This application claims the priority of UK Patent Application No. 0918037.3, filed 15 Oct. 2009, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates generally to an upright cleaning appliance, and more particularly to a handle on an upright cleaning appliance, used to maneuver the appliance across a floor surface. The invention is particularly applicable to an upright vacuum cleaner, but may also be used on other upright cleaning appliances including, for example, wet floor cleaners and floor polishers.
A typical so-called “upright” vacuum cleaner comprises a wheeled head assembly, which carries a fixed cleaner head, and an ‘upright’ body which can be reclined relative to the cleaner head and which includes a handle for maneuvering the vacuum cleaner across the floor. In use, a user grasps the handle and reclines the upright body until the handle is disposed at a convenient height for the user; the user can then roll the vacuum cleaner across the floor using the handle in order to pick up dust and other debris on the floor. The dust and debris is drawn in through a downward-facing suction inlet on the cleaner head by a motor-driven fan housed on-board the vacuum cleaner. From here, the dirt-laden air stream is then ducted under the fan-generated suction pressure to some sort of separating apparatus on board the vacuum cleaner, where dirt is separated from the air before the relatively clean air is then expelled back to the atmosphere. The separating apparatus may include a bag or cyclone, and may also include one or more filters for filtering very fine particulates from the air stream.
Historically, upright vacuum cleaners were maneuvered across the floor by sequentially pushing and pulling the cleaner in straight lines, and the handle thus served primarily as a “push-pull” handle. Many upright vacuum cleaners are still maneuvered in this push-pull manner, and examples of typical push-pull handles are shown in GB200710018A, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,016,315A, 6,526,623B, U.S. D553814S, CN100464686C and GB2448745A. The first three of these examples each show a forwardly-extending handle; the remaining three examples each show a rearwardly-extending handle.
More recently, handles on upright vacuum cleaners are being configured to rotate from side-to-side about the longitudinal axis of the upright body in order to provide some additional functionality for the cleaner. An example of this is shown in EP1 526796, where the handle of the cleaner forms part of a steering mechanism for improving maneuverability of the cleaner; here, both the upright body and the handle are co-rotatable from side to side about the longitudinal axis of the upright body as the cleaner is being pushed or pulled, in order to point the cleaner head in a desired direction and thus steer the vacuum cleaner across the floor.
Trials have revealed that traditional push-pull handle designs can be uncomfortable for certain users if the handle is intended to be rotated from side-to-side about the longitudinal axis of the upright body.
It is an object of the present invention to seek to provide a better handle for an upright cleaning appliance of the type in which the handle is required to rotate about a longitudinal axis of the upright body of the appliance, for example as part of a steering mechanism for the appliance.
According to the present invention there is provided an upright cleaning appliance having a handle for maneuvering the appliance across a floor, the handle being secured on a reclining upright body of the appliance for rotation about a longitudinal axis of the upright body, the handle comprising a forward-extending handgrip portion which terminates in an abutment flange.
The provision of an abutment flange advantageously prevents (or at least significantly reduces the chances of) the forward-extending hand grip portion from slipping down through the bottom of a user's grip, for example under the weight of the reclining upright body. The abutment flange has also been found to provide an effective “torque-bearing” surface for the top of the user's grip, which the user can utilize to increase leverage of the handle about the longitudinal axis of the upright body simply by butting his or her grip up against the underside of the flange as he or she rotates the handle. At the same time, the forward-extending hand grip portion nevertheless allows the user conveniently to rotate the handle about the longitudinal axis of the upright body. The abutment flange preferably extends perpendicular to the handgrip portion.
The handgrip portion is preferably straight. This has been found to provide better leverage for the user when rotating the handle 9 about the longitudinal axis of the upright body, particularly compared to the conventional, curved handgrip portion commonly provided on upright vacuum cleaners, where the tendency is for the user's hand to roll “over the top” of the curved handgrip portion as the handle is rotated about a longitudinal axis of the upright body of the cleaner.
The cross-sectional profile of the handgrip portion may be a racetrack profile. A racetrack-profile has been found to be particularly comfortable for the user, especially when combined with a straight handgrip portion and abutment flange.
The handgrip portion may be angled at 70-80 degrees to the longitudinal axis of the upright body. An angle in the range of 70-80 degrees has been found to be particularly comfortable for a user, and especially comfortable when combined with a straight hand grip portion, abutment flange and racetrack profile for the handgrip portion. The optimal angle for comfort has been found to be 75 degrees.
The handle may incorporate a bracing strut connecting the abutment flange to the base of the handle in order to brace the handgrip portion to the base of the handle and increase the rigidity of the handle.
The handle is particularly suited to applications where the handle forms part of a steering mechanism for steering the cleaner across the floor, the handle being connected to an intermediate part of the steering mechanism operable for co-rotation with the handle about said longitudinal axis of the upright body.
A handle incorporating all of the above features has in particular been found to be surprisingly comfortable for use in those upright cleaning appliances where the handle is typically mounted for rotation about a longitudinal axis of the upright body of the appliance.
One or more embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
a-11c are schematic perspective views of the upper part of the cleaner shown in
Referring to
The upright body 4 includes a motor-driven fan (not shown) for generating a suction pressure at the suction inlets and separating apparatus in the form of a cyclone pack 7, which is located downstream of the suction inlets for separating and depositing dust from a dust-laden air-flow drawn into the cleaner 1 by the motor-driven fan. The cyclone pack 7 is releasably secured at the front of a spine 8 which runs up the rear of the upright body 4, and a handle 9 is supported at the upper end of the spine 8.
In
The upright body 4 is mechanically coupled to the cleaner head 2 for reclining movement relative to the cleaner head 2 about a Recline Axis R which extends through the wheels 3. This reclining movement of the upright body 4 is made possible by a coupling yoke 10, shown in
An inlet duct 14 is fluidly coupled to the cyclone pack 7 (
The head duct 16 and wand duct 17 are conveniently arranged inside the interior volume of the wheels 3 to limit the amount of ducting which is visible on the outside of the cleaner 1, but this is not essential and an outboard ducting scheme could equally be used.
In use, the dirt-laden air passing through the inlet duct 14 enters the cyclone pack 7 through a tangential inlet 7a. The majority of the dust is then separated from the air-stream in conventional manner inside the cyclone pack 7 by a series of cyclones, before eventually being deposited in a dust-collecting bin 18 forming part of the cyclone pack 7. The relatively clean air is subsequently exhausted downwardly through an outlet in the base of the cyclone pack 7, where it passes through the motor bucket 11 and then out through exhaust holes 3a in one of the wheels 3. Pre- and post-motor filters (not shown) are provided inside the cyclone pack 7 and the interior volume of the wheels 3, respectively, for removing very fine particulates from the airflow before it is exhausted back to atmosphere. When the dust collecting bin 18 is full, the entire cyclone pack 7 can be released by means of a catch 28 and the bin 18 can subsequently be emptied in conventional manner.
The cleaner 1 has two modes of operation: a normal “upright” mode used primarily for cleaning a floor surface, and a “cylinder” mode used primarily for cleaning above the level of the floor surface.
In the “cylinder” mode, the changeover valve 15 couples the inlet duct 14 to the wand duct 17, so that the motor-driven fan operates to draw dust-laden air in through the wand 5, with the intention that the wand 5 can be released and manipulated by the user to clean above the level of a floor surface, somewhat in the manner of a so-called “cylinder” (or “canister”) cleaner. The stretch hose 6 increases the useful reach of the wand 5; the wand 5 can thus be used for example in order to reach the upper corner of a room, or possibly the top of a flight of stairs depending upon the stretch ratio for the hose 6.
During use of the cleaner 1 in the “cylinder” mode, the cleaner 1 is kept in the fully upright position, shown in
In the normal “upright” mode, the changeover valve 15 couples the inlet duct 14 to the head duct 16, so that the motor-driven fan operates instead to draw dust-laden air in through the cleaner head 2. To use the cleaner 1 in this mode, the user grasps the handle 9 and then reclines the upright body 4 relative to the cleaner head 2 (see
The precise configuration and operation of the stand 19 and changeover valve 15 is not relevant to the present invention: any suitable configuration may be used. For example, the stand 19 may incorporate a semi- or fully-automatic mechanism for raising and lowering the stand 19, which may be actuated by reclining the upright body 4 and/or which may be linked to the changeover valve 15, so that the stand 19 and the changeover valve 15 move in co-ordination with one another.
The cleaner 1 can be steered across the floor in the upright mode simply by using the handle 9 to rotate the entire upright body 4 about a longitudinal axis S, running up the spine 8 (
During use of the cleaner 1 in the upright mode, the wand 5 is kept in the stowed position on-board the cleaner 1, with the hose 6 and the wand 5 sitting in the recess 8a in the spine 8 and extending along the axis S. The relatively deep nature of the recess 8a advantageously accommodates the wand 5 in a space-efficient stowed position, but it also tends significantly to reduce the torsional and flexural stiffness of the spine 8. This can particularly be a problem if the spine 8 is plastic. In order to offset this reduction in stiffness, the wand 5 is stowed on the cleaner 1 so that it acts structurally to brace the handle 9 to the motor bucket 11, as follows:
Referring firstly to
Although in the case of cleaner 1, the upper part of the wand 5 engages the handle 9 part-way down from the uppermost part 9d of the handle 9, the wand 5 may additionally or alternatively engage the handle in the region of the uppermost part 9d of the handle as required to reduce twisting of the handle 9. Similarly, if the handle 9 was substantially stiffer than the spine 8, the wand 5 may engage the rear of the spine 8 immediately below the base of the handle 9 while still effectively bracing the handle to the motor bucket 11.
The upper end of the wand 5 is provided with a shroud 5c which is contoured to provide a more “finished” appearance to the handle 9 when the wand 5 is in the stowed position shown in
Referring now to
The ribs 5a, 5b are orientated relative to the keyways 21a, 21b such that, as the wand 5 is retracted inside the hose 6 in order to engage the ribs 5a, 5b with the ribs 9a, 9b, the key elements 5c, 5d are aligned for engagement with the keying elements 21a, 21b on the transmission collar 21. Thus, when the wand 5 is stowed on-board the cleaner 1 an upper portion of the wand 5 is constrained relative to the handle 9 and a lower portion of the wand 5 is constrained relative to the motor bucket 11 (in this case via the transmission collar 21). The wand 5 itself is substantially rigid and less flexible than the spine 8. Consequently, the wand 5 acts as a structural brace between the handle 9 and the motor bucket 11, significantly reducing general flexing of the spine 8, for example during use of the cleaner 1 in the upright cleaning mode.
The keying action of the transmission collar 21 acts to prevent (or at least significantly limit) relative rotation of the wand 5 and the motor bucket 11 about the longitudinal axis of the wand 5. Similarly, the ribs 5a, 5b, 9a, 9b act to prevent (or at least significantly limit) relative rotation of the wand 5 and the handle 9 about the longitudinal axis of the wand 5. The wand 5 thus additionally forms a structural component of the steering mechanism for the cleaner 1, acting to transmit a manual steering torque along its longitudinal axis from the handle 9 to the motor bucket 11.
The wand 5 can conveniently be released from its on-board stowage position simply by sliding the wand 5 upwardly inside the hose 6 until the ribs 5a, 5b disengage the ribs 9a, 9b and the key-ways 5c, 5d slide out of engagement with the keying elements 21a, 21b on the transmission collar 21. The structural function of the wand 5 does not therefore impede easy release of the wand 5.
The transmission collar 21 rigidly constrains the wand 5 relative to the motor bucket 11 for co-rotation about the axis S. The ribs 5a, 5b, 9a, 9b provide a slightly more flexible constraint on the wand 5, allowing a very limited degree of relative rotation of the wand 5 and the handle 9 about the axis S. If this very small relative rotation of the wand 5 and the handle 9 is considered unsatisfactory, the ribs 5a, 5b, 9a, 9b could be replaced with another arrangement so that the wand 5 is also rigidly constrained relative to the handle 9. For example, the spine may incorporate some sort of releasable clamping arrangement for rigidly clamping the wand 5 to the spine 8 or the handle 9.
In any event, it is not essential that the wand is constrained using ribs and/or a transmission collar; other constraining arrangements may be used as appropriate.
It is envisaged that any undesirable flexibility between the handle and a lower part of an upright cleaning appliance can be significantly reduced or eliminated by using the wand structurally to brace the handle to the lower part of the cleaner. However, where the handle is mounted on a spine of the cleaning appliance, the spine may additionally be braced by the dust-collecting bin, or a larger, removable component incorporating the dust-collecting bin.
For example, in the case of the cleaner 1 the spine 8 is additionally braced to the motor bucket 11 by the cyclone pack 7 (which incorporates the dust-collecting bin 18). This is achieved by ensuring that, when the cyclone pack 7 is mounted on-board the cleaner 1, the cyclone pack 7 is fixedly constrained relative both to the spine 8 and to the motor bucket 11.
The cyclone pack 7 is fixedly constrained relative to the spine 8 by appropriately configuring the release catch 28 so that, when the release catch is engaged, the catch rigidly locks the cyclone pack 7 to the spine 8 and, in particular, there is none of the sliding movement associated with the catch arrangement described in GB2416483.
Referring
The handle 9 is configured so that it is comfortable for the user, particularly when the user is rotating the handle 9 about a longitudinal axis of the upright body 4 in order to steer the cleaner 1.
The handle 9 incorporates a stem portion 24, which in this case forms a co-axial extension of the spine 8, and a forward-extending handgrip portion 25.
The provision of the forward-extending handgrip portion 25 allows a user conveniently to rotate the handle 9 about the longitudinal axis of the wand 5, thus effectively transmitting steering torque from the handle 9 along the axis S to the motor bucket 11 (via the wand 5).
The heaviest component of the upright body 4 is the motor, which is housed with the fan inside the motor bucket 11. In order to minimize the moment arm of the center of mass of the upright body 4 about the Recline Axis, R the motor bucket 11 is arranged co-axially with the Recline Axis, R, as illustrated in
The handgrip portion 25 is straight. A straight handgrip portion has been found to provide better leverage for the user when rotating the handle 9 about the longitudinal axis of the wand 5, as compared to the conventional curved handgrip portion commonly provided on upright vacuum cleaners, where the tendency is for the user's hand to roll “over the top” of the curved handgrip as the handle is rotated about a longitudinal axis of the upright body of the cleaner. The straight handgrip portion 25 appears in particular to provide good leverage for the user when it is used in combination with the abutment flange 26.
The handgrip portion 25 has a racetrack profile when viewed in cross-section, comprising a curved top surface 25a, a curved underside 25b and opposing straight sides 25c and 25d (
The handgrip portion 25 extends at an angle of 75 degrees to the longitudinal axis of the wand 5 (which represents an operative steering axis for the upright body 4). In this case, the spine 8 and stem portion 24 each run parallel to the wand 5, and the handgrip portion 25 thus also extends at an angle of 75 degrees to the spine 8 and the stem portion 24 (
A straight, flat bracing strut 27 extends downwardly and backwardly from the lower edge of the flange 26 to the base of the stem portion 24 in order to brace the handgrip portion 25 to the stem portion 24 and increase the rigidity of the handle 9.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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0918037.3 | Oct 2009 | GB | national |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
5016315 | Bledsoe et al. | May 1991 | A |
6526623 | Dyson | Mar 2003 | B1 |
D553814 | Parr et al. | Oct 2007 | S |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
100464686 | Mar 2009 | CN |
1 526 796 | Dec 2008 | EP |
2 391 459 | Feb 2004 | GB |
2 416 483 | Feb 2006 | GB |
2 447 995 | Oct 2008 | GB |
2 448 745 | Oct 2008 | GB |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20110088213 A1 | Apr 2011 | US |