JPH0755214B2 - Vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner, and more particularly to a connecting portion between a cleaner body and a suction hose.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a connecting portion for connecting a hose for sucking into a cleaner body is, for example, a substantially cylindrical connecting port portion for communicating the dust collecting chamber with the outside on a vertical front surface of the cleaner body. Is provided horizontally, and a connection pipe portion on the main body side of a straight, substantially cylindrical hose is fitted and connected to this connection opening portion. In this structure, the direction of the connecting pipe portion of the hose with respect to the cleaner body is fixed in one horizontal direction.

Further, as described in JP-A-60-132533, the front surface of the cleaner main body is formed into an inclined surface, and the inclined surface has an upwardly inclined cylindrical shape orthogonal to the inclined direction. There is also known a structure in which a connecting port portion of (1) is provided and a straight connecting tube portion of a hose is fitted and connected to the inclined connecting port portion. In this structure, the connecting pipe part of the hose is fixed to the main body of the cleaner in a state of being directed upward at a constant angle.

Further, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 60-94152, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 60-97560, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 60-97562.
As disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 60-101051 and Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 60-101051, a connection port body having a connection port part capable of rotating in a horizontal direction is provided on the upper surface of a cleaner body, and the connection port part is substantially right-angled. There is also known a structure in which a connecting pipe portion of a hose that is bent at a position is fitted and connected. In this structure, the direction of the connecting pipe portion of the hose with respect to the cleaner body can be changed only in a substantially horizontal plane.

In the electric vacuum cleaner disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 60-101051, the connection port body is provided in order to maintain airtightness between the outer portion of the connection port body and the dust collecting chamber. The annular lip portion of the packing attached to the end of the dust collecting chamber is rotatably brought into contact with the dust collecting chamber forming wall in the cleaner body only from its axial direction.

Further, as described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 48-5531, a vertical cylindrical connecting port is provided on the upper surface of the cleaner body, and a hose bent at a substantially right angle is connected to the connecting port. There is also known a structure in which the pipe portion is fitted and connected, and the direction of the connection pipe portion of the hose with respect to the cleaner body can be changed only in a substantially horizontal plane by the rotating portion provided in the connection pipe portion of the hose. ing.

[0007]

In the electric vacuum cleaner of this type, at the time of cleaning, for example, an extension tube and a suction port body are connected to a hand grip provided on the side opposite to the connection tube of the hose, and the suction port Dust is sucked into the dust collecting chamber of the cleaner body from the mouth through the extension pipe and the hose. At this time, although the hose has flexibility, the direction of the connecting tube portion of the hose is oriented toward the cleaner body as in the electric vacuum cleaner described in JP-A-60-132533. In the structure fixed to the above, unless the main body of the vacuum cleaner is moved, the suction port body connected to the hose cannot be directed to a wide range, and there is a problem that cleaning is difficult to perform.

Further, in the vacuum cleaner disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 60-101051 or Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 48-5531, the orientation of the connecting tube portion of the hose with respect to the cleaner body can be freely changed in a horizontal plane. However, since it cannot be changed in the vertical direction, it is difficult to clean high places such as walls and ceilings, and when a short hose is forcibly bent, this hose is likely to be damaged. Furthermore, to move the cleaner body during cleaning, the hand gripping part of the hose is grasped and pulled, but at this time, the cleaner body does not move and only the hose tends to rotate horizontally. There was also a problem that the vacuum cleaner body was liable to fall over because the vacuum cleaner body had poor running followability.

Further, when the hose connecting pipe is largely bent substantially at a right angle like the electric vacuum cleaner disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 60-101051, the air passage resistance is large there. Therefore, there is a problem that the suction performance is greatly deteriorated.

Therefore, in order to change the direction of the hose with respect to the main body of the vacuum cleaner not only in the horizontal direction but also in the vertical direction, in the electric vacuum cleaner described in the above-mentioned Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 60-101051, the connection port body is rotated. It is possible to adopt a structure in which the moving axis direction is inclined with respect to the horizontal direction.

However, in the case of adopting this structure, a tensile stress when gripping and pulling the hand portion of the hose during cleaning or a weight imbalance due to the weight of the hose occurs, and the rotational axis of the connecting port body is As the connection body tries to tilt like the tilt changes, the actual opening number is 60-10105.
In the structure in which the annular lip portion is in contact with the dust collecting chamber forming wall only from the axial direction as described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1 etc., the lip portion is likely to separate from the dust collecting chamber forming wall and the airtightness may be impaired. There is.

According to the present invention, the orientation of the connecting tube portion on the body side of the hose with respect to the cleaner body can be changed not only in the horizontal direction but also in the vertical direction, and therefore, from a low place such as a floor to a high place such as a ceiling. It provides an electric vacuum cleaner that can easily perform cleaning up to a wide range, has good running followability when moving the cleaner body by pulling the hose, and can prevent deterioration of suction performance. is there.

[0013]

The electric vacuum cleaner of the present invention comprises:
A cleaner body having an electric blower built therein and a dust collection chamber communicating with the electric blower provided therein, and a connection opening portion rotatably supported by the cleaner body for communicating the dust collection chamber with the outside are provided. A connecting port body, a packing having an annular lip portion provided at an end portion of the connecting port body on the dust collecting chamber side and rotatably abutted against a dust collecting chamber forming wall in the cleaner body, and the connection. And a hose having a connection pipe part connected to the connection port part of the mouth body, and an inclined surface that descends toward the front is formed on the outer surface of the cleaner body, and the connection port body is formed on this inclined surface. A bending portion is provided in the connecting pipe portion of the hose on the cleaner body side, and the hose is rotatable in the circumferential direction with respect to the cleaner body about a rotation axis in a direction substantially orthogonal to the inclined surface thereof. An annular holding portion is provided on the dust collection chamber forming wall so as to project toward the connection port body, The annular lip portion is brought into contact with the base portion of the annular holding portion from the inside in the radial direction, and the inclination angle of the inclined surface of the cleaner body with respect to the horizontal plane is within the range of about 35 ° to 75 °. The bending angle of the bent part is about 1
The angle is within the range of 15 ° to 155 °.

[0014]

In the vacuum cleaner of the present invention, the connection pipe portion of the main body side having the bent portion of the hose at the connection opening portion of the connection opening body provided on the inclined surface that descends toward the front of the outer surface of the cleaner body. Is connected, and the hose is rotated in the circumferential direction about the cleaner body as a rotation axis in a direction substantially orthogonal to the inclined surface with respect to the cleaner body by the rotation of the connection port body. Is an angle within the range of about 115 ° to 155 °,
The connection pipe portion having the bent portion of the hose can change its direction not only in the horizontal direction but also in the vertical direction with respect to the main body of the cleaner, and the air passage resistance of the bent portion of the hose is small. The angle of inclination of the inclined surface of the cleaner body with respect to the horizontal plane is about 35 ° ~
Since the angle is within the range of 75 °, the hose rotation followability is good and the travel followability is also good. Further, since the annular lip portion of the packing provided in the connection port body is rotatably abutted against the dust collection chamber forming wall in the cleaner body, the outer portion of the connection port body and the dust collection chamber are separated from each other. Although the airtightness is maintained, the base of the annular holding part that protrudes from the dust collection chamber forming wall toward the connection port should be used even if the connection port is tilted so that the rotation axis direction changes. The contacting annular lip portion continues to contact the annular holding portion from the inside in the radial direction,
Airtightness is maintained.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows the configuration of an embodiment of the electric vacuum cleaner of the present invention.
2 will be described.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a cleaner body, which is a main body case 3 having an opening 2 formed on the front side of the upper surface thereof, and an opening 2 of the main body case 3.
And a detachable lid body 4 for opening and closing. The inside of the main body case 3 is divided into front and rear by a partition wall 6 provided at a substantially central portion thereof and having a communication port 5, and an electric blower 7 is arranged in a space portion behind the partition wall 6. In addition, the space portion in front of the partition wall 6 serves as a dust collection chamber 8 having the opening 2 on its upper surface.

A clamp 10 urged by a spring 9 is pivotally mounted on the front surface of the body case 3, and an engaging hole 11 is formed at the rear edge of the opening 2. Has been done.

Further, in the lower part of the main body case 3, a wheel 12a for moving the cleaner main body 1 and a swivel wheel 12b are rotatably provided on the rear side and the front side of the lower surface of both side surfaces thereof. .

The lid 4 is formed in a thin box shape having an open lower surface, and a front locking portion 13 is formed at a front edge of the lid 10 so that the clamp 10 can be engaged and disengaged through a rotating operation. At the same time, a rear side engaging portion 14 having an L-shaped side surface is formed at the rear edge portion so as to be removably engaged with the engaging hole 11 of the main body case 3.

A packing 15 is provided on the peripheral edge of the lower surface of the lid 4 so as to be in airtight contact with the peripheral edge of the opening 2 of the main body case 3.

The front side of the lid 4 is formed with an inclined surface 16 that descends toward the front. The inclined surface 16 is integrally formed with a short cylindrical tubular holding portion 17 orthogonal to the inclined direction. The cylindrical holding portion 17 has an annular step portion 18 having a substantially L-shaped cross section formed on the peripheral edge portion of the upper end surface in the figure.

Further, in the lid body 4, from the rear side of the upper surface thereof to the front side of the lid body 4 in parallel with the inclined surface 16 and bent vertically from there to the front edge portion of the inclined surface 16. An inner wall 19 that is a dust collection chamber forming wall is formed. The inner wall 19 is formed with a short cylindrical tubular insertion portion 20, which surrounds the tubular insertion portion 20 and projects toward the inclined surface 16 to form a substantially U-shaped cross section. An annular holding portion 21 is formed, and an annular packing 22 is formed on the lower surface side of the annular holding portion 21.
Are fitted and held. Further, a fitting step portion 23 having a substantially L-shaped cross section is formed on the front surface of the inner wall 19.

Further, the main body case 3 is provided with a mouth frame holding body 24 opposed to the inner wall 19 with a small gap therebetween when the lid body 4 is attached to the main body case 3.

A connection port body 31 is rotatably provided between the inclined surface 16 of the lid body 4 and the inner wall 19. This connection port body 31 is opposed to a substantially disc-shaped first connection port body member 33 having a cylindrical connection port portion 32 in the central portion, and a small gap is held on the outer peripheral surface of the connection port portion 32. A second disc-shaped second connection member 36 having a short substantially cylindrical tubular portion 34 in the center and attached to the first connection member 33 with a screw 35;
Connection port portions of the first and second connection port body members 33, 36
32 and a packing 37 held between the lower ends of the tubular portions 34.

A concave portion is formed on the upper surface side of the connection port portion 32.
38 is formed, and a locking hole 40 is formed on the side surface of the recess 38. Further, on the upper surface of the second connection port member 36, a short cylindrical outer guide wall 41 is projectingly formed on the peripheral portion thereof, and a shorter cylinder is located inside the outer guide wall 41. A shaped inner guide wall 42 is formed to project. Further, the packing 37 is formed with an annular lip portion 43 on the lower end peripheral portion thereof and an annular protrusion 44 on the inner peripheral surface thereof.

The connection port body 31 has a first connection port body member 33 whose upper surface peripheral edge portion is rotatably fitted to the annular step portion 18 of the inclined surface 16 of the lid body 4, Connection body member 36
The inner guide wall 42 is rotatably fitted in the cylindrical holding portion 17 of the lid body 4, and the annular lip portion 43 of the packing 37 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the lid body 4 has an annular lip portion that abuts only the annular holding portion 21 of the inner wall 19 of the lid 4 while being abutted on the base portion of the annular holding portion 21 so as to be rotatable inward from the radial direction. It is rotatably attached to No. 4. In this state, the connection port portion 32 is orthogonal to the inclined surface 16 of the lid body 4. Further, the outer guide wall 41 of the connection port body 31 is slidably abutted on the fitting step portion 23 of the inner wall 19 of the lid body 4.

Reference numeral 51 denotes a dust collecting filter, which comprises a bag-shaped filter medium 52 and a mouth frame 54 provided on the opening side of the bag-shaped filter medium 52 and having a dust collecting port 53 formed therein. The dust collecting filter 51 has an inner wall 19 of the lid 4 inside the dust collecting opening 53 of the mouth frame 54.
With the tubular insertion portion 20 of the above is inserted, the mouth frame 54 is held by the inner wall 19 and the mouth frame holder 24 of the main body case 3 so as to be detachably mounted in the dust collection chamber 8. It has become so.

An auxiliary filter 55 is detachably attached to the front surface of the partition wall 6 of the main body case 3.

Reference numeral 61 denotes a hose, which is a bellows-shaped and freely bendable hose body 62, and a hose provided at one end of the hose body 62.
Cylindrical connection pipe part 61 which is the end part of the cleaner body 1 side of 61
And an unillustrated hand-held portion which is provided at the other end of the hose body 62 and to which an extension pipe or the like is connected.

The connecting pipe portion 63 is bent at a substantially central portion thereof, and a cover body 66 containing a movable clamp 65 is attached to an outer peripheral surface of the cleaner body 1 side of the bent portion 64. . The movable clamp 65 includes an operation portion 67 protruding outward from the cover body 66 and a locking hole 40 of the connection port body 31.
Has a locking claw portion 68 that is inserted into and removed from the
Forced outward by 69.

The inclination angle of the inclined surface 16 of the cleaner body 1 with respect to the horizontal plane is within the range of about 35 ° to 75 °, and the bending angle of the bent portion 64 of the hose 61 is about 115 °.
The angle is in the range of ° to 155 °.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

At the time of cleaning, the hose 61 is connected to the cleaner body 1 by fitting the lower end portion of the connecting pipe portion 63 of the hose 61 shown in the drawing into the connection port portion 32 of the cleaner body 1. That is, the lower end portion of the cover body 66 is fitted into the concave portion 38 of the connection opening body 31 as the connection pipe portion 63 is fitted into the connection opening portion 32, and the clamp 65 of the clamp 65 is urged by the spring 70. Locking claw 69
Is inserted into the locking hole 40 of the connection port body 31 through the reciprocating operation, and the hose 61 is held in the connected state. In this state, the end surface of the hose 61 is brought into contact with the annular protrusion 44 of the packing 37. When removing the hose 61 from the cleaner body 1, the operating portion 67 of the clamp 65 is pushed to remove the locking claw portion 68 from the locking hole 40 of the connection port body 31, and then the connecting pipe portion 63 of the hose 61 is removed. Pull out from the connection port 32.

Further, an extension pipe and a suction port body are detachably sequentially connected to the hand gripping portion of the hose 61. Then, by driving the electric blower 7, dust is sucked from the suction port body,
Dust collection chamber 8 of vacuum cleaner body 1 via extension pipe and hose 61
And is stored in the dust collecting filter 51. At this time, the user grips the hand grip of the hose 61,
Move the suction port on the surface to be cleaned.

At this time, the connection port 32 is formed on the inclined surface 16 of the lid 4.
Is inclined upward toward the front, and since the connection pipe portion 63 of the hose 61 fitted and connected to the connection opening portion 32 is bent, the inclined surface 16 of the connection opening body 31 is With the rotation about the rotation axis a in the orthogonal direction, the tip end side of the connecting pipe portion 63, that is, the hose body 62 side from the bent portion 64 performs a swinging motion about the axis of the connection port portion 32. The direction changes not only horizontally but also vertically.

Then, as shown in FIG. 4, the cleaner body 1
If the inclination angle of the inclined surface 16 of the hose 61 with respect to the horizontal plane h is α, and the bending angle of the bent portion 64 of the hose 61 is γ, the elevation angle of the tip end side of the connecting pipe portion 63 with respect to the horizontal surface h is from γ-α-90 to 27.
It will change within the range of 360-2γ up to 0-α-γ.

In this way, the direction of the tip end side of the connecting pipe portion 63, which is the end portion of the hose 61 on the cleaner body 1 side, is set to the cleaner body 1
Since it can be changed not only in the horizontal direction but also in the vertical direction, it is possible to easily and efficiently perform cleaning over a wide range in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction such as a wide floor surface, wall surface and ceiling surface.

By the way, the bending angle γ of the bent portion 64 of the hose 61 is preferably close to 180 ° in order to reduce the air passage resistance there. Further, the hose 61 rotates as it grips and moves the hand gripping part, and in order to improve the rotation followability of the hose 61 at that time,
It is desirable that the bending angle γ of the bent portion 64 of the hose 61 be large to some extent. Further, when the cleaner body 1 is moved during cleaning, the hand gripping portion of the hose 61 is gripped and pulled, but in order to improve the traveling followability of the cleaner body 1 at that time, the inclination Inclination angle α of surface 16 and hose 61
It is better that the bending angle γ of the bending portion 64 is relatively large. Further, in order to efficiently perform the vertical cleaning, it is desirable that the direction of the tip end side of the connecting pipe portion 63 of the hose 61 changes from a substantially horizontal state or a depression angle of about 10 ° to a state of a large elevation angle.

In order to satisfy all the above conditions, the maximum elevation angle β with respect to the horizontal plane h should be within the range of about 40 ° to 120 °. For example, if the depression angle δ is 10 °, β = 2
Since 70-α-γ and δ =-(γ-α-90), the necessary condition for 40 ≦ β ≦ 120 is 35 ≦
Since α ≦ 75 and 115 ≦ γ ≦ 155, the inclination angle α of the inclined surface 16 is within the range of about 35 ° to 75 °, and the bent portion
The bending angle γ of 64 may be in the range of about 115 ° to 155 °.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the bent portion 64 of the hose 61 is bent by being smoothly bent. With such a structure, the air path resistance in the bent portion 64 is increased. Can be made smaller, the suction performance can be prevented from lowering, and the noise can be reduced.
By increasing the bending angle γ of the bent portion 64, the curvature of the bent portion 64 can be reduced when the connecting tube portion 63 is injection-molded with synthetic resin or the like, so that the loss of suction performance and noise can be further reduced.

Further, at the time of cleaning, the annular lip portion 43 of the packing 37 attached to the end of the connection port body 31 on the dust collecting chamber 8 side is rotatably abutted on the inner wall 19 which is the dust collecting chamber forming wall. As a result, the airtightness between the outer portion of the connection port body 31 and the dust collection chamber 8 is maintained. By the way, since the axis of the connection port body 31 rotatably supported and connected to the hose 61 is inclined with respect to the horizontal plane h, the connection port body 31 is, for example, on the upper side by the load of the hose 61 or the like. It is easy to incline so that the part of (1) moves forward, that is, counterclockwise in the drawing. However, the annular lip portion 43 is an inner wall protruding toward the connection port body 31.
Since it is in contact with the base of the annular holding portion 21 of 19 from the inside in the radial direction, even if the connection port body 31 is slightly inclined as described above,
The annular lip portion 43 continues to contact the annular holding portion 21. Since the annular lip portion 43 of the packing 37 contacts and seals only one surface of the annular holding portion 21, the frictional force of the lip portion 43 is generated only on one surface of the annular holding portion 21. Is small, the operability of the connection port body 31 is good, and the lip portion 43 is in contact with only one surface. Therefore, as in the structure in which two different surfaces are contacted, the imbalance of the frictional force generated on each surface is unbalanced. As a result, the lip portion 43 is not deformed, and the lip portion 43 abuts only one surface of the annular holding portion 21, so that the dimensional accuracy can be easily obtained, and the lip portion 43 is worn due to long-term use and has a sealing property. Does not decrease. Therefore, the airtightness is surely maintained and the deterioration of the suction performance is prevented.

In the above embodiment, the structure in which the hose 61 is detachable from the connection port body 31 has been described.
The hose may be provided integrally with the connection port body.

[0043]

According to the present invention, the connection port body is rotatably supported on the inclined surface formed in the cleaner body, and the connection pipe part of the hose connected to the connection port part of the connection port body is rotatably supported. A bent portion is provided to allow the hose to rotate in the circumferential direction with respect to the cleaner main body about a rotation axis in a direction substantially orthogonal to the inclined surface, and the inclination angle of the inclined surface of the cleaner main body with respect to the horizontal plane is about 35. ° ~
By setting the angle within the range of 75 ° and the bending angle of the bent portion of the hose within the range of about 115 ° to 155 °, the bent portion has the bent portion as the hose is rotated. Since the connecting pipe part changes direction not only horizontally but also vertically with respect to the cleaner body, for example, while gripping the hand grip provided on the other side of the hose, insert an extension pipe or the like into this hand grip. When the suction inlet connected to the vacuum cleaner is moved along the surface to be cleaned, the rotation followability is good, the degree of freedom of the position of the suction inlet with respect to the main body of the vacuum cleaner is increased, and horizontal and vertical movements such as the floor or ceiling surface. It is possible to easily and efficiently clean a wide range of directions, and, as mentioned above, the hose rotates about a direction substantially orthogonal to the inclined surface as a rotation axis, so that the hose can be gripped and pulled by the hand. Move the vacuum cleaner body When to be, the running track is improved. The bending angle of the bent part of the hose is about 115 °.
Since the angle is within the range of ˜155 °, the air passage resistance becomes small.

Further, an annular holding portion is provided on the dust collecting chamber forming wall in the main body of the vacuum cleaner so as to project toward the connection opening body, and an annular lip portion of the packing provided on the connection opening body is provided at the base portion of the annular holding portion. Since it is brought into contact with the inside of the hose from the inside in the radial direction, the turning stress is applied to the hose during cleaning or the turning shaft is inclined, so that the turning shaft direction changes due to a weight imbalance due to the weight of the hose. Even if the connection port body is inclined, the annular lip portion continues to contact the annular holding portion. Therefore, the airtightness is always maintained reliably,
It is possible to prevent a decrease in suction performance.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of a hose connection portion of an electric vacuum cleaner showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view in which a part of the electric vacuum cleaner is cut away.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the same electric vacuum cleaner.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of the same as above.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Vacuum cleaner body 7 Electric blower 8 Dust collection chamber 16 Inclined surface 19 Inner wall which is the wall forming the dust collection chamber 21 Annular holding part 31 Connection port body 32 Connection port part 37 Packing 43 Annular lip part 61 Hose 63 Connection pipe part 64 Bent part

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A cleaner body having a built-in electric blower and having a dust collection chamber communicating with the electric blower therein, and a dust collection chamber rotatably supported by the cleaner body to communicate the dust collection chamber with the outside. It has a connection port body provided with a connection port part, and an annular lip part provided at the end part of the connection port part on the dust collection chamber side and rotatably abutted against the dust collection chamber forming wall in the cleaner body. Packing and a hose having a connection tube portion connected to the connection opening portion of the connection opening body are provided, and an inclined surface that descends toward the front is formed on the outer surface of the cleaner body, and the connection opening body is formed. Is provided on this inclined surface,
A bending portion is provided in a connecting pipe portion of the hose on the cleaner body side, and the hose is rotatable in a circumferential direction with respect to the cleaner body with a rotation axis in a direction substantially orthogonal to an inclined surface of the hose. An annular holding portion is provided on the dust collecting chamber forming wall so as to project toward the connection port body, and the annular lip portion is brought into contact with the base portion of the annular holding portion from the inside in the radial direction. The vacuum cleaner is characterized in that the angle of inclination with respect to the horizontal plane is within the range of approximately 35 ° to 75 °, and the bending angle of the bent portion of the hose is within the range of approximately 115 ° to 155 °.