Laundry Dryer

Abstract

Laundry dryer ( 1 ) comprising an outer casing ( 2 ) having a front wall ( 2 a ) provided with a laundry loading/unloading pass-through opening, and an air-filtering cartridge ( 15 ) which is fitted in removable manner into an air-vent ( 10 ) which is passed through by a laundry drying airflow (f), said air-filtering cartridge ( 15 ) comprising a first substantially bag- or pocket-shaped, air-filtering shell or vessel ( 20, 120 ) which is dimensioned for being inserted/plugged into said air-vent ( 10 ) and is structured to restrain the fluff and/or lint particles in suspension into the airflow (f); the air-filtering cartridge ( 15 ) furthermore comprising: a second, completely separated, substantially bag- or pocket-shaped, air-filtering shell or vessel ( 30, 130 ) which is fitted/recessed into said first air-filtering shell or vessel ( 20, 120 ) so as to be crossed by substantially the same airflow (f) that crosses the first air-filtering shell or vessel ( 20, 120 ), and which is structured to restrain the fluff and/or lint particles in suspension into the airflow (f); and an extraction-aid member ( 26, 138 ) which is fixed/associated to one of the two completely-separated, air-filtering shells or vessels ( 20, 30; 120, 130 ), and is structured so as to allow the manual extraction of both air-filtering shells or vessels ( 20, 30; 120, 130 ) at a time from the air-vent ( 10 ).

1 . Laundry dryer ( 1 ) comprising an outer casing ( 2 ) having a front wall ( 2   a ) provided with a laundry loading/unloading pass-through opening, and an air-filtering cartridge ( 15 ) which is fitted in removable manner into an air-vent ( 10 ) which is passed through by a laundry drying airflow (f), said air-filtering cartridge ( 15 ) comprising a first substantially bag- or pocket-shaped, air-filtering shell or vessel ( 20 ,  120 ) which is dimensioned for being inserted/plugged into said air-vent ( 10 ) and is structured to restrain the fluff and/or lint particles in suspension into the airflow (f);
 the laundry dryer being characterized in that the air-filtering cartridge ( 15 ) furthermore comprises:
 a second, completely separated, substantially bag- or pocket-shaped, air-filtering shell or vessel ( 30 ,  130 ) which is fitted/recessed into said first air-filtering shell or vessel ( 20 ,  120 ) so as to be crossed by substantially the same airflow (f) that crosses the first air-filtering shell or vessel ( 20   120 ), and which is structured to restrain the fluff and/or lint particles in suspension into the airflow (f); and 
 an extraction-aid member ( 26 ,  138 ) which is fixed/associated to one of the two completely-separated, air-filtering shells or vessels ( 20 ,  30 ;  120 ,  130 ), and is structured so as to allow the manual extraction of both air-filtering shells or vessels ( 20 ,  30 ;  120 ,  130 ) at a time from the air-vent ( 10 ). 
   
     
     
         2 . Laundry dryer according to  claim 1 , characterized in that the upper rim ( 31 ) of the second air-filtering shell or vessel ( 30 ) is shaped/structured so as to rest in abutment on the upper rim ( 21 ) of the first air-filtering shell or vessel ( 20 ); and in that the extraction-aid member ( 26 ,  138 ) comprises at least one protruding tailpiece ( 26 ) which is shaped/structured for being manually graspable by a user, and which extends upwards from the upper rim ( 21 ) of the first air-filtering shell or vessel ( 20 ) so as to engage in pass-through manner a slot or indentation ( 31   a ) realized on the upper rim ( 31 ) of the second air-filtering shell or vessel ( 30 ), and then project upwards above the second air-filtering shell or vessel ( 30 ). 
     
     
         3 . Laundry dryer according to  claim 2 , characterized in that the extraction-aid member ( 26 ,  138 ) consists in a winglet or flap ( 26 ) that protrudes upwards from the upper edge ( 21 ) of the first air-filtering shell or vessel ( 20 ) and has its distal end shaped/structured for being manually graspable by the user. 
     
     
         4 . Laundry dryer according to  claim 1 , characterized in that the extraction-aid member ( 26 ,  138 ) comprises at least one manually-operated coupling device ( 138 ) which is structured to selectively attach/fix the two air-filtering shells or vessels ( 120 ,  130 ) to one another in a rigid and stable, though easily detachable manner. 
     
     
         5 . Laundry dryer according to  claim 4 , characterized in that the manually-operated coupling device ( 138 ) is fixed/associated to one ( 130 ) of the two air-filtering shells or vessels ( 120 ) and ( 130 ), and it is structured to selectively hook and retain the remaining of the two air-filtering shells or vessels ( 120 ,  130 ) so as to clamp/secure the two air-filtering shells or vessels ( 120 ,  130 ) to one another in a rigid and stable, though easily detachable manner. 
     
     
         6 . Laundry dryer according to any one of the foregoing claims, characterized in air-filtering cartridge ( 15 ) furthermore comprises a permeable-to-air upper lid ( 35 ,  135 ) which is rigidly associated/fixed to the top of the second air-filtering shell or vessel ( 30 ,  130 ) so as to close the upper mouth of the second air-filtering shell or vessel ( 30 ,  130 ). 
     
     
         7 . Laundry dryer according to  claims 5  and  6 , characterized in that the manually-operated coupling device ( 138 ) is stably fixed/associated to the permeable-to-air upper lid ( 135 ) and is structured to selectively hook and retain the first air-filtering shell or vessel ( 120 ) so as to clamp/secure the two air-filtering shells or vessels ( 120 ,  130 ) to one another in a rigid and stable, though easily detachable manner. 
     
     
         8 . Laundry dryer according to  claim 7 , characterized in that the manually-operated coupling device ( 138 ) consists in a clipping arm ( 138 ) which is hinged to the permeable-to-air upper lid ( 135 ) of the second air-filtering shell or vessel ( 130 ) so as to be able to rotate about a reference axis locally substantially tangent to the outer surface of the permeable-to-air upper lid ( 135 ), to and from a fastening position the clipping arm ( 138 ) lays down on the outer surface of the permeable-to-air upper lid ( 135 ) with the distal end clipped onto a portion of the upper rim ( 121 ) of the first air-filtering shell or vessel ( 120 ), so as to couple/connect the two air-filtering shells or vessels ( 120 ,  130 ) to one another in a rigid and stable, though easily detachable manner. 
     
     
         9 . Laundry dryer according to any one of the foregoing claims, characterized in that each of said first and the second air-filtering shells or vessels ( 20 ,  120 ;  30 ,  130 ) is provided with two reciprocally-faced, permeable-to-air sidewalls ( 22 ,  122 ;  32 ,  132 ) which are structured to restrain the fluff and/or lint particles in suspension into the airflow (f) that crosses the air-vent ( 10 ). 
     
     
         10 . Laundry dryer according to any one of the foregoing claims, characterized in that each of said first and the second air-filtering shells or vessels ( 20 ,  120 ;  30 ,  130 ) is divided into two valve-like pieces ( 23 ,  123 ;  33 ,  133 ) which are selectively separable to one another, and which are laterally hinged to one another so that the first and the second air-filtering shells or vessels ( 20 ,  120 ;  30 ,  130 ) are openable in a book-like manner. 
     
     
         11 . Laundry dryer according to  claims 9  and  10 , characterized in that each valve-like piece ( 23 ,  123 ;  33 ,  133 ) of the first and second air-filtering shell or vessel ( 20 ,  120 ;  30 ,  130 ) incorporates a respective permeable-to-air sidewall ( 22 ,  122 ;  32 ,  132 ). 
     
     
         12 . Laundry dryer according to  claim 10  or  11 , characterized in that the first air-filtering shell or vessel ( 20 ,  120 ) is provided with a snap-on locking mechanism ( 25 ,  125 ) which is structured for selectively rigidly anchoring/fixing the two valve-like pieces ( 23 ,  123 ) of the first air-filtering shell or vessel ( 20 ,  120 ) to one another when the same valve-like pieces ( 23 ,  123 ) are reciprocally coupled to form/compose the air-filtering shell or vessel ( 20 ,  120 ). 
     
     
         13 . Laundry dryer according to  claim 9 ,  10  or  11 , characterized in that each permeable-to-air sidewall ( 32 ,  132 ) of the second air-filtering shell or vessel ( 30 ,  130 ) is arranged locally faced and superimposed to a respective permeable-to-air sidewall ( 22 ,  122 ) of the first air-filtering shell or vessel ( 20 ,  120 ). 
     
     
         14 . Laundry dryer according to  claims 6  and any  claims 10  to  12 , characterized in that said permeable-to-air upper lid ( 35 ,  135 ) is divided into two complementary pieces ( 36 ,  136 ) which are selectively separable to one another, and each of which is permanently rigidly fixed to a respective valve-like piece ( 33 ,  133 ) of the second air-filtering shell or vessel ( 30 ,  130 ), so as to allow the second air-filtering shell or vessel ( 30 ,  130 ) to open in a book-like manner. 
     
     
         15 . Laundry dryer according to  claim 14 , characterized in that the permeable-to-air upper lid ( 35 ,  135 ) furthermore comprises a manually-operated snap-on locking mechanism ( 37 ,  137 ) which is structured for selectively rigidly anchoring the two complementary pieces ( 36 ,  136 ) of the permeable-to-air upper lid ( 35 ,  135 ) to one another when they are reciprocally coupled to form/compose the permeable-to-air upper lid ( 35 ,  135 ).