Battery-powered vacuum cleaner and method of cooling battery-powered vacuum cleaner

• US 20030182758A1
• Filed: 03/17/2003
• Published: 10/02/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 03/29/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Kanai, Hideyuki, Iwasaki, Hideo, Hisano, Katsumi, Kanda, Motoya
• Granted Patent: US 7,120,965 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 15/412
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/00 Details or accessories of suction cleaners, e.g. mechanical means for controlling the suction or for effecting pulsating action; Storing devices specially adapted to suction cleaners or parts thereof; Carrying-vehicles specially adapted for suction cleaners
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/2884 Details of arrangements of batteries or their installation

Abstract

A battery-powered vacuum cleaner is provided with a battery pack that generates heat and is capable of efficiently cooling the battery pack. The battery pack of the battery-powered vacuum cleaner is cooled by a vacuum cleaner cooling method. The battery-powered vacuum cleaner comprises a battery pack (3) including a plurality of secondary batteries, a battery pack container (2) containing the battery pack, a motor (7) driven for operation by power supplied by the battery pack, a fan (5) driven by the motor to suck air, a dust cup (9) for separating dust from air sucked therein by the fan and storing the dust separated from the sucked air, a housing (1) containing the battery pack container, the motor, the fan and the dust cup, and provided with a first suction opening (30) through which external air is sucked, a first airflow duct (32) for guiding the air sucked in by the fun through the dust cup to the motor, and a second airflow duct (36), for guiding air for cooling the battery pack through the battery pack, joined to the first airflow duct at a junction (34) on the upstream side of the fan.

Claims

1. A battery-powered vacuum cleaner comprising:

a battery pack including a plurality of secondary batteries;

a battery pack container containing the battery pack;

a motor driven for operation by power supplied by the battery pack;

a fan driven by the motor to suck air;

a dust cup for separating dust from air sucked therein by the fan and storing the dust separated from the sucked air;

a housing containing the battery pack container, the motor, the fan and the dust cup, and provided with a first suction opening through which external air is sucked;

a first airflow duct for guiding the air sucked in by the fun through the dust cup to the motor; and

a second airflow duct, for guiding air for cooling the battery pack through the battery pack, joined to the first airflow duct at a junction on an upstream side of the fan.

2. The battery-powered vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the housing is provided with a second suction opening to suck in external air therethrough, and air sucked in through the second suction opening flows through the second airflow duct.

3. The battery-powered vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein a flow regulating valve is placed in the second airflow duct to regulate flow of air through the junction of the first and the second airflow duct into the first airflow duct.

4. The battery-powered vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the second airflow duct branches from the first airflow duct at a junction on the upstream side of the dust cup.

5. The battery-powered vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the second airflow duct branches from the first airflow duct at a junction on a downstream side of the dust cup.

6. The battery-powered vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein a third airflow duct is joined to the first airflow duct on a downstream side of the fan to return air flowed through the first airflow duct to the first suction opening.

7. The battery-powered vacuum cleaner according to claim 6, wherein the housing is provided with a second suction opening to suck in external air, air sucked in through the second suction opening flows through the second airflow duct, and a discharge duct for discharging air at a discharge rate corresponding to a suction rate at which external air is sucked in through the second suction opening branches from the third airflow duct.

8. The battery-powered vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein an end of the second airflow duct joined to the first airflow duct at the junction is flush with the inner surface of the first airflow duct.

9. The battery-powered vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the junction is on an upper side of the first airflow duct with respect to a direction of gravitation in a working state.

10. The battery-powered vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the second airflow duct is provided with a projection projecting into the first airflow duct at its upstream end at the junction.

11. The battery-powered vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the second airflow duct has a greatly sloping part projecting into the first airflow duct at a large angle to a direction of air flow at the junction, and a slightly sloping part extending from a downstream end of the greatly sloping part at a small angle to the direction of air flow in the first airflow duct and having an open end opening downstream with respect to the direction of air flow.

12. The battery-powered vacuum cleaner according to claim 2 or 7, wherein a filter for filtering air sucked in through the second suction opening is placed in the second airflow duct.

13. A vacuum cleaner cooling method of cooling a battery-powered vacuum cleaner, which comprises:

a battery pack including a plurality of secondary batteries,

a battery pack container containing the battery pack,

a motor driven for operation by power supplied by the battery pack,

a fan driven by the motor to suck external air,

a dust cup for separating dust from air sucked therein by the fan and storing the dust separated from the sucked air,

a housing containing the battery pack container, the motor, the fan and the dust cup, and provided with first and second suction openings through which external air is sucked,

a first airflow duct for guiding the air sucked in by the fun through the dust cup to the motor, and

a second airflow duct, for guiding air for cooling the battery pack through the battery pack, joined to a part, on the upstream side of the fan, of the first airflow duct;

said vacuum cleaner cooling method comprising the steps of;

sucking external air in through the first suction opening and guiding the sucked external air through the dust cup and the first airflow duct to the motor; and

sucking external air in through the second suction opening by the agency of the fan, guiding the sucked external air so as to flow through the vicinity of the battery pack to cool the battery pack, guiding the air used for cooling the battery pack through the second airflow duct to a position on the upstream side of the fan and making the air flow into the air flowing through the first airflow duct.