JP2008237748A - Vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vacuum cleaner capable of preventing a filter from clogging. <P>SOLUTION: The vacuum cleaner 11 includes: an electric blower 27; and first and second filters 55, 56 used commonly as a filter holding member. The electric blower 27 generates an air stream to be used for sucking dust. The first filter 55 is provided at an upstream position compared with the electric blower 27, so as to remove the dust from the air stream. The second filter 45 is expansible and held on the upstream side of the first filter 55. The second filter 56 is elastically deformed by the air stream when the electric blower 27 is driven, and then, catches the dust. When the air stream is stopped, the second filter 56 is restored and the caught dust is released with the restoration. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner that is adapted to drop fine dust adhering to a filter member.

  For example, as a mechanism for cleaning a filter of a vacuum cleaner, a mechanism that operates in conjunction with a drawer-type cord is known. This vacuum cleaner includes a vacuum cleaner main body, an electric blower, a fine dust chamber, a cord reel around which a power cord is wound, a main filter, a fine dust filter disposed on the downstream side of the main filter, and a fine dust A dust removing means for dropping dust adhering to the fine dust filter by applying vibration to the filter and a power transmission means for operating the dust removing means by rotation of the cord reel are provided. The vacuum cleaner further includes opening / closing means for closing the upper opening end of the fine dust chamber when the electric blower is driven.

In this electric vacuum cleaner, when the user uses the electric vacuum cleaner, the cord reel rotates when the power cord is pulled out from the main body of the cleaner. Due to the rotation of the cord reel, the power transmission means is activated and the dust dropping means is driven. By driving the dust drop means, the fine dust filter vibrates, and the dust adhering to the fine dust filter is dropped downward. Thereby, clogging of the fine dust filter is prevented. On the other hand, since the upper opening end of the fine dust chamber is closed by the opening / closing means, dust in the fine dust chamber is rolled up during operation of the electric blower, and dust is prevented from adhering to the fine dust filter (for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2006-6383 A

  However, in the above-described conventional vacuum cleaner, the work of pulling out the power cord is performed immediately before using the vacuum cleaner. For this reason, in this vacuum cleaner, the electric blower is driven immediately after the dust dropping means is activated, and there is a possibility that the dust flying around will adhere to the fine dust filter again. For this reason, the removal of the dust adhering to the fine dust filter becomes insufficient, the fine dust filter is clogged, and the suction force of the vacuum cleaner may be reduced.

  The objective of this invention is providing the vacuum cleaner which can prevent clogging of a filter.

  The electric vacuum cleaner of the present invention includes an electric blower for generating an air flow used for sucking dust, a filter holding member provided upstream of the electric blower, the filter holding member, and the electric blower. Filter that is elastically deformed by the air flow when it is driven and captures dust contained in the air flow in this deformed state, is restored by stopping the air flow, and removes the captured dust with this restoration, It comprises.

  According to the present invention, every time the suction air flow does not pass through the filter held by the filter holding member, such as when the use of the vacuum cleaner is stopped, the filter that has been elastically deformed by the air flow before that time. Along with the restoration, the dust adhering to the filter can be blown to the upstream side of the filter. Thereby, it is hard to produce clogging of a filter and a suction force can be continued.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the electric vacuum cleaner 11 includes a cleaner main body 12 and a suction passage member 13 connected to the cleaner main body 12. The suction passage member 13 includes a dust suction hose 14, an extension pipe 15, and a suction port body 16. The dust suction hose 14 has a connecting cylinder part 18 at one end of a flexible hose body 17 and an operation part 19 at the other end of the hose body 17.

  The connecting cylinder portion 18 is plugged into the suction port 23. An operation panel 26 provided with operation buttons 25 is attached to the handle portion 24 provided in the operation unit 19. Various operation commands including on / off control of the electric blower 27 described later are given to the control device built in the cleaner body 12 by the operation panel 26. The extension pipe 15 is a telescopic type, for example, an upstream pipe 15 </ b> A and a downstream pipe 15 </ b> B connected to each other, and the downstream pipe 15 </ b> B is attached to the operation unit 19.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the cleaner body 12 has wheels 31 and can travel on the floor surface via the wheels 31. In the front part of the cleaner body 12, for example, a suction port 23 opened in the front surface is provided. An electric blower 27 is accommodated in the rear part of the cleaner body 12. The electric blower 27 is for generating an air flow used for sucking dust. The electric blower 27 is arranged with the air inlet 27A facing forward. The vacuum cleaner main body 12 includes a main body case 32, a dust collection case 33 accommodated in the central portion of the main body case 32, and a case lid 34 that covers the accommodation portion of the dust collection case 33.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the dust collection case 33 can be detached from the main body case 32. As shown in FIG. 2, the dust collection case 33 includes a dust collection case main body 41, a primary filter chamber 42 connected to the suction port 23, and a dust collection chamber for collecting dust collected in the primary filter chamber 42. 43, a wind guide portion 44 that guides the airflow flowing through the primary filter chamber 42 to the dust collection chamber 43, a dust collection tray 45 provided on the bottom surface of the dust collection chamber 43, and a downstream of the wind guide portion 44. A secondary filter chamber 46, and an intermediate filter 47 that partitions the air guide portion 44 and the secondary filter chamber 46.

  The primary filter chamber 42 has a primary filter 51. The primary filter chamber 42 can inertially separate large dust such as coarse dust by the primary filter 51. The primary filter 51 is formed in a substantially truncated cone shape, and is formed by attaching a mesh to the opening 51A.

  The dust collection chamber 43 is disposed below the primary filter chamber 42 and communicates with the air guide portion 44. The dust collection tray 45 has a shaft portion supported at the rear end portion of the dust collection case 33. The dust collecting tray 45 can be opened and closed around the shaft portion. In a state where the dust collection tray 45 is opened, the dust accumulated in the dust collection chamber 43 can be discharged from the dust collection case 33. Note that the rear end of the dust collecting tray 45 extends below the secondary filter chamber 46 so that the dust separated in the primary filter chamber 42 and the secondary filter chamber 46 can be collected. .

  As shown in FIG. 3, the secondary filter chamber 46 is formed in a substantially square shape and has a secondary filter 52 inside. The secondary filter 52 includes a pleated filter 50 that is a filter holding member, and a second filter 56 that has elasticity and is bonded to the pleated filter 50. As shown in FIG. 2, the pleated filter 50 is provided at an upstream position in the direction in which the air flow flows with respect to the electric blower 27. As shown in FIG. 4, the pleated filter 50 includes a frame portion 53, a lever 54 provided at one end of the frame portion 53, and a first filter 55 that is fixed to the frame portion 53 in a pleated shape. It is out.

  The first filter 55 can remove dust from the air flow generated by the electric blower 27. As shown in FIG. 5, the first filter 55 is formed by, for example, bending a sheet-like nonwoven fabric into a pleated shape. The pleated shape formed by the pleated filter 50 is opposed to the downstream side surface of the second filter 56, and also serves as a holding structure for preventing the second filter 56 from being excessively extended. With this holding structure, the elastic deformation of the second filter 56 is maintained within a certain range.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the second filter 56 is preferably adhered to the pleated filter 50 in a stretched state. The second filter 56 is composed of a stretchable mesh filter formed of nylon, for example. The second filter 56 is formed in a rectangular film shape. The hole diameter of the second filter 56 is formed larger than that of the first filter 55, for example. The second filter 56 is provided upstream of the first filter 55 in the direction in which the air flow flows.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the second filter 56 is formed, for example, by adhering side portions 56 </ b> A located on the left and right sides to the first filter 55. For this reason, even if dust has entered between the first filter 55 and the second filter 56, from the gap between the first filter 55 and the second filter 56, The dust falls down. However, the method of fixing the second filter 56 is not limited to this. The second filter 56 may have two upper and lower sides adhered to the first filter 55, or all four surrounding sides may be adhered to the first filter 55.

  The lever 54 is formed integrally with the frame portion 53 and functions as a grip portion when the secondary filter 52 is removed from the dust collection case 33.

  When the user uses the vacuum cleaner 11, the air and dust sucked from the suction port body 16 are sucked up to the suction port 23 of the cleaner body 12 through the extension pipe 15 and the dust suction hose 14 as an air flow. . The air flow passing through the suction port 23 is inertially separated in the primary filter chamber 42 into an air flow containing dust having a small mass and dust having a large mass. Dust having a large mass is stored in the dust collection chamber 43 through the air guide portion 44. On the other hand, in the primary filter chamber 42, the air flow containing dust with a small mass is sent to the secondary filter chamber 46 through the opening 51 </ b> A of the primary filter 51 and through the dust collection case 33. Further, the air flow passing through the air guide portion 44 is sent to the secondary filter chamber 46 through the intermediate filter 47.

  In the secondary filter chamber 46, as shown by a solid line in FIG. 6, the second filter 56 of the secondary filter 52 is elastically deformed and attached to the first filter 55 in a state where the electric blower 27 is driven. become. This elastic deformation is caused by the air flow and the negative pressure acting on the second filter 56 that has become clogged due to accumulation of dust in the second filter 56. The second filter 56 captures dust contained in the airflow in this deformed state. Thus, the air flow sent to the secondary filter chamber 46 is filtered by the first filter 55 and the second filter 56 of the secondary filter 52, and then sent to the electric blower 27 to be external to the cleaner body 12. To be discharged.

  On the other hand, when the use of the electric vacuum cleaner 11 is stopped and the electric blower 27 is stopped, by stopping the air flow and releasing the negative pressure, as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. It moves away from the first filter 55 vigorously. Due to the restoring movement of the second filter 56, dust accumulated on the second filter 56 is blown off into the secondary filter chamber 46, and dust is removed from the second filter 56. Then, as shown in FIG. 5, the second filter 56 is restored to the original stretched state. The dust released into the secondary filter chamber 46 falls into the dust collection chamber 43 after a predetermined time has elapsed.

  The above is the embodiment of the electric vacuum cleaner 11. According to the present embodiment, the second filter 56 of the secondary filter 52 is stretched around the pleated filter 50, and is elastically deformed by the air flow when the electric blower 27 is driven, and is included in the air flow in this deformed state. While capturing dust, it is restored to the tensioned state by stopping the air flow, and the trapped dust is removed along with this restoration. According to this configuration, every time the use of the electric vacuum cleaner 11 is stopped, the second filter 56 can be automatically cleaned. Accordingly, the first filter 55 and the second filter 56 can be prevented from being clogged, and the suction force of the vacuum cleaner 11 can be prevented from being lowered.

  In particular, in this embodiment, since the cleaning operation of the first filter 55 is performed immediately after the use of the vacuum cleaner 11, the vacuum cleaner 11 is used in a state where dust is dancing in the secondary filter chamber 46. There is nothing to do. That is, when the electric vacuum cleaner 11 is used again, a predetermined time has elapsed, and the dust removed from the second filter 56 is collected in the dust collecting tray 45. For this reason, for example, when the vacuum cleaner 11 is used on the next day, the inside of the secondary filter chamber 46 is in a clean state, so that the removed dust adheres to the second filter 56 again. Therefore, the second filter 56 can be efficiently cleaned. Moreover, since dust can be removed from the second filter 56 every time the vacuum cleaner 11 is used, the second filter 56 is not left for a long period of time with dust attached thereto. For this reason, it is possible to prevent the dust from solidifying while adsorbed to the second filter 56.

  In this case, the pleated filter 50 has a holding structure, and this holding structure makes the elastic deformation of the second filter 56 within a certain range. According to this configuration, it is possible to prevent the second filter 56 from being deformed excessively and to prevent the second filter 56 from being broken.

  Moreover, the vacuum cleaner 11 of this invention is not restricted to what was shown in the said embodiment. In the present embodiment, the vacuum cleaner body 12 is provided with the primary filter chamber 42 and the primary filter 51. However, the vacuum cleaner 11 is not provided with only the secondary filter chamber 46 and the secondary filter 52. You may make it comprise. In this case, it is preferable to provide a dust collecting tray at the bottom of the secondary filter chamber 46 so that the dust accumulated in the secondary filter chamber 46 can be discharged to the outside by opening the dust collecting tray. Of course, various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

The perspective view which shows the vacuum cleaner concerning one Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the vacuum cleaner shown in FIG. The perspective view which shows the dust collection case accommodated in the inside of the cleaner body shown in FIG. The disassembled perspective view which shows the secondary filter accommodated in the dust collection case shown by FIG. Sectional drawing along the horizontal direction of the secondary filter shown by FIG. Sectional drawing which shows the elastic deformation | transformation and decompression | restoration operation | movement of the secondary filter shown by FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Vacuum cleaner, 27 ... Electric blower, 42 ... Primary filter chamber, 46 ... Secondary filter chamber, 51 ... Primary filter, 52 ... Secondary filter, 55 ... First filter, 56 ... Second filter

Claims (3)

An electric blower for generating an air flow used for dust suction;
A filter holding member provided at a position upstream from the electric blower;
Provided in the filter holding member, when the electric blower is driven, it is elastically deformed by the air flow, and in this deformed state, dust contained in the air flow is captured and restored by stopping the air flow. And a filter for removing the trapped dust,
The vacuum cleaner characterized by comprising.   The electric filter according to claim 1, wherein the filter holding member has a holding structure facing a downstream side surface of the filter, and the holding structure makes the elastic deformation of the filter within a certain range. Vacuum cleaner. An electric blower for generating an air flow used for dust suction;
A filter holding member provided at a position upstream from the electric blower;
A filter provided on the filter holding member;
Comprising
The filter is elastically deformed by the air flow when the electric blower is driven and is in contact with the filter holding member, and has a stretchability to restore away from the filter holding member by stopping the air flow,
The filter holding member includes a pleated filter, and the filter holding member allows the elastic deformation of the filter to be within a certain range.

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