U.S. patent application number 12/740763 was filed with the patent office on 2010-10-21 for floor vacuum cleaner.
This patent application is currently assigned to MIELE & CIE. KG. Invention is credited to Christian Finke, Volker Gerth, Dirk Wegener.
Application Number | 20100263159 12/740763 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 40262129 |
Filed Date | 2010-10-21 |
United States Patent
Application |
20100263159 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Finke; Christian ; et
al. |
October 21, 2010 |
FLOOR VACUUM CLEANER
Abstract
A canister vacuum cleaner includes a housing, a suction hose
connectable to the housing, a vacuum attachment, and a suction
wand. The suction wand includes at least an upper wand section and
a lower wand section that can be separated from one another, an
upper end of the upper wand section being couplable with the
suction hose, a lower end of a lower wand section being couplable
with the vacuum attachment, at least one of the lower wand section
and the vacuum attachment being configured to be held to the
housing in a parked position by a first connector, a second
connector being disposed on the upper wand section and attachable
to the lower wand section.
Inventors: |
Finke; Christian;
(Bielefeld, DE) ; Gerth; Volker; (Bielefeld,
DE) ; Wegener; Dirk; (Bielefeld, DE) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Leydig, Voit & Mayer, Ltd. (Frankfurt office)
Two Prudential Plaza, Suite 4900, 180 North Stetson Avenue
Chicago
IL
60601-6731
US
|
Assignee: |
MIELE & CIE. KG
Guetersloh
DE
|
Family ID: |
40262129 |
Appl. No.: |
12/740763 |
Filed: |
October 16, 2008 |
PCT Filed: |
October 16, 2008 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/EP08/08777 |
371 Date: |
April 30, 2010 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
15/328 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47L 9/0045 20130101;
A47L 9/0009 20130101; A47L 5/362 20130101; A47L 9/248 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
15/328 |
International
Class: |
A47L 5/00 20060101
A47L005/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Oct 30, 2007 |
DE |
10 2007 052 028.1 |
Claims
1-7. (canceled)
8. A canister vacuum cleaner comprising: a housing; a suction hose
connectable to the housing; a vacuum attachment; and a suction wand
including at least an upper wand section and a lower wand section
that can be separated from one another, an upper end of the upper
wand section being couplable with the suction hose, a lower end of
a lower wand section being couplable with the vacuum attachment, at
least one of the lower wand section and the vacuum attachment being
configured to be held to the housing in a parked position by a
first connector, a second connector being disposed on the upper
wand section and attachable to the lower wand section in such a way
that the upper and lower wand sections, when separated, can be held
to the housing in the parked position in a side-by-side
relationship along respective lengths thereof, the second connector
including a sleeve surrounding the upper end of the upper wand
section.
9. The canister vacuum cleaner as recited in claim 8, wherein a
first release button is disposed at the upper end of the upper wand
section and protrudes through a first cutout in the sleeve.
10. The canister vacuum cleaner as recited in claim 8, wherein the
second connector includes a holding cap configured to be disposed
on the upper end of the lower wand section.
11. The canister vacuum cleaner as recited in claim 10, wherein the
holding cap has a closed configuration.
12. The canister vacuum cleaner as recited in claim 11, wherein a
further cutout is provided for a second release button disposed at
the upper end of the lower wand section.
13. The canister vacuum cleaner as recited in claim 8, wherein the
second connector is a single component.
14. The canister vacuum cleaner as recited in claim 13, wherein the
single component includes plastic.
15. The canister vacuum cleaner as recited in claim 8, further
comprising a handle, wherein the upper end of the upper wand
section is couplable with the handle.
16. A canister vacuum cleaner comprising: a housing; a suction hose
connectable to the housing; a handle; a vacuum attachment; and a
suction wand including at least an upper wand section and a lower
wand section that can be separated from one another, an upper end
of the upper wand section being couplable with the handle, a lower
end of a lower wand section being couplable with the vacuum
attachment, at least one of the lower wand section and the vacuum
attachment being configured to be held to the housing in a parked
position by a first connector, a second connector being disposed on
the handle and attachable to the lower wand section in such a way
that the upper and lower wand sections, when separated, can be held
to the housing in the parked position in a side-by-side
relationship along respective lengths thereof, the second connector
including a sleeve surrounding the upper end of the upper wand
section.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a U.S. National Phase application under
35 U.S.C. .sctn.371 of International Application No.
PCT/EP2008/008777, filed on Oct. 16, 2008, and which claims the
benefit of German Patent Application No. DE 10 2007 052 028.1,
filed on Oct. 30, 2007. The International Patent Application was
published in German on May 7, 2009 as WO 2009/056234 A1.
FIELD
[0002] The present invention relates to a canister vacuum cleaner
including a housing, a suction hose connectable thereto, an
optional handle, a suction wand, and a vacuum attachment; the
suction wand including at least two sections that can be separated
from one another; the upper end of an upper wand section being able
to be coupled to the suction hose or the handle, and the lower end
of a lower wand section being able to be coupled to the vacuum
attachment; and the lower wand section or the vacuum attachment
being able to be held to the housing in a parked position by first
holding means.
BACKGROUND
[0003] It is described in DE 40 36 314 C2, for example, to provide
canister vacuum cleaners with holding means on the housing and on
the suction wand or the base unit, which holding means interact to
hold the wand to the housing in a parked position after completion
of the vacuuming operation. In this position, the upper end of the
suction wand and the suction hose connected thereto project far
beyond the housing of the vacuum cleaner. This increases the amount
of space required for storing the vacuum cleaner, making it
impossible to store it in a cabinet or other confined space.
[0004] In German Patent DE 40 36 314 C2, the suction wand is a
single piece. However, there are also known suction wands which are
formed of two or more separable sections coupled together by a
push-fit connection.
[0005] From German Patent Application DE 100 39 186 A1 it is
described to use a suction wand commonly known as telescoping wand,
in which individual wand members are capable of sliding within one
another. This makes it possible to reduce the overall height needed
for storage in the parked position. In comparison with suction
wands having a push fit connection, telescoping wands have the
disadvantages of being more expensive to manufacture and of having
poorer sealing efficiency between the individual wand sections,
which results in losses in suction power.
SUMMARY
[0006] In an embodiment, the present invention provides a canister
vacuum cleaner including a housing; a suction hose connectable to
the housing; a vacuum attachment; and a suction wand including at
least an upper wand section and a lower wand section that can be
separated from one another. An upper end of the upper wand section
is couplable with the suction hose and a lower end of a lower wand
section is couplable with the vacuum attachment. At least one of
the lower wand section and the vacuum attachment are configured to
be held to the housing in a parked position by a first connector. A
second connector is disposed on the upper wand section and
attachable to the lower wand section in such a way that the upper
and lower wand sections, when separated, can be held to the housing
in the parked position in a side-by-side relationship along
respective lengths thereof. The second connector includes a sleeve
surrounding the upper end of the upper wand section.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] An exemplary embodiment of the present invention is shown in
the drawings in a purely schematic way and will be described in
more detail below. In the drawing,
[0008] FIG. 1 shows a vacuum cleaner configured in accordance with
the present invention in the parked position and with the wand
sections coupled together;
[0009] FIG. 2 shows a vacuum cleaner configured in accordance with
the present invention in the parked position and with the wand
sections separated;
[0010] FIGS. 3a through d illustrate a wand holder in various
views;
[0011] FIGS. 4a, b show the wand holder along with the wand
sections and a handle in two views.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0012] In an embodiment, the invention provides a vacuum cleaner in
which the suction wand can be stored in a parked position in a
simple and space-saving manner using inexpensive means.
[0013] Advantages of the invention result from reducing the overall
height in the parked position.
[0014] FIG. 1 shows a canister vacuum cleaner 1 having a housing 2.
Housing cover 3 is provided with an inlet connector 4, to which a
flexible suction hose 5 is connected in a known manner. Suction
hose 5 is in turn coupled to a curved tubular handle 6, which is
connected to a suction wand 7. Suction wand 7 includes two sections
8 and 9 which are coupled together and which can be separated from
one another, as shown in FIG. 2. Handle 6 and upper wand section 9
are also separable from each other. In order to prevent handle 6
from becoming detached from upper wand section 9, and to prevent
upper wand section 9 from becoming detached from lower wand section
8, there are provided locking devices (not shown in greater detail)
which can be released via a first release button 10 at upper end 91
of upper wand section 9 and a second release button 11 at upper end
81 of lower wand section 8, respectively. Connected to lower end 82
of lower wand section 8 is a vacuum attachment in the form of a
floor nozzle 12. In both Figures, lower wand section 8 and vacuum
attachment 12 are held to vacuum cleaner housing 2 in a parked
position by first connector 14 not shown in greater detail. To this
end, canister vacuum cleaner 1 is placed in an upright, standing
position. Alternative or additional holding means may allow for a
parked position on a housing 2 that is in an operational state;
i.e., standing on wheels 13.
[0015] In order to allow the canister vacuum cleaner to be stored
in the position shown in FIG. 2, where its overall height is
significantly reduced as compared to the position shown in FIG. 1
(with wand sections 8 and 9 coupled together), upper end 91 of
upper wand section 9 has mounted thereto a further connector 100
which, after separating the two wand sections 8 and 9, can be
attached to upper end 81 of lower wand section 8, so that the two
wand sections 8 and 9 can be held to housing 2 in the parked
position in side-by-side relationship in a space-saving manner.
[0016] Further connector 100 is shown in detail in the various
views of FIGS. 3a through d. The further holding means is a single
component which is preferably made from plastic and includes a
sleeve 101 and a holding cap 102, which are connected by two webs
103 and 104. Sleeve 101 is attached to upper end 91 of upper wand
section 9 (see also FIG. 1 and FIGS. 4a and b in this regard). The
attachment is accomplished by a first cutout 105 surrounding first
release button 10 in a form-locking manner. In order to remove the
entire connector 100 from upper wand section 9, sleeve 101 must be
forced downward along wand section 9. As a result, the two inwardly
directed retaining noses 106 and 107 are urged outwardly, thereby
releasing release button 10. Holding cap 102 has a closed top 108
and a peripheral rim 109 to be slipped over the upper end of the
lower wand section (see FIG. 1 and FIG. 4b). In the process, a
further cutout 110 surrounds at least a portion of second release
button 11, providing a form fit which retains upper wand section 9
in a defined position.
[0017] The present invention is not limited to the exemplary
embodiment described hereinabove. For example, the further
connector may be disposed on the handle. Alternatively, the handle
may be omitted or integrally formed in one piece with the upper
wand section. The suction wand may be formed of three or more
sections, with or without a handle.
[0018] While the invention has been described with reference to the
particular embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those
having ordinary skill in the art that various changes may be made
therein without departing from the scope and spirit of the
invention. Further, the present invention is not limited to the
embodiments described herein; reference should be had to the
appended claims.
* * * * *