VACUUM CLEANER WITH SLIDING LATCH

• US 20150013100A1
• Filed: 07/10/2013
• Published: 01/15/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/10/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Shop-Vac Corporation (Hangzhou Great Star Industrial Company Limited)
• Original Assignee: Shop-Vac Corporation (Hangzhou Great Star Industrial Company Limited)
• Inventors: Gottschall, Jason, Wolfe, Melvin E. Jr.
• Granted Patent: US 9,320,397 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 15/323
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 5/365 of the vertical type, e.g. tank or bucket type
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 7/0019 Details of the casing
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/0027 specially adapted for holding the suction cleaning tools
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/14 Bags or the like; Rigid filtering receptacles; Attachment of, or closures for, bags or receptacles

Abstract

A latch mounts in an opening on the lidcage of a conventional vacuum cleaner. A stationary piece has a hooked arm that locks against an edge on the lidcage, and can be clipped in place without other fasteners. It also has a hose fence that helps hold a stored hose. A movable piece has a tongue that slides within a channel on the stationary piece. When locked, the tongue engages the bead and a lock latches onto an edge, inhibiting the tongue from moving to the unlocked position. The lock is on an actuator tab that extends from the stationary piece and can be deflected by a user to release the lock. A spaced finger edge may be engaged by a user while pressing the actuator tab. A barb on the tongue engages the same edge that the lock latches onto, and resists removal of the tongue from the channel.

Claims

1. A vacuum cleaner that has:

a tank that has an open upper end and an extending bead;

a removable lidcage that houses a vacuum source, fits on the tank, closes the open upper end of the tank, and covers at least part of the extending bead when the lidcage is fitted on the tank;

a stationary latch that is on the lidcage and has a channel; and

a latch clasp that has;

a tongue that mounts within the channel for sliding movement along a length of the channel between a locked position in which a terminal end of the tongue engages the extending bead, inhibiting the lidcage from being lifted from the tank, and an unlocked position in which the terminal end is withdrawn from engagement with the extending bead, freeing the lidcage to be lifted from the tank;

a lock that latches onto an edge when the tongue is in the locked position and inhibits the tongue from moving to the unlocked position while latched; and

one or more deflectable tabs that project outwardly from the stationary latch and can be deflected by a user to release the lock, enabling the latch clasp to be moved from the locked position to the unlocked position.

2. A vacuum cleaner as recited in claim 1, in which:

the stationary latch clips in place on the lidcage.

3. A vacuum cleaner as recited in claim 1, in which:

the stationary latch clips into an opening on a skirt of the lidcage that covers at least part of the extending bead when the lidcage is fitted on the tank.

4. A vacuum cleaner as recited in claim 1, in which the stationary latch has:

two spaced edges that fit against outer peripheral surfaces on the lidcage and hold the stationary latch to the lidcage; and

a resilient hooked arm that deflects over and then locks against an interior edge on the lidcage, subsequently inhibiting the stationary latch from being withdrawn from the lidcage and thus enabling each stationary latch to be clipped in place on the lidcage without the use of other fasteners.

5. A vacuum cleaner as recited in claim 1, in which a pair of stationary latches each have a hose fence that extends vertically upwardly above the open end of the tank, defining a hose space in which a hose can be mounted between the hose fences and walls that encompass the vacuum source.

6. A vacuum cleaner as recited in claim 1, in which:

the latch clasp has a barb on the tongue that resists removal of the tongue from the channel in the stationary latch after the tongue has been mounted in the channel.

7. A vacuum cleaner as recited in claim 1, in which:

the latch clasp has a deflecting barb on the tongue that engages the same edge that the lock latches onto, inhibiting removal of the tongue from the channel in the stationary latch after the tongue has been mounted in the channel.

8. A vacuum cleaner as recited in claim 1, in which:

at least one of the one or more resilient tabs is an actuator tab that is arranged to be deflected downwardly by a user to release the lock from the edge, enabling the latch clasp to be moved from the locked position to the unlocked position; and

the latch clasp has a lower finger edge that is spaced from the actuator tab in a position where a user may engage it with one finger while pressing the actuator tab with another finger on the same hand.

9. A vacuum cleaner that has:

a tank that is configured to hold dirt and debris, has opposed, outwardly extending latch lower bases, has an open upper end, and has an extending bead that projects from beneath the open upper end and above an upper side of the latch bases;

a molded removable lidcage that houses a vacuum source and has tank walls, fits on and removably closes the open upper end of the tank, has a downwardly extending skirt that covers the extending bead when the lidcage is fitted on the tank, has outwardly extending latch upper bases that align with the latch lower bases on the tank and are spaced outwardly from upright walls that encompass the vacuum source, and has openings in the latch upper bases;

molded stationary latches that are made of resilient material, fit into the openings on the removable lidcage, each have a channel that extends from an exterior surface of the stationary latch to an interior surface of the stationary latch, each have a hose fence that extends vertically upwardly above the open end of the tank, defining a hose space in which a hose can be stored between the hose fence and the walls that encompass the vacuum source, each have two aligned edges that fit against outer peripheral edges of one of the opening on the removable lidcage and hold the stationary latch against the exterior of the lidcage, and each have a resilient hooked arm that deflects over and then locks against an interior edge on the stationary latch, subsequently inhibiting the stationary latch from being withdrawn from the removable lidcage and thus enabling each stationary latch to be clipped in place in one of the openings on the removable lidcage without the use of other fasteners; and

latch clasps that each have;

a two-part tongue that has an inner part and a separate outer part, and mounts within the channel for sliding movement in a generally horizontal plane along the length of the channel between (a) a locked position in which a terminal end of the latch clasp engages the extending bead, inhibiting the lidcage from being lifted from the tank, and (b) an unlocked position in which the terminal end is withdrawn from engagement with the extending bead, freeing the lidcage to be lifted from the tank;

a barb on the outer part of the tongue that resists removal of the tongue from the channel after the tongue has been mounted in the channel;

a releasable lock on the inner part of the tongue that latches onto an edge on the channel when the latch clasp is in the locked position and inhibits the latch clasp from moving outwardly when in that position; and

a resilient tab connected to the inner part of the tongue that extends outwardly from the channel in the stationary latch and can be deflected by a user to release the lock from the edge, enabling the latch clasp to be moved from the locked position to the unlocked position.

10. A vacuum cleaner that has:

a tank that has an open upper end;

a removable lidcage that houses a vacuum source, fits on the tank, and closes the open upper end of the tank;

a pair of stationary latches that are on the lidcage and each have a hose fence that extends vertically upwardly above the open end of the tank, defining a hose space in which a hose can be mounted between the hose fences and walls that encompass the vacuum source; and

a latch clasp that is mounted to one of the stationary latches and has an element that moves between a locked position in which the lidcage is inhibited from being lifted from the tank, and an unlocked position in which the lidcage is free to be lifted from the tank.

11. A vacuum cleaner as recited in claim 10, in which the latch clasp has a two-part tongue with one part having an actuator tab and a lock that holds the latch clasp in the locked position, and the other part having a barb that inhibits the latch clasp from being fully removed from the stationary latch, the two parts of the tongue being separated by a hinge.