Central vacuum with acoustical damping
DCFirst Claim
1. A central vacuum unit comprising:
- a canister having a sidewall forming a hollow interior;
a vacuum motor within said canister which emits noise during operation;
at least one opening in said sidewall of said canister; and
an acoustic damping tunnel within said hollow interior and forming a pathway between said hollow interior and said opening, said tunnel having an inlet end in fluid flow communication with said hollow interior and an outlet end surrounding said opening and sealed to said sidewall around said opening, said pathway being lined with a sound absorbing material, whereby said tunnel reduces noise emitted from said hollow interior through said opening.
5 Assignments
Litigations
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Accused Products
Abstract
A central vacuum unit having an acoustic damping system is provided. The central vacuum unit includes a canister having a sidewall forming a hollow interior and a lid closing an end of the sidewall, a vacuum motor within the canister which emits noise during operation, at least one cooling air inlet for admitting cooling air into the hollow interior, and at least one cooling air outlet in the sidewall for exhausting the cooling air from the hollow interior. Additionally, the sidewall has an exhaust port and the motor has an exhaust pipe extending through the exhaust port. The acoustic damping system includes an acoustic damping tunnel, an acoustic damping canopy, and an exhaust port seal. The acoustic damping tunnel is within the hollow interior and forms a pathway between the hollow interior and the cooling air outlet. The pathway is lined with a sound absorbing material so that the tunnel reduces noise emitted from the hollow interior through the cooling outlet. The acoustic damping canopy is attached to the canopy over the cooling air inlet. The canopy has an inlet and forms a serpentine pathway between the canister cooling air inlet and said canopy inlet to reduce noise emitted from the hollow interior through the canister cooling air inlet. The exhaust port seal covers the exhaust port to reduce noise emitted from the hollow interior through the exhaust port. The exhaust port seal preferably includes flexible foam bonded to the canister sidewall.
60 Citations
27 Claims
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1. A central vacuum unit comprising:
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a canister having a sidewall forming a hollow interior; a vacuum motor within said canister which emits noise during operation; at least one opening in said sidewall of said canister; and an acoustic damping tunnel within said hollow interior and forming a pathway between said hollow interior and said opening, said tunnel having an inlet end in fluid flow communication with said hollow interior and an outlet end surrounding said opening and sealed to said sidewall around said opening, said pathway being lined with a sound absorbing material, whereby said tunnel reduces noise emitted from said hollow interior through said opening. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 23, 24)
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8. A central vacuum unit comprising:
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a canister forming a hollow interior; a vacuum motor within said canister which emits noise during operation; at least one opening in said canister; and an acoustic damping canopy outside said canister and covering said opening, said canopy having at least one inlet and parallel and spaced-apart dividing walls forming a serpentine pathway between said opening and said inlet to reduce noise emitted from said hollow interior through said opening and said inlet. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A central vacuum unit comprising:
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a canister having a sidewall forming a hollow interior and a lid closing one end of the sidewall; a vacuum motor within said canister which emits noise during operation; at least one cooling air inlet for admitting cooling air into said hollow interior; at least one cooling air outlet in said sidewall for exhausting the cooling air from said hollow interior; and an acoustic damping tunnel within said hollow interior and forming a pathway between said hollow interior and said cooling air outlet, said tunnel having an inlet end in fluid flow communication with said hollow interior and an outlet end surrounding said cooling air outlet and sealed around said sidewall, said pathway being lined with a sound absorbing material, whereby said tunnel reduces noise emitted from said hollow interior through said cooling air outlet. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 25, 26, 27)
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18. A central vacuum unit comprising:
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a canister having a sidewall forming a hollow interior and a lid closing one end of the sidewall; a vacuum motor within said canister which emits noise during operation; at least one cooling air inlet for admitting cooling air into said hollow interior; at least one cooling air outlet in said sidewall for exhausting the cooling air from said hollow interior; an acoustic damping tunnel within said hollow interior and forming a pathway between said hollow interior and said cooling air outlet, said pathway being lined with a sound absorbing material, whereby said tunnel reduces noise emitted from said hollow interior through said cooling air outlet; and an acoustic damping canopy over said lid and covering said cooling air inlet, said canopy having at least one inlet and forming a serpentine pathway between said cooling air inlet and said canopy inlet to reduce noise emitted from said hollow interior through said cooling air inlet and said canopy inlet. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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21. A central vacuum unit comprising:
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a canister having a sidewall forming a hollow interior and a lid closing one end of the sidewall, wherein said canister has an exhaust pipe port; a vacuum motor within said canister which emits noise during operation and has an exhaust pipe extending through said exhaust pipe port; at least one cooling air inlet for admitting cooling air into said hollow interior; at least one cooling air outlet in said sidewall for exhausting the cooling air from said hollow interior; and an acoustic damping tunnel within said hollow interior and forming a pathway between said hollow interior and said cooling air outlet, said pathway being lined with a sound absorbing material, whereby said tunnel reduces noise emitted from said hollow interior through said cooling air outlet; and a seal which seals the exhaust pipe port to reduce noise emitted from the hollow interior through the exhaust pipe port. - View Dependent Claims (22)
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Specification