Front-loading clothes washing machine with a gutter arrangement on top

Abstract

Front-loading clothes washing or drying machine comprising an outer casing, a worktop delimiting said outer casing at the top, a facia or control panel arranged on the upper front portion of said outer casing, in which said worktop and said control panel delimitate each other along respective edges that define a juncture, under which there are arranged gutter-like means having an upward open convexity facing said juncture extending thereabove, said gutter-like means extending in turn substantially over the whole length of said juncture. Said gutter-like means are provided as a unitary piece, i.e. integral with said worktop or, alternatively, as a unitary piece, i.e. integral with said control panel, or they may be provided by suitably forming an internal upper front crosspiece of the machine into a corresponding shape.

1 . Front-loading clothes washing or drying machine comprising: 
 an outer casing ( 1 ),    a worktop ( 2 ) delimiting said outer casing at the top,    a facia or control panel ( 4 ) arranged on the upper front portion of said outer casing,    in which said worktop and said control panel delimitate each other along respective edges ( 7 ,  8 ), which define a juncture ( 6 ,  16 ) extending vertically or horizontally, characterized in that underneath the inner end portion of said juncture there are arranged gutter-like means ( 20 ,  21 ) having an upward open convexity facing said juncture and, in particular, said inner end portion of said juncture, said gutter-like means extending substantially over the whole length of said juncture.    
   
   
       2 . Machine according to  claim 1 , characterized in that said gutter-like means ( 20 ) are provided as a unitary piece, i.e. integral with said worktop ( 2 ) or, alternatively, as a unitary piece, i.e. integral with said control panel ( 4 ).  
   
   
       3 . Machine according to  claim 1 , characterized in that it comprises an upper front crosspiece ( 30 ,  31 ) that is arranged between said control panel and said worktop, and that said gutter-like means ( 20 ,  21 ) are provided by suitably forming said upper front crosspiece into a corresponding shape.  
   
   
       4 . Machine according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is provided with a bottom pan ( 10 ) arranged so as to be able to collect any possible leakage from parts of the water-carrying circuit of the machine, and that there is provided a suitable conduit ( 11 ) allowing for the liquid collected in said gutter-like means to flow off by gravity therefrom to be let out above and fall right into said bottom pan.  
   
   
       5 . Machine according to  claim 1 , characterized in that said gutter-like means ( 20 ,  21 ) are given a preferably continuous inclination (i) relative to a horizontal plane (H), so that an end portion ( 24 ) thereof comes to lie at a level ( 1 ) that is lower than the level (L) of the opposite end portion ( 25 ) thereof.