CA1260212A

CA1260212A - Means for cleaning filters in wet and dry vacuum cleaners

Info

Publication number: CA1260212A
Application number: CA000470227A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Martti Ollila
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1983-12-16
Filing date: 1984-12-14
Publication date: 1989-09-26
Also published as: EP0197036A1; FI71660C; FI71660B; EP0197036B1; IT8449305A0; WO1985002528A1; IT8449305A1; DE3481476D1; FI834633A0; IT1178293B; FI834633A

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE:

A means for cleaning the filters in wet and dry vacuum cleaners consisting of at least one motor, pro-vided with a filter, in conjunction with a vacuum cleaner and drawing liquid, dust or equivalent substance into a tank of the vacuum cleaner. In the means of the invention, for cleaning purposes a blowing circulation can be produced through the filter, which is opposite in direction to the normal direction in which the air passes through, using the own motor of the vacuum cleaner.

Description

The present invention concerns a means for cleaning filters in wet an~ dry vacuum cleaners, said means consisting of at least one motor provided with a fil-ter, in conjunction with the vacuum cleaner, and which draws the liquid, dust or equivalent matter into the tank of the vacuum cleaner.
A drawback of this kind of vacuum cleaners of prior art is that cleaning of the filters is carried out either by disposal or by manual cleaning. This is either expensive or unhygienic. The object of the present invention is to provide a new kind of means for cleaning the filters in wet and dry vacuum cleaners.
According to the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for cleaning at least one filter in a wet and dry vacuum cleaner by reversed circulation in said at least one filter comprising at least one motor provided with said at least one filter and being associated with the vacuum cleaner for drawing a fluid containing matter to be filtered into a tank of said vacuum cleaner; means for closing a suction air exhaust port of said cleaner; and means for reversing circulation in said at least one filter, thereby producing an internal filter cleaning blowing circulation in said cleaner.
Thus, with the aid of the invention, cleaning of the filters is substantially faster, and less handli.ng of dust and refuse is required. The cleaning which -takes place faster and with greater ease increases the effectiveness of the means in the working environment.
A preferred embodiment of the invention, in which the vacuum cleaner has two motors, each provided with a filter, is characterized in that in the suction air exit port of the vacuum cleaner there is a shut-off valve known in itself in the art, by closing which an operating only one motor a cleaning blowing circulation can be produced in the x~

filter associated with the other motor.
Since the vacuum cleaner is very often provided with two motors, the cleaning blowing circulation of the invention is therefore easy to accomplish. This is a solution which is not only reliable in operation but also advan-- la -o~

tageous.
Another preferable embodimen-t of the invention, wherein the vacuum cleaner has one motor with filter, is characterized in that in the duct between the filter and the motor has been inserted and auxiliary filter, provided with a shut-off valve, and another by-pass duct, provided with a shut-off valve, leading to the exhaust air space, whereby in the filter can be produced a cleaning blowing circulation by opening the shut-off valves.
Thus, this other embodiment is likewise relia-ble in operation and applicable on vacuum cleaner types having one motor of which the direction of blowing cannot be changed.
The invention is described in the following with the aid of examples and referring to the attached drawings, in which:
Figs 1-4 present the means according to one embodiment.
Fi~9 5-6 present the means of another embodi-ment, In fig. 1, a two-motor vacuum cleaner is shown in normal use. In fig. 2, the filter on motor A is being cleaned and motor B is running, and the shut-off valve 6 is closed to the exhaust air. In fig. 3, the filter on motor B is being cleaned and motor A is running, and the shut-off valve 6 is closed to the exhaust air.Fig. 4 depicts the cleaning of the filter on motor A, but forced circula-tion is in use because the intake port 13 is closed and the shut-off valve 6 is closed. The same cleaning sys-tem operates even more efficiently when the number of motors is increased.
Fig. 5 shows a single-motor vacuum cleaner in normal use with the valve 22 of the auxiliary filter 19 closed and the valve 21 in the by-pass tube closed.

x~

The exhaust valve 16 is open. Fig. 6 depicts the cleaning of the filter of a single-motor vacuum cleaner -through an auxiliary filter 19. The shut-off valve 26 of the main filter 20 is closed and the valve 16 in the exhaust pipe is closed. The shut-off valve 22 of the auxiliary filter 19 is open and the shut-off valve 21 is open. By these ~unctions, an efficient forced circulation is achieved.
Tha shut-off valve is controlled by one push rod 17.
It is obvious to a person skilled in the art that the invention is not confined to the examples pre-sented in the foregoing but may vary within the scope of the claims stated below.

.

Claims

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed, are defined as follows:

1. Apparatus for cleaning at least one filter in a wet and dry vacuum cleaner by reversed circulation in said at least one filter, comprising at least one motor provided with said at least one filter and being associated with the vacuum cleaner for drawing a fluid containing matter to be filtered into a tank of said vacuum cleaner, means for closing a suction air exhaust port of said cleaner; and means for reversing circulation in said at least one filter, thereby producing an internal filter cleaning blowing circulation in said cleaner.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said at least one motor is constituted of two motors provided with two respective filters which forms said at least one filter, and wherein said means for closing comprise a shut-off valve for closing the suction air exhaust port of said cleaner, whereby by using only one of said motors said internal filter cleaning blowing circulation is obtained in the filter of the other of said motors.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said at least one motor is constituted of one motor, and said at least one filter is constituted of one filter and comprising an auxiliary filter and a by-pass duct leading into an exhaust air space of the motor, said by-pass duct being connected to a duct between said one filter and said one motor, said auxiliary filter and said by-pass duct being provided respectively with shut-off valves, said one filter being provided with a further shut-off valve, said internal filter cleaning blowing circulation being obtained by opening said shut-off valves of said auxiliary filter and by-pass duct by closing said further shut-off valve, and by closing the exhaust port of said cleaner.