Gas separation – With nonliquid cleaning means for separating media – Solid agent cleaning member movingly contacts apparatus
Reexamination Certificate
2002-05-24
2004-11-02
Lawrence, Frank M. (Department: 1724)
Gas separation
With nonliquid cleaning means for separating media
Solid agent cleaning member movingly contacts apparatus
C055S301000, C055S337000, C055SDIG003, C015S352000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06811584
ABSTRACT:
CLAIM OF PRIORITY
This application hereby refers to, and incorporates herein by reference, an earlier filed patent application entitled CYCLONE DUST COLLECTING APPARATUS FOR A VACUUM CLEANER, filed in the Korean Industrial Property Office on Feb. 28, 2002, and there duly assigned Serial Number 2002-10924. Applicant hereby claims all benefits accruing under 35 U.S.C. Section 119 for and from said earlier filed Korean patent application.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cyclone dust collecting apparatus for a vacuum cleaner, and more particularly to a cyclone dust collecting apparatus for a vacuum cleaner having a contaminant removing means for removing contaminants from a grill assembly easily.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, a cyclone dust collecting apparatus for a vacuum cleaner separates and collects contaminants from contaminant-laden air that is drawn into the cleaner through a suction port. The cyclone dust collector operates by generating a helical flow or vortex of air, it uses a centrifugal force from such generated vortex of air to separate the particulate contaminants.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,195,835 (application Ser. No. 09/388,532) issued Mar. 6, 2001 to the same applicant discloses a vacuum cleaner having a cyclone dust collecting apparatus.
FIG. 1
schematically shows the structure of the vacuum cleaner having the cyclone dust collecting apparatus disclosed and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,195,835. As shown in
FIG. 1
, the cyclone dust collecting apparatus includes a cyclone body
20
, a dust receptacle
30
and a grill assembly
40
.
The cyclone body
20
includes a first connection pipe
21
connected to a suction port extension pipe
1
a
, a second connection pipe
22
connected to the cleaner body extension pipe
1
b
, an air inflow port
23
interconnected with the first connection pipe
21
, and an air outflow port
24
interconnected with the second connection pipe
22
. In the cyclone body
20
, the contaminant-laden air is drawn in through the air inflow port
23
, forming a whirling helical vortex current.
The dust receptacle
30
is removably connected to the cyclone body
20
, and receives the contaminants separated from the air by the centrifugal force of the whirling air current of the cyclone body
20
.
The grill assembly
40
is disposed at the air outflow port
24
of the cyclone body
20
, to prevent a reversal flow of the collected contaminants through the air outflow port
24
. The grill assembly
40
includes a grill body
41
, a plurality of fine holes
42
formed in an outer circumference of the grill body
41
to form a passage to the air outflow port
24
, and a contaminant reversal preventing plate
43
of frusto-conical shape formed at the lower end of the grill body
41
.
Generally speaking, the vacuum cleaner having the cyclone dust collecting apparatus constructed as described above, the contaminant-laden air is drawn in by a suction force that is generated at the suction port of the vacuum cleaner, into the cyclone body
20
in a diagonal direction through the first connection pipe
21
and the air inflow port
23
. The drawn air flows downward through the cyclone body
20
, forming a vortex air current (indicated in solid-lined arrow of FIG.
1
). In this process, contaminants are separated from the air by the centrifugal force of the vortex air, and are retained in the dust receptacle
30
.
As the air current strikes the bottom of the dust receptacle
30
, the air flows in a reversed direction, i.e., it flows upward through the cyclone body
20
. The air then flows through the fine holes
42
of the grill assembly
40
, the air outflow port
24
and the second connection pipe
22
, and is then discharged into the cleaner body. Some contaminants borne by the upwardly moving air current strike the contaminant reversal preventing plate
43
and are thus reflected into the vortex air current. Other contaminants, which are still entrained in the upwardly moving air current after the air flow encounters the contaminant reversal preventing plate
43
, are filtered out at the fine holes
42
of the grill assembly
40
as the air flows through the fine holes
42
. These filtered contaminants may fall back into the vortex air current.
Contaminants which are not removed even by the fine holes
42
, are discharged through the fine holes
42
and the air outflow port
24
, but are filtered out at a paper filter of the cleaner body, and the clean air is discharged outside the vacuum cleaner via the motor chamber (not shown).
In the vacuum cleaner cyclone dust collecting apparatus described above, some contaminants adhere to the grill assembly
40
when the contaminant-laden air passes through the fine holes
42
of the grill assembly
40
. As time goes by, the contaminants increasingly attach to the grill assembly
40
, and finally clog the fine holes
42
. As a result, problems like suction force deterioration and motor overload occur. Accordingly, the contaminants have to be removed from the fine holes
42
of the grill assembly
40
regularly. With the general cyclone dust collecting apparatus described above, in order to remove the contaminants from the grill assembly
40
, a user has to separate the dust receptacle
30
from the cyclone body
20
and remove the contaminants manually or by using a brush. Accordingly, the grill assembly cleaning process becomes tricky. Also, since the grill assembly
40
is exposed during its cleaning, there is a high possibility that the contaminants will be inadvertently knocked off into the air, contaminating the surrounding area.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention overcomes the above problems of the prior art. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a cyclone dust collecting apparatus for a vacuum cleaner in which contaminants can be removed from a grill assembly easily even though a dust receptacle is in a mounted position, and the contaminants removed from the grill assembly are collected in the dust receptacle so as to keep the surrounding area clean.
The above object is accomplished by a cyclone dust collecting apparatus for a vacuum cleaner made according to the present invention. The collecting apparatus includes a cyclone body that has a first connection pipe connected to an extension pipe adjacent to a suction port of the vacuum cleaner, a second connection pipe connected to the extension pipe adjacent to a body of the vacuum cleaner, an air inflow port interconnected with the first connection pipe, and an air outflow port interconnected with the second connection pipe. The cyclone body is adapted to form a vortex of contaminant-laden air that is drawn in through the air inflow port. A dust receptacle removably connected to the cyclone body for receiving contaminants separated from the air by the vortex. A grill assembly is disposed at the air outflow port of the cyclone body, and a plurality of longitudinal slots are formed in an outer circumference of the grill body at a constant interval from each other to form a passage to the air outflow port. The grill assembly prevents the contaminants collected in the dust receptacle from reversely traveling through the air outflow port of the cyclone body. A contaminant removing member can be moved up and down over the outer circumference surface of the grill body to remove contaminants that are attached to and around the respective longitudinal slots of the grill assembly. An operating lever has one end connected to a center of the contaminant removing member and the other end protrudes from an outside of the cyclone body through the inside of the grill body so as to move the contaminant removing member upward and downward.
According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the plurality of longitudinal slots have at least two opposing slots serving the function of a guide for the contaminant removing member when the contaminant removing member is moved upward and downward. The contaminant removing member comprises a cylindrical body with a rib
Ladas & Parry LLP
Lawrence Frank M.
Samsung Gwangju Electronics Co. Ltd.
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