WO2010136886A1

WO2010136886A1 - Suction apparatus for domestic cleaning

Info

Publication number: WO2010136886A1
Application number: PCT/IB2010/001260
Authority: WO
Inventors: Giuseppe De' Longhi
Original assignee: De' Longhi Appliances Srl Con Unico Socio
Priority date: 2009-05-28
Filing date: 2010-05-27
Publication date: 2010-12-02
Also published as: IT1395675B1; ITUD20090107A1

Abstract

A suction apparatus (10) for domestic cleaning comprises at least an oblong main body (11), provided with at least an opening and an air suction pipe (17) in its lower end portion and with a housing compartment (18). The apparatus (10) comprises a suction unit (14) located in the housing compartment (18) and connected to the suction pipe (17), and able to produce a depression so as to suck in the air. The apparatus (10) comprises a" secondary body (12) coupled in extension toward the top with the main body (11) above the housing compartment (18) and provided with at least a handle (22) to grip and use the apparatus. The secondary body (12) comprises at least an expulsion opening (33) to expel the air, and air passage means (28, 30, 35, 42) fluidically connected to the housing compartment (18) and able to convey the air sucked in by means of the suction unit (14) from the housing compartment (18) to the expulsion opening (33), in order to extend its travel until the air is discharged into the environment so as to reduce its exit speed from the apparatus and the noise produced.

Description

"SUCTION APPARATUS FOR DOMESTIC CLEANING"

* * * * *

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention concerns a suction apparatus for domestic cleaning. In particular the present invention concerns a suction apparatus of the vertical type, commonly called electric brush, which can be used to suck up solid particles of dust and dirt, and possibly also liquid substances and damp material, from the surfaces in domestic environments which can be walked on.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Suction apparatuses commonly used to clean the surfaces in domestic environments which can be walked on are known, an example of which is shown in DE 19 64 475 Al, on which the preamble of claim 1 is based.

In particular, electric brushes are known, that is suction apparatuses of the vertical type. These known electric brushes generally comprise a main body which houses a suction unit, comprising an electric motor, and a recipient provided with a filter to contain the dust sucked up.

Known electric brushes also comprise a handle, removably attached to the upper surface of the main body and in extension thereto, provided with a handgrip in order to use the electric brush.

At the lower end of the main body a hole is generally made, into which a suction pipe, to suck up the air, can be inserted and connected to said recipient.

The air sucked in thanks to the depression produced by the motor and filtered by the filter, is expelled from the apparatus through an opening made on the main body, usually in its central portion, in correspondence with the position of the motor.

Normally this type of known electric brush has quite a high noise level, in the range of 85-86 dBA.

This noisiness is due both to the propagation of vibrations from the motor unit to the casing of the main body, and also to the turbulent movements of the air which passes through part of the main body.

The noisiness can be annoying for the user and can prevent the use of the electric brush in particular situations or environments where excessive noise should not be produced during cleaning.

Moreover, the air exiting from the opening in the main body can cause the movement of dust and dirt which has not yet been sucked up from areas which have already been cleaned. Purpose of the present invention is to produce a suction apparatus that is simple and economic to make, which has a reduced noise level given the same suction power.

The Applicant has devised, tested and embodied the present invention to overcome the shortcomings of the state of the art and to obtain these and other purposes and advantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is set forth and characterized in the independent claim, while the dependent claims describe other characteristics of the invention or variants to the main inventive idea. In accordance with the above purpose, a suction apparatus for domestic cleaning comprises at least an oblong main body, provided with at least a suction opening to take in the air in its lower end portion, and a housing compartment.

The apparatus also comprises a suction unit located in the housing compartment and connected to the suction opening, able to produce a depression by means of the air suction.

The apparatus also comprises a secondary body coupled, either removably or not, in extension toward the top with the main body on its upper end portion, and provided with at least a handle to grip and use the apparatus.

According to the present invention, the secondary body comprises at least an expulsion opening to expel the air and air passage means fluidically connected to said housing compartment and able to convey upward the air sucked in by said suction unit from said compartment to said expulsion opening, along a determinate path in order to reduce its exit speed from the apparatus.

As a result of the exit opening of the air on the secondary body, and the air passage means which prevent the air from exiting directly from the housing compartment of the suction unit but convey it toward said exit opening, the air, thanks to the extension of its path until it is expelled into the environment, reduces its exit speed from the apparatus, with a consequent reduction in the noise of the apparatus itself.

Moreover, since the air exit opening is made on the secondary body, it is at a greater distance from the surface to be cleaned with respect to the distance of the exit opening of known apparatuses. The stream of air exiting from the apparatus therefore does not cause the movement of dust and dirt, and allows the user to further incline the apparatus toward the surface to be cleaned.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of a preferential form of embodiment, given as a non-restrictive example with reference to the attached drawings wherein:

- fig. Ia is a schematic representation of the path of the air sucked inside a suction apparatus according to the present invention; fig. Ib is a cross section from I to I of the apparatus in fig. Ia;

- fig. Ic is a cross section from II to II of the apparatus in fig. Ia; - fig. 2 is a lateral view of a longitudinal section of the suction apparatus in fig. Ia;

- fig. 3 is a front view of the apparatus in fig. Ia.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERENTIAL FORM OF

EMBODIMENT

With reference to the attached drawings, a suction apparatus 10 of the electric brush type is used to clean domestic surfaces such as tiled or parquet floors, rugs, carpets and others.

In this case the apparatus 10 according to the present invention comprises a main body 1 1 , substantially tubular, and a secondary body 12, of a substantially tapered tubular shape whose lower portion is conformed so that the main body 1 1 can be partly inserted. The secondary body 12 is therefore positioned as an extension toward the top of the main body 1 1.

The secondary body 12 is removably attached to the main body 1 1 by means of attachment elements 13 and externally, in correspondence with its upper end, has a handle 22. On the lower end of the main body 1 1 an opening is made, in which a substantially cylindrical suction pipe 17 is inserted, which extends, in part, outside the main body 1 1 in order to be connected to a pipe of a cleaning accessory, not shown in the drawings. The apparatus 10 according to the present invention also comprises a suction unit 14 and a recipient 15, mounted inside the main body 1 1 by means of support elements 32.

In this case, the recipient 15 is connected to an end of the suction pipe 17 and comprises a filter 16, of the known type, able to hold the dirt and the dust sucked up, while the suction unit 14 is located inside a housing compartment 18 made downstream from the filter 16 with respect to the direction of the air sucked in.

The housing chamber 18 is connected to the filter exit 16 by means of a first pipe 23 and can be provided with an inner lining made of a sound absorbing material in order to reduce the propagation of noise produced by the suction unit 14.

The suction unit 14 is of the known type and comprises an electric motor 19 and a fan, not visible in the drawings.

In correspondence with its upper end portion inserted into the secondary body 12, the main body 1 1 has an air distribution compartment 27.

The distribution compartment 27 of the main body 1 1 is connected to the housing compartment 18 by means of a second pipe 25 inside which, in the connection zone with the distribution compartment 27, a first filtering layer 26 is located. The secondary body 12 has a conveyor compartment 34 and a hollow upper compartment 35.

The conveyor compartment 34 is in fluidic communication with the distribution compartment 27 through a plurality of openings, not visible in the drawings, made on the upper wall 36 of the distribution compartment 27, and is open toward the upper compartment 35 at its upper end.

The conveyor compartment 34 has a hollow lower region 41 in which the main body 1 1 is inserted and attached in correspondence with the distribution compartment 27, and an oblong upper region 42 provided with a substantially tubular inner lining 37 made of a filtering material. The walls of the lower region 41 define, in correspondence with the lateral walls 29 of the distribution compartment 27 of the main body 1 1 , a diffusion interspace 28.

On part of the lateral walls 29 of the distribution compartment 27 a plurality of diffusion holes 30 are made, able to make part of the air contained in the distribution compartment 27 flow into the diffusion interspace 28.

A second filtering layer 31, disposed adjacent to the lateral walls 29 on the side of the distribution compartment 27, is associated with the lateral walls 29 in correspondence with the holes 30.

On the portion of the walls of the secondary body 12, in correspondence with the diffusion interspace 28 and the upper region 42, a plurality of expulsion holes 33 are made.

The device 10 as described heretofore functions as follows. The air is sucked in due to the effect of the depression produced by the suction unit 14, through the suction pipe 17, and moves through the recipient 15, in which the filter 16 holds back the particles of dust and dirt.

The air then flows through the first pipe 23, the housing compartment 18, the second pipe 25 and the first filtering layer 26 in order to reach the distribution compartment 27.

From the distribution compartment 27, a first part of the air flows through the diffusion holes 30 and spreads into the diffusion interspace 28 from which it flows out of the apparatus 10, through the expulsion holes 33.

On the contrary, a second part of air flows through the openings of the upper wall 36, into the conveyor compartment 34 and reaches the upper compartment 35.

Since the compartment 35 is closed on the upper part by the handle 22, the second part of air changes direction and flows downward, being channeled once again into the conveying compartment 34. In the conveying compartment 34 the second part of air is further filtered by the inner lining 37.

From the conveying compartment 34, the second part of air spreads into the interspace 28 from which it exits through the expulsion holes 33.

Applicant has found that the apparatus 10, object of the present invention, has a noise level of about 79-80 dBA, which is less than the traditional apparatuses by about 6 dBA.

It is clear, however, that modifications and/or additions of parts may be made to the apparatus 10 as described heretofore, without departing from the field and scope of the present invention.

For example, a layer of sound absorbing material can replace or be added to the first filtering layer 26, to the second filtering layer 31 and to the filtering material of the inner lining 37. According to a variant, not shown, a circuit is provided which connects the second pipe 25 to the expulsion holes 33, instead of the distribution compartment 27, the conveying compartment 34 and the upper compartment 35.

The circuit comprises a plurality of pipes suitably connected, for example to define a coil-shaped path for the air, and provided with elements to slow down the air flow.

Moreover, the present invention can provide to contain the dust in a recipient which can be removed from the apparatus to be disposed of as rubbish, for example a sack made of paper material, or a recipient completely integrated into the main body 1 1 and able to be emptied of dust and used again. It is also clear that, although the present invention has been described with reference to specific examples, a person of skill in the art shall certainly be able to achieve many other equivalent forms of suction apparatus, having the characteristics as set forth in the claims and hence all coming within the field of protection defined thereby.

Claims

1. Suction apparatus for domestic cleaning comprising at least an oblong main body (1 1), said main body (1 1) being provided with at least an opening and an air suction pipe (17) in its lower end portion and with a housing compartment (18), a suction unit (14) located in said housing compartment (18) and connected to said suction pipe (17), and able to produce a depression so as to suck in the air, and a secondary body (12) coupled in extension toward the top with said main body (1 1) above said housing compartment ( 18) and provided with at least a handle (22) to grip and use said apparatus, characterized in that said secondary body (12) comprises, on at least part of its wall, at least an expulsion opening (33) to expel the air, positioned above said housing compartment (18), and air passage means (28, 30, 35, 42) fluidically connected to said housing compartment (18) and able to convey the air sucked in by means of said suction unit (14) from said housing compartment (18) to said at least one expulsion opening (33) above, in order to extend its travel until the air is discharged into the environment so as to reduce its exit speed from the apparatus and, consequently, the noise produced, wherein the upper end of the main body ( 1 1 ), inserted into the secondary body ( 12), has an air distribution compartment (27) provided with a plurality of diffusion holes (30) able to put said distribution compartment (27) into fluidic communication with said expulsion opening (33).

2. Apparatus as in claim 1 , characterized in that the secondary body (12) comprises a front wall which develops toward the handle (22) and on which a plurality of expulsion openings are made (33).

3. Apparatus as in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the air passage means comprise first conveyor means (28) and second conveyor means (35, 42), in which said distribution compartment (27) and said diffusion holes (30) are fluidically connected to the housing compartment ( 18) and are able to convey a first part of the air sucked in to the first conveyor means (28) and a second part of the air sucked in to the second conveyor means (35, 42).

4. Apparatus as in claim 3, characterized in that the first conveyor means comprise an interspace (28) defined in correspondence with the coupling zone between the main body (1 1 ) and the secondary body (12) in correspondence with which at least some of the expulsion openings (33) are made.

5. Apparatus as in claim 4, characterized in that said distribution compartment (27) is fluidically connected to the housing compartment ( 18) by means of at least a connection pipe (25), and to the second conveyor means (35, 42), and said diffusion holes (30) put said distribution compartment (27) in fluidic communication with the interspace (28).

6. Apparatus as in claim 5, characterized in that the second conveyor means comprise a first conveyor element (42) fluidically connected to the distribution compartment (27), and a second conveyor element (35) fluidically connected at one end to the first conveyor element (42) and associated at the other end with the handle (22), and able to convey the second part of the air sucked in from the first conveyor element to the area near the handle (22), and subsequently, from the area near the handle (22) toward the interspace (28) and/or some of the expulsion openings (33).

7. Apparatus as in claim 6, characterized in that it comprises filter means (37) associated with the first conveyor element (42).

8. Apparatus as in any claim hereinbefore, characterized in that it comprises sound absorbing means associated with at least an air passage mean (28, 30, 35, 42).

9. Apparatus as in any claim hereinbefore, characterized in that the air passage means (28, 30, 35, 42) are provided with elements to slow the air flow.