CA1288908C - Hand vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT
A hand-held vacuum cleaner having a housing, rotating brush andselectively-separable bag assembly; said housing including a bag attachment collar having a recessed slot area, said bag assembly including an elastomeric retaining ring having a sealing and retaining bead for reception in said recessed slot area, said ring including a lead-on flange and a bag assembly attachment flange, said bead depending radially inwardly from said flanges and being positioned generally intermediate of said flanges whereby said bag assembly is positively sealed during cleaner operation to substantially preclude passing of dust particles.

Description

~AND ~ACUUM CL~`AN~
Background of the Invention This invention pertains to the art of vacuum cleaner devices and more particularly to a hand vacuum cleaner.
~he invention is ~articularly applicable as a device for suction cleaning items and places where conventional larger sized vacuums are inconvenient and, more particularly, where a hand held vacuum with a revolying brush that provides a vibrating and sweeping action is particularly advantageous.
Yarious forms and types of hand vacuums have heretofore been suggested and employed for both commercial and domestic use, all with varying degrees of success. It has been found that these prior hand vacuums have suffered from a -' variety of problems which limit their practical and economic lS value.
A principal problem with these prior art devices is that in order to obtain powerful suction with a ~e~olvin~ brush the hand vacuums have been relatively heavy since they have typically been constructed of a metal casing to support a powerful suction motor and absorb the vibrations of a revolving brush. In addition, it has been found that a metal casing has been necessary to withstand the forces of impinging articles against the casing walls which have been propelled against the walls by the cleaner during operation. Mere lightweight plastic materials ha~e been unable to withstand the forces of such impinging articles over a period of time without risk of damage to the casing itself, or, at worst, propelling an item out from a broken casing towards an operator of the cleaner.
Another common problem with hand held vacuum cleaners is the provision of a convenient yet effective means for - .; `
1~8l~908 sealing a dirt and soil collecting bag to the cleaner housing.
It is important that the bag may be easily separable from the cleaner ~or emptying, but it is also important that a dust tight seàl be made upon reattachment of the bag to the cleaner 5 and that such dust tight seal must be c`apable of being maintained over a ~arge number of operations of removal and reattachment of the ba~. Most conventional type hand vacuum cleaners which merely use an elastomeric gasket in combination with a mechanical camming device to seal the bag to the vacuum lQ housing have been unsuccessful over a period of time due to deformation of the gasket and mechanical relaxation of the camming parts. As dust leaks from such a hand vacuum during operation, it is particularly noticeable to an operator and, accordingly, a most unattractive and undesirable type of c~eaner fail~re.
A~other problem with ~rior hand held vac~um cleaner designs, and particularly those including a revolving brush in the cleaner nozzle, is the pro~ision o~ a~ e~icient means of translating the torque forces from the motor to the fan and revolving brush while minimizing vibration to the housing and bearing elements and to maintain these elements in the assembly in a secure manner. Typically, prior art designs have employed mechanical fastening devices which have not only added weight to the construction, but are still susceptible to loosening due to the vibrational forces of the cleaner.
Yet another problem with prior hand held vacuum cleaner designs has been the disadvantages associated with cooling the vacuum motor with working air laden with dirt and dust particles. Due to the desirability of keeping a hand vacuum as compact as possible, problems have developed in designing a cooling air flow path which could be segregated from the working air.

~28890~3 Yet another problem with hand held vacuum cleaners due to their compactness has been tbe interference of objects drawn in by the working air with the Yacuum fan after the par~icles : have been collected into the vacuum bag when they are not inhi~ited from rolling back to the fan after the cleaner has been turned off. This is a particular problem in hand held vacuum cleaners where the cleaners are operatet in a variety of different positions and situations and it is likely for gravitational forces to urge solid objects back towards the nozzle of the cleaner.
The present invention contemplates a new and improved hand racuum cleaner which overcomes all the above referred to problems and others to provide a new hand vacuum which is simple in design, economical to manufactureO compact and lightweight, but pro~ides powerful suction action with a revolving brush, readily adaptable to a plurality of uses in a variety of cleaning situations, easy to assemble, easy to operate, easy to detach, empty and reattach the cleaner bag and which provides improved hand vacuum cleaner operation~
2~ Brief Summary of the Invention It is an aspect of this invention to provide a hand-held vacuum cleaner having a housing, rotating brush and selectively-separable bag assembly; said housing including a bag attachment collar having a recessed slot areaj said bag assembly including an elastomeric retaining ring having a sealing and retaining bead for reception in said recessed slot area, said ring including a lead-on flange and a bag assembly attachment flange, said bead depending radially inwardly from said flanges and being positioned generally intermediate of said flanges whereby said bag assembly is positively sealed during cleaner operation to substantially preclude passing of dust particles.

~ %sssoa Br-ef Descriptian of the Draw~ngs The invention may take physical form in certain parts and arrangements of parts, the preferred embodiment of which will be described in detail in the specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof and wherein:
FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a hand vacuum formed in accordance with the present invention;
FIGURE lA is a cross-sectional view taken along line lA-lA of FIGURE 1 particularly illustrating assembly aid wire grooves in the vacuum handle;
FIGURE 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the hand vacuum housing;

,~

~, ~8~3~08 FI~URE 2A is an enlarged sectional view of FIGURE 2 particularly illustrating the tongue in groove assembly of the housing;
FIGURE 2B is a cross-sectional view taken along line 2B-2B of FIGURE 2A;
FIGURE 2C is an enlarged sectional view of FIGURE 2 particularly showing the elastomeric retaining ring of the bag assembly as i~ is received on the hand vacuum housing;
FIGURE 2D is an enlarged sectional view of FIGURE 2 taken along lines 2D-2D particularly showing an air vent slot construction;
FIGUR~ 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIGURE 2;
FIGURE 4 is an enlarged front elevational view with partial cutaways in section of the present invention;
FI~UR~. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 5-5 cf FIGURE 4;
FI WR~ 6 is a cr~ss-sectional view taken alon~ line 6-6 of FIGURE 4; and FIGURE 7 is an enlarged elevational view in partial section of the motor and fan assembly.
Detailed Description of the Invention Referring now to the drawings wherein the showings are for purposes of illustrating the preferred embodiment of the invention only and not for purposes of limiting same, the FIGU~S show a hand vacuum device comprised of a housing lO and selectively separable bag assembly 12.
More specifically, and with reference to FIGURES 1 and 2, the vacuum housinQ 10 includes a motor mount portion 16, a fan chamber 18, a nozzle 20 and a handle 2Z. An annular bag i2 ~ 9~

attachment collar 26 ls provided for attachment af the bag assembly 12 to the housing 10. The collar 26 includes a recessed slot area 30 extending circumferentially about the housing 10.
The bag assembly 12 includes an elastomeric retaining ring 32 having a sealing and retaining bead 34 (FIGURE 2C) for reception in the recessed slot area 30 whereby the bag assembly 12 is positively sealed during cleaner operation to substantially preclude passing of dust particles out of the bag past the retaining ring 32. The retaining ring 3Z includes a lead on ~lange 36 and a bag assembly attachment flange 38, the bead 34 depending radially inwardly from these flanges and being positioned generally intermediate of the flanges. A
receptacle bag 40 of the bag assembly constructed of a conventionally known cotton twill used for vacuum cleaner bags is fixed to ring 32 at the bag' assembly attachment flange 38 with a high strength thread 42, ~ bottom wall 46 of the sealing and retaining ~ea~ 34 contacts a prt~ jectit~n 48 in the recess slot area 30 and is slightly deformed about the projection by high contact pressure created by the hoop strength of the retaining ring 32~ Such a structure provides a very positive seal and eliminates the problems of fine dust particles passing out of the bag assembly 12 during operation of the cl eaner.
Three pressure sur~aces on the bead 34 operate to seal the ring 32 to the collar ~6. The bottom wall 46 engaging the projection 48 in the recess slot area 30 produces a high unit pressure where the projection 48 engages bead 34. It should be noted that the elastomeric ring 32 possesses a hoop strength ~0 due to its elastomeric nature and it is sized for a close fit r ~ ~.

l~sssoa over the collar 26. The sealing force of the projection 48 engagin~ the elastomeric wall 46 is greater tha~ the air pressure to leak through the seal and accordingly precludes the leaking of ~he fine dust particles.
A second pressure surface occurs at the point designated by numeral 50 in FIGURE 2C at the bead vertical wall engaging the opposed recess slot area vertical wall. This pressure is produced by the back pressure in the bag 40 during operation as a result of the forcing of air into the bag 40.
The third pressure point occurs at an area designated by the numeral 52 where the sloping wall of ~he recessed slot area 30 contacts the front wall ~3 of the bead 34 to produce a pressure area which is the result of the natural hoop strength of the elastomeric retaining ring and a preselected interference fit between the ring and the attachment collar.
A pull tab (not shown) is sewn into the retaining ring 32 to facilitate easy separation of the bag assembly 12 from the housing 10. ~he rin8 32 is sized relative to the collar 26 such that the ring is stretched 5-7% to move the bead 34 into the recessed slot area 30. Such stretching produces the hoop strength earlier mentioned. The seal design has been optimized to give proper and improved sealing while allowing ease in attachment and removal of the bag assembly. The retaining ring 32 is not only decorative but is constructed to minimize the material in the part and yet give proper cross-sectional area to produce a quality seal over repeated stretchings.
With reference to FIGURES Z and 3, the hand vacuum housing 10 is preferably constructed of a lightweight plastic.
However, most lightweight plastics which are normally satisfactory for such a housing construc~ion present a problem r ~ ;' ,~ . .

89~
when they are subjected to repeate~ impingements from the kind of articles which ~ay be sucked in by hand vacuurn. Such articles comprise small pebbles, coins, screws, nails, etc., which, upon being drawn into the fan chamber 18 are oftentimes propelled against the chamber side walls by the fan before passing o~t of the chamber with the working air. The present invention includes a stone shield 60 to block the potentially damaging effects of such propelled objects.
With continued reference to FIGURES 2 and 3, the housing 10 contains a motor 62 having a motor shaft 64 supported in bearinB 65 to which a fan 66 is mounted in fan chamber 18. Working air drawn in through nozzle 20 and through fan cham~er ingress aperture 68 is expelled from the chamber through channel 70. Intermediate the housing side wall periphe~y and the fan 66, the st~ne shield 60 blocks hea~y ob~ects that n~ay ~e p~ope~led agair,st the ho~sing side ~al~s.
Preferably stone shield 60 is constructed of aluminized cold rolled steel. It is circumferentially spaced from the fan so as not to interfere with the fan's rotation and includes a peri'pheral side wall 72 and a front wall 74. The ~ront wall is contiguous to the nozzle 20 and comprises the ingress aperture 68 for the working air. The side wall 72 includes an upper portion tapered away from the front wall 74 to preclude perpendicular impingement of the items against the side wall over that portion. After impingement against the stone shield, objects are communicated out of the fan chamber 18 through the channel 70.
With particular reference to FIGURES 2 and 7, the present invention includes an improved structure for mounting the fan 66 to the motor 62. Projecting out from the motor ~ ~88~08 mount portian 16 of the housing 10 and in~o the fan chambers 18 i~ the motor sha~t 64 supported in bearing 65. This shaft is driven in rotation by the motor. The shaft 64 includes three portions. A first portion or support shoulder 80 having a generally cylindrical configuration is loosely received in a fan first bore chamber 82 defined by fan bore lead-on flange 83 and fan counterbore shoulder 85. Depending from the support shoulder portion 80 is a tapering fan bore locking surface 84.
The end portion of the shaft 64 comprises a th~eaded portion 86. It is to be particularly noted that shaft locking surface 84 is closely received against a tapered wall portion 88 of the fan 66 such that the mating tapers of surface 84 and wall portion 88 can cooperate through en8agement to lock the fan 66 to the shaft 64 upon sufficient urging of the fan 66 towards the motor 62. In other words 7 the mating reception of the shaft taper into the fan bore 'taper locks the fan to the motor shaft when the fan is sufficiently pressed onto the motor shaft.
S~icient ~r8in~ is ~eali~ed by threaded reception of a shaft extension 90 onto the shaft threaded portion 86.
However, the mere fastening of the shaft extension 90 to the shaft by threading it down until the fan is locked to the motor shaft is clearly not sufficient to maintain the fan in a tightly locked condition to the shaft when subjected to the relatively intense vibration and high speed rotation of the vacuum motor and shaft. Accordingly, an additional force is required to continue to tighten the shaft extension 90 onto the shaft portion 86 while abutting the fan 66 to maintain the locking reception.
The revolving brush 96 (FIGURES 4 and 6) is rotated by a belt (not shown) received around the brush at an intermediate - : I

~ ;~88908 portion generally immediately below the shaft extension 90.
The belt is received on the shaft extension at ~enerally its point of lessermost diameter 97 (~IGUR~ 7), The belt is constructed of an elastomeric material and is stretched over the distance from the brush 96 to the shaft extension 90 to maintain a gripping action on both the shaft extension 90 and the brush 96. During operation of the cleaner, a torque is applied by resistance of the belt and brush to motor shaft rotation ~o the shaft extension 90 to continually tighten down the shaft extension 90 onto the threaded portion 86. The continual tightening of the shaft extension 90 during operation continuously urges the shaft extension 90 into abutting engagement with the fan 66 to urge the fan towards the motor 62 and maintain a tight locking reception of the shaft locking surface 84 against the fan tapered wa~ portion 88.
Co~entiona~ ~a~ fas~ni~g tech~i4ues s~ch as aerodynamic sealing or internal threading of the an for reception on a threaded shaft portion is obviated with the structure of the present invention. Several advantages of this structure include the lower cost of production of both the motor and the fan. Since th~r~ is no necessity to machine or mold a thrèad on either the fan or motor shaft, manufacturing cost is less. In addition, assembling cost is also less because the fan does not have to be spun onto the shaft.
Another advantage is that the positive locking connection between the fan and the shaft is effected without putting excessive stress on the fan. Fan internal thread fastening schemes oftentimes result in large torque and stress forces being exerted on the threads which possibly distort the fan 3~ during operation. Yet another feature of the present invention 1~ ~8 ~ ~ 8 is that such a fan mounting structure absorbs impact loads on the fan better. When a foreign ob ject impin~es the fan, the fan has a greater tendency to give against the load than a threaded mounti~g structure. This allows the fan to act somewhat as a shock absorber to heavy objects that are drawn into the cleaner.
With reference to FIGURES 2, 4, 5, and 6, it may be seen that the nozzle portion 20 of the present invention houses the revolving brush 96. The brush 96 includes opposed end bearings 98 which support the brush and allow its rotational movement. The nozzle includes integrally formed opposed bearing housing cavities lO0 sized to closely receive the bearing housings of the brush. A nozzle guard 102 is fastened to the nozzle portion 20 with conventional threaded fasteners lnot shown) inserted into receiving members 104. The nozzle guard has openings through which brush elements lD~ extend and through which vacuumed dirt may pass. The guard 102 further includes bearin~ housing ~etaining elements 106 which impart the forcè to retain the brush 96 in cavities lO0. The retaining element 106 is sized such that there is an interference fit against the bearing 98 due to deflection of the clip element 106 which holds the brush solid within the nozzle. The brush 96 is normally unbalanced and will want to vibrate during operation. There is thus a necessity that the brush be positively retained in as close a fit as possible to minimizè vibrational movement.
Another feature of the retaining element is that the nozzle guard is preferably constructed of metallic material as is the bearing assembly 98. The retaining element 106 thus can operate as a source of heat transfer. Since the bearing 98 is . ! ~

~.288908 also in contact with the plastic nozzle housing at the cavities 100, heat must be dissipated through the retaining element 106 and out through the sole plate portion of the nozzle guard 102.
The nozzle guard 102 also includes a locating and locking protruding dimple 110 disposed for cooperative association with the nozzle whereby the noz71e and nozzle guard are in cooperative support. With particular reference to FIGURE 4, the housin~ 10 is constructed of opposed first and second half housing elements which mate along a center line 112. To buttress the housing, and in particular the nozzle 20 at the center line, dimple 110 in combination with the nozzle guard front wall 114 support the nozzle at its terminal end portion about the center line 112. Such structure minimizes damage to the cleaner by deflection or separation of the housing half elements at the nQzzle terminal end portion.
With particular refe~ence to FI~URE 2, it can be seen that the h~using 10 inc~u~es a motor mo~nt portion 16 ar receiving the motor 62 that includes a plurality of air vents 120 provided for communicating the ingress and egress of cooling air to the motor 62. A baffle wall 122 engages the periphery of the motor 62 to define a motor cooling air inhale chamber 124 and an exhalle chamber 126. The motor 62 includes a cooling air fan (not shown) which draws cooling air in through the YentS 120 of the inhale chamber 124 into air Yents (not shown) of the motor, through the body of the motor, out motor vents in the exhale chamber 126 and ultimately out into the environment through the air vents 120 in the exhale chamber 126. The baffle wall 122 precludes cooling air exhausted from the exhale chamber 126 from intermixing with air in the inhale ~. i3 ~ ~
I
' 1288~08 chamber 124 without passing through the motor 62. In addition, the vents 120 in exhale chamber 126 include a sloped side wall 127 lFIGURE 2D) contiguous to the baffle wall 122 and the vents of the inhale chamber 124. The sloped side wall 127 effectively directs the exhaust air towards the rear of the cleaner and away rom the vents of the inhale chamber 124 to inhibit mixing of exhaust cooling air with intake cooling air.
With particular reference to FIGUKES 2A and ZB it is important that the cleaner be sealed in a manner that will preclude mixing of cooling air and working air so that the motor 62 is not exposed to vacuumed dirt and yet will provide a strong and durable seal that is easy to assemble. The invention employs a tongue in groove mating fit along the entire periphery of the cleaner between opposing first and second housing halves and about the periphery of the motor moun t por ti on 16 .
The housing handle 22~ as may be seen from FIGURE lA, ~urther includes besides the to~e in ~roove sealing, se~eral assembly aid wire grooves 130 for communicating switch wires from the cleaner cord 132 to the cleaner on/off switch 134 (PIGURE 1).
The invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment. Obviously, modifications and alterations will occur to others upon the reading and understanding of the specification. It is our intention to include all such modifications and alterations insofar as they come within the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.
Having thus described our invention, we now claim:

``' ~,S4~ 1

Claims

1. A hand-held vacuum cleaner having a housing, rotating brush andselectively-separable bag assembly; said housing including a bag attachment collar having a recessed slot area; said bag assembly including an elastomeric retaining ring having a sealing and retaining bead for reception in said recessed slot area, said ring including a lead-on flange and a bag assembly attachment flange, said bead depending radially inwardly from said flanges and being positioned generally intermediate of said flanges whereby said bagassembly is positively sealed during cleaner operation to substantially preclude passing of dust particles.

2. The cleaner as claimed in claim 1 wherein said bag assembly includes a receptable bag for receiving dirt particles, said bag being fastened to said retaining ring at said bag assembly attachment flange.

3. The cleaner as claimed in claim 1 wherein said slot area includes a projection contacting a bottom wall of the bead, said projection being sized for sealing reception on said bottom wall.