U.S. patent application number 10/777685 was filed with the patent office on 2005-03-10 for dust container for vacuum cleaner.
Invention is credited to Kim, Kyoung-woung.
Application Number | 20050050677 10/777685 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 33028885 |
Filed Date | 2005-03-10 |
United States Patent
Application |
20050050677 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Kim, Kyoung-woung |
March 10, 2005 |
Dust container for vacuum cleaner
Abstract
A dust container having a handle which self recovers and a
vacuum cleaner having the same, to thereby conveniently pull the
dust container from a cleaner body. The dust container includes a
container body and a handle pivotably disposed at the dust
container. A guide incline slidably contacts with and resiliently
deforms the handle in a pivotal axis direction while the handle
pivots. A fixing rib is disposed at the guide incline to restrain a
pivoting angle of the handle.
Inventors: |
Kim, Kyoung-woung;
(Goyang-si, KR) |
Correspondence
Address: |
BLANK ROME LLP
600 NEW HAMPSHIRE AVENUE, N.W.
WASHINGTON
DC
20037
US
|
Family ID: |
33028885 |
Appl. No.: |
10/777685 |
Filed: |
February 13, 2004 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
15/353 ;
15/339 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47L 5/365 20130101;
A47L 9/1409 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
015/353 ;
015/339 |
International
Class: |
A47L 005/00; A47L
007/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Sep 9, 2003 |
KR |
10-2003-0063141 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A dust container comprising; a container body; a handle
pivotably disposed at the dust container; a guide incline to
slidably contact with and resiliently deform the handle in a
pivotal axis direction while the handle pivots; and a fixing rib
disposed at the guide incline to restrain a pivoting angle of the
handle.
2. The dust container of claim 1, wherein the container body is
formed of a transparent material.
3. The dust container of claim 1, wherein the container body
comprises: a first container having a diameter corresponding to an
inner circumference of a cleaner body which is formed in a
cylindrical shape; and a second container formed in a stepped
manner with respect to the first container and having a bottom side
which is less than an open upper side of the first container.
4. The dust container of claim 3, wherein the first container
includes a concave portion at the bottom side for a user to
grip.
5. The dust container of claim 1, wherein the handle includes both
ends partially bent to form pivotal shafts.
6. The dust container of claim 1, wherein the handle involves a
wire member which is bent in a shape corresponding to the outer
circumference of the dust container.
7. A vacuum cleaner comprising: a cleaner body; a dust container
removably received in the cleaner body and having an open upper
side, and a suction port formed in a side in fluid connection with
an extension pipe; a handle pivotably connected to the dust
container; a guide incline to slidably contact with and resiliently
deform the handle in a pivotal axis direction while the handle
pivots; a fixing rib disposed at the guide incline to restrain a
pivoting angle of the handle; and a sealing cover to cover the open
upper side of the dust container.
8. The vacuum cleaner of claim 7, wherein the cleaner body
comprises; a receiving portion to receive the dust container
therein; and a contaminants check window formed by penetrating an
outside of the vacuum cleaner.
9. The vacuum cleaner of claim 7, wherein the sealing cover
includes one end connected to a suction motor disposed in the
cleaner body, the other end connected to the opening of the dust
container, and a filtering portion formed therein to filter and
collect contaminants in the dust container.
10. The vacuum cleaner of claim 7, wherein the dust container is
formed of a transparent material
11. The vacuum cleaner of claim 7, wherein the dust container
comprises: a first container with a diameter corresponding to an
inner circumference of a cleaner body which is formed in a
cylindrical shape; and a second container formed in a stepped
manner with respect to the first container and including a bottom
side which is less than an open upper side of the first
container.
12. The vacuum cleaner of claim 11, wherein the first container
includes a concave portion at the bottom side for a user to
grip.
13. The vacuum cleaner of claim 7, wherein the handle includes both
ends that are partially bent to form pivotal shafts.
14. The vacuum cleaner of claim 7, wherein the handle includes a
wire member which is bent corresponding to the outer circumference
of the dust container.
15. The vacuum cleaner of claim 7, wherein the handle self recovers
to a seated position with a covering operation of the sealing
cover.
Description
REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims priority to copending Korean Patent
Application No. 2003-63141, filed Sep. 9, 2003 in the Korean
Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is entirely
incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention generally relates to a vacuum cleaner,
and more specifically, to a dust container for a vacuum cleaner,
having a handle which mechanically recovers to a seated position
with the closing movement of the dust container.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Generally, a commercial vacuum cleaner having a wide-area
coverage requires a larger dust container in comparison to a vacuum
cleaner used in a residence. Hence, the commercial vacuum cleaner
usually has a dust container as a cleaner body to remove the need
for a dust bag. In such a vacuum cleaner, in order to empty the
collected contaminants, a user experiences an inconvenience in
separating a bulky cleaner body from a suction motor unit. For
that, a separate dust container was provided to collect the
contaminants therein.
[0004] However, without a separate handle, the hand of the user is
often soiled while emptying the dust container. Even with the
handle, unless the handle is affixed during the movement of the
cleaner, the dust container sways and the contaminants therein are
spilled.
[0005] Thus, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry
to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] Accordingly, one aspect of the present invention is to
provide a dust container with an improved handle capable of
mechanically recovering to a seated position with the closing
movement of the dust container, and a vacuum cleaner having the
same.
[0007] To achieve the above aspect of the present invention, the
dust container includes a container body, a handle pivotably
disposed at the dust container, a guide incline to slidably contact
with and resiliently deform the handle in a pivotal axis direction
while the handle pivots, and a fixing rib disposed at the guide
incline to restrain a pivoting angle of the handle.
[0008] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the
dust container is formed of a transparent material.
[0009] The container body includes a first container having a
diameter corresponding to an outer circumference of a cleaner body
which is formed in a cylindrical shape, and a second container
formed in a stepped manner with respect to the first container and
having a bottom side which is less than an open upper side of the
first container. The first container has a concave portion at the
bottom side so that a user can use it as a grip.
[0010] The handle has both ends partially bent to form pivotal
shafts. The handle is a wire member which is bent in a shape
corresponding to the outer circumference of the dust container.
[0011] A vacuum cleaner with the dust container including the
handle comprises a cleaner body, wherein the dust container is
removably received in the cleaner body and includes an open upper
side and a suction port which is connected to an extension pipe at
a side thereof. The vacuum cleaner also includes a handle pivotably
connected to the dust container, and a guide incline to slidably
contact with and resiliently deform the handle in a pivotal axis
direction as the handle pivots. A fixing rib is disposed at the
guide incline to restrain a pivoting angle of the handle. A sealing
cover covers the open upper side of the dust container. The cleaner
body includes a receiving portion to receive the dust container
therein, and a contaminants check window formed by penetrating an
outside of the vacuum cleaner. The sealing cover has one end
connected to a suction motor disposed in the cleaner body, and the
other end connected to the opening of the dust container. The
sealing cover includes a filtering portion therein to filter and
collect contaminants in the dust container. The handle mechanically
recovers to a seated position due to a covering operation of the
sealing cover.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] Many aspects of the invention can be better understood with
reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings
are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon
clearly illustrating the principles of the present invention.
Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate
corresponding parts throughout the several views.
[0013] FIG. 1 is a perspective drawing view showing a vacuum
cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention;
[0014] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective drawing view showing the
vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the present
invention;
[0015] FIG. 3 is a perspective drawing view showing a guide incline
of FIG. 2;
[0016] FIG. 4 is a plane drawing view showing the guide incline of
FIG. 3;
[0017] FIG. 5 is a side drawing view of a dust container with a
handle that mechanically recovers to a seated position according to
an embodiment of the present invention;
[0018] FIG. 6 is a bottom drawing view showing the dust container
of FIG. 5; and
[0019] FIG. 7 is a perspective drawing view showing the operation
of the handle of the dust container according to the certain
embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT
[0020] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be
illustrated in greater detail with reference to the drawings.
[0021] As shown in FIG. 1, a vacuum cleaner with a large-capacity
according to one embodiment of the present invention includes a
cleaner body 10, a suction brush 20 to suction contaminants on a
surface in contact with the suction brush 20, an extension pipe 30
detachably connected to the suction brush 20 and a flexible hose 40
interconnecting the extension pipe 30 and the cleaner body 10. The
cleaner body 10 includes a dust container 100 which is received in
the cleaner body 10 to collect the contaminants therein. The dust
container 100 includes a handle 110 (FIG. 2) so that a user can
conveniently pull out the dust container 100 from the cleaner body
10.
[0022] In detail, the dust container 100, as shown in FIGS. 2
through 5, includes a container body 101, the handle 110, a guide
incline 120, and a flexible rib 130. The container body 101 has an
open upper side and a suction port P at a side in fluid connection
with the extension pipe 30. The handle 110 is pivotably disposed at
the container body 101. The guide incline 120 resiliently deforms
the handle 110 in a pivotal axis direction of A while slidably
contacting with the handle 110 when the handle 110 pivots. The
fixing rib 130 is disposed at the guide incline 120 to restrain the
pivoting angle of the handle 110. The container body 101 may be
formed of a transparent material through which contents may be
viewed. Preferably, the container body 101 is fabricated by molding
a resin material. The suction port P may be provided with a
predetermined duct member (not shown) having an outlet toward the
bottom side of the dust container 100 to guide contaminants-ladened
air to a lower part of the container body 101.
[0023] As shown in FIG. 5, the container body 101 includes a first
container 101a and a second container 101b. The first container
101a has a diameter corresponding to an inner circumference of the
cleaner body 10 which is formed in a cylindrical shape. The second
container 101b is shaped and configured in a stepped manner with
respect to the first container and has a bottom side which is
smaller than the open upper side of the first container 101a.
[0024] Unlike a conventional large-sized vacuum cleaner, a vacuum
cleaner according to an embodiment of the claimed invention has a
vacuum motor (not shown) for generating suction force located in
the cleaner body 101. Accordingly, the container body 101 is
divided into the first and the second containers 101a, 101b in a
stepped manner to prevent interference between the vacuum motor
portion and the dust container 100. Hence, the second container
101b is structurally smaller than the first container 101a. As
shown in FIG. 6, the second container 101b includes a concave
portion 102 at the bottom side for a user to use as a grip. The
concave portion 102 facilitates gripping of the dust container 100
when the user dumps the collected contaminants. More specifically,
the user grips the handle 110 with one hand and the concave portion
102 with the other hand to dump the contaminants of the dust
container 100 in an orderly manner.
[0025] The handle 110 has both ends partially bent to form a
pivotal shaft 110a (FIG. 4). The pivotal shaft 110a freely pivots
upon insertion into an insertion hole 101c disposed at the dust
container 100. The handle 110 is formed preferably of a wire member
which is bent in a shape corresponding to an outer circumference of
the dust container 100. Thus, when the dust container 100 is
received in a receiving portion 12 disposed in the cleaner body 10,
the handle 110 is laid on the outer circumference of the dust
container 100 and seated in a position lower than an opening 103 of
the dust container 100.
[0026] The guide incline 120 is formed preferably adjacent to the
pivotal shaft 110a where the handle 110 is connected. As shown in
FIG. 5, if the dust container 100 is received in the cleaner body
10 and the handle 110 is at a first position (S1), the guide
incline 120 does not interfere with the handle 110. If the handle
110 is pivoted and fixed at a second position (S2), the guide
incline 120 contacts and slides with the handle 110 and resiliently
deforms the handle 110 in the pivotal axis direction of A.
Preferably, a sliding incline 121 and a sliding plane 122 are
provided. The sliding incline 121 resiliently deforms the handle
110 in the pivotal axis direction of A. the sliding plane 122
maintains the maximum height of the sliding incline 121 over a
predetermined section to fix the handle 110 at a portion where a
fixing rib 130 is disposed. The handle 110 at the sliding plane 122
is fixed at the second position (S2), because a bearing force of
the sliding plane 122. Meanwhile, if an external force is applied
to pivot the handle 110 toward the first position (S1), the handle
110 leaves the sliding plane 122. Due to the recovery force, the
handle 110 is in close contact with the sliding incline 121. Hence,
the handle 110 slides along the sliding incline 121 and recovers to
the first position (S1) without having to apply a separate
force.
[0027] The fixing rib 130 restrains a pivoting angle .alpha. of the
handle 110 and is disposed at a position at which the handle can
pivot up to approximately 90 degrees. As shown in FIG. 5, the
handle 110 is bent by a predetermined angle .beta. to prevent
interference with respect to a sealing cover 13 (FIG. 2), at the
first portion (S1). Thus, it is preferable that the pivoting angle
.alpha. is greater than 90 degrees.
[0028] A vacuum cleaner having the dust container 100 which
includes the handle 110 as shaped and configured above, includes
the cleaner body 10, the dust container 100, the handle 110, the
guide incline 120, the fixing rib 130, and the sealing cover 13.
The dust container 100 is removably received in the cleaner body 10
and has the open upper side and the suction port P at a side in
fluid connection with the extension pipe 30. The handle 110 is
pivotably disposed at the dust container 100. The guide incline 120
slidably contacts with and resiliently deforms the handle 110 in
the pivotal axis direction of A when the handle 110 pivots. The
fixing rib 130 is disposed at the guide incline 120 to restrain the
pivoting angle of the handle 110. The sealing cover 13 covers the
opening 103 which is formed at the upper side of the dust container
100.
[0029] The cleaner body 10 includes the receiving portion 12 to
receive the dust container 100 therein, and a contaminants check
window 11 formed by penetrating an outside of the vacuum cleaner.
By looking into the inside of the dust container 100 through the
contaminants check window 11, the user can check the amount of
collected contaminants in the dust container 100. Thus, additional
equipment is not needed to measure the amount of the collected
contaminants.
[0030] Although not shown in the drawings, one end of the sealing
cover 13 is connected to the suction motor (not shown) disposed in
the cleaner body 10, and the other end is sealingly connected to
the opening 103 of the dust container 100. The sealing cover 13 may
be provided with a filtering member (not shown) therein.
Accordingly, contaminants which are collected due to a suction
force generated by the suction motor, are filtered by a filtering
unit and stacked in the dust container 100.
[0031] Referring to FIG. 2, as the sealing cover 13 covers the
opening 103, the handle 110 methodically recovers to a seated
position. Therefore, without having to recover the handle 110 to
the seated position, i.e., the first position (S1), the user only
covers the sealing cover 13 over the opening 103 to thereby
conveniently return the handle 110 to the first position (S1).
[0032] In an embodiment of the claimed invention, the dust
container is provided with a grip portion such as the concave
portion which is not soiled, and the user can conveniently grip and
pull out the dust container from the cleaner body. Also, while
dumping the collected contaminants, the user does not dirty his/her
hands due to the collected contaminants. As the dust container is
pulled out, the handle is fixed at a predetermined position. Thus,
the dust container does not sway and the collected contaminants are
not spilled when the dust container is received in the vacuum
cleaner. The handle self returns to the seated position as the
sealing cover covers the opening.
[0033] Although a few embodiments of the present invention have
been shown and described, the present invention is not limited to
the disclosed embodiments. Rather, it would be appreciated by those
skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made in
those embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit
of the invention, the scope of which is defined by the claims and
their equivalents.
* * * * *