Brushing – scrubbing – and general cleaning – Machines – With air blast or suction
Reexamination Certificate
2001-08-06
2003-09-02
Snider, Theresa T. (Department: 1744)
Brushing, scrubbing, and general cleaning
Machines
With air blast or suction
C015S326000, C015S327700, C015S412000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06611989
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner, and particularly, to a vacuum cleaner in which an appliance chamber forming a suction force and a cord chamber for storing and winding an electrical cord are included.
2. Description of the Background Art
Generally, a vacuum cleaner is an appliance for removing foreign materials such as dirt, dust and debris using a strong suction force generated by operation of a fan motor assembly.
A conventional vacuum cleaner, as shown in
FIG. 1
, includes a case
10
in which a suction head
1
, an extension tube
3
, and a suction hose
5
are connected in series so as to suck up the foreign materials such as dust therethrough.
In addition, a dust chamber
12
including a dust bag
20
for collecting the foreign materials such as dust included in the sucked air is disposed at the inner front side of the case
10
, and an appliance chamber
13
generating suction force and a cord chamber
14
for storing a wound electrical cord are disposed to the rear of the dust chamber
12
parting inside the case.
A suction port
15
communicating with the dust chamber
12
is formed in a front part of the appliance chamber
13
, a fan motor assembly
30
for generating the suction force is installed to the rear of the suction port
15
, and a discharge port
16
for discharging therethrough the sucked air to the outside of the case
10
is installed at the rear side of the fan motor assembly
30
. In addition, an exhaust filter
17
is installed at the discharge port
16
.
A cord reel
42
for winding the electrical cord
41
is installed in the cord chamber
14
, and the cord reel
42
is rotated on a reel axle shaft
40
supported inside of the case
10
.
The structure of the appliance chamber and core chamber in the conventional vacuum cleaner will now be described, with reference to
FIGS. 2 through 7
.
FIG. 2
is a side cross-sectional view taken along line A—A in
FIG. 1
, and showing the internal structure of the appliance chamber, and
FIG. 3
is an exploded perspective view showing the fan motor assembly installed in the appliance chamber shown in FIG.
2
.
As shown in
FIGS. 2 and 3
, the fan motor assembly
30
installed in the appliance chamber
13
includes a driving motor
31
having a rotating shaft
32
; a centrifugal fan
34
installed on the rotating shaft
32
of the driving motor
31
; a guide vane wheel
35
installed between the driving motor
31
and the centrifugal fan
34
and guiding the air discharged from the centrifugal fan
34
to the driving motor
31
through a plurality of vanes
35
a
and an opening hole
35
b
in the central part thereof; and a fan cover
36
, in which the centrifugal fan
34
and the guide vane
35
are enclosed, communicating with the suction port
15
communicated with the dust chamber
12
.
Herein, a motor housing
33
including a stator and a rotor is installed in the driving motor
31
, and an inlet port
33
a
for introducing the air discharged through the opening hole
35
b
of the guide vane
35
is disposed in a front side of the motor housing
33
. In addition, an exhaust port
33
b
for discharging the air sucked inside the housing
33
to the appliance chamber
13
is formed in a peripheral surface of the housing
33
.
In addition, the peripheral surface of the motor housing
33
is covered by an acoustically absorbent sleeve
38
made of a multiperforated film, whereby the outside of the exhaust hole
33
b
is covered, and at the same time, the noise generated when the air is discharged from the motor housing
33
is reduced.
FIG. 4
is a side cross-sectional view taken along line B—B in
FIG. 1
, showing the inner structure of the cord chamber, and
FIG. 5
is a plan view showing the cord reel installed in the cord chamber in FIG.
4
.
As shown in
FIG. 4
, a cord passage hole
19
is formed in the cord chamber
14
on rear side of the case
10
so that the electrical cord can be drawn therethrough, and the cord reel
42
including a hub
43
and reel flanges
44
is installed inside the cord chamber
14
so that the electrical cord
41
can be wound thereonto.
The cord reel
42
is installed to be rotational on the reel axle shaft
40
so that the electrical cord
41
is able to be wound or unwound.
Herein, heat is generated in the electrical cord
41
while operating the vacuum cleaner, and especially, as vacuum cleaners having strong suction force using motors of high-efficiency and high-energy are developed, more heat is generated in the electrical cord
41
.
Also, as the size of the vacuum cleaners is becoming smaller than before, consequently the internal space available for storing the electrical cord
41
becomes smaller. Therefore, the electrical cord
41
must be wound more densely on the cord reel
42
and smaller gauge cords may be adopted, whereby the heating value per unit volume is increased, and accordingly, the temperature of the electrical cord
41
approaches to the safety threshold level.
Therefore, in order to prevent the rising of the temperature in the electrical cord
41
, a plurality of cooling holes
43
a
and
44
a
through which the air passes are formed in the cord reel
42
so that the electrical cord
41
may be cooled through heat exchange with the air flowing thereover and therethrough smoothly, as shown in FIG.
7
.
The conventional vacuum cleaner having the structure including the appliance chamber
13
and the cord chamber
14
as described above is operated as follows.
First, in order to operate the vacuum cleaner, electrical power must be supplied to the vacuum cleaner, and accordingly, a user draws out the electrical cord
41
wound on the cord reel
42
inside the cord chamber
14
to a certain length, and inserts a plug disposed on end of the electrical cord
41
into a wall electric outlet so that the electric current is able to be supplied to the vacuum cleaner.
When the electric current is applied to the vacuum cleaner, the driving motor
31
is operated, and the centrifugal fan
34
inside the appliance chamber
13
rotates, whereby foreign materials such as dust are sucked with the air into the dust bag
20
through the suction head
1
and suction hose
5
by the suction force of sucking the air inside the dust chamber
12
.
As described above, the air sucked inside the dust bag
20
flows toward the appliance chamber
30
by the continuing suction operation of the fan motor assembly. At that time, the foreign materials such as dust included in the air are left inside the dust bag
20
by filtering, and the air passing through the dust bag
20
is sucked into the appliance chamber
30
, and after that, the air is discharged outside of the vacuum cleaner through the discharge port
16
in the case
10
.
The flowing process of the air inside the appliance chamber
30
will now be described. The air sucked through the suction port
15
between the dust chamber
12
and the appliance chamber
13
enters into the centrifugal fan
34
through the suction port
36
a
in the fan cover
36
. And the air passed through the centrifugal fan
34
flows toward the center from the peripheral surfaces of the guide vanes
35
, and after that the air is sucked into the motor housing
33
through the opening hole
35
b
in the center of the guide vane
35
.
The air entering into the motor housing
33
cools down the motor parts such as the stator and the rotor, and after that, the air is discharged into the inside of the case through the exhaust port
33
b
in the motor housing
33
. Then, the air is discharged to the outside through the exhaust filter
17
and through the discharge port
16
of the case
10
, as long as the vacuum cleaner is operated.
However, the conventional vacuum cleaner described above has problems, such that the air heated while going through the fan motor assembly
30
is discharged directly to the appliance chamber
13
through the exhaust port
33
b
, after that, the air is discharged outside the case
10
. Therefore, the case
10
may be distorted by the heated air discharge
Hong Sang Wook
Oh Dong Yeop
Park Yong Dol
Birch & Stewart Kolasch & Birch, LLP
LG Electronics Inc.
Snider Theresa T.
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