AU2012219521A1

AU2012219521A1 - Vacuum cleaner

Info

Publication number: AU2012219521A1
Application number: AU2012219521A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Hakan Miefalk
Original assignee: Electrolux AB
Current assignee: Electrolux AB
Priority date: 2011-02-22
Filing date: 2012-02-22
Publication date: 2013-08-01
Also published as: WO2012113821A1; KR20140004203A; CN103458753A; CN103476312A; CA2825686A1; CN103476313B; CN103476312B; KR20140017576A; AU2012219519A1; JP2014506516A; WO2012113414A1; CN103476311A; JP2014505565A; JP2014506517A; WO2012113839A1; CA2825601A1; WO2012113814A1; CN103476313A; AU2012219632A1; US20140053366A1

Abstract

The invention is directed to vacuum cleaner (1) comprising a horizontal type cleaner body (2) with a front (5) and back side (6) and two lateral sides (7), at least one primary stage cyclone dust separator (8) having a dust outlet opening fluidly connected to a primary stage dust collecting chamber (9), and at least one secondary stage cyclone dust separating unit (12). The primary stage dust collecting chamber (9) and the at least one secondary stage cyclone dust separating unit (12) is mounted at the front side (5) in a lateral side by side arrangement in between the lateral sides (7).

Description

WO 2012/113840 PCT/EP2012/053027 Vacuum Cleaner The present invention is directed to a vacuum cleaner. In more 5 detail, the invention is directed to a cyclone type vacuum cleaner. Cyclone type vacuum cleaners are widely known because of their benefit in bagless dust collection. Bagless or cyclone type vac 10 uum cleaners or respective cyclone dust separating units are known for example from documents EP 1 042 981 Al, EP 1774887 Al, EP 1 688 078 A2, EP 1 952 745 A2 and WO 2011/058365. Cyclone type vacuum cleaners, in particular mentioned in the 15 state of technology documents listed before, are still compara tively large in size and provide comparatively complicated air guiding and dust collecting devices and units. Therefore, it is one of the objects of the present invention to 20 provide a cyclone type vacuum cleaner having a comparatively compact design. In particular it is an object to provide a mul tiple stage cyclonic vacuum cleaner of comparatively compact de sign. Further, the vacuum cleaner shall have enhanced usability and operability, in particular with respect to dust separation 25 and dust collecting chambers. These and further objects are solved by the features of claim 1. Embodiments and variants result from the dependent claims. 30 According to claim 1, a vacuum cleaner is provided which com prises a horizontal type cleaner body having a front and back side and two lateral sides. The term "horizontal type cleaner body" in particular shall re 35 fer to the orientation of the cleaner body in normal or intended 1 WO 2012/113840 PCT/EP2012/053027 use. Such a horizontal type cleaner body may comprise, as al ready implemented with known devices, wheels attached thereto and provided for easily moving the vacuum cleaner over the floor underneath during vacuum-cleaning. 5 A horizontal type vacuum cleaner in the meaning of the present application is for example shown in EP 1 774 887 Al. Aside from the horizontal type vacuum cleaners there also exist vertical type constructions generally comprising a handle to which the 10 cleaner body is mounted to and by which the cleaner body is moved in concert with vacuum-cleaning operations. One example of such a vertical type vacuum cleaner is shown in WO 2011/058365. The vacuum cleaner comprises at least one primary stage cyclone 15 dust separator which has a dust outlet opening fluidly connected to a primary stage dust collecting chamber. The vacuum cleaner further comprises a secondary cyclonic sepa ration step. In more detail, the vacuum cleaner comprises at 20 least one secondary stage cyclone dust separating unit. The sec ondary stage cyclone dust separating unit is coupled and in stalled downstream the primary stage cyclone dust separator. Providing a secondary stage dust separation stage greatly en hances overall dust separation efficiency 25 With the proposed vacuum cleaner, the primary stage dust col lecting chamber and the at least one secondary stage cyclone dust separating unit is mounted at the front side in a lateral side by side arrangement in between the lateral sides. 30 The proposed arrangement of primary stage dust collecting cham ber and the at least one secondary stage cyclone dust separating unit enables space saving arrangements and in particular compact overall designs of the cleaner body and vacuum cleaner. 35 2 WO 2012/113840 PCT/EP2012/053027 With the proposed vacuum cleaner construction, the lateral ex tension of the primary stage dust collecting chamber is less than the overall width of the cleaner body and vacuum cleaner. Space not occupied by the primary stage dust collecting chamber 5 in lateral direction can be used as installation space for at least one of the at least one secondary stage cyclone dust sepa rating unit. Providing the primary stage dust collecting chamber at the front 10 side has, amongst others, the advantage that it is easily acces sible. Further if adequate front side fill level indicators, in particular inspection windows, are provided a user can quickly inspect the filling level of the primary stage dust collecting chamber. The term "front side fill level indicator" in particu 15 lar shall mean that the fill level indicator is accessible and visible at and from the front side of the vacuum cleaner. The fill level indicator, in particular inspection window, in particular when arranged immediately at the front side, is ef 20 fective in presenting the filling level of the primary stage dust collecting chamber to a user, and will contribute to ade quate emptying intervals. This in turn secures optimal cleaning efficiency of the vacuum cleaner. Note that the inspection win dow may be implemented as a translucent or transparent wall sec 25 tion of the primary stage dust collecting chamber. As will be described in more detail further below, arranging the at least one secondary stage cyclone dust separating unit at the front side, side to side with the primary stage dust collection 30 chamber allows a space saving arrangement of secondary stage dust collecting chambers of respective secondary stage cyclone dust collecting units. Note that the primary stage cyclone dust separator may be pro 35 vided and adapted to separate coarse dust, debris and other par 3 WO 2012/113840 PCT/EP2012/053027 ticulate matter from air. Secondary stage cyclone dust separat ing units may be adapted to separate fine dust from air, in par ticular dust that either could not be separated in the first stage or that is too fine or small to be separated in the first 5 stage. Combining several dust separation stages in series great ly enhances the overall cleaning efficiency. In a preferred embodiment, the vacuum cleaner comprises two sec ondary stage cyclone dust separating units. The two secondary 10 stage cyclone dust separating units are mounted at opposite lat eral sides, side by side to the primary stage dust collecting chamber. The primary stage dust collecting chamber in this case is centered between the two secondary stage cyclone dust sepa rating units and lateral sides. In other words, the secondary 15 stage cyclone dust separating units are respectively positioned laterally next to the primary stage dust collecting chamber which is centered with respect to the cleaner body. In one further embodiment, each secondary stage cyclone dust 20 separating unit comprises several conical cyclones arranged side to side in parallel to a respective lateral side. Preferably, the diameters of the conical cyclones are smaller than that of the first stage cyclone dust separator. Note that 25 the first stage cyclone dust separator preferably has a constant overall circular cross section, i. e. has essentially no conical sections. The smaller conical cyclones preferably are equally dimensioned. Providing smaller conical cyclones in the secondary stage cyclone dust separating units is effective in separating 30 fine dust and dust particles too small to be effectively removed in the primary separation stage. It shall be noted, that more than the above described two dust separation stages may be combined in series. This will enhance 35 dust separation efficiency and allow blowing out comparatively 4 WO 2012/113840 PCT/EP2012/053027 clean air to the environment again. As an example, one of the higher order dust separating steps, e. g. a tertiary dust sepa ration step, may be a filter type separation, in particular adapted to retain residual dust particles. But also tertiary 5 stage cyclone dust separators are conceivable. In a yet further embodiment, conical cyclones of the at least one secondary stage cyclone dust separating unit are mounted and adapted such that their center axes are tilted or slanted from 10 top front side to bottom back side. Such a tilted arrangement is of particular advantage, if a main airflow through the cyclones is also directed from top front to bottom back. In this case, a secondary stage dust collecting chamber fluidly connected to dust outlets of the cyclones can be arranged in a space saving 15 way underneath and/or in front to back direction behind the re spective secondary stage cyclone dust separating unit. In a preferred variant, the center axes of the conical cyclones are tilted vis-A-vis the horizontal direction of ordinary use, 20 in more detail vis-d-vis the front to back direction, by an an gle of 10 to 50 degrees, preferably 30 degrees. Such tilt angles are adequate for compact design, yet allowing sufficient separa tion efficiency. 25 In a further embodiment, and as already indicated further above, each secondary stage cyclone dust separating unit comprises a secondary stage dust collecting chamber downstream of and fluid ly connected with dust outlet openings of respective secondary stage cyclones. 30 The secondary stage dust collecting chambers in particular may be oriented and mounted as already indicated further above. In particular, the secondary stage dust collecting chambers may be located and positioned at respective lateral sides. With regard 35 to front to back direction, the secondary stage dust collecting 5 WO 2012/113840 PCT/EP2012/053027 chambers are preferably arranged behind, i. e. downstream, and flush with respective secondary stage conical cyclones. The pro posed arrangement of the secondary stage dust collecting chamber may lead to optimal utilization of space, and therefore compact 5 design. In another embodiment, with regard to planes running essentially parallel to a respective lateral side, the secondary stage dust collecting chamber has a triangular shaped cross section. Trian 10 gular shaped cross sections may provide optimal utilization of space. In particular due to the fact that a triangular shaped space may be available downstream and underneath a dust outlet face or plane of conical cyclones of a secondary stage cyclone dust separating unit. The dust outlet plane shall be understood 15 to be defined by respective dust outlet openings of conical cy clones. In a yet further embodiment, a tertiary stage dust separator, which may be a fine and/or main filter, is provided. The ter 20 tiary stage dust separator is, with regard to front to back di rection, mounted behind the primary dust collecting chamber and laterally adjacent to the at least one secondary stage dust col lecting chamber. If secondary stage dust collecting chambers are provided at opposite lateral sides, the tertiary stage dust sep 25 arator may be centered in lateral direction between the second ary stage dust collecting chambers. In a further embodiment, the vacuum cleaner comprises air chan nels connecting an air outlet of the primary stage cyclone dust 30 separator to the at least one secondary stage cyclone dust sepa rating unit, in particular to an air inlet opening of the at least one secondary stage cyclone dust separating unit. Further, the air channels are guided at a top side of the cleaner body. This is favorable with regard to utilization of space. 35 6 WO 2012/113840 PCT/EP2012/053027 Such air channels are of particular advantage if a longitudinal main axis of the primary stage cyclone dust separator is orient ed essentially parallel to the front to back direction, and an air outlet of the primary stage cyclone dust separator is locat 5 ed at or placed towards the back side. Each air channel guides at least partially cleaned air from the primary stage cyclone dust separator to an air inlet, in partic ular air inlet chamber, of a respective secondary stage cyclone 10 dust separating unit. The inlet chamber communicates with air inlet openings of all conical cyclones of a respective secondary stage cyclone dust separating unit. The inlet chamber is de signed and adapted such that air is guided optimally, preferably equally, to and into all conical cyclones of a secondary stage 15 cyclone dust separating unit. In a further embodiment, the primary stage cyclone dust separa tor is, with regard to front to back direction, mounted behind the dust collecting chamber. In this case, it is advantageous 20 that the primary stage cyclone dust separator is a horizontal type dust separator. In this connection, a horizontal type dust separator shall be understood in particular as indicated further above, i. e. that a longitudinal main axis of the primary stage cyclone dust collector is parallel to the front to back direc 25 tion. This in particular means that a main airflow through the primary stage cyclone dust separator is parallel and/or anti parallel to the front to back direction. Placing and orienting the primary stage cyclone dust separator as proposed beforehand is effective in obtaining comparatively small bottom to top di 30 mensions. Exemplary embodiments will now be described in connection with the annexed figures, in which: 35 Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a vacuum cleaner; 7 WO 2012/113840 PCT/EP2012/053027 Fig. 2 shows a lateral side view of the vacuum cleaner; and 5 Fig. 3 shows vertical cross sectional view of the vacuum cleaner. Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a vacuum cleaner 1. The vacu 10 um cleaner 1 comprises a horizontal type cleaner body 2 with a bottom 3, top 4, front 5 and back side 6 and two lateral sides 7. The term horizontal type shall mean that in the ordinary and in 15 tended position of use, the cleaner body 2 is positioned essen tially horizontally. In the context of the present invention and in more general terms this in particular shall mean that, the cleaner body 2 during normal operation and with regard to front to back direction is positioned essentially parallel to the 20 ground underneath. Note that in the figures, the vacuum cleaner is shown in its ordinary horizontal use position. The vacuum cleaner 1 comprises a primary stage cyclone dust sep arator 8. The primary stage cyclone dust separator 8 is coupled 25 to a primary stage dust collecting chamber 9. A dust outlet opening 10 (Fig. 3) of the primary stage cyclone dust separator 8 is fluidly connected to the primary stage dust collecting chamber 9. 30 The primary stage dust collecting chamber 8, which may also be designated as a dust collecting container, is positioned and ar ranged at the front side 5 of the cleaner body 2. In a front side section, the primary stage dust collecting cham 35 ber 9 has a fill level indicator, which in the present case is 8 WO 2012/113840 PCT/EP2012/053027 implemented as a transparent wall section arranged and visible from the front. In one implementation, essentially the whole primary stage dust collecting chamber 9, at least walls at the front side, are made from a transparent material. Here, a user 5 can easily observe the fill level of the primary stage dust col lecting chamber 9, recognize inadequately high filling levels and, as a consequence, will timely empty the primary stage dust collecting chamber 9. 10 The vacuum cleaner 1 comprises wheels 10 arranged at/in or on the lateral sides 7 and bottom side 3 of the cleaner body 2, re spectively. The wheels 10 are arranged and adapted such that the vacuum cleaner 1 during normal and ordinary operation can be easily moved on the surface underneath. The vacuum cleaner 1 may 15 comprise other functional elements, such as handles and the like, which will not be described in further detail. At the front side 5 of the vacuum cleaner 1, an interface 11 is provided which is adapted and configured to connect a flexible 20 suction hose (not shown). The vacuum cleaner 1 further comprises two secondary stage cy clone dust separating units 12. The secondary stage cyclone dust separating units 12 are positioned and mounted at the front side 25 5. As can in particular be seen from Fig. 1, the primary stage dust collecting chamber 9 and the secondary stage cyclone dust sepa rating units 12 are mounted in between the lateral sides 7. 30 Further, it can be seen from Fig. 1 that the primary stage dust collecting chamber 9 and the secondary stage cyclone dust sepa rating units 12 are, with respect to the lateral extension, ar ranged in a side by side arrangement, wherein the primary stage 35 dust collecting chamber 9 is placed, in particular centered, be 9 WO 2012/113840 PCT/EP2012/053027 tween the secondary stage cyclone dust separating units 12. In other words, at each lateral side of the primary stage dust col lecting chamber 9 there is provided one of the secondary stage cyclone dust separating units 12. 5 From Fig. 1 it can be readily seen that the proposed arrange ment, in particular the arrangement of primary stage dust col lecting chamber 9 and the secondary stage cyclone dust separat ing units 12, allows a compact and space saving design. Further, 10 a functional arrangement combined with good operability of com ponents of the vacuum cleaner 1 can be obtained. Further details of the vacuum cleaner will become apparent in connection with Figures 2 and 3. 15 As can be seen in more detail from Fig. 2, representing a par tially broken up side view of the vacuum cleaner 1, each second ary stage cyclone dust separating unit 12 comprises several con ical cyclones 13. The conical cyclones 13 have equal size, i. e. 20 dimensions, and are arranged side to side in parallel to a re spective lateral side 7. Air channels 14 running at the top side 4 of the cleaner body 2 fluidly connect an air outlet of the primary stage cyclone dust 25 separator 8 to respective air inlets of the secondary stage cy clone dust separating units 12. With the present design, the air outlet of the primary stage cyclone dust separator 8 is located towards the back side 6 and centered with respect to the lateral sides 7. The air channels 14 are guided from a centered back 30 side location in a curved section towards respective lateral sides 7 and then are guided along the lateral sides 7 of the cleaner body 2 to the secondary stage cyclone dust separating units 12. As can be seen, the air channels 14 can be integrated without increasing the overall lateral and bottom to top exten 35 sion of the cleaner body 2. 10 WO 2012/113840 PCT/EP2012/053027 The air channels 14 open into the secondary stage cyclone dust separating units 12. Air guided into the secondary stage cyclone dust separating units 12 preferably is equally distributed to 5 the conical cyclones 13. Here, an air distribution chamber flu idly connected to air inlets of the conical cyclones 13 and adapted to equally distribute incoming air may be used. If re quired, air guiding elements may be provided in the air distri bution chamber. 10 With regard to the airflow within the vacuum cleaner 1, the sec ondary stage cyclone dust separating units 12 are provided down stream the primary stage cyclone dust separator 8. This means, that the primary stage cyclone dust separator 8 and secondary 15 stage cyclone dust separating units 12 are connected in series. In particular with reference to Fig. 2 it can be seen that the conical cyclones 13 of a respective secondary stage cyclone dust separating unit 12 are connected in parallel. 20 With further reference to Fig. 2, the conical cyclones 13 are mounted and aligned such that their center axes are tilted from top front to bottom back, which is indicated for one of the con ical cyclones by a dotted arrow (v2). In a direction perpendicu lar to the center axes, the conical cyclones 13 are positioned 25 in a line, without axial displacement. This in particular means that air inlets and dust outlets of the conical cyclones of a secondary stage cyclone dust separating unit 12 respectively lie in common planes. As the conical cyclones 13 are of equal de sign, the air inlet planes and dust outlet planes are essential 30 ly parallel to each other. Coming back to the tilt or declination of the center axes of the conical cyclones 13, it has been proven advantageous that a tilt angle a is in the range of 10 to 50 degrees. A preferred tilt 35 angle is 30 degrees. Note that the tilt angle shall be under 11 WO 2012/113840 PCT/EP2012/053027 stood to be defined between a vector v1 parallel to the front to back direction and a vector v2 parallel to a center axis of a respective conical cyclone 13 and running in a direction top front to bottom back. Note that the direction top front to bot 5 tom back corresponds to the main air flow direction in respec tive conical cyclones 13. With further reference to Fig. 2, each secondary stage cyclone dust separating unit 12 comprises a secondary stage dust col 10 lecting chamber 15 downstream of and fluidly connected to dust outlet openings 16 of respective conical cyclones 13. In Fig. 2 only one of the secondary stage dust collecting chambers 15 is visible. 15 On a side of a respective secondary step dust collecting chamber 15 facing the dust outlet openings 16 of the conical cyclones 13, the secondary step dust collecting chamber 15 has corre sponding dust inlet openings. The dust inlet openings and dust outlet openings 16 are adapted such that a tight, in particular 20 fluid and dust tight, connection between secondary step dust collecting chamber 15 and respective conical cyclones 13 is ob tained. The secondary step dust collecting chamber 15 may be detachably 25 coupled to a section of the secondary stage cyclone dust sepa rating unit 12, such that it can be easily removed for discharg ing dust collected therein, and such that the conical cyclones 13 can easily be cleaned. It shall however be noted, that the secondary step dust collecting chamber 15 may alternatively be a 30 non-detachable integrated part of the secondary stage cyclone dust separating unit 12. In this case it may be that the second ary stage cyclone dust separating unit 12 as a whole is detacha bly mounted to the cleaner body 2. 12 WO 2012/113840 PCT/EP2012/053027 From Fig. 2 it can further be seen, that with regard to front to back direction each secondary stage dust collecting chamber 15 is positioned and mounted behind respective secondary stage cy clones 13. From Fig. 1 it can be seen that with regard to front 5 to back direction the secondary stage dust collecting chambers 15 are arranged flush with respective secondary stage cyclones 13 and respective cyclone units. Optimal and favorable utiliza tion of space can in particular be obtained if the secondary stage dust collecting chambers 15, as shown in Fig. 2, have tri 10 angular shaped cross sections in planes running parallel to the lateral sides 7. The arrangement as described before is advantageous for obtain ing compact overall designs. In addition, the proposed arrange 15 ment allows favorable usability and handling of components of the vacuum cleaner 1, and of the vacuum cleaner 1 as a whole. With reference to Fig. 3, the vacuum cleaner may comprise a ter tiary stage dust separator 17. Note that even higher order dust 20 separating stages may be provided. The tertiary stage dust sepa rator 17 is mounted, with regard to front to back direction, be hind the primary stage dust collecting chamber 9 and with regard to bottom to top direction below the primary stage cyclone dust separator 8. In combination with Fig. 2 it becomes clear, that 25 the tertiary stage dust separator 17 is centered between the secondary stage dust collecting chambers 15. By this, optimal utilization of space and compact designs can be obtained. The tertiary stage dust separator 17 may be a fine filter, in 30 particular a main filter, of the vacuum cleaner, and be arranged immediately upstream an air exhaust of the vacuum cleaner. In all, it can be seen, that the proposed vacuum cleaner pro vides a compact design, enhanced usability and satisfactory 35 cleaning efficiency. 13 WO 2012/113840 PCT/EP2012/053027 List of reference numerals 5 1 vacuum cleaner 2 cleaner body 3 bottom side 4 top side 5 front side 10 6 back side 7 lateral side 8 primary stage cyclone dust separator 9 primary stage dust collecting chamber 10 wheel 15 11 interface 12 secondary stage cyclone dust separating unit 13 conical cyclone 14 air channel 15 secondary stage dust collecting chamber 20 16 dust outlet opening 17 tertiary stage dust separator a tilt angle vl, v2 vectors 25 14

Claims

1. Vacuum cleaner (1) comprising a horizontal type cleaner body (2) with a front (5) and back side (6) and two lateral sides 5 (7), at least one primary stage cyclone dust separator (8) having a dust outlet opening fluidly connected to a primary stage dust collecting chamber (9), and at least one secondary stage cyclone dust separating unit (12), wherein the primary stage dust collecting chamber (9) and the at least one sec 10 ondary stage cyclone dust separating unit (12) are mounted at the front side (5) in a lateral side by side arrangement in between the lateral sides (7).

2. Vacuum cleaner (1) according to claim 1, comprising two sec 15 ondary stage cyclone dust separating units (12) mounted at opposite lateral sides (7) and side by side with the primary stage dust collecting chamber (9) which is centered between the two secondary stage cyclone dust separating units (12) and lateral sides (7). 20

3. Vacuum cleaner (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein each secondary stage cyclone dust separating unit (12) comprises several conical cyclones (13) arranged side to side in parallel to a respective lateral side (7). 25

4. Vacuum cleaner (1) according to at least one of the preceding claims, wherein conical cyclones (13) of the at least one secondary stage cyclone dust separating unit (12) are mounted and adapted such that their center axes are tilted from top 30 front to bottom back.

5. Vacuum cleaner (1) according to claim 4, wherein the center axes of the conical cyclones (13) are tilted vis-A-vis the front to back direction by an angle (c) of 10 to 50 degrees, 35 preferably 30 degrees. 15 WO 2012/113840 PCT/EP2012/053027

6. Vacuum cleaner (1) according to any of claims 4 and 5, where in each secondary stage cyclone dust separating unit (12) comprises a secondary stage dust collecting chamber (15) 5 downstream of and fluidly connected to dust outlet openings (16) of respective secondary stage conical cyclones (13).

7. Vacuum cleaner (1) according to claim 6, wherein with regard to front to back direction, each secondary stage dust col 10 lecting chamber (15) is positioned and mounted behind and flush with respective secondary stage conical cyclones (13).

8. Vacuum cleaner (1) according to any of claims 6 and 7, where in with regard to planes running essentially parallel to a 15 respective lateral side (7) the secondary stage dust collect ing chamber (15) has a triangular shaped cross section.

9. Vacuum cleaner (1) according to any of claims 6 to 8, com prising a tertiary stage dust separator (17) which is, in 20 front to back direction, mounted behind the primary stage dust collecting chamber (9) and laterally adjacent to the at least one secondary stage dust collecting chamber (15).

10. Vacuum cleaner (1) according to at least one of the preceding 25 claims, further comprising air channels (14) connecting an air outlet of the primary stage cyclone dust separator (8) to the at least one secondary stage cyclone dust separating unit (12), wherein the air channels (14) are guided at a top side (4) of the cleaner body (2). 30

11. Vacuum cleaner (1) according to at least one of the preceding claims, wherein the primary stage cyclone dust separator (8) is, in front to back direction, mounted behind the primary stage dust collecting chamber (9), and wherein the primary 16 WO 2012/113840 PCT/EP2012/053027 stage cyclone dust separator (8) preferably is a horizontal type dust separator. 17