Patent ID: 9688429
Date: 2017-06-27
CPC Classifications: A01D,A01G,A47L,B65B,B65F

Claim:
1. An adapter device for adapting a suction end of a vacuum hose of a vacuum cleaner for suctioning air out of plastic bags containing fallen leaves and other yard waste for disposal, comprising: a suction tube that has an inside diameter and an inlet end and an outlet end, the outlet end having a size and shape that is connectable to the suction end of the vacuum hose; a screen attached in fluid-flow relation to the inlet end of the suction tube with an opening into the suction tube and formed with a circumferential periphery and a distal end that surround a space adjacent to the inlet end of the suction tube, which space is in fluid-flow communication with the suction tube through the opening of the screen into the suction tube, wherein the screen and the space surrounded by the screen extends along a longitudinal axis for a screened length; and a shield comprising a proximal end, which is attached to the suction tube, and a peripheral wall positioned around the screen a radially spaced distance outwardly from the screen and having a length that extends a distance longitudinally beyond the screen to a rim with a plurality of notches that forms a shield mouth at a distal end of the shield such that the shield forms a channel for conducting an air flow from the mouth to the suction tube, the shield being structured in a manner that is capable of preventing a plastic bag from being sucked by vacuum to the screen and the rim being sized in a manner that is capable of blocking leaves or other yard waste matted in the bag from entering the channel and being sucked to the screen while the notches allow air in the bag, including air emerging from the leaves in the vicinity of the rim that are pressed tight against the rim, to flow into the channel and to the screen, wherein the screen extends from the inlet opening a distance in a range of one-third to two-thirds of the inside length of the shield toward the rim at the distal end of the shield, and wherein the length of the shield is in a range of 2 to 3 times the opening of the screen into the suction tube, and wherein the shield has an inside diameter in a range of 1.5 to 3.5 times greater than the inside diameter of the suction tube to provide an air flow velocity reduced from an air flow velocity in the vacuum hose to avoid sucking the leaves in the bag to the screen while sucking air out of the bag.