Abstract:
A vacuum cleaner capable of attenuating noise of an air discharge port, including a cleaner body having a motor driving chamber with an air inlet and an air outlet, a motor disposed in the motor driving chamber for drawing in air from the air inlet and exhausting the air into the motor driving chamber, and a motor housing disposed in the cleaner body to cover the motor and defining the motor driving chamber, the motor having air guide ribs for preventing the air exhausted from the motor from directly flowing to the air outlet. The first and second ribs are arranged and oriented to cooperate with each other and so to provide a baffle to the air flow within motor driving chamber

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention relates generally to a vacuum cleaner, and more specifically to a vacuum cleaner is capable of preventing the air exhausted from the motor from flowing directly to the air outlet.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0004]     In general, a vacuum cleaner has a suction brush connected to a cleaner body, the suction brush being movable along a surface so as to clean it. The cleaner body accommodates a dust collecting chamber in which a dust filter or a cyclone dust collector is mounted. The cleaner body also accommodates a motor driving chamber in which a motor is disposed to generate and provide suction force for driving the vacuum cleaner and generating a vacuum in the dust collecting chamber.  
         [0005]     A suction port is typically disposed at a leading edge of the motor in the motor driving chamber, and is connected to provide fluid communication with the dust collecting chamber. Conventionally, an exhaust port is formed at a side of a motor housing, through which the air is exhausted. The air exhausted through the exhaust port is directed to a motor housing enclosing the motor and is discharged to the outside through an air outlet of the cleaner body.  
         [0006]     In the above structure and configuration, when the motor is mounted in the motor driving chamber, some parts of the motor are covered by the cleaner body and the motor housing. Accordingly, the air exhausted through the exhaust port of the motor housing is directed to the motor housing and is discharged to the outside environment through the air outlet of the cleaner body.  
         [0007]     However, when the motor rotates at high speed, noise is generated and is released to the outside environment together with the discharged air. If the structure of the motor driving chamber, which is configured with the cleaner body and the motor housing, only covers the motor, the air discharge path is shortened and noise is not efficiently reduced.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0008]     To solve the above drawbacks, an aspect of the present invention is to provide an improved vacuum cleaner capable of reducing noise generated within a motor driving chamber by extending the air discharge path of the motor driving chamber.  
         [0009]     To accomplish the above aspect of the present invention, the vacuum cleaner includes a cleaner body having a motor driving chamber having an air inlet and an air outlet, a motor disposed in the motor driving chamber for drawing in air through the air inlet and exhausting the air into the motor driving chamber, and a motor housing disposed in the cleaner body to cover the motor and defining the motor driving chamber, the motor housing having air guide ribs for preventing the air exhausted from the motor from directly flowing to the air outlet.  
         [0010]     Preferably, the motor driving chamber is further defined by the engagement of a lower housing having the air inlet and the air outlet and being integrally formed with the cleaner body, and the motor housing engaged to cover an open upper part of the lower housing.  
         [0011]     The air is exhausted from the motor toward the motor housing. The air guide ribs may include at least one first rib for changing direction of the exhaust air flow from the motor to flow in a first direction, and at least one second rib for preventing the air flowing in the first direction from mixing with air flowing in a second direction, opposed to the first direction, thereby to extend the air flow path.  
         [0012]     The first ribs are formed extending downwardly from the motor housing into the motor driving chamber, opposite to each other and separated by a predetermined interval.  
         [0013]     A pair of second ribs is formed extending downwardly from the motor housing into the motor driving chamber in a parallel relationship to each other, and extending substantially perpendicular to the first ribs. The first and second ribs are arranged and oriented to cooperate with each other and so to provide a baffle to the air flow within motor driving chamber.  
         [0014]     A partition rib is formed projecting upwardly from the lower housing of the motor driving chamber in a corresponding location so as to engage the first rib so that the motor does not directly face the air outlet.  
         [0015]     A pair of the second ribs may be formed to extend from the motor housing to the bottom of the lower housing in a parallel relationship to each other. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES  
       [0016]     These and other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the preferred embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing figures of which:  
         [0017]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view in partial cross-section illustrating a portion of a vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0018]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view illustrating the motor housing also shown in  FIG. 1 ; and  
         [0019]      FIG. 3  is an elevational view illustrating the main parts of  FIG. 1 , in which the air flow path is represented by a dashed line. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0020]     Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below in order to explain the present invention by reference to the drawing figures.  
         [0021]     Referring now to  FIG. 1 , a vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a cleaner body  10  having a motor driving chamber  11 , a motor  20  disposed in the motor driving chamber  11 , and a motor housing  30  disposed in the cleaner body  10  to cover the motor  20 .  
         [0022]     The motor driving chamber  11  has an air inlet  11   a , through which air is drawn in by the suction force generated by the motor  20 , and an air outlet  11   b , through which the air in the motor driving chamber  11  is discharged to the outside environment. The air inlet  11   a  and the air outlet  11   b  are disposed to oppose each other, and the motor  20  is disposed generally between the air inlet  11   a  and the air outlet  11   b.    
         [0023]     A motor driver housing  21  covers the driving part of the motor  20 . Hence, a leading edge of the motor driver housing  21  is directly connected to the air inlet  11   a  to draw the air into the motor driver housing  21 . An exhaust port  21   a  is formed at a side of the motor driver housing  21 , for example, the topside, as shown, through which the drawn air is exhausted from the motor  20 . According to an embodiment of the present invention, the exhaust port  21   a  is formed to face upwardly so as to face the motor housing  30 .  
         [0024]     The motor driving chamber  11  is provided to accommodate the motor  20  and is divided from a dust collecting chamber (not shown) by the air inlet  11   a . The dust collecting chamber may accommodate a dust bag or a cyclone dust collector, both of which are well known to those skilled in the art. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the motor driving chamber  11  is shaped and configured so that a predetermined space is formed by cooperation of a lower housing  13 , which may be integrally formed with the cleaner body  10 , as shown, and the motor housing  30 , which may be a separable element.  
         [0025]     The lower housing  13  is shaped to form a bottom wall and sidewalls of the motor driving chamber  11 . The motor housing  30  is connected to cover the open part of the motor driving chamber  11 , that is, the upper part of the motor  20 .  
         [0026]     The motor housing  30  preferably has air guide ribs  31 ,  33  disposed adjacent the motor  20  to prevent the air exhausted from the exhaust port  21   a  from directly flowing to the air outlet  11   b.    
         [0027]     Referring to  FIG. 2 , the air guide ribs include at least one first rib  31  and at least one second rib  33 . The first rib  31  is integrally formed with the motor housing  30  by extending downwardly for a predetermined dimension. The first rib  31  initially changes the flow direction of the air exhausted from the air inlet  11   a . For this, the first rib  31  faces the air outlet  11   b  and is spaced at a predetermined distance from the air outlet  11   b . As a result, the air discharged from the air inlet  11   a  is directed toward the first rib  31  by housing body  30   a  and is reversed by the first rib  31  in the direction A, shown in  FIG. 1  by the broken lines.  
         [0028]     Referring again to  FIG. 1 , it is preferred that the lower housing  13  includes a partition rib  13   a , which is projected upwardly to engage the corresponding first rib  31 . The upper end of the partition rib  13   a  contacts with the lower end of the first rib  31  to seal the space therebetween. Hence, the motor  20  does not directly face the air outlet  11   b  and the discharging flow path of the air is extended by the baffles resulting from the partitions.  
         [0029]     The second rib  33  directs the air flow so that the air reversed by the first rib  31  in the direction shown by arrow A does not mix with the air flowing in the opposite direction, shown by arrow B. A pair of the second ribs  33  extends downwardly from the housing body  30   a  and extend parallel to each other. The second ribs  33  also extend from both ends of the first rib  31  so as to end in proximity to the bottom of the motor driving chamber  11 , as shown. Accordingly, the air flow is reversed by the first rib  31  in the direction of arrow A and is directed toward the air outlet  11   a  by the obstruction provided by inner sides  33   a  of the second ribs  33  ( FIG. 2 ). The inner sides  33   a  face each other, as best seen in the plan view of  FIG. 3 . After passing around the inner sides  33   a , the air flow is reversed in the direction shown by arrow B by the outer sides  33   b  of the second ribs  33  and the air is then directed toward the air outlet  11   b.    
         [0030]     The operation of the vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention is described below in greater detail.  
         [0031]     Referring to  FIG. 3 , when the motor  20  is driven, the air is drawn in toward the air intake port of the motor  20 . The drawn in air is exhausted toward the housing body  30   a  of the motor housing  30  through the exhaust port  21   a . The air exhausted through the exhaust port  21   a  is directed by the housing body  30   a  and flows toward the first rib  31 . Next, the air flow is reversed by the first rib  31  since the air has nowhere else to go, and is directed, along the inner side  33   a  of the second rib  33 , and flows back toward the air intake port of the motor  20 .  
         [0032]     The air is reversed to flow in the direction of Arrow B in the motor driving chamber  11 , which is sealed, and is directed by the outer side  33   b  of each second rib  33  so as to flow toward the air outlet  11   b , and is then discharged to the outside environment.  
         [0033]     As described above, in the vacuum cleaner according to the embodiment of the present invention, the air flow path, along which the air exhausted from the motor flows, is forced to follow in a zigzag, or substantially zigzag, pattern, a path as in a baffle so as to extend the length of the air flow path. Hence, when the motor  20  is driven, the noise of the discharged air is significantly attenuated by the extended length of the air flow path.  
         [0034]     In the embodiment of the present invention, the ribs  31  and  33  are integrally formed with the motor housing  30 , as shown in  FIG. 2 , but the invention is not limited to this embodiment. The ribs may be separately manufactured for assembly into the motor driving chamber  11  and may be connected or sealed relative to the housing  30 . In addition, the ribs may be integrally formed with the bottom of the motor driving chamber  11 , that is, being integrally formed with the lower housing  13 .  
         [0035]     In the vacuum cleaner according to the embodiment of the present invention, the ribs are formed so that the air flow path, along which the air is exhausted from the motor driving chamber  11 , is extended to thus attenuate the noise during discharge as the air is discharged to the outside environment.  
         [0036]     Furthermore, the direction of the air flow path can be controlled in a simple way since the air guide ribs are preferably integrally formed with the motor housing of the motor.  
         [0037]     While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described, additional variations and modifications of the embodiments may occur to those skilled in the art once the basic inventive concepts are understood. Therefore, it is intended that the appended claims shall be construed to include both the above embodiments and all such equivalents, variations and modifications that fall within the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined by the following claims.