Hand-held cordless vacuum cleaner
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A hand-held portable vacuum comprising:
- a housing;
a dirt cup having an inlet and defining a container for storage of dirt and debris therein, the dirt cup being removably attached to the housing;
an impeller at least partially disposed in the housing;
a HEPA filter disposed between the impeller and the inlet, the HEPA filter being formed with a plurality of pleats;
means for swirling the incoming air about the dirt cup; and
a filter cleaning device coupled to at least one of the housing and the dirt cup, the filter cleaning device including at least one rib and a hub, the hub being coupled to one of the HEPA filter and the rib and configured to rotate the one of the HEPA filter and the rib about the other one of the HEPA filter to generate contact between the rib and the HEPA filter to at least partially dislodge accumulated dirt and debris from the pleats.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A hand-held vacuum cleaner with a container for the storage of dirt and debris therein. To provide improved efficiency and performance, the hand-held vacuum may employ a primary HEPA filter, a device for swirling a dirt and debris laden air flow and/or a mechanized filter cleaning device. Swirling may be employed to direct entrained dirt and debris in a desired direction relative to the container to slow the rate with which dirt and debris accumulates on the primary filter and/or to centrifugally remove dirt and debris from the air flow. Mechanized cleaning is employed to shake, scrape or otherwise remove accumulated dirt and debris from the primary filter.
-
Citations
38 Claims
-
1. A hand-held portable vacuum comprising:
-
a housing;
a dirt cup having an inlet and defining a container for storage of dirt and debris therein, the dirt cup being removably attached to the housing;
an impeller at least partially disposed in the housing;
a HEPA filter disposed between the impeller and the inlet, the HEPA filter being formed with a plurality of pleats;
means for swirling the incoming air about the dirt cup; and
a filter cleaning device coupled to at least one of the housing and the dirt cup, the filter cleaning device including at least one rib and a hub, the hub being coupled to one of the HEPA filter and the rib and configured to rotate the one of the HEPA filter and the rib about the other one of the HEPA filter to generate contact between the rib and the HEPA filter to at least partially dislodge accumulated dirt and debris from the pleats. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
-
-
7. A hand-held portable vacuum comprising:
-
a housing;
an impeller at least partially disposed in the housing;
a dirt cup having an inlet and defining a container for storage of dirt and debris therein, the dirt cup being removably attached to the housing; and
a HEPA filter disposed between the impeller and the inlet. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
-
-
17. A method for filtering a dirt and debris laden air flow, the method comprising:
-
providing a hand-held vacuum with a housing, an impeller, an inlet, a container and a primary filter, the housing including a handle that permits a user to employ the hand-held vacuum for vacuuming with a single hand, the impeller being disposed within the housing, the inlet being configured to receive the dirt and debris laden air flow therethrough, the container being configured to retain dirt and debris removed from the dirt and debris laden air flow and the primary filter being disposed between the impeller and the inlet;
rotating the impeller to generate the dirt and debris laden air flow; and
swirling the dirt and debris laden air flow about the interior of the container. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21)
-
-
22. A hand-held portable vacuum comprising:
-
a housing having a handle;
a dirt cup having an inlet and defining a container for storage of dirt and debris therein, the dirt cup being removably attached to the housing;
an impeller at least partially disposed in the housing;
a filter disposed between the impeller and the inlet, the filter being formed with a plurality of pleats;
a filter cleaning device coupled to at least one of the housing and the dirt cup, the filter cleaning device including at least one rib and a hub, the hub being coupled to one of the filter and the rib and configured to rotate the one of the filter and the rib about the other one of the filter to generate contact between the rib and the filter to at least partially dislodge accumulated dirt and debris from the pleats. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
-
-
32. A hand-held portable vacuum comprising:
-
a housing having a handle;
a dirt cup having an inlet and defining a container for storage of dirt and debris therein, the dirt cup being removably attached to the housing;
an impeller at least partially disposed in the housing, the impeller being operable for generating an air flow that flows through the inlet;
a filter disposed between the impeller and the inlet; and
means for swirling the air flow about the dirt cup. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36)
-
-
37. A hand-held portable vacuum comprising:
-
a housing having a handle;
a dirt cup having an inlet and defining a container for storage of dirt and debris therein, the dirt cup being removably attached to the housing;
an impeller at least partially disposed in the housing, the impeller being operable for generating an air flow that flows through the inlet;
a filter disposed between the impeller and the inlet; and
a flow deflector associated with the inlet of the dirt cup, the flow deflector being configured to direct the air flow toward an interior surface of the dirt cup in a manner that causes dirt and debris entrained in the air flow to swirl about the interior surface of the dirt cup. - View Dependent Claims (38)
-
Specification