GB2126471A - Suction cleaners - Google Patents

Abstract

A suction cleaner e.g. of the upright type has a rigid housing (14) provided with a pocket (24) which receives an auxiliary cleansing appliance (22) such as a small hand-held suction cleaner. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Floor care appliance with mounted accessory appliance This invention relates to suction cleaner arrangements.

Suction cleaners of many types are known.

They include what are generally called upright cleaners which include a wheeled body, having a suction nozzle, the body being connected to a pivoted handle by which the body is moved to and fro over the floor by a person standing upright. Canister cleaners are also well known where the cleaner is of an elongated canister type resting on a floor, and the user operates a hand-held nozzle, perhaps on a long suction tube which is connected to the suction cleaner body via a flexible hose. Furthermore, small hand held cleaners are known, one of which has been sold by the Applicants under the Trade Mark DUSTETTE for many years. Each of these types of cleaner has its own attributes but in general a housewife will only have one type of cleaner or at most two.In the latter case, if the housewife is using an upright cleaner and wishes to switch to the use of a smaller cleaner for gaining access to difficult corners or for cleaning the interior of a car, it is necessary to get the smaller hand held type of cleaner out of store.

The present invention has as one of its objects the provision of a suction cleaner arrangement of great practicality and one which gives the housewife instantly available versatile cleaning facilities.

According to one aspect of the present invention therefore, a suction cleaner arrangement comprises a main cleaner having a rigid housing, the rigid housing having a pocket in which an auxiliary cleaning appliance is at least partially received and retained.

According to another aspect of the present invention a suction cleaner arrangement comprises main and auxiliary cleaners each containing a motor-fan unit, suction nozzle, and filter for dirt-laden air, the main cleaner having a pocket in which the auxiliary cleaner is releasably latched.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention a suction cleaner arrangement includes an upright main cleaner having an upwardly extending rigid housing provided with a propelling handle, the rigid housing having an open pocket therein containing an auxiliary cleaner which is releasably latched in the pocket.

Specifically the auxiliary cleaner may be a hand-held cleaner and to assist in retaining the auxiliary cleaner in the pocket the pocket may have a lower shoulder against which part of the auxiliary cleaner engages.

Preferably locking means is provided for at least partially retaining the auxiliary cleaning appliance/auxiliary cleaner in the pocket. The locking means may include a retractable catch carried by the main cleaner and engageable with a slot in the auxiliary cleaning appliance/auxiliary cleaner. The retractable catch may be carried by a linearly movable latch link and this latch link is preferably activated by a pivoted link secured to a further linear link having a push-release button.

The invention may be carried into practice in a number of ways but two specific embodiments will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of an upright suction cleaner incorporating the present invention; Figure 2 is a front elevation of an upper rigid housing of the suction cleaner of Fig. 1; Figure 3 is a side elevation partly in crosssection of the rigid housing of Fig. 2; Figure 4 is a perspective view of a latching mechanism incorporated in the suction cleaner of Figs. 1 to 3 and serving the purpose of retaining an accessory suction cleaner onto the main appliance; Figure 5 is a scrap sectional plan view, taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4 showing one end of a cross link of the latching mechanism;; Figure 6 schematically shows the latching of Fig. 4 in three positions, namely disengaged, nearly engaged and fully engaged positions; Figure 7 is a side elevation, partly in section, of the accessory suction cleaner shown, in full lines in its latched position, and in dotted lines, in its unlatched position; Figure 8 is a fragmentary view of the front of the upper rigid housing showing a pocket in which the accessory suction cleaner is received; Figure 9 is a front elevation of the upper rigid housing of an alternative embodiment; Figure 10 is a side elevation of the upper rigid housing of the alternative embodiment of Fig. 9; Figure ii is a somewhat diagramatic sectional plan of the latching arrangement for the accessory suction cleaner of the embodiment of Figs. 9 and 10; and Figure 12 is a vertical section through the accessory cleaner.

Figs. 1 to 8 illustrate a suction cleaner combination embodying the present invention.

Referring firstly to Fig. 1 this shows a main upright suction cleaner 10 having a conventional lower rigid housing 12, at the forward edge of which is a downwardly facing conventional suction nozzle (not shown). Extending upwardly from the rear of the lower rigid housing 12 is a further upper rigid housing 14 surmounted by a rigid handle 18 having a handgrip 32 in which is located a control switch 33 for controlling a motor fan unit.

This unit is of conventional form and is lo cated in the lower part of the rigid housing 14 and serves to draw dirt-laden air through the suction nozzle of the lower rigid housing 12 and into a paper filter bag, not shown, which is located within a cloth bag 28 positioned to the rear of the rigid housing 14 and suspended at its upper end by a spring 30 from the upper end of the handle 18. The upper rigid housing 14 is mounted on appropriate trunnions 15 to form a horizontal axis about which the rigid housing 14, together with the handle 18 and cloth bag 28, can be pivoted upwardly and downwardly during use of the main cleaner for the cleaning of carpets. For propulsion over a carpet the lower rigid housing 12 has a number of wheels one of which is shown at 16.

The front of the upper rigid housing 1 4 is in the form of a front cover 20 in which there is a forwardly facing pocket 24, shown most clearly in Figs. 7 and 8 and which is arranged to receive an accessory suction cleaner 22 which in this particular example comprises a small hand-held suction cleaner which may for example be of the form illustrated and described in the present applicants British Application No. and German Application P 3311934.1 (Case 1280). An example of the form of such an accessory suction cleaner is shown in Fig. 12 and will be described in more detail later.It can be mentioned at this stage, however, that the accessory suction cleaner 22 has a handle 26 and a generally wedge-shaped forward end or snout 46 (see Figs. 3 and 7) at which point the accessory suction cleaner has a suction nozzle to be described in more detail with reference to Fig. 12.

The upper end of the front cover 20 of the rigid housing 14, as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, affords an over-hanging carrying handle 34 by which the whole appliance including the accessory suction cleaner 22, when nesting in the pocket 24, can be readily carried.

Referring now to the form of the pocket 24 in more detail, and referring particularly to Fig. 8, it will be seen that the configuration of the pocket 24 is generally such that it conforms to the external shape of the lower half of the auxiliary suction cleaner 22. Thus the pocket includes a top wall 35, side walls 36 and 38 and a back wall 40 of generally concave form and being deepest at the thickest portion of the accessory cleaner 22. The pocket is completed by a lower wall in which is received a semi-soft vinyl strip 42 having an upwardly opening generally V-shaped recess 44 forming a front ridge 48 and in which the snout 46 of the accessory suction cleaner 22 is received and retained.

In order to retain the accessory suction cleaner 22 within the pocket 24, a releasable latching mechanism 50 is provided, the majority of which is positioned within the rigid housing 14 behind the pocket 24, but part of which extends through a keyhole slot 119 formed in the back wall 40 of the pocket 24 as shown in Fig. 8. Part of the latching mechanism, as will be described, extends through the keyhole slot 119 and engages a latching shoulder 126 formed at the upper edge of a recess 122 in the underside of the accessory cleaner 22.

The latching mechanism 50 will now be described in more detail with particular reference to Figs. 4, 5 and 6. The majority of the parts shown in these figures are plastics mouldings and they include a release button 52, see Figs. 1, 3 and 4, the button 52 being integral with the upper end of a long thrust link 54 extending vertically within the rigid housing 14. The button 52, as shown in Fig.

4, passes through a rectangular aperture 57 in an upper wall 56 of the rigid housing 14.

As shown in Fig. 7, the thrust link 54 extends close to a rear wall 58 of the rigid housing 14.

Adjacent the rear upper end of the pocket 24 the thrust link 54 is off-set forwardly at 60 and the lower end of this off-set portion 60 provides a loose pivot 62, formed by an integral short shaft 61 which engages one end of a generally horizontally extending cross-link 64. This cross-link 64 is generally thinner than the vertical thrust link 54 so that the rear faces of the links 54 and 64 are generally in one plane.

Reffering now to Fig. 7 it will be seen that there is a vertically extending intermediate wall 66 positioned between the rear wall 58 of the rigid housing 14 and the rear wall 40 of the pocket, with the thrust link 54 positioned between the walls 58 and 66.

Fig. 4 also shows the intermediate wall 66 as viewed from the rear, and it will be seen from Fig. 4, that the end of the cross-link 64, remote from the pivot 62, is pivoted to this intermediate wall 66 by a further pivot 68 which, as shown in Fig. 5, is formed by a forwardly extending spigot 70 formed integrally with the end of the cross-link 64. The spigot 70 has a split forward end forming a number of wedges 74 by which the end of the spigot 70 can be inserted through a circular aperture 71 in the intermediate wall 66. This aperture forms a journal surface for the portion of the spigot 70 immediately behind the wedges 74 so that the link 64 can pivot about a horizontal axis formed by the spigot 70 and the journal surface of the aperture 71.

Connected to a central region of the crosslink 64, and depending downwardly therefrom, is a latch-carrying link 80 which is loosely pivoted to the cross-link 64 by a pivot 82 formed by a short stub shaft 84 on the upper end of the link 80 and extending into a bore 86 in the cross-link 64. It is to be noted that the loose pivots 62 and 82 are maintained in connected relationship with the other parts of the assembly by the general alignment of the latching mechanism 50.

Below the pivot 82, the latch-carrying link 80 is stepped rearwardly and passes through an aperture 98 in a horizontal offset portion 99 of the wall 66. Immediately below the aperture 98, the link 80 carries a guide 88 presenting on each side generally U-shaped channels, 90 and 92, respectively, in which are received edge portions 94 and 96, respectively, of a generally vertical slot formed in the offset portion 99 of the wall 66. Below the guide 88 the link 80 includes a portion 100, extending forwardly from which is a latching catch 102 which serves to engage the abutment 126 of the recess 122 of the auxiliary cleaner as previously described.Immediately behind the latching catch 102, the link 80 is provided with a cross-piece 104 which serves partly as a reinforcement in this region, and also as an abutment check which will act against the inner face of the wall 58 of the rigid housing 14 should the link 80 be distorted outwardly.

The latching mechanism 50 is urged upwardly by a coil tension spring 106 the upper end of which is connected through an aperture 112 in the intermediate wall 66, and the lower end of which is engaged in aperture 114 in the cross-link 64. The spring 106 lays partly in a cut-out 116 formed in the intermediate wall 66. To limit upward movement of the cross-link 64, a stop 115 is provided which is integral with the intermediate wall 66. A similar stop 117, also integral with the intermediate wall 66, limits downward movement of the cross-link 64.

Referring now to the lower part of Fig. 4, the latching catch 102 extends forwardly through a vertical extending slot 118 in the intermediate wall 66 and then through the keyhole shaped slot 119 in the back wall 40 of the pocket 24 (see Fig. 8).

The form of the latching recess 122 of the auxilary cleaner 22 is shown most clearly in Fig. 6 and also in the lower part of Fig. 4, the latter figure showing the generally triangular nature of the recess 122 with the apex 124 of the triangle uppermost and forming the latching abutment 126 previously referred to, and behind which the latching catch 102 can engage by means of a latching hook 128 formed on the catch 102. For this purpose the forward end of the latching catch 102 is formed with an enlarged nose 130, the keyhole slot 11 9 in the rear wall 40 of the pocket 24 being shaped to receive this nose.

The operation of this arrangement will now be described. Assuming that the accessory suction cleaner 22 is mounted in the pocket 24 with the hook 128 of the latching catch 102 engaged behind the abutment 126, of the recess 122 of the accessory cleaner, release is obtained by depressing the button 52.

This drives the latching linkage downwardly so depressing the latcing catch 102 to clear the latching hook 128 from the abutment 126. The accessory cleaner 22 can then be tilted outwardly from the top end of the pocket 24 to the dash-line position shown in Fig. 7, whereafter the accessory cleaner 22 can be lifted outwardly from the pocket 24 by using the handle 26 to free the snout 46 from the lower portion of the pocket 24.

In order to mount the accessory cleaner 22 on the main cleaner 10, the above process is generally reversed. The snout 46 is inserted into the V-shaped socket 44, and the accessory cleaner then swung inwardly until the abutment 126 of the recess 122 engages the hook 128, which is suitably chamfered of cammed, so that further rearward rotation of the accessory cleaner depresses the latching catch 102. This is shown in the centre view of Fig. 6. As soon as the abutment 126 clears the hook 128 the parts revert to the position on the right hand side of Fig. 6, the latching linkage being drawn upwardly by the tension spring 106 so as to lock the accessory cleaner 22 onto the main cleaner 10.

Figs. 9 to 11 show an alternative embodiment in which the majority of parts shown correspond to parts of the first embodiment and therefore the corresponding reference numerals are employed in primed form. As with the first embodiment the construction comprises a generally upright cleaner 10' having an upper rigid housing 14', provided with a pocket 24' in which an accessory suction cleaner 22' is received. This cleaner has a handle 26' for manipulation purposes.

The lower end of the pocket 24' is closed by a cup-shaped lower portion 42' which includes a front wall 134 which retains the snout of the cleaner 22' in position, when mounted on the main cleaner 10'.

In this embodiment the latching mechanism differs from that of the first embodiment. It takes the form of a generally springy Ushaped member 134, shown in section in Fig.

11. The base 136 of the U-member is secured to the back wall 40' of the pocket and the remainder of the latching member 134 is formed by a pair of legs 138 and 140 provided with inwardly extending catches 102' having latching surfaces 128' which engage against forwardly facing surfaces of a pair of abutments 142 and 144 mounted on the sides of the accessory suction cleaner 22'.

The cleaner 22' is easily inserted into or removed from the pocket 24' by flexing of the legs 138 and 140. As shown in Fig. 11, a soft spongy member 150 is included in order slightly to bias the cleaner 22 forwardly out of the pocket 24' and thereby maintain good enegagement between the latching surfaces.

Fig. 12 shows the general form of the accessory suction cleaner 222. It includes a plastics snout section 212 and a rear housing 214. The snout 212 includes a suction aper ture 218 while the rear housing 214 forms the handle 226.

Within the rear housing 214 is mounted an electric motor 254 which is controlled by a push button switch 230. The motor shaft carries a fan 252 which is arranged, when operated, to draw dirt-laden air inwardly through the suction aperture of nozzle 218.

The snout section 212 contains a bellows shaped filter 232 the left hand end of which is mounted on a transverse wall 234. The filter 232 serves to filter out the dirt from the air entering the nozzle 218, the dirt being retained within the snout section 212 which acts as a dirt receptacle. When desired the snout section 212 can be unlatched from the rear housing 214 for emptying purposes.

In the specific embodiment shown in Fig.

12 the accessory suction cleaner 222 is intended for mains operation by connection of a supply lead to a pair of male electric contact prongs 260. In an alternative arrangement the accessory suction cleaner may be battery operated for example by rechargeable batteries.

It will be appreciated that the embodiments described provide forms of suction cleaner wherein the housewife can carry out the usual functions of cleaning main areas of carpet by employing the main upright cleaner 10 but when desired she can detach the accessory suction cleaner 22 in a simple manner by releasing the latching mechanism and withdrawing the accessory suction cleaner from its pocket for example for cleaning inaccessible areas not reachable by the main cleaner, although the accessory cleaner 22 can have its own separate functions particularly for cleaning small areas or awkward areas such as car interiors.

Claims (10)

1. A suction cleaner arrangement comprising a main cleaner having a rigid housing, the rigid housing having a pocket in which an auxiliary cleaning appliance is at least partially received and retained.

2. A suction cleaner arrangement comprising main and auxiliary cleaners each containing a motor-fan unit, suction nozzle, and filter for dirt-laden air, the main cleaner having a pocket in which the auxiliary cleaner is releasably latched.

3. A suction cleaner arrangement including an upright main cleaner having an upwardly extending rigid housing provided with a propelling handle, the rigid housing having an open pocket therein containing an auxiliary cleaner which is releasably latched in the pocket.

4. A suction cleaner arrangement as claimed in Claim 2 or Claim 3 in which the auxiliary cleaner is a hand-held cleaner.

5. A suction cleaner arrangement as claimed in any one of Claims 2 to 4 in which a lower shoulder of the pocket assists in retaining the auxiliary cleaner in the pocket.

6. A suction cleaner arrangement as claimed in any one of the preceding claims including locking means for at least partially retaining the auxiliary cleaning appliance/auxiliary cleaner in the pocket.

7. A suction cleaner arrangement as claimed in Claim 6 in which the locking means includes a retractable catch carried by the main cleaner and engageable with a slot in the auxiliary cleaning appliance/auxiliary cleaner.

8. A suction cleaner arrangement as claimed in Claim 7 wherein the retractable catch is carried by a linearly movable latch link.

9. A suction cleaner arrangement as claimed in Claim 8 in which the latch link is actuated by a pivoted link secured to a further linear link having a push-release button.

10. A suction cleaner arrangement substantially as specifically described here with reference to the accompanying drawings.