WO2003063674A1

WO2003063674A1 - A vacuum cleaner bag

Info

Publication number: WO2003063674A1
Application number: PCT/SE2003/000152
Authority: WO
Inventors: Reidar Liland; Carl Kyrk
Original assignee: Reidar Liland; Carl Kyrk
Priority date: 2002-01-30
Filing date: 2003-01-30
Publication date: 2003-08-07
Also published as: SE0200262D0; SE0200262L; SE520586C2

Abstract

The present invention to a vacuum cleaner bag that includes a neck opening (11) for connection to a vacuum cleaner line (20, 21), wherein the bag is essentially dust-impermeable and the wall (41) of the bag is permeable to air over a part of its area. The bag (10) includes a tubular gas tight element (15, 15', 15') which extends along a part of the length of the bag (10) from the neck opening (11) of the bag towards the bottom of said bag down to a pre-determined level (19) above the bottom of the bag.

Description

A VACUUM CLEANER BAG

The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner bag of the kind defined in the preamble of the accompanying independent Claim.

The invention thus relates to a vacuum cleaner bag, preferably for one-time use only, which can be replaceably fitted to a vacuum cleaner and dumped together with its dust content when full.

When the bag is considered to be full, the vacuum cleaner is opened and the bag removed therefrom. The connecting neck of the bag may include closure means to prevent dust from leaving the bag as it is removed.

The risk of dust leaving the bag will, of course, increase if the bag is substantially filled with dust before being replaced. Moreover, the demands placed on any neck closure means will be greater in the case of a bag that has been filled substantially. It is obvious that the risk of dust, dirt or other detritus leaving the bag can be reduced and/or that the bag can be sealed or closed against the egress of dust more easily if the bag is removed before it is filled completely.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum cleaner bag that includes a simple and effective overfill guard which gives a clear indication of when the dust/volume of dirt in the bag has reached a pre-determined level in the bag, so that the bag will have a pre-determined empty or dust-free volume in that part of the bag situated in the vicinity of the opening of the neck of the bag.

This object is achieved with a vacuum bag according to the accompanying independent Claim. Further embodiments of the invention are made apparent in the accompanying dependent Claims.

In one embodiment of the invention the bag wall may typically consist of a material which while being air permeable is also dust separating. The neck of the bag has sealingly connected thereto a hose whose diameter is smaller than the diameter of the bag, wherein one end of the generally air tight hose connects sealingly with the bag and receives the outlet end of an air and dust suction line of a vacuum cleaner. The cleaner may also include a source of subpressure which applies a subpressure to the outside of the bag to promote the flow of air/dust through said line and into the bag. As the bag is filled with dust, which normally commences at the bottom of the bag. the level of dust will increase towards the free end of the sealed hose. When the dust level reaches the free end of the hose, the outlet end of the hose will be blocked by the dust cake that has built up, wherewith the drop in pressure across the bag will increase significantly. This marked increase in pressure drop may either be detected with the aid some corresponding pressure sensor or signalled by a significant increase in the noise developed by the motor of the cleaner in response to the abrupt increase in the drop in pressure across the bag.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which

Figure 1 is a schematic sectional view of a vacuum cleaner fitted with an inventive dust collecting bag;

Figure 2 is a separate schematic illustration of an axial section of the bag fitted in the cleaner of Fig. 1; and

Figures 3 and 4 illustrate alternative embodiments of the inventive dust collecting bag.

Shown schematically in Fig. 1 is a vacuum cleaner 1 having a chamber 2 and a perforated chamber wall 3. The chamber 2 can be opened and closed to allow the insertion and the removal respectively of a dust collecting bag 10. The bag 10 has a neck 11 that can be sealingly connected to an end portion 20 of a suction line 21 in a known manner, not shown. The end portion 20 may have the form of a stub pipe which is received in the neck 11 with a small amount of clearance, and the neck 11 can be tightly clamped against and around the stub pipe 20 in a known manner if necessary, for instance with the aid of a clamping ring 4. Alternatively, the neck end of the bag may be provided with a mounting flange whose edge can be inserted, e.g. sealingly, into an edge receiving groove in a known manner. The chamber 2 is housed in a housing 30 that includes an outlet opening 31 and a fan 32 driven by a motor 33, which may be accommodated in a space 34 in the cleaner. The space 34 may be an outlet opening 35 for carrying away the flow of air sucked into said space 34 by the fan 32.

Dust and grit etc. entrained by the flow of air 22 drawn into the bag 10 by suction via the line 21 is deposited in the bag, normally in the bottom portion thereof. The bag wall 11 may consist of air permeable paper that has a dust separating property. Connected to the neck 11 of the bag 10 is a hose 15 made of airtight and preferably flexible material, for example a thin plastic material. The upstream end of the hose 15 is connected tightly to the neck 11 and receives the stub pipe 20 for leading the dust/dirt-laden air flow 22 into the bag. The air flow 22 is thus led through the hose 15. When the dust cake 18 that builds up in the bag 10 reaches a level 19 corresponding to the lower end 16 of the hose 15, there remains in the bag 10 between the neck 11 (the bag inlet end) and the level 19 a space that is substantially empty of dust, this space being defined by the volume of the hose 15 on the one hand and by the volume of the bag 10 above the level 19 on the other hand. Admittedly, small amounts of dust, detritus, etc. may be deposited on the wall 11 of the bag above the lower end of the hose 15, but these amounts have a relatively small volume.

Although the drop in pressure over the bag wall 11 will successively increase as the dust cake 18 approaches the end of the hose 15, when the free surface 18 of said cake 18 reaches the free end 16 of the hose 15 there will occur a significant increase in the drop in pressure that can be exploited readily with the aid of simple means, or which can be identified readily by the user of the vacuum cleaner by virtue of an abrupt increase in the noise generated by the fan motor 13 of the cleaner. This gives a clear indication that the bag 10 needs to be changed. The bag will then have a pre-determined substantially dust/detritus-free volume 17 that greatly facilitates removal of the bag 10 from the cleaner without the risk of dust spilling from the bag. The hose 15 thus constitutes an important part of the bag overfill guard. The air flow 22 is able to keep the hose 15 tensioned, and the hose may consist of thin flexible plastic foil or its equivalence.

Shown in Fig. 2 is an embodiment in which the wall material 41 of the bag 10, at least in the lower region of the bag, consists of air permeable but dust separating material, such as porous paper, wherein the neck 11 of the bag 10 is designed to enable it to be connected readily to an air line. One end of plastic hose 15 is connected tightly around the inside of the neck 11. The hose 15 thus receives the stub pipe or its technical equivalent. The hose 15 has a pre-determined length such that the hose end 16 will define a level marked by a broken line. The volume of the inflated bag 10 between said level and the opening of the neck 11 is thus a dead volume that remains in the bag when it is recognised that the dust cake 18 in the bag has reached this level in the way described above.

Figure 3 illustrates an embodiment in which the counterpart 15' to the hose 15 is an impregnation in the bag wall material 41 between the neck 11 of the bag 10 and the chosen level indicated by a broken line, or a gas impervious material in this region of the bag wall.

Figure illustrates another variant in which the hose 15 is replaced with an impervious lamination 15" on the inside and/or the outside of the bag wall 41, extending between said broken-line level up to the opening of the neck 11.

Claims

1. A vacuum cleaner bag that includes a neck opening (11) for connection to a vacuum cleaner line (20, 21), wherein the bag is essentially dust-impermeable and the wall (41) of the bag is permeable to air over a part of its area, characterised in that the bag (10) includes a tubular gas tight element (15, 15', 15") which extends along a part of the length of the bag (10) from the neck opening (11) of the bag towards the bottom of said bag down to a pre-determined level (19) above the bottom of said bag; and in that the gas tight element (15, 15', 15") forms a hose (15) located in the bag, or is laminated (15') around the inside or the outside of the bag, or is integrated

(15") in the bag wall.

2. A vacuum cleaner bag according to Claim 1 characterised in that the tubular gas tight element (15) is an integral part of the bag wall.

3. A vacuum cleaner bag according to Claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the tubular gas tight element (15) has the form of a hose which is free from the wall of the bag at least in the downstream end part (16) of said hose.

4. A vacuum cleaner bag according to Claim 1 characterised in that the gas tight element (15') consists in an impregnation of the bag wall (41).

5. A vacuum cleaner bag according to Claim 1 characterised in that the gas tight element (15") is laminated on the inside and/or the outside of the bag wall (41).

6. A vacuum cleaner bag according to any one of Claims 1 - 5, characterised in that the tubular element (15, 15', 15") is flexible; in that the wall (41) of the bag (10) is flexible; and in that the bag with said element can be laid flat and raised by a flow of air through the bag.