EP2229862B1 - Vacuum cleaner with electric connection element - Google Patents

Description

Background of the invention

The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner having a fan room, which has a fan, a space adjacent to the fan room, which has a supply device, and an electrical connection element, which comprises a first and a second group of electrical contacts and power line elements, the contacts of the first and electrically interconnecting the second group, wherein the fan room and the space adjacent the fan room are connected to each other via an opening, and the contacts of the first group to the supply device in the space adjacent to the fan room, and the contacts of the second group to the fan in the Blower chamber are connected to electrically connect the supply device and the fan with each other.

State of the art

For example, the German Offenlegungsschrift is known from the prior art DE 102 41 588 A1 known, in which an air conditioning device is disclosed with a housing for receiving a circuit board of a control device. The cover is used for electrical contacting of a control unit and for connecting an air duct for the air conditioning. The lid can be used for simultaneously closing a plurality of cavities, and is hermetically sealed by plugging the respective plug. The pins of the connectors do not seal in the pin openings and therefore can be very easily inserted through the lid.

From the international writing WO 01/52359 A1 is known with a circuit board mechanically fixable and electrically contactable connector unit, which is particularly needed for actuators in motor vehicles. The plug-in unit can be contacted and fixed at a defined distance by means of non-positive elastic prestressing to the surface of a printed circuit board. The contact legs are soldered to the board. The Contact legs of the plug unit are kept free of mechanical fixing tasks. Despite different thickness of the board is a constant contact level of contact paths of the plug unit and in particular their motor-side contact tongues when contacting them associated contact pins on a brush unit, which is arranged at the open end of a cup-shaped motor housing guaranteed.

Vacuum cleaners are also known from the state of the art, in which two cables are struck on a circuit board and soldered firmly to the circuit board. Connectors are crimped on the two cables, which are contacted on two connector lugs on the fan. The cable is inserted into a slot in a partition wall between fan and cable drum space and must be subsequently fixed in order to avoid pinching between components. In addition, when passing the cable through the slot, difficulties arise in sealing the slot while the cable is being passed.

Another example is in the DE102007040951 described.

The problem underlying the invention

The invention has for its object to provide a comparison with the prior art improved vacuum cleaner. In particular, an escape of air from the fan room in other rooms of the vacuum cleaner is to be avoided, and at the same time arranged in the fan room fan via an electrical line to be powered. Furthermore, the reliability of the electrical contacting of the fan should be ensured.

Inventive solution

The reference numbers in all claims have no limiting effect, but are only intended to improve their readability.
The solution of the problem is achieved by a vacuum cleaner with the features of claim 1.

A vacuum cleaner is understood to mean appliances powered by electrical energy to absorb dust, including both mains operated and battery or cordless appliances.

A blower is the component of a vacuum cleaner to be understood, which is arranged by an electric drive, for example an electric motor, for generating the suction air flow in the vacuum cleaner. Usually, the fan on blades for generating a negative pressure and an electric motor for driving the blades on. During normal operation of the vacuum cleaner creates a negative pressure in front of the fan, which can be used for sucking dust, and behind the fan, an overpressure in the fan room, which can be caused by a stagnation of the exhaust air to an air outlet of the vacuum cleaner. This overpressure can be increased in particular by filter devices, for example by HEPA filters on the air outlet of the vacuum cleaner. The air, which flows past the electric motor after passing through the blades, can have a high temperature due to the ohmic heat generated during operation on the electric motor. A fan room and a room adjacent to the fan room are to be understood as spaces which are arranged in a vacuum cleaner housing.

It is an achievable advantage of the vacuum cleaner according to the invention that the flow of exhaust air from the fan room in an adjacent room when performing an electrical connection from the adjacent room in the fan room can be largely avoided or even substantially prevented completely. It is particularly achievable that the sealing element closes the opening substantially airtight. A closure of the electrical feedthrough can prevent heating in the adjacent space by exhaust air, which has a high temperature after flowing through the drive motor of the blower. Since electrical supply lines can be installed in the adjacent room, it is an achievable advantage of the invention that safety problems caused by heating the adjacent room, such as short circuits, can be avoided. Furthermore, the sealing of unwanted openings in the fan room can contribute to a reduction of noise and thus to a reduction of the volume of the vacuum cleaner during operation.

Preferred embodiment of the invention

Advantageous embodiments and developments, which can be used individually or in combination with each other, are the subject of the dependent claims.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the space (4) adjacent to the blower compartment is a cable compartment for storing a power supply cable of the vacuum cleaner. This advantageously achieves that the power supply cable can be brought close to the fan room. Particularly preferably, the cable space is a cable drum space having a cable drum. As a result, a space-saving design of the vacuum cleaner can be achieved. An inventively preferred cable drum is arranged on a lower part of the vacuum cleaner described below. Advantageously, the connecting element can be mounted either after the fan and the cable drum or beforehand.

Particularly preferably, the supply device is electrically connected to the cable drum in order to be able to electrically connect the cable drum to the connecting element. Particularly preferably, the power connection cable can be rolled up on the cable drum, which is particularly preferably electrically connected to the cable drum. In this way, an electrical connection of the blower via the cable, the supply device and the electrical connection element can be achieved in order to be able to supply the blower with power. Particularly preferably, the supply device is a circuit board and / or a transformer and / or a switch.

Preferably, the contacts of the first and / or second group are detachably connected. Particularly preferably, the contacts of the first and / or second group are formed as plug contacts. Preferred connections according to the invention of the blower and / or the supply device are designed as plug lugs. This can allow a reduction of the effort during assembly and / or disassembly of the connecting element. Particularly preferably, the contacts of the first and / or second group are plugged onto electrical connections of the blower and / or the supply device. Embodiments of the invention are also conceivable in which the contacts of the first and / or second group are firmly connected to the blower and / or the supply device. Particularly preferably, the Contacts of the second group are connected to connections of the blower. Particularly preferably, connections of the blower, to which the contacts of the second group are connected, are arranged outside the air flow. As a result, contamination of the contacts can be avoided by residual dust contained in the air flow.

The invention further development is preferably provided that the connecting element is made of an elastically deformable material. An elastically deformable material is to be understood as meaning a material that can be brought into a shape different from the original form when force is applied, and returns to its original shape after the end of the force effect. A made of an elastically deformable material connecting element can advantageously absorb vibrations of the vacuum cleaner and / or the starting torque of the blower by a deformation and thus prevent deterioration of the contact quality. This improvement in the reliability of the contacts between blower and supply device can lead to a constant suction and thus to an improvement in the usability of the vacuum cleaner. Next can be advantageously achieved that the electrical connection element when installed in the vacuum automatically contacted the supply device and the fan, and thus finding the electrical connections can be automated. As a result, incorrect assembly and / or incorrect contacting can be avoided. Particularly preferably, the electrical connection element is firmly connected to the sealing element. This can prevent pinching by components or housing halves of the vacuum cleaner during assembly, since the connecting element and the sealing element can be arranged stationarily in the vacuum cleaner. Particularly preferably, the connecting element is at least partially made of plastic, particularly preferably made of elastically deformable plastic.

In a further preferred embodiment, the connecting element that comprises the sealing element is a contact bridge. Under a contact bridge is an elastically deformable component to understand, which can automatically return to the original position after a load by a force. This can advantageously be achieved that vibrations and the starting torque of the fan does not lead to an impairment of the contact quality. Especially Preferably, the connecting element and the sealing element form an integrally manufactured component. The sealing element particularly preferably has a circumferential U-profile, which is particularly preferably made of soft 2K material. Particularly preferably, the U-profile is designed as a sealing lip. In this way it can be ensured that the opening is closed airtight, even with a deformation of the contact bridge or the connecting element, whereby the sealing between the fan chamber and adjacent space can be reliably ensured.

A preferred contact bridge is at least partially made of plastic. Particularly preferably, the contact bridge consists at least partially of elastically deformable plastic. In this way, the sealing properties of the sealing element can be further improved and shocks or other forces on the contact bridge can be better absorbed, whereby the contact quality of the contact bridge to the blower and / or to the supply device can be improved. Particularly preferably, the contact bridge on overmolded or applied power line elements. Particularly preferably, the contact bridge has injection-molded conductor tracks. Particularly preferably, the power line elements are metal bands or contact sheets. This can allow a simple and inexpensive production of the contact bridge.

In a preferred vacuum cleaner according to the invention, a lower part and a capsule surround the fan chamber. In this way, a simple assembly can be made possible, in which first the individual components, such as blower, electrical connection element with sealing element or supply device can be attached to the lower part to then connect the capsule to the lower part to close the fan room can. For this purpose, lower part and capsule can be formed as half-shells, which can form a substantially air-tight unit when joined. Of course, the fan room to ensure proper operation openings, such as to a dust collector unit or to an exhaust duct, which can lead the air back out of the vacuum cleaner. Apart from these openings can be achieved according to the invention that the fan chamber is substantially hermetically sealed. Between the fan room and adjacent room, the lower part and the half-shell can form a partition on which the opening is arranged.

Particularly preferably, the opening is arranged on the lower part. The opening is particularly preferably a recess at the edge of the base. Under the edge of the lower part of the part of the lower part is to be understood, which touches the capsule when properly installed base and capsule. The electrical connection element and the sealing element are particularly preferably fixed via ribs in the lower part. In this way it can be achieved that the opening into which the electrical connection element and the sealing element can be inserted, is sealed by the capsule substantially airtight. In addition, this can be made possible by a simple assembly of the electrical connection element and the sealing element. Thus, advantageously, first the fan and the supply device can be mounted in order subsequently to be able to insert the electrical connection element and the sealing element into the opening. This can allow a correct position assembly of blower, supply device, connecting element and sealing element. Furthermore, if the vacuum cleaner is installed as intended, it can be mounted from above, which can mean a particularly favorable position for the installation personnel.

Particularly preferably, the fan and / or the supply device are mounted in the lower part. This may involve automatically contacting the ports of the blower and / or the utility, e.g. are formed as connector lugs, with the contacts of the contact bridge, the e.g. are designed as plug contacts allow, whereby fan and supply device can be automatically connected to each other automatically by the insertion of the connecting element and the sealing element in the opening. In addition, this can be avoided that contacts of the first and / or second group are plugged into incorrect connections of the fan and / or the supply device.

In a preferred embodiment of the vacuum cleaner, the contacts of the first and / or second group conductive material with spring properties. Particularly preferably, the contacts of the first and / or second group on resilient contact plates. In this way it can be achieved that the connection, for example of the blower and / or the supply device, can be movably mounted in the contacts, whereby vibrations or other force influences are not permitted Impaired contact quality. This may prove to be particularly advantageous if the electrical connection element and / or the sealing element are made of an undeformable material.

The present invention makes it possible to provide a vacuum cleaner with simple and inexpensive construction means, in which a mounting facilitation and cost savings in the electrical connection between a fan and a supply device, e.g. a circuit board can be reached. Furthermore, the invention enables a reduction of noise during operation. In addition, overheating in the adjacent room and impaired contact quality can be avoided.

Brief description of the drawings

Further advantageous embodiments will be described in more detail below with reference to an embodiment shown in the drawing, to which the invention is not limited.

• Fig. 1 einen Staubsauger in Schnittansicht.

It shows schematically:

• Fig. 1 a vacuum cleaner in sectional view.

Detailed description based on one embodiment

In the following description of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, like reference characters designate like or similar components.

In Fig. 1 a vacuum cleaner 1 is shown with a fan room 2, which has a fan 3, and a space 4 adjacent the fan room, which is a cable space for storing a power supply cable, and which has a supply device 5 and a cable drum 13. The supply device 5 can be electrically connected to the cable drum 13 via a connection, which is not shown for purposes of illustration. The vacuum cleaner 1 has an electrical connection element 6, the a first 7 and a second group of electrical contacts 8 and power line elements, which are not shown for illustrative purposes comprises. The power line elements electrically connect the contacts of the first 7 and the second group 8. The electrical connection element 6 has a sealing element 10, which closes an opening 9, via which the fan chamber 2 and the adjacent space 4 are connected to each other, substantially airtight. In this way it can be achieved that due to the overpressure in the fan chamber 2, no high-temperature air can reach the adjacent space 4. The air in the fan room 2 has been brought to a high temperature by the compression of the air but also by the ohmic heat of the electric motor driving the fan 3. The opening 9 is therefore airtight to close in order to avoid overheating in the adjacent space 4 and thus a security risk. The overpressure in the fan chamber 2 can be caused, for example, by a filter which is attached to the exhaust opening of the vacuum cleaner 1. The exhaust port may be located directly on the fan chamber 2, and is not shown for purposes of illustration.

The blower 3 is electrically connected to the supply device 5 by connecting the contacts of the first group 7 to the supply device 5 in the adjacent room 4, and the contacts of the second group 8 to the blower 3 in the blower room 2 to the supply device. 5 and to electrically connect the blower 3 with each other. Here, the contacts of the first 7 and the second group 8 are detachably connected to allow easy mounting or replacement of the electrical connection element 6. In order to avoid that vibrations as well as the starting torque of the blower 3 does not lead to an impairment of the contact quality, the connecting element 6 is made of an elastically deformable material. In addition, the contacts of the first 7 and the second group 8 conductive material with spring properties. The contacts of the first 7 and the second group 8 are plug-in contacts, the electrical connections of the fan and the supply device are designed as connector lugs. For illustrative purposes, the plug contacts and the connector lugs are not shown.

In order to enable a cost-effective production, the electrical connection element 6 is a contact bridge, which consists at least partially of plastic. In addition, a lower part 11 and a capsule 12 surround the blower compartment 2, wherein the opening 9, into which the contact bridge can be inserted during assembly, is arranged on the edge of the lower part 11 and has the shape of a rectangular indentation. In this way, an automatic contacting of blower 3 and supply device 5 and cable reel 13 can be achieved, whereby false contacts, such as reverse polarity, can be avoided. The blower 3 can be electrically connected to a power supply via the electrical connection element 6 or the contact bridge, the supply device 5, the cable drum 13 and a not shown for reasons of representation power cable that can be rolled up on the cable drum 13.

The invention facilitates the assembly of the electrical connection between a blower and a circuit board with simple and inexpensive structural means. At the same time, the operating noise can be reduced, overheating in the cable drum space avoided and good contact can be ensured.

The features disclosed in the foregoing description, the claims and the drawings may be of importance both individually and in any combination for the realization of the invention in its various forms.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

1

vacuum cleaner

2

blower room

3

fan

4

Adjacent space

5

supply

6

connecting element

7

first group of electrical contacts

8th

second group of electrical contacts

9

opening

10

sealing element

11

lower part

12

capsule

13

cable drum

Claims (11)

1. Vacuum cleaner (1) having a fan chamber (2) which comprises a fan (3), a chamber (4) adjacent to the fan chamber which has a supply device (5), and an electrical connection element (6) which comprises a first (7) and a second group of electrical contacts (8) as well as power-conducting members which electrically connect the contacts of the first (7) and the second group (8) to each other, wherein the fan chamber (2), and the chamber (4) adjacent to the fan chamber are connected to each other via an opening (9), and the contacts of the first group (7) on the supply device (5) in the chamber (4) adjacent to the fan chamber, and the contacts of the second group (8) on the fan (3) in the fan chamber (2) are connected, in order to electrically connect the supply device (5) and the fan (3) to each other, characterised in that the electrical connection element (6) has a sealing element (10) which closes the opening (9).
2. Vacuum cleaner (1) according to claim 1, characterised in that the chamber (4) adjacent to the fan chamber is a cable compartment for storing a power supply cable of the vacuum cleaner (1).
3. Vacuum cleaner (1) according to claim 2, characterised in that the cable compartment has a cable drum.
4. Vacuum cleaner (1) according to claim 3, characterised in that the supply device (5) can be electrically connected to the cable drum (13).
5. Vacuum cleaner (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the contacts of the first (7) and/or second group (8) are detachably connected.
6. Vacuum cleaner (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the connection element (6) is manufactured from an elastically deformable material.
7. Vacuum cleaner (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the electrical connection element (6) is a contact bridge.
8. Vacuum cleaner (1) according to claim 7, characterised in that the contact bridge consists at least partially of plastic.
9. Vacuum cleaner (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that a lower part (11) and a capsule (12) enclose the fan chamber (2).
10. Vacuum cleaner (1) according to claim 9, characterised in that the opening (9) is arranged on the lower part (11).
11. Vacuum cleaner (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the contacts of the first (7) and/or the second group (8) have conductive material with spring properties.

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