Brushing – scrubbing – and general cleaning – Machines – With air blast or suction
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-07
2001-09-11
Moore, Chris K. (Department: 1744)
Brushing, scrubbing, and general cleaning
Machines
With air blast or suction
C015S410000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06286182
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a vacuum cleaner comprising a housing, which accommodates a suction unit, a suction accessory, which can be coupled to the housing via a suction hose and a suction tube, a handle, which is situated near a coupling between the suction hose and the suction tube, and a holder for further accessories, which is detachably coupled to the handle and connects to said handle near a first end and a second end.
The invention also relates to a holder which can suitably be used in a vacuum cleaner in accordance with the invention.
The invention further relates to a suction hose which can suitably be used in a vacuum cleaner in accordance with the invention, said suction hose comprising the handle of the vacuum cleaner.
The invention additionally relates to a suction tube which can suitably be used in a vacuum cleaner in accordance with the invention, said suction tube comprising the handle of the vacuum cleaner.
A vacuum cleaner of the type mentioned in the opening paragraph is disclosed in EP-B-0 747 000. The handle of the known vacuum cleaner is tubular and forms part of a suction duct of the vacuum cleaner which connects the suction accessory to the suction unit. The holder of the known vacuum cleaner is plate-shaped and extends parallel to the handle in a state wherein the holder is coupled to the handle. A number of further accessories of the vacuum cleaner are detachably coupled to the holder. Since the holder is in the immediate vicinity of the handle, a user of the vacuum cleaner has said accessories close at hand, resulting in a high ease of use. Since the holder connects to the handle only near the two ends of the holder, a relatively large gripping space for the handle is provided between the handle and the holder, so that upon gripping the handle, the user is not hampered by the holder. The known holder comprises, at each of the two ends, a coupling member for coupling the holder to the handle. As a result, a stable coupling of the holder to the handle is achieved.
A drawback of the known vacuum cleaner resides in that uncoupling the holder requires both the first end and the second end of the holder to be uncoupled from the handle, while coupling the holder to the handle requires both the first end of the holder and the second end of the holder to be coupled to the handle. Consequently, coupling and uncoupling of the holder is rather inconvenient to the user. A further drawback of the known vacuum cleaner resides in that the forces exerted on the holder during detaching an accessory from the holder may unintentionally cause the entire holder to be uncoupled from the handle.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to provide a vacuum cleaner of the type mentioned in the opening paragraph, wherein the above-mentioned drawbacks of the known vacuum cleaner are precluded as much as possible.
In order to achieve said object, the vacuum cleaner in accordance with the invention is characterized in that the holder is provided with a bridge which interconnects both ends of the holder, which holder can be coupled to the handle exclusively by means of a coupling member which is provided on a part of the bridge which is situated at a distance from both ends. As a result of the fact that the holder can be coupled to the handle exclusively by means of the coupling member provided on said part of the bridge, coupling and uncoupling of the holder is considerably simplified. In common with the vacuum cleaner described in EP-B-0 747 000. the holder of the vacuum cleaner in accordance with the invention connects with both ends to the handle, so that the vacuum cleaner in accordance with the invention also has a relatively large gripping space for the handle. In the case of the vacuum cleaner in accordance with the invention, said gripping space is situated between the holder and the bridge interconnecting both ends of the holder. As a result, the user gripping the handle also grips the bridge of the holder, so that, during operation, the holder cannot separate from the handle if the holder were to be unintentionally uncoupled from the handle, or if forces were to be exerted on the holder during detaching accessories from the holder.
It is noted that in the foregoing and the following parts of this document as well as in the claims, the expression “connect to” is to be taken to mean “fit on without, or substantially without, interspace”. Thus, said expression is not to be taken to include “coupled to or connected to”.
A particular embodiment of a vacuum cleaner in accordance with the invention is characterized in that the handle is tubular, while the bridge comprises a shell-shaped part at least near the two ends of the holder, which shell-shaped part partly fits over the tubular handle substantially without clearance. By virtue of the fact that the bridge is provided with said shell-shaped part near both ends of the holder, the holder is secured against torsional movements about the coupling member in an effective and robust manner. It is thus precluded that, under the influence of such torsional movements, the holder is unintentionally uncoupled from the handle and that the coupling member is distorted under the influence of such torsional movements.
A further embodiment of a vacuum cleaner in accordance with the invention is characterized in that the bridge comprises a single shell-shaped part which extends from the first end to the second end of the holder and partly fits over the tubular handle substantially without clearance. Due to the fact that the bridge comprises said single shell-shaped part, a simple construction of the holder is obtained and the handle with the bridge coupled thereto handles nicely.
Yet another embodiment of a vacuum cleaner in accordance with the invention is characterized in that the handle and the bridge are curved, viewed in a longitudinal direction of the handle. Said curved shape of the handle and the bridge, viewed in the longitudinal direction of the handle, provides for a relatively large space between the holder and the bridge and hence a relatively large gripping space for the handle.
A particular embodiment of a vacuum cleaner in accordance with the invention is characterized in that the handle and the bridge are provided with co-operating locking elements by means of which the holder can be locked with respect to the handle, viewed in a longitudinal direction of the handle. By using said locking elements, it is precluded, in a practical and simple manner, that the holder can be moved along the handle in the longitudinal direction under the influence of handling forces when the holder is in the coupled situation.
A further embodiment of a vacuum cleaner in accordance with the invention is characterized in that the coupling member comprises two elastically deformable hooks for cooperation with a coupling element of the handle which, viewed in cross-section, is T-shaped. In this manner, a simple construction, a reliable operation and a simple control of the coupling member is obtained. Uncoupling of the holder takes place by simply snapping the holder from the handle, while elastically deforming said hooks, and coupling of the holder to the handle takes place by simply snapping the holder onto the handle while elastically deforming said hooks.
Yet another embodiment of a vacuum cleaner in accordance with the invention is characterized in that the coupling element comprises a central part for co-operation with the hooks of the holder, and the coupling element is provided, on either side of the central part, with parts which are widened with respect to the central part. In this embodiment, the hooks and said widened parts of the coupling element form the above-mentioned co-operating locking elements by means of which shifting of the holder along the handle in the longitudinal direction is precluded. In this manner, reliably operating locking elements are obtained in a simple manner.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3872538 (1975-03-01), Crouser
patent: 4720890 (1988-01-01), Jacob
patent: 5732438 (199
Dorgelo Jan
Mulder Roelf
Oudman Benjamin L.
Van Wolferen Paulus H.
Bartlett Ernestine C.
Moore Chris K.
U.S. Philips Corporation
LandOfFree
Vacuum cleaner comprising a holder for accessories does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Vacuum cleaner comprising a holder for accessories, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Vacuum cleaner comprising a holder for accessories will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2476645