WO2010026237A1

WO2010026237A1 - Vacuum cleaner

Info

Publication number: WO2010026237A1
Application number: PCT/EP2009/061505
Authority: WO
Inventors: Steffen Layer; Bernd Kiesling; Maic Hensel; Ullrich Rauleder
Original assignee: Alfred Kärcher Gmbh & Co. Kg
Priority date: 2008-09-08
Filing date: 2009-09-04
Publication date: 2010-03-11
Also published as: CN102149311B; CN102149311A; EP2320783A1; DE102008047235A1; DK2320783T3; DE102008047235B4; EP2320783B1

Abstract

The invention relates to a vacuum cleaner (10) comprising a dust collection container (11) and a suction head (13) that can be placed on the dust collection container, said head having at least one suction assembly that is in fluid connection with the dust collection container via a suction inlet (30). A filter cage (36) that projects into the dust collection container is situated on the suction inlet and a filter element (62) can be detachably fastened to said filter cage. To improve the vacuum cleaner (10) in terms of reducing the risk of a user placing the suction head vertically on the floor to empty the dust collection container, according to the invention, a support element (54) juts out from the underside of the filter cage and is radially offset in relation to the central axis (52) of the cage.

Description

VACUUM CLEANER

The invention relates to a vacuum cleaner with a dirt collecting container and an attachable to the dirt collecting suction head having at least one suction unit is connected via a suction inlet with the dirt collecting in flow connection, wherein at the suction inlet a dipping into the dirt collecting filter cage is arranged on which a filter element detachably fixable is.

Such vacuum cleaners allow the suction of a surface, such as a floor surface. For this purpose, a dirt collecting container of at least one suction unit can be subjected to negative pressure. The suction unit is part of an attachable to the dirt collecting suction head and is connected via a suction inlet of the suction head with the dirt collecting in flow communication. The dirt collecting container has a suction connection, to which a suction hose can be connected, which carries a nozzle at the free end for sucking off the surface. From the at least one suction unit, a suction flow is generated so that suction air laden with dirt particles can be sucked into the dirt collecting container via the suction hose. From the dirt collecting container, the suction air flows through a filter element, which is detachably fixable to a filter cage, which is arranged at the suction inlet. The filtered suction air then flows to the at least one suction unit and is discharged from the latter via at least one suction outlet, which is arranged on the suction head, to the environment. In many cases, the vacuum cleaner is designed as a wet-dry vacuum cleaner, so that not only dry suction air is sucked in. but it can also be sucked a liquid from a surface and transferred to the dirt collector.

To empty the dirt collector, the suction head can be removed from the dirt collector. There is a risk that the user vertically aligned the suction head removed from the dirt collecting container, d. H. with the filter cage projecting downwards on the floor surface. This involves the risk that the suction head then falls over and is damaged because the filter cage only allows a very unstable position of the suction head. Instead of placing the suction head on the filter cage, the user should instead tilt the suction head and place it on the floor surface on the long side. Although the user is advised in the manual of the vacuum cleaner that the suction head should not be placed on the filter cage for lack of stability, but there is a risk that the user will ignore this advice and still try to keep the suction head vertically aligned with down Turn off the filter cage on the floor surface.

Object of the present invention is therefore to develop a vacuum cleaner of the generic type such that the risk is reduced that the user turns off the suction head for emptying the dirt collection container vertically aligned on a floor surface.

In a vacuum cleaner of the type mentioned at the outset, this object is achieved according to the invention in that a support element projects radially from the underside of the filter cage, offset from the center axis thereof. If the user tries to lift the suction head in a vertical orientation, ie pointing downwards Filter cage to park on a floor surface, so contacted first, the support element, the bottom surface. This is arranged radially offset from the central axis of the filter cage. As a result, a tilting moment acts on the suction head and it is therefore not possible for the user to turn off the suction head in a vertically aligned manner. Rather, the user is forced to tilt the suction head and place it longitudinally on the floor surface. Through the use of the arranged offset to the central axis of the filter cage support element is thus prevented that the user can park the suction head vertically aligned on the floor surface. So it can not happen that the suction head from an unstable position inadvertently tipped over and possibly damaged.

The support member may be designed, for example, pin or pin-shaped.

The filter cage is preferably cylindrical. In this case, the center axis of the filter cage coincides with its cylinder axis.

It is advantageous if the filter cage can only be fixed in a predetermined mounting position on the suction inlet, in which the support element occupies a specific angular position relative to the central axis. By specifying a certain angular position for the support element ensures that the suction head while trying to turn it off on the support element, experiences a tilting moment in a constructively predetermined direction, so that the suction head is easily brought by the user in a predetermined lateral position in the the suction head is placed on the floor surface. The specified orientation of the support element must be ensured when mounting the filter cage on the suction be taken into account. It is therefore advantageous if the filter cage can be fixed to the suction inlet at all only in a predetermined mounting position, because this prevents incorrect alignment of the filter cage from the outset.

It is favorable if, complementary to one another, interlocking coding elements are arranged on a mounting rim surrounding the suction inlet and on an end section of the filter cage facing the mounting edge, which enclose the mounting position of the filter cage. The coding elements can be designed, for example, in the form of a projection and an associated receptacle. The coding elements preferably engage in one another in a form-fitting manner. The coding elements may for example be aligned parallel to the central axis of the filter cage or perpendicular to this.

In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the suction inlet is surrounded by an annular collar, in which an end portion of the filter cage is immersed, wherein on the annular collar and the end portion on the one hand a projection and on the other hand a recording receiving this are arranged. For example, the protrusion may be located at the end portion of the filter cage, and the associated receptacle may be positioned at the annular collar. The annular collar in the assembled state surrounds the end portion of the filter element and forms a mounting edge, which facilitates the mounting of the filter element at the suction inlet.

An especially simple installation of the filter cage is achieved in an advantageous embodiment in that the coding element arranged on the end section of the filter cage is disposed diametrically opposite to the support element. lying side is arranged. The coding of the filter cage is thus facing away from the support element. It has been shown that this simplifies the attachment of the filter cage at the suction inlet to the fitter.

In particular, in embodiments in which the vacuum cleaner according to the invention is designed as a wet-dry vacuum cleaner, it is advantageous if the filter cage is surrounded over a portion of its circumference of a baffle and if the support element arranged in a bottom view of the suction head within the covered by the baffle wall angle range is. In the vertical direction, the support element protrudes beyond the lower end of the baffle wall. If the user mistakenly placed the suction head on the support element, the suction head experiences a tilting element in the direction away from the impact wall, since the support element is arranged on the same side relative to the center axis of the filter cage as the impact wall. In a bottom view of the suction head, the support element occupies a position within the winch area covered by the baffle wall. If the user attempts to stop the suction head on the support element, then the weight of the suction head exerts a tilting element in the direction away from the baffle, so that the user will readily deposit the suction head on the side facing away from the baffle on the bottom surface. Damage to the baffle when placing the suction head is thereby prevented in a structurally simple manner.

Preferably, the support element is arranged in the bottom view of the suction head on the bisector of the covered by the baffle wall angle range.

It can be provided that the central axis of the filter cage is aligned with the central axis of the suction head. Even with such an orientation of the filter cage is ensured by the staggered to the central axis of the support member arrangement that the suction head can not be parked stable on the support element. However, it is particularly advantageous if the center axis of the filter cage is arranged offset to the central axis of the suction head.

It may be provided, for example, that the support element diametrically opposite to the central axis of the suction head of the central axis of the filter cage. In such an orientation, the center axis of the filter cage is disposed on one side of the center axis of the suction head and the support member is positioned on the diametrically opposite side.

To be particularly advantageous, it has been found that the center axis of the suction head, the center axis of the filter cage and the support element are arranged in a common vertical center plane of the suction head. In the operating position of the vacuum cleaner, the median plane is vertically aligned and both the center axes of the filter cage and the suction head and the support element extend in the median plane.

The following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention serves in conjunction with the drawings for further explanation. Show it :

FIG. 1 shows a side view of a vacuum cleaner according to the invention with a dirt collecting container and a suction head; Figure 2 is a side view of the suction head of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a bottom view of the suction head of Figure 1;

Figure 4: a perspective view of the suction head obliquely from below;

Figure 5: a perspective view of a filter cage of the suction head and

Figure 6: a schematic representation of the suction head of Figure 1 after

Kind of an exploded drawing.

In Figure 1, a vacuum cleaner 10 according to the invention is shown schematically with a dirt collecting container 11 which is movable by means of a chassis 12 and on which a suction head 13 is placed. The chassis 12 has two rear wheels 14, 15 and two steerable front wheels 16, 17 and a push bar 18. By means of the chassis 12 of the vacuum cleaner 10 along a bottom surface is movable. At a suction port 19 of the dirt collecting container 11 can be connected in the usual way a suction hose. This is not shown in the drawing.

The suction head 13 can be removed from the dirt collecting 11. It comprises a circular base plate 20, on the underside of which a funnel-shaped suction inlet part 22, which is heart-shaped in the lower view, is fixed. The suction inlet part 22 has a collar-shaped projecting from the underside of the base plate 20 upper edge region 24, the heartför- Mige outer contour of Saugeinlassteiles 22 defined and is connected via a tapered portion 26 with a base plate 20 facing away from the end wall 28. The latter has a central opening which forms a suction inlet 30. On the underside facing away from the base plate 20, the end wall 28 carries a downwardly projecting annular collar 32. The suction inlet 30 is covered by a grid 34.

At the suction inlet 30, a filter cage 36 is releasably held. This has a collar-shaped end portion 38 which dips into the annular collar 32 in a form-fitting manner. From the free edge 40 of the end portion 38 is radially outwardly a coding in the form of a projection 42 which is received by a further coding element in the form of a radial receptacle 44 of the annular collar 32. This ensures that the filter cage 36 can be mounted on the suction inlet 30 only in a predetermined orientation.

At a distance from the end section 38, the filter cage 36 has an end cap 46, which comprises a plurality of openings 48 and is integrally connected to the end section 38 via axial struts 50 arranged uniformly distributed in the circumferential direction. The filter cage 36 is cylindrically symmetrical and defines a cylinder axis 52 which forms the center axis of the filter cage 36. In alignment with the cylinder axis 52, a support element in the form of a support pin 54 protrudes from the underside of the end cap 46 facing away from the end section 38. Relative to the cylinder axis 52 of the support pin 54 is the projection 42 diametrically opposite. The support pin 54 forms the lower end of the suction head 13. If the suction head 13 from

Dirt collecting container 11 removed and placed vertically aligned on a bottom surface, so comes first, the support pin 54 with the floor surface in contact. Since the support pin 54 is arranged offset from the cylinder axis 52, a tilting moment acts on it due to the weight of the suction head 13. This has the consequence that the vertically oriented suction head 13 can not assume a stable position. The user will therefore place the suction head 13 longitudinally on the bottom surface, so that the suction head 13 assumes a stable position on the bottom surface. Subsequently, the user can remove the dirt collecting container 11 from the chassis 13 and empty.

The filter cage 36 is surrounded over a portion of its circumference by a baffle 56. In the circumferential direction, the baffle 56 extends over an angular range of about 135 °. The cylinder axis 52 and the support pin 54 are as well as the projection 52 on the bisector 58 of the baffle 56 is arranged. They define a vertical center plane 60 of the dust suction device 10. This is clear from FIG.

On the filter cage 36, a filter element 62 can be placed in the axial direction, which is releasably fixed to the filter cage 36 and surrounds it in the circumferential direction. The filter cage 36 in turn surrounds a float 64. This settles at a corresponding level of the dirt collecting 11 sealingly against the suction inlet 30 and thus interrupts the flow connection between the dirt collecting 11 and the suction head 13. Such floats 64 are known in the art and therefore require in the present case no further explanation.

The suction head 13 has a total of three suction units 66, 67, 68, through which the dirt collecting container 11 through the single suction inlet 30 therethrough can be applied with negative pressure. The base plate 20 has, for each suction unit 66, 67, 68, a cylindrical recess 70, 71, 72 into which an end-side end region of the respective suction unit 66, 67 or 68 can be inserted. The recesses 70, 71, 72 each include a central suction opening 74, 75 and 76, respectively, via which the suction units 66, 67, 68 are in fluid communication with the suction inlet part 22.

On the upper side, an annular wall 78 projects from the base plate 20 in the shape of a collar, with a first annular wall section 79 which largely surrounds the depressions 70, 71 in the circumferential direction, and with a second annular wall section

80, which surrounds the recess 72 on its side facing away from the first annular wall portion 79 side. At the free ends of the two annular wall portions 79, 80 each have a side wall 81, 82, 83, 84 is integrally formed. The two side walls 81, 82 define a first suction outlet channel 86, and the two side walls 83, 84 define a second suction outlet channel 88. In each of the two suction outlet channels 86, 88, one is transverse to the side walls

81, 82 and 83, 84 aligned baffle 90, 91 arranged.

On the recesses 70, 71, 72 side facing the base plate 20 spaced from the annular wall sections 79 and 80 and spaced from the baffles 90, 91 a plurality of spaced retaining pins 93. Between the retaining pins 93 and the annular wall sections 79, 80th is as well as between the retaining pin 93 and the baffles 90, 91 a sound insulation used in the form of a Dämmschau- mes 95, 96th On the base plate 20, an intermediate wall 100 is placed with three through holes 101, 102 and 103, in each of which a suction unit 66, 67, 68 can be used. Above the deflecting walls 90, 91, the intermediate wall 100 forms air guide parts in the form of a first arch 105 and a second arch 106, which cover the respective deflecting wall 90 or 91.

On the intermediate wall 100, a hood 110 is placed, which has a parallel to the intermediate wall 100 extending ceiling wall 111, from which a jacket 112 facing the dirt collecting 11 facing downwardly protrudes. The casing 112 surrounds the intermediate wall 100 and also the base plate 20. At the level of the first Saugluftauslasskanals 86, the shell 112 has a first Saugluftauslass 114, and at the level of the second Saugluftauslasskanals 88, the shell 112 has a second Saugluftauslass 116. In the circumferential direction between the first suction air outlet 114 and the second suction air outlet 116, the shell 112 defines a cooling air outlet 118.

On the hood 110, a cover 120 of the suction head 13 is placed. The cover defines on two opposite outer sides of the suction head 13 two cooling air inlets, wherein in the drawing, only one cooling air inlet 121 is shown. The interior of the suction head 13 is subdivided by the intermediate wall 100 into a suction air space arranged between the intermediate wall 100 and the base plate 20 and a cooling air space arranged between the intermediate wall 100 and the cover 120. The latter is from the ceiling wall 111 in a arranged between the top wall 111 and the cover 120 cooling air inlet area and one between the ceiling wall

111 and the intermediate wall 100 arranged cooling air outlet area divided.

The suction units 66, 67, 68 each include a forced-air-cooled electric motor 125, 126, 127 which drives an axial-radial fan 129, 130 and 131, respectively. The respective axial-radial fan 129, 130 and 131 dips into the associated recess 70, 71, 72 of the base plate 20 and extends up to the level of the intermediate wall 100. Above the intermediate wall 100, the electric motors 125, 126, 127 are arranged, these on their respective axial-radial fan 129, 130, 131 facing away from the back each carry a fan, which is not shown in the drawing to achieve a better overview. By means of the fan wheel, cooling air can be drawn in from the cooling air inlet area arranged between the top wall 111 and the cover 120. The cooling air then flows axially along the corresponding electric motor 125, 126 or 127 and is discharged again in the cooling air outlet region between the top wall 111 and the intermediate wall 100. The cooling air can be sucked in via the cooling air inlets 121, and the cooling air is emitted via the cooling air outlet 118.

During operation of the vacuum cleaner 10, a strong suction flow is achieved by means of the three suction units 66, 67, 68. The interior of the dirt collecting container 11 is thereby subjected to negative pressure, so that via a suction hose, which is connected to the suction port 19, sucked with dirt particles and liquid droplets suction air can be sucked. The suction air bounces within the dirt collection on the spaced apart from the suction port 19 baffle 56, at which the largest part of the liquid droplets separates, which then from the baffle 56 drain. The suction air flows around the baffle 56 and flows through the filter element arranged on the filter cage 36 in the radial direction in order subsequently to pass through the suction inlet 30 and the suction inlet part 22 through the suction openings 74, 75, 76 to the suction units 66, 67, 68. Of these, the suction air is discharged through the Saugluftauslasskanäle 86, 88 and Saugluftauslässe 114, 116 to the environment. Within the Saugluftauslasskanäle 86, 88, the suction air strikes the baffles 90, 91, where it is deflected in the vertical direction. It then encounters the vaults 105 and 106 arranged above the deflecting walls 90, 91, where the suction air undergoes a further arcuate deflection in the direction of the respectively adjacent suction air outlet 114 or 116. The vertical deflection of the suction air in the region of the suction air outlet ducts 86 , 88 results in a considerable noise reduction.

If the dirt collecting container 11 is to be emptied, the user can remove the suction head 13 from the dirt collecting container 11. If he puts the suction head 13 vertically aligned on a bottom surface, the suction head 13 is acted upon by a tilting moment due to the offset to the cylinder axis 52 arranged support pin 54. The user is thereby stimulated to place the suction head in a stable position along the side of the bottom surface. There is therefore no risk that the suction head 13 is turned off when emptying the dirt collecting 11 unintentionally in an unstable position.

Claims

PAT EN TA CLAIM

1. A vacuum cleaner with a dirt collecting container and an attachable to the dirt collecting suction head, the at least one

Suction unit, which communicates with the dirt collecting container via a suction inlet, wherein at the suction inlet into the dirt collecting container immersing filter cage is arranged, to which a filter element is detachably fixable, characterized marked, that radially offset from the underside of the filter cage (36) to the central axis (52) projects a support element (54).

2. Vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, characterized in that the support element (54) is designed peg-shaped.

3. Vacuum cleaner according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the filter cage (36) can be fixed only in a predetermined mounting position on the suction inlet (30) in which the support element (54) relative to the central axis (52) assumes a predetermined angular position.

4. Vacuum cleaner according to claim 3, characterized in that on a suction inlet (30) surrounding mounting edge (32) and on a mounting edge (32) facing the end portion (38) of the filter cage (36) complementary to each other configured, interlocking Kodierele- elements ( 42, 44) are arranged, which are the mounting position of the filter cage

(36) pretend.

5. Vacuum cleaner according to claim 4, characterized in that the suction inlet (30) by an annular collar (32) is immersed in the one end portion (38) of the filter cage (36), wherein on the annular collar (32) and at the end portion (38 ) On the one hand, a projection (42) and on the other hand, a receiving receiving this (44) are arranged.

6. Vacuum cleaner according to claim 4, characterized in that at the end portion (38) of the filter cage (36) arranged coding element (42) on the said support member (54) diametrically opposite side is arranged.

7. Vacuum cleaner according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the filter cage (36) over a portion of its circumference by a baffle wall (56) is surrounded and that the support element (54) in a bottom view of the suction head (13) within the of Baffle (56) covered angle range is arranged.

8. Vacuum cleaner according to claim 7, characterized in that the support element (54) in the bottom view of the suction head (13) on the bisector (58) of the baffle wall (56) covered angle range is arranged.

9. Vacuum cleaner according to one of the preceding claims, character- ized in that the central axis (52) of the filter cage (36) offset from

Center axis (59) of the suction head (13) is arranged.

10. Vacuum cleaner according to claim 9, characterized in that the support element (54) relative to the central axis (59) of the suction head of the central axis (52) of the filter cage (36) diametrically opposite.

11. Vacuum cleaner according to claim 10, characterized in that the central axis (59) of the suction head (13), the central axis (52) of the filter cage (36) and the support element (54) in a common vertical median plane (60) of the suction head (13 ) are arranged.