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(11) | EP 1 252 853 A2 |
| (12) | EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION |
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| (54) | Vacuum cleaner |
| (57) A vacuum cleaner comprises a dust bag (10) mounted in a compartment (12) which is
closed by a removable closure (18) which forms a part of the housing of the cleaner.
The dust bag (10) comprises a cardboard collar (15) around its opening having a tab
(17) which projects into a passageway (19) formed on the under surface of the closure
(18). The passageway is inclined relative to the vertical and thus the tab (17) becomes
trapped as the closure is removed from the cleaner, thereby lifting the bag (10) out
of the cleaner without the need for the user to touch the dirty bag. As the bag (10) is removed, a shutter closes the inlet to the bag (10) to prevent the egress of dust. |
[0002] Vacuum cleaners commonly have a filter or porous paper filter bag for collecting the dirt and dust picked up by the vacuum cleaner. These bags are sealingly mounted inside a compartment in the body of the cleaner and a portion of the housing of the cleaner forms a removable closure, which can be removed to gain access to the compartment to allow the bag to be removed or replaced.
[0003] Canister or cylinder vacuum cleaners are known whereby the closure is completely removable from the cleaner for bag changing. Closures of this type are known whereby the filter bag is mounted to the underside of the closure so that the closure can be used to carry the bag to a point of disposal, thereby avoiding the need for the user to handle the bag, which may be dusty.
[0004] One such closure comprises a catch and a spring which ejects the bag from the closure when an appropriate button is actuated. Such closures are complicated in construction and difficult to use. Moreover the mechanism is liable to fail or malfunction over time.
[0005] Another such closure comprises a catch which engages the bag. In order to release the bag at a point of disposal, the bag has to be impacted against the side of the disposal receptacle. This invariably causes a cloud of dust to be emitted from the bag.
[0007] In accordance with this invention, there is provided a vacuum cleaner comprising a body and a dust bag mounted in compartment formed inside the body and communicating with a dirty air inlet formed in a side wall of the compartment, the top wall of the compartment comprising a removable closure, the bag comprising a tab which projects into a passageway formed on the inner surface of the closure, the closure being arranged such that when fitted to the cleaner, the passageway thereon extends at a substantially inclined angle relative to the vertical.
[0008] In order to remove the bag, the user merely has to lift the closure away from the body of the cleaner keeping the closure at substantially the same orientation. The force applied to detach the bag from the body of the cleaner and the force of gravity acting on the bag once detached attempt to pull the tab vertically downwards. However, the tab remains inside the passageway owing to the fact that the passageway lies at a substantially inclined angle relative to the direction in which the forces act.
[0009] In this manner the closure can be used to carry the full bag to a disposal receptacle, where it can be released by bringing the passageway to a vertical inclination so that the tab slides out of the passageway under the applied force of gravity.
[0010] Preferably the tab extends from the bag at an angle which is inclined relative to the passage.
[0011] In order to ensure that the tab does not detach from the closure whilst the bag is being removed and carried, the closure preferably comprises a catch and an actuator which is operable to extend the catch into the passageway to engage the tab, the actuator being arranged to release catch from the tab when the passageway is vertically orientated.
[0012] Preferably the tab comprises a portion which acts on the actuator to control the position of the catch.
[0013] Preferably the tab is arranged to act on the actuator to urge the catch further into engagement with the tab when the passageway is at said substantially inclined angle relative to the vertical.
[0014] Preferably the passageway comprises a floor which is pivoted intermediate its opposite ends to the closure for rotation about an axis which extends perpendicular to the direction of the passage and parallel to the plane of the tab inside the passage, said opposite ends of the floor forming the actuator and catch respectively.
[0015] Porous paper filter bags have been virtually universally used as the dirt receptacles in modern vacuum cleaners, with much attention being paid to means of retaining the dust and dirt within the bag during removal of the bag from the appliance and during its subsequent disposal in the disposal receptacle. Typically, this is achieved by providing a sliding cardboard shutter on the dirty air inlet to the bag, which is automatically closed by the action of removing the bag from the cleaner to retain dirt in the bag during the disposal process.
[0016] Hitherto attempts to combine self-sealing bags with some means for carrying the bags to a disposal point have been fraught with technical difficulties.
[0017] Thus, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, the bag comprises an inlet aperture communicating with the dirty air inlet and a shutter arranged to close the inlet aperture when the bag is lifted out of the cleaner by the closure.
[0018] In one embodiment, the tab extends from the shutter. Thus, initial upward movement of the tab during removal of the bag from the cleaner causes the shutter to seal the bag.
[0019] In an alternative embodiment the shutter is engaged with the body of the cleaner, such that initial upward movement of the tab displaces the bag relative to the shutter to close the bag, whereupon further upward movement of the tab to lift the bag out of the compartment.
[0020] Preferably, the closure comprises a handle which can be used to support the closure and bag during removal of the closure.
[0021] An embodiment of this invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a body of a vacuum cleaner in accordance with this invention;
Figure 2 is a perspective view from above of a removable closure of the vacuum cleaner of Figure 1;
Figure 3 is a perspective view from below of the closure of Figure 2;
Figure 4 is a sectional view along the line IV-IV of Figure 2 prior to the attachment of a dust bag to the closure;
Figure 5 is a sectional view along the line IV-IV of Figure 3 showing how a dust bag is engaged with the closure;
Figure 6 is a sectional view along the line IV-IV of Figure 3 showing how a dust bag is supported by the closure; and
Figure 7 is a sectional view along the line IV-IV of Figure 3 showing how a dust bag is removed from the cleaner.
[0022] Referring to Figures 1 to 3 of the drawings, there is shown the body of a vacuum cleaner comprising an external plastics housing 10. A porous paper dust bag 11 is sealingly mounted in a compartment 12 formed inside the body. A fan (not shown) mounted in a second compartment 13 evacuates the bag compartment 12, thereby drawing air along a dirty air inlet duct 14 and into the bag 11 where the entrained dirt and dust is separated from the air as it flows through the porous wall of the bag 11.
[0023] A portion of the housing 10 forms a removable closure 18 across the top wall of the compartment 12.
[0024] The bag 11 comprises an inlet aperture through which the dirty air inlet duct 14 extends. The inlet aperture extends through a cardboard collar 15 adhered to the porous bag material. The cardboard collar 15 serves to mount the bag 11 in the compartment 12 and is slidingly received in slots on a fixed bag carrier 16 disposed on the inner surface of the front wall of the chamber 12. The bag collar 15 has an upwardly-projecting tab 17 which engages a catch mechanism 19 on the closure 18.
[0025] The closure 18 comprises a plurality of downwardly extending plastics projections 21 which are received in corresponding sockets formed around the top edge of the compartment 12. Resilient formations extend outwardly from the projections 21 to frictionally engage the walls of the sockets and thus retain the closure 18 in place. The closure 18 can be removed from the cleaner by simply pulling upwards on a handle 20 recessed into the upper surface of the closure 18. As the closure 18 is lifted away from the cleaner, the bag collar 15 is pulled upwardly out of the carrier 16 by the tab 17, which is gripped by the catch 19 mounted on the inner surface of the closure 18.
[0026] Referring to Figures 2, 3 and 4 of the drawings, the catch 19 is formed on the bottom surface of the closure 18 adjacent the front edge thereof. The catch 19 comprises a top member 22 rigidly mounted on the bottom surface of the closure 18 adjacent the front edge thereof by means of bushes 26 moulded integrally with the closure 18. A channel 24 extends rearwardly along the underside of the top member 22 from the front edge of the closure 18.
[0027] The catch 19 further comprises a bottom member 23 pivotally mounted intermediate its opposite ends to opposite side walls of the channel 24 for rotation about an axis which extends transverse the channel and parallel to the top wall of the closure 18. The bottom member 23 is thus able to pivot within the channel 24. A passageway 25 extends between the top and bottom members 22,23 of the catch 19.
[0028] Referring to Figure 5 of the drawings, once the collar 15 of dust bag 11 has been engaged with the slots on the fixed bag carrier 16 disposed on the inner surface of the front wall of the chamber 12, the closure 18 is inclined so that the passageway faces vertically downwards. The closure 18 is then lowered until the upwardly projecting tab 17 on the collar 16 is received in the passageway 25 formed between the top and bottom members 22,23 of the catch 19.
[0029] The closure 18 is then pivoted back and re-engaged with the body of the cleaner to close the compartment 12. It will be appreciated that this bends the upper end of the tab 17 through an angle of about 45°, as shown in Figure 1. The tab 17 is preferably scored to assist bending.
[0030] Referring to. Figure 6 of the drawings, in order to remove a full bag 11 from the cleaner, the closure 18 is grasped by the handle 20 and pulled upwards. This action releases the closure 18 from the cleaner body so that it can be lifted upwards. The cardboard collar 15 is frictionally engaged in the slots on the fixed bag carrier 16 and as such a vertically downwards force is applied to the tab 17 as the closure 18 is lifted upwardly away from the body. This downwards force on the tab acts on the front end of the bottom member 23 and causes it to pivot away from the passage 25. The opposite end of the bottom member 23 is thus urged into engagement with the tab 17 to securely clamp the latter to the closure 18 as the closure 18 is lifted upwardly away from the body.
[0031] In this manner, the full dust bag 11 is lifted out of the vacuum cleaner by the closure 18. Once the bag 11 has released from the fixed bag carrier 16, the force of gravity then acts on the full bag 11 so that the tab exerts a vertically downwards force on the front end of the bottom member 23. The bag 11 is thus supported whilst it is being carried to the point of disposal.
[0032] Finally, referring to Figure 7 of the drawings, in order to release the bag 11 into a disposal receptacle, the closure 18 is again inclined so that the passageway faces vertically downwards, whereby the force of gravity on the bag 11 no longer acts to exert a vertically downwards force on the front end of the bottom member 23 and thus the tab 17 is free to slide out of the passageway 25 to allow the bag 11 to fall into the receptacle.
1. A vacuum cleaner comprising a body and a dust bag mounted in compartment formed inside
the body and communicating with a dirty air inlet formed in a side wall of the compartment,
the top wall of the compartment comprising a removable closure, the bag comprising
a tab which projects into a passageway formed on the inner surface of the closure,
the closure being arranged such that when fitted to the cleaner, the passageway thereon
extends at a substantially inclined angle relative to the vertical.
2. A vacuum cleaner as claimed in claim 1, in which the tab extends from the bag at an
angle which is inclined relative to the passage.
3. A vacuum cleaner as claimed in claims 1 or 2, in which the closure comprises a catch
and an actuator which is operable to extend the catch into the passageway to engage
the tab, the actuator being arranged to release catch from the tab when the passageway
is vertically orientated.
4. A vacuum cleaner as claimed in claim 3, in which the tab comprises a portion which
acts on the actuator to control the position of the catch
5. A vacuum cleaner as claimed in claim 4, in which the tab is arranged to act on the
actuator to urge the catch further into engagement with the tab when the passageway
is at said substantially inclined angle relative to the vertical.
6. A vacuum cleaner as claimed in any of claims 3 to 5, in which the passageway comprises
a floor which is pivoted intermediate its opposite ends to the closure for rotation
about an axis which extends perpendicular to the direction of the passage and parallel
to the plane of the tab inside the passage, said opposite ends of the floor forming
the actuator and catch respectively.
7. A vacuum cleaner as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the bag comprises an
inlet aperture communicating with the dirty air inlet and a shutter arranged to close
the inlet aperture when the bag is lifted out of the cleaner by the closure.
8. A vacuum cleaner as claimed in claim 7, in which the tab extends from the shutter.
9. A vacuum cleaner as claimed in claim 7, in which the shutter is engaged with the body
of the cleaner.
10. A vacuum cleaner as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the closure comprises
a handle which can be used to support the closure and bag during removal of the closure.