Electric vacuum cleaner

• US 6,536,073 B2
• Filed: 03/01/2001
• Issued: 03/25/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 03/01/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Ohnishi, Yoshiaki, Suo, Kazuma, Uratani, Hiroyuki, Shibuya, Masaki, Kajikawa, Saburo, Miyahara, Toshifumi
• Primary Examiner(s): Snider, Theresa T.
• Application Number:
  US09/797,058
• Publication Number:
  US 20010029641A1
• Time in Patent Office: 754 Days
• Field of Search: 153/274, 153/272, 153/23, 15D/IG.1
• US Class Current: 15/327.4
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 5/362 of the horizontal type, e.g. canister or sledge type
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/009 Carrying-vehicles; Arrangements of trollies or wheels; Means for avoiding mechanical obstacles
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 15/01 Rechargeable batter

Abstract

An electric cleaner provided with a main body comprised of a cleaner housing (20) equipped with wheels (27) for mobility on a floor surface. Both side surfaces of the main body extend outwardly beyond rim portions (35) of the respective wheels (27) that stay in contact with the floor surface, and a center of gravity G (40) of the main body is placed in such a position that the main body rolls toward a direction where the wheels (27) stand on the floor surface so as to return itself into an original posture when the main body tilts in a way that one of the side surfaces lies in contact to the floor.

Claims

1. An electric vacuum cleaner comprising:

a main body provided with a cleaner housing containing therein an electric blower for generating suction force and a pair of wheels;

a suction nozzle connected to said main body through an extension pipe and a hose, said suction nozzle suctioning on a floor surface being cleaned during operation of said electric blower; and

a dust chamber for collecting dust, said chamber being located between said suction nozzle and said electric blower,

wherein said main body has two side surfaces, both of which extend outwardly toward and beyond rim portions of said respective wheels, and

the center of gravity of said main body is positioned so that said main body is urged to return itself to an original posture when one of said two side surfaces contacts the floor surface.

2. The electric vacuum cleaner as set forth in claim 1 wherein said wheels project toward the floor surface beyond a bottom surface of said cleaner housing.

3. The electric vacuum cleaner as set forth in claim 1 wherein a cross sectional shape of said main body is generally circular or generally oval shaped.

4. The electric vacuum cleaner as set forth in claim 1 wherein said main body is generally spherical or generally spherically polyhedral in shape.

5. The electric vacuum cleaner as set forth in claim 4 wherein said wheels are provided on both side surfaces of said cleaner housing.

6. The electric vacuum cleaner as set forth in claim 5 wherein said wheels are constructed so that a distance between bearings of said wheel is longer than a distance between rim portions of said wheels.

7. The electric vacuum cleaner as set forth in claim 5 comprising a supporting slide member disposed between said wheels and said cleaner housing, said supporting slide member being capable of supporting the weight of said main body.

8. The electric vacuum cleaner as set forth in claim 7 wherein said supporting slide member is formed of a material having a frictional resistance lower than a material composing said wheels and said cleaner housing.

9. The electric vacuum cleaner as set forth in claim 5, wherein an outer surface of said cleaner housing is projected into an interior side space of each of said wheels, and a space behind said cleaner housing contains at least any of said electric blower, at least one battery, and a passage formed therein for exhaust air delivered from said electric blower.

10. The electric vacuum cleaner as set forth in claim 4 comprising a protrusion serving as a carrying handle formed on at least an upper part of said cleaner housing, whereby said main body including said protrusion forms an exterior shape of generally spherical or generally spherically polyhedral.

11. The electric vacuum cleaner as set forth in claim 4 wherein rotational axes of said wheels are canted upwardly with respect to the floor surface.

12. The electric vacuum cleaner as set forth in claim 4, wherein the center of gravity of said main body, rotatable about an axis of said wheels, is placed in a position rearward of and below said axis of said wheels so that a connecting port of said main body for connection of said hose to said main body tilts upwardly, when said hose is connected to said main body and said hose is disconnected from said main body.

13. The electric vacuum cleaner as set forth in claim 4, wherein:

said cleaner housing contains a battery and a charge terminal, said charge terminal providing a charge to said battery; and

said electric vacuum cleaner further comprises a charge stand for receiving said main body, said charge stand being provided with a charge terminal connector for charging said battery, and a guide alley on at least one end thereof for guiding the wheels of said electric vacuum cleaner onto said charge stand, thereby said charge terminal comes into connection with said charge terminal connector when said main body is moved into a position on said charge stand.

14. The electric vacuum cleaner as set forth in claim 18, wherein said charge stand includes a receiving apparatus for receiving and stabilizing any of said suction nozzle and said extension pipe.

15. The electric vacuum cleaner as set forth in claim 4, further comprising a battery housed in said main body.

16. The electric vacuum cleaner as set forth in claim 4, further comprising a power supply cord, said cleaner housing contains therein said electric blower and a cord-reel chamber for storing said power supply cord.

17. The electric vacuum cleaner as set forth in claim 4, further comprising a cord-reel stand for receiving a cord, a first end of said cord being connected to said main body.

18. The electric vacuum cleaner as set forth in claim 1, wherein said hose is provided with a connector pipe at one end for connection to said cleaner housing and an end pipe at another end for connection with said extension pipe, and at least one of said connector pipe and said end pipe is freely rotatable about a longitudinal axis thereof.

19. The electric vacuum cleaner as set forth in claim 1, further comprising a one or a plurality of batteries housed in said main body.

20. The electric vacuum cleaner as set forth in claim 19, wherein said electric blower and said battery are disposed respectively in an upper space and a lower space within said cleaner housing, and said battery is heavier than said electric blower.

21. The electric vacuum cleaner as set forth in claim 20, wherein the center of gravity of said main body is located towards either side with respect to a lateral center of said main body.

22. The electric vacuum cleaner as set forth in claim 21, wherein the center of gravity of said one or a plurality of batteries housed within said cleaner housing is located away from the lateral center of said main body, thereby the center of gravity of said main body is located towards either side with respect to said lateral center.

23. The electric vacuum cleaner as set forth in claim 1, further comprising a power supply cord, said cleaner housing contains therein said electric blower and a cord-reel chamber for storing said power supply cord.

24. The electric vacuum cleaner as set forth in claim 23 wherein said cord-reel chamber for storing said power supply cord is disposed above said electric blower, and said electric blower is heavier than said cord-reel chamber for storing said power supply cord.

25. The electric vacuum cleaner as set forth in claim 23, wherein:

said cord-reel chamber for storing said power supply cord and said electric blower are disposed in juxtaposition at each side within said main body in a generally parallel plane to the floor surface.

26. The electric vacuum cleaner as set forth in claim 25, wherein the center of gravity of said electric blower is located towards either side below a general center of said main body, thereby the center of gravity of said main body is shifted to either side with respect to, and below said general center.

27. The electric vacuum cleaner as set forth in claim 23 wherein an opening for drawing out said power supply cord is located in a general center of a rear side of said main body.

28. The electric vacuum cleaner as set forth in claim 23 wherein an opening for drawing out said power supply cord from said main body is located in a general center of one of said wheels.

29. The electric vacuum cleaner as set forth in claim 1, further comprising a cord-reel stand for receiving a cord, a first end of said cord being connected to said main body.

30. The electric vacuum cleaner as set forth in claim 1, wherein said cleaner housing is provided with a protuberance composed of a support frame having a cushioning material including any of fabric, unwoven cloth, and foam material attached thereto, and said protuberance is mounted on said cleaner housing.

31. The electric vacuum cleaner as set forth in claim 30, wherein foam is disposed between said cushioning material and said support frame.

32. The electric vacuum cleaner as set forth in claim 1 wherein said cleaner housing is provided with a protuberance composed of a cushioning material on a bottom surface of said cleaner housing where said cleaner housing comes in contact with the floor surface being cleaned.

33. The electric vacuum cleaner as set forth in claim 32 wherein only said wheels of said main body contact the floor surface when the electric vacuum cleaner is moved across the floor surface.

34. The electric vacuum cleaner as set forth in claim 32 wherein said cushioning material is comprised of any of fabric, unwoven cloth, and foam material.

35. The electric vacuum cleaner as set forth in claim 34, wherein fabric serving as said cushioning material is disposed so that a leaning direction of nap of said fabric is oriented toward a rear end of said cleaner housing.

36. The electric vacuum cleaner as set forth in claim 32, wherein said cleaner housing additionally comprises a protrusion adjacent said protuberance, said protrusion having a sloped side extending near the floor surface to be cleaned, said sloped side extends from the front of said bottom surface towards the rear of said main body.

37. The electric vacuum cleaner as set forth in claim 32, wherein any of said protuberance and said cushioning material is oriented to contact the floor surface upon said hose being connected to said cleaner housing.