FR2517949A1 - FIXING DEVICE USUABLE IN PARTICULAR IN A VACUUM CLEANER - Google Patents

Abstract

THE INVENTION CONCERNS A FIXING DEVICE SUITABLE FOR USE IN HOME APPLIANCES AND INCLUDING A BASE PART 23 ARRANGED TO BE FIXED ON A FIRST ELEMENT 10 OF THE HOME APPLIANCE AND A FIRST LOCKING PART 24 ARRANGED TO LOCK ON A SECOND ELEMENT 17 OF THE APPLIANCE IN ORDER TO KEEP THE SECOND ELEMENT, WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF RELEASING, IN A PREDETERMINED POSITION. THE DEVICE IS CHARACTERIZED IN THAT THE BASE PART ALSO CARRIES A SECOND LOCKING PART 25 ARRANGED TO LOCK ON A THIRD ELEMENT 37 OF THE HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCE IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN THE THIRD ELEMENT, WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF RELEASING PRELIMINATE, IN A POSSIBILITY OF RELEASE , AT LEAST ONE OF THE LOCKING PARTS 24 BEING ARRANGED TO BE ELASTICALLY HANGED ON PART 34 OF THE ASSOCIATED ELEMENT OF THE APPARATUS BY FORCE APPROXIMATION OF THIS ELEMENT OF ITS PREDETERMINED POSITION AND TO BE DISCOUPLETED FROM THE SAID PART 34 BY FORCED MOVEMENT OF THE APPARATUS. THE ASSOCIATED ELEMENT IN REVERSE SENSE. APPLICATION TO VACUUMS.

Description

The present invention relates to

  fixation methods appropriate for use in

  household appliances, such as vacuum cleaners.

  Household appliances usually have parts to be moved by the user and normally held in place by

  fixing of different types Often a household appliance

  ger has two or more fasteners

  For example, a vacuum cleaner of the type comprising

  a disposable filter bag which is housed in an open compartment of a rigid casing may comprise a device for fixing a lid

  or compartment cover that contains the filter bag

  and another fastener for holding a collar of the filter bag applied against

  a mount placed inside this compartment.

  The fastening devices can be of different types A type is constituted by an elastic latch or loaded by spring, comprising a part which is fixed on an element of the household appliance, for example the rigid housing, and which carries a locking part arranged to be resiliently hooked to a portion of another element of the apparatus, for example the lid or hood of the bag compartment, when the latter is pushed by the user in the closing or opening direction. type is directly operated by the user and has a lever or other actuating part

  manual that is moved by the user in order to ac-

  coupling or uncoupling a locking part

  one appliance element in relation to another element of the appliance, for example the collar

  a disposable filter bag.

  Household appliances are usually

  broken by mass production techniques, different

  -2- parts of the device being placed and fixed in position gradually as the device progresses along an assembly line Plus the parts to be assembled are numerous, the longer the line must be and the more the costs of production and the risks of defective manufacturing are increased

in correspondence.

  In accordance with the present invention, a

  positive attachment for use in a home appliance comprises a base portion arranged to be attached to a first element of the apparatus and a first locking portion arranged to engage a second element of the apparatus to maintain the second element separably in

  a predetermined position The invention is characterized

  in that the base part also bears a

  second locking part arranged to catch

  expensive on a third element of the device in order to maintain the third element, with possibility of

  release, in a predetermined position.

  Accordingly, the invention

  positive fixation which fulfills two different functions

  fixing rents The assembly of a household appliance comprising such a fixing device is simplified,

  because it only requires a combination operation

  instead of two The cost of the fixing device

  can be considerably less than the cost of two separate fasteners each fulfilling a single fastening function, especially if, as is preferred, this double fastener

  function is made of one-piece.

  The locking parts may be of one or other of the types mentioned above or one part may be of one type and the other of the other

  type or one or both may be a combination of

  -3- naison of types; for example the locking part provided on the first element of the household appliance may be resiliently hooked to a part of another element of the appliance when the latter is pushed towards the first element, and it may be uncoupled by a part of manual actuation to allow a movement of removal

  said other element relative to the first.

  The base portion of the fixture may be arranged to allow quick attachment to the first element of the appliance to facilitate assembly operation and reduce its cost. Thus, the base portion may carry a pin having a elastic tail from which protrudes

  laterally at least one leg, the pin being

  to be engaged in a hole in the first element of the appliance, the tab protruding from said hole to prevent removal of the spindle.

  base can also carry a positioning bracket

  arranged to hang on a part of the first

  part of the appliance in order to prevent

  tation of the device around the axis of the spindle.

  This tab can also ensure that the pin can be introduced into said hole only when

  the base part is correctly oriented angular-

around the axis of the spindle.

  The invention also relates to

  such household appliances, such as vacuum cleaners, equipped

  of a fixing device according to the invention.

  Other advantages and features of the invention will be highlighted later in the

  description, given by way of non-limiting example,

  Referring to the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a sectional view of a portion of a household vacuum cleaner having a fastening device arranged in accordance with the present invention, Fig. 2 is a side view of the fastening device, the FIG. 3 is a front view made in the direction of the arrow III of FIG. 2 and FIG. 4 is an inverted plan view made

  in the direction of arrow IV of FIG.

  The vacuum cleaner shown in FIG. 1 is -

  of the type comprising a bowl-base or housing 10 divided by a perforated vertical partition wall

  (not shown) in a first compartment 11 recep-

  a disposable paper filter bag 12, and a second compartment (not shown and

  placed on the right of compartment 11) The second compartment

  contains a motor-fan unit for

  tion. In use, the fan draws air through a hose in order to do so

  enter the bag provided for in the first compartment.

  The air passes through the wall of the bag, dust and grime being thus stopped by this filter The clean air surrounding the bag in the first

  compartment is sucked through the separating wall

  the ventilator in the second compartment and is discharged from the ventilator into the room through

  in a wall of the second compartment.

  In the leftmost vertical wall 13 of the base bowl 10, an opening is provided

  receiving an end fitting 14 of the flexible hose

  The inner end of the end fitting acts as a frame for the bag. The frame is surrounded by a flexible foam ring 16 of the sponge type which is attached to the inner surface of the wall 13. closed at -5-

  upper part by a perforated fixed upper wall

  The first compartment 11 is closed at its upper part by a cover or hood

  17 that is articulated by its right-hand edge on the

  superior king of the second compartment. At their left ends, the bowl of

  base 10 and the cover 17 are provided with

  18 and 19 which, when the cover 17 is in the closed position indicated in the drawing, constitute a carrying handle by means of which the vacuum cleaner can be transported from one room to another, in a vertical position where the handle is located at the top, the first compartment

  11 below her and-the second compartment below.

  The handle extension 19 of the lid 17 has a lip 20 protruding from the handle extension 18

  for a purpose to be specified later.

  At the point where the end wall 13 joins the handle extension 18, there is provided a flange 21 which is horizontal when the vacuum is in the working position shown.

  to support a fastening device 22, which is

  presented in more detail in Figs. 2 to 4.

  The fixing device 22 shown is formed of a single piece of elastic material; in this

  case, we are dealing with a molded piece made of polyresin

  acetal It comprises a base part 23, a first

  first locking part 24 worn by the party

  basic, a second lock portion 25 also

  carried by the base portion and having a manual actuating means 26, a hook 27 for fixing the base portion on the flange 21, and a

positioning tab 28.

  The first locking part 24

  takes a curved arm 29 extending upwards to -6-

  starting from the base part 23 and bearing at its end

  upper mating-a locking means 30 provided with an upper surface 31 steeply inclined downwards and an inner surface & 32 slightly inclined upwards The cover 17 (Fig 1) has a flange 33 directed downwards and provided with his

  lower end of a fastening portion 34 des-

  adapted to be connected to the locking portion 30.

  When the cover 17 is open and when it is being moved towards its position of

  closure, the curved lower side of the

  stall 34 comes into contact with the inclined top surface 31 of the locking portion 30 and pushes

  this locking portion 30 to the right, in re-

  keeping Fig 1 until the lid is completely closed, when the locking portion elastically returns to the left into the

  indicated position, the lower surface 32 being

  above the snap portion 34, in order to

  keep the cover 17 in the closed position

  When the user wishes to reopen the cover to access the bag 12, it is sufficient for him to pull the upper extension of the handle 19 upwards.

  operation is easy to perform because this

  long can be gripped with the fingers underneath.

  The catch part 34 then pushes the locking portion 30 to the right up to

  that the snap part is released, which allows

  puts a free opening of the lid.

  The second locking portion 25 comprises an elastic arm 35 ensuring its attachment to the base portion 23 below the junction between the arm 35 and the manual actuating portion 26, there is provided a hooking portion 36 thereof is arranged for

  cling to the top edge of a collar

  -7- your 37 which is part of the bag 12 The collar 37 is

  attached to the bag paper around its mouth.

  This collar has a central hole which, when the

  bag is in position, makes contact with an over-

  conical face 38 of the frame 15 The lower edge of the

  collar 37 fits into a groove 39

  in the base bowl 10 and, when the upper edge

  the necklace is hooked by the part of

  as shown, this necklace is maintained

  against the mount and it slightly compresses the

  16 to establish a substantially sealed seal

in the air for the mouth of the bag.

  When the lid 17 has been opened, the bag 12 and the fixing device 22 are exposed to the user's view. If the latter wishes to remove the bag, for example if it is full, it exerts with a

  finger a pressure on the actuating portion 26 ,.

  by moving it to the left, looking at FIG. 1, and making sure that the hooking part 36 releases the upper edge of the collar 37.

  now be lifted out of compartment 11.

  A new bag is inserted by engaging the lower edge of its collar in the groove 39 and moving the upper edge of the collar to the left,

  by looking at fig 1 The attachment part 36 com-

  carries a lower surface 40 inclined downwards

  and when the upper edge of the collar enters into

  tact with this surface, it raises the

  stalking 36 as its movement to the left

  continues, until the hooking part re-

  The new bag is thus held in place, the ring 16 being slightly compressed, as indicated. The fixing device 22 is fixed on the -8-

  base bowl 10 as follows.

  The hook 27 has two elastic branches

  ticks 41 extending downwards and each provided with

  its lower end of a leg 42 making

  A lateral hole is formed in the rim 21 of the base bowl 10 and can receive the

  hook 27 Each tab 22 has a smaller surface area

  inclined 45 so that when these

  faces are presented on opposite edges of the square hole and when the hook is pushed down, the branches are brought closer to each other to allow the tabs to penetrate the hole Between the branches 41, there is provided a rib 44 which is eccentric as shown in Figs 3 and 4, of such

  so that branches can be pushed more easily

  one towards the other on the far side of the rib, to facilitate the penetration of the

in the hole.

  The thickness of the rim 21 is such that when the device has been pushed down until the lower surface of the base portion 23 enters

  contact with the upper surface of the rim, the patches

  42's just out of the base of the hole-and allow the branches 41 to elastically reach the

  position shown in fig 1 so that the cro-

  chet can not easily be pulled out of the hole.

  The positioning tab 28 is nested

  in a vertical groove in the outer wall

  very 13 of the base bowl 10, below the rim 3 C 21 It thus helps to oppose a rotational movement of the fixing device around the axis of the spindle 26 It also serves as a guide in the course of assembly to ensure that the device is mounted in the correct angular orientation It also serves to increase the resistance of the second locking portion in the area of the lower end of the

arm 35.

Claims (8)

CLAIMS -   1 Fixing device suitable for use in a home appliance, comprising a base portion (23) arranged to be fixed to a first element (10) of the home appliance and a first   first locking portion (24) arranged to   crocheting on a second element (17) of the apparatus in order to maintain the second element, with the possibility of   release, in a predetermined position, character-   in that the base part also carries a se-   conde locking portion (25) arranged to   crocheting on a third element (37) of the apparatus   swim in order to maintain this third element, with   possibility of release, in a predetermined position undermined.   2 Fixing device according to the   cation 1, characterized in that at least one of the locking portions (24) is arranged to be actuated elastically and hooked on a portion (34) of   -O the respective element of the household appliance by bringing   this element of its predefined position   mined, and to be moved elastically and disa-   part of that part by forcibly removing that ele-   of said predetermined position.   3 Fixing device according to one of the   claims 1 or 2, characterized in that at least   one of said locking portions (25) has a manual actuating means (26) and is arranged to   be moved elastically and coupled with a   3 C tie (37) of the respective element of the home appliance by forced approximation of said associated element of its   predetermined position, and to be manually operated   using said means (26) in order to be disengaged said portion (37). 17949   4 Fixing device according to the   cation 1, characterized in that the first part of   latch (24) is arranged to be engaged elastically   on and coupled with a part (54) of the   cond element of the home appliance by forced approximation of this element to its predetermined position, and to be engaged elastically on and uncoupled from said part by forced removal of the second element of said position, and in that the second-part of   latch (25) comprises a manual actuating means   26 and is arranged to be resiliently engaged to and coupled to a portion (57) of the third appliance member by forcing the third member to its predetermined position and manually operated by said means.   in order to be uncoupled from said part.   Fixing device-according to one   conque of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that   the base part (23) also carries a hook (27) provided with an elastic leg (41) from which laterally projects at least one lug (42), said hook being arranged to be introduced into a hole in the first element of the home appliance   and the tab protruding from said hole to prevent crookedness to go out.   6 Fastening device according to the   cation 5, characterized in that the base portion (23) also carries a positioning tab (28) arranged to catch on a part of the first element of the home appliance.   7 Fastening device according to any one   shell of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that   it consists of a single piece of elastic material   tick. -12- 8 domestic appliance, characterized in that it is equipped with a fixing device according to one   any of claims I to 7.   9 Vacuum cleaner comprising as first element   a rigid casing (10) in which is provided a compartment (11) containing a frame (15) for a disposable filter bag (12), as a second element a cover or movable cover (17) for said   compartment and as a third element a bag of   tread to be discarded and provided with a necklace (37)   intended to be engaged in the bag mount, characterized   risé in that it comprises a fixing device   according to any one of claims I to 7,   the base part (23) is fixed on the rigid casing (10), in that the first locking part (24)   clings to the cover or hood (17) for the hand-   hold in the closed position and that the second locking portion (25) hooks onto the bag collar (37) to hold it against   mount (15) and is exposed only when the vape or cover (17) is open.