Patent Application
20090178237
The present invention relates generally to the floor care equipment field and, more particularly, to a vacuum cleaner equipped with a dirt collection vessel including a dirt collection chamber and a spiral air guide providing a spiral air path.
Bagless vacuum cleaner technology has long been known in the art. Japanese patent applications 56-136642 and 56-136650 both published in 1981 disclose an upright vacuum cleaner with a dirt collection chamber that removably connects to an opening of the main unit to facilitate user convenience during the emptying of the cleaner. A removable filter fills an opening at the bottom of the dust chamber and serves to separate dirt and dust from air drawn through the vacuum cleaner by the fan and motor assembly.
The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner that incorporates a dirt collection vessel including a dirt collection chamber and a spiral air guide that provides a spiral air path for improved cleaning efficiency.
In accordance with the purposes of the present invention as described herein, an improved vacuum cleaner is provided. That vacuum cleaner comprises a housing including a suction inlet and both a dirt collection vessel and a suction generator carried on the housing. The dirt collection vessel includes a dirt collection chamber. The vacuum cleaner includes a spiral air guide providing a spiral air path that enhances cleaning efficiency. The spiral air guide includes an inlet at a first end and a split outlet at a second end. The suction generator is provided in fluid communication with the suction inlet, the dirt collection vessel and the spiral air guide.
The dirt collection vessel includes a first dirt collection chamber, a primary inlet in communication with that first chamber, a second dirt collection chamber, a secondary inlet in communication with that second chamber and a chamber outlet. The split outlet includes a first section provided in communication with a clean air manifold and a second section provided in communication with the secondary inlet. More specifically, the split outlet includes a head wall extending across the air path at an included angle of between about 0 and about 30 degrees and most typically about 15 degrees. The spiral air guide also includes an inlet in fluid communication with the first chamber outlet, and at least one clean air discharge orifice along an inside portion of the spiral air path. The spiral air guide comprises a spiral, tubular conduit.
In one possible embodiment the spiral air path has a substantially constant cross sectional area from the first end to the second end. That cross sectional area is between about 250 mm2 and about 1000 mm2. In another possible embodiment the spiral air path has a cross sectional area that decreases from the first end to the second end. In yet another possible embodiment, the spiral air path has a cross sectional area that increases from the first end to the second end. The spiral air path may also be substantially flat.
In one possible embodiment of the invention the first dirt collection chamber is substantially cylindrical in shape and the primary inlet is tangentially directed with respect to the first dirt collection chamber. The chamber outlet is axially directed with respect to the dirt collection chamber. Further the chamber outlet includes a sieve having about 1000 to about 1500 apertures and each of the apertures has a cross sectional area of between about 2.3 mm2 to about 6.4 mm2.
In accordance with one possible embodiment of the present invention, the housing includes a first cavity and a second cavity. The dirt collection vessel is received and held in the first cavity while the spiral air guide is received and held in the second cavity. In this way, the dirt collection vessel and the spiral air guide are made independently removable from the housing.
In the following description there are shown multiple preferred embodiments of the invention simply by way of illustration of some of the modes best suited to carry out the invention. As it will be realized, the invention is capable of other different embodiments and its several details are capable of modification in various, obvious aspects all without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and descriptions will be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive.
The accompanying drawing incorporated in and forming a part of the specification, illustrates several aspects of the present invention, and together with the description serves to explain certain principles of the invention. In the drawing:
Reference will now be made in detail to the present preferred embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawing.
Reference is now made to
The illustrated vacuum cleaner 10 includes a housing, generally designated by reference numeral 12. That housing 12 includes a nozzle assembly or section 14 and a canister assembly or section 16. As is known in the art, the canister assembly 16 is pivotally connected to the nozzle assembly 14 to aid the operator in manipulating the vacuum cleaner to and fro across the floor. Wheels (not shown) carried on the housing 12 allow the vacuum cleaner 10 to be moved smoothly across the floor.
As illustrated, the nozzle assembly 14 is equipped with a nozzle or suction inlet 18. In the illustrated embodiment, the suction inlet 18 also includes a rotary agitator 20. The rotary agitator 20 is equipped with projecting cleaning structures 21 such as bristle tufts, brushes, wipers, beater bars or the like to aid in stripping dirt and debris from a nap of an underlying carpet being cleaned.
The canister assembly 16 houses a suction generator 22 (i.e. a fan and motor assembly) and a dirt collection vessel 24 including a spiral air guide 25 and a dirt collection chamber 26 (see
As best illustrated in
As should be appreciated, the spiral air guide 25 functions to partition the dirt collection vessel 24 into the dirt collection chamber 26 and the clean air manifold 42. A manifold outlet 44 in the lid 38 provides fluid communication between the clean air manifold 42 and the suction generator 22 through a conduit 45.
As further illustrated in
The sieve 46 includes an inner wall 52 that engages a tubular element 53. The tubular element 53 is concentrically received within the sidewall 34 of the dirt collection vessel 24. The bottom of the tubular element 53 is closed by a convexity 55 in the bottom wall or door 32. A second dirt collection chamber 54 is defined inside the inner wall 52 and tubular element 53 above the convexity 55. Thus, it should be appreciated that the chamber outlet 37 is annular in shape and extends around the second dirt collection chamber 54.
The spiral air guide 25 comprises a substantially flat, spiral, tubular conduit 56. The spiral tubular conduit 56 has an inlet 58 at a first end and a split outlet 60 at a second end. The inlet 58 is provided in fluid communication with the first chamber outlet 37 and the sieve 46 while the outlet 60 is provided with a first section in fluid communication with the clean air manifold 42 and a second section in communication with the secondary inlet 51 of the second dirt collection chamber 54.
The split outlet 60 also includes a head wall 67. The head wall 67 extends across the air path at an included angle θ of between about 0 and about 30 degrees and most typically about 15 degrees. The function of the head wall 67 will be discussed in detail below.
The spiral tubular conduit 56 may have a substantially constant cross sectional area from the first end to the second end of from about 250 mm2 to about 1000 mm2. In one possible alternative embodiment the spiral tubular conduit may define a spiral air path having a cross sectional area that decreases from the first end to the second end. In yet another alternative embodiment the spiral tubular conduit 56 may define a spiral air path that has a cross sectional area that increases from the first end to the second end. In any of these embodiments, the spiral air guide 25 includes at least one clean air discharge orifice 62 along an inside portion of the spiral air path defined by the spiral tubular conduit 56. The discharge orifice 62 is provided in communication with the clean air manifold 42.
During operation the rotary agitator 20 beats dirt and debris from the nap of an underlying carpet being cleaned (see
As the air stream travels through the conduit 56 it is drawn into a tighter and tighter circle and is thereby accelerated. Any fine dirt particles that were capable of passing through the apertures 50 are forced against the outside portion of the spiral air path while relatively clean air along the inside portion of the spiral air path is drawn through the discharge orifices 62 into the clean air manifold 42 (note action arrow D). The remaining fine dirt particles are forced to travel along the outer portion of the spiral air path of the conduit 56 and exit at the split outlet 60. More specifically, the fine particles P are forced into the head wall 67. The angle θ of the head wall 67 functions to deflect the particles P downwardly through the second section of the outlet 60 directly into the second or fine particle dirt collection chamber 54 through the secondary inlet 51 (note action arrow E). Consequently, it should be appreciated that the spiral air guide 25 functions to insure that even the finest dirt particles are captured in the dirt collection vessel 24. Simultaneously, the remaining clean air stream is drawn off through the first section of the split outlet 60 into the clean air manifold 42 (note action arrow F).
The now clean air delivered to the clean air manifold 42 passes through the manifold outlet 44 (note action arrow G) and then moves along a conduit 45 through a secondary filter 64 before being delivered to the suction generator 22. As the clean air passes through the suction generator 22 it functions to coos the motor of the suction generator. The clean air is then exhausted through a final filter 66, such as a HEPA filter to remove any remaining particles such as carbon particles from the motor brushes, before being discharged back into the environment through the exhaust port 68.
As should be appreciated, the spiral air guide 25 functions to return relatively fine dirt particles to the second chamber 54 of the dirt collection vessel 24 for capture and disposal thereby stripping those particles from the clean air subsequently delivered through the secondary filter 64 to the suction generator 22. As such, the air guide functions to enhance the cleaning efficiency of the vacuum cleaner 10.
In the alternative embodiment illustrated in
The foregoing description of a preferred embodiment of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Obvious modifications or variations are possible in light of the above teachings. For example, while the illustrated embodiment incorporates a cylindrically shaped dirt collection chamber 26, a tangentially directed inlet 35 and an axially directed outlet 37 in order to provide for cyclonic airflow, the invention is not limited to such an arrangement. The dirt collection chamber 26 may assume another shape. The inlet 35 need not be tangentially directed and the outlet 37 need not be axially oriented. Thus, the invention incorporates both cyclonic and noncyclonic designs.
The embodiment was chosen and described to provide the best illustration of the principles of the invention and its practical application to thereby enable one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. All such modifications and variations are within the scope of the invention as determined by the appended claims when interpreted in accordance with the breadth to which they are fairly, legally and equitably entitled. The drawings and preferred embodiments do not and are not intended to limit the ordinary meaning of the claims and their fair and broad interpretation in any way.
