US2093991A - Suction cleaner - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 28, 1937.

H H. BOYER SUCTION CLEANER Filed May 16, 1936 2 SheetsSheet 1 ATTO RN EY H. H. BOYER SUCTION CLEANER Filed May 16,

Sept, 28, 1937.

1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTO RN EY Patented Sept. 28, 1937 UNITED STATES SUCTION CLEANER Harold H. Boyer, Canton, Ohio, assignor to The Hoover Company, North Canton, Ohio, a cornotation of Ohio Application May is, 1936, Serial No. 80,066

1 Claims. (Cl. 285-71) This invention relates to suction cleaners, and more particularly to suction cleaners of the type which are portable and are adapted to be moved about, over the floor covering which is to be cleaned, by means of a rigid handle, pivoted to the body of the cleaner and extending upwardly and rearwardly therefrom. One of the important elements of a suction cleaner is a filtering dust collector, or dust bag, by which the dust entrained in the stream of air which is drawn through the nozzle of the suction cleaner can be filtered from the air, such dust collector being usually in the form of a bag of cloth or paper, or other suitable dust-filtering medium, and usually provided with a narrowed mouth which is detachably connected to the outlet from the body of the cleaner, and usually loosely supported at its upper end from the handle of the cleaner. In some suction cleaner constructions the bag is located between the dust inlet and the fan, the air being passed through the bag before reaching the fan, so as to remove the dust therefrom. The present invention relates particularly to means for detachably connecting the dust bag to the discharge outlet, whether the air is blown through such outlet or sucked therethrough.

'One of the objects of the present invention is to provide suitable means for detachably connecting a suction cleaner bag which may be readily operated to attach or detach the bag (and which is particularly adapted for the attachment of bags of simple structure, which can be economically manufactured. A further object of the invention is to provide attaching means for this purpose which can be economically manu factured, which will be simple of operation, and which will be efiective in preventing leakage. Further objects of the invention are to provide attaching means of this kind by which the bag will be held positively in its at ached position, which' can be substituted for her attaching means; heretofore used on cleaners already manufactured and in use, and attaching means in which the danger of operation in an improper manner is reduced to a minimum.

Still further objects of the invention and features of novelty will be apparent from the following specification, when read with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which embodiments of the invention are illustrated, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary view in side elevation of a suction cleaner embodying the invention;

Figs. 2 and 3 are enlarged views in vertical section showing the bag in its position preliminary to attachment, and in its attached position, respectively;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged view in front elevation of the structure shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged view in cross section, taken on the line 55 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view of the structure shown in Fig. 2; I

Fig. '7 is an enlarged fragmentary view, in perspective, of the mouth of the bag shown in the other figures, certain of the parts being broken away to disclose the structure more clearly;

Figs. 8 and 9 are enlarged views in vertical section similar to Figs. 2 and 3 but showing a modified structure of bag securing fingers.

In the drawingsa suction cleaner body, comprising a wide, forwardly-positioned nozzle II, a fan chamber portion l2, having an outlet l3 terminating in a flange l4, and a motor casing I5, is mounted on front wheels I6 and rear wheels II, the latter wheels being provided with adjusting means l8 by which they may be moved relative to the cleaner body in order to lift it and adjust the nozzle II to and from the underlying portion of the floor covering which is to be cleaned. -A rotary agitator I9 is preferably provided and rotatably mounted in the nozzle ll, extending transversely therein and driven by a belt, 'or other suitable means, from the shaft of the vertical axis motor, which it will be understood is mounted in the motor casing portion 15. It will also be understood that a fan is located in the fan casing portion l2 and. driven by the same motor. The bottom of the cleaner body' is preferably formed with an opening through which access may be had to the motor shaft, pulley and fan, and for removing the belt, such opening being normally closed by a removable cover plate 20, normally held in place by a latch means 2|. A rigid handle, provided with a ball I 22, is provided for pushing the cleaner about over the fioor covering, the bail 22 being pivoted 'to the body of the cleaner at 23 and provided with -a suitable handle-position-controlling means here shown as a sector 24, rigid with the handle bail 22 and cooperating with a latch means on the body of the cleaner, the arrangement and construction being such as to allow a limited range of free pivotal movement of the handle from one intermediate position to another but to hold the handle releasably in the vertical, or storage, position shown in Figure 1, as well as in a horizontal position. All of the parts so far described are of well known construction and are current of air is blown or sucked, and to which the dust filter is attached.

In the present embodiment a tubular fitting 1 is attached to the outlet flange l4, having a-flange 26 corresponding in shape to that of the flange |4 with slotted ears 21 at its sides, so that'it may be slid downwardly into registry with the flange l4 and secured by nuts 28 or similar means. The flange 26 is preferably grooved to receive a gasket 29, which is preferably formed of sponge rubber faced with felt. The fitting 25 has an integral tubular extension 30, of uniform cross section and preferably oval, which extends upwardly at an angle substantially corresponding with that of the position of the handle during normal use of the cleaner.

As shown in the drawings, a bag 3| is provided which is formed of air porous paper, or'similar material, folded, in pleats and open at its upper end, the'lower end being formed with a mouth which is relatively small by sewing the folds in overlapped relation, which structure is shown in greater detail in -U. S. Patent 1,859,961, Ballou, issued May 24, 1932.

The mouth of the bag 3| is reinforced internally, by a short tube 32 of relatively stiff material, such as fiber or heavy paper or similar material, such tube being of uniform diameter throughout. A valve 33 may also be provided, if desired, in the form of a longer collapsible tube of relatively flexible paper, cloth, or similar material, such valve tube being located between the bag mouth and the tube 32 and secured in place by stitching 34 extending through all three of the parts adjacent the mouth the bag.

In order to secure the bag mouth to the tubular extension 30, a ring 35 is slidably mounted on the extension 30, such ring having a portion thereof slotted at 36 to form a plurality of spring fingers 31, one or more rivets 38 preferably being located.

within one or more of the slots 36 to secure the ring 35 permanently to the extension and limit the outward movement of the ring.

A gasket a is preferably provided onthe extension 30, against which the base of the ring 35 seats, in order to prevent leakage; such gasket being preferably formed of sponge rubber faced with felt, or other suitable material. The ring 35 may be of rigid material having a tube of spring material attached thereto, as shown, or may be formed as an entirety of spring material. In any case, the fingers 31 carried thereby are resilient and are normally bent slightly inward- 1y, as shown in Fig. 2, the free ends of such fingers having short outwardly bent hook portions 39 adapted to engage back of the end of the tube 32, when the fingers 31 are forced outwardly, and it will be apparent that such fingers are forced outwardly as the ring 35 is slid from the position shown in Fig. 2 to that shown in Fig. 3, being cammed outwardly byengagement with the end of the tubular extension 30.

The ring 35 is provided with a short radially;

3. i As shown, the latch means comprises a member 4| of sheet metal having ears 42 bent over at each side thereof and pivoted at 43 to a lug 44 on the tubular fitting 25, and having short ears 45 bent out from the central portion thereof to which a retainer 46 formed of sheet metal is pivoted at 41. The retainer 46 is formed with a bent finger 48 at its end, and a coil spring 49 surrounds the pivot 41 and normally holds the end of the finger, 48 in contact with the lug 44. The lug 44 is provided with notches 50 and 5| in which the finger 48 is engaged when the latch member 4| is in ring-securing and ring-releasing positions, respectively, and an arcuate surface 52 is provided between the notches 50 and 5| which is curved to approach the pivot point as it nears the notch 5|, so that the pressure of the coil spring 49 will resist any tendency for the latch to fall back toward latching position after it has once been moved away from such position, even though the finger 48 is not engaged in notch 5|.

The manner of using, the structure will be readily apparent. With the ring member 35 in the position shown in Fig. 2, the open mouth of the bag 3| is readily engaged over the hooked ends 39 of the spring fingers and slid down until the lip of the bag mouth engages the abutment on the ring 35, as shown. As the length of the,

reinforcing tube 32 corresponds to the distance between such abutment and the hooked ends 39, such hooked ends will be engaged with the inner end of the tube 32, When the ring 35 and the bag are slid together to the position shown in Fig. 3, the spring fingers being cammed outwardly by their engagement with the end of the tubular extension 30 and, when the latch 4| has been moved to the position shown in Fig. 3, the end 48 of the retainer 46 will be snapped into notch 50, and the bag will be securely locked in place. To release the bag it is only necessary to squeeze together the latch member 4| and the latch retainer 46 to withdraw finger'48 from the slot 50, after which the bag 3| may be pulled off, the ring 35 moving with it until spring fingers 31 are free to spring inwardly to withdraw the hooked ends 39 from their engagement with the end of the tube 32.

In the modification shown in Figs. 8 and 9, spring fingers are shown which are compressed against the tube 32, instead of having latching engagement with an abutment thereon. In this modified embodiment, the ring 35 has secured thereto a ring 59 of spring material which is slotted at 53, as in the first embodiment, to form fingers 54 each of which is bent back upon itself and provided with a terminal tongue 55 engaged ina notch 56 near the base of the finger. The fingers 54 are thus wedge-shaped, thickening toward a loop at the inner end of each finger, and a filler ring 51 is preferably'provided inside of the ring 59 reaching substantially to the tongues 55. The upper end of the tubular extension 30a is beveled on its outer surface, as shown at 58, to provide for gradual compressiomof the spring fingers as the ring 35 is slid from the position shown in Fig. 8 to that shown in Fig. 9. It will be apparent that, in general, the operation of this embodiment will be the same as that of the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 to 7, except that the bag will be frictionally held by the expansion of thespring fingers outwardly against the reinforcing tube 32, rather than being positively latched in placeby the hooked ends on the spring fingers engaging an abutment on the reinforcing tube. While two embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, it will be understood that various changes may be made in the details of construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention, which is defined in the following claims:

I claim:

1. In a suction cleaner, the combination with a body having a discharge outlet terminating in a tubular extension, a sleeve mounted to slide lengthwise on said extension and having a radially expansible portion, and a dust bag having a neck portion adapted to be fitted over said sleeve in its extended position and then to be shifted bodily t ierewith onto said tubular extension whereby' aid expansible portion of said sleeve is expanded to engage said neck portion interiorly to hold said bag on said sleeve.

2. In a suction cleaner, the combination with a body having a discharge outlet terminating in a tubular extension, a sleeve mounted to slide lengthwise on said extension and having a radially expansible portion adjacent its outer end and adapted to assume a contracted position when extended beyond the end of said tubular extension, and a dust bag having a neck portion adapted to be fitted over said slidable sleeve in its extended position and then to be shifted bodily therewith onto said tubular extension whereby the normally contracted portion of said sleeve is expanded, and means mounted interiorly of the neck portion of said bag and adapted to'be engaged by the expanded portion of said sleeve to hold said bag thereon.

3. In a suction cleaner, the combination with a body having a discharge outlet terminating in a tubular extension, a sleeve mounted to slide lengthwise on said tubular extension and having a radiallyexpansible outer end portion adapted to assume a contracted position when the same is extended beyond the end of said tubular extension, and a dust bag having a neck portion adapted to be fitted snugly onto said sleeve in its extended position and to slide therewith onto said tubular extension and to be securely fastened thereto by the expansion of the outer end portion of said sleeve.

4. In a suction cleaner, the combination with a body having a discharge outlet terminating in a tubular extension, a sleeve mounted to slide lengthwise on said tubular extension and having a radially expansible and contractible outer end portion adapted to assume a contracted position when extended beyond the outer end of said tubular extension, a dust bag having a neck portion adapted to be fitted onto said sleeve in its extended position and to be shifted bodily therewith onto said tubular extension, and a collar surrounding the inner surface of said neck portion having its innermost edge positioned to provide a shoulder to be engaged by the expansible end portion of said sleeve.

5. In a suction cleaner, the combination with a body having a discharge outlet terminating in a tubular extension, a sleeve mounted to slide lengthwise on said tubular extension and having at its outer end a plurality of radially expansible fingers normally assuming a contracted position when extended beyond the end of said tubular extension, and a dust bag having a neck portion adapted to fit snugly over said sleeve and to slide bodily therewith onto said tubular extension whereupon said fingers are expanded radially to engage said neck portion and hold said bag against displacement on said sleeve, and means for locking said sleeve against sliding movement on said tubular extension.

6. In a suction cleaner, the combination with a body having a discharge outlet terminating in a tubular extension with a shoulder at its lower end, a sleeve slidably mounted on said tubular extension and having a plurality of spring fingers forming its outer end portion, said spring fingers being radially contractible and expansible in the sliding movement of said sleeve on said tubular extension, a dust bag having a reinforced neck portion adapted to fit snugly onto said sleeve in its extended position then to slide bodily therewith onto said tubular extension flush with said shoulder thereof, whereupon said spring fingers are expanded radially to engage said neck portion to hold said bag on said sleeve, and latching means for holding said sleeve against sliding movement on said tubular extension.

7. In a suction cleaner, the combination with a body having a discharge outlet terminating in a tubular extension having a shoulder at its base, a sleeve mounted to slide lengthwise on said tubular extension and having its outer end portion slotted lengthwise to form a plurality of resilient fingers having their ends bent radially outward, said fingers being normally contracted when extended beyond the end of said tubular extension and adapted to be expanded radially in contact with said tubular extension, a dust bag having a neck portion adapted to fit said sleeve and have an internal reinforcing collar providing a shoulder at its innermost end, said neck portion being adapted to be inserted onto said sleeve in its extended position thence to slide therewith onto said tubular extension into flush contact with the shoulder at the base thereof, and a latching member mounted on said tubular extension adjacent said shoulder and adapted to have latching engagement with said sleeve when in fiush contact with said shoulder.

HAROLD H. BOYER.

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