Patent ID: 6978556

Claim:
A combination washing machine and dryer that obviates the need for a user to remove wet clothing from a washing machine and to transfer the clothing to a fabric dryer, said combination washing machine and dryer comprising: a fabric dryer having: a top, a bottom, a front, a rear, and two opposing sides; a substantially hollow drying chamber for drying wet clothes; and an access door which is selectively opened in order to remove the clothes from the drying chamber after they have been thoroughly dried; and a washing machine having: a top, a bottom, a front, a rear, and two opposing sides, wherein the bottom of the washing machine is substantially supported upon the top of the fabric dryer; a substantially hollow washing chamber into which clothes are placed prior to activating the washing machine; a trap door which selectively separates the washing chamber from the drying chamber; an access door which is selectively opened in order to fill the washing chamber with clothes; an activation button for selectively activating the washing machine; and a washing machine timer in electrical communication with both the washing machine and the trap door, wherein the timer is activated upon activation of the washing machine; and wherein when the washing machine has finished washing the clothes contained therein, the timer automatically deactivates the washing machine and simultaneously causes the trap door to open, thereby allowing the wet clothes contained therein to fall into the drying chamber of the fabric dryer where they are subsequently dried.