U.S. patent application number 12/012114 was filed with the patent office on 2009-02-05 for upright vacuum cleaner.
This patent application is currently assigned to SAMSUNG GWANGJU ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.. Invention is credited to Jeong-hee Cho, Myoung-sun Choung, II-du Jung, Yun-hee Park, Dong-hun Yoo.
Application Number | 20090031520 12/012114 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 39616124 |
Filed Date | 2009-02-05 |
United States Patent
Application |
20090031520 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Yoo; Dong-hun ; et
al. |
February 5, 2009 |
Upright vacuum cleaner
Abstract
A vacuum cleaner including a sterilizing unit is provided. The
sterilizing unit includes a hot air circulating duct and an air
passage switching part. The hot air circulating duct is disposed
between a motor chamber and an air inflow part of the dust
separating unit to guide air from the motor chamber to the air
inflow part of the dust separating unit. The air passage switching
part is disposed at a place where the air inflow part, the suction
hose and the hot air circulating duct intersect. The air passage
switching part is movable between a cleaning position and a
sterilizing position to switch a flow of air, the cleaning position
being a position that blocks off between the air inflow part and
the hot air circulating duct and the sterilizing position being a
position that blocks off between the air inflow part and the
suction hose.
Inventors: |
Yoo; Dong-hun;
(Gwangju-city, KR) ; Cho; Jeong-hee;
(Gwangju-city, KR) ; Choung; Myoung-sun;
(Gwangju-city, KR) ; Park; Yun-hee; (Gwangju-city,
KR) ; Jung; II-du; (Gwangju-city, KR) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Paul D. Greeley;Ohlandt, Greeley, Ruggiero & Perle, L.L.P.
One Landmark Square, 10th Floor
Stamford
CT
06901-2682
US
|
Assignee: |
SAMSUNG GWANGJU ELECTRONICS CO.,
LTD.
|
Family ID: |
39616124 |
Appl. No.: |
12/012114 |
Filed: |
January 31, 2008 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
60964676 |
Aug 14, 2007 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
15/319 ;
15/328 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47L 5/28 20130101; A47L
7/04 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
15/319 ;
15/328 |
International
Class: |
A47L 7/00 20060101
A47L007/00; A47L 5/28 20060101 A47L005/28; A47L 9/00 20060101
A47L009/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Aug 2, 2007 |
KR |
2007-77662 |
Sep 14, 2007 |
KR |
2007-93887 |
Claims
1. A vacuum cleaner, comprising: a body assembly comprising a dust
separating unit having an air inflow part to draw in air and an air
outflow part to discharge the air, and a motor chamber communicated
with the air outflow part and having a suction motor mounted
therein; a suction brush connected to a lower end of the body
assembly to draw in an external air; a suction hose connected
between the suction brush and the air inflow part of the dust
separating unit to guide the external air drawn in by the suction
brush to the air inflow part; and a sterilizing unit to sterilize
bacilli or house dust mites in the air drawn into the dust
separating unit through the suction brush and the suction hose;
wherein the sterilizing unit comprises a hot air circulating duct
disposed between the motor chamber and the air inflow part of the
dust separating unit to guide air discharged through the air
outflow part of the dust separating unit from the motor chamber to
the air inflow part of the dust separating unit, and an air passage
switching part disposed at a place where the air inflow part, the
suction hose and the hot air circulating duct intersect and movable
between a cleaning position and a sterilizing position to switch a
flow of air, the cleaning position being a position where the air
passage switching part blocks off between the air inflow part and
the hot air circulating duct and the sterilizing position being a
position where the air passage switching part blocks off between
the air inflow part and the suction hose.
2. The vacuum cleaner of claim 1, wherein the air passage switching
part comprises: a manifold having first, second and third
connecting openings connected with the air inflow part, the suction
hose and the hot air circulating duct to communicate therewith,
respectively; a valve member rotatably disposed in the manifold to
be positionable in the cleaning position of closing up the third
connecting opening or the sterilizing position of closing up the
second connecting opening according to an angle of rotation
thereof; and a knob connected to the valve member to rotate the
valve member.
3. The vacuum cleaner of claim 2, wherein the manifold comprises a
cylindrical tube element having the first, second and third
connecting openings disposed in an angle of 90.degree. to one
another on a circumferential surface thereof.
4. The vacuum cleaner of claim 2, wherein the valve member
comprises a cut-away sleeve having a circumferential surface,
almost all area of which is cut away with only an area capable of
closing up at least one of the first, second and third connecting
openings remaining.
5. The vacuum cleaner of claim 1, wherein the sterilizing unit
further comprises a temperature detecting sensor to detect a
temperature of air guided to the dust separating unit through the
hot air circulating duct and to stop driving the suction motor when
the detected temperature is above a predetermined temperature.
6. The vacuum cleaner of claim 5, wherein the temperature detecting
sensor comprises one of a thermostat and a thermistor.
7. The vacuum cleaner of claim 5, wherein the predetermined
temperature is more than 56.degree. C.
8. The vacuum cleaner of claim 5, wherein the predetermined
temperature is between 63.degree. C. and 67.degree. C.
9. A vacuum cleaner, comprising: a body assembly comprising a dust
separating unit having an air inflow part and an air outflow part;
a motor chamber communicated with the air outflow part; a suction
hose connected between a suction brush and the air inflow part to
guide an external air to the air inflow part; a hot air circulating
duct disposed between the motor chamber and the air inflow part of
the dust separating unit; and an air passage switching part
disposed at a place where the air inflow part, the suction hose,
and the hot air circulating duct intersect, the air passage
switching part being movable between a cleaning position and a
sterilizing position, wherein the air passage switching part blocks
off between the air inflow part and the hot air circulating duct in
the cleaning position and wherein the air passage switching part
blocks off between the air inflow part and the suction hose in the
sterilizing position.
10. The vacuum cleaner of claim 9, wherein the air passage
switching part comprises a manifold having first, second and third
connecting openings connected with the air inflow part, the suction
hose and the hot air circulating duct to communicate therewith,
respectively.
11. The vacuum cleaner of claim 10, wherein the air passage
switching part comprises: a valve member rotatably disposed in the
manifold to be positionable in the cleaning position or the
sterilizing position according to an angle of rotation thereof; and
a knob connected to the valve member to rotate the valve
member.
12. The vacuum cleaner of claim 9, further comprising a temperature
detecting sensor configured to detect a temperature of air in the
hot air circulating duct.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. .sctn.
119(e) of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/964,676, filed
Aug. 14, 2007, in the United States Patent and Trademark Office,
and claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. .sctn. 119(a) Korean Patent
Application Nos. 10-2007-77662 and 10-2007-93887, filed on Aug. 2,
2007 and Sep. 14, 2007, respectively, in the Korean Intellectual
Property Office, and the entire disclosures of which are
incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present disclosure relates to a vacuum cleaner, and more
particularly, to an upright vacuum cleaner capable of recirculating
air discharged while being heated by a suction motor to a dust
separating unit and thus sterilizing bacilli or house dust mites in
the dust separating unit.
[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0005] In general, a upright vacuum cleaner draws in external air
by using a suction force of a suction motor and then remove dust or
dirt included in the drawn-in external air therefrom by a filter or
cyclone, so that it cleans a surface to be cleaned, such as a
floor, a carpet or the like.
[0006] Such a conventional upright vacuum cleaner is usually
provided with a suction brush directly joined to a lower end of a
body assembly. The body assembly at an upper side thereof has a
dust separating unit in which the filter or cyclone is mounted, and
at a lower side thereof has a motor chamber in which the suction
motor is mounted to generate the suction force. In front of the
motor chamber is formed an air discharging opening, which
discharges the drawn-in air to the outside. Also, a suction hose,
which guides the air drawn in by the suction brush to the dust
separating unit, is connected with the dust separating unit through
an air inflow opening formed on the rear of the body assembly.
[0007] The upright vacuum cleaner as described above is
advantageous in that since the body assembly and the suction brush
are integrally joined with each other and the suction hose
interconnecting the body assembly and the suction brush is short,
it is convenient to move and store. Accordingly, in recent, it is
increasing that the upright vacuum cleaner is used in cleaning the
surface to be cleaned in a room.
[0008] However, the upright vacuum cleaner as described above is
effective in removing the dust or dirt from the surface to be
cleaned, but is disadvantageous in that it does not remove bacilli
or house dust mites on the surface to be cleaned.
[0009] To address the problem as described above, as disclosed in
Korean patent laid-open No. 10-2001-1470, the present applicant has
proposed an upright vacuum cleaner having a sterilizing unit
capable of sterilizing bacilli or house dust mites in the dust
separating unit by using air heated by the suction motor. In this
upright vacuum cleaner, the sterilizing unit is provided with a
shutter part, which blocks external air from drawing into the dust
separating unit through the air inflow opening and allows the air
in the dust separating unit to circulate in the body assembly. The
shutter part is made up of a shutter member sliding through and
along a slit formed in the vicinity of the air inflow opening to
open or close the air inflow opening, and an operating lever formed
on one side of the shutter member to move the shutter member.
[0010] The upright vacuum cleaner as described above has addressed
the problem that it does not remove the bacilli or house dust mites
on the surface to be cleaned. However, since the shutter member
open or close the air inflow opening by sliding through the slit,
the slit should be closed up, so that it does not leak the air when
the shutter member opens the air inflow opening to allow the air to
be drawn into the dust separating unit. Accordingly, the
conventional upright vacuum cleaner as described above is
disadvantageous in that it needs a troublesome operation that the
user should remove the suction hose, which is inserted into the air
inflow opening to close up the slit, from the air inflow opening
when the shutter member closes up the air inflow opening, and
insert and join the suction hose into and to the air inflow opening
again when the shutter member opens the air inflow opening.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0011] The present disclosure has been developed in order to solve
the above described and other problems in the related art.
Accordingly, an aspect of the present disclosure is to provide an
upright vacuum cleaner capable of sterilizing bacilli or house dust
mites included in air drawn into the dust separating unit while
simplifying the construction and operation of the upright vacuum
cleaner.
[0012] The above aspect is achieved by providing a vacuum cleaner
including: a body assembly including a dust separating unit having
an air inflow part to draw in air and an air outflow part to
discharge the air, and a motor chamber communicated with the air
outflow part and having a suction motor mounted therein; a suction
brush connected to a lower end of the body assembly to draw in an
external air; a suction hose connected between the suction brush
and the air inflow part of the dust separating unit to guide the
external air drawn in by the suction brush to the air inflow part;
and a sterilizing unit to sterilize bacilli or house dust mites in
the air drawn into the dust separating unit through the suction
brush and the suction hose, The sterilizing unit includes a hot air
circulating duct disposed between the motor chamber and the air
inflow part of the dust separating unit to guide air discharged
through the air outflow part of the dust separating unit from the
motor chamber to the air inflow part of the dust separating unit,
and an air passage switching part disposed at a place where the air
inflow part, the suction hose and the hot air circulating duct
intersect and movable between a cleaning position and a sterilizing
position to switch a flow of air, the cleaning position being a
position where the air passage switching part blocks off between
the air inflow part and the hot air circulating duct and the
sterilizing position being a position where the air passage
switching part blocks off between the air inflow part and the
suction hose.
[0013] Here, the air passage switching part may include a manifold
having first, second and third connecting openings connected with
the air inflow part, the suction hose and the hot air circulating
duct to communicate therewith, respectively, a valve member
rotatably disposed in the manifold to be positionable in a cleaning
position of closing up the third connecting opening or a
sterilizing position of closing up the second connecting opening
according to an angle of rotation thereof, and a knob connected to
the valve member to rotate the valve member. At this time,
preferably, but not necessarily, the manifold is made up of a
cylindrical tube element having the first, second and third
connecting openings disposed in an angle of 90.degree. to one
another on an circumferential surface thereof, and the valve member
is made up of a cut-away sleeve having an circumferential surface,
almost all area of which is cut away with only an area capable of
closing up at least one of the first, second and third connecting
openings remained.
[0014] The sterilizing unit may further include a temperature
detecting sensor to detect a temperature of air guided to the dust
separating unit through the hot air circulating duct and to stop
driving of the suction motor when the detected temperature is above
a predetermined temperature. The temperature detecting sensor may
be a thermostat or a thermistor. At this time, preferably, but not
necessarily, the predetermined temperature is more than 56 degrees
Celsius (.degree. C.), more particularly, 63-67.degree. C.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES
[0015] The above aspects and other advantages of the present
disclosure will be more apparent by describing exemplary embodiment
of the present disclosure with reference to the accompanying
drawing figures, in which:
[0016] FIG. 1 is a perspective view exemplifying a construction of
an upright vacuum cleaner according to an exemplary embodiment of
the present disclosure;
[0017] FIG. 2 is a partially exploded perspective view of the
vacuum cleaner illustrated in FIG. 1;
[0018] FIGS. 3A and 3B are side elevations exemplifying an
operation of a sterilizing unit of the vacuum cleaner illustrated
in FIG. 2;
[0019] FIGS. 4A and 4B are partially cut-away perspective views
taken along line IV-IV of FIGS. 3A and 3B, respectively;
[0020] FIGS. 5A and 5B are perspective views exemplifying the
operation of the sterilizing unit of the vacuum cleaner illustrated
in FIG. 2; and
[0021] FIG. 6 is a perspective view exemplifying a construction of
a valve member of an air passage switching part of the sterilizing
unit illustrated in FIGS. 5A and 5B.
[0022] Throughout the drawings, like reference numerals will be
understood to refer to like parts, components and structures.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENT
[0023] Hereinafter, an upright vacuum cleaner according to an
exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure will now be
described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying
drawing figures.
[0024] FIGS. 1 and 2 are a perspective view and an exploded
perspective view exemplifying an upright vacuum cleaner according
to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0025] As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the upright vacuum cleaner
1 according to the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure
includes a body assembly 10, a suction brush 20, a suction hose 30,
and a sterilizing unit 40.
[0026] The body assembly 10 is provided with a front body 12 and a
rear body 14. The front body 12 has a dust separating unit 16
formed at an upper part thereof. The dust separating unit 16 has a
cyclone 17 and a dust bin 18 detachably disposed under the cyclone
17. Since constructions of the cyclone 17 and the dust bin 18 are
the same as those of the conventional ones, a detailed description
thereof will be omitted.
[0027] An inflow pipe 19 is formed as an air inflow part on one
side of a lower part of the cyclone 17 in the rear body 14. The
inflow pipe 19 is communicated with the suction brush 20 through
the suction hose 30 and an air passage switching part 42 of the
sterilizing unit 40 to be described later, and communicated with an
outlet side of the motor chamber 13 through the air passage
switching part 42 and a hot air circulating duct 44. A discharging
pipe 21 is formed as an air discharging part on one side of an
upper part of the cyclone 17 in the rear body 14. The discharging
pipe 21 is communicated with an inlet side of the motor chamber 13
through a connecting pipe 22.
[0028] The motor chamber 13 is formed under the front body 12 and
the rear body 14 when they are joined with each other. In the motor
chamber 12 is mounted a suction motor 15, which generates a suction
force. On a front surface of the front body 12 is formed an air
discharging opening (not illustrated), which discharges air
discharged from the outlet side of the motor chamber 13.
[0029] The suction brush 20 is rotatably joined with a lower side
of the body assembly 10. The suction hose 30 guides an external air
drawn in by the suction brush 20 to the air passage switching part
42 connected to the inflow pipe 19 of the cyclone 17 in the rear
body 14.
[0030] The suction hose 30 at an upper end thereof is detachably
joined to a manifold 46 of the air passage switching part 42 by a
connecting socket 47 formed on a second connecting opening 46b of
the manifold 46. The suction hose 30 at a lower end thereof is also
detachably joined to a connecting tube 26, which is installed on an
upper side of the suction brush 20 to communicate with the suction
brush 20. Accordingly, as occasion demands, a user can separate the
lower end of the suction hose 30 from the connecting tube 26 and
join various accessories (not illustrated) to the lower end of the
suction hose 30.
[0031] The sterilizing unit 40, which sterilizes bacilli or house
dust mites included in air drawn into the dust separating unit 16
through the suction brush 20 and the suction hose 30 by using a
heat of the suction motor 15, is installed in the rear body 14 of
the body assembly 10. The sterilizing unit 40 is provided with a
hot air circulating duct 44 and an air passage switching part
42.
[0032] The hot air circulating duct 44 is installed between the
inflow pipe 19 of the cyclone 17 of the dust separating unit 16 and
the outlet side of the motor chamber 13 communicating with the air
discharging opening of the front body 12, and guides the air
discharged through the outflow pipe 21 of the cyclone 17 to the
inflow pipe 19 of the cyclone 17 from the outlet side of the motor
chamber 13 in a sterilizing mode of the vacuum cleaner 1.
[0033] The air passage switching part 42 is installed at a place
where the inflow pipe 19, the suction hose 30, and the hot air
circulating duct 44 intersect to one another. The air passage
switching part 42 is movable to locate between a cleaning position
(see FIGS. 3A, 4A, and 5A) and a sterilizing position (see FIGS.
3B, 4B, and 5B), so that it switches a flow of air. As illustrated
in FIG. 4A, the cleaning position is a position where the air
passage switching part 42 blocks off between the inflow pipe 19 and
the hot air circulating duct 44 and communicates the inflow pipe 19
with the suction hose 30, and as illustrated in FIG. 4B, the
sterilizing position is a position where the air passage switching
part 42 blocks off between the inflow pipe 19 and the suction hose
30 and communicates the inflow pipe 19 with the hot air circulating
duct 44.
[0034] As illustrated in FIGS. 5A through 6, the air passage
switching part 42 is made up of a manifold 46, a valve member 48,
and a knob 49. The manifold 46 is provided with first, second and
third connecting openings 46a, 46b, and 46c, which are communicated
and joined with the inflow pipe 19, the suction hose 30 and the hot
air circulating duct 44, respectively. Here, preferably, but not
necessarily, the manifold 46 is formed of a cylindrical tube
element having the first, the second and the third connecting
openings 46a, 46b and 46c disposed in an angle of 90.degree. to one
another on an circumferential surface thereof. The valve member 48
according to an angle of rotation thereof is positioned at the
cleaning position (see FIGS. 3A, 4A and 5A) where it closes up the
third connecting opening 46c of the manifold 46 and opens the first
and the second connecting openings 46a and 46b and the sterilizing
position (see FIGS. 3B, 4B and 5B) where it closes up the second
connecting opening 46b and opens the first and the third connecting
openings 46a and 46c. As illustrated in FIG. 6, preferably, but not
necessarily, the valve member 48 is formed of a cut-away sleeve
having an circumferential surface, almost all area of which is cut
away with only an area capable of closing up at least one of the
first, the second and the third connecting openings 46a, 46b and
46c of the manifold 46 remained. The knob 49, which rotates the
valve member 48, is integrally formed with the valve member 48.
[0035] Accordingly, as illustrated in FIGS. 3A, 4A and 5A, to
operate the vacuum cleaner 1 in a general cleaning mode, if the
user rotates the valve member 48 to the cleaning position through
the knob 49, the valve member 48 closes up the third connecting
opening 46c of the manifold 46 and opens the first and the second
connecting openings 46a and 46c, so that it blocks off between the
inflow pipe 19 and the hot air circulating duct 44 and communicates
between the inflow pipe 19 and the suction hose 30. To the
contrary, as illustrated in FIGS. 3B, 4B and 5B, to operate the
vacuum cleaner 1 in a sterilizing mode, if the user operates the
valve member 48 to the sterilizing position through the knob 49,
the valve member 48 closes up the second connecting opening 46b and
opens the first and the third connecting openings 46a and 46c, so
that it blocks off between the inflow pipe 19 and the suction hose
30 and communicates between the inflow pipe 19 and the hot air
circulating duct 44.
[0036] To prevent inner parts of the vacuum cleaner 1 from being
overheated and deteriorated, the sterilizing unit 40 can further
include a temperature detecting sensor 45 (see FIG. 1), which
detects a temperature of the air guided to the cyclone 17 of the
dust separating unit 16 through the hot air circulating duct 44 and
stops driving of the suction motor 15 when the detected temperature
is above a predetermined temperature. The temperature detecting
sensor 45 is disposed on one side of the inside of the hot air
circulating duct 44, and connected to the suction motor 15 of the
motor chamber 13 through an electric wire. The temperature
detecting sensor 45 can be installed in different proper place,
such as the inflow pipe 19 or the cyclone 17, instead of being
disposed in the hot air circulating duct 44. The temperature
detecting sensor 45 is formed of a thermostat or a thermistor,
which can stops the driving of the suction motor 15 when the
detected temperature is above the predetermined temperature. At
this time, preferably, but not necessarily, the predetermined
temperature that the temperature detecting sensor 45 should stop
the driving of the suction motor 15 is more than 56.degree. C.,
more particularly, 63-67.degree. C.
[0037] Hereinafter, an operation of the upright vacuum cleaner 1
according to the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure
constructed as described above will now be described in detail with
reference to FIGS. 1 through 6.
[0038] First, if the user wants to carry out a general cleaning
mode, she or he rotates the valve member 48 to a cleaning position
by using the knob 49. As a result, the valve member 48 blocks off
between the inflow pipe 19 and the hot air circulating duct 44 and
communicates between the inflow pipe 19 and suction hose 30, as
explained with reference to FIGS. 3A, 4A and 5A.
[0039] Under this state, the user activates the suction motor 15
via an operating switch, which is not illustrated. As a result, an
external air along with dust or dirt is drawn into the suction
brush 20 from a surface to be cleaned. The external air laden with
the dust or dirt drawn into the suction brush 20 flows into the
cyclone 17 of the dust separating unit 16 through the suction hose
30, the air passage switching part 42, and the inflow pipe 19. The
air flowing into the cyclone 17 passes through the cyclone 17, and
then is discharged to the air discharging opening of the front body
12 via the discharging pipe 21, the connecting pipe 22, and the
suction motor 15 of the motor chamber 13. When the air passes
through the cyclone 17, the dust or dirt is separated from the air
by a centrifugal force and collected into and stored in the dust
bin 18.
[0040] After the cleaning operation is completed as described
above, if the user wants to carry out a sterilizing mode, she or he
rotates the valve member 48 to a sterilizing position by using the
knob 49. As a result, the valve member 48 blocks off between the
inflow pipe 19 and the suction hose 30 and communicates between the
inflow pipe 19 and the hot air circulating duct 44, as explained
with reference to FIGS. 3B, 4B and 5B.
[0041] Under this state, the user activates the suction motor 15.
As a result, the air in the cyclone 17 of the dust separating unit
16 is drawn into the motor chamber 13 by the suction motor 15 of
the motor chamber 13. However, since the valve member 48 blocks off
between the inflow pipe 19 and the suction hose 30, no external air
is drawn into the cyclone 17 of the dust separating unit 16.
Accordingly, a negative pressure greatly lower than an atmospheric
pressure outside the air discharging opening of the front body 12
is applied in the cyclone 17 of the dust separating unit 16. As a
result, almost none of the air flowing into the suction motor 15 of
the motor chamber 13 is discharged to the outside through the
discharging opening of the front body 12, but is moved again to the
cyclone 17 of the dust separating unit 16 through the hot air
circulating duct 44. While the air of the dust separating unit 16
is continuously recirculated in the body assembly 11 as described
above, the circulating air is heated by a heat generating from the
suction motor 15. As the air is heated to reach a temperature of
approximately 56.degree. C., bacilli or house dust mites included
in the air or the dust or dirt collected in the dust bin 18 are
sterilized. When the sterilizing operation as described above is
continued for approximately 3-4 minutes, a temperature of the air
is increased beyond a predetermined temperature, that is, more than
56.degree. C., more particularly, 63-67.degree. C., of the
temperature detecting sensor 45. Then, the temperature detecting
sensor 45 stops driving of the suction motor 15. As a result, the
sterilizing operation is completed.
[0042] As apparent from the foregoing description, according to the
exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the upright vacuum
cleaner has the air passage switching part, which is switched
between the cleaning position of blocking off between the air
inflow part of the dust separating unit and the hot air circulating
duct and the sterilizing position of blocking off between the air
inflow part and the suction hose by a hand of the user, so that the
flow of air is changed. Accordingly, if the air passage switching
part is rotated to the sterilizing position by the user, the air
discharged through the air discharging part of the dust separating
unit is recirculated to the dust separating unit through the hot
air circulating duct due to the suction force of the suction motor,
so that it is heated by the heat generating from the suction motor.
As a result, the bacilli or the house dust mites included in the
air or the dust or dirt in the dust separating unit is sterilized.
As described above, the upright vacuum cleaner according to the
exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure not only has the air
passage switching part with the construction simplified, so that
the user can operate rotating it with her or his hand, but also
does not needs the troublesome operation that as in the
conventional vacuum cleaner, the user should remove the suction
hose from the air inflow opening when the shutter member closes up
the air inflow opening, and insert and join the suction hose into
and to the air inflow opening again when the shutter member opens
the air inflow opening.
[0043] Although representative exemplary embodiment of the present
disclosure has been shown and described in order to exemplify the
principle of the present disclosure, the present disclosure is not
limited to the specific exemplary embodiment. It will be understood
that various modifications and changes can be made by one skilled
in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the
disclosure as defined by the appended claims. Therefore, it shall
be considered that such modifications, changes and equivalents
thereof are all included within the scope of the present
disclosure.
* * * * *