U.S. patent application number 09/917740 was filed with the patent office on 2002-11-07 for vacuum cleaner.
Invention is credited to Harmen, John T..
Application Number | 20020162188 09/917740 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 4168967 |
Filed Date | 2002-11-07 |
United States Patent
Application |
20020162188 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Harmen, John T. |
November 7, 2002 |
Vacuum cleaner
Abstract
An upright vacuum cleaner having a clam shell construction is
disclosed. The vacuum cleaner has a main casing to which a canister
body containing the dust separation apparatus and dust collection
apparatus is removably mounted. The canister is separable from the
main casing to facilitate emptying of the contents of the dust
collection apparatus. A latching mechanism is provided to
facilitate easy removal and re-attachment of the canister.
Inventors: |
Harmen, John T.; (St.
Catherines, CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Philip C. Mendes da Costa
Bereskin & Parr
Box 401
40 King Street West
Toronto
ON
M5H 3Y2
CA
|
Family ID: |
4168967 |
Appl. No.: |
09/917740 |
Filed: |
July 31, 2001 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
15/353 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47L 9/1691
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
15/353 |
International
Class: |
A47L 009/16 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
May 2, 2001 |
CA |
2,346,173 |
Claims
I claim:
1. An upright vacuum cleaning device comprising: (a) a canister
body having a dust separation apparatus and a dust collection
apparatus; (b) a main casing having a handle extending from an
upper end thereof and a cleaning head pivotally mounted to a lower
end thereof; the cleaning head having a dirty air inlet in flow
communication with a source of suction via a dirty air passage, the
main casing having a recess for receiving the canister body; and
(c) a latching mechanism adapted to realisably retain the canister
body on the main casing.
2. The vacuum cleaning apparatus of claim 1 wherein the latching
mechanism is disposed adjacent the upper end of the main
casing.
3. The vacuum cleaning apparatus of claim 1 wherein the latching
mechanism includes a first portion and a second portion and wherein
the first portion is insertable into the second portion and
realisably retainable therein.
4. The vacuum cleaning apparatus of claim 3 wherein the second
portion includes a release apparatus for releasing the first
portion from the second portion.
5. The vacuum cleaning apparatus of claim 3 wherein the first
portion is moveable between a first position and a second position
and wherein said latching mechanism includes a biasing apparatus
for biasing the first portion towards the first position.
6. The vacuum cleaning apparatus of claim 3 wherein the first
portion is mounted to the main casing and the second portion is
mounted to the body.
7. The vacuum cleaning apparatus of claim 3 wherein the first
portion comprises a pawl and wherein the second portion comprises a
lip.
8. The vacuum cleaning apparatus of claim 4 wherein the release
apparatus comprises a manually operable cam.
9. The vacuum cleaning apparatus of claim 1 wherein the latching
mechanism includes a handle for carrying the body when released
from the main casing.
10. The vacuum cleaning apparatus of claim 9 wherein the handle
includes a release apparatus for releasing the body from the main
casing.
11. The vacuum cleaning apparatus of claim 1 where in the main
casing houses a portion of the dirty air passage.
12. The vacuum cleaning apparatus of claim 1 wherein the dust
separation apparatus and the dust collection apparatus comprises a
cyclone in a cyclone bin, the cyclone bin having an air inlet and
an air outlet, and the air inlet to the cyclone bin is adjacent an
upper end of the canister body and the air exit from the cyclone
bin is adjacent the upper end of the canister body and the main
casing houses a portion of the dirty air passage and a clean air
passage, the clean air passage is in flow communication with the
cyclone via the air exit when the canister body is mounted on the
main casing.
13. The vacuum cleaning apparatus of claim 13 wherein the recess is
concavely cylindrical.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaning device
and, more particularly, to a vacuum cleaner having a releasable
bin.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] A typical upright vacuum cleaner comprises a main casing,
which houses a dust separation apparatus, a cleaner head pivotally
mounted to the main casing and a handle attached to the main casing
for moving the device on a set of wheels over a floor. This
configuration has gained wide acceptance for domestic upright
vacuum cleaners irrespective of the mode of dust separation used.
Vacuum cleaners of this type typically employ filter bags (and
other types of physical filtration) or cyclonic filtration to
remove dust and dirt particles from the airflow generated by the
device. These means of dust separation may be used either alone or
in conjunction with one another.
[0003] Irrespective of the means of dust separation employed,
however, the collected dirt and dust must ultimately be emptied
from the device. Typically this involves removing a portion of the
main casing (i.e. an access panel) to provide access to a dust
collector to be emptied or replaced. In some cases, the portion of
the main casing removed also functions as the dust collector
itself. In all cases, though, it is typical that the access panel
and/or dust collector is located close to the ground, which
requires the user to stoop or bend over to operate the release
mechanism. Easy removal and replacement is also hindered by the
fact that the removable portion(s) must be sealed and tightly
secured in place while the device is in operation to ensure minimal
air leakage. This design consideration typically results in a panel
or collector which is difficult to remove and/or replace.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] The latching mechanism of the present invention provides an
easily operable and ergonomic mechanism which minimizes user time
and frustration in removing and replacing a canister body on a main
casing of the vacuum cleaner. The result is a device which has a
removable components what are easily sealable by the manufacturer
and easily operated by the user. The present invention provides an
upright vacuum cleaning device comprising a main casing having a
handle extending from an upper end thereof and a cleaning head
pivotally mounted to a lower end thereof, a body having a dust
separation apparatus and a dust collection apparatus disposed
substantially therein, and a latching mechanism adapted to
realisably retain the body on the main casing.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0005] For a better understanding of the present invention and to
show more clearly how it may be carried into effect, reference will
now be made by way of example to the accompanying drawings which
show articles made according to a preferred embodiment of the
present invention.
[0006] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vacuum cleaner according
to the present invention;
[0007] FIG. 2 is a side view of the vacuum cleaner of FIG. 1;
[0008] FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of the
front of the main casing of the vacuum cleaner of FIG. 1;
[0009] FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of the
front of the main casing of the vacuum cleaner of FIG. 1, showing
the canister partially removed therefrom;
[0010] FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view similar to FIG. 4,
shown from a different angle;
[0011] FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective rear view of the removable
canister of the vacuum cleaner of FIG. 1;
[0012] FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the vacuum cleaner of FIG. 1
taken along the lines 7-7;
[0013] FIG. 8a is an enlarged sectional view of the latch assembly
of FIG. 7, shown in the disengaged position;
[0014] FIG. 8b is an enlarged sectional view of the latch assembly
of FIG. 7, shown in the engaged position;
[0015] FIG. 9 is an enlarged perspective view of the latch assembly
of the present invention with a portion thereof broken away to show
detail;
[0016] FIG. 10 is an enlarged perspective view of the latch
assembly from a different angle with a portion thereof broken away
to show detail; and
[0017] FIG. 11 is an exploded view of the canister according to the
present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0018] A vacuum cleaner incorporating the present invention is
shown generally in the figures at 10. Typically, as shown in FIGS.
1 and 2, an upright vacuum cleaner 10 has a main casing 12,
cleaning head 14 pivotally mounted to main casing 12, a handle 16
for manually moving vacuum cleaner 10 over a surface on wheels
(which preferably include front wheels, not shown, and rear wheels
18), and an optional lifting handle 20 for carrying vacuum cleaner
10. In accordance with the present invention, main casing 12 has a
canister body 22 (FIG. 6) mounted thereto which contains the dust
separation mechanism. The dust separation mechanism, preferably
includes a dust separation apparatus 24 and dust collection
apparatus 26. Canister body 22 is removably retained on main casing
12 in part by a latch assembly 28. Vacuum 10 may optionally include
a final filter 30, such as a HEPA filter.
[0019] The internal configuration of vacuum cleaner 10 may be
typical of known devices. As will be understood by one skilled in
the art, vacuum cleaner 10 has at least one dirty air inlet (not
shown), positioned adjacent the floor in base 32 of cleaning head
14, and an inlet conduit leading from the dirty air inlet to dust
separation apparatus 24. Likewise, one skilled in the art will
understand that vacuum cleaner 10 has a clean air outlet conduit
(e.g. 60 as shown in FIG. 4), for removing cleaned air from dust
separation apparatus 24 for expulsion from vacuum cleaner 10. A
vacuum source, typically an electric fan and motor assembly, is
provided to induce the air flow through the system and is typically
located in cleaning head 14, although placement of the fan and
motor assembly in other locations within the device is known.
[0020] Dust separation apparatus 24 may comprise any means for
separating particles (e.g. dirt and dust) from a fluid flow (e.g.
air), and dust collection apparatus 26 may be any dust collection
means suited to the dust separation means employed. In this
embodiment, dust separation apparatus 24 comprises a cyclonic
separator 40 and dust collection apparatus 26 is a transparent,
cylindrical bin 42. One skilled in the art will appreciate that
either a single- or multi-stage cyclonic apparatus may be employed,
either alone or in combination with other separation means (e.g.
physical filtration members and/or electrostatic filtration). In an
alternate embodiment dust separation apparatus 24 and dust
collection apparatus 26 may comprise a filter bag and housing as
are known in the art.
[0021] Typically, a cyclonic separator 40 has an air inlet (e.g.
44) in communication with a dirty air stream, e.g., from cleaning
head 14 via inlet duct 54 and second aperture 58 for introducing
"dirty" air to separator 40 in a manner causing a cyclonic flow
therein (e.g. air inlet 44 is a tangential air inlet). The cyclonic
flow deposits particles in collector bin 42 and an air exit (e.g.
46) in separator 40 delivers "clean" air to an outlet conduit (e.g.
60) for expulsion from vacuum cleaner 10.
[0022] In the preferred embodiment of FIGS. 3 and 4, canister body
22 is generally cylindrical, with an upper end 50 and a lower end
52. Latch assembly 28 on upper end 50 securely maintains canister
body in position with respect to main casing 12. Main casing 12 has
an inlet duct 54 provided internally thereof which defines a dirty
air passage leading upwardly from cleaning head 14 and
communicating with dust separation apparatus 24 via first aperture
56 on the inner surface of main casing 12 (see FIG. 4) which
communicates with a second aperture 58 in canister body 22 (see
FIGS. 5 and 6) leading to the air inlet (not shown) of cyclone
separator 40 when canister body 22 is secured in position. Main
casing 12 also has an outlet duct 60 provided internally thereof
which defines a clean air outlet passage leading downwardly from
cyclone separator 40 to the vacuum motor (not shown) in cleaning
head 14. Outlet duct 60 communicates with cyclone separator 40 via
a third aperture 62 in canister body 22, which is in communication
with cyclone air exit 46, and a fourth aperture 64 in main casing
12 when canister body 22 is secured in position. It will be
apparent that the air flow passages and their apertures may be
located in different positions.
[0023] A receiving bay 66 is defined between inlet duct 54 and
outlet duct 60 for receiving canister body 22 in main casing 12,
with bay 66 being adapted to receive canister body 22 in an
aesthetically pleasing manner. Receiving bay 66 is substantially
concavely cylindrical, to matingly receive cylindrical canister
body 22, and has a base 68 (see FIGS. 5 and 7) with a locating pin
70 extending therefrom. Base 68 is adapted to receive lower end 52
of canister body 22, which also has a dimple 72 for receiving at
least a portion of locating pin 70 therein. Locating pin 70 and
dimple 72 cooperate to secure and position lower end 52 of canister
body 22 in receiving bay 66 and, together with latch assembly 28,
retain canister body 22 on main casing 12. Base 68 may alternately
utilize other alignment means known in the vacuum cleaner art.
[0024] Latch assembly 28 is positioned adjacent upper end 50 of
canister body 22 to permit a user to actuate latch mechanism,
preferably without essentially any stooping or bending. For
example, latch assembly 28 may be positioned on lifting handle 20,
near handle 16. However, it will be appreciated that latch
mechanism 28 could be positioned elsewhere on upper end 50, e.g.
top surface 48. Referring to FIGS. 8a and 8b, latch assembly 28 has
a latch portion 80 mounted to main casing 12, and a catch portion
82 mounted to canister body 22. Latch portion 80 includes a pawl
84, having a tooth 86, which extends outwardly from the inner
surface of receiving bay 66. Latch portion 80 also has a lower
skirt 110, and a depending portion 112. Depending portion 112 is
spaced apart from tooth 86 of pawl 84 so that a recess 114 exists
therebetween. Latch portion 80 also has an upper skirt portion 116.
Pawl 84 is moveable between a first position, in which it engages
with latch portion 82 and a second position in which it is
disengaged from latch portion 82. While pawl 84 could be designed
as a rocker switch, pawl 84 is preferably biased, preferably to the
first position. To this end a resiliently deformable member (e.g.
an elastomeric member, a compression spring on a tension spring)
may be used. Referring to FIGS. 8a, 8b, base 88 is provided distal
to pawl 84. A compression spring 92 extends between base 88 and
lower skirt 110. When pawl 84 is moved to the disengaged position,
spring 92 is compressed. The compression in spring 92 biases base
88, and pawl 84, to the engaged position shown in FIG. 8a.
[0025] Catch portion 82 has a vertically extending lip 94. Catch
portion 82 further includes a release means 98 which acts on tooth
86 to move pawl 84 between its engaged and disengaged positions.
Pawl 84 and tooth 86 may be of any construction which will cause
pawl 84/tooth 86 to move when acted upon by a longitudinal or
rotational motion. Preferably, a longitudinal motion is used. For
example a release cam 100, which is movable between a disengaged
position (see FIG. 8a) and an engaged position (see FIG. 8b) may be
used. A biasing means 102 urges cam 100 to a disengaged position,
e.g. upwardly. A button 106 permits manual operation of cam 100.
Biasing means 102 may be an elastomeric member or a spring. Biasing
means may be a tension or compression spring. As shown in FIGS. 8a
and 8b, handle 20 is provided with a skirt 108. Spring 104 extends
between skirt 108 and button 106 to urge button 106 upwardly.
[0026] When latch assembly 28 is assembled in the `latched`
position (FIG. 8a), pawl 84 extends past gap 96 so that tooth 86
and depending portion 112 engage lip 94 in recess 114. Upper skirt
portion 116 also abuts against button 106. Spring 104 maintains cam
100 out of contact with tooth 86. When button 106 is depressed to
`unlatch` latch assembly 28, cam 100 pushes pawl 84 downwardly
(FIG. 8b) so that tooth 86 is moved downwardly out of engagement
with lip 94, thereby permitting pawl 84 to be withdrawn from gap
96.
[0027] Referring to FIG. 11, collection apparatus 26 is separable
from the remainder of canister body 22 to permit collected dust and
dirt particles to be emptied therefrom such as into a garbage can
located outside of a house. Dust separation apparatus 24 has a
central post portion 120 which terminates at an end portion 122
which has a curvilinear slot 124 therein. Collection apparatus 26
has a central socket 126 with a pin 128 projecting internally
therein. End portion 122 of central post 120 is insertable in
socket 126, and pin 128 is engageable with curvilinear slot 124 to
provide a bayonet-mount assembly 118 to mount collection apparatus
26 to dust separation apparatus 24. As will be understood by one
skilled in the art, pin 128 and curvilinear slot 124 are adapted to
permit dust collection apparatus 26 to be rotatable from a first
position, in which dust collection apparatus 26 is securely
attached to dust separation apparatus 24 by way of the interaction
between pin 128 and curvilinear slot 124, and a second position
wherein dust collection apparatus 26 is releasable from dust
separation apparatus 24 by releasing pin 128 from curvilinear slot
124 by moving dust collection apparatus 26 to said second position.
A locating ring 130 is provided on a lower portion of dust
separation apparatus 24 to position and secure upper lip 132 of
dust collection apparatus 26 against dust separation apparatus 24
when canister body 22 is assembled as described above.
[0028] Referring again to FIG. 1, in use vacuum 10 is operated by
energizing the motor and fan assembly to activate an air flow
stream through the device. Vacuum cleaner 10 is moved over a floor
surface to be cleaned and dirt and dust is entrained in the airflow
drawn into the device through cleaning head 14 and provided via
intake duct 54 to dust separation apparatus 24. The entrained
dirt/dust is separated from the air flow by dust separation
apparatus 24 and is deposited in dust collection apparatus 26. The
cleaned air is removed from the dust separation apparatus 24 and
may be delivered via the outlet duct 60 to the motor to cool the
motor, after which it is expelled from vacuum cleaner 10 though
optional final filter 30. When the floor is satisfactorily cleaned,
the vacuum motor is deactivated by the user.
[0029] Referring to FIG. 8b, to empty dust collection apparatus 26,
as will be periodically necessary, button 106 is manually depressed
to move cam 100 downwardly to depress cam tooth 86 of pawl 84 out
of engagement with lip 94. This releases pawl 84 from lip 94 and
permits pawl 84 to be withdrawn from gap 96 by grasping handle 20
(while button 106 is depressed), and then tipping upper end 50 of
canister body 22 away from main casing 12 to pivot canister body 22
about locating pin 70 and disengage latch assembly 28 (see FIGS. 4
and 5). Canister body 22 is then lifted upwardly to disengage
locating pin 70 from dimple 72 and canister body 22 is thus removed
it from receiving bay 66. It will be appreciated that bin 42 is
still sealed. Collection bin 42 may then be moved to a desired
location before it is opened by rotating bin 42 relative to the
rest of canister body 22 to disengage bayonet-mount assembly 118 to
release collection bin 42 from dust separation apparatus 24 (FIG.
11). Collection bin 42 is then inverted and emptied, and then
re-assembled with canister body 22 and re-mounted in receiving bay
66 of main casing 12 by repeating the above steps in reverse order.
When canister 22 is installed on main casing 12, and latch assembly
28 is in this `latched` position (FIG. 8a), upper skirt 116, lower
skirt 110 (through depending portion 112) and tooth 86 cooperate
with lip 94 and button 106 to provide a secure connection between
canister body 22 and main casing 12. Locating pin 70 and dimple 72
at lower end 52 of canister body 22, further secure and stabilize
the connection.
[0030] The latching mechanism of the present invention is
advantageously positioned on vacuum cleaner 10 and adapted to
permit the easy removal of canister body 22 from main casing 12
with minimal stooping or bending by the user. The latching device
provides an easily operable and ergonomic mechanism which minimizes
user time and frustration in removing and replacing canister body
22 on main casing 12. The latching mechanism permits the canister
body to be easily and reliably sealed in the latched position and
therefore easy to operate.
[0031] While the above description constitutes the preferred
embodiment, it will be appreciated that the present invention is
susceptible to modification and change without departing from the
fair meaning of the accompanying claims.
* * * * *