Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47L—DOMESTIC WASHING OR CLEANING; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47L9/00—Details or accessories of suction cleaners, e.g. mechanical means for controlling the suction or for effecting pulsating action; Storing devices specially adapted to suction cleaners or parts thereof; Carrying-vehicles specially adapted for suction cleaners
  • A47L9/10—Filters; Dust separators; Dust removal; Automatic exchange of filters
  • A47L9/16—Arrangement or disposition of cyclones or other devices with centrifugal action
  • A47L9/1658—Construction of outlets
  • A47L9/1666—Construction of outlets with filtering means
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47L—DOMESTIC WASHING OR CLEANING; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47L9/00—Details or accessories of suction cleaners, e.g. mechanical means for controlling the suction or for effecting pulsating action; Storing devices specially adapted to suction cleaners or parts thereof; Carrying-vehicles specially adapted for suction cleaners
  • A47L9/10—Filters; Dust separators; Dust removal; Automatic exchange of filters
  • A47L9/16—Arrangement or disposition of cyclones or other devices with centrifugal action
  • A47L9/1683—Dust collecting chambers; Dust collecting receptacles
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47L—DOMESTIC WASHING OR CLEANING; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47L9/00—Details or accessories of suction cleaners, e.g. mechanical means for controlling the suction or for effecting pulsating action; Storing devices specially adapted to suction cleaners or parts thereof; Carrying-vehicles specially adapted for suction cleaners
  • A47L9/10—Filters; Dust separators; Dust removal; Automatic exchange of filters
  • A47L9/12—Dry filters
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47L—DOMESTIC WASHING OR CLEANING; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47L9/00—Details or accessories of suction cleaners, e.g. mechanical means for controlling the suction or for effecting pulsating action; Storing devices specially adapted to suction cleaners or parts thereof; Carrying-vehicles specially adapted for suction cleaners
  • A47L9/10—Filters; Dust separators; Dust removal; Automatic exchange of filters
  • A47L9/16—Arrangement or disposition of cyclones or other devices with centrifugal action
  • A47L9/1616—Multiple arrangement thereof
  • A47L9/1641—Multiple arrangement thereof for parallel flow

Definitions

• the present invention is directed to a vacuum cleaner, in particular cyclone type vacuum cleaner, and a vacuum cleaner filter assembly.
• Cyclone type vacuum cleaners are widely known because of their benefit in bagless dust collection. Bagless or cyclone type vac ⁇ uum cleaners or respective cyclone dust separating units are known for example from documents EP 1 042 981 Al, EP 1774887 Al, EP 1 688 078 A2 , EP 1 952 745 A2 and WO 2011/058365.
• Cyclone type vacuum cleaners in particular mentioned in the state of technology documents listed before, still have compara- tively complicated dust collecting units, which often require complicated cleaning and emptying of dust collection chambers and dust collecting filters.
• a vacuum cleaner filter assembly is pro- vided which comprises at least one dust colleting chamber, in particular dust colleting compartment.
• the at least one dust collecting chamber in particular is adapted to accommodate dust separated in a cyclonic dust separating step.
• the at least one dust collecting chamber therefore is adapted to be coupled to a cyclonic dust separation unit, in particular to a dust outlet face of a cyclonic dust separation unit.
• the vacuum cleaner filter assembly further comprises a filter unit, which may be or comprise flat filter unit or flat filter panel, in particular a fine filter unit or fine filter panel.
• a filter unit which may be or comprise flat filter unit or flat filter panel, in particular a fine filter unit or fine filter panel.
• filter units are adequate to be installed down ⁇ stream of one or more superior filter units, in particular cyclonic filter units.
• the proposed filter unit may represent a final filter step of the vacuum cleaner.
• the filter unit is attached to and extends from the at least one dust collecting chamber.
• the filter unit may be at ⁇ tached and extend from a lateral side of the at least one dust collecting chamber.
• the vacuum cleaner filter assembly comprises two identical dust collecting chambers. Identical shall mean that the dust collecting chambers have almost and es ⁇ sentially the same design and geometric dimensions.
• the two dust collecting chambers preferably are arranged to be laterally spaced from each other in a mirror symmetric alignment. This in particular shall mean that the dust collecting chambers are offset from each other in lateral direction.
• the dust colleting chambers are oriented in a parallel alignment, and preferably are aligned parallel and symmetric with respect to a central symmetry plane.
• the filter unit is attached to and extends be ⁇ tween opposing lateral sides of the dust collecting chambers.
• the filter unit is arranged or sandwiched between the two dust collecting chambers, in particular between two mu- tually facing lateral sides of the dust collecting chambers.
• dust inlet openings are provided at the at least one dust collecting chamber.
• the dust inlet openings are adapted to be coupled with dust outlet openings of a related cyclonic dust separation unit.
• the dust inlet openings preferably are provided at a face side of the at least one dust collecting chamber.
• the face side shall refer to a side of the dust collecting chamber oriented perpendicular to the lateral sides.
• the special ar ⁇ rangement of dust inlet openings at the face sides, wherein the filter unit is arranged and extending from the lateral face sides is favorable with respect to compact design and usability.
• the face side carrying the dust inlet openings, is tilted relative to a base area of the at least one dust collect- ing chamber. If several dust collecting chambers are provided, respective face sides may be tilted accordingly.
• the base area in particular shall refer to a bottom plane perpendic ⁇ ular to the lateral sides.
• the dust collecting chambers, in particular inner volumes thereof may have a parallelepiped, in particular rec ⁇ tangular parallelepiped, in particular cuboid basic structure.
• a cross section of the dust collecting chamber in parallel its face sides, basically has/have a trian ⁇ gular shape.
• Parts or volumes of the dust collecting chamber off the tilted face sides may be of cuboid, in particular parallele ⁇ piped shape.
• Tilted face sides may be advantageous for providing dust inlet openings adapted to be coupled to dust outlet openings of the cyclonic dust separation unit.
• such configura ⁇ tions are expedient for easily couple vacuum cleaner filter as- sembly and cyclones of a cyclonic dust separation unit, in par ⁇ ticular in linear motions.
• corresponding and slanted faces of vacuum cleaner filter assembly and cyclonic dust separation unit may be coupled by pushing the vacuum cleaner filter assembly in a linear motion into a respective slot provided in or at a bottom face of the vacuum cleaner, for example .
• a tilt angle of the face side of the vacu ⁇ um cleaner filter assembly, in which the dust inlet openings are provided lies in the range between 10 and 50 degrees, advanta ⁇ geously amounts about 30 degrees.
• cross sectional areas of the dust collecting chamber in planes parallel to the base area decrease in a direc ⁇ tion from bottom to top.
• almost all cross sections are of rectangular shape.
• a filter panel or filter element of the filter unit is slanted relative to a ground area of the vacuum cleaner filter assembly.
• the filter panel is aligned with, in particular es- sentially parallel to, the tilted face side of the dust collect ⁇ ing chambers.
• Such an arrangement of the filter panel may be ad ⁇ vantageous for space saving design and filter efficiency.
• the vacuum cleaner filter assembly comprises a lid adapted to close and seal a bottom opening of the at least one dust collecting chamber.
• the lid obviously may be provided for the purpose of emptying the dust collecting chamber.
• Providing or arranging the opening and lid at the bottom site of the dust collecting chamber may be advantageous for emptying the dust collecting chamber without major dust disturbances and dust exposure to a user.
• the lid is movably, i.e. mova- bly to be opened, viz openably, attached to and provided at a bottom face of the vacuum cleaner filter assembly.
• the lid may be pivotably attached.
• a pivot axis of the lid may be located at, along and/or parallel to a longitudinal edge, in particular bottom edge, of the vacuum cleaner filter assembly.
• the at least one dust collecting chamber and at least a supporting frame of the filter unit are implemented as a one-piece part.
• the vacuum clean ⁇ er filter assembly may be provided as a single component without any loose parts, which will greatly enhance usability of the vacuum cleaner filter assembly.
• manufac- turing processes such as injection molding and the like may be considered, in particular as the vacuum cleaner filter assembly, at least main sections, in particular load bearing sections or frames, may be made from plastic materials.
• a vacuum cleaner is provided which comprises a primary stage cyclone dust separator and a sequential secondary stage cyclone dust separator.
• Dust outlets of the sec ⁇ ondary stage cyclone dust separator are connected to dust inlets of a vacuum cleaner filter assembly according to any of the em- bodiments and variants described above and further below.
• a holding fixture for removably holding the vacuum cleaner filter assembly within a cleaner body may be provided.
• the holding fix ⁇ ture and/or vacuum cleaner filter assembly is accessible from a bottom side of the cleaner body.
• a recess or slot may be provided allowing the vacuum cleaner filter unit to be pushed in and out.
• a cover may be provided to close the recess or slot and/or to lock the vacuum cleaner fil ⁇ ter assembly therein.
• the cover may be of planar shape with a closed surface or comprise a grid-like structure.
• the concept of integrating operational functions in or at the bottom side of a vacuum cleaner, such as the vacuum cleaner filter assembly may contribute to compact designs and/or even sim ⁇ plify operation of the vacuum cleaner. Therefore, it has been found to be advantageous that the vacuum cleaner filter assembly is accessible and can be handled from and/or at the bottom side of the vacuum cleaner, in particular cleaner body. Note that implementing functional elements, in particular flaps or lids and respective openings for filter replacement at the bottom side of the vacuum cleaner had not been considered in state of technolo ⁇ gy so far. Therefore, new options in functionality, and in de ⁇ sign, in particular space saving design, will be available.
• Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a vacuum cleaner
• Fig. 2 shows a partially broken up lateral side view of a
• FIG. 3 shows a vertical cross sectional view of the vacuum cleaner
• Fig. 4 shows a first perspective view of a vacuum cleaner
• Fig. 5 shows a second perspective view of the vacuum cleaner filter assembly
• Fig. 6 shows a third perspective view of the vacuum cleaner filter assemb1y .
• Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a vacuum cleaner 1.
• the vacu- um cleaner comprises a horizontal type cleaner body 2 with a bottom 3, top 4, front 5, back side 6 and lateral sides 7.
• the term horizontal type shall mean that in the ordinary and in ⁇ tended position of use, the cleaner body 2 is positioned essen- tially horizontally.
• This type is also called cylinder or canis ⁇ ter vacuum cleaner.
• this in particular shall mean that the cleaner body 2 during normal operation and with regard to front 5 to back 6 direction is positioned essentially parallel to the ground underneath. Note that in the figures, the vacuum cleaner is shown in its ordinary horizontal use position.
• a horizontal type vacuum cleaner 1 in the meaning of the present application is for example shown in EP 1 774 887 Al .
• vertical type constructions generally comprising a handle to which the cleaner body is mounted to and by which the cleaner body is moved in concert with vacuum-cleaning operations.
• This type is also called upright type vacuum cleaner.
• One example of such a verti- cal type vacuum cleaner is shown in WO 2011/058365.
• the vacuum cleaner 1 comprises a primary stage cyclone dust sep ⁇ arator 8.
• the primary stage cyclone dust separator 8 is coupled to a primary stage dust collecting chamber 9.
• the primary stage dust collecting chamber 9, which may also be designated as a dust collecting container, is positioned and ar ⁇ ranged at the front side 5 of the cleaner body 2.
• the vacuum cleaner 1 comprises wheels 11 arranged at/in or on the lateral sides 7 and bottom side 3 of the cleaner body 2, re- spectively.
• the wheels 11 are arranged and adapted such that the vacuum cleaner 1 during normal and ordinary operation can be easily moved on the surface underneath.
• the vacuum cleaner 1 may comprise other functional elements, such as handles and the like, which will not be described in further detail.
• an interface is provided which is adapted and config ⁇ ured to connect a flexible suction hose (not shown) .
• the vacuum cleaner 1 further comprises two secondary stage cyclone dust separating units 12.
• the secondary stage cyclone dust separating units 12 are positioned and mounted laterally at the front side 5. As can in particular be seen from Fig. 1, the primary stage dust collecting chamber 9 and the secondary stage cy- clone dust separating units 12 are mounted in between the lat ⁇ eral sides 7, wherein the primary stage dust collecting chamber
• each secondary stage cyclone dust separating unit 12 comprises several conical cyclones 13.
• the conical cy ⁇ clones 13 have equal size, i. e. dimensions, and are arranged side to side in parallel to a respective lateral side 7.
• the secondary stage cyclone dust separating unit 12 is connected to the primary stage cyclone dust separating unit 8 by air chan ⁇ nels 14 running at the top side 4 of the cleaner body 2.
• the air outlet of the primary stage cyclone dust separator 8 is located towards the back side 6 and centered with respect to the lateral sides 7.
• the air channels 14 are guided from a centered back side location in a curved section towards respective lateral sides 7 and then are guided along the lateral sides 7 of the cleaner body 2 to the secondary stage cyclone dust separating units 12.
• the conical cyclones 13 are mounted and aligned such that their center axes are tilted, preferably by an angle a between 10 to 50 degrees, from top front to bottom back, which is indicated for one of the conical cyclones by a dotted arrow (v2) .
• the tilt angle shall be under ⁇ stood to be defined between a vector vl parallel to the front to back direction and a vector v2 parallel to a center axis of a respective conical cyclone 13 and running in a direction top front to bottom back.
• the conical cyclones 13 are positioned in a line, without axial displacement. This in particular means that air inlets and air outlets of the conical cyclones of a secondary stage cyclone dust separating unit 12 respectively lie in common planes and define a dust out ⁇ let face of the secondary stage cyclone dust separating unit 12.
• each secondary stage cyclone dust separating unit 12 comprises a secondary stage dust col- lecting chamber 15 downstream of and fluidly connected to dust outlet openings 16 of respective conical cyclones 13.
• the secondary stage dust collecting chamber 15 On a face side of a respective secondary step dust collecting chamber 15 facing the dust outlet openings 16 of the conical cy ⁇ clones 13, the secondary step dust collecting chamber 15 has corresponding dust inlet openings 22.
• the dust inlet openings 22 and dust outlet openings 16 are adapted such that a tight, in particular fluid tight, connection between secondary step dust collecting chamber 15 and respective conical cyclones 13 is ob ⁇ tained .
• each secondary stage dust collecting chamber 15 is positioned and mounted behind respective secondary stage cy ⁇ clones 13. From Fig. 1 it can be seen that with regard to front to back direction the secondary stage dust collecting chambers 15 are arranged flush with respective secondary stage cyclones 13 and respective cyclone units.
• the vacuum cleaner comprises a further filter unit 17, which may be a tertiary stage dust separator, for example. Note that even higher order dust separating stages may be provided.
• the filter unit 17 in the present case may com ⁇ prise or make up a fine filter, in particular main filter, of the vacuum cleaner 1.
• the filter unit 17 is mounted, with regard to front to back di ⁇ rection, behind the primary stage dust collecting chamber 9 and with regard to bottom to top direction below the primary stage cyclone dust separator 8. In combination with Fig. 2 it becomes clear, that the filter unit 17 is centered between the secondary stage dust collecting chambers 15. By this, optimal utilization of space and compact designs can be obtained.
• the secondary stage dust collecting chambers 15 and filter unit 17 in the present case are part of and make up an integral vacu ⁇ um cleaner filter assembly 18 shown in more details in Fig. 4 to 6.
• the filter unit 17 is arranged between the secondary dust col ⁇ lecting chambers 15.
• the filter unit extends from and between inner lateral sides 19 of the secondary dust collecting chambers.
• the filter unit 17 may comprise a carrier frame 20 and a filter element 21 attached to the carrier frame 20.
• the filter unit 17, in particular the carrier frame 20, and the secondary stage dust col ⁇ lecting chambers 15, in particular the shells or outer walls, in particular inner lateral walls, of the secondary stage dust col ⁇ lecting chambers 15 are implemented in a one-piece configura ⁇ tion .
• the filter unit 17 as a whole has a base area of essentially rectangular shape, which can best be seen from Fig. 6.
• the sec- ondary stage dust collecting chambers 15 respectively have rec ⁇ tangular base areas and in general cuboid type bodies or inner volumes .
• the secondary stage dust collecting chambers 15 have a triangular shaped structure, in which cross sec ⁇ tions in parallel to the base area decrease in a direction from bottom to top. Due to the cuboid structure of the secondary stage dust collecting chambers 15 the cross sections in bottom to top direction almost all have rectangular shapes.
• the triangular shape of the secondary stage dust collecting chambers results from the fact that a dust outlet face, compris ⁇ ing dust outlet openings 16 of the conical cyclones 13 of the secondary stage cyclone dust separator unit 12, is tilted.
• dust inlet openings 22 to be coupled with the dust outlet open ⁇ ings 16 are provided at a face side 23 of the dust collecting chambers 15.
• the face sides 23 of the dust collecting chambers 15 are tilted in accordance with the tilt angle of the dust out- let face of the secondary stage cyclone dust separating unit 12. It shall be mentioned that the face side 23 is tilted relative to the base area of a respective secondary stage dust collecting chamber 15. Note that the mentioned tilt angles and tilted faces and face sides are advantageous for space saving designs, for effective cyclonic dust collecting, for easily emptying the secondary stage dust collecting chambers and for easily discharging and/or rinsing dust from the vacuum cleaner filter assembly 18.
• the tilt angle of the face side 23 preferably is in the range be ⁇ tween 10 and 50 degrees, preferably amounts about 30 degrees.
• the filter unit 17 is slanted relative to the ground area of the vacuum cleaner filter assembly 18. The filter unit 17 essentially runs parallel to the tilted face sides 23 of the secondary stage dust collecting chambers 15.
• the vacuum cleaner filter assembly 18 at the bottom side comprises a lid 24.
• the lid 24 is adapted and implemented to close and seal the bottom open ⁇ ings 25 of respective secondary stage dust collecting chambers 15.
• a seal may be provided between chamber openings 25 and lid 24. Further, in order to tightly and fixedly close the secondary stage dust collecting chambers 15 there may be provid ⁇ ed fixtures to hold the lid 24 in the closed position.
• the lid 24 is hingedly connected along a longitudinal lateral edge to the bottom face of the vacuum cleaner filter assembly 18.
• the lid 24 comprises snap elements 26 adapted to interact and build up snap connections with counterpart snap elements 27 provided at the carrier frame 20. Via the snap elements 26 and counterpart snap elements 27, the secondary stage dust collect ⁇ ing chambers 15 can be tightly closed but can be easily emptied.
• the secondary stage dust collecting chambers 15 and filter unit 17, at least the carrier frame 20, are implemented as a one-piece part which may be manufactured by injection molding, for example.
• the vacuum cleaner filter assembly 18 is accommodated within the cleaner body 2 in a type of holding fixture. Further, the vacuum cleaner filer assembly 18 is accommodated in the cleaner body in such a way that it is accessible from the bottom side 3, such that it can be set in and be removed from the cleaner body, in particu ⁇ lar holding fixture, from the bottom side 3 of the cleaner body 2.
• a cover element 28, for example a flap or lid, may be provided at the bottom side 3 of the cleaner body.
• the cover element 28 may be hingedly attached at the bot ⁇ tom side 3, and for example comprise a click and snap connection to tightly close the holding fixture or opening intended for re ⁇ ceiving the vacuum cleaner filter assembly 18.
• the open configuration of the cover element 28 is indicated as a dashed line in Fig. 2.
• the vacuum cleaner filter assembly 18 can easily be removed and reinstalled from and into the holding fixture or cleaner body 2.
• the vacuum cleaner filter assembly 18 in the present case can be moved in vertical direction, i. e. in bottom to top direction for installing and in top to bottom direction for removing the vacuum cleaner filter assembly 18 from the cleaner body 2, which is indicated by a double arrow in Fig. 2.
• Removing the vacuum cleaner filter assembly 18 does not require elaborate and complicated actions.
• removal of the vacuum cleaner filter assembly 18 from the vacuum cleaner 1 can be accomplished without dispersing too much dust.
• For cleaning and removing dust from the vacuum cleaner filter assembly 18 it is possible to rinse the whole vacuum cleaner filter assembly 18 with water. This has the advantage that the user will have less contact with dust and dust particulate matter.
• the proposed vacuum cleaner pro vides a compact design, enhanced usability and satisfactory cleaning efficiency.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Filters For Electric Vacuum Cleaners (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Publications (1)

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Family Applications (1)

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• 2012
  • 2012-02-22 WO PCT/EP2012/053001 patent/WO2013123985A1/en active Application Filing
  • 2012-02-22 CA CA2860365A patent/CA2860365A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2012-02-22 JP JP2014558012A patent/JP2015507980A/ja active Pending
  • 2012-02-22 KR KR1020147023588A patent/KR20140127269A/ko not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2012-02-22 EP EP12705301.5A patent/EP2816944A1/en not_active Withdrawn
  • 2012-02-22 AU AU2012370934A patent/AU2012370934A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2012-02-22 US US14/380,211 patent/US20150020348A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2012-02-22 CN CN201280069511.8A patent/CN104105435A/zh active Pending

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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