U.S. patent application number 12/581771 was filed with the patent office on 2011-04-21 for hand-held vacuum lint remover.
Invention is credited to Tae Sup Kim.
Application Number | 20110088204 12/581771 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 43878176 |
Filed Date | 2011-04-21 |
United States Patent
Application |
20110088204 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Kim; Tae Sup |
April 21, 2011 |
Hand-Held Vacuum Lint Remover
Abstract
A vacuum lint remover for removing lint and dust from clothing
and fabric objects, comprises: a housing including a head portion
with an inlet opening for taking air there-through, and a handle
portion extending laterally from the head portion and configured to
be held with a hand; an impeller received in the head portion of
the housing to provide an air flow upon rotation; an actuator
(e.g., an electric motor) disposed adjacent to the impeller and
adapted to rotate the impeller; a battery compartment in the handle
portion of the housing, the battery compartment configured to
receive a battery therein to operate the actuator; and a dust
container detachably attached to a bottom portion of the handle
portion of the housing, the dust container having a front opening
for receiving the air flow from the impeller, and at least one
window to discharge the air there-from, the dust container having a
filtering or screening member disposed at the window to filter dust
and foreign materials while allowing the air discharge from the
window.
Inventors: |
Kim; Tae Sup; (Sunnyside,
NY) |
Family ID: |
43878176 |
Appl. No.: |
12/581771 |
Filed: |
October 19, 2009 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
15/347 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47L 5/24 20130101; A47L
9/02 20130101; A47L 25/08 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
15/347 |
International
Class: |
A47L 9/10 20060101
A47L009/10 |
Claims
1. A vacuum lint remover for removing dust, lint and foreign
materials from clothing and fabric objects, comprising: a housing
including a head portion with an inlet opening for taking air
there-through, and a handle portion extending generally laterally
from the head portion and configured to be held with a hand; an
impeller received in the head portion of the housing to provide an
air flow upon rotation; an actuator disposed adjacent to the
impeller and adapted to rotate the impeller; a battery compartment
in the handle portion of the housing, the battery compartment
configured to receive a battery therein to operate the actuator; a
dust container detachably attached to a bottom portion of the
handle portion of the housing, the dust container having a front
opening for receiving the air flow from the impeller, and at least
one hole or window to discharge the air there-from; and a filtering
member disposed at the window to filter dust and foreign materials
while allowing the air discharge from the window.
2. The vacuum lint remover of claim 1, wherein the impeller is a
radial flow type, and the actuator is placed above the impeller and
has a rotation shaft coupled to the impeller for rotation.
3. The vacuum lint remover of claim 1, wherein the head portion has
a vertically extending narrow tip portion, and the inlet opening is
provided at the narrow tip portion.
4. The vacuum lint remover of claim 3, wherein the head portion
includes a generally conical shaped air passage channel in fluid
communication with the inlet opening.
5. The vacuum lint remover of claim 1, further including a brush
disposed at the head portion at a font side of the inlet
opening.
6. The vacuum lint remover of claim 1, further including a dust
escape prevention member disposed at the front opening of the dust
container configured to prevent a reversal flow of the dust and
foreign materials from the dust container.
7. The vacuum lint remover of claim 6, wherein the dust escape
prevention member is made of a resilient and elastic material and
includes one or more cuts formed therein such that a re-closable
opening can be formed in the dust escape prevention member due to
the cuts when the pressure of the air flow from the impeller
reaches at a predetermined level, which opening being re-closing
when the impeller is stopped.
8. The vacuum lint remover of claim 7, wherein the cuts of the dust
escape prevention member each includes a small through holes at the
starting points of the cuts to reinforce the strength of the dust
escape prevention member upon repetitive use.
9. The vacuum lint remover of claim 7, wherein the cuts of the dust
escape prevention member has an "H" shape formed with two vertical
cuts and one horizontal cut.
10. The vacuum lint remover of claim 7, wherein the cuts of the
dust escape prevention member has a generally four-pointed star or
cross shape formed with slanted or diagonally oriented cuts.
11. The vacuum lint remover of claim 1, wherein the handle portion
of the housing includes an on-off switch electrically connected to
the battery to turn on or off the operation of the actuator, the
on-off switch positioned at a front side of the handle portion to
facilitate the on-off operation with a thumb of the user as the
user operates the vacuum lint remover while holding the handle
portion of the housing with a hand.
12. The vacuum lint remover of claim 1, wherein the dust container
has a generally rectangular shape with its dimension generally the
same or similar to the handle portion.
13. The vacuum lint remover of claim 1, wherein an upper side of
the dust container includes an opening to facilitate discharge of
the dust and foreign materials stored in the dust container.
14. The vacuum lint remover of claim 13, wherein the dust container
includes an engagement portion configured to releasably engage with
a corresponding one at the bottom portion of the handle
portion.
15. The vacuum lint remover of claim 1, wherein the battery is a
rechargeable type.
16. The vacuum lint remover of claim 1, further including a
foldable plug disposed at a rear portion of the handle portion, the
foldable plug configured to connect an electric source when
unfolded, to recharge the battery.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a hand-held vacuum lint
remover for removing lint, dust, and foreign materials from the
clothing or fabric objects to clean them.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] A vacuum lint remover is a device known for severing and
removing lint or foreign materials from the clothing. Examples
include a lint removing device having an externally-powered
electric motor employed or connected in the device, in which the
electric motor rotates brushes and the vacuum generating fan as
well to remove lint and dust from the object clothing while
brushing the same to facilitate the removing of lint. However, such
conventional lint removing devices are generally bulky and have a
limited portability in use since an electric cord needs to be
attached to the device. Moreover, the lint remover with such
rotating brushes incorporate many machine elements such as gear
trains and rotary shafts to make the brushes in appropriate speed,
and thus, the manufacturing cost for the device becomes relatively
high.
[0003] For another example, another type of lint removers is known,
which incorporates rotating scrapers (or cutting blades) positioned
inside a stationary cover having holes on its surface for receiving
the pilled materials there-through in order to sever the pilled
materials by the rotating scrapers. In this device, the interior
surface of the stationary cover functions as a stationary scraper
to cut the lint or pilled materials in cooperation with the
inwardly positioned rotating scrapers, in a manner generally
similar to the conventional mechanism of electric savers.
Accordingly, with this structure the pilled materials (e..,
residual or matted fibers, wools, other fabrics, dust, etc.) can be
stuck inside or tangled over the narrow space between the rotating
scrapers and the stationary cover, and thus, hindering the severing
operation of the rotating scrapers. Moreover, this type of lint
removing device requires a higher machining accuracy in producing
the rotating scrapers and corresponding stationary covers, thus,
requiring a higher manufacturing cost.
[0004] Moreover, conventional lint removers typically include a
complex structure for storing the lint in the device, attaching and
detaching the lint container to and from the lint remover after
dumping or removing the stored lint from the container.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] In order to solve the above described and other shortcomings
or drawbacks known in the conventional vacuum lint removers, the
present invention provides a vacuum lint remover with a compact and
portable design to be conveniently held with a hand and also for
easy operation by the user. The lint remover of the invention also
provides an effective design for the dust container which is
detachably attached onto the hand grip portion of the device, in
which the grip portion is adapted to receive a rechargeable
battery, thus, making the device more compact, while also enabling
an easy operation of the device in use. Moreover, with the
detachable dust container structure, the dust container of the lint
remover is easily attached to and detached from the handle portion
of the device to remove the stored dust from the container.
Moreover, with the resilient dust escape prevention member (one-way
valve), the lint remover of the invention can also be used without
fearing the risks of the leakage or escape of the stored dust
through the inlet opening.
[0006] According to one preferred embodiment of the present
invention, a vacuum lint remover comprises: a housing including a
head portion with an inlet opening for taking air there-through,
and a handle portion extending generally laterally from the head
portion and configured to be held with a hand; an impeller received
in the head portion of the housing to provide an air flow upon
rotation; an actuator (e.g., an electric motor) disposed adjacent
to the impeller and adapted to rotate the impeller; a battery
compartment in the handle portion of the housing, the battery
compartment configured to receive a battery therein to operate the
actuator; and a dust container detachably attached to a bottom
portion of the handle portion of the housing, the dust container
having a front opening for receiving the air flow from the
impeller, and at least one window to discharge the air there-from,
the dust container having a filtering or screening member disposed
at the window to filter dust and foreign materials while allowing
the air discharge from the window.
[0007] According to one preferred embodiment, the impeller is
preferably of a radial flow type, and the actuator is placed above
the impeller and has a rotation shaft coupled to the impeller. The
head portion preferably has a vertically extending narrow tip
portion, and the inlet opening can be provided at the narrow tip
portion, with a brush is disposed at the font side of the inlet
opening to facilitate removing of the foreign materials and dust
from the object clothing.
[0008] According to another preferred embodiment, the vacuum lint
remover further includes a dust escape prevention member,
preferably made of elastic rubber or other resilient and elastic
materials, which is disposed at the front opening of the dust
container and configured to prevent a reversal flow of the dust and
foreign materials from the dust container. The dust escape
prevention member can include one or more cuts formed therein such
that a re-closable opening can be formed in the dust escape
prevention member due to the cuts when the pressure of the air flow
from the impeller reaches at a predetermined level, wherein the
opening is to be re-closed when the impeller is stopped.
[0009] The handle portion of the housing preferably includes an
on-off switch electrically connected to the battery to turn on or
off the operation of the actuator, the on-off switch positioned at
a front side of the handle portion to facilitate the on-off
operation with a thumb of the user as the user operates the vacuum
lint remover while holding the handle portion of the housing with a
hand. In addition, the handle portion of the housing can include a
foldable plug, preferably at a rear portion of the handle portion,
wherein the foldable plug is configured to connect an electric
source when unfolded, in order to recharge the battery.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] The above described and other objects, features and
advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the
presently preferred embodiments of the invention disclosed in the
following description and illustrated in the accompanying drawings,
in which:
[0011] FIG. 1 is a partially cross-sectional side view of the
vacuum lint remover according to one preferred embodiment of the
invention;
[0012] FIG. 2 is a partially cross-sectional bottom view of the
vacuum lint remover as shown in FIG. 1;
[0013] FIG. 3 is a partially taken, cross-section view taken along
line 3-3 in FIG. 1;
[0014] FIG. 4 is a front perspective view of a one-way valve for
the vacuum lint remover, according to one preferred embodiment of
the present invention; and
[0015] FIG. 5 is a front perspective view of a one-way valve for
the vacuum lint remover, according to another preferred embodiment
of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0016] Referring to FIGS. 1-5 of the drawings, the vacuum lint
removers of the present invention are described herein in details
with preferred embodiments thereof. However, the following
descriptions of such embodiments are intended primarily for
illustrating the principles and exemplary constructions of the
vacuum lint removers of the present invention, and the present
invention is not specifically limited to these exemplary
embodiments. Thus, one skilled in the art can appreciate or
recognize that various modifications and substitutions can be made
thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the present
invention.
[0017] With reference to FIGS. 1-2, the vacuum lint remover 100
includes a housing 110 for retaining the components of the device
therein which will be described below in details. The housing 110
consists generally of a front or head portion 110a and a rear or
handle portion 110b, with the handle portion 110b extending
generally laterally from the head portion 110a as shown. The head
portion 110a includes impeller housing 112 for receiving an
impeller 130 therein, and motor housing 114 for receiving an
actuator (e.g., electric motor 140) therein. The impeller housing
112 preferably has a generally beak or bill-like shape with a
narrow downward protrusion or tip portion 116 defining an inlet
opening 118 which is shaped to facilitate the introduction of the
external air and foreign materials (such as lint, residual fabrics,
fibers, and dust) from the clothing to clean it. The inlet opening
118 is generally shaped to have a narrow but relatively wide
opening, for example, a wide rectangular opening as shown in FIG.
2. The impeller housing 112 further defines therein an air passage
channel 120 having a generally conical shape as shown in FIG. 1.
However, the tip portion 116, the inlet 118, and the air passage
channel 120 can have other shapes known in the art, other than the
shapes as shown in the drawings, as long as they can facilitate the
introduction of the air and lint mixture from the object
clothing.
[0018] In order to facilitate the removal of lint, dust, and other
foreign objects from the clothing, a brush 124, preferably formed
with a plurality of bristles of suitable length, is provided in the
tip portion 116. As in the present embodiment as shown, the brush
124 is preferably provided on a front or distal side 117 of the tip
portion 116. Thus, the lint and dust on the clothing is easily
gathered toward the inlet area 118 when the user pulls and scrub
the device 100 (while holding the device in the orientation as
shown in FIG. 1) along the clothing placed below and toward the
user. Accordingly, with the brush 124, it can facilitate the intake
of the removed foreign materials through the inlet opening 118.
[0019] Impeller 130 is rotatably connected to a rotating shaft 142
of motor 140 which is positioned inside the housing 114 and
electrically connected to one or more batteries (not shown) placed
inside a battery compartment 150. The impeller 130 is a radial flow
type configured to blow the air (with dust) "A" from the front
axial side of the impeller toward the lateral or radial side of the
impeller as illustrated in FIG. 1. The battery to be received in
the battery compartment 150 is preferably of rechargeable type
having a suitable power to rotate the motor 140. However,
non-rechargeable type batteries can alternatively be used. When
using the rechargeable type batteries, the rear end portion of the
battery compartment 150 is adapted to connect to an electric
source. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, an electric plug,
preferably of foldable type plug 160, is provided at the rear end
of the battery compartment 150 to plug into an electric source
after unfolding it in order to charge the rechargeable battery. An
on-off switch 155 is provided at a front side end portion of the
battery compartment 150 at a suitable location to reach with a
thumb of the user as the user hold the handle portion (i.e., the
battery compartment 150 and the dust container 170 to be described
below) with a hand to operate the motor 140 with the switch
155.
[0020] Dust container 170 is provided at a bottom portion of the
battery compartment 150 for storing lint, dust, and other foreign
materials removed from the clothing by operation of the impeller
130. The dust container 170 and the battery compartment 150
together have a generally rectangular box shape (working as a
handle) with suitable size to be held with a hand. The left side
end of the dust container 170 is open to enable the introduction of
the air "A" from the impeller 130 and to store the dust in the dust
container 170. The air "A" flows within the dust container 170 and
exits through holes or windows 172 provided at the wall of the dust
container 170. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the windows 172 are
preferably provided at the rear side portion and the rear end
portion of the dust container 170 to facilitate the air flow. Air
filters or screen members 180 are attached to the inner side of the
windows 172 in order to allow the air "A" to exit from the windows
172, while preventing the dust and lint from escaping from the
windows 172. With this structure, lint and dust can effectively be
stored and accumulated within the dust container 170. The upper
side of the generally rectangular shaped dust container 170 is
preferably open (as shown in FIG. 3) in order to facilitate
discharging or dumping of the stored lint and dust from the dust
container 170 after using the device. However, in another
embodiment, the upper side of the dust container 170 can be closed
with a thin wall portion. In this alternative embodiment, the
discharging of the stored lint and dust can be accomplished through
the opening at the left side end of the dust container 170.
[0021] The dust container 170 is detachably attached to the bottom
portion of the battery compartment 150 as illustrated in FIG. 3.
For realizing the detachable attachment, the bottom wall of the
battery compartment, or its equivalent structural wall member of
the housing 110, includes at least a pair of protrusions 176, and
the dust container 170 has corresponding pairs of engagements 178
for releasably catching the protrusions 176. With this or other
known engagement structure, the dust container can be readily and
securely attached to and detached from the bottom portion of the
battery compartment 150.
[0022] According to one preferred embodiment, a one-way valve or
dust escape prevention member 190 is provided between the outlet
opening of the impeller housing 112 and the open side of the
detachable dust container 170 as shown in FIG. 1 (see also FIG. 3).
The dust escape prevention member 190 is preferably made of a
resilient and elastic member (e.g., elastic rubber) into a thin
plate shape to provide a resilient and tight sealing at the
junction of the impeller housing 112 and the dust container 170.
The dust escape prevention member 190 has one or more cuts to
provide an opening when the air flow from the impeller 130 exceeds
a predetermined pressure, which is to be reclosed when the impeller
is turned off by operation of the switch 155.
[0023] In one embodiment as shown in FIG. 4, the dust escape
prevention member 190 includes two vertical cuts 192 and 194
located at two lateral sides, and one horizontal cut 193 located
horizontally along the center area of the member 190, and thus,
defining a "H" shape with the cuts. With this structure, the dust
escape prevention member 190 can provide a rectangular opening 195,
as shown in FIG. 3, when the air flow from the impeller 130 exceeds
a predetermined air pressure to push open the flap portions 196 of
the elastic member 190, which opening will be reclosed by the
returning force of the elastic member 190 when the impeller 130 is
turned off. In another embodiment as shown in FIG. 5, the dust
escape prevention member 190a includes diagonal or slanted cuts
197, and thus, defining a cross ("X") or star-like shape with the
cuts. With this structure, the dust escape prevention member 190a
can provide a four-pointed star-like opening (not shown) at the
center when the air flow from the impeller 130 exceeds a
predetermined air pressure to push open the four flap portions 198,
which opening will be reclosed by the returning force of the
elastic member 190a when the impeller 130 is turned off. In this
manner, the dust escape prevention members 190 and 190a function as
a sealing member to prevent an escape or reverse flow of the lint
and dust stored in the dust container 170, and also as a one-way
valve to provide a selective communicating channel or opening to
the inlet side of the duct container 170 to transport the lint and
dust into the dust container for retaining therein without an
accidental discharge to the environment. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5,
the narrow cuts preferably include round through-holes 199 (having
a hole diameter slightly larger than the width of the cuts) at the
starting points of the cuts adjacent to the four corners of the
dust escape prevention members 190 and 190a. Having the round holes
199, the resilient and elastic members 190 and 190a can endure the
repetitive applications of flexing stresses upon repetitive
operation of the impeller for long period of time, without
developing cracks at the starting points of the cuts, and thus,
extending the life time of the elastic members.
[0024] It is also noted that the dust escape prevention member 190
can have various different shapes other than illustrated and
described above as long as they can have the above-stated one-way
valve and dust reverse-flow preventing functions. For example, the
cuts in the dust escape prevention member 190 can have other shapes
than the above-illustrated "H" shape or cross ("X"-like) shapes,
for instance, a "U"-like shape (not shown) with one flap reclosably
openable in operation.
[0025] Accordingly, as described above, the vacuum lint remover of
the present invention is provided with a compact structure and
portable design to be conveniently held with a hand and also for
easy operation by the user. The lint remover of the invention also
provides an effective design for the dust container which is
detachably attached onto the handle portion of the device, in which
the handle portion is adapted to receive a rechargeable battery
therein, thus, making the device more compact, while also enabling
an easy handling of the device in use. Moreover, with the
detachable dust container structure, the dust container of the lint
remover is easily attached to and detached from the handle portion
of the device to remove the stored dust from the container.
Moreover, with the resilient one-way valve (dust escape prevention
member), the lint remover of the invention can also be used without
fearing the risk of the leakage or escape of the stored dust
through the inlet opening.
[0026] The above disclosed embodiments of the invention are
representatives of a presently preferred form of the invention, and
are intended to be illustrative rather than definitive thereof.
Accordingly, those skilled in the art will appreciate or recognize
that various modifications and substitutions can be made thereto
without departing from the spirit and scope of the present
invention as set forth in the appended claims.
* * * * *