WO2002074151A1

WO2002074151A1 - Dust removal device in a vacuum cleaner

Info

Publication number: WO2002074151A1
Application number: PCT/KR2002/000200
Authority: WO
Inventors: Seok Dong Jung
Original assignee: Seok Dong Jung
Priority date: 2001-02-08
Filing date: 2002-02-08
Publication date: 2002-09-26
Also published as: KR200231359Y1

Abstract

The invention relates to a dust removal device in a vacuum cleaner comprising: a hollow body, one end of which is removed along with an extension tube and the other end has various sucking elements; a latch, fixed to the flange of the body, having the first and second elements each corresponding to the convex elements at the center of the latch; a return spring, both ends of which are fixed within one of the convex elements in the latch, positioned at a through-hole in which the convex element are mated with the first and second elements correspondingly located; a guide tube installed through the return spring; a plurality of guide rings moving freely between the brush pole, wherein brushes are formed at an outer circumference of the guide rings; and flexible wires for connecting the guide rings.

Description

DUST REMOVAL DEVICE IN A VACUUM CLEANER

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention: The invention relates generaBy to a dust removal device in a vacuum cleaner, and more particularly to, a dust removal device in a vacuum cleaner, in which the dust removal device is detachaby attached to a connection tube of the vacuum tube, which can easily remove dust, etc. on the floor of a room, fiiπώure or office fixtures.

Description of the Prior Art:

Generally, in order to clean home, etc., dust is shaken off using a dust brush and is collected using a teushhaving a plurality of brushes. Dust is then cleaned using the diistcloth.

This method, however, requires lost of labor and several tools for cleaning. There have been recently introduced vacuum cleaners for facilitating cleaning. The prir_ le of the vacυiim clearter is to suck dust, etc. using vacuum power by means of an electrical source. An example of which is illustrated in Fig. 1.

As shown, a conventional vacuum cleaner 10 includes a body 12, a hoarse 16 and an extension tube 18. The body 12 includes a dust collecting room and a driving room (not shown) defined by an inner partition and also has wheels 14 through which the body can be freelymoved. Thehoarse 16 hasatø__dfe tube20 to fomanarthrough a^

An end of the hoarse 16 is detachabry attached to the dust collecting room within the body 12. One end of the extension tube 18 is detachable attached to a sucking brush 22 for sucking dust, etc. and the other end of the extension tube 18 is also attached the handle tube 20 having a sucking and control switch.

If an electrical signal is applied to the vacuum cleaner 10 and the sucking brush 22 is then rub on the floor, dust on the floor is sucked into the dust collecting room through the sucking brush 22, the extension tube 18 and the hoarse 16.

In the above vacuum cleaner, however, as the sucking brush for sucking dust, etc. has desired thickness and width, it is easy to use the vacuum cleaner on the floor, etc. on which nothing is positωned. However, it is difficult to clean the floor on which various iurώuore or appliances are positioned or the window frame the area of wWch K relatively naπ»wer than the sucking brush.

In other words, spaces between various furniture and appliances are narrow with nothing on the floor. Thus, as the sucking brush having desired thickness ami iΛh as above is not inserted, cleaning could not be easily performed and dust, etc. is thus piled up. Further, dust, hair or small fragments kept close to the floor are not sucked by means of vacuum sucking force. In this case, there are problem that further stronger power is required and a noise is thus high.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is contrived to solve the above problems and an object of the present invention is to a dust removal device in a vacuum cleaner in which the dust removal device is detachably attached to the extension tube, which can easily remove dust, etc. on the floor of a room, specially, which can easily remove dust, etc. on the floor or window frame in the furniture and office fixtures, and the like. In order to accomplish the above object, a dust removal device in a vacuum cleaner according to the present invention, is characterized in that it comprises a hollow body one end of which is removed along with an extension tube of the vacuum cleaner and the other end of which has detachable sucking elements of various shapes, wherein a flange in which coupling holes are included is integrally formed at an upper central element of the body; a latch fixed to the flange of the body and having first and second elements each corresponding to convex elements at the center of the latch; a return spring both ends of which are fixed within one of the convex elements of the first and second elements in the latch and positioned at a through hole in which the convex elements are mated with the first and second elements are correspondingly located; a guide tube installed through the return spring; a plurality of guide rings fixed at one end of the brush pole and the other end of the guide tube and freely moved between the brush pole, wherein brushes are formed at an outer circumference of the guide rings; and flexible wires for connecting the guide rings neighboring to the guide rings .

Further, the dust removal device further includes a radial toothed element at both ends of the flange in the body and step elements within the first and second elements in the latch corresponding to the toothed element, so that the latch is controlled by a given angle by a user.

In addition, the end of the first element in the latch has a hemrning element that is cut to have a downwardly approximate '*= ' shape and the end of the second element has an insertion element that is doubly cut so that it can be inserted into the hemming element. Also, a coupling hole is formed at the flange of the body and coupling holes corresponding to the coupling hole of the flange, both of which are fixed by a nut.

One opposite end of a element where the guide rings are located in the brush pole has a circular gear element and a pinion corresponding to the circular gear element is formed, wherein the pinion is connected a driving means that can rotate at right and reverse direction by means of a switch means, so that the pinion is rotated at right an reverse direction by manipulation of the switch means to move the brush pole at front and rear direction. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The aforementioned aspects and other features of the present invention will be explained in the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional vacuum cleaner,

Fig.2a is an exploded perspective view showing a dust removal device in a vacuum cleaner wherein guide rings of the brush pole are spaced apart, according to a embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2b "shows a state in which the distance between the guide rings of the brush pole is narrowed in Fig.2a;

Fig. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a brush structure and the vacuum cleaner;

Fig. 4a is an exploded perspective view of a dust removal device in a vacuum cleaner wherein guide rings of the brush pole are spaced apart, according to another embodiment of the present invention; and

Fig. 4b is a state in which the distance between the guide rings of the brush pole is narrowed in Fig. 4a.

DETAILED DESCRD7TION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will be described in detail by way of a preferred embodiment with reference to accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals are used to identify the same or similar parts.

Fig. 2a is an exploded perspective view showing a dust removal device in a vacuum cleaner wherein guide rings of the brush pole are spaced apart, according to a embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 2b shows a state in which the distance between the guide rings of the brush pole is narrowed in Fig. 2a; and Fig. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a brush structure and the vacuum cleaner. As shown in the drawing, the dust removal device 50 in the vacuum cleaner according to the present invention includes a hollow body 52. The hollow body 52 has a coupling hole 54 at its one end and sucking elements 56, 56' at its other end. At this time, the coupling hole 54 is inserted into to the extension tube 18 in the vacuum cleaner 10.

The sucking elements 56, 56' have toothed sucking holes 57.57'

Further, a toothed element 60 is formed upwardly from the center of the body 52 and a flange 58 is also integrally downwardly formed from the center of the body 52. A latch 70 is in gear with the toothed element 60 of the flange 58 and is also fixed by means of a nut 90.

As can be seen from Fig. 3, an upper side of the latch 70 is downwardly curved to have an approximate '*= ' shape, thus forming a hernming element 74. The latch 70 has a convex element 76 at its inner central element along its length direction. The latch 70 further includes a first element 72 and a second element 80. At his time, the first element 72 has a first step element 78, at its inner lower side, which correspond to the toothed element 60 at one side of the flange 58. The second element 80 has a second step element 86, at its inner tower side, which correspond to the toothed element 60 at the other side of the flange 58. Further, the second element 80 has an insertion element 82 into which the hemming element 74 of the first element 72 can be inserted and a convex element 84 at its inner central element along its length direction.

Meanwhile, coupling holes 79, 88, corresponding to the coupling hole 62 formed at the flange 58 of the body 52, are formed below the first and second elements 72, 80 of the latch 70, respectively. At this time, the coupling holes 79, 88 form a pass hole 91 corresponding to the elements 76, 84 of both the elements 72, 80, with the insertion element

82 of the second element 80 inserted into the hemming element 74 of the first element 72.

Further, a return spring 92 is further fixed at one of the convex elements 76,84 of the first and second elements 72, 80. In addition, a hollow guide tube 94 is inserted within the return spring 92 located at the through hole 91 of the latch 70, so that the hollow guide tube can be arbitrarily fixed by a user, which will be later described in detail

A brush pole 100 for sliding the guide tube 94 at a horizontal direction is included.

A first guide ring 102a in which a plurality of brushes 104 are radially fixed in a radial direction is fixed at one end of the brush pole 100. A plurality of guide rings 102 in which the plurality of the brushes 104 are radially fixed are formed between the first guide ring 102a and the end of the guide tube 94.

Also, a final guide ring 102b corresponding to the first guide ring 102a is fixed to an end of the guide tube 94. The final guide ring 102b fixed to the end of the guide tube 94 has a through hole (with no reference numeral) at its central element, so that it does not intervene movement of the brush pole 100. In other words, the first guide ring 102a and the final guide ring 102b are installed at one ends of the brush pole 100 and the guide tube 94. The guide rings 102 between them include through holes of a rectangular shape that can be freely moved on the brush pole 100.

Meanwhile, the guide rings 102a, 102 and 102b are connected by the guide rings and a wire 103. It is preferred that the wire be made of a flexible material such as fishing line, etc.

The plurality of the brushes 104, that are radially fixed at an outer circumference of the guide rings 102a, 102 and 102b are usually made of a flexible material. It is preferred that the brushes are spaced apart by a given distance if the distance of the brush 100 is spaced apart.

A handle element 106 that can slide or rotate in a rear direction is detachab y installed at the other end of the brushes 100.

How to operate the dust removal device 50 in the vacuum cleaner according to the present invention will be below described.

If it is desired to clean dust at the gap between the window frame or floors or office fixtures and on the office fixtures using the common vacuum cleaner 10, the sucking brush 22 is removed from the extension tube 18 in the vacuum cleaner 10. The coupling hole 54 of the dust removal device 50 is then fixed to the extension tube 18.

Then, the insertion element 82 of the second element 80 is inserted into the hemming element 74 of the first element 72 in the latch 70, so that respective convex element 76, 84 are in line with to form the through hole 91. The step elements 78,86 formed at an internal below side of each of the elements 72, 80 are then mated with the toothed element 60 formed in the flange 58 of the hollow body 52 by a given angle. At the same time, the coupling hole 62 of the flange 58 is mated with the coupling holes 79, 88 of each of the elements 72, 80 and are then fastened by the nut 90. Next, the guide tube 94 in which the brush pole 100 is inserted into the through hole 91 of the latch 70 is inserted along the side direction.

At this time, after the handle element 106 installed at one end of the brush pole 100 is removed, the brush pole 100 is inserted with slide, where the guide tube 94 is inserted into an internal side of the return spring 92 installed at the through hole 91 of the latch 70. The handle element 106 is then fixed to an end of the brush pole 100.

With this state, if a user fastens the nut 90 by adjusting the location of the guide tube 94, the latch 70 is fixed by a given angle against the flange 58 of the body 52. Further, the guide tube 94 is fixed at a given location against the through hole 91 of the latch 70.

As such, after the body 52 of the dust removal device 50, the latch 70 and the brush pole 100 are mounted, if a user pushes the handle 106 toward the front direction, the brush

104 is maintained at a longitudinal direction while the guide rings 102a, 102 and 102b are widen, as shown in Fig. 2a. In this case, the distance between the handle 106 and the end of the guide tube 94 becomes narrow. At this time, the first guide ring 102a is fixed to the end of the brush pole 100. As the brush pole 100 is moved, the first guide ring 102a is also moved. As the guide rings 102 sequentially arranged from the first guide ring 102a are connected to neighboring guide rings by means of the wire 103, the distance between the guide rings 102 is widen as the wire 103 is expanded.

Further, the final guide ring 102b corresponding to the first guide ring 1 2a is fixed to the end of the guide tube 94. Thus, the final guide ring 102b does not expand as the wire 103 for connecting the guide rings 102 installed between the first guide ring 102a and the final guide ring 102b is extended by maximum.

In this state, if the switch of the vacuum cleaner 10 is turned on, the sucking element 56 of the body 52 is made vacuum while sucking air. A user rubs the floor using the extended brush 104 while rotating the handle 106, so that dust can be uniformly adhered to the brush 104.

In the same manner, a user can insert the brush pole 100 into gaps the furniture or office fixtures, so that dust can be adhered to the brush 104.

At this time, the brush pole 100 may have a rectangular pole shape. The guide tube 94 through which the brush pole 100 slides may also have a rectangular pole shape. The guide tube 94 is installed with it wound by the return spring 92. An interior diameter of the return spring 92 is almost same to the diagonal diameter of the guide tube 92. Thus, if the guide tube 94 is fixedly inserted into the return spring 92 and the first and second elements 72, 80 in the latch 70 are then fastened by the nut 90, the return spring 92 can further press the guide tube 94. As a result, the guide tube 94 is fixed against the return spring 92.

Therefore, as a user rotates the handle element 106, the brush pole 100, the guide tube 94 and the return spring 92 are simultaneously rotated by a given angle. If the handle element 106 is then released, they return to its original position by means of the tension of the return spring 92.

In other words, both ends of the return spring 92 are fixed to an internal side of the first elements 70 in the latch 70 or of the elements 76, 84 of the second element 80.

In this case, it is preferred that the return spring 92 have the tension in which the brush pole 100 can rotate right and left within the range of 180°.

As such, therefore, if a user inwardly pulls the handle element 106 while holding the handle element 106 with dust adhered to the brush 104, the brush pole 100 slides along the guide tube 94 fixed within the through hole 91 of the latch 70. Due to this, the length between the handle element 106 and the end of the guide tube 94 is lengthen. On the contrary, the length between the brush pole 100 and the other end of the guide tube 94 is shortened.

In other words, as the distances between the guide rings 102a, 102 and 102b formed through the brush pole 100 become narrow, they are collected on an upper side of the sucking element 56 of the body 52, as shown in Fig. 2b. Dust on the plurality of the brushes 104 installed over an outer circumference of the guide rings 102a, 102 and 102b is collected at the sucking room of the vacuum cleaner 10 through the extension tube 18 by means of the sucking force that is generated in the sucking hole 57 of the sucking element 56.

At this time, an outer circumference of the sucking hole 57 of the sucking element 56 has a toothed shape, so that dust on the brush 104 can be effectively sucked while the toothed shape contacts the brush 104.

In this case, it is possible to remove dust, etc. on the brush 104 by rotating right and left the handle element 106 of the brush pole 100.

In addition, the reason that the brush pole 100 and the guide tube 94 fixed within the through hole 91 of the latch 70 so that the brush pole 100 can slide have a rectangular shape, is to prevent the brush pole 100 and the guide tube 94 from running idle within the return spring 92 installed over the guide tube 94. It should be noted, however, that the shape of the brush pole 100 and the guide tube 94 may have a polygonal shape except for a circular shape.

It should be noted that Figs. 4a and 4b illustrate an example of the dust removal device in the vacuum cleaner that electronically slides, while Figs. 2a, 2b and 3 illustrate an example of the dust removal device in the vacuum cleaner that manually slides.

It should be thus noted that like reference numerals in Figs. 4a and 4b are used to identify the same or similar parts in Figs. 2a, 2b and 3 for convenience of explanation, in explaining the dust removal device in the vacuum cleaner that electronically slides below.

As shown in Fig. 4a and Fig. 4b, a circular gear element 150 is formed between the handle element 106 and the end of the guide tube 94 in the brush pole 100. A pinion 152 is mated with the circular gear element 150. The pinion 152 is connected to a driving means (not shown) so that it can rotate at right and reverse direction according to on/off signals. The circular gear element 150, the pinion 152 and the driving means are surrounded by a housing (not shown).

Therefore, if a user turns on the switch means to apply the right-direction signal the distance between the guide rings 102a, 102 and 102b of the brush pole 104 is widened while the circular gear element 150 is moved at a straight direction as the pinion 152 is driven.

On the contrary, if a user turns on the switch means to apply the reverse-direction signal, the distance between the guide rings 102a, 102 and 102b of the brush pole 104 is widened while the circular gear element 150 is moved at a reverse direction mated as the pinion 152 is driven at a reverse direction.

It should be noted that the dust removal device 50 in the manual or electronic vacuum cleaner described in the above two embodiments can be applied to a portable vacuum cleaner as well as a rechargeable vacuum cleaner. Further, the sucking element 56 may have a long hole horizontally formed or may have a shape 56' one end of the sucking element 56 is cut so that the brush pole 104 and the sucking element 57' are close adhered. As mentioned above, according to the present invention, a brush pole that is flexible and has a plurality of brushes is detachably installed in the vacuum cleaner for sucking dust, etc. Therefore, the present invention has an outstanding advantage that it can easily clean dust, etc. on the floor, furniture and/or dust between narrow spaces such as the furniture, office fixtures. The present invention has been described with reference to a particular embodiment in connection with a particular application. Those having ordinary skill in the art and access to the teachings of the present invention will recognize additional modifications and applications within the scope thereof

It is therefore intended by the appended claims to cover any and all such applications, modifications, and embodiments within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A dust removal device in a vacuum cleaner, comprising: a hollow body 52 one end of which is removed along with an extension tube 18 of the vacuum cleaner 10 and the other end of which has detachable sucking element 56, 56' of various shapes, wherein a flange 58 in which coupling holes 62 are included is integrally formed at an upper central element of the body 52; a latch 70 fixed to the flange 58 of the body 52 and having first and second elements 72, 80 each corresponding to convex elements 76, 84 at the center of the latch 70; a return spring 92 both ends of which are fixed within one of the convex elements 76, 84 of the first and second elements 72, 80 in the latch 70 and positioned at a through hole 91 in which the convex elements 76, 84 are mated with the first and second elements 72, 80 are correspondingly located; a guide tube 94 installed through the return spring 92; a plurality of guide rings 102a, 102 and 102b fixed at one end of the brush pole 100 and the other end of the guide tube 94 and freely moved between the brush pole 100, wherein brushes 104 are formed at an outer circumference of the guide lings 102a, 102 and 102b; and flexible wires 103 for connecting the guide rings neighboring to the guide rings 102a, 102 and 102b.

2. The dust removal device in a vacuum cleaner as claimed in claim 1, further including a radial toothed element 60 at both ends of the flange 58 in the body 52 and step elements 78, 86 within the first and second elements 72, 80 in the latch 70 corresponding to the toothed element 60, so that the latch 70 is controlled by a given angle by a user.

3. The dust removal device in a vacuum cleaner as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the end of the first element 72 in the latch 70 has a hemming element 74 that is cut to have a downwardly approximate ' ^ ' shape and the end of the second element 80 has an insertion element 82 that is doubly cut so that it can be inserted into the hemming element 74.

4. The dust removal device in a vacuum cleaner as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein a coupling hole 62 is formed at the flange 58 of the body 52 and coupling holes 79, 88 corresponding to the coupling hole 62 of the flange 58, both of which are fixed by a nut 90.

5. The dust removal device in a vacuum cleaner as claimed in claim 1, wherein one opposite end of a element where the guide rings 102a, 102 and 102b are located in the brush pole 100 has a circular gear element 150 and a pinion 152 corresponding to the circular gear element 150 is formed, wherein the pinion 152 is connected a driving means that can rotate at right and reverse direction by means of a switch means, so that the pinion 152 is rotated at right an reverse direction by manipulation of the switch means to move the brush pole 100 at front and rear direction.