Patent ID: 7543396

Claim:
A laundry apparatus, comprising: an inner tub which is rotatable about a generally horizontally-extending rotation axis, the inner tub having opposing end faces disposed along the rotation axis, and having an inner tub opening formed in one of the end faces, the inner tub being configured to contain laundry loaded therein through the inner tub opening; an outer tub which accommodates the inner tub and has an outer tub opening provided in association with the inner tub opening; a drying air generating unit which generates drying air for drying the laundry contained in the inner tub; a drying air supply passage disposed above the outer tub opening and extending downward for causing the drying air generated by the drying air generating unit to flow downward to supply the drying air to the outer tub opening; and an air deflecting unit provided on an upper edge portion of the outer tub opening and being opposed to a lower end of the drying air supply passage for deflecting a flow of the drying air supplied to the outer tub opening, to direct the flow of the drying air into the inner tub through the inner tub opening, the air deflecting unit including: an inclined wall on which the drying air flowing downward impinges to be deflected into the inner tub, the inclined wall extending along an upper peripheral edge portion of the outer tub opening; end walls that are respectively provided on longitudinally opposite ends of the inclined wall, and; a divider wall provided on a longitudinally intermediate portion of the inclined wall for dividing the flow of the drying air deflected by the inclined wall.