KR101574689B1 - Wet vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a drain structure of a wet vacuum cleaner which sucks in fluid such as water with a solid or powdered foreign substance to remove the foreign substance. The wet vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises: a motor housing having a drive unit embedded therein to provide a suction force; a main collection tank detachably mounted on a lower portion of the motor housing, wherein an internal pressure becomes lower than the atmospheric pressure by the suction force, and a drain hole is formed on a lower portion thereof; an auxiliary collection tank detachably mounted on the lower portion of the main collection tank and connected to the main collection tank through the drain hole; and an opening and closing valve mounted on the drain hole to close the drain hole when the internal pressure of the main collection tank becomes low, and open the drain hole when the internal pressure of the main collection tank is recovered.

Description

[0001] WET VACUUM CLEANER [0002]

The present invention relates to a drainage structure of a wet vacuum cleaner that sucks and removes fluid such as water together with solid or powdery foreign matter.

A vacuum cleaner is a device that sucks foreign matter by using a pressure difference formed by rotation of a motor fan. The pressure difference caused by the motor fan forms a closed space inside the body at a negative pressure, and the foreign matter sucked through the suction hose or the like flows into the internal space of the body.

The foreign matter sucked into the inside of the body is filtered through a filter net through which the air passes, and foreign matter collected in the filter net is separated and removed according to the degree of use. Alternatively, a method of filtering the foreign matter by a cyclone method using the weight difference between the foreign matter sucked into the inside of the body and the air may be used.

The air that passes through the filter after being sucked into the body is used to cool the motor overheating. Most of the vacuum cleaners are used dry because the water that is sucked into electric parts such as fans and motors can reach them. However, in a large-sized vacuum cleaner manufactured for industrial use, a wet vacuum cleaner capable of sucking some water together is being used.

A wet vacuum cleaner adopts a filter that can filter water droplets because it absorbs fluids such as water with foreign substances or prevents the water droplets from flowing into the fan motor. Nevertheless, it is undesirable for the water collected into the vacuum cleaner to be collected above a certain level because the water sucked into the vacuum cleaner can access the electric parts such as the fan motor.

In order to solve such a problem, Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 1997-0005194 discloses a valve that senses the level in the apparatus and blocks the flow of air sucked into the fan motor.

Korean Patent Publication No. 1997-0005194 (Feb. 19, 1997)

The present invention makes it possible to immediately remove water remaining in the wet vacuum cleaner.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an air conditioner comprising: a motor housing having a driving unit for providing a suction force; a motor housing detachably coupled to a lower portion of the motor housing, A secondary receptacle detachably coupled to a lower portion of the main receptacle and communicating with the main receptacle through a drain hole and a drain hole formed in the main receptacle, And an open / close valve for closing the drain hole and opening the drain hole when pressure inside the main receptacle is recovered.

Wherein the opening / closing valve includes a casing formed with ribs for narrowing the diameter of the opening toward the inside of the auxiliary storage bin, and a guide protrusion formed in a radial direction along the inner wall at a lower portion of the rib seal, And an elevating unit which is movable in the direction of the ribs and contacts the lower end of the ribs to block the entrance.

A contact piece protruding toward the contact surface of the lifting unit may be formed at an end of the rib facing the center of the inlet.

Furthermore, the auxiliary storage bin may be slid to one side and separated from the main bin.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, when the operation of the driving unit is interrupted, the waste water in the main receptacle is automatically collected in the auxiliary receptacle. Therefore, problems such as stacking of dust particles generated in the main sump and the inflow of water into the driving part are eliminated. It is also convenient because it is possible to manage the wet vacuum cleaner after separation of the secondary receptacle.

The effects of the present invention will be clearly understood and understood by those skilled in the art, either through the specific details described below, or during the course of practicing the present invention.

1 is a schematic side view of a wet vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the opening / closing valve employed in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1; FIG.
3 is an exploded view of the on-off valve shown in Fig.
4 is a cross-sectional view showing the use state of the on-off valve shown in Fig.
5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG.
6 is a sectional view showing another use state of the on-off valve shown in Fig.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the structure, function and operation of a wet vacuum cleaner according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted, however, that the same reference numerals are used for the same or similar components throughout the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, therefore, are not to be construed as limiting the technical spirit of the invention. It is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited by any of the details of the description to those skilled in the art from the standpoint of a person skilled in the art that any or all of the drawings shown in the drawings are not necessarily the shape,

1 shows a wet vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

A wet vacuum cleaner 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a motor housing 10, a main collection bin 20, a secondary collection bin 30, and an opening / closing valve 40. Further, the illustrated embodiment includes a tray 60 having a caster 62 and a handle 63. [ A flexible tubular body 22 communicating with the main receptacle 20 and a cleaning tool connected to the flexible tubular body 22 although not shown.

Inside the motor housing 10, a driving unit 11 for providing a suction force is incorporated. The driving unit 11 includes an electric motor, a speed reducer, a rotary fan, and a control module. As the power is applied, the electric motor rotates the rotary fan to transfer air from the main receptacle to the outside. As a result, the pressure in the main receptacle becomes lower than the atmospheric pressure.

The construction and operation of the driving unit 11 may be the same as or similar to the structure of the wet vacuum cleaner already known. Therefore, detailed description is omitted. A filter 12 is mounted on the lower portion of the motor housing 10.

The filter 12 prevents the foreign substances that have entered the main receptacle 20 from directly moving toward the suction port of the motor housing 10 and prevents the collected foreign substances or water from flowing into the driving portion 11. [ Depending on the design of the motor housing, the filter may be omitted.

The main receptacle 20 is detachably coupled to the lower portion of the motor housing 10.

In some cases, the user can lift the motor housing 10 and clean the interior of the main bin 20 directly. Clamps (not shown) may be used for separable coupling between the motor housing 10 and the main receptacle 20.

A drain hole (21) is formed in the bottom of the main bin (20). An opening / closing valve (40) is mounted in the drain hole (21). The main receptacle 20 has a structure that is hermetically sealed to the outside except for the connection portion between the drain hole 21 and the flexible tubular body 22. [ Therefore, a suction force for sucking outside air or the like is applied to the drain hole 21 and the flexible tube 22 by the pressure gradient between the inside and the outside of the main receptacle 20 lower than the atmospheric pressure by the operation of the driving unit. Foreign matter and water, such as dust that has been sucked in from the outside, are primarily stored in the main receptacle 20.

The secondary storage bin (30) is detachably coupled to the lower portion of the main bin (20).

The auxiliary storage bin (30) is located at the bottom of the main receptacle and stores water or the like falling from the open / close valve (40).

The combination of secondary and main sockets can vary.

The upper end of the secondary storage bin is brought into close contact with the lower portion of the main storage bin so that the inside of the secondary bin attached to the main bin can be sealed. Or the secondary receptacle is located at the bottom of the main receptacle so that the interior of the secondary receptacle may not be airtight.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, the motor housing 10, the main receptacle 20, and the auxiliary receptacle 30 are mounted on the tray 60. Fig. A column 61 is installed on one side of the tray 60 and the main receptacle is fixed by a band horizontally connected to the column 61 so as to hang at a middle height. The motor housing 10 is fixed to the main receptacle 20 while being placed on top of the main receptacle 20 and the auxiliary receptacle 30 is located below the main receptacle 20.

The secondary receptacle can be detachably coupled using a main receptacle and a clamp or the like. Or the secondary receptacle 30 may be indirectly coupled to the main receptacle 20 by being seated in the tray 60.

Further, the auxiliary storage bin 30 may be configured to slide from the main bin 20 and protrude forward and be separated. The drawer separation of such a secondary receptacle can adopt the same configuration as a well known drawer. For example, a housing opened frontward can be formed in a lower portion of the main receptacle, and the auxiliary receptacle can be inserted into the housing or pulled forward.

Since the movement of the motor housing 10 or the main receptacle 20 is not required in separating the auxiliary receptacle 30 from the wet vacuum cleaner 100, the convenience of use is great.

The wet vacuum cleaner 100 may be manufactured in a large size, and it may not be easy to handle the weight of the motor housing 10 or the volume of the main receptacle 20 by gravity. Alternatively, the wet vacuum cleaner may further include additional cleaning devices such as a steam generator and a cleaning liquid jetting device so as to constitute a cleaning vehicle. In this case, the auxiliary storage bin 30 may be pulled out from the auxiliary storage bin 30, It is advantageous to be able to separate them.

In FIG. 1, a handle is mounted on the auxiliary storage bin 30, and is slid in the horizontal direction and separated from the main bin 20. In the figure, the lower end portion of the opening / closing valve 40 protrudes below the bottom surface of the main receptacle 20, and on one side of the auxiliary receptacle 30, (31) is formed so as not to interfere with the through-hole (40). Thus, interference with the opening / closing valve 40 does not occur when the auxiliary storage bin 30 is drawn out in a drawer fashion.

The water in the auxiliary receptacle 30 flows back to the height of the opening and closing valve 40 and returns to the main receptacle 20 so that the water flows into the auxiliary receptacle 30 through the through- I will not go.

On the other hand, the opening / closing valve 40 interrupts the drain hole 21 to act to close the drain hole 21 as the internal pressure of the main receptacle 20 becomes lower, and the pressure inside the main receptacle 20 becomes lower than the atmospheric pressure The drain hole 21 is opened.

The operation of the on-off valve 40 allows the suction force generated during the operation of the driving unit 11 to act through the flexible tubular body 22 to completely inhale the foreign substance. When the operation of the driving unit 11 is stopped, the opening / closing valve 40 is opened so that the collected water in the main receptacle 20 can be discharged to the auxiliary receptacle 30.

The opening and closing valve 40 interlocks and opens or closes the drain hole 21 according to the operation of the driving unit 11. The user collects the water into the auxiliary receptacle 30 without any additional operation, So that the inside can be emptied.

After the use of the vacuum cleaner is completed, the user has to remove the auxiliary receptacle 30 and treat foreign objects such as collected water. Thus, the trouble of cleaning the main receptacle 20 every time is eliminated.

When observing the action of the wet vacuum cleaner according to the related art, when a wet vacuum cleaner is used after cleaning the floor of a building, water is sucked in the inner receptacle together with dust. The fine dusts are collected in the corner of the receptacle For example, part C in Fig. 1). When operating the drive for a long period of time, the fine dust collected in the bin is tightly packed in the angular corner. After cleaning, the loose dust particles can not be removed until they are taken out of the bin. Therefore, after the cleaning, it is necessary to separate the receptacle from the motor housing, and it is troublesome to clean the inside of the receptacle after breaking the dust lumps piled up in the bottom corner while tilting the receptacle.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, the water and the dust collected in the main receptacle 20 flow into the secondary receptacle 30 through the drain hole 21, which is opened when the driving part 11 stops operating. When the use state of the wet vacuum cleaner is observed, the operation of the vacuum cleaner 100 is usually intermittently performed. As the water and dust of the main receptacle 20 move to the auxiliary receptacle 30 every time the operation is interrupted, There is no lump of dust accumulated inside the main receptacle 20.

There is only a small amount of dust layer deposited by gravity in the secondary receptacle 30, and there are no large dust clusters hardly accumulated in corners such as a wet vacuum cleaner according to the prior art. Therefore, after the auxiliary storage bin 30 is separated from the main storage bin 20, the auxiliary storage bin 30 can be emptied cleanly by pouring the inside of the auxiliary storage bin 30, which is convenient for follow-up management.

2 to 6 relate to the on-off valve.

The opening and closing valve 40 includes a casing 41 and an elevating unit 46 for opening and closing the drain hole while moving up and down in the casing 41. The casing 41 includes an upper housing 41a and a lower housing 41b.

The upper housing 41a has a flange 45 abutting the inner bottom surface of the main receptacle 20 and a hollow cylindrical body 42 inserted into the drain hole 21. [ The rib 421 is vertically opened in the cylindrical body 42 to narrow the inlet diameter of the pipe leading to the inside of the auxiliary receptacle 30. Below the ribs 421, guide projections 423, which are elongated in the vertical direction, are formed radially along the inner wall.

A cone-shaped net 43 is formed on the upper portion of the upper housing 41a. The net body 43 blocks foreign matter having a large mass from entering the interior of the upper casing. The slit 431 of the net 43 is elongated in the vertical direction so that water flows into the upper housing 41a through the upper portion of the slit 431 even if the lower portion of the slit 431 is clogged by foreign matter . To this end, the on-off valve 40 is mounted so that the slit 431 of the net 43 starts from the bottom surface of the main receptacle 20.

In other embodiments not shown, the netting and the flange may be modified or eliminated in shape.

The lower housing 41b is coupled to the upper housing 41a. The open lower portion of the cylindrical body 42 is closed at the lower housing 41b to prevent the lifting unit 46 from falling down to the lower side of the cylindrical body 42. [

The bottom surface of the lower housing 41b is formed with a through hole 44 through which foreign substances such as water flowing into the upper housing are escaped.

A flange 45 is provided at the upper end of the lower housing 41b in contact with the main receptacle 20. The lower housing 41b can be screwed with the cylindrical body 42 of the upper housing 41a and a sealing for hermetic sealing is provided in the flange of the upper housing 41a and the lower housing 41b.

The elevating unit 46 is located inside the cylindrical body 42 and is guided by the guide protrusions 423 and is movable up and down. A disk-shaped rubber plate 462 is coupled to the upper surface of the lifting unit 46. When the lifting unit 46 ascends, the rubber plate 462 comes into contact with the rib fingers 421 to close the drain hole 21. [

3 to 5, the lifting unit 46 includes a cylindrical body 461 and a cylindrical body 461. The lifting and lowering unit 46 projects radially from the outer circumferential surface of the body 461, And guide projections 461a. A radially open cutout groove 461b is formed between the guide protrusions 461a. The hollow body 461 and the cutout groove 461b are important for lightening the weight of the lifting unit 46. [

FIG. 5 shows a pair of guide protrusions 423 and guide protrusions 461a positioned between neighboring guide protrusions 423. The number of the guide protrusions 423 and the guide protrusions 461a may vary depending on the embodiment.

4, ribs 421 are formed at the inlet of cylindrical body 42 facing the interior of secondary receptacle 30, thereby narrowing the diameter of the inlet.

Further, a contact piece 422 protruding downward is formed in a ring shape at an end of the rib seal 421 facing the center of the mouth. The contact piece 422 is a portion that contacts the rubber plate 462 of the lifting unit 46. [

The contact piece 422 protruding downward reduces the area in contact with the lifting unit 46. [

If the lower end surface of the rib fingers 421 is formed flat without the protruded contact pieces 422, the flat bottom surface of the rib fingers comes into surface contact with the rubber plate of the raised lifting unit. At this time, the contact areas of both are wider than those provided with the contact pieces. In this case, there is a high possibility that a gap is formed between the rib flesh and the lift unit due to the foreign matter sandwiched between the rib flesh and the rubber plate of the lift unit.

On the other hand, in the illustrated embodiment, since the contact piece 422 is provided, the contact area of the lift unit 46 with the rubber plate 462 is reduced, thereby reducing the probability of the foreign matter being interposed therebetween. As a result, the operation reliability of the opening / closing valve 40 is improved.

The operation of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

When the operation of the driving unit 11 is started, the pressure inside the main receptacle 20 is lowered. Since the auxiliary storage bin 30 is at atmospheric pressure, the air in the auxiliary storage bin 30 is sucked into the main bin 20 through the opening / closing valve 40 and an upward flow of air is formed in the drain hole 21.

The upward flow of the drain hole 21 moves the lifting unit 46 upward. At this time, the guide protrusions 461a rise along the inner wall surface of the cylindrical body 42 so that the lift unit 46 moves vertically upward. The raised lifting unit 46 is brought into contact with the contact piece 422 of the rib fingers 421 as shown in Fig. During the operation of the driving unit 11, the pressure in the main receptacle 20 is kept lower than the pressure in the auxiliary receptacle 30, so that the lifting unit 46 is maintained in the raised state. That is, negative pressure is applied to the central portion of the elevated unit 46 exposed without being covered by the contact piece 422, so that the elevating unit 46 is maintained in the raised state.

Foreign matter such as water flows into the main receptacle 20 through the flexible tubular body 22 in a state where the on-off valve 40 is locked. The foreign object or the like stays in the main receptacle 20 until the operation of the driving unit 11 is stopped.

When the operation of the driving unit 11 is stopped, the pressure in the main receptacle 20 is raised to the atmospheric pressure level. The pressure gradient that has caused the elevating unit 46 to rise has disappeared as the pressure in the main storage bin 20 is recovered and the elevating unit 46 is lowered by the weight of the elevating unit 46 as shown in FIG. .

As the lifting unit 46 descends, the contact piece 422 and the rubber plate 462 of the lifting unit 46 are separated from each other. The water in the main collection bin 20 moves into the cylindrical body 42 and the lower housing 41b passes through the space S between the inner wall surface of the cylindrical body 42 and the body of the elevation unit 46, The water flows out through the through-hole 44 of the through-hole 44. The water that has escaped is stored in the auxiliary receptacle 30.

After the cleaning is finished, the secondary receptacle 30 may be detached from the main receptacle 20, and the remaining water or the like may be emptied.

100: Vacuum cleaner
10: motor housing 11: driving part 12: filter
20: main receptacle 21: drain hole 22:
30: secondary receptacle 31: passage home
40: opening / closing valve 41: casing
41a: upper housing 41: flange 42: cylindrical body 421:
422: contact piece 423: guide projection 43: netting 431: slit
41b: lower housing 44: through hole 45: flange
46: lift unit 461: body 461a: guide projection 461b: incision groove
462: Rubber plate
60: Tray 61: Column 62: Casters 63: Handle
S: Space

Claims (4)

A motor housing having a drive unit for providing a suction force;
A main receptacle detachably coupled to a lower portion of the motor housing, the main receptacle having an inner pressure lower than an atmospheric pressure by the suction force, and a drain hole formed at a lower portion;
A secondary receptacle detachably coupled to a lower portion of the main receptacle and communicating with the main receptacle through the drain hole; And
And an open / close valve installed in the drain hole to close the drain hole as the internal pressure of the main container is lowered, and to open the drain hole when pressure inside the main container is restored,
The on-
A casing formed with ribs for narrowing the diameter of the inlet toward the inside of the auxiliary storage bin and formed with a guide projection in a vertical direction along the inner wall as a lower portion of the rib,
And a lifting unit guided by the guide protrusion and movable in the vertical direction, the lifting unit contacting the lower end of the rib and closing the inlet. delete The method of claim 1,
And a contact piece protruding toward a contact surface of the lifting unit is formed at an end of the rib facing the center of the inlet. The method of claim 1,
And the auxiliary sill is slid to one side and separated from the main sill.

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