Patent ID: 7467483

Claim:
A laundry appliance including: a surround structure having a top, a front, a lower front edge and a lower rear edge, a front panel removably attached to the front of said surround structure, a drum, a drum support structure supporting said drum for rotation in use, said support structure including a pair of side support members, a top deck attached to the top of said surround structure, said top deck including a lid for accessing said drum in use, in use each of said side support members pivotally supported adjacent the lower front edge of said surround structure and weight-supported at least adjacent the lower rear edge of said surround structure in said operating condition, said surround structure including a load bearing pivot support for each said side member adjacent said lower front edge, and said pair of side support members and said load bearing pivot support including cooperating load bearing surfaces slidable over one another to allow said pivoting between said operating condition and said maintenance condition, so as to form a movement interface between said drum support structure and said surround structure, and said drum support structure and said drum movable between an operating condition wherein said drum and said drum support structure are located fully within said surround structure, and a maintenance condition wherein said drum and said drum support structure are at least substantially disposed outside an envelope defined by said surround structure and a user can access internal components of said laundry appliance for maintenance, a user placing said drum and said drum support structure in said maintenance condition by removing said front panel, and then moving said drum and said drum support structure out of said operating condition and into said maintenance condition via said movement interface.