Patent Publication Number: US-9885145-B2

Title: Laundry drying apparatus

Description:
This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2013-0083684, filed on Jul. 16, 2013, which is hereby incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Field 
     The present disclosure relates to a laundry drying apparatus and more particularly, to a laundry drying apparatus having an improved laundry introduction and removal configuration, thereby achieving enhanced user convenience. 
     Discussion of the Related Art 
     A laundry treatment apparatus typically includes a washing machine for washing laundry and a drying apparatus for drying laundry. 
     A drying apparatus is a home appliance that dries completely washed laundry, e.g., clothing, using hot air. Generally, the drying apparatus includes a laundry vessel in which laundry is received. Dry air is fed into the laundry vessel and wet air inside the laundry vessel is exhausted, drying the laundry. 
     Such a drying apparatus may be divided into a top loading type drying apparatus and a front loading type drying apparatus according to a method of introducing laundry into the drying apparatus. In the top loading type drying apparatus, laundry is introduced through the top of the drying apparatus. In the front loading type drying apparatus, laundry is introduced through the front side of the drying apparatus. 
     Further, the drying apparatus may be divided into a condensation type drying apparatus in which air used to dry laundry is circulated, and an exhaust type drying apparatus in which air used to dry laundry is discharged from the drying apparatus. 
     In the condensation type drying apparatus, humid air heat-exchanged with laundry in a drum is circulated rather than being discharged from the drying apparatus, and then exchanges heat with outside air in a condenser, thus causing condensed water to be discharged. In the exhaust type drying apparatus, humid air heat-exchanged with laundry in a drum is directly discharged from the drying apparatus. 
     In the condensation type drying apparatus as described above, air used to dry an object, such as laundry, collects lint from the laundry. The lint is caught by a lint filter that is installed in a path of air to be discharged from the drum. 
     Hereinafter, a laundry drying apparatus according to the related art will be described in detail with reference to  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 1  is a schematic view showing an internal configuration of a laundry drying apparatus according to the related art. 
     The laundry drying apparatus according to the related art, designated by reference numeral  10 , includes a cabinet  20  defining an external appearance of the drying apparatus  10 , a drying drum  30  rotatably placed within the cabinet  20 , an air supply device  50  that supplies dry air into the drying drum  30  and then collects and circulates the air, and a drive unit  40  that supplies and transmits power to the drying drum  30  and the air supply device  50 . 
     A door  21  is installed to the front side of the cabinet  20  such that an object to be dried, i.e. laundry, is introduced into and removed from the drying drum  30  through the open door  21 . 
     The door  21  is provided with a door glass  22  to allow a user to view a drying process within the drying drum  30 . In  FIG. 1 , the door glass  22  is configured to protrude inward of the drum  30 , in order to prevent laundry inside the drying drum  30  from moving toward the door  21  during drying of laundry. 
     The drying drum  30  is a cylindrical drum defining a drying space therein. The drying drum  30  has a front opening  31  for introduction and removal of laundry and a rear air supply port  32  through which air is supplied from the air supply device  50 . 
     The air supply device  50  is located below a front end of the drying drum  30  and is configured to collect and heat air inside the drying drum  30 , and thereafter to supply the heated air through a rear end of the drying drum  30 . 
     The above-described air supply device  50  includes a blowing fan  54  configured to cause movement of air, a collection duct  52  located at the front end of the drying drum  30  to collect air from the drum  30 , a heating duct  55  connected to the collection duct  52  to heat air, and a condensation duct  56  connected to the heating duct  55  to condense moisture contained in air. 
     The drive unit  40  transmits power for operation of the drying drum  30  as well as the air supply device  50 . The drive unit  40  includes a motor  41 , and a power transmission member  42  (e.g., a belt and a pulley) configured to transmit rotational power of the motor  41  to the drying drum  30 . The blowing fan  54  may be directly connected to the motor  41  to receive power from the motor  41 . 
     A lint filter  60  is provided in the collection duct  52  of the air supply device  50  and serves to catch lint contained in the air collected from the drying drum  30 . In consideration of a structural feature shown  FIG. 1 , the lint filter  60  must be located in front of the drying drum  30 . To remove the caught lint through the open door  21 , the lint filter  60  is separably mounted in the collection duct  52 . 
     In the case of the laundry drying apparatus  10  according to the related art as described above, the drying drum  30  and the blowing fan  54  are configured to be driven by the single motor  41 . To this end, the drying drum  30  is typically horizontally installed. Generally, the drying drum  30  is horizontally installed to allow air to uniformly pass through laundry as an object to be dried. 
     In the case in which the drying drum  30  is horizontally installed, the door  21  configured to open or close the drying drum  30  is typically vertically installed to open or close the opening  31  of the drying drum  30 . In this case, the user who tries to introduce or remove laundry must bend at the waist, which may cause user inconvenience. 
     Additionally, the lint filter  60  is located between the horizontally installed drying drum  30  and the vertically installed door  21 . In this case, the door glass  22  of the door  21  may clog an air path extending from the drying drum  30  to the lint filter  60 . 
     Further, when the drying drum  30  is rotated during drying of laundry, laundry may jam between the door glass  22  and the lint filter  60 . The jammed laundry may clog an air collection path extending through the collection duct  52  and the lint filter  60 , and may prevent rotation of the drying drum  30 . 
     SUMMARY 
     Accordingly, embodiments of the present invention are directed to a laundry drying apparatus that substantially obviates one or more problems due to limitation and disadvantages of the related art. 
     One object of the present invention is to provide a laundry drying apparatus in which a door of the laundry drying apparatus is tilted to allow a user to bend less at the waist when introducing and removing laundry, which may improve user access to laundry. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide a laundry drying apparatus in which a door of the laundry drying apparatus is tilted to provide an installation space for a lint filter interposed between the door and a drum and to ensure easy separation and coupling of the lint filter. 
     A further object of the present invention is to provide a laundry drying apparatus in which a door of the laundry drying apparatus is tilted to achieve a path for a lint filter interposed between the door and a drum. 
     Additional advantages, objects, and features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will become apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned from practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings. 
     To achieve these objects and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, a laundry drying apparatus includes a cabinet including a front panel with an opening for introduction and removal of laundry, a drying drum horizontally installed within the cabinet, and an air supply device o collect air from inside the drying drum, direct the air through ducts, and then return the air into the drying drum, wherein the front panel includes an upper region where a door is installed and a lower region located below the upper region, and wherein the upper region is tilted rearward by a predetermined tile angle. 
     The door installed at the upper region may be tilted by an angle corresponding to the predetermined tilt angle of the upper region. The predetermined tilt angle of the upper region may be within a range of 10˜14 degrees. 
     The lower region may be indented inward of the front panel with respect to the upper region, and a seam portion between the upper region and the lower region may protrude forward of the front panel. 
     The drying drum may include a cylindrical drum body, a front plate configured to rotatably support a front end of the drum body, and a rear plate configured to rotatably support a rear end of the drum body. 
     The front plate may protrude toward the front panel and may include an inclined aperture connected to the opening formed in the front panel of the cabinet. 
     The air supply device may include a collection duct coupled to a lower side of the inclined aperture, a blowing fan positioned within the collection duct to move air, a heating duct coupled to the blowing fan to heat the moved air, and a condensation duct to supply the heated air into the drying drum through the rear plate. 
     A lint filter mount may be formed at the lower side of the inclined aperture. 
     A lint filter which is mounted on the lint filter mount may be located inside the collection duct when mounted to the lint filter mount. 
     An air collector may be formed below the inclined aperture such that the drying drum communicates with the lint filter. 
     The door may include a door glass protruding toward the drying drum, and an anti-jamming member may be provided on the inclined aperture to prevent laundry from jamming in a gap between the inclined aperture and the door glass. 
     The anti jamming member may have a crescent shape and may extend from an inner lower portion of the inclined aperture to both sides of an upper portion of the inclined aperture. 
     The laundry drying apparatus may further include an auxiliary device provided below the cabinet to increase the height of the cabinet. 
     The auxiliary device may include a housing to support the cabinet and to define a space therein, and a drawer receivable in the housing so as to be drawn forward of the cabinet. 
     It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description of the present invention are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the present invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiment(s) of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principle of the invention. In the drawings: 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic view showing a laundry drying apparatus according to the related art; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view showing a laundry drying apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a sectional view showing an internal configuration of the laundry drying apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is an exploded perspective view showing important parts of the laundry drying apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 5  is a partial sectional view showing important parts of the laundry drying apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 6  is a rear perspective view showing important parts of the laundry drying apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In the following description of the present invention, the terms for respective components are defined taking into consideration the functions obtained in accordance with the present invention. Accordingly, the definitions of these terms should not be understood as meanings that restrict technical components of the present invention. In addition, the terms for respective components may be replaced by other terms of the art. 
     Hereinafter, a laundry drying apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
     As exemplarily shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the laundry drying apparatus according to the present invention, designated by reference numeral  100 , includes a cabinet  110  defining an external appearance of the apparatus  100  and having a door  114  for introduction and removal of an object to be dried, e.g., laundry, a drying drum  120  rotatably placed within the cabinet  110 , an air supply device  140  that supplies heated hot air into the drying drum  120 , and a drive unit  130  that supplies rotational power to drive the drying drum  120  and the air supply device  140 . 
     In addition, the laundry drying apparatus  100  according to the present invention may further include an auxiliary device  160  configured to increase the height of the laundry drying apparatus  100 . 
     The auxiliary device  160  may be configured to allow the laundry drying apparatus  100  to be seated thereon. To this end, the auxiliary device  160  may have a shape corresponding to the external appearance of the laundry drying apparatus  100 . The auxiliary device  160  will be described in detail after completing explanation of the laundry drying apparatus  100 . 
     The cabinet  110  defines the external appearance of the laundry drying apparatus  100 . The cabinet  110  is constructed by a front panel  111  that defines the front side of the laundry drying apparatus  100 , the door  114  being pivotally rotatably coupled to the front panel  111 , and lateral panels (not shown), a top panel (not shown), and a rear panel (not shown) which respectively define both lateral sides, top side, and rear side of the cabinet  110 . 
     In these embodiments, the lateral panel, the top panel, and the rear panel have the same configuration as a lateral panel, a top panel, and a rear panel of the related art. Note that only the front panel  111  has a different configuration from a front panel of the related art. 
     Meanwhile, as shown in  FIG. 1 , in the case of the laundry drying apparatus  10  according to the related art, the drum  30  is horizontally installed such that the opening  31  of the drum  30  is defined in a vertical plane. 
     As such, the door  21  used to open or close the opening  31  of the drum  30  must be vertically installed so as to be pivotally rotated about a vertical axis corresponding to the opening  31  of the drum  30 . Therefore, the front panel of the laundry drying apparatus  10  according to the related art is installed in a vertical plane. 
     Conversely, in the case of the front panel  111  of the laundry drying apparatus  100  according to the present invention, as shown in  FIG. 3 , the door  114  coupled to the front panel  111  is tilted by a predetermined angle A. 
     The door  114  may be installed with an angle ensuring that an upper portion of the door  114  is tilted rearward of the laundry drying apparatus  100 . In this case, the tilting angle of the door  114  may be within a range of 10˜14 degrees, and more particularly, about 12 degrees. 
     In the case in which the door  114  is tilted as described above, a user may bend less at the waist when introducing or removing laundry as compared to the case in which the door  114  is vertically installed, as in the related art, which may increase user convenience. 
     As exemplarily shown in  FIG. 3 , the front panel  111  may be divided into an upper region B where the door  114  is installed, and a lower region C. The upper region B is tilted by the angle A similar to the door  114  for installation of the door  114  to the upper region B as described above. 
     The lower region C located below the upper region B may be vertically defined differently from the upper region B, or may have a symmetrical shape of the upper region B. 
     More specifically, if the lower region C is tilted in the same direction as that of the upper region B, the laundry drying apparatus  100  may have an excessively protruding lower portion, which may make it difficult for the user to access the laundry drying apparatus  100 . Therefore, the lower region C may be tilted in a direction opposite to a tilting direction of the upper region B (i.e., lower region C may be tilted downward and inward of the laundry drying apparatus  100 ). 
     In summary, the front panel  111  of the laundry drying apparatus  100  according to the present invention consists of the upper region B where the door  114  is installed and the lower region C located below the upper region B, a seam portion between the upper region B and the lower region C protrudes outward from the laundry drying apparatus  100 , an upper end of the upper region B is tilted inward of the laundry drying apparatus  100 , and a lower end of the lower region C is tilted inward of the laundry drying apparatus  100 . 
     In this way, the lower region C may provide a space to allow the user to access the laundry drying apparatus  100 , and both the upper region B and the door  114  installed to the upper region B may allow the user to easily introduce and remove laundry. 
     Meanwhile, the upper region B of the front panel  111  is provided with an opening  112  for introduction of laundry, and the door  114  is coupled to one side of the opening  112 . 
     Here, the door  114  is provided at the center thereof with a door glass  116  to allow the user to view the interior of the drying drum  120 . The door glass  116  is configured to protrude inward of the drying drum  120 . 
     Here, the door  114  installed to the front panel  111  is coupled to the front panel  111  via a hinge device (not shown). The hinge device may provide a predetermined magnitude of repulsive elasticity upon opening and closing of the door  114 . 
     More specifically, as the door  114  installed to the front panel  111  is tilted by the predetermined angle A, the door  114  may be forcibly rotated by the weight of the door  114  upon opening or closing of the door  114 . The repulsive elasticity of the hinge device may prevent the door  114  from being forcibly rotated by the weight of the door  114 . 
     The drying drum  120 , as exemplarily shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , is rotatably placed within the cabinet  110 . The drying drum  120  includes a rotatably supported cylindrical drum body  121 , a front plate  122  coupled to a front end of the drum body  121  to rotatably support the front end of the drum body  121 , and a rear plate  129  coupled to a rear end of the drum body  121  to rotatably support the rear end of the drum body  121 . 
     In addition to rotatably supporting the front end of the drum body  121 , the front plate  122  of the drying drum  120  serves to connect the drum body  121  to the opening  112  of the front panel  111 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 5 , the front panel  111  is tilted by the predetermined angle A as described above, whereas the front end of the drum body  121  of the drying drum  120  is defined in a vertical plane. 
     Accordingly, the top of the opening  112  of the front panel  111  is located proximate to the top of the front end of the drum body  121 , whereas the bottom of the opening  112  of the front panel  111  is spaced apart from the bottom of the front end of the drum body  121  by a predetermined distance. That is, the opening  112  of the front panel  111  and the front end of the drum body  121  are spaced apart from each other in a non-parallel state. 
     Accordingly, one surface of the front plate  122  that faces the drum body  121  defines a vertical surface corresponding to the drum body  121  so as to rotatably support the drum body  121 , whereas the other surface of the front plate  122  that faces the front panel  111  is a obliquely protruding surface having the predetermined inclination angle A. 
     More specifically, the front plate  122  takes the form of a conical plate, the center of which protrudes toward the front panel  111 , and is provided at a pointed end thereof with an inclined aperture  123  that comes into contact with the opening  112  of the front panel  111 . 
     Here, a lint filter mount  124 , on which a lint filter  150  that will be described hereinafter is mounted, is formed at a lower portion of an inner surface of the inclined aperture  123 . A collection duct  141  of the air supply device  140  that will be described hereinafter is connected to a position below and at the outside of the inclined aperture  123 . The lint filter  150  and the air supply device  140  will be described in detail later. 
     The lint filter  150  mounted on the lint filter mount  124  is upwardly exposed. Thereby, as air inside the drying drum  120  is moved into the collection duct  141  by way of the lint filter  150 , lint contained in the air is caught by the lint filter  150 . 
     Here, considering a configuration of the lint filter  150 , as exemplarily shown in  FIG. 5 , the lint filter  150  includes a housing defining a space therein, and a filter  154  located inside the housing. The housing has a top inlet  151  and a lateral inlet  152  respectively formed in a top surface and one lateral surface thereof for introduction of air inside the drying drum  120 , and an outlet  153  formed in the other lateral surface thereof for discharge of air filtered by the filter  154 . 
     The above-described lint filter  150  is separably mounted to the lint filter mount  124  of the front plate  122 , and is obliquely installed by a predetermined angle so as to be removed through the inclined aperture  123 . 
     An air collector  125  in the form of a plurality of through-holes may further be formed in the front plate  122  at a position proximate to the lint filter mount  124  to guide introduction of air inside the drying drum  120  into the lateral inlet  152  of the lint filter  150 . Provision of the air collector  125  may increase the quantity of air to be introduced into the lint filter  150 , thereby enhancing filtering efficiency of the lint filter  150 . 
     Meanwhile, when viewed from the interior of the drying drum  120 , the inclined aperture  123  of the front plate  122  is indented toward the door  114 , and the door glass  116  of the door  114  protrudes from the inclined aperture  123  into the drying drum  120 . As such, a circular or elliptical gap D is defined between an inner peripheral surface of the inclined aperture  123  and an outer peripheral surface of the door glass  116 . 
     In one embodiment, the gap D between an inner upper portion of the inclined aperture  123  and an upper portion of the door glass  116  is relatively small, and the gap D between an inner lower portion of the inclined aperture  123  and a lower portion of the door glass  116  is relatively large. 
     The gap D between the inner peripheral surface of the inclined aperture  123  and the door glass  116 , however, may cause laundry to jam between the inner peripheral surface of the inclined aperture  123  and the door glass  116  during rotation of the drying drum  120 , which may prevent efficient rotation of the laundry. Inefficient rotation of the laundry prevents air supplied into the drying drum  120  from efficiently coming into contact with the laundry, resulting in insufficient drying of the laundry. 
     However, the gap D between the inner upper portion of the inclined aperture  123  and the upper portion of the door glass  116  is relatively small, and the laundry may be easily released from the relatively small gap D by the weight of the laundry. But, with regard to the gap D between the inner lower portion of the inclined aperture  123  and the lower portion of the door glass  116 , it is necessary to prevent jamming of the laundry because the laundry tends to be collected on the bottom of the drying drum  120  due to gravity. 
     Accordingly, an anti jamming member  126  may be provided at the inner lower portion of the inclined aperture  123  to prevent laundry from jamming between the inner lower portion of the inclined aperture  123  and the lower portion of the door glass  116 . 
     Here, the anti-jamming member  126  is installed to a lower portion of the inner peripheral surface of the inclined aperture  123  to reduce the gap D between the inner lower portion of the inclined aperture  123  and the lower portion of the door glass  116 , thereby preventing laundry from jamming between the inner lower portion of the inclined aperture  123  and the lower portion of the door glass  116 . 
     The anti jamming member  126  will hereinafter be described with reference to  FIG. 6 . As shown, one surface of the anti jamming member  126  has a shape corresponding to the shape of the inner lower portion of the inclined aperture  123  and the other surface of the anti jamming member  126  is an inclined surface that is relatively similar to a vertical surface. 
     More specifically, in the case of the circular or elliptical gap D between the inclined aperture  123  and the door glass  116 , a lower end of the gap D has the greatest width, and the width of the gap D is gradually reduced upward. Accordingly, the anti-jamming member  126  has a shape having a wide lower end and the width of the anti-jamming member  126  is gradually reduced toward both sides of an upper end thereof. More specifically, the anti jamming member  126  has a crescent shape. 
     Additionally, the anti jamming member  126  centrally has a plurality of through-holes  127  that may communicate with the air collector  125  formed at the inclined aperture  123 . Both lateral sides of the anti jamming member  126  are provided with extensions  128  which protrude along both lateral sides of the inner peripheral surface of the inclined aperture  123 . 
     Meanwhile, the rear plate  129  of the drying drum  120  serves not only to rotatably support the rear end of the drum body  121 , but also to supply air supplied from the air supply device  140  into the drum body  121 . 
     The rear plate  129  has a plurality of air supply holes  129   a  formed in a predetermined portion thereof, and a condensation duct  146  of the air supply device  140  is installed at the outside of the rear plate  129  to communicate with the air supply holes  129   a  for supply of air. 
     A front support member (not shown) and a rear support member (not shown), are respectively provided at inner surfaces of the front plate  122  and the rear plate  129  opposite to each other. The front support member and the rear support member take the form of rollers to rotatably support the drum body  121  located between the front plate  122  and the rear plate  129 . Various embodiments of the front support member and the rear support member may be proposed, and a detailed description of this is omitted herein. 
     The drive unit  130  serves to drive the drum body  121  of the drying drum  120  and a blowing fan  143  of the air supply device  140  that will be described hereinafter. The drive unit  130  includes a motor  132  to provide rotational power. 
     Here, the blowing fan  143  of the air supply device  140  is connected to one end of a rotating shaft of the motor  132 , and a pulley  134  is provided at the other end of the rotating shaft to transmit rotational power to the drying drum  120 . The pulley  134  and the drum body  121  of the drying drum  120  are connected to each other via a belt  136  and are adapted to receive rotational power of the motor  132 . 
     As the motor  132  of the drive unit  130  is rotated, the drum body  121  of the drying drum  120  and the blowing fan  143  of the air supply device  140  may be operated in linkage to each other. Alternatively, the drying drum  120  and the blowing fan  143  may be driven individually using different motors. Various embodiments of the drive unit  130  may be proposed, and thus a detailed description of this is omitted herein. 
     The air supply device  140 , as exemplarily shown in  FIG. 2 , serves to collect and heat air inside the drying drum  120  and supply the heated air into the drying drum  120 . The air supply device  140  includes the collection duct  141  connected to the front plate  122  of the drying drum  120  to collect air inside the drying drum  120 , the blowing fan  143  connected to the collection duct  141  to move air, a heating duct  144  in which a heater (not shown) to heat the air moved by the blowing fan  143  is provided, and the condensation duct  146  that condenses moisture of the air heated in the heating duct  144  to generate heated dry air and guide the same into the drying drum  120 . 
     Here, the collection duct  141  is connected to an outer lower portion of the front plate  122  of the drying drum  120 . More specifically, the collection duct  141  is connected to a portion below the lint filter mount  124  provided at the inclined aperture  123 . Accordingly, the collection duct  141  provides a lint filter space  142  in which the lint filter  150  mounted to the lint filter mount  124  is received. 
     Although the above-described embodiment of the air supply device  140  exemplifies a circulation type air supply device, an exhaust type air supply device may be applied to the present invention. In addition, although the air supply device using the heater has been described above, an air supply device using a heat pump that heats air using refrigerant may be applied to the present invention. 
     The auxiliary device  160  serves to raise the height of the laundry drying apparatus  100  in order to provide the laundry drying apparatus  100  with enhanced user convenience. The auxiliary device  160  includes a housing  162  that is configured to support the laundry drying apparatus  100  and defines an inner space, and a drawer  164  provided inside the housing  162  so as to be drawn forward of the laundry drying apparatus  100 . 
     Here, a washing device (not shown) for washing laundry may be provided in the drawer  164 . Alternatively, the drawer  146  may provide a separate drying space. Various embodiments of the auxiliary device  160  may be proposed, and thus a detailed description of this is omitted herein. 
     As is apparent from the above description, in a laundry drying apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention, a door of the laundry drying apparatus is tilted to improve user access to laundry so as to allow the user to bend less at the waist when introducing and removing laundry, which results in enhanced user convenience. 
     Further, in a laundry drying apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention, a door of the laundry drying apparatus is tilted and a lint filter is mounted in a space between a lower portion of the door and a drum, which enables easy separation and coupling of the lint filter. 
     Furthermore, in a laundry drying apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention, a door of the laundry drying apparatus is tilted and a lint filter is mounted in a space between a lower portion of the door and a drum, which ensures a greater path of air to be introduced into the lint filter, resulting in reduced air resistance in the path. 
     It will be apparent that, although the preferred embodiments have been shown and described above, the invention is not limited to the above-described specific embodiments, and various modifications and variations can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the appended claims.