CN109998417B

CN109998417B - Cleaning implement

Info

Publication number: CN109998417B
Application number: CN201811588102.4A
Authority: CN
Inventors: J.W.克劳奇; A.M.坎贝尔-希尔
Original assignee: Dyson Technology Ltd
Current assignee: Dyson Technology Ltd
Priority date: 2017-12-30
Filing date: 2018-12-25
Publication date: 2021-08-24
Anticipated expiration: 2038-12-25
Also published as: TW201938099A; WO2019130014A1; JP2019118813A; US20190200830A1; CN109998417A; GB2569820B; GB2569820A; GB201722302D0

Abstract

A cleaning appliance includes a dirt separator for separating dirt from an air flow, the dirt separator including a bin for collecting the dirt separated from the air flow, the bin including a bin lid having a closure A configuration in which dirt is retained in the bin and an open configuration in which dirt is retained in the bin, and an open configuration for removing dirt from the bin. The cleaning appliance also includes an inlet extending through the opening in the lid, the inlet including an accessory interface. The cleaning appliance also includes an interlock mechanism to prevent the lid from being opened when the accessory is connected to the accessory interface.

Description

Cleaning implement

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a cleaning appliance.

Background

The industry is constantly seeking improvements to vacuum cleaners. In particular improvements which make it easier for a user to use the vacuum cleaner and which encourage a user to use the vacuum cleaner in the most correct way possible. It is desirable to ensure that the user does not perform any operations that may cause a failure that needs to be resolved or that needs to be troubleshooting.

Disclosure of Invention

A first aspect of the invention provides a cleaning appliance comprising a dirt separator for separating dirt from an airflow, the dirt separator comprising a bin for collecting dirt separated from the airflow, the bin comprising a bin cover having a closed configuration in which dirt is retained in the bin and an open configuration for removing dirt from the bin. The cleaning appliance also includes an inlet extending through an opening in the tank lid, the inlet including an accessory interface. The cleaning appliance also includes an interlock mechanism to prevent the tank lid from being opened when the accessory is connected to the accessory interface.

As a result, the tank emptying or tank removal process cannot be started with the accessory connected to the cleaning appliance. Because the inlet extends through an opening in the tank lid, any attachment to the cleaning appliance will prevent the tank lid from being fully opened, and as a result the tank lid and the attachment themselves will block the discharge of dust and dirt from the tank. Thereby, it is advantageous to prevent the opening process from starting while the attachment is connected to the inlet.

The accessory interface can include a feature for engaging a catch provided on the accessory. This allows the accessory to be removably secured to the vacuum cleaner during use, but allows the accessory to be easily removed when it is no longer needed.

The interlock mechanism may include a protrusion on the lid extending radially inward from the opening, the protrusion forming an abutment surface for abutment with a corresponding abutment surface on the accessory. This provides a cheap and simple but effective interlocking mechanism which is less likely to fail.

The protrusion may extend into the accessory interface. When the accessory is connected to the accessory interface, the abutment surface on the lid may abut a catch on the accessory that serves as a corresponding abutment surface on the accessory. As a result, any accessory that includes a catch to secure it to the vacuum cleaner, regardless of the shape of the accessory, will abut the interlock mechanism and prevent the tank from opening when attached.

The accessory may be one of a wand, an extension hose and a cleaning tool.

The lid may be hingedly attached to the side walls of the box and may pivot between a closed configuration and an open position. As a result the bin lid can be opened without having to be completely removed from the vacuum cleaner, resulting in an easier bin emptying procedure for the user using the vacuum cleaner.

The tank is movable relative to the air inlet, and the interlock mechanism can prevent any movement of the tank when the accessory is connected to the accessory interface. The bin may be moved in such a way that it is completely removed from the vacuum cleaner, or the movement of the bin may be part of the bin opening process, and thus preventing the bin from moving beyond preventing the bin lid from opening is advantageous for the same reasons as described above.

The cleaning appliance may be a hand-held vacuum cleaner.

The wand and cleaning head may be connected to an accessory interface to form a stick vacuum cleaner.

Drawings

In order that the invention may be more readily understood, embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the following drawings, in which:

figure 1 shows a hand-held vacuum cleaner;

figures 2A and 2B show the vacuum cleaner of figure 1 at different stages in the opening process of the tank;

3A, 3B and 3C illustrate the connection of an accessory to the vacuum cleaner of FIG. 1;

figure 4 is an upward view of the inlet of the vacuum cleaner of figure 1; and

figure 5 shows a stick type vacuum cleaner.

Detailed Description

Figure 1 shows a cleaning appliance in the form of a handheld vacuum cleaner 1 having a dirt separator 2, a main body 3, a handle 4, a power supply in the form of a battery pack 5 and an inlet 6. Attached to the main body 3 behind the vacuum cleaner 1 is a filter assembly 7. The vacuum cleaner 1 is operated by a trigger 8 in the handle 4.

The dirt separator 2 has a first separation stage and a second separation stage. The first separation stage comprises a cylindrical outer wall 21 defining a tank 20. The cylindrical inner wall 25 defines a fine dust collection chamber, which is positioned inside the box 20. A closure member in the form of a cover 9 is hingedly attached to the outer wall 21 of the dirt separator 2 at a hinge 10. The cover 9 is pivotable about the hinge 10 between an open position in which dust and dirt can escape from the open ends of the box 20 and the fine dust collection chamber, and a closed position in which the cover 9 seals the open ends of both the box 20 and the fine dust collection chamber. The lid 9 includes a seal 30 that seals against the interior 25. The central portion of the tank cover 9 comprises a hole or opening through which the suction inlet 6 protrudes.

Inside the tank 20 is a shroud 22 comprising a cylindrical wire mesh 23 and a shroud skirt 24. During operation, air is drawn into the vacuum cleaner 1 through the inlet 6 by the fan motor contained within the main body 3. The dust laden air enters the bin 20 through a separator inlet (not shown) in the side wall of the shroud 22 which is connected to the inlet 6 by an inlet duct extending therebetween which extends through the inside of the fine dust collection chamber. The air spirals around the inside of the box 20 and centrifugal forces separate large dust particles from the air flow, which are deposited in the box 20. The shroud screen 23 includes a plurality of perforations through which air can exit the first separation stage.

The second separation stage comprises a plurality of cyclone bodies 26 arranged in parallel. The air passes through the cyclone body 26 which separates any remaining dust and dirt from the airflow. The dirt and dust separated in the second separation stage is collected in a fine dust collection chamber defined by an inner wall 25. Clean air leaves the cyclone 26, passes through the fan motor in the main housing 3 and is then exhausted from the vacuum cleaner 1 through the filter assembly 7.

To empty the box 20 and the fine dust collecting chamber, the box cover 9 can be opened. Fig. 2A and 2B show the vacuum cleaner 1 at different stages during tank emptying. The dirt separator 2 is provided with a bin opening actuator 27 which is fixed to the outer wall 21. When the tank opening actuator 27 is pushed in a direction away from the handle 4, as indicated by arrow a in fig. 2A, this causes the tank 20 (i.e. both the outer wall 21 and the tank lid 9) to slide in the same direction along the chute portion 28 of the vacuum cleaner 1. The shield 22, inner wall 25 and inlet 6 remain stationary as they are secured to the body portion 3. The seal 30 is spaced from the inner wall 25 exposing an open end of the second dust collection chamber 32. Once the outer wall 21 reaches a certain point in the direction away from the handle, as shown in fig. 2B, it stops and the catch 33 holding the lid 9 closed is released. The lid 9 is hinged and a biasing member in the hinge 10 biases the lid 9 as an open position. Thus, once the catch 33 is released, the lid 9 pivots about the hinge 10 and swings open, as indicated by arrow B. Dust collected in the bin 20 and the fine dust collection chamber 32 can now be expelled from the dirt separator 2.

Closing the dirt separator 2 involves sliding the outer wall 21 back to the original position and pivoting the lid 9 into the closed position until the catch 33 engages again to hold the lid 9 in the closed position. There is a choice of different accessories that can be connected to the vacuum cleaner 1 to allow the user to select the most appropriate accessory for the cleaning task to be performed. Figure 3A shows how the inlet 6 of the vacuum cleaner 1 comprises an accessory interface. Two attachments in the form of a crevice tool 40 and a part of a wand 50 are shown in figure 3, which may be attached to the attachment interface at the inlet 6, as indicated by the dashed arrow C. The crevice tool 40 includes a catch 42 having an engaging portion 44 and a release button 46. The wand 50 includes a similar catch 52 which also has an engaging portion 54 and a release button 56.

Alignment ribs

47 and 57 are also provided on the crevice tool 40 and the wand 50 respectively. The

alignment ribs

47, 57 engage with the channels 62 in the accessory interface so that they slide into the channels 62 when the corresponding accessory is inserted into the accessory interface.

The accessory interface includes a formation 60, shown in fig. 4, that engages the

engagement portion

44, 54 of each

clasp

42, 52 such that the accessory is locked in place when attached to the accessory interface. The

snaps

42 and 52 pivot and are biased to a position in which the

engagement portions

44 and 54 will engage the formation 60 of the accessory interface. To disconnect the accessory, the

release buttons

46, 56 are pressed which causes the snaps to pivot and disengage the

engagement portions

44, 54 from the formations 60 so that the accessory can be removed from the accessory interface.

To prevent the bin 20 from being moved or opened when an accessory is connected to the accessory interface of the inlet 6, the vacuum cleaner includes an interlock mechanism. The interlocking mechanism includes a protrusion 35 formed as part of the lid 9. The projection 35 extends radially inwardly into an opening of the tank lid 9 through which the inlet 6 projects. The protrusion extends radially inwards so that it extends into the accessory interface of the inlet 6 and forms an abutment surface that abuts any accessory that is connected so that the tank 20 cannot be moved forward by pushing the tank opening actuator 27 or the tank lid 9 cannot be opened.

Figure 3B shows the vacuum cleaner 1 with the crevice tool 40 attached, and figure 3C shows the vacuum cleaner 1 with the wand 50 attached. The protrusion 35 can be seen to extend behind the

release buttons

46 and 56 of the

snaps

42 and 52, with the sides of the

release buttons

46, 56 serving as respective abutment surfaces on the respective accessories. In each case, the projection 35 thus abuts against the side of the

release button

46, 56, which serves to prevent any movement of the box 20, or opening of the lid 9, while the

catch

42, 52 engages the hook 60.

The wand 50 can be used in conjunction with a cleaner head 70 and when these are connected to the vacuum cleaner 1, as shown in figure 5, a stick vacuum cleaner is formed (sometimes referred to as a stick vac). A cleaner head, such as the cleaner head 70 of figure 5, typically comprises a powered brush bar and thus requires power to be transmitted down the bar 50. The power connector 36 is thus provided at the accessory interface of the inlet 6, as shown in figures 3A and 4. The crevice tool 40 is a simple tool that does not require power and therefore does not engage the power connector 60, as shown in figure 3B. However, the wand 50 includes a sleeve 58 which receives a corresponding wand power connector (not shown) which can engage with the power connector 36 at the inlet 6 so that power from the battery 5 can be supplied to the cleaner head to power the brush bar motor.

The crevice tool 40 and the wand 50 are described as examples of attachments. However, there are a large number of possible accessories, such as extension hoses or miniature powered cleaning heads, as well as other cleaning tools, such as pad cleaning tools, combination tools, and the like. Different attachments will have different sizes and requirements, as will the crevice tool 40 and the wand 50. However, the clasp for each accessory would need to engage with the formation 60 in the accessory interface. Thus, it is advantageous to have an interlocking mechanism that engages with the catch, as this provides a consistent means to abut against, regardless of the size, shape and configuration of the accessory.

While particular embodiments have been described, it will be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the claims.

For example, the vacuum cleaner 1 described herein is a handheld vacuum cleaner, but it could be a vacuum cleaner of any other configuration in which the inlet extends through a tank lid, such as a cylinder vacuum cleaner. Further, the interlock mechanism is described as engaging with a catch on the accessory, and the benefits of this configuration are described above. However, in alternative embodiments, the interlock mechanism may engage with different components of the accessory.

Claims

1. A cleaning appliance comprising a dirt separator for separating dirt from an air flow, the dirt separator comprising a box for collecting the dirt separated from the air flow, the box comprising a box cover, which Having a closed configuration in which dirt is retained in the bin and an open configuration for removing dirt from the bin; the cleaning appliance further comprising an inlet extending through an opening in the bin lid , the inlet includes an accessory interface;

wherein the cleaning appliance further includes an interlock mechanism to prevent the lid from being opened when the accessory is connected to the accessory interface;

The interlocking mechanism includes projections on the lid extending radially inwardly from the opening, the projections forming abutment surfaces for abutment with corresponding abutment surfaces on the accessory.

2. The cleaning appliance of claim 1, wherein the accessory interface includes formations for engagement with snaps provided on the accessory.

3. The cleaning implement of claim 1, wherein the protrusion extends into the accessory interface.

4. The cleaning appliance of claim 1, wherein when the accessory is connected to the accessory interface, the abutment surface on the lid abuts a snap on the accessory, the snap on the accessory corresponding to the snap on the lid adjoining surfaces.

5. The cleaning appliance of claim 1, wherein the attachment is one of a wand, an extension hose, and a cleaning implement.

6. The cleaning appliance of claim 1, wherein the bin lid is hingedly attached to a side wall of the bin and is pivotable between a closed configuration and an open position.

7. The cleaning appliance of claim 1, wherein the bin is movable relative to the inlet, and the interlock mechanism prevents any movement of the bin when an accessory is connected to the accessory interface.

8. The cleaning appliance of claim 1, wherein the cleaning appliance is a hand-held vacuum cleaner.

9. The cleaning appliance of claim 8, wherein the wand and cleaning head are connected to the accessory interface to form a wand vacuum cleaner.