ES2919565T3 - Base station for a vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a base station (1) for cleaning and/or emptying a vacuum room (5) of a first vacuum cleaner (3), which base station (1) a blower, a base dust chamber (2), one with the basic powder chamber (2) in flow link First air inlet (7) and one with the base powder (2) in the flow connection (8), by which the air inlet (7) can be connected with an air duct (9) of the first vacuum cleaner (3), so that the suction powder (5) of the first vacuum cleaner (3) contained suction material (15) can be transmitted to the base powder chamber ( 2) by means of the blower. To create a base station (1) to which several vacuum cleaners (3, 4) can be connected simultaneously or different types of vacuum cleaners (3, 4), it is suggested that the base station (1) also be at least one The interface ( 13) has which interface (13) has a lockable, with the base powder chamber (2) in flow connection (12), over which in a suction room (6) of a second vacuum cleaner (4) in the powder base The camera (2)) can be promoted. (Automatic translation with Google Translate, without legal value)

Description

DESCRIPTION

Base station for a vacuum cleaner

The invention relates to a base station for cleaning and/or emptying a container of dust sucked from a first vacuum cleaner, the base station having a blower, a base dust chamber, a first air inlet in flow communication with the base powder chamber and a first air outlet in flow communication with the base powder chamber, the air inlet being able to be connected to an air channel of the first vacuum cleaner, so that the sucked material contained in the Dust container sucked from the first vacuum cleaner is transported to the base dust chamber by means of the blower.

Base stations of the type mentioned are widely known in the state of the art. They are used, above all, in combination with vacuum cleaners that have a so-called permanent filter which, when it is completely full of sucked material, is not replaced, but is freed of dust by means of a washing air flow in the opposite direction to the usual one. of aspiration. To do this, the vacuum's dust container can be connected to a base station blower or to the vacuum's own blower.

Printed specification EP 1243218 B1 discloses, for example, a base station for cleaning and/or emptying a sucked dust container of a vacuum cleaner, the base station comprising a base dust chamber into which sucked material can be transferred from the sucked dust container, whereby the blower of the base station or of the vacuum cleaner to be cleaned can be connected, for the suction of dirt from the sucked dust container, to the base dust chamber, whereby the air flow can be diverted from suction of the blower through the base powder chamber into the sucked powder container, so that the sucked material can be sucked from the sucked powder container into the base powder chamber by means of the negative pressure thus produced in the base powder chamber.

Printed specification EP 2407074 A2 discloses a system consisting of a cleaning robot and a base station, in which dirt collected in a dust container sucked in by the cleaning robot is set in motion by an air flow and transferred to the Base station. To do this, a dust removal device blows air into the vacuum dust container of the robot cleaner and sucks out the dust-laden air after it has circulated through the vacuum dust container.

Although this type of base station has given good results, it is only suitable for cleaning and/or emptying a single vacuum cleaner. If a user uses several and/or different vacuum cleaners, he needs several base stations.

Therefore, the object of the invention is to create a base station to which several vacuum cleaners or different types of vacuum cleaners can be connected simultaneously. In addition, it is intended that the base station occupies little installation space and causes the lowest possible cost to the customer.

In order to solve the aforementioned task, the invention proposes that the base station additionally has at least one interface, and that the interface has a second air inlet that can be closed and flow-connected to the base powder chamber, through which the sucked material contained in a sucked dust container of a second vacuum cleaner can be transported to the base dust chamber.

By means of the invention, a modularly expandable base station is created, which can be completed, depending on the type of vacuum cleaner or vacuum cleaners to be cleaned, by installing one or more adapter modules. To do this, the base station has one or more interfaces to which adapter modules can be connected if necessary. Therefore, it is not necessary for the user to purchase two different base stations to clean/empty two different vacuum cleaners, for example, a cordless handheld vacuum cleaner and a robot vacuum cleaner. Rather, the user can add to the base station, which is already designed to clean/empty a certain type of vacuum cleaner, adapter modules for other types of vacuum cleaners. This allows the base station to be completely designed according to the individual needs of the user. Also, the base station can be as small as possible. In addition, the user does not have to pay for interfaces for vacuum cleaners that come standard on the base station and that he may not even need because he does not use the corresponding type of vacuum cleaner. In this way, the user can purchase a base station and an adapter module or several adapter modules corresponding to the types of vacuum cleaners that he uses.

It is proposed that the sucked material contained in the dust chamber of the second vacuum be transported to the base dust chamber by means of a base station blower. Depending on the types of vacuum cleaner that are connected to the base station, the user can advantageously select by means of a selector switch which of the vacuum cleaner's dust chambers should be emptied.

Advantageously, the first air inlet and/or the second air inlet of the base station is assigned an inlet valve which can be switched depending on a desired transport of sucked material from the sucked dust container of the first vacuum cleaner. or from the sucked dust container of the second vacuum cleaner. In this way, alternative flow paths can be created within the base station depending on whether a first or a second vacuum cleaner connected to the base station is to be cleaned.

According to a first embodiment, for example only a first vacuum cleaner can be connected to the base station, whereby in principle the connection of the second air inlet to an adapter module is superfluous. In this case, the base station is used in the simplest way. The cleaning of the sucked dust container of this vacuum cleaner is carried out in such a way that the first air inlet of the base station is connected to the air channel of the first vacuum cleaner, whereby the sucked material contained in the sucked dust container is transported to the base powder chamber by means of the blower. To create a selection for a cleaning process, the base station may present, for example, a switch that the user of the base station may activate manually. Various functions can be selected via the switch, which can be made available by the vacuum cleaner connected to the base station. Furthermore, the switch can be operated in several steps, for example, to activate the blower by only slightly pressing the switch, and to change a certain flow path by fully pressing the switch. The selection of the vacuum cleaner to be cleaned can also be carried out by means of a switch.

According to a second embodiment, switching of the airways by the user is also possible electromechanically instead of manually. In this variant of embodiment, the base station automatically detects which are the vacuum cleaners connected to the first air inlet, to the second air inlet and, if applicable, to other air inlets, and starts, in the case of certain combinations of connected vacuum cleaners, a certain cleaning process. Additionally, specific cleaning sequences can be defined, for example, according to which several vacuum cleaners connected to the base station are cleaned one after the other in a predetermined successive order. It can be provided, for example, that the sucked-in dust container of the first vacuum cleaner is always cleaned first and that the cleaning processes of the other vacuum cleaners are subordinate. Advantageously, the base station can detect via contacts arranged in the area of the air inlets and, if necessary, also the air outlets, whether vacuum cleaners and/or adapter modules are connected to the base station. , certain types of vacuum cleaners can also be detected via the contact class.

For example, a design is proposed in which the base station inlet valve for conveying the vacuumed material from the second vacuum cleaner's vacuumed dust container can be switched so as to block the first air inlet, and in the that the inlet valve for conveying the sucked material from the sucked dust container of the first vacuum cleaner can be switched so as to block the second air inlet. Therefore, the inlet valve can be switched between two different positions, the first position creating a flow path to the adapter module, while a second position allows the transport of material sucked from the sucked dust container of the first vacuum cleaner. . Depending on the switched flow path of the sucked material from the first air inlet or the second air inlet, the respective other air inlet, i.e. the second air inlet or the first air inlet, has to be closed , which advantageously occurs simultaneously through the inlet valve. Consequently, the inlet valve thus fulfills at the same time the function of opening a first flow path and the function of closing a second flow path.

It is proposed that the inlet valve is assigned to a valve manifold designed to switch the inlet valve in case of connection of an adapter module to the second air inlet automatically so that the first air inlet is blocked. According to this embodiment, it is proposed that, as a basic setting of the flow paths when connecting an adapter module to the base station, the valve manifold automatically blocks the first air inlet and releases the second air inlet. air. In this sense, a flow path that eventually still exists and is suitable for cleaning the first vacuum cleaner is separated, and a flow path suitable for cleaning the second vacuum cleaner connected to the adapter module is released. Such a pre-setting is suitable, for example, when the first vacuum cleaner is a mains-powered floor vacuum cleaner and the second vacuum cleaner is a robotic cleaner whose sucked-in dust container has, in principle, a dust collection capacity. lower than that of the sucked dust container of the mains powered vacuum cleaner.

The interface may be provided with a cap reversibly closing the second air inlet and/or an interface valve configured to open the second air inlet when connected to an adapter module. In the first proposed case that the interface has a cover, the closing cover can be arranged, for example, to be activated manually and/or to be removed at the second air inlet of the base station. The function of the closing cover is to prevent secondary air from entering the base station through the second air inlet, for example when cleaning a vacuum cleaner arranged in the first air inlet. In principle, the closure cap can be actuated manually or electromechanically and can have different configurations, for example as a hinged cap, a cap or the like. In the second mentioned case, in which the interface has an interface valve that closes the second air inlet, the electromechanical actuation is preferred, in which the valve opens immediately when an adapter module is connected to the second air inlet. . In this way, the user of the base station no longer has to open the second air inlet manually, but only has to connect the adapter module to the interface, whereby an automatic opening takes place. Without the adapter module, the interface closes automatically, as a result of removal.

In this sense, it is further proposed that the interface valve can be opened by mechanical action of a partial region of the adapter module, in particular of an air outlet of the adapter. An interface monitoring system connected to the interface valve can thus detect a mechanical contact between the interface and a module. adapter, for example by the fact that an air outlet of the adapter module comes into contact with the interface, for example by penetrating a partial area of an air channel of the adapter into a partial area of the second air inlet, similar to a plug connection. The mechanical contacts arranged on the interface can thus detect a contact of an adapter module in the base station in the area of the second air inlet and send a corresponding signal to the valve distributor, which finally issues the opening command. In addition to the base station according to the invention shown above, a base station system is also proposed which has a base station according to one of the mentioned embodiments and a first vacuum cleaner, the housing of the first vacuum cleaner being configured such that apply corresponding pressure against the base station contacts and distinguish a specific type of vacuum from other vacuums.

In the following, the invention is explained in more detail in view of an example of an embodiment. It is shown in:

Figure 1: a base station in a schematic side view;

Figure 2: an adapter module in a schematic side view;

Figure 3: the base station with a first vacuum cleaner;

Figure 4: the base station with the first vacuum cleaner, as well as the adapter module with a second vacuum cleaner;

Figure 5: a section of the base station;

Figure 6: The base station with the first vacuum attached to it in a cutaway;

Figure 7: the base station with the first vacuum cleaner according to Figure 6 with a first position of an inlet valve;

Figure 8: the base station with the first vacuum cleaner with a second inlet valve position;

Figure 9: The base station with the first vacuum cleaner after cleaning;

Figure 10: The base station with the first vacuum cleaner and the adapter module in a cutaway;

Figure 11: The base station with the first vacuum cleaner, the adapter module and the second vacuum cleaner in a cutaway. Figure 1 shows a schematic side view of a base station 1 designed to receive a vacuum cleaner 3, especially a manual stick vacuum cleaner, a cordless vacuum cleaner or the like. The base station 1 has a first air inlet 7 and a first air outlet 8, which are suitable for connection to an outlet and an air inlet of the vacuum cleaner 3. On the base station 1, contacts 19, 20 which serve to establish contact with the vacuum cleaner 3 to be connected to the base station 1 and which, in particular, can also take on a clamping function for fixing the vacuum cleaner 3 on the base station 1 or which can be equipped with sensors to detect the coupling of the vacuum cleaner 3.

Base station 1 also has an interface 13 via which a second vacuum cleaner 4 can be connected to base station 1. In the figure, interface 13 is covered by a cover 24.

The base station 1 has a switch 22 with which the user can select certain cleaning operations. The switch 22 can adopt, for example, different latching positions for cleaning the first vacuum cleaner 3 or for cleaning the second vacuum cleaner 4.

Figure 2 shows an adapter module 16 that can be connected to the interface 13 of the base station 1. The adapter module 16 has an adapter air outlet 17 for connection to the interface 13 and an adapter air inlet 18 for connection to a second vacuum cleaner 4. The adapter module 16 has a movable suction arm 23 rotatably arranged about a rotation axis, which can be lowered onto a second vacuum cleaner 4 to be connected. The adapter module 16 can be specially adapted to a certain type of vacuum cleaner to be connected to the base station 1. However, it is also possible that the adapter module 16 can connect various types of vacuum cleaners to the base station 1.

Figure 3 shows the base station 1 with a first vacuum cleaner 3 connected to it. The first vacuum cleaner 3 has, on the side that usually rests on the floor to be cleaned, a suction nozzle 28, which in this case has been connected to the first air inlet 7 of the base station 1. The shape of the housing of the first vacuum cleaner 3 can be configured in such a way that it exerts a corresponding pressure against the contacts 19 of the base station 1 and distinguishes a particular type of vacuum cleaner from other vacuum cleaners. The shape of the housing of the first vacuum cleaner 3 can be configured in such a way that it exerts a corresponding pressure against the contacts 19 and distinguishes a certain type of vacuum cleaner from other vacuum cleaners.

Figure 4 shows the base station 1 with the first vacuum cleaner 3 connected to it, as already shown in figure 3. In addition, the adapter module 16 is connected to the interface 13 of the base station 1. removed the cover 24, which protects the interface 13, of the base station 1. The adapter module 16 has been connected with its adapter air outlet 17 to the interface 13. In the area of the adapter air inlet 18 Attached to the adapter module 16 is a second vacuum cleaner 4 configured here as a self-propelled vacuum robot. The rotary suction arm 23 of the adapter module 16 can rotate to a position corresponding to a docking position of the second vacuum cleaner 4 on the adapter module 16.

Figure 5 shows a cross section through the base station 1. The base station 1 has a base dust chamber 2, the sucked material 15 from the vacuum cleaners 3, 4 being sucked into its interior to be cleaned/emptied. The base powder chamber 2 is connected to the first air inlet 7 and the first air outlet 8. Through this flow connection, the air that is sucked from the first vacuum cleaner 3 through the first air inlet 7 towards the base station 1 can flow through the base powder chamber 2 and then out again from the base station 1 through the first air outlet 8, for example to be supplied to a blower 11 of the first vacuum cleaner 3. To the base dust chamber 2 is further connected the interface 13, which provides a second air inlet 12. The two flow paths from the first air inlet 7 to the first air outlet 8 or from the The second air inlet 12 to the first air outlet 8 are separated by an inlet valve 14. The inlet valve 14 is configured here as a hinged valve, although other designs are also conceivable. The inlet valve 14 can be rotated in this case from a closing position of the first air inlet 7 to a closing position of the second air inlet 12, and vice versa.

The base dust chamber 2 can be provided in the usual way with a filter bag which, when completely filled with sucked material, eg dust and dirt, can be removed from the base station 1 and/or emptied.

Figure 6 shows a cross section through the base station 1 shown in Figure 5 with a first vacuum cleaner 3 connected to it. The first vacuum cleaner 3 has a suction nozzle 28 connected to the first air inlet 7 of the base station 1. From the suction nozzle 28 to a blower 11 of the first vacuum cleaner 3, an air channel 9 runs inside the first vacuum cleaner. 3. In a usual suction operation of the first vacuum cleaner 3, the sucked material 15 of a floor to be cleaned is sucked by means of a blower 11 into the suction nozzle 28, flows through the air channel 9 and passes through an air filter 27, which filters the sucked air so that the sucked material 15 contained in it adheres to the filter material of the air filter 27 and so that only the air released from the sucked material 15 can continue to flow in the direction of the blower eleven.

A secondary air channel 25 is connected to the air channel 9 between the air filter 27 and the blower 11, which has a secondary air valve 26. Via the secondary air channel 25, secondary air 9 can enter the channel. of air 9 of the first vacuum cleaner 3, which during a cleaning operation of the first vacuum cleaner 3 in a flow direction opposite to the flow direction of the usual suction operation of the first vacuum cleaner 3. In order to be able to connect the first vacuum cleaner 3 to the first air outlet 8 of the base station 1, the air channel 9 of the first vacuum cleaner 3 additionally has an inlet section 29, which connects the first air outlet 8 rheotechnically to the blower 11 of the first vacuum cleaner 3. Inlet section 29 is assigned a valve 30, which can open or close a flow path from base station 1 to blower 11 of first vacuum cleaner 3. In the figure, valve 30 is still in the proper position. ada for normal suction operation of the first vacuum cleaner 3. In this case, the valve 30 closes the flow connection between the first air outlet 8 of the base station 1 and the air channel 9 of the first vacuum cleaner 3.

Fig. 7 shows the base station 1 with the first vacuum cleaner 3 arranged in it in a situation shortly before a cleaning process of the sucked dust container 5 of the first vacuum cleaner 3. To start the cleaning process, the switch 22 is set pressurized into a corresponding switching position. Next, the valve 30 is turned to a position in which the air channel 9 between the blower 11 and the air filter 27 is rheotechnically separated. As a consequence, the inlet section 29, which runs between the first air outlet 8 of the base station 1 and the blower 11 of the first vacuum cleaner 3, is released at the same time.

Fig. 8 shows a subsequent step in which the secondary air valve 26 provided in the secondary air channel 25 is opened to admit secondary air for cleaning operation in the air channel 9 of the first vacuum cleaner 3.

The inlet valve 14 arranged between the first air inlet 7 and the second air inlet 12 of the base station 1 is rotated for cleaning the suction dust chamber 6 of the first vacuum cleaner 3 until it reaches a position, in in which the second air inlet 12 is closed, so that no air can enter the base powder chamber 2 via the second air inlet 12. Correspondingly, a flow path is opened between the first air inlet air outlet 7 and the first air outlet 8 through the base powder chamber 2.

The cleaning process of the sucked powder container 5 is carried out in such a way that the blower 11 successively generates, through the first air outlet 8, a negative pressure in the base powder chamber 2, at the suction nozzle 28, the sucked-in dust container 5, and then into the air filter 27 of the first vacuum cleaner 3. As a consequence, secondary air is sucked through the secondary air valve 26 into the secondary air channel 25, which flows through the air filter 27 in a direction opposite to the direction necessary for a filtration function of the air filter 27. In this way, the outer wall of the air filter 27 is cleaned and the adhering sucked material 15 is sucked off. into the sucked powder container 5. The total of the sucked material 15 in the sucked powder container 5 is then transferred through the suction nozzle 28 to the base powder chamber 2, where the sucked material 15 s e collects and can be disposed of in a process of subsequent cleaning of the base powder chamber 2. Therefore, the air laden with sucked material circulating through the base powder chamber 2 is cleaned and arrives without sucked material 15, through the first air outlet 8, to the blower 11 of the first vacuum cleaner 3. As a whole, the first vacuum cleaner 3 is thus cleaned by means of its own blower 11, the sucked material 15 contained in the sucked dust container 5 being transferred to the base dust chamber 2 of the Base Station 1. Base Station 1 does not need to have its own blower; rather, the base station 1 can be designed as a passive station providing the proper flow paths and collecting the aspirated material 15 within the base powder chamber 2.

Figure 9 shows the state of the base station 1 or the first vacuum cleaner 3 shortly after the cleaning of the first vacuum cleaner 3. The sucked material 15 extracted from the first vacuum cleaner 3 is located in the base powder chamber 2 of the base station. base station 1. The inlet valve 14 has returned to its initial position and closes the first air inlet 7 of base station 1, so that the aspirated material 15 contained in the base powder chamber 2 cannot return through from the suction nozzle 28 to the first vacuum cleaner 3.

Figures 10 and 11 finally show an example of embodiment in which a second vacuum cleaner 4 has been connected by means of an adapter module 16 to the base station 1.

As shown in the figures, the adapter module 16 is connected to the interface 13 of the base station 1. To do this, the cover 24 previously arranged on the interface 13 is removed, in order to be able to connect a module air outlet. adapter 17 of the adapter module 16 to the second air inlet 12 of the base station 1. The contacts 20 arranged in the area of the interface 13 can be designed in such a way that they recognize the connection between the adapter module 16 and the base station 1 and which release, for example, an interface valve (not shown in the figure) arranged (additionally) in the region of the interface 13. Alternatively, the user can also simply remove the cover 24 manually from the interface 13 and thus release the second air inlet 12 for the adapter module 16.

Adapter module 16 is configured to provide a flow connection between base station 1 and a second vacuum cleaner 4, eg, a robot cleaner. For this, the adapter module 16 has an air channel that connects the air outlet of the adapter 17 with the air inlet of the adapter 18. By means of the rotating suction arm 23, the position of the air inlet of the adapter can be varied. 18, which allows connecting second vacuum cleaners 4 of different shapes and/or heights.

Figure 11 shows the base station 1 with the adapter module 16 attached. The adapter module air outlet 17 of the adapter module 16 is connected to the second air inlet 12 of the base station 1. The aspiration arm 23 has been rotated slightly downwards to establish the flow connection with the air channel 10 of the second vacuum cleaner 4. In order to be able to clean the sucked dust container 6 of the second vacuum cleaner 4 by means of the blower 11 of the first vacuum cleaner 3, the valve 30 is switched so that the blower 11 of the first vacuum cleaner 3 is rheotechnically separated of the air filter 27 of the first vacuum cleaner 3. In addition, the inlet valve 14 is turned so that the first air inlet 7 of the base station 1 is closed and that only the second air inlet 12 and the first outlet of 8 have a connection to each other via the base dust chamber 2. To start the cleaning process of the second vacuum cleaner 4, the user of the base station 1 selects via switch 22 a cleaning program to adequate. As a consequence, the blower 11 is started, whereby air flows from the second vacuum cleaner 4 to the adapter module 16 and from there, through the base powder chamber 2 and finally to the blower 11 of the first. vacuum cleaner 3. In this process, the air contained in the sucked dust container 6 of the second vacuum cleaner 4 is guided through the adapter module 16 and the interface 13 into the base dust chamber 2 of the base station 1. By means of from a filter arranged in the base dust chamber 2, the air flowing in the direction of the blower 11 of the first vacuum cleaner 3 is cleaned of the sucked material 15. The air released from the sucked material 15 can be evacuated by the blower 11 to the environment .

In general, with the invention a base station 1 is created to which one or more adapter modules 16 can be connected in a modular way. For this, the base station 1 has one or more interfaces 13 each configured for a connection to adapter modules 16. Through the switch 22, the user of the base station 1 can select the vacuum cleaner 3, 4 (the sucked dust container 5, 6) that he wants to clean and the vacuum cleaner 3, 4 (the blower 11) he wants to use for the cleaning. For example, as in the previously shown embodiments, the sucked dust container 5 of the first vacuum cleaner 3 can be cleaned by the blower 11 of the first vacuum cleaner 3. According to another embodiment, the sucked dust container 6 of the second vacuum cleaner 4 can also be cleaned by the blower 11 of the first vacuum cleaner 3. However, there are also many other variants of using the base station 1. For example, it can also be provided that the second vacuum cleaner 4 connected to the base station 1 via the adapter module 16 is cleaned by means of its own blower. For this, a second air outlet has to be set up on the base station 1, through which the air from the base powder chamber 2 can enter the adapter module 16 to be sucked in by the blower of the second vacuum cleaner 4.

Reference list:

1 base station

2 Base Powder Chamber

first vacuum cleaner

second vacuum cleaner

Vacuumed dust container

Vacuumed dust container

first air intake

first air outlet

air channel

air channel

Blower

Second air intake

Interface

Inlet valve

aspirated material

adapter module

adapter air outlet

Adapter air inlet

Contact

Contact

Contact

switch

suction arm

cover cap

Secondary air channel

Secondary air valve

Air filter

suction nozzle

input section

Valve

Claims (8)

1. Base station (1) for cleaning and/or emptying a sucked dust container (5) of a first vacuum cleaner (3), the base station (1) having a blower, a base dust chamber (2 ), a first air inlet (7) in flow communication with the base powder chamber (2) and a first air outlet (8) in flow communication with the base powder chamber (2), being able to connect the air inlet (7) to an air channel (9) of the first vacuum cleaner (3), so that the sucked material (15) contained in the sucked dust container (5) of the first vacuum cleaner (3) can be transported to the base powder chamber (2) by means of the blower, characterized in that the base station (1) additionally has at least one interface (13), the interface (13) having a second air inlet (12) which is closable and is rheotechnically connected to the base powder chamber (2), through which the sucked material (15) contained in a storage container Sucked powder (6) from a second vacuum cleaner (4) can be transported to the base powder chamber (2). Base station (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the first air inlet (7) and/or the second air inlet (12) is assigned an inlet valve (14) which can be switched in depending on a desired transport of sucked material (15) from the sucked dust container (5) of the first vacuum cleaner (3) or from the sucked dust container (6) of the second vacuum cleaner (4). Base station (1) according to claim 2, characterized in that the inlet valve (14) for conveying sucked material (15) from the sucked dust container (6) of the second vacuum cleaner (4) can be switched so that it blocks the first air inlet (7), and because the inlet valve (14) for the transport of sucked material (15) from the sucked dust container (5) of the first vacuum cleaner (3) can be switch so as to block the second air inlet (12). Base station (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the inlet valve (14) is assigned to a valve distributor configured to switch the inlet valve (14) when an adapter module is connected. (16) with the second air inlet (12), automatically so that the first air inlet (7) is blocked. Base station (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the interface (13) has a cover cap (24) that reversibly blocks the second air inlet (12) and/or an interface valve configured to open the second air inlet (12) in case of its connection to an adapter module (16). Base station (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the base station (1) independently recognizes which vacuum cleaners (3, 4) are connected to the first air inlet (7) and to the second air inlet (12) and initiates a certain cleaning variant for certain connected vacuum cleaner combinations (3, 4). Base station (1) according to claim 6, characterized in that certain cleaning sequences are established, according to which several vacuum cleaners (3, 4) connected to the base station (1) are cleaned one after the other in a defined sequence. Base station system with a base station (1) according to one of the preceding claims and with a first vacuum cleaner (3), a housing shape of the first vacuum cleaner (3) being designed so that it exerts a corresponding pressure against the contacts (19) of the base station (1) and to distinguish a certain type of vacuum cleaner from other vacuum cleaners (3, 4).