JP2010148882A - Cyclone separation apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cyclone separation apparatus capable of preventing the dispersion of fine dust causing clogging of a filter, the fine dust dispersing by wafting on an air current leaked from a cutout in a helical downward guide section. <P>SOLUTION: The cyclone separation apparatus circulates air sucked to a periphery of a collection container (dust collection container 11) along the inner peripheral face of the substantially cylindrical collection container, and discharges it from the center of the collection container through filter means to separate relatively large collected objects contained in the air from the air by a centrifugal force of the circulating air flow and collect them at the bottom of the collection container. The collection container of this cyclone separation apparatus is provided with a helical separation member 123 having one turn or more of helical curved surfaces, with the vertical axis of the collection container defined as the center, and a predetermined gap formed between the outer peripheral edge of the helical curved surface and the inner wall of the collection container. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a cyclone separation device that centrifuges a collection target, and more particularly, to a cyclone separation device that can increase the amount of collected relatively large collection target.

Conventionally, there has been a cyclone dust collector that collects dust in an accumulation chamber by swirling an air stream containing dust and separating the air stream by applying centrifugal force to the dust. Patent document 1 is known as a vacuum cleaner provided with this dust collector.
Patent Document 2 discloses an inclined slope structure like a spiral shape.
Patent Document 2 discloses a cyclone main body having an intake portion for sucking air and an exhaust portion for exhausting air, a grill member that is attached to the exhaust portion and filters air, and attached to the cyclone main body and sucked from the intake portion. A garbage collection cylinder that collects and stores garbage contained in the air, and that the garbage collected in the garbage collection cylinder is blocked so that it does not rise, and a certain weight and / or in the garbage contained in the air. And a downward guide portion that guides the dust having a volume downward to the dust collection cylinder along the spiral direction by the flow of air. In addition, this technique is expected to provide a notch in the downward guide portion, and the dust centrifuged in the swirl chamber by the notch is sent to the dust collection chamber.
The invention described in Patent Document 1 includes a cyclone dust collecting device in which an upper part is a separation chamber and a lower part is a collection chamber, and an exhaust pipe is arranged at the center of the separation chamber. Dust is sucked from the suction port, and the sucked airflow is introduced into the separation chamber of the cyclone dust collector through the intake passage communicating with the suction port in a direction tangential to the inner peripheral wall thereof. In the vacuum cleaner that separates dust by swirling the air flow in the vacuum chamber and accumulates the separated dust in the accumulation chamber, a shielding member is disposed at the boundary between the separation chamber and the accumulation chamber, A shape of a predetermined gap is formed between the inner wall of the accumulation chamber, a loop-shaped barrier projecting toward the separation chamber is formed at the edge, and the accumulation member is formed at the edge of the shielding member. To the bottom of the room Are Katachi設 looped barrier projecting.
According to this configuration, the airflow swirling along the shielding member in the separation chamber becomes an ascending airflow at the barrier (hereinafter referred to as a first swirling airflow), and extends from the accumulation chamber to approach the center of the separation chamber. Eliminate dust.
Further, the swirling airflow generated in the separation chamber enters the accumulation chamber through a gap between the shielding member and the accumulation chamber wall, drops dust into the accumulation chamber, and returns to the separation chamber (hereinafter referred to as a second swirling airflow). However, if dust is contained in the swirling airflow to be returned to the separation chamber at this time, the dust is separated when the airflow collides with the rib and changes direction, and remains in the accumulation chamber. It is possible to keep in the cyclone accumulation chamber without reaching.
Japanese Patent No. 3788589 JP 2006-75584 A

The principle model of the cyclone separator is a cylindrical or conical dust collection chamber that has an intake port along the outer periphery and an exhaust port located at the center of the circle, and sucks air from the exhaust port with an external suction device. Causes a swirling airflow and separates dust and the like by centrifugal separation of the swirling airflow. The centrifugally separated dust moves downward under the influence of gravity, and only air is sucked out.
In the cyclone separation apparatus based on the basic principle as described above, the collection of the separated garbage is an important issue.
In that respect, in the cyclone dust collecting device described in Patent Document 2, a notch is provided in the downward guide, and it is expected that the dust centrifuged in the swirl chamber will be sent to the dust collecting chamber via the notch. However, since the notch is present, the airflow flowing from the notch of the downward guide portion flows out again from the notch to the separation portion when it rises. Fine dust has flowed out in this flow, and the spiral downward guide portion of Patent Document 2 hardly functions as a shielding member for preventing the fine dust from rising, such as a HEPA filter. It was necessary to collect using a filter that was good at collecting fine dust.
In addition, since a strong swirl flow is generated in the dust collection chamber, a secondary flow of airflow is generated due to the characteristics of the static pressure distribution in the dust collection chamber, and the dust collected in the dust collection chamber is scattered again. As a result, the more dust was collected in the dust collection chamber, the more fine dust flowed out from the notch, and the filter was clogged.
Therefore, the present invention has been developed based on the above-described circumstances, and is described in Patent Document 2 which is scattered by riding on the airflow leaking from the notch in the downward guide portion in Patent Document 2 described above, and causes the filter to become clogged. An object of the present invention is to provide a cyclone separator that can prevent dust from scattering.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides:
An inner peripheral surface is provided with a substantially cylindrical collection container, and the air sucked from the air inlet provided in the circumferential direction on the circumferential portion of the collection container is used as the inner periphery of the substantially cylindrical collection container. After swirling along the surface, the air is exhausted from the central portion of the collection container through the filter means, so that the relatively large collection target contained in the air is centrifugated by the centrifugal force of the swirling air flow. In the cyclone separation device that separates from the bottom of the collection container and collects a relatively small collection object in the filter means,
The collection container has at least one spiral curved surface centered on the vertical central axis of the collection container, and a predetermined gap is formed between the outer peripheral end of the spiral curved surface and the inner wall of the collection container. It is comprised as a cyclone separator characterized by including the separation member provided.
In the separating member, it is preferable that a predetermined gap is provided between an outer peripheral end of the spiral curved surface and an inner wall of the collection container, and air flows through the gap.
By providing the predetermined gap, the cyclone swirling airflow is hardly obstructed and also has a function as a baffle plate, so that a dust collecting effect by inertia force can be obtained. In addition, it is desirable that the size of the gap be such that when dust separated by the separation unit is moved to the dust collection unit, dust having a certain volume can be moved smoothly.
A predetermined gap is provided between the lower end of the spiral curved surface of the separating member and the bottom of the collection container in order to trap dust.
Since the gap is provided, the dust carried by the air current is trapped in the predetermined gap between the lower end of the spiral curved surface and the bottom surface of the collection container, and accumulated, along the spiral curved surface. At the same time as the layers are stacked in order from the lower side, it is possible to prevent damage caused by clogging between the end of the spiral curved surface and the bottom of the collection container, and clogging of foreign matters.
By making the collection container into a right cylindrical shape, when moving the separated dust to the dust collection part, even a dust having a certain volume can be moved more smoothly, and the capacity of the collection container Can be improved.
In the case of such a right cylindrical collection container, the gap between the outer peripheral end of the spiral curved surface and the inner wall of the collection container may be constant in the vertical direction. In this case, the separating member having the spiral curved surface is positioned at the center of the cyclonic swirl airflow, and thus does not further disturb the cyclone swirl airflow. Thereby, while ensuring a high dust collection rate, the fall of suction power can be prevented. Moreover, the fine dust collection effect mentioned above also increases with respect to the upward flow.
Or you may comprise so that the clearance gap between the outer peripheral end of the said helical curved surface and the inner wall of the said collection container may become small toward the downward direction.
In the case where the dust collecting container 11 has a right cylindrical shape (shown in FIG. 9), when the spiral separating member having a constant gap with the inner wall of the dust collecting portion is provided, the inertial force dust collection of the spiral separating member Dust collection performance can be improved. For this reason, it is possible to improve the dust collection performance while preventing a decrease in the suction force due to the pressure loss by reducing the radius toward the bottom of the collection container.
It can be considered that the spiral curved surface of the separating member is formed in a direction substantially coinciding with the direction of the airflow swirling and descending along the inner peripheral surface of the collection container.
The direction of the spiral curved surface does not hinder the cyclone swirling airflow. In addition, due to such directionality, the spiral curved surface becomes more perpendicular to the direction of the airflow that has turned upward, and the effect as a baffle plate is further enhanced, and the efficiency of collecting fine dust is further enhanced.
Furthermore, the compression effect of the dust collected by the cyclone airflow is also obtained. This further improves the dust collection capacity. Since the collected dust is compressed by the airflow, the fine dust collecting effect by the dust described above is further enhanced. That is, the same effect as a fine filter can be obtained.
In addition, these inventions can be applied to a cyclone dust collector in which the collection object is dust.

As described above, the present invention is provided with a collection container having an inner peripheral surface of a substantially cylindrical shape, and the air sucked from the air inlet provided in the circumferential direction on the circumferential portion of the collection container. After swirling along the inner circumferential surface of the cylindrical collection container, the relatively large collection object contained in the air is swirled from the center of the collection container through the filter means. In the cyclone separation device that separates from the air by the centrifugal force of the air flow and collects at the bottom of the collection container and collects a relatively small collection object in the filter means, Separation member comprising at least one spiral curved surface centered on the vertical central axis of the collection container, and having a predetermined gap between the outer peripheral end of the spiral curved surface and the inner wall of the collection container Cyclone separation characterized by comprising Since the separating member has a spiral curved surface, the air sucked from the air inlet is brought into contact with the inner surface of the collection container during the turning and is decelerated and collected in the collection container. Sometimes it will be smoothly transported to the lower part of the collection container, but before the swirling airflow rises and is sucked into the filter means, the spiral curved surface becomes a baffle and fine dust contained in the rising air It is prevented that it is carried on the ascending air current and carried to the filter means. At that time, since the spiral separating member is not cut as in Patent Document 2, the rising air flow does not leak from any part of the spiral curved surface, and the filter means is prevented from being clogged.
In addition, the spiral separation member as described above suppresses the re-scattering of dust in the dust caused by the generation of the secondary flow due to the inertial force, and the upward flow is changed to the first swirl airflow in the cyclone accumulation indoor wall. The effect of collecting fine dust that has been recombined can be enhanced.
In addition, the spiral separation member is formed almost perpendicular to the upward flow, so that the direction of the upward flow containing dust is suddenly changed or collided to separate and collect the dust by the action of inertia. Can do.
Furthermore, separation / collection efficiency can be improved by providing a plurality of spiral or disk-shaped separation members.
Further, the end of the spiral curved surface traps dust such as cotton dust, and the dust is sequentially laminated from the lower side along the spiral curved surface. This further improves the effect of collecting fine dust as in the case of the filter, compared to the case of the cross-shaped separation rib.
In addition to improving cyclone performance, the effect of inertial force dust collection by the spiral curved surface, and the fine dust collection effect by stacked dust, greatly improve the dust collection performance and the dependence on high performance filters such as HEPA filters Can be reduced.

The external view of the vacuum cleaner X which concerns on embodiment of this invention. Sectional drawing for demonstrating the internal structure of the cyclone dust collector Y which concerns on embodiment of this invention. Sectional drawing for demonstrating the internal structure of the cyclone dust collector Y which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The figure for demonstrating the spiral part provided in the cyclone dust collector Y which concerns on embodiment of this invention ((a) is the perspective view seen from the downward direction, (b) is the perspective view seen from the top) . The figure for demonstrating the upper filter unit 13 provided in the cyclone dust collector Y which concerns on embodiment of this invention. Sectional drawing for demonstrating centering on a helical shape separation member by the internal structure of the cyclone dust collector Y which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The disassembled perspective view for demonstrating the internal structure of the cyclone dust collector Y which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The figure for demonstrating the accumulation condition of dust. Sectional drawing of the cyclone dust collector Y explaining the case where a dust container is a right cylinder shape. Sectional drawing of the cyclone dust collector Y when a truncated cone-shaped dust container is used. Sectional drawing of the cyclone dust collector Y for demonstrating the flow of the air of a spiral part. The perspective view which shows the separation member used for the dust collector which concerns on the Example of this invention. The disassembled perspective view of the dust collector which concerns on the same Example. Sectional drawing of the dust collector which concerns on the Example.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings so that the present invention can be understood. The following embodiment is an example embodying the present invention, and does not limit the technical scope of the present invention.
Here, FIG. 1 is an external view of the vacuum cleaner X according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are for explaining the internal structure of the cyclone dust collecting apparatus Y according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 4, and FIG. 4 is a view for explaining a spiral portion provided in the cyclone dust collecting apparatus Y according to the embodiment of the present invention ((a) is a perspective view seen from below, (b) is FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the upper filter unit 13 provided in the cyclone dust collector Y according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the embodiment of the present invention. Sectional drawing for demonstrating the internal structure of the cyclone dust collector Y which concerns on a form centering on a helical shape separation member, FIG. 7 is for demonstrating the internal structure of the cyclone dust collector Y which concerns on embodiment of this invention Fig. 8 is an exploded perspective view of Fig. 8, and Fig. 8 is a diagram for explaining how dust is accumulated. Fig. 10 is a cross-sectional view of a cyclone dust collector Y for explaining the case where the dust collector is a right cylinder, and Fig. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the cyclone dust collector Y when a truncated cone dust collector is used. 11 is a perspective view of the cyclone dust collector Y for explaining the flow of air in the spiral portion. 12 is a perspective view showing a separating member used in the dust collector according to the embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 13 is an exploded perspective view of the dust collector according to the embodiment, and FIG. 14 is according to the embodiment. It is sectional drawing of a dust collector.

First, the schematic configuration of the electric vacuum cleaner X according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, the electric vacuum cleaner X is schematically configured to include a vacuum cleaner main body 1, an intake port 2, a connection pipe 3, a connection hose 4, an operation handle 5 and the like. The vacuum cleaner body 1 incorporates an electric blower (not shown), a cyclone dust collector Y, a control device (not shown), and the like. The cyclone dust collector Y will be described in detail later.
The electric blower has a blower fan for performing intake air and a blower drive motor that rotationally drives the blower fan. The control device includes control devices such as a CPU, a RAM, and a ROM, and comprehensively controls the electric vacuum cleaner X. Specifically, in the control device, the CPU executes various processes according to a control program stored in the ROM.
The operation handle 5 is provided with an operation switch (not shown) for allowing the user to operate the vacuum cleaner X and to select an operation mode. A display unit (not shown) such as an LED for displaying the current state of the electric vacuum cleaner X is also provided in the vicinity of the operation switch.

The cleaner body 1 is connected to the intake port 2 via the connection hose 4 connected to the front end of the cleaner body 1 and the connection pipe 3 connected to the connection hose 4. ing.
Therefore, in the electric vacuum cleaner X, the electric blower (not shown) built in the vacuum cleaner main body 1 is operated, whereby intake from the intake port 2 is performed. Then, the air sucked from the intake port portion 2 flows into the cyclone dust collector Y through the connection pipe 3 and the connection hose 4. In the cyclone dust collector Y, dust is centrifuged from the sucked air. The air after the dust is separated by the cyclone dust collector Y is exhausted from an exhaust port (not shown) provided at the rear end of the cleaner body 1.

Hereinafter, the cyclone dust collector Y which is an example of the cyclone dust collector according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the cyclone dust collector Y has a housing 10 and an inner peripheral surface that is substantially cylindrical, and is detachably attached to the housing 10 (a collection container 11). An example), an inner cylinder 12, an upper filter unit 13, a dust receiving portion 14, a dust removal drive mechanism 15 and the like are schematically configured.
In the cyclone dust collecting apparatus Y, the dust collecting container 11, the inner cylinder 12, the upper filter unit 13, and the dust receiving portion 14 are arranged coaxially around a vertical central axis P. The cyclone dust collector Y is configured to be detachable from the cleaner body 1.
The housing 10 includes an inner cylinder 12 including a filter 122.
In the cyclone dust collecting apparatus Y, the air in the dust collecting container 11 is exhausted from the inner cylinder 12 provided at the center of the substantially cylindrical dust collecting container 11, so that the circumference of the dust collecting container 11 is increased. After the air sucked from the air inlet 111a (see FIG. 7) provided in the section is swung along the inner peripheral surface of the dust collecting container 11, the air passes through the upper filter unit 13 as an example of the filter means. The air is exhausted through the inner cylinder 12, and a relatively large collection target contained in the air is collected at the bottom of the dust collecting container 11, and a relatively small collection target is collected in the upper filter unit 13 and the like. It is something to collect.

  The dust collection container 11 is a container having an inner peripheral surface for accommodating dust separated from the sucked air and a cylindrical outer shape. The dust container 11 is configured to be detachable from the casing 10 of the cyclone dust collector Y. After the user removes the cyclone dust collector Y from the cleaner body 1, the user removes the dust collector 11 from the cyclone dust collector Y and discards the dust in the dust collector 11. An annular seal member 161 is provided between the casing 10 of the cyclone dust collector Y and the dust collecting container 11. The seal member 161 prevents air leakage between the housing 10 and the dust collecting container 11.

Further, the dust collecting container 11 is provided with a connecting portion 111 to which the connecting hose 4 (see FIG. 1) is connected. Air sucked from the intake port 2 through the connection pipe 3 and the connection hose 4 flows into the dust collecting container 11 from the connection unit 111.
Here, the air inlet (not shown) of the connecting portion 111 to the dust collecting container 11 is formed so that the air from the connection hose 4 swirls in the dust collecting container 11. Specifically, the air inlet (not shown) is formed such that the outlet on the dust collecting container 11 side faces the circumferential direction of the dust collecting container 11. Therefore, in the dust collecting container 11, the dust contained in the air is separated (centrifugated) by centrifugal force by swirling the sucked air. The dust centrifuged in the dust collection container 11 is stored in the bottom of the dust collection container 11 (dust D1 in FIGS. 2 and 3).
On the other hand, the air after the dust has been separated is exhausted from the dust collecting container 11 to the outside through an exhaust port (not shown) provided in the cleaner body 1 along an exhaust path 112 indicated by an arrow (FIG. 2). Is done. Here, on the exhaust path 112 from the dust collecting container 11 to the exhaust port (not shown), the inner cylinder 12, the dust receiving portion 14, and the upper filter unit 13 are arranged in this order.

Furthermore, a plurality of connecting portions 12b that engage with engaging portions 134c provided on an inclined dust removing member 134, which will be described later, are provided at the upper end of the inner cylinder 12. The connecting portion 12b is a rib provided so as to protrude upward at the opening edge of the upper end of the inner cylinder 12.
The inner cylinder 12 is integrally connected to the inclined dust removing member 134 by the engagement of the connecting portion 12b and the engaging portion 134c. The connection structure of the inner cylinder 12 and the inclined dust removing member 134 is not limited to this. For example, the structure connected integrally by fitting the fitting part provided in each of the said inner cylinder 12 and the said inclination dust removal member 134 can be considered.

Further, an inner cylinder exhaust port 121 for exhausting the air after the dust is separated in the dust collecting container 11 toward the upper filter unit 13 is formed in the upper part of the inner cylinder 12. The inner cylinder exhaust port 121 is provided with a cylindrical inner cylinder filter 122 that covers the entire inner cylinder exhaust port 121. The inner cylinder filter 122 filters air passing through the inner cylinder exhaust port 121.
For example, the inner cylinder filter 122 is a mesh air filter or the like. The inner cylinder filter 122 may be provided either inside or outside the inner cylinder exhaust port 121. Further, a configuration in which a mesh-like hole is formed in the inner cylinder 12 instead of the exhaust port 121 and the inner cylinder filter 122 is also conceivable. In that case, the mesh holes function as the inner cylinder exhaust port 121 and the inner cylinder filter 122.

On the other hand, a spiral separation member 123 for compressing the dust in the dust collecting container 11 by the force of airflow is provided at the lower part of the inner cylinder 12.
Here, in addition to FIGS. 2 and 3, the spiral separation member 123 will be described with reference to FIG. 4, which is a perspective view of the spiral separation member 123.
As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the spiral separating member 123 is provided with a spiral portion 123a, a cylindrical shaft portion 123b, and a disc-shaped shielding member 123c.
The cylindrical shaft portion 123b is a hollow cylinder fitted to the fitting portion 11a provided at the bottom of the dust collecting container 11. As described above, the seal member 11b (see FIGS. 2 and 3) is interposed between the cylindrical shaft portion 123b and the fitting portion 11a.

  The disk-shaped shielding member 123c accumulates the dust in the dust collection container 11 in the upper space (see the separation unit 104, see FIGS. 2 and 3) for separating the dust by the centrifugal force of the swirling flow described later. It plays a role of partitioning with a portion of the lower space (dust collecting portion 105, see FIG. 2). This prevents the collected dust from rolling up and clogging the inner cylinder filter 122. Moreover, since it is disk-shaped, dust contained in the cyclone air current is not caught, and the dust can be efficiently guided to the bottom of the dust collecting container 11.

Further, the cylindrical shaft portion 123b extends spirally from the cylindrical shaft portion 123b toward the bottom surface of the dust collecting chamber 105, and the upper and lower surfaces thereof are spirals centered on the vertical central axis P. A plate-like spiral portion 123a having a curved surface is provided.
At this time, it is preferable that the spiral curved surface of the spiral portion 123a is formed with an inclination direction similar to the swirling airflow indicated by the arrow A in FIG.
However, it is also possible to incline the spiral curved surface of the spiral portion 123a in a direction opposite to the inclination direction of the airflow swirling along the inner peripheral surface of the dust collecting container 11.

On the other hand, the air after being filtered by the inner cylinder filter 122 of the inner cylinder 12 is guided to the upper filter unit 13 through the inner cylinder 12.
Here, the upper filter unit 13 will be described with reference to FIG. 5 in addition to FIGS. FIG. 5A is a perspective view of the upper filter unit 13 as viewed from above, and FIG. 5B is a perspective view of the upper filter unit 13 as viewed from below.
The upper filter unit 13 includes a HEPA filter (High Efficiency Particulate Air Filter) 131, a filter dust removing member 132, an inclined dust removing member 134, and the like.

The HEPA filter 131 is a kind of air filter that further filters the air exhausted from the inner cylinder 12 and flowing on the exhaust path 112.
The HEPA filter 131 is composed of a set of a plurality of filters arranged and fixed in an annular shape around the vertical central axis P. Each of the plurality of filters is fixed to a framework as shown in FIG. 5B, for example. Further, the plurality of filters included in the HEPA filter 131 are arranged in a pleat shape in which unevenness is repeated in a substantially horizontal direction. Thereby, the filter area in the HEPA filter 131 is sufficiently secured. An annular seal member 162 is provided between the lower end of the HEPA filter 131 and the housing 10. Thereby, air leakage between the HEPA filter 131 and the housing 10 is prevented.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a hollow portion 131 a into which a connecting portion 133 provided in a filter dust removing member 132 described later is fitted is formed in the center of the HEPA filter 131. The hollow portion 131a is provided with a support portion 131b that supports the connecting portion 133.

As described above, in the cyclone dust collector Y, the dust collecting power is enhanced by filtering the air in two stages of the inner cylinder filter 122 and the HEPA filter 131.
However, if dust accumulates on the HEPA filter 131 and becomes clogged, the air passage resistance increases. For this reason, the load on the electric blower (not shown) is increased, and there is a possibility that the dust absorption force is reduced. Therefore, the upper filter unit 13 is provided with the filter dust removing member 132 for removing dust adhering to the HEPA filter 131.

The filter dust removing member 132 is supported by the support portion 131 b provided at the center of the HEPA filter 131. Specifically, the filter dust removing member 132 is provided with a connecting member 133 supported by the support portion 131b.
In addition, the inclined dust removing member 134 is screwed into the connecting portion 133 with a screw 133b in a screw hole 133a provided in the connecting portion 133. Accordingly, the filter dust removing member 132 and the inclined dust removing member 134 are integrally connected. An annular seal member 163 that fills the gap is provided between the inclined dust removing member 134 and the HEPA filter 131. Accordingly, air leakage between the inclined dust removing member 134 and the HEPA filter 131 is prevented.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5A, the filter dust removing member 132 includes two contact portions 132a disposed at predetermined intervals along the HEPA filter 131 so as to contact the upper end portion of the HEPA filter 131. have. The contact portion 132a is a leaf spring-like elastic member. The contact portion 132a is not limited to a leaf spring-like elastic member. The contact portion 132a may be one or more.
The filter dust removing member 132 is formed with a gear 132b on the outer periphery thereof. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the gear 132 b is meshed with a gear 15 a provided in the dust removal drive mechanism 15 provided in the cyclone dust collector Y.

As shown in FIG. 2, the dust removal drive mechanism 15 is connected to a drive motor (not shown) (an example of drive means) (hereinafter referred to as “dust removal drive motor”) provided on the cleaner body 1 side. It has a reduction gear to be connected and a gear 15a connected to the reduction gear. In the dust removal drive mechanism 15, the rotational force of the dust removal drive motor is transmitted to the gear 15a via the speed reducer. The rotational force of the gear 15a of the dust removal drive mechanism 15 is transmitted to the gear 132b. Thereby, the filter dust removing member 132 is rotated.
In the present embodiment, the case where the filter dust removal member 132 is rotated by the dust removal drive motor will be described as an example, but the filter dust removal member 132 is manually rotated instead of the dust removal drive motor. Providing a mechanism that can be considered is another possible embodiment.

  When the filter dust removing member 132 is rotated, each of the two contact portions 132a provided in the filter dust removing member 132 intermittently collides with the HEPA filter 131 formed in a pleat shape to give vibration. Accordingly, the dust adhering to the HEPA filter 131 is knocked down by the vibration applied from the filter dust removing member 132. Note that the timing at which the dust removal drive motor (not shown) is operated is preferably, for example, before or after the start of the dust collection operation in the electric vacuum cleaner X. Thereby, the dust removal of the HEPA filter 131 can be effectively performed in the state where there is no airflow downstream in the HEPA filter 131 due to the intake air by the electric blower.

Next, the structure of the helical separation member 123 will be described in more detail.
As described above, the cyclone dust collector Y is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape, and includes the upper filter unit 13 disposed in the upper portion and the dust collecting container 11 disposed in the lower portion.
A disc-shaped shielding member 123 c that is a boundary portion between the separation portion 104 and the dust collection portion 105 is integrally joined to the lower end of the inner cylinder 12 housed in the dust collection container 11. The outer diameter of the disk-shaped shielding member 123c and the spiral portion 123a below the disk-shaped shielding member 123c is substantially the same and smaller than the inner diameter of the separation portion 104, and is between the outer periphery of the disk-shaped shielding member 123c and the inner wall of the dust collecting container 11. There is a gap (clearance) 106 (FIG. 6). The clearance (clearance) 106 can smoothly move even when dust having a certain volume is transferred to the dust collection unit 105 when the dust separated in the separation unit 104 is moved to the dust collection unit 105. This value is suitable for rolling up the accumulated dust and preventing the inner cylinder filter 122 from being clogged. According to experiments, it was found that about 11 mm is desirable.

  Furthermore, a clearance (clearance) 107 (corresponding to a substantially cylindrical space in the present invention) between the spiral portion 123a and the inner surface of the dust collecting container 11 is such that the diameter of the dust collecting container 11 is the bottom of the dust collecting container 11. Therefore, it is configured to become smaller toward the bottom of the dust collecting container 11.

  The disc-shaped shielding member 123c has a predetermined thickness in the height direction. The thickness of the disc-shaped shielding member 123c in the height direction affects the centrifugal separation performance in the separation unit 104, and is about 13 mm obtained by experiments in this embodiment.

  Further, as described above, the spiral portion 123a of the spiral separation member 123 is formed in a curved plate shape sandwiched between upper and lower spiral curved surfaces, and extends substantially vertically downward from the disk-shaped shielding member 123c. Around the cylindrical shaft portion 123b, the cylindrical shaft portion 123b is wound around the cylindrical shaft portion 123b at least one turn from the start end (connection portion with the disk-shaped shielding member 123c) to the end end (lower end) toward the bottom surface of the dust collecting container 11. It is formed to attach. A desirable number for the winding angle is 1.6. By such wrapping, the spiral portion 123a is spirally swung downwardly along the rotational direction of the cyclonic swirling airflow (indicated by arrow A in FIG. 6) along the inner peripheral surface of the dust collecting container 11. A surface is formed.

  Further, a gap (clearance) 108 (see FIG. 6) is interposed between the terminal end (lower end) of the spiral portion 123 a of the spiral separation member 123 and the bottom surface of the dust collection chamber 105. Further, the width of the gap 108 is such that dust carried by the airflow is caught (trapped) and accumulated in the space 112a between the terminal end (lower end) of the spiral portion 123a and the bottom surface of the dust collecting container 11, and the spiral portion 123a is accumulated. The values are stacked in order from the lower side along the curved surface of the spiral shape, and at the same time, the dust is clogged between the end of the spiral portion and the bottom of the dust collecting chamber 105, or the foreign matter is clogged. It is a value that can prevent this. In the present embodiment, the width of the gap 108 obtained by an experiment using 10 g of DMT standard dust TYPE8 based on IEC standards as test dust is set to about 6 to 13 mm.

The operation of the vacuum cleaner configured as described above will be described below.
As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 6, the airflow entering the separation chamber 104 of the dust collecting container 11 from the air inlet 111 a of the connecting portion 111 formed in the circumferential direction of the separation chamber 104 is as indicated by an arrow A in FIG. 6. In addition, it turns at high speed along the cylindrical inner peripheral surface of the separation chamber 104. Centrifugal force acts on relatively large dust in the swirling airflow to be separated from the airflow and pressed against the inner wall of the dust collecting container 11. As shown in FIG. 2, since the air exhaust port 121 is located below, the airflow then enters the dust collection chamber 105 while swirling. In FIG. 6, the swirling airflow (main flow) as indicated by an arrow A indicated by a two-dot chain line starts to rise after reaching the bottom surface of the dust collection chamber 105. In the example of FIG. 6, the rotation direction of the airflow swirling around the gap 107 around the spiral separation member 123 and the inclination direction of the spiral portion 123a of the spiral separation member 123 coincide with each other, thereby preventing the cyclone swirl airflow. Absent. Therefore, efficient centrifugal separation is possible with little pressure loss, and a high suction power can be obtained.

Further, the fine dust contained in the rising airflow is separated from the airflow by the inertial force because the spiral curved surface of the spiral separating member 123 has a baffle effect. Here, the baffle plate collects dust by the action of inertial force by colliding an air stream containing dust. Since the spiral curved surface of the spiral separation member 123 is positioned substantially perpendicular to the air flow rising direction, it is effective as a baffle plate. As a result, fine dust contained in the airflow that has turned upward is collected, and the dependency of the collection by the inner cylinder filter 122 and the HEPA filter 131 can be reduced, and the pressure loss due to clogging of the filter can be reduced. It is possible to prevent a decrease in suction force, a decrease in cleaning efficiency, a decrease in filter life, and an increase in maintenance due to an increase in the amount of water.
Furthermore, the spiral curved surface of the spiral separating member 123 starts from the disk-shaped shielding member 123c toward the bottom surface of the dust collecting container 11 with a cylindrical shaft portion 123b extending substantially vertically downward (disk-shaped shielding). It is formed so as to wrap around the circumference of the cylindrical shaft portion 123b from the connection portion with the member 123c) to the end (lower end) for one or more rounds. Therefore, the fine dust collection effect described above can be obtained for upward flow from any direction (in the case of turbulent flow). In addition, the cut of the spiral curved surface (there is no notch, so that the upward flow does not leak from it, it works as a baffle plate for the upward flow, and it is not damaged, There is no problem that fine dust contained in the rising airflow is directly sucked into the filter and the filter is clogged at an early stage.

  Furthermore, since the spiral portion 123a has a spiral shape with a directivity that inclines downward along the rotational direction of the cyclonic swirl airflow, the spiral curved surface 123d has a direction of the airflow turned upward. Furthermore, it approaches the vertical, further enhancing the effect as a baffle plate, and further improving the efficiency of collecting fine dust.

  Further, even in the case where the spiral portion 123a has a spiral shape having a direction in which the spiral portion 123a is inclined upward along the rotational direction of the cyclonic swirling airflow, a clearance (clearance) 107 between the spiral portion 123a and the inner surface of the dust collecting container 11 is also obtained. Is about 11 mm as in the present embodiment, so that it hardly disturbs the cyclone swirling airflow and has a function as a baffle plate, so that a dust collecting effect by inertia force is obtained, and an effect equivalent to the above effect is obtained. It is done. (Described in FIG. 11)

Furthermore, since a strong swirl flow is generated in the dust collection container 11, a secondary flow of airflow (arrow B in FIG. 6) is generated from the characteristics of the static pressure distribution in the dust collection container 11. In this secondary flow (arrow B in FIG. 6), the dust collected in the dust collecting container 11 is re-scattered and flows out along with the above-described rising airflow.
Also for the dust that has re-scattered, the spiral curved surface of the spiral separating member 123 is separated from the air flow by the inertial force due to the effect of the baffle plate. As a result, once collected dust does not re-scatter and the collection efficiency is greatly improved. Furthermore, the spiral curved surface of the spiral separating member 123 starts from the disk-shaped shielding member 123c toward the bottom surface of the dust collecting container 11 with a cylindrical shaft portion 123b extending substantially vertically downward (disk-shaped shielding). Since it is continuously formed to wrap around the circumference of the cylindrical shaft portion 123b from the connection portion to the member 123c) to the terminal end (lower end) for at least one turn (ie, there is no cut or notch), which angle The above-mentioned fine dust collecting effect can be obtained even with respect to re-scattering due to the secondary flow from (see arrow B in FIG. 6).
Further, even when the fine dust is re-scattered and the fine air is included in the airflow at the time of ascent, the fine dust contained in the airflow that has turned up is the spiral of the spiral separation member 123 as described above. Due to the curved surface, the direction of the upward flow changes abruptly, and the inertial force acts to separate it from the air flow, so that the outflow of dust can be minimized. (Airflow C in FIG. 11) Further, a part of the airflow including fine dust rising by the lower part of the spiral separating member is pushed out toward the inner wall of the cyclone accumulator and returned again downward by the swirling airflow on the inner wall of the accumulator. The dust collecting effect can be increased. (Airflow C in FIG. 11)
Further, the disc-shaped shielding member 123c serves as a partition between the upper space portion (separation portion 104) for separating dust and the lower space portion (dust collection portion 105) for storing dust. On the other hand, the fine dust separation effect (effect as a baffle plate) due to the inertial force described above and a part of the rising air flow including fine dust are pushed out toward the inner wall of the cyclone accumulator and swirl air current on the inner wall of the accumulator It is effective to collect fine dust by being returned downward again.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, the clearance (clearance) 107 between the spiral portion 123a and the inner surface of the dust collecting container 11 is configured such that the diameter of the dust collecting container 11 decreases toward the bottom of the dust collecting container 11. Therefore, it becomes smaller toward the bottom of the dust collecting container 11. Thereby, the centrifugal separation performance by the cyclone is improved, and at the same time, the effect of suppressing re-scattering by the baffle effect of the spiral curved surface of the spiral separation member 123 is further enhanced.

  Further, when the dust collecting container 11 has a right cylindrical shape (shown in FIG. 7), if there is no spiral separation member 123, the effect of improving the centrifugal separation performance cannot be expected, and the dust collection performance is reduced. When the spiral separation member 123 is provided, the dust collection performance can be improved by the inertial force dust collection of the spiral separation member 123. For this reason, it is possible to improve the dust collection performance while preventing a decrease in the suction force due to the pressure loss caused by decreasing toward the bottom of the dust collecting container 11. Furthermore, the capacity | capacitance of the dust collection container 11 can be improved by making the dust collection container 11 into a right cylinder shape.

Next, accumulation of dust by the air flow and the action of stacking will be described with reference to FIG.
As described above, the sucked dust 200 is separated at the separation unit 104 and guided to the dust collection unit 105 through the gap 106 (FIG. 6). In the dust collection unit 105, the dust is accumulated by passing through the gap 107 and being blocked (trapped) by the gap 108. This accumulation is stacked on the already accumulated dust along the spiral portion 123a. Therefore, in this dust collector, since the stack grows along the spiral portion 123a without being biased, it is not accumulated unevenly within the dust collector 105, and compared with a dust collector of the same volume. As a result, the dust collection capacity is dramatically improved.
Moreover, the spiral part 123a can be made into the spiral shape with the directionality which inclines below along the rotation direction of a cyclone swirl | vortex airflow. In this case, the effect of compressing the dust collected by the cyclone airflow is also obtained. This further improves the dust collection capacity.

  In addition, the dust carried by the air flow indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 6 is trapped in the space 112a between the terminal end (lower end) of the spiral portion 123a and the bottom surface of the dust collecting container 11, Accumulated and stacked in order from the bottom along the spiral curved surface of the spiral portion 123a. For this reason, an increase in pressure loss can be further prevented. Further, when the air flow containing fine dust passes through the dust stacked in order from the lower side along the curved surface, the fine dust is collected by the stacked dust. As a result, it is possible to obtain an effect in which the dust once collected serves as a filter for collecting fine dust. Further, since dust is stacked in order from the lower side along the curved surface, the air flow including fine dust efficiently passes through the dust. Therefore, the dust collection effect is further improved as compared with Japanese Patent No. 3788589 shown in the prior art. Will increase.

  Furthermore, since the direction of rotation of the airflow swirling around the gap 107 around the spiral separation member 123 and the inclination direction of the spiral portion 123a of the spiral separation member 123 coincide, Compressed. As a result, the volume of accumulated and stacked dust is reduced, and more efficient dust collection can be achieved. Further, since the collected dust is compressed by the air flow, the fine dust collecting effect by the above-described dust is further enhanced. (The same effect as a fine filter can be obtained.)

  In general, in the case of inertial dust collection, in the case of solid particles, the removal (removal) of adhering dust becomes a problem. When the spiral separation member 123 is configured to be rotatable, by rotating the spiral separation member 123, particles adhering to the spiral curved surface are rubbed with dust accumulated and stacked on the lower portion of the spiral curved surface. It is possible to remove (peel). As a result, the maintainability, which has been a problem of inertial dust collection, can be remarkably improved, and a dust collector with extremely high maintainability can be obtained.

  In the embodiment, the spiral separation member 123 is configured to include the spiral curved surface 123d. However, the spiral separation member 123 may include a disk-shaped disk-shaped separation member 201 instead of the spiral separation member 123. The same effect as the above embodiment can be exhibited.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 14, the disc-shaped separation member 201 is a baffle plate that suddenly changes the flow of the upflow from any direction (in the case of turbulent flow) compared to the spiral separation member 123. Many are arranged. For this reason, the fine dust separation efficiency by inertia force further increases. Similarly, a part of the air flow containing fine dust rising by the lower part of the disk-shaped separating member 123c is pushed back toward the inner wall of the cyclone accumulator and returned downward again by the swirling air current on the inner wall of the accumulator (C in FIG. 14). Therefore, the dust collection effect of fine dust can be further enhanced.

10 ... Case (separator main body)
11 ... Dust collection container (collection container)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 12 ... Inner cylinder 13 ... Upper filter unit 14 ... Dust collection receiving part 104 ... Separation part 105 ... Dust collection part 123 ... Spiral shape separation member 123a ... Spiral part 123b ... Cylindrical shaft part 200, 201 ... Dust

Claims (6)

An inner peripheral surface is provided with a substantially cylindrical collection container, and the air sucked from the air inlet provided in the circumferential direction on the circumferential portion of the collection container is used as the inner periphery of the substantially cylindrical collection container. After swirling along the surface, the air is exhausted from the central portion of the collection container through the filter means, so that the relatively large collection target contained in the air is centrifugated by the centrifugal force of the swirling air flow. In the cyclone separation device that separates from the bottom of the collection container and collects a relatively small collection object in the filter means,
The collection container has at least one spiral curved surface centered on the vertical central axis of the collection container, and a predetermined gap is formed between the outer peripheral end of the spiral curved surface and the inner wall of the collection container. A cyclone separator comprising a separating member provided.   The cyclone separator according to claim 1, wherein a predetermined gap is provided between a lower end of the spiral curved surface of the separating member and a bottom portion of the collection container.   The cyclone separator according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a gap between an outer peripheral end of the spiral curved surface and an inner wall of the collection container is constant in a vertical direction.   The cyclone separator according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a gap between an outer peripheral end of the spiral curved surface and an inner wall of the collection container becomes smaller downward.   The cyclone separation according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the spiral curved surface of the separation member is formed in a direction substantially coinciding with a direction of an airflow swirling and descending along an inner peripheral surface of the collection container. apparatus. The cyclone separator according to claim 1, wherein the collection target is configured as a cyclone dust collector that is dust.

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