Laundry Washing Machine

Abstract

A laundry washing machine ( 1 ) includes an outer casing ( 2 ), a washing tub which is arranged inside the casing ( 2 ), a rotatable drum which is structured for housing the laundry to be washed, a detergent dispensing assembly ( 5 ), a main fresh-water supply circuit, and an appliance control panel ( 6 ) located on the front wall ( 3 ) of the casing ( 2 ). The laundry washing machine ( 1 ) is furthermore provided with an auxiliary, manually-operated, garment cleaning assembly ( 15 ) that includes an electrically-powered, hand-held, garment stain-removal tool ( 16 ). The appliance control panel ( 6 ) is arranged on the front side of a drawer-like supporting structure ( 13 ) which is inserted in an extractable manner into a corresponding drawer housing ( 14 ) that extends inside the casing ( 2 ) and communicates with the outside via a front entrance or opening ( 14 a ) which is realized on the front wall ( 3 ) of the casing ( 2 ) above the laundry loading/unloading opening. The substantially pen-shaped, garment stain-removal tool ( 16 ) is placed in an easily manually seizable manner into a corresponding storage compartment ( 17 ) realized on the drawer-like supporting structure ( 13 ), behind the appliance control panel ( 6 ).

1 . A laundry washing machine comprising an outer casing, a washing tub which is arranged inside the casing with its opening or mouth directly facing a laundry loading/unloading opening realized on a the front wall of the casing, a rotatable drum which is structured for housing the laundry to be washed and is housed in axially rotatable manner inside the washing tub, a detergent dispensing assembly which is structured for supplying detergent into the washing tub, a main fresh-water supply circuit which is structured for being connected to the water mains and for selectively channeling a flow of fresh water from the water mains to the detergent dispensing assembly and/or to the washing tub, and an appliance control panel which is structured for allowing the user to manually select the desired washing-cycle and is located on the front wall the casing;
 the laundry washing machine being furthermore provided with an auxiliary, manually-operated, garment cleaning assembly that comprises an electrically-powered, hand-held, substantially pen-shaped, garment stain-removal tool, wherein:   the appliance control panel is located/arranged on a front side of a drawer-like supporting structure which is fitted/inserted in extractable manner into a corresponding drawer housing that extends inside the casing underneath the upper worktop or top wall of the casing, and communicates with the outside via a front entrance or opening which is realized on the front wall of the casing above the laundry loading/unloading opening; and   the substantially pen-shaped, garment stain-removal tool is placed in an easily manually seizable manner into a corresponding storage compartment realized on the drawer-like supporting structure, behind the appliance control panel; the drawer-like supporting structure being movable inside the corresponding drawer housing between a retracted position in which the drawer-like supporting structure is completely recessed inside the casing so as to close the garment stain-removal tool inside the casing and arrange the appliance control panel substantially coplanar to the front wall of the casing, and an extracted position in which the drawer-like supporting structure partly juts out from the front wall of the casing so as to place/arrange the storage compartment of the garment stain-removal tool outside of the casing and to arrange the appliance control panel forward spaced apart from the front wall of the casing.   
     
     
         2 . A laundry washing machine according to  claim 1 , wherein the auxiliary, manually-operated, garment cleaning assembly additionally comprises a supply line that is at least partly arranged/located on the drawer-like supporting structure and is capable of channeling towards the garment stain-removal tool one or more process fluids and/or supplying electric power. 
     
     
         3 . A laundry washing machine according to  claim 1 , wherein the garment stain-removal tool is an electrically-powered, hand-held, substantially pen-shaped, ultrasonic garment stain-removal tool provided with a sound emitter capable of emitting ultrasonic waves. 
     
     
         4 . A laundry washing machine according to  claim 2 , wherein the auxiliary, manually-operated, garment cleaning assembly additionally comprises a detergent reservoir which is structured for receiving a given quantity of a consumable detergent agent suitable to be used with the garment stain-removal tool, and is housed on the drawer-like supporting structure so as to allow the user to easily load the detergent agent into the same detergent reservoir when the drawer-like supporting structure is arranged in the extracted position. 
     
     
         5 . A laundry washing machine according to  claim 4 , said supply line comprises a detergent-agent supply circuit which is at least partly arranged/located on the drawer-like supporting structure, and is structured for channeling, on command, a flow of detergent agent from the detergent reservoir to the garment stain-removal tool. 
     
     
         6 . A laundry washing machine according to  claim 5 , characterized in that the detergent-agent supply circuit comprises a connecting pipeline which connects the detergent reservoir to the garment stain-removal tool; and an electrically-powered detergent feeding pump which is located/arranged on the drawer-like supporting structure, and is structured for selectively sucking, from the detergent reservoir, the detergent agent stored therein and pumping/channeling said detergent agent along the connecting pipeline, towards the garment stain-removal tool. 
     
     
         7 . A laundry washing machine according to  claim 4 , wherein said supply line moreover comprises a first water supply circuit which is at least partly arranged/located on the drawer-like supporting structure, and is structured for selectively channeling a flow of fresh water into the detergent reservoir. 
     
     
         8 . A laundry washing machine according to  claim 2 , wherein said supply line further comprises a water supply circuit which is at least partly arranged/located on the drawer-like supporting structure, and is structured for channeling, on command, a flow of fresh water to the garment stain-removal tool. 
     
     
         9 . A laundry washing machine according to  claim 8 , wherein the water supply circuit comprises a connecting pipeline which connects the main fresh-water supply circuit of the laundry washing machine to the garment stain-removal tool, so as to channel the fresh water of the water mains towards the garment stain-removal toot; and an electrically-controlled; valve assembly which is arranged/interposed between the main fresh-water supply circuit and the connecting pipeline, and is able to control/regulate the flow of fresh water along the connecting pipeline towards the garment stain-removal tool. 
     
     
         10 . A laundry washing machine according to  claim 8 , wherein the said supply line comprises a water reservoir which is structured for receiving a quantity of fresh water, and is housed on the drawer-like supporting structure; and in that the second water supply circuit turn comprises a connecting pipeline which connects said water reservoir to the garment stain-removal tool, and an electrically-powered water feeding pump which is located/arranged on the drawer-like supporting structure, and is structured for selectively sucking, from the water reservoir, the fresh water stored therein and pumping/channeling said fresh water along the connecting pipeline towards the garment stain-removal tool. 
     
     
         11 . A laundry washing machine according to  claim 2 , wherein said supply line comprises an umbilical cable having a flexible structure and which connects the garment stain-removal tool to the drawer-like supporting structure. 
     
     
         12 . A laundry washing machine according to  claim 2 , wherein said supply line is controlled via one or more manually-operated push buttons located on the substantially pen-shaped garment stain-removal tool. 
     
     
         13 . A laundry washing machine according to  claim 1 , wherein the drawer-like supporting structure is moreover provided with a working area for supporting a garment to be processed with the garment stain-removal tool. 
     
     
         14 . A laundry washing machine according to  claim 4 , wherein the detergent reservoir comprises a storage tank which is structured for being manually fillable with a great quantity of detergent agent, and is located on the drawer-like supporting structure so as to be freely accessible by the user when the drawer-like supporting structure is in the extracted position; and a manually-removable cap which is structured to close the storage tank, and is located on top of storage tank so as to be freely accessible by the user when the drawer-like supporting structure is in the extracted position. 
     
     
         15 . A laundry washing machine according to  claim 1 , wherein the detergent dispensing assembly comprises a single-dose detergent dispenser structured for selectively feeding into the washing tub a manually measured and pre-loaded amount of detergent, softener and/or other washing agent sufficient for performing only a single washing cycle; and/or an auto-dosing detergent dispenser structured for automatically batching/dosing, on the basis of the selected washing cycle, the suitable amount/dose of detergent, softener and/or other washing agent to be used during the selected washing cycle. 
     
     
         16 . A laundry washing machine according to  claim 15 , wherein the detergent dispensing assembly is located inside the casing substantially horizontally beside the drawer-like supporting structure including the control panel. 
     
     
         17 . A laundry washing machine according to  claim 15 , wherein the detergent dispensing assembly comprises a detergent drawer which is manually fillable with a quantity of detergent, softener and/or other washing agent sufficient for performing a single washing cycle, and which is fitted/inserted in manually extractable manner into a corresponding drawer housing which extends inside the casing underneath the upper worktop or top wall of the casing, and communicates with the outside via a front entrance or opening which is realized on the front wall of the casing above the laundry loading/unloading opening and horizontally beside the front entrance or opening of the drawer housing of the drawer-like supporting structure. 
     
     
         18 . A laundry washing machine according to  claim 1 , additionally comprising: a push member which is located inside the drawer housing of the drawer-like supporting structure and is structured so as to elastically push the drawer-like supporting structure away from the retracted position and towards the extracted position; a locking mechanism which is located on the drawer-like supporting structure, and is structured to automatically reach and hook in a stable, though easily releasable manner onto the front portion or dashboard of the drawer housing that surrounds/forms the front entrance or opening of the drawer housing of the drawer-like supporting structure, so as to hold the drawer-like supporting structure in the retracted position and prevent the push member from pushing the drawer-like supporting structure away from the retracted position; and a manually-operated push button which is located on the front side of the drawer-like supporting structure, and is structured so as to force, when manually operated, the locking mechanism to release the drawer-like supporting structure from the drawer housing, thus allowing the push member to push the drawer-like supporting structure away from the retracted position.