Gas separation – With separated gas outflow control – Baffle or flow guide
Reexamination Certificate
2002-02-25
2003-09-02
Hopkins, Robert A. (Department: 1724)
Gas separation
With separated gas outflow control
Baffle or flow guide
C055S417000, C055S426000, C055S459100, C055SDIG003
Reexamination Certificate
active
06613116
ABSTRACT:
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 grill assembly of a cyclone dust collecting apparatus for a vacuum cleaner used for preventing dust from being drawn into a vacuum-generating device.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1
shows a conventional cyclone dust collecting apparatus for a vacuum cleaner. The illustrated cyclone duct collecting apparatus represents an earlier product of the present assignee, so that it cannot be used as the basis to deny the inventive step of the claims.
According to
FIG. 1
, the conventional cyclone dust collecting apparatus
10
for a vacuum cleaner comprises a cyclone body
20
, a dust-collecting portion
30
, and grill assembly
40
. The grill assembly
40
is installed at the cyclone body
20
by a fastening member such as a screw (not shown).
An air suction passage
21
connected with a brush assembly (not shown) of the vacuum cleaner is disposed at an upper part of the cyclone body
20
. Air drawn through the air suction passage
21
flows in a tangential direction along the cyclone body
20
and forms a whirling air current.
An air discharge passage
22
connected with a vacuum-generating device (not shown) of the vacuum cleaner is disposed at an upper central part of the cyclone body
20
. In order to prevent filth from being drawn into the vacuum-generating device, the grill assembly
40
is disposed at an inlet of the air discharge passage
22
.
The grill assembly
40
has a grill body
41
and a sealing member
42
. The grill body
41
has a plurality of passages
46
formed therein in order to draw into an air. The sealing member
42
has a filth backflow prevent unit
43
formed at an outer part of a circumference thereof.
An upper part of the grill body
41
is connected with the air discharge passage
22
of the cyclone body
20
, and a lower part of the grill body
41
is sealed by the sealing member
42
. The sealing member
42
is connected with a bracket
44
by a screw
45
, and the bracket
44
is integrally formed with the grill body
41
.
In the conventional cyclone dust collecting apparatus
10
for a vacuum cleaner with the above construction, if the vacuum-generating device of the vacuum cleaner operates, the air containing various filth on a cleaning surface is drawn into the cyclone body
20
through the air suction passage
21
.
The air drawn into the cyclone body
20
forms the whirling air current, and dust included in the air current is separated by a centrifugal force and collected in the dust collecting portion
30
. The cleaned air flows to the vacuum-generating device through the passage
46
and the air discharge passage
22
.
On the other hand, the sealing member
42
sometimes has to be separated from the grill body
41
to clean and repair the vacuum cleaner. After finishing the cleaning and repair, a user reassembles the sealing member
42
with the grill body
41
.
There is a problem with this design in that the vacuum cleaner might be operated in a case that the sealing member
42
is not assembled with the grill body
41
due to the user's mistake. In this case, the dust is drawn into the vacuum-generating device through a lower opening of the grill body
41
. Thus, an improvement to the present design would be desirable.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention now provides a grill assembly of a cyclone dust collecting apparatus for a vacuum cleaner that is capable of preventing dust from being drawn to a vacuum-generating device even in the situation where the vacuum cleaner is operated when the sealing member is not assembled with the grill body.
The grill assembly of the cyclone dust collecting apparatus for a vacuum cleaner according to the present invention comprises a grill body having a connecting passage connected with an air discharge passage of the cyclone dust collecting apparatus; a sealing member removably connected with the grill body in order to seal one opening of the grill body; and valve means for sealing the connecting passage of the grill body when the sealing member is not assembled with the grill body.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the valve means comprises a valve member disposed on the inside of the connecting passage and capable of moving between open and closed positions, preferably in upwardly and downwardly directions, and valve opening means for opening the connecting passage by driving the valve member to move it upwardly to the open position when the sealing member is assembled with the grill body.
In a more preferred embodiment of the present invention, the valve opening means comprises at least two valve opening pins protruding from an upper side of the sealing member. Optionally, means for urging the valve member downwardly toward the closed position may be included.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2071975 (1937-02-01), Holm-Hansen et al.
Hopkins Robert A.
Ladas & Parry
Samsung Gwangju Electronics Co. Ltd.
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