DUST SEPARATION DEVICE AND CLEANER INCLUDING SAME

TECHNICAL FIELD

The disclosure relates to a dust separation device and a cleaner including the same, and more particularly, to a dust separation device that separates dust by rotating a rotating body made of a grille to prevent dust entering through an air inlet from sticking to the grille, and a cleaner including the same.

BACKGROUND ART

In general, cleaners are devices that remove rubbish from a room and keep the room clean, and vacuum cleaners are commonly used in households. A vacuum cleaner keeps the room clean by drawing in air using the extraction power of a fan motor unit and then separating dirt in the drawn-in air with a device, such as a filter. Such a vacuum cleaner includes a canister type and an upright type. In recent years, a robotic vacuum cleaner has become popular, as the robotic vacuum cleaner automatically travels around a cleaning area without any manipulation by a user and performs cleaning work by drawing in pollutants, such as dust, from a surface to be cleaned.

A vacuum cleaner includes a dust collection device therein so that dirt is filtered out by a certain filtering device in order to filter out dirt contained in the drawn-in air. The filtering device for filtering out dirt in the dust collection device includes a porous filter type, in which dirt is forcibly filtered out as air passes through a porous filter, and a cyclone type, in which dirt is filtered out during a cyclonic flow of air.

Conventional vacuum cleaners are unsanitary and inconvenient to use because, in the process of filtering out dirt, dirt such as hair or animal fur becomes entangled in a dust collection device, forcing a user to separate the dirt from the dust collection device.

DISCLOSURE
Technical Problem

The present disclosure is directed to providing a dust separation device including a rotating body configured to generate a centrifugal force to separate dust.

Further, the present disclosure is directed to providing a dust separation device that includes an improved structure to seal a gap between a rotating body and a fixing body, which fixes a motor, and to reduce friction caused by a rotation of the rotating body.

Technical Solution

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a dust separation device includes an air inlet, a dust collection chamber to collect dust in air flowing in from the air inlet, a rotating body rotatable inside the dust collection chamber and including a blocking member formed to block dust from the air flowing in from the air inlet, a motor to rotate the rotating body, a fixing body arranged to be spaced apart from the rotating body and supporting the motor, and a sealing member configured to seal at least a portion of a gap portion formed between the rotating body and the fixing body to prevent dust from entering the gap portion, the sealing member including a brush in contact with at least one of the rotating body and the fixing body.

The sealing member may seal a gap inlet through which air flows into the gap portion.

The blocking member may be along an outer circumference of the rotating body, and the rotating body may further include a rotating case for supporting the blocking member.

The rotating case may include a rotating wall disposed between the blocking member and the fixing body, and the sealing member may seal the gap formed between the rotating wall and the fixing body.

The fixing body may include a guide portion configured to guide the rotation of the rotating body, the rotating body may include a slide portion configured to rotate along the guide portion, and the gap portion may be formed between the guide portion and the slide portion.

The guide portion and the slide portion may be formed in a ring shape, and the sealing member may be formed in a ring shape along the guide portion and the slide portion.

The guide portion may include a guide groove concavely formed to accommodate at least a portion of the slide portion, the slide portion may be rotatable along the guide groove, and the sealing member may be in the guide groove.

The sealing member may further include a base supporting the brush.

The base may be located on the fixing body.

The blocking member may include a grille in which a plurality of holes are formed.

The brush may be arranged in a direction parallel to a rotation axis direction of the rotating body.

The dust separation device may further include a filter disposed on a downstream side of the blocking member on an air flow path through which air flows from the air inlet.

The filter may be mounted to the fixing body.

The brush may include a carbon fiber material.

The dust collection chamber may include a scattering preventing rib formed to prevent dust collected in the dust collection chamber from scattering.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a cleaner includes a main body including an intake port, an exhaust port, and a suction motor, and a dust separation device provided on the main body, the dust separation device including an air inlet, a dust collection chamber to collect dust in air flowing in from the air inlet, a rotating body rotatable inside the dust collection chamber, and including a blocking member formed to block the dust from the air flowing in from the air inlet, a motor to rotate the rotating body, a fixing body arranged to be spaced apart from the rotating body and supporting the motor, and a sealing member configured to seal at least a portion of a gap portion formed between the rotating body and the fixing body to prevent dust from entering the gap portion, the sealing member including a brush in contact with at least one of the rotating body and the fixing body.

The suction motor may be placed on a downstream side of the dust separation device on an air flow path through which the air flows from the air inlet.

The main body of the cleaner may further include an exhaust filter between the dust separation device and the exhaust port.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a dust separation device includes a dust collection case including an air inlet and an air outlet and forming a dust collection chamber inside to accommodate dust, a motor provided inside the dust collection case, a fixing body including a fixed wall and supporting the motor, a blocking member rotatable by the motor and formed to block dust and allow air to flow in, a rotating body rotatable relative to the fixed wall and including a rotating wall arranged to be spaced apart from the fixed wall and a rotating case for supporting the blocking member, and a sealing member configured to seal at least a portion of a gap portion formed between the rotating body and the fixing body to prevent dust from entering the gap portion, and including a brush in contact with at least one of the rotating body and the fixing body.

The sealing member may include a brush in contact with at least one of the rotating wall or the fixed wall.

Advantageous Effects

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the dust separation device may separate dust sticking to the grille of the rotating body by using the centrifugal force resulting from the rotation of the rotating body, thereby improving the dust separation efficiency.

Further, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the dust separation device may prevent dust from entering the gap by sealing the gap between the rotating body and the fixing body with the sealing member including the brush and by reducing the friction caused by the rotation of the rotating body, thereby improving the durability of the dust separating device.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a view illustrating a cleaner according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a view illustrating a dust collection case and a rotating body in the cleaner shown in FIG. 1 separated.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A′ shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a view illustrating the dust separation device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B′ shown in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the dust separation device shown in FIG. 4 disassembled.

FIG. 7 is a view illustrating a flow of air in the dust separation device shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 8 is a view illustrating dust being separated from a blocking member according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged view of C in FIG. 5.

FIG. 10 is a view illustrating a sealing member according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view of the sealing member shown in FIG. 10.

FIG. 12 is an enlarged view of D in FIG. 11.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a sealing member according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a sealing member according to still another embodiment of the present disclosure.

MODES OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments described in the disclosure and configurations shown in the drawings are merely examples of the embodiments of the disclosure and may be modified in various different ways at the time of filing of the present application to replace the embodiments and drawings of the disclosure.

In addition, the same reference numerals or signs shown in the drawings of the disclosure indicate elements or components performing substantially the same function.

Also, the terms used herein are used to describe the embodiments and are not intended to limit and/or restrict the disclosure. The singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In this disclosure, the terms “including”, “having”, and the like are used to specify features, figures, steps, operations, elements, components, or combinations thereof, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more of the features, figures, steps, operations, elements, components, or combinations thereof.

It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, primary, secondary, etc., may be used herein to describe various elements, but elements are not limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another element. For example, without departing from the scope of the disclosure, a first element may be termed as a second element, and a second element may be termed as a first element. The term of “and/or” includes a plurality of combinations of relevant items or any one item among a plurality of relevant items.

Hereinafter, embodiments according to the present disclosure will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Furthermore, for ease of description, a stick-type vacuum cleaner, which is one type of vacuum cleaner, is described herein as an example, but the configurations of the present disclosure are not limited to the stick-type vacuum cleaner. For example, the configurations of the present disclosure may be employed to canister-type vacuum cleaners, robotic vacuum cleaners, and the like. Furthermore, a vacuum cleaner using only a porous filtering manner is given below as an example, but the present disclosure may also be applied to any home appliance that needs to separate dust from a filter, such as air conditioners, dryers, and the like, in addition to a cleaner using a cyclonic dust collection manner.

FIG. 1 is a view illustrating a cleaner according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a view showing a dust collection case and a rotating body in the cleaner shown in FIG. 1 separated. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A′ shown in FIG. 1.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, a cleaner 1 may include a suction head 20 provided to draw in foreign substances, such as dust, from a surface to be cleaned by an attraction force (or suction force) of air, and a main body 10 of the cleaner provided to collect foreign substances drawn by the suction head 20.

The cleaner 1 may include a suction pipe 30 provided to connect the suction head 20 and the main body 10 of the cleaner.

The suction head 20 may include a suction brush (not shown) and is in close contact with a cleaning surface to draw in air and foreign substances from the cleaning surface. The suction head 20 may be rotatably coupled to the suction pipe 30.

The suction pipe 30 may be formed of a pipe with a certain rigidity or a flexible hose. The suction pipe 30 may transfer the attraction force generated by a suction motor 13 to the suction head 20, and guide foreign substances, such as air and dust drawn by the suction head 20 to the main body 10.

The main body 10 of the cleaner may include the suction motor 13, which is a suction force generating device that generates a suction force against the surface to be cleaned, a dust separation device 100 that separates and collects dust from the drawn-in air, a handle 40, and a battery 50 for supplying power to the suction motor 13.

The suction motor 13 may perform a function of converting an electric force into a mechanical rotational force. To perform such a function, the suction motor 13 may include a suction stator 13b in which coils are provided, a suction rotor 13a that has magnetism and may be rotated by an electromagnetic force, and a rotor shaft 13c that penetrates the suction rotor 13a and is provided to be rotatable. The main body 10 may also include a fan 14 therein that is connected to the suction motor 13 through the rotor shaft 13c of the suction motor 13 so as to rotate.

In FIG. 3, the suction motor 13 is shown as an inner-rotor type in which the suction rotor 13a is placed inside the suction stator 13b, but is not limited thereto.

The main body 10 of the cleaner may include an intake port 11a through which air and foreign substances are drawn into the interior of the main body 10, and an exhaust port 12a through which air and foreign substances are discharged to outside of the main body 10. The main body 10 may include a suction duct 11 that communicates with one end of the suction pipe 30, and the intake port 11a may be located at one end of the suction duct 11 connected to one end of the suction pipe 30. Accordingly, air and foreign substances may enter the interior of the main body 10 through the intake port 11a of the suction duct 11, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. The main body of the cleaner may eliminate a duct structure, such as the suction duct 11, and the intake port 11a and the suction pipe 30 may be directly connected to each other.

The main body 10 may include an exhaust case 12, and an exhaust port 12a may be formed on the exhaust case 12.

The dust separation device 100 may be provided in the main body 10. The air flowing into the interior of the main body 10 through the intake port 11 may flow into the interior of the dust separation device 100 through an air inlet 112. The dust separation device 100 may include a dust collection case 110 that forms a dust collection chamber 111 in which dust is accommodated, a rotating body 120 that is accommodated inside the dust collecting case 110, a motor 140 that rotates the rotating body 120, a fixing body 130 that supports the motor 140. The rotating body 120 may include a blocking member 125 formed to block dust and allow air to flow in. The blocking member 125 may include a grille 125a in which a plurality of holes are formed. The dust in the air flowing into the interior of the main body 10 through the intake port 11 may be separated from the air by the dust separation device 100 and then be collected in the dust collection chamber 111 disposed inside the dust collection case 110. The air from which the dust has been separated by the dust separation device 100 may be discharged to the outside of the dust separation device 100 through the air outlet 113.

To allow air to flow from the air inlet 112 to the air outlet 113, the suction motor 13 may be located on the downstream side of the dust separation device 100 on an air flow path through which air flows from the air inlet 112. A configuration and operation of the dust separation device 100 will be described later.

The air discharged to the outside of the dust separation device 100 through the air outlet 113 may sequentially pass through the suction motor 13 and the exhaust port 12a and be discharged to the outside of the main body 10. The main body 10 of the cleaner may include an exhaust filter 15 between the dust separation device 100 and the exhaust port 12a to filter the dust in the air before the air in the main body 10 is discharged to the outside of the main body 10 through the exhaust port 12a. The exhaust filter 15 may be a high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter.

The dust collection case 110 may be detachably coupled to the main body 10. The main body 10 may be provided with a coupling button 16 that allows the dust collection case 110 to be separated from the main body 10. The coupling button 16 may be positioned between the exhaust case 12 and the dust collection case 110. When a user presses the coupling button 16, the dust collection case 110 may be separated from the main body 10 to allow the user to remove dust accumulated in the dust collection chamber 111 within the dust collection case 110. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the dust collection case 110 may be separated in different ways. In addition, the dust collection case 110 may include a separate dust discharge door (not shown) to remove dust collected in the dust collection chamber 111.

As shown in FIG. 2, the rotating body 120 may be detachably coupled to the fixing body 130 by a bearing 170, and a first magnet 181 and a second magnet 121d. This may allow the user to easily clean the rotating body 120 and a filter 190.

With such a configuration, when suction force is generated by the suction motor 13 and the fan 14 within the main body 10 of the cleaner, foreign substances such as air and dust in the air may be drawn into the suction head 20. The air and the dust drawn into the suction head 20 may be drawn into the interior of the main body 10 through the suction pipe 30 and the intake port 11a. The air introduced into the main body 10 may flow into the dust separation device 100 through the air inlet 112, and thus the dust in the air may be separated from the air. The dust separated from the air may be accommodated in the dust collection chamber 111 formed inside the dust collection case 110, and by discharged to the outside of the dust separation device 100 through the air outlet 113 by way of the blocking member 125 of the rotating body 120. The air discharged to the outside of the dust separation device 100 may be filtered out once more by passing through the exhaust filter 15 and may be exhausted to the outside of the main body 10 through the exhaust port 12a.

FIG. 4 is a view illustrating the dust separation device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B′ shown in FIG. 4. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the dust separation device shown in FIG. 4 disassembled. FIG. 7 is a view illustrating a flow of air in the dust separation device shown in FIG. 3. FIG. 8 is a view illustrating the dust being separated from the blocking member according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 9 is an enlarged view of C in FIG. 5.

Referring to FIGS. 4 to 9, the dust separation device 100 may include the dust collection chamber 111, the rotating body 120, the motor 140 provided to rotate the rotating body 120, and the fixing body 130 provided to support the motor 140.

The dust separation device 100 may include the dust collection case 110 including the air inlet 112 and the air outlet 113. The dust collection case 110 may be provided with the dust collection chamber 111 provided to collect dust in the air flowing in from the air inlet 112 therein. The dust collection case 110 may have a cylindrical shape, but is not limited thereto. The dust collection case 110 may have various shapes as long as a space capable of accommodating dust may be provided therein.

As described above, to allow the user to easily remove the dust collected in the dust collection chamber 111, the dust collection case 110 may be coupled to the main body 10 so as to be detachable from the main body 10.

The air inlet 112 may be provided on the dust collection case 110 to allow air to flow into the dust separation device 100. The air inlet 112 may be located at an upper portion of the blocking member 125 of the rotating body 120, which will be described later. As a result, the dust entering the dust separation device 100 through the air inlet 112 may move downwardly by gravity and may approach the blocking member 125. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the air inlet 112 may be arranged in different ways, taking into account the arrangement of components of the cleaner 1.

The air outlet 113 may be provided such that air in the dust separation device 100 may be discharged to the outside of the dust separation device 100. The air outlet 113 may be formed by the dust collection case 110 or the fixing body 130. The air outlet 113 is disposed on an upstream side of a flow of air from the suction motor 13 and the fan 14 of the main body 10 to receive a suction force. Accordingly, the dust in the air introduced into the interior of the dust separation device 100 through the air inlet 112 may be separated from the air by the blocking member 125 and be discharged to the outside of the dust separation device 100 through the air outlet 113.

The dust collection chamber 111 may include a scattering preventing rib 114 formed to prevent dust received in the dust collection chamber 111 from scattering. Specifically, the scattering preventing rib 114 may be provided on a bottom surface of the dust collection case 110. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the scattering preventing rib 114 may be provided at different positions in the dust collection chamber 111. The scattering preventing rib 114 may be provided in a single number, or may be provided in a plurality as desired. Because the scattering preventing rib 114 is included in the dust collection chamber 111, the dust received in the dust collection chamber 111 may be prevented from scattering despite the air swirl in the dust collection chamber 111 generated by rotation of the rotating body 120.

The motor 140 may rotate the rotating body 120 to separate dust sticking to the blocking member 125 or the grille 125a using a centrifugal force caused by the rotation of the rotating body 120.

The motor 140 may be an outer-rotor type as shown in FIG. 5. The motor 140 may include a stator 142, a rotor 141 surrounding the stator 142 from the outside, and a shaft 143 rotating with the rotor 141 and penetrating a center of the rotor 141 and the stator 142. When power is applied to the motor 140, the rotor 141 and the shaft 143 rotate and a rotational force thereof may be transmitted to the rotating body 120. The motor 140 may include a motor housing (not shown), but is not limited thereto. The motor 140 may be formed in variety of shapes and may be an inner-rotor type, such as the suction motor 13 described above.

The motor 140 may be supported by the fixing body 130. More specifically, the fixing body 130 may support the motor 140 by including a motor support member 135. The motor support member 135 may hold the stator 142 of the motor 140, and may be formed to allow the shaft 143 to pass therethrough. Accordingly, the motor 140 may stably transmit a rotational force to the rotating body 120 at a given position.

The fixing body 130 may include a wire receiving portion 136 that is connected to the motor to accommodate wires (not shown), which supply power to the motor. More specifically, the wire receiving portion 136 may be provided on the motor support member 135. The wires accommodated in the wire receiving portion 136 may be electrically connected to the battery 50. As a result, the motor 140 may be supplied with power from the battery 50 described above. The wire receiving portion 136 provided on the motor support member 135 may prevent the wires that supply power to the motor 140 from becoming entangled with each other and protect the wires from damage. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the wire receiving portion 136 may be arranged in different components, and the fixing body 130 may eliminate the wire receiving portion 136.

The dust separation device 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may rotate the rotating body 120 by the motor 140 that generates a rotational force using an electromagnetic force. The motor 140 may have a rotational speed of 4000 rpm or more. Accordingly, the motor 140 may be capable of rotating the rotating body 120 at a high speed, and may improve the dust separation efficiency of the dust separation device 100 compared to a method of rotating the grille by the flow of air.

The fixing body 130 is configured to support the motor 140. As described above, the fixing body 140 may support the motor 140 by the motor support member 135.

The fixing body 130 may be arranged to be spaced apart from the rotating body 120. The rotating body 120 may rotate relative to the fixing body 130. Accordingly, when the fixing body 130 and the rotating body 120 are arranged to be in contact with each other, wear may occur on the fixing body 130 and the rotating body 120, causing lifetime to be shortened. In the present disclosure, the fixing body 130 may be arranged to be spaced apart from the rotating body 120, wherein friction between the fixing body 130 and the rotating body 120 due to the rotation of the rotating body 120 may be prevented. Because the fixing body 130 is arranged to be spaced apart from the rotating body 120, a gap portion 150, which will be described later, may be formed between the fixing body 130 and the rotating body 120.

The fixing body 130 may include a guide portion 133 that guides the rotation of the rotating body 120. The rotating body 120 may include a slide portion 123 to rotate along the guide portion 133 of the fixing body 130. The guide portion 133 may be formed in a ring shape, and the slide portion 123 may be correspondingly formed in ring shape. Furthermore, the guide portion 133 or the slide portion 123 may be formed in a ring shape with a pre-defined curvature. However, the guide portion 133 and the slide portion 123 may be formed in various shapes, and may be formed in an arc shape with a pre-defined curvature.

The guide portion 133 may include a guide groove 134 that is concavely formed to accommodate at least a portion of the slide portion 123. The slide portion 123 may be formed in a convex shape so as to be accommodated in the guide groove 134 correspondingly. Accordingly, the slide portion 123 may rotate along the guide groove 134. A sealing member 160, which will be described later, may be provided in the guide groove 134 to seal at least a portion of the gap portion 150. However, the shapes of the guide portion 133 and the slide portion 123 are not limited thereto, and the slide portion 123 may include a concave groove formed to accommodate the guide portion 133, and the guide portion 133 may be formed convexly correspondingly.

The guide portion 133 and the slide portion 123 may be provided on the fixing body 130 and the rotating body 120, respectively, and thus the rotating body 120 may rotate stably. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the guide portion 133 and the slide portion 123 may not be provided in the fixing body 130 and the rotating body 120.

The rotating body 120 may be provided within the dust collection chamber 111. The rotating body 120 may be connected to the motor 140 to receive a rotational force from the motor 140. Accordingly, the rotating body 120 may be provided to be rotatable within the dust collection chamber 111, and thus dust sticking to the blocking member 125 may be easily separated using a centrifugal force caused by rotation. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the rotating body 120 may be configured to rotate by receiving a rotational force generated by the flow of air, including a separate fan (not shown) without the motor 140.

The rotating body 120 may be provided in a cylindrical shape. In particular, the blocking member 125 of the rotating body 120 may be provided along an outer circumference of the cylindrical rotating body 120. In this case, the blocking member 125 may be provided in a cylindrical shape. As the cylindrical rotating body 120 rotates, a centrifugal force may be generated in a radial direction around a rotation axis (X-axis) of the rotating body 120. As a result, the centrifugal force may act more strongly on the dust sticking to the blocking member 125, thereby further improving the dust separation efficiency. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the rotating body 120 may be formed in a variety of shapes. For example, the rotating body 120 may have a hemispherical shape.

The dust separation device 100 may include a rotating central body 180 disposed inside the rotating body 120. The rotating center body 180 may connect the rotating body 120 and the motor 140. The rotating center body 180 may be disposed at the center of the rotating body 120 and may serve as the rotation axis (X-axis) of the rotating body 120. Accordingly, when rotated at a high speed by the motor 140, the rotating body 120 may maintain its center and rotate stably.

The rotating center body 180 may include a motor coupling portion 183 to enable the rotating center body 180 to be coupled to the rotor 141 of the motor 140 and to rotate together. More particularly, the motor coupling portion 183 may be provided at one end of the rotating central body 180. The rotating center body 180 and the motor coupling portion 183 may be formed as a single unit, but are not limited thereto. The motor coupling portion 183 may be attached to the rotor 141 by means of bonding, soldering, and the like. Accordingly, the rotating center body 180 may be stably coupled to the motor 140 to receive a rotational force from the motor 140. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the rotating center body 180 may be directly connected to the shaft 143 of the motor 140 to receive the rotational force.

A coupling portion 182 may be provided on the other end opposite to one end of the rotating central body 180 in which the motor coupling portion 183 is provided. The coupling portion 182 may couple the rotating central body 180 and a second rotating case 121b, which will be described later. Accordingly, the rotational force of the motor 140 may be sequentially transmitted to the second rotating case 121b through the motor coupling portion 183, the rotating center body 180, and the coupling portion 182, thereby inducing the rotation of the entire rotating body 120. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and although the rotating central body 180 is not separately provided, the rotating body 120 may be directly connected to the motor 140 to receive the rotational force.

The first magnet 181 may be provided on the rotating central body 180 side and the second magnet 121d may be provided on the second rotating case 121b, based on the coupling portion 182. The first magnet 181 and the second magnet 121d may be coupled to the rotating center body 180 and the second rotating case 121b, respectively. The first magnet 181 and the second magnet 121d may have magnetic properties that allow the first and second magnets to maintain a constant position of the rotating center body 180 relative to the second rotating case 121b. As a result, the rotating center body 180 may maintain a stable position even when rotating at a high speed.

Both the first magnet 181 and the second magnet 121d may include magnetic material. Accordingly, the second rotating case 121b and the rotating center body 180 may be detachably coupled, but are not limited thereto. The first magnet 181 and the second magnet 121d may include different materials, for example, the first magnet 181 including a magnet and the second magnet 121d including metal, such as steel.

The rotating body 120 may include the blocking member 125 formed to block dust and allow air to flow in. The blocking member 125 may filter the air introduced into the dust separation device 100 through the air inlet 112 so that dust is collected in the dust collection chamber 111. The blocking member 125 may allow air from which the dust has been removed by the blocking member 125 to pass and be discharged to the outside of the dust separation device 100 through the air outlet 113.

The blocking member 125 may be provided along the outer circumference of the rotating body 120. More particularly, the blocking member 125 may form a side surface of the rotating body 120. Accordingly, a centrifugal force may act more strongly on the dust sticking to the blocking member 125, thereby improving the dust separation efficiency. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the blocking member 125 may be formed in various ways depending on the shape of the rotating body 120. For example, the blocking member 125 may be formed on a bottom of the rotating body 120 and may be formed in a hemispherical shape.

The blocking member 125 of the rotating body 120 may include the grille 125a in which a plurality of holes are formed. The grille 125a may be made of a metallic material. Accordingly, the grille 125a may be prevented from being damaged even when the rotating body 120 rotates at a high speed. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the blocking member 125 may itself be a filter (not shown), such as a HEPA filter.

The rotating body 120 may include a rotating case 121 provided to support the blocking member 125. The rotating case 121 may include a first rotating case 121a and the second rotating case 121b. The first rotating case 121a may be formed to support the blocking member 125 at a side portion of the rotating body 120. The second rotating case 121b may be formed to support the blocking member 125 by forming the bottom of the rotating body 120. The second rotating case 121b may be coupled to the second magnet 127b as described above.

The first rotating case 121a and the second rotating case 121b may be coupled by a case coupling member 121c. As shown in FIG. 5, the first rotating case 121a and the second rotating case 121b may be screw-coupled by the case coupling member 121c. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the first rotating case 121a and the second rotating case 121b may be hook-coupled or may be integrally formed by injection molding.

As described above, the rotating body 120 may include the slide portion 123 to rotate along the guide portion 133 of the fixing body 130. More particularly, the slide portion 123 may be included in the rotating case 121 and may also be included in the first rotating case 121a.

The slide portion 123 may be formed in a ring shape, but is not limited thereto. The slide portion 123 may be formed in different shapes, and may be formed in an arc shape with a constant curvature.

The slide portion 123 may be formed in a convex shape to allow the slide portion to be accommodated in the guide groove 134. As a result, the slide portion 123 may rotate along the guide groove 134. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the slide portion 123 may be formed in a concave shape to accommodate the guide portion 133.

The rotating case 121 of the rotating body 120 may include a rotating wall 122. More particularly, the rotating wall 122 may be included in the first rotating case 121a to be arranged between the blocking member 125 and the fixing body 130. The gap portion 150 may be formed between the rotating wall 122 and the fixing body 130, and may be sealed by the sealing member 160.

The fixing body 130 may include a fixed wall 132 disposed to correspond to and spaced apart from the rotating wall 120 of the rotating body 120. The gap portion 150 may be formed between the rotating wall 122 and the fixed wall 132, and may be sealed by the sealing member 160. A base mounting portion 132a may be provided on the fixed wall 132 to allow a base 162 of the sealing member 160, which will be described later, to be mounted.

The rotating wall 122 may be provided on the slide portion 123. Correspondingly, the fixed wall 132 may be provided on the guide portion 133 and may form the guide groove 134. In this case, the gap portion 150 may be formed in a curved shape between the slide portion 123 and the guide portion 133. In another aspect, the gap portion 150 may be formed to be curved in the guide groove 134. Accordingly, dust may be prevented from entering the inside of the rotating body 120. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the gap portion 150 may be formed in various ways depending on the arrangement of the rotating wall 122 and the fixed wall 132.

The bearing 170 may be provided inside the rotating body 120 to connect the rotating body 120 and the fixing body 130. More particularly, the bearing 170 may connect the fixing body 130 and the second rotating case 121b.

To enable the user to easily clean the rotating body 120, the rotating body 120 and the fixing body 130 may be provided to be removable from each other. As shown in FIG. 5, the first rotating case 121a and the second rotating case 121b may be coupled by the case coupling member 121c, and the second rotating case 121b may be detachably coupled to the bearing 170 by using a hook structure. In addition, the first magnet 181 may be provided in the rotating center body 180 coupled to the motor 140 supported by the fixing body 130, and the second magnet 121d may be provided in the second rotating case 121b, so that the rotating body 130 may be detachably coupled to the fixing body 130. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the rotating body 120 and the fixing body 130 may be provided to be separable from each other in various ways.

The dust separation device may include the filter 190. The filter may be provided on the inside of the rotating body 120. In other words, the filter 190 may be disposed on a downstream side of the blocking member 125 on a flow path through which air flows from the air inlet 112. Accordingly, dust that has not yet been filtered out by the blocking member 125 may be filtered out again by the filter 190. The filter 190 may be a HEPA filter.

The filter 190 may be mounted to fixing body 130. More particularly, the filter 190 may be supported by a filter frame 191, and the filter frame 191 may be mounted to the fixing body 130, so that the filter 190 may be mounted to the fixing body 130. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the filter 190 may be coupled to the rotating body 120 to rotate together with the rotating body 120.

The filter 190 may be detachably coupled to the fixing body 130 to allow the user to easily replace or clean the filter 190, but is not limited thereto. When the filter 190 is coupled to the rotating body 120, the filter may be released together with the rotating body 120 and then replaced or cleaned.

To rotate the rotating body 120, the rotating body 120 and the fixing body 130 may be arranged to be spaced apart from each other. In this case, the gap portion 150 may be formed between the rotating body 120 and the fixing body 130. The dust in the dust separation device 100 may flow into the inside of the rotating body 120 through the gap portion 150. Such dust may become entangled in the gap portion 150 to interfere with the rotation of the rotating body 120, or may flow into the motor 140 to reduce the lifetime of the motor 140.

To address such a problem, the dust separation device 100 may include the sealing member 160 that seals at least a portion of the gap portion 150 to prevent dust from entering the gap portion 150. More particularly, the sealing member 160 may seal a gap inlet 151 through which air flows into the gap portion 150. In FIG. 9, the sealing member 160 is shown as sealing only the gap inlet 151, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. The sealing member 160 may also seal other regions of the gap portion 150.

The sealing member 160 may include a sealing portion 161 that contacts at least one of the rotating body 120 and the fixing body 130. The sealing portion 161 may include a brush 161a that contacts at least one of the rotating body 120 and the fixing body 130. More particularly, the sealing portion 161 may contact at least one of the rotating wall 122 and the fixed wall 132, and the brush 161a may also contact at least one of the rotating wall 122 and the fixed wall 132.

The sealing member 160 may include the base 162 that supports the sealing portion 161. In particular, the base 162 may support the brush 161a. The base 162 may be located on the fixing body 130, and may be mounted on the base mounting portion 132a to be provided on the fixed wall 132 or the guide portion 133. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the base 162 may be located on the rotating body 120 or may be located on a support structure (not shown) configured separately from the rotating body 120 and the fixing body 130.

When the base 162 is located on the fixing body 130, the brush 161a may be in contact with the rotating body 120. In addition, the brush 161a may be in contact with both the rotating body 120 and the fixing body 130. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and depending on the arrangement of the base 162, the brush 161a may only be in contact with the fixing body 120.

FIG. 10 is a view illustrating the sealing member according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view of the sealing member shown in FIG. 10. FIG. 12 is an enlarged view of D of FIG. 11.

The sealing member 160 may be configured to seal at least a portion of the gap portion 150 formed between the rotating body 120 and the fixing body body 130 to prevent dust from entering the gap portion 150. In other words, the sealing member 160 may be a configuration that seals at least a portion of the gap portion 150 formed between the rotating wall 122 and the fixed wall 132 to prevent dust from entering the gap portion 150. The sealing member 160 may be formed to contact at least one of the rotating wall 122 or the fixed wall 132 to seal at least a portion of the gap portion 150. The sealing member 160 may seal the gap inlet 151 through which air flows into the gap portion 150.

The sealing portion 161 of the sealing member 160 may be arranged in a direction parallel to a direction of the rotation axis of the rotating body 120. In other words, the brush 161a of the sealing member 160 may be arranged in the direction parallel to the rotation axis direction of the rotating body 120. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the sealing portion 161 and/or the brush 161a of the sealing member 160 may be arranged in various ways.

Referring to FIGS. 10 to 12, the sealing member 160 may include the sealing portion 161 and the base 162 supporting the sealing portion 161. The sealing member 160 may be formed in a ring shape. However, it is not limited thereto, and the sealing member 160 may have different shapes depending on the shape of the gap portion 150.

The sealing portion 161 may include the brush 161a, and the base 162 may be formed to support the brush 161a. For ease of description, the following will be described based on the brush 161a and the base 162 supporting the brush 161a.

The brush 161a may be made of various materials as long as it may function to seal the gap portion 150. However, when the rotating body 120 is rotated at a high speed by the motor 140, friction occurs between the brush 161a and a surface being in contact with the brush 161a (e.g., the rotating wall 122), thus the life of the brush 161a and a component in contact with the brush 161a may be shortened due to wear.

To address the above problem, the brush 161a may be made of a material having a coefficient of friction between the brush and an element in contact with the brush (either the rotating wall 122 or the fixed wall 132) that is lower than the coefficient of friction between the rotating wall 122 and the fixed wall 132. For example, the brush 161a may be made of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) (i.e., Teflon).

The brush 161a may include carbon fiber materials. Carbon fiber materials may cause the brush 161a to sufficiently seal the gap portion 150, and may have high wear resistance to prevent shortening of the life of the brush 161a due to friction.

When the friction caused by the rotation of the rotating body 120 is severe, the gap portion 150 may not be able to be sealed or the bearing may need to be used instead. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the sealing member 160 may include the sealing portion 161 including the brush 161a, and the brush 161a may include carbon fiber materials with high wear resistance, thereby reducing friction due to rotation. Therefore, the dust separation device 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may include the rotor 120 that rotates at high speed using the motor 140 by including the sealing member 160, thereby improving the dust separation efficiency.

Mounting holes 163 may be formed on the base 162 to mount the brush 161a. The mounting holes 163 may have various shapes and for example, may be formed as a slot hole. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the base 162 and the brush 161a may be formed integrally without the mounting holes 163.

The cleaner 1 may include the main body 10. The main body 10 may include the suction motor 13 to generate the suction force, and when air is drawn into the main body 10 through the intake port 11a, air and airborne dust may be drawn into the interior of the dust separation device 100 through the air inlet 112. A portion of the dust introduced into the dust separation device 100 may immediately sink and be collected in the dust collection chamber 111 formed by the dust collection case 110, and the remaining portion of the dust may stick to the blocking member 125 of the rotating body 120. The rotating body 120 is rotated by the motor 140 supported by the fixing body 130, and the dust sticking to the blocking member 125 may be separated by the centrifugal force generated at that time and collected in the dust collection chamber 111. To facilitate the rotation of the rotating body 120, the fixing body 130 may be arranged to be spaced apart from the rotating body 120, and the gap portion 150 may be formed between the rotating body 120 and the fixing body 130. To prevent dust from entering the gap portion 150, the dust separation device 100 may include the sealing member 160 that seals at least a portion of the gap portion 150. The sealing member 160 may include the sealing portion 161, and the sealing portion 161 may include the brush 161a. The brush 161a including carbon fiber materials may provide sufficient sealing of the gap portion 150 and at the same time prevent wear of the brush 161a due to friction caused by the rotation of the rotating body 120.

With such a configuration, the dust separation device 100 according to an embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 12 may improve the dust separation efficiency by using the centrifugal force generated by rotating the rotating body 120 at a high speed.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the sealing member according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

With reference to FIG. 13, a dust separation device according to another embodiment of the present disclosure will be described. In describing the embodiment shown in FIG. 13, the same reference numerals may be assigned to the same configurations as those shown in FIGS. 1 to 12, and the description thereof may be omitted.

Referring to FIG. 13, a sealing member 260 may seal at least a portion of the gap portion 150 formed between the rotating body 120 and the fixing body 130 to prevent dust from entering the gap portion 150. More particularly, the sealing member 260 may seal the gap inlet 151.

The sealing member 260 may include a sealing portion 261 in contact with the fixing body 130. The sealing portion 261 may include a brush 261a that contacts the fixing body 130. More particularly, the brush 261a may contact the fixed wall 132. However, it is not limited thereto, and the brush 261a may contact the rotating body 120, and may contact both the rotating body 120 and the fixing body 130. The brush 261a may include carbon fiber materials.

The sealing member 260 may include a base 262 that supports the brush 261a. The base 262 may be provided on the rotating body 120. More particularly, the base 262 may be located on the rotating wall 122. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the base 262 may be located on the fixing body 130 or on a support structure (not shown) configured separately from the rotating body 120 and the fixing body 130.

The brush 261a may be arranged in a direction perpendicular to the rotation axis of the rotating body 120. However, it is not limited thereto, and the brush 261a may have different shapes and arrangements.

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a sealing member according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

With reference to FIG. 14, a dust separation device according to another embodiment of the present disclosure will be described. In describing the embodiment shown in FIG. 14, the same reference numerals may be assigned to the same configurations as those shown in FIGS. 1 to 12 and the description thereof may be omitted.

Referring to FIG. 14, the sealing member 360 may seal at least a portion of the gap portion 150 formed between the rotating body 120 and the fixing body 120 to prevent dust from entering the gap portion 150. More particularly, the sealing member 360 may seal the gap inlet 151.

The sealing member 360 may be formed to contact both the rotating body 120 and the fixing body 130 to seal the gap portion 150. More particularly, the sealing member 360 may contact both the rotating wall 122 and the fixed wall 132. The sealing member 360 may be mounted to either the rotating wall 122 or the fixed wall 132. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the sealing member 360 may be supported by a separate support structure (not shown).

The sealing member 360 may be formed such that the coefficient of friction between the sealing member 360 and a contact surface, which rotates relative to the sealing member 360, is smaller than the coefficient of friction between the rotating wall 122 and the fixed wall 132. For example, the sealing member 360 may include Teflon (i.e., PTFE) materials. As a result, the sealing member 360 may prevent wear despite the friction caused by the rotation of the rotating body 120, thereby preventing a shortening of the life of the sealing member 360.

In FIGS. 1 to 14, the dust separation device 100 is shown as being included in the cleaner 1, but household appliances to which the dust separation device 100 is applied are not limited thereto. The dust separation device according to the spirit of the present disclosure may be applied to various household appliances having a dust separation structure, such as dryers.

While the present disclosure has been particularly described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it should be understood by those of skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

	Number	Date	Country
Parent	PCT/KR2022/012202	Aug 2022	US
Child	18406990		US

DUST SEPARATION DEVICE AND CLEANER INCLUDING SAME

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CPC

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Abstract

Description

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Priority Claims (1)

Continuations (1)