine and passing said heated air into the washing/drying drum by passing the air to the exterior of the machine and introducing the air into the drum by way of the front opening.

With reference to the drawings, shown therein is a front-loading laundry washing machine which is provided with a front door la for loading the laundry.

In substance the illustrated embodiment of the invention consists of: a) an air heating element 2, a fan 3, suitable conduits 4 for passing the heated air to the exterior of the machine by way of an orifice 5 which is open to the front of the machine, and b) a suitably shaped kit made up of a conduit 6 which is open at its two ends at positions corresponding to the front opening and the orifice, as indicated at 7 and 8 respectively The conduit 6, with the ends thereof, is so designed that, with the front opening open, it is possible to apply the conduit 6 by means of its ends to the abovementioned front orifice 5 and to the free aperture of the front opening in order in that way to be able to establish a communication for a flow of air between the openings 1 and 5.

Naturally the conduit 6 can be fitted in that way by means of per se known removable means which are preferably installed at positions corresponding to the ends 7 and 8 of the conduit and in such a way that the conduit can be fitted and removed with the greatest of ease and speed.

In accordance with the preselected function, the user acts on suitable corresponding control elements 9 which are known per se and which are disposed for example on the control panel 10.

In a situation where a washing function is set, the machine starts off and performs the required washing cycle without involving the other elements described.

In the situation where the function of heating the atmosphere is set, the machine activates only the heating element 2 and the fan 3; a continuous flow of air is therefore taken from the interior of the machine and heated and that flow of air is passed into the atmosphere by way of the above-described front orifice 5 In the situation where the laundry drying function is to be activated, the user, after having opened the front door la of the laundry access opening 1, fits the conduit 6 as shown in the drawings in such a way that the front orifice 5 is communicated with the drum which is inside the machine by means of the conduit and the aperture of the open front opening 1.A suitable control 9 is then activated in such a way that the machine, besides functioning as described hereinbefore by emitting a forced flow of hot air from the orifice 5, also provides for rotational movement of the drum containing the laundry to be dried, preferably with an alternating movement, as in the conventional laundry drying machine.

In that way the hot air is passed by means of the conduit 6 into the drum in a simple and reliable fashion, producing the desired drying function.

Naturally, in order to ensure correct circulation of hot dry air and the removal of the moist hot air, it is necessary to provide for a continuous interchange of the air contained in the drum. That is effected by means of a continuous circulation of air, which is achieved in a number of ways: A preferred method involves passing the hot air from the conduit 6 into the drum by means of a suitable mouth opening 14 of limited section with respect to the aperture of the front opening, and disposed at a position corresponding to the end 7 of the conduit, and taking the moist discharge air by means of a plurality of other mouth openings 15 which are preferably disposed in a position opposite to the position of the intake mouth opening 14 for the purposes of avoiding excessive mingling of the two flows of air The moist hot air within the drum is directly discharged to the exterior by way of the mouth openings 15.

It will be appreciated that it is possible for the end 7 to be shaped in many other effective ways for guaranteeing correct intake of hot dried air and the discharge of moist air and for preventing to the maximum degree intermingling of the types of air within the drum.

It will be appreciated that any laundry washing machine and the corresponding kit can also be made of different shapes from that shown, without thereby departing from the scope of the present invention.

Claims (8)

1. A front-loading laundry washing machine comprising a washing tub containing a drum, a front opening access to said drum closable by a door, an air heating element, a fan, suitable conduits for passing said heated air to the exterior of the machine by way of an orifice which is open at the front of the machine, and a suitably shaped conduit which is open at its ends, which conduit can be removably installed on the front of said laundry washing machine in such a way that its open ends are disposed respectively in front of the opening and in front of said orifice.

2. A laundry washing machine according to claim 1, and provided with command and control elements capable selectively of activating the machine for the operation of a washing cycle or for the operation of the air heating element and the fan, with the conduit fitted and with the front opening open, in such a way that the interior of the drum is acted upon by a flow of hot air to dry the laundry.

3. A laundry washing machine according to claim 2, wherein during operation as a laundry drier the drum is rotated at low speed.

4. A laundry washing machine according to claim 3, wherein during operation as a laundry drier the drum is rotated in an alternating movement.

5. A laundry washing machine according to any one of the preceding claims wherein provided in the conduit are separate means for the intake of the dry hot air into the drum and for the emission of the moist air from said drum to the exterior.

6. A laundry washing machine according to claim 5, wherein said means are formed by an intake mouth opening and a plurality of further emission mouth openings which are preferably disposed in an opposite position with respect to the position of the intake opening.

7. A laundry washing machine according to claim 6, wherein said intake mouth opening is adjacent to the edge of the front opening and of limited size with respect to same.

8. A laundry washing machine constructed and arranged to operate substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.