EP1708603B1

EP1708603B1 - A vacuum cleaner

Info

Publication number: EP1708603B1
Application number: EP04806637A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Can Arcelik Anonim Sirketi SAR; Gokmen Arcelik Anonim Sirketi FEDAI; Murat Arcelik Anonim Sirketi GOKTAS; Erdem Arcelik Anonim Sirketi BUYUKCAN; Ali Ogulcan Arcelik Anonim Sirketi ILHAN
Original assignee: Arcelik AS
Current assignee: Arcelik AS
Priority date: 2003-12-30
Filing date: 2004-12-29
Publication date: 2012-11-07
Anticipated expiration: 2024-12-29
Also published as: TR200603299T1; EP1708603A1; WO2005065515A1

Description

The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner comprising an easily mountable and demountable cyclone unit placed on the cleaner and which can be cleaned.
Cyclonic separators utilized in vacuum cleaners as discrete units, placed on the suction path, and operating in principle by separating materials of different properties with the aid of centrifugal forces; additionally, increasing life of use of dust collecting chambers and filters. Thus, during the cleaning process, some amount of dust sucked is collected in a separate unit before being sent to the dust bags or filters. Remaining amount of particles is captured again by these dust bags and filters. Preferably, dust accumulated in these units located between the handle and the brush, needs to be prevented from being spread when the vacuum cleaner operates, and after the work is done needs to be easily cleaned by detaching the unit.
In the current state of art, United States Patent US6195835 describes a vacuum cleaner that comprises a cyclone unit, which is attached under a handle and held with a locking mechanism.
State of the art document EP1199023 discloses a vacuum cleaner in accordance with the preamble of claim 1 of this application.
The aim of this invention is to provide a vacuum cleaner comprising a cyclone unit having a dust collecting tub which provides easier discharge of dust accumulated when attaching or detaching during emptying process.
The vacuum cleaner designed to fulfill this aim is illustrated on the attached figures, where:

Fig 1: is a schematic, general view of a vacuum cleaner,
Fig 2: is a perspective view of a fixing clamp,
Fig 3: is a perspective view of a cyclone unit,
Fig 4: is an exploded perspective view of a cyclone unit,
Fig 5: is a perspective view of a cyclone unit where its fixing clamp is open,
Fig 6: is a perspective view of a cyclone unit where its dust collecting tub is removed,
Fig 7: is a perspective view of a cyclone unit where the top and bottom covers of the cyclone body are removed and where all components of the cyclone body are illustrated such that they can be detached.

Components illustrated on the drawings are numbered individually and listed below.

1- Cleaner body
2- Hose
3- Handle
4- Pipe
5- Suction nozzle
6- Cyclone unit
7- Cyclone body
8- Fixing clamp
9- Dust collecting tub
10-Lid of dust collecting tub
11- Washer
12- Inlet of dust collecting tub
13- Outlet of cyclone body
14- Top lid of cyclone body
15- Bottom lid of cyclone body
16- Cover of cyclone body
17- Inner cyclone pipe
18- Suction opening
19- Lock extension
20- Lock nest
21- Locking device
22- Rail
23- Slipway
24- Vacuum cleaner
25- Ring
26- Tail
27- Support

Vacuum cleaners (24) comprise of a cleaner body (1) having a control unit and a motor unit which executes suction operation, a suction nozzle (5) which is utilized for cleaning dirty floors, a hose (2) which is preferably made of plastic material and attached to the cleaner body (1), a handle (3) which is preferably made of plastic material, connected to the hose (2) making it easy for the user to hold the cleaner by hand, a pipe (4) which is preferably made of metal or hard plastic material and is connected to the handle (3), and a cyclone unit (6) which is located between the cleaner body (1) and the suction nozzle (5), attached on the pipe (4) and/or handle (3) and/or hose (2), and provides better storage for dust being sucked.
Cyclone unit (6) includes a cyclone body (7) where other components are assembled on it, an inner cyclone pipe (17) which provides separation of dust moving inside the cyclone body (7), an outlet of cyclone body (13) which provides discharging the dust particles from inside cyclone body (7) to the outside, a dust collecting tub (9) which is placed on the cyclone body (7) and where dust accumulated during cleaning process, an inlet of dust collecting tub (12) that is located on the dust collecting tub (9) and placed across the outlet of cyclone body (13), a washer (11) that provides watertight property between outlet of cyclone body (13) and inlet of dust collecting tub (12), one or more than one rail (22) where a dust collecting tub (9) is connected on and which enables movement for dust collecting tub (9) along cyclone body (7), one or more than one slipway (23) that has a convenient shape and amount for the rail (22) providing movement for dust collecting tub (9) on the rail (22), a lid of dust collecting tub (10) that is placed on the inlet of cyclone body (7) and that prevents dust particles accumulated inside dust collecting tub (9) to escape, top lid of cyclone body (14) that provides lid of dust collecting tub (10) to be stabled on the cyclone body (7), a fixing clamp (8) which enables dust collecting tub (9) to be stabled on cyclone body (7) by rotating on the cyclone body (7) which it is attached to, and which enables it to be opened when it is desired to be locked, a bottom lid of cyclone body (15) that prevents fixing clamp (8) to detach from cyclone body (7) and that provides connection with a pipe (4) from the outlet, one or more than one support (27) that prevents deformations formed by forces acting from different directions on the pipe (4) and/or handle (3) and/or hose (2) attached to the cyclone body (7) and a cover of cyclone body (16) covering over the cyclone body (7) for providing esthetic appearance.
A fixing clamp (8); comprises of a ring (25), preferably with rounded shape, provides placement of the cyclone body (7) over it and provides movement by rotating of cyclone body (7) over its central axis, a tail (26) attached to the ring (25) and placed under the dust collecting tub (9) by moving along with the ring (25), preventing dust collecting tub (9) to detach from the cyclone body (7) and further providing dust collecting tub (9) to detach from the cyclone body (7) by estranging it under the dust collecting tub (9) when it moves along with the ring (25), a locking device (21) providing it to be stabled on the dust collecting tub (9), and one or more than one suction opening (18) that enables rotating movement when the locking device (21) is open.
Dust collecting tub (9) comprises a lock nest (20) which is located on the bottom surface which is covered for the fixing clamp (8) to operate, where the locking device (21) is pushed for placing and locking of the fixing clamp (8) in it, one or more than one lock extension (19) that passes through the suction opening (18) and under circumstances where locking device (21) is detached from the lock nest (20) that detaches the fixing clamp (8) from itself by rotating it over the central axis of the cyclone body (7).
In the application of this present invention, when the dust collecting tub (9) is full, the user detaches it from the lock nest (20) by pressing on the locking device (21) while removing the dust collecting tub (9) from the cyclone body (7). The fixing clamp (8), which is left as unrestricted, is moved by rotating over the central axis of the cyclone body (7). After the fixing clamp (8) is fully detached from the dust collecting tub (9), dust collecting tub (9) is moved by slipping the slipway (23) over the rail (22) in a manner such that it is parallel to the central axis of the cyclone body (7) and dust collecting tub (9) is then detached from the cyclone body (7). In the meantime, since the only suction opening of the dust collecting tub (9) is on the same side with the lid of the dust collecting tub (10), dust collecting tub (9) is detached from the cyclone body (7) without scattering dirt and dust particles around and is inserted back to its place with the help of the slipway (23) which moves on rails (22). After inserting dust collecting tub (9) back to its original place, it is fixed to its place by the fixing clamp (8).
When not only the dust collecting tub (9) but also the cyclone unit (6) is desired to be cleaned, top lid of cyclone body (14) and bottom lid of cyclone body (15) that are connected by screw threads to the ends of cyclone body (7) are easily detached from their locations by rotating them with respect to the central axis of cyclone body (7) and all components on the cyclone body (7) can be demounted and remounted easily in a similar way.
By the present embodiment, dispersing dust particles and dirt accumulated is prevented with the aid of easily detachable and connectible dust collecting tubs (9).

Claims

A vacuum cleaner (24) comprises a cleaner body (1) having a control unit and a motor unit which executes suction operation, a suction nozzle (5) utilized for cleaning dirty floors, and a cyclone unit (6) located between the cleaner body (1) and the suction nozzle (5) and providing better separation of dust particles being sucked, said cyclone unit (6) comprising
• a cyclone body (7) on which all other components of the cyclone unit (6) are assembled,

• a dust collecting tub (9) detachably mounted on the cyclone body (7) and where accumulated dust particles are collected during cleaning process,

• a fixing clamp (8) stabling, locking and if desired unlocking the dust collecting tub (9) by rotating over the cyclone body (7) where it is placed
and characterized in that the cyclone unit (6) further comprises
• one or more than one rail (22) where a dust collecting tub (9) is placed on and enabling dust collecting tub (9) to move over the cyclone body (7) and

• one or more than one slipway (23) compatible with the related rail (22) in form and in number, enabling the dust collecting tub (9) to move on the rail (22).
A vacuum cleaner (24) as described in Claim 1, characterized by a fixing clamp (8) comprising a ring (25) that provides the placement of the cyclone body (7) over the vacuum cleaner (24) and provides rotational movement of the cyclone body (7) around its central axis, a tail (26) attached to the ring (25) which is placed under the dust collecting tub (9) by moving along with the ring (25) and thus preventing dust collecting tub (9) to detach from the cyclone body (7) and further providing dust collecting tub (9) to detach from the cyclone body (7) by moving away from beneath the dust collecting tub (9) by moving along with the ring (25).
A vacuum cleaner (24) as described in any of the above mentioned Claims, characterized by a fixing clamp (8) comprising a locking device (21) providing it to be stabled on the dust collecting tub (9), and one or more than one suction opening (18) that enables rotating movement when the locking device (21) is open.
A vacuum cleaner (24) as described in Claim 3, characterized by a dust collecting tub (9) comprising a lock nest (20) which is located on the bottom surface which is covered for the fixing clamp (8) to operate, where the locking device (21) is pushed for placing and locking of the fixing clamp (8) in it, one or more than one lock extension (19) that passes through the suction opening (18) and under circumstances where locking device (21) is detached from the lock nest (20) that detaches the fixing clamp (8) from itself by rotating it over the central axis of the cyclone body (7).
A vacuum cleaner (24) as described in any of the above mentioned Claims, characterized by a cyclone unit (6) comprising a bottom lid of cyclone body (15) that prevents fixing clamp (8) to detach from the cyclone body (7), without obstructing the rotation of the fixing clamp (8) on the cyclone body (7), and that provides connection from the outlet with a pipe (4).