AU2017260477B2

AU2017260477B2 - Vacuum cleaner

Info

Publication number: AU2017260477B2
Application number: AU2017260477A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Soohan Eo; Kietak Hyun; Jungmin Ko; Sangchul Lee
Original assignee: LG Electronics Inc
Current assignee: LG Electronics Inc
Priority date: 2016-05-03
Filing date: 2017-05-02
Publication date: 2019-08-01
Anticipated expiration: 2037-05-02
Also published as: KR20170124937A; TWI636764B; AU2017260480A1; KR101856504B1; EP3453299A4; AU2017260479A1; KR20170124938A; KR20170124936A; CN209437159U; CN109068919A; CN209421835U; EP3453299B1; TWI636757B; DE212017000125U1; TWI653963B; TW201740864A; AU2017260479B2; KR101852437B1; EP3453299A1; CN109068919B

Abstract

Disclosed is a vacuum cleaner comprising: a cleaner body; and a dust collecting apparatus disposed on the cleaner body. The dust collecting apparatus comprises: a first cyclone which is provided inside an outer case, filters foreign materials and dust from the air flowed in from the outside, and is for allowing the air from which the foreign materials and dust have been filtered to flow therein; a second cyclone which is accommodated inside the first cyclone and is for separating fine dust from the air flowed into the first cyclone; and a rotating member which is rotatably disposed on the lower side of the first cyclone and limits a first storing unit for collecting the foreign materials and dust filtered by means of the first cyclone between the outer case. The rotating member has a rolling portion facing a lower cover, which covers a lower opening of the outer case, and, when the rotating member rotates, coming in contact with the foreign materials and dust, which are collected in the first storing unit, and applying a rotational force.

Description

VACUUM CLEANER

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a vacuum cleaner configured to collect foreign matter, dust and fine dust in a separate manner through a multi-cyclone.

BACKGROUND

A vacuum cleaner is an apparatus configured to introduce air using suction power 10 and filter and collect foreign matter, dust, fine dust, and the like contained in the air to discharge clean air again to the outside.

The types of vacuum cleaners may be divided into i) a canister type, ii) an upright type, iii) a hand type, iv) a cylindrical floor type, and the like.

The canister type vacuum cleaner is a vacuum cleaner mostly used at home in 15 recent years, with a structure in which a suction unit and a cleaner body are separated from each other. In general, the canister type vacuum cleaner is not provided with a rotary brush, and suitable to clean a floor due to performing cleaning only with the suction of air through the suction unit.

On the contrary, the upright type vacuum cleaner is a vacuum cleaner with a 20 structure in which a suction unit is integrally formed into a cleaner body. In general, the upright type vacuum cleaner may be provided with a rotary brush, thereby having an advantage capable of cleaning up even dust or the like within a carpet, contrary to the canister type vacuum cleaner.

However, vacuum cleaners in the related art have drawbacks as follows.

First, as in a structure disclosed in Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. ΙΟΙ

2017260477 20 Jun 2019

2003-0081443 (published on October 17, 2003), for vacuum cleaners having a multicyclone structure, each cyclone is vertically disposed to cause a problem of increasing the height of a dust collector thereof. Furthermore, the dust collector is designed to have a slim profde to solve such a volume increase issue, thereby causing a disadvantage of reducing the volume of a space for collecting actual dust.

In order to solve the foregoing problem, as in a structure disclosed in Korean

Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 10-2004-0023417 (published on March 18, 2004), a structure in which a second cyclone is disposed within a first cyclone has been proposed, but it is difficult to efficiently dispose the second cyclone within the first cyclone due to interference between the guide passages provided in each second cyclone. Even when the second cyclone is disposed within the first cyclone, the number of second cyclones is significantly decreased to reduce suction power, thereby resulting in the deterioration of cleaning performance.

In addition, a variety of flows including a high-speed rotation flow due to the suction power of a fan unit are mixed within a dust collector. Such a complicated flow may be an obstacle to introduce foreign matter and dust into a first storage section, and cause a problem in which dust collected in the first storage section may float and flow back in an upward direction.

It may be a factor of deteriorating dust collecting performance as well as the cleaning performance of a vacuum cleaner. Therefore, a structure capable of preventing a backflow of dust that has been filtered by a first cyclone and introduced into the first storage section or dust collected in the first storage section may be taken into consideration.

According to circumstances, as in a structure disclosed in Korean Patent LaidOpen Publication No. 10-2004-0023417 (published on March 18, 2004), in order to prevent the scattering of foreign matter and dust stored in the first storage section below

2017260477 20 Jun 2019 the first cyclone, a skirt may be also provided therein. Since a portion formed with a skirt forms a small gap with an outer case, a phenomenon that foreign matter gets caught in the gap may occur. When foreign matter is trapped in the gap, other foreign matter and dust are prevented from flowing into the first storage section through the gap.

In addition, foreign matter and dust collected in the first storage section gradually become closer to the first cyclone side as they accumulate. Particularly, in case of a bulky foreign matter, even when it is collected in the first storage section, it does not have an aggregated form and spreads in the first storage section, thereby causing a backflow in an upward direction at a portion where dust is piled up.

On the other hand, most of the foreign matter or dust that has not passed through the first cyclone falls down and is collected in the first storage section, but in some cases, foreign matter or dust may be caught or accumulated and fixed on a mesh filter. It may reduce an area of mesh filter for allowing air to pass therethrough, thereby increasing a load on the fan unit that provides suction power as well as visually giving a non-clean impression to the user.

In order to solve this problem, a method of disassembling and cleaning the dust collector may be taken into consideration, but it may cause usage inconveniences to the user, and also there is a problem that cleaning is not easy, in fact, due to a structure in which a portion where the first cyclone is disposed is partitioned from the first storage section.

In addition, as in a structure disclosed in Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 10-2014-0009551 (published on Apr. 21, 2014), a vacuum cleaner typically has a structure in which a connection unit is connected to a suction unit formed in a cleaner body, and air sucked through a flow guide extended from the suction unit to the dust collector is introduced into the dust collector. The sucked air is introduced into the dust collector by

2017260477 20 Jun 2019 the suction power of the fan unit, but there is a problem that the suction power decreases as the sucked air passes through the flow guide of the cleaner body.

Therefore, a structure in which an intake guide directly connected to a connection unit is formed in an upper cover formed with an exhaust guide may be taken into consideration. However, in order to implement this, it should be designed that the intake guide and the exhaust guide do not affect each other (for example, air sucked through the intake guide is not leaked through the exhaust guide), and may preferably have a simple injection-molded structure in consideration of productivity.

In addition, for cleaners in the related art, there exists a limit in providing the user's convenience even during a dust discharge process. There are vacuum cleaners in which dust is blown away during the process of discharging the dust, and also exist vacuum cleaners requiring a very complicated process to discharge dust.

[Prior Art Documents]

Patent Document 1: Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 10-2003-0081443 (published on October 17, 2003)

Patent Document 2: Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 10-2004-0023417 (published on Mar. 18, 2004)

Patent Document 3: Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 10-2014-0009551 (published on April 21, 2014)

It is desired to address or ameliorate one or more disadvantages or limitations associated with the prior art, or to at least provide a useful alternative.

SUMMARY

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a vacuum cleaner, comprising:

2017260477 20 Jun 2019 a cleaner body; and a dust collector disposed in the cleaner body, wherein the dust collector comprises:

a first cyclone provided within an outer case to filter foreign matter and dust from air 5 introduced from an outside thereof and introduce the air from which foreign matter and dust have been filtered thereinto;

a second cyclone accommodated within the first cyclone to separate fine dust from the air introduced into the first cyclone; and a rotating member disposed at a lower side of the first cyclone and configured to be 10 rotatable so as to define a first storage section configured to collect foreign matter and dust filtered by the first cyclone between the rotating member and the outer case, and wherein the rotating member is provided with comprises:

a roller portion disposed to face a lower cover that covers a lower opening of the outer case, and be brought in contact with foreign matter and dust collected in the first storage section during the rotation of the rotating member to apply a rotational force; and a skirt portion extended downward in an outwardly inclined manner from an upper portion thereof, wherein a protruding portion or recess portion is formed to extend in an inclined manner along a circumference of the skirt portion.

The present invention also provides a vacuum cleaner, comprising: a cleaner body; and a dust collector disposed in the cleaner body, wherein the dust collector comprises:

a first cyclone provided within an outer case to filter foreign matter and dust from air

2017260477 20 Jun 2019 introduced from an outside thereof and introduce the air from which foreign matter and dust have been filtered thereinto;

a second cyclone accommodated within the first cyclone to separate fine dust from the air introduced into the first cyclone; and a rotating member disposed at a lower side of the first cyclone and configured to be rotatable so as to define a first storage section configured to collect foreign matter and dust filtered by the first cyclone between the rotating member and the outer case, and wherein the rotating member is provided with a plurality of ribs disposed to face a lower cover that covers a lower opening of the outer case, and disposed to be spaced apart from each other along a rotational direction of the rotating member; and a skirt portion extended downward in an outwardly inclined manner from an upper portion thereof, wherein a protruding portion or recess portion is formed around the skirt portion, and the protruding portion or recess portion is dot-shaped protrusions or grooves disposed to be spaced apart at regular intervals.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present invention are hereinafter described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an example of a vacuum cleaner according to the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating an example of a dust collector illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view in which a dust collector illustrated in FIG. 2 is taken along line A-A;

2017260477 20 Jun 2019

FIG. 4 is a view in which a dust collector illustrated in FIG. 2 is seen from a front side;

FIG. 5 is a view in which a dust collector illustrated in FIG. 2 is seen from a lower side in a state that an outer case thereof is removed;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a dust collector illustrated in FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a view in which the variance of shapes of foreign matter and dust stored in a first storage section are conceptually compared according to whether or not there exists a roller portion;

FIG. 8 is a conceptual view illustrating a modified example of a guide unit;

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of a dust collector illustrated in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view illustrating another example of a dust collector illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 11 is an enlarged view illustrating an inner side of portion B illustrated in

FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view illustrating portion B illustrated in FIG. 10;

FIG. 13 is a conceptual view illustrating a modified example of a rotating unit illustrated in FIG. 10;

FIG. 14 is a view in which a dust collector illustrated in FIG. 13 is seen from a lower side;

FIG. 15 is a conceptual view for explaining a structure in which a driving force of a drive unit is transmitted to a rotating unit by a driving force transmission unit;

FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view of a dust collector illustrated in FIG. 15;

FIG. 17 is a view illustrating that an upper cover is separated from a dust collector illustrated in FIG. 2;

FIG. 18 is a view in which an inlet side of the upper cover illustrated in FIG. 17 is

2017260477 20 Jun 2019 seen;

FIG. 19 is a view in which an outlet side of the upper cover illustrated in FIG. 17 is seen;

FIG. 20 is a view in which a bottom side of the upper cover illustrated in FIG. 17 is seen;

FIG. 21 is a conceptual view illustrating a flow current in the upper cover illustrated in FIG. 17;

FIG. 22 is a conceptual view illustrating a modified example of the upper cover illustrated in FIG. 17;

FIG. 23 is a view in which an inlet side of the upper cover illustrated in FIG. 22 is seen;

FIG. 24 is a view in which an outlet side of the upper cover illustrated in FIG. 22 is seen;

FIG. 25 is a view in which a bottom side of the upper cover illustrated in FIG. 22 is seen;

FIG. 26 is a conceptual view illustrating a flow current in the upper cover illustrated in FIG. 22;

FIG. 27 is a conceptual view illustrating another example of a dust collector illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 28 is a conceptual view in which an inner case, a rotating member and a lower cover illustrated in FIG. 27 are separated;

FIG. 29 is a conceptual view in which the rotating member illustrated in FIG. 28 is seen from the bottom;

FIG. 30 is a side view illustrating the rotating member illustrated in FIG. 29;

FIG. 31 is a plan view illustrating the rotating member illustrated in FIG. 29;

2017260477 20 Jun 2019

FIG. 32 is a conceptual view illustrating a configuration in which a stationary ring is coupled to the inner case illustrated in FIG 28;

FIG 33 is an exploded perspective view illustrating the lower cover illustrated in

FIG 28;

FIG 34 is a conceptual view illustrating a configuration in which the lower cover is closed in the configuration illustrated in FIG 32;

FIGS. 35 and 36 are views in which a first modified example of the rotating member illustrated in FIG 28 is seen from different directions;

FIG 37 is a plan view illustrating the rotating member illustrated in FIG 35;

FIG 38 is a bottom view illustrating the rotating member illustrated in FIG 35;

FIGS. 39 and 40 are views in which a second modified example of the rotating member illustrated in FIG 28 is seen from different directions;

FIG 41 is a plan view illustrating the rotating member illustrated in FIG 39; and FIG 42 is a bottom view illustrating the rotating member illustrated in FIG 39.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A first object of the present disclosure may be to provide a dust collector for a vacuum cleaner with a new structure capable of improving a multi-cyclone structure that does not deteriorate cleaning performance while lowering its height.

A second object of the present disclosure may be to provide a dust collector capable of guiding the inflow of dust and foreign matter filtered by a first cyclone to a first storage section provided below the first cyclone as well as limiting a backflow of foreign matter and dust.

A third object of the present disclosure may be to provide a dust collector capable of taking foreign matter caught in a gap between a skirt and an outer case provided below a

2017260477 20 Jun 2019 first cyclone to introduce the foreign matter into a first storage section provided below the skirt.

A fourth object of the present disclosure may be to provide a dust collector capable of inducing coagulation and compression between foreign matter and dust stored in a first storage section.

A fifth object of the present disclosure may be to provide a dust collector capable of removing foreign matter and dust caught or accumulated on a mesh filter without passing through a first cyclone.

A sixth object of the present disclosure may be to provide a dust collector capable 10 of reducing a pressure loss and enhancing a suction efficiency without requiring a separate flow guide for guiding air introduced from the outside through a suction unit to an inside of the dust collector.

A seventh object of the present disclosure may be to provide an upper cover of a dust collector that can manufactured through one-time injection molding while having both an intake guide and an exhaust guide.

An eighth object of the present disclosure may be to propose a dust collector capable of collecting dust and fine dust in a separate manner and discharging the collected dust and fine dust at the same time.

In order to accomplish the first object of the present disclosure, a dust collector 20 for a vacuum cleaner according to the present disclosure may include a first cyclone provided within an outer case to filter out dust from air inhaled from an outside thereof and introduce the air from which dust has been filtered out thereinto; a plurality of second cyclones accommodated within of the first cyclone to separate fine dust from the air introduced into the first cyclone; and a cover member disposed to cover an entrance port of the second cyclone, wherein cyclones disposed adjacent to each other among the first and io

2017260477 20 Jun 2019 the second cyclones limit a first space within the first cyclone, and the cover member forms a second space communicating with the first space between the entrance port and the cover member, and a guide vane spirally extended along an inner circumference thereof is provided at the entrance port to induce rotational flow in air introduced into the second cyclone through the first and the second space.

The second object of the present disclosure may be accomplished by providing a guide unit having a vane spirally extended along a flow direction of air introduced into the outer case to induce the inflow of foreign matter and dust filtered by the first cyclone at a lower side of the first cyclone.

The third object of the present disclosure may be accomplished by configuring a guide unit (or a rotating portion) having a skirt at a lower side of the first cyclone to be rotatable in at least one direction.

The fourth object of the present disclosure may be accomplished by providing a roller portion configured with ribs facing a lower cover on at least one of the guide unit (or rotating portion) and a pressurizing unit configured to be rotatable therewith.

In order to accomplish the fifth object of the present disclosure, a dust collector of the present disclosure may include a first cyclone provided within an outer case to filter out dust and foreign matter from air inhaled from an outside thereof and introduce the air from which dust and foreign matter have been filtered out thereinto; a second cyclone accommodated within the first cyclone to separate fine dust from the air introduced into the first cyclone; and a rotating unit configured to be rotatable in at least one direction with respect to the first cyclone, wherein the rotating unit is disposed to cover the mesh filter, a pillar extended along a vertical direction of the body; and a scraper provided on an inner surface of the pillar facing an outer surface of the mesh filter to sweep off dust and foreign matter accumulated in the mesh filter when the rotating unit is rotated.

2017260477 20 Jun 2019

The sixth object of the present disclosure is accomplished by a configuration in which both an intake guide and an exhaust guide are provided on an upper cover disposed to cover the first and second cyclones and a connection unit configured to communicate with the intake unit is mounted on an inlet of the intake guide.

The seventh object of the present disclosure may be accomplished by a configuration in which the intake guide is formed by two molds assembled at an inlet side of the intake guide and at a bottom side of the upper cover, and the exhaust guide is formed by two molds assembled at a bottom side of the upper cover and an outlet side of the exhaust guide.

In order to achieve the eighth object of the present disclosure, a lower cover is hinge-coupled to the outer case to form a bottom surface of the dust storage section and the fine dust storage section. The lower cover is configured to open the dust storage section and the fine dust storage section at the same time when the lower cover is rotated by the hinge.

Meanwhile, the present disclosure discloses a vacuum cleaner, including a cleaner body; and a dust collector disposed in the cleaner body, wherein the dust collector includes a first cyclone provided within an outer case to filter foreign matter and dust from air introduced from an outside thereof and introduce the air from which foreign matter and dust have been filtered thereinto; a second cyclone accommodated within the first cyclone to separate fine dust from the air introduced into the first cyclone; and a rotating member disposed at a lower side of the first cyclone and configured to be rotatable so as to define a first storage section configured to collect foreign matter and dust filtered by the first cyclone between the rotating member and the outer case, and wherein the rotating member is provided with a roller portion disposed to face a lower cover that covers a lower opening of the outer case, and be brought in contact with foreign matter and dust collected in the

2017260477 20 Jun 2019 first storage section during the rotation of the rotating member to apply a rotational force.

The roller portion may include a plurality of ribs disposed to be spaced apart from each other along a rotational direction of the rotating member, and sequentially brought into contact with foreign matter and dust collected in the first storage section during the rotation of the rotating member.

Each of the plurality of ribs may be extended in a radial direction at preset intervals.

An extension portion may be formed on a bottom surface of the rotating member facing the lower cover to extend downward along a rotational direction of the rotating member, and the plurality of ribs may be disposed to be spaced apart from each other along an inner circumference of the extension portion.

The rotating member may be further provided with a skirt portion extended downward in an outwardly inclined manner from an upper portion thereof.

A protruding portion or recess portion may be formed around the skirt portion.

The protruding portion or recess portion may be formed to extend in an inclined manner along an circumference of the skirt portion.

The protruding portion or recess portion may be dot-shaped protrusions or grooves disposed to be spaced apart at regular intervals.

A driving force transmission unit connected to a drive unit provided in the cleaner 20 body and the rotating member, respectively, to transmit a rotational driving force to the rotating member may be mounted on the lower cover.

The driving force transmission unit may include a driven gear exposed to a lower portion of the lower cover, and engaged with a driving gear of the drive unit when the dust collector is mounted on the cleaner body; and a fastening gear connected to the driven gear at an upper portion of the lower cover, and fastened to the rotating member when the lower

2017260477 20 Jun 2019 cover is mounted to cover a lower opening of the outer case.

The fastening gear may include a gear portion engaged with a fastening protrusion provided on a lower inner circumference of the rotating member when the lower cover is mounted to cover a lower opening of the outer case; and a sealing portion disposed below the gear portion to extend in a loop shape along an outer circumference of the fastening gear, and closely brought into contact with a lower inner circumferential surface of the rotating member.

The vacuum cleaner may further include an inner case disposed at a lower portion of the first cyclone to accommodate a discharge port of the second cyclone and form a second storage section for collecting fine dust discharged through the discharge port therein, and accommodated into an accommodation portion of the rotating member, wherein a sealing unit disposed to cover a lower opening of the inner case when the lower cover is mounted to cover a lower opening of the outer case to form a bottom surface of the second storage section is mounted on the fastening gear.

The sealing unit may be configured to be lifted up to an upper side of the fastening gear due to a pressure difference during the operation of the vacuum cleaner so as not to rotate.

The vacuum cleaner may further include an inner case disposed at a lower portion of the first cyclone to accommodate a discharge port of the second cyclone and form a second storage section for collecting fine dust discharged through the discharge port therein, and accommodated into an accommodation portion of the rotating member; and a stationary ring mounted to surround a lower end portion of the inner case in a state that the inner case is accommodated in the accommodation portion to support a locking protrusion protruded from an inner circumference of a lower end portion of the rotating member.

The rotating member may be provided with a pressurizing portion protruded in a

2017260477 20 Jun 2019 radial direction and disposed to intersect the annular first storage section in a radial direction, and configured to rotate in the first storage section according to the rotation of the rotating member.

In addition, the present disclosure discloses a vacuum cleaner, including a cleaner body; and a dust collector disposed in the cleaner body, wherein the dust collector includes a first cyclone provided within an outer case to filter foreign matter and dust from air introduced from an outside thereof and introduce the air from which foreign matter and dust have been filtered thereinto; a second cyclone accommodated within the first cyclone to separate fine dust from the air introduced into the first cyclone; and a rotating member disposed at a lower side of the first cyclone and configured to be rotatable so as to define a first storage section configured to collect foreign matter and dust filtered by the first cyclone between the rotating member and the outer case, and wherein the rotating member is provided with a plurality of ribs disposed to face a lower cover that covers a lower opening of the outer case, and disposed to be spaced apart from each other along a rotational direction of the rotating member.

A protruding portion or recess portion may be formed around the skirt portion.

The effects of the present disclosure obtained through the above-mentioned

2017260477 20 Jun 2019 solution are as follows.

First, the second cyclone may be completely accommodated into the first cyclone to reduce a height of the dust collector. In this arrangement, a guide vane may be provided at an entrance port of the second cyclone to cause rotational flow to the air introduced into the second cyclone, and thus a separate guide passage extended from one side of the second cyclone may be not required, and as a result, it may be possible to arrange more second cyclones within the first cyclone. Therefore, even though the second cyclone is accommodated within the first cyclone, a number of the second cyclones may not be reduced when compared to the related art, thereby preventing the deterioration of the cleaning performance.

Second, foreign matter and dust filtered by the first cyclone may be guided by a vane of the guide unit provided below the first cyclone, and introduced into the first storage unit under the guide unit. Here, the vane may be spirally formed along a flow direction of the air flowing into the outer case, and at least part of one of vanes may be disposed to overlap with another vane in a vertical direction to limit a backflow of foreign matter and dust.

Third, the guide unit (or rotation unit) provided with a skirt at a lower side of the first cyclone may be configured to be rotatable in at least one direction, and thus even though foreign matter is caught in a gap between the skirt and the outer case, the foreign matter may be released by the rotation of the rotating unit. The foreign matter released from the gap may be introduced into the first storage section under the skirt by rotational flow due to the driving of the vacuum cleaner.

Fourth, at least one of the guide unit (or rotating unit) and the pressurizing unit configured to be rotatable therewith may be provided with a roller portion configured with ribs facing the lower cover, thereby inducing aggregation between foreign matter and dust.

2017260477 20 Jun 2019

When the roller portion is provided on each of the guide unit and the pressurizing unit, and each roller portion is disposed at a different height with respect to the lower cover, the roller portion corresponding to an accumulation height of foreign object and dust may be used to induce aggregation between foreign matter and dust. Furthermore, the roller portion may be combined with the driving of the pressurizing unit to perform compression as well as agglomeration between foreign matter and dust.

Fifth, when the rotating unit rotates with respect to the first cyclone, a scraper provided on a pillar of the rotating unit may be configured to move along the outer circumference of the first cyclone in contact with a mesh filter, and thus it may be possible to continuously remove foreign matter and dust caught and accumulated on the mesh filter when the vacuum cleaner is driven. Therefore, it may be possible to enhance the performance and maintenance convenience of the dust collector.

Sixth, an upper cover disposed to cover the first and second cyclones may be provided with an intake guide and an exhaust guide, and a connection unit may be directly connected to an inlet of the intake guide. According to this, a flow guide provided in the cleaner body in a side inflow structure in the related art may not be required to simplify a suction passage and increase an area of the entrance port when compared to the side inflow structure. Therefore, a pressure loss may be reduced to enhance suction efficiency.

Seventh, when an intake guide is formed with a single passage, and an exhaust guide is configured with an empty space of the intake guide, an upper cover with a suction efficiency may be provided. Furthermore, there is an advantage that an upper cover can be injection-molded at one time by three molds assembled and separated in three directions at an inlet side of the intake guide, an outlet side of the exhaust guide and a bottom side of the upper cover.

Eighth, both the first storage section and the second storage section may be

6A

2017260477 20 Jun 2019 configured to be open when a lower cover is separated therefrom, it may be possible to discharge dust collected in the first storage section and fine dust collected in the second storage section at the same time.

Hereinafter, a vacuum cleaner associated with the present disclosure will be 5 described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

According to the present specification, the same or similar elements are designated with the same or similar numeral references even in different embodiments and modified examples, and their redundant description will be omitted.

A modified example has the same structure as that of an embodiment excluding a 10 part having a structural difference from that of the embodiment. Accordingly, a structure, a function, and the like described in the embodiment may be applicable to the modified example unless it is structurally contradictory.

16B

A singular representation may include a plural representation as far as it represents a definitely different meaning from the context.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an example of a vacuum cleaner 1 according to the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 1, the vacuum cleaner 1 may include a cleaner body 10, a suction unit 20, a connection unit, 30, a wheel unit 40, and a dust collector 100.

The cleaner body 10 has a fan unit (not shown) for generating suction power. The fan unit includes a suction motor and a suction fan rotated by the suction motor to generate suction power.

The suction unit 20 is configured to suck air adjacent to the suction unit 20. The air sucked by the suction unit 20 may contain foreign matter, dust, fine dust, ultrafine dust, and the like.

The connection unit 30 is connected to the suction unit 20 and the dust collector

100, respectively, to transfer air containing foreign matter, dust, fine dust, ultrafine dust, 15 and the like sucked through the suction unit 20 to the dust collector 100. The connection unit 30 may be configured in the form of a hose or pipe.

The wheel unit 40 is rotatably coupled to the cleaner body 10 to move or rotate the cleaner body 10 in every direction by rotation.

For an example, the wheel unit 40 may include main wheels and auxiliary wheels. 20 The main wheels are respectively provided at both sides of the cleaner body 10, and the auxiliary wheels are configured to support the cleaner body 10 together with the main wheels and assist the movement of the cleaner body 10 by the main wheels.

In the present disclosure, the suction unit 20, the connection unit 30, and the wheel unit 40 may be applicable to vacuum cleaners in the related art as they are, and thus the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The dust collector 100 is detachably coupled to the cleaner body 10. The dust collector 100 is configured to separate foreign matter, dust, and fine dust from the sucked air, collect the separated foreign matter, dust, and fine dust, and discharge the filtered air.

In general, a vacuum cleaner in the related art has a structure in which a 5 connection unit is connected to a suction unit formed in the cleaner body, and the sucked air is introduced into a dust collector through a flow guide extended from the suction unit to the dust collector. The sucked air is introduced into the dust collector 100 by the suction power of the fan unit, but there is a problem that suction power decreases as the such air passes through the flow guide of the cleaner body.

On the contrary, the vacuum cleaner 1 of the present disclosure is directly connected to the dust collector 100 as illustrated in the drawing. According to such a connection structure, air sucked through the suction unit 20 is introduced directly into the dust collector 100, and thus suction power may be enhanced as compared to related art. Furthermore, there is an advantage that the formation of a flow guide within the cleaner body 10 is not required. It will be described later in detail.

For reference, the dust collector 100 applied to an canister type vacuum cleaner 1 is illustrated in the present drawing, but the dust collector 100 of the present disclosure may not be necessarily limited to the canister type vacuum cleaner 1. The dust collector 100 of the present disclosure may be also applicable to various vacuum cleaners such as an upright type vacuum cleaner and a robot cleaner.

Hereinafter, various examples of the dust collector 100 having a new structure will be described around an overall configuration of the dust collector 100 and a flow in the dust collector 100.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating an example of the dust collector 100 25 illustrated in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view in which a dust collector illustrated in FIG. 2 is taken along line A-A.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, external air sucked by suction power generated from the fan unit of the vacuum cleaner 1 is introduced into the dust collector 100 through an inlet 100a of the dust collector 100. The air introduced into the dust collector 100 is sequentially filtered in a first cyclone 110 and a second cyclone 120 and discharged to an outside of the dust collector 100 through an outlet 100b. Foreign matter, dust, and fine dust separated from air by the first and second cyclones 110, 120 are collected in the dust collector 100.

A cyclone is an apparatus configured to supply a swirling flow to a fluid in which particles are floating to separate the particles from the fluid by a centrifugal force. The cyclone separates foreign matter, dust, and fine dust from the air introduced into the cleaner body 10 by suction power. In the present specification, a relatively large dust is referred to as a dust, a relatively small dust is referred to as a fine dust, and a dust smaller than the fine dust is referred to as a ultrafine dust.

The dust collector 100 includes an outer case 101, a first cyclone 110, and a second cyclone 120.

The outer case 101 is configured to accommodate the first and second cyclones 110, 120 and forms a side surface appearance of the dust collector 100. The outer case 101 is preferably formed in a cylindrical shape as illustrated in the drawing, but the present disclosure may not be necessarily limited thereto.

An upper cover 140 is mounted on the outer case 101 to cover the first and second cyclones 110, 120. The upper cover 140 is formed with an intake guide 140a and an exhaust guide 140b of the dust collector 100, respectively. The intake guide 140a may be formed to extend toward an inner circumference of the outer case 101 in such a manner that the sucked air is tangentially introduced into the outer case 101 and circulates along an inner circumference of the outer case 101.

The first cyclone 110 is installed within the outer case 101. The first cyclone 110 may be disposed at an upper portion within the outer case 101. The first cyclone 110 is configured to filter foreign matter and dust from the introduced air and to introduce the air from which foreign matter and dust have been filtered thereinto.

The first cyclone 110 may include a housing 111 and a mesh filter 112.

The housing 111 forms an outer appearance of the first cyclone 110, and may be formed in a cylindrical shape similarly to the outer case 101. The housing 111 may be formed with a support portion 111a for coupling with the outer case 101 so as to protrude in a radial direction. For an example, the support portion 111a may be formed to protrude on an upper portion of the housing 111 along an outer circumference thereof, and the support portion 111a may be coupled to an upper portion of the outer case 101.

The housing 111 is formed in a shape that is vacant thereinside to accommodate the second cyclone 120. An outer circumference of the housing 111 is formed with opening portions communicating with an inside thereof. The openings may be formed at a plurality of positions along an outer circumference of the housing 111.

The mesh filter 112 is provided in the housing 111 to cover the opening portions, and has a mesh or porous shape allowing air to pass therethrough. The mesh filter 112 is formed to separate foreign matter and dust from air introduced into the housing 111.

A size criterion for distinguishing between dust and fine dust may be determined by the mesh filter 112. A small dust passing through the mesh filter 112 may be classified a fine dust, and a large dust that is unable to pass through the mesh filter 112 may be classified as a dust.

Considering a process of separating foreign matter and dust by the first cyclone

110 in detail, air containing foreign matter, dust and fine dust is introduced into an annular space between the outer case 101 and the first cyclone 110 through an outlet 140a (refer to FIG. 20) of the intake guide 140a to perform a swirling movement in the annular space.

During the process, relatively heavier foreign matter and dust gradually flow downward while performing a swirling movement in a spiral manner in a space between the outer case 101 and the first cyclone 110 by a centrifugal force, and is collected in the first storage section (DI) which will be described later.

On the other hand, unlike foreign matter and dust, air is introduced into the housing 111 through the mesh filter 112 by suction power. At this time, fine dust relatively lighter than dust may be introduced into the housing 111 along with air.

Referring to FIG. 3, it may be possible to view an internal structure of the dust collector 100 and a flow of air within the dust collector 100.

The second cyclone 120 is disposed in the first cyclone 110 to separate fine dust from air introduced thereinto through the entrance port 120a. As illustrated in the drawing, a plurality of second cyclones 120 may be provided therein. A central axis of the second cyclones 120 may be arranged in parallel to that of the first cyclone 110.

Contrary to a vertical arrangement of the related art in which the second cyclone is disposed above the first cyclone, the second cyclone 120 of the present disclosure may be accommodated into the first cyclone 110 to decrease a height of the dust collector 100. The second cyclone 120 may be formed not to protrude above the first cyclone 110.

In addition, the second cyclone in the related art has a guide passage extending from one side thereof such that air and fine dust is tangentially introduced thereinto to circulate along an inner circumference of the second cyclone, but the second cyclone 120 of the present disclosure does not have such a guide passage. Therefore, the second cyclone 120 has a circular shape when seen from the top.

Referring to FIG. 2, cyclones disposed adjacent to each other among the first and second cyclones 110, 120 define a first space SI. In other words, in a region where the second cyclone 120 is disposed within the first cyclone 110, a vacant space excluding the second cyclone 120 may be understood as a first space (SI). The first space (SI) forms a passage through which air and fine dust introduced into the first cyclone 110 can be introduced into an upper portion of the second cyclone 120.

Each of the second cyclones 120 may be disposed along a vertical direction, and a plurality of the second cyclones 120 may be disposed parallel to each other. According to such an arrangement, the first space (SI) may be formed to extend in a vertical direction within the first cyclone 110.

The cyclones disposed adjacent to each other in the second cyclones 120 may be disposed to be in contact with each other. Specifically, a (circular) conical casing 121 forming an outer appearance of any one of the second cyclones 120 is disposed in contact with a casing 121 of the adjacent second cyclone 120 to form a first space (SI) surrounded by the casing 121.

The casing 121 of any one of the second cyclones 120 may be integrally formed with the casing 121 of the adjacent second cyclone 120. According to the above structure, a plurality of second cyclones 120 may be modularized and provided in the first cyclone

110.

Furthermore, the cyclones arranged along an inner circumference of the first cyclone 110 of the second cyclone 120 may be disposed to be in contact with the inner circumferential surface of the first cyclone 110. Specifically, an inner circumferential surface of the housing 111 adjacent to each other and an outer circumferential surface corresponding to a cylindrical portion of the casing 121 may be disposed to be in contact with each other.

According to the arrangement, the second cyclone 120 may be efficiently disposed within the first cyclone 110. In particular, the second cyclone 120 of the present disclosure does not have a guide passage extending from one side of the second cyclone in the related art, and thus a larger number of second cyclones 120 may be disposed within the first cyclone 110 is. Accordingly, even if the second cyclone 120 has a structure in which the second cyclone 120 is accommodated into the first cyclone 110, a number of the second cyclones 120 may not be decreased compared to the related art, thereby preventing the deterioration of cleaning performance.

A cover member 130 is disposed at an upper portion of the second cyclone 120. The cover member 130 is disposed to cover the entrance portions 120a of the second cyclones 120 at preset intervals to form a second space (S2) communicating with the first space (SI) between the cover member 130 and the entrance portion 120a. The second space (S2) is extended in a horizontal direction on the second cyclone 120, and configured to communicate with the entrance portion 120a of the second cyclone 120.

According to such a communication relationship, air introduced into the first cyclone 110 is introduced into the entrance portion 120a at an upper portion of the second cyclone 120 through the first space (SI) and the second space (S2).

A vortex finder 122 for discharging air from which fine dust is separated is provided at an upper center of the second cyclone 120. Due to such an upper structure, the entrance portion 120a may be defined as an annular space between an inner circumference of the second cyclone 120 and an outer circumference of the vortex finder 122.

The entrance portion 120a of the second cyclone 120 is provided with a guide vane 123 spirally extended along an inner circumference thereof. The guide vane 123 may be provided on an outer circumference of the vortex finder 122 or integrally formed with the vortex finder 122. The guide vane 123 generates rotational flow in air flowing into the second cyclone 120 through the entrance portion 120a.

Considering the flow of air and fine dust introduced into the entrance portion

120a in detail, fine dust gradually flows downward while spirally circulating along an inner circumference of the second cyclone 120, and is finally discharged through the discharge port 120b and collected into the second storage section (D2). Furthermore, air relatively lighter than fine dust is discharged to the vortex finder 122 at an upper portion thereof by the suction power of the fan unit.

According to the above structure, contrary to the related art in which a high-speed rotation flow is generated in a biased manner to one region by a guide passage extended from one side of the second cyclone, a relatively uniform rotation flow is generated over almost an entire region of the entrance portion 120a. Accordingly, a localized high-speed flow does not occur compared to a second cyclone structure in the related art, thereby reducing flow loss due to this.

A plurality of guide vanes 123 may be provided therein, and disposed to be spaced apart from each other at regular intervals along an outer circumference of the vortex finder 122. Each guide vane 123 may be configured to start from the same position at an upper portion of the vortex finder 122 and extend to the same position at a lower portion thereof.

For an example, four guide vanes 123 may be respectively disposed at 90° intervals along an outer circumference of the vortex finder 122. A larger or smaller number of guide vanes 123 may be of course provided depending on a design change, and at least part of any one of the guide vanes 123 may be disposed to overlap with another guide vane

123 in a vertical direction of the vortex finder 122.

Furthermore, the guide vane 123 may be disposed within the first cyclone 110. According to such an arrangement, a flow within the second cyclone 120 occurs within the first cyclone 110. As a result, it may be possible to reduce noise due to the flow within the second cyclone 120.

Meanwhile, a lower diameter of the vortex finder 122 may be formed to be smaller than an upper diameter thereof. According to such a configuration, an area of the entrance port 120a may be decreased to increase an inflow speed into the second cyclone

120, thereby limiting fine dust introduced into the second cyclone 120 from being discharged through the vortex finder 122 along with the air.

FIG. 3 illustrates a view in which a tapered portion 122a a diameter of which gradually decreases as it goes toward an end portion thereof is formed at a lower portion of the vortex finder 122. On the contrary, the vortex finder 122 may be formed in such a manner that a diameter thereof gradually decreases from an upper portion to a lower portion thereof.

On the other hand, a communication hole 130a corresponding to the vortex finder 122 is formed on the cover member 130. The cover member 130 may be disposed to cover an inner space of the first cyclone 110 excluding the vortex finder 122. Though not shown in the drawing, the cover member 130 may be provided with a protruding portion inserted into the vortex finder 122 and formed with a communication hole 130a therein.

An upper cover 140 is disposed on the cover member 130. The upper cover 140 may form an upper appearance of the dust collector 100.

The upper cover 140 includes an intake guide 140a for introducing air sucked 20 from the outside into the dust collector 100 and an exhaust guide 140b for discharging air discharged through a communication hole 130a to an outside of the dust collector 100. An inlet 140a' and an outlet 140b' are respectively formed on the upper cover 140 for the inflow and outflow of air. According to the present drawing, it is shown that the inlet 140a' is formed to face forward, and the outlet 140b is formed to face backward.

Air discharged through the outlet 140b of the dust collector 100 may be discharged to the outside through an exhaust port (not shown) of the cleaner body 10. A porous prefilter (not shown) configured to filter ultrafine dust from the air may be installed on a passage extended from the outlet of the dust collector 100 to the exhaust port of the cleaner body 10.

On the other hand, the discharge port 120b of the second cyclone 120 is installed to pass through a bottom surface 111b of the first cyclone 110. A through hole for the insertion of the second cyclone 120 is formed on the bottom surface 111b of the first cyclone 110.

A lower portion of the first cyclone 110 is provided with an inner case 150 for accommodating the discharge port 120b to form a second storage section (D2) for collecting fine dust discharged through the discharge port 120b. The second storage section (D2) may be also referred to as a fine dust storage section in terms of forming a storage space for fine dust. The lower cover 160, which will be described later, forms a bottom surface of the second storage section (D2).

The inner case 150 is disposed to cover a bottom surface 111b of the first cyclone

110, and configured to accommodate the discharge port 120b of the second cyclone 120 therein. The inner case 150 is extended toward a lower portion of the outer case 101. The inner case 150 may have a bowl shape provided with a tapered portion having a narrower cross-sectional area at a lower end than an upper end thereof and a gradually reduced cross-sectional area as it goes downward.

The inner case 150 may be coupled to the housing 111 of the first cyclone 110 by a fastening device (e.g., bolt, hook, adhesive, etc.). Alternatively, the inner case 150 may be integrally formed with the housing 111.

On the other hand, foreign matter and dust filtered through the first cyclone 110 are collected into the first storage section (DI) located below the first cyclone 110. The first storage section (DI) may be also referred to as a foreign-matter-dust storage section in terms of forming a space for storing foreign matter and dust.

In the present drawing, it is shown that the first storage section (DI) defined by the outer case 101 and the pressurizing unit 170 is configured to surround the second storage section (D2). A bottom surface of the first storage section (DI) may be formed by a lower cover 160 which will be described later.

Various flows (for example, an upward flow due to the rotation of the pressurizing portion 172 provided in the pressurizing unit 170) including a high-speed rotational flow due to the suction power of the fan unit are mixed within the dust collector 100.

Such complicated flows are also a hindrance to the inflow of foreign matter and dust into the first storage section (DI). Furthermore, even if dust is collected in the first storage section (DI), dust may float within the first storage section (DI) due to vortex or the like. Due to a structure in which an annual space between the outer case 101 and the first cyclone 110 should be communicated with a space between the outer case 101 and the first storage section (DI) for collecting foreign matter and dust, it may occur a case where dust floating in the first storage section (DI) flows backward into the annular space according to circumstances.

It serves as a factor of deteriorating the cleaning performance of the vacuum cleaner 1 as well as dust collecting performance.

Hereinafter, a structure capable of guiding the inflow of foreign matter and dust filtered by the first cyclone 110 into the first storage section (DI) and preventing dust collected in the first storage section (DI) from flowing backward will be described.

According to the present embodiment, it is shown that a guide unit 180 is provided at a lower side of the first cyclone 110. The guide unit 180 is configured to guide the inflow of foreign matter and dust filtered by the first cyclone 110 into the first storage section (DI) and prevent dust collected in the first storage section (DI) from being moved (i.e., flowing backward) to the first cyclone 110.

The guide unit 180 includes a base 181 and a vane 182. The base 181 and the vane 182 may be integrally formed by injection molding.

The base 181 may be formed in a cylindrical shape similarly to the housing 111.

An outer circumferential surface of the base 181 may be formed parallel to an axial direction of the outer case 101.

The vane 182 is protruded from an outer circumference of the base 181 toward an inner circumferential surface of the outer case 101 and spirally extended from an upper side thereof toward a lower side thereof. The vane 182 may be spirally extended along a flow direction of air introduced into the dust collector 100 and circulated along an inner circumference of the outer case 101.

In order to implement this, the vane 182 may be inclined in a direction corresponding to a side of the outlet 140a of the intake guide 140a provided in the upper cover 140, which will be described later. Here, the corresponding direction denotes that when the side of the outlet 140a of the intake guide 140a has a negative slope, the vane 182 has a negative slope.

When the vane 182 is formed to have such a directionality, foreign matter and dust contained in air, which spirally circulates and gradually flows down in an annular space between the outer case 101 and the first cyclone 110, may be naturally introduced into the first storage section (DI) at a lower side of the guide unit 180 along the vane 182. In other words, the vane 182 is configured to guide the inflow of foreign matter and dust into the first storage section (DI).

The air introduced into the guide unit 180 spirally circulates along the vane 182 and gradually flows downward. Due to this flow, dust introduced into the vane 182 or dust collected in the first storage section (DI) do not flow backward to a side of the first cyclone 110 due to the flow.

The vane 182 may be protruded from an outer circumferential surface of the first cyclone 110 and disposed adjacent to an inner circumferential surface of the outer case 101

Due to this arrangement, a space provided at an upper side of the guide unit 180 (an annular space between the outer case 101 and the first cyclone 110) may be partitioned from a space provided at a lower side of the guide unit 180 (the first storage section (DI)).

A plurality of vanes 182 may be disposed to be spaced apart from each other at regular intervals along an outer circumference of the guide unit 180. Each vane 182 may be formed to start from the same position at an upper portion of the guide unit 180, and extend to the same position at a lower portion thereof. According to this, a substantially uniform rotational flow may be generated over an entire region of the annular space between the outer case 101 and the guide unit 180. Accordingly, it may be possible to reduce flow loss.

Any one vane 182 of the plurality of vanes 182 may be arranged in such a manner that at least part of the vane 182 overlaps with another vane 182 in a vertical direction of the guide unit 180. According to the above structure, even if a vertical flow toward the first cyclone 110 is instantaneously formed in the vane 182 or the first storage section (DI), it may be blocked by the overwrapping vane 182 at an upper side, thereby restricting an inflow to a side of the first cyclone 110.

Of course, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. A lower end of one vane

182 of the plurality of vanes 182 may be formed apart from an upper end of another guide vane 182 along an outer circumference of the guide unit 180. In other words, they are formed not to overlap with each other in a vertical direction of the guide unit 180.

Referring to FIG. 3, both the first storage section (DI) and the second storage section (D2) are formed to open toward a lower side of the outer case 101. A lower cover

160 is coupled to the outer case 101 to cover the opening portions of the first storage section (DI) and the second storage section (D2), and configured to form a bottom surface of the first storage section (DI) and the second storage section (D2).

As described above, the lower cover 160 is coupled to the outer case 101 to open and close a lower portion thereof. According to the present embodiment, the lower cover 160 is coupled to to the outer case 101 through a hinge 161 to open and close a lower portion of the outer case 101 according to the rotation. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the lower cover 160 may be completely detachably coupled to the outer case 101.

The lower cover 160 is coupled to the outer case 101 to form a bottom surface of the first storage section (DI) and the second storage section (D2). The lower cover 160 is rotated by the hinge 161 to simultaneously discharge dust and fine dust to simultaneously open the first storage section (DI) and the second storage section (D2). When the lower cover 160 is rotated by the hinge 161 to open the first storage section (DI) and the second storage section at the same time, it may be possible to discharge dust and fine dust at the same time.

On the other hand, when dust accumulated in the first storage section (DI) is not collected in one place but dispersed, there is a possibility that dust may be scattered or discharged to an unintended place during the process of discharging the dust. In order to overcome such a problem, the present disclosure is made to reduce a volume by pressurizing the dust collected in the first storage section (DI) using the pressurizing unit

170.

The pressurizing unit 170 is configured to be rotatable in both directions in the first storage section DI. The pressurizing unit 170 includes a rotating portion 171 and a pressurizing portion 172.

The rotating portion 171 is formed to surround at least part of an inner case 150 and configured to receive a driving force from a drive unit 50 (refer to FIG. 16) of the cleaner body 10 through a driving force transmission unit 163 to be relatively rotatable with respect to the inner case 150. The rotating portion 171 is rotatable in a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction, that is, in both directions.

An inner shape of the rotating portion 171 surrounding the inner case 150 may be formed to correspond to an outer shape of the inner case 150. According to the above structure, when the pressurizing unit 170 is rotated, the inner case 150 is configured to hold the center of rotation. Accordingly, the rotation of the pressurizing unit 170 may be more stably carried out without a separate member for holding the center of rotation of the rotating portion 171.

The rotating portion 171 may be configured to be rotatable in a state of being engaged with the inner case 150. To this end, an engaging portion (not shown) configured to support the rotating portion 171 with respect to a gravity direction may be formed on an outer circumference of the inner case 150. The engaging portion may be formed in various forms such as a projection, a hook, or the like.

According to the above structure, the rotating portion 171 may be in a state of being engaged with the inner case 150, and then even if the lower cover 160 is rotated by the hinge 161 to open the first storage section (DI), the pressurizing unit 170 may be fixed in place.

A fastening groove 171b for coupling- with a fastening member 163b of the driving force transmission unit 163, which will be described later, may be formed on a lower inner circumference of the rotating portion 171.

The pressurizing portion 172 is formed to protrude in a radial direction from the rotating portion 171, and configured to rotate within the first storage section (DI) in accordance with the rotation of the rotating portion 171. The pressurizing portion 172 may be formed in a plate shape. Dust collected in the first storage section (DI) is moved to one side of the first storage section (DI) by the rotation of the pressurizing portion 172 and collected therein, and when a lot of dust is accumulated, the dust is pressurized and compress by the pressurizing portion 172.

The pressurizing portion 172 may be formed with a ventilation hole 172a for communicating air. The ventilation hole 172a may be formed on the pressurizing portion 172, and even if the pressurizing portion 172 rotates in the first storage section (DI), a pressure balance between both side regions of the pressurizing portion 172 divided by the pressurizing portion 172 may be adjusted, thereby suppressing an upward flow due to the rotation of the pressurizing portion 172.

An inner wall 101b for collecting dust moved to one side by the rotation of the pressurizing portion 172 may be provided in the first storage section (DI). In the present embodiment, it is shown that the inner wall 101b is formed to extend in a radial direction from a lower inner circumference of the outer case 101. Dust introduced into the first storage section (DI) is collected in both sides of the inner wall 101b by the rotation of the pressurizing portion 172.

The lower cover 160 is provided with a driving force transmission unit 163 connected to the drive unit 50 provided on the cleaner body 10 when the dust collector 100 is mounted on the cleaner body 10, and connected to the pressurizing unit 170 when the lower cover 160 is mounted to cover a lower opening of the outer case 101.

The drive unit 50 includes a drive motor 51 and a drive gear 52 connected to the drive motor 51 to be rotatable. At least part of the drive gear 52 is exposed from the cleaner body 10 in such a manner that the drive gear 52 is configured to couple with a driven gear 163a of the driving force transmission unit 163, which will be described later, when the dust collector 100 is mounted on the cleaner body 10.

The driving force transmission unit 163 is rotated by receiving a driving force from the drive unit 50 provided in the cleaner body 10, and includes a driven gear 163a and a fastening member 163b.

The driven gear 163 a is exposed to a lower portion of the lower cover 160 and configured to be rotatable with respect to the lower cover 160. The driven gear 163a is configured to couple with the drive gear 52 to receive a driving force of the drive motor 51 when the dust collector 100 is coupled to the cleaner body 10.

The fastening member 163b is engaged with the driven gear 163 a to be rotatable along with the driven gear 163 a. The fastening member 163b is exposed to an upper portion of the lower cover 160 and fastened to the fastening groove 171b provided on an inner circumference of the rotating portion 171 when the lower cover 160 is coupled to the outer case 101. According to the present drawing, it is shown in a gear shape in which a plurality of fastening grooves 171b are provided to be spaced apart from each other at regular intervals on an inner circumference of the rotating portion 171, and the fastening member 163b is provided with a plurality of protrusion portions inserted into the fastening grooves 171b. Considering such a shape, the fastening member 163b may be referred to as a fastening gear.

A sealing unit 164 may be mounted on the fastening member 163b. The sealing unit 164 is disposed to cover a lower opening of the inner case 150 when the lower cover 160 is coupled to the outer case 101. In other words, the sealing unit 164 forms a bottom surface of the second storage sections (D2), thereby preventing the collected fine dust from being introduced into a side of the driving force transmission unit 163.

The sealing unit 164 may be configured not to rotate during the rotation of the driving force transmission unit 163. In other words, even if the driving force transmission unit 163 is rotated, the sealing unit 164 may be fixed in a state of being disposed to cover a lower opening of the inner case 150. A portion of the sealing unit 164 in contact with the lower opening of the inner case 150 may be formed of an elastic material for sealing.

According to the above structure, when the lower cover 160 is coupled to the outer case 101, the driving force transmission unit 163 is connected to the pressurizing unit 170 of the dust collector 100, and when the dust collector 100 is connected to the cleaner body 10, the driving force transmission unit 163 is connected to the drive unit 50 of the cleaner body 10. In other words, a driving force generated from the drive unit 50 is transmitted to the pressurizing unit 170 through the driving force transmission unit 163.

At this time, the rotation of the drive motor 51 may be controlled to repeatedly perform a bidirectional rotation of the pressurizing portion 172. For example, the drive motor 51 may be configured to rotate in an opposite direction when a repulsive force is applied in a direction opposite to the rotational direction. In other words, when the pressurizing portion 172 rotates in one direction to compress dust collected in one side at a predetermined level, the drive motor 51 rotates in the other direction to compress the dust collected in the other side.

When there is (almost) no dust, the pressurizing portion 172 may be configured to collide with the inner wall 101b to receive a corresponding repulsive force or receive a repulsive force by a stopper structure (not shown) provided on a rotating path of the pressurizing portion 172 to rotate in an opposite direction.

On the contrary, the controller within the cleaner body 10 may apply a control signal to the drive motor to change a rotational direction of the pressurizing portion 172 at regular intervals, thereby repeatedly generating the bidirectional rotation of the pressurizing portion 172.

By the pressurizing unit 170, dust collected in the first storage section (DI) is gathered or compressed in a predetermined region. Therefore, it may be possible to suppress the scattering of dust during the process of throwing away dust, and remarkably reduce a possibility of being discharged to an unintended place.

Hereinafter, a structure in which the guide unit 180 is connected to the pressurizing unit 170 to be rotatable will be described.

FIG. 4 is a view in which the dust collector 100 illustrated in FIG. 2 is seen from a front side, and FIG. 5 is a view in which the dust collector 100 illustrated in FIG. 2 is seen from a lower side in a state that the outer case 101 is removed, and FIG. 6 is a cross10 sectional view of the dust collector 100 illustrated in FIG. 2.

Referring to FIGS. 4 through 6 along with the previous drawings, the guide unit 180 is connected to the pressurizing unit 170 and configured to be rotatable in at least one directions along with the pressurizing unit 170. In terms of configuring the guide unit 180 to be rotatable, the guide unit 180 may also be referred to as a rotating unit.

Referring to FIG. 4, when the guide unit 180 rotates in a counter-clockwise direction (to the right) corresponding to an extension direction in a lower side of the vane 182, foreign matter and dust in air introduced into the vane 182 are moved downward by the rotation of the vane 182. Accordingly, the foreign matter and dust that have introduced into the vane 182 may be more easily collected into the first storage section (DI).

Furthermore, even if the foreign matter collected in the first storage section (DI) is introduced into the vane 182, it is pushed back by the rotation of the vane 182.

Considering that a flow spirally circulating and gradually flowing downward is generated on the vane 182, it is expected that the backflow of foreign matter and dust will be even more difficult.

On the contrary, when the guide unit 180 rotates in a clockwise direction (to the left) corresponding to an extending direction in an upper side of the vane 182, foreign matter and dust in air introduced into the vane 182 are moved upward by the rotation of the vane 182. However, since a flow spirally circulating and gradually flowing downward is generated on the vane 182, it is difficult for such a movement and a resultant backflow of foreign matter and dust to occur.

However, when the guide unit 180 rotates in a direction corresponding to an extending direction in an upper side of the vane 182, the following structure may be added in consideration of the possibility of a backflow of foreign matter.

As illustrated in the drawing, a backflow limiting rib 101a inclined in a direction 10 intersecting the vane 182 is protruded on an inner circumferential surface of the outer case

101 facing the vane 182. A plurality of backflow limiting ribs 101a may be disposed to be spaced apart at preset intervals along an inner circumferential surface of the outer case 101,

The backflow limiting rib 101a may be integrally formed with the outer case 101 by injection molding. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. The backflow limiting rib 101a may be formed as a separate member from the outer case 101, and attached to an inner circumferential surface of the outer case 101.

Due to the formation of the backflow limiting rib 101a, foreign matter flowing backward from the first storage section (DI) into the vane 182 may be caught by the backflow limiting rib even if the foreign matter is moved upward by the rotation of the vane 182. Accordingly, foreign matter may not completely flow backward to an upper side of the guide unit 180, and collected again into the first storage section (DI).

When either one of the vane 182 and the backflow limiting rib 101a has a positive slope with respect to a rotating shaft of the guide unit 180, the other one may have a negative slope. In FIG. 4, it is shown in the drawing that the vane 182 has a negative slope, and the backflow limiting rib 101a is formed to have a positive slope. According to the above structure, the guide unit 180 rotates in a clockwise direction (to the left) corresponding to the extending direction of the vane 182, so that the foreign object in the first storage section (DI) rides on the vane 182 Even if it rises, it is continuously caught in the backflow limiting rib 101a and drops.

Of course, the inclination relationship of the vane 182 and the backflow limiting rib 101a is not limited to the above example. The backflow limiting rib 101a may be disposed in parallel to a rotating shaft of the guide unit 180. In other words, the backflow limiting rib 101a may be disposed perpendicular to the lower cover 160. Alternatively, the backflow limiting rib 101a may be formed to be inclined along a flow direction of air introduced into the outer case 101 similarly to the vane 182.

On the other hand, the rotation of the guide unit 180 may be carried out by coupling the guide unit 180 to the pressurizing unit 170. In other words, as described above, the pressurizing unit 170 may be rotated by receiving a driving force from the drive unit 50 through the driving force transmission unit 163, and thus the guide unit 180 coupled to the pressurizing unit 170 may also be rotated at the same time during the rotation of the pressurizing unit 170.

Specifically, the base 181 of the guide unit 180 may be coupled to the rotating portion 171 of the pressurizing unit 170. The coupling between the base 181 and the rotating portion 171 may be achieved by various methods such as coupling due to bonding, coupling using a hook member, and a coupling using a hook structure.

FIG. 7 is a view in which the variance of shapes of foreign matter and dust stored in the first storage section (DI) are conceptually compared according to whether or not there exists a roller portion 171a. FIG. 7A is a view illustrating the shape of foreign matter and dust (D) collected in the first storage section (DI) in a structure that is not provided with the roller portion 171a, and FIG. 7B is a view illustrating the shape of foreign matter and dust (D) collected in the first storage section (DI) in a structure in which the pressurizing unit 170 is provided with the roller portion 171a.

As illustrated in FIG. 7A, as foreign matter and dust (D) collected in the first storage section (DI) accumulate, they gradually become closer to a side of the first cyclone

110. In particular, in the case of a bulky foreign matter, even if it is collected in the first storage section (DI), it is spread in the first storage section (DI) without having an aggregated shape, thereby causing a backflow in an upward direction at a side where the foreign matter and dust (D) accumulate.

In order to solve such a problem, as illustrated in FIG 7B, the roller portion 171a configured with a plurality of ribs extended in a radial direction at preset intervals may be provided on at least one of the guide unit 180 and the pressurizing unit 170 to face a lower side of the outer case 101. The roller portion 171a is configured to provide a rotational force to foreign matter and dust collected in the first storage section (DI) during the rotation of at least one of the guide unit 180 and the pressurizing unit 170.

In an embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 2 through 6 including FIG 7B, it is shown that a plurality of ribs constituting the roller portion 171a are respectively extended in a radial direction at preset intervals to the rotating portion 171 facing the lower cover 160. According to the configuration, an upper portion of the foreign matter and dust (D) collected in the first storage section (DI) repeatedly collides with the plurality of ribs during the rotation of the rotating portionl71. As a result, the foreign matter and dust (D) is rotated as illustrated in FIG 7B, and finally the collected foreign matter and dust (D) is rolled in a state of being agglomerated in a substantially spherical shape.

As described above, the foreign matter and dust (D) is agglomerated in a spherical shape by the roller portion 171a, and thus it may be possible to prevent a backflow due to the accumulation of the foreign matter and dust (D) at a predetermined level. When the pressurizing portion 172 is additionally combined with the roller portion 171a, the agglomeration and compression of the foreign matter and dust (D) may be carried out at the same time to enhance the collection performance of the foreign matter and dust (D), thereby significantly reducing the possibility of backflow.

FIG. 8 is a conceptual view illustrating a modified example of the guide unit 180 illustrated in FIG. 2, and FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the dust collector 200 illustrated in FIG. 8.

Referring to FIGS. 8 and 9, the guide unit 280 may have a skirt 283 extended downward from an upper portion thereof in an inclined downward direction. A gap between the skirt 283 and the outer case 201 gradually decreases as it goes from the upper portion to the lower portion.

As the skirt 283 is formed, foreign matter and dust falling without passing through a mesh filter 212 of the first cyclone 210 are guided by the skirt 283 and introduced into the first storage section (DI), but the foreign matter and dust collected in the first storage section (DI) are restricted from flowing upward by the skirt 283. In other words, a backflow of foreign matter and dust collected in the first storage section (DI) is restricted by the skirt 283.

Considering a structure in which the skirt 283 is provided in the guide unit 280 in more detail, the guide unit 280 includes a base 281, a skirt 283, and a vane 282. The base

281, the skirt 283, and the vane 282 may be integrally formed by injection molding.

The base 281 is coupled to a rotating portion 271 of the pressurizing unit 270. The base 281 may be formed in parallel to an axial direction of the outer case 201.

The skirt 283 is extended downward in an inclined manner outward from an upper portion of the base 281. Accordingly, a gap between the skirt 283 and the base 281 gradually increases as it goes from the upper portion to the lower portion.

Though not shown in the drawing, a plurality of ribs forming the foregoing roller portion may be extended in a radial direction in the gap between the base 281 and the skirt

283.

The vane 282 is protruded from the skirt 283 toward an inner circumferential surface of the outer case 201, and spirally extended from the upper side toward the lower side. The vane 282 may be introduced into the dust collector 200 and spirally extended along a flow direction of air circulating along an inner circumference of the outer case 201.

According to the drawing, it is shown a structure in which the base 281 and the skirt 283 are distinguished from each other in shape. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. As a modified example, the base 281 and the skirt 283 may be configured as one portion in which the base 281 and the skirt 283 are not separated from each other (in the present drawing, a gap between the base 281 and the skirt is filled), and it may be referred to as a skirt portion. An inner side of the skirt portion is coupled to the rotating portion 271, and an outer side thereof is formed to be inclined downward.

On the other hand, most of the foreign matter or dust that has not passed through the first cyclone 110 falls down and is collected in the first storage section (DI), but according to circumstances, foreign matter or dust may be caught or accumulated and fixed on the mesh filter 112 do. It may reduce an area of the mesh filter 112 for allowing air to pass therethrough, thereby increasing a load on the fan unit that provides suction power as well as visually giving a non-clean impression to the user.

In order to solve this problem, a method of disassembling and cleaning the dust collector may be taken into consideration, but it may cause usage inconveniences to the user, and also there is a problem that cleaning is not easy, in fact, due to a structure in which a portion where the first cyclone is disposed is partitioned from the first storage section (for example, partitioned by the vane 182 of the guide unit 180 or a skirt which will be described later).

Hereinafter, a structure capable of continuously removing foreign matter and dust from being caught or accumulated on the mesh filter 112 during the operation of the vacuum cleaner 1 will be described.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view illustrating another example of the dust collector

300 illustrated in FIG 1, and FIG 11 is an enlarged view illustrating an inner side of portion B illustrated in FIG 10, and FIG 12 is a cross-sectional view illustrating portion

B illustrated in FIG 10.

Referring to FIGS. 10 through 12, a rotating unit 380 is coupled to the pressurizing unit a70 to rotate along with the pressurizing unit 370. As illustrated in the drawing, the rotating unit 380 is formed to surround at least part of the first cyclone 310, and configured to be relatively rotatable with respect to the first cyclone 310 in at least one direction.

The rotating unit 380 is configured to scratch or sweep off foreign matter and dust caught or accumulated on the mesh filter 312 of the first cyclone 310 during rotation. In order to implement this, the rotating unit 380 includes a lower frame 381, an upper frame 385 and a pillar 383.

The lower frame 381 is coupled to the rotating portion 371 of the pressurizing unit 370, and formed in a cylindrical shape at a lower portion or lower side of the first cyclone 310. For example, a lower frame 381 may be formed to surround a lower end of the first cyclone 310.

In the present disclosure, the lower frame 381 may be understood as a configuration similar to the base 181 of the guide unit 180 described above. The lower frame 381 may be formed in parallel to an axial direction of the outer case 301.

The vane 382 may protrude from the lower frame 381 toward the inner circumferential surface of the outer case 301. The vane 382 is spirally extended from the upper side toward the lower side. The vane 382 may be introduced into the dust collector 300 and extended in spiral shape along a flow direction of air circulating along an inner circumference of the outer case 301.

The upper frame 385 is spaced upward from the lower frame 381 by a predetermined distance and formed to surround an upper end of the first cyclone 310.

The pillar 383 is disposed to cover the mesh filter 312 and extended along a vertical direction of the mesh filter 312 and connected to the lower frame 381 and the upper frame 385, respectively. In other words, the lower frame 381 is connected to a lower 10 end of the pillar 383, and the upper frame 385 is connected to an upper end of the pillar

383 so as to surround part of the first cyclone 310 as a whole.

A plurality of pillars 383 may be provided therein, and disposed at preset intervals along an outer circumference of the first cyclone 310. As a result, an opening is formed between adjacent two pillars 383, and the mesh filter 312 is exposed through the opening.

Accordingly, air spirally flowing through an annular space between the outer case 301 and the first cyclone 310 passes through the mesh filter 312 exposed through the opening and flows into the first cyclone 310 do.

When the pressurizing unit 370 receives a driving force of the drive unit 50 from the driving force transmission unit 363 to rotate, the rotating unit 380 connected to the pressurizing unit 370 is rotated along with the pillar 383, and at this time, the pillar 383 moves along an outer circumference of the mesh filter 312.

A scraper 384 is provided on an inner surface of the pillar 383 facing an outer surface of the mesh filter 312. The scraper 384 has a shape extended along a length direction of the pillar 383, and is disposed to cross the mesh filter 312 in a vertical direction on the mesh filter 312.

The scraper 384 is configured to scrape off or sweep up foreign matter and dust accumulated on the mesh filter 312 during the rotation of the rotating unit 380. To this end, the scrapers 384 may be configured to be in contact with the mesh filter 312.

The scraper 384 may be configured with a brush, formed of an elastic material, or 5 formed of a synthetic resin material similar to the pillar 383.

When the scraper 384 is configured with a brush, it has an advantage that the brush is inserted into a gap of the mesh filter 312 to effectively remove foreign matter or dust accumulated on the gap. When the scraper 384 is configured with a brush, the scraper 384 may be inserted into a slot formed along an extension direction of the pillar 383 and fixed to the p illar 3 83.

The scraper 384 may be formed of an elastic material (e.g., rubber, silicone, etc.), and integrally coupled to the pillar 383 by double injection molding. When the scraper 384 is formed of an elastic material, it has an advantage that the scraper 384 is brought into close contact with the mesh filter 312 to effectively sweep off foreign matter accumulated on the mesh filter 312.

The scraper 384 may be formed of the same synthetic resin material as the pillar 383 and integrally formed with the pillar 383 by injection molding. The scraper 384 may be protruded along an extension direction of the pillar 383. In this case, it has an advantage that the unit rotating unit 380 having a single material provided with the scraper 384 may be manufactured through one injection molding.

On the other hand, though not shown in the drawing, the backflow limiting rib 101a described in conjunction with the embodiment of FIGS. 2 through 7 and the modified example of FIG. 8 may be combined with the vane 382 of the present embodiment.

Describing it in brief, the backflow limiting rib 101a inclined in a direction 25 intersecting the vane 382 may be protruded on an inner circumferential surface of the outer case 301 facing the vane 382. A plurality of backflow limiting ribs 101a may be disposed to be spaced apart at preset intervals along an inner circumferential surface of the outer case 301.

Due to the formation of the backflow limiting rib 101a, foreign matter flowing 5 backward from the first storage section (DI) into the vane 182 may be caught by the backflow limiting rib even if the foreign matter is moved upward by the rotation of the vane 182. Accordingly, foreign matter may not completely flow backward to an upper side of the guide unit 180, and be collected again into the first storage section (DI).

Hereinafter, a modified example of the rotating unit 480 will be described with 10 reference to FIGS. 13 through 16.

FIG. 13 is a conceptual view illustrating a modified example of the rotating unit 480 illustrated in FIG. 10, and FIG. 14 is a view in which the dust collector 400 illustrated in FIG. 13 is seen from a lower side, and FIG. 15 is a conceptual view for explaining a structure in which a driving force of the drive unit 50 is transmitted to the rotating unit 480 by a driving force transmission unit 463, and FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view of the dust collector 400 illustrated in FIG. 15.

Referring to FIGS. 13 through 16, the rotating unit 480 includes a lower frame 481, an upper frame 485, a pillar 483, a scraper 484, and a skirt 486. The modified example has the same structure as the rotating unit 480 described in the previous embodiment excluding the skirt 486 and the roller portion 481a. As a result, the redundant description thereof will be omitted.

The skirt 486 extended outward in an inclined downward direction is protruded on the lower frame 481. Accordingly, a gap between the skirt 486 and the lower frame 481 gradually increases as it goes from the upper portion to the lower portion.

As the skirt 486 is formed, foreign matter and dust falling without passing through a mesh filter 412 of the first cyclone 410 are guided by the skirt 486 and introduced into the first storage section (DI), but the foreign matter and dust collected in the first storage section (DI) are restricted from flowing upward by the skirt 486. In other words, a backflow of foreign matter and dust collected in the first storage section (DI) is restricted by the skirt 486.

However, since the gap between the outer case 401 and the skirt 486 decreases toward the lower side, it may cause a problem in which foreign matter may be caught in the gap when a size of the foreign matter is large. It prevents other foreign matter and dust from flowing into the first storage section (DI) through the gap.

However, in the present modified example, the rotating unit 480 is coupled with the pressurizing unit 470, and configured to be rotatable along with the pressurizing unit 470, and thus even if foreign matter is caught in a gap between the skirt 486 and the outer case 401, the foreign matter may be released by the rotation of the rotating unit 480. The foreign matter released from the gap may be introduced into the first storage section (DI) by rotational flow due to the driving of the vacuum cleaner 1.

On the other hand, roller portions 481a, 471a configured with a plurality of ribs extended in a radial direction at preset intervals may be provided on at least one of the rotating unit 480 and the pressurizing unit 470. On the present drawing, it is shown that a first roller portion 481a and a second roller portion 471a are provided in the rotating unit

480 and the pressurizing unit 470, respectively.

Describing the first roller portion 481a first, a plurality of ribs forming the first roller portion 481a may be formed in a gap between the lower frame 481 and the skirt 486 in a radial direction. The plurality of ribs are disposed to face a lower cover thereof (not shown).

A plurality of ribs constituting the second roller portion 471a may be extended in a radial direction at preset intervals on the rotating portion 471 facing the lower cover.

As the rotating unit 480 is configured to surround at least part of the pressurizing unit 470, the first roller portion 481a may be formed to surround the second roller portion

471a.

According to the above configuration, an upper portion of foreign matter and dust collected in the first storage section (DI) during the rotation of the pressurizing unit 470 and the rotating unit 480 coupled thereto collides repeatedly with the plurality of ribs constituting the first and second roller portions 481a, 471a. As a result, the foreign matter and dust are rotated, and finally the collected foreign matter and dust are rolled in a state of being agglomerated in a substantially spherical shape.

The first and second roller portions 481a, 471a may have different heights with respect to the lower cover 460. In the present embodiment, it is shown that the first roller portion 481a is located above the second roller portion 471a. According to the above structure, the first or second rolls 481a, 471a corresponding to an accumulation height of foreign object and dust may be suitably used to agglomerate the foreign matter and dust in a spherical shape. In other words, the first roller portion 481a may be used to agglomerate foreign matter and dust having a relatively larger volume than the second roller portion 471a into a spherical shape.

However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. The first and second roller portions 481a, 471a may have the same height with respect to the lower cover 460. In this case, a plurality of ribs constituting the first roller portion 481a and a plurality of ribs constituting the second roller portion 471a may be provided to cross each other along a rotational direction.

As illustrated above in FIG. 1, the vacuum cleaner 1 of the present disclosure is configured in such a manner that air including foreign matter, dust, fine dust, and ultrafine dust, which are sucked through the suction unit 20, is directly introduced into the dust collector 100 without passing through the cleaner body 10. To this end, an upper cover 140 of the dust collector 100 is provided with an inlet and an outlet for introducing and discharging air, respectively, and the inlet is directly connected to the connection unit 30 connected to the suction unit 20.

Hereinafter, the upper cover 140 having both an inlet and an outlet will be described in more detail.

FIG. 17 is a view illustrating that the upper cover 140 is separated from the dust collector 100 illustrated in FIG. 2, and FIG. 18 is a view in which an inlet side of the upper cover 140 illustrated in FIG. 17 is seen, and FIG. 19 is a view in which an outlet side of the upper cover 140 illustrated in FIG. 17 is seen, and FIG. 20 is a view in which a bottom side of the upper cover 140 illustrated in FIG. 17 is seen, and FIG. 21 is a conceptual view illustrating a flow current in the upper cover 140 illustrated in FIG. 17.

Referring to FIGS. 17 through 21 along with FIGS. 1 through 3 in the above, the upper cover 140 is mounted on an upper side of the outer case 101 to cover the cover member 130. Accordingly, the upper cover 140 is disposed to cover both the first and second cyclones 110, 120. The upper cover 140 may form an upper appearance of the dust collector 100.

The upper cover 140 is provided with an intake guide 140a and an exhaust guide

140b which form passages separated from each other. The intake guide 140a forms a passage for introducing air into the outer case 101, and the exhaust guide 140b forms a passage for discharging air from which foreign matter, dust and fine dust have been separated while passing through the first and second cyclones 110, 120.

The intake guide 140a and the exhaust guide 140b have an inlet 140a', 140b' and an outlet 140a, 140b, respectively. According to the present drawing, it is shown that the inlet 140a' of the intake guide 140a is open in a direction opposite to the outlet 140b of the exhaust guide 140b.

The connection unit 30 connected to the suction unit 20 for sucking air containing foreign matter, dust and fine dust is directly connected to the inlet of the intake guide 140a.

The outlet of the intake guide 140a is formed on a bottom surface of the upper cover 140 to communicate with an annular space between the outer case 101 and the first cyclone

110.

At least part of the intake guide 140a is bent and extended toward an inner circumference of the outer case 101 in such a manner that air introduced through the inlet

140a' performs a swirling movement in a spiral shape when flowing into the annular space.

In the present embodiment, it is shown that the intake guide 140a is formed as a single passage. In other words, the intake guide 140a is provided with one inlet 140a' and one outlet 140a. As a result, when compared with a modified example which will be described later, a cross-sectional area of the intake guide 140a may be increased to further reduce a phenomenon in which a large foreign matter is caught thereinside, and solve a problem of interference between structures and electronic components adjacent to the upper cover 140 at a predetermined level due to the simplification of the structure of the intake guide 140a.

The inlet of the exhaust guide 140b is formed on a bottom surface of the upper cover 140 to communicate with an inner space of the vortex finder 122 located in the second cyclone 120. Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the cover member 130 is formed with a communication hole 130a corresponding to the vortex finder 122, and thus the inlet of the exhaust guide 140b is configured to communicate with the communication hole 130a.

The inlet 140b' of the exhaust guide 140b may be formed on both sides of the intake guide 140a forming a single passage. The outlet 140b of the exhaust guide 140b is configured to communicate with the inlet 140b' of the exhaust guide 140b formed on both sides of the intake guide 140a.

Air discharged through the outlet 140b of the exhaust guide 140b may be discharged directly to the outside or discharged to the outside through the exhaust port of the cleaner body 10 as illustrated in FIG. 1. In the latter case, a porous prefilter (not shown) configured to filter ultrafme dust from the air may be installed on a passage extended from the outlet 140b of the dust collector 100 to the exhaust port of the cleaner body 10.

As described above, when the intake guide 140a is formed with a single flow path, and the exhaust guide 140b is formed using a vacant space of the intake guide 140a, it may be possible to provide the upper cover 140 having a secure suction efficiency.

The upper cover 140 having the foregoing structure may be integrally formed by injection molding. As illustrated in FIG 17, the upper cover 140 may be injection molded by three molds, which are assembled and separated in three directions, such as an inlet side (Ml) of the intake guide 140a, an outlet side (M2) of the exhaust guide 140b, and a bottom side (M3) of the upper cover 140.

Parting lines due to injection molding in the three directions may be respectively formed on the upper cover 140. Accordingly, it may be possible to check how the upper cover 140 is manufactured (i.e., whether or not the upper cover 140 is manufactured by injection molding in the same manner as that of the present embodiment) based on the parting line.

A problem in injection molding of the upper cover 140 depends on how to form the intake guide 140a and the exhaust guide 140b. In particular, when each of the intake guide 140a and the exhaust guide 140b is formed in three dimensions, a passage is formed by at least two molds, and the two molds must be able to meet with each other.

Referring to FIG 20, the intake guide 140a may be formed by two molds assembled in two directions, such as the inlet side (Ml) of the intake guide 140a and the bottom side (M3) of the upper cover 140. A region in which the two molds meet with each other is Ml3, and a parting line may be formed in the region.

Moreover, the exhaust guide 140b may be formed by two molds assembled in two 5 directions, such as the outlet side (M2) of the exhaust guide 140b and the bottom side (M3) of the upper cover 140. A region in which the two molds meet with each other is M23 provided on both sides of the intake guide 140a, and a parting line may be formed in the region.

In this manner, the upper cover 140 formed with the intake guide 140a and the 10 exhaust guide 140b may be injection molded at one time using three molds. Accordingly, it may be possible to increase the mass productivity of the upper cover 140.

Hereinafter, a modified example of an upper cover 540 in which an intake guide 540a is configured with one inlet 540a' and two outlets 540al, 540a2 will be described.

FIG. 22 is a conceptual view illustrating a modified example of the upper cover 15 140 illustrated in FIG. 17, and FIG. 23 is a view in which an inlet side of the upper cover

540 illustrated in FIG. 22 is seen, and FIG. 24 is a view in which an outlet side of the upper cover 540 illustrated in FIG. 22 is seen, and FIG. 25 is a view in which a bottom side of the upper cover 540 illustrated in FIG. 22 is seen, and FIG. 26 is a conceptual view illustrating a flow current in the upper cover 540 illustrated in FIG. 22.

Similarly to the foregoing embodiment, the upper cover 540 of the present modified example is mounted to cover the cover member 130 at an upper side of the outer case 101. Accordingly, the upper cover 540 is disposed to cover both the first and second cyclones 110, 120. The upper cover 540 may form an upper appearance of the dust collector 100.

Referring to FIGS. 22 to 26, the upper cover 540 is provided with an intake guide

540a and an exhaust guide 540b forming passages separated from each other. The intake guide 540a forms a passage for introducing air into the outer case 101, and the exhaust guide 540b forms a passage for discharging air from which foreign matter, dust and fine dust have been separated while passing through the first and second cyclones 110, 120.

The intake guide 540a and the exhaust guide 540b are provided with an inlet

540a', 540b' and an outlet 540al', 540a2/540b, respectively. According to the present drawing, it is shown that the inlet 540a' of the intake guide 540a has a shape that is open in a direction opposite to the outlet 540b of the exhaust guide 540b.

The present modified example is different from the foregoing embodiment in that the intake guide 540a has one inlet 540a' and two outlets 540al, 540a2. The inlet 540a' of the intake guide 540a is directly connected to the connection unit 30 connected to the suction unit 20 for sucking air containing foreign matter, dust and fine dust. The two outlets 540al, 540a2 of the intake guide 540a are formed on a bottom surface of the upper cover 540 to communicate with an annular space between the outer case 101 and the first cyclone 110.

The intake guide 540a includes a branch wall 540a3, and a first and a second branch passages 540al, 540a2.

The branch wall 540a3 is formed at a position facing the inlet of the intake guide 540a. Accordingly, air introduced through the inlet of the intake guide 540a may collides with the branch wall 540a3 to be scattered to both sides of the branch wall 540a3.

The branch wall 540a3 may be formed perpendicular to the inlet 540a' of the intake guide 540a. In this case, the air that has collided with the branch wall 540a3 may be evenly distributed to the left and right sides of the branch wall 540a3. However, in this case, due to a flow of air into the inlet 540a 'of the intake guide 540a, there may occur a phenomenon that foreign matter is attached to the branch wall 540a3 facing the inlet 540a' to be stagnant.

In order to prevent this, as illustrated in the drawing, the branch wall 540a3 may be formed to be inclined with respect to the inlet 540a' of the intake guide 540a. In other words, the branch wall 540a3 may be formed in a shape such that the left or right side thereof is inclined closer to the inlet. According to the above structure, it may be configured such that foreign matter is movable along the inclined branch wall 540a3, thereby solving a foreign matter stagnation phenomenon in a structure in which the branch wall 540a3 is formed perpendicular to the inlet 540a' of the intake guide 540a.

The first and second branch passages 540al, 540a2 are provided at both sides of the branch wall 540a3, and bent on at least part thereof and extended toward an inner circumference of the outer case 101 to perform a swirling movement in a spiral shape when air is introduced into an annular space between the outer case 101 and the first cyclone 110.

The first and second branch passages 540al, 540a2 may be extended in mutually the same rotational direction. In order to implement this, either one of the first and second branch passages 540al, 540a2 forms a passage toward a rear side of the branch wall 540a3 and the other one forms a passage toward a front side of the branch wall 540a3.

The inlet 540b' of the exhaust guide 540b is formed on a bottom surface of the upper cover 540 to communicate with an inner space of the vortex finder 122 located in the second cyclone 120. As described above, when the communication hole 130a corresponding to the vortex finder 122 is formed on the cover member 130, the inlet 140b' of the exhaust guide 540b is configured to communicate with the communication hole

130a.

The outlet 540b of the exhaust guide 540b is configured to communicate with the inlet 540b' of the exhaust guide 540b. Air discharged through the outlet 540b of the exhaust guide 540b is directly discharged to the outside, and discharged to the outside through an exhaust port of the cleaner body 10 as illustrated in FIG. 1. In the latter case, a porous prefilter (not shown) configured to filter ultrafine dust from the air may be installed on a passage extended from the outlet of the dust collector 100 to the exhaust port of the cleaner body 10.

FIG 27 is a conceptual view illustrating another example of a dust collector 600 illustrated in FIG 1, and FIG 28 is a conceptual view in which an inner case 650, a rotating member 670 and a lower cover 660 illustrated in FIG 27 are separated. For reference, a structure which will be described below may be also applicable to the structure of the above-described embodiments.

Referring to FIGS. 27 and 28, the inner case 650 is coupled to a lower portion of a housing 611 forming an outer shape of the first cyclone 610. The inner case 650 is provided a partition wall 651 for separating a space in which air is introduced into the first cyclone 610 and a space (i.e., second storage section (D2)) in which fine dust discharged through a discharge port 620b of the second cyclone 620 is stored. The partition wall 651 may be referred to as a functional separator.

A through hole 651a for inserting the second cyclone 620 is formed on the partition wall 651. A lower portion of the second cyclone 620 is installed to pass through the partition wall 651 through the through hole 651a. The discharge port 620b formed at a lower end of the second cyclone 620 is disposed below the partition 651. Therefore, fine dust discharged through the discharge port 620b is stored in the second storage section (D2) below the partition wall 651.

When the partition wall 651 is compared with the foregoing bottom surface 111b, 211b, 411b of the first cyclone 110, 210, 310, 410, both of them have the same function excluding that a formation position thereof is the inner case 650 other than the housing 111,

211 of the first cyclone 110, 210, 310, 410. Accordingly, a space separation structure due to the partition wall 651 of the present embodiment instead of a space separation structure due to the bottom surface 111b, 211b, 411b may be also applicable to the foregoing embodiments.

A stationary protrusion 652 to which a stationary ring 680 which will be described later is coupled is protruded from a lower end portion of the inner case 650. A plurality of stationary protrusions 652 may be disposed to be spaced apart from each other along am outer circumference of the inner case 650.

The rotating member 670 is disposed to surround at least part of the inner case

650. To this end, the rotating member 670 is provided with an accommodation portion

670a corresponding to an outer shape of the inner case 650. As illustrated in the drawing, when the inner case 650 has a bowl shape provided with a tapered portion having a narrower cross-sectional area at a lower end than an upper end thereof and a gradually reduced sectional area as it goes downward, the accommodation portion 670a may also be formed in a bowl shape corresponding thereto.

An extension portion 671 may be formed on a bottom surface of the rotating member 670 facing the lower cover 660 to extend downward along a rotational direction of the rotating member 670. In the present drawing, it is shown that the extension portion 671 is formed in a circular shape on a bottom surface of the rotating member 670 corresponding to the tapered portion of the accommodating portion 670a.

The rotating member 670 is configured to be rotatable around the fixed inner case

650. The rotating member 670 receives a driving force for rotation from the drive unit 50 (refer to FIG. 16) of the cleaner body through the driving force transmission unit 663. The rotating member 670 is configured to be rotatable in a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction, namely, in both directions.

The rotating member 670 of the present embodiment may be understood as a configuration in which the pressurizing units 170, 270 and the guide units 180, 280 of the foregoing embodiments are integrally formed in terms of geometry. The rotating member

670 may be formed as a single member by injection molding.

FIG. 29 is a conceptual view in which the rotating member 670 illustrated in FIG.

is seen from the bottom, and FIG. 30 is a side view illustrating the rotating member 670 illustrated in FIG. 29, and FIG. 31 is a plan view illustrating the rotating member 670 illustrated in FIG. 29;

Referring to FIGS. 29 through 31 along with FIGS. 27 and 28 illustrated in the above, the rotating member 670 has a skirt portion 672 extended downward from an upper portion thereof in an inclined downward direction. A gap between the skirt portion 672 and the outer case 601 gradually decreases it goes from the upper portion to the lower portion. As the skirt portion 672 is formed, foreign matter and dust falling without passing through a mesh filter 612 of the first cyclone 610 are introduced into the first storage section (DI) below the skirt portion 672, but the foreign matter and dust collected in the first storage section (DI) are restricted from flowing upward by the skirt portion 672. In other words, a backflow of foreign matter and dust collected in the first storage section (DI) is restricted by the skirt portion 672.

However, since the gap between the outer case 601 and the skirt portion 672 decreases toward the lower side, it may cause a problem in which the foreign matter is caught in the gap between the outer case 601 and the skirt portion 672 when a size of the foreign matter is large. It prevents other foreign matter and dust from flowing into the first storage section (DI).

However, in the present modified example, the rotating member 670 is configured to be rotatable, and thus even if foreign matter is caught in a gap between the skirt 672 and the outer case 601, the foreign matter may be released by the rotation of the rotating member 670. The foreign matter released from the gap between the skirt 672 and the outer case 601 may be introduced into the first storage section (DI) by rotational flow due to the driving of the vacuum cleaner 1.

According to the present drawing, it is shown that the skirt portion 672 is extended downward in an inclined manner from an upper end of the rotating member 670 to the outside, and a gap 670b is formed thereinside. The gap 670b is formed to gradually increase from an upper portion of the skirt portion 672 toward a lower portion thereof. The skirt portion 672 may be disposed above the extension portion 671. In other words, a lower end of the skirt portion 672 may be located above a lower end of the extension portion 671, A protruding portion 673 may be formed on an outer circumferential surface of the skirt portion 672 facing an inner circumferential surface of the outer case 601. The protruding portion 673 performs the role of allowing a user to intuitively know whether or not the rotating member 670 rotates by looking at the protruding portion 673 being rotated during the rotation of the rotating member 670.

For an example, as illustrated in the drawing, the protruding portion 673 may be extended in an inclined manner along a circumference of the skirt portion 672. Here, the inclination includes both a linear-shaped and spiral-shaped slope. The protruding portion 673 may be configured with a plurality of ribs disposed to be spaced apart from each other along the circumference of the skirt 672. Each of the ribs may be introduced into the dust collector 600 and extended in an inclined manner along a flow direction of air circulating along an inner circumference of the outer case 601. Each rib may be protruded by a uniform height from the skirt portion 672 along an extension direction.

Here, the protruding portion 673 is protruded by a length shorter than that of the vane 182, 282, 382 of the foregoing embodiments. Accordingly, the protruding portion 673 is a member performing a function of allowing the user to intuitively know whether or not the rotating member 670 rotates rather than performing a guide function such as the vane 182, 282, 382, and thus may be understood as a geometrical screw.

For another example, the protruding portion 673 may be formed of a plurality of 5 protrusions (not shown) protruded from an outer circumferential surface of the skirt portion 672. The plurality of protrusions may be disposed to be spaced apart at preset intervals.

A recess portion (not shown) in place of the protruding portion 673 may be formed on the skirt portion 672. In other words, the recess portion is formed in a recessed shape inwardly from an outer circumferential surface of the skirt portion 672 to perform the role of allowing the user to intuitively know whether or not the rotating member 670 rotates by looking at the protruding portion 673 being rotated during the rotation of the rotating member 670. The recess portion may be extended in an elongated manner or configured with a combination of recessed grooves in a dot shape.

The rotating member 670 is provided with a roller portion 674 which rolls foreign matter and dust collected in the first storage section (DI) to be agglomerated. The roller portion 674 may be configured with a plurality of ribs disposed to be spaced apart from each other on one surface of the rotating member 670 facing the lower cover 660. The plurality of ribs may be extended in a direction intersecting a rotational direction of the rotating member 670.

In the present embodiment, it is shown that a plurality of ribs constituting the roller portion 674 are disposed apart from each other at regular intervals along an inner circumference of the extension portion 671, and each of the plurality of ribs is disposed in a radial direction of the rotating member 670. According to the above arrangement, when the rotating member 670 is seen from the bottom, the plurality of ribs constituting the roller portion 674 have a radially extended shape around a rotating shaft of the rotating member 670.

During the rotation of the rotating member 670, the plurality of ribs constituting the roller portion 674 are sequentially brought into contact with an upper portion of foreign matter and dust collected in the first storage section (DI). The foreign matter and dust receive a rotational force due to the contact to be rolled in a state of being agglomerated in a substantially spherical shape according to a rotational direction of the rotating member

670.

A pressurizing portion 677 may be protruded from the rotating member 670 in a radial direction. The pressurizing portion 677 is disposed to cross the annular first storage section (DI) in a radial direction, and configured to rotate in the first storage section (DI) according to the rotation of the rotating member 670. The pressurizing portion 677 may be formed in a plate shape. Dust collected in the first storage section (DI) is moved by the rotation of the pressurizing portion 677 and collected in an inner wall 601b, and when a large amount of dust is accumulated, the dust is pressurized and compressed by the pressurizing portion 677.

FIG. 32 is a conceptual view illustrating a configuration in which the stationary ring 680 is coupled to the inner case 650 illustrated in FIG 28.

Referring to FIG 32 along with FIGS. 27 through 31, the rotating member 670 is rotatably coupled to the inner case 650. For the coupling, the stationary ring 680 is fastened to the stationary protrusion 652 protruded from a lower end of the inner case 650 in a state that the inner case 650 is accommodated in the accommodation portion 670a of the rotating member 670.

The stationary ring 680 is provided with a locking hole (or locking groove) 681 formed in an annular shape and mounted to surround a lower end portion of the inner case

650, and into which the stationary protrusion 652 is inserted. The stationary ring 680 may be formed with a cut-out portion 682 to elastically deform a stationary portion. The stationary ring 680 may be formed of a synthetic resin material or a metal material.

A locking protrusion 675 is protruded from a lower inner circumference of the 5 rotating member 670. The locking protrusion 675 may be protruded from an inside of the accommodation portion 670a, and extended along the inner circumference.

The locking protrusion 675 is disposed on the stationary ring 680 in a state that the stationary ring 680 is fastened to a lower end portion of the inner case 650. In other words, the stationary ring 680 is disposed to cover at least part of the locking projection

675 from the bottom when the locking ring 680 is mounted on the inner case 650.

Therefore, even if the lower cover 660 is rotated by a hinge to open the first storage section (DI), the locking protrusion 675 may be caught and supported by the stationary ring 680 to maintain a state that the rotating member 670 is coupled to the inner case 650.

On the other hand, a stopper 653 is provided at an upper end of the inner case 650, and disposed to cover an upper end of the rotating member 670. An upward movement of the rotating member 670 may be restricted by the stopper 653. In other words, a mounting position of the rotating member 670 with respect to the inner case 650 may be limited by the stationary ring 680 and the stopper 653.

FIG. 33 is an exploded perspective view illustrating the lower cover 660 illustrated in FIG. 28, and FIG. 34 is a conceptual view illustrating a configuration in which the lower cover 660 is closed in the configuration illustrated in FIG. 32;

Referring to FIGS. 33 and 34 along with FIGS. 27 through 32 in the above, the lower cover 660 is provided with a driving force transmission unit 663. The driving force transmission unit 663 is connected to the drive unit 50 (refer to FIG. 16) provided in the cleaner body 10 when the dust collector 600 is mounted on the cleaner body 10, and the lower cover 660 is connected to the rotating member 670 when mounted to cover a lower opening of the outer case 601.

In other words, the driving force transmission unit 663 is connected to the drive unit 50 of the cleaner body 10 and the rotating member 670, respectively, and configured to transmit a rotational driving force to the rotating member 670.

The drive unit 50 includes a drive motor 51 and a drive gear 52 connected to the drive motor 51 to be rotatable. At least part of the drive gear 52 is exposed from the cleaner body 10 in such a manner that the drive gear 52 is configured to couple with a driven gear 663a of the driving force transmission unit 663, which will be described later, when the dust collector 600 is mounted on the cleaner body 10.

The driving force transmission unit 663 is rotated by receiving a driving force from the drive unit 50 provided in the cleaner body 10, and includes a driven gear 663a and a fastening member 663b.

The driven gear 663a is exposed to a lower portion of the lower cover 660 and configured to be rotatable with respect to the lower cover 660. The driven gear 663a is configured to couple with the drive gear 52 to receive a driving force of the drive motor 51 when the dust collector 600 is coupled to the cleaner body 10. The driven gear 663a may be installed to be spaced apart by a predetermined distance (for example, 0.01-0.5 mm) from a bottom surface of the lower cover 660.

The fastening gear 663b is coupled to the driven gear 663 a, and configured to be rotatable along with the driven gear 663 a. In other words, the fastening gear 663b rotates at the same RPM (Revolution Per Minute) as that of the driven gear 663 a. A boss portion 663 a' provided at the center of the driven gear 663 a is protruded to an upper portion of the lower cover 660 through a hole 660a, and the fastening gear 663b is fastened to the boss portion 663 a' at an upper portion of the lower cover 660.

A fastening between the driven gear 663 a and the fastening gear 663b may be achieved by a hooking or fastening member (e.g., screw, rivet, etc.) to each other. The fastening member may be fastened to the driven gear 663a through the fastening gear 663b or reversely, fastened to the fastening gear 663b through the driven gear 663 a.

Here, a bearing 663 c for reducing a frictional force may be inserted into the boss portion 663a' exposed to an upper portion of the lower cover 660, and the bearing 663c may be disposed to be brought into contact with the fastening gear 663b.

The fastening gear 663b is disposed on an upper portion of the lower cover 660 to couple with the fastening protrusion 676 provided on a lower inner circumference of the rotating member 670 when the lower cover 660 is coupled to the outer case 101. According to the present drawing, it is shown that a gear portion 663b' having a plurality of teeth is provided at an upper portion of the fastening gear 663b in such a manner that the fastening protrusion 676 can be inserted between the plurality of teeth.

A sealing portion 663b may be extended along an outer circumference of the fastening gear 663b below the gear portion 673b' in the fastening gear 663b. The sealing portion 663b is closely brought into contact with a lower inner circumferential surface of the rotating member 670 to prevent foreign matter or dust from being introduced into the rotating member 670. The sealing portion 663b may be formed to include a rubber material, a silicone material, and the like. The sealing portion 663b may restrict foreign matter or dust from being introduced into a side of the driving force transmission unit 663, thereby enhancing the driving reliability of the driving force transmission unit 663.

At least one or more circular ribs 660b, 660c around the hole 660a on which the driven gear 663a is mounted may be formed on a bottom surface of the lower cover 660. The circular ribs 660b, 660c performs the role of preventing dust and foreign matter collected in the first storage section (DI) from flowing thereinto. As illustrated in the drawing, when the sealing portion 663b is disposed to surround the circular rib 660b, it may be possible to more effectively block the inflow of foreign matter.

A plurality of circular ribs 660b, 660c may be may be provided thereon, and disposed in a concentric shape, and a filler 660d may be inserted into an annular space defined by the circular ribs 660b, 660c. A fabric (e.g., a felt material) may be used as the filler 660d. The filler 660d is configured to support the driven gear 663a and capture dust or foreign matter flowing into the inside.

A sealing unit 664 may be mounted on the fastening gear 663b. The sealing unit 664 may be fastened to the fastening gear 663b by a hook coupling method. A fastening between the sealing unit 664 and the fastening gear 663b may be of course achieved through a separate fastening member (not shown).

The sealing unit 664 is disposed to cover a lower opening of the inner case 650 when the lower cover 660 is coupled to the outer case 101. A portion of the sealing unit 664 brought into contact with a lower opening of the inner case 650 may be formed of an elastic material for sealing. The sealing unit 664 is configured to form a bottom surface of the second storage section (D2), thereby preventing the collected fine dust from being introduced into a side of the driving force transmission unit 663.

The sealing unit 664 is configured to be movable in an axial direction (i.e., vertical direction) with respect to the fastening gear 663b. According to the above configuration, when the vacuum cleaner 1 is driven, the sealing unit 664 is configured not to rotate along with the driving force transmission unit 663 even if the driving force transmission unit 663 is rotated (i.e., even if the fastening gear 663b is rotated). In other words, when the vacuum cleaner 1 is driven, the sealing unit 664 is coupled to the fastening gear 663b, but placed in a non-rotating stop state.

Specifically, when the vacuum cleaner 1 is driven in a state that the sealing unit

664 is disposed to cover a lower opening of the inner case 650, the sealing unit 664 is lifted up to an upper side of the fastening gear 663b due to a pressure difference (in a state that a vacuum pressure is applied) and closely fixed to the inner case 650. Accordingly, the sealing unit 664 is not rotated along with the fastening gear 663b. In other words, even if the driving force transmission unit 663 is rotated, the sealing unit 664 may be fixed in a state of being disposed to cover a lower opening of the inner case 650.

However, when the driving of the vacuum cleaner 1 is suspended to release a pressure difference (in a state that a vacuum pressure is released), the sealing unit 664 is seated on the fastening gear 663b to rotate along with the fastening gear 663b.

According to the above structure, when the lower cover 660 is coupled to the outer case 101, the driving force transmission unit 663 is connected to the rotating member 670 of the dust collector 600, and when the dust collector 600 is coupled to the cleaner body 10, the driving force transmission unit 663 is connected to the drive unit 50 of the cleaner body 10. Thus, a driving force generated from the drive unit 50 is transmitted to the rotating member 670 through the driving force transmission unit 663.

At this time, the rotation of the driving motor 51 may be controlled to repeatedly generate a bidirectional rotation of the rotating member 670. For example, the drive motor 51 may be configured to rotate in an opposite direction when a repulsive force is applied in a direction opposite to the rotational direction. The repulsive force may be generated by the pressurizing portion 677. When the pressurizing portion 667 rotates in one direction to compress dust collected in one side at a predetermined level, the drive motor 51 rotates in the other direction due to a repulsive force by the compression to compress the dust collected in the other side.

When there is (almost) no dust, the pressurizing portion 677 may be configured to collide with the inner wall 601b to receive a corresponding repulsive force or receive a repulsive force by a stopper structure (not shown) provided on a rotating path of the pressurizing portion 667 to rotate in an opposite direction.

On the contrary, the controller within the cleaner body 10 may apply a control signal to the drive motor to change a rotational direction of the pressurizing portion 677 at regular intervals, thereby repeatedly generating the bidirectional rotation of the pressurizing portion 667.

By the pressurizing portion 667, dust collected in the first storage section (DI) is gathered or compressed in a predetermined region. Therefore, it may be possible to suppress the scattering of dust during the process of throwing away dust, and remarkably reduce a possibility of being discharged to an unintended place.

FIGS. 35 and 36 are views in which a first modified example of the rotating member 670 illustrated in FIG. 28 is seen from different directions, and FIG. 37 is a plan view illustrating the rotating member 770 illustrated in FIG. 35, and FIG. 38 is a bottom view illustrating the rotating member 770 illustrated in FIG. 35.

The rotating member 770 of the present modified example slightly differs from the rotating member 670 of the previous embodiment in the shape of the protruding portion.

Referring to FIGS. 35 through 38, an extension portion 771 may be extended downward and formed along a rotational direction of the rotating member 770 on a bottom surface of the rotary member 770 facing the lower cover. According to the present drawing, it is shown that the extension portion 771 is formed in a circular shape on the bottom surface of the rotating member 770 corresponding to a tapered portion of the accommodating portion 770a.

The rotating member 770 is provided with a skirt portion 772 extended downward in an outwardly inclined manner from an upper portion thereof. According to the present drawing, it is shown that the skirt portion 772 is extended downward in an inclined manner from an upper end of the rotating member 770 to the outside, and a gap 770b is formed thereinside. The gap 770b is formed to gradually increase from an upper portion of the skirt portion 772 toward a lower portion thereof. The skirt portion 772 may be disposed above the extension portion 771. In other words, a lower end of the skirt portion 772 may be located above a lower end of the extension portion 771.

A protruding portion 773 may be formed on an outer circumferential surface of the skirt portion 772 facing an inner circumferential surface of the outer case 701. The protruding portion 773 performs the role of allowing a user to intuitively know whether or not the rotating member 770 rotates by looking at the protruding portion 773 being rotated during the rotation of the rotating member 770.

The protruding portion 773 may be extended in an inclined manner along a circumference of the skirt portion 772. Here, the inclination includes both a linear-shaped and spiral-shaped slope. The protruding portion 773 may be configured with a plurality of ribs disposed to be spaced apart from each other along the circumference of the skirt 772. Each of the ribs may be introduced into the dust collector 700 and extended in an inclined manner along a flow direction of air circulating along an inner circumference of the outer case 701.

Each of the ribs may be formed in such a manner that an extent of being gradually protruded from the skirt portion 772 along an extension direction increases and then decreases again. In other words, each of the ribs gradually increases in height from an upper end of the skirt portion 772 to have a maximum protrusion height at a middle portion thereof, and then gradually decreases in height to a lower end of the skirt portion 772. Thus, each of the ribs has a rounded shape toward the outside.

Here, the protruding portion 773 is protruded by a length shorter than that of the vane 182, 282, 382 of the foregoing embodiments. Accordingly, the protruding portion 773 is a member performing a function of allowing the user to intuitively know whether or not the rotating member 770 rotates rather than performing a guide function such as the vane

182, 282, 382, and thus may be understood as a geometrical screw.

The rotating member 770 is provided with a roller portion 774 which rolls foreign matter and dust collected in the first storage section (DI) to be agglomerated. The roller portion 774 may be configured with a plurality of ribs disposed to be spaced apart from each other on one surface of the rotating member 770 facing the lower cover. The plurality of ribs may be extended in a direction intersecting a rotational direction of the rotating member 770.

In the present embodiment, it is shown that a plurality of ribs constituting the roller portion 774 are disposed apart from each other at regular intervals along an inner circumference of the extension portion 771, and each of the plurality of ribs is disposed in a radial direction of the rotating member 770. According to the above arrangement, when the rotating member 770 is seen from the bottom, the plurality of ribs constituting the roller portion 774 have a radially extended shape around a rotating shaft of the rotating member 770.

A pressurizing portion 777 may be protruded from the rotating member 770 in a radial direction. The pressurizing portion 777 is disposed to cross the annular first storage section (DI) in a radial direction, and configured to rotate in the first storage section (DI) according to the rotation of the rotating member 770. The pressurizing portion 777 may be formed in a plate shape. Dust collected in the first storage section (DI) is moved by the rotation of the pressurizing portion 777 and collected in an inner wall 701b, and when a large amount of dust is accumulated, the dust is pressurized and compressed by the pressurizing portion 777.

FIGS. 39 and 40 are views in which a second modified example of the rotating member 670 illustrated in FIG 28 is seen from different directions, and FIG 41 is a plan view illustrating the rotating member 870 illustrated in FIG 39, and FIG 42 is a bottom view illustrating the rotating member 870 illustrated in FIG 39.

Referring to FIGS. 39 through 42, a skirt portion 872 is provided at an upper portion of the rotating member 870. The skirt portion 872 has a shape in which a first skirt 872a and a second skirt 872b having a trapezoidal shape are connected in a stepped manner by a connection portion 872c and repeatedly arranged along a circumference of the rotating member 870. The first skirt 872a and the second skirt 872b may have the same shape and size.

The first and second skirts 872a, 872b are gradually extended in an inclined manner to the outside as they go from the upper portion to the lower portion, and formed to be gradually away from the rotating shaft along any one rotational direction of the rotation members 870. Accordingly, a gap between the first skirt 872a and the second skirt

872b gradually increases as it goes from the upper portion to the lower portion.

The connection portion 872c is configured to connect the first skirt 872a and the second skirt 872b. The connection 872c is extended inwardly from the first skirt 872a and connected to the second skirt 872b. The connection portion 872c has a shape in which an area thereof gradually increases as it goes from the upper portion to the lower portion.

The skirt portion 872 may have a corrugated shape as the skirt portion 872 is configured with a combination of the first skirt 872a, the connection portion 872c and the second skirt 872c. Since the skirt portion 872 has a corrugated shape in terms of appearance, the user may by view the skirt portion 872 being rotated during the rotation of the rotating member 870 to intuitively know whether or not the rotating member 870 rotates.

The skirt portion 872 may also be referred to as a protruding array portion from a morphological point of view. The protruding array portion is formed by repeatedly arranging a first portion (corresponding to the first and second skirts 872a, 872b having the same shape and size) extended gradually away from the rotating shaft along any one rotational direction of the rotating member 870 and a second portion (corresponding to the connection portion 872c) extended from the first portion toward the rotating shaft along a circumference of the rotating member 870.

As described above, the skirt portion 872 may be also described by the configuration of the protruding array portion. For example, the first portion may be gradually extended outwardly in an inclined manner as it goes from the upper portion to the lower portion, and the second portion may gradually increase in area as it goes from the upper portion to the lower portion.

As a gap between the skirt portion 872 and the outer case (not shown, refer to reference numeral 601 in FIG. 27) gradually decreases as it goes from the upper portion to the lower portion of the skirt portion 872, a backflow of foreign matter and dust may be restricted.

According to the present drawing, it is shown that the first and second skirts 872a, 872b are extended downward in an outwardly inclined manner from an upper end of the rotating member 870 to form a gap 870b between the inner wall forming the accommodating portion 870a and the first and second skirts 872a, 872b.

Moreover, during the rotation of the rotating member 870, the skirt portion 872 performs the role of rolling foreign matter and dust collected in the first storage section (DI) to be agglomerated. Specifically, a lower end of the skirt portion 872 is formed in a shape in which bottom surfaces 872a', 872c', 872b' formed by the first skirt 872a, the connection portion 872c, and the second skirt 872b are repeatedly connected.

Here, the bottom surfaces 872a', 872b' of the first and second skirts 872a, 872b have a shape substantially following a rotational direction of the rotating member 870, but the bottom surfaces 872c ' of the connection portion 872c has a shape crossing (approximately perpendicular) a rotational direction of the rotating member 870. The bottom surface 872c 'of the connection portion 872c is disposed to be spaced apart from the rotating member 870 at regular intervals.

Accordingly, when the rotating member 870 rotates along any one rotational direction (RI) thereof, the bottom surface 872b' of the connection portion 872c is located at an outer side than the bottom surface 872b' of the second skirt 872b, and brought into contact with foreign matter and dust collected in the first storage section (DI) to apply a rotational force. The foreign object and dust are repeatedly brought into contact with the bottom surface 872b' of the connection portion 872c during the rotation of the rotating member 870. Accordingly, the foreign object and the dust are rolled in the annular first storage section (DI) in a state of being agglomerated in a substantially spherical shape according to a rotational direction of the rotating member 870.

On the contrary, when the rotating member 870 rotates along another rotational direction (R2) (when the rotating member 870 rotates in a counter-clockwise direction with reference to Fig. 42), the bottom surface 872c' of the connection portion 872c is located at an inner side than the bottom surface 872a' formed by the first skirt 872a, and thus almost no rotational force is applied to foreign matter and dust collected in the first storage section (DI). Therefore, when the rotating member 870 rotates along another rotational direction, the rolling of foreign matter and dust is restricted to a predetermined level.

Therefore, even if the rotating member 870 is rotated in both directions, foreign matter and dust collected in the first storage section (DI) are only rolled along any one rotational direction to provide the directionality of rolling. When the agglomerated foreign matter and dust are also rolled in an opposite direction, the loosening of the agglomerated foreign matter and dust may occur, but when the rolling directionality is provided by the structure, it may be possible to prevent such a phenomenon.

The rolling function will be described below with a configuration of the protruding array portion. A bottom surface of the second portion is disposed to face the lower cover covering a lower opening of the outer case, and configured to be brought into contact with foreign matter and dust collected in the first storage section (DI) to apply a rotational force when the rotating member 870 rotates in any one rotational direction (RI).

The bottom surface of the second portion is repeatedly disposed along a circumference of the rotating member 870 to be brought into contact with foreign matter and dust collected in the foreign-matter-dust storage section during the rotation of the rotating member 870.

On the other hand, when the rotating member 870 rotates in another rotational direction (R2), the rolling of foreign matter and dust collected in the foreign-matter-dust storage section is restricted by the first portion disposed in front of the second portion.

A pressurizing portion 877 may be protruded on the rotating member 870 in a radial direction. The pressurizing portion 877 is disposed to cross the annular first storage section (DI) in a radial direction, and configured to rotate in the first storage section (DI) according to the rotation of the rotating member 870. The pressurizing portion 877 may be formed in a plate shape. Dust collected in the first storage section (DI) is moved by the rotation of the pressurizing portion 877 and collected at the inner wall of the outer case (not shown), and pressurized and compressed by the pressurizing portion 877 when a lot of dust is accumulated.

2017260477 20 Jun 2019

Throughout this specification and the claims which follow, unless the context requires otherwise, the word comprise, and variations such as comprises and comprising, will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or step or group of integers or steps but not the exclusion of any other integer or step or group of integers or steps.

The reference in this specification to any prior publication (or information derived from it), or to any matter which is known, is not, and should not be taken as an acknowledgment or admission or any form of suggestion that that prior publication (or information derived from it) or known matter forms part of the common general knowledge in the field of endeavour to which this specification relates.

Claims

THE CLAIMS DEFINING THE INVENTION ARE AS FOLLOWS:

1. A vacuum cleaner, comprising: a cleaner body; and

5 a dust collector disposed in the cleaner body, wherein the dust collector comprises:

a first cyclone provided within an outer case to filter foreign matter and dust from air introduced from an outside thereof and introduce the air from which foreign matter and dust have been filtered thereinto;

10 a second cyclone accommodated within the first cyclone to separate fine dust from the air introduced into the first cyclone; and a rotating member disposed at a lower side of the first cyclone and configured to be rotatable so as to define a first storage section configured to collect foreign matter and dust filtered by the first cyclone between the rotating member and the outer case, and

15 wherein the rotating member comprises:

a roller portion disposed to face a lower cover that covers a lower opening of the outer case, and be brought in contact with foreign matter and dust collected in the first storage section during the rotation of the rotating member to apply a rotational force; and a skirt portion extended downward in an outwardly inclined manner from an 20 upper portion thereof, wherein a protruding portion or recess portion is formed to extend in an inclined manner along a circumference of the skirt portion.
2. The vacuum cleaner of claim 1, wherein the roller portion comprises a plurality 25 of ribs disposed to be spaced apart from each other along a rotational direction of the

2017260477 20 Jun 2019 rotating member, and sequentially brought into contact with foreign matter and dust collected in the first storage section during the rotation of the rotating member.
3. The vacuum cleaner of claim 2, wherein each of the plurality of ribs is 5 extended in a radial direction at preset intervals.
4. The vacuum cleaner of claim 2, wherein an extension portion is formed on a bottom surface of the rotating member facing the lower cover to extend downward along a rotational direction of the rotating member, and

10 the plurality of ribs are disposed to be spaced apart from each other along an inner circumference of the extension portion.
5. The vacuum cleaner of claim 1, wherein the protruding portion or recess portion is dot-shaped protrusions or grooves disposed to be spaced apart at regular

15 intervals.
6. The vacuum cleaner of claim 1, wherein a driving force transmission unit connected to a drive unit of the cleaner body and the rotating member, respectively, to transmit a rotational driving force to the rotating member is mounted on the lower cover.
7. The vacuum cleaner of claim 7, wherein the driving force transmission unit comprises:

a driven gear exposed to a lower portion of the lower cover, and engaged with a driving gear of the drive unit when the dust collector is mounted on the cleaner body; and

25 a fastening gear connected to the driven gear at an upper portion of the lower

2017260477 20 Jun 2019 cover, and fastened to the rotating member when the lower cover is mounted to cover the lower opening of the outer case.
8. The vacuum cleaner of claim 7, wherein the fastening gear comprises:

5 a gear portion engaged with a fastening protrusion provided on a lower inner circumference of the rotating member when the lower cover is mounted to cover the lower opening of the outer case; and a sealing portion disposed below the gear portion to extend in a loop shape along an outer circumference of the fastening gear, and closely brought into contact with a lower

10 inner circumferential surface of the rotating member.
9. The vacuum cleaner of claim 7, further comprising:

an inner case disposed at a lower portion of the first cyclone to accommodate a discharge port of the second cyclone and form a second storage section for collecting fine

15 dust discharged through the discharge port therein, and accommodated into an accommodation portion of the rotating member, wherein a sealing unit disposed to cover the lower opening of the inner case when the lower cover is mounted to cover the lower opening of the outer case to form a bottom surface of the second storage section is mounted on the fastening gear.
10. The vacuum cleaner of claim 9, wherein the sealing unit is configured to be lifted up to an upper side of the fastening gear due to a pressure difference during the operation of the vacuum cleaner so as not to rotate.

25
11. The vacuum cleaner of claim 1, further comprising:

2017260477 20 Jun 2019 an inner case disposed at a lower portion of the first cyclone to accommodate a discharge port of the second cyclone and form a second storage section for collecting fine dust discharged through the discharge port therein, and accommodated into an accommodation portion of the rotating member; and

5 a stationary ring mounted to surround a lower end portion of the inner case in a state that the inner case is accommodated in the accommodation portion to support a locking protrusion protruded from an inner circumference of a lower end portion of the rotating member.

10
12. The vacuum cleaner of claim 1, wherein the rotating member is provided with a pressurizing portion protruded in a radial direction and disposed to intersect the annular first storage section in a radial direction, and configured to rotate in the first storage section according to the rotation of the rotating member.

15
13. A vacuum cleaner, comprising:

a cleaner body; and a dust collector disposed in the cleaner body, wherein the dust collector comprises:

a first cyclone provided within an outer case to filter foreign matter and dust from

20 air introduced from an outside thereof and introduce the air from which foreign matter and dust have been filtered thereinto;

a second cyclone accommodated within the first cyclone to separate fine dust from the air introduced into the first cyclone; and a rotating member disposed at a lower side of the first cyclone and configured to

25 be rotatable so as to define a first storage section configured to collect foreign matter and

2017260477 20 Jun 2019 dust filtered by the first cyclone between the rotating member and the outer case, and wherein the rotating member is provided with a plurality of ribs disposed to face a lower cover that covers a lower opening of the outer case, and disposed to be spaced apart from each other along a rotational direction of the rotating member; and

5 a skirt portion extended downward in an outwardly inclined manner from an upper portion thereof, wherein a protruding portion or recess portion is formed around the skirt portion, and the protruding portion or recess portion is dot-shaped protrusions or grooves

10 disposed to be spaced apart at regular intervals.
14. The vacuum cleaner of claim 13, wherein each of the plurality of ribs is extended in a radial direction at preset intervals.
15 15. The vacuum cleaner of claim 14, wherein an extension portion is formed on a bottom surface of the rotating member facing the lower cover to extend downward along a rotational direction of the rotating member, and the plurality of ribs are disposed to be spaced apart from each other along an inner circumference of the extension portion.