Dual Stage Cyclonic Dust Collector

• US 20100139033A1
• Filed: 12/08/2008
• Published: 06/10/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/06/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Techtronic Floor Care Technology Limited (Techtronic Industries Company Limited)
• Original Assignee: Techtronic Floor Care Technology Limited (Techtronic Industries Company Limited)
• Inventors: Makarov, Sergey, Salo, Robert, Cipolla, Mark
• Granted Patent: US 8,209,815 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 15/353
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/1625 for series flow
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/1641 for parallel flow
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/1683 Dust collecting chambers; Dust collecting receptacles

Abstract

A surface cleaning suction type appliance comprises a housing, an airstream suction source, a cyclone main body, and a dirt cup. The housing includes a main suction opening. The airstream suction source is mounted to the housing and includes a suction airstream inlet and a suction airstream outlet. The suction source selectively establishes and maintains a flow of air from the main suction opening, via the airstream inlet, to the airstream outlet. The cyclone main body is supported by the housing and is in communication with the main suction opening. The cyclone main body has a uniform outer circumference and includes a first stage separator, and a plurality of downstream second stage separators. The lengths of the second stage cyclonic separators are different for any number of adjacent pairs of separators from on pair up to all adjacent pairs of separators. The dirt cup is connected to the cyclone main body. The dirt cup includes a first particle collector and a second particle collector. The first particle collector communicates with the first stage separator for collecting dust particles from the first stage separator. The separate second particle collector communicates with the plurality of second stage separators for collecting dust particles from the second stage separators.

Claims

1. An electrically powered surface care appliance comprising:

a nozzle body, including a main suction opening;

a housing in air flow communication with the main suction opening of the nozzle body and comprising;

an airstream suction source, mounted to said housing and including a suction airstream inlet and a suction airstream outlet, said suction source that is electrically powered to selectively establish and maintain a flow of air from said nozzle main suction opening to said airstream outlet;

a cyclonic particle separation main body mounted to said housing and in communication with said nozzle main suction opening, said cyclonic main body including a first stage cyclonic separator and a plurality of second stage cyclonic separators spaced apart and in communication with the first stage cyclonic separator wherein at least two adjacent downstream separators have differing lengths from each other; and

a dirt cup connected to said cyclonic main body for collecting particles separated by said first stage cyclonic separator and said plurality of second stage cyclonic separators.

2. The appliance of claim 1 wherein a majority of the plurality of second stage cyclonic separators located downstream from the first stage cyclonic separator have adjacent second stage cyclonic separators with different lengths.

3. The appliance of claim 1 wherein each of the plurality of second stage cyclonic separators located downstream from the first stage cyclonic separator has a length different from at least one adjacent second stage cyclonic separator.

4. The appliance of claim 1, wherein the dirt cup comprises a first particle collector communicating with the first separator for collecting coarse dust particles and has a bottom emptying panel.

5. The appliance of claim 1, further comprising a perforated tube disposed within said first stage separator for fluidly connecting said first stage separator to said plurality of second stage separators, said perforated tube including a longitudinal axis generally coincident with the longitudinal axis of said first stage separator.

6. The appliance of claim 4, further comprising a shroud supported by said perforated tube, and a laminar flow member connected to one of said perforated tube and said shroud, at least a portion of said laminar flow member being encircled by the shroud, wherein said shroud includes a first portion having a first dimension and a second portion having a second greater dimension, the configuration of said shroud positioning said laminar flow member centrally within said first particle collector.

7. The collector of claim 1, wherein at least one downstream separator includes a cylindrical upper part and a frusto-conical lower part, the at least one downstream cyclone defining a longitudinal axis, the longitudinal axis being inclined wherein the lower part extends outwardly relative to the upper part.

8. The collector of claim 7, wherein the upper part defines a first longitudinal axis and the lower part defines a second longitudinal axis, the first and second longitudinal axes defining an acute angle.

9. The appliance of claim 1, wherein the dirt cup includes

a) a first particle collector communicating with said first stage separator for collecting dust particles from said first stage separator, and

b) a separate second particle collector communicating with said plurality of second stage separators for collecting dust particles from said second stage separators.

10. The cleaning appliance of claim 9, wherein the dirt cup has a common bottom panel to empty both the first and the second particle collectors.

11. The cleaning appliance of claim 9, wherein said first particle collector includes an inner wall portion which at least partially defines said second particle collector, said inner wall portion being generally curved toward said second particle collector such that said first particle collector has a non-constant radius, wherein said dirt cup has a generally constant radius.

12. The cleaning appliance of claim 9, wherein said first and second particle collectors are configured to empty independently of each other.

13. The cleaning appliance of claim 9, wherein said first and second particle collectors are configured to be simultaneously emptied.

14. The cleaning appliance of claim 9, wherein said plurality of second stage separators are arranged in parallel and mounted radially outside of said first stage separator, an uppermost end of each second stage separator being located approximately in a plane defined by a top wall of said first stage separator.

15. The cleaning appliance of claim 9, wherein said second particle collector is at least partially defined by a wall of said first stage separator and a wall of said cyclone main body, said plurality of downstream separators being surrounded by said wall of said cyclone main body.

16. The cleaning appliance of claim 9, wherein a wall of said first stage separator and a wall of said cyclone main body together at least partially define said second particle collector.