WO2014121827A1

WO2014121827A1 - Laundry washing machine with a water softening device

Info

Publication number: WO2014121827A1
Application number: PCT/EP2013/052317
Authority: WO
Inventors: Maurizio Del Pos; Daniele Favaro
Original assignee: Electrolux Appliances Aktiebolag
Priority date: 2013-02-06
Filing date: 2013-02-06
Publication date: 2014-08-14
Also published as: EP2954112B1; EP2954112A1

Abstract

Laundry washing machine (1) comprising an outer casing (2), a washing tub (3), a rotatable drum, a detergent dispensing assembly (9), a fresh-water supply circuit (10) for selectively channelling a flow of fresh water towards the detergent dispensing assembly (9) and/or the washing tub (3), and a water softening device (12) located along the fresh-water supply circuit (10) for reducing the hardness degree of the water; the water softening device (12) comprising a water-softening agent container (13) filled with a water softening agent, and a regeneration-agent reservoir (14) fluidically connected to the water-softening agent container (13) and structured to receive a consumable regeneration agent; a water supply circuit (15) for channelling fresh water into the regeneration-agent reservoir (14) to at least partly dissolve the regeneration agents to form brine; and an electrically-powered brine-circulating pump assembly or valve assembly (16) interposed between the water-softening agent container (13) and the regeneration-agent reservoir (14) for controlling the outflow of the brine from the regeneration-agent reservoir (14) to the water-softening agent container (13); the regeneration-agent reservoir (14) comprising a manually-removable container (14) for receiving a consumable regeneration agent and housed inside the casing (2) in removable manner to be manually removed by the user; the water supply circuit (15) and the brine- circulating pump assembly or valve assembly (16) of the internal water softening device (12) being both hydraulically connected to the manually-removable container (14) in detachable manner.

Description

LAUNDRY WASHING MACHINE WITH A WATER SOFTENING DEVICE

The present invention relates to a laundry washing machine.

More in details, the present invention relates to a front-loading home laundry washing machine provided with an internal water softening device, to which the following description refers purely by way of example without this implying any loss of generality.

As is known, currently marketed front-loading home laundry washing machines generally comprise: a substantially parallelepiped- shaped outer boxlike casing structured for resting on the floor; a substantially bell-shaped washing tub which is suspended in floating manner inside the casing, directly facing a laundry loading/unloading through opening realized in the front wall of the casing; a substantially cylindrical elastically-deformable bellows, which connects the front opening of the washing tub to the laundry loading/unloading opening formed in the front wall of the casing; a porthole door which is hinged to the front wall of the casing to rotate to and from a closing position in which the door closes the laundry loading/unloading opening in the front wall of the casing for watertight sealing the washing tub; a substantially cylindrical, bell-shaped rotatable drum structured for housing the laundry to be washed, and which is arranged inside the washing tub with its concavity facing the laundry loading/unloading opening and is supported in axially rotating manner so as to be able to freely rotate about its substantially horizontally-oriented longitudinal axis; and finally an electrically-powered motor assembly which is structured for driving into rotation the rotatable drum about its longitudinal axis inside the washing tub.

Alike any other home laundry washing machine, this type of laundry washing machine is furthermore provided with a detergent dispensing assembly which is generally located inside the boxlike casing, immediately above the washing tub, and is structured for selectively feeding into the washing tub, according to the washing cycle manually- selected by the user via a control panel generally located on the front wall of the boxlike casing, a given amount of detergent, softener and/or other washing agent suitably mixed with fresh water arriving from the water mains; and with a fresh-water supply circuit which is structured for selectively drawing fresh water from the water mains according to the washing cycle manually- selected by the user, and channelling said water to the detergent dispensing assembly or directly to the washing tub.

The detergent dispensing assembly, in turn, generally comprises: a detergent drawer which is usually divided into a number of detergent compartments each structured for being manually fillable with a corresponding detergent product, and which is fitted/inserted in manually extractable manner into a completely recessed drawer housing whose entrance is usually located on front wall of the casing, above the laundry loading/unloading opening, and whose bottom directly communicates with the inside of the washing tub via a connecting duct; and a drawer flush circuit which receives the fresh water from the fresh- water supply circuit, and is structured to selectively and alternatively channel said fresh water into any one of the detergent compartments of the detergent drawer, so as to selectively flush the detergent, softener or other washing agent out of the corresponding detergent compartment and down on the bottom of the drawer housing which, in turn, communicates with the inside of the washing tub.

As is known the hardness of the fresh water channelled into the washing tub deeply negatively influences the cleaning efficiency of the detergents and softeners used in the washing cycle, thus the user is usually requested to considerably increase, when the hardness degree of the fresh water is too high, the amount of detergent and softener used in the washing cycle and/or to mix the detergent with a given amount of very expensive, generally polycarboxylates-based, water- softening chemical product.

The European patent application No. 1085118 discloses a front-loading home laundry washing machine provided with an internal water softening device capable of reducing, during each washing cycle, the hardness degree of the fresh water used in the pre-washing and washing phases of the washing cycle. This water softening device uses ion-exchange resins to restrain calcium and magnesium ions (Ca++ an Mg++) dissolved in the fresh water channeled to the washing tub, and uses brine (i.e. salt water) to periodically regenerate these ion-exchange resins. Salt water, in fact, is able to remove from the ion-exchange resins the calcium and magnesium ions previously combined/fixed to said resins.

Unluckily integration of the salt reservoir on the back of the detergent drawer has brought to a very complicated detergent drawer structure with a consequent significant increase in the detergent dispensing assembly overall production costs.

Moreover the brine accidentally coming out of the salt reservoir during drawer movement accumulates on the bottom of the drawer housing which is in direct communication with the upper portion of the washing tub, thus the brine can reach quite easily the outer surface of the rotatable drum with all problems concerned. The rotatable drum, in fact, is generally made of metal material and gets rusty very quickly in presence of brine.

Last but not less important, the capacity of the salt reservoir on the back of the detergent drawer is too limited for the everyday-use typical of a traditional home laundry washing machine. It is unacceptable for a normal user to refill the salt reservoir every 3-4 washing cycles.

Aim of the present invention is therefore to realize an internal water softening device designed to eliminate the drawbacks referred above.

In compliance with the above aims, according to the present invention there is provided a laundry washing machine comprising an outer casing and, inside said outer casing, a washing tub, a rotatable drum housed in axially rotatable manner inside the washing tub and structured for housing the laundry to be washed, a detergent dispensing assembly which is structured for supplying detergent into the washing tub, a fresh-water supply circuit which is structured for selectively channelling a flow of fresh water from the water mains towards the detergent dispensing assembly and/or the washing tub, and a water softening device which is arranged/located along the fresh-water supply circuit and is structured for reducing the hardness degree of the fresh water channelled to the detergent dispensing assembly and/or to the washing tub; the water softening device in turn comprising a water- softening agent container which is arranged/located along the fresh-water supply circuit and is filled with a water softening agent able to reduce the hardness degree of the fresh water flowing through the same water- softening agent container, and a regeneration- agent reservoir which is fluidically connected to the water- softening agent container and is structured to receive a consumable regeneration agent for performing a regeneration of the water softening function of the water softening agent stored into the water-softening agent container; a water supply circuit which is structured for channelling fresh water into the regeneration- agent reservoir so to at least partly dissolve the regeneration agents stored therein and form some brine; and an electrically-powered brine-circulating pump assembly or valve assembly which is interposed between the water- softening agent container and the regeneration-agent reservoir and is structured for regulating/controlling the outflow of the brine from the regeneration-agent reservoir to the water- softening agent container; the laundry washing machine being characterized in that the regeneration- agent reservoir comprises a manually-removable container which is structured for receiving a given amount of consumable regeneration agent, and is housed inside the casing in removable manner so to be manually removed by the user at refilling of the regeneration agent; and in that the water supply circuit and the brine-circulating pump assembly or valve assembly of the water softening device are both hydraulically connected to the manually-removable container in detachable manner.

Preferably, though not necessarily, the laundry washing machine is furthermore characterized in that said manually-removable container comprises a storage tank which is structured for being manually fillable with a given amount of said consumable regeneration agent, and is housed in manually removable manner into the casing.

Preferably, though not necessarily, the laundry washing machine is furthermore characterized in that said manually-removable container furthermore comprises a manually-removable cap which is structured to close the storage tank. Preferably, though not necessarily, the laundry washing machine is furthermore characterized in that the storage tank is structured so to be fitted/recessed in manually extractable manner into a corresponding tank seat realized on the casing.

Preferably, though not necessarily, the laundry washing machine is furthermore characterized in that the storage tank is structured for being fitted/inserted in manually extractable manner into the corresponding tank seat according to an either substantially horizontally-oriented or substantially vertically- oriented coupling direction.

Preferably, though not necessarily, the laundry washing machine is furthermore characterized in that the storage tank is provided with two hydraulic connectors which are structured to hydraulically connect in detachable manner the storage tank to, respectively, the water supply circuit of the water softening device and to the brine-circulating pump assembly or valve assembly of the water softening device.

Preferably, though not necessarily, the laundry washing machine is furthermore characterized in that the two hydraulic connectors of the storage tank are structured so to couple with corresponding complementary hydraulic connectors each respectively communicating with the water supply circuit of the water softening device and with the brine-circulating pump assembly or valve assembly of the water softening device.

Preferably, though not necessarily, the laundry washing machine is furthermore characterized in that the complementary hydraulic connectors are arranged/located on said tank seat.

Preferably, though not necessarily, the laundry washing machine is furthermore characterized in that the hydraulic connectors on the storage tank and the corresponding complementary hydraulic connectors on the tank seat are arranged so as to couple to one another during insertion of the storage tank into the tank seat.

Preferably, though not necessarily, the laundry washing machine is furthermore characterized in that the hydraulic connectors on the storage tank are self-closing hydraulic connectors.

Preferably, though not necessarily, the laundry washing machine is furthermore characterized in that the complementary hydraulic connectors on the tank seat are self-closing hydraulic connectors.

Preferably, though not necessarily, the laundry washing machine is furthermore characterized in that the water softening device moreover comprises a water-level sensor structured for measuring the level of the fresh water and/or brine contained inside the manually-removable container, and/or a salinity-level sensor structured for measuring the salinity degree of the brine contained inside the manually-removable container.

Preferably, though not necessarily, the laundry washing machine is furthermore characterized in that the manually-removable container is recessed/incorporated in manually removable manner into a drawer-like supporting structure which is fitted/inserted in manually extractable manner into a corresponding, substantially completely recessed, drawer housing which extends inside the casing starting from the front wall of the casing, so as to be movable between a retracted position in which the drawer-like supporting structure is completely recessed/inserted into the drawer housing to place the manually- removable container completely inside the casing; and an extracted position in which the drawer-like supporting structure partly juts out from the front wall of the casing so to arrange the manually-removable container outside of the casing in a position allowing manual removal of the manually-removable container from the drawer-like supporting structure.

Preferably, though not necessarily, the laundry washing machine is furthermore characterized by also comprising an appliance control panel which is located on a front side of said drawer-like supporting structure, so to be arranged substantially coplanar to the front wall of the casing when the drawer-like supporting structure is in the retracted position, and so to be arranged forward spaced apart from the front wall of the casing when the drawer-like supporting structure is in the extracted position. Preferably, though not necessarily, the laundry washing machine is furthermore characterized in that the manually-removable container is recessed/incorporated in manually removable manner on the top of the casing.

Preferably, though not necessarily, the laundry washing machine is furthermore characterized in that the manually-removable container is recessed/incorporated in manually removable manner into a tank seat which is arranged immediately underneath the worktop of the casing, and is freely accessible by the user through a manual-operated trapdoor realized on said worktop of the casing.

Preferably, though not necessarily, the laundry washing machine is furthermore characterized in that the bottom of the tank seat is shaped/structured so as to form a leakage collector wherein the fresh water or brine leaking out of the storage tank may accumulate; said leakage collector being connected via a corresponding water drain line either to the bottom of the washing tub or to a wastewater drain line that channels the waste water or washing liquor outside the laundry washing machine.

Preferably, though not necessarily, the laundry washing machine is furthermore characterized in that the water softening device is provided with a water- level sensor which is able to measure the level of the fresh water and/or brine accumulated on the leakage collector formed on the bottom of the tank seat.

A non-limiting embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figures 1 is a perspective view of a front-loading, home laundry washing machine realized in accordance with the teachings of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the Figure 1 laundry washing machine in a different working configuration;

Figure 3 is a side view of the Figure 1 laundry washing machine with parts removed for clarity and partly disclosing the internal water softening device of the washing machine; and

Figure 4 is a schematic view of the internal water softening device of the Figure 1 laundry washing machine, with parts removed for clarity;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a portion of the internal water softening device of the Figure 1 laundry washing machine, with parts in section and parts removed for clarity;

- Figure 6 and 7 are two perspective views of further component parts of the internal water softening device of the Figure 1 laundry washing machine, with parts in section and parts removed for clarity;

Figure 8 is a schematic view of a first alternative embodiment of the internal water softening device of the Figure 1 laundry washing machine;

- Figure 9 is a schematic view of a second alternative embodiment of the internal water softening device of the Figure 1 laundry washing machine; whereas

Figures 10, 11 and 12 are three perspective views of further three alternative embodiments of the Figure 1 laundry washing machine.

With reference to Figures 1, 2 and 3, reference number 1 indicates as a whole a home laundry washing machine which comprises: a preferably, though not necessarily, substantially parallelepiped-shaped, rigid outer boxlike casing 2 which is structured for resting on the floor; a preferably substantially cylindrical, bell-shaped hollow washing tub 3 which is arranged inside the casing 2 with its opening or mouth directly facing a laundry loading/unloading through opening realized in the front wall 2a of boxlike casing 2; a preferably substantially cylindrical, elastically-deformable bellows 4 watertight connecting the front opening or mouth of washing tub 3 to the laundry loading/unloading opening realized in the front wall 2a of casing 2; and a substantially cylindrical, bell-shaped rotatable drum (not shown) structured for housing the laundry to be washed, and which is housed in axially rotatable manner inside the washing tub 3 so as to be able to freely rotate about its longitudinal reference axis.

In the example shown, in particular, the laundry loading/unloading opening is preferably realized on front wall 2a of casing 2 substantially astride of the vertical center-plane of the casing 2, and the washing tub 3 is preferably arranged inside the boxlike casing 2 with its longitudinal reference axis substantially horizontally- oriented, i.e. substantially perpendicular to front wall 2a. The rotatable drum (not shown), in turn, is housed in axially rotating manner inside the washing tub 3 with its front opening directly faced/aligned to the laundry loading/unloading opening on front wall 2a, and the drum rotation axis is preferably arranged locally substantially coincident with the substantially horizontally-oriented longitudinal reference axis of washing tub 3.

Furthermore in the example shown the hollow washing tub 3 is preferably suspended in floating manner inside the casing 2 via a suspension system preferably, though not necessarily, comprising a couple of upper coil springs 5 connecting the upper portion of the washing tub 3 to the top of the boxlike casing 2, and a number of lower vibration dampers (not shown) connecting the bottom portion of the washing tub 3 to the bottom of casing 2.

With reference to Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4, the laundry washing machine 1 furthermore comprises:

a porthole door 7 which is hinged to the front wall 2a of casing 2 to rotate about a preferably, though not necessarily, vertically-oriented reference axis to and from a closing position in which the peripheral border of the porthole door 7 rests completely on front wall 2a for closing the laundry loading/ unloading opening and watertight sealing the washing tub 3;

an electrically-powered motor assembly (not shown) which is structured for driving into rotation the rotatable drum about its longitudinal reference axis inside the washing tub 3;

a detergent dispensing assembly 9 which is housed inside the casing 2 in easily reachable manner by the user, and is structured for selectively feeding into the washing tub 3, according to the selected washing cycle, a given amount of detergent, softener and/or other washing agent preferably suitably mixed with the fresh water arriving from the water mains, or even simply a given amount of fresh water arriving from the water mains; and

- a fresh- water supply circuit 10 which is structured for being connected to the water mains and for selectively channelling the fresh water from the water mains to the detergent dispensing assembly 9 and/or to the washing tub 3, preferably while controlling/regulating the flow of fresh water towards the detergent dispensing assembly 9 and/or the washing tub 3.

In addition to the above, the laundry washing machine 1 furthermore comprises an appliance control panel 11 which is structured for allowing the user to manually select the desired washing-cycle and is preferably located on front wall 2a of casing 2, above the laundry loading/unloading opening and preferably also immediately underneath a preferably substantially horizontally oriented, top wall or worktop 2b of the casing 2; and an internal water softening device 12 which is located inside the casing 2, and is structured for selectively reducing, during each washing cycle, the hardness degree of the fresh water flowing from the water mains to the detergent dispensing assembly 9 and/or to the washing tub 3.

In the examples shown, in particular, the appliance control panel 11 is preferably located immediately underneath the top wall or worktop 2b of the casing 2, substantially on the upper left corner of front wall 2a.

The internal water softening device 12, in turn, is arranged/located along the fresh-water supply circuit 10, so as to be crossed by the fresh water flowing from the water mains to the detergent dispensing assembly 9 and/or the washing tub (not shown), and is internally provided with a given amount of water softening agent which is able to reduce the hardness degree of the fresh water flowing through the same water softening device 12, and with a given amount of consumable salt or other regeneration agent which is able to regenerate the water softening function of the water softening agent.

More in details, with reference to Figures 3 and 4, the internal water softening device 12 basically comprises a water- softening agent container 13 and a regeneration-agent reservoir 14, both housed inside the boxlike casing 2.

The water-softening agent container 13 is arranged/located along the freshwater supply circuit 10 so as to be crossed by the fresh water flowing along the freshwater supply circuit 10, and is filled with a water softening agent able to reduce the hardness degree of the fresh water flowing through the same water- softening agent container 13. The regeneration- agent reservoir 14, instead, is structured for receiving a given quantity of consumable salt or other regeneration agent which is able to regenerate the water softening function of the water softening agents stored inside the water- softening agent container 13, and is fluidically connected to the water- softening agent container 13 for selectively transferring a mixture of water and salt, or other regeneration agent, to the water- softening agent container 13.

With reference to Figure 4, the internal water softening device 12 furthermore comprises:

a water supply circuit 15 which is structured for channelling, on command, a given amount of fresh water into the regeneration-agent reservoir 14 so to at least partly dissolve the salt or other regeneration agents stored therein and form a given amount of brine (i.e. of salt water); and

an electrically-powered brine-circulating pump 16 which is interposed between the water- softening agent container 13 and the regeneration- agent reservoir 14 and is structured for transferring/moving, when activated, the brine (i.e. the salt water) from the regeneration-agent reservoir 14 to the water- softening agent container 13.

Preferably, the electrically-powered brine-circulating pump 16 is furthermore structured for transferring/moving, when activated, the brine (i.e. the salt water) from the regeneration-agent reservoir 14 to the water- softening agent container 13, and for completely watertight sealing/isolating, when deactivated, the regeneration-agent reservoir 14 from the water- softening agent container 13 so as to prevent the brine (i.e. the salt water) store in the regeneration- agent reservoir 14 from flowing towards the water-softening agent container 13.

According to a less sophisticated embodiment, the electrically-powered brine- circulating pump 16 may obviously be replaced by an electrically-powered pump assembly comprising a conventional electrically-powered suction pump and an on- off valve which is arranged immediately upstream of the suction pump and is structured to watertight seal the suction/inlet of the electrically-powered suction pump when the latter is deactivated, and to put the suction/inlet of the electrically- powered suction pump in direct communication with the inside of the regeneration- agent reservoir 14 when the suction pump is activated.

With reference to Figure 4, in the example shown, in particular, the water supply circuit 15 of water softening device 12 is preferably structured for being connected to the water mains independently from the fresh- water supply circuit 10, so as to be able to selectively draw a given amount of fresh water from the water mains and channel said fresh water directly into the regeneration-agent reservoir 14.

In addition to the above, the internal water softening device 12 preferably furthermore comprises a water-level sensor (not shown) which is structured for measuring the level of the fresh water and/or brine contained inside the regeneration- agent reservoir 14, and/or a salinity-level sensor (not shown) which is structured for measuring the salinity degree of the brine contained inside the regeneration- agent reservoir 14.

Furthermore the internal water softening device 12 is preferably also provided with a water-hardness sensor (not shown) which is structured for measuring the hardness degree of the water coming out from the water- softening agent container 13 directed towards the detergent dispensing assembly 9 and/or the washing tub 3.

With reference to Figure 4, in the example shown, in particular, the freshwater supply circuit 10 preferably comprises an electrically-controlled on-off valve 17 which is arranged/interposed between the water mains and the water softening device 12, namely the water- softening agent container 13 of the water softening device 12, and is able to control/regulate the flow of fresh water from the water mains towards the water softening device 12; a first pipeline 18 connecting the on-off valve 17 directly to the water inlet of the internal water softening device 12, i.e. the water inlet of the water-softening agent container 13; and a second pipeline 19 connecting the water outlet of the internal water softening device 12, i.e. the water outlet of the water-softening agent container 13, to the detergent dispensing assembly 9 and/or to the washing tub 3.

Furthermore the fresh- water supply circuit 10 is preferably also provided with a one-way valve 20 which is located along pipeline 18 immediately downstream of the on-off valve 17, i.e. between the on-off valve 17 and the water inlet of the water- softening agent container 13 of water softening device 12, and is arranged so to allow the fresh water to only flow along the pipeline 18 from the water mains to the water softening device 12 and not vice versa. The internal water softening device 12 is therefore located downstream of the electrically-controlled on-off valve 17, and also downstream of the one-way valve 20 if present.

With reference to Figures 1, 2 and 4, the detergent dispensing assembly 9, in turn, is preferably provided with an exposed or exposable loading inlet or mouth which is structured for allowing the user to timely load the requested detergent, softener and/or other washing agent inside the same detergent dispensing assembly 9. Furthermore the detergent dispensing assembly 9 is preferably arranged/located inside the boxlike casing 2 so that the loading inlet or mouth of the same detergent dispensing assembly 9 is exposed or exposable to the outside on front wall 2a of casing 2, preferably above the laundry loading/unloading opening and beneath the top wall 2b of casing 2.

In the example shown, in particular, the detergent dispensing assembly 9 is preferably arranged/located inside the casing 2 so that the loading inlet or mouth of the same detergent dispensing assembly 9 is exposed or exposable to the outside on front wall 2a, substantially horizontally beside the appliance control panel 11.

More in details, the detergent dispensing assembly 9 is preferably arranged inside the casing 2 so as to locate its loading inlet or mouth immediately underneath the top wall 2b of casing 2, close to the upper right corner of front wall 2a. Thus the loading inlet or mouth of the detergent dispensing assembly 9 and the appliance control panel 11 are preferably arranged inside the casing 2 substantially horizontally aligned to one another, immediately underneath the top wall 2b of the casing 2.

With reference to Figures 1, 2 and 4, in the example shown the detergent dispensing assembly 9 preferably comprises a detergent container 22 which is manually fillable with a given quantity of detergent, softener and/or other washing agent, and is housed inside the casing 2 into a corresponding container housing 23; and the front wall 2a of casing 2 is preferably provided with a corresponding pass- through opening 23a through which the detergent container 22 is accessible by the user.

In other words, the detergent container 22 is provided with an exposed or exposable loading inlet or mouth which is structured for allowing the user to load the requested detergent, softener and/or other washing agent inside the same detergent container 22, and this loading inlet or mouth is accessible by the user through the pass-through opening 23a on front wall 2a.

The quantity of detergent, softener and/or other washing agent stored into the detergent container 22 may be sufficient either for a single washing cycle or for several consecutive washing cycles.

In the example shown, in particular, the container housing 23 is preferably located inside casing 2, above the washing tub 3 and beneath the top wall 2b, and the pass-through opening 23a is preferably arranged/located on front wall 2a of casing 2, immediately beneath the top wall 2b.

With reference to Figure 4, preferably the detergent dispensing assembly 9 furthermore comprises a water supply circuit 24 which is connected to the freshwater supply circuit 10 downstream of the water softening device 12, and is structured for selectively channelling a given amount of fresh water arriving from the water mains towards the detergent container 22, so as to selectively flush/push a given quantity of the detergent, softener or other washing agent into washing tub 3.

More specifically, the inlet of water supply circuit 24 is fluidically connected to the fresh- water supply circuit 10, namely to pipeline 19 of the fresh- water supply circuit 10, so to receive the softened fresh water coming out from the internal water softening device 12.

With reference to Figures 1, 2 and 4, in the example shown, in particular, the detergent dispensing assembly 9 preferably comprises a detergent drawer 22 which is manually fillable with a given quantity of detergent, softener and/or other washing agent, and which is fitted/inserted in manually extractable manner into a corresponding, completely recessed, substantially basin-shaped, drawer housing 23 which, starting from front wall 2a of casing 2, extends preferably substantially horizontally inside the boxlike casing 2 while remaining above the washing tub 3, and moreover communicates with the outside of casing 2 via a front entrance or opening 23a realized on front wall 2a of casing 2 substantially immediately above the laundry loading/unloading opening and substantially horizontally beside the appliance control panel 11.

Preferably the bottom of drawer housing 23 is furthermore structured so to directly communicate with the inside of the beneath-located washing tub 3 via a corresponding connecting duct (not shown).

The detergent drawer 22 is therefore manually movable inside the drawer housing 23 in a preferably substantially horizontally-oriented, displacement direction between a working position (see Figure 2) in which the detergent drawer 22 is completely recessed inside the corresponding drawer housing 23, and therefore into the casing 2, preferably while at same time closing the front entrance or opening 23a of the same drawer housing 23, and a completely extracted position (see Figure 1) in which the detergent drawer 22 partly juts out from front wall 2a of casing 2 through the front entrance or opening 23a of the drawer housing 23.

In the example shown, in particular, the drawer housing 23 of detergent drawer 22 is preferably arranged inside casing 2 so as to locate its front entrance or opening 23a immediately beneath the top wall 2b of casing 2, close to the upper right corner of front wall 2a of casing 2; whereas the detergent drawer 22 is preferably movable inside the same drawer housing 23 along a substantially horizontally- oriented, displacement direction which is also locally substantially perpendicular to front wall 2a of casing 2.

With reference to Figure 4, the water supply circuit 24, in turn, is structured for selectively spilling/pouring into the detergent drawer 22 a given amount of fresh water arriving from the fresh- water supply circuit 10 preferably in form of a dense shower of water droplets, so as to selectively flush a given quantity of the detergent, softener or other washing agent into the washing tub (not shown).

In the example shown, in particular, the detergent drawer 22 is preferably, though not necessarily, divided into a plurality of detergent compartments 22a (three detergent compartments in the example shown) each of which is manually fillable with a respective washing agent; and the water supply circuit 24 is preferably structured for spilling/pouring the fresh water arriving from the fresh-water supply circuit 10 selectively and alternatively into any one of the detergent compartments 22a of detergent drawer 22, so as to selectively flush the detergent, softener or other washing agent out of the same compartment 22a and down onto the substantially funnel-shaped bottom of the drawer housing 23. This mixture of water and detergent, softener or other washing agent afterwards flows into the washing tub 3 via the connecting duct (not shown) branching off from the bottom of drawer housing 23.

More in particular, in the example shown the water supply circuit 24 is preferably structured for selectively spilling/pouring a dense shower of water droplets by gravity directly into any one of the detergent compartments 22a of detergent drawer 22, so as to flush the detergent, softener or other washing agent out of the detergent drawer 22 and down onto the bottom of drawer housing 23.

With reference to Figure 4, in the example shown the water supply circuit 24 of detergent dispensing assembly 9 preferably comprises an electrically-controlled hydraulic distributor 25 or similar valve assembly, which is arranged/interposed between the fresh- water supply circuit 10 and the various detergent compartments 22a of the detergent drawer 22, i.e. between the outlet of the pipeline 19 and the various detergent compartments 22a of detergent drawer 22, and is structured for selectively and alternatively channelling the fresh water arriving from the fresh-water supply circuit 10 towards the various detergent compartments 22a of detergent drawer 22.

Furthermore, the water supply circuit 24 preferably also comprises a sprinkler head 26 which is associated to the drawer housing 23 of detergent drawer 22 so as to be located immediately above the detergent drawer 22 when the latter is completely inserted/recessed into the drawer housing 23. This sprinkler head 26 is provided with a number (three in the example shown) of shower-making portions/sections 26a each of which is preferably substantially vertically aligned to one or more detergent compartments 22a of detergent drawer 22, and is structured for feeding a dense shower of water droplets by gravity into said detergent compartment/s 22a.

In the example shown, in particular, each shower-making section/portion 26a of sprinkler head 26 is preferably locally vertically aligned to a respective detergent compartment 22a of detergent drawer 22, and is preferably structured for feeding a dense shower of water droplets exclusively into the detergent compartment 22a located immediately beneath.

The hydraulic distributor 25 is located upstream of the sprinkler head 26, i.e. between the sprinkler head 26 and the fresh-water supply circuit 10, and is structured for channelling the fresh water arriving from the fresh- water supply circuit 10 selectively and alternatively towards the various shower-making sections/portions 26a of the sprinkler head 26.

In other words, the electrically-controlled hydraulic distributor 25 is provided with a water inlet fluidically connected to the fresh-water supply circuit 10, i.e. to pipeline 19 of fresh- water supply circuit 10, and a number (three in the example shown) of water outlets each fluidically connected to a respective shower-making section/portion 26a of the sprinkler head 26, and it is structured for selectively and alternatively channelling the fresh water arriving from the fresh-water supply circuit 10 to the various shower- making sections/portions 26a of the sprinkler head 26.

Turning now to the internal water softening device 12, with reference to Figures 2, 3 and 4, the water- softening agent container 13 is preferably filled with a given amount of ion-exchange resins (not shown) capable to restrain the calcium and/or magnesium ions (Ca++ an Mg++) dissolved in the fresh water flowing across the same water- softening agent container 13, and is located along the fresh-water supply circuit 10 so as to be crossed by the fresh water directed towards the detergent dispensing assembly 9 and/or towards the washing tub 3. The ion-exchange resins (not shown) stored into the water- softening agent container 13 form the water softening agents of the water softening device 12.

In the example shown, in particular, the water- softening agent container 13, hereinafter also referred to as the resin container 13, is preferably arranged upstream of the hydraulic distributor 25, so as to be crossed by the fresh water flowing from the water mains to the inlet of the water supply circuit 24 of detergent dispensing assembly 9.

With reference to Figures 2, 3 and 4, the regeneration- agent reservoir 14 of water softening device 12, instead, basically consists in a manually-removable container or cartridge 14 which is structured for receiving a given amount (for example half a Kilo or one Kilo) of salt (Sodium Chloride) grains or similar regeneration chemical agent, and is housed inside the casing 2 in easily removable manner so to be manually removed by the user at refilling of the regeneration agent. The manually-removable container 14 is furthermore provided with a manually- closable loading inlet or mouth which is structured for allowing the user to timely load the given amount of consumable salt or other regeneration agent into the same manually-removable container 14.

The water supply circuit 15 of internal water softening device 12 is therefore hydraulically connected to the manually-removable container 14 in easy detachable manner, and is structured for channelling, on command, the fresh water of the water mains directly into the same manually-removable container 14 so as to preferably completely dissolve at once the whole salt or other regeneration agents contained into the manually-removable container 14 and form a great amount of brine (i.e. of salt water).

More in details, in the example shown the water supply circuit 15 of water softening device 12 preferably comprises: a pipeline 27 or the like which connects the manually-removable container 14 to the water mains independently from the fresh-water supply circuit 10; and an electrically-controlled on-off valve 28 which is located along pipeline 27, so as to be interposed between the water mains and the manually-removable container 14 and is able to control/regulate the flow of fresh water from the water mains towards the manually-removable container 14.

In the example shown, in particular, the electrically-controlled on-off valve 28 is preferably, though not necessarily, attached to the rear wall of casing 2 close to on-off valve 17 of fresh-water supply circuit 10, and is directly connected to the manually-removable container 14 via the pipeline 27. The pipeline 27, in turn, is preferably directly connected to the manually-removable container 14 in easy detachable manner.

With reference to Figure 4, preferably, though not necessarily, the water supply circuit 15 of water softening device 12 furthermore comprises an auxiliary one-way valve 29 which is located along pipeline 27 preferably immediately downstream of the on-off valve 28, i.e. between the on-off valve 28 and the manually-removable container 14, and which is arranged so to allow the fresh water to only flow along pipeline 27 from the water mains to the manually-removable container 14.

Similarly to the water supply circuit 15, the suction of the brine-circulating pump 16 is hydraulically connected to the manually-removable container 14 in easy detachable manner, and the brine-circulating pump 16 is structured for sucking the brine (i.e. the salt water) from the manually-removable container 14.

The water-level sensor (not shown) of the internal water softening device 12, if present, is structured for measuring the level of the fresh water and/or brine contained inside the manually-removable container 14; whereas the salinity-level sensor (not shown) of the internal water softening device 12, if present, is structured for measuring the salinity degree of the brine contained inside the manually- removable container 14

With reference to Figure 4, the water softening device 12 is preferably also provided with a first water drain line 31 which fluidically connects the resin container 13, i.e. the water-softening agent container 13, to the washing tub 3 of the laundry washing machine 1 and is structured for selectively draining the brine or fresh water out of the resin container 13 and channelling said brine or fresh water directly into the washing tub.

As an alternative, the water drain line 31 may be structured for channelling the brine or fresh water stored into the resin container 13 preferably into the drain sump (not shown) that extends downwards form the bottom of the washing tub (not shown), or into the water filtering assembly (not shown) that is interposed between the drain sump (not shown) of the washing tub and the suction of either the water circulating pump (not shown) or the water exhaust pump (not shown), or substantially directly into the water exhaust pump (not shown) which drains the waste water or washing liquor outside of the laundry washing machine 1, or in any case into the waste- water drain line that channels the waste water or washing liquor outside the laundry washing machine 1.

In the example shown, in particular, the water drain line 31 preferably comprises a pipeline 32 or the like which directly connects the bottom of the resin container 13 to the washing tub 3, or to the drain sump (not shown), or to the water filtering assembly (not shown), or to the water exhaust pump (not shown); and an electrically-controlled on-off valve 33 which is located along the pipeline 32 for controlling the outflow of the brine or fresh water from the resin container 13.

With reference to Figures 2, 3, 4 and 5, the manually-removable container 14 in turn preferably basically comprises: a preferably substantially parallelepiped- shaped, storage tank 34 which is structured for being manually fillable with a given amount (for example half a Kilo or one Kilo) of salt (Sodium Chloride) grains or similar regeneration chemical agent, and which is housed into the boxlike casing 2 in easy manually removable manner; and a manually-removable cap 35 which is structured to close the storage tank 28 preferably, though not necessarily, in a substantially watertight manner.

The water-level sensor (not shown) of the internal water softening device 12, if present, is therefore structured for measuring the level of the fresh water and/or brine contained inside storage tank 34; whereas the salinity-level sensor (not shown) of the internal water softening device 12, if present, is structured for measuring the salinity degree of the brine contained inside storage tank 34.

More in details, with reference to Figure 5, the storage tank 34 is preferably fitted/recessed in manually extractable manner into a corresponding, preferably substantially basin-shaped, complementary tank seat 36 which is realized inside the casing 2, and is moreover additionally provided with two hydraulic connectors 37 and 38 which are structured to hydraulically connect in easily detachable manner the storage tank 34 to, respectively, the water supply circuit 15 and the suction of the brine-circulating pump 16, preferably during insertion of the storage tank 34 into the tank seat 36.

In other words, each hydraulic connector 37, 38 of storage tank 34 is specifically structured to watertight couple in easily detachable manner with a corresponding complementary hydraulic connector 39, 40 preferably, though not necessarily, arranged/located on the tank seat 36.

The complementary hydraulic connector 39 directly communicates with the water supply circuit 15 of the water softening device 12, namely with the pipeline 27 of water supply circuit 15, and allows, when suitably coupled to the corresponding hydraulic connector 37, the fresh water arriving from the water supply circuit 15 to freely flow into storage tank 34.

The complementary hydraulic connector 40, in turn, directly communicates with the suction of the brine-circulating pump 16, and allows, when suitably coupled to the corresponding hydraulic connector 38, the brine contained into the storage tank 34 to freely flow out of the storage tank 34 towards the brine-circulating pump 16.

Preferably, though not necessarily, the two hydraulic connectors 37 and 38 on storage tank 34 and the complementary hydraulic connectors 39 and 40 on tank seat 36 are furthermore arranged so as couple to one another during insertion of storage tank 34 into tank seat 36.

In addition to the above, each hydraulic connector 37, 38 of storage tank 34 is preferably a self-closing hydraulic connect 37, 38 which is structured to remain closed in substantially watertight manner when uncoupled from the corresponding complementary hydraulic connector 39, 40 of tank seat 36.

In a more sophisticated and non-shown embodiment, similarly to the self- closing hydraulic connectors 37 and 38 of storage tank 34, each complementary hydraulic connector 39, 40 of tank seat 36 may preferably consist in a self-closing hydraulic connector structured to remain closed in substantially watertight manner when uncoupled from the corresponding self-closing hydraulic connector 37, 38 of storage tank 34.

With reference to Figures 1, 2, 3, and 5, in the example shown, in particular, the storage tank 34, i.e. the manually-removable container 14, is preferably recessed/ incorporated in easy manually removable manner, into a drawer-like supporting structure 42 which is fitted/inserted in manually extractable manner into a corresponding, substantially completely recessed, drawer housing 43 which, starting from the front wall 2a, extends preferably substantially horizontally inside the casing 2 and communicates with the outside via a front entrance or opening 43a realized on the same front wall 2a of casing 2, so as to be movable in a preferably substantially horizontally-oriented, displacement direction d between

— a retracted position (see Figure 1) in which the drawer- like supporting structure 42 is completely recessed/inserted into the drawer housing 43, so as to place the manually-removable container 14 completely inside the casing 2 and hide, i.e. make inaccessible to the user, the same manually- removable container 14; and

— a completely extracted position (see Figures 2 and 3) in which the drawerlike supporting structure 42 partly juts out from the front wall 2a of casing 2 through the front entrance or opening 43a of drawer housing 43, so as to place the manually-removable container 14 outside of the casing 2 for allowing manual removal of the manually-removable container 14.

In the example shown, in particular, the drawer housing 43 preferably extends substantially horizontally inside the casing 2 while remaining above the washing tub 3, and communicates with the outside via a front entrance or opening 43a which is realized on front wall 2a of casing 2, immediately above the laundry loading/ unloading opening on front wall 2a and preferably also horizontally spaced beside the exposed or exposable loading inlet of the detergent dispensing assembly 9. The drawer-like supporting structure 42 is preferably furthermore movable inside the drawer housing 43 along a substantially horizontally-oriented, displacement direction d which is also locally substantially perpendicular to the front wall 2a of casing 2.

In addition to the above, the drawer-like supporting structure 42 is preferably, though not necessarily, fitted/inserted in manually extractable manner into the front wall 2a of the casing 2 substantially at the upper left corner of the same front wall 2a, and the appliance control panel 11 is preferably, though not necessarily, located on a front side of a drawer-like supporting structure 42, so to be arranged substantially coplanar to the front wall 2a of casing 2 when the drawer-like supporting structure 42 is in the retracted position; and so to be arranged forward spaced apart from the front wall 2a of casing 2 when the drawer-like supporting structure 42 is in the extracted position.

More in details, with reference to Figures 2, 3 and 5, in the example shown the storage tank 34 is preferably recessed in manually extractable manner into a substantially basin-shaped, complementary tank seat 36 which is incorporated into the drawer-like supporting structure 42 preferably so as to allow the manual insertion and extraction of storage tank 34 into/from tank seat 36 according to a substantially vertically-oriented coupling direction, when the drawer-like supporting structure 42 is arranged in the extracted position (see Figures 2 and 3).

Preferably, though not necessarily, the self-closing hydraulic connectors 37 and 38 of storage tank 34 are furthermore located/arranged on the bottom of the same storage tank 34, and the complementary hydraulic connectors 39 and 40 of tank seat 36 are located on the bottom of tank seat 36 so as to couple, during insertion of storage tank 34 into tank seat 36, with the corresponding self-closing hydraulic connectors 37 and 38 of storage tank 34.

With reference to Figure 5, in the example shown the bottom 36a of tank seat 36 is preferably furthermore shaped/structured so as to form a catchment basin or other kind of leakage collector wherein the fresh water or brine leaking out of the storage tank 34 may accumulate. This catchment basin, in turn, is preferably connected to the bottom of washing tub 3 via a corresponding water drain line 45 structurally similar to water drain lines 36 and 54.

As an alternative, the water drain line 45 of water softening device 12 may be structured for channelling the brine or fresh water accumulating on the bottom 36a of tank seat 36 preferably into the drain sump (not shown) that extends downwards form the bottom of washing tub 3, or into the water filtering assembly (not shown) that is interposed between the drain sump (not shown) of washing tub 3 and the suction of the water circulating pump (not shown) and/or of the water exhaust pump (not shown) of the laundry washing machine 1, or in any case into the waste- water drain line that channels the waste water or washing liquor outside the laundry washing machine 1.

With reference to figure 5, the water softening device 12 is preferably also provided with a second water-level sensor 46 which is preferably located on the bottom 36a of tank seat 36 and is able to measure the level of the fresh water and/or brine accumulated on the catchment basin or other kind of leakage collector formed on the bottom 36a of tank seat 36, and the electronic central control unit (not shown) of the laundry washing machine 1 activates the water drain line 45 when the level of brine and/or fresh water on the bottom of tank seat 36 exceeds a given threshold value.

As concerns the hydraulic connectors 37, 38, 39 and 40, with reference to

Figures 5, 6 and 7, each self-closing hydraulic connector 37, 38 of storage tank 34 preferably comprises a substantially cylindrical tubular nose 47 which is structured to fit in watertight manner into a complementary, substantially cylindrical, seat or recess 48 realized on the body of the complementary hydraulic connector 39, 40; and an axially-movable shutter stem 49 which is inserted in axially sliding manner into the tubular nose 47 so as to be able to move axially between

— a closing position (see Figure 6) in which the shutter stem 49 seals in watertight manner the tubular nose 47; and

— an opening position (see Figure 7) in which the shutter stem 49 allows the free flow of water or brine through the tubular nose 47.

A coil spring 50 or other type of elastic member is interposed between the shutter stem 49 and the tubular nose 47 so as to elastically hold the shutter stem 49 in its closing position, whereas the shutter stem 49 is structured to abut on the body of the complementary hydraulic connector 39, 40 and move from the closing position to the opening position when the tubular nose 47 is completely fitted/inserted into the complementary seat or recess 48 realized on the body of the complementary hydraulic connector 39, 40.

With reference to Figure 3, the water- softening agent container 13, in turn, is preferably, though not necessarily, located immediately beneath the drawer-like supporting structure 42 carrying the regeneration-agent reservoir 14, or more precisely immediately beneath the drawer housing 43 of the drawer-like supporting structure 42, so as to be substantially vertically aligned to the regeneration-agent reservoir 14 when the drawer- like supporting structure 42 is arranged in the retracted position.

In other words, the water- softening agent container 13 is preferably located below the drawer housing 43 of the drawer-like supporting structure 42, within an approximately triangular pocket seat or compartment delimited by the sidewall of the boxlike casing 2, the upper portion of the washing tub 3 and the front wall 2a of the casing 2.

In the example shown, in particular, the resin container 13 is preferably, though not necessarily, rigidly attached to the bottom of the drawer housing 43 immediately beside the upper portion of washing tub 3, so as to internally face the front wall 2a of casing 2.

Moreover, the resin container 13 preferably, though not necessarily, consists in a completely stand-alone modular cartridge 13 which is provided with mechanical coupling members (not shown) structured for allowing a rigid and stable, though easily releasable, fastening of the stand-alone modular component-part or cartridge 13 directly to the bottom of drawer housing 43, and with hydraulic connectors (not shown) structured for allowing the stable, though easily detachable, hydraulic connection of the stand-alone modular cartridge 13 to the fresh- water supply circuit 10 and to the outlet of the brine-circulating pump 16.

In other words, a first hydraulic connector (not shown) of the stand-alone modular cartridge 13 is connected to pipeline 18 of fresh- water supply circuit 10, so as to allow the inflow of the fresh water into the resin container 13; a second hydraulic connector (not shown) of the stand-alone modular cartridge 13 is connected to pipeline 19 of fresh- water supply circuit 10 so to allow the outflow of the fresh water from the resin container 13 towards the detergent dispensing assembly 9; and a third hydraulic connector (not shown) of the stand-alone modular cartridge 13 is structured to directly communicate with the outlet of the brine- circulating pump 16 so as to allow the controlled inflow of the brine (i.e. the salt water) into the resin container 13.

With reference to Figure 4, preferably, though not necessarily, the laundry washing machine 1 furthermore comprises a second fresh- water supply circuit 51 and/or a second water drain line 52.

The second water drain line 52 is structured for selectively rerouting the brine or fresh water coming out from the resin container 13 directed towards the detergent dispensing assembly 9, into the washing tub 3 so as to bypass at least the detergent container 22, i.e. the detergent drawer 22, of the detergent dispensing assembly 9.

As an alternative, the water drain line 52 may be structured for channeling the brine or fresh water coming out from the resin container 13 directed towards the detergent dispensing assembly 9, preferably into the drain sump (not shown) that extends downwards form the bottom of washing tub 3, or into the water filtering assembly (not shown) that is interposed between the drain sump (not shown) of washing tub 3 and the suction of the water circulating pump (not shown) and/or of the water exhaust pump (not shown) of the laundry washing machine 1, or in any case into the waste- water drain line that channels the waste water or washing liquor outside the laundry washing machine 1.

In the example shown, in particular, the second water drain line 52 is structured to selectively reroute the brine or fresh water that enters into the detergent dispensing assembly 9, directly towards the washing tub 3, or towards the drain sump (not shown) that extends downwards form the bottom of washing tub 3, or towards the water filtering assembly (not shown) that is interposed between the drain sump (not shown) of washing tub 3 and the suction of the water circulating pump (not shown) and/or of the water exhaust pump (not shown) of the laundry washing machine 1, so as to bypass solely the detergent container 22, i.e. the detergent drawer 22, of detergent dispensing assembly 9.

More in particular, with reference to Figure 4, the second water drain line 52 preferably comprises a pipeline 53 or the like which is connected to a specific additional water outlet of the electrically-controlled hydraulic distributor 25 or similar valve assembly of the detergent dispensing assembly 9, and ends directly into the washing tub 3, or into the drain sump, or into the water filtering assembly, or into the water exhaust pump; and the electrically-controlled hydraulic distributor 25 is structured to selectively direct/channel directly into pipeline 53 the brine of softened fresh water arriving from resin container 13 via pipeline 19, so as to channel the brine or fresh water arriving from resin container 13 directly into the washing tub 3 or into the drain sump (not shown) or into the water filtering assembly (not shown) or into the water exhaust pump (not shown).

In a non- shown alternative embodiment, the second water drain line 52 may comprise an electrically-controlled three-way valve which is located along the pipeline 19 of fresh-water supply circuit 10, immediately upstream of the water supply circuit 24 of detergent dispensing assembly 9, and which has a first outlet connected to the inlet of the water supply circuit 24, i.e. to the hydraulic distributor 24, and a second outlet connected to pipeline 53 of water drain line 52. This electrically-controlled three-way valve is structured for selectively and alternatively channelling the fresh water coming out of the resin container 13 either to pipeline 53, or to the inlet of the water supply circuit 24 of detergent dispensing assembly 9, i.e. to the hydraulic distributor 25.

In this alternative embodiment, therefore, the second water drain line 52 is structured so as to bypass the whole detergent dispensing assembly 9, and therefore the water supply circuit 24 of detergent dispensing assembly 9 may lack the hydraulic distributor 25.

With reference to Figure 4, the second fresh- water supply circuit 51, in turn, is connected to the water mains independently from the fresh- water supply circuit 10, and is structured for selectively channelling the fresh water from the water mains to the detergent dispensing assembly 9 and/or directly to the washing tub 3, bypassing at once the water softening device 12, or better the resin container 13 of the internal water softening device 12.

In other words, the second fresh-water supply circuit 51 connects the water mains directly to the inlet of the water supply circuit 24 of detergent dispensing assembly 9 while bypassing the water softening device 12, and is structured so as to selectively channel to the inlet of the water supply circuit 24 a second flow of non- softened fresh water of the water mains. The second fresh- water supply circuit 51 is therefore able to channel the fresh water of the water mains directly towards the inlet of water supply circuit 24 independently from the fresh- water supply circuit 10.

Furthermore, if the second water drain line 52 is present, the second freshwater supply circuit 51 is preferably, though not necessarily, also able to channel the non- softened fresh water of the water mains directly to washing tub 3 via the water drain line 52, thus bypassing all detergent compartments 22a of the detergent drawer 22.

With reference to Figure 4, similarly to the fresh-water supply circuit 10, the second fresh- water supply circuit 51 preferably comprises:

- a electrically-controlled on-off valve 54 which is fluidically interposed between the water mains and the inlet of water supply circuit 24 of detergent dispensing assembly 9, and is able to control/regulate the flow of fresh water from the water mains towards the inlet of the water supply circuit 24; and

- a pipeline 55 or the like connecting the on-off valve 54 to the inlet of the water supply circuit 24 of detergent dispensing assembly 9 while bypassing the resin container 13.

Furthermore the second fresh- water supply circuit 51 preferably also comprises a second one-way valve 56 which is located downstream of the on-off valve 54, and is arranged so to allow the fresh water to only flow along the pipeline 55, from the water mains to the inlet of the water supply circuit 24 of detergent dispensing assembly 9, and not vice versa.

Preferably, though not necessarily, the appliance control panel 11 is furthermore structured so as to allow the user to manually select the desired washing cycle between washing cycles that use softened fresh water, washing cycles that use normal, i.e. non-softened, fresh water, and finally washing cycles that use a mixture of softened and normal, i.e. non-softened, fresh water.

General operation of home laundry washing machine 1 is clearly inferable from the above description. When the on-off valve 17 of fresh-water supply circuit 10 is opened the fresh water flows from the water mains to the resin container 13 of internal water softening device 12, wherein the ion-exchange resins reduce the hardness degree of the fresh water directed to the detergent dispensing assembly 9. The water-hardness sensor means monitor the hardness degree of the fresh water directed to the detergent dispensing assembly 9.

After having crossed the resin container 13, the softened fresh water of the water mains reaches the detergent dispensing assembly 9 and enters into the electrically-controlled hydraulic distributor 25 of water supply circuit 24. According to phase of the washing cycle, the hydraulic distributor 25 then channels the softened fresh water to one or more of the shower-making portions/sections 26a of the sprinkler head 26 for flushing the detergent, softener or other washing agent out of the corresponding detergent compartment 22a of the detergent drawer 22 and sweeping away said detergent, softener or other washing agent down into the washing tub 3 via the connecting duct on the bottom of the drawer housing 23 of detergent drawer 22.

When determines that the ion-exchange resins inside the resin container 13 are no more able to reduce the hardness degree of the fresh water directed to the washing tub 3, the electronic central control unit (not shown) of laundry washing machine 1 performs, preferably immediately before the starting of the rinsing phase of the washing cycle, a regeneration process of the ion-exchange resins stored inside the resin container 13. This regeneration process envisages to fill up of brine the resin container 13 for a predetermined time interval generally sufficient to allow the brine to remove from the ion-exchange resins the calcium and magnesium ions previously combined/fixed to said resins.

Obviously the regeneration process may also take place during the washing phase of the washing cycle, or can take place even when no washing cycle at all is running, preferably on specific request of the user.

At beginning of the regeneration process or alternatively at any time before the beginning of the regeneration process, the central control unit of laundry washing machine 1 can open the on-off valve 28 of the water supply circuit 15 for a predetermined time interval so as to completely fill up the storage tank 34 with fresh water.

Since the electrically-powered brine-circulating pump 16 is still so as to completely watertight seal/isolate the storage tank 34 from the water- softening agent container 13, the entry of the fresh water into the storage tank 34 may naturally stop before the subsequent closing of the on-off valve 28, when the storage tank 34 is completely full of water.

The fresh water channelled into storage tank 34 dissolves preferably at once the whole salt contained into the storage tank 34 and forms a great amount of brine (i.e. of salt water) sufficient for performing several resin regeneration processes. This great amount of brine remains inside the storage tank 34 until a resin regeneration process is requested to take place.

Thus, assuming that the storage tank 34 already contains a given amount of brine sufficient for performing one or more resin regeneration processes and that the on-off valve 28 of water supply circuit 15 is closed, at beginning of the regeneration process the central control unit of laundry washing machine 1 closes the on-off valve 17 of the fresh-water supply circuit 10 to stop the flow of fresh water across the resin container 13, and preferably arranges the hydraulic distributor 25 of detergent dispensing assembly 9 so as to channel the fresh water arriving from the resin container 13 directly into the second water drain line 43.

Afterwards, the central control unit of laundry washing machine 1 activates the brine-circulating pump 16 to move/pump the requested amount of brine from the storage tank 34 of the regeneration-agent reservoir 14 to the resin container 13.

Since the resin container 13 is completely filled with the fresh water of the water mains, the brine entering into the resin container 13 pushes out of the resin container 13 the fresh water previously stored therein. This fresh water flows along pipeline 19 of fresh- water supply circuit 10 towards the hydraulic distributor 25 which, in turn, directs/channels said fresh water directly into the second water drain line 52.

If, at any time during pumping of the brine, the central control unit of laundry washing machine 1 determines that the level of the brine inside the storage tank 34 is too low, it may temporarily open again the on-off valve 28 of water supply circuit 15 to channel some more fresh water into the storage tank 34 via the water supply circuit 15.

When the resin container 13 is completely filled with a sufficient amount of brine, the central control unit of laundry washing machine 1 switches off the electrically-powered brine-circulating pump 16 to stop the movement of the brine from the storage tank 34 to the resin container 13, so as to watertight isolate the resin container 13 from the regeneration- agent reservoir 14.

The central control unit of laundry washing machine 1 then keeps the resin container 28 completely full of brine for a predetermined time interval generally sufficient to allow the brine contained into the resin container 28 to remove from the ion-exchange resins the calcium and magnesium ions previously combined/fixed to said resins.

When the regeneration process of the ion-exchange resins is completed, the central control unit of laundry washing machine 1 temporarily opens again the on-off valve 17 of fresh-water supply circuit 10, so that the pressurized fresh water of the water mains pushes the brine out of the resin container 13 and into pipeline 19 of the fresh-water supply circuit 10. Pipeline 19, in turn, channels the brine towards the hydraulic distributor 26 of detergent dispensing assembly 9 which, in turn, directs/channels said brine directly into the second water drain line 43.

Alternatively, the central control unit of laundry washing machine 1 may open the on-off valve 33 of the first water drain line 31 so to drain the brine out of the resin container 13 through the water drain line 31.

The brine stored in the resin container 13 therefore flows directly into the washing tub 3 or into the drain sump or into the water filtering assembly, or into the water exhaust pump, via the water drain line 31 and/or via the water drain line 52.

Finally, preferably after having closed again the on-off valves 17 of freshwater supply circuit 10, the central control unit of the laundry washing machine 1 activates the water exhaust pump so to discharge the brine out of the laundry washing machine 1 preferably together with the washing or rinsing water already stored on the bottom of the washing tub 3, and continues the washing cycle.

The second fresh- water supply circuit 51, in turn, can channel the fresh water of the water mains towards the inlet of water supply circuit 24 bypassing the water softening device 12, so to channel the non-softened fresh water of the water mains directly towards the inlet of the water supply circuit 24 of detergent dispensing assembly 9. The water supply circuit 24 of detergent dispensing assembly 9 therefore can channel towards any one of the detergent compartments 22a of detergent drawer 22, or towards the second water drain line 52 if connected to the hydraulic distributor 25, either softened, non-softened (i.e. normal) fresh water of the water mains or a mixture thereof.

The laundry washing machine 1 is therefore able to use, during each stage of the washing cycle, either softened or non- softened fresh water of the water mains or a mixture thereof. The second fresh-water supply circuit 52, in fact, can channel non- softened fresh water to the inlet of the water supply circuit 24 of detergent dispensing assembly 9 independently from the fresh-water supply circuit 10, thus also at the same time of the fresh-water supply circuit 10.

In a less sophisticated embodiment, however, the electronic central control unit of the laundry washing machine 1 may be programmed to regenerate the ion- exchange resins stored in the resin container 13 after a given number of washing cycles. This number of washing cycles may be decided by the user on the basis of an alleged hardness degree of the fresh water coming out from the water mains.

Obviously in this less sophisticated embodiment the water-hardness sensor means monitor are unnecessary.

With reference to Figure 8, rather than being directly connected to the water mains, in an alternative embodiment of water softening device 12 the water supply circuit 15 preferably branches off from the fresh- water supply circuit 10 downstream of resin container 13, so as to selectively channel into the manually-removable container 14 the softened fresh water coming out of resin container 13.

In this embodiment, the water supply circuit 15 lacks the on-off valve 28 and instead comprises an electrically-controlled three-way valve 60 which is arranged along the fresh-water supply circuit 10, downstream of resin container 13, i.e. along the pipeline 19 connecting the outlet of resin container 13 to the inlet of the water supply circuit 24 of detergent dispensing assembly 9.

The pipeline 27 of water supply circuit 15 is now connected to the three-way valve 60, and the electrically-controlled three-way valve 60 is structured for selectively and alternatively channelling the fresh water coming out of the resin container 13 either to the storage tank 34, or to the inlet of the water supply circuit 24 of detergent dispensing assembly 9 for performing the washing cycle.

In the Figure 8 embodiment, at beginning of the regeneration process or at any time before the regeneration process, the central control unit of laundry washing machine 1 sets the three-way valve 60 of water supply circuit 15 so as to put the outlet of resin container 13 in direct communication with the storage tank 34, and afterwards opens the on-off valve 17 of the fresh-water supply circuit 10 for enough time to channel into the storage tank 34 of regeneration-agent reservoir 14 the fresh water necessary to preferably completely fill up the storage tank 34. This amount of fresh water obviously flows across the resin container 13 before reaching the storage tank 34.

Then, after having closed again the on-off valve 17 of the fresh-water supply circuit 10, the central control unit of laundry washing machine 1 sets the three-way valve 60 so as to put again the outlet of resin container 13 in direct communication with the detergent dispensing assembly 9, and afterwards activates the brine- circulating pump 16 to transfer/move the brine from the regeneration-agent reservoir 14, i.e. from the bottom of storage tank 34, to the resin container 13.

When the water- softening agent container 13 is completely filled with a sufficient amount of brine, the central control unit of laundry washing machine 1 deactivates the brine-circulating pump 16 to watertight isolate the resin container 13 from the regeneration- agent reservoir 14.

With reference to Figure 9, rather than branching off from the fresh-water supply circuit 10 upstream of the detergent dispensing assembly 9, in a second alternative embodiment of the water softening device 12, the water supply circuit 15 preferably branches off from the water supply circuit 24 of detergent dispensing assembly 9, so as to selectively channel into the regeneration-agent reservoir 14 the softened fresh water entering into the detergent dispensing assembly 9.

In other words, the water supply circuit 15 of the water softening device 12 lacks the on-off valve 28, and the pipeline 27 of water supply circuit 15 is now connected to a specific additional water outlet of the electrically-controlled hydraulic distributor 25 of water supply circuit 24, and the electrically-controlled hydraulic distributor 25 is structured to selectively direct/channel into pipeline 27 the softened fresh water or brine arriving from resin container 13 via pipeline 19.

In this embodiment, at beginning of the regeneration process or at any time before the regeneration process, the central control unit of laundry washing machine 1 firstly arranges the hydraulic distributor 25 so as to channel towards the water supply circuit 15 the fresh water that arrives into the hydraulic distributor 24 from the resin container 13, and afterwards it opens the on-off valve 17 of fresh- water supply circuit 10 for enough time to channel into the storage tank 34 of regeneration- agent reservoir 14 the fresh water necessary to preferably completely fill up the storage tank 34. This amount of fresh water obviously flows across the resin container 13 before reaching the storage tank 34.

Then, after having closed the on-off valve 17 of fresh-water supply circuit 10, the central control unit of laundry washing machine 1 sets/arranges the hydraulic distributor 25 of water supply circuit 24 so as to put the outlet of resin container 13 in communication with the second water drain line 52, and afterwards activates the brine-circulating pump 16 to transfer/move the brine from the regeneration-agent reservoir 14, i.e. from the bottom of storage tank 34, to the resin container 13. When the water- softening agent container 13 is completely filled with a sufficient amount of brine, the central control unit of laundry washing machine 1 deactivates the brine-circulating pump 16 to watertight isolate the resin container 13 from the regeneration- agent reservoir 14.

The advantages resulting from a regeneration- agent reservoir 14 in form of a manually-removable container are really remarkable. The user is allowed to quickly remove the manually-removable container 14 from its seat on the casing 2 and place it into the sink of the kitchen for easy salt refilling, with all advantages concerned. The salt grains that may drop out of the storage tank 34 during refilling, in fact, remain on the bottom of the sink.

Furthermore the arrangement of the manually-removable container 14 at the upper left corner of front wall 2a, behind the appliance control panel 11, allows to significantly increase the capacity of the storage tank 34, i.e. the manually-removable container 14. The space on the back of the appliance control panel 11, in fact, is generally empty, i.e. unused, even if relatively roomy.

As a result the user is requested to fill up the regeneration- agent reservoir 14 less frequently.

Clearly, changes may be made to the front-loading laundry washing machine 1 without, however, departing from the scope of the present invention.

For example, with reference to Figure 10, according to a different layout of the laundry washing machine 1, the appliance control panel 11 is unmovably attached to the front wall 2a of casing 2, preferably substantially on the upper left corner of front wall 2a.

The manually-removable container 14 of the water softening device 12, in turn, is recessed in easy manually removable manner, into a drawer-like supporting structure 70 which is fitted/inserted in manually extractable manner into a substantially completely recessed, corresponding drawer housing 71 which, starting from front wall 2a, extends preferably substantially horizontally inside the casing 2 while remaining above the washing tub 3 and also immediately beside the drawer housing 23 of the detergent drawer 22, and which furthermore communicates with the outside via a front entrance or opening 71a which is realized on front wall 2a of casing 2 between the laundry loading/unloading opening and the top wall 2b of the casing 2, and also immediately beside the front entrance or opening 23a of the drawer housing 23.

Thus also in this embodiment the drawer-like supporting structure 70 is movable in a preferably substantially horizontally- oriented, displacement direction between

— a retracted position in which the drawer-like supporting structure 70 carrying the manually-removable container 14, i.e. carrying the storage tank 34, is completely recessed/ inserted into the drawer housing 71, so as to place the manually-removable container 14 completely inside the casing 2 and hide, i.e. make inaccessible to the user, the same manually- removable container 14; and

— a completely extracted position (see Figure 10) in which the drawer-like supporting structure 70 partly juts out from the front wall 2a of casing 2 through the front entrance or opening 71a of drawer housing 71, so as to arrange the manually-removable container 14, i.e. carrying the storage tank 34, completely outside of casing 2 in a position allowing easy manual removal of the manually-removable container 14 from the drawer- like supporting structure 70 .

In addition to the above, in Figure 10 embodiment, the tank seat 36 is preferably furthermore incorporated into the drawer housing 71 of drawer- like supporting structure 70, and is specifically structured for receiving the storage tank 34, i.e. the manually-removable container 14, when the drawer-like supporting structure 70 is arranged in the retracted position.

In other words, in this alternative embodiment, the tank seat 36 is preferably incorporated into the drawer housing 71 so as to allow the insertion and extraction of storage tank 34 into/from tank seat 36 according to a substantially horizontally- oriented coupling direction, when the drawer-like supporting structure 70 moves from the extracted position to the retracted position and vice versa (see Figure 10). The self-closing hydraulic connectors 37 and 38 of storage tank 34 are therefore preferably located/arranged on the back wall of the same storage tank 34, and the complementary hydraulic connectors 39 and 40 of tank seat 36 are located on the back of tank seat 36 so as to couple, during horizontal insertion of storage tank 34 into tank seat 36, with the corresponding self-closing hydraulic connectors 37 and 38 of storage tank 34.

With reference to Figure 11, according to a second alternative layout of the laundry washing machine 1, the manually-removable container 14 of water softening device 12, i.e. storage tank 34, is recessed in easy manually removable manner into a tank seat 36 realized on top of the casing 2, preferably substantially immediately behind the appliance control panel 11.

Preferably the tank seat 36 is furthermore arranged immediately underneath the worktop 2b of the casing 2, and is preferably freely accessible by the user through a manual- operated trapdoor 80 realized/incorporated into the worktop 2b of casing 2. The manual- operated trapdoor 80 is structured to selectively allow the user to reach the tank seat 36 for easy manual extraction or plug-in of the storage tank 34 into the tank seat 36.

With reference to Figure 12, according to a further alternative layout of the laundry washing machine 1, the appliance control panel 11 is arranged substantially immediately underneath the top wall 2b of casing 2, almost astride of the vertical center-plane of the casing 2, so as to be substantially vertically aligned to the laundry loading/ unloading opening realized on the front wall 2a of casing 2.

The manually-removable container 14, instead, is fitted/recessed in easy manually removable manner into a drawer-like supporting structure 90 which is fitted/inserted in manually extractable manner into a substantially completely recessed, corresponding drawer housing 91 which, starting from front wall 2a, extends preferably substantially horizontally inside the casing 2 while remaining above the washing tub 3, and which furthermore communicates with the outside via a front entrance or opening 81a which is realized on front wall 2a of casing 2 substantially on the upper left corner of the same front wall 2a, on the other side of the appliance control panel 11 with respect to the exposed or exposable loading inlet or mouth of the detergent dispensing assembly 9.

The appliance control panel 11 is therefore laterally flanked, on opposite sides, by the exposed or exposable loading inlet or mouth of the detergent dispensing assembly 9, i.e. by the detergent drawer 22, and by the drawer-like supporting structure carrying the manually-removable container 14.

Again the drawer-like supporting structure 90 is movable in a preferably substantially horizontally- oriented, displacement direction between

— a retracted position in which the drawer-like supporting structure 90 carrying the manually-removable container 14, i.e. carrying the storage tank 34, is completely recessed/ inserted into the drawer housing 91, so as to place the manually-removable container 14 completely inside the casing 2 and hide, i.e. make inaccessible to the user, the same manually- removable container 14; and

— a completely extracted position (see Figure 12) in which the drawer-like supporting structure 90 partly juts out from the front wall 2a of casing 2 through the front entrance or opening 91a of drawer housing 91, so as to arrange the manually-removable container 14, i.e. carrying the storage tank 34, completely outside of casing 2 in a position allowing easy manual removal of the manually-removable container 14 from the drawerlike supporting structure 90 .

With reference to Figure 13, according to a further alternative layout of the laundry washing machine 1, the laundry washing machine 1 may lack any drawerlike supporting structure and the manually-removable container or cartridge 14 may be structured for being fitted/inserted in easy manually removable manner into a tank seat 36 provided/realized directly on the front wall 2a of casing 2.

In other words, in this alternative embodiment, the tank seat 36 is preferably realized inside the casing 2 so as to allow the manual insertion and extraction of the storage tank 34 into/from tank seat 36 according to a substantially horizontally- oriented coupling direction. The self-closing hydraulic connectors 37 and 38 of storage tank 34 are therefore preferably located/arranged on the back wall of the same storage tank 34, and the complementary hydraulic connectors 39 and 40 of tank seat 36 are located on the back of tank seat 36 so as to couple, during horizontal insertion of storage tank 34 into tank seat 36, with the corresponding self-closing hydraulic connectors 37 and 38 of storage tank 34.

Finally, according to a further non-shown and less-sophisticated embodiment the brine-circulating pump or pump assembly 16 may be replaced by an electrically- controlled on-off valve which is structured to selectively and alternatively put the regeneration-agent reservoir 14, i.e. the storage tank 34, in direct communication with the water- softening agent container 13 for allowing the brine to flow by gravity from the regeneration-agent reservoir 14 to the water-softening agent container 13, or to completely watertight seal/isolate the regeneration-agent reservoir 14, i.e. the storage tank 34, from the water- softening agent container 13.

Claims

1. Laundry washing machine (1) comprising an outer casing (2) and, inside said outer casing (2), a washing tub (3), a rotatable drum housed in axially rotatable manner inside the washing tub (3) and structured for housing the laundry to be washed, a detergent dispensing assembly (9) which is structured for supplying detergent into the washing tub (3), a fresh-water supply circuit (10) which is structured for selectively channeling a flow of fresh water from the water mains towards the detergent dispensing assembly (9) and/or the washing tub (3), and a water softening device (12) which is arranged/located along the fresh- water supply circuit (10) and is structured for reducing the hardness degree of the fresh water channeled to the detergent dispensing assembly (9) and/or to the washing tub (3); the water softening device (12) in turn comprising a water-softening agent container (13) which is arranged/located along the fresh- water supply circuit (10) and is filled with a water softening agent able to reduce the hardness degree of the fresh water flowing through the same water- softening agent container (13), and a regeneration-agent reservoir (14) which is fluidically connected to the water- softening agent container (13) and is structured to receive a consumable regeneration agent for performing a regeneration of the water softening function of the water softening agent stored into the water-softening agent container (13); a water supply circuit (15) which is structured for channelling fresh water into the regeneration- agent reservoir (14) so to at least partly dissolve the regeneration agents stored therein and form some brine; and an electrically-powered brine-circulating pump assembly or valve assembly (16) which is interposed between the water-softening agent container (13) and the regeneration-agent reservoir (14) and is structured for regulating/controlling the outflow of the brine from the regeneration-agent reservoir (14) to the water-softening agent container (13);

the laundry washing machine (1) being characterized in that the regeneration- agent reservoir (14) comprises a manually-removable container (14) which is structured for receiving a given amount of consumable regeneration agent, and is housed inside the casing (2) in removable manner so to be manually removed by the user at refilling of the regeneration agent; and in that the water supply circuit (15) and the brine-circulating pump assembly or valve assembly (16) of the water softening device (12) are both hydraulically connected to the manually-removable container (14) in detachable manner.

2. Laundry washing machine according to Claim 1, characterized in that said manually-removable container (14) comprises a storage tank (34) which is structured for being manually fillable with a given amount of said consumable regeneration agent, and is housed in manually removable manner into the casing (2).

3. Laundry washing machine according to Claim 2, characterized in that said manually-removable container (14) furthermore comprises a manually-removable cap (35) which is structured to close the storage tank (28).

4. Laundry washing machine according to Claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the storage tank (34) is structured so to be fitted/recessed in manually extractable manner into a corresponding tank seat (36) realized on the casing (2).

5. Laundry washing machine according to Claim 4, characterized in that the storage tank (34) is structured for being fitted/inserted in manually extractable manner into the corresponding tank seat (36) according to an either substantially horizontally-oriented or substantially vertically- oriented coupling direction.

6. Laundry washing machine according to any one of Claims 2 to 5, characterized in that the storage tank (34) is provided with two hydraulic connectors (37, 38) which are structured to hydraulically connect in detachable manner the storage tank (34) to, respectively, the water supply circuit (15) of the water softening device (12) and to the brine-circulating pump assembly or valve assembly (16) of the water softening device (12).

7. Laundry washing machine according to Claim 6, characterized in that the two hydraulic connectors (37, 38) of the storage tank (34) are structured so to couple with corresponding complementary hydraulic connectors (39, 40) each respectively communicating with the water supply circuit (15) of the water softening device (12) and with the brine-circulating pump assembly or valve assembly (16) of the water softening device (12).

8. Laundry washing machine according to Claim 7, characterized in that the complementary hydraulic connectors (39, 40) are arranged/located on said tank seat (36).

9. Laundry washing machine according to Claim 8, characterized in that the hydraulic connectors (37, 38) on the storage tank (34) and the corresponding complementary hydraulic connectors (39, 40) on the tank seat (36) are arranged so as to couple to one another during insertion of the storage tank (34) into the tank seat (36).

10. Laundry washing machine according to any one of Claims 6 to 10, characterized in that the hydraulic connectors (37, 38) on the storage tank (34) are self-closing hydraulic connectors (37, 38).

11. Laundry washing machine according to any one of Claims 7 to 10, characterized in that the complementary hydraulic connectors (39, 40) on the tank seat (36) are self-closing hydraulic connectors (39, 40).

12. Laundry washing machine according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the water softening device (12) moreover comprises a water- level sensor structured for measuring the level of the fresh water and/or brine contained inside the manually-removable container (14), and/or a salinity-level sensor structured for measuring the salinity degree of the brine contained inside the manually-removable container (14).

13. Laundry washing machine according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the manually-removable container (14) is recessed/incorporated in manually removable manner into a drawer-like supporting structure (42, 70, 90) which is fitted/inserted in manually extractable manner into a corresponding, substantially completely recessed, drawer housing (43, 71, 91) which extends inside the casing (2) starting from the front wall (2a) of the casing (2), so as to be movable between a retracted position in which the drawer-like supporting structure (42, 70, 90) is completely recessed/inserted into the drawer housing (43, 71) to place the manually-removable container (14) completely inside the casing (2); and an extracted position in which the drawer-like supporting structure (42, 70, 90) partly juts out from the front wall (2a) of the casing (2) so to arrange the manually- removable container (14) outside of the casing (2) in a position allowing manual removal of the manually-removable container (14) from the drawer- like supporting structure (42, 70, 90).

14. Laundry washing machine according to Claim 13, characterized by also comprising an appliance control panel (11) which is located on a front side of said drawer-like supporting structure (42), so to be arranged substantially coplanar to the front wall (2a) of the casing (2) when the drawer-like supporting structure (42) is in the retracted position, and so to be arranged forward spaced apart from the front wall (2a) of the casing (2) when the drawer-like supporting structure (42) is in the extracted position.

15. Laundry washing machine according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the manually-removable container (14) is recessed/incorporated in manually removable manner on the top of the casing (2).

16. Laundry washing machine according to Claim 15, characterized in that the manually-removable container (14) is recessed/incorporated in manually removable manner into a tank seat (36) which is arranged immediately underneath the worktop (2b) of the casing (2), and is freely accessible by the user through a manual-operated trapdoor (80) realized on said worktop (2b) of the casing (2).

17. Laundry washing machine according to any one of Claims 4 to 16, characterized in that the bottom (36a) of the tank seat (36) is shaped/structured so as to form a leakage collector (36a) wherein the fresh water or brine leaking out of the storage tank (34) may accumulate; said leakage collector (36a) being connected via a corresponding water drain line (45) either to the bottom of the washing tub (3) or to a waste-water drain line that channels the waste water or washing liquor outside the laundry washing machine (1).

18. Laundry washing machine according to Claim 17, characterized in that the water softening device (12) is provided with a water-level sensor (46) which is able to measure the level of the fresh water and/or brine accumulated on the leakage collector formed on the bottom (36a) of the tank seat (36).