CLEANING APPLIANCE

Abstract

The present application relates to a cleaning appliance including: a hollow cylindrical housing; a housing wall dividing an internal space of the housing into a first space and a second space; a wall through-hole defined to pass through the housing wall; an intake port communicating the first space with an exterior of the housing; an exhaust including a cover through-hole and an exhaust hole defined to pass through a top face of the housing; a fan fixed to the wall or the second space and positioned in the wall through-hole, wherein the fan flows air in the first space to the exhaust hole; a separator disposed in the first space to form a flow path for guiding air flowed into the intake port to the fan, wherein the separator separates a foreign matter from the air using a centrifugal force; and a display including: a display panel exposed to the exterior of the housing through the cover through-hole; a display housing fixing the display panel thereto; and a housing fastening portion for fixing the display housing to the wall or an inner circumferential face of the housing.

Description

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The present application relates to a cleaning appliance.

2. Background

A cleaning appliance is an appliance that sucks dusts or foreign matters to clean the room. A conventional cleaning appliance generally includes a housing having an intake port and an exhaust, a fan for flowing air flowed into the intake port to the exhaust, a separator for separating the foreign matters from the air flowing by the fan, a filter located between the separator and the fan to filter the foreign matters from the air passed through the separator, and a handle disposed on the housing.

The conventional cleaning appliance has a disadvantage in that a flow path between the air passed through the fan and the exhaust is complicated (a flow path resistance is high), so that output of the fan should kept higher than necessary. In addition, although the conventional cleaning appliance has an input unit for inputting a control command, but does not have a display for informing a user of information associated with an operation of the cleaning appliance.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the following drawings in which like reference numerals refer to like elements wherein:

FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate an example of a cleaning appliance;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a first filter;

FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate an example of a separator disposed in a cleaning appliance;

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a second filter;

FIG. 7 illustrates an operation procedure of a cleaning appliance; and

FIG. 8 illustrates a different embodiment of a cleaning appliance.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of a cleaner will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. A configuration or a method for controlling an apparatus to be described below is only for describing an embodiment of the present application, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present application. Further, like reference numerals throughout the specification indicate like components.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a cleaning appliance 100. The cleaning appliance 100 may include a housing 1 formed in a form of a cylinder with a hollow defined therein, an intake port 11 formed on the housing 1 and an exhaust 15 defined in the housing 1, a fan 5 disposed inside the housing 1 to flow air from the intake port 11 to the exhaust 15, a separator 4 for guiding the air flowed into the intake port 11 to the fan 5 and separating foreign matters from the air using a centrifugal force, and a display 3 for displaying information associated with the cleaning appliance.

A handle 6 is disposed on the housing 1. The handle 6 may be positioned at a point that is symmetrical with (180 degrees apart from) a point where the intake port 11 is located in a space provided by a circumferential face of the housing 1.

As shown in FIG. 2, a housing wall 19 for dividing an internal space of the housing into a lower space (a first space, S1) and an upper space (a second space, S2) of the housing is disposed inside the housing 1. Further, the housing wall 19 includes a wall through-hole S3 for communicating the first space S1 and the second space S2 with each other defined therein.

The intake port 11 is disposed on the circumferential face of the housing 1 to flow outside air into the first space S1. The intake port 11 may include an intake hole 113 defined to penetrate the circumferential face of the housing 1, and an intake pipe 111 extending from the intake hole 113 in a direction to be farther away from a center of the housing 1 (a direction farther away from the handle, a Y-axis direction). Although not shown in the drawings, the cleaning appliance of the present disclosure may further include an extended pipe detachably disposed on the intake pipe 111, and a nozzle disposed at a free end of the extended pipe to flow the foreign matters to the extended pipe.

As shown in FIG. 1, a housing outlet 17 for discharging the foreign matters stored in the housing 1 to the outside is further defined in a bottom face (one face of the housing opposite to the face in which the exhaust is defined) of the housing 1. The housing outlet 17 is opened and closed by a lower cover 18. The lower cover 18 may be pivotably fixed to the housing 1.

The exhaust 15 may include a housing through-hole 151 defined to penetrate a top face of the housing 1 to communicate an interior of the second space S2 with the outside of the housing 1, a housing cover 152 for closing the housing through-hole, a cover through-hole 155 defined to penetrate the housing cover 152, and the exhaust hole 153 penetrating the housing cover 152 to discharge the air in the second space S2 therethrough.

The housing cover 152 may be formed in any shape as long as the housing through-hole 151 is able to be closed. The drawing shows an example of a disk-shaped housing cover for closing the cylindrical housing.

As shown in FIG. 3, the cover through-hole 155 may be defined at a center of the housing cover 152 (a center of the top face of the housing), and the exhaust hole 153 may be defined as a plurality of holes surrounding the cover through-hole 155. Unlike the drawing, the cover through-hole 155 may be defined in a space defined between the center of the housing cover 152 and an edge of the housing cover 152 in a ring or an arc shape.

A first filter 7 for filtering the air flowing from the fan 5 to the exhaust hole 153 may be disposed in the second space S2. The first filter 7 may include a first filter frame 73 detachably fixed to the second space S2, and a first filter body 71 positioned below the housing cover 152 by being supported by the first filter frame.

The first filter body 71 and the first filter frame 73 may be formed in a ring shape. That is, a filter body through-hole 711 in communication with the cover through-hole 155 may be defined at a center of the first filter body 71, and a body first through-hole 731 in communication with the filter body through-hole 711 may be disposed at a center of the first filter frame 73.

In addition, a body second through-hole 733 for supplying the air in the second space S2 to the first filter body 71 may be defined in the first filter frame 73. The body second through-hole 733 may include a plurality of through-holes arranged to form a ring to surround the body first through-hole 731. Therefore, the air inside the second chamber S2 may be discharged to the outside of the housing 1 through the body second through-hole 733 and the exhaust hole 153. In this process, the air may be filtered by the first filter body 71.

As shown in FIG. 2, a mounting portion 2 may be disposed inside the wall through-hole S3. The mounting portion 2 is for providing a mounting space 211 in which a second filter 8 is mounted. The mounting portion 2 may be disposed as a mounting body 21 detachably fixed to the housing wall 19 and positioned inside the wall through-hole S3. The mounting body 21 may be disposed in a cylindrical or faceted cylindrical shape having a hollow defined therein.

As shown in FIG. 4, a mounting body through-hole 213 for communicating the mounting space 211 and the second space S2 with each other may be defined in a top face of the mounting body 21, and a plurality of communicating holes 25 for communicating the mounting space 211 with the first space S1 may be defined in a bottom face 23 of the mounting body 21.

The mounting body 21 may be detachably coupled to the housing wall 19 through a body fastening portion 27. As shown in FIG. 2, the body fastening portion 27 may include a protrusion 271 disposed on an outer circumferential face of the mounting body 21, and a protrusion fastening groove 237 defined in the housing wall 19 to provide a space in which the protrusion 271 is accommodated. The protrusion fastening groove 237 may be defined as a groove in which a face of the housing wall defining the wall through-hole S3 is concavely curved.

The separator 4 is fixed to the mounting body 21. As shown in FIG. 5, when the user opens the housing outlet 17 with the lower cover 18 and pulls the separator 4 to the housing outlet 17, the mounting body 21 and the second filter 8 may be drawn out of the housing 1 together with the separator 4. When the mounting body 21 and the second filter 8 are withdrawn from the housing 1, the user may detach the second filter 8 from the mounting body 21. Therefore, the cleaning appliance having the above-described structure has an effect of facilitating separation and cleaning of the second filter 8.

As shown in FIG. 2, the fan 5 is disposed in the second space S2 to flow the air in the first space S1 to the exhaust hole 153 through the communicating hole 25. Further, the separator 4 is a flow path formed in the first space S1 to guide the air flowed into the intake port 11 to the communicating hole 25. The foreign matters such as dust and the like contained in the air are separated from the air by a centrifugal force while flowing to the fan 5 along the flow path provided by the separator 4, and a specific structure of the separator 4 is as follows.

The separator 4 includes a chamber forming portion 41 for dividing the first space S1 into a first separated chamber 41a and a second separated chamber 41b, and a cyclone forming portion 42 for supplying the air in the second separated chamber 41b to the fan 5. The cyclone forming portion 42 is for providing the centrifugal force to the foreign matters contained in the air by rotating the air flowing to the fan 5.

The chamber forming portion 41 is formed in a hollow cylindrical shape. One end of the chamber forming portion 41 may be fixed to the bottom face 23 of the mounting body, and the other end of the chamber forming portion 41 may include a separated chamber body 411 in contact with the lower cover 18, and a separated chamber wall 417 for separating the second separated chamber 41b formed in the separated chamber body into a separated space 418 and a storage space 419.

The separated chamber body 411 includes a plurality of through-holes 413 communicating the first separated chamber 41a and the separated space 418 with each other. Therefore, the air flowed into the first separated chamber 41a through the intake port 11 may be supplied to the separated space 418 through the through-hole 413.

An outlet 415 is defined in a bottom face of the separated chamber body 411 in contact with the lower cover 18. Accordingly, the foreign matters stored in the storage space 419 may be discharged to the outside of the housing 1 through the outlet 415 when the lower cover 18 opens the housing outlet 17.

As shown in FIG. 4, each cyclone forming portion 42 may have one end fixed to the bottom face 23 of the mounting body, and the other end including a flow path body 421 penetrating through the separated chamber wall 417 and in communication with the storage space 419, each discharge pipe 424 having one end connected to the mounting space 211 and the other end located inside the flow path body 421, each inlet 423 defined to penetrate a circumferential face of the flow path body 421, and each air flow forming portion 425 forming a spiral flow path between an outer circumferential face of the discharge pipe 424 and an inner circumferential face of the flow path body.

Each discharge pipe 424 may be disposed as a pipe fixed to each communicating hole 25. Each flow path body 421 may be disposed as a pipe fixed to the bottom face 23 of the mounting body to surround each communicating hole. In one example, each foreign matter outlet 422 is defined at a free end of each flow path body 421 (a bottom face of the flow path body) positioned in the storage space 419. Thus, each flow path body 421 is in communication with the storage space 419 through each foreign matter outlet 422. Each flow path body 421 may be disposed to decrease in diameter toward the free end thereof. This is to strongly maintain a strength of the air flow formed therein.

Each inlet 423 is located at a point higher than each air flow forming portion 425. Therefore, when the fan 5 is operated, the air flowing into the flow path body 421 through the inlet 423 flows to the discharge pipe 424 via the air flow forming portion 425. In this process, the air will flow while rotating inside the flow path body 421 (cyclone flow). When the cyclone flow occurs in the flow path body 421, the foreign matters contained in the air will flow to an edge of the flow path (the circumferential face of the flow path body) by the centrifugal force, and then be discharged to the storage space 419 by gravity.

As shown in FIG. 2, the fan 5 is disposed in the second space S2 of the housing to flow the air flowed into the communicating hole 25 to the exhaust hole 153. The fan 5 may include a casing 51 disposed in the wall through-hole S3, an impeller 57 rotatably disposed inside the casing, and a motor 54 fixed to the casing to rotate the impeller 57.

The casing 51 may be disposed in a hollow cylinder shape. Further, a casing intake hole 511 and a casing exhaust hole 513 are defined in the casing 51. The casing intake hole 511 may be defined to guide the air flowed through the communicating hole 25 of the mounting portion into the casing 51, and the casing exhaust hole 513 may be defined to discharge the air in the casing 51 to the second space S2. When the mounting body 21 is disposed in the wall through-hole S3, the casing 51 may be fixed to the second space S2 (the mounting body, the wall, or the interior of the second space) such that the casing intake hole 511 is defined inside the mounting space 211.

The motor 54 may be fixed to a support 515 fixed inside the casing 51. In this case, the casing exhaust hole 513 may be defined as a support through-hole passing through the support 515. The impeller 57 is disposed to be positioned between the casing intake hole 511 and the casing exhaust hole 513, and a rotation shaft 541 of the motor penetrates the support 515 and is connected to the impeller 57.

The motor 54 may be disposed to receive power through a power source disposed in the room, or may be disposed to receive the power through a battery 65 detachable from the housing 1. When the handle 6 is disposed to include a handle body 61 protruding in a direction farther away from the intake port on a rear face (a face opposite to the face on which the intake port is positioned) of the housing 1, the handle body 61 may include a battery housing 63 in which the battery 65 is detachably accommodated.

In one example, the second filter 8 is disposed in the mounting body 21 for filtration of foreign matters not removed by the separator 4. As shown in FIG. 6, the second filter 8 may include a second filter frame 81 detachably fixed to the mounting body 21, and a second filter body 83 fixed to the second filter frame 81 and inserted into the mounting space 211.

The first filter 7 and the second filter 8 may be arranged to filter foreign matters of the same size, or may be arranged to filter foreign matters of different sizes. When the first filter 7 and the second filter 8 are arranged to filter the foreign matters of the different sizes, it is preferable that the second filter 8 is disposed to filter foreign matters of a size smaller than a size of the foreign matters filtered by the first filter 7. This is to minimize an amount of fine dusts discharged to an indoor space.

As shown in FIG. 2, the display 3 may include a display panel 37 exposed to the outside of the housing 1 through the cover through-hole 155, a display housing 31 to which the display panel 37 is fixed, and a housing fastening portion (or housing fastening extension) 35 for fixing the display housing 31 to the wall 19 or the interior of the second chamber S2 (an inner circumferential face of the housing and the like).

The display panel 37 is for displaying information associated with an operation of the cleaning appliance 100, and an LCD panel may be an example of the display panel 37. The information associated with the operation of the cleaning appliance may include a user selectable control command, information on whether cleaning of the filters 7 and 8 is necessary, information on whether the motor 54 disposed in the fan is abnormal, information on whether the battery needs to be charged, and the like as examples thereof.

Whether the cleaning of the filters 7 and 8 is necessary and whether the motor 54 is abnormal may be determined using a pressure sensor for sensing an internal pressure of the second chamber. That is, whether the cleaning of the filters 7 and 8 is necessary and whether the motor 54 is abnormal may be determined by comparing, by a controller, the internal pressure of the second chamber transmitted by the pressure sensor after the power is supplied to the motor 54 with a preset reference value. The controller may be disposed to determine that the motor is broken when the internal pressure of the second chamber is equal to or less than a preset first reference value, determine that the cleaning of the filter is necessary when the internal pressure of the second chamber is greater than the first reference value and less than a second reference value, and determine that the filter and the motor are in a normal state when the internal pressure of the second chamber is equal to or greater than the second reference value.

In one example, the display panel 37 may be disposed as a touch panel capable of displaying not only the information but also the control command. Because the display panel 37 is exposed to the outside of the housing through the cover through-hole 155, the display panel 37 may have the same shape as that of the cover through-hole 155.

The display housing 31 is fixed to the second chamber S2 through the housing fastening portion 35 to provide a space in which the display panel 37 is installed. The display housing 31 may be formed in a shape of a cylinder inserted into the filter body through-hole 711 and the cover through-hole 155.

A bottom face of the display housing 31 may be located above the casing exhaust hole 513. In this case, a support body communicating hole for flowing at least a portion of the air discharged from the casing exhaust hole 513 into the support body 313 may be defined in the bottom face of the display housing 31. Further, a filter communicating hole 33 for guiding the air flowed into the support body communicating hole to the first filter body 71 may be defined in a circumferential face of a support body 313.

The display housing 31 may include a panel mounting portion (or panel mounting region) 317 defined in a face facing the cover through-hole 151 of a space provided by the support body 313 to provide a space in which the display panel 317 is mounted. The panel mounting portion 317 may be defined as a groove in which one face (a face exposed to the outside of the housing through the cover through-hole) of the support body 313 is concavely bent, or a through-hole penetrating the support body 313 to be connected to the support body communicating hole.

The cleaning appliance 100 may further include a display cover 319 fixed to the support body 313 and positioned above the display panel 37 for protection of the display panel 37. The display cover 319 is preferably made of a transparent material.

The housing fastening portion 35 is means for detachably fixing the support body 313 to the wall 19 or the inner circumferential face of the second space S2, and FIG. 2 illustrates a case in which the housing fastening portion 35 fixes the support body 313 to the wall 19. The housing fastening portion 35 may include a boss 351 disposed on the wall 19, a flange 353 disposed on the support body 313, and a bolt for fixing the flange to the boss.

An operation procedure of the cleaning appliance 100 having the above-described structure is as follows. As shown in FIG. 7, when the power is supplied to the motor 54 and the impeller 57 rotates, the air is flowed into the first separated chamber 41a through the intake pipe 111 and the intake hole 113. The intake pipe 111 includes a housing guide 115 for allowing the air discharged from the intake hole 113 to flow into a circumferential face of the first separated chamber 41a in a tangential direction. Therefore, the air flowed into the first separated chamber 41a will rotate along the circumferential face of the first separated chamber 41a. When the air rotates inside the first separated chamber 41a, the foreign matters in the air will be flowed to the circumferential face of the first separated chamber 41a by the centrifugal force and then to the lower cover 18 disposed on the bottom face of the housing by gravity, and the air will flow through the through-hole 413 to the second separated chamber 41b.

The air flowed to the second separated chamber 41b will flow to the flow path body 421 through the inlet 423, and the air flowed into the flow path body 421 will flow cyclonically while passing through the air flow forming portion 425. When the cyclone flow occurs in the flow path body 421, the foreign matters contained in the air will flow to the circumferential face of the flow path body 421 by the centrifugal force and then be discharged to the storage space 419 by gravity. Further, the air will be discharged out of the housing 1 through the discharge tube 424, the communicating hole 25, the casing intake hole 511, the casing exhaust hole 513, the filter communicating hole 33, the body second through-hole 733, and the exhaust hole 153.

As described above, a discharge flow path is formed in the cleaning appliance 100 by the discharge pipe 424, the communicating hole 25, the casing intake hole 511, the casing exhaust hole 513, the filter communicating hole 33, the body second through-hole 733, and the exhaust hole 153. Because the discharge flow path is in a state in which bending is minimized, the cleaning appliance 100 may minimize a flow path resistance of the air flowed by the fan 5.

The foreign matters stored in the storage space 419 and the first separated chamber 41a are discharged to the outside of the housing 1 when the lower cover 18 opens the housing outlet 17. The first filter 7 is detachable from the housing 1 by opening the housing cover 152, and the second filter 8 is detachable from the housing 1 by withdrawing the separator 4 from the housing 1.

FIG. 8 illustrates a different embodiment of a cleaning appliance. a structure of the cleaning appliance 100 according to the present embodiment may be the same as that of the cleaning appliance of FIGS. 1 to 7 except for the fan 5 and the display 3. The fan 5 in the present embodiment may include the casing 51 in which the casing intake hole 511 and the casing exhaust hole 513 are defined, the impeller 57 rotatably disposed inside the casing and positioned between the casing intake hole 511 and the casing exhaust hole 513, the motor 54 for rotating the impeller, and the casing cover 59 disposed to form a rear face of the casing. Because the casing 51, the impeller 57, and the motor 54 have been described in the embodiments of FIGS. 1 to 7, detailed descriptions thereof will be omitted.

The casing cover 59 may be fixed to the casing 51 or may be fixed to the wall 19, and may be fixed to an inner circumferential face of the housing 1 to be located in the second space S2. The casing cover 59 is disposed to form a rear face of the fan 5. The casing 51 and the casing cover 59 may be coupled to each other to form one chamber. That is, the casing 51 may be disposed as a cylinder with an open top face, and the casing cover 59 may be disposed as a cylinder with an open bottom face.

The casing cover 59 may be fixed to the casing 51, the wall 19, or the inner circumferential face of the housing through a cover support 591. FIG. 8 illustrates an example in which the cover support 591 is disposed to fix the casing cover 59 to the wall 19. In this case, the cover support 591 may be disposed as a boss 595 disposed on the wall 19, a flange 597 disposed on the casing cover 59, and a bolt for connecting the boss and the flanges 595 and 597 with each other.

The casing cover 59 may include a filter first communicating hole 593 defined therein such that the air discharged through the casing exhaust hole 513 may be discharged to the outside of the casing cover 59. In one example, the display 3 in the present embodiment includes the display housing 31 inserted into the filter body through-hole 711 and the cover through-hole 155 and positioned above the casing cover 59, and the housing fastening portion 35 for fixing the display housing 31 to the second space S2. The display housing 31 may include the support body 313 in a form of a hollow cylinder. The display panel 37 disposed on the display is fixed to the support body 313.

The housing fastening portion 35 may include the flange 353 protruding from a circumferential face of the support body 313, and the bolt for fixing the flange 353 to the inner circumferential face of the housing 1. A filter second communicating hole 355 for guiding the air discharged from the filter first communicating hole 593 of the casing cover to the filter body 71 should be defined in the display housing 31. The filter second communicating hole 355 may be defined as a hole passing through the flange 353, or may be defined as a space (see FIG. 1) defined between the plurality of flanges 353. The support body 313 is preferably disposed so as not to be supported on a top face of the casing cover 59. This is to minimize transmission of a vibration generated during the operation of the fan 5 to the display panel 37.

Aspects of the present application provide a cleaning appliance that may minimize a flow path resistance of air flowed by a fan. Further, aspects of the present application provide a cleaning appliance including a display for delivering information to a user. Further, aspects of the present application provide a cleaning appliance in which cleaning of a filter is easy.

One aspect of the present disclosure provides a cleaning appliance including: a hollow cylindrical housing; a housing wall dividing an internal space of the housing into a first space and a second space; a wall through-hole defined to pass through the housing wall; an intake port communicating the first space with an exterior of the housing; an exhaust including a cover through-hole and an exhaust hole defined to pass through a top face of the housing; a fan fixed to the wall or the second space and positioned in the wall through-hole, wherein the fan flows air in the first space to the exhaust hole; a separator disposed in the first space to form a flow path for guiding air flowed into the intake port to the casing intake hole, wherein the separator separates a foreign matter from the air using a centrifugal force; and a display including: a display panel exposed to the exterior of the housing through the cover through-hole; a display housing fixing the display panel thereto; and a housing fastening portion for fixing the display housing to the wall or an inner circumferential face of the housing.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a cleaning appliance including: a hollow cylindrical housing; a housing wall dividing an internal space of the housing into a first space and a second space; a wall through-hole defined to pass through the housing wall; an intake port communicating the first space with an exterior of the housing; an exhaust including: a housing through-hole communicating the second space with the exterior of the housing; a housing cover for closing the housing through-hole; a cover through-hole defined to pass through the housing cover; and an exhaust hole defined to pass through the housing cover to guide air in the second space to the exterior of the housing; a fan including: a casing fixed to the wall or the second space and positioned in the wall through-hole; a casing intake hole for guiding air in the first space into the casing; a casing exhaust hole for discharging the air in the casing therethrough; and an impeller for flowing the air flowed into the casing intake hole to the casing exhaust hole; a separator disposed in the first space to form a flow path for guiding air flowed into the intake port to the casing intake hole, wherein the separator separates a foreign matter from the air using a centrifugal force; and a display including: a display panel exposed to the exterior of the housing through the cover through-hole; a display housing fixing the display panel thereto; and a housing fastening portion for fixing the display housing to the wall or an inner circumferential face of the housing.

In one implementation, the cover through-hole may be defined at a center of the housing cover. In one implementation, the cover through-hole may be defined in a space defined between a center of the housing cover and an edge of the housing cover in a ring or an arc shape. In one implementation, the cleaning appliance may further include a filter including: a filter body positioned below the housing cover to filter the air flowing to the exhaust hole; and a filter body through-hole defined to pass through the filter body and connected to the cover through-hole.

In one implementation, the display housing may include: a support body inserted into the filter body through-hole and the cover through-hole to be positioned above the casing exhaust hole, fixed to the second space through the housing fastening portion, and fixing the display panel thereto; a support body communicating hole defined to pass through a bottom face of the support body to flow at least a portion of the air discharged from the casing exhaust hole into the support body; and a filter communicating hole defined to pass through the support body to guide the air flowed into the support body communicating hole to the filter body.

In one implementation, the cleaning appliance may further include a panel mounting portion defined in a face facing the cover through-hole of a space provided by the support body to provide a space for mounting the display therein. In one implementation, the panel mounting portion may be defined as a groove defined by concavely bending one face of the support body, or a through-hole passing through the support body to be connected to the support body communicating hole.

In one implementation, the cleaning appliance may further include a display cover fixed to the support body, positioned above the display panel, and made of a transparent material. In one implementation, the housing fastening portion may detachably fix the support body to the wall. In one implementation, the housing fastening portion may detachably fix the support body to an inner circumferential face of the second space.

In one implementation, the cleaning appliance may further include: a casing cover disposed in the second space to be positioned between the display panel and the casing exhaust hole, and forming a rear face of the casing; and a filter first communicating hole defined to pass through the casing cover to discharge the air discharged from the casing exhaust hole to an exterior of the casing cover.

In one implementation, the display housing may include: a support body inserted into the filter body through-hole and the cover through-hole to be positioned above the casing cover, fixed to the second space through the housing fastening portion, and fixing the display panel thereto; and a filter second communicating hole for guiding the air discharged to the filter first communicating hole to the filter body.

In one implementation, the filter second communicating hole may be defined as a hole passing through the housing fastening portion, or may be defined as a space defined between a plurality of housing fastening portions. In one implementation, the casing cover may be fixed to the wall, and the support body may be fixed to the inner circumferential face of the housing.

In one implementation, the cleaning appliance may further include: a mounting body disposed in the wall through-hole and having a mounting space defined therein; a mounting body through-hole defined in the mounting body to be in communication with the casing intake hole; a communication hole passing through the mounting body to connect the separator and the mounting space with each other; and a second filter disposed in the mounting space to filter the air flowing from the communicating hole to the casing intake hole.

Another aspect of the present disclosure proposes a cleaning appliance including: a hollow cylindrical housing; a housing wall dividing an internal space of the housing into a first space and a second space; a wall through-hole defined to pass through the housing wall; an intake port communicating the first space with an exterior of the housing; an exhaust hole for guiding air in the second space to the exterior of the housing; a fan including: a casing fixed to the wall or the second space and positioned in the wall through-hole; a casing intake hole for guiding air in the first space into the casing; a casing exhaust hole for discharging the air in the casing therethrough; and an impeller for flowing the air flowed into the casing intake hole to the casing exhaust hole; a mounting portion detachably fixed to the wall to guide air to the casing intake hole; a separator fixed to the mounting portion and disposed in the first space to form a flow path for guiding air flowed into the intake port to the casing intake hole, wherein the separator separates a foreign matter from the air using a centrifugal force; and a filter detachably disposed in the mounting portion to filter the air flowing to the fan.

In one implementation, the cleaning appliance may further include: a housing through-hole communicating the second space with the exterior of the housing; a housing cover disposed to close the housing through-hole, wherein the housing cover includes the exhaust hole defined therein; a cover through-hole defined to pass through the housing cover; and a display panel exposed to the exterior of the housing through the cover through-hole. In one implementation, the cleaning appliance may further include: a display housing fixing the display panel thereto; and a housing fastening portion for fixing the display housing to the wall or an inner circumferential face of the housing.

The present application may provide a cleaning appliance that may minimize the flow path resistance of the air flowed by the fan. Further, the present application may provide the cleaning appliance that includes the display for delivering the information to the user. Further, the present application may provides the cleaning appliance in which the cleaning of the filter is easy.

In certain implementations, a cleaning appliance comprises: a hollow housing; a housing wall provided in the housing to divide an internal space of the housing into a first space and a second space; a wall through-hole provided in the housing wall; an intake port, the first space communicating with an exterior of the housing via the intake port; an exhaust provided in a housing through-hole provided in the housing such that the second space communicates with the exterior of the housing through the housing through-hole, the exhaust including: a housing cover configured to be received in the housing through-hole; a cover through-hole provided in the housing cover; and an exhaust hole provided the housing cover, the second space communicating with the exterior of the housing through the exhaust hole; a fan including: a casing configured to be coupled to at least one the housing wall or a surface facing the second space such that the casing is positioned in the wall through-hole; a casing intake hole provided in the casing, the first space communicating with an interior of the casing through casing intake hole; a casing exhaust hole provided in the casing; and an impeller to generate an air flow into the interior of the casing via the casing intake hole and out of the interior of the casing via the casing exhaust hole; a separator provided in the first space to form a flow path for air from the intake port to the casing intake hole, wherein the separator separates matter from the air flow using centrifugal force; and a display including: a display panel; a display housing coupled to the display panel; and at least one housing fastening extension that is configured to couple the display housing to at least one of the housing wall or an inner circumferential surface of the housing such the display panel is positioned to be exposed to the exterior of the housing through the cover through-hole.

The cover through-hole may be defined at a center of the housing cover. The cover through-hole may be defined in a space defined between a center of the housing cover and an edge of the housing cover and has a ring or an arc shape. The cleaning appliance may further comprise: a filter including: a filter body positioned below the housing cover to filter air flowing to the exhaust hole; and a filter body through-hole provided in the filter body and positioned to correspond to the cover through-hole.

The display housing includes: a support body coupled to the display panel and configured to be inserted into the filter body through-hole and the cover through-hole such that the support body is positioned above the casing exhaust hole, and coupled to the second space by the housing fastening extension; a support body communicating hole provided in a bottom face of the support body such that at least a portion of the air discharged from the casing exhaust hole flows into the support body through the support body communicating hole; and a filter communicating hole provided in the support body to guide air flowing into the support body communicating hole toward the filter body.

The display housing further includes: a panel mounting region defined in a face of the support body facing the cover through-hole of and configured to provide a space in which the display panel is mounted. The panel mounting region includes at least one of a groove defined by concavely bending the face of the support body, or a through-hole in the support body that is connected to the support body communicating hole. The cleaning appliance may further comprise a display cover that is coupled to the support body, positioned above the display panel, and made of a transparent material. The housing fastening extension may detachably fix the support body to the housing wall.

The cleaning appliance may further comprise: a casing cover provided in the second space to be positioned between the display panel and the casing exhaust hole, and to form a rear face of the casing; and a filter first communicating hole provided in the casing cover to discharge air from the casing exhaust hole to an exterior of the casing cover. The display housing includes: a support body that is coupled to the display panel and is configured to be inserted into the filter body through-hole and the cover through-hole such that the support body is positioned above the casing cover, and is coupled to the second space by the housing fastening extension; and a filter second communicating hole provided in the display housing and positioned to guide air discharged from the filter first communicating hole to the filter body. The casing cover may be fixed to the housing wall, and the support body may be fixed to the inner circumferential face of the housing.

The cleaning appliance may further comprise: a mounting body provided in the wall through-hole and having a mounting space defined therein; a mounting body through-hole defined in the mounting body and positioned to be in communication with the casing intake hole; a communication hole provided in the mounting body and positioned to allow air to flow between the separator and the mounting space; and a another filter provided in the mounting space to filter air flowing from the communication hole to the casing intake hole.

In certain implementations, a cleaning appliance comprises: a cylindrical housing having a first end and second end; a wall provided in the housing to divide an internal space of the housing into a first space provided between the wall and the first end, and a second space provided between the wall and the second end, the wall including a wall through-hole; an intake port, air being introduced into the first space via the intake port; a housing cover configured to be received at the second end of the housing, the housing cover including a cover through-hole and an exhaust hole through which air from the second space flows out of the housing; one or more cyclones provided in the first space to receive and filter air from the intake port and to output filtered air; a fan including: a casing positioned in the wall through-hole; a casing intake hole provided in the casing, filtered air from the one or more cyclones being received in an interior of the casing through casing intake hole; a casing exhaust hole provided in the casing; and an impeller provided in the casing to generate air flow from the casing intake hole to the casing exhaust hole; and a display including: a display panel; and a display housing coupled to the display panel and configured to position the display panel to be visible through the cover through-hole.

Containments filtered by the one or more cyclones may be received in a storage space that is opened and closed by a cover provided at the first end of the housing. The cover through-hole may be defined at a center of the housing cover or is defined in a space between a center of the housing cover and an edge of the housing cover to have a ring or an arc shape.

The cleaning appliance may further comprise a filter including: a filter body positioned below the housing cover to filter air flowing to the exhaust hole; and a filter body through-hole provided in the filter body and positioned to correspond to the cover through-hole. The display housing includes: a support body coupled to the display panel and configured to be inserted into the filter body through-hole and the cover through-hole such that the support body is positioned above the casing exhaust hole; a support body communicating hole provided in a bottom face of the support body such that at least a portion of the air discharged from the casing exhaust hole flows into the support body through the support body communicating hole; and a filter communicating hole provided in the support body to guide air flowing into the support body communicating hole toward the filter body.

The display housing may further include: a panel mounting region defined in a face of the support body facing the cover through-hole of and configured to provide a space in which the display panel is mounted. The panel mounting region may include at least one of a groove defined by concavely bending the face of the support body, or a through-hole in the support body that is connected to the support body communicating hole.

It will be understood that when an element or layer is referred to as being “on” another element or layer, the element or layer can be directly on another element or layer or intervening elements or layers. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly on” another element or layer, there are no intervening elements or layers present. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, third, etc., may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections, these elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another region, layer or section. Thus, a first element, component, region, layer or section could be termed a second element, component, region, layer or section without departing from the teachings of the present invention.

Spatially relative terms, such as “lower”, “upper” and the like, may be used herein for ease of description to describe the relationship of one element or feature to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. It will be understood that the spatially relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation, in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in the figures is turned over, elements described as “lower” relative to other elements or features would then be oriented “upper” relative to the other elements or features. Thus, the exemplary term “lower” can encompass both an orientation of above and below. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used herein interpreted accordingly.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

Embodiments of the disclosure are described herein with reference to cross-section illustrations that are schematic illustrations of idealized embodiments (and intermediate structures) of the disclosure. As such, variations from the shapes of the illustrations as a result, for example, of manufacturing techniques and/or tolerances, are to be expected. Thus, embodiments of the disclosure should not be construed as limited to the particular shapes of regions illustrated herein but are to include deviations in shapes that result, for example, from manufacturing.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

Any reference in this specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “example embodiment,” etc., means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention. The appearances of such phrases in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with any embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the purview of one skilled in the art to effect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other ones of the embodiments.

Although embodiments have been described with reference to a number of illustrative embodiments thereof, it should be understood that numerous other modifications and embodiments can be devised by those skilled in the art that will fall within the spirit and scope of the principles of this disclosure. More particularly, various variations and modifications are possible in the component parts and/or arrangements of the subject combination arrangement within the scope of the disclosure, the drawings and the appended claims. In addition to variations and modifications in the component parts and/or arrangements, alternative uses will also be apparent to those skilled in the art.

Claims

1. A cleaning appliance comprising: a hollow housing;a housing wall provided in the housing to divide an internal space of the housing into a first space and a second space;a wall through-hole provided in the housing wall;an intake port, the first space communicating with an exterior of the housing via the intake port;an exhaust provided in a housing through-hole provided in the housing such that the second space communicates with the exterior of the housing through the housing through-hole, the exhaust including: a housing cover configured to be received in the housing through-hole;a cover through-hole provided in the housing cover; andan exhaust hole provided the housing cover, the second space communicating with the exterior of the housing through the exhaust hole;a fan including: a casing configured to be coupled to at least one the housing wall or a surface facing the second space such that the casing is positioned in the wall through-hole;a casing intake hole provided in the casing, the first space communicating with an interior of the casing through casing intake hole;a casing exhaust hole provided in the casing; andan impeller to generate an air flow into the interior of the casing via the casing intake hole and out of the interior of the casing via the casing exhaust hole;a separator provided in the first space to form a flow path for air from the intake port to the casing intake hole, wherein the separator separates matter from the air flow using centrifugal force; anda display including: a display panel;a display housing coupled to the display panel; andat least one housing fastening extension that is configured to couple the display housing to at least one of the housing wall or an inner circumferential surface of the housing such the display panel is positioned to be exposed to the exterior of the housing through the cover through-hole.

2. The cleaning appliance of claim 1, wherein the cover through-hole is defined at a center of the housing cover.

3. The cleaning appliance of claim 1, wherein the cover through-hole is defined in a space between a center of the housing cover and an edge of the housing cover and has a ring or an arc shape.

4. The cleaning appliance of claim 1, further comprising: a filter including: a filter body positioned below the housing cover to filter air flowing to the exhaust hole; anda filter body through-hole provided in the filter body and positioned to correspond to the cover through-hole.

5. The cleaning appliance of claim 4, wherein the display housing includes: a support body coupled to the display panel and configured to be inserted into the filter body through-hole and the cover through-hole such that the support body is positioned above the casing exhaust hole, and coupled to the second space by the housing fastening extension;a support body communicating hole provided in a bottom face of the support body such that at least a portion of the air discharged from the casing exhaust hole flows into the support body through the support body communicating hole; anda filter communicating hole provided in the support body to guide air flowing into the support body communicating hole toward the filter body.

6. The cleaning appliance of claim 5, wherein the display housing further includes: a panel mounting region defined in a face of the support body facing the cover through-hole of and configured to provide a space in which the display panel is mounted.

7. The cleaning appliance of claim 6, wherein the panel mounting region includes at least one of a groove defined by concavely bending the face of the support body, or a through-hole in the support body that is connected to the support body communicating hole.

8. The cleaning appliance of claim 6, further comprising: a display cover that is coupled to the support body, positioned above the display panel, and made of a transparent material.

9. The cleaning appliance of claim 5, wherein the housing fastening extension detachably fixes the support body to the housing wall.

10. The cleaning appliance of claim 4, further comprising: a casing cover provided in the second space to be positioned between the display panel and the casing exhaust hole, and to form a rear face of the casing; anda filter first communicating hole provided in the casing cover to discharge air from the casing exhaust hole to an exterior of the casing cover.

11. The cleaning appliance of claim 10, wherein the display housing includes: a support body that is coupled to the display panel and is configured to be inserted into the filter body through-hole and the cover through-hole such that the support body is positioned above the casing cover, and is coupled to the second space by the housing fastening extension; anda filter second communicating hole provided in the display housing and positioned to guide air discharged from the filter first communicating hole to the filter body.

12. The cleaning appliance of claim 11, wherein the casing cover is fixed to the housing wall, and wherein the support body is fixed to the inner circumferential face of the housing.

13. The cleaning appliance of claim 4, further comprising: a mounting body provided in the wall through-hole and having a mounting space defined therein;a mounting body through-hole defined in the mounting body and positioned to be in communication with the casing intake hole;a communication hole provided in the mounting body and positioned to allow air to flow between the separator and the mounting space; anda another filter provided in the mounting space to filter air flowing from the communication hole to the casing intake hole.

14. A cleaning appliance comprising: a cylindrical housing having a first end and a second end;a wall provided in the housing to divide an internal space of the housing into a first space provided between the wall and the first end, and a second space provided between the wall and the second end, the wall including a wall through-hole;an intake port, air being introduced into the first space via the intake port;a housing cover configured to be received at the second end of the housing, the housing cover including a cover through-hole and an exhaust hole through which air from the second space flows out of the housing;one or more cyclones provided in the first space to receive and filter air from the intake port and to output filtered air;a fan including: a casing positioned in the wall through-hole;a casing intake hole provided in the casing, filtered air from the one or more cyclones being received in an interior of the casing through casing intake hole;a casing exhaust hole provided in the casing; andan impeller provided in the casing to generate air flow from the casing intake hole to the casing exhaust hole; anda display including: a display panel; anda display housing coupled to the display panel and configured to position the display panel to be visible through the cover through-hole.

15. The cleaning appliance of claim 14, wherein containments filtered by the one or more cyclones are received in a storage space that is opened and closed by a cover provided at the first end of the housing.

16. The cleaning appliance of claim 14, wherein the cover through-hole is defined at a center of the housing cover or is defined in a space between a center of the housing cover and an edge of the housing cover to have a ring or an arc shape.

17. The cleaning appliance of claim 14, further comprising: a filter including: a filter body positioned below the housing cover to filter air flowing to the exhaust hole; anda filter body through-hole provided in the filter body and positioned to correspond to the cover through-hole.

18. The cleaning appliance of claim 17, wherein the display housing includes: a support body coupled to the display panel and configured to be inserted into the filter body through-hole and the cover through-hole such that the support body is positioned above the casing exhaust hole;a support body communicating hole provided in a bottom face of the support body such that at least a portion of the air discharged from the casing exhaust hole flows into the support body through the support body communicating hole; anda filter communicating hole provided in the support body to guide air flowing into the support body communicating hole toward the filter body.

19. The cleaning appliance of claim 18, wherein the display housing further includes: a panel mounting region defined in a face of the support body facing the cover through-hole of and configured to provide a space in which the display panel is mounted.

20. The cleaning appliance of claim 19, wherein the panel mounting region includes at least one of a groove defined on the face of the support body, or a through-hole in the support body that is connected to the support body communicating hole.