Telescopic vacuum cleaner suction tube with an interlocking element in the form of a bow spring

Abstract

The invention pertains to a telescopic vacuum cleaner suction tube (1) with an outer tube (2), an inner tube (3) with snap-in depressions (7) that is telescopically arranged in the outer tube, an antitwisting mechanism (4d; 16) and an interlocking device with a snap-in element (15) that is disengaged from a snap-in depression (7) by an actuating element (5) situated about diametrically opposite thereof, wherein the interlocking device consists of a bow spring (6) that positively encompasses at least the inner tube (3) and once again engages the snap-in element (15) into the nearest snap-in depression (7) of the inner tube (3) in the telescoping direction under the prestress of a spring. The invention aims to develop a telescopic vacuum cleaner suction tube of the initially cited type that significantly lowers the manufacturing and assembly expenditures of the interlocking device and ensures that the tubes are always securely interlocked and able to withstand shock-like compressive forces, namely while simultaneously providing for an ergonomic handling.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Several embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the figures. The figures show:

FIG. 1, a longitudinal section through a telescopic vacuum cleaner suction tube with an actuating element in the form of a push-button and a bow spring of rectangular cross sections;

FIG. 2, a longitudinal cross section in the region of the push-button, namely in the engaged position and in the form of an enlarged representation referred to FIG. 1;

FIG. 2 a, a partial view of the snap-in depressions and the groove for realizing the antitwisting mechanism in the direction of the arrow IIa in FIG. 2;

FIG. 3, a view according to FIG. 2 in the disengaged position of the bow spring, in which the snap-in element is lifted out of the snap-in depression;

FIG. 4, a section along the line IV/IV in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5, a section along the line V/V in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6, a view of the bow spring according to FIGS. 1 to 5;

FIG. 7, a top view of the bow spring in the direction of the arrow VII in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8, a bottom view of the bow spring in the direction of the arrow VIII in FIG. 6;

FIG. 9, a partial view of a longitudinal cross section in the region of an actuating element in the form of a slide that corresponds to that shown in FIG. 2, namely in the engaged position of the snap-in element;

FIG. 10, a section according to FIG. 9 in the disengaged position of the snap-in element;

FIG. 11, a section along the line XI/XI in FIG. 9;

FIG. 12, a section along the line XII/XII in FIG. 10;

FIG. 13, a section according to FIG. 9 with a different variation of the slide and a bow spring of circular cross section in the engaged position of its snap-in element;

FIG. 14, a view according to FIG. 13 in the disengaged position of the snap-in element;

FIG. 15, a bottom view of the slide with the bow spring according to FIG. 13 in its engaged position, namely without the outer and inner tubes and without the guide sleeve;

FIG. 16, a bottom view according to FIG. 15 of the slide in the disengaged position, in which the bow spring is spread apart;

FIG. 17, a section through the push-button housing according to. FIGS. 1 to 5 along the line XVII/XVII in FIG. 18;

FIG. 18, a bottom view of the push-button housing in the direction of the arrow XVIII in FIG. 17;

FIG. 19, a top view of the push-button housing in the direction of the arrow XIX in FIG. 17;

FIG. 20, a section through the push-button along the line XX/XX in FIG. 21;

FIG. 21, a view of the push-button in the direction of the arrow XXI in FIG. 22;

FIG. 22, a view of the push-button in the direction of the arrow XXII in FIG. 20;

FIG. 23, a section through the guide sleeve along the line XXIII/XXIII in FIG. 24;

FIG. 24, a bottom view of the guide sleeve in the direction of the arrow XXIV in FIG. 23 with the passage area for the snap-in element of the bow spring;

FIG. 25, a view in the direction of the arrow XXV in FIG. 23 with the passage area for a push-button or a slide as well as the ends of the bow spring;

FIG. 26, a view of the end face of the guide sleeve in the direction of the arrow XXVI in FIG. 24;

FIG. 27, a longitudinal section through a telescopic vacuum cleaner suction tube that corresponds to FIG. 1 and depicts a push-button and a bow spring of circular cross section, as well as the snap-in depressions of the inner tube that have the shape of a graduated circle and cooperate therewith;

FIG. 28, a section through the region of the push-button and the guide sleeve that is enlarged in comparison with FIG. 27, namely in the engaged position of the snap-in element;

FIG. 29, the section according to FIG. 28 in the disengaged position of the snap-in element of the bow springs;

FIG. 30, a view of the bow spring of circular cross-section according to FIGS. 27 to 29;

FIG. 31, a top view of the bow spring in the direction of the arrow XXXI in FIG. 30;

FIG. 32, a bottom view of the bow spring with its snap-in element in the direction of the arrow XXXII in FIG. 30;

FIG. 33, a diametrical section through the bow spring according to FIG. 30 along the line XXXIII/XXXIII;

FIG. 34, a second embodiment of a bow spring of rectangular cross-section, in this case of approximately square cross-section, and a snap-in element in the form of a defined locking projection;

FIG. 35, a top view of the bow spring according to FIG. 34 in the direction of the arrow XXXV;

FIG. 36, a bottom view of the bow spring according to FIG. 34 in the direction of the arrow XXXVI;

FIG. 37 a section through the bow spring along the arrows XXXVII/XXXVII in FIG. 34;

FIG. 38, another embodiment of a telescopic vacuum cleaner suction tube with the bow spring of approximately square cross-section according to FIGS. 34 to 37 in the engaged position of the snap-in element, wherein the bow spring encompasses the outer tube and engages into a snap-in depression of the inner tube with its snap-in element, namely through an opening in the outer tube and the guide sleeve;

FIG. 39, a sectional representation according to FIG. 38 in the disengaged position of the snap-in element of the bow spring;

FIG. 40, a bottom view of the slide with the bow spring in the direction of the arrows XL/XL in FIG. 38, namely in the engaged position and without the outer and inner tubes;

FIG. 41, a bottom view along the line XLI/XLI in FIG. 39 in the disengaged position of the bow spring and without the outer and inner tubes;

FIG. 42, a longitudinal section through a telescopic vacuum cleaner suction tube according to FIG. 23 with a bow spring of circular cross-section and snap-in depressions in the shape of a graduated circle in the inner tube, however, with an actuating element in the form of a sliding sleeve that encompasses the outer tube and the inner tube, as well as a safety projection arranged therein;

FIG. 43, an enlarged section through the region of the sliding sleeve according to FIG. 42, namely in the engaged position of the bow spring with a safety projection engaging underneath the snap-in element;

FIG. 44, a section according to FIG. 43 in the disengaged position of the snap-in element of the bow spring, and

FIG. 45, a sectional representation according to FIG. 11 through another embodiment of a telescopic vacuum cleaner suction tube with an outer tube, an inner tube and a bow spring, wherein this embodiment features no guide sleeve, but rather four pairs of projections on the inner side of the outer tube in order to hold the bow spring and to space apart the outer tube from the inner tube.

Claims

1. A telescopic vacuum cleaner suction tube (1) with an outer tube (2), an inner tube (3) with snap-in depressions (7) that is telescopically arranged in the outer tube, an antitwisting mechanism (4d; 16) and an interlocking device with a snap-in element (15) that is disengaged from a snap-in depression (7) by an actuating element (5) situated about diametrically opposite thereof, wherein the interlocking device consists of a bow spring (6) that positively encompasses at least the inner tube (3) and once again engages into the nearest snap-in depression (7) of the inner tube (3) in the telescoping direction under the prestress of a spring, characterized in that the bow spring (6) consists of an annular spring of rectangular or circular cross-section that alternatively encompasses the inner tube (3) or a guide sleeve (4) or the outer tube (2), namely not only positively, but also non-positively, and in that the free ends (12, 13) thereof need to be spread apart by the actuating element (5) in order to lift the snap-in element (15) out of the snap-in depression (7) and thusly disengage the interlocked tubes.

2. The telescopic vacuum cleaner suction tube according to claim 1, characterized in that the free ends (12, 13) of the bow spring (6) are bent inward or outward in a funnel-shaped fashion in the vicinity of the actuating element (5).

3. The telescopic vacuum cleaner suction tube according to claim 1, characterized in that the snap-in depressions (7) of the inner tube (3) have a flat rectangular shape.

4. The telescopic vacuum cleaner suction tube according to claim 1, characterized in that the snap-in depressions (7) of the inner tube (3) are provided with the conventional shape of a graduated circle.

5. The telescopic vacuum cleaner suction tube according to claim 1, characterized in that the actuating element (5) is formed by a push-button (9) on the outer tube (2) that can be moved perpendicular to the longitudinal symmetry axis (8).

6. The telescopic vacuum cleaner suction tube according to claim 5, characterized in that the push-button engages into the funnel-shaped intermediate space (14) between the inwardly or outwardly bent ends (12, 13) of the bow spring (6) with its conical or wedge-shaped end (9a) that faces the bow spring (6), and in that the push-button is raised into a raised starting position within a surrounding housing (11) under the prestress of the bow spring (6) in the engaged position thereof.

7. The telescopic vacuum cleaner suction tube according to claim 5, characterized in that the push-button (9) for disengaging the interlocked tubes is pressed downward in the direction of the surface (3a) of the inner tube (3), namely into the funnel-shaped intermediate space (14) between the inwardly or outwardly bent ends (12, 13) of the bow spring (6), while the bow spring (6) is simultaneously spread apart such that the bow spring (6) with its diametrically opposite snap-in element (15) is disengaged from the snap-in depression (7) of the inner tube (3).

8. The telescopic vacuum cleaner suction tube according to claim 1, characterized in that the actuating element (5) consists of a slide (10) that is arranged on the outer tube (2) such that it can be moved parallel to the direction of the longitudinal symmetry axis (8).

9. The telescopic vacuum cleaner suction tube according to claim 8, characterized in that the slide (10) features two cone surfaces (10a, 10b) that adjoin the ramps formed by the bent ends (12, 13) of the bow spring (6) in a paired fashion and are connected to one another similar to an hourglass at their opposite pointed regions such that the bow spring (6) is spread apart when the slide (10) is moved parallel to the longitudinal symmetry axis (8) of the tubes (2, 3) in either direction of the double arrow (20).

10. The telescopic vacuum cleaner suction tube according to claim 8, characterized in that the cone surfaces (10a, 10b) form an angle a between 30° and 60° with a plane extending through the longitudinal symmetry axis (8).

11. The telescopic vacuum cleaner suction tube according to claim 9, characterized in that the plane cone surfaces (10a, 10b) are realized in the form of a part of a quadrangular pyramid.

12. The telescopic vacuum cleaner suction tube according to claim 9, characterized in that the cone surfaces (10a, 10b) consist of partial generated surfaces of two straight circular cones.

13. The telescopic vacuum cleaner suction tube according to claim 1, characterized in that the actuating element (5) in the form of a push-button (9) as well as in the form of the slide (10) is arranged on a widened end region (2c) of the outer tube (2) that faces the inner tube (3).

14. The telescopic vacuum cleaner suction tube according to claim 8, characterized in that the slide (10) is provided with guide grooves (22, 23) on its surface area (24) that faces the free outwardly bent ends (12, 13) of the bow spring (6), and in that the ends (12, 13) are guided in said guide grooves and spread apart when the slide is displaced parallel to the longitudinal symmetry axis (8) of the tubes (2, 3) in either direction of the double arrow (21).

15. The telescopic vacuum cleaner suction tube according to claim 1 with a bow spring of circular cross section, characterized in that the slide (10) is realized in the form of a sliding sleeve (10c) that completely encompasses the outer tube (2) and features a safety projection (27) on its inner surface (26) that lies closest to the snap-in element (7), wherein said safety projections engage underneath the snap-in element (15) in exactly its central region in the engaged position.

16. The telescopic vacuum cleaner suction tube according to claim 15, characterized in that the safety projection (27) is rounded and provided with conical lateral surfaces in the direction of the snap-in element (15).

17. The telescopic vacuum cleaner suction tube according to claim 15, characterized in that the curved path of the guide grooves (22, 23) is adapted to the geometry of the safety projection (27).

18. The telescopic vacuum cleaner suction tube according to claim 1, characterized in that the bow spring (6) consists of spring steel.

19. The telescopic vacuum cleaner suction tube according to claim 1, characterized in that the bow spring (6) is arranged on a circumferential groove (40) of a guide sleeve (4) such that it can be spread apart, wherein said guide sleeve is stationarily arranged between the outer tube and the inner tube (2, 3), namely at the end of the outer tube (2) in a widened end region (2c) of the outer tube (2).

20. The telescopic vacuum cleaner suction tube according to claim 1, characterized in that the antitwisting mechanism (4d, 16) conventionally consists of a longitudinal groove (16) in the inner tube (3) that extends parallel to the longitudinal symmetry axis (8) and into which a projection (4d) of the guide sleeve (4) positively engages 21. The telescopic vacuum cleaner suction tube according to claim 20, characterized in that the longitudinal groove (16) is arranged in the region of the locking projections (7) in the inner tube (3).