US3513500A

US3513500A - Compact hand vacuum cleaner

Info

Publication number: US3513500A
Application number: US700582A
Authority: US
Inventors: Takeo Hori
Original assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd
Current assignee: Panasonic Holdings Corp
Priority date: 1967-03-01
Filing date: 1968-01-25
Publication date: 1970-05-26
Anticipated expiration: 1987-05-26

Description

I May 26, 1970 TAKEO HORI COMPACT HAND VACUUM CLEANER Filed Jan. 25, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 N QN mu ATTORNEYS May 26, 1970 TAKEO HORI COMPACT HAND VACUUM CLEANER Filed Jan. 25, 1968 FIG. 5

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 za-E INVENTOR 'T/MED HDRI ATTORNEY S y 26, 1970 TAKEO HORI' 3,513,500

COMPACT HAND VACUUM CLEANER Filed Jan. 25, 1968 3 sheets-sheet s INVENTOR THIFEO HOR/ ATTORNEYS United States Patent Int. Cl. A471 /24 US. Cl. -344 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A compact hand vacuum cleaner of the type comprising a rotary fan and an electric motor for driving said fan, housed in a casing, in which said casing has a transverse hollow extending through the upper portion thereof to shape an integral grip above and to define an air passageway below said transverse hollow, and said fan and said fan driving motor are arranged forwardly of said air passageway and secured to said casing through vibration dampening means and enclosed by a filter bag which has its open end secured at the middle portion of said casing and its closed end portion extending forwardly or in a direction opposite to the air sucking direction, the closed end of said filter bag forming a substantially flat surface the area of which is larger than the area of an air suction opening for said fan so as to prevent the clogging of the filter bag and increase the suction of the cleaner.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention The present invention relates to a compact hand vacuum cleaner adapted to be used for domestic services and for cleaning the interior of automobiles, and more particularly relates to a hand vacuum cleaner of the type described which is superior to conventional ones in dust collecting capability and provided with means to dampen the vibration of the drive motor from being propagated to the grip portion.

Description of the prior art In the past, there has been known a hand vacuum cleaner which is of the type in which a filter bag is mounted with its closed end portion extending in a direction opposite to the air sucking direction so as to accumulate the dust sucked in a dust accumulation hood enclosing said filter bag and a grip is provided by the peripheral wall of a casing in which a drive motor is housed. Namely, in the prior art hand vacuum cleaner shown in FIG. 8 of the accompanying drawings, a drive motor 3 having a fan 1 and a fan cover 2 connected thereto is disposed in a cup-shaped casing 4 and to the open end of the casing 4 is removably connected a dust accumulating hood 7 enclosing a filter bag supporting framework 5 consisting of, e.g. a metal screen, which is protruding from the open end of said casing in a direction opposite to the air sucking direction and having a tapered filter bag 6 mounted thereover, and the exterior wall of said casing 4 is provided with a knurl 8 for the handgrip of the user. Such construction of the prior art hand vacuum cleaner, however, had the drawbacks that the air sucking force of the fan is progressively reduced as a result of clogging of the filter bag, that the stability of the vacuum cleaner in the hand of the operator is poor because of the configuration of the grip and the vibration stemming from the drive motor is propagated to the operators hand giving the operator an uncomfortable feeling, and further that the air sucked in the vacuum cleaner cannot be discharged from the outlet smoothly because the air passageway is Ice defined by the peripheral wall of the drive motor and the inner surface of the casing and the air sucked in the vacuum cleaner during passage through said air passageway makes a spiral motion around the drive motor, as a result of which pressure is built up interior of the casing making it impossible to obtain sufiicient suction. The above-described drawbacks of the prior art hand vacuum cleaner may be eliminated by modifying the shape of the filter bag, modifying the configuration of the casing by forming a transverse hollow through the upper portion of said casing so as to shape a grip above and define an air passageway below said transverse hollow, and relocating the drive motor forwardly of said air pasageway as proposed by the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention contemplates the provision of a compact hand vacuum cleaner which is characterized by a substantially cylindrical casing of synthetic resin material composed of vertically splittable symmetrical halves and having a hollow extending transversely through the upper portion thereof so as to shape a grip above and define an air passageway below said transverse hollow, a filter bagsupporting framework of lattice structure composed of vertically splittable symmetrical halves which are molded of a synthetic resin material integrally with the respective halves of the casing, a suction unit comprising a drive motor, a fan and a fan cover and mounted in said filter bag supporting framework, said suction unit being securely held in position by being clamped by the halves of said filter bag supporting framework and said casing, a current guide plate adapted to lead the current produced by said suction unit into said air passageway, and a filter bag having a substantially flat closes end surface and a peripheral surface connected successively to and tapered towards said closed end surface and superposed on said filter bag supporting framework, the area of said substantially flat end being larger than the area of an air suction opening in said suction unit.

It is, therefore an object of the present invention to provide a hand vacuum cleaner which can be gripped easily, is capable of sucking a large amount of air to produce an excellent dust collecting eflFect and is free of clogging of the filter bag by the dust sucked.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a hand vacuum cleaner in which the air sucked by a fan flows rectilinearly, instead of spirally as in the conventional hand vacuum cleaner, so as to be discharged smoothly.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a hand vacuum cleaner which makes it possible to avoid clogging of the felt end surface of a filter bag by dust.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a hand vacuum cleaner in which means is provided to prevent the vibration of a suction unit, comprising a drive motor, a fan and a fan cover, from being propagated directly to the grip.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a hand vacuum cleaner in which the supporting structure for a drive motor, a fan and a fan cover is simplified.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a hand vacuum cleaner in which the lead wires of a power cord are connected to a drive motor in a safe vide a hand vacuum cleaner of much the casing and the filter bag supporting structure can be shaped and assembled simply.

It is still another object of the present invention to pro vide a hand vacuum cleaner in which a control switch is mounted in the upper portion of the casing thereof to provide for easy operation of said switch.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a hand vacuum cleaner in which a control switch is installed air-tightly to prevent air leakage thereat.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a hand vacuum cleaner in which a power cord supporting bushing is secured rigidly.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a hand vacuum cleaner in which the drive shaft of a drive motor is securely held against displacement in the thrust direction so as to maintain the distance between a fan and a fan cover constant.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGS. 1 and 2 are a side elevational view in vertical cross section and a front elevational view respectively of a compact hand vacuum cleaner embodying the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a transverse cross sectional view taken on the line A-A' of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a transverse cross sectional view taken on the line B-B of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an exploded plan view, partly broken away, showing the essential construction of the hand vacuum cleaner;

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view showing a suction unit composed of a drive motor, a fan and a fan cover;

FIG. 7 is a vertical cross sectional view illustrating the manner in which the fan is mounted on the drive shaft of the drive motor; and

FIG. 8 is a side elevational view, partly in section, of a conventional hand vacuum cleaner.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The present invention will be described in detail hereunder with reference to a preferred embodiment thereof illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIG. 5, the casing of the hand vacuum cleaner is composed of vertically splittable symmetrical halves 9 and 9 of a substantially uniform wall thickness. The casing halves 9 and 9' are each molded in such a configuration that, when they are combined together, a transverse hollow 11 is formed extending through the rear upper portion of the casing so as to shape a grip 12, which hollow defined by a horizontal wall located at a level slightly above the middle of the height of that portion of the casing. At the center of the inner surface of each half 9 or 9 are formed integral

semicircular ribs

13 and 14 so as to define a semicircular recess 17 to provide for mounting of a suction unit composed of a fan 15 and a drive motor 16. A filter bag supporting framework of lattice structure, which is composed of lateral and longitudinal ribs 18, is molded of a synthetic resin material integrally with and successively to the aforesaid suction unit mounting recess 17. This filter bag supporting framework 20 is adapted to hold the drive motor 16 inside thereof and to support a filter bag 19 on the exterior wall. The halves 9 and 9' of the casing are combined together by engaging interlocking steps 21 and 21' formed in the peripheral edges and engaging interlocking hooks 22 and 22' formed at the forward end extremities thereof, and tightened together at the central and the rear portions by means of tightening screws 23. The filter bag 19 has a ring 24 of elastic material, such as rubber, provided at the peripheral edge of the open end thereof. When mounted on the filter bag supporting framework 20, the filter bag 19 is stretched by said supporting framework with its closed end facing in a direction opposite to the air sucking direction. In this case, the closed end of the filter bag forms a substantially flat surface as at 26, the area of which is larger than the area of a suction opening 25 in the fan 15 which will be more fully described hereinafter. The filter bag 19 is tapered from the open end towards the substantially fiat closed end 26 as indi cated by 27. Reference numeral 28 represents a dust accumulating hood which surrounds the filter bag 19. The dust accumulating hood 28 is detachably connected to the casing as by screw threaded engagement and at its front end an opening 29 is formed, into which a suction port member or a beak 31 is fitted. At the inner end of the opening 29 of the dust accumulating hood 28 is provided a check valve 30 consisting of a thin rubber plate. The suction unit is basically composed of the fan 15 and the drive motor 16 arranged forwardly of said fan 15 with respect to the air sucking direction. The drive motor 16 has its core 32 clamped by

brackets

33 and 34 and the bracket 33 is in turn supported by the filter bag supporting framework 20 through the intermediary of a rubber ring 35. The bracket 34 is formed of a synthetic resin material integrally with a brush holder 38 on which are mounted guiders 37 for the brushes 36 of the drive motor 16. A fan cover 39 has a plurality of mounting legs 40 provided on the front surface thereof. Each of the mounting legs 40 is formed with a bent lug 42 for the mounting of a bearing 41 for the drive shaft of the drive motor 16 and a bent lug 43 for the mounting of the drive motor 16. The

lugs

42 and 43 are respectively formed therein with tapped through-

holes

44 and 44. The drive motor is fixedly mounted on the fan cover 39 by means of screws which are extending through the

brackets

33 and 34 and having their threaded ends screw-threaded into the tapped through-holes 44. The bearing 41 is fixed to the lugs 42 by screws screw threaded into the tapped through-holes 44'. The mounting legs 40 may be formed integrally with the fan cover 39, or may alternatively be provided separately and fixed to the fan cover 39 by means of spot welding or other suitable means. A notch 45 is formed in the peripheral wall of the fan cover 39 and a notch 47 is formed in the flange of said fan cover in register with said notch 45, for the passage of a power cord. Another notch 49 is formed in the peripheral wall of the fan cover 39 to provide for insertion of a screw driver 48. The fan cover 39 is secured in the casing by fitting its peripheral edge in the aforementioned suction unit mounting recess 17 through the intermediary of a buffer ring 50 of elastic material, such as a rubber band, having a U-shaped cross sectional configuration. The fan 15 is disposed inside of the fan cover 39 with a slight space therebetween and, as shown in FIG. 7, is composed of a base plate 51, fan blades 52 fixed on said base plate and a cover plate 53 mounted integrally on said fan blades and having a suction opening 25 formed in the center thereof. This fan 15 is mounted on the drive shaft 56 of the drive motor 16 by means of a screw 55 which is screw threaded into said drive shaft through a boss 54 of the base member 51. Although in the embodiment shown, the fan 15 is provided wtih the cover plate 53, such cover plate does not have to be provided. When the fan is not provided with the cover plate 53, the central opening in the fan cover 39 should be regarded as the suction opening 25. A control switch is mounted on a support plate 59 which has the opposite edges fitted in

respective grooves

58, 58 formed in the confronting edges of a switch mounting hole bored in the top wall of the casing. Reference numeral 60 designates a decorative frame for the control switch 57, which is fitted around the control switch 57 and secured to the top wall of the casing with the opposite edges thereof fitted in

respective grooves

61, 61 formed in the other confronting edges of the switch mounting hole. The control switch is located adjacent to the grip 12 and shielded from the air passage portion by a partition wall 62 integral with the casing. The power cord 63 is extending through the interior hollow of the grip 12 and has one end connected to the control switch 57. Reference numeral 64 designates a bushing for the power cord, which has its flange 66 clamped between the end wall 65 and the wall 10 of the casing, whereby said bushing is securely held in position.

An air passageway 67, defined by the wall 10 and the bottom wall of the casing, is tapered towards the rear end of the casing but the cross sectional area of the narrowest portion thereof is made larger than the area of the air suction opening 25 in tht fan .15 as shown in FIG. 4. The air passageway is in communication with the outlet opening 69 in the rear end wall of the casing, which outlet opening is covered by a grill structure composed of vertically extending rods 68 as best shown in FIG. A current guide plate 70, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, is provided behind the suction unit mounting portion 17. This current guide plate 70 is formed integrally with the wall of the casing defining the air passageway 67 and extending transversely from one side wall of the casing to substantially the center line of the fan as shown in FIG. 3, so that the current produced by the fan 15 and flowing in the direction of the arrows in FIG. 3 will be led into the air passage-way by said current guide plate 70. In the embodiment shown, the

fan 15 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction as viewed from the backside of the cleaner and therefore the cur- I rent guide plate 70 is provided on the right hand side wall of the casing so as to lead the current into the air passageway 67. The drive motor 16, as described previously, is supported at its peripheral wall by the filter bag supporting framework through the rubber ring 35. Indicated by 71 is a hole formed in the drive shaft 56 of the drive motor 16 to receive the tip end of the stop screw 55 by which the fan 15 is fixed to said drive shaft. Reference numeral 72 represents a corrugated washer mounted on thedrive shaft 56 of the drive motor to be interposed between said drive shaft and the bearing 41.

In operating the hand vacuum cleaner of the construction described above, the fan 15 is driven at a high rate by the drive motor 16 and the air interior of the fan cover 39 is blown out by the fan 15 tangentially of said fan, producing a vacuum in the central portion of the fan so that air is sucked into the fan through the air suction opening 25. Accordingly, air outside of the vacuum cleaner is sucked, along with dusts, into the cleaner body through the beak 31, forcibly opening the check valve 30. The dust thus sucked into the cleaner is screened by the filter bag 19 and accumulated in the air space defined by the tapered peripheral wall 27 of the filter bag and the inner surface of the dust accumulating hood 28. The air passing through the filter bag is sucked by the fan 15 and flows through the air passageway 67 to be discharged through the outlet opening 69. Upon completion of the cleaning operation, the dust accumulating hood 28 is removed from the casing together with the filter bag 19 and then the filter bag 19 is taken out of the dust accumulating hood 28, whereby the dust accumlated between said dust accumulating hood and said filter bag can be readily discarded.

According to the present invention, since the drive motor 16 is disposed in a compact form within the filter bag 19 which is stretched in a direction opposite to the air sucking direction forwardly of the fan 15 and no operating parts are present in the rear portion of the casing, the air passageway 67 can have a larger cross sectional area than the suction opening in the fan 15. Moreover, since the transverse hollow 11 is formed above the air passageway 67 to shape the grip and said air passageway 67 is formed in substantially the lower half portion of the fan 15, the air blown by the fan 15 can be discharged smoothly from the outlet opening 69 through the air passageway 67 without making a spiral motion in said air passageway. Still further, since the cross sectional area of the air passageway 67 is made larger than the area of the suction opening 25 in the fan 15, suction and discharge of air are effected smoothly without interfering with the performance of the fan 15 and accordingly an eflicient cleaning effect can be obtained. Another advantage of the inventive vacuum cleaner is that, since the grip is provided independently of the air passageway or at a portion of the casing other than the portions in which the air stream is present, rational space utilization of this portion can be attained and a grip of small diameter can be provided which will enable the operator to hold the vacuum cleaner easily with little fatigue remaining in the hand of the operator after use, and further the appearance of the vacuum cleaner can be improved. Still further, since the drive motor 16 is disposed in the filter bag 1'9 as described, the entire length of the vacuum cleaner can be shortened, rendering the cleaner compact in form. Still further, since the current guide plate 70 is provided behind the fan 15, the air blown by the fan 15, particularly the air directed in another direction than into the air passageway 67, is smoothly led into said air passageway by being guided by said current guide plate and smoothly discharged through the outlet opening. The current guide plate 70 also serves to prevent the air from making a spiral motion imrnlediately behind the fan 15, so that the smooth discharge of the air is further promoted. Therefore, pressure will not build up in the air passageway and efiicient operation of the fan can be secured.

Still another advantage of the inventive vacuum cleaner is that, since the surface of the filter bag 19 is composed of the tapered portion 27 and the substantially flat end portion 26, the dust sucked is accumulated in the interspace between the tapered peripheral surface 27 of the filter bag and the dust accumulating hood 28, or in other words, the dust is accumulated only on the tapered peripheral surface 27 of the filter bag and the fiat end portion 26 of the filter bag will not be covered by the dust even when a large amount of dust is sucked in. Moreover, since the surface area of the flat end portion 26 is larger than the area of the suction opening 25 in the fan 15 as described, lowering of the flow rate can be minimized and the performance of the fan will not be impaired by the dust sucked. Consequently, high cleaning efiiciency can be maintained over a prolonged period.

The hand vacuum cleaner according to the present invention can be assembled in the following'manner. First of all, the bearing 41 is mounted on the bent lugs 42 of the mounting legs 40, provided on the fan cover 39, by means of screws and then the drive motor 16 is secured to the fan cover 39 by means of tightening bolts which are inserted through the bracket 33, the core 32 and the bracket 34 from the outer end wall of the bracket 33 and screw threaded into the tapped holes in the bent lugs 43 of the mounting legs 40. Then, the rubber ring is fitted around the bracket 33. The lead wires 46 from the drive motor 16 are passed through the notches and 47 in the fan cover 39 and thereafter the fan 15 is fixed to the drive shaft 56 of the drive motor 16 by tightening the stop screw through the boss 54 by such means as a screw driver 48 inserted through the notch 49 in the fan cover 39, in the manner illustrated in FIG. 7. Upon completion of this, the buffer ring 50 is fitted around the peripheral edge of the fan cover 39. The control switch 57 is connected to the terminal ends of the respective lead wires 46 from the drive motor and the power cord 63 passing through the bushing 64 is connected to said control switch 57. The suction unit thus assembled is secured at the bracket 33 and the fan cover 39 by the filter bag supporting framework 20 and the suction unit mounting re cess 17 respectively, while the control switch 57 and the decorative frame 60 are fitted in the

respective grooves

58 and 61 in the wall edges of the casing respectively. The bushing 64 is positioned between the wall 10 and the end wall 65 of the casing and then the halves 9 and 9' of the casing are put together 'by interlocking the interlocking steps 21 and 21' in the peripheral edges of the respective halves and tightened together by screws 23. Thus, the suction unit is securely accommodated within the casing, and the control switch 57, the decorative frame 60 and the bushing 64 are secured in the prescribed positions respectively. Thereafter, the filter bag 19 is placed around the supporting framework 20 and the dust accumulating hood 28 is screw threaded on the casing.

In the embodiment described herein-above, the bracket 34 on the fan side of the drive motor 16 is formed of a synthetic resin material integrally with the brush holder 38 on which the guiders 37 for the brushes 36 are mounted. Therefore, the number of parts can be reduced and accordingly labor required for the assembling work can be saved. In addition, such construction is advantageous in obtaining a good commutating result because the center of the brush holder 38 can be held in alignment with the center of the core 32 and the relative position of the brushes 36 and the surface of the commutator can be maintained constant. Furthermore, according to the construction of the inventive vacuum cleaner, mounting of the drive motor 16 on the fan cover 39 and assembling of the drive motor 16 can be accomplished simultaneously by passing the tightening bolts through the bracket 33,

core 32 and bracket 34 and screw threading said bolts into the respective tapered holes in the lugs 43 of the mounting legs 40 on the fan cover 39. The bearing 41 is also mounted on the fan cover 39 by making use of the mounting legs 40, without requiring any additional fixture. Again, this is advantageous in reducing the number of parts, saving labor required for the assembling work and lowering the cost of the vacuum cleaner.

The boss at which the fan is secured to the drive shaft of the drive motor by the screw 55, is formed to extend inwardly of the base plate 15, that is, towards the drive motor. This enables the entire width of the fan to be reduced so as to be smafler than the type of fan which has its boss extending rearwardly, and accordingly en ables the length of the drive shaft of the drive motor to be shortened, so that the vibration of the drive shaft can be minimized.

The lead wires 46 from the drive motor 16 are passed through the notches 45 and 47 formed in the peripheral edge of the fan cover 39, instead of routing them out side of the fan cover. Such arrangement is effective in reducing the diameter of the vacuum cleaner, rendering said vacuum cleaner compact in form.

Furthermore, according to the invention, since the fan cover 39 on which the drive motor is mounted has the peripheral edge thereof received in the annular recess 17, defined by the

ribs

13 and 14 on the inner surface of the casing, through the intermediary of the buffer ring 50, the suction unit composed of the drive motor 16 and the fan cover 39 can be rigidly held in position, and the air outlet side of the casing can be completely sealed from the air suction side at the fan cover mounting portion and thereby air is not permitted to move into the air suction side from the air outlet side at said portion. The use of the buffer ring 50, therefore, is effective not only in dampening the vibration of the suction unit but also in in maintaining the vacuum produced by the fan. Of course, the notches 49 and 47 in the peripheral edge portion of the fan cover are shielded by the buffer ring 50.

The suction unit previously assembled in the manner described hereabove is supported by the filter bag sup porting framework and the casing, through the rubber ring fitted around the drive motor 16 and the above described buffer ring 50, in a completely floating state, so that the vibration generated by the operating parts in the suction unit can be dampened completely.

Still further, according to the invention, the drive motor 16, fan cover 39, fan 15, control switch 57, power cord 63 and bushing 64, are assembled or connected with each other before they are accommodated in the casing, so that they can be mounted in the casing all at once by only combining and tightening the casing halves 9 and 9' together by the tightening screws 23. This enables the assembling work to be simplified remarkably compared with a conventional hand vacuum cleaner which is as= sembled by fixing the component parts in the casing individually. In addition, according to the invention, the suction unit can be secured rigidly in the casing in a very simple manner without necessitating the use of screws or other fixing means, by only fitting a half of the circumference of the buffer ring 50, mounted on the peripheral edge of the fan cover, in the semicircular mounting recess 17 in one half of the casing and thereafter putting another half of the casing together with said first half in such a manner that another half of the circumference of the buffer ring is received in the semicircular mounting recess in said other half of the casing.

The control switch 57 can also be rigidly mounted in the casing wall very simply, without using additional fittings, by putting the halves 9 and 9 of the casing together while receiving the opposite edges of the switch mounting platet 59 in the

respective grooves

58, 58 and the opposite edges of the decorative frame 60 in the

respective grooves

61, 61 formed in the wall edges of the respective casing halves. The control switch is completely shielded from the air passage portion by the partition wall 62, so that the operator will not be bothered by the draft gushing through the gaps between the switch and the decorative frame and further the insulation failure of the switch can be prevented which would otherwise be caused by the very fine dust having passed through the filter bag 19.

The bushing 64 through which the power cord 63 is passed into the grip 12 for connection with the switch 57, has its flange 66 clamped between the end wall 65 and the wall 10 of the casing and therefore is always held in position positively.

In the conventional vacuum cleaner of this type, the dimensions of the bracket 34 on the fan side of the drive motor 16 are not always uniform due to the contraction or distortion during shaping of the synthetic material of which said bracket is molded and such irregularities in dimension, particularly the irregularities in the thrust of the drive shaft 56 caused by said dimensional irregularities, make it impossible to obtain a uniform performance of the vacuum cleaner since the distance between the fan 15 and the fan cover 39 is variable. According to the present invention, however, since the corrugated washer 72 is interposed between the drive shaft 56 of the drive motor and the bearing 41, no thrust is produced in any case despite the possible irregularities in dimension of the bracket 34 and further, since the corrugated washer 72 urges the drive shaft 56 forwardly with respect to the air sucking direction, the distance between the fan 15 and the fan cover 34 can be maintained constant at all times, whereby vacuum cleaners of uniform performance can be produced. The distance between the fan and the fan cover will ont change even during operation and the corrugated washer 72 will not be subject to an unreasonable force because the fan 15 is always subject to a force which urges said fan forwardly with respect to the air sucking direction.

What is claimed is:

1. A compact hand vacuum cleaner comprising a generally cylindrical casing, said casing having a front and a rear portion, said casing have a generally rectangular transverse hollow extending therethrough, said transverse hollow in said casing forming a grip, an air passageway disposed underneath said grip, an air guide plate, said air guide plate extending forwardly from said air passageway, an air outlet disposed in said rear portion of said casing, a suction unit connected to said casing in axial alignment therewith, said suction unit comprising an electric motor, said electric motor having a shaft, a fan attached to said shaft, said fan having a suction opening, a

bowlshaped fan cover, said fan cover having a brim portion and a latticed framework bottom portion, means connecting said fan cover to said motor adjacent said bottom portion of said fan cover, means disposing said brim portion of said fan cover in said front end of said casing, buffer ring means disposed between said brim portion of said fan cover and said casing, filter bag means covering said framework bottom portion and supported thereby, said filter bag means having a bottom and a brim, said filter bag means having a flat portion adjacent said bottom and a tapered portion between said bottom and said brim, a dust accumulating hood, said hood having an air inlet beak, said hood being disposed exterior to said filter bag means, means connecting said hood to said front portion of said casing so that said hood and said casing are readily detachable, said cross sectional area of said air passageway being larger than said suction opening and said flat portion of said filter bag means being larger than said suction opening.

2. A compact hand vacuum cleaner as set forth in claim 1 further including means to secure said motor to the wall of said fan cover to receive said motor in an annular recess formed on the inner surface of said fail cover, said means comprising a buffer ring between the core of said motor and said framework bottom portion so as to dampen the vibration of the suction unit.

3. A compact hand vacuum cleaner as set forth in claim 1 further including bolt means to fixedly connect said motor to said fan cover, said shaft of said motor being journaled through a bearing, said bolt means extending through a first bracket, the core of said motor and a second bracket having their end extremeties screw threaded into tapped through-holes in respective bent legs of a plurality of mounting legs, said mounting legs being disposed on the front side of said fan cover, said bearing being fixed to other lugs of said mounting legs by screws, said bracket being formed as a synthetic resin material, said second bracket being integrally formed with a brush holder, said brush holder containing guiders for brushes thereon.

4. A compact hand vacuum cleaner as set forth in claim 1, including lead wires, said lead wires being passed from said motor to a first notch formed in the peripheral wall of said fan cover and through a second notch formed in the flange of said fan cover, said first and second notches being shrouded by said buffer ring means, said bufi'er ring means being fitted around the peripheral edge of said fan cover.

5. A compact hand vacuum cleaner as set forth in claim 1, said fan including a boss extending forwardly towards said drive motor, said fan being provided with a stop screw by which said fan is fixed to said drive shaft of said drive motor, a notch formed in the peripheral wall of said fan cover to provide for screw threading said stop screw, said notch being shrouded by a buffer ring fitted around the peripheral edge of said fan cover.

6. A compact hand vacuum cleaner as set forth in claim 1, wherein said casing and said framework means are integrally molded of a synthetic resin material and are splittable into symmetrical halves so that said suction unit may be mounted in said framework means by putting said symmetrical halves together with said suction unit therebetween.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,454,569 11/1948 Rector 15412 X 3,334,370 8/1967 Boyd 15327 FOREIGN PATENTS 570,906 9/1958 Belgium.

ROBERT W. MICHELL, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 15-412