Blower vacuum

A blower vacuum unit for selective operation in a blower mode and in a suction mode, comprises: a housing having means forming an air inlet and means forming an air outlet; a motor carried within the housing, an impeller rotatably driven by the motor and positioned for drawing air into the housing through the air inlet and discharging the air from the housing through the air outlet; a debris collection conduit one end of which conduit is an operating end and the other end of which conduit is adapted for attachment to a debris collection container and means for generating an entrained air flow, using the air discharged through the air outlet, at the operating end of the debris collection conduit into the debris conduit. The housing and the debris collection conduit comprise separate components and the conduit is adapted to be releasably mounted on the housing so that the operating end of the conduit is located for co-operation with the air outlet of the housing.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to a debris collecting apparatus, in 
particular a garden debris collecting apparatus, of the kind which may be 
used either in a vacuum mode to suck debris into the apparatus or in a 
blowing mode to discharge a stream of air from a nozzle so that debris can 
be blown into piles. 
Such debris collecting apparatus is already known. In one such apparatus, 
according to U.S. Pat. No. 4,325,163, a centrifugal impeller is used to 
take in air through an inlet and blow it through an outlet. In the vacuum 
mode, debris passes through the impeller, which will inevitably result in 
wear to the impeller, even though a chopping blade may be mounted on the 
impeller shaft immediately upstream of the impeller. 
It is also known, for example from European Patent No 114,114, to provide a 
debris collection apparatus in which an impeller is used to create an 
entrained air flow. In the vacuum mode, debris is picked up in this 
entrained air flow and carried via a duct to a collecting bag. The debris 
does not pass through the impeller, thus reducing wear and tear to the 
impeller. Such a system, however, does have the disadvantage that where 
the apparatus is being used in the blowing mode, and it is not desired to 
collect debris, the collecting bag and duct are still attached to the 
blower, which makes the apparatus heavier and less manoeuvrable for the 
user. 
It is an object of the present invention to provide a debris collecting 
apparatus in which the above disadvantages are reduced or substantially 
obviated. 
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention therefore provides: 
a blower vacuum unit for selective operation in a blower mode and in a 
suction mode, comprising: 
a housing having means forming an air inlet and an air outlet; 
a motor carried within the housing, 
an impeller rotatably driven by the motor and positioned for drawing air 
into the housing through the air inlet and discharging the air from the 
housing through the air outlet; 
a debris collection conduit one end of which conduit is an operating end 
and the other end of which conduit is adapted for attachment to a debris 
collection container and 
means for generating an entrained air flow, using the air discharged 
through the air outlet at the operating end of the debris collection 
conduit into the debris conduit characterised in that 
the housing and the debris collection conduit comprise separate components 
and the conduit is adapted to be releasably mounted on the housing so that 
the operating end of the debris conduit is located for co-operation to the 
air outlet of the housing. 
If it is desired that the collection apparatus can be selectively used in 
the blowing mode with the debris conduit attached, then a switch 
arrangement, known per se, may be provided by which the apparatus can be 
converted from the blowing to the collecting mode. 
The present invention further provides a blower vacuum unit for selective 
operation in a blower mode and in a suction mode, comprising: 
a housing having means forming an air inlet and an air outlet; 
a motor carried within the housing, 
an impeller rotatably driven by the motor and positioned for drawing air 
into the housing through the air inlet and discharging the air from the 
housing through the air outlet; 
a debris collection conduit one end of which conduit is an operating end 
and the other end of which conduit is adapted for attachment to a debris 
collection container and 
means for generating an entrained air flow, using the air discharged 
through the air outlet, at the operating end of the debris collection 
conduit into the debris conduit characterised in that 
the housing and the debris collection conduit comprise separate components 
and the conduit is adapted to be releasably mounted on the housing so that 
the operating end of the conduit is located for co-operation with the air 
outlet of the housing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
As can be seen from FIG. 1, a blower vacuum unit (2) comprises a blower 
housing (4) and a debris collection unit (6). The blower housing (4) 
comprises slits (8) forming an air inlet and a nozzle (10) forming an air 
outlet. 
A motor (12) is located within the housing (4) and an impeller (14) is 
mounted for rotation on an output shaft (16) of the motor, adjacent to the 
air inlet slits (8). 
The air inlet slits (8) are located at one end of the housing (4) with the 
outlet nozzle (10) located at the far end. The slits (8) and nozzle (10) 
are connected by a conduit portion (18) of the housing (4). 
A handle (20) is mounted n the housing (4) at the end of the conduit 
portion (18) remote from the nozzle (10), and an on/off switch (22) 
controlling the supply of electrical power to the motor (12) is provided 
in this handle. 
The debris collection unit (6) comprises a debris collection conduit (24) 
and collection bag (26). The conduit (24) is shaped at one end (26) to 
provide a socket (28) to receive the nozzle (10) of the blower housing 
(4). The socket (28) is connected via a deflecting surface (30) into the 
debris collection conduit (24). 
Releasable clip means (32) is provided to secure the blower housing (4) to 
the collection unit (6). 
As can be seen from FIG. 2, the blower housing 4 is detachable from the 
debris collection unit 6. In order to attach the blower housing (4) to the 
debris collection unit (6), the nozzle (10) of the housing (4) is located 
in the socket (28) and the clip mechanism (32) engaged. 
A seal preferably made of a resilient material such as an O-ring or foam 
ring is suitably provided in the socket (28) to improve the sealing 
between the nozzle (10) and the socket (28). 
The deflecting surface (30) may be provided with a switch means (not shown) 
by which the air flow can be selectively directed either to create a 
vacuum flow or as a blower, when the collection unit (6) is attached to 
the housing (4).