EP3838095B1 - Holding plate for a vacuum cleaner filter bag - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a holding plate for a vacuum cleaner filter bag and a vacuum cleaner filter bag with such a holding plate.

Many solutions are known for fixing vacuum cleaner filter bags in the vacuum cleaner's installation space. So-called holding plates are used most frequently, ie flat components which are connected to the bag wall of the vacuum cleaner filter bag and have a passage opening which overlaps the inflow opening of the bag wall. The holding plate is pushed into a corresponding receptacle in the vacuum cleaner before it is put into operation, so that it is arranged in a specific position. When the vacuum cleaner is then closed, a nozzle of the vacuum cleaner engages in the through-opening of the retaining plate so that the air to be filtered can flow into the vacuum cleaner filter bag. Solutions are also known that do not use retaining plates, but are based, for example, on sockets that are attached to corresponding counterparts in the space of the vacuum cleaner, such as in the U.S. 2,068,332 disclosed. the DE 298 19 699 U1 describes a retaining plate according to the preamble of independent claim 1.

Due to limitations in terms of installation space, retaining plates have been proposed which have flexible areas so that the actually flat components can also be inserted into curved guides. This is intended to enable better adaptation to the installation space. Examples of such retaining plates are from WO 2017/194081 A1 and the WO 2017/196211 A1 known. A proposed solution uses film hinges to make an area of the holding plate flexible. Here, however, component failures can easily occur due to film hinges that are not mechanically sufficiently resilient. In particular, the film hinges can be weakened even more by using recycled plastics such as recycled polypropylene, rPP. For ecological reasons, however, the use of recycled plastics is becoming increasingly desirable. In addition, the formation of the film hinges by injection molding is expensive.

It is therefore the object of the invention to provide an improved holding plate for a vacuum cleaner filter bag which, in particular, is more reliable to use and simpler to manufacture.

This object is achieved by a vacuum cleaner filter bag according to claim 1. Particularly advantageous developments can be found in the dependent claims.

The invention thus provides a holding plate comprising a first plate and a second plate which are arranged in a first plane, and a third plate which is arranged in a second plane which runs parallel to the first plane, the third plate having a lower Flexural rigidity than the first panel and the second panel, the first panel and the second panel being connected to one another via the third panel in such a way that a hinge is formed between the first panel and the second panel, around the hinge axis of which the first panel and/or or the second plate can be bent with the respectively connected part of the third plate.

Because the hinge is not formed by a weakening line in the material, as is usual in the prior art, but by a combination of the three plates, the retaining plate, in particular the hinge, can be designed to be more functionally reliable and more flexible with regard to the properties that can be achieved. For example, it is also possible to combine panels that were produced using different manufacturing processes. For example, one or more plates that have a particularly demanding geometry can be injection molded parts. The thermoforming process is also suitable for simpler structures. It is also possible to combine different materials. The third plate, which is bent during use, can also comprise a material that is particularly suitable for this purpose, such as a thermoplastic elastomer, TPE, or consist of it. As a result, it is then also possible to realize a seal around the vacuum cleaner socket integrally through the third TPE plate.

The term "plate" refers here to a flat component, ie a component whose extent in one plane (plate width and plate length) is significantly greater than its extent perpendicular to this plane (plate thickness).

The flexural rigidity describes the resistance of the panel to elastic deformation by a bending moment and is defined in a manner known to those skilled in the art.

The third plate can be designed in one piece or can be made of several parts connected to one another. However, the third panel is in any case designed in such a way that it connects the first panel to the second panel.

In particular, the retaining plate can comprise one or more plastics or consist of one or more plastics. In particular, recycled plastics can also be used, such as recycled polypropylene, rPP, and/or recycled polyethylene terephthalate, rPET. The recycled plastic material can be used in particular for the first plate and the second plate can be used. The third plate can then also include or consist of new plastic material (virgin material).

The retainer plate may be formed from a combination of injection molded parts or a combination of thermoformed parts. The retainer plate may also include elements fabricated partially by injection molding and partially by thermoforming.

In particular, the first panel can only be connected to the second panel via the third panel. In other words, the first plate and the second plate can be completely separate components. However, this does not preclude that there is or may be physical contact between the first plate and the second plate in certain positions. The contact surface can also be specifically shaped, for example raised at the edge, in order to achieve a larger contact surface and/or to allow movement in only one direction and/or to limit the possible bending angle.

In particular, the hinge axis can run parallel to the dividing line between the first panel and the second panel. The hinge axis then also lies in a plane parallel to the first and second plane, in particular in the second plane.

In particular, the third plate can be thinner than the first plate and/or the second plate. The thickness is determined perpendicular to the first and second plane. If the thickness is not constant, the average thickness can be used as the size. Due to the lower thickness, greater flexibility, ie lower flexural rigidity, can be achieved in a simple manner, especially if the same material is used for all plates. For example, the third plate can have a thickness of 0.05 to 1.0 mm, while the first plate and the second plate each have a thickness of 1.0 to 3.0 mm.

Alternatively or additionally, the third plate can be formed from a different material than the first plate and/or second plate, the material of the third plate having a lower modulus of elasticity than the material of the first plate and/or second plate.

The first plate and the second plate can be glued, welded or positively connected to the third plate. The connection can be non-destructively releasable or not non-destructively releasable. In particular, a riveted connection is possible as a form-fitting connection.

A through-opening can be arranged in the first plate, which in particular overlaps with a through-opening in the third plate. The through-opening or through-openings form the filling hole when the holding plate is connected to a vacuum cleaner filter bag.

The retaining plate can also include a sealing lip surrounding the through-opening. The sealing lip can comprise a thermoplastic elastomer, for example based on polypropylene, or consist of it. The sealing lip is intended to prevent or limit the escape of dust from the vacuum cleaner filter bag by sealing the area between the inner edge of the passage opening and the outside of a connecting piece of the vacuum cleaner. In particular, it is possible to form the sealing lip by parts of the third plate if this includes or consists of a thermoplastic elastomer, TPE, by the through-opening in the third plate having a smaller diameter than the through-opening in the first plate.

One or more positioning openings for positioning and/or fastening in a holding plate receptacle can be provided in the second plate. Correspondingly overlapping positioning openings can be provided in the third plate, so that the positioning openings are in the form of through-openings in the holding plate. However, the positioning openings can also be designed as blind holes. During operation, positioning elements of the holding plate holder of the vacuum cleaner can engage in the positioning openings and thus position and/or fix the holding plate.

The invention also provides a vacuum cleaner filter bag comprising a bag wall and a retaining plate as described above connected thereto.

The bag wall is made of an air-permeable material and can have a multi-layer structure. In the latter case one also speaks of a laminate. Several layers of the laminate, in particular each layer of the laminate, can include or consist of a nonwoven fabric and/or a nonwoven fabric.

A wide variety of plastics, for example polypropylene and/or polyester, can be used as the material for the bag wall, in particular for one or more layers of nonwoven fabric or nonwoven fabric. The bag wall can also include or consist of recycled plastic and/or recycled material from the production of textiles (Textile Left-Over—TLO).

Relevant international standards exist for many plastic recyclates. DIN EN 15353:2007, for example, is relevant for PET plastic recyclates. PP recyclates are characterized in DIN EN 15345:2008. For the purpose of the corresponding special plastic recyclates, the present patent application adopts the definitions of these international standards as its own. The plastic recyclates can be unmetallized. An example of this is plastic flakes or chips recovered from PET beverage bottles. Likewise, the plastic recyclates can be metallized, e.g. if the recyclates were obtained from metallic plastic films, in particular metallized PET films (MPET).

Recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) can be obtained, for example, from beverage bottles, in particular from so-called bottle flakes, ie pieces of ground beverage bottles.

The recycled plastics, in particular recycled PET and/or recycled PP, both in the metallized and in the non-metallized version, can be spun into the corresponding fibers from which the corresponding staple fibers or meltblown or spunbond nonwovens are made for the purposes of the present invention can be produced.

Recycled material from the production of textiles (TLO) falls in particular during the processing of textile materials (in particular textile fibers and filaments, and linear, flat and three-dimensional textile structures produced with them), such as production (including carding, spinning, cutting and drying) or the recycling of textile materials. These powdered and/or fibrous materials represent waste materials that can settle on the machinery or filter materials used to process the textiles. The dust (powder) or fibers are normally disposed of and thermally recycled.

The recycled material in powder and/or fibrous form is therefore, for example, production waste; this applies in particular to material that is a waste product from the carding, spinning, cutting or drying of textile materials. In this case one also speaks of "pre-consumer waste".

The recycling of textile materials, ie the processing (e.g. shredding) of used textile materials or textiles (e.g. old clothes) also produces powdery and/or fibrous recycled material; this is referred to as "post-consumer waste".

The recycled material from the manufacture of textiles, TLO, can thus in particular be fibers and/or filaments obtained from waste materials from the textile and clothing industry, from post-consumer waste (textiles and similar) and/or from products destined for recycling have been collected, have been obtained, include.

For the purposes of the present invention, a nonwoven designates a tangled scrim that has undergone a consolidation step so that it has sufficient strength to be wound up or unwound to form rolls, for example by machine (that is to say on an industrial scale). The minimum web tension required for winding is 0.044 N/mm. The web tension should not be higher than 10% to 25% of the minimum maximum tensile force (according to DIN EN 29073-3:1992-08) of the material to be wound up. This results in a minimum maximum tensile force of 8.8 N per 5 cm strip width for a material to be wound up.

A non-woven fabric or "fleece" for short corresponds to a tangled fabric which, however, has not undergone a strengthening step, so that, in contrast to a non-woven fabric, such a tangled fabric does not have sufficient strength to be mechanically wound up or unwound into rolls, for example.

The term "nonwoven" is used in other words according to the definition according to ISO Standard ISO9092:1988 or CEM Standard EN29092. Details on the use of the definitions and/or methods described herein can also be found in the standard work " Nonwovens", W. Albrecht, H. Fuchs, W. Kittelmann, Wiley-VCH, 2000 , remove.

The nonwoven layers of the bag wall can in particular comprise a staple fiber nonwoven and/or an extruded nonwoven. In particular, filament spunbonded nonwovens (also “spunbonded nonwovens” or “spunbond” for short) and/or meltblown nonwovens can be used.

One or more plies of the bag wall may comprise a carded material. Both mechanical processes (e.g. needling) and thermal processes (e.g. calendering) can be used as the binding step. It is also possible to use binding fibers or adhesives, such as a latex adhesive. Airlaid materials are also possible.

The non-woven fabric of one or more layers of the bag wall can comprise bicomponent fibers. Bi-component fibers (BiCo fibers) can be formed from a core and a sheath encasing the core. In addition to core/sheath bicomponent fibers, the other common variants of bicomponent fibers, e.g. B. side-by-side, are used.

The bicomponent fibers can be present as staple fibers or as filaments in an extrusion nonwoven (for example meltblown nonwoven).

Correspondingly unconsolidated fiber fleeces are also conceivable, as mentioned.

The non-woven fabric of one or more layers of the bag wall can also have micro-crimping (Micrex).

The pouch wall may also include an odor absorbent.

In particular, the bag wall can comprise a capacitance layer. A capacitance layer offers high resistance to shock loading, and allows filtering of large dirt particles, filtering a significant fraction of small dust particles, and retaining large amounts of particles while allowing air to easily flow through, and thus less Pressure drop at high particle loading results.

The bag wall may also include a fine filter layer. A fine filter layer is used to increase the filtration performance of the multi-layer filter material by capturing particles that get through the capacity layer, for example. To further increase the separation efficiency, the fine filter layer can preferably be electrostatically charged (e.g. by corona discharge or hydrocharging) in order to increase the separation of fine dust particles in particular.

The fine filter layer can in particular adjoin the capacitance layer on the outside of the bag wall.

A support layer can also be attached to the fine filter layer. A support layer (sometimes also called "reinforcement layer") is a layer that gives the multi-layer composite of the filter material the necessary mechanical strength. The support layer can in particular be an open, porous nonwoven fabric with a light basis weight. The support layer can in particular be a spunbonded nonwoven.

However, it is also possible to use a single-layer filter material for the bag wall. In this case it can in particular be a meltblown non-woven fabric. A suitable material for such a single-layer bag wall is, for example, from EP 2 311 360 B1 known.

The retaining plate may have one or more of the features described above.

In particular, the bag wall may be welded to the third panel, the third panel comprising a plastic compatible with the plastic material of the outermost layer of the bag wall to which the third panel is welded. In other words, the material of the third panel can be chosen so that it can be welded as firmly as possible to the bag wall.

For good welding results, it is necessary for the materials to be joined to be matched to one another as far as possible, both in terms of melting points and chemical character (amorphous/partially crystalline). This can be achieved if compatible materials are used. It is also conceivable to use the same material for the outermost layer of the bag wall, to which the third panel is welded, and for the third panel.

However, it is also possible for the bag wall to be connected to the first panel or the second panel. In this case the respective panel may comprise a plastic which is compatible with the plastic material of the outermost layer of the bag wall to which the respective panel is welded.

The invention also provides a system comprising a vacuum cleaner filter bag as described above and a holder for the holding plate in a vacuum cleaner housing, the holder being designed in such a way that the first plate and/or the second plate and the part of the third plate connected thereto in each case Operating position relative to the first and second level are bent around the hinge axis. The operating position is the position in which the holding plate is arranged when the vacuum cleaner is in operation.

The vacuum cleaner filter bag may have one or more of the features described above.

The mount can in particular have a guide along which the holding plate can be inserted into the mount. This guide can include a straight section and a curved section. The bending around the hinge axis can be brought about by the curved section.

The bracket can in particular as in the WO 2018/095519 A1 described be trained.

Figur 1

eine Draufsicht auf eine beispielhafte Halteplatte;

Figur 2

einen Schnitt durch eine beispielhafte Halteplatte;

Figur 3

eine Seitenansicht auf eine beispielhafte Halteplatte in einer ersten Stellung;

Figur 4

eine Seitenansicht auf eine beispielhafte Halteplatte in einer zweiten Stellung; und

Figur 5

eine Draufsicht auf einen beispielhaften Staubsaugerfilterbeutel.

Further features and advantages of the invention are described below with reference to the exemplary figures. It shows:

figure 1

a plan view of an exemplary retaining plate;

figure 2

a section through an exemplary retaining plate;

figure 3

a side view of an exemplary holding plate in a first position;

figure 4

a side view of an exemplary holding plate in a second position; and

figure 5

a plan view of an exemplary vacuum cleaner filter bag.

figure 1 shows a top view of an exemplary holding plate 1, which comprises a first plate 2 and a second plate 3, which are designed as completely separate components. In this example the plates 2, 3 are spaced apart by a gap 7. It would also be conceivable for the plates 2, 3 to touch in this arrangement, as long as they remain separate components. The first plate 2 and the second plate 3 are only connected by an in figure 1 third plate, which cannot be seen, which is arranged in a plane parallel to the plane of the first plate 2 and the second plate 3 and is also provided in particular in the area under the gap 7 .

figure 2 shows a section through the exemplary retaining plate 1. The third plate 8 is arranged under the first plate 2, the second plate 3 and in particular under the gap 7, so that the third plate 8 connects the plates 2,3. The third plate 8 is arranged on the side of the holding plate 1 which is intended for connection to the bag wall of a vacuum cleaner filter bag.

The third plate 8 also has a lower flexural rigidity than the first plate 2 and/or second plate 3. In this example, this is achieved in that the third plate 8 is thinner than both the first plate and the second plate 3. Alternatively or additionally, the third plate 8 can be formed from a different material than the first plate 2 and/or second plate 3, the material of the third plate having a lower modulus of elasticity than the material of the first plate 2 and/or second plate 3.

Due to the higher flexibility of the third plate and the reduced thickness of the holding plate 1 in the area of the gap 7 between the plates 2, 3, a hinge is formed. The hinge axis A is in figure 1 indicated by a dashed line. The second panel 3 can be bent or pivoted about this hinge axis A relative to the first panel 2 together with the part of the third panel 8 connected thereto. This is in the Figures 3 and 4 shown. In figure 3 all plates 2, 3, 8 are located entirely in two parallel planes, while in figure 4 the second plate 3 and the associated part of the third plate 8 perpendicular to the planes of figure 3 is bent around the hinge axis A. As a result, the holding plate 1 can also be introduced into receptacles which have a curved guide and therefore require a holding plate with flexible areas.

As in figures 1 and 2 shown, a through hole 4 is formed in the first plate 2, which, as figure 2 shows, also extends through the third plate 8. As a result, an inflow opening is formed together with a through-opening in the bag wall of a vacuum cleaner filter bag. However, it is also conceivable that the third panel 8 does not extend over the entire underside of the first panel 1 and thus does not overlap the through opening 4 in the first panel 2 . The inflow opening is then only formed by the through-opening 4 in the first plate 2 together with the through-opening of the bag wall.

In a manner known per se, the retaining plate 1 has a sealing lip 10 made of a thermoplastic elastomer, TPE, which in this example is injection-molded onto the edge of the through-opening 4 of the first plate 2 . However, it is also possible to form the sealing lip 10 through the third plate 8 if this includes or consists of a thermoplastic elastomer, TPE, by the passage opening in the third plate 8 having a smaller diameter than the passage opening 4 in the first plate 2. According to further alternatives, the sealing lip 10 can also be glued or welded onto the first plate 2 from above or from below. “Top” refers to the side facing away from the third plate 8 and “bottom” to the side facing the third plate 8 .

also in figure 1 Two positioning openings 5, 6 can be seen in the second plate 3 for positioning and/or fastening in a holding plate receptacle. The positioning openings 5, 6 can also be provided in the third plate 8 as through holes. During operation, positioning elements of the holding plate holder of the vacuum cleaner can engage in the positioning openings 5, 6 and thus position and/or fix the holding plate 1.

In figure 5 the holding plate 1 is connected to a bag wall 9 of a vacuum cleaner filter bag. In particular, the bag wall 9 may be welded to the third panel 8, the third panel 8 comprising a plastic compatible with the plastic material of the outermost layer of the bag wall 9 to which the third panel 8 is welded. As a result, the strength of the welded connection between the holding plate 1 and the bag wall 9 can be improved.

The bag wall 9 comprises several layers of non-woven fabric or several layers of non-woven fabric and non-woven fabric, which overlap one another from the inside of the bag to the outside of the bag. The layers of non-woven fabric or non-woven fabric can lie loosely on top of one another or be connected to one another. The connections can be made over a large area (e.g. using spray adhesive) or selectively (e.g. using a calendered pattern).

The individual layers can, in particular, comprise different plastic materials, namely one below the other and/or within a respective layer.

The exemplary vacuum cleaner filter bag figure 5 is a so-called flat bag, in which the bag wall 9 comprises an upper side and an underside, which are connected to one another by a circumferential weld seam. As mentioned above, both the upper side and the lower side of the flat bag comprise several layers of filter material, in particular several layers of non-woven material or several layers of non-woven material and fiber non-woven material. Both the upper side and the lower side can in particular be formed from a laminate of several layers of non-woven fabric. However, the invention is not limited to flat bags, but can also be used, for example, for side-gusset bags or block-bottom bags.

Advantageously, in this example, the support plate 1 comprises a recycled plastic material, for example recycled polypropylene (rPP) or recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET).

It goes without saying that the features mentioned in the exemplary embodiments described above are not limited to these special combinations and are also possible in any other combinations. Furthermore, it goes without saying that the geometries shown in the figures are only examples and are also possible in any other configurations.

Claims (9)

1. A holding plate (1) comprising a first plate (2) and a second plate (3) which are arranged in a first plane, and a third plate (8) arranged in a second plane extending parallel to the first plane, the first plate (2) and the second plate (3) being connected to each other via the third plate (8) so that a hinge is formed between the first plate (2) and the second plate (3) wherein the first plate (2) and/or the second plate (3) can be bent about the hinge axis (A) thereof with the respective part of the third plate (8) connected thereto, characterized in that the bending stiffness of the third plate (8) is smaller than that of the first plate (2) and the second plate (3).
2. The holding plate according to claim 1, wherein the third plate (8) is formed thinner than the first plate (2) and/or the second plate (3).
3. The holding plate according to claims 1 or 2, wherein the third plate (8) is made of a different material from that of the first plate (2) and/or the second plate (3), the material of the third plate (8) having a lower modulus of elasticity than the material of the first plate (2) and/or the second plate (3).
4. The holding plate according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the first plate (2) and the second plate (3) is adhered, welded or positively connected to the third plate (8).
5. The holding plate according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the first plate (2) has a through opening (4) arranged therein which in particular overlaps with a through opening (4) in the third plate (8).
6. The holding plate according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the second plate (3) includes one or more positioning opening/s (5, 6) provided therein for positioning and/or fastening in a receptacle for the holding plate.
7. A vacuum cleaner filter bag comprising a bag wall (9) and a holding plate (1) according to any one of the preceding claims connected thereto.
8. The vacuum cleaner filter bag according to claim 7, wherein the bag wall (9) is welded to the third panel (8) and wherein the third panel (8) comprises a plastic compatible with the plastic material of the outermost layer of the bag wall (9) to which the third plate (8) is welded.
9. A system comprising a vacuum cleaner filter bag according to claims 7 or 8 and a holder for the holding plate (1) in a vacuum cleaner housing, wherein the holder is formed such that in the operating position the first plate (2) and/or the second plate (3) and the respective part of the third plate (8) connected thereto are bent about the hinge axis (A) relative to the first and second planes.

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