(57) A laundry dryer (4) is described having a housing (5) and a drum (6) mounted therein
for rotation about a horizontal axis and formed of a peripheral wall (7) and two end
walls (8, 9). Rear end wall (9) is of circular shape and mounted on the rear wall
of housing (5). Front end wall (8) is formed with a central circular opening (10)
surrounded by an upstanding rim having a horizontal portion (11) and a rearwardly
curved end portion (12).
An annular support collar (13) secured to the front wall of housing (5) is of substantially
S-shaped cross-sectional configuration comprising an inner portion (14) disposed within
drum opening (10) and an outer portion (15) facing rearwardly curved end portion (12).
Inner portion (14) carries a fixed lower bearing member (18) and a pair of upper bearing
members (16,17) biased radially outwards by paired springs (20) into engagement with
horizontal rim portion (11).
Outer collar portion (15) contains a support (25) carrying a sealing element (24)
and biased towards drum (6) by associated compression springs (30) so as to engage
sealing element (24) with rearwardly curved rim end portion (12). The bearing components
and sealing components thus act in mutually perpendicular directions, so that wear
of one component does not impair the effectiveness of the other.
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